#i think it's the one time the court has looked at her like yikes we fucked that one up gang

[ow1et]

one day i'll finish my hour by hour account of the first two days that athene is in the labyrinth (which are a continuous 48 hours btw) because i want to elaborate on just how warped her perception of reality is afterward and the lasting effects it's had on her mentally and physically.

[theminecraftbee]

the case of docm77 v zombiecleo: a very incomplete summary of events

i, of course, strongly recommend going to doc's video (or bdubs, cleo, joe, or skizz's, once they exist) and watching the whole thing for yourself i could NOT stop laughing. but for those of you who want a vague summary of some stuff that happens in the courtroom:

bdubs is insisting on being called "your highness" as opposed to "your honor".

we START with bdubs explaining he has set up a dramatic five-strike system; if either side gets five strikes (things that upset bdubs lol) he will "uh, not give them the death penalty, but--"

doc immediately tries to use this to take advantage of the system and get cleo strikes.

he instead accidentally immediately murders his own counsel.

it has been like One Minute.

"just in case anyone dies, there's a jury deliberation room under construction, there's a bed in there"

bdubs is paying everyone a diamond block for showing up if they listen to his judgement. help.

"thrust his sword into said swine" so skizz's opening speech is GREAT.

"wow, that was really good. but the camera is over here, so if you could do that again and look into the camera for me--"

"defense, first off, how do you plead?" (doc, grasping for his vague knowledge of american legal dramas) "i plead the fifth. i plead the fifth. uh. right?"

joe, in his opening speech: "this is esteemed around the world as a place where two adults who act like children can come to have their differences settled by you in the most entertaining manner."

HELP. "cleo is bringing to the court not an affair between two adults with an unsettled matter, but an adult and a large baby."

HELP IS JOE'S DEFENSE THAT DOC IS A LARGE BABY AND THEREFORE CAN'T BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS ACTIONS.

joe: "you know, cleo has a lot of communication problems." bdubs, with great feeling: "yikes."

cleo, under her breath: "i'm gonna kill him."

"just a minute i'm setting up my lawyer", ren says, carrying the armor stand he had in the stands with him to the bench and putting false's head on it,

ren: "i cannot recall." bdubs: "YOU CAN'T RECALL WHAT HAPPENED?" ren: "i cannot recall if i cannot recall."

why is skizz doing a foghorn leghorn accent now,

skizz, about doc: "this is proof this man likes to intimidate, that he gets off on it." no one comments on this phrasing.

sorry ren making an armor stand falsesymmetry as his lawyer and companion in the stands is so funny.

"this is more evidence cleo is a poor communicator. she can't control her man--"

joe is very clearly just trying to make everyone in the room mad and it's really funny.

HELP. BDUBS BUILT A HEADS AND TAILS MACHINE TO DECIDE IF THEY'RE GOING TO ALLOW OBJECTIONS.

anyway it rolls tails so it overrules skizz's objection.

skizz's accent and vocabulary just keeps getting more and more exaggerated i think he's going for approximately benoit blanc,

beef: "he forcefully approached us and said he's the guy who wants all the wood." cleo and doc, snorting and giggling at this as one,

i feel like i should note that bdubs has a fireworks crossbow that he's calling his "whip" and hitting people with when they do something he considers wrong.

this leads me to wonder if bdubs thinks whipping is normal in a courtroom...?

i think its really funny that skizz is actively doing like, correct types and moments to do an objection, and it almost sounds like good lawyering, and then IMMEDIATELY bdubs goes "it's time to HEADS AND TAILS!!!" and breaks that illusion completely.

"well, it's heads, objection sustained, strike that from the record." joe: "well then i guess you'll never know what my point was." beat of silence. bdubs: "never mind, let's just add a strike, and you can say it,"

"i don't know how the esophagus entered this situation at all?" "let's pray it didn't. geez." "i was not thinking of doc's esophagus when i built the giant fish for his hourglass." <- this only barely makes more sense in context,

"no further questions your honor." "seriously???"

every time joe calls doc either a baby or a manchild is SO FUNNY. why is this his argument. it's SO FUNNY.

"but he has not proven mens rhea, which you your highness are very familiar with but for the viewers at home is not a gendered form of diarrhea--"

cleo, to doc: "doc are you sure you want to win this one?" doc, in clear and obvious distress: "i'm not sure of anything anymore man i just, i don't know,"

bdubs then interrupts to do the sponsored segment of court.

"the tall claims court is brought to you by!" bdubs puts a disc in. 13 starts playing. "shoot that's the spooky record. that's the worst one." he continues with his bamboo shop sponsored segment spiel anyway, with 13 continuing to play,

"i'm not going to ask for money, i'm just asking for a simple injunction against doc. he won't be allowed to use diamonds for redstone anymore." "WHAT??? THERE'S LIMITS TO THIS, OKAY????" "calm down doc, we're not gonna--" "WHAT NO WHAT CALM DOWN???"

"cleo i have to say that's way better than anything skizz said. skizz was talking and all i heard was bla bla bla bla bla but that was real heartfelt. if you're thinking about paying him, maybe don't."

doc: "i want to make peace and love that's all i care about i'm just a humble boutiquer"

"i felt like as her friend i needed to teach her what it feels like to lose something" i love how deranged that is doc keep going

"but it happened and i think i'm insane, right," doc says, then nods at joe.

"yeah this is really good" cleo responds, perfectly happy with the idea of doc declaring himself insane for no good reason,

cleo: "doc is just completely unhinged when people mess with his redstone, and i feel like my punishment would take away that emotional bond."

joe: "objection your honor, my client is unhinged in every context."

i like how this is "make fun of doc" day.

bdubs: "i'm going to deliberate quickly then i'll come back with my judgement." (turns around for like five seconds.) "and i'm back!"

HELP DOC HAS BEEN BANISHED TO A SINGLE BLOCK IN THE SKY WITH A CHEST ON IT FOR TWO WEEKS

THREE IF HE TOUCHES THE GROUND

AIR JAIL...........

bdubs adjourns court. doc, immediately: "WHAT THE HELL JOE??" "i did my best, man :/"

"DO YOU KNOW THE VEINS ON MY NECK ARE ABOUT TO EXPLODE????"

jevin in the background of doc losing his shit just kinda murdering skizzleman for fun,

doc's main objection to the sky island is "BUT I HAVE THINGS TO DO :(((((("

doc ends the video standing here:

in conclusion: yeah this seems like a very fair trial with no ridiculous elements at all. very serious and befitting the sanctity of court. yes. you should watch it for a very serious hermitcraft experience,

[prying-pandora666]

On Alucard and Maria

Are there actually fans advocating for Alucard to be written as Maria’s father figure in the new season of Nocturne? Like that would be a good thing and not infinitely creepier? I don’t think they’ve thought this through.

Alucard is the single most popular character in the franchise. He’s also probably the most shipped character. And yet he has only had one canon love interest in the decades since he’s existed. It’s Maria. And you’re telling me that you think that because he’s 300+ and she’s 17-18 when they started living together in the games, that it would be grooming. However, somehow him inserting himself into her life at age 16 when she’s just lost both her parents wouldn’t come off like grooming!?

Does this man look like he should be picking up random children!? He’s literally terrified of his own cursed blood. Maybe LISTEN TO HIM.

I’m convinced fandoms have forgotten what that word means. Grooming has specific features. It doesn’t just mean “older guy and younger girl.” A relationship with an age gap or an uneven power dynamic can be exploitative or abusive without being a case of grooming. Grooming specifically refers to the process of forming a relationship with a child with the intention of leveraging that relationship and trust to train and prepare (aka brainwash) your victim for the harmful activities the groomer wants to normalize. The relationship Alucard and Maria have in the games is in no way grooming. You know what would be grooming though?

Coming into a 16 year old’s life when she’s vulnerable, traumatized, and recently orphaned only to insinuate yourself as a new father figure. This is so highly inappropriate and a huge red flag. Consider what you’re actually asking for here. These characters do not exist in a a vacuum. They have a long history together as each other’s only canon love interests. You cannot fully extract them from the games, art, interviews, audio dramas, animations, and more where they’re depicted as a couple. There are decades of this precedent and you are asking Netflix to knowingly take the characters with an established romantic dynamic that the audience is already primed to see as romantic and instead portray their meeting as him trying to be her new daddy?

“Oh look! Alucard and his… daughter? Yikes.” This is an official advertisement btw.

THAT is grooming! Think about the optics of this! It would be abysmal! No it would NOT fix the problem of their age gap to make him act like a groomer and get in good with her as a dad. You just cannot completely extract them from the legacy of their relationship in the source materials. It will be incredibly creepy and textbook grooming if you get your way.

Is this really what you want to associate with an “adoptive father Alucard”? Because the art we create doesn’t exist in a vacuum. All the old content—official and fanmade—is still going to exist.

What is so objectionable about the original dynamic anyway? It’s a pretty fun subversion of the tired and problematic vampire trope of “vampire man stalks teen girl and coerces her into being his”. Instead in their original relationship, Maria is the one who pursues Alucard! It’s the young woman who takes initiative and is given the agency to go after what she wants. She courts and woos him. That’s part of the fun!

Yes, Alucard is 300+. He’s also a fictional creature that doesn’t actually exist IRL and stays eternally young. There are no actual people who will ever have his problem of staying 20 forever so it’s rather silly to say he can’t date any humans because of course he will have an age gap with any of them.

The only real problem I have seen people bring up is Maria’s age, but from what I can tell, the show’s already fixed this. Check it out.

In The Games

Rondo of Blood: Maria is 12. She and Alucard do not meet. Richter is a brother-figure and not romantic.

There is then a 5 year time skip.

Symphony of the Night: Maria is 17. She and Alucard meet to save Richter. At the end, Alucard says his goodbyes and intends to return to a life of solitude. Maria goes after him because she has developed feelings for him and doesn’t want him to suffer a life alone.

Maria is given agency to pursue what she wants and prove herself even against Alucard’s resistance and hesitance to let another person into his life.

They spend a year together before we get the audio drama.

Nocturne of Remembrance: Maria continues to try to get close to Alucard. They end up saving each other’s lives and in the end he finally confesses his romantic feelings for her. She is an adult and perfectly able to make her own choices. She chose him. He admits he returns her feelings.

How fandom can look at a story about a young woman subverting the trope and chasing the vampire to get what she wants—basically an anti-Bella Swan—and still find a way to disempower her just so they can pearl clutch? I couldn’t tell you.

So now let’s look at what the show did.

In The Show

Nocturne S1: Maria is 16. She’s been aged up from 12, probably to give her a more active and believable role. But this also means she’s within a normal age to start feeling attraction and expressing her wants. Within her society, she’s even considered of marriageable age. However we are spared the discomfort of our modern values clashing with her contemporaneous ones because Maria in this season isn’t interested in romance. She’s interested in revolution, equality, justice. They’ve portrayed her with so much love and strength. There is no indication they’d betray her by writing her as the child victim of a male suitor. In fact she only meets Alucard in the final few seconds of the season and the two do not even speak a single word to one another.

Now let’s remember the games had a five year time skip. The show only needs two years to get Maria to the adult age of 18, but assuming the follow through with the timeline and go for the full five?

Maria will be 21.

21.

Fan concept for adult Maria. Credit:@esp-art

Are you telling me a 21 year old woman is not old or mature enough to make her own decisions? How is this not a total infantilization of women? Do you think a 21 year old badass vampire hunter needs protection from the ace depressed dhampir boy who just wants to sleep and has in no way tried to pursue her until after she expressed consistent and persistent interest in him?

It is not “grooming” to meet someone when they were younger and then meet them again years later as an adult. That’s a thing that happens! In real life! Adults can still make decisions for themselves! It is only grooming if Alucard behaved in a way that would manipulate teen Maria and put her under his control and authority before she can consent. There is no indication that Alucard in the show is going to do this. And yet the fandom is basically demanding it by saying he should make her “his baby girl”?

And what of Maria’s feelings in all this? She just lost her mother and was betrayed by her father shortly after discovering he even existed. She has lived her whole life without a father. She is in no desperate need of a new one. And if she does need a family member, she already has one! Richter is 19 and is her trusted adoptive brother. Why wouldn’t she go to him over a total stranger she just met and who is half vampire - literally a predator creature that feeds on humans!?

Yeah, hi, Richter Belmont still exists. He and Maria consider each other family. Why would you want her relying on a strange man she just met as a “father figure” rather than her trusted and loving brother?

Have none of you even considered how Maria would feel if Alucard even tried to fill the paternal role? He’d have to force it on her through manipulation and coercion. No way she would want to view him that way. Especially considering she is 16 and likely to be as attracted to the sparkly 20 year old looking sculpted marble beauty as anyone else!

Don’t mind the beautiful eternally young man who looks made of pure porcelain and light. No teen girl has ever been attracted to this, right? No way it could be exploitative and creepy for him to present himself as her new daddy, giving himself authority and influence over her as his child to mold as he wishes, right? Oh yeah, this is MUCH better than Maria pursuing him of her own volition once she becomes an adult, right guys?

We are truly in the stupidest dark timeline.

Frankly, I don’t care if Netflix has them get together or not. They would work just fine as friends too. I just sure as hell hope they’ll ignore the fans clamoring for a creepy daddy/daughter dynamic. Dressing it up as “concern” won’t hide that for some it’s a fetish, and for others they’re just useful idiots who haven’t thought it through.

I implore you to think it through.

[wlntrsldler]

poisoned mercury | smau: stories! (after hard launch)

a/n: just wanted to post more of luke and five star flirting. hehe.

smau masterlist | series masterlist

yn_yln posted a story!

we’re going to the championships!

tagged clarisselarue.

clarisselarue replied to this story!

clarisselarue: BACK TO BACK 🔜 🏆

yn_yln: YEAAAAA BABY

clarisselarue: home court advantage 😈

lukecastell4n replied to this story!

lukecastell4n: IM SO PROUD OF YOU FIVE STAR

lukecastell4n: SEE YOU SOON

yn_yln: WDYM SEE YOU SOON

yn_yln: ARE YOU COMING TO THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

lukecastell4n: duh i wouldn’t miss it for the world

yn_yln: BABY WHAT

yn_yln: CALL ME RN

lukecastell4n: 🫡🥰

connorstoll posted a story!

pretty sure this is dangerous. put your seatbelts on!

tagged yn_yln and lukecastell4n.

travisstoll replied to this story!

travisstoll: you’d think they haven’t seen each other in 10 years the way they’re always on each other

connorstoll: FR 😭😭

lukecastell4n replied to this story!

lukecastell4n: goddamn im whipped

lukecastell4n: is this how i always look when im with five star

connorstoll: yes. it’s sickening

lukecastell4n: oh well 🤷🏻‍♂️

yn_yln replied to this story!

yn_yln: SJSJSJSJKSK

yn_yln: sigh i love him

connorstoll: please get out of my dms with this shit i already get enough seeing u two in person

yn_yln: HATER

connorstoll: AND IM PROUD OF IT!

clarisselarue posted a story!

yn_yln can sleep anywhere 😭 (as long as lukecastell4n is there)

lukecastell4n reposted this story!

lukecastell4n: my five star ⭐️

yn_yln reposted this story!

yn_yln: my favorite place in the world 🩷

lukecastell4n replied to this story!

lukecastell4n: fuck you got me kicking my feet in the air

lukecastell4n: have i told you that i love you today?

yn_yln: about ten times 😭

lukecastell4n: yikes im lacking

lukecastell4n: i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you i love you i love yo-

liked by yn_yln.

yn_yln: you’re ridiculous 😭

yn_yln: i love you so much

travisstoll posted a story!

forget luke we want yn_yln as the new front man for poisoned mercury 😭😭😭

yn_yln replied to this story!

yn_yln: haha you’re so funny trav

travisstoll: your rendition of hopelessly devoted to you deserves a grammy

yn_yln: OH GOD I SANG THAT?

yn_yln: I DONT REMEMBER

travisstoll: “sang” is a stretch. i would use “screech”

travisstoll: i figured when luke had to carry you out the karaoke bar 😭

lukecastell4n replied to this story!

lukecastell4n: LMFSOOD

lukecastell4n: remind me never to buy her green tea shots ever again

travisstoll: we shouldve known it was gonna get bad when she said “i dont even feel anything”

liked by lukecastell4n.

lukecastell4n posted a story!

five star down 😭

tagged yn_yln.

yn_yln replied to this story:

yn_yln: OH MY GOD IM SO EMBARRASSED

yn_yln: YOU HAD TO CARRY ME OUT THE BAR?

lukecastell4n: don’t be embarrassed

lukecastell4n: if u wanted me to carry you home, all u had to do was ask

yn_yln: how do u manage to make me blush over the phone castellan?

lukecastell4n: can i come over and make u blush in person?

yn_yln: ….

yn_yln: door’s unlocked

lukecastell4n: eta 8 minutes

liked by yn_yln.

chrisr0driguez posted a story!

would you guys believe me if i said three minutes ago they were in a heated argument about the best girl scout cookie

tagged lukecastell4n and yn_yln.

yn_yln replied to this story!

yn_yln: THIN MINTS FOR LIFE

yn_yln: anyone who says otherwise has no taste

chrisr0driguez: gotta go with my boy on this one

chrisr0driguez: samoas >>>

yn_yln: … i need to have a talk with clar about her choices

chrisr0driguez: Y/N?!???

lukecastell4n replied to this story!

lukecastell4n: FIVE STAR JUST TOLD ME U SAID SAMOAS WERE BETTER

lukecastell4n: i knew i could count on you

lukecastell4n: my brother 🤝

chrisr0driguez: 🤝

liked by lukecastell4n.

lukecastell4n posted a story!

she loves me i swear.

tagged yn_yln.

yn_yln reposted this story!

yn_yln: unfortunately 😔

lukecastell4n replied to this story!

lukecastell4n: u were made to humble me huh

yn_yln: duh

yn_yln: but i love you

yn_yln: i miss you already

lukecastell4n: stop i will drive this tour bus back to north carolina

yn_yln: would u pls

read by lukecastell4n.

travisstoll replied to this story!

travisstoll: if luke doesnt reply its because we locked him in the bathroom bc he tried to convince the driver to turn around to go back to unc and bobby got annoyed

travisstoll: we like bobby we dont want him to quit

travisstoll: and he looked like he might if luke kept begging

yn_yln: HELP I WAS JOKING

travisstoll: now y/n

travisstoll: u should know better

travisstoll: luke does not joke about u

yn_yln: pls let him out the bathroom he’s sending me voice memos from his apple watch

travisstoll: fine

[therotatingvillain]

Funny things in Baby Steps, my unfinished Pokevillain fanfic

Alright, after spending too long in a severe depression hole and also spending like way too much time at work, here I am again!

