#i haven't drawn in 2 years good lord

[kairosvale]

A vale to send you ⚔️

[tima7fa]

On A Colder Night Of The Year

Sukuna is doing a shitty job at parenting, at least he's trying ig. + Sukuna is bad at feelings. + Yuji deserves the world.

This is basically a part 2 of the story, I advice to read the first part to understand what exactly is happening and why it's happening.

_______________________________________

"Your bath is prepared, my lord." Uraume murmured while bowing reverently.

"Good." the cursed entity huffed as he strode through the corridor, the blood that stained his form dripping onto the tatami floor, leaving a trail in his wake. "As much as I relish the taste of mortal blood, the sensation of it upon my skin is a most unpleasant one." He wiped a smear of crimson from his cheek, his brow furrowed in distaste. The ever-attentive maids immediately set to work, swiftly cleaning the scarlet splatters from the floor.

Sukuna removed his garments without delay upon entering the bath, a contented sigh escaping him as he felt his muscles unwind in the warmth of the water. The blood that had clung to his form began to dissipate, mixing with the liquid. He rested his elbow upon the tub's edge, his cheek cradled in his palm as he contemplated the scene before him.

His thoughts drifted to Yuji's arrival at his shrine, a full month having passed since the boy's introduction. "Come to think of it, I haven't been seeing the brat as often as of late." he grumbled, leaning his head back to gaze up at the ceiling.

Sukuna had tasked the kid with simple chores, such as dusting the furniture, where the bloodstains he so often brought with him would not be a concern. He wondered if he should have assigned Yuji the role of massaging his head, for the boy's nimble fingers had proven most adept at the task on that initial day.

He let out a heavy sigh, taking up the bowl to scoop up some of the water and pour it over his head, using his fingers to work out the knots in his hair. Why should he care whether he sees the boy or not? Why was this troubling him so? It's not as if he held any true affection for the wretched brat - the boy could perish, for all Sukuna cared.

Perhaps not just yet, though.

Groaning, he began to cleanse his body with the damp towel. "You're so infuriatingly vexing, brat." he muttered under his breath.

Once he had completed his bathing, Sukuna donned his kimono and set out to wander the halls of his shrine, searching for any sign of the young man. Yet, the brat was nowhere to be found. Where in the world had the insolent child run off to?

"Are you searching for something, my lord?" Uraume's voice broke the silence, and Sukuna was momentarily taken aback. He had not sensed the servant's approach, which was most unusual. Had his thoughts truly consumed him so thoroughly?

"What are you talking about?" Sukuna responded, brow furrowed.

Uraume hummed contemplatively. "You've now passed through this area twice." Had he truly traversed this path twice without realizing it? "I was merely ensuring the servants have done a thorough job with the cleaning, nothing more. Dont get it twisted." The curse ran a finger along the surface of a vase, inspecting the pristine finish. This is the sort of detail the boy should have seen to, Sukuna hummed, and it shines as if freshly polished.

"The brat clearly cannot even perform the simple task of cleaning properly. Bring him to me at once, that he may be suitably punished." Sukuna declared, rubbing his thumb against his forefinger as if inspecting for some speck of dust. Uraume raised a delicate brow - they knew full well the vase was immaculately clean, having checked it themselves after the boy had tended to it. And if Sukuna wished to mete out punishment, he was not one to make excuses.

"I do not like to repeat myself, Uraume." the cursed entity growled.

Uraume was drawn from their musings. "My apologies, my lord. However, Yuji is currently in the kitchen, preparing your meal."

Sukuna whirled to face his servant, a scowl twisting his features. "You are allowing the brat to cook for me? I did not assign him to such a task."

"Indeed not, but the boy has been most persistent in his desire to learn how to prepare the dishes you favor, and has been training diligently for the past two weeks." Uraume replied, their tone unwavering.

Sukuna's features softened somewhat at this revelation. Ah, so that explained why the boy had not been bringing his customary tea of late. "If this displeases you, my lord, I shall assign a chef to attend to your meal preparation." the servant offered.

"I did not say that." Sukuna cut in swiftly. "Merely ensure the brat does not make some foolish mistake, like burning himself. I've no desire to deal with his whimpering." With that, the cursed entity turned and strode down the corridor once more.

"And the punishment, my lord?" Uraume called after him.

"I have reconsidered." Sukuna replied simply, not breaking his pace.

___________________________________________

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Three precise knocks, no more and no less - a rhythm Yuji had become well accustomed to. He dutifully waited, poised at the threshold, for Sukuna's granting of permission to enter. Yet, no reply came.

Yuji's legs ached from his prolonged kneeling before the fusuma, the tray of food laid out before him. Perhaps Sukuna was sleeping? This was most unusual, as the cursed entity rarely rested. Uncertain, Yuji contemplated his next course of action.

Should he dare to knock once more, despite the established protocol of three knocks only? Nay, to do so would risk Sukuna's wrath. Nor could he simply leave, for that would mean failing to fulfill his assigned task, a transgression that was sure to invite dire consequences.

The safest path, then, was to remain and wait patiently. With great care, Yuji removed his haori and draped it over the tray, hoping to preserve the warmth of the meal. As a chill breeze swept through the corridor, he shivered slightly, now bereft of the garment's protection.

"Yuji?"

Yuji flinched as a voice sounded behind him. "Uraume!" The youth turned to face the white-haired individual.

"What are you doing?" Uraume inquired, their brow arched.

"Uh, I knocked three times, but Lord Sukuna did not answer, so I have been waiting." Yuji replied, his gaze returning to the tray before him.

Uraume let out a soft chuckle. "Child, if you have knocked three times and received no reply, you should simply enter if you are bringing food or tea. Lord Sukuna does not like to partake of his sustenance later than he has arranged."

"Oh..." Yuji realized the gravity of his error. He had been waiting for at least an hour. Biting his lip, he glanced up at Uraume.

"Just go in. I'm sure Lord Sukuna will not punish you." Uraume said, their lips curled in a slight grin as they turned and walked away.

"But... I made a mistake—" Yuji murmured, his voice barely audible as he watched Uraume depart.

Sighing, the youth donned his haori once more and, taking a deep breath, slid the fusuma open. The room was dimly lit by the light from outside. Carefully, Yuji stepped inside, setting the tray down and closing the panel behind him.

Sukuna sat on the tatami floor, the kyoto draped about him, leaning against a low table. Yuji could only see the man's back, his gaze drawn to the slow descent of snow beyond the window. The chill in the air caused Yuji to shiver involuntarily.

"Took you long enough, brat."

Yuji flinched at the harsh tone of the man's voice, so long absent. Quickly, he lifted the tray and moved towards Sukuna, setting it down before the cursed entity. Settling to the ground, Yuji's aching legs protested the prolonged kneeling he had endured. He kept his head bowed, his hands folded in his lap, eyes fixed upon the tatami.

Yuji's gaze wandered to the food, doubtful that it had remained piping hot after his lengthy wait. As Sukuna shifted, the youth's eyes snapped back to his hands, bandaged from his work in the kitchen.

"Raise your head." Sukuna commanded, and Yuji obliged, meeting the cursed spirit's four eyes. Sukuna extended a hand towards the boy.

"Your hands." he demanded.

Yuji complied in silence, a frown upon his brow, placing his hands within Sukuna's grasp. The curse closed his fingers around the child's, his thumb caressing Yuji's skin. Yuji watched the motion, perplexed, but felt no pain.

Sukuna released Yuji's hands, and the youth returned them to his lap. The curse picked up the chopsticks, and Yuji held his breath, anxiously awaiting the verdict on the quality of the meal. As Sukuna began to partake, Yuji watched intently, his gaze unwavering.

"Not bad," Sukuna mused, and Yuji let out a breath of relief, unaware he had been holding it. A smile blossomed on the youth's face, his eyes brightening.

"Could be better." Sukuna added, and just as swiftly, Yuji's happy expression vanished, not escaping the cursed spirit's notice.

"Your arms are still as skinny as before. Have my servants been starving you?" Sukuna inquired, his gaze fixed upon the boy.

Yuji looked down, his muscles tensing, and remained silent.

"I don't like repeating myself, brat." Sukuna growled. Come to think of it, this was the second time today the curse had warned someone. "If you don't speak, I'll eat you right now."

Yuji flinched, his body trembling in fear, yet still he kept his mouth shut, which seemed to further agitate Sukuna.

"I'll kill all the servants if you don't speak." the curse threatened.

"No!" Yuji yelled, the sudden outburst widening Sukuna's eyes, before the curse's gaze narrowed menacingly upon the boy's face.

"I'm sorry... please don't kill anyone." Yuji pleaded, his voice lowered, acknowledging that he had overstepped his bounds.

"Then speak." Sukuna commanded.

Yuji took a deep breath, his eyes lowering to the tatami floor. "I eat well, the servants take good care of me. It's not their fault..." The boy fell silent again, as if reconsidering his words.

"Continue," Sukuna grumbled, reaching a hand towards the boy and raising his chin. "And don't lower your head."

"I've been making myself throw up the food after eating it." Yuji sighed, and Sukuna's brows knitted together. "Is the food not to your liking?" the curse muttered, his fingers tightening around the child's chin, though not enough to hurt him.

"No... it's just... you said I have time to prove my usefulness to you, and that is until I get meat on my bones. Until now, I haven't proven anything to you, so-"

"So you started throwing up the food, ruining your health so you don't gain weight, which means I won't eat you and you will still have time to prove yourself?" Sukuna continued for him, releasing Yuji's chin. "Who gave you the right to decide what I find useful or not? Since when were you the one to make decisions for me, brat?"

"I'm sorry-"

"Stop fucking apologizing." Sukuna interrupted.

Yuji fell silent, trembling in fear, as he lowered his head. Sukuna went quiet as well, staring at the child who quivered, realizing he had made the situation worse. For some reason, he felt a tight knot in his chest as he saw the transparent substance fall to the child's hands. He had made a child cry, and he hated how bad he felt about it.

It was annoying that this child was making him feel this way. Sukuna had never felt empathy for anyone before. Even when they cowered and sobbed in fear, even when they begged, he had only felt satisfaction. It was twisted, he knew, but it didn't matter. Until now.

Ryomen Sukuna does as he pleases, without feeling the need to justify his actions to anyone.

But right here and now, he doesn't want to see this child cry, nor does he want the child to fear him. It's annoying.

"Yuji." the curse uttered the boy's name for the second time. The child desperately tried to wipe away his tears and muffle his sniffles. Sukuna sighed and pulled the boy towards him, enveloping him in a warm embrace.

Sukuna doesn't make the effort to remember his servants' names, or rather, he doesn't bother to do so. The only name he ever says is 'Uraume.' his faithful servant. But for some reason, he remembers the annoying brat's name.

