#it’s time for a little revenge — ​he was a moth to the flame she was holding the matches

[everytaylorswiftsongisaboutcats]

Surprise Song o’ Clock: Toronto Night 4

Dress: Beta Fish pink & blue

Guitar:

Mr. Perfectly Fine x Better Than Revenge

“So dignified in your well-pressed suit. So strategized, all the eyes on you. Sashay your way to your seat, it's the best seat in the best room. Oh, he's so smug, Mr. "Always wins". So far above me in every sense, so far above feelin' anything. And it's really such a shame. It's such a shame. 'Cause I was Miss "Here to stay", now I'm Miss "Gonna be alright someday". And someday, maybe you'll miss me but by then, you'll be Mr. "Too late" — cause she's not a saint and she's not what you think she's an actress, he was a moth to the flame she was holding the matches. Soon, she's gonna find stealing other people's toys on the playground won't make you many friends she should keep in mind, she should keep in mind, that there is nothing I do better than revenge.”

Piano:

State of Grace x Labryinth

“I thought the plane was going down, how’d you turn it right around? — this is a state of Grace. This is the worthwhile flight, love is a ruthless game, unless you play it good and right… how’d you turn it around?.. And I never saw you coming — you turn it right around — These are the hands of fate. You're my Achilles heel. This is the golden age of something good and right and real… And I, thought this plane was going down how’d you turn it right around? And I’ll never be the same — this is a state of Grace and I’m falling in love and I’ll never be the same I’m falling in love again this love is brave and wild I thought the plane was going down but this is a State of Grace cause you turn it right around, right, around.”

[haveihitanerve]

Bruce makes it in time to get to Jason. But… is it enough to save him?

“Master Bruce-“ “I’m almost there Alfred.” Bruce bites back, almost breaking his wrist by how hard he twists the motorcycle accelerator. And he is. He can see the warehouse. Bruce lands, not even bothering to slow, leaping off the bike as it crashes into the trees and he sprints for the doors, terrified he’ll make it too late, that he won’t be fast enough for his son. The door slams open, Bruce not even bothering to check if it’s locked or not, just plowing it down, and hurries inside, spotting his son within a moment. Jason opens his eyes in surprise, mouth curving to form a perfect O. “Br- Batman.” He whispers, voice hoarse with disbelief. Bruce rushes to his side, cupping his cheek, cradling the boy- his boy, to his chest. “Jay. Jay bird. Jaylad. Hey firecracker. Hey bud.” Jason’s eyes fill with tears and Bruce does his best to wipe them away, to press a kiss to his son's forehead. “You came.” Jason whispers, tears clogging his throat. “Of course baby.” Bruce murmurs, rocking back and forth. “Of course I came, baby. I will always come for you. Always.” He presses another kiss to Jason’s head. “I love you son. I love you, I love you, I love you.” “I love you too-“ Jason rasps, but his eyes catch something on the wall behind him. “Dad, wait- the bomb-“ the explosion shakes the very earth, and Gotham seems to curl in on herself, screaming with a pain and rage that is unimaginable. In a basement cave in the middle of Gotham, a butler's hands go cold. A man, wearing a blue mask a city over, suddenly feels a chill sweep over him, and something inside him, probably his heart, feels like it’s been torn in two.

Their bodies are found, or at least what’s left of them, two days later, the larger man wrapped almost completely around the smaller, cradling his boy to his chest. Nightwing almost beats Joker to death and is only stopped by three others, all of which seem just as inclined to kill him, but resist. Gotham mourns, earthquakes shaking the ground, warehouses crumbling to dust, and Joker is found drowned in the harbor, the fishes whisper of a presence so old and strong even the biggest fish feared her, and Aquaman shudders. Gothamites mourn their fallen Prince and his adopted son, but Gotham mourns her prodigal sons, her children, her oldest and youngest, and cradles the last survivor to her chest, cloaking him in shadows and gifting him all the things she did not give the others, the things she thought they wouldn’t need so long as they had each other, the things she had not yet granted them ready for. She drapes them over the young, jaded hero, gifting him sight and smell and sound, allowing him to control her shadows and her streets and most of all… gifting him flight, the way his namesake first claimed, the way her firstborn child and her youngest were never able to. The Vulture takes to the Gotham skyline like a moth to open flames, perhaps a little less withdrawn with his punches, perhaps a little more protective of young boys, but belonging to Gotham all the same. The Joker stole something from her, and she will never allow it to happen again. The Vulture gains followers, friends, the Starling, the Goldfinch, the Owl, the Crow, the Cardinal, and Robin, all under Gothams protection, and she has him watch, from his watery prison, as they protect her, defend their city from the ilk like him, not giving in to their rage and revenge, but helping, rebuilding Gotham in his image. Their image. The man who saw hope, and his son. Batman and Robin.

(In case it was unclear, the three people pulling dick away from Joker are Babs, Kate and Luke, and then the Vulture is dick, and his friends, in order as listed, are Stephanie, Duke, Babs, Cass, Tim, and Damian. Also Gotham does kill Joker because she knows dick cannot but she also keeps him half alive, suspended in time, destined to drown for all eternity and watch as the bats succeed in honor of Batman the man he fought against.)

[throneofsapphics]

the moth and the flame part four: the breakdown

poly!Nessian x f!Reader

summary: after meeting Nesta in a bookshop, you find the darkest parts of yourselves bonding with each other. Naturally, Cassian finds himself entangled with the two of you.

warnings: drinking

a/n: he's hereeeeeeee

series masterlist

Yes, she was mated to Cassian - but she hadn’t forgotten about you. You were impossible to forget about. Each day she would find little reminders of you. In the clouds, the different colored leaves, the beauty in between all of the busy spaces. You were in all of the small things in her life but she found those little things added up quickly.

Fuck, Cassian knew all about you too. He might even be more eager to see you than she was to see you again. Not that Nesta didn’t, but even she could admit she was a bit scared of your reaction. Neither of you were the most rational people together but she couldn’t let you go, not without seeing you again, maybe not after that.

“When’s the big day?” Cassian grinned, bringing his sword up to cross in front of him, blocking her blow.

“Never,” she grunted, reentering herself.

“Enough, Ness.” Cassian’s voice had that hint of command that made every Fae instinct in her stand up and pay attention.

“What?” She half-snarled.

“You need to go see her. It’s killing you.”

Nesta gave him her back, “If you’re not going to be a good sparring partner, I'll find another.” He scoffed, but didn’t call her bluff. Did you know how to spar? Would you want her to teach you? Nesta tried to push you out of her mind but you’d carved yourself a small corner in there, no matter how hard she’d tried recently she couldn’t quite and didn’t quite want to evict you.

Nesta didn’t like going out to taverns much anymore. Yes, she would have the occasional glass of wine but that was about it. Somehow, she allowed herself to be dragged out to Rita’s with the inner circle.

She sat in the corner of the bar, watching Cassian and Feyre dance like idiots, nursing her singular - that’s all she would have tonight, she was determined - a glass of wine, when she caught a hint ... No, Rita’s wasn’t your stomping ground. In fact, you told her you’d sworn the bar off. Had you lied and really been coming here the whole time? Or did not want Nesta to show?

She shook her head. Half a glass of wine and she was already thinking like you were somehow together. Well ... you didn’t exactly get a chance to tell Nesta you weren’t, and until then perhaps she’d just assume otherwise to make herself feel a little better.

The ‘feeling better’ disappeared the same instant she caught a glimpse of familiar movement. She knew who moved her hips justlike that, and just what a movement like that could do to another body.

Skin-tight red dress, jewel tones bringing out your naturally radiant skin, lipstick a perfectly matching shade. You’d pointed that dress out to her before, called it your revenge dress, one you’d wear out to flaunt in front of someone who wronged you.

If anything ... the dress was a calling sign to Nesta.

Apparently it worked on others too, because the second you stepped onto the dance floor a male was there.

And his hand was ... Nesta felt her body move instantly as the male’s hand drifted down, cupping your perfect ass. Hers.

You belonged to her.

Near animal instinct took over as she stalked across the dance floor. Her arm reared back as she approached, your eyes widening as you spotted her, the male still in ignorance. Not for long.

A hand closed over her own closed fist, spinning her back in a circle, not unlike a ballroom dance. She knew that hand and those callouses.

Cassian.

“What are you thinking?” He snarled, “I know it’s her, but you can't go punch random males.”

She tried to tug her hand out of his put his grip on her was iron tight. “You’d do much worse.” Nesta shifted to the side, a wing flared out to block her view.

“Quit,” she snapped. “Let me go.”

To her chagrin, he didn’t release her. It was probably a smart choice, but she hated it. That male needed to be put in his place ...

“That’s not your job to do,” a sweet voice came from behind her. Nesta hadn’t realized she’d said that last phrase out loud. “But I recommend you release her,” you followed up.

She spotted a glass out of the corner of her eye, ruby red liquid tilted just to the edge, poised over Cassian’s head. You had no idea who the male was to her, possibly didn’t recognize him from this angle. No, you were too smart not to recognize him.

You didn’t care. You’d dump your drink on the general of the Night Court for her. She was flattered at the slight bullheadedness and stupidity.

“It was for your sake, sweetheart,” his mouth opened, white teeth glinting in the dim light - a signature smile playing on his lips. One that probably had several females dropping to their knees in the past. Not you.

Still, Nesta’s nostrils flared at his tone with the last word. Borderline derogatory. If she wasn’t careful this could turn into a three-way brawl.

“Sweetheart,” Nesta mocked, sickeningly sweet. Cassian winced. “How about you give us some space?” Your drink looked even more precarious now, Cassian barely side stepped a single drop that would’ve landed on his white shirt.

Cassian read the room and backed away, both hands held up and mirth in his eyes. You were looking at him with an expression Nesta couldn’t read, and she didn’t like that.

“Is that your mate?” You said quietly after he disappeared.

Nesta wanted to lie to you. She wanted it more than anything else. Yes, he might be her mate but what the two of you had together went beyond and above any kind of mating bond.

“Yes,” the word was choked.

You slipped a hand into your pocket, a dress with pockets - of course you had one. Nesta knew what was inside and imagined the little red pill swirling back and forth between your fingers, your mind begging you to toss it down your throat. Those would kill you one day, she knew it. 

“I think we need to talk,” you sighed, glancing behind you, jerking your chin towards someone. From her peripherals, Nesta saw a few females melt away into a crowd. Waiting for a signal from you. When did you make friends? The last she knew, the two of you were all each other had. But ... she supposed she’d made friends as well. You were entitled to move on with your own life. She could hardly expect for you to wait around in limbo while she disappeared for several months, logically Nesta knew that but by the gods she wanted you to. Logic had no place between the two of you.

taglist: @breadsticks2004 @shamelessdonutkryptonite @rowaelinsdaughter @fightmedraco @acourtofbatboydreams @readinggeeklmao @krowiathemythologynerd @kooterz @anxious-study

[swiftsaltsweet]

Two Knives Interlude 2: Rangi- Damn It

Characters: Rangi and Kyoshi (RoK characters tbh)

Pairing: Rangshi

Rating: M

Summary:

Things have been stressful for Kyoshi. First, she sang a poem and now the whole kitchen staff thinks it’s about Rangi, and is sure that there will be gossip. Then, Yun asks her to join him for the Fifth Nation treaty signing. Now Rangi’s acting strange. It’s becoming a bit much for Kyoshi’s small corner of the world.