This is gonna be my first update on the Pokevillain fanfiction that my last post was about. What I’m doing is reading through those 43 pages and just get a base understanding of what the fuck I was even doing.

To have all of you be part of this, you’ll get my live thoughts about it! So be ready for some shitposting and a few sneak peeks at the story haha

Cyrus insisting on just being called ‘Cyrus’ because ‘Mr. Akagi’ reminds him of his father is such a mood. Also, yeah, I use their japanese names as their last names, except Guzma, because Guzmas japanese name is Guzma lol So for him I just used his german name ‘Bromley’. Such an ass name

Having stayed in a hospital for the first time not too long ago, 2020 me was surprisingly accurate when it came to hospital food

“What do you think? Aren’t you supposed to be incredibly smart?” She kept smiling, but Cyrus knew it was fake. It had been ever since she entered. It was the same smile his mother always had when talking to guests or clients. God I hate Cyrus nurse, I made her such a bitch lmao

Forgot I made Cyrus lactose intolerant lol

That smile made Cyrus want to go back into the distortion world No comment needed

‘New Guy’ seemed like a major downgrade from ‘God of a new dimension’ but for now, having terribly failed the latter one, the first one was acceptable. 2020 me had banger humor

Guzma looking at Cyrus and just going “You’re my friend now” is how I make all of my friends

Ah yeah, Giovanni is there because of another failed attempt, except for Guzma the rest is there because of court mandation and Guzma is there because Nanu got him a spot.

almost like touching a Rotom that couldn’t quite control its energy. Foreshadowing? Maybe

Guzma immediately having Cyrus back even when Cyrus is clearly in the wrong is so funny to me

Aaaaaaaah gays bonding over piano music

Ah yes, Maxie and Archie are divorced husbands. Yes, they still love each other, yes, Maxie still actively wears his wedding ring while Archie always has it on him somehow

“Hey fuckers, time for lunch!” Mood Guz

Lysandre desperately trying to socialise with his roommate only to routinely be fucked over by his own shitty mental health and eating disorder is too real man

Dr. Roberts is such a kind soul, he’s the therapist OC I created specifically for this story and he’s just a sweetie who’s fantastic at his job and also, obviously, gay and married with a couple kids.

Cyrus went to college (duh) and majored in: Electrical Engineering, Economics, Computer Engineering, Political Science and Computer Science. And finished all his majors in 4 years. Yikes dude, my boy just wanted to study the stars but he was denied by his bullshit parents

Ah yes, Cyrus sister. Buckle in people, time for a bit of lore:

So we all remember the Old Chateau in Eterna Forrest back in gen 4, right? Right. For a long time there was a theory that perhaps Cyrus grew up in that house. How did we come to that conclusion? Basically, Cyrus in Platinum (and the USUM Rainbow Rocket episode) has a severe obsession with the Pokemon Rotom, supplying Charon with detailed notes and diaries all about it and in the Rainbow Rocket episode, he nearly has a breakdown upon seeing the Rotom dex. Now where do you find Rotom in Gen 4? Hiding in a TV in the Old Chateau. So, we theorized that Cyrus grew up there. What else do we find in the Old Chateau? The spirits of a butler and a small girl. So, the theory goes that Cyrus used to have a little sister, but she and a butler of the family were killed in an accident, probably involving the Rotom Cyrus kept, most likely hidden from his parents. Afterwards, his family moved to Sunyshore, leaving the Chateau, where Rotom was still hiding, possibly having come back in search of it’s friend (Cyrus) and then hiding in the TV because it was scared as it was alone, Cyrus nowhere to be found, and sought comfort in the electrical appliance. That’s how the theory goes. This theory is true in my story.

Maxie and Archie being extremely angry bordering on violent with each other makes me sad. And I wrote this shit!

The fact that Cyrus, on his first day there, immediately has a panic attack in the evening is relatable.

Also, Giovanni helps him through it and they start bonding and being cute hehe

For every scene involving stargazing, be aware that I have zero idea about stars. I grew up in the middle of fuck nowhere, so I can see them very clearly each night, but I still have little to no idea about how to read stars lol

Lysandre has anorexia and Cyrus is way too oblivious to understand that it’s ana so he’s just constantly like “wow youre thin” until it clicks lmao

Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Charon are just codenames and Cyrus never bothered to learn their actual names. Is this also foreshadowing? Maybe hehe

YES CYRUS STAND YOUR GROUND TO THAT PISS POOR EXCUSE OF A NURSE i hate her so much man

Cyrus is a deeply kind person. I will not elaborate yet

Yes, Maxie and Archie get over their shit and back together

Yes, it spirals Giovanni into another suicide attempt

No, I shall not elaborate how one leads to the other

But yeah, there’s a pretty intense part of this that deals with Giovannis shitty mental state and his active suicide attempt (that only barely failed) and Cyrus ends up having a severe breakdown because of it. Like I said in my last post, this story deals with some heavy topics.

Guz and Ly really take on the roles of dads to Cyrus, to help him be more open in his expression and just be who he is and I think that’s beautiful

His breath was caught in his throat, his chest and stomach spreading a comfortable warmth through his body.

What was this? A heart attack? 

No, those felt different. There was no stabbing pain. I love writing Cyrus

THERAPY POKEMON EVERYONE yes the leaders are getting therapy Pokemon

Here’s a list of who they get:

Giovanni: His Persian

Maxie: Toxel

Archie: Hypno

Cyrus: His Rotom

Ghetsis: Castform

Lysandre: Levanny

Guzma: His Golisopod

I’d love for yall to theorize on why each leader gets their respective Pokemon! I actually put some thought in all of them haha

Cyrus grandfather has a big role in Cyrus’ recovery, and it starts with a simple visit that is still one of my favorite parts of this story so far

Cyrus grandfather (Paul Akagi) is the polar opposite to his parents, Paul is kind, loving, supportive and really just wants Cyrus to be happy and their relationship???? it warms my heart

A big part of connection for all of the leaders, specifically everyone else and Ghetsis, is a broken piano in the common room that they all work together to fix and that piano really is a symbol for Cyrus’ recovery and especially his willingness to get better.

GUZMA IS TRANS and this is a fact because I am trans and I said so. Also Ghetsis is a bigot. End of sentence lol

Ghetsis saying some transphobic shit and Guzma then going to PULL HIS NON PARALYZED ARM OUT OF ITS SOCKET is such a girly pop move

Also yes everything I’ve written so far ends on Maxie and Archie remarrying and Dr. Roberts allowing everyone to drink alcohol in celebration and yes of course it escalates lol

Alright everyone, that’s it for now, I’m all caught up, hopefully I’ll get some time to actually write a bit more the next few days. 

As always, please please please interact with this, tell me your thoughts so far, ask questions, I NEED IT okay cool thank you.

I have work tomorrow so I shall go and kill myself lol

Have a great whenever you are! Stay hydrated

Love all of you.

[queen-paladin]

March 2024 Reading Wrap Up!

Hiya guys, since I have been on a book reading craze lately (I want to read 30 books before I turn 30 and am now on 13 in March, which says something). I enjoy Goodreads, but little to no people read my reviews. My most popular one on Goodreads has *drumroll* six likes *confetti*. And I have a lot of feelings and thoughts and nowhere to express them...so why not here!

That being said...Books I have read in March of 2024! Better late then never!

What I read and my own personal, take it with a grain of salt thoughts on them below:

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

(YA Fantasy)

Summary:

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over. But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

I am usually not the type to stay up late reading because I have to know what's going to happen. I usually set the book down and tuck in bedtime.

This book was an exception.

I was on the edge of my seat, forgetting the time and hour, wanting to read just one more page because I had to know what would happen. The pacing was just right, the world was beautiful and dangerous, and I enjoyed the characters. Scarlett was a breath of fresh air in a genre notorious for internal misogyny in it's female protagonists. Timid and Proper and Responsible, but grows on her own and learns to take initiative.

The environment was very reminiscent of the Night Circus, imagine like, if the Night Circus was a town built on illusions, and you have Caraval. But the Night Circus, rereading it as an adult, had an insufferable MMC who has a girlfriend who sacrifices so much for him, then the MMC who cheats on his girlfriend for the FMC, and then when the girlfriend has the truth confirmed to her, she gets upset and briefly lashes out, the writing then frames her as An Evil Woman Scorned for doing so (which is...yikes) Justice for Isobel Martin. She should have done a full Carrie White style Everyone Dies rampage and I would have rooted her on the whole time.

There's none of that crap here! We have a lovely romance between Scarlett and Julian full of all sorts of wonderful, chemistry-building moments.

But what got me was the story- the various twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat, gasping and clinging. I was captivated. Entranced by it's spell. This is a roller coaster of a book, so just hold on and enjoy the ride. I am so glad I read this book, it gave me a feeling and experience I hadn't had with a book in ages, one where I had to stay up late, because I had to read what would happen next.

5/5

The Unlovely Bride by Alice Coldbreath

(Romance, Historic, Fantasy)

Summary: Lenora Montmayne leads a charmed life as the most beautiful woman at King Wymer’s court, surrounded by admirers. And then disaster strikes. The red pox sweeps the summer palace at Caer-Lyones and Lenora’s fair face falls victim to its ravages. Without her looks, what does Lenora have left to her?

If ever there was a knight the crowd loves to hate, it’s Garman Orde. Even his own family despises him. Then one night a heavily veiled lady offers him an extraordinary bargain. And he finds out that Lenora Montmayne was never just a pretty face.

Review: Any marriage of convenience story I will read, and I will devour it. I've been looking forward to this book for a while, and I do love the premise. And most of all, I love the setting! This lovely world that is part medieval England part not because fuck it, it's not history, just the vibes. And I LOVE our female protagonist. Leonora relied on her looks and nothing else for years to get by, and now that they are gone, she relies on her own person. She loves kitty cats, she believes in prophecies and fortune-telling but is smart, pragmatic, and determined. She and Garman have a nice romance with some great lines and moments (and some nice spice). My complaint is that while the first half is amazing, the second half kind of drags, and not much happens, it could have used more tension, more stakes, and more plot. I may read another Coldbreath book sometime, just because I love the world of Karadok, but I'm not sure.

3.75/5

Medea by Eilish Quin

(Historic, Fantasy)

Summary: The daughter of a sea nymph and the granddaughter of a Titan, Medea is a paradox. She is at once rendered compelling by virtue of the divinity that flows through her bloodline and made powerless by the fact of her being a woman. As a child, she intuitively submerges herself in witchcraft and sorcery, but soon finds it may not be a match for the prophecies that hang over her entire family like a shroud.

As Medea comes into her own as a woman and a witch, she also faces the arrival of the hero Jason, preordained by the gods to be not only her husband, but also her lifeline to escape her isolated existence. Medea travels the treacherous seas with the Argonauts, battles demons she had never conceived of, and falls in love with the man who may ultimately be her downfall.

Review: Ok, ok, I have so many feelings about this. I was...sadly disappointed by this book. Medea is probably my personal favorite of the Ancient Greek Women, if not, my favorite of the spicier, more controversial, morally grey ones (Hera, Circe, Medusa, Clytemnestra, etc)

But, my biggest issue with this book, and it's big, is that I don't believe there is a love story between Medea and Jason. The writer makes him unlikable from the get-go, to where he has numerous Kick The Dog (tm) moments like physically abusing Medea and killing one of Pelleas's daughters when she won't stop crying. Medea herself doesn't justify them, and she keeps thinking of "eh, he's sometimes kind of good-looking, but he's okay."

Like, Medea in this book, after meeting Jason, she flat out tells her brother that he is the man she loves the most in her life (which...YIKES for the implications. But in order for any Medea story to work, I HAVE to believe she is madly, desperately in love with Jason. There's no oath where Jason swears before the gods to stay with her, so then there's no hurt. She kind of has to marry Jason to preserve her honor according to Aunt Circe, but not out of love. Since there's no romantic chemistry, the sacrifices Medea takes make more sense and the betrayal hurts even more so then when she does what she does in Corinth, she is extremely sympathetic at least in the beginning.

Like, she has a moment after Jason revealed he cheated on her and is leaving her for Glauce and she goes "oh, poor Glauce is a victim like me." Which begs the question for this version- why doesn't she just kill Jason himself? She calls Glauce a poor baby victim, she kills Glauce, not Jason. If she loved Jason that much, then she would hate him more, and killing Glauce would make more sense. She wants to watch Jason suffer.

Also, I feel like Eilsha Quinn is a bit afraid of the moral nuances of Medea. She has her "I didn't really MEAN to!" moments and there is one character she kills who she then re-animates (like she re-animates her brother, so oopsie Daisy, she's actually not a kinslayer! And he just...vibes with them as the third wheel lives with them, and helps look after the kids. This makes it less tragic because A) She's not a murderer who risked and left everything for him, she's more "perfect" and not as flawed, and B) when Jason betrays her, she's less alone and has an immediate support system there in her brother). And the kid- killing she does to trick Jason and then she re-animates them later, or tries, to but no, that failed and they're dead dead, whoops. Even if Medea purposely killing the kids was the invention of Euripides, I want to believe Medea is capable of purposely, intentionally doing some violent, controversial things and this seems to be afraid of her spice, her teeth.

The writing is pretty, and I liked the beginning with learning about her childhood, but this was a letdown.

I did order Hewlitt's book of Medea, which is higher ranked on Goodreads so my hope is higher for that one.

3/5

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

(YA, Fantasy, Romance)

Summary:

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.

Review: This book was utterly beautiful, breathtaking, and heartbreaking all at once and yet uplifting and then it breaks your heart again. The world is simple and lovely. It's a mix of World War One/two aesthetics with a fantasy setting. It's basically You Got Mail but fantasy and more focus on the drama then the comedy.

The romance is lovely, there is such a beautiful love story between Roman and Iris as they sort out their feelings, reveal their secrets, doubts, failures, grief, and insecurities, and learn more about where they fall for each other. Plus, the twists and turns were a lot of fun and the pacing was just right.

I have no faults or complaints, this was just a lovely, lovely book and I look forward to the sequel because THAT was quite a note to end on!

5/5

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Summary: After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

Reveiw: This is such a hyped, beloved, popular book that is so many people's baby and favorite series and it...it was okay.

