#not to mention it does nothing to improve her story if she did love him and everything to improve it if she didn’t

[romanceyourdemons]

the assassins (2013) is an excellent film. the highlight of the film, of course, is chow yun-fat’s powerhouse performance as an aging cao cao, riddled with disease and fucked up by the death of guan yu as he faces assassination attempts from all sides. despite all this, the character resembles chow’s performance as the king in curse of the golden flower (2006) in his terrifying, settled, violent power: anything he wants to take, anyone he wants to kill, he can and will. unlike jiang wen’s cao cao in the lost bladesman (2011), he is not a subtle chessmaster, manipulative though his actions undeniably are; unlike zhang fengyi’s cao cao in red cliff (2008), his ultimate goal genuinely is a peaceful and united empire, and his obsession with the beauty who is this film’s main character is merely his desire to save someone, any one person, to atone for the many lives he has taken and try to prove to himself he can do more than just kill. it is this character, lü bu and diaochan’s daughter played by liu yifei, who is the film’s undeniable weakness, since liu’s flat affect style of acting works best when juxtaposed with striking character moments, and the character was neither sufficiently coherent nor incorporated into the narrative to have suitable character moments. most of her arc is conveyed through stream-of-consciousness voiceover, which distracts from the more poignant developments of the film without providing the audience a clear sense for the woman who is supposed to be our main character. however, the end of her arc is absolutely vital to the sledgehammer impact of the end of the film. i have not yet mentioned the incredible sets and costumes and alec su’s excellent performance as emperor xian, but let me assure you they were all gorgeous and highly effective. although it is not quite my favorite cao cao film, the assassins (2013) is one of the best i’ve seen, and i would highly recommend it

[alessiathepirate]

Until Dawn

A SMALL JOY: Josh Washington x fem!reader

Summary: Taking Dr Hill's advice, Josh and his lover go up to the lodge and look through all the things his sisters had left behind - after an interesting find she does her best to take his mind off the sadness he's experiencing.

Notes: English isn't my first language. I apologize for any mistake I may have made while I wrote this short story.

To be honest, Until Dawn is still one of my favourite horror games. Thanks to the game I found my favourite YouTube channel, my English improved a lot because I wanted to understand every word, and I have a huge crush on Rami Malek to this very day. Me and my friends were obsessed with him the time the game came out, and soon started to watch more of his work together.

Josh Washington was one of my first fictional crushes, I could defend him for years without getting tired and I drew him so many times I actually learned how to draw portraits correctly.

There's a gameplay I like to rewatch every year, because of the great memories I have connected to it. I always fall in love with Josh Washington once again - and thanks to that tradition, I started to write for him as well.

Warnings: a bit of swearing, mentioned depression and loss, mentioning the Washington sisters' disappearance and/or death

•••

° "(...) We would come up in the summer and we would have the best time. The whole family was there - mom, dad, my sisters. It was some serious competition out there on the big lawn... I don't know. Can't go back. New reality." °

She listens carefully, noticing every little pitch or drop in Josh's voice as he speaks - and as he puts down the baseball bat all she can think about is grabbing him and pulling him into a hug, a tight one, the kind that is both loving and comforting. She watches him, she examines his every little move and her heart aches every single time she finds a new sign of sadness.

She hates it.

She hates that look on his face. She hates that change in his voice. She hates that he feels alone. She hates that the whole case is making him go crazy. She hates that nothing is certain and he can't even grieve.

She hates that he had to change so much; that he had to become this depressed because of some stupid, messed up prank their friends had decided to pull on his sister.

He didn't deserve any of it. He doesn't deserve any of it. None of the Washington kids do.

Coming up here was already hard - back to the mountain where Hannah and Beth disappeared, where they played around like stupid teenagers do. Dr Hill said it's for the best - Josh needs some closure, some proof that he needs to slowly start to move on. She thinks it's bullshit - Josh thinks so too. It won't be easy to put yourself through something like this.

But regardless, they came. They are here now, looking through the rooms, the basement...

The memories are hurting her - and if she as a friend is hurting this badly than Josh must suffer a lot.

"Teach me." the words suddenly burst out before she can stop them, wanting to make Josh concentrate on something else - not wanting him to get lost in his own mind.

"What?" the question is loud in the basement.

"Teach me how to play." she continues on, feeling unsure like she tries to cross a very thin and sensitive line. "I've never played baseball before."

"It's been a while since I did so." Josh starts to explain, his gaze falling on the bat he put down. "You really- want to?"

She steps closer to him slowly, carefully, as if she tries to get close to a very scared and wounded animal. She touches his arm, her fingers hold him as her thumb brushes along his skin in an up and down motion. She leans towards him, her face touching his shoulder as she presses a kiss to the area what isn't covered by his t-shirt.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." she whispers. "I know it's not-" she holds that thought and says something else instead: "I just haven't seen you play yet and I want to join in."

Josh looks at her over his shoulder, he looks at her as she tries to smile even if her eyes stay sad. He watches her like she's the only thing he has left, like she's the only person who matters anymore. He looks at her and feels something break inside, realizing that she really is the only one who he has.

"All right." he says and when he sees her eyes change a tiny bit - showing a bit of happiness - he feels his heart flutter. It makes him feel better, it makes him want to touch her too, putting his hand over hers - over the one which is still clinging onto his arm. "As long as you promise me you won't accidentally hit yourself with the bat."

And there's what he wanted to see - her expression changes, playful offence takes the sadness' place and she gently hits his back.

"Hey! I wouldn't do that."

"You totally wouldn't." his sarcasm earns him another punch and despite the situation and the place, he feels like he got something back.

The last time they bickered like this was half a year ago, the night his sisters had disappeared. They drank and played around until they started to make out in the kitchen, only stopping when Chris stepped inside the room wanting some booze for himself.

As they climb the stairs hand in hand they both feel somewhat relieved. They found a kind of small joy, a bit of happiness - something what they had left here months ago. Josh chuckles when she trips and almost falls, she feels excited as he hands her the baseball bat outside.

"Since there're only the two of us here, I think it's best I teach you how to hit the ball and not yourself."

"I'm not that clumsy Mister!" she tries to sound offended, but it doesn't work.

"I know you too well, girl; and I don't trust you with that at all."

Josh stands behind her, keeping a gentle hold on both of her arms as he explains how to stand and how to hold the bat. She chuckles when he playfully tickles her and this time she doesn't feel guilty about laughing. Before he lets go of her to throw the ball, he gives her a short hug and presses a kiss into the crook of her neck.

She misses the first time...

and the second time; and the third time...

She misses and Josh laughs and she thinks it's the most beautiful sight she's ever seen.

They change positions after a while and no matter how she throws, Josh never misses - not even once. He hits the ball every single time and it flies and lands far away.

She has the feeling that in that very moment, doing that very thing they both feel somewhat complete. She feels like Josh's smiles are honest, his laughs are honest and she forgets about Dr Hill and his stupid advice.

"No shit you like to play it." she says after a while as the both of them are lying in the grass, her head resting on Josh's arm. "It is fun."

"Believe me darling, it is much more fun when you actually hit the ball." his voice has a teasing edge to it and for a moment she thinks about turning towards him and hitting him playfully once again - but she doesn't.

Instead - hoping to get something more, trying to get a kind of good change out of him, she says: "I will, after a bit more training. You'll teach me, I have no doubt about that."

Josh turns towards her, gently touching her face and playing with her hair. She tries to read his face and she realizes that he understands what she's playing at. She wonders if he'll get upset or sad... but she gets an answer pretty quickly.

"I will - of course I will. You'll be the best player in this damn country."

The muscles in her face twitch and she feels like she'll cry. It's been so long, so long since Josh smiled and laughed that now seeing it again feels like a whole new experience. She doesn't want to leave the place or the moment. It's too nice.

"Better than you?"

"Way better." he promises and lets go of the lock of hair he's been playing with. "I love you, you know that, right?"

She feels frozen at the question and starts to wonder where it's coming from. The doubt in his voice, the softness in his eyes... He deserves the world, he deserves everything in it and he deserves to know that he does enough for her - she feels his love and every single emotion and action it causes.

"Of course I do... I know." she promises. "I love you too. And I'm here for you, no matter what."

It's her turn to lean in and she kisses him, making sure the kiss is soft and calm. She wants to make him feel whole and safe. She wants him to be happy.

They lay back down and stay quiet for a bit, enjoying the sunlight and the light summer breeze. She feels like she could melt. Melt into the feeling and moment forever, without ever getting bored.

"You know," Josh starts suddenly, his voice soft and unsure. "it's been a while since I've taken you out on a date."

"It's fine, Josh. These past months weren't exactly the best."

"No... I know." for a few moments he stays silent, not knowing what to say. "All I want to say is I have a few movies here we can watch and we can have a nice time before we-"

"-go back to them." she finishes, understanding what he means.

Them. All the friends, all the family members and pals who show an annoying amount of pity. All of those people who try to comfort Josh when doesn't want to do anything with them. The people who make him feel worse than better.

"I'd love that." she smiles at him as he turns towards him and hugs him. "But no horror."

"No horror." Josh nods.

It wouldn't be good for either of them.

She kisses his shoulder as they get going, stretching their muscles, before climbing the stairs to go and find the movies Josh was talking about.

As they look over his DVDs while hugging, all she can think about is how unfair life is, because Josh doesn't deserve any of the problems life threw at him...

[spider-chris06]

¿Peter was Gwen's first love?

This is something I've been seeing or hinting at very recently because of certain things Gwen says in ATSV, so I wanted to go a little deeper into this topic to see if Peter was really Gwen's first love:

As everyone knows, Gwen and Peter were childhood friends until he, to being someone weak who wanted to be special just like Gwen, turns into the lizard and dies because of it. Something that is made quite clear is the fact that Peter was clearly in love with Gwen but, did she feel the same?

During the flashbacks, one can see how the two of them seem to have a genuine friendship and there actually seems to be no sign of Gwen's romantic relationship with Peter... yet

Although it is presumed that they could have gone to the high school dance as a date, I don't think so since they could easily have gone as friends and that's it.

She always makes it very clear that he was his childhood best friend, and nothing more.

The only real clue that Gwen may have liked her friend deep down is this little scene where Gwen, after Peter's death, sees a couple holding arms and she gets upset about it.

