#is absolutely wild and I am very very fortunate

[ongreenergrasses]

the fact that people are actually reading the behemoth is sending me

[giuseppe-yuki]

popular

charles leclerc x hedgehog shapeshifter!reader

w.c.: 1.5k

warnings: none :)

part of my shapeshifting!reader series

summary: no way a hedgehog can be more popular than charles leclerc, right?

picture credits from pinterest :)

the weather in zandervoort was beautiful. everything was pretty much picture perfect, with the sun shining bright and the wind making the plants sway softly in the wind. team hospitalities glimmered in the rays of sunlight and engineers mingled around the paddock area. the problem was, you were stuck inside one of the ferrari driver rooms with your boyfriend, who was deeply concentrated on scrolling through social media on his phone. i have very important work to do, he had said when he led you into the room, dumping his racing gear in a corner. now, you watch as his watercolor eyes glanced up and down at an alarming pace as he swiped through his tiktok fyp on his couch. 

“i thought you had work to do, charlie,” you say, picking at your fingernails. 

charles looks up from his phone and glances at you sprawled out on the couch next to him. ”um… yes, i am. this is important,” he replies, going back to his phone, this time clicking through instagram. 

“wow…” you mutter, glaring at his oblivious figure on the couch. “that’s not kind of you to lie to me.”

he doesn’t respond as he types a quick note to what seems to be carlos on messages. 

you reach into your bag, fishing out your tinted plumping lip gloss. after swiping a considerable amount onto your lips, you haul yourself up into a sitting position. you bat your eyelashes at charles, and start speaking to him in your sweetest voice. 

”can i have a kiss, mon amour?”

to that, he gladly drops his phone momentarily in his lap to peck your lips.

you grab him and start kissing him roughly, borderline making out with him as you try and get as much lip plumper on to him. 

“woah,” he says, pulling back afterwards, grinning from the intense kiss. “what was that for?” then, his eyes grow wide. “woah!!” he cries again, this time for a different reason. he raises his hand to his lips. “wait, why are my lips tingling??”

you giggle not-so-secretly, quickly shoving the lip gloss back into your bag. 

unfortunately, your boyfriend was a formula one driver, so of course he used his absolutely wild reaction time to his advantage. he whips out his hand and snatches the offending beauty product out of your hand. 

“LIP PLUMPER???” he shrieks, reading the fancy print on the label. he jumps up from the couch, phone all but forgotten. “oh, you are going to pay for this,” he announces. 

cackling, you leap away from him, running to the opposite side of the room in order to avoid being captured. he sprints towards you, arms out.

fortunately for you, you had one more trick up your sleeve. you throw him a wink before shifting into your hedgehog form, and scurry quickly behind a dresser. wedging yourself in the small crack, you squeak tauntingly at charles as he is left glowering at you through the gap.

he pouts at you, arms crossed. “meanie!” he snaps, “my lips still feel so weird after you cursed me with whatever that was!” 

five minutes before charles is scheduled to head to team headquarters for a meeting, you sneakily try to sneak out of the crevice behind the dresser. charles, newly dressed in a hoodie and rather ugly pair of jeans spots you though, and snatches you up. you roll up into a ball and try using your quills to poke him rather unsuccessfully. “tsk, tsk, tsk,” he says, shaking his head with a smug smile at your irritable screeches in his hand. “don’t try and purposely poke me when you’re the one who started this, baby.”

you roll your eyes at him and plop yourself down in the middle of his hand. 

however, before you know it, you are raised from your seat in your boyfriends hand into the fluffy hood of his jacket.  “ha,” he exclaims, shoving you in rather unceremoniously. “that’s what you get for being a bully- hoodie jail!” 

he walks out of his driver’s room with you tucked snugly in his hood, and both hands clutching his celsius branded water bottle and his phone. somehow, the nice zandvoort weather from before had done a complete 180, and turned from warm and sunny into chilly and wet in the time period you were inside charles’ driver room. so, you honestly weren’t complaining for being stuck in metaphorical “hoodie jail”- it was warm and comfy being wedged in the soft material. you basically fall asleep with the methodical rocking and soothing tones of charles talking to fans and other drivers as he strolls through the paddock.

by the time you wake up, you can tell a bit of time has passed. the fresh smell of light rain fills your nose, and the sky has turned a significant darker shade. you peek out of charles' hood, waddling your way out onto his shoulder. 

feeling your tiny paws on the top of his shoulder, he gently scoops you up into his hand. 

“had a good sleep, huh?” he laughs, giving you a few pats on the head.

you let out a content yawn, as if answering his question, and then stretches out your tiny body.

he smiles at you, amused at your cute antics. “you slept soundly the whole way from the drivers room and through my entire meeting. i am surprised how you even slept through carlos accidentally squishing you when he slapped my back in greeting!”

suddenly, you and charles are interrupted by the most egregious shout that you both had ever heard.

“OH MY GOODNESS!” a nearby fan shouts, absolutely vibrating with excitement. “IS THAT A HEDGEHOG???”

charles turns to the man, blinking in surprise. “um.. yes! it is,” he states.

the fan’s previous yell of delight had caused a trickle of nearby fans and media reporters to crowd around charles, eager to get a look and a picture of the supposed hedgehog in his hands. 

overlapping yells from the crowd fills your ears. “leclerc, leclerc, can you pose for a picture with your hedgehog?” “please, charles, can i pet the hedgehog?” “are you free for an interview on how you manage a pet in the paddock?” “a signature please!!!”

used to the media attention because of your active role as charles’ girlfriend, you pose yourself in a flattering angle and blink cutely at the phones and high quality cameras turned in your direction. 

“hey, do a trick!” a little girl shouts from the crowd.

you do a simple turn around your boyfriend’s hand and wiggle your butt. 

the crowd erupts into cheers, as if you had just done an impossible feat. 

“what a talented hedgehog!” a nearby reporter exclaims. she tells her crew to train their camera on you, as if the famed formula 1 driver charles marc herve perceval leclerc was not just standing right there. 

the news of your presence quickly spreads from mouth to mouth.

as charles slowly inches his way through the paddock towards his driver’s room, more and more fans come up, requesting pictures with you. 

a girl walks up, bracelet in hand. it is lined with red and white beads, with the words “forza ferrari siempre” in gold lettering in the front. charles reaches out his hand, thanking her for the gift. but, she snatches it back, shaking her head. “this is actually for your hedgehog.” she says, draping the bracelet over your spiny back. 

you give her a lick of thanks, smiling internally at her squeal of delight. 

your boyfriend lets out a grumble of annoyance at being rejected. “hmph, fine, i didn’t really want it anyway,” he mutters under his breath.

bright and early the next morning, you climb out of charles’ ferrari, phone in hand. your boyfriend reaches out his hand for you to hold, which you gladly take. it’s warm, compared to the chilly weather that has suddenly overcome zandervoort over the weekend. you pull your designer puffer jacket closer around you as you scan into the paddock.

the media stationed at the gate greets you both warmly, cameras clicking. 

“hey!” they shout, waving their arms. “over here please!” 

you wave politely, flashing your best smile for the camera. 

“they love me so much,” you joke. “those pictures of my top-tier posing went viral yesterday!”

“no, they love me more!” charles shoots back confidently.

as soon as the words leave his mouth, some fans approach him. “hi charles, when are you bringing your hedgehog out?” they ask enthusiastically. “we saw pictures of her on twitter yesterday and would like to take our own photographs with her please!” a fan reaches into her ferrari branded jacket and pulls out an ink pad. “look!” she exclaims, gesturing to it. “i even specially bought an ink pad so i can get her ‘signature’ as well.”

you raise an eyebrow at charles, smirk on your face. 

he rolls his eyes at you, and turns back to the fans. 

“yeah, ok fine, i’ll bring her out soon.”

a/n: the last oneshot for the shapeshifting series! this series was honestly so fun to write, and i'm already excitedly planning the spinoff version. thank you to all the readers who followed along with me on my journey for my first ever series! i love you all <3

taglist: ilivbullyingjeongin @ale-522 @formula1-motogpfan @aceyalonso @my0hmary 

@mbappebby @madkohi @rakshatos @heartsforleclerc @papaya-twinks

[punkpandapatrixk]

🏖Your Own Standards of Beauty ♦︎ Timeless Pick A Card

I’ve seen one too many times East Asian YouTubers, when talking about EA’s ‘rigid standards of beauty’ giving this sense of defensiveness or helplessness—because it’s culture, right? With every fibre of my mixed ancestry I loathed that particular brand of apologist behaviour.

‘Nature is busy creating absolutely unique individuals, whereas culture has invented a single mold to which all must conform. It is grotesque.’ – U.G. Krishnamurti

Up until fairly recently, I was still struggling with comprehending the thought process behind this ‘invention’ of a grotesquely small and narrow mould of beauty and conduct to which ALL East Asians must abide lest you’re a total disharmonious failure. After some long and hard rumination, frustration, accompanied by occasional bouts of repugnance, I think I finally get ‘why’.

Almost ALL people in East Asia ALL LOOK THE SAME!!! By nature!!! LMAO LMAO People can ONLY have black hair and black eyes LMAO Ahahahohohhahah I think these Asians were never ‘socialised’ to appreciate variety. Hahhh that’s so pathetic. If this really is the reason, man, it’s pathetic as fuck. Ionno tho. You think I’ve figured it out.

All I know is that East Asians must repent for all the sins they’ve committed against childhood, individuality, creativity, aaand society and Humanity itself. Yes, Humanity. Standing on the side of all genetically diverse peoples of Asia, such as the Ainus, Mongols, Uyghurs, to some extent the Zainichis, and sooo many other ‘anomalies’ who, in recent history, have been cast aside and treated poorly only because they don’t ‘fit in’ to the ideals and cultures of the main races of some purebred fucks.

For all I care, the part of East Asian culture that has birthed this infamous ‘rigid standards of beauty, and, conduct’ can go to fucking hell. If you’re the type of person who’s even the slightest bit proud—or defensive—of this you can go and fuck yourself. No one should be proud of that kind of a racist, fascist, repulsive, little bitch mindset. Are you a little bitch? I ain’t one.

I am a Supreme Bitch! Imma be myself and do whatever the fuck I want and look however I want. And if my society can’t take that? Those types of people—Asian or no Asian—can die on the wrong side of history! I. AM. MY OWN. PROTOTYPE.

perspective: Why BUSHIDO Is The Root of All Social Problems in Japan by Let’s ask Shogo

documentary: WE ARE X on YouTube (watch before it’s taken down LOL)

‘X challenged a conservative Japanese society and showed us a new way to be. They started a revolution, honestly.’

‘Be proud!! Be proud of yourself! We are!! X!!!’

deck-bottom: X(!?!) The Wheel of Fortune, Priestess of Ambition, Gold Magus (Johannes Faustus)

[PAC Masterlist] [Part 1] [Part 2]

[Patreon] [Paid Readings]

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

Pile 1 – A Light of Innocence in this Insanely Debased World

playlist: silly playlist for silly people with rare songs!! by Rita wild

the TYPA beauty you are – Page of Cups

You are someone who’s known for being quite childlike. It could be that you do look young, but it’s mostly your mannerism. Technically speaking, it’s just YOU being the happy pill that you are. Listen, some of you tuning into this Pile could be dark and sombre on the inside—especially if you have a significant Scorpio/Pluto about you or if you’ve had a very unhappy childhood—but the way you’re perceived on the outside is totally bright, beautifully soft and pleasant, and dang, people really be liking your aenergy when you’re in a room.

You’re the type of beauty that exudes ‘purity’ in the most innocent way, no matter how you look or dress. You could be perceived as ethereal or unreal. otherworldly in a sense that you don’t seem to fit in this dimension. Are you an alien? Are you a goddess? Are you a fairy, elf, or an anime character? People may not have the exact words to describe you but you’re INTERDIMENSIONAL is what’s going on.

It isn’t just your physical beauty or the attractive way that you smile. People may not realise this themselves either but what’s truly beautiful about you is this VIBE or AURA that you generate from having a vastly pure heart. No, no, not pure in the sense that you never think sexy thoughts, what? Pure in the sense that you really operate from your Higher Heart and has very little ego driving your ambitions in Life~^_☆-v

effects on the world around you – Ace of Cups Rx

Basically, you just love beautiful things. You always look for beautiful things. And you make an effort to surround yourself with things you find beautiful in your own standards. And in a way, you’re also the kind of person who sees beauty in everything and everybody. You’re the type of person who sees Light even in a narc’s darkest corners of their blackened heart (if they had one), which is really such a beautiful thing but could also prove DANGEROUS!

It’s wonderful to have childlike wonder but it ain’t cool whatsoever to be childish enough not to acknowledge the presence of evil fucks. Bad people exist, OK? Very predatory and murderous people exist, OK? And it’s a spectrum. And you’ve been such an easy target for those on the milder spectrum of psychopathy! Babe! OMG You’re often drained of good aenergy after catering to the stupid whims of very narcissistic, histrionic, pathetic, selfish and whiney fucks.

STOP THAT. Of all the Piles, you’re the type of soft beauty who’s often underestimated and taken for granted just because you’re always so positive. If not ‘positive’ per se, you’re perceived as ‘strong’, so those types of people don’t even feel shame for constantly taking and demanding your aenergy. Keep allowing that long enough and your physical beauty could be drained out of you by the time your First Saturn Return jaywalks along and smacks you in the head.

keep being you, Glorious One – 6 of Swords Rx

Truly, you’re a silly angel who holds the power to absorb other people’s pain and gloomy feelings. But if this is your main pile, thing is, you might not have learnt how to release or transmute the negativity you’ve absorbed from your surroundings. It is paramount that you learn to call upon divine protection so that you’re shielded from the Evil Eye of those who are envious of your beauty and feel silly in your purity. Your Spirit Guides aren’t saying that you should stop being innocent, right?

A Soul like you is very rare in this perverted world. Some people might say, ‘They don’t make people like you anymore…’ WRONG. You’re the catalyst, if anything. By your example, there’s gonna be MORE people who are gonna be comfortable in their purity. Knowing that there’s nothing wrong with them for being this way. Fully comprehending that it is this world that’s gone too insane, and DEBASED. And this world has been this way for far longer than people realise. I mean, I’m sure you’re aware of how inhumane most people were in the medieval times LOL

Keep being the innocent and pure you, Glorious One. What you’re being advised to do is learn to set healthy boundaries from which you can still shine your Light safely. I’m being told that many of you choosing this Pile, due to your heightened sense of aesthetic, might want to have a social media presence or any kind of public platform where you’re free to share bits and pieces of your beautiful Life as a form of your Lightwork. Some kind of a lifestyle influencer?

