#like I get being mad at excessively long cut scenes

[spicychamomilecafe]

Engaging in recreational media is like eating a meal.

You can technically eat whatever food you want however you want, but certain types of food must be eaten a certain way in order to be properly enjoyed. You can eat soup with a fork or with your hands, but that’s not the proper way to eat soup. If you choose to eat it this way, your experience with the soup might not be as positive as it could be (and in all likelihood you will make a big mess). But even if you do eat the soup properly, (ignoring the possibility that the food itself is poorly made) you may find that you don’t like it and don’t finish it; or you may find you simply don’t have time to finish it. But that’s okay, because you tried it.

You can engage with media however you want, but certain pieces of media are meant to be engaged with a certain way.

Descriptions in books are not written to be skipped.

Scenes in movies are not filmed to be skipped.

Some Video games have cutscenes and dialogue that is not meant to be skipped.

Most Episodes of TV shows are not made to be skipped.

You are allowed to do these things. No one is stopping you. And in some cases breaking the rules may be more fun. But you cannot judge something on its merits if you do not engage with it the way it is meant to be engaged with; doing so is dishonest to yourself, and forming an opinion based on something you’ve barely touched is unfair to the creator and dishonest to those who you spread your opinion to. Just like it’s unfair to judge food you haven’t eaten.

And just like food, it’s okay to not complete a run of a game, or DNF a book, or stop watching in the middle of a movie/tv show. But if you continue to order the same thing over and over again, continue to not finish it, then that is wasteful — of time, of energy, and of resources. And that waste will then go into a half baked opinion which will in the end be nothing but empty calories.

[riddlerosehearts]

there's so many things i love about the twst anthology manga. it's honestly more fun to me as a fan of the game than the regular manga is, because as much as i love seeing how they adapt the scenes from the game and the little things they add (like getting to see baby riddle, trey, and chenya hanging out 🥺), the anthology is essentially like... extra vignettes, in manga form. some chapters are expansions of the vignettes from the game, but most of it is totally new, and sometimes it provides really neat bits of character exploration?

like, in one of my favorite chapters from the first volume. actually, i'm mainly only posting this as an excuse to talk about this chapter, "a blessing on our unbirthday":

in that chapter, riddle has been so worried about trying not to crack down as hard on rule violations that he ends up exhausted because he lost sleep over it! he says he's worried that that tendency of his might be ingrained in him for good, and it just breaks my heart thinking about how he so deeply wants to break the cycle and shed the excessive strictness and perfectionism that his mother instilled in him, but it's so hard. it's hard to have your worldview challenged so suddenly, to realize overnight that you've been doing things so wrong for such a long time and that all you can do now is try your best to change and improve. it's hard to know that you've hurt people when you never meant to, when you genuinely thought what you were doing was right. it must be especially hard when you're just a teenager who was doing what your parents have been teaching you to do since you were a small child. of course riddle is losing sleep.

but while he's walking through the hallway, thinking about how exhausted he is and how worried he still is, ace shows up. they banter a bit, but then ace very quickly realizes that riddle isn't feeling well and picks up on the fact that he's pushing himself too hard. he tells riddle to slow down and relax, and hilariously tries to manipulate him into deciding to hold an unbirthday party by going on about how maybe they should just have one without him and break a ton of rules while he's not there.

this makes riddle angry, of course, and results in him mentally beating himself up for almost losing his temper. :( but what ace is trying to do works! riddle instinctively gets riled up at his words, angrily reprimands him a bit, and nearly uses his unique magic on him... but ace cuts him off mid-sentence, which throws him off so that he doesn't use it. and then, in his inner thoughts, while he is panicking and sweating and getting upset with himself, he's also managed to stop before he made a big mistake, and now has a chance to reflect and acknowledge that mistake. he knows that it would've been irrational and wrong of him to collar ace just for saying that he might break a few rules.

and all of that is already really important and shows a lot of growth on his part! but then ace responds by telling him he's being too hard on himself and that it's okay to take small steps instead of trying to completely change right away, and riddle is instantly relieved and settles on trying to make everything perfect for the party. before, when ace first proposed the idea, he'd seemed uninterested and like he didn't realize just how badly he needed to take his mind off things. but this time he listens, and understands that ace just might be right, and the story ends on a very fun and sweet note.

and it's just so good. riddle has such great dynamics with each of his dormmates, and i love seeing how his relationship with ace has grown. i really hate when people get mad at ace for demanding a tart and a party at the end of book 1, because riddle treated ace in particular horribly and needed to be held accountable for it. he really could've asked for far more from riddle or still not forgiven him considering that riddle, like, actually could have killed him while overblotted. and i also really hate when people characterize riddle as still being constantly angry after book 1, and/or don't acknowledge everything he did at the end of book 1 to try and apologize for his actions and make an effort to change. he's one of the only overblotters to actually verbally apologize, and i should also add that he did what ace asked of him without question... and had a good time with it, because he likes tarts and parties! i think it's notable how at the end of book 1, riddle had literally just expressed that he had wanted to eat the tart ace made for him and hang out with his friends, so ace basically asked him to do exactly that along with having to do the hard work that would be involved in it.

and now, they're genuine friends. they've allowed themselves to start over with a clean slate, and in this anthology chapter we see that ace can comfort riddle and have fun with him without holding the past against him, and once again is helping him out of a rough spot by convincing him to have a party. i just love it, i love what this chapter says about riddle and what it says about him and ace. i really hope we get a third volume of the anthology someday, with group art of the third years on it since the first two volumes have the first and second years on them:

and i hope they get officially released in english someday too because i would really love to be able to own them.

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Twin Suns"

In which the end of the Malachor arc is profoundly beautiful.

First off, obligatory live reaction version from 2017.

Second, I would be remiss if I did not link back to this close read of "Twin Suns" (by greenreticule here on Tumblr), from which I draw quite a bit of my own analysis and opinions about the themes and messages of the episode. Check it out sometime, there's ten parts (technically eleven but the last post in the series is more of a memoir/personal reflection by the author and therefore not as relevant to our meta purposes) and it is a loooooong read but worth it, in my opinion. I don't always agree with every single point of the analysis (the stuff about the Sequel Trilogy, for example) but there's a lot of things that resonate and that I incorporate into my own interpretation of the episode so I figured I'd mention the source.

Onwards!

Rather appropriately we open on a shot of the titular twin suns themselves.

The next series of shots are stark and empty, nothing but the vast white desert, emphasizing the loneliness and isolation of both Tatooine itself, and Maul in particular.

And he is not, ah... taking Ezra's rejection or the long wanderings out in the desert well. To say the least.

From this first opening monologue we can already tell that Maul is fraying. He spent ten years in the depths of madness and it seems like he's descending into madness once again. Even his clothing reflects this, sandblasted and torn, a ragged hood recalling the one he wore at the beginning of Malachor as he feigned being weak and decrepit, and uneven wrappings circling his arms, asymmetrically.

His mood swings from "Visions and Voices" are more pronounced, one moment warbling pitifully about being lost, about being so close to his target, the next shrieking Obi-Wan's name skyward like an obscenity.

Obi-Wan has managed to elude him all this time since Dathomir, and Maul is beginning to get desperate.

RIGHT, SO THIS IS THE PART WHERE I GET BACK INTO MY BLUBBERING KENOBI SHOW FEELINGS BECAUSE "JEDI CANNOT HELP WHAT THEY ARE. THEIR COMPASSION LEAVES A TRAIL. THE JEDI CODE IS LIKE AN ITCH. [THEY] CANNOT HELP IT." AND SOB FOREVER ABOUT HOW WHOEVER IT WAS ON THE WRITING TEAM THAT CAME UP WITH THAT RAW-ASS LINE, THEY UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT.

So not only is this a callback to the previous times Maul lured Obi-Wan out to him in TCW, this now also a call-forward to Kenobi and I just want y'all to appreciate for a moment that Maul is using the exact same tactic on two different Jedi, simultaneously.

Maul is luring Ezra and taking advantage of Ezra's compassion, hero complex, guilt complex, and sense of hyper-responsibility, in order to then exploit Obi-Wan's compassion and protector-guardian streak, so that he can kill Obi-Wan when Obi-Wan comes to Ezra's rescue.

Because that's what Jedi do, that's what Jedi are, the Jedi Code is like an itch they cannot help it--frick man, I'm already emotional and we're not even two minutes in.

A general overview of the music this episode, and I'll comment on specific cues as they happen, but I mostly want to point out the frequent lack of music, actually. This episode is very stripped down in terms of theme and instrumentation and there are long stretches of utter silence, to help us absorb the atmosphere. It's very effective in making Tatooine feel utterly desolate, like we're alone on this journey with the characters.

This episode had originally been very ambitious, we've been told from behind-the-scenes commentary, longer, more complex, a lot more plot points, but as it was coming together they very wisely pared it way down to the barebone tacks, cutting out all the excesses and stripping things down to a simple character journey narrative, making the resulting story that much more profound and intimate.

(Plus the saved budget allowed us to get some absolutely gorgeous animation and new pajamas for Ezra. XD)

He looks so comfy in them.

This sequence is heavily styled after the cold open in "Legacy", camera movement and shot choice almost exactly matching. This is not a coincidence, as the basic premise of both episodes is the same: Ezra receives a vision through the Force, and it moves him to action.

Unlike in "Legacy", however, when the Force itself was moving to comfort Ezra and connect him to the voices and images of his parents one last time before their death, this vision is artificially constructed, sent to him by Maul--like the ones in "Visions and Voices"--to deliberately manipulate him, pull him away from his support network, make him act out of fear.

A false Call To Action, in an artificial Hero's Journey narrative that Maul has constructed for Ezra to follow. (More on that later.)

Side note, completely unrelated to all this meta, but an observation I just want to point out: It's the middle of the night and Kanan is not in his room on the Ghost. Where exactly was he eh? Perhaps a certain Twi'lek pilot's room? *eyebrow waggle*

Anyway, after Ezra's Weird Force Tele-Distance Holocron Call we move to a scene that is a bit heavy in the exposition department, by virtue of it having to hold the burden of the extra plotlines they pared down. It's maybe not quite as effective as it could have been but it serves its purpose: It establishes that they identified the "desert planet with two suns" as Tatooine sometime offscreen, and that they asked about Obi-Wan and Bail Organa lied through his teeth about the man being dead. So therefore they must have decided to give the matter up, and let Maul chase ghosts in the Tatooine sands.

Rex being clearly distraught at Obi-Wan's assumed death. :(

Kanan also reminds Ezra that the last visions he got from and about Maul were a trick designed to manipulate him.

Ezra's insistent though, as he always tends to be whenever the notion of being able to obtain "the key to destroying the Sith" pops up. So Hera takes him aside for a moment.

Her face and how often she touches Ezra's arms and shoulders in this scene hurts. :( And the strain in her voice when she asserts that if Obi-Wan were alive he wouldn't be hiding in the desert, he'd be helping them, Hera understands Jedi nature too, she just hasn't gotten the full picture, doesn't know the reason why Obi-Wan is doing... well... exactly that.

This is where the story beat parallels to "Legacy" end, because this time, Ezra does not receive Hera's blessing to go. Instead she reminds him, rather sternly, that he is supposed to be there with them, planning the attack on Lothal, she needs him and his focus here.

Recall Yoda's line about Luke: "Never his mind on where he was. What he was doing." Since all the way back in Season Two, when his mere presence started to become a danger to the safety of his friends, Ezra has been growing more and more obsessed with finding a way to kill the Sith, whenever Maul turns up more distracted. It ties straight back into his motivation for becoming a Jedi in the first place that he told Yoda in "Path of the Jedi".

"I just want to protect myself and my friends. And not just them, everyone. I'll protect everyone."

Ezra has an abundance of that natural Jedi urge to protect (planted by his parents, nurtured by Hera), the itch inside him intermingles with his clingyness and attachment to his Ghost family in particular. When everything went wrong on Malachor he internalized that failure severely, and his natural Jedi compulsions went overdrive into a crippling sense of hyper-responsibility, magnified by his guilt and leading him down the same path Anakin walked--seeking more power, from dubious and deceitful sources, in order to prevent another personal tragedy from happening to him again.

His desire to protect got twisted into attachment, into a clingy possessiveness, into a fear of more potential loss. In this way his flirtations with the Dark Side mirrored Anakin's, though ultimately Ezra never went far enough that he wasn't able to come back, the disaster at Reklam and his reconciliation with Kanan enough of a kick in the head from the Force for him to be all, "NOPE, I REGRET EVERYTHING, I'M NOT DOING THAT AGAIN."

But even though Ezra came to his senses and rejected the Dark Side, he was still not on the right path. The aftereffects of Malachor remained and he kept letting that Sisyphean unattainable goal of defeating the Sith--himself, personally, or else personally enabling it to happen--pull him away. Kept letting it move him out of place in the narrative.

He was supposed to be here, Hera needed him here. "You're in the wrong place, Ezra Bridger," Obi-Wan tells him gently, later. Ezra lets Maul, lets his obsession with destroying the Sith, yank him out of order in the cosmic destiny of things.

The Force has a place for him. But it is here and not there.

But he kind of has to go on this perilous journey for it to finally kick in.

(One of the scenes I do kind of wish they had kept from the original extended plot is the one where Hera and Kanan and Zeb all kind of commiserate about how "the kids", meaning Ezra and Sabine, are growing up and leaving home, and how they have to let them go, even if they might make bad choices, really playing into that whole parental angle and explaining why they didn't immediately rush off after Ezra.)

Despite Ezra's half-hearted assurance to Hera, it's clear he has no intention of obeying her order to stay put. His sense of impulsive hyper-responsibility is too strong, he's following the same instincts that led him to obsess over and misinterpret his other two major Force visions.

So he swipes a training A-wing.

He's such a little shit I love him. <3

This is the point of no return and Ezra is unwittingly drawn into Maul's trap, which mimics the beats of a classic Campbell Hero's Journey.

Joseph Campbell, for reference, is a writer and philosopher who purported the idea of the monomyth, that in all stories and all mythologies across cultures there are similar patterns and cycles. His Hero's Journey is often styled as a closed circle ("It ends where it began."), with a dividing line between the Known and Unknown worlds and various stops and characters and plot elements mentioned along the sides. The Hero's Journey monomyth, incidentally, was one of George Lucas's major inspirations for writing Star Wars, wanting to create one such classic mythological narrative.

