#it's not even everything but whatever she's a weird woman and it's not crucial

[rescuefield-arch1]

spicy hcs because any day is sunday if you're not a coward

claire always complains about how she basically gets babied on the field, but in bed? absolutely loves it. give her orders guidance, decide for her which toys to use and outfit to wear if there's one involved. basically she will allow being told what to do in the bedroom, but in the office her partner better know their place

she's okay with giving away control once agreed on a safeword, however post sejm she definitely taps more into her dominant side. she likes having control, but more than that it gets her going that her partner trusts her that much

loves her toys. she's got dildos of all lengths and girths, vibrators for clits or even the ones you put inside and are controlled bluetooth and whatnot. depending on how much she trusts her partner, claire will even be okay with wearing it while being in public. silk is more preferred than actual handcuffs or rope, but at the same time she's willing to roleplay being arrested ( she's a loser with a liking for uniforms unfortunately )

during threesomes she'll always suggest her partners ( if penis having ) to take her from each side, making her center of attention and promising it will be worth ( which of course is ). however if having sex with one person claire will suggest using butt plugs, because she loves feeling full

she's into pegging and if asked she will peg her partners and give them the best time. if they're comfortable, she will even suggest doing it herself. expect her to be a little rougher than her usual personality, but aftercare will always be a must. she gives the best cuddles and will even clean her partner in whatever way they prefer

one of the first things that will come up upon talking sex with claire is that on the free days she'll get to spend with her partner there are three options in regards of her dressing code. most times it involves walking around the house with nothing but her partner shirt / hoodie / jacket / whatever. no underwear unless requested, and they'll be able to fuck her whenever wherever around the house. surprise her

she's really into cockwarming. give her anything to sit on and ride while doing other stuff and she will be happy. not against dry humping whether clothed or naked. she gets wet fast and a copious amount

claire has an iud but will only have unprotected sex with long term partners, for one night stands it's mandatory any type of condom. when her partner is close to cum, she will shamelessly wrap herself closer and beg them to release inside her. it's not really a kink but more like she loves the vulnerability that comes with it from both sides. after sejm she had to get her implant removed due to hormonal imbalances related with t-p, so in some instances it's been a bit of a trouble

loves being praised, loves being dirty talked. a mix of both will send her to heaven. doesn't like anything degrading however, it's a huge turn off

loves to be woken up with head in the morning, and if talked about it the night before she might even agree to being fucked awake

as mentioned before, she has a bit of an oral fixation. she loves anything boobs, and will cuddle close to her partner to finger them and suck on their nipples if it's something they're into. as for her, stick a titty in their mouth and claire will be the happiest woman - suck, nibble, grope, anything goes and along inner thighs it's her designated hickeys place. she likes to suck on her partner's fingers, whether it's their cum, her, or something unrelated like idk food

[the-lark-ascending69]

How would Robin's coming out to Dustin would be like?

Omg my first anon ajsnsndjs hii

That's a very interesting question. I imagine he'd be the party member that's closest to Robin given everything that happened in S3, so he'd be the one she trusts most and the first one to know. Even if she knew Will was gay, I think she'd still want to tell Dustin first.

Though "want to tell" may not be the correct phrase. I don't think Robin wants to tell anyone, period. She only told Steve that quickly because she was under the influence of drugs, and I'm sure his positive reaction made her feel a lot safer, like she could actually pursue a girl and tell people about it. But even then, I think she can't help but assume everyone could be an enemy until proven wrong. That'a just how things were. Steve was the exception, not the rule, and she doesn't expect anyone in her social circle to accept her. Before telling Steve, she said it herself - if he knew her he wouldn't want to be her friend.

So I think she wouldn't come out to Dustin unless she really had to. Maybe he thinks she's trying to solve something on her own when she shouldn't because she keeps disappearing to be with an unidentified individual. Maybe Steve got a girlfriend and Dustin thinks he's cheating on her with Robin. Maybe she's being taunted by Vecna about her homosexuality and Dustin insists it's crucial that look out for each other and stop hiding. It's not empowering or glamorous or dignified and it doesn't reafirm her agency in any way. Robin coming out to anyone at this point isn't going to be pretty. But Dustin is rambling and coming up with all of these hypotheses on what could be wrong with Robin, to the point Robin realizes it's gonna be better to just tell the truth. She grabs him by the shoulders and stops him and and tells him look, whatever you're thinking about, it's not that, and it just seems so ridiculously stupid compared to everything that's going on. I mean, just look at Max. She's the one you should worry about, not my stupid, useless feelings. She tries to convince him that it's something personal and that he shouldn't worry about it, but Dustin insists that Max's mourning was also personal, until it became a gate for an evil wizard who wants to destroy thr world. Then Robin tells him she doesn't want to talk about it. Dustin tells her that's what started everything with Max. Robin tells him she's not Max, and that Steve knows anyway, so she's not alone. She can handle it. Then Dustin just feels offended that hairspray head Steve knows something he doesn't when he is the brains of the operation. You are the brains of the operation? Robin asks, trying to change the subject, but Dustin insists that she's not alone, and that whatever it is, this is what friends are for. He honor promises on Suzie that he won't tell anyone. He wouldn't insist so much if he didn't knew doing this almost killed Max last year. He's a traumatized 15yo looking out for his friends and Robin knows that. Between you and me, Dustin is her favorite. He's the only boy in the party with half a brain, at least. And she thinks it's funny when he bullies Steve. He's a toddler in her eyes but he's her friend, and she never had many friends growing up. Now se has like, three and a half.

If I tell you, you won't want to see me anymore, she tells him.

What are you talking about? I put up with Steve every day. It can't be worse than that, he says.

Believe me, it's worse, she says.

Whatever it is, you're part of our party now. No soldier is left behind.

So... she tells him. About Tammy Thompson and Vickie and maybe even about Nancy, and how she told Steve and how scared she was all her life. How she knows it doesn't seem normal to most people. Maybe she let herself be convinced that it actually is. She feels like a freak sometimes. And that's it. That's the reason she was acting weird. She wasn't kidnapped and replaced by interdimensional aliens. She's just in love with a woman.

Dustin is, admitely, a little shocked. It never crossed his mind that that might be the reason. He just wasn't expecting it, and he stays silent for a minute. Probably the longest minute in Robin's life.

And then he tells her that's okay. Yeah, yeah, it's not that weird. He plays DnD and he doesn't have collarbones, so he's not going to be judging anyone anytime soon. Plus, he likes girls too, so he can at least relate to that. He knows Mike thinks Will doesn't like girls, and Will is always going to be his friend no matter what, so there's no reason it'd be different with Robin. He hugs her real tight actually, and tells her the party is there for her. No one has to be alone.

Robin actually tears up a little when Dustin isn't looking. She feels incredibly lucky, and she can tell papa Harrington raised his kids right. Maybe things aren't as grim as they looked. Maybe Dustin is right, and she doesn't need to be alone. Maybe she finally found her people.

[morethanmonotonous]

Coming and Going 26.8.24

Saying goodbye to people is making this feel really real. Like, not ‘having your visa back’ really real (which I fucking hope to god comes tomorrow), but real. Standing out the front of the place in Marrickville hugging Keira while we sobbed into each other, her telling me how proud she is of me, and how excited she is for me to live my dream is something that every little sister could dream of hearing from her big sister. The profound, soul moving hug between Celia and I was so powerful and something that anyone would be so fortunate to experience, to know you’ve met your friend soul mate out of all of the billions of people on earth. How lucky you are to have people unconditionally supportive and who will always put in the effort to feel involved in your life and in your corner through literally anything. 

Seeing so many people on Saturday night at our farewell was the most beautiful experience and one I count my lucky stars to have, even at the ripe age of 31 (I know I’ll read back on this as humorous because it’s pretty young and to be honest - I do see myself as quite young still so don’t worry!). To have over 20 people who love and care for you is a magical thing but what is more than the number of people there is the volume of pure love radiating in all directions, between them, to me, from me, and I can’t quite believe that little Jade as a child grew into the kind of “woman” who goes to the pub with her husband and has so many people who love her and are going to miss her when she moves to New York to live her literal dream. 

It’s still so surreal and I know this is a common theme in my writing at the moment but being able to process the big change we are about to make is really difficult, even surprisingly so when we have had what feels like 10 farewells (like John Farnham) and have been away for 6 months 2 x in a row recently and pretty much gone most of the last 

2 and a half years. I am familiar with the ‘leaving’ part, but it’s the ‘arriving and making a life’ bit that’s crazy. The gigs we can go to, the domestic travel to middle of nowhere towns, the visiting the Caribbean, Canada, fuck knows where else that’s close to NYC, the getting into weird sports and seeing stuff like monster trucks and Nascar and Ice Hockey and random state fairs, the Halloween (or I guess ‘fall’ in general), huge theme parks, tattoo artists we can visit, sitting around the park with a joint and a book, going to a cool gym that’s not too far away from home, having snacks in the house that I can just eat and know what food I have available around, an office to go to and have weird and awkward conversations with colleagues, but then also awesome juicy, supportive ones that blossom into friendships, seeing the same people around at gigs, finding bars or clubs or whatever the night life looks like there (are pubs as much of a thing?), learning all kinds of weird shit about consumers and retailers and brands, feeling foreign as hell and how funny that’s going to be. 

I fucking hope I like it, or if I don’t like it, that it’s a really cool and interesting and exciting story that I can tell afterwards. I am still in the camp of thinking that life really is just about collecting cool stories with cool people so I hope I can continue that and even if my general outlook on life shifts at some point, that I’m fucking stoked with how it all turns out. 

It’s so hard not being able to be in multiple places at a time. That of all of the interrogative words, the “where” is so crucial in my existence. That, and “when” when it comes to time zones and phone calls. I am so deeply sad about the time I am going to miss with my nieces and parents in particular, that every time I see them they are older and that’s completely irreconcilable with the reality I want to live with everything that I am. I am so devastated that to do what my soul tells me I want to do that I have to give up so much. It’s not fair that I don’t just want a normal life in the suburbs near where I grew up with all of the familiarity but at the same time I am so grateful that I am the kind of person who does the thing and seeks the great perhaps. But two things can be true at once and it’s okay I feel the painful lows as well as the drunkening highs of this experience because I genuinely think these moments are the reason for everything, the dizzying feelings in the spectrum of emotions that as a human who is alive. How fucking cool is the opportunity to do something so scary and huge as a grown up. 

I do think that the car accident, compounded with Tim dying really changed it all for me. I think it was a stark and profound example of why we need to do crazy shit and really enjoy life - it’s all temporary. Like so many emo songs talk about, it’s all a bunch of fleeting moments in life and if you’re not actually really really happy, you need to change things. Take chances, find home, take these huge leaps. As Keira said this morning, I really feel like I am strapped into a roller coaster and the floor has dropped out and I am about to go on this huge ride and it’s scary but I’m full of all of this anticipation and excitement and nerves. So many extreme feeling all at once. I know it would be a lot more intense if I knew we were going on a particular date. 

[aprofessionalwithoutstandards]

This is honestly like a bigger site-wide problem that doesn't need to be restricted to this blog specifically BUT this is my biggest platform so ur getting it here: You people have GOT to stop acting like "babygirlifying" a "man" character automatically makes them "more pathetic." You have got to stop acting like referring to a "male" character as a girl or as feminine or as gay or as "a little fruity" or whatever is automatically funny or automatically a joke. There's nothing funny about saying a character who "looks like a man", or even who is only ever presented "as a man" in the source, is a woman. Trans people are not automatically funny, gender-nonconforming people are not automatically funny, nonbinary/genderqueer/etc. people with "weird"/"fucked up" genders or presentations are not automatically funny. Sometimes people have actual, genuine trans headcanons that involve presenting a character as a different gender than the one they're presented as in the source. They are not joking about these headcanons. If someone refers to a character you think of as a man as a woman, you do not get to just call that character a man all over their post bc you assumed they were "joking"

And to like keep it on topic so all my tf2 followers will listen to me, we're terrible at this. "Scout is pathetic and therefore he is a twink" "Medic is big and strong and therefore depicting him doing anything cute or anything 'feminine' or 'gay' or whatever is wrong and it's just like yaoi and it's bad" and like, crucially to this post, everything I just talked about in regards to basically every transfeminine headcanon but especially as transfem Spy has gotten pretty popular. I have seen posts where op is VERY explicitly presenting Spy tf2 as a trans woman, and calls her "she", and calls her a woman, and gives her feminine clothes and makeup and the whole nine yards, and people are STILL in the notes literally, no joke no hyperbole, calling her "a man in a dress." That doesn't become okay because "I like men in dresses" or because "well that's not my headcanon" it's not your post! Respect other people's headcanons on their posts, ESPECIALLY ones like this. It's just such a blatant show of transmisogyny (everything I talked about in this post is) and like it's sooo prevalent on here. Honestly even if someone still draws Spy with stubble or with short or receding hair or in the same suit or literally just signs of aging, even if someone doesn't change a single Fucking thing abt the original design, if they are presenting her as a trans woman you need to be accepting of that

I loveeee love love transfem Spy hcs but like I literally cannot imagine posting any sort of art or writing about her idk how yall bear it. If I posted art of a character I was interpreting as a trans woman and all the notes were like "omggg I love this I love HIM. HE looks so WET AND PATHETIC isn't it so PATHETIC and FUNNY when MEN wear DRESSES" I'd fuckin kill somebody

[fitzrove]

Elisabeth hot takes

- Young Sisi/old Sisi split casting is a bad idea, going forward they just need to cast people who have the range to play both roles like they've done before. The Schönbrunn concert split was legit just done because people/the press were sexist and ageist about Pia Douwes earlier and it sucks. (No hate to Abla Alaoui tho, she was great in the 2022 show and I hope she'll get to play the entire role someday)

- Mark Seibert's Tod isn't straight,,,,, masculine queer men exist irl, yall just need to stop basing your interpretation of him on the 2022 concert/the 2013 boot with him and Anton Z because that Schatten is giving us nothing fjkgkfödlfösö. It's fine to prefer other Tods for how they look/act but that doesn't mean the buff one is heterosexual. The directors have done him so dirty in recent years

- I've seen some people go "ooh what if they split up der Tod so that he was played by an actress for the Rudolf scenes" which,,,,,, why?? I'm all for woman tod but the idea of ONLY having her for Rudolf scenes to add more heterosexuality into the show is weird. I say have a woman Tod for literally everything else but for Schatten and Mayerling it's inexplicably Mark Seibert to make Rudolf extra gay<3 why not sinking world as well, FJ gets to be gay too

- The woobification of Elisabeth musical Rudolf is so important because a lot of Rudolf/Mayerling adaptations seem to focus on how violent and dangerous he is (because of mental illness). A musical can never capture the entire nuance of an actual person anyway, so I think it's fair that at least one of the many adaptations portrays him in a completely sympathetic light - important for mental health representation. Doesn't mean the fandom is completely unaware of his historical crimes (murder, arson and graverobbing gkfdfodlså).

- Society has progressed past the need to comment "Tod X is much better" on vids/pics/posts focused on Tod Y, or even saying "Tod Y sucks" on vids/pics/posts celebrating Tod X, it's annoying and exhausting. Plus, the euromusical world is so small that on Youtube especially the actors might actually see it (Máté Kamarás has). I'm going to go to the guilty person's house if it happens to him again

- Rudolf shouldn't take the melody in the Schatten chorus in productions, there's a reason he sings the harmony in the original (he's being manipulated/Tod is stoking his obsessions and anxieties). Ofc it's more fun for the actor to sing the melody but they can do that in concerts XD EXCEPT Lander van Nuffelen can sing whatever he wants<333

- tod x rudolf is a good ship BECAUSE it's problematic 🥰

- Just because I ship Tod and Rudolf doesn't mean I want actual productions to do that. (Shipping is different than having "seduction" as a thematic element. Not that we're in much danger of that though lmao, the onstage romanticisation literally only happens with Tod and Sisi.) Humanizing der Tod too much (unless it's in a "he was an undomesticated panther but he's turning into a real boy<33" máté kamarás type character arc way or in a "he used to be cold and detached but is learning to have friends and feelings!!!" kaplyn way) takes away from the themes of the show, which to me (in productions) is much more important than ships. It's very rare to have a show be so deeply deconstructive (of historical figures, of "love story" conventions) and that needs to be treasured!!