It wasn't bad.

But I didn't find it phenomenal, amazing, spectacular, life chagning.

It was good. It was okay.

I honestly got extremely tired of trying to learn how the over-complicated Arthurian society worked. It's explained in a super info-dumpy way that the characters get, but I don't. And the pacing was way too slow, I feel like it needed to shave off a good hundred pages, or fifty, perhaps.

I do enjoy the main girl, Bree, alright. She doesn't take bullshit, but has moments of vulnerability. As well as exploring race, grief, family history and the scenes with root magic were amazing. The beginning was fantastically done, it was the middle part where it peterred off for me.

But the rest of it, not gonna lie, was kind of...eh.

And, ngl, I am more Team Nick. Sel is a giant jerk who treats her like garbage, yet people root for them and want them to be together, and I'm like....??????? why? At least Nick, white saviory as he can be, is trying and cares for her and affirms and appreciates her strength.

I respect that this is so many people's favorite book and that it speaks to them and moves them. But for me, if none of these people made any content around this book and said nothing, based off of my opinion independent of others, if you plopped this book on my lap and said nothing about the hype about it...I'd still say it was just okay. That might be my controversial hot take, but it's just what my personal experience was from this book.

3/5

Currently Reading: The Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Lemming, The Death of Jane Lawrence by Starling, Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies by Fawcett, and Twisted Love by Ana Huang.

[deathsbestgirl]

fire 1.12

i know there are mixed feelings about this episode — the case is weird & anytime i think about it too much, it seems there are some holes in it. but i think it’s such a great one for mulder & scully and a view into mulder’s psyche. i hate phoebe green, but i feel like i react to her more similarly to the way scully does in the episode. she obviously doesn’t like her, but she doesn’t say anything too outright unless mulder does first. i love the way she makes her presence known, does work on the case, and cares of him when he needs it. and they talk about personal things but still try to maintain a certain distance this early on. as always, i love the journey.

(it’s long because quotes)

anyway, onward!

honestly one of my favorite early scenes. it’s hilarious to me that scully has nothing in her hands and he’s carrying a stack of books as they return to the car from court. like why lol

i forgot what it was like to spend a day in court.

that’s one of the luxuries to hunting down aliens and genetic mutants. you rarely get to press charges.

*scully laughs* it’s opened.

what?

it’s unlocked.

that’s weird. i’m sure i locked it.

must be an x file.

*mulder laughs*

literally one of their cutest exchanges yet. i love scully’s real smile and her laugh and his goofy little laugh at her joke. it’s kinda like he still doesn’t quite get she’s ribbing him all in good fun and not actually at his expense.

~queue phoebe green’s twisted humor and not in a good way honestly~ like this bitch doesn’t know mulder anymore and she doesn’t know scully (probably doesn’t know about her but still, yikes) — did mulder recognize her voice?

scully was really absorbing what she was as hearing, her gasp when phoebe opens the door…

also literally just noticed that phoebe doesn’t actually kiss mulder square on the mouth, it’s at the edge of his lips, a weirdly lingering kiss for a man you haven’t seen in ten years…

i also love the way mulder calls her out immediately for the way she hurt him.

aren’t we looking rather ghostly?

it’s an old friend.

aren’t you going to thank me?

for what?

saving your life. one tends not to make the same mistake twice.

i’ll try to remember that.

oh come on, don’t tell me you left your sense of humor in oxford ten years ago.

no, actually, it’s one of the few things you didn’t drive a stake through.

*phoebe kisses him*

you know, some mistakes are quite worth making twice.

dana scully, this is, uh, phoebe green. terror of scotland yard.

hello.

hello.

she hates me.

what brings you to the colonies?

like. that’s kind of unlike mulder? but specifically what gets me in this whole exchange is the way he looks at scully when he says “it’s an old friend” no she is not and scully immediately gets the vibe. and the ~won’t make the same mistake twice~ bit — he isn’t planning to go there with phoebe again but they both remember what she does to him and it is *not* a compliment. if anything (the little window into his psyche) his childhood trauma made him a perfect victim for phoebe. treat him like shit, giving breadcrumbs to keep stringing him along, cruel “jokes” at his expense, abusing her personal knowledge of him, just keep him seeking her approval because she knows he’ll keep trying to get it. it’s fucked up.

and i think this might be the first time scully really gets to see that in him. she’s seen mulder get bullied, taken advantage of and he kinda just lets it happen & suffers through. but this is another layer. and she’s so put off by the kiss and phoebe immediately clocks the reaction. she’s ready to play her games with him.

the way mulder ignores most of phoebe’s comments & advances — making phoebe tell him why he should thank her, both mistake comments, the kiss, ~she hates me~ — he just plows forward, trying not to give her an inch.

and just like phoebe clocked scully, scully can see her game. the manipulation. (this bitch has the same vibe as the wendi go lady in charmed)

ALSO idk why but mulder introducing scully by saying first & last name feels significant. not that he hasn’t done it before or won’t do it again, but he calls her scully & he had to say “dana scully” emphasizing she’s a woman, she’s important and i think it signals to scully there’s something to be wary about here. he uses dana in vulnerable moments. whether it’s him or her that’s vulnerable. any vulnerability between them, dana comes out of his mouth.

three pipe problem?

that’s, uh, from sherlock holmes. it’s a private joke.

how private?

um…we knew each other in school in england. she was brilliant, and uh, i got in over my head, and uh, paid the price.

mulder, you just keep unfolding like a flower.

that was over ten years ago, scully.

yeah, i noticed how you couldn’t drop everything fast enough in order to help her out.

oh, i was merely extending her a professional courtesy.

oh, is that what you were extending?

look, i am going to run this by the arson guys and then she’s on her own.

something tells me you’re not going to get rid of her that easily.

and she’s reading mulder like he’s an open book. his defenses crumbled so quickly. he barely said anything, but she can read between the lines (and i wonder, did she have any similar relationships or somehow just know people like phoebe? who in her life had a similar situation? cuz in my experience anyway, you need to witness it or experience it to pick up on it so quickly)

[sidebar — that picture looks exactly like the woman, how are they not freaked out?! lmao also i’m sorry but this woman’s voice annoys tf out of me 😭)

so sherlock, is the game afoot?

afraid so, watson…but you’re off the hook on this one.

what do you mean?

i mean, i’m not gonna put you through this.

put me through what?

phoebe’s little mind game.

what are you talking about?

there’s something else i haven’t told you about myself, scully…i hate fire. hate it. i’m scared to death of it…when i was a kid, my best friend’s house burned down. had to spend the night in the rubble to keep away looters. for years i had nightmares about being trapped in a burning building.

wait, and phoebe knows about this?

oh yeah. this is classic pheobe greene, mind game player extraordinaire. ten years it’s taken me to forget about this woman, and she shows up in my life with a case likes this.

so she shows up knowing the power she has over you and then she makes you walk through fire. is that it?

phoebe is fire.

mulder, are you sure you don’t want me to help you out on this one?

sooner or later, a man’s got to his demons.

i love the way scully makes sure he knows she’s there & available to help him get through this. the way she shows insight to phoebe’s behavior (honestly reminds me of all things, but at least daniel was vulnerable with her. at least during that episode if not during their actual relationship.)

and again, mulder opens up to her a little more. again, a different kind of vulnerability than sharing about his sister or letting her see how deeply her abduction affects him. this was a serious personal relationship (assumed few & far between for him) that caused him real heartbreak & harm. romance isn’t something they typically talk about, only when it comes up organically (jersey devil & scully’s date, her relationship with jack,l. i wonder if mulder actually avoided telling her about diana fowley when she appears because of how it’s gone for them before?)

at this point in their partnership & relationship, they don’t just let each other carry their burdens alone. mulder is trying to save scully the trouble of dealing with phoebe’s games — he know she’ll pull scully in too, even if only to get to him and he doesn’t want that for either of them. but scully won’t sit idly by during a case, even if it’s unofficial, while her partner is working it & it’s one that troubles him.

deftly done, agent mulder. casually disregard her indiscretion. a firm but polite manner until she accedes to cooperate.

it’s a technique i refined in my relationship with you.

oh, yes, well i see you haven’t lost your sense of humor after all.

i’m sorry, that was a cheap shot. i don’t want to dredge up the past. let’s just stick to the case.

let’s.

look, pheobe, i —

unless i’m mistaken, ten years seems sufficient time to have forgiven, if not forgotten, a few youthful indiscretions.

i’m cursed with a photographic memory.

then don’t you tell me that you’ve forgotten a certain youthful indiscretion…atop sir arthur conan doyle’s tombstone on a misty night in windlesham.

like i said, let’s just stick to the case.

she is exceedingly frustrating. people like her know how to use genuine emotion, or a facade that seems real, to make the person they hurt feel guilty for hurting them with the facts of what they’ve done. they want their victim to forgive & forget, never taking the harm they caused seriously and using any opening in the person’s defenses to weasel their way back in to get what they want. it’s hard to watch. because mulder is the perfect victim for this. he remembers the good & the bad and he wants to believe in the goodness of people he’s let close to him, of people he’s trusted. and his empathy is honestly off the charts for them & anyone he feels some kind of kinship with. so he ends up apologizing to her for a “cheap shot” when it seems deserved because she’s trying to reel him in again. and the music tries to make it appear genuine, vulnerable. but it isn’t.

scully in the office doing paperwork, with the arson case file just sitting in front of her. how long did she try to resist reading through it? presumably, she’s been there all day while mulder runs around with pheobe…

it’s lowkey my favorite thing that scully does so much profiling? maybe not as in depth as mulder can & would go, but she’s always spot on for the type of person they’re looking for. and she’s so good at finding all the information they need to find them. she’s the one who actually cracks the case because she did the legwork in the office, while they ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. her science brain also works through plausible explanations they don’t seem to be thinking about at all — because they aren’t capable given their backgrounds and i love it.

agent beatty. i’m special agent dana scully. can i steal a minute of your time?

oh yeah, sure, come in. i’m just working on this mafia torch job here.

i’m working with agent mulder.

oh yeah, wild case. so what can i do for you?

you mentioned that the arsonist might be using some kind of rocket fuel as an accelerant.

yeah, that’s just speculation. it still doesn’t explain how he sets bodies on fire.

what if he got some of this fuel into some hand cream or..?

well, you’ve got to understand, that even the smallest amounts of this stuff can produce temperatures over 5000°, but i suppose it’s not impossible. extremely diluted. but you still have to find a way to ignite it.

like. how is she the only one who seems to realize the perpetrator has to be pretty close to them? but i suppose she’s really the only one working with a clear head on this & giving it her full attention…it makes no sense to me

mulder makes the comment about ~i’m not used to someone so quick to agree with me~ screw that 🙃🙃 and then phoebe goes & offers up a nice hotel room AND THEN he basically rejects scully, he’s gonna ‘have his hands full’ (like bro she’s figured out who it is. what is wrong with you??) but i think scully sees it for what it is, he’s falling into phoebe’s trap like he was trying not to. the trap he wouldn’t let her fall into with him.

and of course scully shows up right when they start dancing together and gets to witness the real kiss — like why did they write that if not for romantic undercurrents

(“that doesn’t mean there won’t be any fires to put out…i’ve thought about you often.” and that kiss was disgusting— i want to die and so does scully)

then she literally sees cecil lively standing there watching. when she turns back around, he’s gone.

and once again, agent scully is the only one focused and doing her job. it’s because of *her* the boys are saved — idc if cecil takes the credit & actually gets them out. that was purposeful misdirection on his part and even if he didn’t do it & mulder couldn’t, someone would have gotten to them in time. (cuz tv mostly lol)

DID MULDER RUN UP 14 FLIGHTS?! like i know you’re not supposed to take the elevator but DAMN like of course he collapses. even if he wasn’t terrified of fire, to run up that many stairs and then inhale a smoke immediately. (and fucking cecil took them in the elevator…)

so strange how this man isn’t coughing at all from the smoke inhalation — no one thought that was odd? the kids & mulder are in rough shape…

and scully’s right there to take care of mulder — and when he wakes up. his first stupid question is “where’s phoebe?” did he really expect her to be there by his bedside? scully is so sweet and gentle with him, i want to die for a good reason this time.

(scully) what happened to you up there?

(mulder) i panicked. couldn’t move, scully.

(s) it couldn’t could have happened to anyone.

(m) yeah but it happened to me. i haired out, plain and simple.

(s) what do you know about this guy that saved the kids — the driver?

(phoebe) i checked him out prior to the marsdens’ arrival. he’s worked on the property for eight years. no record. his references checked out. they were lucky he was here tonight.

(s) who was watching the kids tonight?

(p) he was.

(s) are you sure? i could have sworn i saw him down in the hallway, about the same time that the fire broke out.

(p) you couldn’t have. anyway, the man we’re looking for is english.

(m) hey.

(p) i came to see if you were okay.

(m) how are the kids.

(p) they’re fine. everybody’s anxious to get back.

(m) ti the cape?

(p) only to pack. they’ve made travel arrangements back to england for the day after tomorrow.

(m) and you?

(p) i’ll be leaving in a few days…look, i’ll give you a ring back at the bureau before i leave…goodbye.

(s) you okay?

(m) yeah.

you at all interested in what i came all the way up here to show you?

yeah.

how did phoebe not realize that cecil wasn’t the driver? she literally sucks as an investigator.

and *of course* scully managed to do research on arson profiles and dig into the workers & who’s traveled into the u.s. at the right time. got his name, found some strange information about cecil.

(mulder’s hair is horrific in this episode)

scully is so gentle with him. she never pushes too much or too hard. but she’s the one giving him answers & solving the case they didn’t ask for.

scully was fucking right — personally i think she’s right more often than fandom acts is true? and mulder is wrong a lot more often too. what’s most common is a combination of both their theories? idk maybe. can’t say i’ve kept a tally lol

and THE LOOK scully gives mulder as he jumps up excited at all the information she gives, taking off his robe — fucking priceless. i think it’s the first time she’s really considered him beyond their partnership or friendship. she’s jealous & protective and trying to toe the line of what’s acceptable as their current relationship allows and i LOVE her.

and when mulder walks in on phoebe kissing the husband — like literally how long has that been going on?? ridiculous. and why in the world does phoebe call for mulder when the room starts going up in flames? like bitch just get them all out of there. why does mulder have to tell any of them to get out lollll

it feels like three separate times mulder has to face fire in this episode. and it’s great that he gets to face up to it. failing the first time, acting the second time, his actual nightmare in the third. and he makes it through. he actually saves the children. not cecil, the arsonist. and not phoebe who’s been working the case.

i hate that cecil was right but scully is going to do what’s best for everyone even if she’s in danger. and at least phoebe does one thing right. so interesting that it’s actually she scully she helps when it’s required and with no hesitation. and then they all get to see cecil light up…he just keeps yelling for so long it’s crazy.

(in an accent) care to take me to lunch? (in her normal accent) scare you?

you have no idea.

where is phoebe?

i don’t know.

you don’t know. she didn’t call?

nope. she did messenger this to me last night, though.

did you play it?

no.

why not? aren’t you curious what’s on it?

ten to one, you can’t dance to it.

the way mulder repeats that line.

gillian getting to use her accent is my favorite. making scully good at a british accent is soooo good and i’m obsessed. wish she got to use it more!!!

scully writing the report. cecil l’ively should be getting a lot more attention ?! like he’s healing from burns that would have killed anyone else and is healing rapidly. and that’s all i have to say about the case lmao

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

11 13 20 21 from the character game for gríma?

OOoooh yesss, more questions! More questions! <3 <3 <3

[From this ask meme]

11. What’s the first thing you think about when thinking about the character? oooo word association time!

First thing I think when my brain goes "It's Grima Wormtongue Time! (tm)": Snake man. Damp. Seidr. ¿Gender?

From there it usually goes to whatever thing it is that I'm working on - so if I'm thinking through, for example, marriage and courting rituals of Rohan and how they might look depending on class/gender/end-result (i.e., marriage or lover or side piece etc.) then my brain will do Grima Time (tm) and the first thing will be: how does it work with him and in what ways does he do it slightly sideways?

Everything about Grima is a little pear-shaped, at the end of the day.

13. Your favorite friendship they have

In canon? Grima’s friendship with his own sarcasm. Poor man doesn’t have friends—or none that we are shown, I should say.

In head-canon? Well, in Swimming Through Fire, Grima and Legolas’ friendship is the best thing that happened outside of my accidental creation of Downey’s friend Willis.