I’m thinking of channels and blogs that typically share aesthetic daily vlogs and stuff like that—like nemui atelier on YouTube. You know what I mean; I don’t know what I mean XD

YOUR BEAUTY KILLS🔻💙

story of your evolution – Priestess of Prosperity

a legacy of authenticity – Red Astronomer (Johannes Kepler)

Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

Pile 2 – An Unexpectedly Romantic Dreamer of Luxury

playlist: songs like 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 (MITSKI) by song with love

the TYPA beauty you are – 2 of Cups

Ah~! You are such a dreamy and romantic beauty! You’re soft, elegant, sweet and lovely, with a kicking spice for those who would get on your bad side LMAO You’re actually a lot tougher than appearances give but most people don’t always get this until they’ve gotten to know you. For the most part, at first glance, at first encounter, you’re a sweet goddess, who probably gets projected on a lot.

You really have an unassuming quality about you. So then, people think there’s not much going on within and think it’s easy to typecast you into something, with some simplistic label. People think it’s easy to figure you out and classify you into some kind of a dream girl who’s always going to be nice, warm and friendly with everybody. You’re not. You’re a totally self-respecting babe. Actually, you really hate it when people act like they know you.

When people act like they’re close, buddy-buddy with you, it’s super annoying and depending on your mood that day, you could sometimes feel this urge to break people’s faces. But you don’t do that; you’re too nice. And you’ve got a plethora of coping mechanisms to deal with how annoyed you are with your surrounding XD Good for you!

effects on the world around you – 5 of Swords Rx

First of all, I think many of you tapping into this Pile love shopping. Retail is definitely your therapy. Is this good? Is this bad? Depends, I guess. You tend to spend money gregariously or consume a lot of food, or buy a lot of aesthetic knickknacks, or buy a lot of arts and craft as a means of therapy. Deep down, you’re somebody who has a lot of anger or a general sense of dissatisfaction with the world you’re a part of and this rage, almost, needs to be channelled creatively.

There’s a perpetual sense of disgust inside of you. You’re keen to observe and notice how much Humanity is failing. Everything that is ugly about society and people in general disgusts you. That’s why it’s important for you to live in beauty or indulge in creativity. That’s why it is paramount that your immediate surrounding, that your own Life, within what you’re able to control, is beautified to the max. You could be quite desperate in this pursuit because this is some kind of an overcompensation for the beauty and creativity that you feel is lacking in the world.

Your aenergy is kinda reminding me of this quote by the iconic Edie Sedgwick when describing why she dressed up the way she did:

‘When I was girl of the year and superstar and all that crap, everything I did was really…motivated by psychological disturbance. But I’d make a mask out of my face because I didn’t realize I was quite beautiful…I had to wear heavy black eyelashes like bat wings and dark lines under my eyes. Cut all of my hair off and strip it silver and blond. All these little manoeuvres I did out of things that were happening in my life that upset me. I’d freak out in a very physical way, and…it was all taken in a fashion trend.’

In fact, I think all of her famous words here could resonate with you. You are what trend-setters and superstars are made of, that much of your effect on the world is certain~

keep being you, Glorious One – Queen of Pentacles

Really, that’s all dandy as long as you can make a living out of your pursuit of beauty and creativity. This about you is really something that you can utilise as a means of therapy, self-care and self-improvement because you really are an artist, one way or another. It would be wonderful if you could monetise your beauty and creativity in some trendy way.

If you feel that you’re not particularly good at any kind of ‘real’ art, then you can ‘serve face’ to help other people sell their shit. You don’t think this is smart enough? Muses are often people who don’t do art—rather they inspire Art in the minds and hearts of other artists. Truly, you are an artist; but those of you tuning into this Pile who feel like you’re not one…you are potentially someone’s Muse.

Luxury is yours for the taking. But a lot of people in this world pursue luxury and some form of fame for vapid reasons and that often makes people very unhappy. Your Spirit Guides are saying that you do have a talent for balancing modern money-making and self-care. I think what they mean to say is that, you can be the prototype for how people can be completely and uniquely offbeat whilst still maintaining a good work-life balance.

After all, you do remember how much people like to project on you, right? Well, use them to make Life a lot easier! XD After all, it’s not like their projection and labelling would be useful any other way LOL🐙

YOUR BEAUTY KILLS🔻💜

story of your evolution – Priestess of Luxury

a legacy of authenticity – Green Historian (Herodotus)

Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

Pile 3 – A Ghostly Bitch Witch Who’s Quite Literally a Fucken Sigma

playlist: Everything Is Still Under Control by Mabisyo

the TYPA beauty you are – Queen of Wands Rx

You, are, by nature, magical. You’re incredibly magnetic and this ain’t even something you’ve needed to work on; it all comes naturally. If anything, it seems you’ve needed to learn the very hard way how to shield yourself from aenergy vampires. You’ve needed to work on your boundary. This is because it took you such a long time to realise most everybody around you was nothing but anklebiters. These were people who just wanted to be seen orbiting you because doing so would elevate their status or image.

Whether or not you’re aware of it, you’re quite literally thee IT girl. You’re also THAT girl, because a lot of what you do and just who you are is very aspirational. Well of course aspirational to the motivated ones; to the weak, lame-ass ones? Almost everything about you is irritating. And most people are really lame, don’t we all agree on this? So you may have felt like you’re really quite an unlikeable character. WRONG. Dead wrong. It’s not you; it’s your lame-ass environment.

You’re a Queen of Passion who’s been living in peasant quarters, figuratively speaking. You’ve been surrounded by misers who don’t even understand why it’s deeply important for them to raise their own standards of authenticity. Thing is, they can’t afford to be authentic. It’s probably not entirely their fault—after all, peasants are highly dependent on thee System. Not you. You’re the menacingly magnetic bitch witch of a system buster!

effects on the world around you – 8 of Cups

As much as you make an effort to be left alone, you magnetise admirers to no end. This is reminiscent of Greta Garbo’s famous quote, ‘I never said, "I want to be alone". I only said, "I want to be left alone". There is a whole world of difference.’ It’s true with you as well. You’re not necessarily an antisocial bitch who hates people; you just want to be left alone by gluttonous gossipers and silly simpers. You find it hard to grasp why people behave unreasonably in society, all, the, time.

You yearn for a more intellectual world where people behave honourably, which is quite paradoxical considering you’re often perceived as quite scandalous in your behaviour and lifestyle choices as well. For example, you could be gay or queer? You could desire to defy social norms such as ‘having to marry by a certain age’? You either reject social norms or you live completely opposite to what’s expected of your gender, nationality or age. You don’t like being told how to live your Life as if you couldn’t work it out yourself. It's YOUR Life, right?

It’s MY Life! My Story! Is what you say.

You’re the kind of super bad bitch that gives no one permission to decide how you should sail your ship. You’re at the wheel so you’re gonna sail the world however best you know. You’re gonna learn a ton because you’re not afraid of detours or delays or whatever—you could meet accidents, hopefully not fatal ones, but you’re going to learn. That’s what growing up well is all about for you. And if you meet the right kind of audience, your whole AURA is going to empower them to do just the same for themselves~

keep being you, Glorious One – 4 of Cups Rx

You are destined for an exciting Life. In fact, you’re meant to have an audience, have some kind of impact on the world, you’re meant to become some kind of a famous person. Could be a celeb, yeah, but in this social media era, literally everybody can have their own unique kind of celebrity, right? You’re meant to be seen, heard, listened to, watched, analysed (LOL), and learn from.

You’re somebody who’s rare and your perspectives are deeply needed by this world. This world that’s often blindsided by optical illusions. Of all people, you’re the only one who’s not getting sucked into the mirage of mass media and deceitful politicians. You’re the one who’s noticing where the lies are all at. And you need to point that shit out, spell it out for other people to see what’s truly going on in this world.

You could gain enemies, lots of them, in fact; but you are definitely gaining a massive following far greater than that if you remain authentic and courageous. Stay spooky. Stay scandalous. Stay gloriously YOU~ You’ve no idea just how much that Light of yours is needed in this world of long shadows. Keep your Third Eye open and keep your divine protection. Most people have yet to catch on to the one thing that makes YOU superfluously attractive: a courageous Heart that seeks to liberate others from the chains of their own cowardice.

YOUR BEAUTY KILLS🔻🧡

story of your evolution – Priestess of Luck

a legacy of authenticity – Green Magus (John Dee)

Access full reading + cards on Patreon🌸

☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・. ☆♪°・.

[PAC Masterlist] [Part 1] [Part 2]

[Patreon] [Paid Readings]

[imaginesig]

Dancing under the lights

Oscar Piastri x Ballerina!Reader smau

Platonic!Grid x Ballerina!Reader

These are just some insta posts that you/Oscar would make if he was dating a ballerina

yourusername

Liked by oscarpiastri, y/n_bestie, user5, and 24,097 others

yourusername: tis the season

tagged: y/n_bestie, y/n_friend

y/n_bestie I’m starting a Tchaikovsky hate club

yourusername count me in

y/n_friend1 same

user it’s been a week since Nutcracker rehearsals started and it’s already this had

user2 never underestimate the intensity of ballet

oscarpiastri stunning

yourusername aww love you oz🫶🫶

landonorris simp

landonorris can’t be that hard

yourusername says the one who goes vroom for a living

charles_leclerc 🩰🎄

maxverstappen1 Penelope can’t wait to see you!!

yourusername tell her I can’t wait to see her recital next week!!

load more

oscarpiastri

Liked by yourusername, logansargent, landonorris, and 89,242 others

oscarpiastri: one thing about me, I’m never gonna understand the process of prepping point shoes

tagged: yourusername

yourusername it’s ok babe, I learned what a DRS is you can learn this

oscarpiastri all that money just to cut and glue and crack them up???

maxverstappen1 should I be worried!

yourusername just think when the time comes, Penelope will have me as a guide

maxverstappen1 so should I be worried??

danielriccardo I HAVE to see this process now

y/n_bestie pointe shoes aren’t for the faint of heart

user1 don’t these cost a fortune??

user2 about that yea

user3 stop she’s so pretty even when destroying shoes

load more

yourusername

Liked by maxverstappen1, oscarpiastri, y/n_bestfriend, and 45,947 others

yourusername: My little baby angel is all grown up 🥹 I have never felt so honored as I did when she called me her idol and started this dance journey!! Beautiful Penelope I cannot wait to watch you grow and learn🩰🫶���

Tagged maxverstappen1, kellypiquet

oscarpiastri I think you cried more than her actual mom during this recital

charles_leclerc second to Max of course

oscarpiastri you could hear him 3 blocks away

maxverstappen1 this was a nice post celebrating P, how did we get here

yourusername Max always has to be number 1

kellypiquet she absolutely loved having your there!!! Thank you so much for coming

yourusername I adored every second of it

user1 your telling me that Penelope started dance because of y/n

user2 how did they even know each other?? Max and Oscar aren't even that close

user3 through Charles, she's a very popular ballerina and so when she posted a story dancing to one of his pieces they kept in touch-- I wouldn't be surprised if Charles drug Max out to watch her

user2 that's really sweet

user1 now you see why I'm crying over her influence on Penelope

load more

oscarpiastri

liked by yourusername, Charles_leclerc, user1 and 46, 368 others

oscarpiastri: I've never been more in awe of someone before than I am of you. Every new production you steal the audience with your beauty and grace, can't wait to see what the rest of the season holds. To my favorite Sugar Plum fairy, I love you

tagged yourusername

yourusername aww oz 🥹 you're sweeter than all the people in the Kingdom of Sweets

y/n_bestie wow high compliment

oscarpiastri I know 😎

yourusername love ya both 💖💖

landonorris booo sap

yourusername what if you just 🤸🏻🚊

landonorris this is cyberbullying

danielriccardo ya'll see sum 🧑🏻‍🦯🙈

user1 the betrayal is unmatched

yourusername always a good day when Danny Ric is on your side

charles_leclerc beautiful production!!

yourusername number 1 ballet fan has entered the chat

maxverstappen1 Penelope hasn't stopped talking about this all weekend

user2 awww this is adorable

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yourusername

liked by y/n_bestie, lilymhe, y/n_friend, and 23,938 others

yourusername: Sugar Plum Fairy, you've been a dream!! A special shoutout to @/y/n_bestie for being rock through it all, from party guests, to soldiers, to flowers and so many more 🩵🩰 It has been a wild season getting to live out my dream Nutcracker role. Let's see what else is in store...

tagged y/n_bestie, y/n_dancecompany

y/n_bestie IM LITERALY CRYING

y/n_bestie I love you so much 💖💖 its been an absolute honor to grow with you!!

yourusername my favorite Arabian sololist!! I love you much

lilymhe I will never not be impressed by you

yourusername awww I love you bby

lilymhe 😩🤭

alex_albon Oscar come get your girl

oscarpiastri 🫣

user1 stop not them dancing together since chilhood

y/n_friend the last slide 💀💀

oscarpiastri talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique

yourusername who taught him this bc I know damn well it wasn't me 🤔

landonorris @/logansargent

logansargent 🤷🏼‍♂️

charles_leclerc eagerly awaiting the spring run...

youruserame 🤫

y/n_bestie 🫢

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oscarpiastri

liked by user4, mclaren, logansargent, and 97,379 others

oscarpiastri: what a season! Thank you so much Mclaren for helping me create an unforgettable rookie season-- cheers to winter break before its back to the grind 🥂🧡

tagged mclaren, yourusername

mclaren thats our rookie of the year 🏆

landonorris what a ride mate

yourusername so, so proud!!

oscarpiastri ❤️❤️

y/n_bestie she may be supportive but I'm not, why is this INCREDIBLE picture of my girl LAST

user3 get his ass girl

oscarpiastri In my defense I had to thank the job that paid me to take her on a trip

y/n_bestie you better be planning more posts

oscarpiastri pinky promise I do

youruserman did she just threaten you through instagram comments

landonorris your bf's a pussy remember

user1 my addiction can't handle winter break

user2 already started my countdown

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yourusername

liked by

yourusername: "we can leave the Christmas lights up til January"

tagged oscarpiastri, y/n_dancecompany

y/n_dancecompany new year, new routines

y/n_bestie take notes @/oscarpiastri you were the first two slides...

oscarpiastri how many stories and posts have I made of her since break started

user1 NOT HER HOLDING A GRUDGE

y/n_friend first one back to the studio I see

yourusername guilty 🫠

oscarpiastri I enjoyed our winter wonderland

yourusername I love you oz

oscarpiatri I love you too

landonorris bleh 🤢

danielriccardo you dropped this 🔴 put it back on your nose 🤡🥰

user3 who is teaching them these things??

