#i've also always liked to keep people's expectations low so that i can surprise them instead of disappointing them. which is

[colgatebluemintygel]

not to be #earnest but in 2022 my only new years resolution was to write something of novel length and it still kind of blows my mind that after 5+ years of trying to get back into the habit of writing, i've now done that not only once, but twice (lets pretend for a sec that oao is finished x thank u)! there's so much more to say here too. and maybe i'll say it one day x but it's also crazy 2 think that i woke up on new years eve a year ago with the idea for wading in waist high water in mind...... and one year (and a few hours!) later :-) here we are!

[night-night-stories-before-bed]

‘Cause you are mine

Warning ⚠️; slight smut, Tony being his own warning (alcoholism, suicidal, depression.) Alcohol, blood, fluff 🔞

Pairing; Yandere!Tony Stark/Male!Reader

Summary; Tony can't take it any longer. He doesn't feel appreciated by his friends, feels like a burden to them and that the whole world is against him. That is until he meets you. You shine as bright as the sun and he is Icarus flying too close. But you are the one whose wings burn and melt.

Note; Tony is my Pookie, so be ready to have a lot of stories about him. And again, sorry for the mountain that is this story. ⛰️ And I was hungry for some Yandere Tony

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The gala was boring as always and you wondered how long it would take for something interesting to happen. Your eyes scanned the room, searching for someone to catch your attention. Your gaze fell on Tony Stark. The man was alone in a corner, sipping at his drink. The hero seemed lonely, lost and somewhat sad.

Tony Stark, a man who had done so much for the world without ever being thanked. What a sad fate. Trying your best but people keep bringing back your mistakes.

Finishing your own drink, you left the empty glass on the bar before walking up toward the genius. Tony didn't even turn to you before asking you to leave. His voice was low, a dim whisper as if he didn't want to be heard.

- “Why? This Gala is so boring and you are the only interesting person around.” You said, grabbing a drink as a server passed. “I've been impressed with your latest work in medical engineering. That going to help our surgeons save more lives.”

Tony eyed you, suspicious of your intentions and you understood why. So many people only saw him as Iron Man or a drunk, not as another human with feelings. But Stark was so much more. He was a genius and his mind worked like no one else. You wondered why people thought so little of him after everything he had been through and did for others.

You raised your hands, showing you weren't a threat.

- “Hey, easy. I ain't trying to suck your dick, just talking about your latest achievement. Not everyone look at you and see Iron Man.”

You chuckled as Tony rolled his eyes and swallowed his drink in one go.

- “No one ever hears me talk about all that, they all want to speak to Iron Man, curse me or want something from me. So yeah, let me doubt you here princess.” There is an edge to Stark’s voice and you easily see it for what it is; a way to protect himself.

- “Well then, I guess I will have to prove myself to you, won't I?” You replied, getting a smirk from Tony.

And its the best thing you ever did.

For the rest of the gala you both stayed in your corner drinking glass after glass and talking about everything and anything Tony created and made in recent years. You don't understand everything, so you ask question after question just to see some light and passion appear in Tony’s eyes.

Neither of you saw the time pass until you were among the last ones standing. Barely. Drunk the both of you, you had to support each other just to walk outside while jiggling like two idiots as you tried to pronounce some scientific word and Tony tried to help you.

You expected to go your separate way, not thinking Tony would want to spend more time with you. After all, you were both wasted and morning promised to come with one hell of a hangover. But to your surprise and joy, the genius almost forced you into his car.

Tony’s mansion is all you imagined. Enormous, luxurious and extravagant just like its owner, you didn't expected to feel so empty and lifeless. Even wasted you wonder if his home reflect Tony’s entirely. Does inside he also feel that way?

You two crash somewhere in what you can only call a mix between a living room and a bar. Tony, who's the most sober between you, got in his head to pour more drink and you can't refuse. Sitting almost on each other lap the conversation continued with you asking questions and Tony explaining everything, even getting his hand on his tablet to give you a visual.

Before the first light of morning comes Tony and you already finished a full bottle and a half. The conversation isn't clear and it is mostly you two giggling as you struggle to pronounce any complicated words. Stark isn't better. Head resting in the crook of your shoulder, one leg across your lap, the genius looks somehow happy and content in his drunken state. You got your arms around him, making sure he doesn't fall and hurt himself.

But when the sun finally rose and filled the room with golden light, there was only a comfortable silence between you and Tony. Your head resting on top of his, your hand grabbing one of his arms as your thumb drew circles on his skin you both felt content. There is no sleepiness, no need to pass out, just the desire to keep the moment going and hoping it'll never stop.

But of course, every good thing must come to an end.

At first, you heard footsteps coming closer as you were slowly drifting to sleep. In your arms, you felt Tony move, which woke you up fully. Then the door opened as a woman talked. Mind still in the mist, you didn't really understand what she was saying other than she was going to show you out.

- “He isn't going anywhere, Pepper. My new friend is staying right there with me.” Tony said, his voice so close to your ear that you shivered.

- “Tony, you got meetings today and they are important so up and get ready.”

You grunted and groaned, barely listening to the two bickering. Your arm stayed around Tony’s waist, making sure he didn't fall down as he trashed around, arguing with the named Pepper.

- “It's fine Tony. You are a busy man with a lot on your shoulders and I don't want to steal more of your time. We had a lot of fun last night and I hope we can do that again, but for now, your duties await you.” You said, petting his back and you turned your head to look at Pepper. “Alright miss. Show the way, but slowly please.”

Pepper looked at you and nodded as you got up. Tony wasn't happy about it, but you ignored him, not wanting to cause Tony more problems. You followed Pepper, head heavy and feeling like you would never drink again when you felt someone grab your hand. Before you could utter a word, you were forced to run as Tony pulled you behind him.

You heard Pepper screaming Tony's name while the genius just laughed. Lost, you followed the genius. Tony took you down in his workshop and lab. He showed you around, smiling proudly as you admired everything, wondering how a single man could do and create such incredible things.

Having prevented Pepper from following, Tony relaxed and told you he didn't want to leave. Not anytime soon. It both surprised and worried you. Why was your new friend so determined to keep you close? Was he that lonely?

In the following days, Stark was everywhere with you. If you had to go somewhere, he accompanied you and even drove you around. You didn't have a second of peace and yet it only felt normal, natural. Tony fitted perfectly in your life like the piece you didn't know you were missing.

If you weren't sleeping at his place, Tony would join you at yours or you would stop at a hotel or motel. You could tell his friends, especially Pepper were getting tired of it. But not you. Having someone's full attention on you was something exciting, especially Tony who wasn’t one to trust easily.

Even after a few weeks, you didn't get bored with it. Every day brought something new in your relationship with Tony. Some of it was a story from Tony’s past, sometimes he took you to his workshop and you worked with him on some project or he opened up about what was going on in his head.

You couldn't remember when was the first night you shared a bed, but it was at Tony’s place after drinking way too much again. The genius was nuzzled against you, your arms wrapped around him when you woke up. Tony was trashing around, sweaty and whimpering. You could immediately tell he was having a nightmare. As gently as you could, you nudged him until he woke up.

Tony jerked awake, hitting you in the chest as he tried to get away. You had to pin him down against the mattress and ask Friday to turn on the light for Tony to calm down. You were shocked by how scared and broken Tony looked and wondered how no one saw it sooner. You passed the rest of the night cuddling and pampering him until he was calm once more.

As time passed you met each member of the Avengers and each time you were disappointed. Not by the fact they were human but by how little they seemed to care about Tony. They never really listened to him or rolled their eyes as he rambled about some scientific things. It was hard for you to appreciate them when they didn't appreciate your dearest friend.

You pointed it out to Tony who simply scoffed.

- “Tell me something I don't know, Princess.” He told you, voice tired and done.