Yuji yelped, just as he had the first time Sukuna pulled him close. The child's eyes were wide as he looked up at the curse. "...Lord-" "Quiet." Sukuna interrupted.

Yuji fell silent once more, but he buried his face in the curse's chest, his small hands gripping the fabric tightly, as if afraid Sukuna would leave him. The curse let out a small hum, running his hand through the soft, peach-colored hair. Perhaps the reason he didn't cut the child's hair is that he found the fluffy locks to be quite cute on the brat.

But Sukuna would never admit that.

"I won't eat you." You have grown on me too much to do so.

"Cook me a meal again."

___________________________________________

Bonus:

"Uraume, Lord Sukuna can do magic!" Yuji chirped, his eyes shining with wonder.

"Why do you think so?" Uraume hummed, a grin spreading across their face.

"Yesterday, when I was cooking, I cut myself all over. But when Lord Sukuna held my hands, I didn't feel any pain anymore. And when I opened my bandages, my hands didn't have a single wound on them!" Yuji rambled excitedly.

Uraume chuckled and ruffled the child's hair. "Yeah, Lord Sukuna is quite the magician."

"Like a magical girl!" Yuji exclaimed.

"Magical girl?" Uraume inquired.

"Granny used to tell me about magical girls. I think Lord Sukuna is an undercover magical girl." the boy said, his expression serious.

Uraume laughed. "Yeah, a pinky undercover magical girl."

"But shh, don't tell anyone, Yuji."

"I won't! I promise." Yuji said, his eyes sparkling with delight.

《 @midgetpottermills 》

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Unexpectedly Yours: Part 5

Fandom: Ted Lasso (Regency AU)

Pairing: Roy Kent x F!Reader

Summary: Lord Roy Kent still has yet to marry. He hates the notion that marriage is a way to ensure your status in society. You have delayed your debut to society for years because of the same idea. So what happens when two people who hate the idea of marriage are constantly drawn to each other?

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

You didn't want to speak to anyone the next morning after the dinner. You didn't want to see anyone. You were annoyed and slightly embarrassed with how you behaved last night.

You decided you'd stay in your room for the entire day. Cece had tried to get you to come out and play with her but you expressed that you weren't feeling well. Did you feel bad for lying to your cousin? Yes, but you really just needed to wallow in your room by yourself.

________________

"Lady Clara is here to see you, Miss." Jane announces as she peeks her head into your room.

You sigh, "Did you tell her that I'm feeling unwell?"

"Yes and she's very insistent that she sees you."

You groan as you sit up in your bed, "You may send her up, I guess."

Minutes go by and the door opens. Clara walks in, "Good day, Y/N."

You give a stiff nod, "Clara."

She clears her throat, "I came by to apologize. I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable last night. It was never my intention. My brother has always told me how stubborn I can be. I just-I love him so much. He deserves to be happy. However, I understand that while you and my brother are amicable that doesn't mean you are to be with each other. I apologize greatly for practically forcing you to be together. I am ashamed to say that I'm no better than the rest of society," her head hands low in shame.

"I accept your apology, Clara. Thank you. I admire your love and concern for your brother. He's...a good man. He does deserve love in his life. I'm-I'm just not sure that's me."

Clara nods in understanding, "Yes, well, I'll leave you to rest. I hope you feel better soon," she gives a bow and sees herself out.

As soon as the door closes, you groan and fall back against your pillows.

______________

Roy watches as Cece and Phoebe run around the garden. He's glad that his niece found a friend after moving here. Things haven't been easy for the young girl, and Roy's always done his best to make sure she lives a loving and happy life.

He hears his sister before he sees her. She's walking down the path that leads to where he's sitting, a bench underneath a tree on the property.

"Where did you go off to?" he asks, eyes still on the young girls playing.

"I went to apologize to Y/N," Roy grunts and Clara continues, "I won't meddle anymore. I'm sorry that I've made things uncomfortable for you both."

He nods to his sister, "Thank you. She-She already feels so much pressure on her from her mother, society, she doesn't need more."

"I know, but, Roy...please be honest with me, do you care for her?"

Roy's jaw clenches and he looks away from Clara. He sighs, "I do, but, again, it's complicated. She's so...aggravating, smart mouthed, opinionated. But she's also sweet, she cares deeply for her friends and family. I can't help but be drawn to her."

Clara softly smiles at her brother, she places a hand on his shoulder, "I know I said I won't meddle, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to win her affections. I do think there may be something promising between you two and I don't mean in a business transaction way."

"Clara?"

"Hm?"

"Did you love Andrew?" Clara sits and thinks about her husband, who's passed, "I wouldn't say love, but I cared for him as a friend. He was definitely the best out of the other men that have asked to court me. He was kind, understanding. He's also the reason I have Phoebe. I may not have loved him in a romantic way, but I do hold him dear."

"Do you think you could've fallen in love with him over time?"

She shrugs, "Maybe."

Clara and Roy both look on to Cece and Phoebe who are rolling in the grass. Their laughter echoing throughout the property.

_____________________________

In the late afternoon, you eventually grew tired of your self-isolation. So you called upon Keeley and Jamie to join you for tea.

In the sitting room, the three of you are lounging, sipping from your cups.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever," Keeley states as she takes a bite from a biscuit.

"It's been a few days, Keels," Jamie says with a snort.

She waves him off, "Too long. Tell me, what have you been up to?"

You sigh, setting your cup down, "My family and I had dinner with the Kents last night."

"Oh! I heard about that!" you look at her with a cocked brow, "Your mother told mine. Honestly, I'm a little upset you didn't tell me!"

"How was it? Was Lord Grumps his usual grumpy self?" Jamie asks with a smirk.

"We hardly interacted. He seemed quite miserable actually. Then his niece asked when Roy and I would get married." Keeley and Jamie give you a questioning look and you respond, "Because we played princess and dragons with them. They were the dragons, I was the princess, and Roy was the knight who saved me. The princess and the knight always get married in the stories they've read. Anyway, I told her that what we did was make believe and she got upset. She ran upstairs. Roy followed. Clara and my father made a comment that Roy and I should be together and I-I just got so annoyed and upset. I left the dinner."

"Y/N, why are you so against you and Lord Kent being together?" Jamie asks, genuinely.

"I-He-We're just so different. He's so uptight and grumpy all the time! He's probably only smiled five times in his life! Besides, Jamie, isn't he always rude to you?"

"He's rude to everyone, ain't he?" Jamie responds with a shrug.

You point to him, "That's another thing. He's rude!"

Keeley's interjects, "I think that's just him trying to protect himself from anyone getting too close and potentially hurting him." You and Jamie look at her confused, "What? It makes sense! I heard he was previously engaged to this woman name Georgina Afton. They were super in love, at least it seemed that way. Then Georgina caught the eye of a duke and she broke off the engagement. People say Roy was completely heartbroken."

"So...he's just scared of getting hurt?" you ask in clarification.

"Probably."

"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense," Jamie says, "Wow, love. You never seize to amaze me," he says looking at Keeley like she hung up all the stars in the sky.

"Aw, thanks, love!" she leans in and pecks his lips.

The sight makes you smile. You always hoped to find a love like theirs. It was rocky at first, but Keeley and Jamie...they just make sense to you. They fit each other well and you dream of finding someone who fits you.

Is that someone Roy Kent? You're still not sure.

He frustrates you and makes you doubt yourself sometimes, but he also challenges you. He's caring and adores his family. He's quick witted and snarky, but also funny.

Hmmm...you really had to think about this.

Besides, there were other men that could potentially catch your eye. Maybe...maybe you should start taking finding a suitor more seriously...

[triflesandparsnips]

I'm not seeing enough deep-dive nonsense about the new Good Omens season 2 poster drop on my dash, and by god that means I must be the one to deliver it.

For those who haven't seen it yet, behold:

...there's a lot in here to go a wee bit feral over, if one was so inclined, and lord knows I love an inclination.

The Obvious Stuff

1. There Was Only One Bed Chair

This is the bulk of the commentary I've seen, and tbh, it's pretty great. "I am bored/busy and ignoring you but also what is personal space, never heard of her, we will not be taking questions at this time."

Notably, however, this is the second time we've seen them back to back-- the majority of the poster art we saw for the first season had them side by side. In both cases they're in a position to face some third thing together-- the difference, perhaps, is that side by side might imply equality of situation, while back to back implies implicit trust that the other won't stab you there.

2. The bookshop

Aw, look at them. Look at it. What a glorious little mess. This is them in London. Arizaphale looks pleased with the situation; Crowley looks bored af but he's also squished up on that one dang chair, so there's a "cat sitting next to you because parallel play and mirroring are the Best Interactions" feel to it.

3. Tea and wine

Arizaphale's got a teacup, Crowley's got a wine glass, this is very Them and indicative of their Vibes. Tbh, I think this is just a nice bit of design work, but it's worth calling out.

4. The outside street

The shop across the way is using a Gothic and reads "GIVE ME" before being cut off. No clue what it means, but it probably means something.

5. The tagline

The previous tagline we got was "Something's going down in the Up" (with that grey feather falling between their black and white wings)-- this tagline reads "Everyday it's a-getting closer."

Easiest interpretation is, oho, we're getting closer to the second season, and gosh there will be some Plot in it. And sure, yes, it works for that too, huzzah. But leaving aside the "it" and what that may mean-- "a-getting" is a fascinating word choice. It evokes similar constructions like, say, the somewhat obscure "Sumer is icumen in" (a song about the changing of the seasons and also encouraging a cuckoo to go lay some eggs in other birds nests if u no wat im sayin eyyyyy)-- and the significantly less obscure protest song "The Times They Are A-Changin'", whose ending stanza is:

The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

The slow one now

Will later be fast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is rapidly fadin'

And the first one now

Will later be last

For the times they are a-changin'

Gosh.

Now the Real Fun Starts

This poster is a composite image (as so many ads are), composed of different bits and pieces to form a whole impression -- based on fun stuff like relative pixelation and whatnot, you can often tell what portions of an image were there to start with, and what were specifically added in after the fact. How packed this poster is in tiny details -- which is exactly where I would hide fun hints to things -- is generally a cue for me to take a closer look, and I have been, I think, rewarded.

1. The books with legible titles

Zoom in on Aziraphale's book-- he's reading Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities. The "two cities" in play are Paris and London, and the book is set before and during the French Revolution.

It's the story of a man who had been previously imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years, and then was released to go live with his daughter -- who he has never met, what with the whole "imprisoned" thing -- in London.

The opening paragraph is:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

The pile of books in the foreground have two visible titles: the topmost one is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (a "novel of manners" that's considered a heavy-hitting romantic classic, and also yes the leads are both prideful and prejudiced and it takes an entire book for them to clear that up) and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (a young adult coming-of-age adventure story about a kid who finds himself on an adventure with a bunch of pirates to discover buried treasure).