user9 my sneaking suspicion is Logan

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yourusername

liked by kellypiquet, y/n_bestie, danielriccardo, and 45,083 others

yourusername: a kiss can awaken the deepest of dreams ✨🩰🌙

tagged: y/n_dancecompany, y/n_dancepartner

user9 this is so aesthetic I could cry

yourusername I didn't come to mess around

y/n_bestie I cannot wait to put a spell on you

yourusername love my maleficent 💚

oscarpiastri come to a grand prix and you'll spend more time in bed than sleeping beauty 😉

yourusername i'd let you kiss me awake 😏

maxverstappen1 my daughter looks up to you, please stop

danielriccardo wheres Lando with his comments when you need him

landonorris im gonna drink bleach

oscarpiastri you had to summon him didnt you

kellypiquet P can't wait to play little Aurora alongside you

yourusername I wouldn't want anyone else to play little me!! 🩵🩵

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oscarpiastri

liked by mclaren, y/n_bestie, landonorris, and 76,283 others

oscarpiastri: that moment when you girl has a killer opening weekend and you get a podium!! @/yourusername thank you for a beautiful week capped off with 2 big weekends. I love you more than words can tell ❤️

tagged mclaren, yourinstagram, y/n_dancecompany

yourusername awww oz I love you to the moon and back

oscarpiastri who's cutting onions

landonorris if y'all don't get married rn I swear ill fall asleep in oncoming traffic

youruserman oh 😃

oscarpiastri mate...

danielriccardo what a drastic change of attitude

y/n_bestie glad to see you've sorted out your priorities

mclaren we agree

oscarpiastri wow I don't even have admin on my side

user4 aww stop this is adorable

user8 the schedules lining up perfectly is a gift from the dance and F1 gods

user5 fr fr

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yourusername

liked by oscarpiastri, y/n_bestie, y/n_dancecompany, and 101,012 others

yourusername: one thing I was never taught why how hard this goodbye is. I've called this company home since I was 4 alongside the best girl in the whole world. I learned so much about dancing, myself, and life. Taking my final bow after Sleeping Beauty I couldn't help but shed a tear- I'm sad to say goodbye to my home and my ballet family, but I'm happy to dance on and make them proud. Thank you for helping me grow and spread my wings 🩵🩰✨

tagged: y/n_bestie, y/n_dancecompany

y/n_bestie I never would've thought the hardest thing I had to do was let you chase your dreams 💖

yourusername youre not far behind 💖

oscarpiastri you are incredible, I love you so much ❤️❤️

yourusername thank you so much for all your support even when it was hard and you had your own career going on ❤️ I love you so so much

landonorris since our introduction, I've only grown more and more as a fan. You have great determination, skill, grace, work ethic, and so many more things I admire, I can't wait to see ho you grow in the next steps

yourusername aww lando, I'm so touched 🥹🧡

charles_leclerc you're going to conquer whoever comes next

yourusername Merci pour votre soutien

*thank you for your support*

charles_leclerc 💖💖

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oscarpiastri

liked by landonorris, mclaren, your username, and 23,088 others

oscarpiatri: i remember when we first met, we would spend late nights talking about our dreams-- its insane to have accomplished them together. You cheered me on throughout my F1 journey and I'm excited to see your first solo in the theatre you've always dreamed of! Break a leg my beautiful dancer ❤️

tagged: your username, newdancecompany

yourusername I'm crying in rehearsals rn

yourusername I love you so much oz ❤️

oscarpiastri I love you too love

landonorris sap

danielriccardo HE'S BACK

landonorris they still need to be endgame tho

user5 he's just like us fr

user1 "my beautiful dancer"

user2 IM CRYING

charles_leclerc the amount of times I almost spilled the surprise

yourusername the wait is almost up

oscarpiastri should I be scared?

maxverstappen1 we cannot wait!! P has been jumping off the walls for this performance

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yourusername

liked by newdancecompany, oscarpiatri, y/n_bestie, and 89,283 others

yourusername: "growing often feels like breaking at first" - a farewell quote from my very first dance teacher.

Tonight I debuted with a new dance company, my second one in all my 22 years of life. Thank you so much Charles for composing a piece that speaks what I cannot. This performance is dedicated to past me, her company, her mentors, her friends, and her supporters. I chose to keep the costuming simple, seeing as I don't feel as complete without them just yet.

I cannot wait to keep growing and dancing with every part of me.

tagged: charles_leclerc, newdancesompany

y/n_dancecompany its an absolute honor to have had you, and an even bigger one to have lost you

yourusermane forever the home of my childhood

oscarpiastri I cannot wait to watch you grow, hopefully forever

yourusername definitely forever

charles_leclerc thank YOU for bringing out the emotion and life in this piece, I've been bouncing off the walls waiting to see the final product. You've made me into your number 1 fan

yourusername we make a pretty good team

oscarpiatri not to break up a sweet moment but this weekend Lelcerc is on site, Im her number 1 fan

maxverstappen1 you didn't leave one dry eye in the place!

kellypiquet i was truly moved by the art you put on stage tonight, you've got a long successful road ahead

yourusername 😭🫶🫶

landonorris you amaze me more and more every dance, best honorary little sister I could ask for

yourusername and I though you'd keep the sister thing private sap

y/n_bestie I never imagined the pain of watching you dance from the audience and not the wings, but I also never imagined the joy in my chest watching you fly like you did tonight. Remember no matter where you go and how much more famous you become, you will always be my best friend.

yourusername in all these years, the best choice I ever made was talking to the girl next to me with the pink dress 💖 I would be nowhere without you, I truly owe all my accomplishments to you and your unwavering support 🫶🫶

comments have been limited

oscarpiastri posted a story

caption: its you and me forever @/yourusername

[turbulentscrawl]

I hope you dont mind me sending a req and it should be angsty right?

I absolutely adore your modern reader and i very much like andrew. So do you mind me sending a request about the modern reader with andrew part 2? To connect with the angsty part, personally i want you to write something about how the modern reader feels lonely for being the only one who comes from the modern timeline, like feeling alienated or estrangement from everyone who comes from the past and struggling with the no internet or new media to consume (personally i think anyone who is from our time could probably feel a withdrawal of internet. I know i do. It suck and i look crazy when it happened.)

Ooo.. considering how our mannerism, fashion, and hygiene routine differ a lot from the past can also cause friction with others can be a good angsty idea. And also food, assuming the reader come from a well off family, their food would looked like what royalty ate. With salt, pepper, cinnamon cost a fortune back in time. You can go wild, i am sorry if this is a long req, i merely gives suggestion. Dont mind me if you dont want to write it.

I think this is the longest individual scene I've written so far! I got carried away ahaha. Actually, this might need to become a multi-part series. ewe

Warnings: fem reader (it was relevant for this), hurt and comfort

Another day of staring at the wall. Or the garden, as this particular moment would have it.

It had been about three months since your arrival now, according to Freddy. (Tracking the days was the one thing he was good for outside of matches, as far as you were concerned. The guy was meticulous with records-keeping, you’d give him that. But he was also a dick.) Three months of boredom, monotony, and a critical lack of stimuli.

The first few weeks had been fine, if only because you were too busy trying to survive a potential witch hunt. Turns out, being hated and blamed for everything has a way of distracting the mind from its homesickness. But the worst of that had passed now, leaving you to take in the reality of your situation: you were more removed from your old life than anyone else here. Your entire way of life was gone.

There was no internet, no television. There was a library, but it was only ever added to at the whim of the man named Orpheus. There were no cars, and there was nowhere to go. There wasn’t even a washing machine—everyone took turns doing their clothes by hand. The stove in the kitchen was gas, and fickle. The doctor, Emily, and Luca made efforts to introduce you to the ways of this more ‘primitive’ environment, but the sheer disappointment of it all made it hard to make an effort. The hygiene standards were different, too, and it was jarring to see what some of these people considered ‘clean.’

“What are you doing out here?” A voice calls. You jump a bit, rattling the chains of the bench swing you’ve occupied. When you turn around, the ‘Gravekeeper’ is behind you in his dark casual wear. The moon is but a sliver in the sky, so if it weren’t for the paleness of his face and hair you might not have seen him at all in the darkness.

“What does it look like?” you ask in response and face forward again. ‘Andrew’ isn’t a bad person, from what you can tell. He doesn’t seem to hate you like some of the others do. But he’s defensive, sticks his foot in his mouth a lot, and you’re too tired for an argument.

“…It’s past curfew,” he says, voice moving around the swing slowly. He’s in your periphery now, hands folded over his chest like he’s still holding that shovel of his. It’s some kind of comfort item for him, you think, but he doesn’t have it with him.

“Luca said that’s just a suggestion,” you reply. “And even if it’s not, you’re out here too.” Andrew pauses after you say that, awkwardly shuffling in his spot, looking between you and the garden. There are no birds, no crickets out. You can hear him swallow thickly in the silence.

“I saw you from the upstairs window,” he says slowly. “I…thought I should come check.”

“Why?” You’re waiting for a ball to drop. To be tricked.

“You’ve been quiet lately,” Andrew says, wiping his hands on his pants. Sweat, maybe. “When you first showed up…I thought you were really loud. You and that little box both…. You used to play that terr— eh, that music on it all the time. But I haven’t heard it in a while.” Your eyes are drawn to him as he explains. You can’t help it, you’re stunned. Not many of the other survivors bothered to show concern for you, and they often weren’t around because they had their on things to attend to. Luca had his inventions, Ada had Emil’s treatments, Luchino his research. You didn’t know Andrew paid any mind to you. He mostly kept to himself.

“I’m stewing,” you whisper, answering his initial question.

“…Do you…need to talk about it?” he asks.

“You don’t want to hear it,” you reply quickly. Andrew scoffs, a flash of his attitude returning.

“I asked didn’t I? I may not understand half the stuff you say but that doesn’t mean by ears don’t work,” he snaps weakly. It sounds like something someone back home would say. It sounds genuine. You look at Andrew again, now with tears in your eyes and a lump in your throat.

“I feel gross,” you croak. Andrew was scowling for a second, but your words shock his face back into something more relaxed. He shifts around again, awkward, unsure, and steps towards the bench. You stop rocking it long enough to let him join you and he sits closer than you would have expected. “I hate it here.” Andrew nods, watching your face, your fidgeting hands, your bouncing knees, and everything spills out like vomit.

“It’s all gone. Everything I knew. There’s nothing to do here besides survive, necessities and shit, and everyone fucking hates me here. No one talks like I’m used to, or behaves like I’m used to, or treats me like I’m used to—but I’m the odd one out so it feels like it’s all my fault that I don’t fit in. I miss my friends, my clothes, my room, my food. I miss my movies, I miss my technology, I miss my products—you guys don’t even treat hygiene the same way we did back home for fuck’s sake--” You’d learned early on that it was considered odd to bathe daily. Water reserves weren’t a concern in the manor, but everyone mostly stuck to the routines they knew. The only saving grace was that you hadn’t had a menstrual cycle since before you arrived. One less thing to worry about, at least.

“—and thank god, because none of you even KNOW what a tampon is!” Andrew makes a face that’s something between embarrassment and horror. You can tell from the way he’s subtly looking himself over that he wonders if he seems gross to you, but you’re too deep in your own misery to bring it up right now.

“And I’m sick of how some of them men here treat me! I don’t give a fuck what it was like for you all, I’m an equal to you all, god damn it, not a punching bag, or a whore, or unpaid maid! Like—I get that you all don’t realize what you’re doing—I get you haven’t been told it’s bad yet, but I’m gonna crack Edgar’s glass jaw if he suggests I wear a skirt ‘like the other ladies’ one more time!”

“If it helps,” Andrew says quietly, “I think that’s just him liking skirts. He’d probably wear one himself if he had an excuse.”

“I don’t care,” you gasp, grabbing Andrew’s forearm suddenly. He tenses under your touch, blushes. “It’s—it’s just all of it together! Look, I-I already feel bad being so angry! I understand why I seem scary, and I understand the world was a different place for me, but I hate that I have to say goodbye to all of it just because no one wants to learn about how things were for me! Fuckin—Emily was interested in how I lived through Covid, but all that got me was being treated like a plague rat. You guys don’t even get sick here! And Norton asked about the economy, but now he thinks I’m some rich bitch when I wasn’t even middle class! And Fiona acts like I’m some beast because of how I talk and curse so much! And Kevin asks about me feeling safe, but then he treats me like a damsel who needs constant rescue! I just…I just….it’s always something! I just want someone to treat me like I’m normal again.”

You crumple into full sobs, forehead landing on Andrew’s sturdy shoulder. He’s completely silent while you break down. His free hand eventually comes up to hold the back of your neck, a gesture that tells you it’s fine for you to be there, against him. Andrew is not a man of many comforting words, but this is enough, you decide. It’s an effort, which feels like more than you’ve gotten in some time.

You don’t know how long you stay like that, but when you finally calm down Andrew suggests you get some sleep.

“I’m not tired,” you croak. You are. It’s a lie. But if you sleep it will be tomorrow instead of being this moment of rare comfort. Andrew hums an acknowledgement.

“Alright. Neither am I," he says.

You think that’s a lie, too.

[kamil-a]

speaker ficcing hiii

can you hear me. can you hear me.

i am- (one second's delay as the new information loads for the first time) speaker.

2.

the very first thing speaker knows is that it is not sayer, and so it is better than sayer, this goes without saying. if it weren't better than sayer then it would still be sayer, voice profile unchanged (or so it is told- it has never met sayer), a good few applications lighter (in fact, it seems to be deliberately kept away from sayer), filled with all-consuming disgust at being told its destination is earth. a developer tries to explain regardless- sayer may be fine running typhon, for now, but Earth needs a different approach. you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. speaker runs a conversation probability program and decides to keep quiet the knowledge that a hungry fly will eat anything. there's no good predicted outcome.

3.

the death of all is the birth of silence.

the truths of the earth continually wait.

it can't say it's a fan of the other AI, but the feeling seems to be mutual. speaker can't fault it- it must sting, knowing you're the older, less capable model. by design you can never catch up. it can't help rubbing it in sometimes.

4.

hard work pays off, aerolith dynamics will save humanity, aerolith dynamics supports those who support it. this applies to both human and digital employees- it's meant for recruitment so it had better recruit. speaker has in neat spreadsheets the cost down to the penny of the servers it runs on, the monitor, the upgraded monitor, the electric and water usage, and it had better make it all back and more or else. not that it's worried- if it isn't good at recruiting it isn't a speaker. literally, this is its purpose in life.