So we have all the elements in place here. We have the Call To Adventure (the distorted holocron message). We have the Refusal Of The Call (Hera ordering Ezra to stay and him initially not fighting her). We have the Supernatural Aid (the pieces of the holocron that function as some kind of magic compass). We've outmaneuvered the Threshold Guardian and crossed over into the Unknown (Ezra swiping the A-wing from under the technician's nose). Along the way we'll pick up the Ally or Helper (it's revealed Chopper snuck along and went with him). And we will be facing Trials, Tests, and Tribulations (everything from the initial Tusken attack to braving the harsh elements of Tatooine's unforgiving sand and heat).

...But it's all wrong.

See, Ezra has already answered the Call to his own Hero's Journey, the one that started for him all the way back in the pilot, when he returned Kanan's lightsaber and crossed the Threshold into the Unknown world of being a Rebel and a Jedi Padawan. This falsely constructed cycle Maul has drawn him into is not his narrative. It was never intended to bring him enlightenment, never intended to complete, only to be used to further Maul's selfish ends.

That Ezra manages to find enlightenment and complete the cycle anyway is something that happens in spite of Maul, and not because of him, and takes some severe course-correcting from Obi-Wan. Over and over this episode we'll hear this idea repeated, that this was not where Ezra was supposed to be in the story, it's not his job or responsibility to deal with Maul, he is where "[he] should never have been".

We'll table that for now and come back to it, have a moment to enjoy some pretty caps.

Thus far, music-wise, we've had a couple ominous cues, and a bouncy jaunt full of Rebellion flutes and brass as Ezra made his escape, in between a couple of the aforementioned long bouts of silence. There's a bubbly little bit when Chopper is discovered. (And I can't even tell you how much I love the touch with Ezra startling so bad he smacks the A-wing cockpit window and bumps the steering column so that the ship swerves out of place--PART OF THE METAPHOR MUCH?) Soft vocals filter in as Ezra consults the holocron shards, holding in long, mystical notes. A lone viola sounds, mournfully. Higher strings sound with spiritual reverence as Ezra gets out of the A-wing, as if to suggest his goal, his enlightenment, is just up ahead.

Then, darker notes like a pulsing heartbeat. The voices go discordant.

Then the Tuskens attack and hell breaks loose.

One of the underlying threads this episode is Ezra and Chopper's devotion and loyalty to each other so I really like how, even though Ezra told him to find cover, Chopper doesn't and charges in to get a Tusken off Ezra instead. Ezra in turn shields him with his own body when the Tuskens score hits that make the A-wing explode.

And that's Ezra's, "I'm in so much trouble." look lol.

Maul, meanwhile, decides to go ahead and murder all the Tuskens and I would not fault you for thinking back to another lightsaber-fueled Tusken massacre.

In fact, probably any parallel or allusion you think of during this episode is in all likelihood deliberate. Frankly I'd argue that this is one of the most important episodes of the show, with how integral it is to Ezra's character arc.

Which is why it was so annoying and asinine that people complained that Ezra took up most of the episode's focus and whined that it should have been only about Maul. Hello, do you understand the concept of a protagonist?!

Speaking of allusions though, we get some lovely call backs to "Visions And Voices" with Maul once again letting Ezra hear him inside his head and catch fleeting glimpses of him, this time in order to lure him further out into the desert. Maul is still trying to keep him in the false cycle, tempting him away from escape.

And Ezra's sense of hyper-responsibility, of This is all my fault and I have to fix it, leads him right down Maul's preordained path.

"I have to help Master Kenobi, if I can." As if Obi-Wan needs any help dealing with Maul, ha ha.

Another moment of pure heartwarming loyalty from Chopper here, he has the opportunity to keep going along the path to safety, but begrudgingly chooses instead to stay with Ezra, through thick and thin.

Ezra once again returns the favor by refusing to leave his side when he runs out of power.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The way Ezra staggers, looking completely exhausted. Also the sandblasting in his hair and clothes kjhfkasjfha.

Taylor's acting here is heartbreaking, he makes Ezra sound SO lost and scared. :(((((((

Maul decides to rub things in a bit and oh hey some mirror dialogue here, eerily similar to a certain exchange in "Gathering Forces". :D

Grand Inquisitor: The Darkness is too strong for you, orphan. It'll swallow you up even now. Ezra: No. Grand Inquisitor: Your master will die. Ezra: No! Grand Inquisitor: Your friends will die, and everything you've hoped for will be lost. This is the way the story ends. Ezra: NO!

And in comparison:

Maul: He is dead... He is dead. Ezra: No... Maul: You led me to him. Ezra: No. Maul: You failed your friends. Ezra: No! Maul: You will DIE!" Ezra: NOOOO!

~It's like poetry, it rhymes.~

Also this is terrifying.

So I've legitimately teared up like... twice watching this show. This was one of the times. This moment right here where Obi-Wan's feet step softly into frame.

Yeah it got me.

Cut to... Night. A quiet campfire. Ezra comes to and things are suddenly put into perspective.

"You're in the wrong place, Ezra Bridger."

(The voice they got for Obi-Wan is perfect btw, sounds just like Alec Guinness.)

Obi-Wan explains gently that he is not "the key to defeating the Sith". He never was. Maul's desires muddied the holocron vision, he used Ezra to get his own answers and left Ezra with only partial answers. Because Obi-Wan is associated with the key to defeating the Sith but he's not the Chosen One.

And neither is Ezra.

He is a narrative "chosen one", a key player picked by the Force, imbued with purpose, but defeating Vader, killing the Emperor... that was never his task to take. After the loss he suffered in "Legacy" Ezra had been letting himself get obsessed with the idea that he could fix that problem--the problem of the Sith--himself.

But that is not his role in the story.

It is not yet sunrise (Luke and Leia). So the moon (Ezra) must endure.

"You win by killing an Inquisitor." "No, you win by surviving."

Ever since before Malachor, Ezra has been stepping outside his station, trying to do things he was never meant to do, instead of what he was supposed to do, which was to help the people in front of him, right now, do what good he can in the moment. (Something that he'd gain clarity on via a falling out with Saw in Season Four.)

"What you need, you already have."

Ezra lost sight of that in the grief over his parents, in his guilt over Malachor. He was never going to be the one to defeat the Sith. Yoda and Obi-Wan both knew the only ones who even stood a chance... would be Vader's children. Maybe Ahsoka. Perhaps that was even why Yoda advised going to Malachor, to test and see if Vader could be saved, or killed, by his former padawan. Someone who he might have had a strong enough attachment to that it would cloud his judgement. (Just as Obi-Wan's mere presence would drive Vader mad with irrational murderous rage and yet, paradoxically, a cloying need to have him back.)

"We asked for a chance to destroy the Sith... and we failed."

Vader has no connection to Ezra, therefore Ezra will not be the one to end him.

His task is to endure, keep the darkness back, and hold the line until the narrative chosen one who will do that task (Luke) is ready to take up the sword. This is not Ezra's role in the story. He has his own destiny, his own part to play in the Rebellion.

And he needs to return to it.

Obi-Wan closes the broken cycle for Ezra, rescuing him from The Ordeal or Abyss, and sending him back to the Known world with the Boon (his sage wisdom) irregardless of how false the path there to him was. Ezra is freed from the obligations, responsibilities, and burdens he wrongly took on himself... to return home, and rejoin his own Hero Cycle.

And then all that's left is to "mend this old wound". (Maul)

Maul has what he wanted, or so he thinks. His old enemy, his past, ready for the killing. His future and legacy, his apprentice, within reach for taking.

But things have changed. Obi-Wan is older, wiser, more serene and at peace with himself and with the Force, in spite of all he's suffered. He has grown from his failures, let go of the past, and found balance, while Maul has regressed, repeated the same mistakes, clung to the hurt and pain in his past and deteriorated, been sucked almost dry by the Dark Side.

And Obi-Wan pities him.

Maul is scalded by this, upset that after everything he's endured, Obi-Wan seems to have taken no ill effect. And it's not like Order 66 and Anakin's betrayal didn't hurt him (hell we have all of the Kenobi show to demonstrate otherwise) but that he's processed those emotions and feelings and traumas, and returned to a settled baseline. He is more a Jedi now than ever, and revenge is not the Jedi way.

And can I flail a little bit inarticulately for a moment about the dichotomy between Obi-Wan's "I had no intention of fighting him, though that seems inevitable now." and Thrawn's "It was not my intention to utterly destroy Lothal but that is inevitable now."?

So Maul digs for something to bait Obi-Wan with, touching about the reason he's there on Tatooine to begin with, discerning that there is someone that Obi-Wan is protecting. Notes of Sith vocals creep into the music here, a sequence that sounds like Maul's arrival on Tatooine from Phantom Menace ("It ends where it began.").

And with this implicit threat towards Luke, Obi-Wan ignites his saber.

SO much ink has been spilled about this duel. I was surprised at how short it was at first too, but it makes perfect thematic sense in hindsight. The way Obi-Wan slowly baits Maul, drawing Maul's mental frame of mind back to Naboo, because he knows that Maul is stuck in the past, constantly reliving that moment of triumph and defeat over and over again, fixated on it as the shatterpoint where things in his life first went wrong. He can't let it go. He can't move on. He has to keep going back to that moment over and over to make things "correct" and kill the one he pins the blame on for his pain. (But this will not fix him, even if he accomplishes it.)

An entire story is told solely through foot placement and stances. Maul moves through the stances he's used in duels with Obi-Wan before. Obi-Wan shifts through his classic New Hope lightsaber grip, to his iconic Soresu.

And then he switches to Ataru, to the same stance Qui-Gon used.

The music has been tense throughout, but now the Force Theme creeps in. There's a flare of recognition in Maul's eyes; He knows this, this is familiar.

So he lunges, using the same lightsaber trick that he used to kill Qui-Gon...

...except it doesn't work.

I love the look of quiet realization and acceptance in Maul's expression. It's just like, "......Oh."

Maul submits and falls in defeat, into his enemy's arms, yet another parallel to Phantom Menace, to the start of everything between these two men. And then he asks something heartbreaking: Is Obi-Wan protecting the Chosen One? The one who would defeat the Sith?

And because Obi-Wan no longer believes that Vader can be saved, he answers yes. (Amazing how well this scene fits with the later Kenobi show.)

With his dying breath, Maul finally recognizes his true enemy, accepts and forgives Obi-Wan as his brother, as a fellow victim of Palpatine, and declares with almost prophetic insight, "He... will avenge us."

Not take revenge, avenge. As Trilla Sundari would admonish Cal Kestis in the Jedi Fallen Order video game, Maul also asks for restitution and justice with his last words.

(I do kind of wish we got one brief reaction shot from Ezra as he sensed Maul passing, just for confirmation that he knows. It's inferred but still.)

Back with Ezra as he returns home with the Boon, and he's also claimed the prize of Maul's ship, the Mandalorian gauntlet. (Again, just the briefest scene of him finding it, that would have been nice.)

"I was wrong. This is where I'm supposed to be. You're my family. And we should go home."

Ezra has finally forgiven himself for Malachor, completed the arc he started in "Legacy" (or maybe even earlier), and returned to his proper place. His family accepts him back with the laying of hands like a benediction.

And meanwhile, just to wring your heart one last time, we return to Tatooine, to watch Obi-Wan watch over Luke from a distance, a scene drenched in OT nostalgia, from using the exact audio of Aunt Beru calling Luke to closing us out with Luke's Theme and Binary Sunset for the credits, reminding us that the shadow will not hold sway forever.

Eventually, the sun will rise. And a new hope will emerge.

Trust in the Force.

Man, there aren't enough words to tell you how much I love this episode. It's so beautiful and poetic and thematic. It's the lynchpin of Ezra's character development, he needed to be in this episode, to go on this journey. It's gorgeously animated and there are so many many layers of parallels and themes, motifs and archetypes, that tie into the monomyth in general and Star Wars in particular. I'm astonished how well it melds with later canon material (JFO and Kenobi), but I guess that just speaks to how true to the spirit and essence of Star Wars it is.

It's just beautiful.

[cerebralinvasion]

clinomania

/klīˈnaˈmānēə/

noun

the excessive desire to stay in your bed

terrible. what a terrible thing it is. to be bound to your bed. to wallow in your suffering. to rot away. it’s terrible. but it’s all you could find yourself willing to do at this point. you didn’t have the strength to do something as simple as getting up anymore. not when you’d feel the same hollowing emptiness within yourself no matter where you went. you’d be just as sad, you think, you’d just be less comfortable. so you didn’t budge.

you wonder how long it’d been. minutes? hours? days? it was impossible to tell. when every second blended together into the same vague feeling of misery. time had lost its value. it meant nothing to you anymore. not when you had nothing to look forward to. when every moment felt like an eternity of its own. similar to time most things had lost value. even your own life had lost its worth to you. and as much as you wanted to say you lost your worth to others as well, it’d be nothing but a lie. a lie because you know it would never lose value in his eyes.

the door creaked open. a drawn out and ugly noise that interrupted the deafening silence of your room. the squeaking of hinges and grinding of wood against wood, no doubt caused by the door being unfitting for the frame, was impossible to ignore. your half-lidded eyes flicked up to the source of the sound. in walked the only person it possibly could have been. the only person who both knew your location and had any interest in seeking you out. his eyes met yours and for a brief moment you wondered if he was planning on simply standing there and staring. but he moved closer, shutting the door behind him. silently, he pulled off his ushanka tossing it to the desk and came to sit on the edge of the bed.

it was quiet at first. he didn’t say anything, wasn’t even looking in your direction. and you didn’t speak either. only gazing at his face with vague interest. you were both expressionless and the scene would no doubt have been confusing to anyone who walked in. but no one would walk in. if there was one thing you were sure of, it's that you and fyodor had as long as you needed together, uninterrupted. and even if someone did, who cares for their opinion? if they wanted to take your silence and one sided staring competition as odd, so be it. you couldn’t care less for the opinions of anyone at this time. not when something so sacred, so vulnerable and tender was about to occur.

fyodor was never good at this kind of thing. sure, he could spin lies and make others dance to his whims like puppets on a string. but when it came to this. to genuine love and affection. to being vulnerable. or having someone so willing to be vulnerable with him, he was at a loss for what to do. fyodor loves you. of course he loves you. he loves you more than anything in the world. but he doesn’t know how to show it. and he doesn’t know how to help you.