- “Well I don't like them.” You grunted and he laughed.

- “Again, I know that.”

You kept an eye out on Tony and saw how down he often was after each mission or meeting with the team. You took it upon yourself to make him feel better; getting his favourite food and coffee or drinks and he would smile at you, thankful.

It is sooner than later that your relationship evolved from friends to more.

Again, it all happened after you drank way too much and ended up having a passionate night with Tony. When you wake up naked, you feared you had destroyed your friendship, only for Tony to be happy to now be your lover.

Not just your lover but also your boyfriend.

The news quickly found its way into every magazine and soon enough everyone knew Iron Man was seeing someone, a man. You didn't care about being the target of the cameras, as long as Tony was by your side. After all, you had nothing to be ashamed of.

However, you never imagined how possessive and protective Tony would be toward you. To your surprise, Tony hated seeing your names on the news or on magazines and would snap after any journalist trying to talk to you.

You weren't the only one shocked; his whole team and friends didn't recognize him. Tension began to build up between Tony and the rest of the Avengers. You could only feel guilty, thinking you were the cause and yet not understanding what was going on with Tony.

But with you, Tony was gentle and caring, even overloving sometimes. He would ask for forgiveness each time you pointed out how he acted and would forgive him. You couldn't stay angry for long.

But as the tension and conflicts grew, Tony and the Avengers grew apart. Soon enough, Tony announced he was leaving not only the team but also would stop providing funds to them and the S.H.I.L.D. But after tragedy comes happiness and Tony proposed to you.

As happy as you felt being engaged, the ring strangely felt like handcuffs or a leash. In the back of your mind you wondered if you were doing the right thing. But it was too late to back down, and now that Tony wasn't part of the Avengers anymore he was even more often with you. He was always there, even when you thought you were alone.

After all, he could access any and every camera in the country. There was nowhere where he wouldn't find you.

[euniexenoblade]

I may have asked you this before, and I'm really sorry, so I'm gonna be on anon for this. I. hate. cleaning. I've always hated cleaning. I just...have some strange aversion to cleaning. When I'm elsewhere, I clean just fine. But when it's my own stuff and area...I just avoid it for as long as possible. Executive dysfunction really sucks. What advice do you have that you can give me?

Executive dysfunction is tough, because it's really really hard to get around sometimes. Nothing I say will be a sure fire way to get through it, but I hope something I say can be helpful.

First of all, do not expect that you'll clean the whole house or anything. Just focus on a small amount at a time. Doesn't even have to be a whole room. Make it like, "today I will take care of x in the bathroom." It'll be so much easier. Maybe do like, one task a day if possible, and allow yourself to not keep up with that. You're allowed to skip chores, it's not the end of the world.

I like to open up the windows and let sunlight in, I also really like to blast music (or headphones if need be) and just go for it. I approach it like a jog, activity i need to power through and music is the energy. Serious about that sunlight, it wakes you up and brightens the mood.

As I said, start small. Is there garbage in your room? Pick it up and throw it out. There you go, there's one task. You can call it done there if you want. Do you have dishes scattered around your room? Pick em up and put them in the sink. There you go! A whole new task completed!

If the trash needs to go out, take it out when you leave the house. On your way to work? Take the trash out on the way. Gonna check the mail? Take the trash out.

Dishes can be daunting but if you break it into smaller tasks it can be a lot more manageable. When I'm at my girlfriend's house I tend to do the dishes immediately following the meal. (This is largely cuz they have so few dishes in general and so they're available when we want to eat next buuuut) This makes it so dishes don't stack up. Washing one bowl and one spoon and maybe a pan is a lot less work than a collected stack. You could also just load dishes into a dishwasher (assuming you have one) as you go. A lot of people don't do this which kinda always surprises me, but if you finish your meal, immediately when getting up, put the dishes in the dishwasher. No wait. Just do it. Dishes can't stack if they're already in the machine that's going to clean them.

Executive dysfunction is really hard to get around sometimes, and I'm sorry if none of this actually helped. But, with a lot of things with low energy or depression, you gotta kinda just make yourself do it. I know that seems redundant, "I can't make myself do it that's why it's a problem" but it is genuinely true. Sometimes you gotta just force it to happen. It's ok not to always be on top of everything. It's ok if today you just can't do it. It's ok if there are things you can't do and need help. Don't beat yourself up over it, that's not gonna help. Remember that it's ok to take breaks and not finish tasks.

Reward yourself. After you do the thing, do something you like. Eat chocolate, watch that show you've been waiting for, get high, whatever you want. (I like to take a big hot bath with a lush bath bomb, it's a great reward hehe~)

Buy a maid uniform, lots of people have told me that helps them power through chores :)

I don't know if any of that will help, but I hope it does.

Also, while I'm doing this, back on my last blog I wrote a post in reply to an ask of "how exactly do I clean my room" and I haven't been able to find it. So I think it'd be good to recreate it here. This is a lot more intensive, so anon plz don't feel inclined to do any of this. This is entirely for if people have the energy and ability, a bit closer to what I do.

Put on music. Absolutely the most important thing is having fun with it. Put on that song you like to sing along to, or that song you like to dance to, get yourself some energy. Jam the fuck out.

This is big optional, so feel free to skip this one if you don't want to do it. If you have a ceiling fan, wipe the top of the blades. Dust collects there even if you've been using it. But, if you haven't been using it, you don't want to knock all that dust down when you finally do. Go get yourself a duster for like $5 somewhere. If you just can't do that I'd recommend using a dry rag (always use dry things for dusting).

Do you have any dirty clothes? Whether in a hamper or on the floor, pick them up first and get the washer going, do the rest while the washer runs.

Get a trash bag. Do you have any trash in your room? Empty bottles, cans, wrappers, paper, any trash whatsoever: pick it up and put it in the bag.

Do you have any dishes laying around? Pick them up now and put them in the sink.

Wipe down any surfaces that might be dusty. Again, duster or dry rag. You can use paper towels if you want but I feel they're not very good for this task. Now wipe down any that might be dirty, from trash, dishes or whatever. Wet paper towel is allowed if you have no alternative, wet rag is probably better, lysol wipes tend to be my preference, if you're really fancy then you can get specific cleaners for wood and stuff (I wouldn't worry about this if all your shits cheap Ikea or Walmart though).

Whenever the washer finishes, of course move it to the dryer, but also put your bedding in the wash. You're cleaning the whole room, there's no way there isn't gunk on your bedding. This bit is kinda predicated on being able to wash/dry whenever you want. if you're reliant on a laundromat, edit this to whatever makes sense to you.

If you have carpet, I'd recommend to vacuum now. If you don't have a vacuum, no shame but I do recommend them. I wouldn't recommend a Dyson even though they look and seem cool, if you want a decent vacuum just stick to the normal top brands and you'll be fine. If you want one but don't have much money, get one of those small hand ones. If you have a hard floor, swiffer that shit.

You are largely done! Sometimes things may not be this easy but try your best with what you have and it'll be fine. Even doing just one of these things will feel good afterwards. Feel free to take breaks, to stop all together, reward yourself when you're done. It's just cleaning your room, don't think of it as a big deal.

[twistmusings]

MOD AZUL LMAO HOW ARE WE FEELING ABOUT TWST GOJO?✨️✨️✨️

LMFAO Iove that you guys have just taken to asking me about every update as they come out because of my low activity due to canon events right now. I genuinely fond out when stuff drops in TWST JPN pretty much as soon as you tell me. /srs

Some card spoilers below the cut!