- For this reason it's absolutely crucial that the show ends with Tod laying Elisabeth on the floor (and that he drops Rudolf after Mayerling)

[imaginationmess]

Sukuna Ryomen Knowing Another Cursed HCS

*reposted from my previous blog*

Ryomen Sukuna X Reader

Request: Can i request a sukuna x curse reader headcannon where you know each other since years ago?? You somehow just attach yourself to him and sukuna just lets you tag along? Then you meet again in present time. Bonus if you add the others reaction 😊 thank you!! ☺️☺️

Author Note: I am so sorry for the lateness. I wrote a lot got very involved in writing this headcanons. If you wish another part to this, I wouldn’t mind doing it just send in with idea of what could the second part be about.

Please excuse any grammar or spelling. I am going based on the anime.

Word Count: 900+

Past!

You were his second hand and lover all those years ago. 

In the beginning, you were such a pain in his ass since you were a newbie cursed spirit low-class grade learning everything about the universe. You were following him around like a child and praised him for being the best. 

But over time. You were quickly evolving stronger and stronger to the point that Sukuna on his toes. 

Two of you had respect for each other and worked in harmony.

Sukuna liked that you weren’t pushed over or followed his every order. You are willing to stand your ground even though he can eat off your head if he wanted to. 

You wanted to know his reasoning behind each of his orders. You preferred to know what you are getting yourself into.

He may act annoyed but he was truly intrigued with your behavior. 

You earn the title of his secondhand due to the sights of Sukuna and yourself being always together

The only time the two got separated which was rare already as it is 

You barely make it alive, but unable to feel his presence at all only meaning. He was either dead or sealed away. 

It only brought you to be consumed with pure hatred and pure anger taking out the remain sorcerers that fighting you. 

You did what you could do was run away but made sure to have your name out of any sorcerer’s mouths. 

Present time!

Sukuna could only hear and see whatever Yuuji was at. 

He only knows you might be around even centuries later and knew the  chance of you being alive are very high due to hearing the legend you made yourself. 

You make every sorcerer unable to speak your name without them either dying or crucially injured hours later from pronouncing your name. There is always someone who doesn’t believe the legend to only be shaken upon seeing your face on their near-death experience. 

They have to spend the first years on another death mission which includes a special grade. 

Another attempt to get rid of Sukuna Vessel, Yuuji Itadori while Gojo was on an overseas mission. 

Nobara was barely breathing on the ground due to poison invading her lungs. 

Megumi was bare managing on focusing to keep his shikigami from disappearing. 

Yuuji was the only one who hasn’t been affected by the deadly poison, however, has physical wounds throughout his body. It was clear that the cursed spirit was intelligent seeing he wasn’t affected by their cursed technique.

Yuuji accidentally did say your name out loud prior to the mission and forgot about the curse of saying their name. He was reading about her legend more in detail provided by his teacher. He wanted to know more about them since he felt Sukuna acting weird since Sukuna doesn’t want to answer his questions. 

The moment when Yuuji’s head was about to be cut off, his own shadow shoot up sink he surprising him sinking onto the ground before his shadow moved to only spit him out to see he was now beside Megumi and Nobara. 

He could feel the energy has changed and the pressure of the new presence cursed spirit who was way stronger than all the spirits that they have encountered. Sukuna was now demanding to switch due to feeling similar energy. 

“Hasn’t anyone told you to never fight children?” A soft gentle soothing voice, a beautiful woman was wearing professional clothing. 

With a snap of her fingers, shadows from all every direction attacked and sliced the cursed spirit who attempted to run away in pieces without hesitation

Yuuji was on defense on switching until he threatens his friend’s lives and his are gonna be dead. 

A kiss on his forehead startled him to feel a shock of energy running through his veins feeling all his wounds closing up and bruises disappearing. 

“You consider yourself very lucky that you are students of the famous Gojo Satoru and Sukuna Vessel.”

Yuuji was very unease about how calm she was and had a killing intention a moment ago.

“Why?”

“Well one, you have my husband inside of you. Two, I owed your teacher a favor. Now its paid. You can tell them what you saw but Do not mention anything about me and Gojo even knowing each other. It’s the safety of your teacher and your safety.” You move your finger on saying each condition before moving to his injured friends.

A touch on the unconscious bodies on their forehead by your index finger and middle finger spending positive energy through them and taking the poison from their lungs. Both students woke up and coughing their lungs out to be split out the poison out of their lungs. 

“Get all that poison out of from lungs, you guys should be okay now.” You loudly said while walking away. 

You were about to sink into your own shadow, until Sukuna’s mouth appeared on Yuuji’s mouth calling you out. You didn’t even look eye to eye with him.

“Spoiled Brat!”

You look back at Yuuji and stare deeply inside the barrier into Sukuna’s own eyes. 

“Yes, I am still kicking. Spoiled King of Curses! Bye for now.” 

With a wave and soft smile, you disappeared out of sight and leaving the three first years all healed and have the poison out of their lungs. 

“Please tell me I am hearing and seeing things. I didn’t hear and see the she-devil herself.”

 “Did she actually healed us?” Megumi and Nobara were bewildered by her actions. 

Thank you for reading!

Comments/Reactions are greatly appreciated!

MASTERLIST!

[acosfisfeysandpropaganda]

I’m Sorry I Have to Rant - I Can’t Stand Her Manipulative Writing & How She Ruined Nesta’s Character

*it’s long but maybe it will get ya thinking in a way you haven’t before*

I like Nesta because she was a very complex, interesting character I didn’t understand and I’ve never read anyone like her. I like how we slowly got to look into what was happening in her head and try to figure her out.

What pisses me off is I don’t think Nesta is the problem, I think how SJM wrote Nesta was the problems. I think SJM just loveess Feyre and loves to make her a "victim.” She writes Feyre like she is this angel gifted to earth and then always tries to make you feel sympathy for her and go “poor little feyre.”

I think SJM was just like do you know what?? I’m going to make her sisters awful to her in the beginning for no reason, and have then have her one sister create a weird bond with the other sister but not Feyre for no reason. I think this was done just to gain sympathy for Feyre and didn’t even bother to develop explanations for literally any of this behavior.

I think SJM still hasn’t been able to configuration a valid explanation that actually makes sense and doesn’t sound like bull shit. That’s why literally NO ONE in the book will actually say what has happened between Feyre and Nesta. Nesta’s always going to “not want to talk about it” or whatever, and Feyre has just kinda said their relationship has always been tense but that it’s a sufficient answer Sarah.

You can’t get a cheap shot out of this by getting Nesta to say Feyre in ACOSF and then “all is forgiven and forgotten” and now they never have to talk about it. Sarah that’s so fucking shitty. You just didn’t want to answer the question about their motives and reasoning for the bad blood and tension between each other. You literally just put it in your story with no thought behind it and now you don’t know what to say to explain it.

What a chicken shit thing to do. Great. We will never get an answer to that conflict that’s been there for like four books. Worse than that you don’t give your readers or the book characters hear about each of the side’s story.

Not putting forth this story dehumanizes Nesta and makes it really easy just to paint her straight black, straight the side on the “wrong.” But that’s not how life works nor how it’s put forth in good books. You have to give Nesta a plausible, valid explanation just showing where she was coming from. It doesn’t matter if her reasonings were right or wrong, she just has to explain this weird fucked up situation that you did for sympathy.

Nesta is a good, interesting character and Sarah your fandom should not be so anti nesta that you had to write a whole book appeasing them, having Nesta fucking begging, apologizing everywhere. It’s sick. You drug her through the fucking ground the whole fucking book. You made her literally take all the blame and everyone else got off scotch free. She had to go around apologizing while she didn’t get any in return.

Again you painted Nesta the “bad” character here and everyone else those that were “in the right.” And that’s just not fucking true. Every damn member of the IC owes Nesta an apology. You gave them no blame at all. Everyone had a part to blame in their fucked up, cruel Fae behavior and that you just made Nesta the scapegoat is disgusting.

You were the one who fucked up originally by not revealing in the books the reasoning behind Nesta’s actions. I don’t think you wanted us to sympathize with Nesta, to think of her as just another person who makes mistakes and is hurting. You hate Nesta or at least have absolutely no love or respect for her so you weren’t going to offer up any of this information. Besides it’s really fucking easy to hate a person for their horrid actions when they won’t talk about it so you LITERALLY just get one side of the story.

Sarah you dehumanized a character and had a whole fandom burning with hatard because YOU wanted everyone to be team Feyre. You wanted to “poor Feyre” and “what an evil sister.” This kind of shit should have never halppened.

Taking away everything else, if you just went and read her internal monologue she isn’t a bad person. Not even close. She’s hurting and has made mistakes and I can’t stand to watch you debase a female character like that.

You are manipulating the narrative to try to get everyone to think what you think (aka Feysand). Leaving information out that is CRUCIAL TO THE FUCKING STORY, painting characters all black or all white, and just the hypocricy and lack of accountability of the characters you like. The IC did so many fucked up things but there will be zero words of it, zero responsibility because you write the narrative in the book that they were “justified” or whatever argument is made so we judge other character’s harshly while letting yours off with a pass.

Then because you gave such a biased, manipulated, unreliable book perspective so many people HATED her. You made sure so many hated her. Then to appease them and probably yourself you gave her the absolute worst book in history. It was vile.. sickening. I felt mad and uncomfortable just being a woman and reading it but maybe even worse is you ruined an amazing character.

[maladaptive-ninja-returns]

It’s The Avengers (03x15)

Loki x Reader Avengers The Office AU (Slowwwwww Burn)

Season 3 Episode 15: Not All Rainbows

Series Summary: Living in the Avengers facility post-apocalypse in a better timeline   Tony Stark has decided to capture every moment by pulling The Office on the Avengers. All of housemates are pretty used to the idea except for you, who had just come here to finish her degree, and the newest member- Loki.

Warnings: did someone just go and tell the otp about the otp?

Word Count: you know that feeling when you have had a bad experience on some project or assignment or homework before. And you know that thing is going to come around again next month or something like that. And you just age yourself by giving yourself anxiety by thinking everything that could go worse in that area. Yeah. So, I kinda shut that off for a few hours and wrote this.

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

An ice pack sits partially on the sofa’s arm and partially on the head that is being knocked softly- but repeatedly- by its designated owner. The fist taps that forehead with the vigour of a dedicated hammer that is softly checking the tensile strength of its mettle. The second camera takes the liberty to zoom in on Tony’s face that has the tension the size of the Alps looming over his head. Other spectators sit around, going about their activities with their five senses while the sixth was stuck on Tony. One camera panned on Wanda’s figure standing in the kitchenette, stirring her coffee cautiously, locking eyes with the lens.

Wanda: Only if you could see the monstrous cloud looming over his head. *stretches the corner of her lips* It’s made less of anger and more of worry and embarrassment. *blinks and furrows her brows* And choco-chip ice cream for some reason. *shrugs* Though I'm just glad that nothing was broken or smashed today. *stops midway* *raises her index finger* Although...

Scott: *glows inside out with a big smile stuck on his red face* *swings from side to side in the chair* Huh? What? *shakes head* Nothing. Just *inhales* I'm worried about Tony *continues to smile*

"So-" Steve took the first step and everyone held their breath- "now we know why we weren't able to reach Carol before. She is clearly...kinda...sorta stuck right where Y/N and Loki are? I think the kids are safe now." "Oh? The kids are safe? I must have missed the scene where they returned home with another weird pet," Tony remarked monotonously with his eyes still closed. Peter leaned in towards Scott. "So Loki is one of the 'kids' now." Both the shippers fist-bumped discreetly before looking all serious. The camera swivelled right towards Wanda, who shared a look of bewilderment while pointing at the joy of the shippers who were clearly not reading Tony's wavelength. And Tony was not the only one on the wavelength. There in the corner on the dining table, Clint sat lost in some thought so deep that his resting face was now a resting bitch face while he dipped his arrows in tiny bottles- the purpose of which only he knew- and handled them like his own babies. "You still have to find a way to stab him with these," Natasha was quick to mention as she walked towards her friend and sat opposite him. "Oh, I'll find a way. I was in his head too, remember," Clint pointed out. "He completely underestimates me." "Hmm," she scrunched her nose, "just remove that itch-like thing on your neck before you go after him though." "Where?" He asked as he scratched the side of his neck with the end of his arrow, his furrowed brows suddenly releasing themselves at the dawn of realisation before disappearing from the camera frame to fall down from the seat with a thud. "Told you not to wipe both ends with the same cloth," she muttered while wistfully looking down at an unconscious Hawkeye.

That One Steamy Dungeon™ No one knew how, when or why Lulu was sitting there in Carol's lap like he knew her for ages. No one knew why Carol was stroking him with the back of her fingers while her eyes were stuck on you like two magnetic poles finding that one direction and sticking to it. And you genuinely did not know why you could not stop looking at Carol. All of Carol Danvers. Especially her lips. "What?" Carol finally dismissed the silence with one casual word. "Ag-sa-wuu-you're looking beautiful," was what you came up with. Loki stared at Lulu's camera with one long blink of...slowed surprise. The buzzing camera caught all three of you sitting in the returning silence over dried hay, looking at each other before you scooched down a little to hide the embarrassment visible over your face.

You: *whisper* W-well, she does look pretty despite all the dirt she's lying in. I mean *violently points at Carol in the background* look at her!!! How can someone look sooooo fucking beautiful??? *lick your lips* Except for Loki of course. That dude is on a whole another level.

Carol threw a shirt over Loki's face from her backpack. "Weren't your looks enough this time?" "Wasn't your hairstyle enough this time?" came the retort. You sat there in the middle, your eyes moving between both of them to calculate this new chemistry you were seeing. The camera caught you pulling your legs closer to your chest. "I didn't know you two were so...close to each other."

Javier: *signing* Why? *Furrows his brows* does that make you furious, Y/N? *wiggles his brows up and down in question* Hmm? *zooms in on his face* Hmm? *turns the camera towards the screen from which he and Green are watching the live broadcast*

"Close? I met him on one mission and this punk would have been dead had I not saved his ass back then." Carol smirked through the sentence and you did not realise any time sooner that you were staring at her, your mouth almost at the edge of drooling. "You blew my cover," Loki stressed while putting on the grey free size shirt. "And then she had the audacity to make me pay for her bar bill on the next stop," he gasped while looking at you. Javier took the opportunity to make his drone zoom at your iris, catching your pupils dilate in 4K as soon as Loki started narrating the story to you while you nodded in enthusiasm. "You do realise your ex-girlfriend wants to cut off your new girlfriend's head right this moment, right?" Carol was generous to point out while getting up and wiping off all the dirt and hay. "I'm not his girlfriend." "She's not my ex-" Both of you had the synchronisation of an orchestra. Carol took this opportunity to let her eyes pass the judgment- which played from one face to another and back for sheer entertainment.

Carol: *shrugs* *runs her hand through her pixie cut hair* Priorities, I guess. *nods*

"Anyways," Loki tried to cut this weird air surrounding the three of them that apparently Lulu was the only one enjoying, rubbing himself all around Carol's leg, "do you have a plan to get out of here?" "Of course," Carol simply jerked her shoulders, "punch my way through." You blinked at the camera.

You: Is that why they are called Captain? It has to be, right?

You shook your head and looked around in the ground, leaving Loki to do the bickering on your part as well. "Well, Miss one-punch woman, this time you are not the only one that needs to escape." You found a stick in the corner. It seemed to be made of the same ashen wood that Aellae sat on in her throne room. "We have tiny mortals to save too." Carol chuckled. You raised the stick your eye level, feeling the weight in your hands when suddenly your eyes grow wide and your mouth turns into a horror-filled 'O' "What? Where is the comedy?" A violent grunt came from your lungs, turning both Carol and Loki into attack and defence mode in your direction. Lulu's camera caught you taking the stick out of the orc's stomach. The dull creature blankly looked at the blood turning into sparks flying against the gravity before slowly consuming the whole creature, taking him with them. The next twenty seconds were a pause on every breath. You finally turned around, the stick still in your hand. "Did I kill him?" you asked in a whisper. Loki and Carol shared a glance. "It was just a bruise" Loki shoved your concern away with his hands. "He's in heaven now," Carol sang. "He was a bad guy, right?" "Yes," both of them nearly shouted. "It's good that he disappeared. You helped the universe get rid of a bad guy," Loki clapped his hands before give you an awkward thumbs up. You blinked at both of them. The smile eroding on your lips slowly turned the duo uncomfortable. "Good." Was all you said for your stature completely transformed. "Because that felt..."  you did not finish the sentence, clearly concerning your company. Well, Lulu seemed to like whatever vibes you were giving off. “Y/N,” Loki pretty much sang your name cautiously, slowly lifting his hands in the air to have a word with you to process whatever you were feeling. But you were already running outside with the most suspicious giggle the room had ever heard. Carol even shivered a bit to shake it off of her.