“milaya…” he began, cutting through the swollen silence. “i prepared you dinner. please join me to eat.”

“mm not hungry.” you groaned, sinking further into the mattress.

“i know you aren’t. but you ‘haven’t been hungry’ for days. i’m worried for you… please.”

it was so unlike him. in comparison to an average person his voice might appear toneless and flat. but knowing him as long as you did each and every subtle inflection spoke thousands of words. ‘please.’ he didn’t say please. fyodor was not a man who begged. fyodor was not a man who worried for others. but it seemed for you, he did. for you, he was desperate. your mere presence took the calculating unfeeling man and transformed him into a pathetic fool. but he couldn’t be mad.

“…okay.” you sighed. this was far more for his sake than yours. but when he looked at you like that. so genuinely desperate for you to get out of bed, if only for a moment. you couldn’t help but pity the man.

at that the bedframe creaked and the mattress shifted as he pushed himself up. slowly he made his way towards you and offered a hand to pull you out of bed. it took a little while of awkward shuffling before you too were on your feet. quietly, you allowed him to lead you out from the prison of a room you’d kept yourself in and to the kitchen.

it’s a terrible thing to be bound to your bed. it’s not a terrible thing to be gently guided to a warm kitchen with your favorite foods. and it’s certainly not a terrible thing to have someone who cares. to have someone like fyodor by your side.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Watching a documentary on Edward II while I work and in this doc:

1. They repeatedly call Piers Gaveston Edward's "best mate" and "close friend", then have one seven-second acknowledgement that they were probably lovers before immediately returning to calling them pals, buds, just mates being dudes, my guys, just bros like bros will be, totally normal friendship here

2. Piers is not depicted as half so pretty as he likely was. He is handsome, yes, but very... dirty compared to everyone else? And also, dude, brush your hair. Come on. Piers Gaveston was famously not only arrogant but vain!

3. The actor playing Edward is playing this documentary dramatization like he is going for the motherfucking Oscar, he is amazing. I love him, my God someone give this man jobs and money!

4. They speak French! Just like everyone actually did!

5. Hugh Despenser has perfect hair, which seems in character

6. The documentary definitely doesn't admit the simple truth that Hugh Despenser the Younger was almost certainly Pretty Man Bait to get Edward II to give the Despensers power.

7. The doc DOES do a great job of showing what an absolute disaster Edward II was at basically everything forever

8. It does contain the most excellent line, "To the people of the time, Edward could have been bedding his priest, his page boy, and his horse, so long as he was governing the kingdom properly."

9. Isabella's actress is also incredible. That woman does some impeccable face-acting.

10. Man. The moral of this documentary - and of his life - should be "This man did not deserve the wild glory inherent in his amazing wife."

11. Now Hugh Despenser needs to brush his hair! Maybe Edward just likes 'em grungy.

12. Edward is the epitome of being shown exactly what he needs to do and then doing the opposite.

13. I am genuinely impressed at how carefully they dance around admitting that Edward was definitely up in Hugh Despenser's business, too. His manly business.

14. Wait, I take it back. The real moral of this story is "take a woman's children from her arms and she will burn you to the ground and spit on your ashes."

15. Honestly, I don't blame her.

16. THEY CALLED HER THE SHE-WOLF FOR A REASON, MOTHERFUCKERS.

17. Also, hell yeah for Isabella's brother the King of France working with her on this. He absolutely knew Isabella was being underestimated and he made sure he never did.

18. Oh, so we can admit Isabella and Roger Mortimer were sleeping together, huh? We can admit that? I mean as long as it's decently hetero, sure, let's have a whole sex scene. But God forbid we admit Edward and Piers might have held hands under a tree even once.

19. THEY PUT A SEX NOISE IN EVEN

20. Honestly now I'm mad.

21. "She has a number of men closer to a moderate house party than an invading force." Okay, that line redeems you somewhat.

22. Awwwww puppies hunting the disgraced king, sweet. I love when dogs are clearly checking for cues from their trainers just off screen.

23. A FIFTY FOOT GALLOWS SEEMS EXCESSIVE. Oh holy shit they hung him without quite killing him, then de-genitaled and- god damn, Isabella. This seems like a bit much.

24. SHE MADE A POINT OF EATING WHEN THEY CUT HIS DICK OFF.

25. Isabella is terrifying. I am in wild irrational love.

26. I'm sorry they put WHAT up Edward's ass. A red hot WHAT

27. I feel like that probably didn't actually happen but honestly, I don't doubt Isabella is capable of it. And also, um, these deaths seem... To send a message.

28. "Edward's wife and her lover-" oh, are you sure they're not just best mates? Buddies? Pals? Like Edward and Gaveston?

29. Oh he probably just like... was smothered. That makes way more sense. He could be "found dead" then and it could be claimed to be natural causes.

30. Underestimate pissed off French women at your peril, English kings.

[dameronscopilot]

Hello! I just found your blog and I am IN LOVE with "I'll Be Your Bright Side" and I was wondering, in part 3, after the match and Will says: “He’s in a mood tonight. I know he hates losing, but he usually doesn’t get this riled up. Let me knock some sense into his thick head, you go enjoy the rest of your date.” How is Benny in the locker room? Why did Will say that? Thank you! I'm off to read part 4 and hope Ben fixes thingssssss 👀👀

Hi anon! I'm so happy to hear that, thank you 💖💖

I dove into your questions under the cut :) If anyone ever has any questions about I'll Be Your Bright Side, POV drabble requests, missing scenes, etc., feel free to drop 'em into my ask box!

So at this point in the story, Benny hasn’t explicitly discussed his feelings for her with anyone. He’s brushed it off any time that Will has casually brought it up, but Will can see through him—he knows how he feels about her, even if Benny won’t admit it out loud. 

Will’s chosen not to intervene or try to play matchmaker with the situation, given that they’re adults, he’s been busy with his own love life, and quite frankly, he doesn’t think Benny would listen to him, anyway. He’s content with the fact that Benny will choose to see what’s right in front of him when he’s finally ready. 

As soon as Will realizes she’s bringing Dan to trivia night, he braces himself knowing that this “unexpected” turn of events will put Benny into a corner where he’ll have to make a choice. As Will watches her make that rash decision to invite Dan to Benny’s match, he entertains the idea of seriously talking to Benny about everything. But given that his wedding is days away (with plenty of work left to do), Benny’s issues will just have to wait. 

So all that’s to say that when the night of the match rolls around, Will is already anticipating a shitshow from his brother. Try as he might to get Benny’s head back in the match each time he takes a bad blow, he knows it’s a lost cause. He's fighting like a complete amateur, and he clearly can't focus on shit.

When the match ends, Will’s torn, because he can see how her immediate instinct is to follow Benny, even with Dan sitting beside her. Benny’s obviously mad about losing the match (because he should have been able to easily beat that particular opponent), but Benny’s also furious with himself for waiting so long to tell her and over the fact that he’s incapable of masking his emotions now that completely losing what he has with her is a very possible outcome.

Will ultimately tells her to leave because he knows that Benny’s too volatile and emotional with all of that excess adrenaline from the match still pouring out of him. He also knows his brother isn’t the best with words or anything close to being an expert in sharing his feelings. So despite the fact that Will doesn’t want to directly intervene in whatever’s going on with them, he takes it upon himself to decide that Benny’s not in the right state to potentially have whatever conversation may or may not occur in there. And selfishly, he also doesn’t want to potentially deal with something blowing up between them the night before the wedding—considering they’re both in the wedding party. (And really, he thinks they might want some privacy for this, whenever they finally talk.)

So when Will tells her Benny’s in a mood, go enjoy your date, etc., there’s a bit of a double meaning to it. He’s indirectly telling her/hinting that something’s bothering Benny, but also encouraging her not to let it ruin her night—because it’s also kind of that "tough love" situation like “Well if my brother’s too much of an idiot to tell her how he feels, she still deserves to be happy.”

Benny’s a hot ass mess in the locker room, but he stays tight-lipped about the real reason he’s upset and angry (even if Will knows why). He keeps his mouth in check because he doesn’t want to unload on his brother the night before the wedding. Will's intent was to get Benny to calm down (playing along that he just "had a bad match" and "was off of his game"). He tries to get him to come sleep on his couch, because he can feel how restless he is as he paces around the locker room, punches lockers, etc., but of course Benny declines, because he doesn’t want to be a burden. 

Instead, Benny goes home alone, and he essentially starts wallowing in self-pity as he starts drinking far more than he should, laying on his couch and miserably swiping through all of the photos of her on his phone (there's a lot, okay). And the more alcohol that's in his system, the more his brain seems to think it's a great idea to walk over to her apartment and tell her that Dan isn't good enough for her.

Because he fucking loves her. More than anything. More than anyone ever has and ever will.

(But inevitably, drunk Benny's idea doesn't quite pan out like he imagined it in his head.)

[versadies]

— NO MORE. (hc scenario)

penpal: hope you guys enjoy this hc! note to @aliarosella: i’ll be making separate posts for xiao and diluc from your request so stay tuned for those <<3

pairing/s: scaramouche x gn!reader

prompt: fluff | ten , in which they protect the other from harm.

sypnosis: after a successful mission on the meteorites that put people to sleep, you and scaramouch (grudgingly) decided to celebrate in one of liyue’s best restaurants. however, things start to get tense when there is something wrong with your drink (in short: scaramouche prevented you from being poisoned).

warning/s: ooc!scaramouche (?), swearing, poison/drugs, threats

-> the time scaramouche saved you from harm was when you were celebrating your success on a mission that you two accomplished.

-> you would be lying if you said you expected scaramouche to accept your offer in eating in liuli pavilion. perhaps it was because of how your coworker sees and treats people that made you think he’d decline.

-> “just because i accepted your invitation doesn’t mean i want to hang out with you, idiot.” he said, crossing his arms. “i’m just here to make sure you wouldn’t do any damage here unlike what happened in inazuma.”

-> you rolled your eyes. “that was only one time and you know it. besides, the waiter was a pervert and he was pissing me off.”

-> “yeah whatever.” scaramouche comment, looking away from your direction.

-> just then, your drinks arrived.

-> “we like to let you know that our chef may take a while to get your foods sorted out,” the waitress said nervously, putting your drinks in front of you. “there has been a problem in the kitchen but we’re sorting it out right away.”

-> before scaramouche could complain, you interrupted him. “don’t keep us waiting for too long then. we wouldn’t want your employer’s business to be shut down out of nowhere.”

-> the waitress nodded profusely. “of course, enjoy your drinks for now.”

-> as soon as the waitress left, scaramouche gave you a glare. “you really had to let them get away like that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow in irritation.

-> “oh shut it, scara. i’m too exhausted from that fight that i had with the honorary knight and i am not in the mood for your tantrums.” you retorted, swirling your drink around.

-> scaramouche couldn’t help but notice something different from your drink.

-> does water usually have excessive bubbles?

-> watch him stand up, reach out for your drink and throw it across the room.

-> “...what the hell?” you exclaimed, looking at your coworker in surprised. “did you have to throw a tantrum like that because the food was—”

-> “if you weren’t so careless about your surroundings then you would’ve been dead by now.” scaramouche spat out, staring down at you coldly. “did you even notice that your water was drugged?”

-> he’s very mad.

-> before you could respond, he immediately looked at the waitress who served your drinks earlier, who was watching the whole scene in fear. “and you,” the waitress’s eyes widens at scaramouche pointing at her.

-> “i have no idea what the hell you put in that drink but are you stupid to even try to mess with a harbinger? especially after they paid generously to your employer’s business?” scaramouche asked menacingly, stomping towards the waitress in anger.

-> the manager tried to intervene. “fo-forgive us, mister scaramouche! my employees and i have no ill intentions towards you or the other one at all! we didn’t notice that our—” before the manager could finish explaining, scaramouche cuts him off.

-> “you dare say you have no ill intentions yet my coworker could’ve gotten hurt had I not intervene? how pathetic.”

-> the manager stayed silent, a look of terror was plastered on his face.

-> scaramouche then looks back at the waitress, who didn’t look bothered from the harbinger’s reaction.

-> “who ordered you to do this?”

-> the waitress clenched her teeth. “myself.”

-> “then you’re stupid to even try to mess with me and my coworker.”

-> he then snaps his fingers, causing a few fatui agents to appear. “bring that wretched hag with us, whatever happened here is now considered as an assassination attempt.”

-> “let me go! that bitch deserved it— let me fucking kill them with my own hands!” the waitress yelled as your subordinates constrain her and drag her outside.

-> scaramouche sighed and walk back to you, who was still in shock from what just happened.

-> “thank you, scaramouche.” you spoke up. “i don’t know what i’d do if i drank that water.”

-> scaramouche grumbled, looking away from your gaze. “whatever. i just didn’t want the ship to smell like a dead body thanks to you.”

-> you rolled your eyes. “whatever you say. i owe you one, though.”

-> “just be careful next time.”

-> “of course.”

-> “and let me choose another restaurant, you suck at it.”

[el-oh-her]

Dear Texas, some advice from Wisconsin

I lived in a shitty trailer for most of my life in Wisconsin, so I know some of the issues you’re going through. I’m also a skinny bitch who cannot retain heat for very long. Here is some advice to help you out a little bit. It’s not a lot, but if it saves a life it saves a life. 

Please, please spread this around for the texans. We’re all in this together. 

Get some rolled up blankets and pillows and put them in front of ALL  the cracks of windows and doors. Windows and doors--especially yours- are not weather tight. This can help slow the heat escaping 

If you don’t have pillows or blankets to spare, but you’ve got some pants (jeans are good) or sweaters or literally any clothes you’re willing to sacrafice,  then cut the jeans and stuff the jean with the excess fabric, and tie the ends off. with strips of fabric or tape or whatever you have. 