Honestly, I know you made the comparison to Gojo but I look at him and I see beside from a goth Beatles cover band. 💀 Definitely excited to see what the event entails though! Fun facts about Mod Azul, the first Disney movie I watched as a child WAS Nightmare before Christmas, so this actually has me very excited for obvious reasons. I do love the design, but my man looks like an absolute SHITHEAD - I fully expect this event is going to be meddling. I know people are speculating he may be twisted from the Mayor, because of his pupils, and that wouldn't surprise me at all. To be honest, I almost wonder if he is twisted from the general concept more so than any one character. I see more indicators that he was twisted from Jack than anyone else in his design because it's very skeletal - though I do wonder if Oogie Boogie will be making an appearance in some way.

The new cards look super cool - I feel like the costume and hair designs lean even further into Yana's previous work on Black Butler than pretty much everything we've seen so far! I also think it's pretty cool that the Halloween even is actually using a notably different color palette and style than past Halloween events.

TWST has always had a very saturated color palette, even in the Halloween events, so it's super cool to see them play with the actual color language itself. I've pulled Jade's halloween cards to compare them for you to illustrate the differences:

Particularly in the hair - you can see how Jade's hair has been desaturated and sort of greyed out, which I think is a super cool way of incorporating the Tim Burton style into the game. ALSO

LEONA'S REGULAR CARD IS HANDLED WELL. I'm trying not to get my hopes too high, but even with the desaturate palette so far, he is still able to maintain some depth to his skin while still looking paler to match with the style. Now I am certainly hoping I don't eat crow - I know how things went with the Kings Garb card, but I'm going to hold out hope that we will get a really cool Leona SSR. Aside from the Fairy Gala, we haven't really had a "formal wear" Leona card, and I'm really hoping that the SSR looks good!

To give some clarification what I mean - when you are desaturating a color palette, specifically for darker skin tones, you want to mute the saturation of the color without losing the depth of the color. When we are speaking about skin tones, human skin is made up of a mix of colors - primarily yellows and reds, though we also get some blue as well. When you're working with a dark skin tone. In that sense, you don't want to add grey, you want to neutralize some of the warmth with blue tones and even fully dip into blue tones in shadow, which this artist has done. I have actually color picked this palette and put it against a white background to show what I mean and wow this is a gorgeous color palette!!

It definitely depends on the monitor and the brightness settings, but on the monitor I have calibrated to do illustration on - those colors are Navy Blue, A dark lipstick Mauve, a soft violet, and then some brighter orange brown and yellow brown where the moonlight is hitting. Even in the shadows, those cooler colors (the purples) are warmer shades of those colors that make sense with his skin tone. It's a beautiful palette using a ton of gem tones and cool colors and I'm holding out hope that the groovies keep with this trend, especially considering we have both Leona and Jamil getting much needed SSRs this go around.

So far as other thoughts - in Japan the event has been called "Lost in the book with Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas", which leads me to believe this will be similar to the Stitch event where the boys end up in a book in an entirely alternate world and will likely wake up not knowing what happened. I'm also guessing given the track record with the Halloween events and the fact that Nightmare before Christmas is a musical that we're likely going to get more Twistunes with this Halloween event. I don't know if we're going Masquerade levels with it, but I certainly hope we get to hear Leona and Sebek sing, and we know that Jamil can!

Also this event includes Vil, Leona, AND Malleus, so I fully expect at some point these three are going to beef because you can't put these three drama queens in a room and have them NOT devolve into arguing. I eagerly await that.

Also I don't know if they are keeping any of the Christmas theme of nightmare before Christmas, but if they do I cannot wait for the boys to ILLEGALLY DETAIN SANTA CLAUS.

[leomonae]

Tips for BG3 fans considering giving BG2 a try!

Disclaimers: I never played the enhanced or extended or whatever it's called - the Beamdog edition, that one - so I can't say what, if any, of this it might have changed. Also, while it continues to be my favourite game of all time, it's been like 5 years since my last BG2 playthrough, and I always ran it with a whole bunch of mods; I might get a few things mixed up, but I'll edit in corrections if I find that I have!

Much of this will apply to BG1 as well, of course, but not all. I am not really addressing BG1 because I've played through the whole thing maybe twice to my couple dozen BG2 games, and also because people who started a series at #3 don't get to be too picky about doing the first two out of order either :P

Right, so! I'm going to try not to spoil much here; these are just things to make your life easier and less annoying before you are blindsided by them and have to back up three hours to avoid the issue.

1) You might find yourself having to back up three hours to avoid some issue. BG3 has hopefully already thoroughly taught you this practice, but save early, save often, and keep your old saves until you're entirely done. This is a twenty year old game, I promise you have enough storage space.

2) We are playing under something like 2e (second edition) D&D rules here, not 5e. Armour class is good when it's low, not high. You don't get a set number of ability points at character creation, you roll dice and then you keep rolling for the next ten minutes until you get a nice, high points total to distribute as you prefer. Thac0 means "to hit armour class 0". Multi classing and dual classing are not at all the same thing, and will result in very different builds (also which one a character can do is determined by their race).

3) Games came with giant manuals back then; you are gonna need to either be doing some research, or just accepting that everything is going to be very confusing for awhile.

4) Go right ahead and crank that difficulty setting down a notch or two before you get started; after the first hour or two getting to grips with it, BG3 combat was basically just a nice, gentle romp through the park for me. I'm not saying this to brag (I don't ever play above core difficulty in BG2, myself), I'm saying this because you are going to find yourself getting very, very frustrated very fast if you don't understand that games back then had much different expectations when it came to how they handled some of the things that contributed to difficulty. Don't be meaner to yourself than you have to be! Challenge is fun; beating your head against a brick wall over and over is not.

5) The game is not going to do anything to stop you from going places you are not equipped or leveled to handle yet. If you are not making progress with some new area after a few tries and different approaches, consider going away and coming back later. It is also perfectly happy to spring surprise dragons on you. Or surprise "oh hey I just opened this door in the middle of the city with a certain common item in my inventory and now I appear to be in the second hardest fight of the entire game" encounters.

6) XP is distributed to all your party if it is main quest xp, and split among your party otherwise. If a character is not in your party at the time this happens, they don't get the xp, as a general rule. One or two specific exceptions aside, the game does not play catch-up for the characters you had leave your party temporarily; I would advise deciding who you want to have in your party fairly early on, then sticking to that so you're not wasting good xp on characters you're not keeping around.

7) Unfortunately, the previous is somewhat complicated by the fact that some companions have their own personal quests they want you to do for them. Quests with hidden timers that start running when you pick them up. Quests over which they will leave your party permanently, if you don't get around to them soon enough/don't listen when they give you a "do this basically now, or else" ultimatum. Quests you are going to be in no way capable of doing at the start of the game.**

8) Not all companions get along with one another; some of them cannot be in a party together without eventually fighting to the death as you're walking down the street one day. Pay attention to their alignment and don't go mixing good and evil characters in the same run. Neutral ones are significantly more chill.

9) There's a reputation mechanic which is kind of a morality tracker; good companions can also leave you if you get too low rep, and evil if you get too high.

10) When you first get out into the city proper, go check out the shops in this starting area; you can get a gem bag and a scroll case which will make inventory management much more pleasant. There are also bags of holding in the game - you know, those things our BG3 player characters kept taunting us about not having?

11) Companions can permanently die in a way that leaves them unable to be resurrected again due to the condition of the body. Be careful! Or just reload one of your twelve billion saves you've been carefully making, that works too.

12) Sometimes certain spells can have effects that might not occur to you in advance. Like, oh, say, disintegrating a dragon and only realising thirty hours later that you also disintegrated the crafting component required for making a really powerful weapon which it had in its inventory at the time.

13) You've noticed by now in BG3 that there are enemies who are resistant or vulnerable to certain types of damage, yeah? Bludgeoning, specific elements, etc. That is also going to be a thing here, but it's not always as immediately obvious what the problem is when you're failing to damage something. But in general, magical vs non-magical damage is a much bigger concern in BG2. There are many enemies that only take damage if your weapon is an enchanted one, and they might also require a certain minimum level of enchantment; +3 weapons or better, that sort of thing. Spells can affect this, too. Certain types of damage can cut through certain spell protections. Etc.