I’ve given him a bit of a right-hand guy in What Makes a Kynge (i.e., Team Up and Scheme fic). His name is Eadric and he’s got the world’s meanest daughter and I love her. Anyway, Eadric and Grima are quasi-friends. They’re as close to friend as Grima can get in a world where he’s not been forced to do work on changing himself (YET. He has some revelations, they just happen in different fashions).

20. A weird headcanon

I’m not sure I have a weird head-canon for him. What constitutes weird? I suppose, I head-canon that post-war, when Eomer needs to do something with him that uses his skillset but obviously he can’t hold his former position, he ends up being like a brew-master.

BECAUSE. Brewing is associated with magic/sorcery due to its transformative nature (the art of brewing itself, also alcohol as a transformative substance has a longstanding history), and Grima spent large whacks of his childhood avoiding his brothers and so spent it in the kitchen or the weaving room (g E n D e R t H i N g S) and learned how to brew from his mother.

Aside from brewing, though, he ends up inventing forensic science because there’s a few weird deaths that are sus and Grima is like “what if we cut open the body and looked inside?” and people were like “you’re a sick freak, we always knew that, but wow next level.” Eomer though is like, “wait. Let the man speak.” So Grima gets to do some slicing and poking around and being like “oh so that’s what a human liver looks like. I’ve only ever seen various animal ones.”

Anyway, mostly he’s like the weird brewer and sells dubious herbs and Eomer doesn’t ask him for advice from time to time but Eomer totally asks him for advice from time to time.

21. When do you think they were at their happiest?

I don’t know if Grima can ever allow himself to be fully happy. I really don’t think he has it in him, which is sad and also yikes my dude, get help.

But the closes he’s been to happy? I think early days in Theoden’s court when it looked like there was a whole big world to play for and Grima was new, young, less jaded, not bitter or resentful yet, and just looking at all these possibilities before him. It would have been exciting, thrilling, also lots of challenges and he’d be learning so much and loving it.

Post war? I hope he finds something like contentment. Or as close to it as he can get, being who he is. His weird, new position might be interesting enough for him that he’d like it. Brewing means you do a lot of socializing, but it also means you get a lot of secrets from people and he is a small dragon who loves to hoard things so he collects everyone’s secrets and keeps them in his pocket.

Day to day? I suspect he’s most content/adjacent to happy when listening to stories or songs and histories. He’s also happy when riddling or doing the many and varied word games that they would have had to pass the time. He would be always happy to initiate people into whatever their version of Green Glass Door is. If there’s some problem or puzzle to solve or something to tinker with, he likely is happy doing that.

----

Thank you so much! I loved this and these were all fun to think through. Especially the "Grima Is Now Local Brewer, His Beer Probably Has Mild Hallucinogenics In It" plot. (Granted, a lot of late antiquity and early medieval ale did. He's hardly alone in that. And it did serve a ritual purpose alongside the just having fun aspect of it.)

[mysticscrystalrevelation]

Game 27 Cut and Dried Sat, August 17 2:00pm EDT Minnesota @ Washington

Starting: WASH: Atkins, Austin, Dolson, Samuelson, Sykes MINN: Carleton, Collier, McBride, Smith, Williams

1st Quarter Devastatingly, CBS has deprived the world of the commentary legends Christy Winters Scott and Meghan McPeak. Already I hate this game. How does it make sense to bring in new commentators for every broadcasting network that has rights to a smattering of games? Home commentary crews know their teams best and know their FANS best. It feels wrong to be at ESA and not hear McWin. Karlie hurts her knee right away WTF. We've had a couple early giveaways but the Lynx haven't capitalized. Shakira with a block. Stef is rebounding well. Shatori absolutely WORKS against Williams but doesn't get the net in the end. Stef goes for 3 to give us a 7-2 headstart. McBride and Collier go back-to-back with tough buckets but Stef goes again from deep. It's the Stics vs Phee so far tonight. Oof we were 11-6 and now it's 11-16…. Shatori shakes again and this time she bakes as well. Unfortunately, we don't get to hear The Coach Christy enjoy it. Not gonna lie, Shakira looks out of sorts, not great ball control, lack of awareness, miscues. NONE of these things are typical of her game at all so I have to put it down to missing 19 games. 16-22.

2nd Quarter A couple misses from the Lynx have brought us back within four as Shakira does some sort of magic to keep the ball in her hands and finish underneath. She's sorted it out, it seems! Shots are coming late for both teams now as defensive schemes work better. With that comes more fouls on and off ball. Juhasz and Ariel both have nice 3s. In my opinion, JVL is playing better person D than pre-Olympics. She does get beat by Williams, but Court put in work. Earl just DANCED beautifully for 2. Stef checks back in after a long bench spell and immediately goes for 3 to tie it. Most Likely to Tie the Game with a Three: Stefanie Dolson. Williams is going off with the midrange jumpers. Shatori says me too. Tori steals. Commentator can't say Thibault. It's a hard name no doubt but it's a name that's been in the game for decades… Name mispronunciation by announcers always gets me. Jado finds Stef who passes back in to Jade on the drive, kick out to Ariel for 3—rebounds her own and scoops to Shatori who drills the trey. It's basketball, babyyyy. We're in the lead! Carleton kills the crowd with her response. Court is still cooking. The Lynx pull back in front after a couple Mystics fouls. 39-45.

3rd Quarter Karlie Samuelson is not returning to the game. GREAT start otherwise to this half for the Stics. Forced turn, perfectly executed O, another turn off hot D. Tough break after having the ball swatted away multiple times the Lynx land a 3. Now Collier gets one. She's 8 of 11 lol. DC is now trailing by 11. Yikes, an incredibly sloppy sequence here. Aaliyah comes in and scores then plays great D on Phee….to no avail. Fortunately, Stef was due for another 3. Oh my god Napheesa. She's going to be Finals MVP when the Lynx win the Championship. Minnesota are lights out this quarter. Yet, no timeouts from Eric. Hmmm. Ok as I say that it happens. Well, the Lynx missed only 3 shots this whole quarter. 56-78.

4th Quarter Kayla McBride hits a 3 right away. Austin has a nice pass block leading to a turn but we can't capitalize. It's a 25-point Minnesota lead and this is hard to watch. I'd call it our worst game of the season but I actually think our games where we led going into the 4th and lost were worse. Stef has 2 more 3s and she's 8 of 8. So they bench her. Aaliyah gets a steal but misses the bunny, an unfortunate theme for her tonight. We've narrowed the deficit to 16 at least. 83-99 final. Minnesota absolutely outplayed us.

[lilieths]

Interview: Lilith Gaumond

Dossier:

Name: Lilith Gaumond

Age:

Species: Undead ( Human formerly— Wizard )

Circle: Night

Known Relationships: Carmen Blakely ( ‘Sister’; Best-Friend ), Abernathy Talbot ( Ex-Husband ), Connor Henry Talbot II & Clifford Austin Talbot ( Grandsons ), Connor Talbot I & Kenneth Talbot ( Sons ), Catherine Talbot ( Daughter-in-Law ), Cameron Kiskadden ( Son-in-Law ), Esmeray Talbot ( Granddaughter-in-Law ), Chloe Li ( Date, Close Friend, Partner-in-Crime ), Nora Lucas ( Apprentice, Close Friend ), Sebastian Harker, Matthew Coleman-Reyes and Elias Hart ( NYE Party Crew ), Henry Jones ( Close Friend, Study Buddy ), Juno Williams ( fellow Undead ) etc. etc., she’s been around so long, the list goes on.

Interview:

What's your name?

For all intents and purposes, the Archives are the perfect place for these little interviews. Besides the privacy, the acoustics could rival any one of those Catholic churches littered around the world. “Lilith Rhian Talbot— well, no actually, strike that from the record or whatever Carmen says with these court things,” Lili was divorced now anyhow. She’d best get into the habit of using her maiden name again. “Lilith Rhian Gaumond.”

How do you know Tabitha Spencer?

“I know everyone— kind of. Many people in passing, but otherwise I never forget a face. Tabitha I know on behalf of her brother, Sebastian. He tends to ask me a lot of magic-related things. Sometimes I knit like hats or vests for the shelter animals and then Tibby uses that for the shelter’s social media. She’s a good kid. Both of them are.” And perhaps it was the fact that the girl was a wolf, and that her own children, though born, had been that age before, has her worrying. 

How do you know Jose Alves Cruz?

She shrugs at first, a voiceless answer...it only registers after that this is a recorded audio and not some federal deposition they’re getting on camera. “Honestly honestly, I’ve never been very good at keeping up with current events where the Unaware are concerned. So like if he was your average mayor, he’s lost to me...that being said, he comes from a family of thralls, one of which is thralled to me. So that’s two things I know for certain. And besides that I don’t have the best impression of him, though that’s my opinion. Saw him giving a...a waitress a hard time.” Rosie. Though she’s not too sure she should involve the girl anymore than she is. Instead, Lilith writes the bitten wolf’s name on a piece of paper. 

How do you know Hollis Fiala?

“Yeah. Wild Circle Leader. Heir to the Seelie Court...” ex-flame/rebound of her grandson and holder of one of Lili’s debts, but that one would stay off the record. “They’re interesting but like, aren’t all Faeries interesting in some way? That being said I don’t think their poor attitude is a cultural thing.”

Did you see the shot/what happened that night from your perspective?

Funny the way these things unfolded; she’d mentioned something weeks ago about being too prepared, how that itself was fatal in the right circumstances and now, “well...no. We were anticipating this; a gun fired around midnight, during the fireworks display or somewhere in that timeframe. So when that first shot rang out, or the mimicry of it, you’re not thinking oh that’s a fake gunshot, you’re thinking hey we might need to fall into formation to keep my circle leader from embracing Artemis herself. I looked in her direction but there wasn’t any blood on her dress and that second gunshot rings out, or first, whatever, and Hollis is the one with a bullet wound. Jose’s on the floor in pain, which yikes, and some guards have Tibby restrained. Jose accusing her.” It all happened so fast. These things usually do, don’t they. “I tended to Hollis after. Henry came prepared for anything, ”

When did you get the invitation for the party/know you were going to work it?

“The invitation I got at the same time as everyone else I’m sure...as far as knowing when I was going? I wasn’t sure if I was going to go. I didn’t feel too much like celebrating the end of the year, and then Clem announced her party and that was something else I could have attended instead,” she’d been to so many of Thaddeus’ parties, trying to call her husband each year whenever the clock struck twelve. Always unsuccessful. And well, now she was getting divorced. It didn’t seem like a smart idea to attend; she hadn’t even told her son about it. But then things don’t ever go as planned, “Chloe basically recruited me into this little Code Name: Kids Next Door thing. She had a vision, I’m sure she would’ve mentioned it in her interview...and we were hoping to mitigate an unfortunate outcome.”

Did you go with someone?

“Yeah, I went with Chloe. And a group but basically, Chloe was my date. We were at the same table, we arrived together, all of those things.” The book she was currently adding to her inventory was in simplified latin— easy enough to understand. “As far as the group en masse though, there was Cameron, Henry, Sebastian, Elias. Matthew. But everyone was sat at their own little tables anyhow...oh and Kellan. Our third wheel, for Chloe and I.”

Do you own a gun/have you ever owned a gun?

“This is where I tell you something corny like, Connor, we wizards are the gun, and blah blah, but I wasn’t that type of wizard...my mom was though, could’ve burned an entire building to the ground without breaking a sweat, but I could only ever scorch the Earth for controlled burning, never a raging wildfire.” For all the woman’s softness, her own fire burned blue. If Lili ever tried to call the flame, hers was a warmer yellow, sometimes red. Her mother was told not to nurture that magic in her children and later in life, it left Lilith operating on a learning curve. “Definitely not the question though...Reno is what it is and my mom thought I should be armed, but with Levi— I didn’t keep guns in the apartment because I thought it’d be more dangerous for him than it would be for some dumbass pushing their luck...long story short...I was gifted a gun by my mom, magically enhanced, might I add, but it’s in Reno. Tell Tale Heart style.” 

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Hi! It's an au twilight question.

What if Edward and Bella did the nasty in early New moon. Then the party happens and the Cullens leave. Bella discovers she's pregnant with Renesmee. What do you think what would happen?

A very interesting question, anon. One that will go very interesting places, I'm sure.

That said, as usual, because I'm a completionist, we have to go through the "why no canon?" routine. Bear with me, I simply must.

Why Didn't Edward and Bella Do the Nasty Pre-Breaking Dawn?

For all that Edward is, for all his... questionable morals and sexual fixations, he does have a moral code he strictly holds himself to.

Edward is adamantly against having sex with Bella in terror of the very real possibility that he will murder her in the act. He's very clear about this, he didn't think he could do it, at all, and only his sheer desperation that Bella never be turned, his desire to marry Bella, as well as Alice's thumbs up convinced him to do it.

If Bella was a reasonable person then she would have agreed as well. Sex with Edward, while she's human, is a bad idea. However, Bella never really seems to clue in on what vampires even are so I think the Man of Steel on Woman of Kleenex aspect is lost on her.

Had Alice not given the green light, I imagine Edward would have gone back to the drawing board and ended up either here or here. Bella turning is the worst possible outcome and Edward will risk almost anything, even Bella's death, to see it avoided.

But that doesn't mean it's an action he takes lightly.

He suggests pimping Bella out to Jake before he suggests sleeping with her himself. For Edward, this is a last resort.

More, Edward is a man of his time.

Edward was from an upper class family and, more to the point, still holds himself to the standards of the society he knew when human (much to Bella's amusement).

Edward wistfully talks about courting Bella, how he would have courted her had he been a true man in the time period he was familiar with, and why marriage to him is so very important.

That Edward doesn't seek out the approval of Charlie, Bella's father, is a hilarious aside to me. Edward's all about chivalry until all those old society standards get in his way.

What do you mean a gentleman doesn't sneak into a lady's apartments in the middle of the night to watch her slumber unawares?!

Regardless, marriage is extremely important to Edward, especially in the context of sex.

Edward will absolutely not have sex with a woman who is not first his wife. He also will not marry a girl that society defines as underage, he will wait until Bella's legal and probably until she finishes her primary schooling.

This means Edward was never likely to have sex with her before graduation and certainly not before her eighteenth birthday.

Which, at the earliest, puts her past the New Moon birthday bash.

Edward and Bella Do the Do Anyway

But let's pretend they do it anyway.

I'd say the most likely scenario is after the birthday disaster. This is it, Edward knows he is leaving Bella forever, if he is truly noble then he will never see her again.

Certainly, he will never interact with her nor hold her in his arms. To Edward, this is essentially his last true night on Earth.

So rather than pull a partial D.E.N.N.I.S. system, Edward pulls the full D.E.N.N.I.S. system, he initiates the "I" he was previously missing, "Inspire Hope". Or, in this case, get laid for the first and only time in his life.

He sneaks in through her window. They make beautiful, passionate, tepid love so Edward does not crush her in the act, and as she sleeps blissfully in the aftermath he sneaks back out the window to never be seen again.

(It takes Bella a week to admit that Edward just hit and run. The Cullens aren't coming back.)

However, because Edward didn't actually point blank tell her what was happening, rather than hit her New Moon stage of depression, Bella's instead in denial.

The Cullens are coming back. What, Carlisle has a new job? No, that can't be right, they're coming back. Alice would never leave her without a word. Edward would never leave her without a word.

Jessica pats Bella on the back consolingly and is secretly glad that it's not her. She might have been dumped by Edward Cullen, but at least he didn't humiliate her the way he did Bella Swan.

Leaving without a single word, yikes.

Two weeks go by then Bella gets the flu.

In a single day, she's unable to keep down anything. Huh, that's weird. Very quickly, Bella has her tampon epiphany. Bella is not a virgin, she had sex with Edward, she's late, and she appears to have a baby bump.

Bella is carrying Edward's child.

There is no question of aborting the child. This is Edward's child, the only piece she has left of him, even without Renesmee's gift it's ride or die. Bella is delivering this child even if it kills her.

However, she has some immediate issues.

First, she's visibly pregnant, it's been only two weeks. That's not supposed to happen. More, Charlie is bound to notice sooner rather than later, Bella would like to avoid that, the stigma of teen pregnancy, as well as the inhuman complications that are sure to come along.

Second, there's inhuman complications. Bella can't just go to an OBGYN, not even a town over. She's carrying something half human, a doctor will poke around and find that out, and then Bella's blowing the secret.

Bella knows vaguely of the Volturi at this point, but not the severity of the law, it's more that she promised Edward she would never tell a soul.