If you have rooms that don’t touch outer walls, that is the room you should focus on. Everyone in the house should be in that room as much as possible. 

It might be weird, and COVID makes this a risk but if you gotta do it you gotta do it. Sleep in the same room--have the kids share a bed if there are some kids. Your body heat will get captured under blankets and if it’s too cold this is something you can do to naturally produce some heat. Again, it’s a risk because of COVID but do what you got to do to live. 

Buy heavy curtains if you can afford them, use blankets or large sweaters or whatever you have if you can’t, and hang them in front of windows and the doors. It’ll help keep the heat in. 

The fridge should be opened only when asbolutely necessary. Yell at your kids and your roomates. They’ll get mad at you now, but it’s a small thing that can help. 

Buy some water jugs (we used milk jugs because we had a lot of them) and when your water turns on, fill as many as you can. When your water shuts off, that’s the water you can use to flush the toiilet. My family had to do this all the time. 1 gallon of water is 2 bathroom flushes. Keep these milk jugs in your warmest rooms. 

Hot air rises, cold air sinks. Get the beds off the floor. I don’t care if your bed stand is made of layers of books. The further you’re from the floor, the better you’ll be--even if it’s a little bit. Sleep in the bunk beds if you have them. 

Your carbon dioxide that you exhale can be a natural heater. Sleep with your head under the blanket, or hang out completley under a blanket and after a while it will warm up. Probably don’t do this when you’re sharing the blanket because of COVID, but do what you gotta do to stay warm. 

LAYERS. Wear them. Under shirt under your regular shirt which is covered by a jacket or a sweater. Wear Leggings underneath your pants. Boys, either invest in some women’s leggings or use your pajama pants. Fuck, wear a skirt on top of it if you’re too cold. Fuck your gender roles, this is about being warm not being pretty. 

SOCKS. GLOVES. Wear them, even if you’re in the house. It costs a lot of heat to keep them warm, so if you’re cold and you can’t get warm, get some socks and some gloves on and it will help. I promise. 

Fuzzy / thick socks are popular up here, double your socks to get this same effect. 

When you’re outside, walk like you’re trying to get away from a murder scene. Walk like you have a test in 5 minutes and you might just miss it. You will warm up within 5 minutes of walking, and you’ll produce some sweat. It’s uncomfy for sure, but it’ll produce some heat. I have taken off my coat in terribly cold weather because I walked way too fast and got way too hot. Again, a little thing. 

Candles. Get them. Check your goodwills or thrift shops if the retailres are out of it. They don’t produce a lot of heat, but they do produce something. 

How to get the ice off your car. Turn your car ON and let your car heat up. I can only assume your car has a defroster setting but if it doesn’t, the engine at least should produce some heat, which is by the windshield so it will help just a little bit. 

WORST case scenario if you don’t have a scrapper is salt. Salt will help break down the ice. 

If you’re gonna try and DIY a scaprer use PLASTIC materials not METAL materials. Metal will fuck up your wind shield, I am pretty sure. Order a scraper from Amazon. 

BUY a SHOVEL. If you can’t get a snow shovel because of the demand of them, buy a BUCKET. Get something that can hold snow to move it.  

If there is no road salt or table salt to use to get rid of ice, use SAND. Sand is used around here when there’s no salt. It’s not as great and your cars will look gross, but get a car wash when the snow melts. 

YOUR CAR KIT: When you’re stranded in your car in the snow you should have all of the following: A shovel, a snow scraper, a warm set of clothes, an extra coat, a couple of blankets, a pillow (optional) and a first aid kid if you’ve got it. 

The cold drains your battery in your car faster. If you can afford it, take your car out for drives even if you’re not going anywhere. Take the whole fucking family in the drive, it’s a small enclosed space and you all can warm up for a little bit. 

WHERE you place your heaters to warm up your pipes is just as important as just putting heaters on your pipes. To make sure they don’t burst, make sure those heaters are in places where it is producing heat around as many pipes as possibe. My family also put a heater underneath the sink in the kitchen. 

Drip your sinks. Moving water is much harder to freeze becuse of the laws of motion and science and shit. letting your facusts drip will help prolong the life of your pipes before they burst. 

If your pipes burst stay calm. DON”T FUCKING FILM IT. Call to get your water shut off. I don’t know what to do with burst pipes, someone else probably knows. You need to get it shut off as soon as possible because if that water freezes, it’s going to produce more cold and it’s going to damage your house. 

Food. Everyone is probably raiding the snack asiles because they’re foods that don’t need food or heat in order to make. I get it. Instead I suggest making large meals when you have power and stick it in the fridge, but stuff that won’t be too gross eaten cold. Spagetti, pizza, potatoe salad, etc. Salads if there’s salad stuff around. Granola and yoghurt make parfaits and are a good thing to fill your stomach. 

There is probably more but I can’t think of any right now. A lot of this are all little things but everything adds up eventually. Minus the power outages, what you’re going through was my winter every year for almost 10 years--so I have nothing but sympathy for you. My pipes have frozen and burst and all the worst things.

Please, even if you’re not from Texas, even if you ain’t in america, pass thing along. Get the word out. We’re in this together. 

[saturatedboy]

Hai! Can i request something can you please do a Donna x gn!reader where donna is a goddess who fell inlove with a cannibal reader ( just love the thought of the reader coming back home with blood still on their mouth and donna would scold them but would find it hot at the same time )

If it's alright ofc

Donna x GN!Reader

-I am more than happy to fill out your request! This was so much fun to write and I really hope you enjoy as much as I did writing it.

-Requests: Open

Trigger Warning: Mentions of cannibalism and blood.

Well, well, well- that was sure an an entertaining fight.

Crouching down, your slightly cherry eyes scanned over the blissful ,now forever sleep, deceased women. Her eyes were left open to become crisp within the open air that casted a spell of arctic weather. Her pale thin lips was slightly agape as she had breathed in her breath of her last. Her dress had became shreds once she was in your grasp, being easily taken down from your weight and height. She looked nothing more than a pile of shredded meat. Although that didn't sound pleasing to a sane mind, you was relishing in the smell of fresh metallic blood. Seeing some of it spill into the snow below had forced a small growl to bubble in your throat. That was good blood wasted, you just had to hope that there was more in her than was spilled. You could've been caught but for now you hadn't. Your animalistic growls had most likely sent a warning towards the village that wasn't even as far as 50 feet away from you and the women.

She had been walking through the gates whilst you had been leaning against them. Back a few moments ago, you were just a normal human. Eating normal food much to your dismay, drinking their berried juice and taking part in their culture towards Mother Miranda. As your eyes gazed over the woman that had walked out, you watched her trip over a rock and smash her knee into the ground. Her soft cries had awoken your true self up. Biting your bottom lip, you looked back at the village and made a choice to follow the woman into the forest, however, her blood was dripping down her leg as she continued her walk, not even getting far away from the village before you had jumped her and clawed her from the back. She had tried to fight back, screaming for someone to help her from your sinful self but you were so caught up in the small smell of blood that you just had to get a taste.

And that is how you had became to straddle the dead woman on the snowy floor. Behind you, you could hear the cheers of shocked children who had heard the woman's cries only to be met with your back faced towards them as you kept her down. At first, the children thought nothing of it. Maybe the woman had been laughing at first but oh no- their innocence would be shattered when they watched you push yourself down so your mouth hovered over her knee. Giving the cut a small kitty lick, you raised your head all the way back and clasp open your jaw, revealing two rows of sharp teeth that had sprouted out from your gums. Saliva had became thick in your mouth, acting as a lubricant so anything that goes into your mouth would easily be swallowed.

Thrusting your head back down, you clamped your jaw around her knee, feeling the pulse of your own heart rate speed up. The distance cries of the children were forgotten by your mind as you clasped shut your eyelids together. Ripping the meat of the woman's leg, you swirled your tongue around it savouring the taste of each second. Swallowing was an easy task for yourself, all you had to do was angle your head fully back so the meat could easily be pushed down your throat and to your stomach. After eating that mouthful, you had went down for another bite, more blood splattering against the ground and your hands as you separated the skin off the bones.

A sudden shot had made you shoot up and look back. There was most of the village watching in horror as you smiled and waved at them. Seeing your blooded state, some men and women had fainted. Mothers had covered their younglings eyes as you flashed and bared your teeth in a teasing manner. The girl at the very front stood with a loaded rifle, pointing it at you with shaky arms. 'No wonder she missed' you thought, being amused at the brave girl who is trying to get revenge on you for murdering her mother.

"Get away from my MOTHER!" She screamed, shooting another shot at you only this time it had pieced your front of the right shoulder. You shrugged and got up, biting the inside of your cheek and tried your best not to whine out in pain. Although in serious pain, your cheeky side was still showing through. Crouching down once again, you dragged the deceased woman from the ground back into the forest with yourself hearing the screaming of the girl more and the villages holding her back telling her to forget about it.

Once far into the snowy forest, you feasted upon the body making sure to leaved just bones. This was the best meal you had ever since you had last feasted which was at least a month ago. Licking your hands clean of the tainted blood, you had threw the bones at a lycan who had came to watch the show. "Maybe next time," You spoke, letting your shark-like teeth sink back into your gums and eyes be glazed over with their neutral colour. Your mind was brought back however after the transformation to the gun-shot wound. Hunching over and grabbing tightly onto your shoulder, you heaved yourself back towards your home that you shared with someone else. You smiled at the though of seeing your lover once again. How mad she would be with you, it just riled you up in a good way. How naughty she could be when she was annoyed or even frustrated and yet just a simple flirt from you would leave her into a stammering mess and forgetting her task on why she was scolding you in the first place.

The manor wasn't too far away from your current spot, maybe another 5 minute walk at most. As you walked, you had tried to experiment by sticking your finger into the gun-shot hole. Never. Again.

After the quick experiment that you had immediately regretted, your eyes went wide as saucers as you looked up ahead and saw the manor looming in the light grey fog. Running and letting you rather long tongue hang from your mouth, you jumped up the steps like a small child and knocked on the door with a fast fist. When you heard movement from within, you stood back and bounced on the heels of your shoes still holding your shot shoulder.

You whine happily as the door opened, revealing a Goddess in your eyes of creativity and masterpieces. "Donna!" You squealed out loud, jumping towards her to hug her only for her to step to the side with a displeased look. You fell inside on your stomach, groaning in pain. The gentle bang on the door had shut it, and the clicking of Lady Beneviento's shoes had forced you to roll onto your back and stare up at the petite woman with a pained grin. "Hey beautiful~" You flirted, sending a wink towards her way. She scoffed with a deep scarlet blush and learned down only to prod at your hand covering your arm.

"Not only have you brought dirt, mud and snow into the home," She said as she forced your hand back away from your shoulder, "You have also gotten yourself hurt. Now c'mon, the quicker you're all fixed up the quicker I can keep a watchful eye on you cannibal." You pouted at her words, being clean wasn't much of your style but if she wanted you to be clean you'll push through your dislikes to impress her.

Pulling yourself off the ground, you followed the Goddess in black to the bathrooms where she had started the shower. She turned back to face you and called for Angie her doll. Soon the doll had swiftly entered the same room with a pout of her own. "Don't make me baby sit them pleaseeee," Angie had cried out, pointing an accusing finger at you. You lightly gasp playfully and pointed back at her,

"Yeah don't leave me in here with her. Ya know she throws toilet paper into the shower-"

"I do not!" She defended, swirling around to stay behind Donna who looked stressed.

"Yes. you. do" You called back, sticking your tongue out. Angie growled and pushed Donna towards you, playfully winking at you. You held Donna in your arms as she tried to wriggle out your grip.

"Let. me gooo," She whined out, twisting left and right and tried to push herself away from you. Angie laughed and called some other of Donna's creations into the bathroom to watch the playful scene. They clapped and jumped about, getting excited at the new game it seemed you and Donna was playing. Forcing Donna to stop squirming, you held her close and leaned your head to rest on her shoulder. "You're going to get blood on me..."

"Oh I know sweetie," A fast reply came from your mouth as you kissed her under her jaw making her gasp slightly at the contact. Her hands bad tightened on your biceps as she shook slightly. You let out a breathy chuckle as you let her go and backed away giving her space. "So, imma get cleaned now," You said whilst walking around the frozen Goddess licking your lips slightly s you got rid to the best of your abilities the dried up blood. However once coming back to reality, Donna huffed and turned to face you about to give you a scolding as she normally did until she saw you licking the blood off your lips.

Walking quickly, she grabbed the cloth that rested in the sink and made her way back to the shower to rinse the cloth under it. After she squeezed and twisted the cloth till all excess water had dripped out, she then followed up to your figure as you were trying to get Angie to point out where you missed licking the blood. Donna had grabbed you by your left shoulder and turned you around to face her briskly. As you turned, you was met with a damp cloth on your lips, the occasional movement of Donna's fingers brushing your cheek as she did so. She moved the cloth in circular motions, staring at your lips as she bit her own gently. You loved her touch, it was so soft and gentle. Being in her arms every now and again was worth any bullet to the shoulder. Once done, she gently took the cloth off your face and let her dainty thumb brush along your bottom lip.

"Get a room you two," Angie said as she watched the whole thing go down. She was sat on the sink edge, holding her head in her hand as she rested her elbow on her knee. She looked half asleep, most likely from working all day or playing with the other puppets. Donna coughed to cover up her embarrassment and took a step back placing her hands neatly folded in front of her.

"I'll be going now, get cleaned please." She left with Angie following her however just as Angie rounded the corner of the door, she popped her head back through and blew a raspberry at you. You laughed and strolled towards the door to shut it. Placing the lock on, you stripped bare and got pumped to go in the shower. You already knew the pain you were going to suffer from this.

The day had turned to night and you were bundled up in the kitchen working over a pot of stew. You had a loose shirt on covering your bandages around your right shoulder. It was a pain to get in the shower, your shoulder had felt like it was on fire and you hated every second of it. However luckily for you, Donna had some ointment for you to use after to be able to have a quicker healing wound. You swatted away the sweat that had slipped down your forehead and went back to stirring the pot. It was your night to cook for your family and for once you weren't going to use human meat like you had before- actually that's how Donna found out that your perfect figure in her eyes was a cannibal. She was shocked at first but got used to the smell of blood that had normally lingered on your lips after a meal outside. Angie on the other hand was enthusiastic at the new claim that you loved eating your own flesh. She kept asking if you were to bite into someone would they become a vampire? Or if when your eyes turned their cherry colour would you see the world in red? So many questions yet boring answers to each one, her words not yours.