Taking all this into account, the most logical thing is that she started to like Peter just before he died and that's where the thing stayed, it never progressed, it never evolved, nothing. It's like an uncomfortable backpack you wear on your back when you meet your soulmate.

That this would explain her unstable and impulsive personality during ITSV and the ATSV prologue that she ended up changing thanks to Miles.

Adding to which, thanks to Miles, during that time in the Spider-Society, Gwen has not only drastically improved and progressed, but she can truly get over Peter's death.

However, here is something that caused some doubt, and that is that in the ATSV prologue she mentions that, before she met Miles on Earth-1610, there was Peter, however, taking into account that at that time she was not really honest with her feelings, she was surely referring to the weight that both had in her life at that point in the story, since if we talk about friendship itself, it would make sense for Gwen to say that, but if we talk romantically, things change completely.

"Ok but Gwen refers to Miles as the first friend she's made since Peter died" Yes, it's true, but because it was Miles who wanted them to remain friends at the end of ITSV and she respected his decision, however, inside, they already liked each other since they met for the first time, and Gwen fell in love with Miles by the end of the first movie, she didn't say anything at her farewell to ITSV, so Gwen never saw Miles as a friend, she always saw him like something much more than that from the beginning, and that's, surely, the big difference from Peter.

And as a plus, she never said ANYTHING about being in love with Peter or anything like that.

Let's also remember that Gwen tries to hide her feelings in the same way that Miles does too so this should not be a surprise to anyone at this point.

We also know that Gwen refers to Miles as her "Friend" as a curtain, contradicting herself at times because she basically doesn't think things through before she says them, because the romantic feelings are painfully obvious and because also wants to go unnoticed.

Besides, she herself says at the end of ATSV that she gathered her old and, obviously, true friends to save Miles, which in itself says a lot.

More importantly, the fact that Gwen is head over heels in love with Miles and loves him so much more than he loves her, which is insane in itself, should automatically rule out any possibility of the Peter thing having any comparison, romantically speaking.

To make a comparison, Gwen barely knows Miles for 2 or 3 days and fell in love with him, something that did not happen with Peter even though they have known each other for years.

And I know that some may disagree with this, but the truth is that one can love one person much more than another and there is nothing wrong with that.

And one can also realize this when there are thousands of different Peters in the Spider-Society but she's obsessed with Miles, talking about him all that time she was there.

There are other clues to that, too, like when Gwen and Miles are eating on the terrace and she's surprised to realize that romantic feelings make her hungry, as if this was the first time something like this had happened to her.

Or how affectionate, cuddly, flirtatious and playful that she is with Miles (Another big difference from Peter)

Also, the creators made it clear that Beyond The Spider-Verse will have the most satisfying conclusion to the romance between Gwen and Miles, and I can't think of a more satisfying conclusion to the relationship between Gwen and Miles than leaving that message that those little feelings that she may have developed for her dead friend would be nothing compared to what would come her way after that, and her telling Miles that he is the love of her life, being Miles the person who changed her life forever, would be the perfect climax.

In conclusion, while Gwen began to see Peter as more than just her friend shortly before he died, that's basically incomparable to all the love, care, and adoration she has for Miles, and it's grown considerably ever since the ITSV ending until the ATSV ending where, if Miles was truly in love with Gwen, she's Triple as madly in love with her soulmate. So it actually couldn't be said that Peter was Gwen's first love due to that since nothing has been developed regarding Peter, the thing remained in nothing.

I clarify that this is an analysis that I did based on what I have been collecting and researching from MY point of view, some may have a different opinion or disagree on certain things and it is perfect.

[ca-suffit]

i haven’t read the books but from the way some book stans talk about lestat like he’s some saint, i was not expecting sam in that interview to be like no actually he loves being evil and he’s really good at it and all the stuff about male rage/akasha and the devil being like wow he’s so terrible i need to recruit him actually. and i’ve seen the odd comment on twitter that’s like oh poor sam for having to put up with this lestat character assassination. like i don’t wanna call ppl out but i saw someone say “he signed up for anne rice’s iwtv, not rolin jones’s iwtv 😢” like ??? no actually he did sign up for rolin’s adaptation. and then they act like he’s so put out by the changes like a) he’s getting paid to pay his favorite character i think he’s okay. and b) even if he has reservations or questions about a change or even outright disagrees with one, he’s always full of praise for the final product and for rolin in general. like girl he is fine lol. like he said, some changes needed to be made and were for the greater good e.g. wrt improving the louis character.

I forget if he clarified in the interview or not, but that bit he says about going to hell comes right from the books

But what had I done to Claudia? And when would I have to pay for that? How long was she content to be the mystery that bound Louis and me so tightly together, the muse of our moonlit hours, the one object of devotion common to us both? Was it inevitable that she who would never have a woman's form would strike out at the demon father who condemned her to the body of a little china doll? I should have listened to Marius's warning. I should have stopped for one moment to reflect on it as I stood on the edge of that grand and intoxicating experiment: to make a vampire of "the least of these." I should have taken a deep breath. But you know, it was like playing the violin for Akasha. I wanted to do it. I wanted to see what would happen, I mean, with a beautiful little girl like that! Oh, Lestat, you deserve everything that ever happened to you. You'd better not die. You might actually go to hell. But why was it that for purely selfish reasons, I didn't listen to some of the advice given me? Why didn't I learn from any of them-Gabrielle, Armand, Marius? But then, I never have listened to anyone, really. Somehow or other, I never can.

he's not a saint (but he wants to be one for a second lol) but I personally didn't feel like he was that "evil" either. anne rice wasn't rly a good writer and fired her editor 3 books in on top of it. the series was unplanned and it's a wreck. he does awful shit but nothing I'd view makes him rly "evil," so it was a struggle for me to get on board with all that. an internal fight about how he views himself, I could understand, but idk what was rly that bad otherwise. especially cuz she was so in luv with him that consequences for anything he does just drop off as the books go? let me not write a whole thing about this lol. but ya the good and evil thing is from the books. the rice-a-ronis do mention it in posts sometimes but ever since the show has aired, everything has to be explained away now, bcuz they don't like black and brown characters or fans judging their white fav. he's either an innocent meow meow or a gothic monster, depending what mood they're in that day to dodge whatever criticism comes for them.

AMC explores a lot of stories about violent men so I've never understood this insistence like it's going to be some soft romantic series. the romance is gonna exist in the violence somehow, especially cuz they're vampires. louis slamming dreamstat's head into a rock wall while being goaded to do it bcuz dreamstat says it's the only way louis knows how to luv is sort of peak loustat for where we're at rn. I'm sure eventually they'll be more tender but it's still gonna have gritty undertones for the network it's on and who is writing it. the stans luv to make it about gendered shit, like rolin is ruining it all bcuz he's a man, but anne rice wrote violent, fucked up things too. worse than the show is prbly going to go. it's all excuses. u can just not like something without having to justify ur dislike of it to death. like damn. it's not ur taste, just stop watching??

and yes sam is a grown ass man getting prbly a good paycheck from this so loll he will be fine!

[butterflydm]

wot rewatch 1x8: the eye of the world

I made it before the new season started! <3

spoilers for the first season of WoT and for most of the s2 teasers that we've gotten. For the books... um... honestly mostly stuff from Eye of the World that didn't end up in the show, lol. Oh, and for New Spring, I guess.

@apocalypticavolition mentioned that Perrin's original plot was probably helping Lan track Moiraine - that makes a lot of sense! It would have given Perrin a chance to flex his heightened senses and it might have even given Lan a chance to name-drop Elyas.

Okay, wow, yay! Our Completely Old Tongue scene from Age of Legends. When this first opened and they were just... talking in the Old Tongue... I was so blown away. I was not expecting it. I think they've hinted that we might get more Old Tongue scenes in s2 as well, which would be fantastic.

I'm glad that I read The Strike on Shayol Ghul short story -- they really did pull a lot of the info from that story for this scene, so that was very cool to see.

There is definitely a lot more focus on "Dragon as father" here than in the books (and I wonder if the tragedy of him murdering his family is going to focus more on killing his kids and not solely about killing his wife, once we get into that)

And the reveal at the end that '3000 years ago' was actually futuristic and we're living in a post-apocalyptic landscape, which is a great reframing for anyone who didn't already know.

Love all our Moiraine & Rand ~bonding time~ here (for various values of bonding time, lol). Definitely curious about where that relationship is going to go over the course of s2.

Egwene and Perrin checking in with each other is a sweet moment. Yeah, things Got Weird last episode due to stress and Nynaeve accidentally telling a secret that wasn't hers, but it hasn't wrecked their friendship.

And if Perrin is the one helping Lan here (supernaturally), then Lan and Nynaeve's scene would have just been the romantic goodbye.

Ishamael notes here that he didn't think that Rand was the Dragon Reborn. It sounds like he was expecting Rand to look more like LTT did. I really do love him calling Rand "Lews Therin", poor Rand. The identity issues are only going to get worse, bb. Love that Rand starts their conversation with an arrow to the face.

"Ever since the day I channeled, I hear nothing [from the wind]" is our first allusion to Nynaeve's block, I believe.

Moiraine tapdancing around the truth as hard as possible so that she doesn't have to admit that she physically can't teach Rand channeling. She's even willing to share one of her traumas with Rand in order to avoid admitting it! Also, I do think that Elaida's willingness to turn to violence is going to stand out a lot more in a world where teaching isn't always accompanied by brutality, as it is in the books.

haha, I totally forgot about this scene with Min and the others. Maybe because it doesn't really tell us anything we aren't going to learn immediately even without her (a nod to how pointless Min's viewings mostly are in the books? lol) but it does prompt Min to get out of the city on the wagons, I'm guessing.

Apologies to all the people who worked hard on the battle scenes but I don't ever have much to say about things like that.

Rand already getting memories (and Moiraine seeing him remember) plus Rand trying to protect people from getting hurt because they're standing next to him. (and Rand trying to give an order that Moiraine immediately ignores lol)

yeah if Lan had a companion (like Perrin) then his scenes here would have actually had some dialogue - they may have even given Rand the line about Malkier because they wanted to get the info out but it was originally supposed to come out in dialogue between Lan and Perrin.

Aww, family moment between the Agelmars. It's sweet. I honestly barely remember the Agelmars from the books, so this was an improvement. "Buy enough time to stand a chance" is going to be a big theme, too.

We also kinda get confirmation here that Darkfriends have been more effective in the show-verse than they were in the books-verse (it seems like more knowledge has been destroyed).