14) Hint: Melf's Minute Meteors count as +5 weapons, if you should ever find yourself unexpectedly in need of such a thing for some unknown reason I'm sure will never come up!

15) You can turn on a great many auto-pause options in the menu to get something significantly closer to the turn based combat you're used to. I use most of them; pausing whenever one of your characters finishes casting a spell (different spells take different amounts of time to finish casting and you can be interrupted before you manage doing so) is very useful so that you can immediately start them on their next spell without wasting time in combat.

16) If there's anything you really don't like, such as constantly being told to gather your party before venturing forth, there's almost certainly a mod for that.

That should do for now, have fun, enjoy the absolutely terrifying versions of vampires and illithid which will stalk your nightmares afterwards!

**It's Keldorn, I'm talking about Keldorn. I know he's amazing, but just leave his ass right the fuck where you found it unless you are feeling about ready to fight some of the toughest enemies in the game. Or you've bought that one specific item and don't mind a little cheese, because god knows I always use it if I'm planning on recruiting him.

[bakvrue]

“Come on, what’s it going to hurt if you stay out with me a little longer?”

Leopold’s words make you smile yet you shake your head, leaning against the brick gate that separates your family’s estate from the road that leads to it. His seawater colored eyes shine even in the low nighttime light, striking a balance between his fiery locks and personality, and you fear they’re winning you over this time. But, he won’t win without working for it.

“My father and my mother, for one.” You punctuate your retort with pursed lips and raised brows. “My reputation and thus my standing in society.”

He scoffs in response, shrugging his shoulders, one palm pressed into the wall above your head and the opposite shoulder leaning against yours, effectively pinning you.

“How will they even know?” He offers, playful tone letting you know he’s only joking even if he desperately wants to keep you by his side for a few more hours. “Are you going to tell them I kept you out?”

You shrug, leaning in against him playfully, pretty eyes darting up to glance at him. He looks right back at you, emotion worn across his face, all of this adoration he has for you as evident as his pedigree and power. He doesn’t bother to hide it and never truly has, effectively causing whispers about the pair of you throughout all corners of the Clover Kingdom.

“Why are you assuming mama and papa aren’t up and waiting for me? I am their precious little girl, after all.” You flutter your lashes dramatically and he leans in to kiss you, eager and hungry despite your attempts to wiggle away from him.

While you giggle against his lips, he holds you tighter. You’re a wisp, a sparkle, a star and he’ll be damned if he ever lets you go without a fight.

“I could always go inside with you and explain to them that their baby is in the capable hands of a Magic Knight.” He raises his brows, the two of you practically sharing the same breath you’re so close.

You burst into a fit of giggles and bat at his chest with your hand. “Their baby girl is also a Magic Knight and a capable one at that.”

So he can’t argue that you can hold your own. You are a member of Golden Dawn after all, as powerful as you are charming and beautiful, and you’re only home with your family for a few days before returning to duty. Leopold’s appearance was a complete surprise and you weren’t expecting him to show up in the evening, asking to take a walk with you around the city.

This was hours ago, dusk long having fallen into night, and you need to go home before people begin to ask questions.

“I can’t wait to marry you.” His jump to the extreme causes you to gasp softly and he collects you against him. “Then we’ll never have to say goodbye, just good night.”

Giggling, you nod in agreement. “I can’t wait for that either but for now, I need to go home.”

He sighs, leaning down to collect one last kiss from his beloved, the only he’ll ever have.

“Good night, my beauty.”

You kiss him, fingers easily finding the back of his neck to buy yourself a few more moments at his side.

“Good night, Leopold.”

Could the youngest Vermillion be the first to commit his heart to that of marriage? Oh, the gossips at the tea parlor will have a field day with this.

Everytime I read this my heart grows 15 sizes. Oh my god. I want him so bad. So unbelievably bad. I've been hoarding this for so long kendy, I love it so much. Like my heart is literally pounding reading this for the millionth time. God. "I can't wait to marry you." I'm literally melting on the floor oh my godddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

[desertfangs]

#VCWIPWednesday

I almost forgot it was Wednesday given the holiday yesterday but I've been working on stuff for Kink Week and I'm so excited to share! I don't want to spoil too much of the surprise but I'm really happy with the first piece I finished (finished meaning drafted,and still needs edits) so I wanted to share a small snippet with some mild adult content under the cut (nothing more than kissing in this preview but some grown up words).

Not tagging anyone this week but feel free to play if you're so inclined!

“People use handcuffs, sure, but these are cheap.” 

He took them from Armand’s hands, surprised to find they were metal, not plastic. He set down his beer and, with his cigarette dangling from his lips, examined them. They didn’t seem as sturdy as real handcuffs—which he unfortunately had experience with—but they also didn’t feel as flimsy as he’d expected. They wouldn’t hold Armand. He doubted any handcuffs would. But Daniel wouldn’t be able to break them open or get free easily. His mouth went dry as he imagined being restrained with them.

He picked up the box from the counter and found the key in the bottom. He unlocked the the cuffs. The pink fuzz around the inside was silly and playful, but also soft enough to keep your wrists from getting chafed. 

“Give me your wrist,” Daniel said. 

Armand thrust his wrist out. Daniel slapped the cuff around him and snapped it shut. Armand frowned, lifting his arm to get a closer look.

Daniel ashed his cigarette and took a drag while Armand examined the cuff on his wrist, batting at the loose, dangling cuff like a cat. He stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray and moved toward Armand with the key, intending to unlock it. But Armand snatched the key with his free hand and snapped the dangling cuff around Daniel’s wrist, locking them together. He grinned.

Daniel laughed. “Great, you got me.” 

Armand yanked his arm toward him, jerking Daniel forward. He stumbled into Armand. “I could get use to having you on a chain.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Daniel muttered. He grabbed for the key but Armand yanked it out of reach. He undid the cuff around his own wrist and went back into the kitchen. Daniel looked down at his arm, the pink fluff exploding beneath the glinting metal on his wrist. He cleared his throat. “Are you going to undo this or do I have to walk around with it on my arm all night?”

Armand opened a second box of cuffs. “Do you think the keys are the same for both?” 

“How the hell would I know?” Daniel walked up behind him, reaching around him to grab his beer from the counter. He sipped at it while Armand tried the same key on the extra set of cuffs. It worked. He grinned and put a single key into the pocket of his pants. Then he gave Daniel a look that set all his hair standing on end, a mixture of mischief and desire. 

“What?” Daniel asked. 

“Do you wish to test these?” Armand asked. “You have had such a fantasy.” 

Excitement shot through him as he thought of a myriad of ways they could test them, picturing himself cuffed and helpless. But the pink fluff made them feel silly, like a joke, which made him feel a little dubious about using them for their intended purpose even as the idea aroused him. “They’re novelty toys,” Daniel said. 

Armand lifted Daniel’s arm. He ran his thumb over his wrist around the cuff. “They seem sturdy enough to me.” His voice was low, soft, and it sent tingles down Daniel’s spine. He looked up at Daniel with his beautiful, brown eyes and, the look imploring and full of something else. Desire? Need? Hunger?

Daniel’s breath hitched and blood rushed to his groin. “Yeah, okay, I guess we can see what these babies can do.” 

Armand smiled and warmth spread through Daniel at having evoked that reaction. He had a radiant smile that always made Daniel giddy. Armand kissed him, fingers stroking his cheek as his tongue pushed into Daniel’s mouth. His tongue was cool, the heat from the blood of his earlier kill now faded, and Daniel’s tongue burned hot as it slid into his mouth, desperate and needy. 