(Canon Divergent AU- Kelsang wasn’t the one who heard the poem?….aka What if it took longer for them to realize Kyoshi was the Avatar?)

Other Sites: AO3 

A/N: Listen, can you even call it one of my fics if Rangi’s not going through it just a bit? u_u

I title this “the breaking down of a pine tree” uwu

____

Kyoshi’s such an idiot! Was Rangi's final verdict. But Rangi was in love with said idiot, which meant Rangi was a bigger idiot.

And she was an idiot without much of a plan. While her duty was to protect the Avatar first and foremost, she was willing to spread herself thin to make sure Kyoshi fell under that same protection. 

Her first order of business was getting Kyoshi some new gloves that went with the battle outfit that Jianzhu ordered for her. That same outfit happened to be something she and Yun were able to stop arguing long enough to pick out for Kyoshi. At least they could agree on that one thing.

Rangi still hadn’t given up convincing Yun to keep Kyoshi in Yokoya, she may not have been able to pressure Kyoshi into staying. But she could at least annoy Yun. It was her little revenge. A treat so to speak, just for her.

“Rangi!” she heard Yun yell her name from across the courtyard. 

Well he looks annoyed. She thought, a little gleefully, and tried to hide her smile of satisfaction that tugged at the corners of her mouth.

“Yes, Avatar?” she bowed to him.

“Walk with me,” he said in a low voice. Which meant, he had a private matter he wanted to discuss with her. Great. She’d fill the time airing her selfish request at him then.

They walked to a more secluded part of the mansion, only stopping when Yun found a sufficient spot.

“I know why you’re acting like this,” he said, his arms crossed. A little smugness gleaming in his eyes.

Rangi snorted. Well no duh. Yun knew how she felt about Kyoshi. The two of them had been competing for her attention and love since the day they all first met. He may have been her charge, but he was also her rival. She didn’t get why Yun was stating the obvious.

“Was I not apparent enough before? Or did you happen to forget?” she raised her eyebrow at him. Unimpressed at his sudden horrible memory. 

Yun laughed. “Oh, no, I’m hinting at a more recent development.”

That sent a wave of dread through Rangi.

“I…don’t know what you mean,” she forced out.

Yun smiled with his eyes closed, and began tapping his chin. Then he began to circle Rangi.

“I’ve got two knives that are cast in bronze / they pierce all the way to the soul” Yun began Kyoshi’s poem. He cracked open an eye to look at Rangi’s expression as he sang.

Rangi swallowed, throat suddenly dry. She kept her face expressionless. Not a lot of good it did her, with her quickly paling complexion and clammy sweat starting to form.

“They draw you in with the promise of sin / like the moth to the flame to the coal,” Yun continued his singing with gusto.

“What are you doing? When did you become a poet?” Rangi grumbled, trying to feign ignorance.

Yun kept circling, his smile smug. “I think you know exactly what I’m talking about Rangi. I mean, it’s the hottest gossip with the staff at the moment.” He tilted his head and tapped his foot on the ground.

Right, Rangi had been so caught up with the Fifth Nation, she’d forgotten about the other big possible disaster happening right in her home territory. Had her mother caught wind of the gossip? She wasn’t much for that, but neither was Yun. At least, she’d never see him chit chatting with the staff casually enough to gossip.

Rangi could feel sweat threatening to drip from her clenched fists as she saw his foot was still tapping the ground. Did he “hear” through his earthbending? Vocal vibrations? Was that possible? Or maybe he earthbent secret tunnels around the estate so he could spy on conversations? Did he hear Rangi’s plea to Kyoshi the other day?

Rangi’s jaw clenched, but kept silent.

“I, like most people, possibly including you, think that Kyoshi was singing about you, Rangi.”

Rangi gulped. “Where are you going with this?”

Yun stopped circling right in front of Rangi. He clapped his hands together. “It means you have a chance!” Then he clapped both of Rangi’s shoulders on each side with both his hands. “This is something to celebrate!”

Rangi eyed him warily. He was giving her that same fake smile he’d give to diplomats. His grip on her shoulders tensed just slightly. 

“Nothing’s set in stone unless one of us confesses and the other accepts.” Rangi wasn’t going to count her pig chickens before they hatched, even if she was confident about the song herself.

Yun rolled his eyes, “You are such a downer!”

Rangi gave him an even stare. “Please tell me this isn’t why you’ve been insistent on Kyoshi coming with us.”

Yun’s playful mask slowly melted into an emotionless one that mirrored Rangi’s. He released her shoulders. “No. I found out after I asked.”

So that was just his usual power move, not one in retaliation. It comforted Rangi, but only slightly. She was used to these kinds of things, these little micro transgressions from him. The way he’d bring up fire lilies in her presence, knowing full well that she knew what that interaction would mean; especially since she was pretty sure he attempted to orchestrate her walking in on that little incident.

But he’d gone too far this time in her eyes, for all she knew, he chose not to see reason to spite her because of the poem. She was fine with whatever mud he wanted to sling at her, she was no innocent party herself. She had done the same to him on occasion. But if Kyoshi got hit in the crossfire, well….

“Fine, perhaps you’re right,” Rangi whispered, finally giving him the answer he wanted to hear. “So are you going to keep her here? What do I need to say to make that happen?” 

“Does that mean you’re going to beg me too?” 

So he did hear. “Yes. If that's what it takes.”

Yun’s eyes widened then softened. “That’s…surprising. And not something I want to hear, Rangi.” He looked away, almost sorrowfully. “I’ll save you the humiliation, it won’t work. I really do need Kyoshi there. You’re not the only one who draws from her strength.”

Rangi looked away from him. She hated that there were times that she saw the worst in Yun. Thought she figured him out so well. But she understood where he was coming from. There was no malice, just stupidity. The same stupidity she was constantly at the mercy of herself.

Rangi sighed. Damn him…..

“Which is why, as your Avatar, I command you to put Kyoshi’s safety above my own!” Yun declared, with a wink. 

He clapped Rangi on one shoulder one more time and gave it a squeeze. This time she didn’t feel an underlying threat, but she still didn’t feel any actual encouragement from him either. Perhaps, it was the comradery of them just wanting to keep the girl they liked safe. 

Rangi just nodded at him. Still unsure if he was throwing her a bone for once, or if he did this out of Kyoshi’s benefit alone. Regardless, she was grateful.

_______

Rangi paced around the tent. Her sleeping quarters were arranged for their night on the iceberg.

Damn it! She bellowed in her head. She couldn’t scream aloud, even if she wanted to, so she focused her energy inward. 

Damn Tagaka! Damn Yun! Damn-! She thought of her mother, her stern face filled with hurt eyes. She thought of her face, but couldn’t bring herself to curse her name in her mind. No matter how much her reputation had harmed them both and caused them strife. Damn this whole day!

Rangi chose to just cycle through her other two offenders and the events of the day.

Damn Yun for taking Kyoshi with them. Damn Yun for setting up sleeping arrangements so that she and Kyoshi would share a tent, alone! Damn Yun for making it so there was only one bed!

If she was any more of a fool, she’d think he was throwing her a bone. But she knew him better than that, he was trying to torture her. As if this whole excursion wasn’t tortuous enough itself!

Then there was that damn Tagaka! Damn her for being a daofei! For all the crimes she has committed, same crimes that she may get away with, all because of that damn treaty! Damn her for scaring Kyoshi. Damn her for airing her mother’s dirty laundry, and doing it right in front of Kyoshi! Damn her for causing her mother and her pain, one they thought they finally escaped by leaving the Fire Nation!

Rangi stopped pacing and crouched down, putting her head in her hands and folding in on herself. 

What did Kyoshi think of her now? Of her mother? Did she also see her as a killer? An assassin? Would she hate her or Rangi? 

She was already nervous about being in the tent with Kyoshi when she first heard about it! But having her mother’s dirty laundry aired out like that? Now Rangi had more than one thing to worry about.

Rangi got up, and began pacing again. Trying to figure out the best solution, and coming up with no answers.

It wasn’t until she exhausted every possible avenue, she stopped dead in her tracks and realized she had a third thing to worry about. Kyoshi still wasn’t back yet. 

Dread built up in her. Like an idiot, she left Kyoshi’s side after the incident with Tagaka. But she assumed Kyoshi had gone to confront, or comfort, Master Kelsang. Surely she was still with him…... right? 

She swore to herself. Her one job, and she failed to do it. For all the grief she gave Yun, he deserved to give it back to her a thousand fold!

Rangi ran to the side of the room where her armor lay, ready to put it on, when she heard rustling outside. She generated a small flame in her hand and went to investigate.

When she opened the flap of the tent, she looked down to see Kyoshi, laying in the snow. Kyoshi looked up at her, relief dancing across her face as she gazed at Rangi. Then she saw a bottle that was clasped in Kyoshi’s hand. 

Rangi sniffed the air, smelling the familiar sting of alcohol. “Kyoshi, have you been drinking?”

“Yes?” Kyoshi didn’t sound sure of the statement. But she didn’t show signs of drunkenness. It was a stupid thing to lie about, but Rangi would let it slide.

Rangi sighed inwardly. Happy the girl was still in one piece despite Rangi’s own fault in the matter. And was especially happy that Kyoshi wasn’t sloshed either. She didn’t need another problem on her hands for the night.

Rangi quickly grabbed Kyoshi by the arms, and with some difficulty, dragged the larger girl into their tent. I need to do more pushups. Rangi thought. If she could barely drag the other girl, there was no way she’d be able to lift her. Rangi shook her head at the thought, her brain conjuring up only explicit scenarios that would require such a thing.

Stupid brain, I need less problems on my plate not more!

She helped Kyoshi up, and began taking off her armor, still trying not to let her mind wander to places it shouldn’t. “You can't sleep in that get up. Especially not the armor.”

“Shouldn't you be sleeping with Yun?” Kyoshi asked.

Rangi snapped her head up to look at Kyoshi, completely appalled by her insinuation. Is she stupid?! Does she really think that Yun and I are a thing?! W-what about the fire lilies, did she do that thinking that Yun and I were together? 

Or was this a conclusion she came to after the fire lilies moment? Is that why Kyoshi and Yun didn’t get together, even in secret? A misunderstanding on Kyoshi’s part? Rangi didn’t know if she should feel sickened, relieved, or horrified. So she was all three, at once.

“You know what I mean,” Kyoshi said, a little embarrassed.

Oh, she meant as a bodyguard. Right, of course she did. 

Rangi felt herself instantly cool down from the mini panic attack. “The Avatar and Master Jianzhu are reviewing strategy. Master Amak only ever sleeps in ten-minute intervals throughout the day, so he and the most experienced guardsmen will keep watch. The order is that everyone else should be well-rested for tomorrow.”

After Kyoshi was sufficiently stripped down, and ready for bed, the two settled into the furs. They both laid as far apart as they could.

Rangi didn’t face Kyoshi, she was trying to fall asleep. Not like she could, her crush of two years just an arm's length from her. She could feel every slight movement coming from Kyoshi’s side. Was she a restless sleeper? What if she moved and got too close to Rangi while she slept? What if Rangi moved in the night and did something?

Her heart pounded and ached at the same time, it was torture. She’d curse Yun again, but her mind was only filled with Kyoshi’s presence next to her. There was no room in her mind for anyone else.

She heard Kyoshi sigh. Apparently she also hadn’t fallen asleep. 