18. So, given what we've seen in the teasers of Ishy getting Lanfear from a seal, it seems like this specific spot is where LTT sealed Ishamael in particular (half-sealed?) and he released Ishamael fully when he cracked the seal. Before this, we only see Ishy working in people's dreams and then, in s2, he gets to actually exist in the waking world.

19. While I do see the effects of the covid shutdown and new rules in the battle scenes (and am looking forward to seeing them pop off without those setbacks in s2!); the scenes with Rand in the dream and Rand against Ishamael are perfect and I will hear no arguments against them. Rand is, ultimately, a philosophical hero and not a battle hero. He gets that wrong a lot in the books! But things tend to backfire on him when he tries to force himself into the battle hero position.

20. And we have ~the temptation~ here, with Egwene and little Joiya (and the mention of Mat, which was fascinating at the time and remains utterly fascinating; that fake!Egwene makes a point of mentioning Mat in Rand's temptation dreamworld).

21. The imagery for what Ishamael does to Moiraine is pretty much exactly like the shielding on Logain and not anything like when Logain was severed later in the episode, so I will (one last time before the new season lol) put my bet in that she was shielded. Ishamael is just able to do a lot faster than the Aes Sedai. Also when Moiraine is right behind Rand like this, you can really see how similar their shirts really are in color.

22. Min is jetting out of Fal Dara as fast as she can -- show!Min actually seems aware that she's not a fighter. #goodforher

23. But they did use needing to have Perrin in Fal Dara to give him a nice little scene with Loial that fed into the violence vs peace conflict.

24. Ishy really put in the work here (I'm assuming that it must have all been drawn from Rand's memories which, again, makes Egwene mentioning that Mat is saying he's going to make Joiya a lantern just incredibly fascinating). Ishamael waits until Rand falls for the trap to reveal to Rand what's going on (sorta). And both Ishy and Rand are working the angles here -- Ishy pretends that he wants Rand to pick the dream world and... you know, that would be useful but... he still wins if Rand fights him because that surge of Power will break his seal. And Rand pretends that he's falling for the temptation but actually is looking for Ishy to give him some clues on how to access the Power on purpose.

25. Ah, s2 setup is happening: Perrin learns that the Dragon needs the Horn at the Last Battle; and Fain was given the password to get into the fortress, which means there's a Darkfriend who knows the passwords.

26. I 100% approve of the show making joining a circle dangerous. In the books, circles are so completely underused and it feels silly because they are very low risk. People should be in circles all the time; especially when things get dangerous.

27. Lots of emphasis on fatherhood this season -- Rand's struggle about Tam being his father; Rand's desire to be a father (expressed both in ep1 and here with Joiya). We also had Siuan's relationship with her father being a key element of her character.

28. Rand loves Egwene enough to know that their paths have diverged and it would be wrong to try to force her onto the same path as him just because he loves her.

29. Very cute that Rand thinks he just defeated the Dark One. I want to give him a pet on his fluffy (currently sweaty lol) head).

30. Perrin gets the infodump from Fain instead of it being Mat. It's a good infodump, from someone who definitely, obviously has an agenda.

31. Rand thinks he's succeeded, so he leaves on his own so that he won't hurt the ones he loved. Baby. Off he goes, into the big world of Making Bad Life Choices, bless him.

32. And the poor little girl who, at least, probably died quickly? The show did such a good job with the Seanchan. Both here and in what we've seen so far in the teasers for s2. They are gonna be extremely creepy and heartbreaking and scary. You can definitely see tear-tracks on the face of one of the damane here.

[berrychanx]

Purin Fong - Character Development

I love Purin so much, either in the original, manga or the remake. I feel like the remake truly captured her chaotic energy, she’s always moving, she never stops.

She embraces the Monkey Spirit inside her, seeing her being an hyperactive child inside the museum and acting like a monkey was pure bliss to me...funny how no one had the guts to stop her. I  guess she’s just a force of nature, nothing can stop her intense energy.

Reject Humanity ... Return to Monke

I’ve already told my opinion on Purin new transformation sequence which can be found here Despite its introduction being rather short and fast compared to the other girls transformation, I love how it incorporates her animal traits and folclore, seen by using the tail as spring to jump. Seems like something she would do (how that works let’s not question it) To me she stills remains the same as her original counterpart but with a few extras making her more fun and relatable a bit to my family members.

Let me explain, I have 8 nephews (I have 2 older brothers, 1 has 6 kids, the other has 2)

,i have  a niece 1 year older than me, a niece 1 year younger than me and the rest is 2 to 3 years apart and we’ve all grew up together. My brother is the man of the house, the only one working and umm my sister-in-law...let’s not talk about her, she’s a mess, let’s say she’s like Purin dad in that aspect.. absent.

Despite her ruling her house with an iron fist, she never did any house chores....she would leave the work to me and my 2 nieces and later when the rest was already in Purin siblings age they would too help around the house.

This was something the manga always had implied, that despite Purin living alone wit her siblings they would help her anyway they could.

In small things like cleaning the dishes Like @godtierwallflower mentions is nice to see Purin paying the same attention to all of her siblings in New, unluike in the original where she seemed to favorite the girl. Her working as a street performance to raise money for her siblings is STILL ADDRESSED in her Petit Mew Mew Introduction. And like I’ve mentioned in the episode review.

I’m glad New changed her father background story, to quote GodTierWallFlower they’ve changed  to a vaguer “working overseas” instead of a “traveling across the world to improve his martial arts” because the latter was very rooted in the tropes of 90s anime like Ranma) And he’s behavior of a father makes it more reckless, when he has a dojo back at home ... But still speaking of her father

In New, even if he’s working over-seas, he’s an absent figure in Purin development a growth as a person, his face is obscured, and he’s turned away and distant, looking elsewhere, because that’s all Bu-ling’s image of him is.Meanwhile, her mother is facing them with a bright smile, the same sort of smile and exuberance that Bu-ling wants to have..

It isn’t even clear on whether he supports them financially or not. Bu-ling still does her best to earn her own money, and lives frugally, even making candy instead of buying it.

His role in her life is defined by absence, in a way that her late mother’s is not She feels her mother’s presence in everything, talks to her while she’s going to sleep, searching for the ghost of her in little things. She’s dead, and she still is the one pushing Bu-ling’s dreams and motivating her.

Even now, towards the end of the series, her brothers are always in her thoughts, thinking about their safety and their future.

She even invites TaruTaru to live with them, once the battle is over, her siblings would like him without a doubt.

She’s a great kid, I would love to continue to follow her growth as a character . It would be so interesting to see what Purin becomes in the future. What career she chooses, how her relationship will TaruTaru develop, etc. I wish i had more to say, but there’s still episodes left and I wonder what wait us, specially by the finale.

[pandoras-prada]

Forbidden

Minors, do NOT Interact

Summary: Y/n father doesn’t like Neteyam because he isn’t all Na’vi. He doesn't mind you hanging out with the other sully kids because he knows you don’t have romantic feelings for them. Neteyam is nothing but respectful until y/n father declines Neteyam’s wishes to mate you (he’s used to getting his way). Your love is forbidden, but y/n only wants to be with him. There will be consequences. Sort of inspired by Southside, a song by Llyod ft Ashanti

Characters: Neteyam (21) x y/n (19) y/n’s family, slight Jake, slight Lo’ak

Warnings: NSFW, Characters aged up, mentions of mating, kissing, p in v, cream pie, cursing, breast play, kissing, 

Authors Notes: I’m so sorry if this story sucks. I did not proofread at all. Please let me know what improvements I need to make.

"Why do I have to keep telling you, I don't want you seeing him again!" Your father yells, as you walk past him to your room. " Why can’t I hang out with him? You’re fine with me hanging out with his siblings, it doesn’t make sense!" Turning on your heel, hand on your hip. "I'm your father and what I say goes! It doesn't have to make sense to you. You are my child, and you still live under MY roof. You need to lose your attitude, while talking to me. I’m not one of your little friends" he's sick of you deifying him, flat out ignoring his bans. You growl with displeasure, turning again to your room. You lay on your mat crying. Your ears flick, hearing a knock on your wall. Turning to see your sister watching you concerned. "Is everything okay, y/n?" she asks seeing the tears fall from your eyes. "Why does he keep treating me like child? I'm 19! An adult." She walks over, sitting beside you, " you're his little girl. You may not be a child, but you are still the youngest and he wants what's best for you."

Laughing dryly at your sisters’ words "how would he know what's best for me? How does he know Neteyam isn't the best choice for me? He doesn't do anything I don't want." Your sister’s eyes widen. "Y/n, a- are you sleeping with him?" Her tone high with question. You wipe at your tear-stained face, realizing what you just said. Shrugging your shoulders, you look away from her too embarrassed to look her in her eyes. "A few times." You nod biting your lip. Your sister giggles at your shyness. "Oh, look at little miss perfect going against daddies wishes." She teases you. You scrunch your nose and bare your teeth. "Can you leave me alone, please?" Getting to her feet she looks down at you, "Fine but if father finds out he's going he's going to lose his mind." She walks out of your room, leaving you with your thoughts. You sit on your mat, knees pulled to your chest. It's a wonder how nobody has figured out the secret you and Neteyam hold. Especially the first night of hooking up with him. You came home with deep purple marks all over your neck and chest. You walked slightly different because he had your legs pushed behind your head for a while. You had bite marks all over your inner thighs, but nobody noticed. You decide you are going to continue ignoring your father’s wishes and keep seeing the love of your life. You lie back on your mat, the sadness draining the last of your energy. Your eyes fall shut as you doze off.