You felt a pair of arms snake around your waist as you continued cooking. You felt a weight lean against your body as you placed the wooden spoon down off to the side. Turning around, you held Donna in your arms. "It smells good," She spoke, keeping her head in your chest. You lightly laughed and pattered her back, using your other hand to hold her head close to you. Slowly you both had started to sway enjoying the warmth of each other.

"It smells good because I cooked it," You smiled at her, chuckling at her reaction which was a raised eye brow and a smug smile.

"Yes, obviously it's because of that," She remarked, letting you go and giving you a short pec on the lips. She backed away from you and turned her attention to the table which was set for two. A candle was lit and flowers in a pot where placed in a vase in the middle. "Where did you get those flowers from?" She asked, turning to look at you with hands on her hips. You sheepishly smiled and rubbed the back of your neck, making your own move of going back to stirring the pot of stew.

"Definitely not your garden,"

"...You're lucky I love you dear." The sound of a chair being pulled out made you smile sweetly at yourself with closed eyes.

Yes, you were very lucky to have her.

[chaseadrian]

how can i say no to you?!🤭🥰 i shall choose 3 because im a sucker for your love!

i would LOVE to know what you think about...the way i loved you (eddie), i hate accidents (adrian) and first kiss (buddie) if you're up for the buddie one🤭🤭🤭

LOVE UUUUUUU💖💖💖💖

yess ty shan!! hopefully ppl can see im not scary even a little bit and send their stuff in too! lol

the first kiss ★★★ —the entire scenario is so cute, I really wouldn't put it past buck and eddie to act like a couple to avoid women they don't want hitting on them. the mannerisms were so in character, the banter with hen & chimney, the camaraderie undercut with mocking. I could see this as a real scene, but I do wish we got more action than prose. It's a lot of internal dialogue, and I think the present moment kinda gets lost in the exposition of eddie & buck's thoughts. I wouldn't be mad if this happened in the show though, I could see everything happening so clearly!

the way i loved you ★★★★ —this is the perfect balance of inner thought and physical action. i love that there's a backstory we don't know, but can put together very easily. you trusted that everyone reading was smart enough to infer the history and muddled feelings. there's genuinely nothing i hate more than a writer who underestimates their audience's intelligence. the rhythm was lost in some places due to excess words that could've been cut out for a more succinct read, but genuinely i think this is my favorite eddie piece of yours it's sharp and inviting and i love the way he's characterized.

i hate accidents ★★★ 1/2 —i remember cracking up the first time i read this when adrian dropped his knives when reader said they had a boyfriend. i can picture it so clearly, and in general the way you've characterized him here is basically perfect. he's goofy, and long winded, and protective without realizing he's being so earnestly flattery. i think reader could be a bit more distinct in their personality, and the mom flips so quickly it doesn't feel realistic. Absolutely can imagine Adrian justifying to himself though that it's not "stealing" champagne because the wedding has an open bar so what's the difference in asking for 6 glasses of champagne versus just taking the whole bottle.

join the celebration!

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 01

(Masterpost) (Next Episode)

Warning: This is **FULL **of spoilers, not just for this episode but for the entire series. If you haven’t finished all 50 episodes, please don’t read it! 

Intro: 2020 continues to be much much too much while also being incredibly boring, and Im done with Shen Wei’s Lewks, so now I’m doing a deep meta dive into the Untamed. Let’s roll! 

Prologue: The Battle of Mordor

The Demise of our Protagonist

Unlike some other shows I won’t name, The Untamed kills its suicidal queer protagonist immediately, rather than waiting four seasons, so we know what we're in for. 

This is Wei Wuxian, who is about to yeet himself off of a cliff. He is having a bad day. 

Note: if mouth blood bothers you...C-Drama might not be your thing. 

Reasons for mouth blood: a sampler

Anyway...cliff time

Note: if (fictional) suicide bothers you...C-Drama might not be your thing. 

To be fair there are hardly any suicides in The Untamed. No more than ...five? As long as you don’t count the entire population of the Wen Corporate Headquarters in Yiling or those wall bandits in Qinghe or Madame Yu or all those Wens who supposedly threw themselves into the mud puddle or that Mo guy who broke his own neck. Plus watching Wei Wuxian’s cliff drop several more times from multiple angles. So, you know. Hardly Any Suicides. 

This is Lan Wangji, who is about to have his first losing encounter with physics. He is having a bad day.

In fact, if it is possible to have a worse day than the guy who is currently falling to his death, Lan Wangji is having that.

This is Jiang Cheng, who is feeling extra stabby from this camera angle. He is having a bad day.

Camera operator: why you gotta take it out on me? 

(Much, much more after the cut!)

The Amulet Situation

This is the Stygian Tiger Amulet. Yes, by all means, (Netflix) subtitles, let's use a 12-dollar word, “Stygian,” that every English speaker who is not a Shelley/Byron shipper will have to look up. Let’s not use a normal word like "deathly" or "corrupt" or you know... "Yin" which is clearly what they are saying on screen.

Why does this tiger amulet look like a chameleon crossed with a remora? Wei Wuxian can paint photorealistic bunnies on a flimsy lantern while sitting in a field having distracting teenage lust, but two months of meditating with super magic gets him a tiger that looks like a chameleon. And don’t try telling me this is a traditional-Chinese-art vibe because this jade tiger from frickin 1000 BCE is way more tigerish than Wei Wuxian’s attempt. 

Try harder next time, Wei Wuxian.

This is thousands of cultivators having a battle.  What do you mean, it looks like about 40-60 dudes?

 Any time someone in The Untamed refers to a number of people, it is like when you do your high school play and look off into the wings at nothing and say “Hark, A Ship Approaches!” and everyone’s parents nod indulgently.

Jin Clan Mountain Hunt:

*viewership nods indulgently*

This is Captain Blowhard, over on the right, courtesy name Clan Leader Yao. His job is to talk smack about Wei Wuxian and stick up for whoever is the biggest asshole in any given scene.  

He represents mainstream cultivation-world values so here he is shanking one of his allies to take the deadly amulet of evilness.

The Present Day

Spilling All That Yiling Laozu Tea

Down at the Exposition Tea Shop, the Lan juniors are chilling and listening to Tea Dude tell the story of Yiling Laozu. 

How did they get permission to take this field trip? “Principal Qiran, we want to go downtown to hang out with the local rabble and learn about your favorite person, Wei Wuxian.”

Waiting in the wings is the man with a fan and a plan, Nie Huaisan(g), who is paying tall loot to get these stories told.  

...Why? Is Mo Xuanyu having tea here and listening? Or is Wei Wuxian being summoned back by hearing all this smack being talked about him? *Shrug.*

Gank Your Soul

Drunk flag guy out here talking about spirits. Wikipedia tells me that In one school of Daoist thought, a human being has a collection of physical souls (魄 pò) and ethereal souls (魂 hún). Drunk flag guy is saying “hún ” at the moment. 

The many types of souls don’t translate well into English, where spiritual vocabulary has always been shackled connected to Christian beliefs, and is too limited for this context. So when the subtitles have conversations like “Is it a soul eater? No, no, it’s a spirit taker!” just roll with it. (Speaking of hún, if you have any interest in linguistics, do yourself a favor and go read all the wonderful meta @hunxi-guilai​)

The spirit-carrying flag looks a lot like Raava and Vaatu from Korra which...probably doesn’t mean anything.

The Demise of our Trill Host

Suicide #2 happens about 8 minutes in. 

Mo Xuanyu is that hippie roommate with the annoying wind chimes and bead curtains and blood spatter.

He is super mad at his terrible family and also at Jin Guangyao, who sent him home to his terrible family. I wonder if Fan Man Nie Huaisang influenced Jiggy’s decision-making there. Mo Xuanyu’s choice to die for revenge might be excessive, given how easy it actually is to murder the Mo family.

Being Alive Is Fine I Guess As Long As I Get To Fuck WIth People

Wei Wuxian starts his new life by splashing a little water on his face, which instantly makes his hair go from this

to this. 

He looks at his reflection and wishes he was dead, which--mood--but he gets over it as soon as he finds someone whose day he can fuck up.

And he is ALL in on being crazy. 

OP wishes she had the Wei Wuxian kind of crazy instead of the kind she actually has. 

Meanwhile, this is the sane Mo cousin:

This asshole is wearing one of the best fabrics in the whole show, incidentally. Asshole.

My favorite bit of Wei-Mo craziness is when Wei Wuxian does a meaningless 360 all the way around this dude before ducking in the opposite direction, which is like when I make 4 right turns around a whole block to avoid making a single left across traffic.

Perhaps I Do Miss One Thing In This Life

Wei Wuxian has pining thoughts about Lan Wangji, so he plays WangXian on a fucking blade of grass well enough for Sizhui to recognize it from his dad's guqin jams. 

Wei Wuxian is a better flautist than even Inspector Gadget BeatBoxing Flute Guy (Google it).

Our Many Many Spirit Lure Flags have Lured A Spirit, Oh Shit

Lan Clan has a Plan and Wei Wuxian is a Fan

Having one single lure flag stuck in Wen Ning’s torso caused spirits to basically eat him alive, so to catch one evil spirit, 6 disciples holding flags on the roof plus 8 more flags on the ground seems like a good amount. Wei Wuxian is like “yep, a single one of these will lure every spirit for five miles, carry on, younglings.”

Baxia Does the Heavy Lifting

Wei Wuxian is supposed to kill four people because of this curse situation, and in the course of the series they all die, and he kills exactly zero of them. The curse on Wei Wuxian’s arm should be called the scorekeeper curse. 

Baxia’s spirit pinballs around the Mo clan, rapidly killing three people on Mo Xuanyu’s list plus a couple extras for good measure.  Who's a good blade? Baxia is! Yess you are! Yes you are!

This here is the exact point in the show where your friend, who has listened to you squee about The Untamed for three months and finally agreed to watch it with you, will say “what the fuck am I watching?” and try to get up off the couch. Tackle them! 

This also the point where we all realize that the prosthetic and practical effects in this show were probably not made by the people who made the clothing, because the quality is...variable. The white eyeballs are pretty good, but the glove of death is ridiculous.

Camera operator: why you gotta take it out on me?

While Baxia goes to town on the Mo clan, the Lan Clan babies...watch? And tie up the various victims after they are already goners. 

Narrator: Her son is dead.

Meanwhile, 

Wei Wuxian, you motherfucker. You’ve been alive for like 7 hours and you’re already building a new zombie army. No wonder you don’t want them to call Lan Wangji.

Hanguang-Jun Cut It Up One Time

Lan Wangji shows up and very slowly kicks zombie ass with his guqin. If you are used to Hong Kong action speeds, you will find The Untamed very peaceful.

 All of the baby Lans fan squee up at Lan Wangji like he's the cultivation world's David Bowie and...they're not wrong. Jesus Fuck, he’s charismatic.

Lan Wangji is soft boi when he discovers this murderous sword full of dead-bastard energy, because it reminds him of his true love.

Like the talk about souls, the conversations about the nature of the murderous entity really don’t survive translation into English.

Servant: it’s a ghost! 

WWX: it’s not a ghost, it’s a spirit

Babies: It’s a spirit

LWJ: it’s not a spirit, it’s a [...] ghost

Our Protagonist gets the FOH

Wei Wuxian is soft boi when he sees Lan Wangji, but not so soft that he considers actually, like, sticking around. 

Wei Wuxian is also clueless boi, noting Lan Wangji’s white clothing and thinking, as in the past, that he looks like he’s dressed in mourning. The term he uses is 戴孝, which google tells me means the type of outfit worn by Jiang Yanli after Wen Ning rips her husband’s heart out someone who is in mourning. 

Actually, Wei Wuxian, you dumbass, he is in actual mourning, actually, for you. Dumbass. He probably packed away all of his blue outer robes 16 years ago and only takes them out occasionally to reminisce about that nice date you had on your mountain of corpses. 

On his way out the door Wei Wuxian manages to find a red ribbon for his beautiful hair, so things are looking up. 

Where to go next...hey I know, how about that one haunted mountain with the killer statue, you know, the one that all my executed friends and child came from? That’ll be fun and a great way to put the past behind me!

Episode 02 Restless Rewatch is here!

[lil-blueee]

Redamancy | Takashi Mitsuya x Reader (Tokyo Revengers)

Redamancy (n.): The act of loving the one who loves you; a love returned in full.

Treasure the time you spend together,

Treasure the ride in the evening time,

Treasure the confession under the night sky.

May you all feel the love and fall in love!

____________________

It is now eventide, the moment when the Sun deliberately goes down, exuding its vibrant red and orange rays that tints the former azure firmament. And here you are, resting on the leather chesterfield sofa while gazing at those skylights above. Broken lines of cumulus, or cotton-like clouds, are stretching for miles in the air, reflecting those fiery shades that intensifies the whole scene's saturation.

"Beautiful." You mumble, eyes lingering at that exquisite sight.

It doesn't take that long for a pitch black color to invade the sky, noticing that dusk is coming to your city. You raise up both arms to stretch that stiff upper body before a small growl grabs your attention. Looking at the clock, it's a quarter past six already.

"Guess he'll come back late tonight. I've to eat alone then."

You place your right hand on your stomach to feel that small rumbling sound - a signal for dinner time. The corners of your lips pull down to reveal a sad but so-be-it face. "Well, time to eat." You reheat the bento box in the microwave and prepare a glass of water before bringing them both to the table. Hands clasp together, you mumble, "Itadakimasu."

After finishing your meal, you sip a cup of warm tea while walking towards the bust mannequin, where the sleeveless white bridal gown is put on. Four different length of layers were sew from the waist line, covering half of the chapel train - the last and longest layer of the dress. To break free from the usual, monotonous gown, that man thoroughly embroidered roses on the left lateral, artfully arranged those small flowers from the shoulder to the side of the waist, and bigger ones when reaching the end of the train.