Of note: A Tale of Two Cities, Pride and Prejudice, and Treasure Island also all have note tabs sticking out of them, and are the only books that have them. This is reminiscent of how Arizaphale studied and referenced Agnes Nutter's prophecies.

Some of the books beneath the window technically have titles, but they appear to be about as pixelated as the rest of that section, and so I suspect they're just part of the scenery.

Similarly, most of the books on the background shelves are like that as well, except:

Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (A satirical novel set in World War II; Wikipedia briefly explains that "the novel examines the absurdity of war and military life through the experiences of Yossarian and his cohorts, who attempt to maintain their sanity while fulfilling their service requirements so that they may return home." The book also coined the phrase "catch-22," which is a situation someone can't escape because of paradoxical rules-- in the case of the book, you can't ask to be evaluated for insanity so that you can be exempt from flying dangerous missions, because "anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy.")

Iain Banks's The Crow Road (and a first edition, perhaps? I haven't read it, but apparently it's a Scottish family drama about a perfect murder against the backdrop of the 1990s Gulf War. Its opening line is "It was the day my grandmother exploded." The phrase "the crow road" is a euphemism, in the book, for death.)

Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim (Sparknotes says it's "the story of a man named Marlow's struggle to tell and to understand the life story of a man named Jim" -- a young man who goes to sea, makes a terrible and cowardly decision while following his leaders, and then spends the rest of his life haunted by it.)

There's at least one extra, partially obscured title:

It appears to read "THE BODY ------ and ------", which makes me wonder if it's an anthology of murder mystery short stories.

Leaving aside the uncertain book, commonalities between many of these books include:

soldiers, war, and the horrors/absurdities thereof

doubles and parallels

death and murder

a young/inexperienced protagonist thrown in with more experienced/weirder folk

fragmented and out of order narratives, sometimes having to be pieced together from multiple viewpoints

...pirates

2. The strange but noticeable inserts

There are several images that have been inserted into the poster that -- unlike the teacup and wine glass mentioned above -- don't seem to make a lot of contextual sense and are therefore, perhaps, extra information. These include:

a. the three lizard boys

b. the broken smartphone

c. the matchbox with the quote on the side

d. the camera

e. this statuette that seems suspicious

f. this record and scroll that seem out of place

g. the clockface with the missing hand (which may be just for the Aesthetic, but whatever, I'm including it)

What do they mean? No clue. I suspect it will become apparent as we get trailers and/or the actual show.

In Conclusion

Uh.

Look. Design teams can do all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons. All of this could mean absolutely nothing.

But.

Using my magical powers of bullshit deduction, I might look at all this, and that grey feather falling from the earlier poster, and say... well... the war's still ongoing, yeah? So maybe... maybe there needs to be a new angel keeping an eye on things on Earth. Or an eye specifically on Aziraphale and Crowley.

And that would look SUSPICIOUS, right? So this is an angel who's maybe... a little bit Fallen. For the sake of the Mission. Like, they've agreed to sin just a lil bit, just enough to justify being thrown out of Heaven, and they're not actively in Hell because they're, oh, just stopping off, or maybe just going really slowly, or maybe they were sent back up from Hell because they were still "too good" and all that Pureness of Spirit was stinking up the place--

Whatever. Point is, they're on Earth, they're very confused, it sure would be nice if these very Established metaphysical elders could give them a few hints about how to get on. We'd then get to enjoy a Guide to Living a Totally Normal Human Life given by these two disaster dorks, plus whatever nonsense is derived from, idk, various extraneous plot shenanigans, probably involving a Murder and maybe a MacGuffin Maltese Falcon.

And most importantly: this new angel? Wow no they couldn't possibly be a spy because again WOW, what kind of angel would deliberately Fall? Wouldn't that require doing the wrong thing to do a right thing? ...okay maybe, but can it really be wrong if it was done by command? ...well, wait, it surely must be wrong because otherwise the mechanism wouldn't have worked-- but then, wait, which thing was the wrong thing--

And Aziraphale and Crowley would watch this bouncing volley of cognitive dissonance with great interest, also possibly while holding hands.

[amadwinter]

Making of Monday - How NOT to Write a Long Fic

Haven't posted one of these in a hot minute! Story time: sometime around 2021, I decided I was sick of having all these ideas for Star Wars fics and never actually writing them. So I decided to buckle down, and write a damn fic.

But of course that didn't happen. What I did instead was try to plot out a long, winding, action-adventure story, and to do that, I decided to study to study from the masters. Or master. I wrote down all the chapter titles for every Lord of the Rings book, and was planning on modeling my story based off a similar pacing.

But of course that didn't happen either. And I realized that I was getting nowhere fast. So, I took out a different piece of paper, and with no plan in place, just started jotting down thoughts.

Warning: terrible formatting and terribly inconsistent handwriting below the cut

And as you can see, I didn't get far with unconnected ideas before I started planning once more.

Inspired by short fic I had just read, I wanted to write a long fic where a whole and hale Anakin Skywalker shows up on Tatooine some amount of years into exile. Seeing as how this was before the Obi-Wan Kenobi show came out, there was a lot of room for interpretation in canon. I could take ideas from Legends, make theories about what they were going to do with canon (and be extremely right about some of them), and just make shit up whenever I wanted to.

But immediately, I came to a question that I wanted an interesting answer to: where did this new Anakin come from, and how did he get to Tatooine? Time travel is simple, and not where I wanted to go. Something something Sith magic, yeah, whatever. Also not what I wanted to do. But dimension travel? Now, there was an idea.

Of course, because I am a planner, it couldn't be simple, now could it? It couldn't be just hand-wave the Force that caused it. There had to be a real, concrete, series of events that caused Anakin to appear out of thin air.

And thus began the Yeetverse.

A chain of 4 separate universes (plus 1 bonus one for my own torture amusement. And actually now with one more added on later!). A to B to C to D. It's far too complex for baby's first fanfic in a fandom, and yet the ideas would not stop flowing.

Yes, that was all just written because I couldn't stop thinking about these ideas. It may not seem like a lot, but any brave soul who attempts to read my handwriting can see that there are many things going on at once. (And the only thing I blocked out is the ending to what was meant to be the first fic in this chain, the thrill of the fall)

But for all those ideas, all that planning...

I haven't even finished the first fic I truly tried to write.

I actually have so much of it outlined. I even wrote the outlines of the first 2 chapters of the original fic idea that started it all down on paper.

But I haven't written more.

Why?

Turns out, I'm not good at writing long fics. Planning them? Yes. Finishing them? Hell no.

It will be 3 years since I came up with these ideas. I haven't given up hope yet that I might actually get around to writing all those fics one day, but one-shots and event fics have drawn my attention away.

Who knows; maybe I'll finally take another shot once I've finished up more of my posted WIPs.

[pardi-real]

Tarot of Destiny / Chapter 8 - The One Who Changed Me

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Warning: skip Haures too if you want to avoid episode 2 spoiler

After Boschi left, I kept an eye on the door he exited from, but... 

the next butler didn't seem to appear.

> “Did something happen…?”

Ammon: "What happened? My lord."

> “Woah!?”

At that moment, suddenly I could hear Ammon's voice right behind my neck.

Ammon: "Ahaha ♪ Did you think I was coming in from that door? Oh, sorry about that.  I was in the mood for the opposite door. Didn't mean to startle you~."

> (Definitely a lie...)

Ammon: "Ah, you're making a 'definitely a lie' face, right?  As expected of my lord! You understand me so well~.  If that's the case... you probably already know my feelings without me having to say it, but... well, it's to help you, so. Let me lend a hand. 

Aight, here's the tarot card I got. 'The Moon' in the ‘upright position’... Seems to indicate 'weakness of the heart' or 'uncertainty and doubt.' 

Good grief… I know that already even without the tarot saying it. It's clear as day if you look at the scars on my back."

> “The scars on your back…”

Ammon: "Yeah. My lord, you already know about it, right? 

These scars... I self-inflicted it as a punishment whenever I couldn't forgive myself. Speaking of which... I haven't properly told you until now... 

but it was two years ago... when you first arrived in this world... We went shopping together with you and Muu, and got kidnapped by the residents, right?"

> “That's right”

Ammon: "At that time, I felt so pathetic… ……In a place where nobody could see... I whipped myself on the back that night."

> “............”

Ammon: "Oops... even if I say such things, it's hard to respond, right? However... looking back now... perhaps because of that day... I'm here today, I think. 

As I spent time with my lord... I was increasingly drawn to your charms... Every time those feelings grew stronger,  I remembered that day... and I promised myself that it wouldn't happen again. I wanted to become stronger. 

Before you came, I wasn't really serious about training~.  Of course, I did the bare minimum, but I didn't have the feeling of genuinely wanting to become stronger. 

I've always been just a florist...  my body isn't large, and I'm not suited for combat. No matter how hard I tried... I thought I could never win against Mr. Haures and the likes. So, I felt it was pointless to strive and struggle. 

But after meeting you, and truly desiring to become stronger... I started to feel that my previous self... was really uncool.  Making excuses all the time... it's so lame... What a lame way to live... That won't do to be my lord's butler, will it?

So... now I've completely changed my way of thinking... I've discarded the lame way of comparing myself to others. I'm just gonna do my best at my own pace! 

Now that I've started training seriously... It's surprisingly fulfilling. Look, ain't my arms a bit thicker? Well, maybe not much different. But there's no rush. The changes in the heart will surely reflect in the body later. 

It's all thanks to my lord. Thank you for changing me.  Just as you changed me... someday, I'll change you too, in my own way*."

> “Wh-what do you mean?”

Ammon: "Heheh. Asking that is awkward, you know. Anyway, I've said what I wanted to... I'll call Mr. Haures for the next one.  Until then, dab that sweat off your forehead ♪"

> “Ammon, you little…”

As Ammon left with a mischievous smile... I wiped my heated face with a handkerchief.

~ A while later ~

Clack… clack… 

Haures: "My lord. Sorry for the wait. It's my turn now, but...  Oh? My lord. Isn't your face a bit red?"

> “I-I guess?”

Haures: "Phew… I don't know what Ammon said earlier, but if he doesn't fully trust someone… he won't joke around. So, please cut him some slack.  However… if it goes too far, let me know. I'll give him proper guidance."

> "U-Understood."

Haures: "Now then… it's my turn next, isn't it?  As mentioned before… my card is the 'reversed position' 'Justice'. 'Judging others harshly'… Truly a card that represents me well. 

This negative aspect went out of control during... my demonization. Those nobles who are so full of their position, that they took away the people I hold dear to secure it… I genuinely wanted to pass judgment on them from the bottom of my heart.

If at that time… you hadn't stopped me… I would have forever… never have returned to being the 'kind brother' Tricia loved. Thanks to you, I could recall Tricia's words. You reminded me of how I should live.