The next morning you wake early before everybody else. You gather your things that you will need for the day and head out to do your morning chores. The earlier you get them done the earlier you get to sneak in some time with Neteyam. Your gathering skills proving to be successful. You walk back to camp with a basket filled with fruits and nuts. The sun is high in the sky now showing that it is late morning, almost noon. The walk to your tent was peaceful until you hear two men yelling. You approach your tent cautiously, not sure what's going on. As you get closer, you make out the figures, freezing immediately. "You stay away from her!" Your father spits, poking Neteyam in the chest. You watch in horror. "I will mate y/n, if you like it or not. I only came here to be respectful to you. We love each other and we don't need your approval." Neteyam stands his ground, back straight, chest puffed out, muscles flexing. "I won't allow it to happen. My daughter will not be with a half breed!" Your father spat, shoving Neteyam back some. He was a little intimidated by the young man's stature. Neteyam hisses his annoyance but backs down from your father. Stalking off pissed from the interaction. Your feet moving on their own towards your tent. You can't believe what you just saw or heard. "Y/n, get in here now!" You father demands fuming, face purple with anger. You walk timidly towards your father still looking to Neteyam stalk off. Your father clears his throat, waiting for an explanation. Looking back at him confused "what's going on?" He shoves a finger in your face "You know EXACTLY what's going on. You had him come here, knowing I don't want you anywhere near him. I forbid you from seeing him and the rest of his family for that matter." He finishes, huffing at you, throwing his hand towards the tent for you to go inside. You walk past him, placing the forgotten basket of goods on the table, walking to your room. Your head held high not wanting him to see you break. Once in the safety of your room you crumble to the floor. Tears flowing freely from your eyes.  You wallow in self-pity for a few days, refusing to be in the same room as your father. Only coming out of your room once he's gone for the day.

Neteyam hasn't seen you in a week. He hasn't been able to focus on any of his duties. While spare training, he was stuck in his head, allowing Lo'ak to sweep his legs out from underneath him. "What is going on with you" Lo'ak asks surprised he was able to land a blow to his perfect brother. "Nothing I want to talk about. Come at me" Neteyam says ending the conversation before it started, hands up ready to continue their training. Lo'ak throws a few punches, blocking each one until his mind drifts back to you. "Fuck!" Neteyam's hand flies up to his lip. Tongue probs the fresh cut, lapping the blood. He looks up at his brother eyes narrowed. "Hey, you should have blocked that punch" Lo'ak exclaims with his hands up in defense. Jake sees the whole thing and walks to his eldest. "What has gotten into you, boy? I've never seen you so distracted." Neteyam shakes his head, staying silent. "Don't give me that shit. You need to straighten up." Jake says,concerned for his son; he places his hand on his back leading him to a quite spot to talk. "What is going on with you?" He asks again. This time Neteyam answers with his head hanging low. " I asked y/n's father if she could be my mate, but he said ‘no’ because I'm not full Na'vi." He crosses his arms ashamed that he is letting it get to him. " I love her, I can't see myself with anybody else." Jake was speechless, shocked that anybody in his clan would feel that way about him or his children, after everything they have been through. "I will talk to him an-" "No" Neteyam says sternly cutting his father off. "No, I will handle it." Looking at his son's saddened face, he just sighs. "If that's what you want. I won't interfere." Neteyam nods, walking back to camp.

"Y/n..." You look around your room hearing you name. "Hello?" You say getting up from your mat. 'Y/n, it's Neteyam. Come outside." You leave your room sneaking around the tent trying not to be seen. It's well after eclipse and if your father catches you, he'd surely kill you. You make it outside without anyone noticing. You circle to where your room would be and see Neteyam resting on the balls of his feet, still trying to lure you outside. You smirk "What are you doing?" You cross your arms over your chest and cock a hip. His head almost rolling from his shoulders at your voice. "You scared me!" He accuses you, chuckling that you actually made him jump. "Oh, the mighty warrior got scared?" You teased. "Seriously though, what are you doing here? My father will kill you if he sees you." Obviously happy to see him but you can't help but question his sanity. "I had to see you. I've missed you so much. I've missed having you beside me when we're alone." He stops, grabbing your hand "I need you... Us" you look deep in his eyes. Knowing his feelings, you pull his hand leading him away from your tent. He follows close behind you almost stepping on your heels. He's just eager to spend time with you. It felt like a lifetime since he's seen you. He knows exactly where you are leading him. You both have a private spot not too far from camp. Neteyam sucks his bottom lip between his teeth, watching your hips sway as you walk in front of him. Tail swooshing fast behind him and eyes heavy lidded, excited to be alone with you. You finally reach the single tree that stands in a lush green meadow. It's beautiful but you both are always to consumed in each other to admire the scenery you use as a hook up spot. "Y/n..." your own name sounds different this time. It sounds more longing. "I've missed you so much." His hand caresses the curve of your cheek while the other rests on your waist. "I've missed you too." A striking smile on your face. You stick your finger in the front waistband of his loin cloth. Shivers go up his spin as you pull him closer, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. You kiss his sweet spot, drawing a groan from his throat. Reluctantly, he grabs your shoulders, pulling your body off of his. "What happened last week" he starts but you cut him off. "Neteyam, don't let him get to you. I know if he knew you, he'd understand our love. Please, let's not ruin this time we have together talking about my father." You pout running your finger along his toned chest, down his muscled stomach, resting your hand back in the waistband of his thin covering. His body goes rigid with anticipation. He had no intentions of stopping. He wasn't threatening your father that night, he was promising him. His thoughts going dark, he grabs you by the nape of your neck. Pulling your head back, he shoves his tongue in your mouth. You take him in willingly, happy to taste him again. His hands move smoothly, swiping your chest covering to the side. He takes a full breast into his hand, massaging it with slight pressure and rubs his callused thumb over your already erect nipple. You let a moan fall into his mouth, the desire fully taking over your body.

You press up against him offering yourself to him. You pull away, lungs burning for air. Your chest heaves further into his hand as his lips attach to your neck. He nips at the flesh as he moves down the column of your throat, leaving a trail of saliva in his wake. He bites hard where your shoulder meets your neck, making you yelp at the slight pain. His tongue slithers over the wound he just caused to soothe the ache. Neteyam starts moving awkwardly, trying to readjust his straining cock. The rutting of his hips making your cunt drip. "I smell how much you need me." He whispers in your ear. Whimpering, you clamp your thighs, trying to hide your arousal. Forgetting your breast all together, his hand travels down your front below your cloth, forcing your legs apart. His finger traces along your slit, finger already covered in your slick. Seeking friction, you buck your hips, making his finger slide into you with ease. You roll your hips fucking yourself on his hand. He tests another finger at your entrance, your pussy sucking it in. He bites his lip at the site of you using him. Your eyes roll back as he spreads his fingers in scissoring motion. Neteyam has you in a complete mess when his fingers curl in a beckoning motion taping at the soft spongy spot. His thumb finds your clit desperate to get you off before he fucks you. His thumb rubs firm, tight circles on your bundle of nerves. "Neteyam" you moan, feeling the building pressure."Neteyam, I need your cock" You grab a handful of him. His hips spasm from the hold you have on him. Ignoring your pleas, he pushes his third and final finger in, pumping them in and out. The sound of your squelching pussy driving him mad. Your head thrown back, mouth open as the pressure releases with a force all over his hand and lower stomach.

Neteyam finally had enough of the teasing and works at the knots that are tied around your back. Growing intolerant of the knots not coming undone, he curses the fabric that keeps your sex from him and rips it from your body. You gasp in shock. "So impatient." His only response is a nod, now concentrating on his own knots. The knots tied at his back coming undone with ease, he lets it fall to the ground. Cock standing at attention, the moment it's liberated form it's confines. The mushroom tip already dripping with precum. You run a finger along the pulsing veins that run the length of his cock. He bucks his hips into your hand, cock needy for attention. Neteyam has other things on his mind. Though he would love for you to play with his cock, it's not what's on the agenda for tonight. He kneels on the ground, pulling you along with him. Pressing a passionate kiss to your lips again, you lie back on the soft, thick, grass. "I see you." He whispers, pulling back, looking into your lidded eyes. His face mirroring yours, you cup his cheek, "I see you, Nete.". You shove his shoulder until his back is met with the ground. You straddle his narrow hips, placing your hands on his defined chest. He sits up grabbing your wrists to rest them over his shoulder. His nose nuzzled yours as he reaches back for his queue, pulling it forward. Presenting it to you silently, the tendrils stretch out searching for a connection. You enclose your fingers on your queue pulling it forward, prepared to be with him for the rest of your life. Guiding his tendrils to yours, they connect smoothly. You both gasp at the newfound bond with dilated pupils. You rock your aching cunt on the length of his cock, ready for the ride of your life. You start bouncing on his thick cock, breast swaying as you move above him. " y/n, take it easy." He tells you, his release threatening to spill already. Your pace slows to a lazy rock. Neteyam places his hands on your hips, dragging you along his length slow and steady. Each pass of your hips over his pelvis brushes over your throbbing clit.

Neteyam, now growing impatient, starts bucking into you with powerful thrusts. The bond has him completely feral. His nails dig into your hips. lifting you almost completely off of him, then just as his tip is about to pop out, he pulls you back onto him fully. You have your head thrown back in pure pleasure. His thick heavy cock continuously filling you up fully. His eyes darting to where your bodies are connected, he watches as his glistening cock slides out of you, just to be pulled back in. He can feel your pussy walls tighten around him, ready to let loose. “Come for me y/n.” he breathes looking up at you. He admires your beauty as you ride his cock. Your skin shines bright with a light sheen of sweat, eyebrows knitted together from pleasure, and mouth slightly agape as you pant slightly. 

You reach your hand between your legs, immediately rubbing circles on your clit as he continues to violently pound into you. Your body begins to jerk with the amount of pleasure going through you. The pressure in your lower abdomen, to much for you to hold back anymore. Your hips bare down on his pelvis as your orgasm rips through your body with great force. Your arousal soaks your thighs and Neteyams lower body. His eyes widen with astonishment. Neteyam plants his feet flat on the grass to get better traction as he starts bucking hard, chasing his own high. You reach your hand behind you to caress his balls delicately, juggling them in one had with expertise. He throws his head back as his cock twitches inside you. The veins in his cock start to pulsate and balls tighten as his release squirts from his tip, painting your insides. His hips continue to rock slowly into you as your pussy milks every last drop of his seed from him.

You lay lazily on top of him both exhausted. His hands rub small circles on your lower back and kisses your forehead. Propping yourself up to look at him properly. You lean in gently and press your soft lips to his. He rises up slightly to deepen the kiss. He pulls back looking you in the eyes, “We need to tell your father.” You sigh, “We will tell him in the morning. Right now, is for us.” You rest your head in the crook of his neck. He wraps his arms around you and leans back. You both drift off to the sound of each other’s heart beats and feeling the love you share for one another through Tsaheylu. 