Rangi’s mind whirled, strengthened by the proximity of Kyoshi. By the setting they were in. The lack of armor and multiple layers of clothing. She had a thousand questions for the girl, no, more than a thousand. So many they could be up all night and still not get through them all. 

 She tried to ignore them but it was too much. One slipped out of her lips before she could catch it.

“Why didn't you listen?” Rangi whispered, barely audible, her throat felt sore. Why did you choose Yun over me? Was the real question behind those words. The question burned her since she begged Kyoshi in the garden.

“What?” she heard Kyoshi ask, and then shuffling noises. The sound of Kyoshi getting closer. 

Rangi’s heart started to race again. She somehow found the strength to ask the question again, just a bit louder. “Why didn't you listen to me?” 

More shuffling, Kyoshi getting farther away now. Terror thrummed in Rangi as she waited for Kyoshi’s answer. 

“I don't know what you mean,” she heard Kyoshi say simply.

A cord in Rangi broke, and she snatched her pillow and turned over, slamming the item onto Kyoshi’s face with a soft plop.

Damn her! Damn Kyoshi! Damn her for her neutral jing! Or was it avoidance this time? Negative jing? Regardless, damn her! 

She was undoing Rangi thread by thread, while she just laid there and pretended nothing wrong was happening.

Rangi cursed herself louder. For being unable to voice her real wants and desires. To voice what was wrong.

She removed the pillow, and almost crumbled. She was so close to Kyoshi’s face, able to count each one of the girl's precious freckles. She could feel herself melting as she looked at her beautiful girl.

Rangi raised her pillow to strike again, trying to conceal her failing willpower. “You know what I mean! Don't act like you only have rocks in that head of yours!”

Rangi watched Kyoshi’s shocked face slowly melt into a fit of giggles and laughter. The sound was music to Rangi’s ears, a harmony that came from heaven itself. The sight, Kyoshi’s freckled smile, made Rangi want to drop her pillow and kiss the girl silly.

Instead, she remembered herself, and hit Kyoshi with the pillow again instead.

“I-it's not funny!” Rangi cried, she kept hitting Kyoshi with the pillow and it only caused the girl to laugh harder. The heavenly torture assaulting Rangi at full force.

“S-stop it!” Kyoshi cried back, tears were in her eyes from laughing so hard. She made several grabs for the pillow in Rangi’s hand, missing a few times and accidentally caressing Rangi’s hand without realizing.

Rangi’s heart felt like it was going to burst. “K-Kyoshi! Stop it!” Kyoshi was getting closer with each grab, and it took all of Rangi’s willpower to try to push Kyoshi back with her free hand. If they got any closer, she didn’t know what she’d do.

Rangi gave in, and let Kyoshi take the pillow, but it was too late. Kyoshi was well within her boundary, Kyoshi just didn’t realize it yet.

Kyoshi’s eyes were still closed, her beautiful, unguarded face was still laughing without a care. It was the most breathtaking thing Rangi had ever seen.

“But you're the one who…started…it.” Kyoshi’s eyes finally opened, and her voice trailed off when she saw the situation they were in.

They were nose to nose, their breath tickling each other. Tickling Rangi’s lips, teasing her of what could be. Kyoshi’s shocked eyes staring into Rangi’s wanton ones. Kyoshi’s scent, morning dew on grass, made Rangi melt like she was the very same dew. 

“Kyoshi….” Rangi murmured, as she looked at Kyoshi and the red hue spreading across the other girl’s face, deepening the color of her freckles. Did she feel the same way?

Rangi lowered her eyes to Kyoshi’s lips. Move. She thought as gazed at Kyoshi’s lips. Damn it! Move now, Kyoshi. Move or I…. I might…….. Rangi’s grasp on everything loosened. On the pillow, on Kyoshi. On her self-control. She went to lean forward.

But, as if reading Rangi’s mind, Kyoshi suddenly flipped over. Her back facing Rangi.

“W-woops! S-sorry about that!” Kyoshi stuttered out. “Sorry for messing around, we should get to sleep. Big day tomorrow!”

Kyoshi’s voice shook, her body shook too. Was it because Rangi had made her uncomfortable? Scared? Or maybe….. Maybe it was with desire? The same Rangi felt pulsing through her. 

Rangi laid there for a good while, waiting for the atmosphere to finally fade from her body. But it never did. She felt bolstered by it in fact. She started leaning into a courage she shouldn’t have. She decided to take a plunge.

Instead of turning over and falling asleep away from Kyoshi, she instead placed and leaned her open palms and forehead onto Kyoshi’s back. “You have my pillow, stupid.” She chuckled just slightly to herself.

She felt Kyoshi fling her arm around, and heard her pillow flop to the floor on the other side of the tent. But it wasn’t the pillow Rangi had wanted. 

Damn it. She let herself settle in closer to Kyoshi, letting her body meld into Kyoshi’s back. She enjoyed the feeling of Kyoshi’s racing heart pounding against her forehead, taking in Kyoshi’s scent. She fell into a lullful sleep, and dreamt of laying in a meadow under the warm sun with Kyoshi.

____________

Rangi couldn’t breathe. The ice that encased her blocked the air from reaching her lungs. 

Tagaka had ambushed them during the treaty signing, and now Rangi, along with many others, were trapped in the iceberg. 

She generated a fire fist, and forced the ice to melt around her. She found a way into a pocket of air with the waterbender who had pulled her in. She swung at the waterbender, breaking their nose, rendering them unconscious. Possibly leaving them for dead as well.

Water from the melted ice started to form around her. She tried not to panic, but it was becoming impossible to breathe again. She tried to calm down, focusing her heat inward instead of outward. If her body was wet she wouldn’t be able to generate external fire well. Instead, she heated herself and let the heat billow out from her. Sure enough, the internal heat started to melt the ice around her faster. Even evaporating slightly so she could get a few precious breaths in.

She looked around and saw their guardsmen fighting off the other waterbenders. She tried making her way to them, hoping Kyoshi wasn’t in there, but if she was, that she could make it to her in time!

She saw a familiar red figure in the corner of her eye thinking the same thing. Her mother. They were both heating and bending their way to the guardsmen. 

They were only able to save either a third or half until it all became too much. Too much cold, too much water, not a lot of air pockets. They simply ran out of time. Rangi and Hei-Ran blasted their way out of the side of the iceberg, the rescued guardsmen falling behind them.

As they landed on an icy platform below, they saw something come down from above. It was Jianzhu with Pengpeng. “Get on!”

Rangi and Hei-Ran did as he commanded without hesitation. They jumped aboard Pengpeng, trying to superheat their limbs to evaporate the water off of them faster, so they could make it possible to bend their fire without failure.

They ascended into the air, Hei-Ran and Rangi each taking a side on Pengpeng and letting off fire blasts at any pirate they saw.

The trio flew closer to where they assumed Tagaka and Yun had gone, and what they saw caused Rangi’s heart to almost fail.

Kyoshi was the lone person fighting Tagaka. She was winning, but reinforcements were closing in on her. There was a pulse of light from an icey prison, and Yun burst forth. He started taking out the reinforcements, but Rangi knew there would be too many.

She took the risk and jumped off of Pengpeng!

“Rangi!” She heard her mother cry, but it was too late, Rangi was already barreling towards the ground.

She used blasts of fire to slow her descent in the air, and to aim for what looked like a soft bed of snow. She landed with a fwump! And as she scrambled and heated her way out, she felt the earth shake. She looked over and saw Yun in a deep stance, and the earth being pulled up from the sea bed. Taking out several ships in the process.

Rangi watched in horror as a pirate got by Yun and struck Kyoshi! 

She started sprinting over there as fast as she could, cursing the snow for slowing her down. She watched as Kyoshi tried to get back up, only to fall back down. She had no more strength. The pirate readied his ice spear above his head, ready to strike.

“Kyoshi!” Rangi screamed. 

Fear gripped Rangi tighter than it ever had before, she slammed her foot down into a deep stance, and thrusted her fist out as fast, hot, and hard as possible. A white fiery terror shot forth from it in the form of a fireball, and blasted the pirate from across the iceberg. Kyoshi was safe from him.

She watched as Jianzhu fell from the sky, to clean up the rest of the ships and how Yun ran off to join him. She watched as the last of Kyoshi’s strength left her body and sank to the floor. Rangi reached Kyoshi right before Kyoshi’s head hit the ground, and cradled the larger girl in her arms. She turned up her body heat and did what she could to warm Kyoshi up.

“Kyoshi! Kyoshi! Please, don’t go to sleep! Kyoshi!” 

Rangi gently shook Kyoshi, and watched as the blood from her face fell onto Kyoshi’s forehead and cheeks. Kyoshi looked up at her one last time with a bleary eyed smile. Then her eyes closed for sleep.

___________________

Rangi fell back on what she knew best. Pacing.

Positive jing. Always moving forward. Just. Nonstop. Pacing. 

She paced back and forth in the infirmary wing where Kyoshi was located. She did so for three days straight. The staff was going to need to replace the floorboards. There was a hole where the floorboards used to be. Rangi had paced a rut so thoroughly into the floor that she made it seem like those floorboards never existed in the first place. 

Rangi ran a hand through her hair. Paying for damages on the house was the least of her worries. She’d failed to guard the Avatar. She’d chosen Kyoshi over the Avatar. It didn’t matter if the Avatar commanded her to do so, in her heart she’d chosen what she wanted to do without anyone’s prompting. And that’s what made the looks she was given by the Masters that much harder to take. 

They knew what she did, regardless of Yun’s defense. To his credit, it was a good defense. “What was she going to do? She couldn’t follow me on those ships! It’s best that she stayed with Kyoshi!” 

A good defense didn’t mean it was the truth, she didn’t even want to follow him in the first place. 

But the hardest thing of all was in the room with Rangi at that very moment. 

Rangi looked over from her rut and saw the sleeping face of the girl she loved. Kyoshi was unconscious, and she hadn’t woken up once in three days. Rangi didn’t know what to do, she was completely….and utterly…helpless.

She began pacing again, biting her nail. Searching for solutions that wouldn’t come nor could happen, when she heard a noise. Her head snapped over to Kyoshi’s bed. Rangi jumped out of her foot deep rut and sprinted over to Kyoshi. 

Rangi hovered with baited breath.

But Kyoshi didn’t awaken, and Rangi collapsed onto the chair next to Kyoshi’s bed side. Head in hands, and began to sob. 

If Kyoshi didn’t wake up, didn’t return to her. She didn’t know what she’d do. She didn’t know how she could keep on going. 

Rangi sat there, pleading to any and every spirit that could hear her. Pleading for a miracle.

Please, just bring her back to me…..

She sat there, still as a statue. Afraid that even a single molecule of her being would ruin the prayer. Then she heard it, rustling. 

Rangi’s head shot up and saw Kyoshi’s eye’s fluttering open.

“Kyoshi!” she gasped, grabbing the water gourd from the bedside table. “You're awake! Are you feeling alright?”

Kyoshi tried to speak but coughed, and Rangi instantly put the water to Kyoshi’s lips.

“What happened? Where's Yun?” Kyoshi finally asked.

Of course she’d ask about him first. Rangi tried not to feel so deflated. Tried to reason with herself. Of course she was asking! He’s nowhere in sight. And he’s the Avatar. It’s not because she loves him more.