My daddy's got a gun My daddy's got a gun My daddy's got a gun You better run

The one buzzing drone in the hallway caught the slow-motion emotion of you walking into the hallway with the ash stick in your hand like a gun- locked and loaded- with something fierce burning in your eyes. Behind you Loki was trying to catch up with the adrenaline rush you were feeling, calling out your name to stop you. Carol was close behind, cheering you on as much as she could.

My daddy's got a gun My daddy's got a gun My daddy's got a gun Ga-ga-ga-ga-ga

The orcs didn’t even seek you out. One of the reasons was the fact that you were running towards them first, swinging your arms with as much force as your body allowed, screaming your lungs out and jumping with fueled excitement whenever they went up in flames. Loki had to take a moment out of those crucial seconds to look at you. To look at that animalistic look in your eyes. Pausing for a millisecond to consciously question whether to admire it or fear it, he almost smiled. He might have stood there for a few seconds more had he not felt the blue plasmic force run by his side to destroy the one orc aiming for you from your blindside.

It started with the hayloft a-creakin' Well, it just started in the hay (loft) With his longjohns on, pop went a-creeping Out to the barn, up to the hay Young lovers and they are not sleeping Young lovers in the hay (loft) With his gun turned on, pop went a-creeping Out to the barn, up to the hay (loft)

"Seriously?!" He shouted at the glowing Captain who flew past him. "Catch up. Catch up!" she teased him while leaving a trail of bodies in her way. "ANARCHYYYYYY!!!!!!!" You howled as you ran, following your new crush. Loki sighed, his head trying to hang as low as possible as he looked at the sleek shackles around his wrists. Breathing in a lungful, he grabbed the nearest iron rail from the window looking out at the barren mountains and bent it till it broke in his flexing hand. "Is this why I am still alive?" He whispered to himself while continuing to walk in the direction you just dashed in.

My daddy's got a gun My daddy's got a gun My daddy's got a gun You better run My daddy's got a gun My daddy's got a gun My daddy's got a gun Ga-ga-ga-ga-ga Ga-ga-ga-ga-ga

Throne Room Aellae sat on the ash throne frozen in thought when one of her underlings interrupted her daydreaming with its presence. "What?" She did not disguise her displeasure. There has been a mishap on the laboratory floor, my lady." Her body automatically shifted on her seat. "Four guards are dead. The source is unknown." "Is it the woman?" "No, my lady. I just checked up on her after locking Master Loki up." "Then who is it?" "We are yet to find out. My lady." "Then why are you wasting my time by standing here and doing nothing about it?" The skinny elf-like underling bowed down to her and scurried in the opposite direction. It had reached the entrance of the throne room when a weak scream left its lungs and it stepped back- falling down in the process- to make way for the uninvited guest. The poise on Aellae's face took a turn as she looked at the person casually sauntering in her direction, never realising when she got up. "Oh, don't stand on my account," White mentioned breezily with a smirk, coming to a halt right in the middle of the room. "Zune." She called out the name like spitting a curse. "It's been a while, my least favourite Witch of the West Galactica." Zune smiled his precious smile, standing bright in stark contrast to his dull surroundings. "Last time we met, you were grovelling on the floor, begging for mercy in front of the Silver Court, asking them not to punish you for the endless crimes you committed in the last century." The composure was evidently crumbling away in little pieces. Aellae's stone-like glare was slowly turning into fast blinks. Her usually unruffled breaths were now a mocked laugh. "And the court decided to send you to arrest me? Where is the rest of the coven?" She pretended to guess before snapping her pale fingers. "Oh, right. I burned them all. Poor boys. J'uke, Fae and Mi'in were still so young." Zune huffed and smiled. "Hmm. They were really young when they fought you, weren't they? And to answer your question, no. The court did not send me here." Now this made Aellae burst into laughter. "So, you are here for revenge? For your mates?" Licking his teeth, he bit his lip and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, all the playfulness in his feature draining out with every passing second. "I am just here to clean up the mess that you made. But they are the ones who are here for revenge." Taking a step back, Zune gave Aellae a few seconds to realise that they are not the only ones in this room. And just when it dawns upon her, she sees the rest of the 'coven' come out of the shadows, surrounding her from every probable escape route this place could have. "Fae," she whispered with a deep-rooted horror in her throat, backing up into her throne when she looked at the familiar red figure walking towards her. "When you were setting us up on fire-" Fae carried no empathy in his eyes as he moved closer with every step- "you forgot that you cannot make Gods made up of ancient stars disappear when you please." Every cell in Fae's body vibrated with a demonic aura that made the witch go down on her knees. Her breaths shook and her eyes watered. The claustrophobia resulting from just his presence made it hard for her to breathe. "No," she shook her head, trying her best to mask her fear. "No. This cannot be. I destroyed you. I destroyed the senate. I destroyed everything that stood in my path. I cannot fail this time. This world needs to kneel before my power. That God needs to kneel before me. NO!!" The six looked at their leader to begin the ceremony. "Aellae of the covens abandoned, child of the dark refugees, you are hereby sent to the endless pits of the universe for your crimes against the creatures of the universe." The screams of the witch echoed throughout the castle till every last ounce of life in her voice could be heard fading away by the other group at the far end of the other wing. By the time Carol arrived, all that was left were the seven boys and a pile of ash resting by the throne. “That was fast,” she did not refrain from mentioning, “I thought it would take more than that to get her to give up.” Zune shrugged. “Well, it was easy because we had you and your friends this time. She did not have much to distract us with, unlike the last time she was in prison.” Carol smiled a kind smile at them. “I hope they didn’t give you any trouble?” Fae stretched the corner of his lips. “When you first called us to go around the universe to look for a human, we were a little sceptical. But we were glad to have met her.” “Especially Zune,” Mi’in quipped, earning a yank by the ear from the leader. “Thank you for protecting her.” “No biggie. We would have protected her even if you didn’t tell us to.” Carol furrowed her brows at the statement. “Because Loki had already asked us for that favour,” Zune mentioned, clearing any doubts, “and we owed him from way back.” Feeling the ‘ah’ of a satisfactory conclusion coming on her face, she stopped midway to hear your scream turn louder the second you got closer till you turned the corner to enter the hall with your stick, forcing yourself to stop your lungs from going any further than that. “Oh,” you straightened your stance, giving up on the attack position as soon as you realised there was no more threat, “looks like you guys already cleaned the place.” “You almost sound disappointed,” J’uke stressed, judging by your disapproval of the lack of bad guys. Loki stepped in next, clearly having taken care of whatever tried to attack them from the back. "She hurt my friend. I at least wanted to watch her burn," you simply shrugged. Fae patted your head softly. "Don't worry. You'll get your chance." He smiled the most ridiculously comforting smile. "How?" You whined, "you guys already finished her." All the seven boys, Loki and Carol shared a look with each other while you stomped her foot in the ground while staring daggers at the pile of ashes.  "Yeah-" Zune blurted out, scratching an itch in the back of his neck- "we definitely, for sure, totally killed her. Like-" he pretended to chop the air with his hand- "so smooth." Everyone nodded in agreement. Our elder boys of the group supported their leader while Carol gave them soft applause. Loki gave them a thumb's up.

You: *turning away from the scene in the background where everyone now sits outside the castle having a chat with each other* Aww *smile widely* it feels so good to watch them get along like that!! *start staring in the distance* *smile still stuck on your face* I wish my family could get along this well too. You know. *tilt your head* If all of them got along with Loki, I feel like half of the world's problems would vanish just like that. *watch Javier sign something to you* What? Merch store? *reads some more* Manga?? *looks closely at Javier as he continues to sign* Fanfi-what does any of it have to do with Loki? *camera pans in on your confused innocent face*

"Here's my little monster!" Carol talked in a tone that one used on babies while stroking a very excited Lulu. "Who's a scary boy! Who's a scary boy!!! You are!!! Yes!! You are!!!" You chuckled, watching Lulu enjoy the love and attention from the Captain, bumping his head with hers, wiggling in her lap before settling down in her arms, his adrenaline going down. "Who's that?" Carol asked him, pointing at you. Lulu chirped. "And who's mamma's boy?" Lulu chirped again. "Aaaand who's gonna protect mamma from bad guys?" Lulu growled. And then he chirped again, hiding his faceless husk hairy face in his paws. "Oh my God, he growls!!!!" you gasped. "Oh, he is got a lot more to show you, mamma! Give him time." You sat down next to Carol and stroked a yawning Lulu, who was now making biscuits in her arms. "This one's helped me a lot through this weird, fatal, dreamy galactic trip," you mentioned wistfully. The camera- as well as Carol- noticed how your brows furrowed slightly before your teeth bit down on your lower lip and you turned your gaze up to search for something in the rocky terrain before finally resting on Loki. Carol watched this subtle shift, patiently spectating how Loki too was stealing glances your way while having some serious looking chat with the boys.

The boys and Loki: *standing in the grey terrain like a bunch of Gods modelling for luxury hair products* Loki: It's spelt Z-U-K-O Zune: You named a dog after the fire God? Loki: Wha-no. It was all her *points at you*. Apparently, Coco was a bit too mushy for her. Something about 'Zuko reminding her of a guy who was in his redemption arc right now'. Whatever that means. Zune: *looked at the camera panning in on his face*

"So, you wanna go back now?" Carol asked you, her hands still busy stroking a purring Lulu. You inhaled to answer but felt yourself turning to look at Loki. Carol noticed it too. "Of course. H-how, long will it take?" you scratched your forehead. "We were actually pretty close to getting Loki free of his...cuffs. And I'm sure two powerful beings is always better than one." Carol chuckled and nodded. "Tell you what-" she took your hand in hers, something that you were not expecting- "I will go and take care of a couple of things for our return journey. Till then-" she stroked your hand- "you find out for yourself. Whatever it is that you're looking for." That gentle tone and those cryptically simple words changed some spectrum of the emotions on your face. You stared at her for a long while with your mouth agape. "What are you talking about?" Your breath asked in exasperation. "Cuffs, I guess?" she proposed softly with a knowing smirk. You forced out a laugh. "I have no idea what you're talking about," You chuckled and found yourself looking back at Loki again.

The boys- well, at a few of them- tried to calm down the God who seemed to be picking up a rock from the ground. "Okay now-" Gin, our green jellybean, raised his hands- "let's all calm down and talk about this." "Yeah, yeah. How about we all go to the nearest oasis and have a cup of starry vodka and discuss how we are all alive. Right, Mi'in?" Me'isri, sweet yellow candy boy suggested casually. "Right," Loki nearly sang. His every step towards the boys made them retreat two. "We should be happy that the witch is gone for now. What could we possibly have had to do with her anyway? Hm? What's that? Oh! She was the one who stole my essence you say?" "Look," Ho, the sky blue cheery lad was suddenly not feeling so cheery at all, "we did not know-" "You numbnuts were the one who told me that!" Loki was practically hissing through his teeth right now, his steps breaking into a jog that was letting out some potential screams waiting in some lungs. Lulu was having a gala time just jumping in whichever direction the boys ran into as Loki chased them.

[oxenfurt-archives]

When the Time Comes - witcheress Ważka aka Dragonfly

The Witcher Lore (143/∞)

Gra Wyobraźni

Gra Wyobraźni, A Game of Imagination, is a pen-and-paper role-playing game published by MAG in 2001. There's no English translation of the system other than the ones created by fans, and even those are more focused on the mechanics of the game than the bits and pieces of lore. And there's surprising a lot of lore. Most of it obviously no longer applies to the versions of canon presented in the CDPR's games and Netflix show, but are still pretty interesting.

Gdy nadejdzie czas

On wiki the title is was translated to When the Time Comes. The story was published in polish rpg magazine Gwiezdny Pirat (issue 8 from 2004) written by Joanna and Maciej Szaleniec, writers involved in never published expansion about the Falka's Rebellion. Gdy nadejdzie czas was supposed to be one of the adventures leading up to that expansion, but unfortunately the publishing house MAG ceased to exist before it could be finished.

The adventure takes place in the 1160s in Gemmera, before the kingdom was conquered by Nilfgaard. The party should be composed of the Prince, heir to the throne, son of late prince Wodaryk and Dairida, who after 16 years returns to the homeland his mentor and other friends. The Prince had to fly from Gemmera when he was 12 - Wodaryk was killed by his own brother, Ponderyk. Ponderyk wanted to make it look like Dairida and her son were responsible for Wodaryk's death, so he could easily take the throne for himself. But the Prince managed to escape and only Dairida was imprisoned. The new prince of Gemmera locked her in a tower, Wieża Wiatrów [Tower of the Winds], from where she never escaped, lost her mind within the wall of her cell and eventually died. When the Prince and his party visit the tower they can't find anything that could have belonged to Dairida, no one other than her was held there, but it's just an abandoned place. Only the ones with really keen eyes can notice the traces of writing on walls, floors, and even the ceiling. All that can actually be read is a nursery rhyme:

Aa-a, kotki dwa, zaśnij już, córeczko ma, nie płacz, nie kwil, będziesz śpiewać, gdy nadejdzie czas.

My rough translation: Aha, two kittens / sleep my daughter now / don't cry, don't whine / you will sing one day / when the time comes.

[Also it seems to be to some extent based on the most popular polish lullaby Ach śpij kochanie that was first performed in the movie in 1938. So that's a fun fact.]

In this seemingly crazy rhyme, the Prince finds a clue that will help him fight Ponderyk - in her prison Dairida gave birth to Wodaryk's daughter and trusted Destiny to keep her safe.

As the Prince learns from common gemmerians, there was a legend about Wodaryk fighting a monster, just a few nights before he was killed. The seven-headed dragon lost most of its head to Wodaryk, but had the prince pinned to the ground, reading another attack, and then the vedymin from Stygga appeared. He proposed Wodaryk a deal, Vedymin will help with killing the dragon, and the prince will give him "what he already has at home, but doesn't expect". Wodaryk agreed and Vedymir cut off the seventh head of the monster. This story leads the Prince to believe that Dairida believed that her daughter will be safe in Stygga castle among the witchers of the school of the cat.

The party travels to Stygga, a grim, full of cruel mutants castle. The is plenty of gossips about the cat witchers and their experiments, who they change even the youngest ones, even the unborn ones. Cat witchers are fast and capable warriors and mages, with shattered minds - unable to coexist with the rest of society. But they greet the Prince and his companions and point out the child that was found years ago on a beach underneath the Tower of the Winds.

Ważka is a 15 years old witcheress - she's the monster slayer, not a princess. Uncannily agile. The only thing that makes her look anything like Dairida is her strong and healthy golden hair, braided in a single thick braid. She doesn't care about her legacy, but she agrees to go with the Prince back to the Tower of the Winds and try to find some other clue their mother could have left behind.

[Ważka is a name of insect, dragonfly, but it can be also a feminine form of somewhat old-timey ważki, meaning important, crucial]

Before the party reaches the Tower of the Winds they are however met with forces of Ponderyk and the prince himself. Most of the people of Gemmera heard of the return of the Prince and they start to doubt the legitimacy of Ponderyk's claim to the throne. That's why Ponderyk is forced to meet with his nephew and speak with him. Ponderyk tries to persuade the Prince to join him, as the fight between the two of them would inevitably lead the country to ruin. Ponderyk's speech is so successful that the Prince is ready to agree to do whatever uncle wishes of him. But Ważka doesn't feel the same - she's immune to Ponderyk's magical words and without even climbing down from her horse, she simply kicks uncle right in the jaw. The party regains their senses and realizes that they were under the charm - Ponderyk wasn't really speaking, his mouth is empty. Years ago he gave his tongue away for the magical powers of persuasion. The party fights Ponderyk's forces.