Plus, a human doctor wouldn't be able to help anyway.

That leaves vampires.

Bella tries to call/email the Cullens. However, thanks to Edward, all their numbers are disconnected and all their emails no longer exist. Her "Alice, help, I'm pregannant" messages are sent to a void.

(Alice, meanwhile, thinks she's finally successful in blocking visions of Bella. At least Edward will be off her back. Without the cliff diving and Jake, Alice does not assume Bella has died/committed suicide.)

A brief internet survey also yields Bella no results, but it does get her a lot of vampire porn. Thanks internet.

Bella... starts to get worried.

She's getting more and more pregnant in a matter of days, Charlie is starting to notice that she can't keep anything down, and the Cullens aren't taking her phone calls.

Then, Bella has it, she remembers that weird baroque painting Carlisle had of him and those Italian vampire dudes: the Volturi. Conveniently named after the city they live in, Volterra, Italy.

Bella debates her options.

Edward told her that these are the guys who make sure that humans who know the secret disappear. Well, Bella is a human who knows the secret, that's bad. Also bad is that they eat people, Bella is a person.

On the other hand, Edward implied these guys are civilized and friends of Carlisle. That's... good? Bella isn't sure she's on good terms with the Cullens, given the whole abrupt leaving thing, but maybe they don't have to know that.

Bella debates with herself, tries to look up the Denali, and only finds the National Park. She has no idea where these guys even live, or what they even look like besides "blonde hot vampire", and she's short on time. Plus, they are close with the Cullens, so the Cullens probably did tell them "Ew, Bella, No Gross, Do Not Want".

Because the Cullens all hate her now.

Bella has some money saved up, and this is probably a one way trip, and if she doesn't go then... well, it's not looking good. Bella musters up her courage, tells Charlie some outrageous fib to explain why she's disappearing off the face of the planet, and books a flight to Rome, then Pisa, then a bus ride to Volterra.

Bella subsists completely on blue gateorade, this doesn't go well, and she vomits blue in the parking lot.

Regardless, she makes it, huzzah she is in Volterra. It's sunny out and there are no vampires. Bella wanders around the city and looks for the most vampire building she can find.

Luckily, she happens to be right, and it's the very central castle. Well done, Bella.

Bella walks in and spots a vampire. She also spots a receptionist, Bella is very confused. Never the less, Bella says the magic words, "I'm a... friend of Carlisle Cullen?"

Even though Bella doesn't have Aro's name (or any of the other Volturi for that matter), Carlisle's name does the trick. Anyone who works for Aro knows that name.

Color Aro intrigued, he will meet this pregnant woman! (Caius, meanwhile, votes that they eat her immediately out of spite.)

Well, Aro touches her hand and lo and behold she's scarily gifted. And she knows Carlisle, what a great day to be Aro.

Aro explains that everything's totally fine with her knowing the secret, it just means they have to turn her eventually, after she gives birth of course.

Bella stares at him numbly and wonders why Edward made this such a big deal if it was that easy.

Aro insists Bella start from the beginning, as in the very beginning of her life. This is weird, but Bella complies.

An hour later they get to the interesting part: Bella meets Carlisle (and Edward Cullen, Aro guesses). Aro gets to hear the whole, sordid, ridiculous tale of Bella and Edward's romance including the part where he fucked her and ran off into the night.

Aro is stunned.

He first apologizes for the Cullens behavior, they should absolutely not have abandoned her, and not turning her was completely irresponsible (what the hell was Carlisle thinking?)

He then gives the bad news, he... has never heard of anything like this.

You see, normal vampires don't have sex with humans. It isn't done.

Also, there's this thing called Immortal Children (Edward tell you about that, no? Well, he probably thought it wasn't relevant). That thing your carrying might not be a child capable of growth but an insatiable monster.

Or it could be the alien from Aliens.

There's no way to tell, really.

BUT NO NEED TO WORRY, BELLA, THEY WILL FIGURE THIS OUT.

Aro promises Bella his protection and a period of observation for the child. Bella's not sure she likes that observation part, but this seems like a pretty sweet deal otherwise.

As for what to do, well, Aro has to call in the foremost vampire medical expert. Sorry, Bella, but there's only one man for the job.

Aro sends out Demetri to find Carlisle.

Demetri shows up on Carlisle's doorstep, "Carlisle, old friend, Aro has need of you. Your son knocked up a human girl."

Carlisle blinks, blinks again, then does a thousand yard stare. My God.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Edward is already on Victoria's tail. Carlisle tries to call him, to no avail, Edward isn't taking his phone calls.

Alice and Jasper are already on their trip to hunt down Alice's past. Plus, given the Volturi, they'd be unlikely to come anyway. Carlisle sends them a message.

Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett travel to Volterra to clean up Edward's mess.

And sure enough, there's Bella, very pregnant with a child that is very much not human. Carlisle dies inside, Rosalie's on a warpath that Edward would abandon his pregnant girlfriend to the point where the only place she could turn was human drinking vampires.

Rosalie takes it upon herself to leave Edward the world's angriest voice messages until he returns her phone calls.

Aro's delighted to see Carlisle again. Even if he does have a wife now. Also, Aro claims finders keepers for Bella, Carlisle's not happy about this and less happy that Aro points out that if Edward cared so much he wouldn't be absent right now, would he?

They figure out the blood drinking thing, Carlisle desperately raids a hospital to prevent Bella from being fed the leftovers of the Volturi victims. This likely doesn't work out for him.

At the last possible moment, Edward finally picks up his phone. He learns that all he's tried to accomplish failed spectacularly. Bella is pregnant with his demon child, is literally drinking blood, and is in Vampire HQ with the leader insisting she will be turned immediately after the C-section.

Edward races to Volterra and strides into the room demanding Bella be aborted and remain human.

Aro stares.

Carlisle awkwardly explains that Bella's too far along, it's too late now even if they wanted to, more she adamantly doesn't want to abort and never did.

As for Bella being human... Bella pipes in that she's cool on becoming the vampire part. Aro's a great guy. She then races to embrace Edward, he's come back, after all this time. And he's going to be a father, isn't that wonderful?

Edward loses his mind.

And because this is Edward, I have no idea what he'll do, only it'll be utter madness. This is my best guess.

To be a little more serious, he probably tries to abort the child anyway, he mercy kills Bella and the child, or Renesmee manages to get through to him.

Given canon, it's likely the latter. Bella is convinced that her and Edward's relationship is perfect.

Aro has no idea what to think of any of this.

[acridcandy]

internally, aera loathes this shitty excuse for clout as much as raon does, even if she completely understands it. did her carefully crafted image take a hit after gossip girl publicized her drama to the masses? of course. but in turn, her follower count has increased to a dramatic extent with every mention of her alias ⏤ a blessing and a curse. her amazement doesn't lie in the fact that her company sets this up, aera releasing a song ( despite the fact that she hasn't sung professionally in eons ) with raon helping out with producing; no, it's the speed at how this is done, capitalism never taking a day off. but she's under contract so of course she agrees with a huff, and she thinks how quaint it must be to be so brazen with her emotions like her sister is, the privilege of it all.

however, it also showcases her stupidity and naivete, aera thinks. this is who yoojung is attracted to? someone who wants to break into the music industry, but doesn't understand the importance of building connections and decorum? yikes. irritation pricks at her skin as the amature attemps to give out orders while aera hands each individual staff member with a bottle of vitamins along with a dazzling grin and pleasantries, and not once does she attempt to hasten her actions. as if anyone in the room gave a damn about an amateur's time, honestly.

eventually she finds herself near her sister and leans down towards her, voice viscous with a honeyed tone, "hey, so like ... i'm picking up from your vibes that you're probably like, super nervous which is so valid ... or maybe it's your time of the month," latter words whispered in that non-whispering tone that most could hear, "so i got you two instead of one. feel better, kay?" and places two bottles of vitamins in the other's vicinity, head tilting to the side with mock innocence. and even though she's grinning at her, there's a glint within her gaze that exudes a warning: stay in your lane.

as much as she would like to lash out with words as much as raon is, she can't. and she's sure that the staff may not be buying her fabricated disposition, but in the court of public opinion who would be coming out on top? the woman that tried to play nice with everyone, or the inexperienced brat who acted as if she was at helm? still, aera makes her way to the recording booth and settles herself in, a sense of familiarity flooding her mind with memories of her trainee days. there's a clearing of her throat before she speaks into the microphone, speakers saturating the room with her words, "sorry for the lateness, everyone! i wanted to make sure everyone felt my gratitude for working with me⏤ i mean, us. also, i'm super sorry for my sister's attitude, too. it's probably her first time working around actual professionals and stuff, so ... please grant her some grace," and she doesn't look away from raon's eyes as she speaks, hiding her malice with a slow blooming grin, "she just doesn't know how this works, so. anyway! i warmed up in the car so we can start whenever!"

tension looks a little something like this.

there's been a crick in her neck for the past half an hour, knee hitting the bottom of the table every time her leg jiggles on the spot. her hair sits messy in whatever hairband she had picked up off her bedroom floor, strands escaping and she has to exhale irritably every time she's forced to tuck it behind her ear.

aera looks beautiful. as usual, in comparison. raon isn't sure whether the bitter taste on her tongue comes from the third black coffee she's downed or whatever emotion stirs at the sight of her sister having the world at her feet. the world being the recording studio at this present moment -- for raon that's all the earth consists of, anyways, and aera's encroachment into it is an unwelcome intrusion.

especially when she has a charm that makes everyone fawn over her automatically, entering the room with a pretty eye smile and a box of vitamins for the other staff whilst raon sits impatiently in the chair. she's everything raon should aspire to be; she's everything raon misses.

does yoojung compare them like this? the question dampens her mood more. particularly because she knows the answer is probably yes.

"let's hurry it up now." raon makes sure the microphone in front of her now can catch the way she kisses her teeth irritably, voice loud where the room's been full of hushed conversations behind her back. not only hers -- she knows it's behind aera's, too, but there's only so much empathy she can extend to her when the events of the past week replay in her mind like a scratchy record.

the sharp look she throws over her shoulder to the staff there does much to support her snippy tone, but the real venom comes when her gaze rests on aera again.

"everyone seems so distracted today. am i the only one taking this seriously?"

@acridcandy / 01.

[randomprose]

Shang Qinghua is, for lack of a better word, a pushover—a pathetic, cowering, pushover.

He doesn’t talk back, mostly because everyone around him is so much more OP than him and he lives in constant fear that any one of them would be the cause of his demise (accidentally and/or otherwise).

So, Shang Qinghua just lets things slide, like, a lot of things. For self-preservation purposes. So he gets taken advantage of for it, so what? As long as he’s useful, he at least doesn’t have to fear being unceremoniously eliminated.

Shang Qinghua lives his life like this—except during the bi-annual Peak Lords’ Conference.

The bi-annual Peak Lords’ Conference is where they discuss the sect’s general administrative matters and most important of all, the sect’s financial records. It’s the time all the peak lords are scrambling to complete their administrative reports and the busiest season for An Ding Peak—especially Shang Qinghua.

It’s also the only time of the year Shang Qinghua doesn’t think about the importance of not crossing anyone in the name of self-preservation.

A couple of years since the end of the original novel officially transpired, and after also officially being saddled with the Northern Desert’s palace account and affairs, Shang Qinghua has decided he has had enough and will no longer be pushed around into doing the other peaks’ paperwork for them!

Shang Qinghua gets mean and snappy at these meetings. He’s so sleep-deprived he doesn’t even have the energy to be guilty about it. That’s how exhausted he is. If someone comes for his throat during this meeting he wouldn’t even flinch. He’d probably be angrier if they somehow don’t finish the job. Put him out of his misery or don’t waste his fucking time.

If this made the other peak lords lowkey scared of him singling them out during these bi-annual meetings, that’s just a bonus.

A hush falls among the peak lords already present in Cang Qiong’s main conference hall when Shang Qinghua enters. His Head Disciple and inner disciples carrying each peak’s individual reports in tow, placing it down on Shang Qinghua’s table while the peak lord himself goes straight to the podium to load today’s presentation in the crystal mirror projector screens.

It’s times like these that Shang Qinghua is so thankful he thought about writing in projection screens in Proud Immortal Demon Way. Imagine having to write and present a whole sect’s financial report in scrolls! He’d sooner throw himself off of the top of Jue Di Gorge.

He sticks a rectangular slab of crystal to a port and activates it with a short burst of his qi. The crystal mirror lights up with the first page of Shang Qinghua’s presentation and he eyes it for a second before walking to his table.

Yes, it functions like a USB, and no he doesn’t care that ‘it goes completely against xianxia logic!’ because contrary to what Cucumber-bro says, this is actually another thing that Shang Qinghua is grateful he wrote in because it’s a fucking stroke of genius.

An An Ding disciple comes in just before the start of the conference, saying a messenger bird of a merchant lord just sent a missive labeled ‘important’.

“This is not important at all,” Shang Qinghua says before sitting down, grabbing a paper, and writing a reply anyway. He hands it to his disciple, “Here send it back. If they reply unfavorably, tell them—"

Just then Shen Qingqiu enters, flanked by Ming Fan and Luo Binghe, which startled the An Ding disciple to drop the note. Luo Binghe picks up the paper to hand it over to the startled disciple, who bowed in thanks before Shen Qingqiu snatches it and opens the note.

“'To Lord Mao," Shen Qingqiu reads. "'Is that a challenge? If so, this peak lord will engage with Lord Mao. This peak lord knows the law of this land and will gladly see Lord Mao in court. Note, this peak lord knows what happened five days after last year’s harvest moon and supposes that, too, is up for discussion. Signed Peak Lord Shang.’” Shen Qingqiu turns to Shang Qinghua as he folds the note again and hands it back to the disciple, who bows to all of them before taking his leave. “Lord Mao? The merchant that supplies some of Wan Jian Peak’s blacksmithing tools? What did this Lord Mao do five days after last year’s harvest moon?”

“Nothing and it’s none of your business,” Shang Qinghua mutters shortly as he re-arranges his scrolls while the rest of the peak lords start to file in.

It’s a testament to how exhausted Shang Qinghua is that he doesn’t even flinch when Luo Binghe levels him with a dark glare and a snarl of, “Don’t speak to Shizun like that.”

“Binghe, stand down. Shang-shidi is just under a lot of pressure. This is a busy time for An Ding Peak after all.”

“No, Luo Binghe is right,” Shang Qinghua sighs. “That was out of line, shixiong, even if what you said was true.” He bows slightly to Shen Qingqiu in apology before smiling tiredly. “Lord Mao did nothing I think. I just—”

“What is this I hear about Shang-shidi being at odds with a merchant?” Qi Qingqi pipes up clearly having heard their conversation. “Really, Shang-shixiong. What are you doing? It better not be something shady again.”

“Rest assured, Qi-shimei, this shixiong knows what he’s doing.”

“This one sure hopes you do,” Qi Qingqi says not without suspicion at the same time Shen Qingqiu asks, “Do you really?”

“It’s fine. It’s fine,” Shang Qinghua says, moving his hand in a dismissive wave. “Don’t worry about it.”

--

Later, while Shang Qinghua is in the middle of speedrunning through the peak’s expense reports, because his martial siblings have very short attention spans for such things and anything else that isn’t gossip or doesn’t directly involve them, the same An Ding disciple comes in. He slinks quietly to An Ding’s Head Disciple, who is taking notes dutifully, to inform her of the missive.

The Head Disciple gives him the go signal to report and raises her hand to get Shang Qinghua’s attention.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Shifu, but Lord Mao has responded.”

“Oh? And what did he say?”

An Ding’s Head Disciple nudges her martial sibling, who looks unsure and a little unnerved at all the eyes trained on him, to deliver the message.

“Lord Mao said—” he clears his throat. “Lord Mao said there is no need to make a big deal out of nothing and agreed to meet on the twelfth day of next month.”

Shang Qinghua looks to his Head Disciple, rapidly flipping through a small pocket notebook before looking up and shaking her head no to Shang Qinghua.

“This peak lord is not available on that date. Tell Lord Mao to move it on—Xiao Lian?”

“Shifu’s next available date is on the twenty-fifth of the month after next.”

“There. Tell Lord Mao to move the meeting to the twenty-fifth day of the month after next.”

“Hey, now,” Shen Qingqiu says because his husband has gone, Ming Fan is taking notes for him, so now he’s bored and this is the most interesting thing that’s happened since this whole meeting started. “Isn’t Shang-shidi pushing it?”