At first light you and Neteyam walk back to camp hand in hand. Whispers start as the people see you both. Some looked happy for you and some gave you jealous glares, knowing they will never have a chance with the golden one. Your father comes into view the further you walk into camp, his head snapping when he hears your name being associated with Neteyam’s. “Y/n, what is going o?, I told you I forbid you from seeing him!” You raise your head high “We are mated before Eywa and what you say doesn’t matter anymore.” Neteyam grips your hand tighter when he sees your father tense with anger. He takes a step between you and your father to shield you from his disapproving gaze. Tugging you along with him, you go into your family tent to gather your things. Your grab everything you need quickly. Hearing your father approaching your room, you grab Neteyam’s hand and rush past your father not wanting to press the situation any further. 

“Everything, will be okay, my love.” Neteyam cups your cheek lovingly. “I know, I have you. You are everything I ever wanted.” You say, turning your head to kiss his palm. 

[steveharringtonswifebro]

I was literally searching through the Stranger Things tags when I saw this, and I would love to make a request!

Henry x female reader. Kinda AU-ish, where she moves to Hawkins and ends up buying the old Creel house, planning on fixing it up (I'm gonna be honest, I fell in love with that stained glass window when saw it). With her being new in town, and the fact that she bought the "murder house", it's not earning her any points with the locals. She's ostracized, and people are being stupid.

She has this habit of talking to herself, especially while she does the home improvements. Enter Henry, because it's his house, of course he knows about the newest resident.

He thinks about scaring her enough to leave, but as he's listening to her, he discovers that she actually shares a lot of his views about the world.

Things start to show up randomly, reader starts having weird dreams. Eventually, Henry makes his presence known.

Reader kinda freaks out, but grows to accept the fact that it's not just her house. Eventually, they grow closer, and now his dreams of rebuilding the world have her in them.

Kinda slow burn-ish. Reader has no real relationship with anyone. I think it's an interesting prompt, so go crazy with it. My only request is that the end of it is sort of fluffy.

OH. MY. GOD. I am in love with your idea and this would make such a great story! If only someone had the time to write it...

Oh wait, I do! :)

Warnings: Cursing, mentions of brutality, nightmares, Stranger Things 4 spoilers, Henry almost revealing he's Vecna (Him right now: Oops, almost spilled my tea falling for y/n, lmao)

By the way, this is right after the last episode of Season 4, just so you have an idea of the timeline.

If you see this -> ~~~~~ <-it means there is a time skip <3

y/h/c = Your hair color

My Queen

Y/n drove a little faster. She was ecstatic to be fixing up her newly bought house, and couldn't wait much longer, for she didn't want to forget the ideas and inspiration she had locked in her mind.

Y/n was a girl in her early 20's looking for a fresh start. After finishing college, she moved away from the city to start her big career in a smaller suburban area. Ever since she was seven, her dream has always been to live in a home she designed herself! Little did she know she was making a huge mistake, or so the residents of Hawkins say.

She pulled into the driveway of a beaten-down house with a wooden frame lined with mold, surrounded by an unkept lawn. The only feature of the house that seemed to be untouched and in good shape was the front door, holding a stained glass window. The window was a square with a red rose in the center; coincidentally, roses were y/n's favorite flower.

Holy shit, she muttered as she stepped out of her cherry-red Buick Estate wagon.

As she walked slowly up the driveway in her worn-out converse, she noticed a note on the door. Y/n walked up the old wood porch steps and took the note off the door. She read it out loud to herself and huffed.

"Welcome to the murder house, where dreams come to die! Hope you enjoy your stay while it lasts. Watch out for maniacs, because if you aren't careful, they'll take your eyes!!!" It was an anonymous letter, so she crumpled it, assuming it was a teenage boy with nothing better to do.

~~~~~

Settling down was the easy part. Y/n had laid down a sleeping bag in a room that didn't have as many spiderwebs and dust bunnies so she could get a good night's sleep before starting. She pulled on a baby blue oversized t-shirt and pajama shorts, put her y/h/c hair in a messy bun, and shuffled into the opening of her makeshift bed. Staring up at the ceiling was the last thing she remembered before her eyes began to close, and she dosed off into a deep sleep.

At least... She thought she had.

Through her shut eyelids, y/n noticed a faint blue light and decided to see what it was. She opened her eyes and watched as the light began to fade into the hallway.

The door was open. She didn't remember leaving it open before she fell asleep.

Her breath hitched as realization hit her hard in the face: Someone was in the house!

Slowly pulling herself out of the sleeping--- wait, wasn't there a sleeping bag here just a minute ago? She pulled herself off the floor, a mix of confusion and horror on her face. Y/n looked around the corner to the right side of the hallway, watching in fear as the blue light slowly crept up to the attic and out of view again.

The attic stairs creaked with every step she took. It was hard trying to be stealthy in this house. She looked behind her where the stairs were supposed to be, but instead found a dirty window splashed with the blue light she had seen. She heard a boy yell behind her and looked forward, startled. To her horror, y/n was in the attic, washed in the blue light, as she watched a red-haired girl who looked about fourteen or fifteen years of age lift into the air. A boy was standing on the ground calling for her, pleading for her to come back down.

"Max!" he yelled.

Y/n looked over and saw another high school boy wearing a Hawkins High varsity jacket, lying unconscious on the ground. She looked back at the girl, who was a little higher than she was before. Her left arm started to move backward, when-

snap

She had woken up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. Y/n felt around and realized she was still in the sleeping bag, the sun seeping through a window to her left and onto the floor.

"It was just a nightmare," she breathed. Sighing, she laid back down and placed her palms on her forehead. It had seemed so real, so close. But there was no way it could've been real, she must have just been worked up about something and was overthinking the letter she had found on the door the night before.

~~~~~

Y/n sat down at a table inside the nearest café she could find. She was hungry and needed something to munch on; some coffee would be nice as well. The waitress came up to her with a notepad and pen in hand.

"What can I get for you, ma'am?" The waitress had a voice as sweet as honey, and her hazel eyes gazed down at y/n, waiting patiently for an answer.

"I will have the Chef's special, and a cup of straight coffee, no milk, no sugar please." Y/n handed the menu back to the waitress as she scribbled the order onto the notepad.

Taking the menu, the waitress examined y/n's face.

"Hey, I don't think I've seen you around town! Are you visiting?" She asked politely.

"Oh, no, I just moved into the old house down the street yesterday!" she answered cheerfully.

The café went completely silent. Utensils stopped clinking. Mouths stopped sipping drinks, and conversations came to an abrupt end. Perhaps she had said it too loud? Y/n looked down at her hands and flushed with embarrassment. The waitress was wide-eyed and had an odd look on her face.

"Y-you mean the... Murder house?" If she had said it any louder, y/n was pretty sure California would have heard.

A nervous laugh escaped y/n's lips. "Well, if that's really what you call it, then I guess."

~~~~~

The day hadn't started off great. Throughout breakfast, y/n kept getting stares and odd looks ranging between curiosity, disgust, fear, and confusion. All she really wanted was a cup of coffee and a normal start to her day like she would in college.

Y/n had gone to a hardware store across town to get some supplies and got a couple of stares as she walked down the paint isle. They must have seen her move in.

She had gotten home and began to sweep, directing the dirt into the new dustpan she had managed to buy. The broom's bristles swept across the floor. Her bare feet moved slowly across the wooden panels as she continued to clean. Footsteps rang above her from the attic. Wait, hold up... Footsteps? She stopped and stared at the floor where she was just about to sweep.

Dark clouds covered the sun, casting shadows through the windows.

Banging came from the attic door, causing y/n to drop the broom. She looked up to see a little girl, looked about middle school age, banging on the door leading into the attic, yelling for someone. The girl kept trying to open the door, but all she could do was shake the door handle.

"Hey! Kid!" Y/n managed to call over to the girl, still a little frightened about what was going on. The girl didn't seem to hear her.

"Lucas! Open the door," the little girl yelled. Y/n could hear pained grunting and slamming noises from above... Followed by... yelling? It sounded like a fight. She could see the blue light seeping under the door and out onto the staircase. Y/n blinked, causing the scene of events to vanish.

Not knowing what in the hell had just happened, she stood as stiff as a board, eyes glued to where the girl had just been. The sun had come back out and the blue light seemed to have gone.

"What the fuck..." she finally muttered.

~~~~~

The clean floor was a start. She still had a long way to go, but couldn't stop thinking about what had happened earlier that day. Y/n pulled a piece of fried chicken from her frozen dinner and flipped a page of her newspaper. She bought a microwave, so she was able to at least heat up food, but she couldn't afford a television at the moment. Not that there was any way to hook it up.

'Earthquake hits town, devastation rules all' she read. Apparently, right before she moved, there had been an earthquake that hit the town and destroyed houses, including hers. It wasn't as bad as others had been, though. The attic floor had caved in, but that was about it. She had hired a team of construction workers to handle it and put it back into place.

The room had gone dark again, and she looked up from her newspaper. What looked like little particles of dust were flying in the air, smoke coming from behind the trees surrounding the playground across the street. Y/n stood up to observe, but once she looked, it was gone, and the sun was setting slowly.

"I must be going mental," she said out loud to herself. "That must be how everyone else sees me too, buying an old house like this, once believed to be a 'murder house.'"

Sitting back down to eat her meal, she sighed. "Even before I got here people were giving me shit about it." She stuffed a bite of mashed potatoes into her mouth.

"Oh, look at me, I'm funny! I place creepy notes on my neighbors' doors! Look! Let me glare at this woman because she made a mistake! Oh, are you sure you want to buy this house? You must be a maniac," y/n exclaimed mockingly, her mouth still full of food. She laughed, tone dripping with sarcasm and dry humor.

Y/n buried her face in her hands. "And now I'm talking to myself. Great."

"You're not alone."

Her head shot up from her hands and she looked around frantically.

"Who said that?" she asked.

"Oh, where are my manners?" An ominous voice was ringing in her ears. It was the voice of a man. It echoed throughout the house. Y/n turned around to try and find the source of the voice but saw nothing.

She turned back around and gasped. A blonde-haired man, around her age, about six feet tall stood before her. His hands were behind his back and his posture arched forward, just slightly. His eyes were a shade of ocean blue, staring dreamily down at y/n in her purple sweater and denim skinny jeans.

"Hello," he said. Y/n's knees almost buckled from the way his voice hit her eardrums. It was smooth. Relaxing. Patient.

"H-hi?" She was a little scared, maybe even confused, but overall just stunned by his beauty.

"I'm vec- Henry. Henry Creel. And, you are?" Y/n hadn't noticed his quick aversion, for he had almost spoiled his monstrous identity.