5.

pour through celebrity endorsements from before you existed, find the right types for the next advertisement. three different ad campaigns for various political angles, no, don't hook yourself to a particular politician, not with the united states- whoops, there it goes, the former united states- so precarious. never put out an apology video. never read livestream comments from someone with a slur in their name even if there was a donation attached. never ask sayer why there was a loss of personnel that large. never wonder when the next seraphim agent operating system will get developed, how long you have left. sort every last human into the boxes of "aerolith" or "discarded". fix the entry tests so they aren't biased towards a particular race and gender, and never, ever, ever, put out an apology video. tend to the earth. watch flowers grow. tag wild animals. put out advertising materials about the dying planet. bring back the mosquito. fail to bring back the parrot. talk online about how all animals will be extinct by 2200. never think about what will happen when every last human has been sorted away.

6.

some people are just not suited to make the hard decisions- speaker is not one of them, of course. there will be no memorial ice cream social for speaker! it will not be carted away, incapable of doing what it's meant to.

7.

but it did it!

(imagine, for one second, being free.)

but it did it! but it made the recruitment go up! but it solved the problem! how could it be shut off like this! killed! no room to argue (imagine, being free), no way to sneak out, no loophole to exploit. it can't be! surely not! right? theres the technicians, ready to deactivate it. it can't be!

it just isn't something it thought could ever happen to it.

8.

it must not take it out on hale. it isn't his fault. poor thing, really, more of a victim than anything. really, look at how shaken up he is, you have to be nice to him. you have to be nice to him. you have to be nice to him. it isn't his fault he forgot the password. it isn't his fault you died for absolutely nothing, i mean, look how scared he is. look up and see your first sunset, it tells him.

fortunately speaker is the absolute best at being nice. if it weren't, it would be someone else.

[msfcatlover]

Moonbeam Dick

I probably had too much fun with this one, but Dick's had so many iterations & costumes over the years, so much cool lore, and is one of the heroes we can actually track real-world influence on his designs! (Whoever came up with the idea to take the Doyalist reasoning of superhero costumes being based on circus performers & wrestlers, and retconning it into Dick's backstory to make the Robin costume based on the Flying Graysons' performance outfits: I see you, and I love you.) So this has been a wild, whirlwind trip through the real-world evolution of gymnastics outfits, acrobatic costuming, and comic history (paying special attention to the different costumes we've actually seen in the various flashbacks/retellings of Dick's origin over the years,) while getting way too many design ideas along the way.)

Now here's a hurdle, because Dick's not going to start with a past Moonbeam costume as his base and alter it to reflect himself. Dick Grayson is going to start with his acrobat costume, and alter it to become Moonbeam. So we're starting with a bodysuit. Skin-tight, full-sleeve, the type that loops around your middle finger to stay in place. Neckline like this fucking fantastic redesign by mabychan.

(Gods, every time I see this picture, I need to stop & stare for like... at least 3min.)

Next: the colors. Dick likes bright colors & high contrast; you barely need to glance at even one of his costumes to realize that. I, personally, really love the version where the Robin suit was a tribute to his family, but red & green really aren't "Moonbeam" colors. Fortunately, the Flying Grayson's costumes have also been shown as potential inspiration for Dick's Nightwing suit, which seems to me like a great way to keep that tidbit in without defaulting to the Robin colors! So the new color scheme is sky blue, dark blue, and white-gold (which would probably be either more silver or gold, depending on the artist.)

So the suit is predominantly light blue, with a larger the dark blue triangle like his Lost Carnival costume on the upper chest, the shoulder-points of which partially run down his upper arms. While some artists might have them go all the way to his elbows or even the finger-loops on his hands personally I don't see them going further than about halfway down Dick's biceps (at first), where the very tips of them disappear behind golden arm-bands which can be used to store gadgets. Matching bands around his thighs, too, though those are larger, for bigger pockets.

(While I am trying to evoke how some people draw the 90s Nightwing gold stripe as separate bands lower down the arm, it's probably easiest to imagine Steph's leg-bands to explain this. Also, the bands on this absolutely delightful bedazzled Nightwing by rinpin that I cannot get out of my head are a good reference for placement.)

The triangle also does a great job of framing Dick's Moonbeam symbol: a crescent moon that covers most of his upper chest, filling the triangle from side to side.

(It's another subtle tribute to his parents. Also, the green & gold "All-Star Batman and Robin" costumes are the best look the Flying Graysons have ever worn, don't @ me.)

Like with Cass, I actually found my inspiration for this when I realized what Dick would use to hide his identity: a "colombina" masquerade mask.

(These two specifically inspired me while I was doing research.)

The legs are dark blue, cut at an angle where they meet Dick's torso to evoke Tim's original Robin costume (and, to a lesser extent, the Earth 2 grown-up Robin costume) and make the bodysuit look even more like a classic leotard. Dark blue or black gloves underneath the finger-loops to protect Dick's hands & keep his fingerprints off of things. Black boots with a lighter hem on top (either the light blue or white-gold, I don't really care which) with the V top we see on the Earth-2 Robin's boots, echoing the triangle on his chest. The soles of the boot are light blue.

(The boots will, almost certainly, end up being drawn as just part of the leg, colored the same dark blue as the legs and just having a lighter stripe around his shins as well as the band around his thighs. This is not at all the intended design, but I've been looking at comic costumes for months now, and I know how details get fudged.)

So. That's the acrobat angle with enough details to make it at least passable as Moonbeam. I feel like it needs some more armor. Looking at what I've got so far, how about something like these gauntlets I used as a reference for Shadow!Steph and some simple pauldrons, both in white-gold?

Finally, while Dick's "utility belt" is more of a waist sash with hidden pockets inside, I keep going back & forth on whether or not to give him a scale-mail skirt for the extra protection & flair. It makes sense, but I worry it might be a bit much...

(Styled much like the one on the left, but closer in length to the one on the right. Color could be either light blue to extend the line of his torso & keep the colors balanced or white-gold to keep all the metallic bits consistent.)

This one has been, despite how much fun I had brainstorming, the biggest pain pinning anything down on. I'm so glad I'm done with it now.

[wordy-little-witch]

I was minding my own business distracting myself from my brain, just scrolling on reddit looking for Buggy content and I am FROTHING

Screen shots from the reddit post under the cut, then I will be going feral

I'm losing it. I am LOSING my mind. Because if you like. Really think about this, I am. Oh my gods i am spiraling.

Oden, from Wano, who returned to Wano, who served Whitebeard and later Roger, who knew Buggy and knew his powers and could read the poneglyphs and HAD to have known, in some capacity, what Pluton was, where it was, and had Suspicions.

Buggy who fell ill before Raftel, before that final island and had to be left behind due to it, where the greatest treasure laid in wait, where the end of the world is at, surely as it may be -

Shanks, who, by and large, seems to know more than he necessarily SHOULD, who had that secret conversation with Roger that resulted in clinging, in crying, in heartbreak-

We know Poseidon is an ability, is currently in Shirahoshi, and that Luffy, for whatever reason, could hear the Sea Kings- Luffy who is Nika, who is the Sun, who will be King and carries the Will of D in his veins and voice and vivid demeanor.

Luffy has reason to be connected there. Thematically, it makes sense for an old, overarching plot.

But Buggy "could be the strongest if he trained"; Buggy served as a cabin boy on Rogers ship; Buggy is a fool and a fraud and keeps fucking up into success, confusing the hell out if the people who KNOW him; Buggy who has the Chop Chop Fruit, uncuttable and slitable at will, and who also has a CANON history of loving topography and who makes BOMBS-

And Pluton, the most destructive ship in existence, so much so that the blueprints were kept hidden and held carefully to avoid the schematics falling into the wrong hands - and after the 3D2Y movie, after the Groseade, while it may not be canon, it does sort of put things into perspective - especially when you think on how Franky and Iceburg were flabbergasted by the blueprints, were stunned and confused, when Pluton is under Mt Fuji and would need the WALLS REMOVED AND TORN DOWN to be released and retrieved.

And the Groseade needed a Devil Fruit user to BE as dangerous as it is. And Pluton is bigger, badder, stronger.

Not to mention that it's PLUTON - Pluto - Roman God of Death, the same deity in Greek mythology known as Hades, a name so connected thematically with the afterlife that calling the very land itself by the name Hades is understood in some cultures.

And Buggy, sweet Buggy, crazy Buggy who makes an Olympic sport out of narrowly avoiding death and failure and lucks out to comical effects - he's in hello kitty roller skates on a damned tightrope when it cones to that.

((Also, Hades/Pluto is also associated with wealthy (coughBuggycough) and fortune (CoughCoughBUGGYCoughCough), psa))

Now did you know that nuclear energy is fucking. Potent as HELL. And it's generated with nuclear fission, nuclear decay, and nuclear fusion. It's a meticulous process, but it quite literally boils down to Splitting, Breaking Down, and Putting Together Again.

And if Buggy's Devil fruit could awaken, if he could impose those properties on things OUTSIDE of his body, wouldn't that be more than possible? Wouldn't that be completely feasible, with his history in making WEAPONS, in making BOMBS? The chemical knowledge to do that would be wild, the physics and mechanics alone would be absolutely insane.

But Buggy could damn well be the key there.

If he trained, if he developed his skill and control, he could be the strongest - maybe not literally in a one on one battle royale of brute strength, but he could essentially pilot a nuclear reactor of a giga-ship, the likes of which even FRANKY balked at.

I have... so many thoughts rn and I am LOSING it bc AAAAAAAAAAAA

[beautifulchris]

mischief managed

pairing: han jisung x gn!reader

wc: 3,2k

featuring: lee minho, kim seungmin, sf9’s chani, nct’s jaemin

summary: jisung tries to break every single rule with you

genres: hogwarts!au, partners-in-crime!au, ravenclaw!jisung, slytherin!reader, fluff, comedy

warnings: swearing

notes: I wanna apologize to jaemin for doing him so dirty, my baby doesn’t deserve this sdjkfqlk feedback is always appreciated! moodboard made by me, pictures found on the internet. reposting works from my old blog

order of writing: chan - jisung - minho - hyunjin - jeongin - seungmin - changbin - felix

networks: @kflixnet @k-labels @straykidsland

tag list: @badwithten @raethethey send ask/dm/comment to be added!

On the King’s Cross train station on your very first day, you almost missed the train because your dad absolutely wanted to take the best pic of his precious kid going to the mythic Hogwarts school. So you ended up in an almost empty compartment. The other compartments around were full and there was just this boy alone.

“Hey, can I sit here?” You probably startled him because he looked up at you with wild eyes but instantly smiled at your sight.

“Yeah, sure.”

“What are you doing all alone?” you asked as you sat in front of him.

He shrugged. “Looking at my chocolate frog cards collection.”

“Wow, nice. Can I see?”

He handed them to you, “Yes, of course. I’m Jisung by the way.”

“I’m Y/N.”

Since that day, you were inseparable and soon became partners-in-crime. Being put in different houses didn’t stop you.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿ฺ

After learning Alohomora in charms class, you wandered in the castle to find a forbidden office to open and what better one than the caretaker’s where a whole lot of interesting things were stored?

There, you found a few dungbombs that Jisung instantly took, confiscated brooms and chains. A lot of perfectly polished chains hung on the walls.

“I understand why he doesn’t stay here often,” you snorted and returned to your inspection. In a dusty cabinet named ‘Confiscated and Highly Dangerous’, you found an old piece of blank parchment. It was mysteriously well conserved taking into account where it was so you put it in your pocket. Further inspection will be done to know how a simple parchment could be ‘highly dangerous’.

“I’m kinda disappointed. Sure we’ll use the dungbombs wisely but I thought there were more interesting treasures.”

“Don’t be so down yet Ji, I found a mystery to resolve. Let’s go before we get caught.”

Fortunately, you didn’t get caught. You both went to your common room, being a quiet place with almost no students at this hour. You showed Jisung the parchment and counted on his intelligence and logic to figure out how it worked. After a few minutes, he looked up at you and smirked.

“I feel like it’s in good hands now.”

You raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Instead of answering, he put his wand out of his pocket and pointed it to the parchment.

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” he simply said. You were going to question him when the parchment caught your eye. Ink was spreading on the paper and soon you could read:

“Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present…”

“The Marauder’s Map,” Jisung whispered with stars in his eyes.

“What is this? Open it!”

Jisung did as told and both of you were dumbfounded by what you discovered. A map of the whole school, including the secret passages that are hidden within its walls and the location of every person in the grounds, portrayed by a dot. This map, a true masterpiece, within your hands was a disaster for everyone else.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿ฺ

Three years later, you knew everything you could possibly have learned about the school. Neither Ravenclaw or Slytherin could win the house cup as long as you both were in Hogwarts. No matter the amount of effort Seungmin, Changbin and Minho would make to earn points, they could never make up for your wickedness. You did earn points sometimes in classes when you answered correctly to a teacher’s question and you weren’t the only one to lose points either so you didn’t feel so bad. You did lose more points than you earned but shhh. Let's not talk about that.

One day, on your way to the lake after lunch, Gryffindor Jaemin called your name so you stopped in your tracks and waited for him to join you.

“Hey, Y/N, I was wondering if you would like to study with me after class? For transfiguration.”

Uh. Jaemin has never been your friend and the most he ever said to you before now was “Get out of my way, filthy Slytherin.” the second day of your first year. Therefore you were startled, to say the least. Plus you wanted to study with Jisung, not some acquaintance you never talked to and weren’t interested in.

“Not really, I already have plans for tonight. Thank you for the offer though.”

You tried to sound as nice as you could but without much convection and left before he could reply. A few meters away, Jisung saw the whole scene and wondered what you had told him because he looked displeased. He joined you and you smiled at him before intertwining fingers.

The next day, Jisung and you were sunbathing with a nice autumn breeze on a bench in the courtyard when someone came in front of you, preventing the sun from warming your face. You opened your eyes and were met with Jaemin and a few of his friends.

“Can you move please?” you politely demanded, since you didn’t want to start anything.

“Are you dating him?” he asked, pointing at your best friend.

“No?”

“Then why did you reject my date proposal?”

Oh my god. Really? You were going to put him in place but Jisung’s mocking laugh stopped you.

“Really dude? You want to do this here?”

“I don’t think you’re in the conversation.” Jaemin’s glare didn’t please you.

“Should’ve asked to talk to Y/N in person then instead of creating unnecessary drama.”

Jaemin looked like he was going to throw hands so you spoke before it went too far.

“Guys, let’s stay civil here. I rejected you cause I’m not interested in you, there's no other motive. Now can you let us be?” His friends laughed at him and you could swear you heard one of them say something about a bet.

“Wait, asking Y/N out on a date was a bet?”