After the battle, the Prince notices that Ważka's clothing was ripped revealing her naked back and a weird old tattoo on her skin. The shape is deformed but still resembles Gemmera's coat of arms. All her life Ważka believed that the mark is just an ugly deformation after the Changes she did undergo during her training. Instead, it's a clue Dairida left their children - she tattooed on newborn's skin a map of one of the provinces of the country, with a single dot marking a spot there.

It's deep in the mountains where people rarely wander, where the party finds a cave occupied by the same monster years ago fought Wodaryk. The monster was placed there by Ponderyk, to guar whatever is deeper in the cave. After the party kills the monster they go inside and discover the old abandoned shrine dedicated to Coram Agh Tera, The Cult of the Lionheaded Spider. Years ago the cultist convinced young and ambitious Ponderyk to join them. They promised him power and the throne, and Podaryk cut off his own tongue and offered it to the Spider, who gave him the power of manipulation. As long as the tongue is within the temple, Ponderyk can use his dark powers. Cultists planned to use the prince and blackmail him, but Ponderyk was smarter - he killed all of them but Strażniczka Bramy [Keeper of the Gate]. The old woman was imprisoned in her temple where for years she performed rituals preventing the Spider God from leaving the mountains.

Sixteen years ago, just a few days before Ponderyk killed Wodaryk, the priestess used her powers to give Wodaryk a dream - revealing to him the location of her cave as well as warn against the brother. Wodaryk went to investigate this, fought the monster, was saved by the witcher, and wounded returned to his castle where he was killed by Ponderyk. Now knowing everything the Prince can destroy Ponderyk's tongue, leaving him mute, decide what to do with the traitor, and take back his throne.

The story seemingly has seemingly a happy ending, but as it turns out while Ponderyk was a greedy dictator, his dark powers made him also a remarkable diplomat. It was he who negotiated Gemmera's independence from Nilfgaardian Empire... And soon after his dethronement, Nilfgaard once again begins to pose a threat to Gemmera.

[mistwraiths]

2 stars

This is the third and final book in the Cursebreaker series. I'm not going to do a quickly summary.

Two stars felt REALLY generous here. I am about to SCREAM.

I felt like I'm in one of those Am I The Asshole? Reddit boards reading this book because it sure felt like EVERYBODY SUCKS HERE.

I will get the good things out of the way first. Brigid's writing is quick and easy enough for me to keep me reading and engaged. And she definitely kills people and I like when there's actual deaths and stakes. That's all Iiked about this book unfortunately.

I'm honestly baffled how this could be a good conclusion to a series because it feels like two characters get more than they deserve for absolutely no reason other than the author likes them maybe?? Also the ending didn't feel resolved? After all this tension and conflict, they're trading jokes in a few weeks?? I'm jumping ahead though.

It's weird to me how this series turned from a really interesting Beauty and the Beast retelling with a great female lead who had cerebral palsy to pretty much Grey is the GREATEST CHARACTER EVER series. I've never been a fan of Grey mostly because he's never had much of a personality for me. I'm told he's kind and loyal, but I have heavy grievances when this guy used to bring women to Rhen forever and sometimes be able to protect him (I let it slide because whatever) and then when he's free and learns something crucial, he flees? But readers, that's second book nonsense that still comes up every few pages.

One of the worst things is that nothing really ever happens in AVSBAD until the end. These guys are just waiting for sixty days to get to war and... THAT'S IT! Pretty much everything that happens in this book is introspection and retrospection, and everyone literally being like: oh I forgot we make mistakes or are forced to do some things and I completely forgot that you who I have known for awhile now are capable of doing good things or have done good things!!!

Folks, I was almost looking forward to Lilith showing up because at least there was some god damn excitement. Almost. I still hate her though.

I absolutely cannot stand how my boy, Rhen, was treated through this book. This man who slept consensually with a woman who then turned him into a monster and TORTURED him relentlessly for an eternity, whose only bad fortune was being cursed and really didn't have the opportunity to be the King properly, who put Emberfall first EVERY SINGLE TIME, who took torture onto himself to spare others from harm, WAS ABLE TO SAVE THE DAY and made ONE (1) bad choice means he should be vilified for most of the entire book and then NOT GET TO HAVE A HAPPY ENDING OR AT LEAST BE KING???

You're telling me that Grey who got the fuck out of dodge and didn't tell anyone through the truth after we're told he's so LOYAL and allows a kid to be whipped with him even though he had LOTS of opportunity to come clean (wow so kind), who ran away and allied up with the people who hate his own brother, who um... is a  bastard and by MOST EVERY BOOK/KNOWLEDGE/SHOW INVOLVING ROYALTY MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING bastards don't have a right to the throne and in no way is this cleared up (I would have dropped this easily if it was mentioned!!), who has no training or again loyalty to his people or Emberfall because he literally didn't think about them once lol, gets to be King? UGH. Also why does everyone love him and want him? What has he done for them to do that?? Why isn't other leaders (lords?? Grand Marshals?) vying for the throne instead? That makes more sense.

On top of that, we don't really get much depth of Grey's magic which is sad. His whole these soldiers need to respect me storyline is boring.

I really loved Lia Mara in the second book. I found her unassuming and smart. She knew how to handle herself. What the hell happened? Suddenly, all she does is sit and sigh and worry. She's crippled by her insecurity and inaction. And then we are continually reminded that's she is going to rule with kindness and compassion,and not violence or fear to the point where I felt like that boy being forced to eat cake in Matilda. I get it!! Honestly, she doesn't do much of anything. Except, barf, get pregnant. The part where she did NOTHING when someone spit at her was ridiculous. You can rule without violence or fear and not accept that behavior.

Harper feels sidelined again in this book,  and it's honestly tragic that the two main female characters are just THERE. The relationship between her and Rhen felt incredibly fraught with tension and while they had hard conversations, it didn't feel great.

I honestly hated every character's hot takes and opinions about stuff. It always really felt like everyone just thinks the worst of everyone, and then wants to harp about the things done in the past. And of course, focus only on Rhen's bad choice than Grey's betrayal or how awful Syhl Shallow was to Emberfall from before.

The ending just felt slapped together. Rhen is literally floundering and acting morose because he doesn't know what to do or move forward, but Grey has a drink with him, has some jokes, and says oh I need your help reading people and being my advisor. And that's it. Grey and Lia Mara get too GOOD of a happy ending. It feels like Harper and Rhen have to figure out what happens next.

I loved the first book, but I think I could have lived without the other two books.

[the-darkfactory]

A SICK GIRL.

This text was written and published in November 2018. This is the first time I translate to English. Hope it reaches those who need to read it most. Much love.

I was born dying. I was dragged from my mom's belly straight to the intensive care unit and spent a month in the incubator until I could breathe without machines. I was also born whole and no one ever told me that, one day, my mind was going to split in two.

I was very little when I first felt strange. Very strange. I was already 5’6 feet tall when I started my last year in primary school, finding clothes that fit me was torture. However, for my graduation party, I found a purple dress that seemed perfect. When I tried it on, under that all-showing light in the changing room, I felt fat. That was the first time I was disgusted by my reflection.

After a summer tinged with school farewell melodrama, I started high school. I spent most of my free time studying, listening to the Backstreet Boys or reading Harry Potter. At the end of the first semester, I got the best grades in my class. While everyone at home was happily celebrating, I made a pact with a friend: I was going to stop eating.

My thinness brought about new habits and what I remember the most is how cold I was: during school recess, my friends would go out to play and I would stay in the classroom wearing every sweatshirt I could find. It would take me forty-five minutes to eat an apple and before going to sleep, I would go over each food item I’ve had in the day and calculate the calories. I also learned that I had to get up slowly to avoid the dizziness that turned my room into a washing machine.

One day my family and I went to one of those “all you can eat” restaurants. After two sandwiches and a bit of cake, I started crying because I had an intense stomach ache, but it was all a premeditated drama I staged so they wouldn't make me have dinner. Two days later, my mom dragged me to a clinic. I had to take off my clothes and stand on an ice-cold scale. "You weigh 39 kilos," the doctor announced. "You're anorexic."

I was taken to a hospital that had a team specializing in treating people like me. We waited for hours until my name was called and I was met by an anti-anorexic army: a nutritionist, a clinical doctor, a psychiatrist, a psychologist and others I never understood who they were. They made my parents leave and Anorexia and I were interrogated. They asked us if we vomited, if we had thought about committing suicide and if we had ever been abused. When we talked about my parents' divorce, we burst into tears. Then they faced the back of two chairs and asked us to separate them according to how far apart we felt they had to be from each other in order for us to fit between them. We did it and passed the test: we knew we were tiny. The doctors said I was on the verge of hospitalization. I was a sick girl.

Once our relationship was made official, we went to the hospital three times a week. Long waiting, weighing, talking. We were forbidden to be physically active and we had to write down how much of what we ate a day. Mom sometimes comforted us and sometimes shouted at us. One night she yelled a lot because we had only had a piece of fruit for dinner, but how could I explain to her that eating made Anorexia hurt and so it hurt me too? We were sent to a psychologist we stared at in silence for an hour. We finished our junior year with straight As, enslaved at home and undernourished.

Anorexia and I did everything together. I would start a sentence and she would finish it. When I moved my hand to grab something, she was the one who forced my fingers closed, and if something bothered her, I did whatever was necessary to calm her down. One afternoon, we went cycling with our friends and we were carried on the handlebars so we wouldn't move. Everything was going beautifully until a sudden stop made us fall face first to the ground. We got up spitting teeth and blood. We broke our four incisors, skin came off our lips and we split the right side of our face. That night before showering, I stared at our skeletal, beaten up reflection. Days shy of my fourteenth birthday, I cried my heart out asking Anorexia what the fuck had she done.

I wanted her to go away. The only thing I could do to get her to leave was eat. Sometimes she won, sometimes I won. Once, she lost 100 grams and I went home after the medical check up feeling a killer urge. Another day, I gained 200 and that night she didn’t let me sleep. It was war. If Anorexia told me to hide food, I ran off to snack with my brother. If she hated sandwiches, I'd buy a dozen of my favorites. For every complaint of hers, a food bite of mine, and so, bite by bite, I filled her mouth with silence until I could no longer hear her speak.

I started my second year of high school with a seemingly healthy weight. I went to the hospital once a week. Eventually, I was told I could go once a fortnight, once every twenty-one days and, somehow, I stopped going altogether. I don’t remember how or when that decision was made. The only thing I do know is that during all that time I ate almost nothing from Monday to Friday and a lot from Saturday to Sunday in order to weigh more at the Monday check-ups. The thing was that once the pact between Anorexia and I had been made, she would try and talk to me every day. People didn't notice but I knew she was still there. We were still the best students, we lifted weights after eating a salad and we never got our periods. We were stopped on the streets to be offered jobs at modeling agencies and we realized that our bond had the aesthetic approval of society. I forgave her for all she had done and gave her, again, space in my body to grow.

When we turned seventeen, Anorexia changed. She screamed at me and didn't feel like doing anything. We quit the gym, gained weight and developed insomnia. One drunken night, we came home and went straight to the kitchen. We opened the fridge and devoured, on our knees, all the leftovers from dinner. We then shoved our fingers down our throats. That's how Bulimia arrived.

Bulimia was fiercely hungry. My cheeks, arms, and chin grew like a fatty bubble. I was disgusted by my body and I got dressed in the dark. I stopped studying, I couldn't concentrate on anything else. At prom I had two drinks and passed out. I woke up in hospital with an IV in my arm and my worried mother by my side. I didn't know how to explain that for weeks and in order to be skinny that night, everything I ate, Bulimia vomited.

I wanted to feel normal. I was very weak and exhausted, but Bulimia was young and confident. She never shut up, she would even eat raw polenta in spoonfuls and vomit it all, leaving me tired and confused lying in my bed. Her arrival was abrupt because Anorexia had already drilled holes in my head: they were different versions of the same thing and a pattern of destructive habits that infected everything. They turned my life into a living hell.

We vomited so much that we spent hours burying our heads in the toilet seat and we would only stop when we saw the first thing we had eaten leaving our body. We did it five, six times a day. We used every bathroom we set foot in. The ones at school, my friends' houses, restaurants, my grandmother's, my dad's. I developed arrhythmia and thought that Bulimia was going to get me killed. Some nights, while dreaming that I was violently bingeing, I would wake up desperate and ready to stick my fingers in my mouth until I realized that, that one time, the binge had been a dream. That feeling of “fake need to vomit” was the closest thing to peace I felt during those times.

Bulimia didn't want me around anyone. She made me think I was crazy and that I would never be able to be separated from her. I stayed away from my friends. I stopped having dinner with my family and we would lock ourselves up in my room. Mom would bring me trays of food that Bulimia kept in plastic bags. I once found a rotten chicken inside the closet. It was full of maggots. We were almost found out when my brother saw a glass of vomit in the bathroom that we had forgotten to flush down the toilet. He brought it to me and said, "Is this yours?" while retching. We nodded and took it away from him as if it had been a misplaced shoe.

I don't know how I managed to free myself from anorexia and bulimia, but for the last three years I have hardly felt their presence. Sometimes I wonder if I started traveling around the world to confuse them and leave them stranded in another part of the planet. Maybe they got bored of my criticism and couldn't stand my will to not share my body with them. One thing I’m sure of is that love played a major part. It was crucial to understand that I did not choose to live with them and that asking a person with compulsive thoughts to stop having them is like asking a paralytic to simply stand up and walk.

Anorexia and bulimia stole my time and energy. I gave them my will to live, my projects and motivations. In return, they gave me anxiety, panic attacks, depression and suicidal thoughts. They still whisper to me every now and then but I can ignore them. It’s not always easy. I don’t know, this coexistence has been very strange but they definitely don’t own me anymore. Looking for the reasons I developed this disorder is complex. I know that I was affected by the pressure I felt from a very young age to be perfect, the weirdness that arose in my family dynamics after the divorce and feeling that for society I was worth more as a woman the skinnier I was. The final trigger must have been a genetic predisposition and a bit of mystery: there is still a lot that science doesn't know about all this. Once my disease was established, it became a vicious, out-of-control cycle that was perpetuated by the worst evil of all: silence. I felt a deep shame, thought it was my fault and that, hence, I deserved what was happening to me. That made me sicker and I vowed to hide it, which was possible because these disorders are invisible: they lock themselves inside bodies of all types, gender, background, shape and turn them into slaves.

When I stopped vomiting and regained control of my hands, I wrote this. It feels weird. After seventeen years of being in a symbiotic relationship, there is something I still don't understand: if I am no longer a sick girl, then who am I?

[kelyon]

Golden Rings 17: A Name

The Storybrooke sequel to Golden Cuffs

Mrs. Gold revisits her past

Read on AO3

Mrs. Gold looked on in mute horror as Hunter Duke dumped more hot sauce on his triple bacon hamburger. He’d asked Ruby to give him three meat patties with no bun and steamed broccoli instead of fries. When Mrs. Gold had questioned that lunch choice, he had explained his new diet to her.

At length.

Hunter had always been the kind of boy who thought meat and spicy food were substitutes for a personality. He’d been the star athlete at Storybrooke High, taking home championships in football and wrestling. He’d been popular with everyone--except for the one girl he’d arbitrarily decided was the hottest girl in school. That girl, the valedictorian, hadn’t given the quarterback the time of day. Not until she lost her scholarship and suddenly dating the son of a lawyer sounded like the way to the best future she would ever get.

“They do the burgers way too overdone here,” Hunter said with his mouth full. “You don’t get enough protein if it isn’t bloody.”

Mrs. Gold shrugged and took a bite of her own burger. It needed more pickles, but it was still amazing. Toasted bun, crisp lettuce, a patty that was juicy but not messy. She hadn’t had a Granny’s burger in forever. When she was a kid, her parents had taken her out for burgers every Friday night after their shop closed. Mom would bring her own supply of extra-zesty mustard and Dad…

She set her bun on her plate. On those idyllic, bygone Friday nights, her father would spend the whole meal grumbling about money and expenses and couldn’t they have eaten at home? Mom had always told him to stop worrying and enjoy the moment. It was the end of another week and they were together, happy and healthy. She’d calmed him down and kept him focused, every time there was a crisis.

Until they faced the biggest crisis of their lives.