“He's fine,” Rangi replied in a sullen tone. “Master Jianzhu and my mother are with him. He’s plenty guarded. Yun ordered me to be here to make sure you were alright.”

He only ordered me because I begged him. It wasn’t literal begging with words and kowtowing, but with pleading eyes and an understanding gaze.

“Sorry, you should be with him instead of me,” Kyoshi whispered. 

Rangi’s eyes widened. Oh, Kyoshi was still thinking of other people first again, instead of herself. That's why. It wasn’t because she cared more about Yun…..

Rangi’s fists and jaw clenched in unison. This idiot! Why, why couldn’t she ever spare a thought for herself?! Why did she have to be so good and just? Why couldn’t she be a little bit selfish? Just….think of herself for once?!

“Yeah you better be sorry,” Rangi stood up from her chair. “Think of yourself for a change!” 

Kyoshi could only stare at her in surprise. Did she not understand the severity of the situation she was in?!

“You've been asleep for three days, Kyoshi! Three days! Do you know how worried I was?” Rangi’s chest heaved as her voice wavered. 

“I-I’m sorry!” Kyoshi strangled out, with the pure sincerity only Kyoshi knew how to exude.

“I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up!” her voice cracked, and tears were welling in her eyes as she collapsed back in her chair, the thought of Kyoshi ceasing to exist making her weak again. “How could you be so reckless?”

The possibilities and what-ifs from before came barreling down onto Rangi again. Her strength left her with each tear that escaped her. 

She felt something touch her cheek. It was Kyoshi’s hand. Kyoshi was….touching her face, wiping the tears away. Comforting her.

“Oh….” she could only gasp. Kyoshi couldn’t have known what that meant in her country. You didn’t touch the head region unless you were family or married. Not engaged, married. There were no exceptions. 

Kyoshi couldn’t have known the transgression she was doing. The violation. The dishonor. She wouldn’t have done it if she’d known. 

But she didn’t. Kyoshi didn’t know. She only, and wholly wanted to comfort Rangi in the only way she knew how. Kyoshi was good, and she was loving. And- 

Rangi was so utterly and completely undone by Kyoshi. In that moment, she realized couldn’t fight it. It was just better to surrender herself at this point. She would give herself to Kyoshi. Absolutely and completely. 

She then performed an action, one that would have her own countryman demanding her topknot for. She closed her eyes as she placed her own hand over Kyoshi’s, and held it there. Accepting the touch, and soaking in the comfort and basking in the transgression that it brought.

“Rangi, I’m sorry,” Kyoshi started. “You were right, I shouldn’t have gone. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.”

Rangi took in a sharp shuddering breath, and moved her head to the side so Kyoshi's hand covered her mouth. To kiss her the palm of the one she loved, and also to cover up her erratic breathing. Her throat was sore, from the crying, the yelling, the dishonor, Kyoshi’s love, everything.  “T-take responsibility, you idiot!” she sobbed.

Take responsibility for the mess you’ve made me.

That’s all she wanted. Kyoshi could do whatever else her heart desired. As long as she accepted Rangi’s mess, Rangi would be happy.

“A-alright…. I’ll do whatever you ask of me, without question!” Kyoshi announced, a serious look in her eye. That was so Kyoshi, always taking her own word seriously.

Rangi took another sharp breath and looked at Kyoshi. “You promise?” she pleaded, half-heartedly. Kyoshi didn’t owe her anything, and she didn’t want to demand anything from Kyoshi. She just wanted to be beside her, for as long as she was allowed.

“Promise,” Kyoshi said. Then she smiled at her, a smile that was too good for Rangi. A smile that Rangi didn’t get to enjoy for long, because Kyoshi’s body waved and then fell back asleep onto her pillow as Rangi called her name.

_________________________

A/N: Spiral Rangi! Spiral! \u0u/ *elmo fire meme* uwu

Also, ummmm Interlude 4 might be like…….not JUST interlude 4 cause it’s getting longer by the second……  (ﾉ≧ڡ≦) Whoops~! Salty doesn’t plan things well sometimes~! (I wasn’t going adapt a lot of the 3 chapters, just the highlights…….but…..I felt like I probably should….and then now I’m 20 some pages deep again u_u Plus, some of y’all asked more spice and….I will try TT0TT But I don’t wanna change this from M to E, but horny Rangi incoming maybe jklsdajfa TT0TT)

I’ve also been distracted with editing Rangshi stuff on my main blog, as well as reading things (dunno how many Wednesday fans are here, or if they read my Hyde in the Shadows fanfic, but we got a new novel and now it feels like my attention is being fractured~! *sobs* Fighting off my Wenclair feels so I can focus on my Rangshi feels is like really hard right now TT0TT), and other life stuff happening…. So ummmm not a lot of writing was done the past two weeks, sorry. u_u Luckily, I still have one more chapter buffer to go! :D *sobs* 

[ajerzaaddict]

Jerza Week 2023 - Dream / Nightmare

“Jellal? Jellal?”

Jellal woke up to Erza’s voice, gentle but laced with anxiety at the same time. He struggled to open his eyes; his eyelids felt moist and unusually heavy. When he finally pried his eyes open, the first thing he saw was Erza’s worried face. His heart clenched at the sight, and his brain, in its hazy state, tried to make sense of Erza’s expression.

Have I done something……?

The question slipped away before Jellal opened his mouth when he felt a comfortable warmth covering one side of his face. Erza palmed his face with a firmness which nonetheless felt tender on his skin, as if she was holding some fragile treasure. She studied his face with a concerned gaze as she blushed his cheek with her thumb and left a trace of wetness. It was then Jellal realized that his face had been tainted with his own tears. 

Why was I crying in my sleep……

“You okay?” Erza asked cautiously.

"You will only bring disaster to Erza."

Jellal's eyes widened as pieces of his nightmare flashed through his mind.

"Simon." The name fell from his trembling lips in a barely audible sound.

Erza took a deep breath as worry clouded her eyes. She slid her hand to the back of Jellal's head and wrapped her arm around his head in a protective manner.

"I've told you." She whispered in a gentle voice which meant for soothing Jellal. "We will bear the weight of Simon's death together. I'm not letting you take on it alone and be crushed by it."

Jellal didn't respond, or look up at Erza, only wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tightly against him, breathing in her scent. He needed the evidence that she was alive and safe.

The nightmare, which haunted him not once, but numerous times since he broke his own rule and welcomed Erza into his life, began with him being tied down on the ground, surrounded by darkness and silence. A woman's painful cry sliced through the space next and darkness started to retreat. The scene unfolding in front of him was Erza covered in blood and wounds, being tortured by those who lost their lives because of him - from Zeref's cultists and slaves in the Tower to mages of dark guilds. 

The only victim of his who didn't take their revenge on Erza was Simon. The bulk man stood beside him, looking down at him with disgust. He screamed and cried, begging Simon to save Erza, and struggled to break the restraints, just like a mad dog.

"I had already saved Erza with my life once from you and I can do no more. Why did you not learn from the past and stay away from her? You should have known that you will only bring disaster to Erza by staying at her side, with all the sin you have committed and the hate you have planted remain unresolved.”

Jellal took a deep breath to calm himself as the scene of Erza exhaling her last breath in his nightmare replayed in his head. 

“It wasn't Simon's death.” He said quietly before untangling himself from Erza. He raised his head, looking into her eyes, looking for her liveliness for comfort. “It was yours which I dreamed of.” 

He hated how his sound still shook, even though it was just a little bit, despite his effort in trying to keep his fear at bay. 

“I’m here.” Erza gave Jellal a smile that was full of gentleness and understanding. She took one of his hands and placed it over her chest under where her heart was beating. “And I’m alive.”

Jellal closed his eyes to let the steady rhythm of Erza’s heartbeat soothe him. It was a relief to be reassured by Erza that she had not just died in reality. However,  he could not help but think again of the words Simon said in his nightmare. 

Even though he had always known the risks he could be bringing to Erza, Erza was drawing him in with her brightness and warmth, like flame drawing in moths. Before he knew it, he had already held her between his arms. He tried to convince himself that might be, just might be, he does not have to reject love in order to atone for his sins. 

But his guilty self just would not let him take the easy route. Taking the form of the person who represented his sins the best, he was reprimanding him for breaking his own rule, getting side-tracked from the path of redemption and risking the safety of his loved one. 

Jellal opened his eyes again. In front of him was Erza looking at him with a caring gaze filled with her love for him. He heaved a sign. He didn’t want to lose her. But it might be better to let her go.

“Ever since we have been together, I have got this nightmare in which you died in the hands of the people who were victimized by me.” He finally decided to be honest with Erza about his fear. “Simon in my nightmare……he was a symbol of my sins. He reminded me……it is dangerous to let you enter my world, which is filled with unresolved hate and regret because I have not done enough to atone for my sins."

Sadness overshadowed the love in Erza’ eyes. Her lips pressed into a hard line as she tried to contain her emotions, before she leaned towards Jellal and buried her face in his chest.  

“I know the path of redemption is long, and you may never see the end of it.” She sighed. “I want to accompany you in this journey of yours to support you. But I don’t want to see you being eaten up by your guilt because of me. If my presence is causing you so much stress and pain, I can leave." 

Don't leave me. Jellal swallowed those words, feeling shameful to ask Erza to stay after hurting her feelings, but wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.

“You don’t have to make the decision now.” Erza said as softly and as tenderly as she could, but couldn’t help sounding slightly dejected when she spoke. “And I’m not abandoning you. Never. I just feel that you may need some time and space to……rethink when will enough be enough, and what you want to achieve in this endless path of atonement. I know you will find the right answer. I have faith in you. So, please have better faith in me too. Please know that I’m not afraid of facing any danger. Being a Fairy Tail’s mage already puts me in danger anyway. I can handle whatever comes at me, being called Titania not for nothing. You don’t have to worry about my safety.”

“Forgive my weakness, Erza. I know the reason behind the nightmare is always my problem, not yours, and only I can solve it.” Jellal pulled back from Erza a little; his hand reached out to hold her face. Erza looked up and their gaze crossed. “You are my light, guiding me whenever I lose myself in the darkness. Having you by my side is always a dream-come-true for me, not a nightmare.”

“It’s also a dream-come-true for me to be able to stay with you.” Erza leaned forward and pressed her lips on Jellal’s. 

Kissing fiercely, as if it was their last kiss, they threw their worries to the back of their mind for the time being, losing themselves in their desire for each other which could not be more real. 

[lifmera]

hi ! so I’ve been deep in the tokrev tags and something magical brought you to my feed bcs I’ve been searching for someone that does matchups. I would like to ask if I could request a matchup with tokyo revengers.. please take your time getting to this!

my pronouns are she/her, I’m 1.72cm, I swear too much, my favorite color is green, I’m a Pisces, and I’m pretty much a bedroom goblin. If I’m not reading or drowning in my headphones, then I’m sleeping because I love my bed a lot.