“It’s fine. This master knows what he’s doing,” Shang Qinghua says as he waves away his disciple and goes right back to drilling Liu Qingge about Bai Zhan Peak’s expense report.

--

Around the concluding hour of the meeting, Shang Qinghua’s messenger disciple returns yet again with a response.

“This disciple apologizes a thousand times for interrupting once again.”

“The meeting is about to end. Wait beside your shijie for a bit, yeah?”

“Yes, Shifu.”

But before the An Ding disciple could do as he’s told, Wei Qingwei speaks up.

“It’s fine. At this point, I think this peak lord speaks for all when he says we all want to know what Lord Mao has said.” Not in the least because they’re all bored out of their wits and this is a very welcome distraction. “He's one of Wan Jian Peak’s suppliers is he not? This peak lord has a vested interest in this exchange.”

“Alright then,” Shang Qinghua says, no longer caring and just wanting this whole meeting to end so he can go back home and catch up on some sleep for a day or three. “Let’s hear it then.”

“Lord Mao agreed to meet Shifu on the twenty-fifth of the month after next and offered to host Shifu on his manor.”

“Fat chance,” Shang Qinghua says. And what? Hand himself over for a potential assassination plot? Shang Qinghua did not last this long and survived everything that’s happened in the original storyline only for some canon fodder merchant lord to get the jump on him. He makes a mental note to look for a new supplier for Wan Jian Peak’s blacksmithing needs if Lord Mao doesn’t agree with the terms he’s laid out—ones that are very much in Cang Qiong’s favor 70-30 now that he’s pissed Shang Qinghua off. “Tell Lord Mao this peak lord will receive him in An Ding Peak at no later than Wu Shi.”

The disciple bows and leaves to send the message and Shang Qinghua turns back to conclude his presentation.

Then later, after the meeting is adjourned, Shen Qingqiu sidles up to him with an amused, “Well, that was something, Peak Lord Shang. The bi-annual Peak Lord’s Conference really brings out your backbone, huh?”

Shang Qinghua just regards his friend with an exhausted flat look at the obvious mocking use of his title before smirking, “I told you I know what I’m doing.”

“So what did Lord Mao do five days after last year’s harvest moon?”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Shang Qinghua replies in earnest with a shrug and a confused frown. “I just thought of a random date and hoped for the best that it held some importance to him. Guess Lord Mao does shady things on the regular.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah. Time to find Wei-shixiong a new supplier. I just hope he’s not partial to the ones that shady Lord Mao provides.”

ao3

[gwynrielendgame]

Nyx x Tamlin’s daughter

Okay so literally no one asked for this but I gotta write when inspiration strikes 😭😭but I got like a whole story line for these two in my head so if people like it I’ll write more

"They're late."

"They'll be here. Just give them a moment."

"I told you they wouldn't come. Tamlin has never gotten over his grudge."

"Anyone else think this is lame?"

"Why are we even doing this?"

"We need to make peace with the Spring Court. This stupid feud has gone on long enough." Feyre declared from her spot at the dinner table.

Nyx thought his presence at this meeting was pointless. It was not his duty to befriend his mother's ex-lover. Alas, Violet, his youngest sister, and him seemed to have been roped into this evening.

"It's been over a hundred years and Tamlin is still pining over you? Yikes." Violet unhelpfully chimed in. Nyx rolled his eyes at her.

"He's not pining over me. I do not know why he has held a grudge all these years, but that's what this meeting is for." Their mother responded. She was obviously nervous from the amount of squirming she was doing in her chair. She had yet to remain still since they all sat down together.

"My High Lord and Lady, Lucien has arrived with your guests." One of the guards entered the dining hall. Feyre let out a deep breathe and adjusted her crown. Something she always did when she felt nervous.

"Send them in."

Nyx had never met the High Lord of the Spring Court, so he was not sure what to expect. Tamlin walked in with more confidence than Nyx would have assumed. He certainly exuded authority. Shoulder length blonde hair, tall, strong build, sharp facial features. Nyx could understand why his mother was so smitten with Tamlin at first. Nyx quickly lost interest in Lucien and Tamlin when the third guest walked into his line of sight. It was a beautiful woman. He could already tell she was young for fae years, but her tattoos and scars revealed she had to be old enough to have lived through the most recent war. Her white blonde hair was pulled up into a half bun much like Cassian often wore his hair. The pieces that were down barely reached her shoulders but a few of the pieces were braided by her ears. She was almost as tall as Tamlin and athletically built. She was built like the Valkyries, all muscle. Nyx thought it made her more intimidating; though, the tattoos on her face made that apparent enough. She had black markings that started above her right eyebrow, curved around her temple, and stopped at her cheekbone. They appeared to be similar to the Illyrian tattoos except hers were harsher, blunter lines. Most Illyrian tattoos flowed and ebbed with the body. These facial markings had defined endings. Perhaps it was a language that Nyx did not know. The tattoos did a good job of emphasizing her sharp facial features. Prominent cheekbones and a long sharp nose along with bright green eyes and large lips made her face more intriguing than conventionally beautiful. She walked with so much confidence that Nyx was certain she was well sought after by many suitors. He would just have to get in line it seemed. He continued to observe her as they all took their seats at the table and exchanged pleasantries. Her face remained impassive though. She gave nothing away. She wore a pale pink dress that Nyx knew was meant to make her seem less threatening. He would not underestimate her no matter how much Tamlin wanted him too. Pleasantries were exchanged all around the table except for the woman who remained silent. Tamlin was less than social which ended up making the greetings more than a little uncomfortable.

"I apologize, but I do not think we have met before." Rhysand began. "Are you Tamlin's wife?"

Nyx wanted to laugh at that. She was much too young to be the High Lord's wife. Besides, if Tamlin had gotten married, Nyx would have heard of it. He was certain his parents would have too. A small smile finally graced her lips as Tamlin snorted a laugh himself.

"I am Isa." Is all she offered. Nyx watched as the small smile continued to play at her lips. She was toying with them. She enjoyed that they didn't know who she was.

"Isa is my daughter and heir to the spring court." Tamlin finally answered after a long pause. Nyx watched as his mother's jaw hit the floor which caused Isa to giggle. It seemed so out of character for the intimidating looking female that Nyx decided to make a game out of it. How many times could he get her to giggle like that in one evening?

"I was not aware you had a daughter, Tam." His mother tried to recover and seemingly failed. The nickname that slipped so easily from her mouth had the high lord's face hardening. Nyx stifled a groan at that. His mother wondered why this high lord did not prefer her company? Perhaps she should stop insinuating that they have known each other intimately at one point or another.

"That would be by design." The woman answered with a slight accent. He didn't hear it when she first spoke, but he could hear it now as the last word was sharper. He couldn't place the accent though. It did not sound like a spring court one, but it could be an eastern accent. It did not make much sense for her to have lived in Hybern or any of the other eastern countries, but he was not sure where else that it would come from.

"What do the tattoos mean?" Violet quickly changed the subject. She was too curious for her age and asked the first thing that popped into her head often enough. She was clearly as intrigued by Isa as he was.

"They protect me from the evils of man." The accent was heavier, but Violet was clearly in awe. Nyx would not be surprised if Violet came home with face tattoos tomorrow. The table became unusually quiet. His mother and father studied her with identical cocked heads. Lucien cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Witch." Amren accused from her spot at the head of the table. Isa's lips twitched into a half smirk, but Rhysand and Feyre were clearly unnerved. Nyx contemplated this new information. It would explain the accent. Young witches grow up in their coven completely isolated from the outside world. Most of the witches he had run into had a variation of this type of accent.

"Tamlin, I want this meeting to broker peace between our two courts," Rhysand started wearily. "But your daughter may not practice any witchcraft here. It only brings chaos and destruction."

Tamlin seemed unphased which put Nyx at ease. If her father was unworried then was she truly a threat? Only if Tamlin wanted her to be, Nyx supposed.

"You will find my daughter more accommodating than myself. If you want something from her, I suggest you ask her."

Rhysand looked towards Isa with raised eyebrows.

"Your lack of knowledge and ignorance of witchcraft is insulting at best. However, I suppose I shall limit my abilities to that of my natural magic for the remainder of the evening." She gave a shrug and finally made eye contact with Nyx.

She sent him a quick wink before turning back to Rhysand with the look of pure innocence on her face. Nyx knew in that moment that she would be trouble, and unfortunately for him, he loved trouble. Nyx looked towards his parents and began to feel unnerved by their expressions. They must know something about witches that Nyx did not.

Nyx had discovered quite a bit from them as he often liked to share a bed with them. They proved to be up for anything with no expectations or strings attached. He would not be surprised if they had a bad reputation though. He rarely paid attention to his history lessons and the witches he interacted with seemed innocent enough.

"My husband meant no offense." Feyre interrupted before Rhysand could say anymore. "We would love to learn more. Perhaps you could give our son lessons on your culture." She gave Isa a wide smile and offered her the first bowl of food. None of the food had been touched even though it sat ready to eat. Nyx guessed tensions were too high for anyone to think about eating.

He narrowed his eyes at his mother. If he were to take lessons from Isa, it would not be to learn her culture of witchcraft, but an excuse to spy on her and learn her strengths and weaknesses. His mother was more cunning than the fae gave her credit for. Isa seemed unphased by this offer, but accepted the bowl of food nonetheless. She was the first to begin eating. Once she took her first bite though, everyone else joined in.

"I would be much more interested in a marriage proposal than a cultural lesson." She said so nonchalantly that most of the table just stared at her blankly as Nyx spit his wine out.

"Sorry." He spluttered, quickly trying to wipe away the wine that dribbled onto his chin. Nyx looked to Tamlin to see that the High Lord was vaguely amused and his daughter was giggling. He noted the giggle in his head as one point in his game to get Isa to giggle. He was still counting it even if it was unintentional this time around.

"We are not arranging political marriages for our children." Nyx's father quickly recovered, only to watch Isa warily as he spoke. "We are allowing the children to marry as they see fit."

Nyx wished his dad would shut up. A beautiful female basically throws herself at Nyx and his father is shooting her down for him. He groaned internally. Nyx could have his pick of females. It was not as if he was lacking in that realm, but he wanted this particular female who was bound to cause chaos. Not that he wanted to marry her, but he had a feeling that she did not want to truly marry him either. After tonight, he had a feeling that the new rule would be that Nyx could marry whoever he wanted to as long as it was not Tamlin's daughter. Though it did seem like a smart move politically. Ever since his mother left Tamlin for Nyx's father, there has been bad blood between the courts. A marriage would be a good way to heal that after all these years.

"Does it appear that my father speaks for me?" Isa smiled as she asked the rhetorical question. Nyx could tell his father did not exactly know how to take that. Was she disrespecting him or being genuine? Nyx couldn’t truly tell either. Although, he had a sneaking suspicion it was the former.

She smiled more than he initially would have thought. Grant it, most of the smiles were sarcastic, but he assumed she would be more like Nesta just based on looks. From this small interaction, she already seemed more like Elain.

"Isa can marry whoever she wants." Tamlin waved his hand as if to say none of it really mattered. Nyx found it interesting that Tamlin would not seem to mind if she were to marry his ex-lovers child.

"Isa is a very odd name." Azriel noted. He had been observing the entire conversation, but had yet to speak until now. Tamlin rolled his eyes. It surprised Nyx how casual the high lord seemed. All the stories he had been told painted Tamlin as someone who demanded proper manners at all times. Isa giggled once again and Nyx was annoyed that he was not the one to win the sound from her.

"Her mother thought it was funny." Was the only explanation he gave. Isa, however, felt the need to embarrass her father.

"It is short for Isabelle and Belle means beauty as does Feyre. My mother thought it amusing to name me after the lover that jilted him."

Now it was not Nyx choking on his wine, but his mother. Violet began laughing at that.

"She sounds like a peach." Amren muttered while sipping on a glass of red wine. He would never have spoken back to the small, scary female, but it appeared that not much frightened Isa.

"She never took life too seriously. Everything was something to laugh at. She was good for dad." Her accent was heavier and her words sharper. Azriel's shadows began to change as if seeking more information on the mysterious mother.

The mother was a point of contention clearly. Nyx kept that thought bookmarked in the back of his brain for when he may need it next. Tamlin cleared his throat and sat up straight in his chair. He looked every ounce a high lord as he started to speak.

"We did not come here to discuss her mother." A tough topic for him as well it appeared. "Some day my throne will be hers and I do not want to leave her with shambles. I was hoping that not only could we come to some sort of alliance, but that if Isa were to find herself needing guidance, then you and your court might aid her in that."

"Why would we need your alliance? Other than a unified Pyrinthian, I see no reason for us to help clean up your messes." Feyre narrowed her eyes at the male. For all her talk about bringing peace between the two courts, she was quick to antagonize the High Lord. Nyx thought his mother was more petty than she ought to be considering the circumstances.

"My court still suffers from your petty vengeance. I would not be so quick to forget, Feyre."

"It is not my fault that your lack of leadership has led your court astray. Perhaps if it was so easy for me to wreck your court, it was not strong to begin with."

Nyx cleared his throat as a signal to his mother that she was getting off topic. He could see his father squeezing her hand as well.

"You will find," Isa interrupted Tamlin and Feyre's back and forth, "that you might prefer me as an ally rather than an enemy." Her tattoos started to glow as if to emphasize her words.

Nyx could not remember ever experiencing glowing tattoos with previous witches, but Isa was also part High Fae which made her more dangerous. Their lack of knowledge coupled with her obvious strength made her someone he did not want to make an enemy out of. At least not yet. He would want to discover the scope of her abilities first.

"Would your coven aid us in war if we were to be allies?" Nyx said instead of allowing his parents to continue to antagonize them. Despite his parents ignorance, Nyx actually did know a few things about witches and where there was one there was many. Best to have them on their side in any sort of issue.

His parents gave him identical glares that cause Violet to muffle a laugh. Azriel and Isa stared at him with curiosity though.

"Would you beg for it?" Her words were heavy with insinuation. It had Violet and Lucien laughing hysterically while every other fae at the table gave disapproving looks. Nyx's eyes widened. She was much too bold for a princess. He needed to assert his authority once more. She had the upper hand against everyone too many times tonight.

"A witch has never asked me to beg before."

"There's a first for everything."

"Unlikely."

"I do not speak for my coven, but if it was found that aiding in war pleased the spirits, then perhaps." She answered seriously as she took a bite of her chicken.

"Or if it prevented extinction of your kind?" Nyx knew their numbers were dwindling which was a point of contention for many of the witches.

"Yes. Or that." She pursed her lips. Obviously displeased that Nyx knew more than his parents. He did not know much more than that, but he would never allow her to know that. He kept the upper hand as long as she was unaware of how far his breadth of knowledge went.

"We would not be able to return the favor. If your coven ever needed help, we could not give it." Nyx cringed as his father continued to insinuate that the witches were less than.

"We would never ask for your help." Her nose crinkled in disgust. "You have no respect for magic and therefore would never be able to help us with our own conflicts."

"I respect my magic."

"No. You feel entitled to your magic. You think you are owed magic because you are a high lord. Witches understand there is a balance to all life. A give and take. We would never take something we were not willing to give. My own father is proof that you do not view your magic in the same way. He was willing to align himself with the enemy for Feyre, only to not get Feyre in the end and be stuck in a deal with the enemy."

"Do not lie to my face. I am too old for that and I know that witches deal in blood magic all the time." Rhysand finally switched to his High Lord voice. It demanded the respect that Isa did not want to give.

"Because they are willing to give what is needed. It is not without consequence when we invoke blood magic. High fae, however, can use their magic for good or evil with no consequences either way. Do you view your death lords as better than us? Your own sister could have ended the world and still reaped the benefits, yet you view my kind as evil? Tell me, where is the justice in that?"

"Enough, Isa." Tamlin snapped.

"They sit here and disrespect my culture, Mom's culture, and yet you reprimand me?" She was incredulous that her father was not defending her. Nyx did not think it would help any even if he did.

"We meant no disrespect-"

"You have done quite enough." Tamlin glared at the High lord of the Night Court.

"We will use this as a learning experience. Ignorance is stupidity. If they choose to be stupid, allow them. Never lose your temper during a diplomatic meeting."

After a very tense pause, Feyre gave Isa a curious look before asking a question.

"What do you shape shift into?"

The question would have appeared to come from out of nowhere if Feyre did not know that Tamlin was attempting to keep his daughter from lashing out. Whatever she shape shifted into was dangerous. After a moment of stiff silence and a staring contest between father and daughter, Isa turned to me.