Mrs. Gold blinked out of her thoughts. For some reason, Hunter was still talking. Maybe it looked like she was listening. She’d gotten good at that when they had dated. Now that she was listening for real, she tried to catch up.

“I keep telling my dad he needs to just change the sign. ‘Duke & Duke & Duke’ has a great ring to it, right? Or he could for ‘Duke & Sons.’ I don’t mind sharing the spotlight with Steven. Or he could leave the sign as it is and retire! ‘Duke & Duke’ is classic, everyone knows we’re the best bankruptcy lawyers in town. Just let my brother be the first Duke and I’ll be second Duke and we’ll take this firm into the future! But Dad keeps brushing me off for some reason.”

Mrs. Gold took a sip of iced tea and desperately wished it was something stronger. “Did you… go to law school?”

She had the oddest feeling that she couldn’t remember how long they had been out of high school. All she knew for sure was that Hunter had enrolled at Storybrooke Community College--and she hadn’t. It was possible that he had gotten his bachelor’s. As Hunter was fond of saying, “Cs get degrees.” But SCC didn’t have a graduate program. Had he taken more classes on the internet? Or correspondence courses? It boggled her mind to think of Hunter of all people had gotten a law degree during the years she’d been Mr. Gold’s stupid slut.

“Well actually,” he explained, “you don’t need to go to law school to take the bar exam. I’ve got a bachelor’s in poli-sci and I’ve been around lawyers all my life. My dad knows everyone at the state bar. He’ll pull some strings and I’ll be all set.”

Mrs. Gold stabbed her straw at the ice cubes in her glass. It was so fucking unfair. Hunter was an idiot child who had never worked for anything in his life. His father--Richard “Big Dick” Duke--had bought him a Humvee when he turned sixteen, a speedboat when he graduated high school, and a college education just because no son of his wasn’t going to go to college. Now he would give his son the bar exam and a ready job and everything he would need for a future, without Hunter ever having to grow up past the maturity level of a toddler.

She’d lost her virginity to this boy. One summer night after senior year, in the back seat of that gas-guzzling monstrosity. They’d been dating for a while and Hunter had been perfectly content with her amateurish attempts at blowing him. But for her, the novelty had begun to wear off. So she’d suggested that he “put it in” instead. It was mostly a way for him to get his rocks off while she could just lie back and think of something more interesting.

Her memories of that night were dark and cramped and disappointing. She kept her shoes and her bra on the whole time. When Hunter was done, she had been more confused than anything else. This is what people made such a big deal about? Wasn’t sex supposed to be better than that?

It wasn’t until later, with Mr. Gold, that she had understood what people were talking about in romance novels.

But now that things were so strained with her husband, she found herself thinking back to the only other sexual partner she’d ever had. Looking at Hunter now, she had to remind herself of how bad things had been that summer, when he had been a welcome distraction. Hunter hadn’t wanted to talk about doctors’ appointments or shop inventory or arguing with financial aid departments--every fight a losing battle. All he wanted to do was drink, screw around, and have fun, and he welcomed her along for the ride.

I thought he would help us. I was wrong. He wasn’t what I needed.

Mrs. Gold shook the thought out of her head. The thought was true, but she recognized it as not being her own, so she talked over it.

“Have you been hanging out with any of the old gang? Sean or Jesse or anyone?”

It had been exciting to be included with the rich kids, to feel like she belonged in the world of the young and the reckless--people who didn’t have to worry about things because their parents would always be around to bail them out. They could do whatever they wanted because the world belonged to them.

Hunter shrugged. “Jesse’s an idiot, so no change there. But Sean’s been such a pussy ever since Ashley had her baby.”

Ashely Boyd had been in that group with her. Rich boys liked running around with poor girls because they were easier to impress than the rich girls. New Town young ladies also had parents who bought them cars for their sixteenth birthdays. They didn’t need to rely on spoiled boys to pay their way every time they went out, so they didn’t have to go along with whatever stupidity the boys came up with. Mrs. Gold had taken a lot of risks just so Hunter would keep thinking she was interesting.

But Ashley had loved Sean for more than his money and toys. All she ever wanted was for him to love her back and stay with her. Once, Mrs. Gold had thought Ashley was stupid for pining so hard after a boy who would never commit. But now she had a little more sympathy.

“What happened with Sean?”

“Mr. Herman kicked him out, cut him off. Now he’s living at Ashley’s place, working his ass off at the fish factory.”

“The cannery,” Mrs. Gold corrected quietly. Fish King Canned Foods was always hiring. It was always looking for people who could stand waist-deep in ice and fish guts for twelve hour shifts, operating machinery that could cut through a human hand as easily as it did a whole herring. Her cousin Andrew had gotten a job right out of high school. Her Uncle Peter had worked there for twenty years before he died.

“Like I said, he’s a total pussy now. All he does is work and hang out with Ashley, work and take care of the baby, work and sleep. You know he asked her to marry him a couple days ago? Utterly whipped.”

“Wow,” she said.

She had never respected Sean Herman, so it was weird to think of him actually growing up. People didn’t usually change around Storybrooke. But now the spoiled party boy was taking responsibility for his child and the woman who loved him. He had given up his own wealth and family status because he loved a penniless girl from Old Town.

It was impressive.

She finished her burger while Hunter started another monologue, this time about all the fat, lazy, poor people who came to his father’s office to declare bankruptcy. Forget being a lawyer, he should go into talk radio.

“I did ask you to lunch for a reason.” She grabbed her chance to talk while he was taking a breath.

“Oh yeah?” Hunter wiped hot sauce off his face with the back of his hand. “What’s up?”

“You know a lot of people,” Mrs. Gold said. “I was wondering if you might know somebody that I don’t.”

He slurped up the dregs of his diet soda. “Yeah? Who?”

Mrs. Gold gripped the edge of the table and desperately hoped he wouldn’t notice how hard it was for her to say this. The gold of her wedding ring was dull on this cloudy afternoon. “I… just have a name right now. I think it’s a woman named Belle.”

She could see the wheels in his head turning as he thought. “Belle? Hmm. I don’t know.”

“She’s probably young. Maybe our age. Maybe younger. Or older? Maybe she’s one of your mom’s friends or something?”

A woman as old as Karen Duke would still be younger than Mr. Gold. Maybe he was looking for more maturity now. In the days since she found out about Belle, Mrs. Gold had been racking her brain to try to imagine what kind of person she was. She was only moderately sure that Belle even was a woman. If Mr. Gold wanted this Belle person more than he wanted his own wife, she was probably the opposite of her in some crucial way.

Hunter made a face and scratched the back of his head. “Nah, I got nothing. Sorry.”

“Yeah,” Mrs. Gold looked down at her empty plate. “I’m not surprised.”

Seeing that they were both done with their food, Ruby came up to the table. “Now is this gonna be one check or two?”

It was almost funny how quickly Hunter looked to Mrs. Gold. He panicked at the thought of paying for his own lunch. Daddy must not be giving him an allowance anymore.

“You invited me,” he said, almost chiding her with the reminder of how things worked.

“Yeah, that was my first mistake.” Mrs. Gold took the check from Ruby and pulled out her purse.

A fifty would be enough to pay for two hamburgers and Ruby’s discretion. Not that Mrs. Gold was being particularly sneaky, arranging lunch with her ex-boyfriend at the most popular restaurant in town. But that didn’t matter either. She could take Hunter to the pawn shop and bang him in front of the cash register and Mr. Gold wouldn’t give a fuck.

And neither would she.

****

Wandering listlessly up and down Main Street, Mrs. Gold tried to keep warm. The clouds were dark and heavy with more snow. The sidewalks were shoveled, but there was always a residue of dirty slush. It was the time of year when trash kept showing up in the streets, no matter how many anti-littering signs Mayor Mills put up.

Mrs. Gold’s suede boots were more fashionable than sturdy. The same could be said for her coat, scarf, and hat. The cold seeped through her flimsy layers, until she was nothing but numb and damp, until it was hard to breathe, until she was so desperate to be warm again she resolved to go into the next open store, no matter which one it was.

Sugar’n’Spice was always warm and it always smelled good. Mara Trudine burned a different scented candle every day the shop was open. Today the candle was cinnamon and cloves. The whole place smelled like cider.

Mrs. Gold entered as quietly as she could. She hadn’t been in the store since before Christmas. And she had never walked through that door without strutting proudly, loudly announcing her intentions to buy whatever lingerie it would take to drive Mr. Gold wild.

Was Mr. Gold even capable of going wild for her anymore? Or did the sight of her just turn his stomach? He thought she was trash, she disgusted him, he didn’t want her and he never would again.

Ducking behind a rack of silky robes, Mrs. Gold took a breath to calm herself down. It was a bad habit she’d developed lately, thinking of the worst-case scenario just to make herself feel something. Her mind kept poking and prodding at her pain, pulling out her darkest fears and putting them front and center. She could push it away if she concentrated. If she tried to act normal, she could almost feel normal. Sometimes.

“Oh hey.” Mara had spotted her from the sales counter in the back of the shop. “Mrs. Gold, I didn’t see you come in.”

Steeling herself, Mrs. Gold walked out from behind the robes. “That’s me.” She tried to smile.

Mara stayed where she was. Bits of fabric were spread out over the counter. It looked like she was sewing something.

Mrs. Gold’s heart skipped a beat. The fabric was a shiny yellow-gold. Sometimes, when Mr. Gold was really pleased with her, he liked her to wear that color. Without thinking about what she was doing, she began to walk towards the counter.

“What are you working on?”

Mara looked up from her needle. Even after all these years, she had the same face she’d had as a kid--sharp brown eyes, adorably crooked smile, freckles all over her round cheeks. She looked so innocent. You’d never think she made a living off of unmentionables.

“Custom order,” she said proudly. “I’ve been trying to get tailor-made lingerie off the ground for as long as I can remember. Got my first order in October and more have been coming in.” She held up the fabric and Mrs. Gold saw a pair of panties that would go up to a person’s rib cage.

“Somebody wants that?”

Mara’s excitement dimmed in the face of Mrs. Gold’s skepticism, but she did her best to explain. “It’s shapewear,” she said. “See the reinforced panels? The idea is to smooth out tummy rolls and make a more flattering silhouette.”

Mrs. Gold looked over at the rack of Spanx. “Don’t you already sell that?”

“Yeah, but the stuff I make is sturdier than the mass-produced product. Better for people with non-standard bodies. And prettier too. Nothing over there comes in straw yellow.”

It was true. Most of the stuff in that section was nude or black. Mrs. Gold knew a thing or two about wearing corsets, but she had never actually needed one. She had thought Mr. Gold liked her to be skinny.

“That is a pretty color,” she said. “Who’s it for?”

Mara looked at her dubiously. “I can’t talk about a client, it’s confidential.”

“How are you planning on getting more orders without word of mouth?”

“Well, normally word of mouth comes from customers talking about the product, not a creator talking about their customers.”

Falling into old habits, Mrs. Gold tilted her head back as her voice went up an octave. “I know, but it’s just such a pretty shade of gold, I was wondering if someone special might have ordered it...?”

She let the question hang. Mara just frowned and shook her head.

“Come on, you’re smarter than that.” She held up the garment again. “This is for a plus-sized woman. Two of you could fit in here without straining the elastic. Mr. Gold didn’t order this for you.”

Without thinking, she leaned over the counter and got in her friend’s face. “Did he order it for someone else?”

Mara’s eyes went wide. Her mouth transformed into a tiny little O of surprise. Mrs. Gold pulled away and kept her eyes on the ground.

“I’m sorry,” Mrs. Gold said. “That was out of line.”

“Wow,” Mara said softly. “I, uh, I’d heard that something had happened. But I didn’t know it was that bad. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.” She turned around, pretended to look at something lacy until the urge to scream had passed. When she glanced at Mara, her brown eyes were trained on her.

“It’s not from him,” she said simply. “I’ll even tell you that my client paid with a credit card, so it was definitely her own money.”

Or maybe Mr. Gold was just covering his tracks. But at least he hadn’t called in the order himself. At least he wasn’t flaunting his disregard for her.

“Does he… Have you ever heard from him? Is he buying anybody lingerie?”

Mara shook her head. “I only see him on Rent Day.”

With nothing left to lose, she asked her old friend the same question she’d asked her ex-boyfriend. “Do you know anybody named Belle?”

Mara blinked. “I don’t… think so. The name sounds familiar, but I’m probably thinking of a character from a book or a movie. It’s not the sort of name you hear around Storybrooke.”

“No,” Mrs. Gold agreed.

“But I’ll keep my ears open, if you want.”

Mrs. Gold raised her eyebrows. “What about client confidentiality?”

“Well, whoever Belle is, she’s definitely not a client. And until Mr. Gold pays me himself, neither is he.”

You’re a good friend.

This time, Mrs. Gold didn’t swat at the thought that intruded into her head. She let it rest over her brain like a blanket. She let the thought warm her up.

She leaned against the counter and watched Mara work. The shapewear was fully constructed, and she was embroidering stalks of straw in a pattern along the sides. It was really pretty. The sort of thing that would give a girl a boost in confidence and excitement about her own body, her own clothes. Mrs. Gold remembered how fancy she’d felt the first time she wore something as simple as a bra and panties that were the same color. That sort of energy could get people through interviews or contract negotiations, any time you needed to feel powerful. Mara was helping people here, she was good at it, and it seemed to make her happy.

“So, business is good?”

“Yeah, it’s picking up. Valentine’s Day was a madhouse, but you know how that goes.”

Mrs. Gold nodded. Lingerie could be as popular as flowers when it came to last-minute gifts that men always thought would be cheaper than they were.

“Did you spend the day with anyone?”

Mara scrunched her nose. “I’m working too hard for that. Besides, I don’t meet a lot of single men in this business.”

She was able to snicker at the joke, and she was able to mean it. “Yeah, I guess not.”

They were quiet together for a minute, then Mrs. Gold asked a more personal question: “How’s your mom?”

Mara looked up from her embroidery for a second, but then went back to work. “She’s fine. I think she’s bored, now that the preschool is only open for half-days. She keeps asking me to move in with her.”

“I take it you don’t want to?”

A halfhearted shrug. “I don’t have a good reason not to. It would make sense, we could split the bills and keep each other company. But there is also something really nice about living by yourself. Even if it’s just a one bedroom apartment on top of your store.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Mrs. Gold drummed her fingers against the counter. She had gone from living with her father to living with Mr. Gold. The night after their anniversary had been the first time she had slept in any building by herself.

But she understood what Mara meant. When you lived with your parents, it was hard to feel like an adult. To make matters worse, Irma Trudine--Mara’s mother--had been a preschool teacher for as long as anyone could remember. She tended to treat everyone she talked to like they were a four-year-old whining for more juice and crackers.

Mama’s closest friend.

Now the voice was annoying her again. It was true that Irma and Mom had been good friends. That was why she had grown up with Mara as much as she had grown up with her cousin Janine. The three girls were inseparable, just like their mothers had been.

Until…

Mrs. Gold sighed. She was warmer now. She should probably buy something before she moved along.

“Do you have anything comfy around here?”

“What, like no underwire?”

“No, like pajamas, I guess. Or loungewear? I think I need to get a pair of sweatpants.”

Mara grinned. “The last time I saw you wear sweatpants, they had dinosaurs on them.”

“And they were fucking awesome.”

She had gotten those pants for her eighth birthday and worn them until the knees gave out. Even after that, Mom had cut them up for shorts and she’d worn them for another six months. If she could find sweatpants that had dinosaurs on them now, she wouldn’t think the mere act of wearing sweatpants was a sign of the end of her life.

But Sugar’n’Spice only had pajama sets with flowers on them--or hearts, but Mrs. Gold couldn’t bring herself to buy anything that looked like love. It was enough to buy comfort, something that would make it a little easier to be in her own skin.

Mara rang her up and gracefully accepted the extra fifty Mrs. Gold handed her.

“How about I call this a down payment on a custom order for you?”

Taking her bag, Mrs. Gold shrugged. “I don’t think Mr. Gold will want me in lingerie for a long time.”

“I didn’t say it was for Mr. Gold, I said it was for you.” Mara looked her steadily in the eye. “Come back some time and we can talk about what you need. Okay?”

She opened her mouth, and then closed it. “Yeah,” she said at last. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Good.”