Personality wise? I won’t say that I’m antisocial, but I’m a loner. 😭 I prefer my solitude (I don’t have a problem vibing by myself), but I would enjoy spending time with my friends if I had any. I’m pretty much unapproachable thanks to my severe case of RBF and I tend to stay away from big gatherings, but if I attend them I try to separate on my own in a corner after awhile (for some reason ppl still come up to me though, it confuses me greatly)…I’m actually softer once you get to know me though and I’ve been told I have a warm presence that makes it easy for people to gravitate towards me & talk about important things (I always know someone’s deep secrets 😭). It’s easy to talk to people, I just choose not to. 😭

I can be sarcastic and I’m also straightforward. When it comes to relationships/feelings/intimacy, platonic or romantic, I am VERY awkward, it’s hard showing & receiving feelings. I am emotionally constipated until I trust you. I can be a little stubborn and sometimes reckless but it’s only when it comes to protecting my people and my freedom. I’m also very free spirited/carefree and will cut you loose if I can’t have my time to be adventurous. Even though I seem very cold and uninterested (50/50 I am), I am a hopeless romantic at heart.

I’ve typed out as enfp if that adds anything, but I’m not the stereotypical bubbly kind.

Hope that’s more than enough, thank you for your time and I hope life treats you well today and so on. <3

AYYY HI!!

Its finally your turn after stalking this 6 different times. LOL.

I’ve decided to pair you with…. INUI!

I think you guys would get along great. Genuinely.

I think he’d probably want to rot in bed alongside you. Someone he’d be comfortable with. I dont think he has many friends- other than koko and takemichi. And koko is…

I think your rbf wouldn’t do much to deter him. Let’s be honest he does too. He isn’t one to judge!

I think he’d love your warm nature. It’d draw him him like a moth to a flame. Kinda like how he’s with takemichi. You’d mean a lot to him!

I think he also doesn’t like to talk much either. He’s super quiet and would probably just want to rot in bed. I honestly can imagine you both laying on bed with one ear each with an earbud listening to a playlist and just. Staring at the ceiling.

I have to admit, i think you’d also remind him a little bit of koko. But Inui is also pretty much emotionally constipated too. He has trust issues- but i think you both definitely would overcome it together realizing you have a lot in common. And probably becoming super close with each other.