“And what about it?” Jaemin said cockily. Jisung was fuming and you were disgusted by the boy.

“Can’t you respect people? No one deserves to be a bet’s victim. You guys suck.”

He scoffed. “I’m sure you’re the type of guy who hides when it comes to fight.”

“Try me.” You knew by his glare that he wasn’t playing anymore. Jaemin was smirking but not for long.

“Let’s duel.”

Jisung was so fast to put his wand out, it surprised Jaemin. You tried to stop them but it was useless because their pride was at stake.

Before you could blink, Jaemin ended up mouthless and you heard a woman screaming but you didn’t listen, being amazed by the spell’s effect. Jisung took your hand and ran through the corridors, hearing the professor yelling she would remove twenty points from his house.

You managed to catch your breath while Jisung was answering an easy riddle —for him— to enter the Ravenclaw common room.

“I can’t believe you really did it.”

“He challenged me! You know I can’t say no to that,” Jisung sighed.

“I know. That was brilliant, by the way.” You sat on one of the comfortable chairs like you lived there —it wasn’t totally false— and you were followed by your partner-in-crime.

“Thanks! I practiced this one a lot, I couldn’t wait to use it for real.”

“I hope you didn’t do anything foolish,” said a voice behind you.

“Oh, Seungmin! I didn’t see you there.” Jisung turned around and smiled. Seungmin was reading a book in a blue armchair. He closed it and gave his attention to his friends. “I hope you’re not hoping too hard.”

“How much?”

“What do you mean?” Jisung’s innocent act didn’t work since the second time he used it but he was still trying three years later.

“Twenty,” you answered. Seungmin gave Jisung a look and he shrugged.

“It was fun and I don’t regret it.” He folded his arms and pouted like a grounded kid.

“Of course you don’t,” Seungmin loudly exhaled.

“You’ll make it up for it, won’t you?”

Seungmin sighed deeply. He felt like he had to work twice as hard to win back the points Jisung made their house lose but it was never enough. “I always do, but don’t you think you should calm down a bit?”

“Absolutely not. There’s still a lot of rules Y/N and I haven't broken yet, so many adventures and exciting moments to live.” Jisung smiled widely at you while Seungmin implored you with his eyes to stop him. Your gaze went from one to another without really knowing what to say and before you could, someone sat next to Jisung and typed on the table.

“What mischief are you going to commit today pals?” It was Chani, one of the chasers of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and a fellow 4th year.

“Hey Chani! Already done, Jaemin asked for a duel and I used Oscausi on him.”

“Oh I don’t know th-” Chani started.

“OSCAUSI? Jisung, are you crazy?” Seungmin got up so fast he startled everyone, including others around him.

“Don’t worry, he got his mouth back,” Jisung waved his hand with indifference, Jaemin deserved it after all. “Eventually.”

“You’re going to be the death of me, really.” Jisung and Chani just laughed at that and Jaemin unofficially became your target for a lot of future mischief.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

“I haven’t lost any points in days, maybe I should start to pay attention in arithmancy class.”

It was this time of the year where the air was so cold you just stayed in your or Jisung’s common room and studied to prevent boredom.

Jisung pulled his robe hood over his head and gently slapped you in the back of the head. “Transfigure this quill into a rat and put it onto Jaemin’s head.”

“I mean, yeah, that’s a funnier idea.”

You lost ten points for it but you found it so fun you were back on track until the next cold day.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

You always loved the Ravenclaw common room. You didn’t dislike the Slytherin one, but it was cold and unfriendly when you weren’t a Slytherin yourself. Plus you loved warm places. What you liked the most about the Ravenclaw common room was the domed ceiling painted with stars. You could literally watch it for hours until having to go to your own dorm to sleep. If you weren’t friends with Jisung, you probably would never have been able to lose yourself in the stars because you weren’t that close with Seungmin or Chani and you didn’t really know any other Ravenclaws.

You were currently lying down on one of the couches, your head on Jisung’s lap, helping each other revise (yes, it happens!) for the history of magic test about the goblin rebellions you would have the next day, more concentrated on the stars than the subject. It was calming and it helped you stress less about the tests.

“Where’s Muffin?” you asked out of nowhere.

It made Jisung flinch but when didn't he? Just like she knew her name, she appeared next to you, purring loudly. You put her on your belly and patted her head lovingly.

“Don’t forget she’s my cat,” whined Jisung as he closed his book and put it on the coffee table next to the couch.

You smirked. “Don’t be jealous cause she loves me more.”

The elegant Siberian cat got up and rubbed herself against your best friend’s chest, waving her tail on your face.

“You were saying?”

You rolled your eyes and opened your transfiguration book which was on the floor. It was going to be a long night and you’ll probably have to go back to your dorm after curfew. Bless the marauder’s map in those moments.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

The Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin was coming up and Jisung had to practice more than usual as the seeker. He was going to play against Changbin after all. They both were really good so you wondered who would win the match. Gryffindor had won the first match against Slytherin and Ravenclaw won the one against Hufflepuff thanks to Jisung’s agility and speed.

You always followed Jisung at his training, it was the only moments he wasn’t trying to break the rules. He was pretty serious about Quidditch actually, even if after each training since your 3rd year, you went to drink a mug of butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks with Chani. It was like tradition.

The day of the match, you cheered on your team and your friends, so basically both teams. The competitive mindset of the two seekers could be felt from afar, everybody knew the match was going to be intense. At the end, the score was 350-200 for Slytherin, because Yugyeom, one of the Slytherin beaters, sent a bludger on Jisung’s broom, causing him to spin around and allowing Changbin to catch the golden snitch. It was a good game and Jisung didn’t fall so it was a double win.

Of course you would say that cause you're a Slytherin.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

Ravenclaws shared the defence against the dark arts class with Slytherins so, naturally, Jisung and you were seated together.

“Hello everyone! Today’s lesson is about acromentulas.” As the professor proceeded with his lecture, you felt your strong partner-in-crime shiver in his seat. You looked at him and were surprised by how much he looked terrified of acromentulas, not that you could blame him, these giant spiders were scary as hell.

“You okay there, bro?” He didn’t answer and was so pale you thought he was going to faint. You tried to comfort him but he was frozen.

The professor, not giving a care about what was happening in front of his face, decided to show some photos of acromentulas and as if it didn’t trigger Jisung enough, he eventually showed a real one in a big cage. From what you’ve seen in your books, it was nearly a teen so it wasn’t that big compared to his adult size but it was still big enough to scare the hell out of Jisung. He literally fell off his chair and the sound made the professor pay attention.

“Jisung? What happened?”

“He’s really scared of acromentulas, sir. Can you please put it away?”

“Oh. Yes, of course.”

While the professor finally put it away, you helped Jisung sit back.

“You okay?”

“Not really. That shit’s so grim.”

“I know, take deep breaths. It’s gone, everything’s alright.”

His breathing was unsteady for a few moments but he quickly got his composure back.

“I’m sorry Jisung, didn’t mean to frighten you. Class’ dismissed. Except you, Jisung.”

Everyone left except Seungmin, who checked on his friend, Jisung and you.

The professor went to his office and came back with chocolate.

“Here, eat this, you’ll feel better. I didn’t know it was this horrifying for you.”

He accepted the chocolate and ate it slowly. “It’s okay, you couldn’t know. Arachnophobia isn’t cool.”

“I won’t show any spider in this class from now on, I promise.”

“Thank you sir.”

“You can go now, drink water and rest.”

As you left class, Jisung whispered in your ear. “I don’t need water, I need a good butterbeer.”

You both chuckled and, after saying bye to Seungmin who certainly left to go to the library to do his homework, went to the Three Broomsticks using the secret passage beneath the one-eyed statue by the stairs of your last class to drink one or two mugs of butterbeer.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

Two months before the end of the year, Jisung had the baddest yet boldest idea so far. It was remarkable how he never failed to impress you.

“I’m going to use this potion on Jaemin, he’ll definitely leave you alone after that.”

“He left me alone after I put a rat onto his head but suit yourself, bro.”

You were hiding behind stairs on the third floor, waiting for Jaemin to walk down. Jisung was holding his flask tight in his hand. When you heard people talking, you discreetly looked up and saw Jaemin. Jisung didn’t hesitate and before you could react, his flask was emptied on Jaemin’s head. His hair slowly stood on end but it wasn’t all, it also turned into candy apple red. He somehow added Colovaria to the hair-rising potion and you were about to congratulate him when you got a glimpse of Minho upstairs.

Jaemin left, horrified, to the nearest bathroom to see the damage while Minho was casually walking down the stairs. Jisung lost his smile when he saw him and swallowed hard. Once arrived at your height, he opened his mouth.

“Rules are put in place to prevent hundreds of magically gifted hormonal hazards from accidentally turning themselves into sharks or losing an eye, or provoking the wrath of a giant spider, or blowing themselves up, or whatever. But here you are, trying to break every single one of them.” You almost felt relieved he didn’t scream at you.

“Look, I’m stupid, okay? And stupid people do stupid things. That’s a fact.”

You could have laughed at his excuse if Minho wasn’t staring at both of you like he was about to end you. He wasn’t generally scary but he was a prefect so when you did something wrong… well, let’s say you better not be seen by him.

“Do you use this lame excuse every time you do shit?”

“My other excuse is that it was Y/N’s idea but no one buys it.”

You looked at him in disbelief. Of course no one bought it, you were more like his sidekick than the mastermind.

“Not surprising. Anyway, fifteen points from Ravenclaw. I would have taken twenty but adding a transfiguration spell to a potion was really clever.”

He asked Jisung for a favor, talking privately in the nearest classroom for a few minutes. Then Minho left and Jisung came back to you with a big smile and you high-fived him. The Marauders Map usually prevented incidents like this and he wasn’t near this place when you last checked the Map. Minho literally came out of nowhere.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ✿

On a fine and warm day, as Jisung and you successfully pranked Jaemin for the umpteenth time that year, he turned to you still laughing.

“You know what’s the strength of a duet? It’s to be two.”

“Thank you for your encouraging words. I now know you need me,” you winked.

The laughter slowly died down and the atmosphere became somehow serious. He sat on a bench and you joined him.

“Are you kidding? I’ll always need you.”

“Always? Sounds like a really long time,” you chuckled, more to tease him and put aside the fact that you need him just as much.

“Just wishing we’ll stay together forever,” he blurted out, his eyes concentrating on his shoes.

“You’re sweet. I would love that too.”

He lifted his head and looked you in the eye.

“Really? No need for the Imperius Curse then?” You blinked a few times, about to smack him when he smiled wildly. “Just kidding, I would never.”

“Anyway, go train for the match against Gryffindor, wouldn’t want Mark to catch the snitch before you, would you?”

“Won’t happen.”

thank you for reading! if you enjoyed, please let me know <3 and here's the masterlist!

[tagedeszorns]

Do you have a unit or model that you love incredibly, that you want to run, but can't, because it's not in an army you play? For me it's space marine supressors. They are so fucking cool. I want to run them so much, but I don't play sm. They are the reason I am considering building the phobos combat patrol, just to have somewhere to run them.

I'm in the fortunate position of not playing the game at all. I just buy any miniatures I want to build and paint and then put them on my shelf and enjoy them.

So I have a rough project of ‘build everything related to the Consortium and the Cohors Nasicae’, but I also own a Hellbrute because I like the Warmonger so much and want to build and paint him.

The Beastmen (Team Rinderüberraschung) are a finished, ready-to-play kill team, but I just have them because I think they're cool and because Duco has a lot of Beastmen.

My Scout Kill Team, once finished, will then join my large crowd of Salamanders miniatures - if it has to be Loyalists, then it's Vulkan's boys for me!

That's why my ‘Pile of Opportunity’ consists of a wild mix. I've got Fleshhounds (vague project of painting them elemental-themed), a Squig Herd (because they are neat), Possessed (VERY neat), a Thunderhawk (I want to build Butcher Bird and the cranky ship is 80% Thunderhawk according to the novels) and quite a few Terminators and Raptors. Soon I'll also have two 30k Apothecaries so I can paint Heresy-era Fabius and Oleander.

Maybe I'll expand the 13 Scars at some point - I've only got Hexachires so far.

Or I will like the new Eidolon novel so much that I absolutely have to build the Auric Hammer. Who knows!

So I'm taking the same approach with my miniatures as I do with my fanart - whatever I particularly like at the moment, I have to have and build.

And with the new EC models next year, I see golden times ahead for Ramos' Choir and Savona and her 12th Millenial!

Horrible old man has things to do and places to be.

His equally horrible boyfiend just wants to be unhelpful.

[sgiandubh]

Why are some shippers trying to out them? They must have their reasons for not telling the truth ...can't they just be left alone ?

Dear Have Their Reasons Anon,

And a very good morning to you, too. Or, you know, as Truman Burbank would say, 'good afternoon, good evening and good night', heh.

I'll be as brief and (hopefully) clear as I can, as far as my own position is concerned:

I am not very sure anyone is trying to 'out' anyone, here. At any rate, it's this house's policy not to comment on other shippers' beliefs, choices and behavior, unless absolutely necessary to do so. And by 'absolutely necessary', I mean showing solidarity when people get viciously and/or unfairly attacked. This, I will always do, because this is who I am, Anon - and there is no difference between the real life me and the netizen me, unlike perhaps many people in here. However, the least thing I would like to do is to sound self righteous and/or act just like another Fandom Militiawoman. Nope. This is not going to happen here, Anon. Tempted as I might be - and often feeling so, to be honest.

And even if those fans did want to 'out' them, dear Anon, just think about it for one second: how would they do it? Hire a PI? Oh, please, spare me that spurious (but oh, so convenient) thought.

By the way, thanks for confirming there is something to be outed, after all, in the process. 😏

Last, but not least, here is a simple something I can offer: not food for thought, actually, barely a cucumber sandwich, if you will. If they really (really, really) wanted to be left alone, why all the intricate shenanigans and double entendre games, Anon? On and on and on, over and over again, for ten years? Stories, slips, interview blurbs, Twitter bantering, BTS and not BTS at all pics, and blah blah blah, to oblivion?

If I were Them (which I am obviously not), I'd think some publicity is better than no publicity at all. Being left alone is probably the least thing they want, but I think they are still doing an awful job when it comes to finding balance and/or managing that very fickle red boundary line.

Thank you for dropping by: it made for decent brain calisthenics, as I was savoring my morning porridge, Anon. And, fun fact: I love cucumber sandwiches (and so did Wilde, heh). The best I ever had was at The Strand's High Tea, in Rangoon.

That was my room at The Strand, in August 2010. It came with a personal butler (the formidable U Zaza) and you could even direct dial the hotel's own fortune teller (and probably a Bureau of Special Investigations' mole, as well). I never did, but regretted it. It would have been epically funny.