Armand took his hand and led him to the bedroom. He pushed him against the wall and kissed him again, more fiercely this time, and Daniel’s cock hardened with excitement. There was nothing silly about the way Armand kissed him, fingers threading into his short blond hair, tongue warring with his. 

[nescaveckwriter]

Paintbrushes And Romance 🥰🐞 - Part 14

Dean x Fem/Reader

Part 14🥰🐞

A/N: This might be triggering for people suffering from PTSD!💓 Side Note: thank you all so much for the support. Much love, my bugsies 🥰🐞

Warnings: hospital scenes, trigger warnings, sadness, violence, swearing, PTSD triggers, suicidal tendencies, drug use,🥹

......

The tear stained note, was short, when Cas read it, "Sorry Mom, I need some space, will call I promise, Love you" , shaking his head in disbelief.

In a soft low voice, Cas told Dean he could enter the house.

The broken ceramic pieces still scattered all over the open plan kitchen, Dean searching for her, the look in his eyes took Cas by surprise, it was filled with hurt, fear, sadness and guilt. He just handed Dean the note, he expected his best friend to have one if his outbursts of anger, but instead, all Dean did was crumble up the note, looked at him with bloodshot eyes, saying, I've lost her again Cas, his voice was low, barely audible but shaking.

Of course he tried explaining to best of his knowledge, that she didn't really mean to say all those things, it was merely because she was suffering from depression and the trauma but of course his friend didn't really believe a single word he spoke.

Eversince that day, he would check on Dean occasionally, finding out how he has been doing, he'll always get the same answer, just fine, never been better.

One night about 2 months since she left, he went by Dean's house, he just had a feeling he should check on him, walking up to the door, he could see the image of the once strong man, sitting at the table, bottle of whiskey, nearly finished, what looked like photos scattered out in front of him, the chain with the diamond ring in his one hand, but what really scared him was the gun in Dean's right hand, he didn't knock, he just barched in, making Dean look up from where he sat.

Not a single word was uttered at that moment, He just took the weapon out of Dean's grip, tossed it to the side away from them, begging him to talk to him. The only words that ran over his whiskey lips, was that he was tired, he misses her, and he tried searching for her, but she withdrew all her money at a gas station two towns over, and well as for her phone, she threw it in the closest trash can, she only called back home about three times from a damn payphone, Caroline said when they spoke her words seemed few and sort of slurred. I reviewed the cameras man, you should've seen her, his eyes filled with sadness, the body he came to know like the back of his hand was now only skin and bones, she seemed high Cas! Like she's using, she's doing drugs because of me.

Dean stood up, running his hands over his face. I did this Cas. If only I caught the bastard sooner. That night was the breaking point for Dean, and if he didn't show up, Sam would've lost a brother and their parents a son.

He explained to Dean that what very few people knew, is that its not just the trauma victim, but their loved ones that also get affected by it. He didn't leave his sight that night, promising Dean that he is there for him every step of the way and that they will get through this.

Its been almost a year now, and Dean has gotten better, he has healthier coping mechanisms for the dark days, and when those doesn't seem to work like it should, he throws himself into work, and taking care of Bobby, making sure he gets to physical therapy. Of course every know and then he sees Dean subconsciously play with the chain around his neck, still keeping his eyes and ears open for a clue of where she might be, hoping she'll just show up one day, and say she's sorry, and he knows for a fact Dean will take her back in a heartbeat. He knows that it isn't either of their faults that this messed them up so badly but, it still breaks his heart that all of this happened to two of the most generous, loving people he knows.

...

Its been three months since she left, the images replaying over and over. What am I even searching for, what was even the real reason why I left, fumbling in her handbag for some of the painkillers she bought by some sketchy looking dude at the corner, the only way of making the images of every damn thing disappear is by getting high, is it wrong? Hell yeah I know it is wrong. But really do I even care anymore.

More coffee comes a deep voice, looking up you can tell the man had gone through hardships in life but the smile on his face met his eyes. Yeah, thanks you said, your voice doesn't sound the same anymore, its gotten slower and well it sounded like you had given up on life. He just nodded and refilled your cup. Something to eat, the voice came out a little sweeter than before.

No thanks, you didn't really felt like eating, everything made you nauseous. How did I get to this point, a junkie who can't wait for her next fix, who's living out of her car, driving from one town to the next. Maybe it was a wrong decision to drive off that day, thinking back to the first time you felt high, you were about to towns over, tired off driving and crying, and in all honesty the pain in your leg was driving you crazy, busy searching through your bag, seeing the antidepressants and opioids the doctor and your psychologist gave you, with clear instructions on how to take them, you just took some, washing it down with an energy drink you bought at the fill up station. And that combination felt amazing.

For the first time the images in your mind weren't so scary, and you felt good, real good. Early morning came and the effects wore off, you made a promise to yourself that you won't do again. After you freshened up you might've took some more, for the pain of course, just saying that to make yourself feel better, that day was also the last time you spoke to your mom, just stating your okay and she shouldn't worry and you loved her. You could tell she was concerned and crying on the end of the line. But there was nothing you could say to make her feel better. If there was you would've tried it yourself. You just hang up the payphone, throwing your cellphone in a trashcan close by, you knew Dean had the resources to trace your phone, and you weren't ready to be found.

Over these past few weeks the using got more, wanting to feel the effects for longer, you started popping pills more than once a day, and before you knew it, the pill bottles were empty, and it ain't exactly over the counter drugs, so you drove around searching for someone who sold them, at first you were scared but know your just desperate. Taking any pills you can get that will do the trick.

The guy who sold this last batch to you, told you to take one, and it will make you feel good, and at first you did, but that didn't just quite cut it, so you took another two, swallowing it down with your black coffee.

After a while you started to feel Nauseous, walking as fast as you can to the bathroom, not really seeing how the man from the diner that refilled your coffee were watching you, after closing the door behind you, you could tell something wasn't right, everything started to look it was swimming before your eyes, you felt like you were burning up, sweat coming from your forehead, your legs felt weak and just gave in underneath you, you felt your head hitting against the basin and then the floor, your body started to shake violently and then it all went dark...

[alchemiclee]

I watched the live action atla series and, looks like a very unpopular opinion in the sea of people whining and complaining about it, but I enjoyed it. I think they did a pretty good job with what they had and their limitations. the actors all did a good job and you can tell they enjoyed what they were doing and have a big respect for the show and their characters.

i'll let you in on the secret if how to enjoying something:

it's not setting high expectations or prejudging things. i'm a master of having low expectations and keeping an open mind so that I can enjoy things in life better. I went into this knowing for a fact that it would not match with the animated series. I knew there was no comparison at all. yes, there were some small bits I thought here and there that they shouldn't have cut out and could have fit if they tried,or things they could have done differently, which is natural to think when watching anything really, but I knew there's no point letting those overshadow the entire thing. if you care so much about little things, go produce your own series and make it perfect!

I went into it thinking of it as it's own thing. I asked myself is this enjoyable if I started watching without having seen the animation? without having the knowledge I do have? turns out it was enjoyable enough on its own. yes, seeing the animation helps fill in some of those gaps they skipped, and I understand why people are upset about things nit being added, but overall, it's a good stand alone if you dont sit and compare and nitpick the whole time.

if you don't go into it thinking "this is going to suck! i'm going to find every flaw! live actions always ruin things I love! I want it to match the animation 1:1! etc" then you'll be able to enjoy it. but if you insist on watching it with that mindset, then of course you will hate it. having an open mind and separating the two like I did makes it more enjoyable! I was pleasantly surprised by it.