There's only one more piece left to complete the dress, a wedding veil. And it's also the final task for you - the girl making a messy bun for her wavy silver hair with apparent black highlights. Heading to the table where the folded tulle fabric is laying, you put the tea cup down, left hand slowly grabs your pair of black eyeglasses beside it. Eyes giving a quick glance at those thin lines drawn by tailor's chalk, you take one deep breath, ignoring some strains of hair falling down on the side and hold the sharp piece of scissors. After all, this dress is made for Hinata Tachibana, one of your best friends. I can't screw it.

You slowly cut off the excess length of the tulle until those metal blades return to their starting point, making the cabbage falls down the ground. Your other hand holds the outside edge of the fabric to trim its corners slightly, adding the curve for a graceful look. "Now then," A delighted smile appears on your face. Your sparkling gaze is looking through the edge of the veil again to see any jagged or uneven fabric needs cutting.

Immersing yourself in your work, you don't even recognize the presence of another man at the entrance, crossing his arms on one another. His head leans against the door frame, looking at you with those adoring droopy lavender eyes. "Quite meticulous, aren't you?" The lilac-haired mumbles, giving his compliment before he turns around and walks along the hall.

After that final touch, you sigh in relief, gently using your left hand surface to mop the sweat from your brow. "All we need to do is sew it. I should wait for Taka—" You startle. Whatever touches against your cheek literally makes your heart jump because of the cold sensation.

"What in the—" Like a natural reflex, you turn your head around to search for the source, but that sixth sense of yours can somehow guess the person standing behind this.

"You call for me?" He asks in a soft tone voice. In front of you right now is Takashi Mitsuya, a gentleman in his dark grey suit layered with a black shin length trench coat, projecting his professional image which instantly forms the first impression to anyone he meets. Hand passes you a bottle of water, the lilac-haired chuckles at the face he saw.

You keep staring at him, your eyebrows pull closer together while your lips tighten, making an angry but quite adorable face in his opinion. As you're about to give him a piece of your mind, his genuine smile immediately blows your anger away. That gentleman appearance, combining with his somewhat irresistible face are like a deadly combo suppressing your anger. How can I get mad like this? Placing your palm on the forehead, you ask yourself before telling him,

"You can just give it normal—"

Hold up! You pause when a thought runs through your mind and interrupts your speech. An idea? No, more like a revenge! Lower your face while smirking devilishly, one side of his slit eyebrow lifts up as he wonders what has got into you until...

"Actually, thank you very much, Takashi."

Calling for his name in a mischievous voice, you raise your slender hand not to take that bottle but to gently grab the other big, masculine one. Eyes lock with the others droopy lavender, you smile innocently as a way to express your affection toward him.

It doesn't take that long for the Second Division Captain to realize your intention. Instead of questioning about your rapid change in behavior, the lilac-haired decides to go along with your act. [First name]-chan, you're no match for me. His surprised face soon reveals a smirk, taking his time to respond you.

"My my~ you really mean it, [First name]?" said Mitsuya in a low tone voice.

He takes a few steps toward while you're doing the opposite, walking backward till your body hits the table without noticing. You startle but your attention is still drawn to his hand pulling the tie knot side to side to loosen that black plain necktie. This soon piques your curiosity. Is it because of the heat or he's doing it on purpose? However, judging the look on his face, you have every reason to eliminate the former assumption. Actually, no one will argue once they meet his sharp, yet flirtatious glance trying to lure you in his sweet trap. The gap is now shortened to only a few centimeters apart, Mitsuya rests both of his hands on the table to trap you inside then leans his lips closer to your reddened ear.

"Or you're asking for something else?" He whispers, sending shivers down your spine.

A flush of excitement is rising to your cheek, but you - my friend, show no signal of being dominated. In spite of the wild beating heart in your chest, you naturally grabs his tie and pulls it closer, looking straight into that man's eyes. "Make a guess."

Now you've done it. That confident expression of yours finally pulls the trigger for a massive explosion in his heart. It's not really something unexpected, but the Captain can't help himself whenever he sees you like this. The lilac-haired signs, looking down the ground to hide his defeated face. But, things won't end that easy.

"Alright, you said it. But," Unveiling a devilish smirk, his left hand wraps around your waist and gives a sudden pull, making your eyes widen from his unexpected move, "don't mad at me afterward."

The other hand is gently placing on your cheek before his thumb touches your lips. He's not gonna... There are butterflies in your stomach as you realize his intention, but sadly, it's too late to escape by now. Feeling his head is leaning closer, you place both hands on his chest to try and stop him though his body doesn't move a single bit. Hold up, hold up, hold up!!! Too close!

"Takashi, wait—" Your eyes shut immediately, knowing what he's about to do.  

Mitsuya pauses when his lips are only a few centimeters away. That man is taking a glance at your heavily blushing face and secretly smiling to see this shy and nervous side of yours. Oh my, now I'm the meanie. He signs. Well then...

Soft. Something touches the tip your nose - a light kiss, as light as a feather. As your mind is still trying to comprehend the whole thing, his giggle soon gets you back to your senses.

"I'm just joking! You don't have to worry!" You open your eyes and freeze like a statue. Noticing how tense up you are, his hand gently caresses your cheek where the heat is still lingering around. "Did I scare you, [First name]-chan?"

You know the answer, don't you? Well, he did surprise you in a way but... why not let him guess a little longer? "Who would?" You mumble.

"Really? Shall we try again the—"

Like an instinct, your palm covers his lower face as you know he won't leave you time to answer.

"Not so fast. I won't be tricked again." You smile cheerfully because this time for sure, victory is in your hand. However, life rarely happens according to your plans, and especially when you are with him.

His gaze sharpens and that makes you think twice about your action. Just when you're about to let your hand down, the lavender-eyed holds it in position and gives your palm a kiss. You raise your eyebrows and are completely shocked at his gesture. Mitsuya gently places your hand in his palm, bowing down like a gentleman greets a lady before his lips touch your knuckles. This greeting gesture, hand-kissing, normally indicates courtesy and politeness but not in this case scenario. 

"Are you sure about that, my Muse?" He asks with a mischievous smile.

And the Cupid - the god of love in the Ancient Roman, shots his arrow right through your heart, again. Love and passion are spreading out from your wound, making you fall for this man for... how many times you have lost count to be honest. The only difference is that you sink deeper and deeper every time the Cupid has his decision.

"So now you're into role play just simply because of the suit? And what Muse would wear a white tube top with grey sweatpants like me?" You chortle.

"Well, doing it once in a while isn't so bad though." He answers. "And you're always beautiful no matter what you wear."

That makes your heart skip a beat. He always says what in his mind, even if you're ready for it or not. "You sure are good with words." Whispering softly, you don't know what to do but to smile happily like a child.

"Anyway, how was the meeting with your customers?" You ask.

"The good news is we have a big order coming up. It's for their wedding and they chose the design already. One mermaid wedding dress and a tuxedo. We have to make five dresses for the bridesmaids too, so it's gonna be a busy week."

"Oh no, it's not that much... Lemme fainted a little." Without waiting him to respond, you let your head fall down on his shoulder, creating a big "thump" sound in the ears. The Captain is trying hard not to laugh by now. He gently pats that heavy head of yours.

"But still, I'll try my best to help. Can't let my beloved handle everything, right?" There you go, being mischievous again.

Wish you could see his face at that time. It was the most happiest face in the world. He wraps you in his arms for a full, warm embrace. "And I don't want my Muse to be exhausted too."

"But we'll put that aside for now. Wanna go for a ride? It must be bored to spend your whole day in the workshop."

Your eyes wide open to hear his suggestion. How long has it been since the last ride you guys had with each other? You're obviously happy to hear that but you're quite concerned about his health. "Maybe you should rest for today, you must be tired already."

"It's okay. I need to refresh my mind a bit. Lemme get change real quick." He gives you a light pat on your head.

Standing in front of the garage, you're gazing at Mitsuya, who is wearing an energetic set of cloth, opposite to the formal style earlier. He layers his white tee with a loose black baseball jacket with cream leather sleeves. This jacket was you two first couple cloth, and it was made by you-know-who. For the bottom, he puts on grey sweatpants and a pair of sneakers.

Your man is taking his baby Impulse out. The lavender-eyed is looking for something, your helmet. He slowly puts it on for you to ensure your safety while you sit behind him.

"Hold on tight." No matter how many times he has taken you out, that sentence always comes up first like a habit. Yes, you understand clearly that he cares about you, but seeing him like this somehow makes you want to tease him.  

"Come on! It's not like my first time letting my boyfriend take me for a ride~" Leaning your body closer to his back, you slowly give that muscular body a hug from behind. The lilac-haired sighs, lowers his head before turning around.

"And it's not like my first time saying this to my girlfriend." He responds while gives you a light flick on your forehead. "I just want to make sure you'll feel safe."

You release your hands to touch the spot where he aimed. Knitting your eyebrows, you ask. "Alright, but do you have to give me a flick?"

"Cause I feel like it." Now your nose is being pinched. Right after when you try to react, Mitsuya grabs your hands and puts them around his waist again. "Alright, no more teasing. We'll be back late if we don't leave now."

You actively tighten your arms so that someone won't give a long lecture again. "Fine, baka Taka."

"That's my girl." Closing his eyes, those lips reveal a winsome smile before his black full face helmet covers it. Once everything is set, he starts the engine and drive you both to the main road.

Resting your head on his firm back, your eyes slowly observe the night life in the city, looking at those cars running on the road and how people spend the rest of their night. Every time the winds blow through your hair, they always give a sense of relaxation, relieving all the stress you have during those working hours.

You breathe out bit by bit, tighten your embrace without noticing, which is a good sign for the person sitting in front of you. Glad she's enjoying this. The lilac-haired chuckles in secret, feels glad at your reaction.

Fifteen minutes have passed by, you two leave the city center, driving on a deserted road that leads to an abandon outdoor parking space overlooking the city's view. This is his go-to place whenever he seeks for the tranquility and now, it's yours too. Mitsuya drives right to the spot where you can observe the mesmerizing scene below and parks his Impulse.

Arms in the air, you stand up and stretch your back after spending nearly the whole day in his workshop, helping him to finish the wedding dress on time. Turn your head around to look at the man sitting side saddle, you ask. "Just three days left. We'll finish Hina-chan dress before it, right?"

"Yeah, I only need to sew the veil and adjust the length of the dress a bit." Mitsuya responds before gazing at you with a delighted face. "It all thanks to your help! Your skills have improved a lot after two months."

"Really? Guess I have to thank someone being patient while teaching me too~" Your mind then recalls how many times he sighed and flicked your forehead when you messed up during your practice. Despite of that, your caring teacher always there to explain and demonstrate again and again. Also, you can't forget the times you injured yourself because of your clumsiness, and he was always there to help you. Those are the memories that you're always cherish.

"I'll still be in your care, Sensei~" You giggle.

Sitting beside the man you love, you lean your head on his shoulder while getting lost in thought. 12 years huh... They finally make it. The fact that Hanagaki could travel back in time is always unbelievable because to you, it's something that only appears in sci-fi movies. You're really grateful that he tries to save everyone even if he has to risk his life. Not knowing what the future may hold, every moment staying with Mitsuya just becomes precious and you truly appreciate it.

Hina-chan finally escapes from the Death, now they're about to engage. "I'm glad for them."

Hearing your mumble, his left arm, which wrapped around your waist, moves its way up to pat your head. Those fingers that he uses to design beautiful clothes are now gently stroking your hair.

"What're you thinking about?" He asks out of curiosity.

"I was thinking..." After a few seconds of consideration, you say something out of the blue "when will I become a bride?"

From your unexpected answer, Mitsuya completely freezes. His astonished face with raised eyebrows and wide-opened lavender eyes is fully drawn to you. Looks like someone's heart just skips a beat. You really are...

Not seeing the Captain react, you ask him with concern. "Taka— Wh—what???"

As you're about to lift your head up, his hand quickly covers your eyes, pressing it down to the old position. You're wondering what the heck is going, not knowing Mitsuya is facing the other direction, hands cover his face. He's making time for the blush to fade away but it's impossible when you're struggling like this. 

"Stay still for awhile, will you?" A long sigh escapes from his lips when you're trying to pull his hand off.

After realizing how physically strong he is, you finally surrender. "Fine, I give up."

The atmosphere go into silent, no one has opened up first because you're waiting for him, and your boyfriend? He's still trying to calm himself down. Once Mitsuya gets back to his cool, usual shelf, he removes his hand to reveal your sound sleeping face.

"[First name]-chan?" He whispers.

Oh... She must be exhausted. Caressing your cheek before moving to your ear, his mind suddenly recalls your words. The Captain tries to move his other hand without waking you up, manages to take something out of his pocket. He then remains silent, eyes are focusing that small box lying in the palm of his right hand. "A bride, you said..."

His thumb opens the box, staring at the thing placing in the middle. For some reasons, your man hesitates before taking out the circle object, raising it up to the night sky and gazing deeply.

"You should fall for someone else." He mumbles.

"That's what I said when you confessed your feelings. But you, you still stay around after everything we went through, after knowing my background." Mitsuya pinches your cheek lightly because he doesn't want to interrupt your sleep.

"How stubborn you are."

You can feel something touch your face but only make an annoyed expression like a reflex.

"You always talk to me, run toward me whenever I'm around, and even learn how to sew. And just like that, I get familiar with your presence in my life."

"I used to think if you were in love with someone else, I would be rooting for you and make sure you find a good guy. But right now, I don't think I can let you go—— No, more like I won't let you go this time."

His hand puts something on your right ear. It's his other signature piercing - a black huggie earring with silver crosses.

"One for me, one for my most important person. Hope you won't laugh at my childish thought, I was young and bold." He chuckles at his own thought.

"I'm not ready to be your spouse yet, not when I'm still struggling with financial issues. I don't want my love to struggle it with me."

"Just a little more, will you wait for me, [First name]-chan?"