As this card suggests, there might indeed be negative aspects within me… but there are still people who will guide someone like me back onto the right path…

Thanks to the tarot card, I've reflected on myself… ……I'm truly, truly grateful. Thank you very much, my lord."

> "Haures…"

In front of me, Haures deeply bows his head. Watching his gesture, I keenly sense his gratitude… feeling that I've been of help to him… I also become emotional.

~ A little while later ~

Horse sound: "Neighhh!"

Fennesz: "Oh. A horse sounds from outside the temple…"

Boschi: "Ah, looks like the ride's here."

Ammon: "Right. It's about time for them to head to the next place."

Haures: "There are three remaining temples… My lord, I know it may be a lot of work, but… please consider the feelings of the other butlers too… Please accept their thoughts just like you have with us."

> "Of course, I understand"

Click

Nac: "My lord. I'm here to pick you up. Please get on my horse. I'll lead the way to the 'Fire Temple' from here.”

note: “I'll change you in my own way” is written literally as “I’ll dye you in my color”, but the phrase can actually mean “I'll make you mine/I'll make you fall for me”

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[lotuslovers]

‘Running from love’ // t.r part 4

Pairing: female!potter(james’ sister) x Tom Riddle

wc: 1.6 k

Summary: In the past, the reader hadn't hope to fall in love with him, their goal was to prevent the rise of the Dark Lord but nothing seemed to go as planned when they are sent back into the future. In the months following the return, Tom Riddle continues to haunt their nightmares and their new reality as he closes in on them. How can an old love cause so much harm? 

Trigger warnings: none

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | tbc

How does one set up a meeting with the Dark Lord? I suppose you can’t just owl his assistant for available time slots. She had no clue about his whereabouts so she decided it was time to owl one of their closest friends, Abraxas Malfoy. After a long drawn out night, she attempted to compose a letter by rewriting it time and time again until she knew it was sculpted to perfection. She sent the letter off in a black envelope to the owl post office to be set out. The letter read:

Dear Abraxas,

It comes in time where I reach back out to you, to my dismay it is under these circumstances. I understand it has been many years, decades since you have last heard from me but hopefully you haven't forgotten me. My letter regards my Tom, the attached letter is to reach him, I haven’t a clue where he is so if you could pass it to him I would be thankful. My friend, hopefully you are well, I am doing quite fine, I can’t address what happened to me or why I disappeared, that is for another letter. How are things? Must be a lot of things we can address in the future, perhaps over a cup of tea, you always told me those were for serious talks. Until then and when I am ready, this will be all until I send a letter back. You mustn’t send a letter in response or attempt to charm one my may, I prefer my location a secret. So be kind enough to not try for all attempts will fail. Best regards, Malfoy.

Sincerely,

Y.O’C

P.s please make sure Tom personally gets it and only he reads it. 

Tom’s letter read:

Dear Tom,

My dearest, I never intended to leave all those years ago. I intended to stay with you, to love you to my best capability, to perhaps have you round’ my folks home, meet my family, get married, have kids, and grow old together. Our time together was cut short, for reasons I must’n disclose in a letter but in person. I will explain it all if you will let me. I know what you have done yet I still love you as much as the last day I had in your presence, I ask that you give me a chance to explain. You don’t have to but I wish to at least explain, in case I get my Tom back to me or atleast get closure for the both of us. If you are willing to meet me, I ask you don’t be angry with me and you come alone as I will. The location hasn’t been chosen yet, as I haven��t thought of a place but I will send an owl to Abraxas to give to you as I don’t know your location, I trust you will abide by my wishes and wait for my owl. Meet me at 12 pm on June 16, location will be owled at a later date. I love you Tom, please don’t ever forget it. 

Sincerely yours,

Y.O’C

∞

Sending the letter was half the trouble, the real issue was following through with the meeting. I hoped it would only be me and him but even just the two of us alone had uneased myself. Besides Regulus, no one knew I had gone to meet him and even then he had no idea the date or location of where it was agreed.

On the brisk morning, I apparated to a small secluded area in the English countryside. Walking along the cobblestone steps, slowing up to the dark mahogany doors of the long gone manor I pulled the cloak closer over my head. The grand house succumbed to the vines that began to grow up the sides of the once incredulous architecture. The family home of the Riddles had long gone, becoming an estate, only being in good enough condition to still stand. When preventing Tom from killing his father, his dad started a new family that continued the line. Here I was shivering with the knowledge he would be inside waiting for me, possibly awaiting to kill me but he hadn’t yet so I continued. Pushing the door open, a small squeak of the rusty hinges let out through the air before returning to silence as I closed it behind me. The layout of the house reminded me of the Malfoy Manor, tall doors lining the walls ushering out to separate wings or presumed ballrooms and the giant sturdy staircase lined with oil portraits. I wondered how different he would have turned out if Tom Riddle SR. accepted to raise him, instead of being stuck with the croon Mrs. Cole. 

The farthest door on the left was ajar, the faint light of a fire along with candles were the only indications of another person being here with me. Making sure to pull my hood over my eyes whilst tucking my wand in my pocket I sturdied myself before opting to continue down the hall. Silence hung through the air besides the content click of my boots on the wooden floor, passing a few door frames I made it to the open one. Peering into the room, it appeared to be a study lined with bookshelves filled to the brim with a variety of books. In the center of the room was a lit fireplace in front of a set of couches. The center couch was a dark figure of a man, she knew it was him from the moment she set eyes on his side profile. 

The posture was a give away, along with the book he held in his palms, his diary. His hair was in a tight set of dark brown curls, his skin gleamed with warmth allowing it to dance along his face, his posture was perfect but loose, in his hand opposite to his diary was a cup of firewhiskey, his face was hardly a day older then when you last saw him. Your presence was known but he didn’t glance your way, hiding behind your cloak and the shadows just basking in the way his presence calmed you. Finally closing his book before setting his cup down he spoke “i supposed you would use her as a rouise eventually Albus, such a pity you had to be the first to die in this disgraced house” he twirled his hand before his wand appeared out of thin air.

Glancing up at the doorway, his eyes burned with full fury as he assumed Dumbledore was here. But fearing the worse you spoke softly “Tommy” he instantly froze. 

 “y/n?” his voice shook as you nodded behind shadows of the low pulled hood. “Come on, I know this is a  trick, Dumbledore give up and show yourself” he pointed his wand at you, shaking his anger as he stood up abruptly. Seeing him in person was surreal, you were sure tears were streaming down your face, still hiding in the shadows. “It's me Tom” you spoke, approaching him, faced down as your voice broke. “It can’t be” he said, almost trying to convince himself but in an instant he surged toward you, pinning you to the wall. 

He dug his wand up your jugular where it lay just on top of your pulse point, just as he had so many times in those awful nightmares. His rough palms grabbed your chin, finally lifting it to meet his eager gaze. Tilting it up so far that your hood sunk down, revealing her face to his eager eyes. Standing inches away from his face as he let the shock set it. His breath hitches in his throat, his shoulders tensed before he dropped his wand and pulling you into a tight hug. Nuzzling up into your hair, he caressed your cheek and drank in your appearance as if it was the last thing he got to see. “It's been years, why have you just found me my love” he spoke finally letting his own sobs echo through the air. “why don't you look a day older than when I last saw you?” he mumbled into her hair as he pulled you closer down to his shoulder. You finally broke, “Oh Tom, I missed you so much. I can explain everything I promise just let me hug you”. The experience was surreal, he picked you up to bring you both to the couch. Lying cuddled up, his deep breaths tethered you to reality. He had aged in the past decades, the young boy now grew into an older man. The dark brown hair of his was now parted in the middle with loose curls now framing an older more angular face. His eyes sparkled in a new sheen, the past version you knew was so far away. 

“Can you explain now?” he asked, lifting a hand to rub the hot tears off your cheeks. 

“I will” she said, but now nothing was certain. He had wanted to kill her, but now he hadn’t. He had only wished to when he thought she was Albus, only then was she truly in danger. Now, his aged self comforted the girl in such a scenario no one would have expected. How could she admit the truth, how she existed then only to prevent his own casualties? Could anyone reason to the implication that she loved him to save him, how could he react?

She wanted to greedily enjoy the silence between the both, pretending they had fallen asleep on the Slytherin homeroom’s couch again when they were young. But they weren’t kids anyone, she had lived this year of her life two times already and for Riddle he soaked up the decades away from her, building his power. They had both changed, now they only held ideas of one another but they wanted so badly to fall back in time to before the night their whole worlds paused. 

[danielfeketewrites]

DOCTOR WHO TOP 10 - 11th Doctor

My favourite of the New Who Doctors. I started with his era and it changed my life.

10. The World Tree

A recent addition to this Doctor's EU canon, I utterly love this little story. It's another winner of the Paul Spragg Memorial, so you can download it for free on the Big Finish website. I urge you to do so.

9. The God Complex

Having previously written School Reunion and Vampires of Venice, I presume Toby Whithouse's reputation in the Who fandom was something along the lines of "he writes the fun, fluffy ones". The God Complex is his first darker and, well, more complex script. And it really, really works. I have a soft spot for most of his episodes anyway, but The God Complex is probably the most ambitious one. I adore the visceral liminality of that hotel, it's so good. (Also, I choose to ignore that nonsense reveal in The Time of the Doctor.)

8. Apotheosis / The Child of Time

These two basically form a two-parter, so I'm putting them together. Although, for the record, I prefer Apotheosis, contrary to what Jonathan Morris presumes in his commentary at the end of the comic strip collection. Mostly because I love Dan McDaid's art so bloody much, but also because of the atmosphere, setting, clever use of the medium (the stuff with the beard ROCKS), and nuns with guns. But The Child of Time is also pretty great as a big, satisfying finale full of fun twists. I said it before, I'll say it again - Morris is a great chameleon, perfect at writing excellent Doctor Who stories while using voices of other excellent Doctor Who writers. I mean, he admits in the commentary that he wanted to get the strips close to Moffat's style and I think he definitely succeeded.

7. Amy's Choice

It's a shame Simon Nye never wrote any more Doctor Who, because Amy's Choice is a stellar character piece. Toby Jones' Dream Lord is such a memorable presence and the connundrum this episode presents is really fun and unique.

6. Space in Dimension Relative and Time

one best the is it but One Year Doctor's eleventh in one-shot experimental only the not It's. clever really, really it's yet, simple It's. it read go all should you and story timey-wimey unique and fun really a in potential full it's to medium the uses Williams Rob.

5. The Eleventh Hour

The episode that hooked me. The episode that changed my life. I fully believe this is the best episode to show to someone new to Doctor Who.

4. The Rise and Fall / The Other Doctor

A two-parter, with the first part written by Al Ewing and draw by Boo Cook, and the second part written by Rob Williams and drawn by Simon Fraser. I've only read Year One of eleventh Doctor's comics published by Titan, but I strongly feel the story of the Doctor taking on SERVEYOUinc. In a way, the story feels like a conversation not just with Doctor Who's past and present, but also with it's future... It feels like the perfect antidote to Kerblam!.