I knew this mindset helped, because I did it with another series that had a remake. if you know eureka seven, you'll know that there are a few too many spinoffs. what us fans want is a proper remake and/or a continuation with the characters we know and love. instead we got several movies that retell the story in less appealing ways, the manga that has a few major differences, and a spin off series that's supposed to act as a sequel apparently, but it was kinda awful. because I loved eureka seven so much, I highly judged all these spinoffs and hated them all.

but when hi-evolution came out, I was really in the mood for new eureka seven. the first movie was mostly reused footage from the series. but they added some new stuff. I decided to start watching those as if they are their own stand-alone instead of trying to compare and fit them together. i think these spinoffs are supposed to be different universes that don't compare to the original, and I overly judged them because it's not what I wanted it expected as a kid. I watched hi-evolution with this more open mindset, and guess what? I enjoyed it! I thought it was actually a pretty good stand alone! if I never saw the anime series, I would have enjoyed these movies. I separated them in my mind and enjoyed them as their own thing! this is an extremely unpopular opinion and I haven't seen any eureka seven fans say they liked them. they got the sawn treatment as all the other releases. everyone just wants new content related to the original anime, so that's what they insist of judging by.

back to atla, it may also help that it's been several years since i've seen the animation. BUT it is one i've seen multiple times and have pretty good memory of it, I think, even if it's not so fresh in my mind anymore. I consider myself a pretty big fan as well. it's my second favorite series after fullmetal alchemist. nothing has compared to fullmetal alchemist for me, but atla is pretty damn close. you could say nothing has compared to atla either. solid second place and has never wavered. eureka seven being solidly 3rd. orphan black is 4th.....and I saw something about a new spinoff with all new different characters coming soon...so i'll have to try to apply this same technique to that as well.

conclusion: if you go into something being judgemental, nitpicky, comparing every little thing to something else, and overall having extremely high expectations, of course you're setting it up to fail you. you're basically purposely making yourself dislike it. you decided ahead of time you were going to hate it, so you do. if you have an open mind, low expectations, and let it be it's own thing separate from the original, it may not be your favorite thing ever, but you can at least get some enjoyment or entertainment out of it! appreciate it for what it is, rather than judge it for what it's not. this is for most things in life, not just a series on netflix.

[ofpineapplesanddawns]

For fun pairings

Thorne Jamison x Peter Vincent - Peter meeting whichever parent (s) Thorne has

Thorne Jamison x roderick Peterson - Thorne defends his boyfriend when someone calls Roderick too boring/too weird

(I know both of these prompts have the ability to be angsty, but I feel like they definitely have the ability to be fun too!)

Hope you’re inspired ❤️❤️❤️

Since I haven't written anything for them this month, let's go with Thorne and Roderick!

On with the fic!

--

"You didn't have to come." Roderick said as he opened the front door for Thorne, who gave a nod in thanks before slipping inside.

"I wanted to spend the evenin' with you." Thorne said, his grin charming. "I mean, yeah, it's some borin' get together for stuffy children's choir conductors, but still!"

"It's an annual event." Roderick rolled his eyes. "From all over the kingdom. You'd be shocked on how big of a deal this sort of thing is. We're all stuck in a room together, forced to talk and compare notes and try to play nice when there isn't a competition. Which isn't easy, considering a lot of my fellow conductors can be... well..."

"Absolute petty bitches 24/7?"

"If you want to put it like that, though it is apt." Roderick smirked and removed his coat, bringing it over to a coat check. Thorne did the same, the poor girl behind the counter was surprised to be handed a studded leather jacket instead of something a bit more formal and clean.

Roderick took Thorne by the arm and walked him into a room which, thankfully, had an open bar, and went up to get them drinks. There were people already here, and frankly, Roderick wanted nothing to do with any of them. He hated all their guts, and they hated his, especially considering he happened to be the best in the business.

Well, if you exclude that one year Donald's little group did better, but that had been an... eye-opening experience and Roderick really didn't like thinking about it too much. At least the parts where he had been a complete idiot.

"Look at all these stuffy losers." Thorne said, sipping from his glass, gesturing to his room. "Bet they've got their conductor wands shoved up their asses from how stiff they are."

"Like you wouldn't believe." Roderick sighed. "We play nice, but there is bite in our words."

"Oh, you don't have to tell me, sweetie, I'm in the music scene too. Though, when it comes to catty bullshit, we tend to usually throw drinks at one another to prove a point."

"Please don't."

"We'll see how the evening goes." Thorne grinned and drank down his glass before getting a refill.

Roderick stuck close to the bar, mostly to keep Thorne from getting drunk, and to avoid having to make small talk. He just wanted to hear how things were going and what competitions were planned for the year, maybe grab some nibbles, and get out of here.

He noticed a woman approaching and he inwardly groaned. Oh no, not her...

"Roddy, darling!" The woman smiled, showing her teeth as her red-painted lips were pulled tight. She was really putting on the fake joy today.

"Marge." Roderick replied, setting his glass down. "Didn't expect to see you here, thought I heard word that your husband was in the hospital."

"Oh, he'll be fine, Broken pelvis from an accident. I'd be there with him now, but I never miss one of these, you know that! I've got perfect attendance!"

He tried not to roll his eyes. Marge was a bit too much for his taste, and too damn nosy. She always sniffed out gossip and anything she could use as blackmail to try and get a head in this business. Rumor had it that she was also known for bribing judges.

As if he'd ever sink that low.

Okay, he stole a baby, but frankly, that baby had been stolen once already that day.

"Not sure why that's so important." Roderick sniffed. "It's not like we're students."

"Yes, but it's good to show you're attentive, especially when there's a chance of getting a place in the planning committee!" She practically sang.

"Hm." He picked up his glass, finishing it off, before turning to Thorne. "Could you ask for another gin and tonic for me, please?"

"Got it." Thorne winked and moved down the bar, trying to get the bartender's attention.

Roderick turned back to Marge, who had a look on her face that made him uncomfortable. "You brought a friend?"

"Yes?" He asked, frowning. "Why? Is that a problem?"

"Oh, no, it's just... you've never took up the whole 'plus one' thing, Roddy. Ever." She smirked. "I heard rumors before, about how you've been... collaborating with someone. Is this your collaborator?"

"Yes." He shifted a bit, looking for an exit out of this conversation. "His name is Thorne, he's a metal and punk musician. We're doing research into the combined sounds of classical and rock, considering that they are closely tied."

"Sounds like you've probably been combining sounds for a while, Roddy." She laughed and he felt too hot all of a sudden. "Always did wonder why you never brought any girlfriends before, or straight up rejected some of the ladies here! But I guess what people have been saying about you for years is true!"

"And what would that be?"

"That you're gay! God, it was obvious from the start, should've seen it coming! But really? Really? Some punk? You're really at the bottom of the barrel if you're into that. But then again, it's too hard to really find anyone who would find you date worthy in our business. Considering how much of a hardass you are, probably need someone who finds that kinky. I mean, it's probably a fetish for the more outlandish types, to want someone who is so straightlaced and boring, a total snore-"

Suddenly, something flew over Roderick's shoulder and hit Marge with a splat. She stood there, shocked, covered in a liquid with ice cubes on the ground.

"Oops."

Roderick turned to see Thorne, holding an empty glass in his hand, the other one full. "A bit unsteady on my feet, you know how Doc Martens are."

Marge let out a growl of frustration. "Roderick! Control your freak of a-!"

The second glass's contents hit her in the face. "Whoops." Thorne said casually. "Butterfingers. Best to get refills, sorry baby."

"That's quite alright, accidents happen." Roderick smiled. He turned back to Marge. "What were you saying about my boyfriend?"

She didn't reply, she huffed, walking off, dripping in alcohol. A few of the other guests stared at her, then turned to him. He gave a small shrug. "You heard him, you know how Doc Martens are."