He’d be fine if you’re Adventurous. But I think he is the type of guy who either wants to be in bed all day, or not really go back home.

~~~~

I hope this was okay. Honestly writing this kinda took me for an emotional ride because inui is a comfort character and i love him sm. Also you are such a sweetheart and i hope the rest pf your day goes well when you see this <3

[perspectivestarters]

Perspective's Sentence Starters; Speak Now (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift (Part II)

ENCHANTED

"There I was again tonight."

"Same old tired, lonely place."

"Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy, vanished when I saw your face."

"All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you."

"Have we met?"

"This night is sparklin', don't you let it go."

"I'm wonderstruck, blushin' all the way home."

"I'll spеnd forever wonderin' if you knеw."

"I was enchanted to meet you."

"The lingering question kept me up."

"Who do you love?"

"I wonder 'til I'm wide awake."

"Wishing you were at my door."

"This night is flawless."

"This is me praying that this was the very first page, not where the storyline ends."

"My thoughts will echo your name until I see you again."

"These are the words I held back as I was leaving too soon."

"Please, don't be in love with someone else."

"Please, don't have somebody waitin' on you."

BETTER THAN REVENGE

"Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did."

"Time for a little revenge."

"I had him right there where I wanted him."

"I never saw it coming, wouldn't have suspected it."

"I underestimated just who I was dealing with."

"She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum."

"She underestimated just who she was stealin' from."

"She's not a saint and she's not what you think."

"She's an actress."

"He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches."

"Soon, she's gonna find stealing other people's toys on the playground won't make you many friends."

"She should keep in mind there is nothing I do better than revenge."

"She looks at life like it's a party and she's on the list."

"She looks at me like I'm a trend and she's so over it."

"I think her ever-present frown is a little troubling."

"She thinks I'm psycho 'cause I like to rhyme her name with things."

"Sophistication isn't what you wear or who you know."

"They didn't teach you that in prep school so it's up to me."

"No amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity."

"Think about what you did."

"I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at, honey."

"You might have him, but haven't you heard?"

"I always get the last word."

"Can you take it back?"

"Do you still feel like you know what you're doin'?"

"Show me how much better you are."

INNOCENT

"I guess you really did it this time."

"Wasn't it easier in your lunchbox days?"

"Wasn't it beautiful when you believed in everything?"

"It's alright, just wait and see."

"Your string of lights are still bright to me."

"Who you are is not where you've been."

"You're still an innocent."

"At night, you live it all again."

"If only you had seen what you know now then."

"Wasn't it easier in your firefly-catching days?"

"Wasn't it beautiful running wild 'til you fell asleep before the monsters caught up to you?"

"It's okay, life is a tough crowd."

"(Age) and still growing up now."

"Who you are is not what you did."

"Time turns flames to embers."

"You'll have new Septembers."

"Every one of us has messed up, too."

"I hope you remember."

"Today is never too late to be brand new."

"It's never too late to get it back."

HAUNTED

"You and I walk a fragile line."

"I have known it all this time."

"I never thought I'd live to see it break."

"I can't trust anything now."

"Something's made your eyes go cold."

"Don't leave me like this."

"I thought I had you figured out."

"Something's gone terribly wrong."

"You're all I wanted."

"Can't breathe whenever you're gone."

"I'm haunted."

"Stood there and watched you walk away from everything we had."

"I still mean every word I said to you."

"He will try to take away my pain, and he just might make me smile."

"The whole time, I'm wishing he was you instead."

"Something keeps me holding onto nothing."

"I can't go back now."

"You're not gone."

LAST KISS

"I still remember the look on your face."

"The words that you whispered for just us to know."

"You told me you loved me, so why did you go away?"

"I can still feel your arms."

"All that I know is I don't know how to be somethin' you miss."

"I never thought we'd have a last kiss."

"I never imagined we'd end like this."

"Your name, forever the name on my lips."

"You're showin' off again."

"I'm not much for dancin'."

"I love how you walk with your hands in your pockets."

"There's not a day I don't miss those rude interruptions."

"I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep."

"I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe."

"Hope it's nice where you are."

"I never planned on you changing your mind."

LONG LIVE

"Remember this moment."

"The crowds in stands went wild."

"We were the kings and the queens."

"The night you danced like you knew our lives would never be the same."

"You held your head like a hero on a history book page."

"It was the end of a decade, but the start of an age."

"Long live the walls we crashеd through."

"How the kingdom lights shined just for me and you."

"Long live all the magic we made."

"One day, we will be remembered."

"All the years that we stood there on the sidelines wishin' for right now."

"You traded your baseball cap for a crown."

"The cynics were outraged."

"A band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world."

"Long live all the mountains we moved."

"I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you."

"Long live that look on your face."

"May these memories break our fall."

"Will you take a moment?"

"Promise me this."

"When they point to the pictures, please, tell 'em my name"

"Tell 'em how I hope they shine."

"I had the time of my life with you."

OURS

"Strangers' silence makes me want to take the stairs."

"If you were here, we'd laugh about their vacant stares."

"Seems like there's always someone who disapproves."

"They'll judge it like they know about me and you."

"The jury's out, but my choice is you."

"Don't you worry your pretty little mind."

"People throw rocks at things that shine."

"Life makes love look hard."

"This love is ours."

"You never know what people have up their sleeves."

"I don't care, 'cause right now, you're mine."

"It's not theirs to speculate if it's wrong."

"Your hands are tough, but they are where mine belong."

"I love the gap between your teeth."

"I love the riddles that you speak."

"Any snide remarks from my father about your tattoos will be ignored."

"My heart is yours."

"They can't take what's ours."

SUPERMAN

"It's the same thing to me."

"He's got his mother's eyes, his father's ambition."

"I wonder if he knows how much that I miss him."

"I hang on every word you say."

"I love you forever."

"You've got a busy day today."

"Go save the world, I'll be around."

"Come back, I'll be with you someday."

"I'll be right here on the ground when you come back down."

"He's complicated, he's irrational."

"I hope someday you'll take me away, and save the day."

"He's not all bad like his reputation."

"I can't hear one single word they say."

"You'll leave, got places to be, and I'll be okay."

"I always forget to tell you, "I love you"."

"I loved you from the very first day."

"I watch you fly around the world."

"I hope you don't save some other girl."

"Don't forget about me."

"I'm far away, but I never let you go."

"I'm love-struck and looking out the window."

"Don't forget where I'll be."

"Wishing the flowers were from you."

"Wishing the card was from you."

"Wishing the call was from you."

[jacklesraised]

Speak Now Taylor's Version Sentence Starters except its just the vault songs and better than revenge

change pronouns as necessary, combine lyrics if you want, yada yada, this is purely self indulgent tbh. BTR is here bc of the updated lyrics.

Better Than Revenge

"Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did" "time for a little revenge" "The story starts when it was hot and it was summer" "I had him right there where I wanted him" "She took him faster than you can say "Sabotage"" "I never saw it coming, wouldn't have suspected it" "I underestimated just who I was dealing with" "She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum" "She underestimated just who she was stealing from" "She's not a saint and she's not what you think" "He was a moth to the flame" "She was holding the matches, woah" "she's gonna find stealing other people's toys on the playground won't make you many friends" "There is nothing I do better than revenge" "She looks at life like it's a party and she's on the list" "She looks at me like I'm a trend and she's so over it" "I think her ever-present frown is a little troubling" "She thinks I'm psycho 'cause I like to rhyme her name with things" "sophistication isn't what you wear or who you know" "pushing people down to get you where you wanna go" "they didn't teach you that in prep school so it's up to me" "But no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity" "I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at, honey" "You might have him, but haven't you heard?" "I always get the last word" "Do you still feel like you know what you're doing?" "I don't think you do" "Let's hear the applause" "Come on, show me how much better you are"

Electric Touch (Feat. Fall Out Boy)

"Just breathe, just relax, it'll be ok" "Just the first time ever hanging out with you" "I've got my money on things going badly" "Got a history of stories ending sadly" "Still hoping that the fire won't burn me" "Just one time, just one time" "All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life" "Got a feeling your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life" "And I want you now, wanna need you forever" "In the heat of your electric touch" "I've been left in the rain lost and pining" "I'm trying hard not to look like I'm trying" "Cause every time I tried hard for love it fell apart" "I've gotten used to no one calling my phone" "I've grown accustomed to sleeping alone" "Still I know that all it takes is to get it right" "Just one time, just one time" "I was thinking just one time maybe the stars align" "And maybe I call you mine" "And you won't need space" "string me along when you decide"

when emma falls in love

"When ___ falls in love, she paces the floor" "Closes the blinds and locks the door" "Jokes about the ways that this could go wrong" "She waits and takes her time 'cause little miss sunshine always thinks it's gonna rain" "I know that boy will never be the same" "'Cause she's the kind of girl that you can't put down" "And all the bad boys would be good boys if they only had a chance to love her" "And to tell you the truth, sometimes I wish I was her" "Hangs in the air like stars in outer space" "she disappears, and we all just laugh after seein' it all these years" "When ___ falls apart, it's when she's alone" "She won't walk away unless she knows she absolutely has to leave" "She won’t lose herself in love the way I did" "'Cause she'll call you out, she'll put you in your place" "met a boy with eyes like a man" "Turns out her heart fits right in the palm of his hand" "Now he'll be her shelter when it rains" "Little does he know, his whole world's about to change" "Yeah between me and you, sometimes I wish I was her"

I can see you

"I’ve been watching you for ages" "Spend my time tryin' not to feel it" "But what would you do if I went to touch you now?" "What would you do if they never found us out?" "What would you do if we never made a sound?" "'Cause I can see you waitin’ down the hall from me" "And I can see you up against the wall with me" "What would you do? Maybe if you only knew" "Then we kept everything professional, 'cause" "Something's changed something I like" "They keep watch for eyes on a stow" "So it's best that we move fast and keep quiet" "You won't believe half the things I see inside my bed" "Wait till you see half the things that haven't happened yet" "I can see you in your suit and your neck-tie" "Passed me a note saying, "Leave me tonight"" "Then you kissed and you know I won’t ever tell" "And I can see you being my addiction" "You can see me as a secret mission" "Right away and I will stop behaving myself"

Castles Crumbling (Feat Hayley Williams)

"Once, I had an empire in a golden age" "I was held up so high, I used to be great" "They used to cheer when they saw my face" "Now, I fear I have fallen from grace" "And I feel like my castle's crumbling down" "And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground" "And you don't want to know me, I will just let you down" "You don't wanna know me now" "Once, I was the great hope for a dynasty" "Crowds would hang on my words and they trusted me" "Their faith was strong, but I pushed it too far" "I held that grudge 'til it tore me apart" "Power went to my head and I couldn't stop" "Ones I loved tried to help, so I ran them off" "And here I sit alone behind walls of regret" "Falling down like promises that I never kept" "My foes and friends watch my reign end" "I don't know how it could've ended this way" "Smoke billows from my ships in the harbor" "People look at me like I'm a monster" "Now they're screaming at the palace front gates" "Used to chant my name" "Now they're screaming that they hate me" "Never wanted you to hate me"

Foolish One

"My cards are on the table, yours are in your hands" "Chances are tonight you've already got plans" "And chances are I will talk myself to sleep again" "You give me just enough attention to keep my hopes too high" "Wishful thoughts forget to mention when something's really not right" "And I will block out these voices of reason in my head" "And the voices say, "You are not the exception"" "You will never learn your lesson, foolish one" "Stop checking your mailbox for confessions of love that ain't never gonna come" "You will take the long way, you will take the long way down" "You know how to keep me waiting," "I know how to act like I'm fine" "Don't know what to call this situation but I know I can't call you mine" "And it's delicate, but I will do my best to seem bulletproof" "'Cause when my head is on your shoulder it starts thinking you'll come around" "And maybe someday when we're older this is something we'll laugh about" "Now I'm sliding down the wall with my head in my hands" "How could I not see the signs?" "Oh, you haven't written me or called" "But goodbye screaming in the silence" "And the voices in my head are telling me why" "'Cause you got her on your arm and me in the wings" "I'll get your longing glances but she'll get your ring" "And you will say you had the best of intentions" "And maybe I will finally learn my lesson" "Ain't never gonna come" "Ooh, you will learn the hard way now" "Sitting 'round waiting for confessions of love, they ain't never gonna come" "you should've been walking out" "The day is gonna come for your confessions of love, when all is said and done" "He just wasn't the one, no, he just wasn't the one"

Timeless

"Down the block there's an antique shop" "something in my head said stop, so I walked in" "On the counter was a cardboard box" "And the sign said, 'Photos twenty five cents each" "Black and white, saw a thirties bride and school lovers laughing on the porch of their first house" "The kinda love that you can only find once in a lifetime" "The kind you don't put down" "And that's when I called you and it's so hard to explain, but in those photos I saw us instead" "somehow I know that you and I would've found each other" "In another life, you still would've turned my head" "On a crowded street in 1944" "you werе headed off to fight in the war" "You still would've been mine" "We would have been timeless" "I would've read your love letter every single night" "prayed to God you'd be coming home all right" "you would've been fine" "We would have been timeless" "'Cause I believe that we were supposed to find this" "So even in a different life, you still would've still been mine" "I had to smile when it caught my eye" "There was one of a teenage couple on the driveway" "Holding hands on the way to a dance and the date on the back said 1958" "Which brought me back to the first day I saw you" "Time stood still like something in this old shop" "I thought about it as I started looking 'round at these precious things that time forgot" "That's when I came upon a book covered in cobwebs" "Story of a romance tore apart by fate" "Hundreds of years ago they fell in love like we did" "And I'd die for you in the same way" "In the fifteen hundreds off in a foreign land" "And I was forced to marry another man" "Time breaks down your mind and body" "Don't you let it touch your soul" "It was like an age old classic" "The story started when you said "hello"" "In a crowded room a few short years ago" "And sometimes there's no proof, you just know" "I'm gonna love you when our hair is turning grey" "We'll have a cardboard box of photos of the life we made" "And you'll say, "Oh my, we really were timeless""