3. The Day of the Doctor (and The Day of the Doctor)

Listening to Steven Moffat talk about The Day of the Doctor is weird. Everything around the writing and production of the 50th anniversary special seems like hell. And yet, the end result is something that's not just extremely good Doctor Who, it feels like it knows it's good Doctor Who. It looks simple, seems self-assured, appears to know exactly what it's doing. It's a minor miracle. And it's also amazing. Gallifrey falls no more. All thirteen and all that.

Note: This spot is shared between the episode AND the novelisation. I love both of them very much. Go read the novelisation if you haven't read it yet. It's really, really fun.

2. Vincent and the Doctor

Nearly everyone loves this episode and, well, I can't really argue with that. It really is special. I adore it, the greatest celebrity historical the show ever did.

1. The Doctor's Wife

My favourite New Who episode.

So, I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman. That is probably not a shocking take on this website. My collection of his work currently includes 12 books (1 in Czech translation, the rest in English), 6 comic books (1 in Czech translation, the rest in English), and 1 script book. I love Neil Gaiman.

I love the idea of the Corsair. I actually roleplayed as an incarnation of the Corsair in a game of Cubicle 7's Doctor Who TTRPG at a Red Dwarf convention recently. In front of an audience of like four people.

Hell, I even made a fanart of the Nephew like 6 or 7 year ago. I love the poor Ood and I love the horror aspect of the episode, with TARDIS becoming an abject and unfamiliar place when she gets possessed by the House.

But the reason I love this episode the most out of not just the eleventh Doctor's era but all of the 2005 series is... Well, it's the relationship. The Doctor and his TARDIS. Or, the Thief and his Sexy. It recontextualizes the whole mythology, it recontextualizes the entire series in a way that's so moving and poetic and just... perfect. I love The Doctor's Wife.

[fitzrove]

1, 5, 15 for musical asks!

Thank you so much for asking!!!

1. What is your current favourite musical, and is it different from what it was at the end of last year?

Ahhhh it's so hard to pick :D I think objectively (how insane the themes make me and have made me for a long time) it's probably TdV, but right now (3:28 am on December 28th) it's LOTR because I've been listening to it on loop for like 2 weeks ajsjfjhk. Like it's kinda flawed but I love the music so much and it's giving me major nostalgic feels. Last December I think it was Elisabeth (or maybe TdV tbh, that one's hard to displace) but I think Elisabeth is maybe my 3rd favourite now so there's not a huge change :D

5. Did you see any live musicals this year? What did you think of them?

Yess, I saw a whole bunch of them!! Highlights include Rebecca (Vienna), Cabaret (Finland), Evita (Germany), Wicked (London) & Les Mis (London). I really liked Cabaret and Evita (both were staged in innovative ways), had fun and appreciated the casts at Wicked and Rebecca (both were staged in uninnovative ways XD) (ahdhgjgj half joking), but Les Mis kinda sucked (I couldn't see anything because I had a cheap balcony seat and a guy with a big head sat in front of me) ajdjgj. But the cast there was amazing so it's not like it was a complete waste!!!

In total I must've seen like 20+ pieces of live theatre ahsjjf, but some of it I can't reveal here because I'm not open online about where I'm living in Germany. I'm really hyped to be living there, though, because good and speedy train connections are making next year seem very very promising!!!

15. Infodump to me about a musical!

Oooh idk which one... :D Maybe something I haven't talked about on this blog a lot before but I really enjoy: The Lord of the Rings (2006/2007/2023)!!

I first listened to this one in like 2017, because I liked the books/movies and discovered that it existed. Mostly I played Lothlorien on loop because it's an amazing song and there's an actual proshot video of it on youtube and Laura Michelle Kelly as Galadriel is really sparkly and pretty. Then I listened to the rest of the album and the music is just great all over!!! It's done by AR Rahman (composer, multi-instrumentalist, winner of a million awards for film soundtracks mostly in Indian cinema), Värttinä (Finnish folk band - most famously creators of Ievan polkka) and Christopher Nightingale (don't know much about him ahdhf). The Finnish folk influence is especially audible in the songs of the elves, they have real ancient cattle call vibes sometimes (in a good way xD). But my favourite songs are actually the more story-based and cinematic ones that I'm drawn to attribute to Rahman, as well as the soaring instrumental sections. So I would rank my fave songs (yes, all of them are favourites):

Lothlórien

The Road Goes On

Now and For Always

Wonder

The Cat and the Moon

Star of Earendil

The Final Battle

The Song of Hope

That's most of the main songs actually ahdhfgjgk.

The show is flawed, like I mentioned before; for someone who doesn't know the story from the LOTR books or movies it would get confusing pretty quickly, and because of the size of the cast it's hard to get insight into many of them in such a limited timespan (Boromir and the elves other than Arwen and Galadriel fall especially flat). But I love the music soooo much and I'm so excited that it was produced again in 2023, and in such a cozy and compact way too (it was done in a 200-seat theatre with an actor-musician cast as a semi-immersive production). The London cast recording is on Spotify, everyone should listen to it!

[tsfennec]

I posted 1,104 times in 2022

63 posts created (6%)

1,041 posts reblogged (94%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@freenarnian

@scarvenartist

@praise-the-lord-im-dead

@lady-merian

@hobbitsetal

I tagged 1,103 of my posts in 2022

#nature - 334 posts

#love it - 276 posts

#beautiful - 257 posts

#photography - 235 posts

#art - 228 posts

#animals - 217 posts

#writing - 214 posts

#writeblr - 213 posts

#writers - 212 posts

#lolol - 184 posts

Longest Tag: 115 characters

#(and anti-snobbery snobbery of its own kind! snobbery about not liking things recognized as quality literature etc)

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Leetle forest mouse trying to get out of the rain :)

This was meant to be a quick doodle but I ended up having too much fun trying to figure out how to do a decent background, lol.

124 notes - Posted January 13, 2022

#4

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27:13-14 (ESV)

157 notes - Posted September 12, 2022

#3

Just got a new iPad, so I finally have Procreate! And as my also-new ring splints are helping with hand pain... behold, my first finished piece in over a year! \o/

I had so much fun playing around with the watercolor and inking options for this. :D

189 notes - Posted January 10, 2022

#2

Despite my name, I had... never actually drawn a fennec fox before? But now I have rectified that oversight. :D

250 notes - Posted March 31, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Okay, yeah, I'm just gonna go ahead and post Blobman and Blobbin.

Aka combatting perfectionism on more complicated projects with a quick Batman because it's something I haven't tried before.

1,676 notes - Posted April 27, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[i-love-you-very-much]

saw Nerdy Prudes Must Die and uh

it's very much not what i expected. unlike Black Friday, it doesn't have the same plot as TGWDLM, and the references to it don't impede the plot (although i do still think it was a bit much). like Black Friday, however, the start of act 2 has a song from a different musical that i would be more interested in watching instead, as i don't really give a shit about high schoolers but i love me some smoked meats.

i haven't seen any of the Nightmare Time stuff, so i don't know if there's more to the story between the Mayor and the Lords In Black, or if they decided to put that into the plot because they could. again, it didn't impede the story, but it seemed... underfounded? i guess? especially for something that's 2½ hours long and takes a break in the middle for The Barbecue Monologues and The Bath Scene (which. i get it was there for character reasons. but it didn't need to be that drawn out no matter how good the song is).

i think Mariah, Angela, and Bryce really carry the show, they were perfect casting for the characters they played. it's also Corey's best acting in a starkid show so far. sometimes it's fun to hear Kim's vibrant and piercing voice in a song where that's absolutely not the style they're going for.

speaking of, the music sounds much more full than the previous two, although the semi-hollowness adds to the charm and atmosphere of TGWDLM (not so much Black Friday though). the camerawork is also much better.

it feels almost a waste to cast most of the actors to characters that don't really fit their vocal strengths. i get that the cast is supposed to be stereotypical high school nerds, but like. you don't Have To make them put on funny voices for the characters.

speaking of the characters: i don't like any of them. not "i don't like how they're written," but i simply find them all insufferable and would hate to be locked in a room them. this isn't a bad thing, sometimes it's fun to absolutely hate characters, but i did find myself wincing at them more often than i'd like to in a musical. they're more "what 30 year olds think high schoolers are like" than "what high schoolers are like." like. they should have been a different kind of insufferable.

i'd like to see someone give an intricately detailed literary analysis of it, mainly because i think it would be fun to read but also because i wanna see how many parts of the story i can throw at it and ask "how does this work with the themes, motifs, and symbolism present in the story to make it stronger and more cohesive?" and if any of the answers are "it doesn't. dude, it's a comedy musical, it doesn't have to be that deep" i will not be surprised.

given that it's a horror comedy, i probably should have expected to experience the hallucinations i did, but there were quite a few moments where i had to look away and try not to pay attention. this isn't an indictment of the show, this is just my personal thoughts on it. if you know someone who doesn't like gore, physical violence, or bullying, do not recommend this to them.

my favorite bits (not in order)

when Max all but dares the audience to leave the theater in Literal Monster Pt. 2

"So you... DON'T want to be bullied?" and the ensuing scene

"Wow, Ms. Tessburger, it IS like that, isn't it?"

"i'll carefully smash it with this hammer."

honestly? The Barbecue Monologues

pronouncing only the first half of rendez-vous correctly when logically it should be all right or all wrong

the fact that Grace's dad calls her mom Mother but her mom calls him by his name

any time Angela makes a face

the beans bit

"the trees are greener! the sun is brighter!" when it's october and neither of those should be happening

"Fuck you, Clivesdale, go get fucked, you're fucking losers and we'll kill you" as an accepted high school cheer

Curt visibly holding in laughter after "they didn't say."

Grace downing 20oz of "strong" hot water in one go

"are you a woman of faith?" "catholic." "i'll take that as a no. imagine you're a GOOD christian."

Steph asking both Pete and the audience "what are we watching?"

overall? 6/10. not bad, but not my cup of tea. if i were to rank the hatchetfield musicals this would probably be the middle of the three.

[dailyaudiobiblechronological]

9/2/2023 DAB Chronological Transcription

Ezekiel 20-21

Welcome to Daily Audio Bible Chronological, I'm China. Today is the second day of September. Welcome. So great to be here with you today to get to read the word of the Lord to end with you. I love that. I love this is something that I get to do and that people all over the world are coming together and reading God's word together and we are all reading the same scripture but hearing different things. And the Lord is speaking to us and revealing to us different things and at different parts and different points and even some things collectively and I think that is really beautiful and a really huge beautiful piece of what it means to be a part of the the body of Christ. So we are continuing today in the book of Ezekiel with chapters 20 through 21, and we are continuing with the English Standard version for this week.