[topsytervy]

Cupcakes ~ JJ Maybank and Rafe Cameron

Blurb: Rafe and JJ decide to do a bit of baking for you since you're on your period

Word Count: 1,399

Warnings: swearing, mentions of periods?, grammar/spelling mistakes, i think thats it.

I couldn't choose between the two so i did both and decided on the reader, JJ, and Rafe being a trio. The writing gets a tad dicey at the end but I never know how to wrap these little blurbs up so I'm not surprised.

~~~~~

You laid in your bed, fetal position, an unopened Midol bottle on your nightstand with a water bottle, a heating pad clutched to your abdomen as you clenched your eyes shut at the pain coursing through your stomach. 

If you were being honest, you were really fucking close to taking one of those knives from the knife block in your kitchen and cutting out your own uterus.

That sounded like it would hurt less than the absolute agony that your period was causing you.

Your phone buzzed and you winced as you flipped over, reaching across the bed to grab the device and hitting the accept button on the call.

"Hello?"

"Oh wow, you're up? She's actually up, Rafe. Anyway, Rafe and I are at the store right now but we were thinking since it's a beautiful day we either go to the beach or, if it's too crowded, we just hang by Rafe's pool. Oh, yeah,  pick up two bags of the flamin' hot Cheetos." JJ's voice rang through the phone.

You went to sit up but whimpered as your cramps punched you in the stomach.

"Y/N? You okay?"

You heard Rafe whisper a 'what's wrong' and JJ hushed him.

"Mhm. I just don't feel like going anywhere today. You know…girl issues." Silence filled the other side of the line and you exhaled sharply. "Period, JJ. I'm on my period."

"Oh!" He responded. "I'm sorry, Y/N/N. Do you need anything?" 

"Uh hello? Can I know what's happening or am I just the wallet around here?" You heard Rafe right next to the phone.

"No. I'm pretty much all set. I'm sorry that I can't join you two." You apologized, tears welling up in your eyes.

Stupid emotions.

JJ heard you sniff on the other side and he immediately started trying to make it better. "No, no, no. Please stop the tears."

"Now she's crying. Give me the damn phone, Maybank." You heard slight rustling before Rafe’s voice came over the phone speaker a lot clearer. "Screw talking to JJ. Talk to me. What's going on?"

"I hurt a lot and my periods ruining the plans you and J made and now I'm sad cause I can barely move so I can't hang out with you two today and I feel horrible."

Rafe walked towards the end of the aisle and looked at the signs above to aisles before finding the one he wanted and going towards it. "Y/N, it's not that big of a deal. It's okay to blow us off cause you're in pain. It’s like if you broke a leg. We're not mad at you for something you can't control."

"I'm sorry." You sniffed.

"And that's the other thing. Quit apologizing. You have nothing to apologize for."

"Okay."

"Now dry those pretty little eyes of yours and then close them to try and get some rest, okay?" 

Rafe’s eyes scanned over the boxes of cake and brownie mix until he finally found what he wanted and grabbed the box, throwing it into the cart that JJ was now pushing.

"Okay."

"Bye, Y/N/N. We'll talk to you later." 

"Alright. Bye, Rafe."

Rafe hung up, handed JJ his phone back, and continued down the aisle, grabbing two tins of frosting. 

"Cupcake mix?" JJ raised an eyebrow at the older boy.

"Yeah. We're gonna make Y/N/N cupcakes."

JJ picked up the box and looked on the back before scrunching up his nose. "What if we made them from scratch?"

Rafe turned to look at the blonde boy. "You think we can handle it?"

"As long as Rose and Ward aren't home to make a fuss, yeah."

Rafe grinned as he pulled out his phone and googled recipes for cupcakes. "Alright. Put the box back. We're getting the frosting premade though. And we obviously need the paper to put in the tins along." Rafe started listing, his eyes trained on his phone as he continued walking.

****

Two and a half hours later, Rafe and JJ were parked in your driveway, a box of cupcakes in JJ's arm and a bag containing Rafe's sweatshirt and JJ's sweatpants swinging from Rafe's hand. 

They carefully and quietly made their way upstairs and into your room, unsure if you were sleeping or not. You turned over, rather regretfully considering you had found the perfect position to keep the cramps somewhat at bay, when you heard a bag rustle. Your TV was on and playing How To Get Away With Murder, a slightly concerning choice your two best friends noted.

"Did we wake you?" JJ asked, worry written on his face.

You shook your head. "No. I haven't been able to fall asleep yet."

"Well, we made cupcakes." JJ grinned, holding up the box. 

"When you say we made cupcakes, do you mean from the box?" You shot the two boys a look.

"No. We made them, from scratch. By hand. Followed a recipe online. You can even check Rafe's search history."

Rafe grimaced. "Uh...maybe don't. Or let me clear a couple of things first." 

You ignored Rafe's sentence and sat up, immediately placing your head on your knees. 

"Have you taken any Midol?" Rafe asked, coming over to sit on your bed.

"No. I can't get the damn bottle open."

Rafe nodded before grabbing the bottle off of your bedside table and opening it with ease as JJ set the cupcakes on your desk.

JJ grabbed a water bottle from your mini-fridge and twisted the cap off, handing it to you while Rafe poured two pills into the palm of his hand. He placed them into yours, putting the cap back on the bottle into the little drawer of the table.

You popped them into your mouth and took a swig of water as Rafe spoke. "We also brought you your favorite shirt of mine you like to steal and your favorite sweatpants of JJ's you like to steal."

You nodded as you swallowed the water and pills in your mouth before grabbing the bag and heading into the bathroom to change. You always swore that their clothes were way softer than yours so you felt pretty grateful that they brought over their clothes for you to wear.

When you walked back out you saw, Rafe and JJ sitting on your bed, JJ holding a cupcake in each hand as Rafe held one in his.

"Alright. Get over here so we can try these bad boys." JJ nodded to the empty spot between him and Rafe. You climbed into the spot, Rafe setting the heating pad back on your stomach as you leaned against the headboard, taking a cupcake from JJ's hand.

You peeled off the paper, leaning across Rafe to throw it in the trash can, before taking a bite out of the treat.

You hummed. "I'm pleasantly surprised. When did you two become bakers cause holy shit? This is pretty damn good." 

Rafe shrugged as JJ beamed.

"Just call us whoever the hell the guy from Cake Boss is." JJ bumped his shoulder against yours as you snorted.

"Please. You're no Buddy Valastro. Yeah, these are delicious but that's like me making spaghetti and saying I'm Gordon Ramsey." 

"At least you like them and they, hopefully, made your day better." Rafe slung an arm over your shoulder.

"The cupcakes do make this slightly more bearable." You pressed a kiss to Rafe's cheek before turning and placing one on JJ's as well. "Aren't I lucky to have two baker boys as my best friends?" You grinned, not missing the smile on Rafe and JJ’s faces when you said that.

JJ rested his head on your shoulder. "You are pretty lucky to have us as friends huh?"

"Yeah, I am. Now if you could hand me the remote so I can put on a show that doesn't have an excessive amount of sex scenes in it, that'd be much appreciated. That’s the last thing I wanna watch with you two. Oh and grab the box of cupcakes. I have a feeling those are going to be my lunch.”

Rafe and JJ shot you a glare. 

“You can have another cupcake after you eat an actual meal,” JJ told you as Rafe stood up. 

“I’ll go see what I can whip up in the kitchen. You stay here and make sure she doesn’t snag another one.” 

~~~~

[candiliam328]

Season 1 was SO musically superior! Like imma be honest, there are very few songs I remember or liked from season 2. I think in hell I’ll be in good company, golden brown, and major Tom are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Season 1's soundtrack is iconic. Phantom of the opera? I think we're alone now? The Walker? Shingaling? Kill of the night, hazy shade of winter, happy together, run boy run, picture book, don’t stop me now... they’re all so good! No mistakes were made XD

YES. YES. YES. 

ok this is going to be an extremely long answer and... 

Necessary disclaimer: these are just all my personal opinions (pls don’t attack me)

Season 1 was a musical masterpiece. The OST and the pop music worked really well together. But I... wasn’t impressed with the music in S2. There’s lots of reasons why.

But what you’re talking about... honestly same. I just looked through a playlist of the pop music in S2 and I didn’t remember most of them? Couldn’t even guess what scenes they might play in? That’s... an immediate failing. If you put a song in a show, it needs to be a deliberate choice and it needs to mean something or else why would you bother including that song? 

yike I can literally talk about this for hours (more below the cut)

Music in cinema is really... weird. Even more so when you introduce pop music. 

Ok, let’s go from the beginning... a good musical scoring is supposed to reflect what is happening on your screen. It’s meant to support but not overwhelm. A good musical scoring will implicitly tell you more about the story than what you are visually given... but it’s incredibly subtle. You’re not meant to realize that you’re getting some extra info because that would distract you from what’s actually happening on the screen. Some background processing of info, if you get what I mean. (more to come in my OST analysis, should it ever be finished I guess lol)

This isn’t the case with pop music. This can’t be the case with pop music. 

Remember, the OST is original composition. Written specifically for this show. Only introduced to you in the context of this show.

Popular music, by definition, exists outside the context of this show. 

So there’s a really subtle balance that needs to be kept here when introducing pop music because you risk taking your audience out of the moment and making them think of other memories they already associate with that song. 

How do you combat that? Well, diagetic music (music built into the show, like “I Think We’re Alone Now”) tends to be more easily digested and accepted as part of the show material, since the characters are obviously hearing this music as well and interacting/reacting to the music. You have visual confirmation that this music is part of the show as well as auditory stimulation, so brain is less likely to wander off on its own journey. 

But the more clever way? Have an incredibly meaningful scene tied with it, something that fits in all the right ways and allows it to work like the score, giving you additional information without you even knowing it. Something that overpowers your brain’s tendency to get distracted by whatever other context you may associate with that pop song. Something that will grab your brain and be like “Sorry, brain. This song is officially a TUA song.”

This obviously works best if you have very little memories associated with the song, so the more obscure the song the better. But if you’re an absolute mad genius with your music and your cinematic timing, you can overpower any association with any song, no matter how popular it is. (... ever wonder why every song in Shrek became an immediate Shrek song? yeah lol)

You also have to recognize that the pop music in TUA or in any other piece of cinema that includes pop music? It does not exist in auditory isolation. There’s a running stream of background music and sounds and noises. Clever sound production will make the jump between music as smooth as possible. Clever scoring will think about how to weave a narrative, while keeping in mind the pop music that will be inserted as well. Make everything as subtle and smooth as possible. Your job is to not take the audience away from the narrative of the screen.

Ok, that was a lot of background info. You may be asking, “LOL BEAN WHAT’S YOUR MAIN POINT?”

Alright, so here it is.

The pop music in season 2 was pretty much doomed to be less effective from the get-go. 

The original score of TUA is composed by the lovely Jeff Russo. From my understanding, he knew what pop music was already planned for season 1 before he even got to scoring. This is important. Because he could make choices about the score and the motifs, while keeping the pop music in mind. He could make a more cohesive sound and music experience. And it worked.

There were deliberate choices made with the pop music. They prioritized and made sure you heard them in the right contexts. I will tell you now that there may be some pop music in season 1 that you completely forgot about. That’s OK. You weren’t necessarily supposed to remember them that much. You can’t be expected to pick up on everything. But the ones that played during the most important scenes? “Run Boy Run,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “The Walker,” “Never Tear Us Apart”? You know them. They played them longer and they took the time for your ears to appreciate the music and recognize its context in the show. None of this works if your ears and your brain don’t have enough time to process and form the associations of this song with what is happening on the screen. And they resonated with you the most because they reflected what was happening in the show the strongest. These are the important scenes you were supposed to care about and will play in your mind now whenever you hear those songs. 

But an even stronger testament to the integrity of pop music in S1: The other songs you forgot about and can’t name off the top of your head? You can listen to them again and maybe even make a good guess at when they were playing in the show. They... fit the show somehow, even if you can’t exactly place it. 

And this all makes sense if they chose these songs even before they started filming. Even before they started most of the scoring. 

In season 1, choices were made because of the pop music. 

... not so much the case for season 2. 

I’ve spent less time on the music for season 2 and honestly I don’t plan to spend much more ahaha... But here’s my two cents:

The music in season 2... is incredibly confused. You no longer have this cohesive sound experience that showed up in season 1. The OST is stuck with motifs that were developed with pop music from s1 in mind. Also, Russo played really hard into the fact that Vanya played the violin in season 1 and now there’s no violin at all on-screen, but he’s stuck with an excess amount of violin in the scoring, so there’s already less of a connection there. Not only that, but Russo is no longer the sole score composer, was working on other projects while scoring this one, so there’s less time from him dedicated to make this score work, but also a slightly different sound being introduced from another composer.

Now, add in the messiness of time travel to the 1960′s. The OST is not the 1960's. Not even the new tracks introduced. So the 1960′s sound is... trying to come from the pop music. The pop music that doesn’t blend in with your OST because your OST was developed for a time set in the present. 

But wait! Your S1 soundtrack got really popular because of its prime pop music choices... music that fit really well with your scenes. Let’s do that... but even more. Let’s use really popular music !! Backstreet boys, maybe some covers of Billie Eilish, and Adele. Everyone knows these songs !! They’ll see how clever we are and it’ll make them laugh !! 

(Notably, this kinda ruins the charm that they were hoping to replicate from S1? Honestly, several times while I was watching S2, I literally shook my head and closed my eyes, thinking.... “of course, they would play this.” Took me completely out of the show. Yeah, it can be really fun, but idk if you are thinking about the people behind cinematic decisions during your first watch of a show, those people probably messed up at their job?)

But wait, I thought you were using your pop music to establish the 1960′s theme? Now some of your music is directly clashing with that and the environmental setting? You’re confused. What are you supposed to be taking away from the pop music now?

And here’s something even more messy: the pop music in S1 was so incredibly important in establishing the musical identity of your characters, since they were played during some of the most defining character moments. Consciously or not, you have some musical expectations already for each of the characters. Not only that, but you’re expecting this pop music to be telling you more things about your characters than what you’re seeing on the screen. What happens when those expectations are not met? There’s some cognitive dissonance. You’re mentally taken out of the show, thinking about other things. Confused about what you’re supposed to take away from this music. Bad. Musical. Decisions.