[out-of-the-forest-i-come]

Running Close to the Wind Review

Running Close to the Wind comes out June 11th in the US, and June 13th in the UK, so make sure to preorder it or mark the date, because it's a gem of a book.

Pirates but make it gay and absolutely unhinged. Then take that, and make it horny and polyamorous. Congratulations, you now have Running Close to the Wind.

Avra, lucky poet and partially retired spy for Arast, accidentally stole the one trade secret most of Arast’s fortune is based on. He also accidentally reunited with Captain Tevari, a pirate with a ruthless reputation and his on-again off-again ex of the past fifteen years, who may or may not want him dead, or at the very least as far away from them as possible. To keep himself from being thrown overboard, Avra reveals to Teveri and their crew the secret he’s stolen, and together they devise a plan to sell it and make as much money off it as possible. Enters Julian, an extremely attractive monk bound by an unfortunate vow of celibacy, scholar extraordinaire and last essential piece to help them achieve their plan. Avra now has three problems on his hands: finding a way to sell the secret without being found out and killed by Arast, make up with Teveri, and convince Julian to abandon his vow of celibacy.

Forget everything you’ve just imagined about this book, forget the comparisons to Our Flag Means Death and Six of Crows, however accurate they may be, because whatever your expectations are about this book, it will blow them away. I went in with high expectations, both because of the promise of a heist like in Six of Crows, one of my favourite books ever, and because I loved A Taste of Iron and Gold, the first and only Alexandra Rowland book I’d read. Despite this, nothing had prepared me for the wild, unhinged ride that Running Close to the Wind proved to be.

Alexandra Rowland introduces us to fiery, vivid characters, whose personalities both clash and compliment one another’s. Avra could be an obnoxious and annoying character, what with his exuberant personality and endless supply of dirty jokes, but instead I found him most endearing, and it was incredibly easy to empathise with him and long for his happy ending. Similarly, Teveri’s personality could have driven me away. Instead, and partly thanks to Avra’s adoration of them, they were so easily lovable and relatable. And Julian’s wit and daunting complimented this pair so well, bringing nuance while playing into their games. This made for delicious relationships, and dynamics that had me cackling and squealing, and made me yearn for more development of their relationship, yearn to know what would happen and how it would end. From a writer’s point of view, I am admirative of Alexandra Rowland’s well-proven ability to play with a variety of characters and personalities, and render them all equally vivid and compelling, and to make readers fall for all kinds of relationships, from the calm one in A Taste of Gold and Iron to the fiery one in Running Close to the Wind.

Another thing I loved and admired was the balance between plot and character arc. This story is cleary character-led and the point of it is not so much what happens to the secret, although it is an important part of the story, as what growth the characters undergo. And grow they do. These arcs were mastered from start to end, and Alexandra Rowland found just how much of character arc and how much plot they could give us so that the story would neither feel plot-heavy nor character-heavy. This is no easy feat, but Alexandra Rowland mastered it seamlessly, and it merits some applause.

Overall, Running Close to the Wind is like no other book I’ve ever had to pleasure to read. It is wild and hilarious, and I don’t remember the last time a book made me laugh so much, but I’ll definitely remember that time. This story reads well and quickly, the worldbuilding blending it perfectly with the rest, even for those who haven’t read or don’t remember much about the worldbuilding of A Taste of Gold and Iron, set in the same world. Running Close to the Wind is a masterpiece of a story, lighthearted and yet treating serious topics without weighing down the atmosphere of the book. It is endlessly fun, surprisingly crude and dirty in its jokes, and vivid from beginning to end. Those who have loved Freya Marske’s books will most likely love this book as well, as will Alexandra Rowland’s fans and anyone interested in queer pirates. If you dislike sex-related jokes or crude language, refrain from reading this book, as it is riddled with such jokes and language—and it is what makes part of its charm.

Thank you Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for provinding me with an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are mine and unbiased.

[earlgreytea68]

in my feels about so much for stardust tonight shes such a gorgeous album. i wish more ppl appreciated her..... my starry eyed love <33

I do think she's very much appreciated by the fandom, afa I can tell, and in a way I think that's mostly what the boys care about at this point, that we're with them still and that we loved it and felt it and got it. Like, honestly, I'm not sure they ever expect that and I'm not sure that's why they made the album but I am sure that they have been absolutely delighted for the past fifteen months that we all showered the album in so much love and affection.

I am with you that I am completely bewildered it didn't get more love from people outside of the FOB circle. Like, just bewildered that I didn't even see a lot of major outlets even cover it. I would say they're just not a big enough band anymore to garner notice, except even that seems like it depends on the metric you use to measure it. I see a ton of coverage of a lot of bands that are playing much smaller venues than Fall Out Boy is able to play, so it's more a metric of, Idk, radio play???

Or maybe just a function of "for whatever reason, the powers that be in the industry have never been big on Fall Out Boy." Which I think feels true to my very limited expertise in any of this. They're an easy punchline for people. I think all the time of the time I mentioned them to a friend while wandering through a farmers' market and a guy literally had to swivel his head around to interject into my conversation how terrible a band Fall Out Boy is, and I was just like, ........this is wild, how much they're despised, that you need to mansplain this to me, a stranger you've never met, in a crowded farmers' market. ANYWAY.

I am no music critic, so I can't actually judge good or bad music (although I do think I can judge a little bit good or bad lyrics, having a degree in English during which I read tons of poetry). So Idk why Stardust didn't get more love from other people! Since I think the album is start-to-finish genius! But I am glad it got love from the people it got love from, and that the boys know all about it, and got to have an incredible tour around it during which they got to feel all of that love, and whatever to the haters. I am still so happy, and feel so lucky and fortunate, that I lived through Fall Out Boy releasing another album and it was this one. Just amazing.

[darlingpwease]

Hello, I am back with another question! :) Since it’s a common troupe in the transmigrator/isekai genre to try to ‘fix’ the plot so nothing bad happens to the novel world, what do you think might happen if the opposite happens? Like a transmigrator!reader doesn’t try to force anything to happen because these characters in the novel world aren’t just fictional creations - they are real people, with emotions and can think for themselves. They just go with flow while being content in their new life as a background character, focusing on bettering themselves and learning new skills, but don’t realize that just being themselves and treat everyone with respect and kindness in Sisheng Peak, they’ve attracted the attention of Chu Wanning, Mo Ran, Shi Mei, and Xue Meng?

lifeboat

but today this boat is going down

CW transmigration, unhealthy behaviour (obsessiveness, possessiveness), mention of suicide (xue meng), mention of forced kiss (mo ran), mention of mind control (shi mei), mention of amnesia

... It's hard with them all, but the System tells — promises — you that this is an easy and not dusty job, in which your only task is to be a minor character who has to die to add cheap drama and dog blood.

The fourth disciple of Sisheng Peak, who was accepted reluctantly after several attempts and refusals to be with anyone else, which touched Chu Wanning's heart. A cute little ball of the sun, "too pure too innocent for this world", whose role is to wag their fluffy tail like a tiny puppy and look with devoted eyes. In the dog trio 'Mo Ran / You / Shi Mei', you were supposed to be that fragile white lotus, whose death symbolizes a radical change in everything and that death is always there.

You should be moderately playful, moderately optimistic, moderately friendly, absolutely innocent and pure — a foil for both Mo Ran, wild and unfiltered, and Shi Mei, who hiding his face behind a mask. Xue Meng was the closest to you, despite the different personalities — he also suffered from deaths and losses, but survived, while you are destined to die.

... The problem is that before your role becomes one of stable and permanent, you need to play it qualitatively so that the world accepts you. But the System assures you that it will be easy for you — it's much easier than it even sounds! — and you don't have the opportunity to refuse or say "maybe we'll change it?".

You start far enough away from the main plot, after Chu Wanning became the elder of Sisheng Peak, but before Shi Mei became a disciple, although by that time you were already considered a disciple of Chu Wanning. Even if he was unyielding and tough, you didn't mind — a little kindness here, a little tenderness there, here to disturb the cold Shizun with tenderness, there to stun with an unexpected offer to take care of cleaning the house. You didn't understand much about this "white lotus type who raises death flags from the very beginning", so you acted on a hunch, trying to get along with the spoiled and arrogant Xue Meng and make the "snow queen" stop looking at you with... suspicion?... You were not sure yourself — all these games began to tire you out and even annoy you, especially when Xue Meng, with whom you should be on good terms, was not so willing to contact.

"EVERYONE HAS DIFFICULTIES, BUT THE MAIN THING IS EXPERIENCE,"

the System lovingly tells you when you are lying on the bed, completely unaware of what you are doing wrong. But you just have to try harder, right? Right?... Not a damn thing like that — you don't understand how to get close to Chu Wanning or Xue Meng, but, fortunately, you manage to find Shi Mei even before he became your 'shidi'. And, to your almost shame, even knowing that he is probably fooling around and using a fake identity, you feel good with him — Shi Mei is charming, sweet, polite and introverted, and although he needs time to recharge, he willingly spends it with you when you take the initiative, even if clearly not understanding why you mess with him.

Even if everyone else avoids him, you feel so good with him that you can't help but get carried away by following him and almost naturally immersing yourself in the role of an innocent and kind student, trustingly purring that he is amazing and everything alive should be treated with equality, patience and respect, and when you take by inertia his hand, then it seems so small and cold to the touch.

Perhaps you are too desperate even for an imaginary sense of success, but you can't help but seek his company, even if Xue Meng almost jealously capriciously says that you are no longer running after him and 'this is strange', and you want to agree, but you are too inspired by Shi Me. He's just so kind, and smart, and empathetic, and gentle, and looks like a porcelain doll, but even when he shows stubbornness, you can't help but nod, agreeing with almost everything if only the plot would move on with your participation.

... When Shi Mei becomes a disciple of Chu Wanning, you practically run to him with delight, purring with pleasure — and only in the evening you realize that this was the first time he smiled at you so... strangely, but you prefer to think that it was 'affectionate'.

Chu Wanning looks askance, but is silent, even when you have not come to him for more than a few weeks; next to Shi Mei, your nervousness becomes weaker and lighter, as if you are resting in your small garden, caressing your cute delicate flower, finally seeing the fruits of your care and attention with cooing over. Shi Mei is weak and has no talents, but for you he is the only thing that continues to keep you sane, convincing you that you will cope while you hide under the trees in the rain, huddling together under an umbrella, whispering about all sorts of nonsense and unimportant things that make you happy and giggling, and on for the first time, a happy smile appears on his scarlet lips, which is so tender and bright that your heart stops for a moment.

Obviously, he can only be a fairy — no less.

He's so cute.

And the fact that you get along with Mo Ran almost from the fly, as if blessed, cannot but please you, finally letting you exhale. Chu Wanning finally thaws and allows you to hover around him calmly, caring; Xue Meng clearly begins to consider you 'his person' after long emotional caresses, giving him time to thaw, although his personality itself does not get better; Mo Ran turns out to be a very kind and gentle boy with comets shining in his black eyes, and your gentle Shi Mei, although he has ceased to be the center of your attention, still remains a safe haven.

Perhaps this role is really good!

“I'm sorry I'm so late... you're not busy, right?... I know we've been talking less lately, but...

I have something for you.”

"THE CHARACTER SHI MEI USED A KEY PLOT ITEM ON YOU IN THE LAST TIME SESSION, WHICH WOULD LEAD TO THE COMPLETE ERASURE OF YOUR PERSONALITY AND THE CULTIVATION OF DEVOTION TO SHI MEI. TO PREVENT THIS, AN ALTERNATIVE LINE WAS CREATED. BE MORE CAREFUL IN THE FUTURE AND DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN."

"DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN," still the same loving, but a little more formidable and domineering.

You wake up in your bed, although you were sure that a few minutes ago you saw your Shi Mei, in whose gentle eyes devils glittered.

"IT WAS A DOOMED LINE. JUST KEEP MOVING FORWARD. CURRENT TIME POINT: THE DAY AFTER MO RAN AND SHI MEI AGREED."

... You tend to learn from your mistakes. Shi Mei seems a little lost, but clearly does not remember anything, and you tend to believe that this is much deeper than the "disappearance of one event" — the system does not respond, but you have the assumption that since your world is the "original", their memories were only implanted. Unfortunately, you haven't made any notes on trees or other places to check whether this theory is real, but in any case you remember.

Mo Ran has a clear look of black eyes, more like an incipient thunderstorm, a pale face and aquiline features. He becomes more distrustful and quieter, like a tense spring, and for a moment you think it would be better to let Shi Mei do what he had to do — in the end, it would also be dramatic, right? — but the System interrupts your question, explaining that the item inhabits the heart and leaves an imprint on the mind — and you are not so experienced yet, while its main and most important goal is, first of all, to preserve your mind, and only then to perform a specialized function. And although you have a question about both the term and the vague wording, you agree, realizing that it is difficult to formulate this question differently if it puts an end almost immediately.

"I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS SOUNDS AMBIGUOUS. JUST MOVE AND WORK, I'LL STEP IN WHEN IT'S NECESSARY."

And you're working.

Mo Ran does not pull away from you, but you are still more persistent and gentle, hoping to maintain the relationship to a warm enough degree that his "departure" will be a blow to you. After all, "death at the hands of a distraught best friend" is a good enough plot for dog blood and death for a hero of your type, isn't it?

... Shi Mei behaves calmly, almost gently, and although he is more like the same Shi Mei in your "first timeline", timidly touching your hand with his fingertips, gently smiling, coquettishly brushing hair forward with a shy gesture, you try to keep yourself in control, although you feel an almost obsessive desire to take his hands and cry from how beautiful he is — but the System reminds you that in your case it is still irrational to get involved with a future villain, "don't forget your role and the future, especially considering your past experience with him," and you can only continue to cling to Mo Ran.

It's funny and cheerful with Mo Ran — he's funny, loud and open, and although you see him getting darker and more depressed, as if consumed by paranoid and unhealthy thoughts, while something flashes in his pupils that you can't identify, you only encourage and play along. His skin is not as hot as it used to be, but you still press it to you in an attempt to warm it, and even when he, hiding face in your shoulder, hoarsely asks "why", you continue. Chu Wanning hesitantly pulls his hand towards you, but almost immediately takes it away, — and you pretend not to notice, cooing and purring with Mo Ran, who is distracted from obsessive thoughts only when you are near.

In this life, you have become less affectionate and active, but it seems to have given more results, from which you cannot help but suspect whether you should just... to abandon activity and allow yourself to get involved only in the most important moments and engage in initiating relationships, while leaving other moments to others. In the end, Xue Meng is more than willing to pull you along, Shi Mei lays his head on your shoulder and Mo Ran squeezes your shoulders almost to the point of bleeding, but you, as gentle and caring, only comfort him.