****

The day wasn’t over. Mr. Gold was still in his shop. She could go there for a few hours of awkward silence. Or she could go back to the house, for a few hours of lonely silence. Then he would come home and make dinner. They would eat together and make stilted small talk. And then she would go to her bedroom, and he would go to his.

That was their life now.

He said he wanted her to stay. He said he wanted to take care of her. He said he loved somebody else.

It didn’t make sense. It was wrong. They were supposed to be together. Being near him, but not being with him, trying to act like everything was fine, trying to act like he didn’t matter to her as much as she obviously didn’t matter to him…

It was tearing her apart.

So she walked. Like a circling shark, she kept moving so she wouldn’t drown. She was trapped. Storybrooke was a small town, there were only so many places you could go in one day. And she had lots of days ahead of her. Mrs. Gold had the image of the rest of her life, stretching out to the horizon. She would have to keep walking, she would never be able to rest. She would never have a home again.

She was in Old Town now. The flower shop was behind her. Aunt Teri’s yellow and purple house was on this street. How many times had she walked the route between those two places? Her whole childhood, her whole life until she married Mr. Gold and moved into his house. She used to belong in this neighborhood.

Was there a way she could belong here again?

Turning at the plastic sign that said Hair Today! she went to the side door of the yellow house and knocked. Then she stepped away from the door and waited for an answer. She held herself against the cold.

Janine came up from the basement salon. Her mouth opened when she saw Mrs. Gold.

“Oh hi,” she said. “Mrs. Gold, you don’t… usually knock.”

“Yeah, I’m usually a bitch to you and I’m sorry.” She hadn’t meant to start that way, but she couldn’t avoid the truth anymore.

Janine’s eyebrows raised and her sky-blue eyes--a family trait--went wide. “O...kay,” she said slowly. Stepping outside, she shut the door behind her. The cold made her keep her arms crossed over her chest. “What’s going on?”

“I…” She didn’t know what to say. She had started, but what was the next step? “Things suck, right now, for me. And I kind of suck too. And I realized…”

What had she realized? That no one in her family would help her in an emergency? That she had built her whole identity around one relationship and without that she had nothing? That she had spent years intentionally, maliciously, pushing away all the people that had loved her in exchange for a man who only paid her? That all of those things were really fucking shitty? None of that was a realization. Mrs. Gold had always known what her life was. But she was just now starting to care.

“I realized I’m sorry,” she said. “For as long as I’ve been with Mr. Gold, I’ve been so caught up in him and it made me a worse person. And I want to be better.” She looked at Janine. “You deserve a better cousin.”

Janine sighed, her breath visible in the twilight. “So the honeymoon is finally over, huh? Are you tired of him or is he tired of you?”

Mrs. Gold pressed her lips together. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. At the same time, she didn’t begrudge her cousin the snark.

“He’s tired of me,” she admitted softly. “And I’m kind of tired of me too.”

Now Janine looked more sympathetic. “What happened?”

“You didn’t hear? I thought everyone in Storybrooke knew by now.”

“Yeah, no, I’ve heard a lot of rumors. But I’m asking you what happened. What’s the truth?”

“He loves someone else.” The words slipped from her mouth like a burden off her shoulders. “Some Belle person. And like, like he loves her, Janine. More than he ever loved me.”

“Oof,” Janine let out a long breath. “Oh honey, that’s terrible. I’m sorry.”

Until now, Janine had been standing in the doorway, and Mrs. Gold had been in the driveway, with about five feet between them. Janine stepped out first, one arm open in invitation. The two cousins met in the middle. They didn’t hug, exactly, but they huddled together for warmth and comfort.

“Do you need to stay with us?” Janine asked. “We never did anything with Andrew’s room after--”

“No,” she shook her head. Mr. Gold asked her to stay with him, and even that had to be better than sleeping in her dead cousin’s bedroom. “I’m fine, I… He’s taking care of me.”

“What, like alimony?”

“No, we’re not… I’m not leaving him.”

Janine pulled away. “But you said he loved someone else.”

She nodded. “He does, but he doesn’t want the marriage to be over.”

There was a moment of silence while Janine’s face twisted in anger and disbelief. Then she burst out: “Oh screw him! Does he really get to decide that? That man is cheating on you and you don’t even get the satisfaction of walking away? Come on!”

Mrs. Gold couldn’t look her in the face. “It’s not as simple as that,” she said. “I--I married him, I need him, I…” The next words were small and soft: “I don’t want the marriage to be over either.”

Closing her eyes, Janine pressed the heel of her palm to her forehead. “I don’t know what to say,” she said. “I mean, the sanctity of marriage is great and all, but Mr. Gold has been nothing but bad to you for so long. And now you have a reason to get out, but you’re not taking it? Why?”

“Because this is different,” she said the words before she knew what they meant. “He’s different than he was when we got married. There’s something… good about him now. Something kind and gentle. Something that wasn’t there before.”

Janine rolled her eyes. “So now you have feelings for the monster?”

“He’s not a monster now. Maybe he was before--I can see that more clearly now. But now the only thing he’s doing wrong is… not wanting me. And it hurts, but it’s not an evil thing.”

He’s my husband and I love him. Can you understand that?

Shifting her weight back and forth, Janine kept her arms over her chest. “And he’s not… hurting you anymore?”

She shook her head. “Not even in a way I like.”

“Gross,” Janine said, matter-of-factly. “I mean, good for you that it used to be something you liked, but it is very gross for me to think about. Too much information is a very real thing.”

Both of them snickered at that. The years of lingering tension eased a little more.

“Can you at least stay for dinner? We’re having Spaghetti-Os a la Chloe.”

“Chloe’s cooking?” How old was she now?

“It was her idea. Under careful supervision, she is going to dump a can of Spaghetti-Os into a pot and warm it up. Mom might even let her into the spice cabinet for some basil.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun.” She shuffled her feet. “But I should get going. I still eat with Mr. Gold. It’s… weird.”

“I bet.” Janine put her hands in the pockets of her work smock. “Listen, I… I’m sorry. All this time… I could have been a better cousin too. We--I think the general idea was that… we were waiting for you to meet us halfway.”

“I get that,” she said. “And I never came close to halfway. Not with anybody.”

“Well, you did today. And I’m glad. We missed you.”

Nodding, she tried to keep the tears out of her eyes. All this time, she could have had her family. If she had just eased up on being Mrs. Gold, she could have been the same girl everyone had loved.

“I’m trying to make things better now, you know?”

Janine nodded. “I know.” They were quiet for a minute, then she asked. “Have you talked to your dad lately?”

“Not yet,” she shook her head. “Not him or Uncle Manny. I… I kinda thought I’d start easy.”

Janine half-smiled, half-winced. “Manny will be happy to see you. You’re the only niece he’s got.”

She snorted. “I’m the only daughter my dad has and that didn’t make anything any easier.”

“He loves you, Lacey,” Janine said. It was the first time Mrs. Gold had heard her first name in as long as she could remember. “We all do.”

[fenrys-moonbeam-lochan]

Our Dear Friend

Summary: Doctor Hafiza waits for someone to come and pick up Fenrys Moonbeam, dreading where the day will go. It turns out better than she expected.

Ao3

Part of my ToG Comfortember 2020 fics. 

xxx

There were times when being a doctor was a wonderful thing and there were times it left a heavy feeling in your soul. Hafiza wondered which one this would be.

Doctor Hafiza had been at Torre Cesme hospital since she was an intern. Now as chief of surgery for twenty years and near retirement, she had seen it all. Death, life, cancer, fractures, crying families, celebrating families, rare disorders, infections, even a pandemic. Everything had passed in front of her eyes.

Still, the sight of the young man on the bed was sending a twisted feeling through her gut.

She wasn't even supposed to be here today but the storm outside had derailed many of their doctors, leaving them short-staffed. After putting in the necessary calls as Chief, she had decided to step into the ER and help where she could.

That was how she had ended up with Fenrys Moonbeam's chart in her hands, an Olympic swimmer.

There was nothing outwardly wrong with the man. He had collapsed at the gym and emergency services had been alerted by the establishment. He didn't have any injuries internal or external that could have caused the fall.

However, after some conversation, the reason for it had become obvious.

It was exhaustion. Physical and emotional exhaustion. From what he had told them and their consulting physiatrist, Fenrys had been working himself non-stop, most likely skipping proper meals to work-out. The lack of proper meals wasn't obvious and wouldn't cause this much trouble if he was an average person. However, for an Olympic level athlete, it was dangerous. The worst part, he didn't seem to see anything wrong with it, describing his schedule as if it was normal.

The man needed help and Hafiza wasn't sure if it was going to happen. Legally they couldn't keep him and Fenrys made no indication that he would take their advice in resting and taking care of himself. In a scenario like this, the best bet was pleading to the person's emotional side by revealing their issue, with their permission ofcourse, to their family and friends. Except, the man was under the direct care of Maeve, his coach, a woman who had a well-known reputation for being a hardass. Not to mention, the rumours of emotional abuse that had flared up a while ago before being viciously squashed.

The only hope Hafiza could see was that since it was the offseason, Fenrys's emergency contacts were two other swimmers, his twin brother and Lorcan Salvaterre. But still, Hafiza had been mentored by a doctor who had spent a lot of their time with athletes. Knowing their mentality, she didn't know if they would understand the severity of the situation. Or if Fenrys would even let her tell them.

She was shaken out of her thoughts as a nurse came up to her.

"They're here for Fenrys Moonbeam," he said gesturing behind him, "They all insisted on coming in,"

Hafiza looked up to see five men coming toward her. She recognized Connall Moonbeam and the silver-haired Rowan Whitethorn but she had no idea who the rest of them were. Probably athletes too. They were certainly built like swimmers.

"Thank you," she told the nurse, "I'll take care of them,"

"Are you his doctor? Where is he? Is everything okay with him?" rushed out Connall, the perfect picture of a concerned brother.

"Right this way," she said, gesturing to the room behind her, "We put him in here or his privacy. Too many people recognized him,"

Connall nodded and they all followed her. Both Connall and the tall blonde took either side of his bed. The big brunette man and Whitethorn opted to stay closer to her while the fifth man stood by the foot of the bed.

"Fenrys," said the blonde, "What happened? We came as soon as we got the call, took a while in this storm,"

"You didn't have to come," said Fenrys, "I just overdid it. I'm ready to go home,"

He tried to get to the blankets but his brother stopped him.

"Just wait a second. I wanna hear this from the doctor,"

He then turned towards her.

"I'm Connall. The blonde is Gavriel. Lorcan and Rowan are with you and this one over here is Vaughan. Can you tell us what's wrong with my brother?"

Hafiza looked at her patient for permission. After a moment, Fenrys sighed and nodded.

"To put it simply," said Hafiza, "The man is exhausted. His meal plans and workout routine is wearing him down-"

"Hold up- wait," said Rowan, "That doesn't make any sense. He's a professional. He knows how to take care of himself. There has to be something else wrong here,"

Hafiza tampered down her annoyance. Well, there went her hope for a smooth plan for Fenrys.

"That is what it is," said Hafiza

"Look, guys," said Fenrys, "Like I said, I overdid it a bit. Nothing special. I'm fine,"

The man most certainly was not fine. She was thinking of what else to say but Gavriel beat her to it.

"We all overdo it sometimes, doesn't make us collapse over some gym equipment. And you've been avoiding us, Fen,"

"I said I'm fine!"

"Obviously not," muttered Vaughan

"You know what, asshole-"

"Enough," said Lorcan

The room instantly got quiet.

The man turned to Fenrys, "You're lying. You know it. We know it. Now you obviously don't want the doctor saying whatever she was going to say so why don't you let us know what's going on,"

Fenrys opened his mouth but then shut it.

"The truth, Fenrys," said Lorcan

The words burst out all at once.

"I'm tired, okay?! Is that what you wanna hear, I'm tired and I'm trying to get better but I'm not getting any better, and feeling down all the time and there's this big empty hole inside of me and I- I just- I'm tired okay. I just feel really tired all the time, Food doesn't taste good and sleep is just weird. I- don't know what- I don't- don't know what-"

As his rant died down, Fenrys's eyes started to fill with tears. He ducked his face to hide them but Gavriel pulled him close instead. His brother put an arm around him from behind. The rest of the men just watched in shock as Fenrys cried into Gavriel's chest.

Hafiza waited.

"Gods," muttered Rowans. Lorcan just shook his head and sighed.

It was sinking in for them. This would be a crucial moment.

"Fenrys," murmured Rowan, "Please look at us,"

Sniffling Fenrys pulled away so everyone could see him.

"You need a break from all this, Boyo," said Rowan, "This isn't healthy. We'll change your plan so you can have some time to yourself,"

"Maeve isn't going to like that," said Fenrys, voice just a bit bitter "And anyway, what are you going to help with? You're all leaving anyway,"

"What?" asked Conall, looking around the room, "What is he talking about?"

"We've been discussing retirement," answered Gavriel, "We're a lot older than you and we just don't swim the same anymore,"

"Doesn't mean we're leaving you," said Vaughan, "We're still gonna be right here. Just not in the game,"

"Not getting rid of us that easily, Boyo," Rowan chimed in, a small grin on his face.

Good. This was good.

Fenrys was starting to look a little more hopeful, "Maeve's still not gonna like a plan change though, she already thinks I don't work hard enough,"

"That's bullshit," said Lorcan, "When did she say that?"

"A month ago,"

Lorcan and Rowan looked at each other for a few moments, seemingly holding a silent conversation between them.

"Maybe its time we got you and Connall a new coach," said Rowan once they turned back

"What?" said Fenrys, surprise etched into his face. His brother looked just as shocked.

Hafiza had to admit, she was surprised too.

"You're good, Fenrys. There are a lot of people who would jump at the chance to coach the two of you. And if there's no one else, we'll do it ourselves," said Rowan.

"What?"

"I've been assisting With the younger swimmers for a while now," said Lorcan, "And Rowan has been assisting Aelin on her come back-"

"Not the only thing he's assisting with," muttered Vaughan, causing groans and chuckles around the room.

"Point is," continued Lorcan, "We can do this,"

"Maeve will try to blacklist you," said Connall

"Let her try," said Rowan

"You would really do this?" asked Fenrys, sounding small and unsure

"Of course," said Lorcan, voice filled with conviction, "But you need help, Fen. This isn't okay,"

After a long moment, Fenrys nodded, "Alright. I'll try,"

Hafiza let out a long breath. This was good.

Rowan turned towards her, "So doctor, how do we help him?"

Hafiza straightened her notes and started to got through the treatment, "Well, to start with, his diet-"

They all listened intently as she talked, Vaughan even taking notes. They had also all gravitated towards the bed, at least one hand reaching for their friend.

Some days being a doctor was great and some days it was not. However, Hafiza could say without a doubt, at this moment it was truly wonderful

Today, it was a good day to be a doctor.

[selfhelpskillss]

The Obsession Method Review: A Program For All Gentle Men!

Are you having big problems in your romantic relationships?

Do you feel that you are not attractive to women?

Or have you tried your best but still can’t get the girl you like?

Most of such men don’t know what their reasons for failure are. They all think that women are the most mysterious creatures on the planet and no one can understand them.

The obsession method will reveal a woman’s secrets. From there, suggest a plan to help you make her love more. Here, check out the obsession method review to better understand what this program has to offer.

Overview

What is the obsession method?

Kate Spring obsession method is a unique product that uses several tricks to impress girls.

This is an interesting program for men. The Obsession method studied the psychology of women, then wrote them down in a coding language. From there, men can get closer to the women they like.

Many men have failed to pursue their women. However, they have tried many different ways. But with this method, you can make any woman take off her hat. Not only that, but you also create an irresistible desire for love that keeps her from leaving you.

The obsession method uses the Harvard Psychological Method that very few people know about.

The great thing about this method is that it doesn’t require you to have an attractive personality or anything special. Therefore, whether you are fat or thin, ugly or beautiful, you can apply the method.

And as the name implies, the obsession method helps you make her ‘obsessed‘ and fall in love with you. She will teach you how to properly communicate with girls while revealing the best way to make eye contact.

Thanks to that, you can completely control your partner’s psychology and make her fall in love with you.

Kate Spring – program founder

Kate Spring – program founder

Kate Spring is the creator of this product and has successfully helped men who have problems with the woman he likes.