[bananaofswifts]

5 STARS

If the Taylor’s Versions project has taught us anything, it’s that the past doesn’t have to be a foreign country.

Sure, they did things a little differently there, but with the right motivation (reclaiming the songs that were sold behind her back), Taylor Swift’s glorious history can be recreated almost exactly how it was when she first burned these songs onto the soul of a generation.

That approach, however, was always likely to face a few challenges along the way and ‘Speak Now’ – for true hardcore Swifties, perhaps the most cherished album in even her beloved catalogue – is one of them.

Because her third album saw Swift fearlessly taking control, writing every note of the record herself and boldly choosing to capture a snapshot of her unvarnished teenage truth.

So, ‘Speak Now’ is always honest, sometimes brutally so. No one batted an eyelid at it in 2010, but in 2023, such things tend to be viewed through a different lens.

So, this third in the series of Taylor’s Versions sees the first significant rewriting of her not-so-secret history. She replaces the controversial ‘Better Than Revenge’ lyric, “She’s better known for the things she does on the mattress” with the more sisterly, “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches.”

The new line works well, even if it might not hit as hard. So, before the faceless suits that now ‘own’ Swift’s original albums celebrate that there might be at least one song in their vault to still get streamed after receiving the TV treatment, it should be noted that that is the album’s only real attempt to mitigate the raw emotions of the past.

Instead, it’s worth noting that ‘Better Than Revenge’ is followed by the wise-beyond-her-years philosophising of ‘Innocent’ in which Swift observes that, “Life is a tough crowd/Thirty-two and still growing up now”.

Swift was indeed 32 when she re-recorded those words but the empowering, elemental force and simmering hurt that made the original ‘Speak Now’ such a remarkable record remains strikingly intact. The snarky gown-shaming in the wedding-crasher title track remains wonderfully unfiltered. The wounded distress at teenage tormentors and bitter bloggers in ‘Mean’ still cuts every bit as deep. And the forensic disassembly of a gaslighting ex on ‘Dear John’, now with added protective wisdom for her younger self, is as quietly crushing as ever.

In short, Swift knows exactly where to draw the line. And, on ‘Speak Now’, the lines she draws are beautiful, showcasing the countless things Swift excels at beyond hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-teenager-scorned retribution.

So, the joyous shimmer of ‘Sparks Fly’ reminds you even this most heart-breaking record still had moments of unfettered delight. The nostalgia of ‘Never Grow Up’ remains as guilelessly devastating as ever, despite the fact that Swift is now as far away from the third verse’s uncertain adulting as she was then from the first verse’s childhood snoozing. And best of all, ‘Back To December’ – a serious contender for Swift’s finest song – shows that, actually, there is nothing Swift does better than regret.

Of course, Taylor’s Version offers her the opportunity to do what that song’s protagonist couldn’t: go back in time and change it. But, while the main album production (by Swift and Christopher Rowe, replacing Nathan Chapman) softens the Nashville neon and country vocal twang, she generally resists the temptation to mess with perfection.

Meanwhile, the ‘From The Vaults’ unheard tracks – with co-production from Taylor’s favoured 2023 colleagues Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner – showcase both where Swift was and how far she’s come.

As befitting SN’s status as her most emo album, her collaborators come straight from 2010’s alt-rock top drawer. So, Fall Out Boy elevate ‘Electric Touch’ to soaring pop-punk status and the presence of Paramore’s Hayley Williams on ‘Castles Crumbling’ makes it a duet for the ages, their voices gorgeously intertwining as they wrestle with the fear that the cheers may one day turn to jeers.

Everywhere, you’ll find foreshadowing of Swift’s supremely versatile future: the astute third-person observation of ‘When Emma Falls in Love’; the folk(lore)y mannerisms of ‘Timeless’; the edgy guitars/saucy lyrics combo of ‘I Can See You’.

Her current tour has made Swift a bigger star than ever but, 13 years on, ‘Speak Now’ remains the foundation stone that her songwriting empire was built upon.

It was, as the main album’s closer ‘Long Live’ notes, “The end of a decade/But the start of an age”. And even if things have changed a little since your last visit, this Swift era is still guaranteed to give you the time of your life, whatever dragons you may be fighting these days.

[opossumjournal]

Sirius's escape from Azkaban

Wanted to post something a little more put together, as the Mullet drabble is clearly a work in progress.

Sirius broke out of prison to get revenge on Peter and not to raise Harry because, by the time he had figured out how to break out, he had decided that he was too broken of a man to raise Harry. That, paired with the insanity from the Dementors and the guilt for not being a better friend, channels into James and Lily's voices, yelling at Sirius. Only when he started listening, they were yelling about getting his head out of his ass. But what they didn't know, because he had betrayed the trust they put in him by choosing a rat and now they were dead, was that Sirius has always known that there's an intense, dark, black side to him. Hence, he knew that no matter how broken he was, he could at least still get revenge on Peter. A tiny part of him hoped that once he was away from the dementor's influence, maybe he could fix himself up or at least be good enough so that he could not raise Harry but be Harry's life.

Sirius's Plan: 

Gets the paper for the crosswords (he was trying his damnedest to be a normal fucking person, and by Jove, it worked)

Test the theory about dogs being less affected by the dementors up close and personal, which meant antagonizing them and seeing how much of his soul got sucked out as Padfoot.

Slip through the bars because, damn, is he starved

Daring escape scene where he hides from dementors and guards alike. Action movie style.

The shift change comes in on the boat as apparition can be hard when you've been using a lot of magic to sustain a patronus and have been around dementors for an extended period of time. Sirius recons they can have someone less tired apparate to land to get them a new boat. At least, that was the plan. Till he circled the island twice but couldn't find a sign of the bloody boat. He started swimming, had to avoid the incoming shift change, and eventually returned to land. Unfortunately for him, he is so fucking stoked to see land and just lies down and rejoices for a min and fucking breaths; he gets spotted by a watch guard who tries to chase Sirius down. Cursing himself for acting so foolishly, how could he get distracted by something so bloody stupid as land at a time like this? He managed to give the guard the slip in a nearby wood, shifted, and made his true escape to anywhere but there.

Suddenly there is a niggle of not being quite as alone, of feeling seen, understood, and of knowing that she was alive. Following the pull kept Sirius going through the night and well into the morning when he collapsed from exhaustion as Padfoot tried to keep away from any Aurors, cops, or animal control while also needing to be with her again. (Hermione is reading the breaking edition of Daily Prophet, which is alerting the wizarding world to his escape and having some pulls of her own.) Once he wakes, the pull is gone, other than a few faint flickers here and there less and less often throughout the day. He knew he wasn't crazy all those years ago when she was gone, but he could still feel her. He knew she was still with him now. Now, Sirius just had to find the rat who caused his life to go to utter and complete shite rather than just run-of-the-mill poopy, turn him into Moody, the only one Sirius has a chance of convincing, clear his name, and get his girl, his pup, and his last remaining best friend back together and under one roof.

When the bond stops flickering and goes back to a steady low buzz in the back of his brain, Sirius is finally able to get his wits about him enough to figure out where he is. His brain still isn't too good at keeping focus, like a moth to flame, drawn to what feels good. And the bond activating feels so good it blocks everything else out. He remembers running through a forest for a while and then through some fields. He's currently curled in an alleyway on top of crushed, soggy boxes. Deciding he was awake enough to stop suffering the piss smell that seemed to overwhelm every alleyway in Britain, he got up, had a stretch, shook himself off, feeling his skin shake away from his bones like the dog he had been for so long, not enough fat or muscle to hold it all in place, and promises to nick himself a sausage roll, and went to have a look at where he ended up. It seemed he was on the edge of a city and suburbia; up the hill seemed to be row housing broken up by trendy shops, and down the hill and round the bend, the city seemed to be picking up a bit more, with a large graffiti piece about some bloke who wasn't a fan of Tescos across the street from him, which was a grocery shop if he remembered rightly. He assumed it was a happy memory as it was hidden behind a cloud of fog and cold in his mind. 

Not seeing a lot of dogs about, he aimed away from the city he wanted to see more of; any place that lets you draw on the walls has to be worth visiting, as a human. He chose the residential area, hoping to find a park to steal a bit of a picnic or get a snack from a child in the mood to share with a big but sweet dog. Sirius spends the day not having a ton of luck and eventually finds himself at Magnolia Crescent after having to hide in some bushes after legging it when some bloke looking related to a walrus tried to shoo him out of the neighbourhood; he did not just escape Azkaban to get bossed around by some fat, balding, middle-aged, moustache clearly compensating, git. Sirius finds a nice secluded area between a garage and a fence and naps. Sirius wakes with a bang, seeing some kid loosing his shit on his trunk till he regains a moment of composure. Wait, trunk? Sirius walks out of the shadows to get a better look at this magical kid and sees a mini James. Sirius internally is losing his shit, but externally is frozen. Mini James notices him and raises his wand and Sirius can't help it, he lets out the smallest of warning growls, demanding the demons playing tricks on him leave, till mini James calls the knight bus, and Sirius takes off running to Hogwarts.

[nessie-gun]

Fic Masterpost

Hello all,

I have decided to link my fics to a masterpost here. I intend to try to write more and post more on Tumblr, so I'll update it as I go.

Fair warning - I might write for ships you don't like. Please feel free to block the tags or block me. Either way, no hard feelings.

Rated T:

Betrayal: Oneshot (Now Out of Date With New Lore)

Ships: Loba/Revenant

Summary: Kairi's been acting skittish, and Loba knows just who to ask about it.

Commonality: Oneshot

Ships: Loba/Revenant

Summary: Loba realizes she has more in common with Revenant than she cares to admit.

In The Cards: Oneshot | Collab with @the-mechanica

Ships: Catalyst/Revenant

Summary: Catalyst ends up reading the simulacrum his cards.

Life & Death at the Burning Edge!: Oneshot | Collab with @the-mechanica

Ship: Loba & Revenant.

Summary: Loba takes her revenge on Revenant for sending her a creepy Halloween text. (Collab with @the-mechanica)

Rated E:

Chase: Oneshot

Ships: Loba/Bloodhound

Summary: Tracking gets Bloodhound's blood hot. Their prey? The she-wolf herself, Loba Andrade.

Five's an Uprising | Oneshot

Ships: Loba/Revenant

If two's company, and three's a crowd... what does that make five? - Revenant wants to thank Loba for all she's done for him. After all, what's ultimate power if you can't have a bit of fun with it?

From the Ashes : Multichapter | Sequel to MAD

Ships: Loba/Revenant, Loba/Bloodhound, Catalyst/Revenant, Bloodhound/Fuse.

Two old contenders reenter the Games, and in doing so, reveal a sinister plot.

Like a Moth to a Flame: Oneshot

Ships: Loba/Revenant

Summary: After breaking up with Kairi, Loba tries dating again. Her only problem? Revenant loves crashing her dates. It could be worse. He has his uses, after all.

Mutually Assured Destruction: Multichapter

Ships: Loba/Revenant, Fuse/Bloodhound, Kairi/Loba, Loba/Bloodhound.

Summary: Loba's obsessed with torment. Revenant's obsessed with revenge. This brand of obsession has a tendency to evolve - to warp into something new. Something malicious. Something *wrong*. Obsession has consequences... for everyone.

No Time for Regret: Multichapter | Collab with @the-mechanica

Ships: Loba/Revenant

Summary: Loba never considered herself one to not think things through. Which is why, when given the opportunity to go back in time to be the one who kills Kaleb Cross, she took it. Now, when faced with the actual hitman, she may have to consider otherwise.

Only You: Oneshot | Collab with @the-mechanica

Ships: Loba/Revenant

Summary: After stealing her fan during a match, Revenant comes to Loba with proposition. Part 4 of The Hollow series

Osculum Obscenum: Oneshot

Ships: Catalyst/Revenant.

Summary: Kairi tries her luck with Tressa. Tressa has other interests.

Out of My Head: Oneshot | Collab with @the-mechanica

Ships: Loba/Revenant

Summary: After catching Kairi in a lie, Loba takes herself dancing. Part 5 of The Hollow series

Quickie in the Thick of It: Oneshot

Ships: Fuse/Bloodhound, Loba/Bloodhound.

Summary: Stormpoint is immense. Sometimes, it takes an entire game before Hound sees a living soul. Luckily for them, the distance means that they can have a bit of fun.

Returning the Favor: Oneshot | Related to Quickie

Ships: Fuse/Bloodhound/Loba

Summary: Loba, Bloodhound, and Walter get a little cozy after a match on Stormpoint.

The Wolf, the Witch, and the Demonio: Oneshot | Sequel to Osculum Obscenum

Ships: Loba/Catalyst, Catalyst/Revenant, Loba/Catalyst/Revenant.

Summary: Tressa piques Loba's interest, and receives an interesting proposition from her lover in response.

"Trouble in Paradise": Oneshot | Collab with @the-mechanica

Ships: Loba/Revenant

Summary: Kairi bears witness to her girlfriend feuding with her own personal demon. Part 3 of The Hollow series

DNI border by @cafekitsune

[youareinlove]

i have thoughts about speak now (taylor's version)

this is not even all of them lmao but i can't think rn so here

mine: my perfect sweet angel beautiful perfect baby. nothing can ever compete sorry. i will fight for mine i will kill for mine i will die for mine and the re-recording did not disappoint

sparks fly: remember when i thought "lead me up the staircase" was the horniest thing 19 year old taylor wrote

back to december: the little twinkling instrumentals 🥹 i love the tiny little instrumental changes that come with the re-recordings. sometimes they miss but sometimes they hit and this HIT

speak now: "you wish it was me, dont you (HAHA)" was what sold me on this album re-recording ngl. it was just the moment i knew that this would be a good one

dear john: my jaw physically dropped when i heard her vocals. she just brought the energy with this one and it is very hurtful. but also i'm very proud of her

mean: and a LIAR 😏 and pathetic 👏 and alone in life 😤 and mean 😡 and mean 😡 and mean 😡 and mean😡 and-

the story of us: this was the first song on this album that i thought was BETTER than the original. like the others were just as good, but the story of us ate and left no crumbs

never grow up: we could unpack all of that OR- or, we could choose not to. and i think ik what im going to do :D (it was better than the original)

enchanted: i hope that wherever adam young is, the sun shines and it's a beautiful day

better than revenge: ok so the lyric change is what i know everyone's on about but like its a really good lyric. i'll miss the original but come on "he was a moth to the flame she was holding the matches" that's so funny. better than revenge already paints the guy as like, a trophy that gets passed around. now he's literally a hapless bug this is so unserious in the best way

haunted: once again better than the og. she just really delivered with the vocals and the emotional performance, and i almost feel like this moves haunted up in my ranking (almost)

last kiss: i hear the shaky breath idk what you guys are on about. maybe i'm the one who's wrong and i just hear it from force of habit but its really good anyway??? like it's probably her most emotionally delivered song in the original, so i was nervous about this one. but i really like it and i actually had to check while listening to it for the first time to make sure i wasn't streaming the stolen version.

long live: this song still makes me so emotional and its just like. we did point to the pictures. and we do tell them her name. and she's still here and shining! fate did not force us into a goodbye! ughhhhhhhh (also its heartbreaking with the added context of castles crumbling but that's for another day)