"I think I need some fresh air. Mind showing me the gardens?"

"It would be my pleasure."

[shinonometrash]

Jasper Lane’s Main Story: English vs Japanese version, full summary, comparisons & thoughts. Part 1 of 3. (TW: rape, sexual assault, drugging)

So! Jasper’s route has finally been released in English as of August 31st, 2021. It seems that Voltage is following the same release order for consorts and events as how items were released in the Japanese version. I spent wayyy too much money to binge the entire route in a day...and get all the premium content...(honestly the hardest part about binging a route isn’t the love passes, it’s getting all the spirit points. Ugh.) I took note of a lot of different things in this and wanted to make a post going over all this information. Sorry this post took me so long to make, I had to go back and reread a lot of Jasper’s story in Japanese to refresh my memory as well as make sure I didn’t miss any big details since I had read it first back in May, and my Japanese has improved a lot (I think) since then. It was unfortunate and I didn’t really want to, lol. But! Now it’s his birthday (9/11)! I get to post this on his birthday! Happy birthday, asshole! This post is why you and your route suck! I’m probably only going to be able to post this first part today though, because honestly this post is taking much more time than I expected.

The biggest thing is going to be that 

Jasper’s English (Court of Darkness) route does NOT contain any major triggering content. You’ll probably still want to punch him, though.

So, if you’re looking to find out about that, there you go. Anyways.

I’ve broken this into four posts, three that contain summaries of each chapter, regardless of changes, and one that only contains the changes. 

(As of the date of posting, 9/11/2021, I have not completed all the posts yet. Please check back later and I will add the links to the rest of  them as they are posted.)

This post is part one including the summaries. Part two in currently progress. Part three in currently progress. Post with ONLY comparisons and thoughts currently in progress. 

Since I had contacted Voltage about the triggering content in Jasper’s route (and made a very lengthy Tumblr post about it) and they told me they prefer to remove potentially triggering content from stories in the localization process, rather than simply adding trigger warnings, I was more or less expecting this. Although...I didn’t really expect it to be to this extent, nor did I realize how I was actually going to feel about it...! Of course, the CoD did a fabulous job with the content they were given and what they were told to do, as always, and I completely understand why they changed what they did. Like. Seriously. They did the best they could do with the absolute mess of a route they were given. But, like, the route was an absolute mess to begin with. So there’s only so much that can be done to fix it...💀 Anyways, please know that any of my complaining is not directed at the CoD team because they’re wonderful!! Support them by buying in game content if you’re able to!! They recently released a special VIP pack that’s honestly an AMAZING deal. This is just a criticism of the route itself and my thoughts on it, not on the CoD team.

Now, onto the main point of the post...the English and Japanese versions of this route are very different. 

Warning: This post contains major spoilers about Jasper’s main story as well as potentially triggering content including but not limited to rape, sexual assault, and drugging.

In addition, I am not including any CGs in this post as I’m not trying to break Voltage’s policy.

Please click under the read more to continue.

Okay, so first off this is probably going to sound incredibly self centered of me, but I sort of get the feeling that my post about his Japanese route had some sort of influence on the changes in his route...? Not sure how big of tabs Voltage keeps on Tumblr...but it seems like nearly all of the main points I was specifically really mad about got changed--and I’m sure they must have definitely seen my post...? Also, this too probably sounds silly, but I was kinda happy reading some of the dialogue that was nearly the same as the way I had translated it. Part of me was still afraid that I had no idea what I was talking about and just looked stupid writing a long post with misinterpretations of lines���

Pre-notes: 1. For those who named their cat something else, Robin = MC’s cat.  2. In the direct quotes, anytime you see “---” it’s just me cutting out a part in the dialogue that I deem unnecessary for comparison purposes. 3. I bolded whether there’s differences in the chapters or not in each chapter summary, in case you only want to read the summaries for the chapters with the differences. It’s pretty much going to be the same as reading my other post, then, but I explain more of the chapter here, usually.

Chapter 1-3

Literally so dull. Nothing really of note. Pretty much the same between the English and Japanese. Jasper asks about her hands and she’s like “omg he’s so nice he was worried about my hands!!”, she meets Sherry and they become friends, the headmaster tells her she has to learn magic if she wants a chance at going back home. They go to the runes and learn about the history of Saligia. Guy grabs her again, she escapes.

Chapter 4

It starts to get a little bit more interesting here. Overall, nothing seems too different between the two stories yet. Jasper invites her to the rooftop for a tea party. Jasper is desperately trying to get MC to interact (in a positive manner) with Guy, she asks Jasper to have tea with her instead. Sherry and Rio mention a ball. Toa and Guy get into a glaring match. Toa leaves. You know, the usual. Jasper whispers something in Guy’s ear and they leave, and everybody follows them because...you know. They discover that Guy’s room has been trashed. Toa walks in and asks what’s going on, and then falls silent when he sees Guy’s room. Guy is like “Toa, you left before me, did you not?” and Toa is like “What are you trying to imply?” then they glare at each other until Lynt is like “Are you trying to say that Toa is the culprit? He would never.” Fenn agrees. Roy says they should investigate, and Toa says he will also investigate, since he is the dorm prefect after all. Afterwards, Jasper asks Guy if he thinks Toa did it, Guy says “No, Qelsum isn’t that stupid.” Guy says they need information. He sends Jasper out to investigate, tells Jasper to be sure not to be seen. Fenn, Violet, and MC go out for food or something, and MC runs into Sirius, literally. Fenn is like “what are you doing?” and MC says she ran into somebody but turns around and there’s nobody there. I guess it’s trying to imply that Jasper is stealthy and can hide away into the night or something?? But then that’s it.

Chapter 5-6

No overall noticeable changes. It’s time for the ball! Sherry lends MC a dress and they head to the ball. She sees Jasper in the hallway closely inspecting wine, without Guy. She calls his name and he startles. He tells her he’s selecting a wine for Guy because Guy is very selective and will not consume anything that Jasper has not prepared. Jasper essentially says that Guy is his reason for living. Then they go into the dance hall. And Guy is all like “why did you come in together?” then they say they ran into each other by chance. Guy goes to take a sip of the wine, looks  startled, and then ends up spitting it out into a handkerchief. He claims he choked on the wine. She finds Jasper in the hallway again, looking at the wine, and calls out. Again, he startles. She wonders why. She tries to ask, but then he dodges the question by telling MC that the dress looks good on her. He invites her to dance and says he’ll teach her. They head back to the ballroom, she asks him some various questions and they all basically end with him saying that he serves Guy or whatever, and she’s thinking all like “work, again...?”. Jasper then tries to make her dance with Guy instead of himself, and when she says she’s going to leave he grabs her arm. There’s a few choices you can make, but one of them is “Please let go of me.” And then! And then! This man literally looks at her and asks “Why?” Yikes!! And she asks why he’s asking why, and he says he doesn’t want her to go, so she agrees to stay a little longer. (Mistake #1) Then he shoves her off onto Guy again. After dancing with Guy she goes out to the balcony and runs into Aquia, and Aquia pricks his finger and it starts bleeding. She tries to look at it and it somehow brushes her lips and at that moment Guy and Jasper come out and ask what’s going on. Aquia apologizes (he did nothing wrong!! >:(  ) They then discover that Aquia’s wound has magically healed somehow. Then here’s the scene with  Guy: “That girl, I want to know everything about her.” Jasper: “Oh my, have you fallen in love?” Guy: “Something like that” Jasper: “Congratulations! We must celebrate this wonderful occasion!” Guy: “That’s enough now. Investigate that woman’s power.”

Chapter 7

No major changes between versions. But...Ughhhhhhhh. We’re gonna meet Sirius in this chapter. But first some humor. They go to the S rank lounge, I believe after the ball. Jasper offers to make coffee. Literally ALL the valets suddenly RUSH to Jasper’s side to ask him to teach them how to brew coffee. So there sitting in the S rank lounge with Jasper brewing coffee while all the other valets are like 👀👀👀👀 lmaoooo. Aight and so the humorous part ends there, sorry! That’s it! Now we must move on.  Fenn says he wants to go out drinking and asks Jasper if he’d like to join, Jasper declines saying he has other matters to attend to. We learn that Hawke, Jasper, and Lance are all drinking buddies. MC is all like “oh thank god, that means he does get time off!” -_- So then Toa laughs and comments how close Jasper and MC are, and is like “wow imagine using your valet for something like that” and then tells her that she’ll be a tool for Avari if she sticks with them, and that it’s not too late to switch to Qelsum’s side instead. (She does not switch. Mistake #2. Arguably her biggest mistake in this entire route, if you ask me.) Guy interjects and tells Toa that MC is his, and Toa is like “lmaooo then why does she seem closer with your valet than you?” and then they glare at each other. MC gets annoyed and leaves. Jasper asks where she’s going. She says she’s going back to her room to see Robin. For some reason, Jasper seems disappointed about this? Afterwards, she goes to her room for a bit but then decides to go explore the town with Robin. Uh oh! Robin goes missing.

She starts looking for Robin and runs into this sketch looking dude. He asks her where’s she’s going, she says she’s looking for her cat. He’s like “oh that flying thing?” and she’s like “Yeah!” and then is like “could you just tell me which way he was headed? I can get there myself.” but the guy insists that she should follow him instead, because the streets are dangerous and she might run into dangerous men. The man is then like “I’m Sirius.” (which, when I first read the Japanese, I thought he was saying “I’m serious” lmaoo) and then he frickin grabs her hand and drags her off!!! Yikes! 

Chapter 8, 1st Interlude, and Chapter 9 

Okay so we’ve got the most significant changes in these chapters. Like. A LOT. This is what the majority of my previous post focused on: the drugging, sexual assault, and morning after.  They basically did their best to make this consensual. It went very similar to what I had predicted, although played up a bit more cringe-y than I had expected...or maybe I just hadn’t thought about how cringe-y it would be. There’s literally so many changes that it’d be a bit of a pain to summarize all of them between the versions, I’m just going to put the actual dialogue/stuff from the stories for a lot of this so you can see the differences more directly. (The Japanese will be roughly translated by me, of course.)

Chapter 8

So Sirius starts walking and walking and walking and she asks where they’re going but he keeps insisting it’ll only be just a little longer or that it’s a shortcut and stuff. Ughhhhh...Then she’s like. This man clearly has no idea what he’s doing, I’m going to run away after all. But then he suddenly tells her they’re going to take a “break”. He drags her into the bar before she can protest or try to run. She tries to say no to a drink, but then he asks if she does drink and she’s like “well I do, but...” and you start seeing the differences here. In English she makes a comment of “Ugh, if only he wasn’t so charming.” Sirius further insists only one drink, even though MC tries to say she needs to go find Robin. He then just straight up orders drinks for them, despite her protesting. She then agrees, and then mentally apologizes to Robin. (Mistake #3) And we start seeing the biggest differences about right here...

For this chapter, let’s play a guessing game on which one is the Japanese version and which one is the English version, shall we? :)

Away from the table, Sirius plants a palm on the counter. Two of the usual are set out before him, bubbles frothing over the top. Sirius glances back and finds MC staring at the patterns in the wood grain. Sirius: Much obliged. Tavern Keeper: Mm-hmm. Scooping up the fizzing, popping tumblers, he tosses a wink at the tavern keeper. Then, he strolls back to spend time with his new friend. - Away from the table, Sirius plants a palm on the counter. Immediately two of the usual shot glasses are set out in front of him. Just to make sure, he looks back at MC, who is staring at the table. Sirius: Ah, thanks. Tavern Keeper: Mhm. Sirius skillfully drops the tablet he had hidden between his fingers into the shot glass of the opposite hand. Then, feigning a nonchalant look, he returns back to the table.

Did you guess which one was which in this part? :) And yes, my friends. In the fucking CANON MAIN ROUTE, it deadass has a line saying that our love interest puts a drug in our drinks. And yet...the Japanese fans still love him! Ugh. Also, that “skillfully” bit really concerns me. That kinda implies that he’s done it multiple times before, does it not??? Honestly I’m not really sure why it says it was a shot glass in the Japanese, though. I thought they were drinking like cocktails, not taking a shot. Maybe that’s why they changed that bit...? Now the stories are the same again for a tiny bit. Some time has passed that they’ve been in the bar/tavern and MC chugs her drink and slams it down on the table. She seems drunk. She’s rambling about Guy and Jasper. Like “I’m not an object!!” “and he’s like “Yes, yes, you aren’t an object.” then like “Who goes around saying stuff like “you are mine” and “give me your power”?? Like seriously! Who says that sort of stuff! It’s so messed up!” and he just listens along, amused. He then says that it’s good to drink sometimes, and she agrees, and then he asks what she wants to do. She notes how she’s only had one drink, yet her head feels a bit fuzzy already, and how it made her very talkative. She says she wants to go home. She reveals that her family died, and that she has a hair clip in her hair from her mom that’s very important to her. She mentions how there are still good people in this world, though.  Sirius tries to order her another drink, and here’s where stuff deviates again.

Sirius: Another of the same, if you please. MC: What, no! I’m fine MC: So hey, you’ve been fantastic company but I really need to go find Robin. (Man I got way too into that conversation.) (Robin must be out there looking for me.) MC: Thanks for the drink, though. You’re a really good listener. And also...really, really pretty. MC: It’s been great meeting you. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime? MC: Like...when I’m not looking for my cat. That’d be...nice.” (I have no filter. No filter whatsoever.) MC: Right, so...Bye... He stands up right as I do. The rickety old table wobbles between us and I pitch into his arms. Sirius: Steady on. Sirius: I might almost think you’ve fallen for me. (Fallen for him? But I’ve only just met the man.) Sirius holds me steady as I smile up at him, feeling silly but bold. He’s even more handsome up close. MC: Like I said, very attractive but...gotta go. Sirius: Hold fast. MC: Haha. Did you just pick me up?! Sirius hefts me into his arms like I weigh nothing, and for a moment I feel like I’m being carried off into the sunset. An electrifying thrill runs through me as I sway against him, adn then I realize we’re moving. MC: Where are we going? Sirius: ... MC: The look he gives me then makes my eyebrows shoot up. I nod and let him carry on. (English version, Mistake #4) When I next open my eyes, I’m being placed down on something fluffy. (I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. I should leave well enough alone but there’s something about him...) I peer at the unfamiliar ceiling overhead while Sirius stares down in my eyes. Sirius: No need to hurry. Sirius: The night’s just begun, after all. (Wait a second, aren’t you...?) The seductive smile on his face comes closer. For a split second he reminds me of someone, but it must be my imagination. - Sirius: Bartender, another of the same. MC: Ah, no, I’m good! MC: I really need to go find Robin. (Yikes, I got totally absorbed in that conversation.) (Surely Robin is looking for me, too) MC: Thanks...for talking with me...and listening... MC: Thanks to that I’ll be sure to...remember this... MC: From now on, I’m going...to study...more seriously...for sure.... (Wha...I’m so dizzy...) MC: Sorry...I’m...leaving now... Sirius: Whoa, hold on. MC: Ah... Unsteady on my feet, Sirius picks me up and holds me in his arms. I feel swaying and I open my eyes slightly. I’m being carried somewhere. MC: Where...are we going...? Sirius: ... Strangely, it feels like the ceiling has gotten awfully high... The next thing I’m aware of when I open my eyes is being placed down on something fluffy. (Where am I...?) I gaze at the ceiling above me and Sirius looks into my eyes. Sirius: Let’s take it slowly. Sirius: The night has just begun, no? (Huh...?) Laughing mysteriously, the man’s face comes closer. For a second, I think he looks similar to someone. But it’s just my imagination, right...?

I’m sure you can guess which one is which. One is extremely alarming, the other is cringe. It’s clear they did the most they could to try and make it consensual between them, and ended up doing exactly what I thought with having her make several comments about how attractive he is and then add some playful flirting between them. 😖 Alright! Ready for the next part? 