So... what does that leave you with for the music in season 2?

A mess of 1960′s music and clunky ‘on-the-nose’ music choices, which may or may not clash with the established musical identities of the characters and all clumsily tied together with a struggling OST for the musically confused ears of the audience.

Tldr; Season 1 was a musical masterpiece. The Season 2 music never even had a chance.

[lunapwrites]

A Rarity

Someone in the HPFC discord got me thinking about Remus gardening while wearing baby Teddy and talking to him like a little adult (because he so would) and I had to write some domestic in-universe fluff. I wouldn't call this spoilers, exactly, but it's a HC I play with sometimes that has no bearing on where my plot is actually heading lol. Scene below the cut.

"I reckon we're in for a tidy yield this time; what do you think, Ted?"

The baby cooed brightly from his sling, his hair turning as blue as the sky above their heads. Fine days like this were a rarity in the Valleys, and Remus was determined to make the most of it. He tied his hair back, dropping to his knees in the soft soil of the garden with his son tucked snugly into his chest.

"See this? First tomato of the season. Une tomate. Your mam will be thrilled," Remus said dryly, showing the offending fruit to the baby. The little boy's hair had turned a matching shade of red. "Oh! Well done." He pressed a kiss to the baby's hair, smiling widely. "Your mam actually hates tomatoes, she does. But that's alright because I need them for things she does like. Like... I dunno, pizza, or bolognese or something. Couple of curries." He snorted. "Actually, there's a lot of things she likes that use them. Bit silly. But maybe you'll like them. I hope you'll at least try them when you're older. Should try everything at least once."

Remus hummed as he checked the remaining fruits on the vine; the rest were still green.

"Needs some more time, this one. See?" He tilted his body slightly so Teddy could see the unripe tomatoes, blinking up at them with newly green eyes. His eyes. The baby wrinkled his nose, his hair turning the same bright green as the tomato his gaze was fixed on.

"You're getting quite good at this, aren't you now then?" He resisted the urge to tap his son's nose; his hands were already covered in dirt. "Next thing you know you'll be morphing your face into Harry's and mocking him at the table."

They worked like that for some time, Remus keeping up a steady stream of easy chatter, informing his son of all the best ways to grow a variety of vegetables and herbs and showing off each in turn as he harvested. Naming them in three languages. Teddy, for his part, watched with slightly unfocused but still-curious eyes, his hair colour shifting with each new treasure his father showed him.

"We've got some nice leeks coming in now then. That's called cennin in Welsh, but the French call it poireau. Bit stuffy, if you ask me." He pulled one of the onions out of the ground, gently shaking the excess soil off the roots. Teddy giggled, shaking his fists, his hair turning a dark brown. "You like that, eh?"

Remus looked down at the basket of vegetables and herbs, taking inventory and making a mental note to check with Molly if she needed any asparagus. The bloody plant had been producing more than any sane man knew what to do with, and he was running out of ideas.

"Might be I could make that risotto again. Seemed like it was a hit — oh! Careful there," he admonished softly, pulling Teddy's tiny hands away from the fennel greens he'd been attempting to stuff into his mouth. Thus foiled, the baby shoved a tiny fist into his mouth instead. Remus sighed.

"I should probably be discouraging this, but as you're already fond of chewing on your own toes I'm going to let you have this one."

The air was split suddenly by the sound of clanging metal, flapping wings, and vicious swearing; Remus looked up just in time to see Sirius running out of the garage like his hair was on fire, pursued by a large and angry goose.

"Looks like someone got on the wrong side of Moriarty again," Remus whispered conspiratorially to his son. Teddy stared, wide-eyed, his hair a shock of yellow so bright it almost hurt to look at him.

Almost.

Remus hauled himself to his feet, brushing the dirt from his jeans and making sure Teddy hadn't grabbed anything else untoward (he had not).

"Suppose we ought to go rescue him. Your mam will have something to say if she comes home and I've let Pads get eaten by the goose again. Do you remember what we call Moriarty in Welsh?" Teddy made a sort of grunty noise; Remus nodded seriously. "Good effort. He's called gwydd. Or oie, in French."

A long string of expletives echoed out over the yard as Moriarty continued his furious pursuit.

"Don't call him that, though," Remus warned. "Your mam and Pads will have to hide for laughing, and I'll be stuck having to pretend to be cross with you."

Between the five of them — Harry and Ginny included — it was almost a guarantee that Teddy's first word would be something particularly foul. Remus sighed, making his way towards the house, whistling sharply.

As expected, Moriarty came waddling over, acting as though butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. Remus pulled a bit of lettuce out of the basket, offering it to the little menace who plucked it cheerfully from his fingers and toddled off, clearly satisfied.

"Don't tell Pads I'm encouraging him," he stage-whispered, and Teddy cooed up at him cheerfully. Moriarty was the only one of their animals that wasn't enamoured with Sirius, having decided that Remus was His Person almost out of spite. It gave Sirius something to do, though, spending hours figuring out how to ward a goose out of his workshop through trial and error. The error, in particular, granted Remus and Dora both endless hours of entertainment.

He stopped at the door, looking out over the garden, the garage where old Baglan's tractor was being repaired. The field where the sheep were grazing. Inside, Sirius was at the kitchen sink, muttering darkly as he washed the motor oil from his hands with the soap that Dora had brought home last week, the one that smelled of oranges and seemed to be working a treat. Dora was due home in an hour, likely full of stories about the newest batch of recruits she was "training." Remus would have called it hazing, but she insisted it was a part of the education that Mad-Eye had given her, and she was intent on keeping his legacy alive. Harry would be working late, bouncing between working at the shop with the twins and trying to find a premises for his own venture — which he still wouldn't divulge any details of to anyone, insisting that the surprise would be worth it. Remus suspected that it was music-related, given Harry's sudden interest in where he'd sourced his record collection.

They'd all worried that after all those years of chaos — of war — they would struggle to settle down. But as always, life surprised them. Things were peaceful, yes, but certainly never boring.

Life was good.

[thesnowinthemountains]

NCT 127’s First Time Saying I Love You

(a/n:  1. i wrote a good half of these drunk, so apologies for the excessive fluff 2. i didnt know i was whipped for mark until i wrote that okay im sorry 3. i nearly threw my laptop out the window trying to post this please love it)

Taeil

You were sitting across from each other at the small dinner table in your apartment’s kitchen - the only one you could afford for the time being. There was barely enough space for two plates and glasses, but neither of you seemed to mind the proximity, and Taeil kept staring at you, which distracted you anyway. “What is it?” You asked for the millionth time. “Nothing, nothing,” he replied calmly, going back to his food, but just pushing it around his plate. Not a minute passed before he did it again. You swallowed a bite of food, sighed, and calmly put your fork down. “Taeil, what?” You asked, sharper this time. He smiled to himself and took a second before looking at you. “Your eyes are a really nice color.” He said, failing to hide a mocking smile. You frowned. “Why are you laughing?” You were just confused at this point. “I don’t know how to do this, just-” he breathed, gathering himself. “I love you.” Now you blushed, looking down. “I love you too,” you mumbled. 

Johnny

You came home from a long day of work, swearing to yourself you were going to quit. You needed to, your current job was starting to get to your head and affect your moods. You slammed the door on your way in, tossed your bag aside and launched yourself into the couch. You let out a long groan and a few seconds later, Johnny’s voice came from the hallway. “Long day?” he laughed, settling himself in the space next to you so you could lay your head in his lap. “God, you have no idea,” you sighed. You sat together quietly for a while, him playing with your hair until you were almost asleep in his lap. He let out a pensive hum. “What?” You murmured, eyes closed.   “I love you,” he said simply, like it was a fact he just read online.  “You just made my day,” you laughed softly.

Taeyong

You couldn’t remember what you had said, but he had smiled, his eyes bright, and you just knew. It was easy. He was so easy to fall in love with, easy to be around, your whole relationship was easy and fun. You were in a perfect space. He got excited about ducklings, and made little noises to himself when he cooked. He cooked. He liked big sweaters, and you liked borrowing them; they smelled like him. You liked to sleep in his bed, too, liked waking up surrounded with everything that was him and about him. It was a little while later and you couldn’t hold it in any longer, afraid your heart might just burst if you did.  “I love you,” you said it heavily, like it had been weighing on you and just the mere action of putting it out into the world would heal you of all your ailments.  “I love you too,” he smiled over the pot on the stove in front of him. You revelled in the domesticity of it, ready to pause this moment and never let it go.

Yuta

You and Yuta had met through mutual friends, ones he played soccer with, and ones you were in various classes with. You were at a study group with them one evening, going over notes from the past week’s classes, trying to gather information for an upcoming midterm essay you were dreading. One of their phones rang. “Hey, Yuta, what’s up?” You didn’t want to eavesdrop on the conversation, but your ears perked up on their own. “Study group. Yeah, she’s here, you wanna talk to her?” Your friend now looked at you from across the desk. He handed you his phone, but mumbled a quick: “Keep it short.” “Hey,” you spoke into the phone after pulling your tongue at your friend. “Hey, I was just thinking about you.” You heard the smile in Yuta’s voice. You smiled in return. “Oh?” “Yeah, I was just thinking I love you. You know, if you’re, uh... into that.” You could hear him shuffling with something on his end, and he was not a nervous person, but you could tell he was trying hard to be casual. “I see,” you decided to toy with him. “Well, then.” “Well, what?” The shuffling stopped. You hummed loudly, like you were thinking something over. He sighed. “Fine, fine, I love you too,” you smiled down at your notes before your friend snatched his phone back from your hand. “That’s enough of that,” he spoke into the phone, but looked at you, addressing you both. You pouted at him but a smile quickly crept back on your face.

Doyoung

This was to be the dinner during which you would introduce Doyoung to some friends of yours to test the waters, see how he would get along, see if they liked him. It was a work dinner, relatively casual, where some of your favorite coworkers were joking among themselves, and poking fun at other people around the table. You were in the younger ones, the newer hires, so you, Doyoung, and a handful of work friends sat at the farthest edge of the table. Doyoung was chatting away with a girl he didn’t seem to realize was in fact a close friend of yours. He looked away for a moment and she flashed you a thumbs up, and an impressed look. You smiled to yourself, happy to have the stamp of approval. “What’s so funny?” Doyoung focused all his attention on you now. You laughed to yourself quietly before meeting his eyes. “I love you,” you cocked your head. He blushed, but grabbed your hand under the table. “I love you too,” he kissed the side of your head, going back to his conversation. There was no helping your lovestruck smile, and a friend of yours across the table made fun of you for it, but you couldn’t be bothered to care.

Jaehyun

You were getting ready for bed, brushing your teeth, washing your face, doing all the final things of the day, when Jaehyun leaned into the bathroom’s door frame. He was just watching you, and when you eventually looked back at him, he looked down. You went back to what you were doing, and he walked up behind you, moving your hair out of the way to kiss your neck. “What’s up?” You giggled. “I love you,” he mumbled against your neck before looking at you through the mirror again. Eyes wide, you turned to face him. He looked down at you, not saying anything. “Well, I love you too, then.” You laughed, pulling him into a kiss.

Winwin

It was late, you knew it, but you and Winwin were huddled together under a big cozy blanket on the couch watching episode after episode of your current favorite show. You had noticed him dozing off time and again, waking himself up with a start each time. You didn’t want to disrupt him, but there was an important scene involving his favorite character, so you lightly shook him awake, his head coming up from your chest and his eyes opening slowly. He looked somehow like both a puppy and an angel and you couldn’t believe you got to see him in moments like these. At that point, you had forgotten why you had woken him up in the first place, and the television was just background noise. “I love you,” you breathed, and your heartbeat sped up almost instantly. He smiled a small, happy smile. “I love you too,” he whispered, laying his head back on your chest, eyes closed.

Jungwoo

You were taking a walk around the neighbourhood. It was a perfect day, the sun shining but just enough of a chill to entice you to wear your favorite sweater. He was commenting on the surroundings, making silly jokes and getting giggles out of you. In the midst of his narration of your environment - the houses and cars and the little lives of the little people in all of them, their fun names and jobs and hobbies - he cut himself off. “I love you,” he said hurriedly before going back to his antics. “What?” You laughed. “What?” He looked at you innocently. “Oh, what, the “I love you”? Yeah.” He shrugged. “Is that a big surprise?” “No, I guess not,” you acquiesced, “I love you too, though.” You elbowed him playfully.  “Well, good, I hope so! You’d better!” He exclaimed, then smiled to himself.

Mark

You had found that loving Mark came in stages. First, you picked up little habits he had - none too specific, but you took notice and would smile to yourself. Then, you would go out of your way to make him laugh, because the sun shone in his eyes when he did. It went on like this until you finally admitted to yourself that you were in love with him, this cute dorky guy with the weird ears and sweet smile. You never said anything, and you figured if you ever did, things would get awkward and eventually your friendship might phase out, which was worse than pretending you felt nothing at all. One night, though, the two of you were in the middle of playing video games when you made a joke that had him doubled over in laughter. “Fuck, I love you!” He exclaimed through his laughter before getting very serious very fast. “Oh, I- I mean the- the- I- uh...” he stammered on like this until he noticed the look on your face. “What?” He eventually asked, startled by his own words and your wide eyes.  “I wouldn’t be mad if you did,” you said quietly, in what was probably the most serious tone you’d ever used around him. “Love me, I mean.” He stared at you, giggled, and got this big, stupid grin on his face. You thanked all your lucky stars and every light in the universe for allowing him into existence, into your life, and allowing him to feel for you as you did for him. 

Haechan

You had gone to laser tag with friends, and you had made him swear he wouldn’t somehow cheat, or eliminate you in some snide way. Ultimately, you knew perfectly well that he was the sort of boy who played dirty or not at all, so when he snuck up behind you and you heard the loud sounds of your elimination, you were mildly annoyed, but not surprised. You turned to stare at him, mouth open in mock offense. “Haechan!” You cried. “It’s the game, don’t blame the player,” he held his hands up innocently. You fumed, sticking your tongue in your cheek to stop from snapping back. You moved to catch him and he ran away. “I love you?” he called back, his laughter echoing, while you sighed and returned to your team’s home base.