ours: i always loved ours so i hope you guys give it the love it deserves this time sry

superman: i also really liked superman and like haunted, this was a song she just EMOTED on like crazy. ate and left no crumbs AGAIN and it was a great finishing point for the non-vault songs

thoughts on vault tracks are in a seperate post bc i have too many

[sleepdeprived-feelalived]

Okay I know better than revenge tv is a little controversial but hear me out. I low key love moth to a flame. Like, dude. That’s so fucking poetic.

Because to me it’s not her trying to be a feminist (although nothing wrong with it if she is). It’s her going from that young artist who was wonderstruck to the woman who gave us champagne problems and the folklore love triangle and mastermind and all too well tmv.

She grew up and she realized that yeah, maybe this girl fucked her over but do you know what else? He still went with her. So screw them both, maybe this wonderfully petty song deserves a lyric change now that I’m older and I have more clarity.

I think the mattress lyrics were fucking amazing, don’t get me wrong. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve screamed the original I would be freaking rich. But maybe this is a change for the better. Maybe instead of saying “this girl was a slut and it’s all her fault” it’s time to say “this girl was a slut but like slay bitch you go”

[casspurrjoybell-26]

💖Sweet Revenge💖 - Chapter 7

*Warning Adult Content*

Aaron Keene

Kate is just locking up when I get back from my visit to Blake's shop.

I keep my face carefully blank as she interrogates me about him and the new store.

It's been a busy day and we haven't had a chance to talk much since I got back from driving into Felton.

"Well?" she demands, flipping her perfect hair over one shoulder.

"Is he single?"

"I hope so," I say, given that he just tried to kiss me and asked me out.

"So, which one of us has a chance... me or you?"

"Me," I say at last.

"He asked me out."

Kate lets out a squeal that could shatter glass.

"Christ, Kate," I turn to glare at her.

"Could you not do that?"

"Well, aren't you excited? He's hot right?"

I resume my cleaning.

"Yeah, he is," I admit.

Blake is just as magnetic as he was ten years ago.

He's the flame to my moth but I'm not in any danger this time.

My wings are already burned off.

"So why aren't you happy that he's into you?" Kate complains.

"Don't you want to find someone special? You gotta put yourself out there sometime and take a risk."

She's had a string of bad romances herself but as far as I can tell it's usually the other half of the equation that comes out the worse for wear.

She goes through guys like fashion trends.

As I consider my answer, I realize I don't actually have one.

The Blake I got to know today is just as charming and handsome as the Blake I crushed on in high school but beyond that, I don't really know how the two compare because if I'm honest with myself, I knew Blake in high school about as well as I knew my favorite pop idol.

I was a stargazer and he a star... I looked at him and yearned to know more but he was as unreachable as a distant sun.

Now it seems like he's set his sights on me and I feel a little like a gazelle who looks up to realize he's been picked out of the herd.

He's suddenly too close, too dangerous and too interested in me for my own good.

"How about this, Kate," I say.

"I'll tell you after I have dinner with him this weekend, if..."

I hold up a hand quickly to cut her off...

"If you promise not to scream in the store."

She nods, eyes wide and makes a zipping motion across her mouth.

Then she mimes a silent shriek and hugs me while hopping up and down.

At least one of us is excited I have a date.

~♡~

I live in a tiny apartment above the shop.

After I strip out of my work clothes and shower, I sit on the narrow twin bed and stare at my collection of books that line the opposite wall.

About half of them are books about chocolate and candy-making and old textbooks from culinary school.

The rest are my portfolios... the records of my creations, my triumphs and failures.

Then there's the notebook.

I keep it in a special glass case I found at an antique store.

It's just an old cloth-bound journal, really but it's my most prized possession.

It contains my Grandma's original recipes.

Fudge, brittle, toffee, truffles, taffy... she made it all.

It was her passion and when I expressed an interest in learning, she shared it with me without hesitation.

She didn't care that my Dad thought it was wrong for a boy to want to cook... much less make candy... and for every discouraging word he threw my way, she had ten kind and supportive ones to take its place.

Which is why, when I decided I wanted to make something for Blake to thank him for saving me on the field that day, I asked her for help.

As I stare at the notebook and the fading daylight gradually drains from my little room, the memories come back to me like birds returning to roost and settle in the waiting bareness of my winter heart.

~♡~

It's P.E. class again, two weeks after the incident with the inhaler and I'm sitting on the bottom row of bleachers.

My dad finally signed the letter excusing me from running after I had to refill my asthma medication for the second time in a month.

Insurance only covered one in a thirty-day period and apparently forcing me into his mold of masculinity wasn't worth the expense.

So I get to sit it out and watch everyone else suffer.

Turns out it's not that entertaining, so I watch Blake instead.

He's training with his team and I've lost track of how many miles they've done by the time they come over to stretch and cool down.

He sees me and waves.

"Hey, Wheezer. How's it hangin'?"

I feel heat bloom over my face and curse my complexion.

"F-f-fine," I reply.

Some of his teammates are watching and I see them snicker.

He shoots me a wink and I wonder if I'm developing some sort of heart condition because it misses about four beats.

Then he goes back to stretching. I'd like to sink into the earth and disappear but I've been steeling myself for this moment for two weeks and this is my chance.

"Uh... hey."

He looks up.

"Whatcherfavertcandy?"

He squints.

"Sorry?"

"Um..." I take a breath and try again.

"What's your favorite candy?"

"Oh... I dunno. Chocolate, I guess," he says, shrugging.

"Why?"

I'm sweating now as well as blushing, and probably about a half a degree from spontaneous combustion but for some stupid reason, I go on.

"I w-wanted to get you... I mean, y-your team... something... to say thanks."

"You don't have to do that," he laughs.

"But yeah, chocolate. That's my favorite."

He smiles and I feel as breathless as if I'd run the mile after all.

"Okay then."

I go to gather my stuff but my backpack is still unzipped and when I lift it half the contents spill out.

I scramble to pick it all up but Blake comes over and kneels down to help.

He hands me a stack of books and my blood freezes when I see the one on top. It's Nina's latest favorite... a volume from the series about the tennis players and there's no mistaking what they're doing on the cover.

I look up and see that Blake's cheeks are tinged pink.

"Um, here," he hands me the books and stands, not looking at me.

I whisper my thanks to his shoes and then he's gone.

I stuff the books in my pack and zip it shut and then I wait.

I wait for the ridicule and the laughter, the taunts and insults but they don't come.

Finally daring to look up, I see Blake chatting with his teammates and none of them are sparing me so much as a glance.

It sounds like they're discussing training times.

Blake casts a glance over his shoulder at me as I get to my feet and gives me another heart-stopping wink.

We have a secret now, I realize.

He knows something that sets me apart, that makes me different and that divides me from a lot of this school and this town and it seems like maybe we're on the same side of that divide.

Later, when I tell my Nana about him, she recommends fudge.

We've made it together more times than I can count and I've got the recipe almost memorized but not quite.

Unfortunately, she's going on vacation for the next week and a half and won't have time to help me make it.

So she lends me her notebook of recipes because, as she tells me, I've got a gift and anyone I choose to share it with is lucky and most of all because she trusts me to keep it safe.

[celticbarb]

#BookReview #newbookrelease #entangledpublishing #historicalbookreviews #Scottishhighlands #BookBirthday

Book:A Highland Rogue To Ruin

Author:E. Elizabeth Watson

Publisher: Entangled

Release Date: August 21, 2023

ASIN: B0CBHB6BST

Book Length: 288 Pages

Overall Rating: 5/5 Stars

Blog Rating: 5/5 Saltire Flags

Lughnasadh is a feast for the start of the Harvest season on August 1st. It has music, food, drink, games, trading, storytelling, horse riding, athletic contests, and (trial marriages) handfasting. It is observed by the Irish, Scottish and Pagans.

Scottish Highlands, 1547

In this story it centers around Tormund MacLeod and Brighde MacDonald and their forbidden love for each other. It also is not the first time a MacLeod and a MacDonald have crossed enemy lines where they fall deeply and madly in love with each other. As most know these two clans have been enemies for over a century! However Tormund’s brother Owen and Brighde’s sister Marjorie who had previously been married are now both dead! Family members of both clans are blaming each other and both Marjorie’s brother James ( Jamie) and Tormund want to destroy each other!

On top of that Jamie is an overprotective brother and has not allowed his beautiful sister out of the castle until the Lughnasadh feast because it is a masked festival. Lady Brighde MacDonald has been living a cloistered life since their sister’s tragedy, but Brighde is paying the price and is furious how her brother rejects every suitor that comes her way as she is sick and tired over her brother’s over protective ways. Finally she convinces her (warden) brother to allow her out of (her cell) the castle and attend the Lughnasadh; it is a masked event and no one will see her beautiful face. Now she is feeling very rebellious needing to have a little freedom and perhaps a little romance! Plus it could very well be the last time she might have this opportunity of freedom, so she plans to enjoy it to the fullest degree!

On this special night a masked woman and masked man meet not realizing they are enemies as they are masked members of Clans MacDonald and a MacLeod. What they don’t realize is he is the Demon of the Seas, Laird Tormund MacLeod and she is the sister of the Laird James MacDonald. Except neither realizes it and they are like a moth to a flame but will one of them get burned? The attraction can not be helped and one thing leads another as Lady Brighde has decided this is the night she wants to be rebellious and be with a man for the very first time as she might never get the chance again. Except will their night of passion might start war as the man she had just been with is the man who wants to kill her brother! Have they both just started a clan war?

Tormund and James are filled with so much hate and grief they don’t see the big picture and are wrong about what they assume happened to their loved ones. Will they ever stop and smell the roses and discover the truth about these murders? Shall their prejudices, stubbornness, and pride ruin any type of alliance between these two powerful clans? Can Tormund’s love for Brighde save them both or will the end result end in tragedy like Romeo and Juliet or like their siblings? Can this revenge and murder be avoided and truce be accomplished? Read and find out in this phenomenal read!

This is a fictional love story between Tormund MacLeod (Demon of the Seas) and Brighde MacDonald by E. Elizabeth Watson. Some might compare this story to Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. .The difference is part of this story is very true in Scottish history, as the feud between Clans MacLeod and MacDonald lasted over a century! It was for a host of different reasons, but known as one of the bloodiest in the history of Scotland’s clan wars.

I love when authors weave true history with an awe-inspiring fictional love story. Watson just blew me away with this incredible story that is absolutely riveting. It is definitely a story not to be missed. I look forward to Ms. Watson’s next Scottish historical novel, as I found this book to be absolutely mesmerizing, a true Highland masterpiece!

Disclaimer:I received this advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily,

[bi-leth-eisner]

it has been a while since I was last Emotional over Dimitri. tonight, on an overslept and sleepy brain, I’m gonna try my best to articulate why I love him so much.

academy

he speaks so formally! it’s cute. “Crown Prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus,” and “it’s just...I’ve never seen you look so happy before. it’s downright mesmerizing.” are lines I often think about even with my burnout wanting to think otherwise.

him wanting to accept everyone for who they are, not who he wants them to be.

when he cracks in Remire, showing what he’s actually thinking for but a brief moment, almost echoing the words of his father during his final moments. a nice break from the princely accent, and a glimpse of what’s to come.

his lack of sleep and the cause of his headaches implied to be because he was praying to the Goddess late at night, even though it doesn’t work for him, because he knows it works for others. he’s just trying to find peace, if only for a moment.

the Flame Emperor reveal... to find out his only remaining family member is working with his sworn enemies: the people who were behind the murder of his father and closest friends, that she benefit from it, that he knew who it was when he saw the dagger he gave her drop. he probably didn’t want it to be true, and it was probably eating away at him. to find out that it really IS true after a few months of hoping it wasn’t... his breaking point, it’s a little tragic.

war: pre-Gronder

oh boy.

his eyebags, his pure anger, his stature... there’s so much I love about this.

his formal talk is gone. now his tone is harsh, and rather violent, and he refuses to even talk during an entire month.

his reunion is not sweet, but rather rude. he’s been in the slums for five years, thinks his vassal died to protect him, and the only other people he’s encountered were probably only there to kill him. he doesn’t even think Byleth is alive. does he even take Byleth’s hand to get him up up off the floor? or does he get up himself? when they tell him that everything will be OK, he believes them an Imperial spy sent there to kill him, because again, that’s probably all the human interaction he’s had for the past five years. isolation does numbers on people. “I’m glad you’re safe.” ...“Am I?”

how his expressions are usually blank until he’s angry, face contorted in a terrifying way that tells you to run the other way... until he’s sad, when he looks so drained, so beaten, so done with everything... until he’s smiling. nowhere near happy. the twisted look his lips form is almost mocking, why would he smile if he weren’t feeling joy? it’s so clearly unfitting for the way he looks...

“i miss the Dimitri i once knew.” “the Dimitri you once knew is DEAD.”

how he gradually gets a little less angry as the moths pass, but you can tell he’s not going to get that much better any time soon.

war: Gronder

“Kill every last one of them!” and so we fight on.

war: post-Gronder

Live for what you believe in.

fighting for his people even though he doesn’t feel worthy of their praise (heck, even worthy of anything positive), because he turned his back on them! never mind becoming some sort of a folk hero for slaughtering Imperial troops during his absence. he ran from an execution, left his home for five years, and yet when he stood there at Fhirdiad to see everyone celebrating his return, like they never abandoned him... he’s their prince, their king. he’s back. and he doesn’t think he deserves any of it. “bloodstained as I am... am I fit to be king?”

he hates himself. thinks he’s only alive to atone for his sins and to get revenge for those who cannot. he fully expected to die on his quest for vengeance. and now he’s here, with his people fully on his side, with his friends well and as happy as one can be during a war, he’s alive. he’s breathing. he’s making it day by day to protect those he cares about.

him wanting to accept El even when he knows she’s more likely to swim in the deep ocean than to stop her progress. instead of seeing her and immediately readying a weapon, he sees her and offers his hand out to her. a world where he isn’t the only one left in his family would be nice... if Byleth weren’t accompanying him at the Imperial Palace, he probably would run to El’s body and mourned her.

one of his driving motivations being appeasing the dead, without getting into personal territory, is very relatable. something drew me to him when i first got the game, and by Sothis am i glad it did. he’s helped me cope thanks to his story and helped me realize a lot about myself.

Dimitri fire emblem makes me Emotional.