--

*takes these two from terrible movies and has them being happily in love because I said so* This is nice. :)

[useless-catalanfacts]

Hi there! I've recently started to study catalan, as I hope to visit someday, but I keep worrying that I'll never stop confusing terms in spanish... In your experience, how tolerant are Catalan people of foreigners trying to speak their language but getting it mixed with spanish? I guess I'm a bit anxious since parisians looked like they wanted to kill me with lasers for supplementing my poor french with english

Hi!

You don't have to worry at all about that. Catalan speakers are always VERY surprised and grateful when a foreigner tries to learn Catalan. We are not used to people even knowing that we exist, and when they know it we expect that they will consider us useless and that it's a waste of time to learn the language, sadly all of us have had to hear these things too many times. In general, the Catalan community has a low self-esteem when it comes to language, many people have very interiorized our language's inferiority. So, for many people, it can come as a shock that someone foreign finds it interesting, it really means a lot to us that anyone would want to learn it.

For this reason you don't have to worry at all, it is an honour for us that someone makes the effort to learn the language. Language is very important for us and a central part of our identity and our land, so it's important for us to share it with newcomers and anyone who would like to.

Though, to be fair, I will warn you that many people will likely change and speak in Spanish if they see you struggle. People do this out of kindness, with good intentions of helping the other person, but it's frustrating for people trying to practise. We have internalized many ideas about how Spanish is the better language, international, for the public, for respectful people, and that speaking Catalan would make us rude. Of course that's false, but when you hear it repeated all your life, and so did your parents, and your grandparents, it ends up making its way into your behaviour. It's also a problem for Catalans with origins elsewhere, because often people will change language for a racist reason, for example they will see someone who is black and think "of course they're not from here, I should speak Spanish, it would be rude of me to talk to them in Catalan" and maybe that person was born here or has been living here for years and speaks Catalan perfectly (or understands it well enough), but the person has behaved racistly "out of kindness", thinking that would help (assuming the other person needs help).

But, if that happens and they change to Spanish "to make things easier for you", you only have to insist that you would like to practise Catalan. This will change the look in their face, I tell you! Most people have never met a foreigner (who hasn't moved here) who was interested in learning Catalan. I remember the first time I got a message on Tumblr from someone who was learning it, it's amazing. Once they know you want to learn, Catalan speakers will make it very easy for you and adore you lol.

It doesn't surprise me what you say about Parisians, I have heard the same from other people who went to Paris before. I think the difference is that people from France and people from English speaking countries sometimes expect that everyone has to speak their language because it's the international one, and they know that most of the world learns it (at least to some degree) so they're used to foreigners who know it. Of course, there's rude people everyone and kind people everywhere, but in our case a foreigner learning it is like a beautiful moment, it definitely catches our attention.

[anneimaginesundertale]

(Lucky Cute meet at the mall!)

The mall was dead. Or, well, practically dead. Technically it was still open, and some people still went there, but it was mostly empty. You didn't really mind. You mostly came here to walk. It was air-conditioned, pretty quiet, and you could stop and use all the calories you'd burned at the food court when you got tired.

You also came here for one other thing--the Lego store! This mall had the only Lego store in your state. You loved the connecting bricks, so you had to stop there at least once a month (sometimes twice, depending on how fast you finished a project). Today you were prowling the aisles looking for a challenge--something complex, something you hadn't done before. You looked at all kinds of kits, absorbed in your quest. Eventually, you reached out a hand to pull an interesting-looking one off the shelf.

A skeletal hand touched the box at the same time as yours. You pulled back in surprise. "Sorry," you said.

"Oh no," said the owner of the hand. "It was my fault. I do beg your pardon." You looked up at him. He was, unsurprisingly, a skeleton--tall and thin and dressed in a nice pinstripe suit. He smiled at you. "You take that one and I'll take the set behind it," he said.

"Thanks. But you can have this one in a minute if I don't want it," you said. "I'm just looking right now."

"Ah, I see. Thank you." He stepped back to wait. "What exactly are you looking for?" he asked.

You shrugged. "Not sure. Something I haven't done before. Something that'll look good on my shelf." You held out the box to him. "This one's not it for me, though. Here you go."

He took the box happily. "Thank you! It is exactly what I've been looking for. It will complete a set for me."

"Oh cool! So you've done all of these?" you gestured at the other sets on the shelf.

The skeleton nodded. "I have help," he said, "but yes. My cousins and I have done all but this one."

"That's so cool! Do you keep them all on display?"

"Yes. Although we had to move the collection recently. My little nephew is starting to walk and the shelf was too low. He almost ate a mini figure." He laughed and shook his head. "Would you like to see?"

"Sure!" You were always up to see other people's collections. You expected him to pull out his phone and show you pictures, but instead he pulled out his wallet and handed you a business card.

"My home address is on there," he said, "and my phone number. I'll have to ask the family before I invite you over, but if you give me a call, we can work out a time for you to visit."

"Oh...I just thought you had pictures..." You blushed a little bit.

So did the skeleton. "Oh dear," he said. "I didn't even think to show you pictures. I'm afraid I'm not very good with all this technology. Would pictures be better for you?"

"I mean, I don't mind coming over to your place," you said, still holding the business card, "but I kinda just met you." You thought for a moment. "Maybe we could hang out here today? I could help you figure out the pictures thing."

"I'd like that," the skeleton said with a bright smile. "It's always nice to make new friends." He held out his hand. "My name is Lucky."

"Hey Lucky," you said, shaking his hand, "I'm Y/N."

"Pleased to meet you."

"You too." You grinned. "Now, you wanna help me find a good challenging set?"

"I'd love to."

[ace-and-the-rpg-horrors]

my current ranking of Sekai units (i love them all btw + reasons undercut)

1.) Wonderlands x Showtime

2.) Leo/need

3.) Nightcord @ 25:00

4.) More More Jump

5.) Vivid Bad Squad

W x S: love these characters so much. their dynamic as a group is brilliant, every single relationship within the group is so fun!! i also really love their story, and they get points for reminding me of my A3! days, with the whole "theatre in shambles and threatened with being shut down" concept, which they pull off really well!! adore the shenanigans and general chaos caused by them- and the silliness they normally show off does make their more serious moments feel more impactful. they have fun songs too!! not at all surprised that these clowns seem to be the fan faves, they've definitely earned it <33 (i am TERRIFIED about the possibility of their disbandment i will sob so hard) also Rui's in W x S, enough said

L/N: they feel like the most realistic unit to me!! their story about the fear and pain of drifting away from your beloved friends hits SO hard, the conflict happening between them, especially Shiho being frustrated by Honami's people-pleasing her snake classmates- things like that happen all of the time in a school and they feel really relatable. Saki's illness and its effects are pretty emotional too. plus, the Virtual Singers have the best outfits in their Sekai in my opinion, i adore the looks, especially Miku and Kaito's. they have some extremely catchy songs too, Peaky Peaky, Tale of the Deep-sea Lily and Roki being ones always in my head!!