Kate lives in Vancouver – Canada, and completed her graduation from Victoria University. People know her as a dating coach. Besides, Kate also owns a youtube channel called ‘Love Learning‘ with a huge number of followers.

As an expert in helping men conquer the women of their dreams, Kate is famous worldwide. People from different countries look to Kate for guidance.

By applying Kate’s training, whether you are short, ugly, or unemployed, you can seduce any woman. Over the years, Kate Spring has supported many men. And then successfully turned them into alpha males extremely attractive to women.

So, if you’re having a hard time in your relationship, try reaching out to her once. I am sure you will never regret spending money on this program. Because the obsession method is worth buying.

The Obsession Method Review

What’s in the obsession method?

The obsession method tend to be positive because Kate Spring has researched and tested it thoroughly. So the product is for all men. You can learn many interesting ways to impress a woman and make her fall in love with you.

In the obsession method, there are 9 parts as follows:

Precision tactics

Precision tactics in dating

A correct strategy will guide you on the right path to the easiest success. Tactics will teach you how to capture the best moment. In this section, you will be able to answer questions such as:

When should you move closer to your opponent?

When is it possible to start the first kiss in a two-person relationship?

When should I ask her out?

Yes, the problem here is time. You may feel that this is not an important aspect of conquering a girl.

But can you point out when the best time is? Because women’s psychology is very sensitive and elusive. If you do it at the wrong time, it will be easy to make her uncomfortable.

According to the obsession method, you will have information about the most appropriate events and times. Now you can take the next steps without fearing her rejection. And of course, she will appreciate what you do.

Body messages

No woman likes a man who is slow and has boring gestures. If you’re like that, we’re sure you’ve lost points in her eyes.

Obsession method Kate Spring will teach some unique body language. And of course, they all have the effect of attracting the woman you choose.

Unlike men, women understand body language very well. And they react to these messages faster than any of your words or actions.

Because for them, the body massage is the subtlety that a man needs to have. So if you know and do it, it will initially successfully attract her.

Story mode

Story mode

Girls are not easy to talk to, especially some women who don’t speak to strange men. Unless she thinks you and her have some sort of relationship.

In front of such girls, a lot of men give up halfway. But this time of giving up may make you regret for the rest of your life losing your daughter.

Coming to the obsession method, Kate will teach you some unique talking techniques. You can use this method to start a conversation with any girl.

Of course, it’s easy to get the favorable results you want with Kate’s technique. I’m sure she will yearn and have a deep desire for your love.

Unstoppable pickup

Unstoppable Pickup is one of the techniques Kate teaches in the obsession method course. This way helps you attract girls even if you appear with old pickup trucks. Apply it, and I’m sure you will never fail.

A guy who says nonsense at the first meeting is not going to make a difference. And she may never want to talk to you again. But if you use Kate’s Unstoppable Pickup technique, any girl will like to learn more about you.

Desire protocol

In fact, some women only date for gain, even ‘seduce‘ him to “take advantage“. This is the main reason why men fail in relationships with them and feel more distant.

But what if you can conquer and make her fall in love with you? Do you think this only happens in movies?

Not so, with Kate’s Desire Protocol method, you’ll be surprised at the results. Following the Desire Protocol, you can make a woman yearn for love like never before.

Marriage man

Marriage man style

In the eyes of women, material things always have an important meaning. Because material things in marriage are always a necessary factor to ensure a longer-lasting relationship.

In case you show off the weird style, you can lose her. But using the Mariage Man method, you will understand what your woman wants. From there, you can become the man she just wants to marry.

Turn her on

Many men don’t know how to seduce a woman to fall in love with you completely. No need to worry anymore, the obsession method Kate Spring will teach you to ‘seduce‘ a woman to fall in love with you.

This technique will change everything as it will stimulate her to take the initiative in this relationship.

Text seduction

In today’s social time, chatting and flirting sentences are no longer strange. But how does texting get that girl interested?

Some men have bad texting errors and are very bland. Maybe it’s because they don’t know how to write a message, or they’re lazy.

Whatever the reason, women don’t like that type of man. So, in the obsession method, Kate will share three unique messages. Based on this, you can apply when texting and make an instant impression on the girl.

SUBLIMINAL 3’s

Subliminal 3’s technique includes 3 methods. The effect of this technique is to help you make the woman crazy about you.

She will ‘love’ you from your looks to everything related to you. Even the obsession method technique can make her want to sleep with you right away.

Who can use the obsession method?

As long as you want to conquer your woman, you can use the obsession method. It doesn’t matter if you are a thin or fat man, white or black.

The method works even if the girl has not seen you before, or she is not interested or is out of your reach.

This is a strength of the obsessive method. The program is suitable for every man globally, no matter what he does or where he is. As long as you love and desire the other person, you can completely apply the method to make her want you.

Is this method safe?

Science has proven that this method works very well and works in all cases. The obsession method has been tested on real issues before selling to the market. So you can completely trust the effectiveness and safety of the technique.

The program will teach you what you never knew about women. That helps you understand and learn about their needs.

In school, the booking and the education system only teach you slight gender differences. No one tells you how a girl’s mentality is and how to meet a woman’s heart.

We can vouch for the safety of the method. Trust it because thousands of men have applied and succeeded.

Moreover, the language in the book is very easy to understand. So you can easily deploy exactly what’s inside.

Benefits of using the method

Here are the benefits of the obsession method:

Win the heart of any woman you like

Make the woman you want to desire and desire you

Make her more active in the relationship and want to sleep with you right away.

Make her sincere in love with you

Help you become the ideal man

Make her miss you anytime

The Obsession Method Review: Pros and Cons

To wrap up the obsession method review, we’ll go over the advantages and disadvantages of the method. To help you have a better overview of the technique.

Advantages

The outstanding advantage of the method is its ability to make a woman want to fall in love with a man. With the techniques learned from the obsession method, you can easily meet a woman’s heart. It will help you to conquer the girl you never dreamed of before.

In addition, everything in the program uses smart digital. So you can use electronic devices to store information easily.

And you won’t have to worry about forgetting the techniques at the crucial moment. At the same time, thanks to that, you can learn and enrich your knowledge anytime and anywhere.

Besides, the obsession method guarantees a 60-day money-back guarantee if you fail to apply. This is like a mortgage that ensures you won’t fail. If you are interested in this course, buy it here to get the best deals.

Disadvantage

Honestly, we didn’t find any downsides to the method. But for a man like me, I’m too lazy to read or watch anything. Therefore, I would like the program to be produced in audio file format.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cost?

The cost to own the obsession method is $69.65. This is not a very large number. For just $69.95, you will make yourself more attractive to the woman you desire.

For $39.95, the desk also includes a video course that will change your life forever. Not only that, but the system also offers free e-books.

In which, there are 3 titles, including “How to Make Her Approach you,” “sex texts,” and “Sexual Wordsmith.” All of these books are products that go with the course.

The Obsession Method Review: Is this a scam?

We confirm this is not a scam. As mentioned, the method has been tested in real cases and has been successful. So if you are a man who is having trouble finding a relationship, you should buy this product.

Conclusion on The Obsession Method review article

Above is the obsession method review that we want to share with you. Indeed the obsession method is a comprehensive guide on how to text and how to express yourself through body language. The program offers solutions to help you conquer the woman you love.

In short, with the obsession method, you almost don’t have to try too hard and still make an impression in her eyes. Because basically, this method is to help her love you more. So use it and experience big changes in men’s lives.

Credit by:��https://selfhelpskills.net/the-obsession-method-review/

[itsclydebitches]

So I'm curious what are some character designs you love? Not from RWBY, but just i general. I'm the same anon who got you to check out Berserk and I'd say essentially all of the designs are done damn well. Fit the character. Changes that makes sense for growth. Also make sense given the setting. Even women in armor that doesn't have those massive boob plates. Good designs impact so much subconsciously to have much we enjoy other aspects of a story.

Congratulations! You’ve unlocked my never-ending need to praise Yu Yu Hakusho! :D 

This long, picture-laden post needs two disclaimers going forward: 

I’m not an artist. In the sense that I’m not a visual artist who knows anything about what makes character design good from a technical/community approved standpoint. This is purely based on my own, personal reaction to a beloved series. 

Connected to that, I’m going into this under the assumption that people might really disagree with me (?). Based on the cartoons and anime that I see praised for character design, I don’t think YYH fits whatever list more knowledgeable viewers are pulling from. But I’m gonna lay out my thinking anyway! 

Major spoilers for Yu Yu Hakusho below. 

Alright let’s do this. 

First off, when people start talking character design they often reference how cool a character is. Which makes sense. You want a character to be visually engaging and distinct. Something that makes you go “Wow!” whenever you look at them. However, one of the things I love about the YYH cast is how normal they are. Because they’re supposed to be normal. The trope of the main character having a crazy hair color has become so prominent that we’ve got memes about it now and that works for a lot of stories. You know who is important because, despite the assumption that they’re average people not dying their hair, they stick out like a sore thumb among the rest of the cast. 

However, normalcy is a really important part of YYH. The entire point at the start is that Yusuke is not special. He’s not unique. He’s a delinquent kid who most assume isn’t going anywhere in life. When he dies this doesn’t unlock some Super Special Backstory - you were innately amazing all along! - he just gets caught up in the plot because of a paperwork issue. The afterlife doesn’t know what to do with an asshole kid who unexpectedly saved another kid’s life so they just kind of... shuffle him around until he’s given another chance to live. Then he gets to pay back that second chance by becoming a Spirit Detective. Yeah, Yusuke is talented when it comes to fighting and spirit energy, but at the start that’s rarely emphasized outside of “He’s the best street fighter among no-name street fighters so really, it’s not impressive once you take Yusuke out of his tiny world of school parking lots and the occasional alleyway.” The takeaway is that he’s a dime-a-dozen troubled teen who got involved in the spirit world due to an impulsive act and a bunch of bureaucracy. Indeed, it’s a HUGE moment of emotional growth for Yusuke to realize that people do love him despite his supposedly average, unremarkable, and otherwise negative personality. His normal-ness - and others’ expectation that he could someday make himself great if he learns to work at it - is crucial to where Yusuke starts out. Making him visually distinct in terms of Anime Protagonist Looks would undermine a lot of that. This isn’t supposed to be a Super Special Kid Destined For Greatness. He’s just... a kid. A normal kid. A kid who has to work and learn and grow if he wants to make something of himself. So he gets black hair, brown yes, and a green school uniform. He’s pretty damn average looking. 

Same with Kuwabara. Same with Keiko. Same with Atsuko. They’re just normal people going about their lives and I always appreciated that they looked the part. You can still easily tell them apart thanks to different hair colors, texture, jaw lines, and outfits, but none of them seem out of place in the average world they start out in. Which, as said, is crucial to a lot of YYH’s themes. The ones who look more visually distinct - Hiei and Botan - aren’t human. It makes sense that they wouldn’t obey these same average laws of the rest of the cast and they are our first taste of a world that, in terms of character design, will eventually get pretty wonderfully weird. They function as stepping stones. 

This eventually becomes a story about the demon world and those demons wouldn’t come across as particularly scary/other if you begin the story with equally strange looking humans. Or even just “I don’t see people who look like that walking down the street” humans. Alongside many themes, there’s a contrast at work here. Yusuke stepping out into a stadium full of demons who despise him because of his species hits home when he is so clearly distinct from them. Suddenly, his normal is abnormal. 

Once the ball gets rolling, Yusuke’s looks are constantly in contrast with both his environment and his inner self. He looks like a scary thug but then unexpectedly saves a life. He looks like an average human but is actually the strongest among a group of scary-looking demons. He looks like this badass spirit detective who everyone assumes with have an equally badass spirit beast but, uh... 

Oh my god that’s a precious baby. By the time our cast is family and everyone accepts that Yusuke looks scarier than he actually is or ever was - once the core group is made up of not just humans but demon loving humans who are equally soft - we turn it all on its head again and reveal that Yusuke has demon blood. For the first time he looks as strange and powerful as he is. Yusuke’s normality is done away with the second he’s fully accepted his place in these worlds, throwing everything back into chaos. 

Yusuke’s demon form becomes even more foreign looking  when he’s being controlled by his ancestral father. The above is a Yusuke who is still Yusuke and in many respects the design reflects that: natural hair color, human body, tattoos easily covered up with a shirt. When he’s gone full Mazoku though, something dangerous, the white, wilder hair and change to his expressions ensure we read him as something feral. For the first time in the series Yusuke is truly the dangerous creature he’s pretended to be since his principal was running after him at school. 

As a side-note about character costumes, we see this emphasis on normality in their outfits as well. Obviously a story like RWBY is limited by how much time/money they have for animation, but it nevertheless has an impact to see the group almost constantly in their battle gear. They’re never not the main characters of an action-fantasy show, not even while just out around town with no expectation of entering a fight.  

In contrast, Yusuke and Kuwabara are often animated in everyday clothing that remind us that they’re really just teens trying to live their lives outside of this crazy nonsense. Kuwabara wasn’t even formally hired for all this! The cast wears sweaters and jackets while out and about. More formal clothes for special occasions. Jeans and t-shirts when they’re unexpectedly caught up in a fight because, you know, they’re not ready for battle every second of every day. They’re drawn like normal folks because, outside of the ring, they are. 

(We’ve also got a lot of parallels between Yusuke and Kuwabara’s civilian clothing, visually reminding us that they’re far more alike than they might be willing to admit.)

Despite often changing outfits, the group maintains a basic color pallet that makes them recognizable, yet it’s also not so limited that they appear strange for sticking to one (1) color for the entire time we know them. Yusuke, like most people, is drawn to particular colors, mostly greens, yellows, and blues, so each time we see him he’s familiar while also being distinct from the last time he changed. 

Hiei, as someone who initially wants nothing to do with anyone else and relies on assassin-like speed to take out his enemies, is dressed almost entirely in black. Without that bit of white in his scarf/hair you’d lose him in the shadows... which is the point. 

When he opens up and actually becomes friends with the team, his color pallet starts opening up a great deal too.  

And we’re shown all the little changes he starts incorporating that speak to his growth: his Jagan eye, a bandaged arm hiding his Dragon of the Darkness Flame, the necklace connecting him to Yukina. 

I’ve blathered on about the outfits enough but as a quick final note: EVERYONE WEARS APPROPRIATE FIGHTING CLOTHES. 

No one (even the women to my recollection) wear heels. Everything is loose-fitted and looks easy to move in. They’ve got sensible belts, bandages if they need them, and... that’s it. No unnecessary bells and whistles that distract from what’s supposed to be the story’s real draw: good fights and good characterization. Even the more elaborately styled characters (usually) look like they chose their outfits practically first and for the aesthetic after. At no point do I recall watching this show and going, “WHY would you wear that to a fight??” 

Anyway, back to the designs. 

The exceptions to either side of these extremes - from human normal to demon monstrous - are Genkai and Kurama, both of whom straddle the line. Genkai is someone who has pushed her spirit and body far past the norm. She’s the first human we meet who truly goes beyond that normality, even if you don’t immediately realize it. Her pink hair (such a soft color in her old age it’s not at all distracting) is a slight hint that something isn’t quite right with her. She’s obviously human... but not a normal human. Not anymore. 

Those unnatural looks are emphasized in her youth when she was at the height of her power. 

Genkai as a young woman has vibrantly pink hair (a bright pastel like Botan’s), a softer face, and far more emotive eyes. She looks ethereal, which fits not just her own journey to power but Togoru’s as well. Her story is intimately tied up in what that power does to the human body/soul. So Toguro starts out like this 

a pretty normal looking guy who is on the far end of what the human body is naturally capable of. He’s buff as hell, but not so much that it looks unreasonable. I’ve seen body builders bigger than him. He’s the average (dehydrated...) MCU superhero. However, he ends up like this

In Togoru’s case his abnormality is explicitly presented as grotesque. Rather than giving him a cool looking characteristic that’s clearly supernatural (blue hair, an extra eye, curly horns, etc.), we’ve taken a human characteristic (muscles) and expanded them to an unnatural degree. He’s got some uncanny valley shit going on. 

Paralleling Genkai, we likewise see Kurama subtly standing out among his human allies. 