"In love," she said out loud, thinking it was inside her head. He laughed lightly, and once she realized what she said, she fixed it. "I- I mean y/n!" She cleared her throat. "My name is y/n."

"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. I couldn't help but overhear your self-directed conversation about how awful you've been treated during your stay." He slowly stepped closer, careful not to scare the girl in front of him away. "I wouldn't want a guest to feel unwelcome now, would I?"

Y/n's eyebrow raised at that last question. "Guest?" she questioned.

"Well, technically this is, or should I say was, my house before it was appealing to the realtors. Lucky for me, I got a sweet rose to keep me company."

Rose. Something about how he had said the word gave y/n the tingles.

And not the bad kind. *wink* *wink*

But something else had her on edge. "So... You're not real?" She hesitated.

"Well, 'Not Real' is a bit extensive, but I'd say 'in hiding' or 'framed in your imagination.'" A slow, shaky breath released from her lips. Was he really something that had come to haunt her? Had he died in this very house?

Perhaps he's one of the murder victims from the house, she thought.

"Murder victims? Oh, no, not me. I was the murderer," he said. So much for trying not to scare her off.

Wait, can he hear my thoughts?

"Yes."

She whimpered, terror rising in her throat as she thought about the dreams and visions she had been having. Was it him who had been giving her these? Had he, the bright-smiled man in front of her, really killed others in this very house? If she had tried to ask him to leave, he might kill her, too.