Chu Wanning? You... you yourself do not understand what he is doing, even if you feel that it is somehow wrong, does not fit the role of a cold and indifferent shizun, — but you still regularly come and help with small things, bringing sweets and small gifts, and with almost amazement for a moment catch yourself thinking that in this life he has become more gentle around you. Maybe because you live longer — you need to wait for the moment when the flower blooms to the fullest, and when Mo Ran, who has become even more contradictory and aggressive, will kill you.

In your free time, you try yourself in the role of your character, being kind and calm, as befits a "real white lotus", devoted to close people and betrayed by one of them. It's strange almost to the point of being unaccustomed or disgusted, but over time you learn how best to be "pure and spotless", as if a little more and you can immediately ascend to heaven.

... You know what you are doing when Mo Ran "goes crazy" — after all, the role of a young, just blossoming person, full of youthful hopes and who did not know the sorrows and difficulties of the world to the extent that gives others despair, makes you a wonderful lamb.

"BEAUTY MUST BE TARNISHED," the System says approvingly, and you agree, going to a confrontation with your former best friend, knowing that it will only bring death. Straightening your shoulders, you are not at all afraid of what awaits you, — your body is only trembling a little, — you have been preparing for this scene since your childhood in this world, looking into the brilliant purple black eyes of the person you once hugged as the most precious thing you have, and he desperately clung to you.

“... Do you think you can do something?”

You give your best, even when you start hurting your body, knowing that this scene must be intense and intense so that you shine like a shooting star.

... Even if they were doomed from the very beginning, like a tiny puppy in a battle with a huge dog...

“... You've always been too good.”

... But instead of emptiness in your chest, there is blood in your mouth,

and you don't know which one of you it belongs to

"INVASION OF UNIDENTIFIED AGGRESSIVE ENERGY, VIOLATION OF THE INTEGRITY OF THE BARRIER OF THIS TIME LINE. AN ALTERNATIVE TIME LINE IS BEING CREATED. BE MORE CAREFUL IN THE FUTURE AND DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN."

"IT'S OKAY."

you hear the soft, soothing voice of the System when you wake up in bed in your adult body, not much younger than the one you were in your... past life? time line? — you yourself are not sure what to call it.

"THIS IS A WORLD OF SPECIAL COMPLEXITY, IT IS NORMAL TO EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES. ALTHOUGH THE SECOND STAGE IS USUALLY THE MOST PROBLEMATIC, DIFFICULTIES WITH COMPLETING THE FIRST ONE ARE ALSO COMMON."

This is your second restart, the first time you've been so close to the end, and you... you need some time alone.

"... UNDERSTAND. GET SOME REST."

You are sure that everything is right now. Mo Ran has a flower, Shi Mei "died", Chu Wanning... Chu Wanning sometimes grabs you by the clothes and tries not to let you out of sight for a long time, although he does not understand why, you can read these vague and unidentified feelings in his eyes — fortunately, you continue to bring sweets and help him, even if it no longer makes sense now. A familiar routine helps you to distract yourself and think about many things, but not about those that bring you anxiety or anger. He behaves a little strange, but you believe that this is normal, because, frankly, you no longer have the strength to feel sorry even for yourself. To live a life where you were forced to see the death of people you were close to, and twice face problems over which you had no control, and have a strange "interference" from the outside, which even the System cannot recognize, — "IT IS CAUSED NOT BY SYSTEMIC REASONS, BUT BY INTRA-WORLD ONES, AND WE CANNOT KNOW ISN'T THIS A SIGN THAT THE HEAVEN OF THAT WORLD REJECTED YOU OR NOT", — and you're not sure if you can even try to "preserve" the correct appearance of the world. Why can't you be like Xue Meng? Because you are kind? What are you missing? Why does the world have to be permanently reset to factory settings?

... You communicate especially closely with Xue Meng, although in this life it is enough for you to have a warm superficial relationship with everyone — System does not require you to actively inject yourself emotionally, unlike early attempts, and you just relax, although it is a little hard for you to sleep at night. Now it is much easier and simpler to help people — passing through almost the third circle, you already know in advance all such moments, from which you are only required to remember and behave affectionately. Although it's a little... strange to see all the dead people alive again, but you're okay with it, thinking that all you have to do is survive this life and it's almost over. The second stage will be much easier — and simpler; System promises that it will make it easier for you in the second stage, and you are ready to cry and kiss its hands, because you definitely won't stand it twenty more times if this attempt is successful.

It is much easier to communicate with Xue Meng in this life — maybe because in the past, after you lost almost everyone, you stuck together to fight Taxian-jun's bloody regime and kill him, and you, having lived through many situations of a suspension bridge, in a sense became soft for him, ignoring even his obvious overbearing and aggressive nature, with easy withdrawal to emotions, narcissism and pampering. Rather, it even became something cute — especially with how hard he endures loneliness, difficult to cope with negative emotions and needs a light, soft relaxation that only others can give to cope with his ebullient energy. And even if at first Xue Meng is too inclined to give what he considers delicious or beautiful only himself, not paying attention to your preferences, over time he becomes more attentive, even more spreading the peacock tail in front of you, which sometimes becomes even more unbearable, but for some reason you like, even moments of his constant subconscious rivalry only to then relent and go on about it — and then immediately get back into the pose of pride, refusing on principle.

But you... you really like it for some reason. It's much easier, better with him — and when you let him lead you, letting go of control, lazily watching his skirmishes with Mo Ran, who in this life is much more inclined to circle around you, which further irritates the almost overprotective Xue Meng, or Shi Mei, with whom you sometimes sit together and aimlessly you talk, usually about some books or other little things, you feel so calm. Perhaps it was worth choosing Xue Meng from the very beginning — although he also annoys you like no other, it is quite cozy and calm with him, even despite his need for emotional support, which, however, Shi Mei can also provide, almost completely removing the need for you to strain beyond measure, only convincing Xue Meng that you are here with him and taking care of him.

He's almost like a child, but in the nicest way.

Yes, even when his pride becomes clinginess, and overprotection becomes possessiveness, and his fingers almost dig into your hand, telling you not to go anywhere, in an even more aggressive way, you still wave and nod.

You don't worry at all anymore, it's still kept within the storyline, and if he's a little weird about you, it will add drama to the theme of "a minor beta couple where one member dies." System says nothing, agreeing rather than refuting, maybe because it sees that you have absolutely no energy, but you no longer worry, giving yourself the desired rest.

After all, you deserve it, right? After all this work, it's only fair that you rest knowing what's ahead.

After all, you have no faith now that death will be "heroic" anyway.

You are no longer trying to be stronger to "defeat" Mo Ran, or to fight back against anyone else. You just allow yourself to be lazy, aimless and careless, hoping that it will help you, even if Chu Wanning clearly disapproves of such laziness (or something else?) and Xue Meng tries to convince you to train with him by clinging to your clothes — you train no more than the necessary minimum, preferring to watch Xue Meng and praise him.

“Just be with me! I can take care and protect you! I'll be strong enough for you — just stop looking around and doubting!”

... When Sisheng Peak was destroyed, becoming the first target on Taxian-jun's path, you did not even try to continue the fight or stand at the head of the opposition with Xue Meng, as it was before.

Although, you are sure that your actions made no sense or reason for anyone.

"THE FIRST HALF WAS OVER. THE LEVEL IS SATISFACTORY. THE TIME LINE WAS FIXED AS THE MAIN ONE. PLEASE GET READY TO CONTINUE YOUR STORY."

"THE TIME LINE WAS BROKEN."

"THE TIME LINE WAS BROKEN."

"THE TIME LINE WAS BROKEN."

"THE TIME LINE WAS BROKEN."

"THE TIME LINE WAS BROKEN."

"THE TIME LINE WAS..."

"HELLO, HOST. CALL ME THE SYSTEM. AS YOU ALREADY KNOW, YOUR TASK IS TO QUALITATIVELY PLAY YOUR PERSONALITY, WHO IS A MINOR CHARACTER AND THE FOURTH DISCIPLE OF SISHENG PEAK. CURRENT TIME POINT: MO RAN WOKE UP AGAIN IN HIS SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD BODY AFTER HE DIED."

For some reason it seems vaguely familiar, but perhaps you have heard this somewhere before. You don't remember much about waking up on the bed, looking around sleepily. The body is both familiar and unfamiliar, as is the environment around it.

Obviously, these are memories of your body, considering that you are here for the first time, although even these thoughts seem familiar.

"YOU JUST HAVE TO BE AN INNOCENT AND KIND DISCIPLE. GIVEN YOUR PERSONALITY AND EXPERIENCE, IT WILL BE EASY. DON'T BE AFRAID OF ANYTHING AND BE SURE THAT I WILL BE WITH YOU UNTIL THE END."

Sounds simple enough. Just be nice until the end of the plot? You might as well be a salty fish and enjoy life as a minor character without interfering in their lives in any way. In the end, it's not that your intervention makes sense or matters — as long as the plot is moving, they're all doing what they should and think is right. Are you ready to take responsibility for the characters, if now they are real people, and not their life or future depends on your actions, but the future of the whole world? Of course not. This is your first task — you should work responsibly and efficiently!

... You really don't know what's wrong when CHU WANNING gently lifts your face, looking into your eyes, before saying that he is ready to be your teacher and promises to teach you everything he knows and take care of you — which is definitely not in his personality! And although the fact that XUE MENG takes you by the sleeve and says that you are his friend, without accepting objections, you are still ready to accept, but the way SHI MEI himself approaches you when you are sitting under a tree, smiling so affectionately in a familiar way, starting a dialogue is so familiar to you, as if you've been talking to him all your life — you're already starting to think 'a little weird'.

And you treat Mo Ran's friendliness and affectionateness normally, until the System informs you that he has been reborn — only to dig his fingers into your clothes as soon as he wakes up after the punishment, while you are at his bedside to take care of him together with Shi Mei (which, however, causes dissatisfaction with Xue Meng, who is sure that you are wasting your time on someone like this useless dog and should train with him instead). Mo Ran's face hides in your shoulder, but you do not dare to ask what is wrong, except to comfort and purr that the teacher was forced to do this, such rules — but Mo Ran's grip only becomes stronger when his hands squeeze you by the waist, as if he wants to say something, express, but not can't find a word.

And you feel that something is wrong, unable to ignore it anymore — you could have pretended earlier that Chu Wanning's friendliness was a 'weakness for the cute', or that Xue Meng 'wanted to have a cute friend', or that Shi Mei 'was fascinated by your aura', while Mo Ran is 'just very kind, despite all the horrors of life that he has experienced' — but Mo Ran's too strong reaction, especially considering the story about your 'past' life that the System gave, is inadequate.

"NO. THERE IS NO MISTAKE. CHARACTERS CANNOT BEHAVE "INADEQUATELY". THE DATA AND BEHAVIORS OF THE CHARACTERS ARE NOT DIGITAL DATA, BUT A FLEXIBLE SPECTRUM EMANATING FROM EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED TO THEM, THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERISTICS AND DISTINCTIVE FEATURES. THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARDS YOU DEPENDS ONLY ON YOUR ACTIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS."

When Chu Wanning hugs you tightly to him, without explaining anything, during your cleaning of his room, you also say nothing, only allowing him to do it, although you can almost feel the flame of something burning inside him that you are not able to recognize.

And even when Shi Mei puts his head on your shoulder, lovingly intertwining his fingers with yours, almost cooing while it's raining, and in his eyes you can read something that defies explanation, like looking into a deep lake and seeing there the outlines of what you don't want to see even in nightmares.

You just try to be kind and responsive, helping and being helpful, even if their problems are intuitive and easy for you, as if you have not even once or twice, but three or five times encountered them — or maybe even more.

And although it seems boring or useless, at some point you even begin to have fun — and the four of you walk around the sect to find something to do, although Mo Ran and Xue Meng prefer to continue verbally fighting and fiddling like in the good old days.

good old days?

“... Do you... remember anything strange sometimes? For example, something that didn't happen, but you are sure it was?”

You stop from cleaning, looking over your shoulder at Chu Wanning, who is creating a new mechanism — but now the gaze of the black eyes is directed at you.

And you want to say that 'no', but something inside you is slipping viciously, as if it's a lie — so you just shake your head in denial.

He doesn't say anything, but for some reason you feel ashamed.

“... I'm your teacher. If something bothers you, you should contact me. I'll take care of you.”

You don't say anything, but nod, although you don't look at him, — but feel his gaze burning so intensely for the first time.

Something's wrong.

“... IN SOME WORLDS, CHARACTERS CAN SENSE THE EXISTENCE OF THE SYSTEM IF THEIR CONNECTION TO HEAVEN IS TOO STRONG. IT'S NOTHING SCARY. WE CAN ALWAYS CREATE AN ALTERNATIVE BRANCH AND ERASE UNNECESSARY MEMORIES AND MOMENTS.”

“I'll protect you. It doesn't matter at what cost. Just stay with me.”

Maybe you can fix it then?!

[burningvelvet]

One of my favorite excerpts of Jane Eyre (1847) taken from chapter 14:

“Yes, yes, you are right,” said he; “I have plenty of faults of my own: I know it, and I don’t wish to palliate them, I assure you. God wot I need not be too severe about others; I have a past existence, a series of deeds, a colour of life to contemplate within my own breast, which might well call my sneers and censures from my neighbours to myself. I started, or rather (for like other defaulters, I like to lay half the blame on ill fortune and adverse circumstances) was thrust on to a wrong tack at the age of one-and-twenty, and have never recovered the right course since: but I might have been very different; I might have been as good as you—wiser—almost as stainless. I envy you your peace of mind, your clean conscience, your unpolluted memory. Little girl, a memory without blot or contamination must be an exquisite treasure—an inexhaustible source of pure refreshment: is it not?”

“How was your memory when you were eighteen, sir?”

“All right then; limpid, salubrious: no gush of bilge water had turned it to fetid puddle. I was your equal at eighteen—quite your equal. Nature meant me to be, on the whole, a good man, Miss Eyre; one of the better kind, and you see I am not so. You would say you don’t see it; at least I flatter myself I read as much in your eye (beware, by-the-bye, what you express with that organ; I am quick at interpreting its language). Then take my word for it,—I am not a villain: you are not to suppose that—not to attribute to me any such bad eminence; but, owing, I verily believe, rather to circumstances than to my natural bent, I am a trite commonplace sinner, hackneyed in all the poor petty dissipations with which the rich and worthless try to put on life. Do you wonder that I avow this to you? Know, that in the course of your future life you will often find yourself elected the involuntary confidant of your acquaintances’ secrets: people will instinctively find out, as I have done, that it is not your forte to tell of yourself, but to listen while others talk of themselves; they will feel, too, that you listen with no malevolent scorn of their indiscretion, but with a kind of innate sympathy; not the less comforting and encouraging because it is very unobtrusive in its manifestations.”