He’s a demon in a human’s body. By in-world logic his appearance should be just as normal as anyone else’s, but a bit of his true nature shines through. His hair is long in a style not popular in YYH’s Japan. His red is far less of a natural shade than Kuwabara’s. He carries himself with the air of someone who is ancient, because he is. His human design deliberately reflects his true demon form so when that’s finally revealed we still recognize him as Kurama. 

(Same sort of work with Hiei’s demon form.) 

When we look at the cast together we have an immediate, visual impression as to who is normal and who is not - and those assumptions are embedded into the story. Yusuke is someone you’d overlook in the crowd, but he’s the most powerful. Kurama is clearly other in some way, but he’s desperate to live an average, human life. Kuwabara is designed to look and move like the fool and a lot of his development (his and others’ in relation to him, really. Like Hiei) is built around respecting him despite those looks. Hiei is tiny but will kick your ass. Genkai is tinier and will kick your ass worse. 

Her size combined with her age - combined with her status as Yusuke’s teacher - is a continuous reminder not to judge power by looks alone. Don’t underestimate your opponent and get overconfident (a major flaw of Yusuke’s). Know that you still have a LOT to learn about the world. That woman you assume is just a rude grandma? She’s going to break your expectations over and over and over again. 

Speaking of size, that’s a major aspect of Koenma’s design as well. When Yusuke learns he’s meeting the head of the underworld he starts picturing a massive, demonic beast who (sensing a theme here) looks the part of a supernatural ruler. Seeing Koenma for the first time - an adorable toddler-like being - is an absolute shock. 

It’s a gag for the audience, but it’s not just a gag. Due to his looks Yusuke is unable to take Koenma seriously, despite knowing the power he holds. 

Which, even more-so than arrogance, is Yusuke’s greatest flaw throughout the series. He doesn’t take school seriously. His death seriously. Ruler of the underworld seriously. His teacher seriously, etc. Yusuke constantly acts like he doesn’t care, throwing basic respect and effort in the face of whatever authority figure is desperately trying to keep him from self-destructing. He’s on the receiving end of multiple speeches throughout the series (mostly from Genkai) that boil down to, “Care about something, dammit. Take this seriously!” and when he does it’s GREAT. It’s a moment of growth we’ve really built to in a hundred different ways, including how he reacts to others’ looks. Koenma’s design feeds directly into the primary flaw Yusuke is working to overcome. How will he go from a delinquent laughing in the face of the most powerful being to someone multiple worlds can put their trust in? Design assists with that. 

When Yusuke does respect Koenma (even if he still insults/teases him because that’s just an ingrained part of Yusuke’s personality) Koenma’s appearance can change. It’s no longer serving its original function, so he evolves into a very good looking young man (with references to Tuxedo Mask to emphasize those good looks) that just... happens to still carry a pacifier. 

A pacifier that is revealed as an incredibly powerful weapon that will help save the world. Again: don’t judge anyone or anything solely on their looks. They’re never precisely what you’d assume they are based on your first glance - with the exception of minor villains whose looks serve only to convey their villainy: 

For everyone else, looks are complex. Two of the most different looking characters (color-wise anyway) are actually siblings, their contrasts reflecting both differing cultures and the emotional distance between them. 

The scariest looking monsters are just paper-pushers. It’s the handsome humans you should watch out for.  

And this is our hero, a man charged with protecting three worlds. 

I could say SO MUCH MORE but this is already disgustingly long so basically YYH (I think) does a great job of: 

Crafting characters that are distinct but not different for the sake of different. They always feel like they belong to their individual worlds and adhere to whatever “normal” is by those standards. 

Tying character looks really closely to the show’s themes and individual growth. Which, frankly, is something I think all good character design should do. 

It’s not nearly as flashy as other anime... but YYH knows what it wants to accomplish and went about it beautifully. Catch me still weeping over this show fifty years from now. 

Peace ✌️

[pricemarshfield]

what do you truly desire?

A Deckerstar human/romcom AU. Chapter 5/10, read on AO3 here (or the full fic here). Will be rated E eventually, so minors DNI.

Five months later, Lucifer's life is fantastic.

It's not a surprise. His life has always been better than the average person's: plenty of money, some of the world's best alcohol, possibly the most active sex life of anyone in the LA area. Maze's brief trend of being gentle after Chloe had rejected him because of her has long-since ended, so she's back to her normal self: quick-witted and vicious and Lucifer's best friend.

She doesn't tell him anymore stories about her roommate, and he doesn't ask her about Chloe. It's basically the same way they did things before, just with the one tweak. Still, it's not as though he doesn't know when she tiptoes around things. Maze happily starts a story about building a model rocket with her other best friend (Lucifer holds a hand to his chest, mostly-mock-offended) but then clams up when Lucifer asks the friend's name or any other details, or Maze corrects him on some minor detail about LA's liquor laws that only someone who spent a lot of time with a cop would know. (Lucifer doesn't remember what that one was. Maze handles the books.)

Lucifer continues to talk up their customers almost every night, waxing poetic about their most expensive whiskeys, whispering in a handsome man's ear about how good Maze looks mixing cocktails, helping them through the potential sexuality crisis that tends to cause. It's certainly not a traditional lifestyle, but anyone he has a conversation with long enough to actually talk about it tend to say how lucky he is.

Which is right, obviously. He's lucky. What more could he want?

Of course, the life of a club owner doesn't start at opening. He needs a new suit, deep blue for an event someone's paying a truly sinful amount of money to host at Lux, and his tailor won't do house calls. Maze had tried, at one point, to wake him up earlier, if only so that he'd cook her breakfast since she burns everything short-of-but-sometimes-including toast. But he spends over a thousand on just the sheets on his bed, let alone how much he spent on the mattress, and he's damn well going to enjoy it.

(It's not--and this is crucial--it's not moping. He doesn't have anything to mope over, definitely not, his life is absolutely wonderful and he doesn't spend any time thinking of a blonde woman who doesn't swoon at everything he says like anyone he puts any effort in with, the first person he'd been interested in since Eve and the rebellion she represented.)

He's running late for the appointment, due to some truly abysmal traffic and a lack of parking anywhere near the shop, so he's rushing along through the crowd of people that seem to be omnipresent anytime he needs to get somewhere quickly in this city.

"Excuse me, pardon me, I'm actually in a hurry, so--okay, now you're purposefully obstructing everyone here, step to the side if you're going to text--" He turns his head to stare down the offending party, a stern-faced woman with a harsh haircut and horrifically short bangs--when he runs right into someone in the street and gets hot coffee all over his person.

It's not necessarily bad form to swear in public, but the string of words that come out of his mouth certainly cross the line into bad etiquette. It hurts like a motherfucker, and worst of all, the shirt he's wearing is white. Lucifer spares a moment to be thankful--not to a God or anything, just in general--that he's already got an appointment with a tailor.

"Shit!" says the woman he bumped into, and Lucifer turns his head to see Chloe. Because he'd only just managed to mostly put her out of his mind, and the universe is a vicious, punishing thing. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry--"

She's still looking with dismay between his shirt and what's left of her coffee, not at his face, and Lucifer coughs a little. "I didn't take you for a black coffee drinker."

Chloe looks up at him, eyes wide with surprise. "Lucifer? That's--insane, LA is a city of almost 4 million people, what are the chances?"

"Given my luck? Quite high, actually," Lucifer says, and Chloe's expression shutters almost quick enough for Lucifer to miss the flash of hurt across her face. "Because of the coffee! Not--I did like this shirt, but it is good to see you. And I'm near my tailor, anyway."

Chloe still looks a little offended, but she manages a small smile up at him. "You have your own tailor?"

"Well, suits like these don't come off the rack." He holds his arms out, realizes that he's now blocking the crowd and being a huge hypocrite, and lowers them. "Let's step to the side for a second."

"What? Oh, right," Chloe says, and gets out of the way. Someone shoots them a dirty look as they shuffle through to the side. The--chicken and waffles place...interesting--has a bright, tacky red-and-gold awning that gets them a bit of respite from the shade so they can talk.

Chloe digs through her pockets, pulling out receipts and crumpled-up straw wrappers. After glancing at his face, she says, "I'm just trying to find a napkin or something to get the coffee."

Lucifer looks at the reflection of the two of them in the window. His shirt has a giant brown spot in the middle of it that, while it should come out with dry cleaning, is certainly not going to be helped by old napkins. "I'll buy a new shirt while I'm at the tailor. Hopefully it won't need alterations."

Chloe snorts. "'Alterations.'" Her British accent is abysmal and sounds less like him and more like an offensive impression of a character from a cult classic BBC show. "This place looks like a college haunt, you could probably get a USC T-shirt inside until you get home tonight."

Lucifer shudders. "Ugh. Absolutely not."

"What, you're telling me you don't have any cheap clothes that you hold onto just 'cause they're comfortable?"

"A silk robe is comfortable," he grumbles. "Certainly more comfortable than a T-shirt from--" He looks at the door, squinting against the glare of the sun against the 'restaurant' door. "--Classic Southern Cafe of the West Coast."

"I mean, the name leaves something to be desired, but if a place with a name like that's still open then it can't be all bad."

"Or someone with more money than sense decided to throw their life savings at something they were completely unqualified for. Like that cafe in Boston."

Chloe blinks at him. "The cat cafe?"

"You're familiar!" Lucifer says, delighted. "Maze told me about it, she delights in disasters."

"...she told me, too."

Right.

"Okay, look," Chloe says, and Lucifer braces himself for the worst of it. "I'm really sorry about the way I kicked you out." Oh? "I mean...I just--okay, I'm not jealous."

"I hadn't thought you were?" Lucifer says, unsure if he's about to be insulted or what. He's not letting himself be hopeful about anything, though, suffocating the urge to be optimistic about it before it can say whatever it wants to. If this conversation goes well, he'll be pleasantly surprised, and if not, he won't have lost any of the progress he's made over the course of the past few months.

(The most he's hoping for is that he'll be able to talk to her. He enjoys that, more than he does talking with almost anyone else.)

"I just mean...ugh, okay, Maze and I were a thing, okay? Just briefly, barely a month! We didn't really work like that, but we made good friends, and then she was moving out of her old roommate's place and I needed to move out of my mom's old house and it just worked? And it was just--weird, you having slept with her and me also--fuck, sorry, I'm rambling."

She is, which seems pretty unlike her from Lucifer's previous two times that he'd met her, but it's annoyingly endearing anyway. "It's fine, Detective. Don't stop on my account."

Chloe reaches a hand up to rub the back of her neck. "Right. And I just...don't really casually see people, okay? I mean, Maze was an exception. Not in that way, I'm definitely bisexual, just...yeah. And as much as I liked you, I just don't think I have the room for a relationship right now."

Lucifer's heart definitely doesn't drop down into his stomach at that, not at all. "Of course."

"I would like to hang out, though? As friends?" Chloe says. "If you're alright with--"

"I am," Lucifer says, quickly enough that he accidentally interrupts her. She grins up at him, though, so it's good, it's fine. "I...do have to get to this appointment, I need a suit for work--"

"Yeah, of course, sorry to keep you, and sorry again about the coffee! You were right, too, I don't normally like my coffee black, but it's--not important, go get a new suit."

Lucifer nods and smiles, a little awkward, a little unsure, but generally...happier. It's not even as though he was in a bad mood before, but now he's smiling easier, chattier with his tailor, doesn't mind the stain on one of his nicer shirts that's had some time to set in now and might not wash out as easily as he'd like.

--

Maze has been staring at Lucifer ever since he walked into the bar, wearing a new shirt and a smile. She's been drying the same glass now for almost five minutes, despite how busy it is at the bar and how much Patrick's scrambling to get things done, and it's now just a matter of which one of them will break first: Maze's impatience or Lucifer's love of talking about himself.

Lucifer really does love talking about the things that go well in his life, though, and Maze hasn't even blinked for the last stretch of time. So eventually he heads over with an eyeroll, doesn't miss the victorious smirk on her face, and sits down at the one barstool that's, miraculously, available.

"Spill," Maze says, putting the glass down at last and starting to mix a drink, to Patrick's obvious relief.

"I ran into Chloe," Lucifer says, delighted, and looks to see if Maze will tense up, if she'll show any jealousy that her ex is spending time with him. Decidedly platonic time, but still. He doesn't want a repeat of what happened with Eve. That had been a difficult time for their friendship, and for Lucifer in general, if he's being honest.

She doesn't seem to, not smiling (normal) but nodding in agreement as she looks down at the drink she's pouring. "Cool. Did you go try and find her at the police station or something? Hold up a sign like that dumb movie?"

Lucifer scoffs. "No, of course not, that would have been completely inappropriate, and not in a fun way. Especially given she rejected me." Much as that stings, it's still a novel feeling.

"Good," Maze says, sliding the drink over to a customer who only barely manages to catch it before the glass would've fallen and shattered on the floor and gotten--whatever that drink is, some lurid pink thing, all over her clothes. "So...what? She came to see you at Lux before we opened?"

"No," Lucifer says. "We just ran into each other."

"Jesus, what are the odds," Maze says, grabbing some orange juice from beneath the counter. "You wanna come back here and help out?"

"Of course not," Lucifer says, then walks to the back of the bar to help out anyway. He's not actually good at mixing drinks at all, but he knows where everything is, mostly, grabbing Maze some rum and chopping limes since they're running low. "Are we especially busy today or something? I've never seen the bar this backed up."

"Well, you weren't telling me right away, I had to make a point," Maze says with a quick glare at him. "Apologize to Patrick."

Lucifer doesn't particularly feel like apologizing to Patrick for Maze's behavior, and Patrick seems a bit too busy with pitchers of sangria to do much of anything. There's a lull in their conversation as they get drinks out to the customers as fast as possible without missing any tabs or charges or anything else, but then it slows to something they can talk during.

"Well, I'm glad it worked out, I guess?" Maze says. "Did she, like, rip your shirt off or something? I didn't think Decker had it in her."

"No," Lucifer says. "While I'm not at all opposed, she actually just spilled some coffee--"

Maze laughs. "Holy shit, really? Wow, I didn't realize she was mad at you! I'm normally really good at picking up on anger!"

"It was an accident, Mazikeen, would I be in a good mood if it wasn't?" Lucifer says, annoyed, wiping down the counter with a rag just to get the worst of the condensation and sweat off.

She doesn't respond right away, and when he looks back, she's smiling at him, softer than she normally would. "Hey. I'm glad you're in a good mood about it."

"Okay?" Lucifer says, unused to Maze being nice when she doesn't want something from him. "Why--"

"Which is why I'm gonna tell you right now," Maze interrupts. "That you're my best friend. And that I care about you."

"I--okay? I--"

"And that if you hurt Chloe," Maze says, still smiling, still with that same casual tone. "I will fucking end you. Got that?"

"I haven't even done anything!" Lucifer protests. "Is she getting this same shovel talk? And besides, she's said she's not interested, it's just--friendly."

"Oh," Maze says, relaxing against the counter a little more. "Really? Wouldn't have guessed that. Also...yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, she got the same shovel talk," Maze says with another eyeroll, all trace of her sweet, fake smile gone. "Obviously. You're my best friend."

Lucifer nods, shoulders dropping just a little. It's not that he was worried Maze was picking between him and Chloe, like it's some sort of fight, but it's--nice, to be reassured that she's on his side anyway.

"Also?" Maze says, glare getting worse.

"Also...I care about you too?"

"Thank you!" Maze says in her sweetest, fakest voice of all. "Also, I'm guessing you two didn't exchange numbers again?"

"Shit."

"It's fine, I got you, let me just make sure Chloe's cool with it once I'm home," Maze says. "You're definitely both being stupid as hell, but whatever, at least it'll be fun to watch."

--

At 1:43am, after they've finished closing up and cleaning and getting everything ready for tomorrow, Lucifer checks his phone for the first time in an hour and sees a text from a number he doesn't recognize.

Hey! It's Chloe. Maze gave me your number, she said you said it was okay

If it's not, I'm sorry and I won't text again

And if you're not Lucifer, I'm sorry and please let me know?

Hello, Detective

She doesn't respond, but it's late enough that she's probably asleep, and frankly, after having to actually work tonight, he's about ready to pass out himself. So he does, gets into the most comfortable sheets he's ever head and is unconscious almost as soon as his head hits the pillow. He misses one more text, from a number he hasn't texted in years.

hey! i'm back in town if you want to meet up! let's partyyyy