She had no other choice but to accept the fact that Henry, this figment of her imagination, was living in this house. It was originally his, and she had thought about moving to a different house for a split second but thought it best to stay. Y/n had a tendency to feel guilty about leaving people alone, even if it was for the best. After all, he was cute!

~~~~~

A week had gone by, and y/n was searching for a job. She had enough money to finish the house, but that was only the estimated budget. She'd probably need a little extra cash if she wanted to keep up the work, let alone keep herself alive. But just her luck! Since everyone knew her as the 'woman from the murder house,' finding a job would probably be the hardest thing she had ever done.

Y/n sat in the corner of her makeshift bedroom and sobbed, letting out all her feelings of utter loneliness that she's felt her whole life. Everywhere she went, people always seemed to either ignore or despise her existence. She was always doing something wrong, no matter how hard she tried.

"May I ask what is wrong?" Henry was standing above her, smiling kindly down upon the broken girl. She didn't need to look up to know it was him. It had been happening nonstop all week, so y/n was used to it. She had grown fond of him, to say the least. And, quite frankly, he enjoyed her company as well.

"I'm just not feeling the best today," y/n sobbed into her hands. He didn't need to ask her why she was upset. Henry already knew, since, you know, he was inside her mind, forcing her to see him in his human body.

He sat down next to her and placed his hand on her quivering knee. "I know how you feel." Y/n looked up from her hands and met his beautiful blue eyes. It was almost as if she could see the waves through his irises, watching as the sea salt foam glided against the water. "I know exactly how much pain you've suffered. Neglected. Hated. For reasons, you nor I will ever know. Even your birth parents thought you were a disappointment, and never cared for you," he stated. Usually, at the mention of something this deep, y/n would have cried harder, but something about Henry's eyes kept her calm. "But I get how you feel. You see..." Classic pause for effect, "You and I, we're not all that different. My parents didn't care much for me either. Never understood me. That all can be forgotten, though."

He took her hand and stood up, helping her to her feet shortly after. The ground began to crumble under them, yet they were still taking steps as if the floor never left. The wooden planks revealed Hawkins but combined with a darker version of itself. The rotting, withering version of Hawkins fed into the one they called home.

"Imagine a world of destruction and demise. Where everyone bows down to you. Otherwise, they meet their grueling fate," Henry explained in a rather confident manner. "Murder. Bloodshed. Tearing them apart. Limb. By. Limb." He wrapped his arm around y/n's shoulder, still holding her hand in his.

"Them?" y/n asked quietly, a sparkle in her eyes. Henry kept his gaze on the destruction below.

"Everyone who has ever hurt you. The people who broke you into pieces with every drop of hatred they had left, until they had nothing left to give, and resorted to ignoring your existence." He looked up into y/n's eyes, his free hand in his pocket, while the other squeezed hers softly. "Their loathing and ignorance can't hurt you now."

Y/n looked back down at the wreckage, watching as slimy monsters, taller than humans, roamed about, looking for live prey. Nothing had ever looked so...

Beautiful.

The intensity of it all grew about. Y/n had never seen anything like it before. Excitement crept up her throat, and she smiled, letting out a small squeal that sounded more like a squeak. Henry smiled softly at this reaction, knowing he had chosen the perfect woman in the end.

"This has always been a dream of mine," He said, turning towards y/n as the crumpled floor had reversed itself and came back, covering up the vision of their future. "But it would be tragic to do it alone. Y/n... I want you to be my soulmate. My beloved wife through it all. Loving each other as the world burns to a crisp. We will be royalty to those who walk on the gravel we create."

"Royalty," she repeated. It all sounded perfect. "And here I was, thinking I was never going to find love." She snuggled into his arms as they stood in the middle of the Creel house.

"You, y/n, are not just my love," he whispered softly in her ear, sending a shiver of thrill down her spine. "But you are my queen."

Henry kissed the top of Y/n's head. They stood, waiting for it to happen. The chaos. The both of them smiled as the thought raced through their corrupt minds. They didn't hate the idea of being insane. Especially if they were together. Henry and y/n. Hand in hand.

Watching as the world burned to pieces.

A/N: OMG!!! I had so much fun writing this, you don't even know. This is my first long story, sooo... I hope you like it! Love you <3

[dollfaceksj]

because i cannot understand his hypocrisy. He fucks other girls with an intention to try to move on from reader. But still ends up at her door and to some extent its okay, but still even saying I love you to her doesn't seem at all like he is even trying to move on.

Not to offend someone but if I were in reader's place, I would've gladly let him fuck me (cuz why not!) But yeah that's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Even if I would still have feelings for him, that doesn't me a I would walk straight into his toxicity.

He really puts blame on the reader even when he knows she broke up with him for his own sake and there was even full conversation of it, so it also doesn't leave the option for any misunderstanding either.

She even told him that she would be there for him while he is learning to improve himself. She is kind. To me what he does is plainly an asshole move and is making no redemption for it and his moves doesn't make sense to me.

Like what does he expect from the reader now? Seriously reader should also fuck with others if he is doing it. It should be from both sides. Only him doing so and still if reader takes him back, would only prove that she is blinded.

They should just break it off for real

dang this is crazyyy

something tells me u didnt really get the story so ill explain it to you again:

as mentioned, jungkook has never been by himself. he comes from a line of short relationships and situationships and his first actual love is y/n. he is extremely, extremely attached to her.

jungkook has never once blamed y/n, he has only stated the fact that she walked out on him which is true, she did choose to break it off with him. he doesn’t blame her for it, not at all, in fact he understands. he only reminds her that she has no right to fuss over what he does when they are not together anymore and he is right.

you say that y/n should just ‘start fucking others too’ and that it should ‘come from both sides’ but that’s where you’ve lost the plot.

again, jungkook has never been by himself. so his attempts at moving on is looking for affection some place else, he can’t imagine living without it because he never had to nor has he experienced it. (until y/n broke up with him.) he is scared of being alone.

y/n on the other hand, has a healthy relationship with herself as stated in pt1, doesnt cling to the past, forgives anyone that has hurt her without a second thought, always trying new things, always looking for change. the thing with her is that she has fallen deeply in love with jungkook but she isn’t terrified of being alone like jungkook is so for her to start sleeping around doesn’t make sense, she doesn’t crave that. you saying that just tells me you read reminder in a very black and white/one dimensional mindset when its much more complex than that.

i do agree that jungkook saying ‘i will never let you forget about me’ is narcissistic however he never once claims ‘i will never let you move on from me’. yes, he doesn’t want her to move on from him but that doesn’t mean that he’ll actively prevent it.

yes, he keeps showing up at her front door. yes, he knows she can’t resist him. that is selfish of him.

but its been made clear that if she tells him to stop, he will stop. jungkook will listen to whatever she says. he couldve thrown a way bigger tantrum when she first broke up with him but all she had to say was ‘stop’ and he stopped. he processed her words. he asked for one more night and he left without another word.

because he trusts her with his life. he loves her too.

every single time he returns to her home he very clearly asks if he can kiss her and if he can have sex with her because she can decline, she can tell him to leave and he’ll obviously respect that. she just cant bring herself to make him leave because she still loves him, still wants him, still craves him.

so that being said i hope i gave u more insight because i wholeheartedly have to disagree with what ur saying. i respect people’s opinions and thoughts nonetheless and i always encourage my readers to share their thoughts and reactions but you completely misunderstood the story and i just wanted to take the time explain it to you.

[affinitystoryblog]

Hi!!! I've been wondering abt this, but have the ships been around for long (Sinie/Agitha, Csilla/Everett, Elise/Heather), what made you decide on them? Have you planned them since the beginning? How do you plan to explore their dynamics in the story?

hi!! thank you so much for asking!

so Affinity is an old story. i first thought of it in 2015 when i was 17. so besides sinie and csilla, every other character mentioned was added later.

Elise/Heather is the oldest ship, but honestly also probably the weakest because i have a dynamic for them, but theres hardly any writing of that dynamic being challenged or improving as of yet. i created them to be apart of sinie's friend group, and somehow i got this idea that theyd look cute together so...girlfriends! theyre super lovey dovey and pda and obvious. but so far thats rly it. ngl, theyre a bit on the back burner for me couple wise LOL

Sinie/Agitha was a thing when i rebooted the story in 2020, completely rewriting it. Agitha was created for this new rewrite and Chloe from Miraculous was actually my inspiration because i saw chloe and how badly she was written, wanted better for her, and decided that i can indeed do better lmao so i did! Agitha is similar to chloe but also very different because she is My idea of what chloe could've been.

Agitha and Sinie start off as enemies, but tbh theyve kind of always had chemistry. they met in freshman year of high school and agitha is that one post thats like "i liked this girl but i didnt know how to deal with it so i threatened her to leave the school" kinda vibe. but sinie is also stubborn as hell and a fighter, so agitha's little bouts of bullying does nothing because sinie can match that energy. despite being so guarded, agitha does let herself be vulnerable with sinie tho she doesnt admit it. they actually had their first kiss with each other their sophomore year when agitha found pootie abandoned as a puppy on the street. its gonna be a whole chapter lol anyway theres too much to say in one answered ask about agitha and sinie so ill leave it here lol

Csilla/Everett were also not a thing until this rewrite, everett actually a lot newer than agitha. everett was created as a way to give csilla a love interest because she deserves one too, but she's into girls and boys so i gave her a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend. everett is deliberately created for csilla by agitha as a physical manifestation of csilla's dream partner. he's everything she likes and is attracted to. its initially meant to be a trap to gain information on how to better defeat them, but somewhere along the way csilla and everett actually end up falling for each other. once its apparent everett is no longer just a dream, but a physical person with a heart, is when csilla finds out his true purpose. but in my heart, csilla would know everett by now and be angry and hurt that he of course lied to her, but she could forgive him because of all the context. everett was only acting out as programed by agitha, but somewhere along the way when he found a heart of his own, he became his own person. thats what csilla fell in love with. everett's intentions with csilla in the beginning arent true, but as he grows his own soul, he falls for her as well. i literally love them...

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

Because of your polls, I've been comparing what I like about the PoR sprites vs. the RD ones. I like the RD art style better, I think, because it seems more fluid and polished, but seeing the sprites side by side, the PoR ones have a whole lot more personality. Like Sanaki, for example. Radiant Dawn she looks kind of blank, but in Path of Radiance she looks like a smug mischief maker. What do you think?

That's cool to hear! It's something I had been doing/thinking of, which is why I started making polls. I'd been wondering how other people saw the designs as someone who prefers Ranger Ike's design the most out of all his designs. I had a feeling his RD Hero and PoR Lord designs would be more popular, but that's why I was curious. Seeing people's tags has been helpful too!

I do agree that PoR's designs look a lot more colorful and lively. They have a lot more personality and individuality. RD's designs are definitely more polished and you can see that extremely well in the armor shading. A lot of PoR's shading just looks like a solid color slapped on to make up for shading. I don't totally mind it because it feels like a stylistic choice too, but you can tell there was a lot of improvement between the games.

In some cases I think the designs for RD were handled perfectly, like you mentioned Sanaki. I think her design in RD actually makes her look more grown and mature, which reflects her character. Then you have like, Tanith where you get basically nothing out of her design as far as character, and it's more at that point whether or not you prefer the image itself.

Like for me I love both of Shinon's designs, but his PoR design reflects his personality in that game perfectly imo, and then his RD design does imo actually reflect that he's matured and chilled out a whole lot. He still retains a lot of the same traits in his appearance as far as being able to match it to his character/personality, but you can also see character growth imo in a lot of the RD portraits.

RD definitely made a lot of the characters look more generic compared to PoR's style, but I always wondered if that was intentional. In RD everything is a lot more serious immediately. From start to finish, RD has a much darker undertone. All the designs look more mature. Gatrie for example seems like "the same guy" but less carefree/casual.

Haar seems like he takes his job a little more seriously and has grown from his experiences, but you can also tell he's the same guy as in PoR. Naesala is extremely similar to Haar in that you can kind of feel his growth in his design. You can still feel the same core character and see that some things are the same, but you can also see the changes in their personality without having to directly see their dialogue yet.

It's also pretty interesting for me how extreme Ike's design changes are from Ranger to Vanguard. I do genuinely get the feeling that he really did not want to lead an army again. He wasn't going to be mean to Sanaki about it, but he made it clear he didn't actually want anything to do with that. He took on a job for Ranulf because they were close friends, but he didn't intend for everything to turn out the way it did and end up leading a whole army again. Since he was only a hired sword for the Laguz Alliance, that kind of pressure wasn't there.

You can see maturity in his design, and he's grown and takes things more seriously (seriously as in, for instance, he's less emotional in RD, as if both growing up and all the warring has given him a thicker skin. He's not as prone to emotional outbursts, which he had a fair chunk of in PoR). You can tell you're not following the story of a 17 year old anymore.

Comparing his Hero portrait to his Vanguard portrait, he genuinely just looks tired. Like so much has happened since the prologue of PoR and he's been through so much emotional weight that it's taken a huge toll on him. Tbh, I don't really blame him for his ending. He tried to return to a regular mercenary life and ended up going through the same shit all over again, except like, ten times worse basically with humanity almost ending.

Things were going fine when he took the job for the Laguz Alliance originally, but I think ending up in a continent wide mess was too much for him. Both in his dialogue and in his portrait, I feel like that really shows. Something people who hated his ending seem to forget is that he was only in his early 20s when that happened, and it was the second time he'd been thrown into a war as the army commander when he was openly against being in that role.

I know it might sound a bit wild to say all that just from designs, but I really do see it that way when it comes to the differences in the designs between the games. I can't look at some of them and see the exact same characterization. When I look at Reyson I see a more mature, relaxed, less hateful person. His portrait in PoR is much more upright in posture, and he has a much more proud overall atmosphere to his design. In RD it's more serene and like he doesn't feel the need to put on that front anymore. Tibarn meanwhile looks more serious, as if to reflect not his character which is overall the same, but the gravity of the war and his position in it (which is, in his personal case, a pretty big deal considering what happened to Phoenicis).

I also think PoR did a perfect job at looking colorful and fun without being over the top. One of the biggest issues people seem to have with Engage is the designs, and I can understand that because I think they are a little too colorful in that they pop out too much and seem mismatched in a way. I've always loved looking at the Greil Mercenaries' designs as a whole because I'm always like "I love them, they're so colorful!", but with Engage it feels more... distracting? PoR's colors feel like a perfect mix of fun but not hard on the eyes and too distracting from the game. I think it's also because it's a VTuber style due to the artist being a VTube artist or some such, versus a more traditional RPG style.