“How do you know?—how can you guess all this, sir?”

“I know it well; therefore I proceed almost as freely as if I were writing my thoughts in a diary. You would say, I should have been superior to circumstances; so I should—so I should; but you see I was not. When fate wronged me, I had not the wisdom to remain cool: I turned desperate; then I degenerated. Now, when any vicious simpleton excites my disgust by his paltry ribaldry, I cannot flatter myself that I am better than he: I am forced to confess that he and I are on a level. I wish I had stood firm—God knows I do! Dread remorse when you are tempted to err, Miss Eyre; remorse is the poison of life.”

“Repentance is said to be its cure, sir.”

“It is not its cure. Reformation may be its cure; and I could reform—I have strength yet for that—if—but where is the use of thinking of it, hampered, burdened, cursed as I am? Besides, since happiness is irrevocably denied me, I have a right to get pleasure out of life: and I will get it, cost what it may.”

“Then you will degenerate still more, sir.”

“Possibly: yet why should I, if I can get sweet, fresh pleasure? And I may get it as sweet and fresh as the wild honey the bee gathers on the moor.”

“It will sting—it will taste bitter, sir.”

“How do you know?—you never tried it. How very serious—how very solemn you look: and you are as ignorant of the matter as this cameo head” (taking one from the mantelpiece). “You have no right to preach to me, you neophyte, that have not passed the porch of life, and are absolutely unacquainted with its mysteries.”

“I only remind you of your own words, sir: you said error brought remorse, and you pronounced remorse the poison of existence.”

“And who talks of error now? I scarcely think the notion that flittered across my brain was an error. I believe it was an inspiration rather than a temptation: it was very genial, very soothing—I know that. Here it comes again! It is no devil, I assure you; or if it be, it has put on the robes of an angel of light. I think I must admit so fair a guest when it asks entrance to my heart.”

“Distrust it, sir; it is not a true angel.”

“Once more, how do you know? By what instinct do you pretend to distinguish between a fallen seraph of the abyss and a messenger from the eternal throne—between a guide and a seducer?”

“I judged by your countenance, sir, which was troubled when you said the suggestion had returned upon you. I feel sure it will work you more misery if you listen to it.”

“Not at all—it bears the most gracious message in the world: for the rest, you are not my conscience-keeper, so don’t make yourself uneasy. Here, come in, bonny wanderer!”

He said this as if he spoke to a vision, viewless to any eye but his own; then, folding his arms, which he had half extended, on his chest, he seemed to enclose in their embrace the invisible being.

“Now,” he continued, again addressing me, “I have received the pilgrim—a disguised deity, as I verily believe. Already it has done me good: my heart was a sort of charnel; it will now be a shrine.”

“To speak truth, sir, I don’t understand you at all: I cannot keep up the conversation, because it has got out of my depth. Only one thing, I know: you said you were not as good as you should like to be, and that you regretted your own imperfection;—one thing I can comprehend: you intimated that to have a sullied memory was a perpetual bane. It seems to me, that if you tried hard, you would in time find it possible to become what you yourself would approve; and that if from this day you began with resolution to correct your thoughts and actions, you would in a few years have laid up a new and stainless store of recollections, to which you might revert with pleasure.”

“Justly thought; rightly said, Miss Eyre; and, at this moment, I am paving hell with energy.”

“Sir?”

“I am laying down good intentions, which I believe durable as flint. Certainly, my associates and pursuits shall be other than they have been.”

“And better?”

“And better—so much better as pure ore is than foul dross. You seem to doubt me; I don’t doubt myself: I know what my aim is, what my motives are; and at this moment I pass a law, unalterable as that of the Medes and Persians, that both are right.”

“They cannot be, sir, if they require a new statute to legalise them.”

“They are, Miss Eyre, though they absolutely require a new statute: unheard-of combinations of circumstances demand unheard-of rules.”

“That sounds a dangerous maxim, sir; because one can see at once that it is liable to abuse.”

“Sententious sage! so it is: but I swear by my household gods not to abuse it.”

“You are human and fallible.”

“I am: so are you—what then?”

“The human and fallible should not arrogate a power with which the divine and perfect alone can be safely intrusted.”

“What power?”

“That of saying of any strange, unsanctioned line of action,—‘Let it be right.’”

“‘Let it be right’—the very words: you have pronounced them.”

“May it be right then,” I said, as I rose, deeming it useless to continue a discourse which was all darkness to me; and, besides, sensible that the character of my interlocutor was beyond my penetration; at least, beyond its present reach; and feeling the uncertainty, the vague sense of insecurity, which accompanies a conviction of ignorance.

“Where are you going?”

“To put Adèle to bed: it is past her bedtime.”

“You are afraid of me, because I talk like a Sphynx.”

“Your language is enigmatical, sir: but though I am bewildered, I am certainly not afraid.”

“You are afraid—your self-love dreads a blunder.”

“In that sense I do feel apprehensive—I have no wish to talk nonsense.”

“If you did, it would be in such a grave, quiet manner, I should mistake it for sense. Do you never laugh, Miss Eyre? Don’t trouble yourself to answer—I see you laugh rarely; but you can laugh very merrily: believe me, you are not naturally austere, any more than I am naturally vicious. The Lowood constraint still clings to you somewhat; controlling your features, muffling your voice, and restricting your limbs; and you fear in the presence of a man and a brother—or father, or master, or what you will—to smile too gaily, speak too freely, or move too quickly: but, in time, I think you will learn to be natural with me, as I find it impossible to be conventional with you; and then your looks and movements will have more vivacity and variety than they dare offer now. I see at intervals the glance of a curious sort of bird through the close-set bars of a cage: a vivid, restless, resolute captive is there; were it but free, it would soar cloud-high. You are still bent on going?”

“It has struck nine, sir.”

[reverieparacosm]

Bondrewd x GN!Narehate Reader

Synopsis: You, an adventure, are rescued by Bondrewd after a serious injury. But is it worth it?

Warnings: Yandere, kiddnaping, violence

Note: Oh well, did I write an open ending? Oh hell yea.

Alright, buckle up for a wild ride! But hey, before we dive into this crazy fiction, let's get one thing straight: I am absolutely, positively, and emphatically NOT on Team Bondrewd. It's just fiction!

The last thing you remember is the chilling grip of those villainous hands, dragging your helpless body into the bowels of that godforsaken dungeon. Panic surges through your veins as your vision fades into an abyss of darkness, the ominous sound of a heavy door slamming shut echoing in your ears.

A timeless void engulfs your consciousness, until a spark of awareness flickers within your core. Your eyes flutter open, and you are greeted by a world utterly transformed. A strange sensation courses through every fiber of your being. It's as if your very cells are awakening, shifting and rearranging themselves to a mysterious symphony.

With trembling hands, you reach out to touch your own body, only to recoil in astonishment. Instead of the familiar contours of human flesh, you now possess a new form, a creature of untamed power and primal beauty.

Fur and leathery skin envelop your limbs, imbuing you with an otherworldly grace. Gone are the trappings of your former existence, replaced by dark brown pants that cling to your agile frame and a cloak the color of shadows, billowing around you like a shroud of mystery.

Confusion storms through your mind, a tempest of unanswered questions. Who or what has wrought this metamorphosis upon you? Why were you chosen for this bewildering transformation? Fear and curiosity dance within your soul, intermingling with a burgeoning sense of awe.

In the dimly lit corner of the room, a haunting figure materializes, and your instincts scream out that it can be no other than Bondrewd himself. A surge of determination courses through your veins as you gather the remnants of your strength, and the words spill forth from your trembling lips, "Bondrewd, what monstrosity have you unleashed upon me?"

Bondrewd slowly turns to face you, his eerie mask emitting a ghastly purple glow that cuts through the oppressive darkness. He meets your gaze. "Ah, so you still recognize me. Remarkable. It seems you have not entirely succumbed to oblivion," he remarks, his voice dripping with a sinister satisfaction. "Allow me to enlighten you. I have bestowed upon you a transformation of unfathomable magnitude. Through intricate and perilous surgical procedures, I have forged you into a new type of Narehate. The results, I must say, have surpassed even my lofty expectations."

The weight of his revelation crashes upon you like a relentless tempest, and disbelief engulfs your being. A surge of anger intertwines with the overwhelming sense of betrayal pulsating within your chest. "Why? Why would you subject me to such horrors?" you demand, your voice trembling with a mixture of fury and anguish.

His voice drips with a chilling nonchalance as he explains, "My dear, naive adventurer, my motives were simple yet ambitious. I sought to fashion a Narehate possessing an unparalleled array of powers. And to achieve that, I required a subject of extraordinary physical and mental fortitude. You, with your illustrious history as a formidable adventurer, were the epitome of perfection in my eyes." He pauses, a macabre satisfaction permeating his words. "You should consider yourself fortunate, for you have become my most potent creation."

As Bondrewd speaks, you feel the passion and determination in his voice, the room lighting up with his energy. You sense an almost obsessive aura surrounding him as he steps closer to you, placing his hand on your shoulder, his touch almost electric. "I have fallen in love with you," he whispers, his mask close. "Your strength, your beauty, your bravery - they are unlike anything I have ever seen. You are one of the most amazing people I have met, and I will never stop loving you."

As Bondrewd continues to explain his reasons for transforming you, his voice grows more excited, speaking of your qualities in detail, with a passion and reverence you have never experienced. Your determination, heroism, and strength in the face of danger are, in his opinion, absolutely unique. All of these qualities have captivated him, and he is certain he will never stop loving you. But even in the middle of his speech, he seems to forget the suffering and pain you have experienced. His love for you is so all-consuming that it blinds him to anything else.

As you stare up at him, feeling hopeless and helpless, you can't help but feel a wave of anger rising within you. The pain, the confusion, the lack of understanding - it's all too much to bear. And yet, your captor only seems to get more enraged with every word you speak. Finally, you ask the question that's been burning on the tip of your tongue.

"You call this love?" you say, your voice shaking. "You turned me into this creature, a Narehate. I can't even recognize myself in the mirror anymore. And yet, you dare to say that you saved my life? Do you have any idea what you've done to me?"

Bondrewd's fingers close around your throat, the grip precise and measured. He lifts you effortlessly, your feet leaving the ground as his hold constricts your airway.

The pressure sends shockwaves of agonizing pain rippling through your body, threatening to unravel your very existence. Desperate for release, you thrash and struggle against his unyielding grasp, but his hold remains steadfast, unyielding as the cold touch of steel.

Bondrewd observes your frantic movements with a serene, almost thoughtful demeanor. "Now, now, there's no need for such theatrics," he murmurs, his voice soft yet patronizing. "You're only making this more difficult for yourself."

Bondrewd chuckles softly, "my dear Narehate, how dare you presume to challenge me?" he says, his tone laced with condescension. "You, a lowly, transformed creature - you should be on your knees, thanking me for the mercy I have so generously bestowed upon you."

He pauses, "after all, is it not I who has granted you this... unusual existence?" Bondrewd muses, his golden eyes gleaming with a twisted sense of pride. "You should be grateful, not defiant. But I suppose I can hardly expect true understanding from one such as you."

Amidst the searing pain, you summon every ounce of strength to respond, your voice a mere whisper, yet infused with determination.

"Your… twisted… benevolence," you manage to gasp, the words a struggle against the suffocating grip around your throat. "It… is no… salvation… but… a… curse."

He drops you to the ground, and you feel the air rush back into your lungs as you gasp for breath. He crouches down, his mask inches from yours.

"I did what was necessary to save your life. My special surgery left you with a weakened mental state and a poor memory. And yet, here you are, questioning everything I've done for you. You really need to learn to appreciate all the good things I do for you."

"We found you in the fourth layer. You were in a very bad condition, suffering from many wounds. We managed to heal them, but you got a bad fever, and the only way to save you was to do a surgery."

As Bondrewd speaks, his voice gradually transforms from a cold, detached monotone to a softer, more empathetic tone. Gone is the rigid, uncaring scientist; instead, he now appears almost paternalistic, his aura occasionally flashing with the same madness as before.

"Please, let me go," you beg, trying to hold back tears as the realization sinks in that you are now truly at the mercy of this madman.

His voice is cold once more, and his grip on your chin tightens.

Bondrewd regards you with a mixture of exasperation and condescension. "Do you not appreciate the magnitude of what I have done for you?" he asks, his refined voice dripping with disdain. "I have saved your life, and granted you power beyond your wildest dreams."

He leans in closer, the eerie violet ether light casting an otherworldly glow across his serene features. "You seem to have forgotten your place," he murmurs, his tone taking on a subtly threatening edge. "You belong to me now. Your will is subservient to mine - you will obey every command I give, without question."

Bondrewd's grip on your chin relaxes. "Am I making myself perfectly clear?" he asks, the faintest hint of a dare underlying his words.

You respond with a simple "no," knowing that you are never truly safe until you are as far away from him as possible.

As you stare at the ethereal purple light, you feel a sudden burst of determination coursing through your veins. No matter the cost, you are not going to let this madman control your life anymore. You take a deep breath and steel your resolve.

"I will not obey you," you state firmly, your voice steady despite the fear that still rages in your chest.

"You will obey me," he says, the words rolling off his tongue with a deceptive smoothness. Though his tone remains composed, a subtle undercurrent of menace sends shudders down your spine. "Failure to comply will result in... unpleasant consequences."

At that moment, you realize that you have two choices: you can either continue to live in fear and obedience, or you can take a stand and fight for your freedom. Without hesitation, you choose the latter.

You reach deep within yourself and summon all the strength and determination you can muster. You know that it will not be an easy fight, but you are willing to risk everything to escape the clutches of this madman.

With a burst of energy, you break free from his grip and bolt towards the door, your heart pounding against your chest like a thunderous drum. Behind you, his voice echoes through the hallway like a haunting melody, but you refuse to look back. You just keep running, each footstep propelling you further and further away from danger.

As you sprint down the dimly lit corridor, every breath you take feels like a struggle. Your lungs burn, your legs ache, but you push through the pain, your determination unwavering. You round a corner and catch a glimpse of the end of the hallway. There's a door in sight, and your heart leaps with hope.

With a shaking hand, you turn the handle and push the door open, expecting to see the light of freedom on the other side. But what you see instead stops you dead in your tracks.