Commentary:

So today's reading is the word. You know, there's this consistent comparison of the Lord drawing his sword, he's bringing it out of its sheath and.You know, typically what happens when you take your sword out of its sheath. It is time for battle. It is time for, like, somebody's probably going to lose a limb. And that is what the Lord is saying, that destruction has come. It is time for destruction. And what follows closely after is God speaking that there will be a restoration. And we really just see the heart of God. He is a God who cares deeply for his people, and he's a God who is a God of order. And he also knows he's a God who knows when enough is enough. And so he's drawing a line in the sand. He's drawing out his sword and he is saying, I am against you and I will cut you off. I will cut you off from both righteous and wicked. Therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north, and all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. I've drawn my sword from its sheath. It will not be sheathed again. And that is where we are at in our story. That's where we're at. I mean, imagine hearing this from the Lord and then having to deliver this message. That's a pretty. Harsh word right. But also, I'm like, these people had to have known this is coming. The good majority of today's reading is a recap of where the Lord has taken them and a...like a summarization of where they have been and kind of how they got to this place. And so now the Lord is saying, look, I have given you so much time, I've given you every opportunity to turn, turn towards me, you haven't. And so now this is what's going to take place. 

Prayer:

And Lord, I just pray that we would be a people who grasp your word, that we wouldn't be afraid of your word and get the wrong idea or misinterpret your scripture and what you are saying. I thank you that you are the God who doesn't just set destruction and catastrophe and mass ruin and leave it. But you are a God who comes and breathes new life. And so, Lord, maybe we have felt like this year has been a year of destruction, a year that feels like time and time again. Things are being brought down and ruined. And God, I just, I pray over your people that we would have a deep understanding of your word and who you are. That we would cling to the sweet truth that you are God and you are sovereign and you are Lord. And in that we can find rest. And it is in your name we pray. Amen.

Announcements:

If you have prayer requests, things that we as a community can come alongside of you, lift you up, encourage you, pray over you, or if you hear someone's prayer request and you want to call in and pray over them, you can do so at 800-583-2164 or if you listen through the app there is a way for you to record your prayer request, and those get sent in here and played at the end of every day's podcast. If you have anything outside of a prayer request, we can go to facebook.com/daily Audio Bible Chronological and you can connect with other DABCers there. Or anything that's not prayer request, or praying related. That is the spot for you to do so. That is all for today. I'm China. I love you and I will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer Line:

Hi DABC, this is Cynthia from Texas. I was calling to ask y'all to pray for my mom, Ginger, and she is a godly mother of five. And and she has struggled with chronic illnesses her whole life. Um, here's a long list celiac and um she had a damaged liver from an illness that she had years back, so she gets migraines from all kinds of things anyway. She also injured her knee. Umm, I think she tore her meniscus or something like that. Um. And she's hardly been able to walk the last few months, which has been really hard on her emotionally. And as you can imagine, wanting to see her grandchildren and not really being able to do anything. Um, she also had scoliosis that was untreated for about 60 years and now being treated, but anyway. And so she's going to have surgery on her knees, soonish and I'm just asking for prayer that God would heal all the things and also that the surgery would really turn her health around, that it would work really well, and that she would be able to exercise and move around and do things. And that that exercise would help turn her health around as well. Um, so yeah, I just ask for y'all 's prayers. I really appreciate y'all praying. God bless you all.

Good morning, DABC. This is Tonya calling from Suffolk. I wanted to lift up Kevin. Aaron from Houston called and wanted prayer for Kevin and also Kevin's friend that's struggling with mental illness. I believe that's what he was saying. Heavenly Father. I wanted to lift up these two young men over yours. Heavenly Father, dear Lord, you know where they stand in the need of Father. I'm asking Lord God, you just intervene, Lord God, on their behalf. Lord God, I'm asking Father that you remove any and everything that is not of you. Lord God, break them down to the core, Lord God, just to build them up. Father I pray for hope. I pray for strength. I pray for healing, Father. I pray Lord God that you bring someone into their lives, Lord God, that they can interact with, that is a godly person, Lord God that can lift them up when they are down, Father, and can continue to just encourage them. Father, I'm asking Father you to wrap their you're a loving arms around them, Father. Give them strength like no other. I speak divine healing, divine deliverance. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. And this is my prayer to you in Jesus name you guys. As always, I love you guys and continue to be encouraged. I thank you so much for the continued prayers that we pray over each and every one of us. God is great. He's greatly to be great. Be God is great, and He's greatly to be praised. You guys have a wonderful day. As always, continue to be encouraged. I love you all.

Hey DABC, this is Cynthia from Texas. I'm calling to pray for Ashley from Texas and her daughter, OK umm. I have a baby almost exactly the same age, so I'm a little girl too. So, Lord, I lift up a little.... I pray that you would heal her body. That you would heal her bowels. That you would make everything processed through correctly. Um, I pray that you would give Ashley and the doctors wisdom to know what is causing this, whether it's an allergy or some other underlying problem. But Lord, we just ask you to heal this baby. Lord God that you would heal her body that she would be able to.Yet that she would enjoy eating and that she would be able to poop and everything would happen in a healthy way, in a natural way. I just ask that you would touch this little baby and give her fullness of life and help her to thrive in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you sis.

Hi, this is Chastity from Kansas. I wanted to call for Ashley. You had called about your daughter Genesis and how she was having issues with like constipation and just like stomach issues, not growing, not crawling, not walking. Um, I'm so sorry, Mama. It's so hard when our kids are not where the milestones say they should be, and it's extremely discouraging at times. I know my my son is special needs and I've really been struggling a lot lately with just him not being our kids are his age and it's it's made me very emotional recently, but I just wanted to pray for you and your baby. Well, thank you Jesus, for this, this beautiful mom and baby that you've blessed her with. Your thank you for the miracles you've done and Ashley's life and and her daughters. And we thank you in advance for all the answers, Lord, that you will provide through these doctors and Lord we pray for Ashley to be able to get Genesis into a GI specialist soon Lord, if that is your will that she goes to a GI specialist Lord. Those appointments can be crazy to get into very very long wait list as we experienced with ours. But Lord, you know what she stands in need of, and we just lift them up to you and thank you in advance, God, for what you're going to do in this baby's life and in her moms. And thank you for her having a loving, caring, and praying mom. God remind her that you have not given her a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. Please comfort her. Wrap her, wrap her in your arms and remind her that you gave her this baby for a reason. You made her a Genesis mom for a reason. Thank you Lord for this beautiful little family. We love you so much. In Jesus name, Amen. I love you girl.

[tmmyhug]

vee :( lotta people been talking about the dsmp ending...I got invested in it pretty recently I don't feel like I even got to see enough of it to want to let it go :( it's like getting invited to a party while it's going on, and getting excited because you've still got time to make friends but once you're there everyone starts packing up :(

anon :( i'm so sorry, i know that's a terrible feeling. esp with a new hyperfixation. but don't despair - they haven't given up yet! if there's anything we know about our streamers, it's that they're stubborn as all heck and that they love what they do. if they want lore, god help them, they'll make lore.

but all good things must end. i can't deny that the dsmp is closer to the end of its life than its start. the best we can do is make the most of what what we have. and yknow what? we have so much. dream smp seasons 1 and 2 will go down in mcyt history. it doesn't matter if you're late to this party, because it's immortalized online. people will keep revisiting and loving old dream smp for a long, long time. fandom is like a bug - it's hard to squish. just look at fandoms like star trek and lord of the rings!

and it may just be my battle scars from the supernatural fandom, but personally? i would 100x prefer a real dsmp ending soon instead of an awkward, drawn out death with no definitive conclusion.

dsmp isn't a tv show where every year they need a new season to keep raking in money, even at the expense of the story and characters - these ccs have built successful careers that don't rely solely on the smp for their success. and most importantly, they believe in a good story.

so when, inevitably, the time comes? i say let it end. let our characters rest. they deserve closure. we deserve closure. i think they've earned it.

they'll live forever in fandom.

[circular-time]

oh hell. I just realized... i haven't gone through losing a Doctor I loved since I was about 13 years old. Well, for Peter Capaldi, sort of, but we had so much warning, and it was kind of drawn out, and I was more bummed about Bill. Also, while I liked his Doctor very much, I never fully imprinted on him as "my" Doctor. (I did tear up a bit at The Last Adventure, and unsurprisingly I cried buckets for Nyssa.)

This should be interesting. I have a feeling Thirteen may really be the first modern Doctor whose ending poleaxes me, unless Chibbers and the gang flub the climax.

*vagueblogging [spoilers up through Episode 4] season 13*

I haven't been saying a whole lot about this season because I keep watching it 1-2 days late, by which time y'all have already said All the Things, but I'm really enjoying the excellent writing and storytelling. Most of them have been a hella wild ride, with time jumps and space jumps that I think Who should take advantage of more often.

I love how fierce and chaotic and self-sufficient this Doctor is— much like One and Two, despite having multiple companions, she really works alone to her own drum a lot of the time— the flashes of compassion, the flashes of anger, and the sense that she's running, weaving, dodging, reacting, barely having to process what's going on, like she's running across a battlefield with explosions... she's improvising her way through each emergency but she hasn't had a moment to catch her breath, take stock, consider what's happening since she and Yaz stepped onto K-dog's ship.

I like how competent Yaz is now, although I still wish Chibbers wasn't so allergic to giving her emotional character depth and letting her interact with her Doctor. JUST as I feared: This was supposed to be their season, but there's barely any time for them to interact, because women being bffs just isn't a thing in Doctor Who. Instead Yaz is teaching Dan the ropes, which is a good twist too.

I appreciate the classic Who easter eggs (Nitro 9), history (Sevastapol, MARY SEACOLE, Belsen :() and tantalizing Gallifrey hints. (Red plants? The Academy?)

I think/hope there's going to be a lot of rewatchability on this season once we know all the pieces.

I'm still a little uncertain about some of the new stuff that's been introduced to canon, but once upon a time people were howling about how Invasion of Time totally mucked up the Time Lords and Gallifrey and contradicted what had gone before. I hated the Valeyard when that concept was introduced, but it didn't break the show. And I honestly wasn't happy with the Time War/Last of the Time Lords concept, but it kind of worked...nor did I like it when the Doctor went from being some cosmic hobo dropout to The Oncoming Storm with delusions of grandeur, yet that superhero version of the Doctor is the default for most fans now... the point being, radical new backstory sometimes gets folded in, and if it works well, it stays, and if it doesn't, it bleeds back into the background.

Most of all, I feel like the storytelling this season is so good that I'm willing to suspend judgment and see where it's going. I'm enjoying the wild ride. And there's enough heartwrenchy stuff without the angst going over the top into soap opera melodrama, which is a very fine line to walk.(As a fanfic writer, I certainly skate right past it.)