N25: about 90% of my favourite songs in the game are from their unit (including Usseewa which is probably my fave song in the game rn), in fact i knew some of them before i got into the game!! plus, i find their songs the easiest to play generally, which means i've become quite familiar with them!! love the concept of them mostly being online friends through Nightcord, feel like it's quite relatable for us chronically online lot, showing how our online friends can be just as valuable as our irls <3 plus the characters explicitly struggling with mental illness is so refreshing to see, especially with the way it's portrayed- it's not like they suddenly get "healed" or "fixed" by the end of their main and event stories, but it's shown to be a gradual process, with the occasional slip back into a less-than-idea mental state within their stories. i'm not too invested in Kanade and Mafuyu (in fact, Mafuyu's character and situation makes me rather uncomfortable due to how close to home it hits) but i ADORE Mizuki and Ena, their bantering is everything to me and i love both of their characters

MMJ: i really love how their stories really focus on like the brutal reality? of being in a performing industry. the way they deal with crushing expectations and some weird fans, especially poor Shizuku, how she's pestered by them all the time. speaking of Shizuku, i've started to really love her character recently, she's just so lovely!! and Minori's also really fun to watch, her willingness to keep on trying despite their fans being really mean to her sometimes is so strong of her!! they also have super pretty card art most of the time

VBS: tbh, the reason i've ranked them low is cause they don't feel like a proper, complete unit to me. a lot of the time, it really feels like it's just two duos collabing, unlike the other units who actually feel much more involved with EVERY other person in their unit, not just their main partner. it kinda hurts to rank them this low because i LOVE An and Kohane, but tbh Akito and Toya don't interest me as much? i'm not sure why, i really like their dynamics with other characters, but i'm not all that invested in just them (Akito is slowly growing on me though, as much as i hate to admit it cause i, like everyone else, love bullying him) they have some great songs, the Anhane Odo cover is just brilliant and i'm OBSESSED with City

[aristocraticelegance]

Think I might make more of an effort to log my reading for this year—these are the books I read in January. I’ve been focused on reading books I’ve already bought instead of ordering new ones from the library, so the selection will reflect that.

1. A Power Unbound, Freya Marske, 2023. Historical-Fantasy-Romance, third book in the trilogy. I enjoyed these books, mostly as low-stakes reading around the holidays, and this one wraps up the series nicely. My only issue is that I had a lot of hangups with the historical bits, which is partially because that's the sort of thing that sticks in my brain, and partially because when you are blending multiple genre conventions it's inevitable that one of them is going to get short shrift at some point. I also got stuck on the fact that the plot reinforced the idea of Italian Catholics as being Bad and Superstitious even as the Italian Catholic character keeps calling out the (presumably Anglican) Brits on their xenophobia, which I don't think was intentional. Anyways, if gay fantasy romance set in Edwardian England sounds like your thing, they're worth checking out. The setting and characters are generally a fun time.

2. Iceland's Bell, Haldór Laxness, 1943. I bought this on a total whim, based on the fact that it's historical fiction set in a time (late 16-early 1700s) and place (Iceland) that I don't usually see in English-language historical fiction. I had no idea what to expect AND I LOVED IT. It loosely follows several characters, all based on or lightly modified from historical figures: a farmer trying to get his murder verdict overturned, a noblewoman with financial and romantic problems, and a nobleman who was responsible for collecting and documenting a bunch of important old Icelandic manuscripts (including some of the Eddas, I think). He also gets involved with the first guy’s court case and is part of the second lady's romantic problems. This book slaps. The author won a nobel prize for a different book, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but man it was so good. One guy walks all over half of Northern Europe, almost dies multiple times, runs away from some Germans, generally has a real bad time. The other guy collects books and Feels Bad About Old Iceland. (Actually everyone does this). I appreciated that even though the lady is, at times, A Metaphor, she has a lot of personality and doesn't just exist to Suffer Nobly (and horribly, in a sexual way), as is the case for at least several other books I can think of that deal with the kind of Great Tale that is also A Metaphor for The Country (The Tale of Kieu, This Earth of Mankind). It helps that every man in this book is kind of useless. You should read this.

3. Swords and Deviltry, Fritz Lieber, 1970. I've been on a sword and sorcery kick lately, so I thought I should read some of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories. I always have a hard time figuring out where to start with these kind of long-running stories, because usually the first one published isn't naratively the first story. I figured it was easier to go with the collections in order, which rearranged the stories into a narrative chronological order, which might have been the wrong decision for me. I liked these stories, but I feel like they aren't really the core of why people were drawn to the characters in the first place, since they are all prequels written after the characters were already known. I'll probably check out more later, but this collection was generally just "fine."

[ricotyrell]

don't rlly have anything extremely important under here i'm just rambling really

last weekend? couple of months even? probably changed me more than i expected but also at the same time... not really. i think i'm scared of what's going to come up and what responsibilities i have to handle. i think i don't have that many in the first place so i shouldn't really be complaining. my confidence level has always been low is all

Last saturday i joined my first counter-protest. It wasn't for long since i arrived late, but it was nice meeting people who are all in for the love and support of lgbtq+ kids. It was near a playground and we gave some donuts out to kids. I thought a lot about how different their lives are due to covid. how there were people always willing to fight for them. how i should have joined these earlier There was also a Palestine protest going on here which i didn't attend, but they were loud enough to hear from streets away, and i hope their rally comes through to the cdn govt. it's extremely disappointing and beyond blood boiling (but not surprising) to see trudeau (who is already letting genocide happen in his own country) express his fake love while continuing to allow senseless massacres to continue. The biggest thing I can do is speak out, I really wish we could do more.

On sunday, i attended my first market, as in I was selling stuff personally. I managed to sell a coaster and a pouch that i crocheted, and I was really happy since I didn't expect to sell anything at all. But a part of me felt ashamed that i couldn't do more because my mom's always expecting more out of me when she hasn't even tried what I've been doing. It was overall a good experience and I'm looking forward to trying again this weekend. My friend is truly a great motivator and she also has a really good social network. I think I'm really beginning to see the magic in the connection of humans, but I am also very afraid of it considering how many bad fallouts i've been through. She gave me a lot of courage and passion to finish my artwork, get them printed, open my own shop, print out my own business cards... I even got my own acrylic charms and stickers printed. This was something I dreamt of doing when I was a teenager, so it does mean more to me than I let off. When I list it like this, I actually do see that I've done a lot.

But i'm scared that I'll lose motivation to take care of my own products and keep creating. But i'm also scared of being so slow I do nothing to change anything about my own life, like I've been living like this since 2017 when i dropped out because I was anxious about my life at the time and there was a huge strike. The strike was just a great excuse to me to get out of education. I don't think i was ever meant for higher education.

Life just keeps going on too, my dog has cushings which has an expensive treatment plan, consistent ear infections and ear cleanings have probably made her deaf, she's just growing old and... I feel like I'm just not prepared. It's similar with my dad, he's been ill and out of work for 3 months now while the canadian healthcare is in active collapse and he has to wait months for tests while he continues to faint at home with more rest. He's in his 60's, and I feel like I'm also turning into his caretaker which I don't want to be. I love my dad, but I just don't feel like i have the skills to take care of someone, I'll try but I don't think i can commit to it. But he's also my dad so I feel like i have no choice. Especially when my mom takes every opportunity to freak out and make us all feel as miserable as she does, if she isn't there to take care of him when shit sucks for him, then who is??? My brother is working basically full time too

I don't know, I'm just feeling really anxious about everything, even about the good stuff. I hope I can get past it, but what other choice do I have. I don't even think I succinctly worded everything as I actually felt

here's to my shop opening on nov 1st without too much of an issue. trying to keep it as simple as possible

[radarsteddybear]

The results are in!

Kyoshi is the winner, with almost half of the vote! I am very surprised; she was my vote, yet, but I didn't expect so many other people to feel the same way. I wonder how many of them read the Kyoshi novels and if they played a part in her winning.

I'm also very surprised that Korra got second place and Aang got third. I don't really keep my ear to the ground in this fandom, but I always got the sense that people didn't like Legend of Korra as much as Avatar: The Last Airbender. Maybe I was wrong, or maybe public opinion has shifted. Or maybe people relate to Korra and her world better than Aang and his, or they entered the world of Avatar through Korra. I can only speculate; very few people provided any sort of comment, and even fewer explained why they chose who they chose.

I'm not surprised that Yangchen came in fourth, though I did expect her to get a slightly bigger proportion of the votes, given the more-recently-released Yangchen novels. Then again, I've finished the first Yangchen novel and still don't feel like I have a solid understanding of who she is, so maybe that plays a part in her low percentage.

I do want to give a big shout out to the handful of people who voted for Kuruk and Szeto. Rock on; I hope we get to learn more about them someday.