1st Interlude

I just read the normal first interlude in Japanese before typing out this post and...god, I thought the premium interlude was bad. So, one more time, trigger warning for sexual assault. Damn I really don’t want to write this part, I’m so tired from writing the rest TT (I saved this for last, unfortunately.) I’m not translating all of these so I’ll do a mix of translating exact lines and summarization. In all the stories, first she calls out Jasper’s name at first, confused, and then Sirius looks shocked. And she’s like, how weird, why would I call him that...he’s clearly Sirius...and then they all start to deviate. ><

Normal Interlude

Japanese version (this is the worst one): MC: I’m sorry...I must’ve gotten drunk, sorry for the trouble... Sirius: So you’re apologizing in this situation. (This...situation...?) He kisses her. (Wha...I’m being...kissed...) I’m aware of it, but my body feels so heavy, I can’t resist it. With my arms pinned to the bed, I’m forced to accept the kiss. He says “what is this power?” and then she sees an aura flare up around him. She asks if it’s magic, and he says that it’s interesting, and then asks if it has to do with the length of time or the type of physical contact. -- Sirius: Is it only your lips, or...? His finger runs along my knee, tickling it. With his other hand, he skillfully slips his hand into my shirt. Sirius: No need to be alarmed. Sirius: I simply wish to confirm. (Confirm...?) Sirius: So soft and smooth, you feel nice to touch. Sirius: But, I don’t feel anything from just touching you... Sirius: Is it different depending on where I touch? The sensation of him stroking my skin falsely spreads through my whole body while his fingertips make their way down to my lower limbs. I move my shoulders to try to tell him “I don’t want you to touch me!”, but it doesn’t matter as his fingertips continue to try to uncover something. MC: St...stop it... Yelling out makes him stop--at least, that’s what I had thought. However,  the thing that stops him isn’t my voice. He removes his hand that was feeling around in my shirt and then starts to think about something. (Is he...searching for something...?) Sirius: ...so it can’t be transferred through the skin, hm. (W-what...?) It’s finally over--is what I thought, at least. This time, he drops kisses on my ears and collarbone. When he puts his hands on my thighs again, I want to run away immediately. (Why...? Why is this happening...?) MC: Is this...is this a dream...? Sirius: Yes. It’s a dream. So, goodnight. Sirius: You’re about to reach the limit, aren’t you? (Limit? What is he talking about?) Even if I wanted to think about it, my head is too fuzzy and I can’t think of anything. I don’t like it, but...what is it I don’t like? Surely it was something important, but I can’t remember. Before I could say “I’m sorry, I’m really sleepy” my consciousness blacks out. She passes out and Sirius says something about how interesting it is, and that he must report his findings to Guy.

English version: MC: Sorry, I can’t believe I called you by the wrong name. Sirius: Is this the time for apologies? (I guess not...?) He kisses her. (We’re kissing. I’m kissing Sirius...) He’s certainly attractive enough. I’m not attached to anyone here, and yet...Why is it that I keep thinking of Jasper? He says “what is this power?” and then she sees an aura flare up around him. She asks if it’s magic, and he says that it’s interesting, and then asks if it has to do with the length of time or the type of physical contact. -- Sirius: Is it only your lips, or...? His fingers walk along my knee, tickling me. I shiver and grin as he gives me a considering look, then slips his hand inside my shirt. -- Sirius: I only wish to see what you’re capable of. (Strangest bedroom talk ever.) Sirius: You’re exquisite. Soft, smooth, perfect to the touch... Sirius: But I seek other responses. Sirius: Tell me, is this where you want to be touched? He peers down at me expectantly, hands petting along my skin as if to encourage me to speak. I squeeze my thighs together, hoping he’ll continue without the need for words. He raises an eyebrow. MC: Sirius, I need... At first I think the sound of my voice has given him pause. Then I realize something else has happened. He tidies my open shirt a little and frowns thoughtfully. (What is he doing? What is it he’s looking for?) Sirius: Hm, no transfer from the skin. (Uh, what?) My mouth falls open. Has the moment been ruined somehow? If so, what’d I do? But then he plants tiny kisses over my ears, neck, and cheeks. His hands sweep over me once more, but far more soothingly. Still, I can’t get the image of Jasper out of my mind. (I can’t be doing this. It’s not fair to be thinking of one man when I’m with another. I need to sort my head out.) MC: Sirius, I can’t do this. I’m...I think I’m developing feelings for someone else, so it wouldn’t be fair to you to do this... Sirius: Well, well. There’s an unexpected turn. ...All right. We’ll think of this as nothing more than a passing dream. Sirius: This never happened then. Good night, MC. (Good night? But we’ve only just...) Suddenly I feel very drowsy. A second ago I wanted nothing more than a crazy, one-night romp with a man who has crystalline red eyes. Now I can’t think of anything but how comfortable this bed is. She passes out and Sirius says something about how interesting it is, and that he must report his findings to Guy. --

Yikes!!!!! I was so shocked when I read the normal interlude!! Especially the Japanese version!! Now for the other one...

Premium Interlude

Japanese version:

MC: I’m sorry...I must’ve gotten drunk, sorry for the trouble... Sirius: So you’re apologizing in this situation. (This...situation...?) His voice is close.  But besides that, I don’t understand the situation very well. Sirius: Is it hard to open your eyes? MC: Yes... Sirius: I’ll make you feel better right now. (Feel better...?) She sees him put in eyedrops. She tries to ask but her voice is really quiet and her throat is dry. MC: Excuse me, could...could I have some water?”  Sirius: I’ll give you some right now I felt something cold touch my lips and water poured down my throat. MC: ...nng (No...it’s something else. I’m...being kissed...) I understand that, but, but I feel too drowsy to be able to resist.  With my arms pinned to the bed, I’m forced to accept the kiss. He says “what is this power?” and then she sees an aura flare up around him. She asks if it’s magic, and he says that it’s interesting, and then asks if it has to do with the length of time or the type of physical contact. (What...this kiss...) It’s a kiss that makes me feel as if I’ll be swallowed by the torrent of pleasure. (I’ve never experienced something like this...) Sirius: Ha...ahh... MC: ...mm, Sirius... His lips pull away with a wet sound and I sigh. Sirius: It’s as I thought... MC: Stop...it...already... Sirius: Shhh... Sirius: Be quiet. I’m going to make you feel better. He wipes his finger along my wet lips and pushes it inside my mouth. My shoulders jump and I shiver and inhale sharply, feeling like I’m being bitten on the neck by Sirius. MC: Mnn... Sirius: Suck... He moves his finger around my mouth and I move my tongue as I’m told. Sirius: That’s it good girl... Sirius: ...so it can’t be transferred through the skin, hm. (What...is he talking about...?) Sirius: How about...here? He removes his finger from my mouth and strokes my knee. MC asks if it’s a dream, and the rest of the interlude ends the same way as the normal Japanese interlude ends.

English version:

MC: Sorry, I can’t believe I called you by the wrong name. Sirius: Is this the time for apologies? (I guess not...?) I can almost feel his voice vibrate against my skin. Shivering at the sensation, I let my head fall against the pillows. Sirius: Would you rather keep your eyes closed at the moment? MC: Mm. yeah. I like the sound of your voice. It...reminds me of someone... Sirius: Then keep them closed. Sirius tells her to hold on a minute and puts in eyedrops. MC says her throat is dry and asks for some water. He gives her water, but she realizes that it’s not a cup but rather him giving her water from his lips. -- They kiss. (Who taught him to kiss like this?) It’s like some dam has burst within me and a tide of pleasure is threatening to sweet me away. (I’ve never experienced anything like this. Is this magic, too, or just him?) Sirius: Mm..Yes... MC: Ah...Sirius... A wanton moan escapes me as he gives me space to breathe. The thing is, in my mind’s eye I keep seeing someone else. Sirius: Quite as I suspected. MC: That was incredible. What was-- Sirius: Shh. Hush now. I’ll fufill that yearning of yours. He rubs his thumb against my dampened bottom lip then slips it inside my mouth. My shoulders jump as he moves his lips and teeth over my neck. Sirius: Suck. I obediently swirl my tongue over his thumb, taking it in further. Sirius: Good girl. -- Then she says she can’t do it because of having feelings for someone else, just like in the normal English and the rest of the interlude continues the exact same way.

I can’t believe Voltage was really like “hey, pay us and we’ll make the content less rape-y for you! :)” Big yikes lol. I’d only read the premium at the time of my original post, and I thought that was bad enough to write a post about it. That normal interlude though? YIKES. Like...gahhh I know I already said this same thing like three times earlier but I’m just so grossed out!!

Also, a quick note. The CG for this has Sirius laying on top of her while she has her eyes closed. This is because she’s UNCONSCIOUS in the Japanese version. I was wondering how they were gonna get around it, but like not long before it came out I was like “oh they can just have him comment telling her to close her eyes or something” and I guess that’s more or less what they did...?

Chapter 9

Okay so I realize I did make a slight translation error in my original post about the ninth chapter. She does indeed say “I don’t have a headache” rather than what I had thought it said which was “My head hurts, but it can’t be a hangover.”  which is what they went with in the English. “My head doesn’t hurt, though, which suggests I don’t have a hangover.” The rest seems about right, though. Anyways, so this chapter starts the morning after the events of the first interlude with MC waking up in the strange bedroom. While not technically as big of change as in Chapter 8 and the first interlude, this is also one of the most changed chapters between versions. 

The Japanese version:

(Where am I?) I open my eyes and am unable to move at first. ---- (Robin and I got separated in town...so I was searching for him) (And then...ah, yeah, I met Sirius) (He was showing me the way...and then there was that bar on the dark street where I was only going to drink one drink, and then...) .... ....... .......... “Shit, I can’t remember anything...” I’m not sure how I got to this room or what happened after I blacked out. My head doesn’t hurt, so it’s not a hangover.  I only had one drink, that’s the one thing I CAN remember. “No way...” Nervously, I run my hands down my body.  The hem of my shirt was untucked, all the buttons completely undone, and my skirt was rolled up past my thighs.  (I want to think it’s just from how I slept...I really want to think that, but...)  Being drunk can make you roll around and do that. I can’t hide how anxious I am about this unexpected situation. My heart thumps painfully in my chest and my legs shake. ---- (Huh? A tattoo?) I see Sirius taking a shower in the other room, with a tattoo spread across his back. (That would mean Sirius and I...) Looking at the bed with disheveled sheets, I wrap my arms around my body and hug myself tightly. “Maybe...maybe we just slept, that’s all...” (It’s a pitiful excuse, I know.) (Oh my god!! I need to go find Robin!!) Remembering something very important, she runs out of the room. ---- Sirius: “Ha, she ran away.”

English version:

Where am I? I open my eyes and stay perfectly still for the first few minutes. ---- (I got separated from Robin in town and while I was looking for him I, ended up lost.) (And then...Oh right, I met Sirius. Man, he was attractive.) (He was showing me the way, then we paused for a drink, and then...) Then...Hmm. What did happen? I’m drawing a blank here. “What the? I have no memory of last night.” I have no idea where this is or the events that led to me waking up here. There are flashes of groans and sighs, but that’s all. My head doesn’t hurt, though, which suggests I don’t have a hangover. Not that I’d expect to have one over a single drink, but I remember that drink being similar to a potion. “Uh-oh. Did I hook up with someone?” I carefully pat myself down. My shirt’s untucked, the buttons are undone, and my skirt’s hiked up around my thighs. (Then again, I could’ve just slept weird. Here’s hoping.) I’ve definitely rolled around in my sleep while drunk before. Still, I never thought I’d have to do a walk of shame in another realm. My heart pounds as I look around, trying to figure out who I spent the night with. (Did I somehow manage to book a room for myself? With what coin?) (It’s like everything that happened since I got here caught up to me all at once. What did I do...?) ---- “What was that?” (A tattoo? It was a gorgeous one, if so.) (The question is, how acquainted did I become with that tattoo last night?) The rumbled bedding comes back into view as I put my head in my hands. “Maybe we just crashed here together after our drink.” “...” (Pitiful excuse, but I’ll take it for now.) (Wait, Robin! Oh god. I have to go find him.) I run out of the room as soon as I remember. Given how little of the situation I remember, it’s probably better if we put that night behind us. ---- Sirius: “Alas. She has absconded.”

Then after she leaves, it goes about the same in both versions. She finds Robin at the gates, is rushing to Toa’s class, gets stopped by Jasper. His voice reminds her of Sirius. He then teases her for being late and is like “You said you were going to go back to your room last night, but it seems like you went out and had fun instead.” and she snaps at him and says she didn’t. He acts surprised. She apologizes and walks off, embarrassed. He laughs.

So. Yeah. One of them, MC wakes up confused after being drugged and raped and is trying to process that and then remembers Robin, runs back to the dorms, and has to deal with Jasper teasing her saying she went out and had “fun” which triggers extremely fresh, bad memories. While the other one...MC is like. Did I hook up with someone?? Whoopsies! Hm, I wonder how I did that. Oh but that Sirius guy was SO hot. Oh shit! I have a cat that’s missing! Gotta go. And then Jasper teases her but she just gets upset because she feels embarrassed about hooking up with someone. Neat. Also, what is with Voltage and their obsession with using “abscond”???

----

Are you feeling uncomfortable right now? A little horrified that Voltage would write a story like that, and romanticize it? Awesome! Me too! Let’s take a break here before moving on. Thankfully, the next parts won’t contain anything near as triggering as the first interlude and chapter 9. 

(Next post currently in progress, will add link as soon as possible! This is taking much longer than I thought it would to write;;;)

[bookofmirth]

I don't think Sarah will link Elain to anyone in Feyre's or Nesta's core.

They will all have their families found and honestly Elain is in the Night Court just for her sister.

And the spectral twins is not Elain's Ic.

Elain's book shouldn't stray too far from Feysand, but it's the only one that will require it to take place outside of the Night Court.

I agree with you on the part about why Rhys tells Az to stay away from Elain.

I don't see how he forbade Az from being with Elain.

Rhys only for Elain to make a biased decision or to make it and then regret it.

Because neither character knows each other to fall into the kind of relationship Az wants.

Rhys just tried to avoid getting hurt.

Elain still hasn't made the decision to reject her or not, avoids her partner and doesn't even have the courage to be in the same room.

Az would put himself in the middle and snowball into confusion and pain.

There's nothing wrong with Rhys wanting the Two to get involved with the more settled things.

And for me the problem is that decisions can't be made without thinking and influenced and Elain was going to make decisions because in a way Az got involved and didn't let her go at her own pace.

I don't know.. as a friend I would prefer Elain to be totally free and without having the Lucien in hopes of something happening and then getting involved.

And try Elain knowing how to deal with Lucien in the same place without running away and Az knowing how to explain why he likes Elain without being 3+3.

Rhys forbade it but he's not the only one in charge and it's just a weak thing, he just asked to back off because I doubt he'll stop Elain from choosing.

and just added: Couldn't Rhys have done otherwise heard a bad explanation and didn't want he to simply believe what Az felt was more than lust?

Rhys for me is totally right and if it is in this reasoning it is even more right.

Feyre is also Gra Senhora so just turn to her and we'll see if she would believe Az's explanation too.

I think the thing with sjm is that we usually watch an MC not only find their person, their HEA love interest, but we also watch them go through the process of finding their own IC.

Feyre found Rhys and the IC

Aelin found Aedion and Lysandra, Elide and Rowan, Dorian and Chaol

Nesta found the Valkyries

It's sort-of her vibe to have her characters create a friend group along the way to finding their endgame partner.

It makes me wonder how this will look with Az. I don't see him finding a new friend group - and Aelin didn't either, she already knew a few of those people - but for Az I think it will be more about healing the rifts that have cropped up over the centuries and reconciling with Mor.

Elain is starting at zero in terms of friends, though. She has society friends from when she was a human, and now she has friends she bakes bread with. But they still report to Feyre, like that time when they indicated that Elain was having a bad day, which feels... patronizing? Imagine if Gwyn told Feyre that Nesta had had a bad day. YIKES. 😬

Rhys only for Elain to make a biased decision or to make it and then regret it.

Because neither character knows each other to fall into the kind of relationship Az wants.

Rhys just tried to avoid getting hurt.

Exactly! It's not about them being together, it's about Elain and Az having wildly different expectations or needs, not having had that discussion at all, and needing to give one another the time to figure that out. Not giving that space to someone who is clearly in emotional upheaval is... disrespectful. And I think that Az should be able to see that re: Elain, even if she might not have the experience and knowledge to recognize it in him. Which... is why Mor never slept with Az, because she could see it, and she knew what would be a simple event to her would be monumental to him.

and just added: Couldn't Rhys have done otherwise heard a bad explanation and didn't want he to simply believe what Az felt was more than lust?

He gave Az plenty of chances to explain himself. I'm sure Rhys didn't want to do something that would hurt his friend. He didn't start the conversation by forbidding it - he asked Az multiple questions first and proceeded according to what Az said.