I like the secondary characters and their actors. Regarding Vinder & Bel — if not for the fact this het couple (but at least PoC! Yes, Virginia, representation in SF matters, at least until it's not incredibly rare!) is hogging the emotional relationship space I was hoping Thirteen and Yaz would have this season, I'd love every second, and I forgive them; they're awful cute. I have seen the theories from some of you about who the baby maybe. Like I said, I prefer the Doctor as an ordinary person, a dropout and something of a fuckup, as far as Time Lords are concerned, instead of an epic hero. So I like the way Vinder and Bel are turning out to be decent, honorable, loving, but very ordinary people. However, I think the fanbase will lose its collective shit if it turns out... yeah.

The trailer for next week gave me a glimpse of someone I've been longing to see ever since Jodie was announced as the Doctor! If their characters don't meet, though, I'm gonna have a sad. They HAVE to. Come on, Chibbers, throw us old farts a bone and give us the "Who else would it be?" line I've been waiting for.

...almost forgot to say. My first reaction after finishing this week's ep was, "Oh, my poor babies." That was a GOOD GOOD GOOD tasty cliffhanger. Yaz seeing that happen in front of her and not being able to do a damn thing... oh, yummy, tasty ouch.

[imgoingtofreakoutnow]

An old friend - Part 2

Summary: You've been invited for tea at the Bridgerton's household. You'll meet some new faces and perhaps dig in the past with your host...

Pairing: Anthony Bridgerton x Fem!reader

Other characters: Benedict Bridgerton, Violet Bridgerton, Gregory Bridgerton, Hyacinth Bridgerton

Warnings: looooots of yearning, face touching (?) if this counts as warning

Words: 3.6k+

A/n: I wasn't planning on doing a second part but here we are! I know it's long, and the start can feel a bit slow, but stick until the end; things get interesting there😏😉

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

As you stepped down the carriage, your eyes were immediately drawn to the facade of the house: even though you weren't a child anymore it still looked majestic to your eyes. The lilac wisteria hanged from the red terracotta wall, swinging his blooming flowers just above the door, giving the compound that vibrant hint of colour that you remembered.

When you heard the wheels of your carriage move against the pebble, you decided it was time to enter the Bridgerton's household. However, you soon realized that your feet were seemingly planted in the ground just before the gates of the estate.

Nervously holding your shaking gloves near your lap, you tried to calm down that sudden wave of anxiety. You truly had nothing to be worried about: your hosts were some of the kindest human beings you had ever met and the house was no stranger to you either. Nonetheless, war drums started playing in your chest at the thought that Anthony was waiting for you inside...

"Can I help you, miss?"

You turned towards the voice that called you back to reality to be met with the tall figure of Benedict. "Mr. Bridgerton"

He bowed as you curtseyed. "Well, this is embarrassing" he muttered, taking off his hat with an apologetic smile. "You know my name, but I don't know yours... should I know you, miss?"

You smiled back, shaking slightly your head. "Probably not, sir. I'm Y/N Y/L/N. I believe I am awaited for tea this afternoon: Lady Bridgerton invited me at last night's ball"

"I recall Anthony mentioning something about a guest..." he started but shrugged afterwards, "however I wasn't listening". His green eyes moved on you, squeezing slightly as they took in your features. "I beg you forgiveness in advance if I'm mistaken, but do you appear to be that little girl that used to play with Anthony when he still possessed a sense of humour?"

You hardly stopped a laugh from escaping your lips. "I shall not know, did Lord Bridgerton used to entertain himself with many young ladies when he was young himself?"

Benedict shook his head, still smiling. "Not that I can remember"

"Then that's probably me" you confirmed, chuckling slightly as the weight on your stomach eased considerably.

"I shall not believe that! The world is much smaller than I thought it was". He rubbed his cheek, his face lit by shock and delight. Then, looking at the front door and then back at you: "Why then were you standing here like a statue?"

At his question you lowered your gaze to your hands, not as shaky as before but still partly trembling. When you opened your mouth to reply, no rational answer came out from your parted lips.

Thankfully, Benedict seemed to notice your distress and simply took your arm in his. "Admit it" he said, smiling cheekily and guiding you inside, "you were waiting for me just to escort you inside. Isn't that right?"

With a giggle you nodded. "You uncovered my plan, sir. I shall hope it remains a secret between the two of us"

Benedict opened the door for you. "I'll take it to the grave, miss Y/L/N"

You flashed him one last smile before your eyes wandered on the interior of the household, leaving you speechless: everything was exactly where your clouded memories placed it, with few errant exceptions, like the china vase in the vestibule or the tiny pottery work on the table next to the door of the drawing room.

It felt almost unreal, like walking in a dream made long time ago... nonetheless, the way your heart jumped in your throat when you saw Anthony slouching on a couch near the window felt very much real to you.

"Miss Y/L/N". When Violet's voice reached your ears she was already in front of you, taking your arm to drag you away from her second-born. "It is a delight to see you again so soon. I believe you haven't met my youngest children, Gregory and Hyacinth".

The two siblings looked at you, Hyacinth smiling fascinated while Gregory was subtly munching something.

You smiled at them. "It's a pleasure to meet you"

"Miss Y/L/N, could I ask you something?"

Your eyes fixed in Hyacinth's, wide with curiosity. "Of course"

She took some steps towards you and you bent down so that she could cup your ear. "Is it true that you and Anthony made all the nurses go mad when you were our age?"

"Who told you that?" you whispered back, grinning. "We made them go mad when we were much younger than you"

Hyacinth covered her mouth, giggling silently as she went back next to her brother. Gregory, still looking at you, finally gulped down his food and turned to his mother. “Can we go play outside now, mama?”

With a sigh and a gesture of her hand, Lady Bridgerton released her youngest from the strings of formality and you watched them running one after the other out of the drawing room.

“Pardon their impatience” sighed Violet, sitting on the sofa next to her. She seemed terribly tired and you couldn’t imagine otherwise: if the other Bridgertons were half the troublemakers you and Anthony were, you were surprised the household was still intact.

You took a seat next to her, your back straightened as a greek column. “There is no need to apologise, I do envy their freedom” you admitted as your gaze fell in your lap. “They should enjoy every moment they have left before they come of age”

“From your tone, miss Y/L/N, it transpires the belief that there is no freedom in our society whatsoever”

You turned to Anthony, now seated a little more properly on the couch. His eyes locked in yours terribly easily, as they already possessed the key to your soul.

"Not if one wants to be accepted by said society, Lord Bridgerton" you clarified. "And we know well enough that not many would risk their place in this - pardon my words - refined golden parade for a semblance of temporary freedom"

"A golden parade". Anthony tasted your words on his tongue. "Shall we ever be freed from the chains society imposed us then?"

"It is possible, yes. Nevertheless, it may not be as easy as one might expect"

Anthony was still looking at you and the fabric of your gloves started sticking to your sweaty hands under his stare. You lowered your gaze. "But of course, this is just my humble opinion"

"Quite pessimistic, if I may" Benedict's voice broke through your thoughts. Slouching like Anthony on the other couch, there was no doubt those two were brothers. "But my word, you and Eloise would get along perfectly well"

"My second daughter. She is quite a free spirit" explained Violet seeing your confusion. "Unfortunately, you won't meet her today: she went for a walk with her friend, miss Penelope Featherington"

“On another quest to find the writer who hides behind the name of Lady Whistledown” added Benedict, earning a glare from his mother.

"I'm sure there will be many other occasions to meet her. And your eldest daughter as well. I’ve heard she married the Duke of Hastings, is that right?"

Her eyes lit as soon as you mentioned her daughter, and before you knew it, your mind was filled with every single detail of the wedding and engagement party, and all the circumstances that preceded and followed it.

A light knock made everyone turn towards the door. The footmen placed swiftly and silently the trays with teapots and cups on the small tables around the room, together with many small plates full of different biscuits and what looked like delicious refreshments.

One of the footmen approached cautiosly Violet, who was now talking about the scandal in which Colin had been unknowingly drawn. "Lady Bridgerton". The woman turned towards him with a smile. "Miss Francesca denies her medicine..."

Violet sighed, putting her cup back on the tray. "Goodness gracious... She went to Bath on her own, she's almost of age and she keeps throwing tantrums for these little things...". She then turned to you: "I shall be back in a few minutes, my dear"

You nodded, watching her leave the room with the young footman. The exact moment she disappeared through the door, Benedict jumped from his seat, almost making you spill the tea on your dress.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I shall leave as well" he explained, putting his tailcoat back on in a hurry. He looked towards Anthony. "If mother asks, I'm in my room feeling unwell and I definitely won't attend dinner"

"Shall I know where you're going?" asked Anthony with a smirk on his face. "Perhaps getting a new suit?"

Benedict ignored him, which made Anthony grin even more. “It’s been a pleasure, miss Y/L/N. We shall talk more next time we meet" he said with a small bow and a smile, before walking out the drawing room as well.

You took a long sip from your small cup, trying to focus on the taste of the tea and not on the fact that you and Anthony were now completely alone. The hot drink had a fresh mint scent and... and then his touch on your skin was everything your mind could think of.

"Are you enjoying yourself, miss Y/L/N?"

"Absolutely!" you replied, your voice an octave higher than normal. Clearing your throat, you attempted to think of something to say that wasn't in any way related to Anthony's hands on you. "The tea is divine"

He chuckled, taking a biscuit from the tray. "I'm glad you like it". He took a bite before asking again: "Does the house do justice to your memories?"

"It does" you nodded. "I'm surprised how few things have changed over the years but I'm glad to be able to recognise every corner. It's like stepping in the past"

Anthony smiled without taking his eyes off you. Looking down on your empty cup you felt your skin itch under his deep stare. Before you could think of anything else to say, you heard the sound of fabric rustling: Anthony Bridgerton had stood up and was now moving closer with every step. He stretched his hand out to you, smiling like he did only around you.

"Would you like to step in the past again, miss Y/L/N?"

With his eyes locked in yours, your mouth was wholly dry. You had no idea what he had in mind but, strangely enough, you didn't care: you just took his hand.

The heat radiating through the thin fabric of your gloves set on fire every nerve of your body. You held tight onto his hand as he pulled you down a maze of corridors, running within those walls like when you were kids. The excitement, and the new feeling that was pushing against your corset, let a wide, joyful smile appear on your face, as you felt lighter than ever before.

Then, after a last turn, he pulled you in a room, closing the door behind him. It took a deep breath for you to realise Anthony had dragged you in the library: it was smaller than you recalled, and even so it held so much knowledge you always found overwhelming stepping inside, as if you weren’t worthy of it.

Still panting, Anthony collapsed on the settee near the window, his smile wider than ever. "Good Lord..." he sighed letting his head fall back, his shoulders shook by laughter. "I haven't felt this alive in quite some time..."

"As much as I enjoy seeing you smiling, did we truly have to run all the way here?" you whispered, trying to steady your breath. "If anyone saw us, they probably thought we were up to something, which is not true at all"

Placing his elbows on his knees, Anthony bended over, his eyes lit by the spark of mischief. "If we're not up to something... then why are you whispering?"

You shook your head, turning your back to him. You walked closer to the atlas, opened on book stand in one of the corner of the room. With your index you gently traced the lines of the continents shown on the page, searching names of places you knew. Then a realization hit you.

“We shouldn’t be here”. Taking a step back from the atlas, you turned to Anthony.

He looked at you with furrowed brows. “Why so?”

"I'm quite sure you're aware that, for a lady, being in the same room as a man without a chaperone is improper and disgraceful" you clarified, rubbing your hands nervously.

"Is it?". You shot Anthony a glare.

"Yes, my lord. Awfully disgraceful". You looked at the door, terrified someone might walk in.

Anthony sighed. “Very well. But before we go... would you please read something to me?”. The request wasn’t exactly what you were expecting and Anthony, as he had read in your mind, added: “There’s nothing improper in that”

You took a sharp breath but then nodded. “Very well”. You moved your eyes on the many books on the bookshelves, the titles and authors embossed on their spines in golden letters: Shakespeare, Edgeworth, Scott.

"Do you want me to read anything in particular, my lord?"

He closed his eyes, slouching again on the settee. "Anything as long as I can hear your voice"

Taken aback by his words, you were glad he couldn’t see your scarlet cheeks. You took a small poetry volume, opening it at a random page. The words written on the paper danced in your mind with the finesse of a butterfly.

You sat down on the other end of the settee as your lungs tried their best to fill with enough air to keep you from fainting. You took a last deep breath before starting to read out loud.

"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,

The plowman homeward plods his weary way,

And leaves the world to darkness and to me."

As you kept reading, the book in one hand and the other resting in your lap, the verses rolled on your tongue like candid pearls on velvet; an ancient incantation created to charm minds.

You didn't realise that Anthony had been getting closer and closer by the second until the moment he took your empty hand in his. You stopped mid-verse as your eyes jolted to your joined hands.

"Go on" he gently asked, stroking his thumb on your hand.

Gulping down your beating heart you started reading again, but your attention was nowhere near the words printed on the paper. It was all on the way his fingers rested on yours and moved against your glove, as trying to find a path past the thin fabric.

That small and seemingly meaningless touch unleashed a thunderstorm within you: powerful, destructive and awfully seductive.

You finished the poem, the last word leaving you breathless. Closing the book, the closeness with Anthony felt way too much to handle.

"We should go now". You stood, breaking the contact with Anthony to put the book in its place. Your hand without his touch felt extremely empty.

You heard him sigh. "I believe we should". Anthony stood up, smoothing his blue tailcoat. After a moment of silence, he spoke again, his eyes set on fixing his sleeves: "I must apologise, miss Y/L/N"

You turned towards him with eyes wide in confusion before frowning. "For what, my lord?"

"I'm convinced that my puerile behaviour put you in an uncomfortable and improper position" - his voice and face were completely emotionless, not the face of the Anthony you knew - "and I beg your forgiveness for that. I had no rights to act this way towards a lady such as yourself and I would totally understand if you chose to..." he stopped a moment, searching for the strength to finish the phrase, “...interrupt our acquaintance”

"Lord Bridgert-"

"Of course” he continued, "I would never want for you to interrupt your visits to my mother and family. And, of course, I shall have prepared a carriage to take you home and then, hopefully, everything will soon seem just a-"

"Anthony"

You finally moved from the bookshelf, catching his hand in yours. His eyes moved from the doorknob, first resting on your joint hands and then raising to your face. It had felt like days since he last glanced at you.

"Please, let me speak”. He didn’t move, his face still unreadable but his eyes had your complete attention. You took a deep breath as you put your messy thoughts in the right order.

“You didn't offend me" you explained, even if your trembling voice could've told otherwise. "Your actions, your attentions weren't a discomfort to me whatsoever. They were just-", a shaky sigh escaped your lips, "What I feel in your presence is overwhelming, like standing on a cliff while the wind howls around you, trying to push you off the edge... you wish you could ignore it but it keeps luring you in and-"

His hand on your cheek cut you off. His thumb caressed your cheekbone and slid down, along your jaw, to stop on your chin. "So this pleases you?" he asked, his voice deep as his eyes were staring into yours. At a loss of words, you nodded as fireworks exploded in your stomach.

At his words you suddenly remembered: “Your mother! She’s probably still waiting in the drawing room!”. You took your hands to your face, covering your heated cheeks. “Oh no... she’ll never forgive me...”

Eventually he smiled, and seeing his eyes lighting up was just what you needed to feel relieved. "That's good to hear” he murmured, stroking your cheek again and again, “but now you should really go home: we don’t want your mother to get worried, don’t we?”"

He shook his head chuckling. “My mother doesn’t hold grudges for such ridiculous matters. However, if it could help you sleep better tonight, I shall talk to her. You must trust me: I already have mastered a talent in finding quite believable excuses”

You smirked. “Why am I not surprised?”. Anthony smiled before taking again your hand. A bolt ran through your arm.

"I know it may sound bold, but would you join me and my family at tomorrow’s picnic in Hyde Park? These social gatherings always bore me to death but I’m sure your company would be the perfect remedy"

"Two invitations in a row?”. You grinned. “The ton will talk about this for quite some time"

“Is that a yes, miss Y/L/N?”

You smiled. “Of course it is, my lord. I could never refuse you anything”

<-•☆•->

When the carriage left you in front of your house, there was still enough light for you to see the pathway leading to the front door. As you entered and closed it behind you, your mother appeared at the top of the staircase.

“Thank Goodness you’re back!”. She run down the stairs, immediately cupping your cheeks. “Are you alright? Did anything happen to you?”

“I’m good, mama” you confirmed, with a smile. "Lord Bridgerton invited me to attend the picnic in Hyde Park tomorrow". At your words, every inch of blood seemed to be drained from your mother's face. “Is everything quite alright?”

“I’ve heard some awful rumors at the market today...” she whispered, taking your hands in hers. “About the Bridgertons”

You smiled gently. “Is it about the scandal surrounding Colin Bridgerton? Because I can assure you he had no part in-”

“it isn’t, my dear”. She shook her head, some locks of hair escaping her tight hairdo. “It’s about Lord Bringerton”

Your smile fell in a second. “What about him?”

Your mother took a deep breath before going on: “I believe him to be a rake, my dear, and from what I’ve heard, he spent most of last season attending the private rooms of different opera singers...”

"What?". You shook your head in disbelief. "No, it can't be... I know him and he's nothing like this"

"It has been years, sweetheart" she said, kindly caressing your cheek. "Maybe he's changed, like you have..."

"But he's not a rake!". You took a step back from your mother. "Lord Bridgerton is a gentleman, he would never-"

You stopped mid-sentence as what happened that afternoon replayed in your mind: surely you didn't dislike his behaviour, as daring as it was, but it was improper. Terribly improper. Something a rake would do with light skirts. Or with young and willing ladies.

Your corset seemed to be tighter than ever, squeezing your lungs until no air was left behind.

"I do not want to push you, my dear..." continued your mother, "but perhaps you should rethink your choice for tomorrow. You could say you had forgotten a previous engagement or-"

"No". Your steady voice didn't reflect the turmoil in your chest at all. "I have already accepted, mother" you said, walking past her to the stairs. "It would be disrespectful to refuse the invitation of a Viscount"

Besides, you wanted answers, and the only people who could give you some was Anthony himself.

Taglist: @ba-cute @xceafh @latekate1807 (if you want to be added or removed, let me know)

[evergloffpress]

Bottle of Blog Volume 2: The Dancing Devils Show

Another day another attempt at a blog post. Yesterday's short dabble into horror was fun. Though I agree it is not a towering achievement in horror fiction it was still an achievement. A small start. In the spirit of said baby steps I will write another story. A malicious tale about a good day to be the devil.

The Dancing Devil Show

By Oliver Evergloff

A smile had broken upon it's face or what could best be described as a smile or a face for a being such as it. The endlessly emerging rows of jagged teeth belonged to the creature known as the great beast. The ever-widening grin belonged to the Lord of the netherworld. It was a special day in Hell and it was time to start the show.

The latest resident of the pit lay trembling upon a frigid slab. Not for lack of warmth but from overwhelming fear. His current form best resembled a faceless, limbless worm. He knew where he was and knew what he had done to get there. Suddenly the God he dismissed as a fairy tale became all too real and his thoughts became screaming prayers for salvation that would never come.

A stage became visible to the terrified soul on the slab. Some form of music began to play as curtains were drawn.

A chorus of demonic horrors paraded across the stage. Howling a song of promised misery that would soon befall the newly condemned for all time.

🎵 It's time to scald the needles, it's time to sharpen saws.

It's time to burn forever upon our razored claws.

It's time to stoke the pyres, its time to drown in woe.

It’s time to tighten screws in the torment labs below.

Why do they choose to come here? I haven't got a clue. They clearly want to be here as eternal barbecue.

🎼(Musical bridge)🎼

Redemption’s clearly lacking,

So let's commence the racking.

In the most repulsible

Foul disgustable

Ultra dreabable

Highly terrible

Deepest darkest pit in all of Hell!🎵

A ghastly roar of shrieks and laughter followed the moment the abhorrent melody ended.

The eyes of those that made up the demonic choir slowly turned to their master who stood just off stage.

The Lord of the Fallen granted permission with the slightest of nods. Unleashing the putrid hord upon the doomed soul on the the frigid slab.

Unholy hooks and blasphemous teeth tore into the condemned. A jagged spike gashed into his neck and he quickly caught ablaze. This would be the sweetest of agonies for far worst was yet to come. Sentient razor wire wrapped tightly around his face and neck screeching obscenities as it pulled him deeper into Hell’s depraved furnaces.

Before being swallowed forevermore into the bowels of the abyss he saw the Lord of the fallen stand over him and wave a thorny claw at him.

The dark one would have it’s torture session with their newest guest soon enough. It told It’s chief Agony engineer it’s unpleasant intentions for the latest resident. Upon hearing this the engineer wept for thirty days.

The queue of demons that formed to punish that distinct soul had been growing for years. Each trying to top one another with the creative atrocities they had in mind.

It had one small regret. The song was in Hellspeak and the condemned spoke only German. The failed artist did not comprehend a word. As far as the former despot understood it was nonsensical screeching. It decided to re-write the lyrics just in time for the next two special guests to eventually arrive.

It would not prove to be difficult to translate Hellspeak into Russian or Chinese.

The End

I must say that wasn't too bad a short story. Nothing terribly original but I do like it. We shall see what I can dream up in my next blog entry.

Oliver Evergloff - March 2021