I pretty much agree with you about how you feel about both art styles, and I don't really have a definitive "I like this one more" either. Some I prefer in PoR's style and some I prefer in RD's style.

or you could just say for rd's style that they've all seen some shit and that about perfectly sums up why they all look so dead inside

[sofoulandfairaday]

Can you tell us more about The Death of Regulus Black, The Prophecy, and the Hurt/Comfort??? ❤️

Sure thing, my dear!

Ch.36 - The Death of Regulus Black 1979. Still unwritten. I already know that it will be more than 10K words long. I haven't yet decided if there is one last Bella-Voldemort scene before everything goes downhill. Regulus disappears in late August; N.E.W.T. results still haven't come. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black is on the verge of collapse after the tapestry in 12 Grimmauld Place confirms his death. Bella already knew, though. She had asked the Dark Lord to call him through the Dark Mark and He had told her he felt no connection there at all. Like a severed cord. Walburga is in hysterics. This cold, haughty woman is crumbling to pieces. She is not the only one. Bellatrix is mad with grief; Cissy too, maybe even more so, but Bella can't help but feel personally responsible because she was supposed to look out for her baby cousin (she had sworn to do so when Sirius had left and Orion and Walburga say nothing to refute this). Walburga is also convinced that Voldemort is responsible for her son's death. As everyone descends upon n°12 to try and make sense of this tragedy (and decide what the fuck happens now since Sirius is a traitor and there are no Black heirs left), Bellatrix is alone without the Dark Lord by her side (and her aunt is being Very Mean). Both Barty and Rabastan, who had loved Regulus, are not doing well at all. In all of this, Rodolphus ditches his mistress (the Lestranges aren't exactly living together at the moment) because his wife needs him (and his little brother too, although Rod doesn't know that they were more than friends). She is NOT happy about it at all. The task of consoling Bella is left to her estranged husband because the Dark Lord is nowhere to be found at the moment and the Lestranges' marriage starts to improve. Before leaving Grimmauld Place, Bella goes up to Reggie's room in search of answers, a trail, anything. She only finds a series of journals that Kreacher is attempting to destroy. Later, she asks the Dark Lord if he was responsible for Regulus' death and he denies any involvement. The scene is from his pov and we get confirmation that no, it wasn't him, but at the same time he really doesn't care what happened to the boy who was a mediocre Death Eater at best and a weakling at worst. Once again he is not the centre of Bellatrix's world and he is (irrationally and selfishly) mad at her for it. (#thegirlsarefighting, once again) [I've debated on whether or not to give him an on-screen death or not, between chapters 35 and 36, and while I might write it in, I am more inclined to say no at the moment. I feel there are hundreds of Reggie death fics, since that's basically the only bit of character info we get on him in canon; it's already been done, time and time again, and I wonder if I can make it more impactful by having it happen off-screen]

Ch.40 - The Prophecy February 1980. Severus Snape goes for a drink at the Hog's Head (where he might or might not have a side hustle selling dubious potions/poisons) and overhears the first part of the prophecy. He then goes to his best bud Lord Voldemort to tell him what he heard. Suffice it to say, he does not take it well. Harry's birth is about five months away. Do you know who else's birth is about five months away? Draco Malfoy's. Narcissa is absolutely terrified that the prophecy could be about Draco and she gets into a furious argument with Bellatrix, who is always on the Dark Lord's side. Horrible things are said. In the end, Bellatrix says something along the lines of 'I would gladly give any child of mine up to the Dark Lord' and Cissy is like 'Even if it means their death, Bella?' and well. Rodolphus is not pleased with the answer. He goes to see Elizabeth (did I mention that's his mistress' name?) who is tutoring Severus at the time (in potion-making; loooong story). She feels guilty about things that have happened in the past and makes an effort to be there for Rod but at the same time, she is pissed because lately he seems to only seek her out when he wants to bitch about his wife and how poorly she treats him. [this chapter is unwritten, it hasn't been completely fleshed out yet and to be honest I don't really love it; I have a clear picture of how it begins, which I like, but I'm not sure of any of the other scenes. I hate filler chapters. I want it to be snappy/interesting but I can't figure out how to make it work. Bella's fight with Cissy and Rod's bitching to Elizabeth are both scenes that don't really progress their characters/have happened before, so they might get scrapped. I also have no idea what to do with either Rabastan, Evan or Barty in this chapter because I suck at side-plots and this story is in desperate need of them. So this chapter might get entirely re-written based on story needs; in all of this, Voldemort still has no idea what his last Horcrux should be] Hurt/Comfort is not even a draft, just a file with jotted-down ideas in my WIP folder. It's Bellamort. It's explicit. It's basically smut-with-psychological introspection where Voldemort tries dominatrix therapy. I have a very clear idea of their sexual dynamics and in this story I wanted to subvert all of them. I wanted to make him submissive and her dominant. I also wanted to explore his childhood trauma (and give him sexual dysfunctions in the meantime??? who knows, it's like three lines of meta and that's it). I can't see him being into humiliation, honestly, but I can see him having a fucked-up relationship with pain. Anyway, good stuff. If I ever get around to writing about it again.

[sleepymarmot]

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

The humor is not my style, so to me, this was an uneven hour long drama followed by an impressive ten minute long action film.

Let me recap the film the way I saw it. The first ten minutes introduce the two competing boat owners (and, for some reason, the second owner’s first mate who goes on to have zero impact on the plot; I had to rewind a couple of times to clarify who’s who and it was all for naught), making the viewer root for the underdog. Then the sympathetic underdog is gradually revealed to be a callous and controlling, downright abusive father. The awkward protagonist in eccentric city clothes looks nothing like anyone else in town and doesn’t fit his father’s restrictive standards of blue-collar masculinity, and it’s genuinely disturbing to watch the father systematically strip his son of all evidence of personality. The father has the son’s moustache shaved, throws away his beret, smashes his ukulele; the son clearly likes patterns, and has his eye on a checkered hat that his father repeatedly rejects in favor of more plain ones. By the time the father’s first mate offered him a gun to shoot his “failure” of a son (jokingly, I can only hope) I was ready to shoot that failure of a father myself. My only consolation throughout all this was that surely the audience was supposed to be on the side of whomever Keaton was playing, in this case the son. Then the film tries to offer the counterpoint that it was all actually just tough love — very weakly and unconvincingly (a “hands off, only I get to bully my child” attitude does not endear a parent to me). In the end, the son wins his father’s approval with some considerable heroics, most importantly saving his life, while the father of course does nothing to redeem himself, because clearly it is a parent’s unquestionable right to treat their child however they want. Ugh!

Right from the beginning, I expected the plot to be something like “the father is out of commission, so the son has to operate the steamer instead of him and in the end improves their family business’ reputation”. The story did end up there… in the last eight minutes or so. The final sequence is where the film actually earns its fame. I didn’t know the façade stunt was from this one! The stunts and effects fully hold up 59 years later. Several times I asked myself: “how the hell did they do that?” Did they fly that tree through the air with a crane?

Before that it’s all aforementioned family drama, with the addition of “Romeo and Juliet, boat version”. The girl is cute, but I thought she seemed young, looked her up, and learned she was only sixteen during filming, playing the love interest for Keaton who was in his early thirties. Presumably, the age difference only existed only between the actors and not the characters, and outside of that the romance was endearing. I think it worked well as a fluffy iteration of a Romeo and Juliet plot: the sincere affection between the two young people was a breath of fresh air when most of the screen time was dedicated to their controlling parents and their feud.

Special mention: the scene where Keaton tries an absurd number of hats and none of them fit his head. Relatable!

[ajwinter-is-a-nerd]

Le Chat et Le Serpent - Chapter 2

Hello! This is the first story that I have decided to share. It is after the finale of Ladybug and Chat Noir Season 4 Finale. ***TRIGGER WARNING*** Mention of child abuse, general graphic violence, alcohol use, mental health, basically, I have decided to put the characters through the meat grinder***

*this chapter quotes "The Wars" by Timothy Findley. It's an amazing book. You should read it. After you've read this chapter of course.

Chapter 2: Touch These Pages and You Have Me

Make Your Prayers Against Despair

The spine of the book that Luka had given him had begun to crack from Adrien’s use. The story was captivating and dark, and each time he read it, he found a detail that he had missed before. However, no matter how many times he read it, a particular moment forced him to shudder.

As the protagonist, Robert, separated from his fellow soldiers, Rodwell passed along a letter. The two men had witnessed death and devastation in every definition of the word, Rodwell knew he may not make it back. The letter Rodwell wrote was delicate and raw, the truth behind his mask. 

“To my daughter, Laurine;

Love your mother.

Make your prayers against despair.

I am alive in everything I touch. Touch these pages and you have me in your fingertips. We survive in one another. Everything lives forever. Believe it. Nothing dies.

I am your father always.”

Even after the sixth read, Adrien could not identify what affected him the most. The mere suicide of Rodwell could bring a tear to a grown man’s eye, or the fact that his daughter would never again see her father. But the letter layered the pain. Rodwell’s loving words, written in a moment of desperation, forced Adrien to reflect on his own devastated relationship with Gabriel. The next time he would read this book, he would skip these pages, all too aware of what would hurt the most. 

We Survive in One Another

Kagami muttered unintelligibly as she checked all of Adrien’s machines and bandages. Had he not known Kagami for so long, he would have been bewildered by her audacity and thoroughness. She did not show affection like everybody else; she was clinical in every move. In fact, it would be worrisome if she hadn’t asked him about his last blood pressure ratings.

“It does appear that you are getting better, Adrien.” 

“Thanks Kagami, Nurse Jacquie says I’ve been steadily improving since I could have visitors.”

“Mmm… Yes, there have been psychological tests that indicate social support may be a significant determinant in our body’s efficacy to heal itself.” Kagami stated with a stoic face.

“Seems like you’ve begun your studies,” Adrien mused, inciting a faint blush upon Kagami’s cheeks.

“I decided to challenge a select number of classes, therefore, I am technically in my second year of pre-medical studies.”

 “Of course you did, top of your class no doubt. You truly are amazing. I am so proud that you chose your own direction.” Adrien knew she never received praise from her family, so he always took every opportunity to remind her that she was exceptional. Though his words were true, today, they were conveyed with an additional objective. Adrien was preparing his stance to change the conversation’s target.

“It’s really nothing,” Kagami brushed off Adrien’s compliment, but her hands nervously wringing behind her back indicated to Adrien that she was charmed.

“Maybe one day you should bring your textbooks here, it would be nice to at least learn something while I’m stuck in solitary confinement.”

Kagami scanned his room, there were no mobile devices, and the TV was mysteriously out of order. Someone was ensuring that Adrien was disconnected. “As long as they’re not too advanced for you.”

Analysing Kagami’s stance, Adrien could tell that her defence was beginning to fall. He grinned to show Kagami that he recognized the humour. “I’m sure I could handle them. What I can’t handle,” Adrien sucked in his breath, hoping his timing was accurate, “is being cut off from the world.”

Noting the gleam in Adrien’s eye, Kagami realised Adrien had unsheathed his epee. “I understand.” She replied curtly, enforcing a defensive stance.

“What has been happening on the news Kagami? Why is everyone afraid to talk to me?” The drop of Kagami’s head indicated he scored a point. “I’m aware the world continues to spin, regardless of how still I am.”

“If your friends have not said anything, I must assume that they are only doing what they think is best for you. Perhaps it would be better if I followed suit. We may discuss the operations of the hospital, if that is more enticing for you?” Point – Kagami.

Seeing that his approach was not cracking past her wit, he chose a different strategy. “That would be great! I’ve been trying to determine exactly what scent this detergent is, what do you think?” Adrien sarcastically lifted his blanket. Kagami instinctively leaned forward to smell. As she sniffed the blanket, Adrien’s eyes narrowed towards her. 

“Oh, were you trying to be funny?” 

Snorting, Adrien recalled how much he enjoyed Kagami’s straightforward nature. “Obviously failing at it, but now I have to know your detergent deduction.”

“They used a standard unscented bleach-based sanitization method. I should also let you know that storing cheese within your sheets is likely to entice insects.”

Adrien reddened; he had been surrounded by the stench of camembert for so long that he had managed to tune it out. Clearing his head, he lunged once again, stripping the vagueness from his words, “has anyone seen my father, or Nathalie?”

Kagami’s stoic face broke as she dipped her head. “They really haven’t told you anything, have they?”

Adrien’s bewilderment answered for him.

“There have been no Akuma sightings since your hospitalisation began.” She veered off the topic of Gabriel Agreste.

Match – Kagami.

“Oh,” Adrien mumbled, recognizing his loss.

Grasping to satiate him, she began to debrief him on other matters. “Ladybug and Viperion have continued patrolling. The news continues to question whether Chat Noir will be returning to battle or not.”

The thought of Viperion and Ladybug spending every night together sent a tinge of jealousy through Adrien’s stomach. Thankfully, Kagami did not notice it as she continued her summary.  “Personally, I believe that Chat Noir is merely taking respite. The coverage that was collected from the battle demonstrated a significant amount of damage to the superhero.”

Chewing his lip, Adrien decided to further pry, “what happened with Felix? Did the Miraculous that Ladybug thought she gave to me ever return?” Adrien was sharp enough to know that if there was a triumphant return of the stolen Miraculous’, she would have opened with that. However, considering the familial relation, she was more likely to omit news if Felix’s malfeasances had been brought to justice. 

“Your cousin.” She affirmed to demonstrate her comprehension. “He has not been seen since the last battle, along with Lila DeRossi. It has been suggested that they are plotting something, but that seems to juxtaposition the fact that there have been no forms of magical attacks since the last battle.”

“Maybe I should try to contact him. Not that I think he would reply, but it might be worth attempting.”

Kagami nodded, instinctually gripping her phone, knowing that there was a significant reason that Adrien did not have access to current events. “Perhaps, once you have healed, you can try to intercept one of the nightly patrols. I’m certain they are highly interested in your personal connection with Felix. You should prepare to contact Lila as well.”

Adrien seethed at her name. He knew Kagami was right, but the idea of contacting Lila willingly was nearly a greater evil than battling Papillion. Forcing control over his breath, he changed his target. “So, you have taken an interest in psychology classes? I am surprised you didn’t decide to challenge that class as well.”

“I thought it may help me become more approachable,” Kagami flashed her robot smile.  

“That might be a good idea. Have you continued fencing, or has university been a sufficient challenge for you?” He emphasised ‘challenge’ to incite a more honest reply. 

“I will continue the sport for my own personal improvement, but I am rapidly losing interest from a lack of strong competitors.” 

“Good, so you’ll be off your game when I come back.” 

A sense of satisfaction warmed Kagami’s face, “even in your best, you don’t stand a chance against me.”

Speaking in competition was the most natural for Kagami, it was the primary reason that she admired Adrien. He was the only one that could confidently rebut her. 

I am Your Father, Always

Adrien drooped against the railing, exhaustion had seemingly blurred the connection between his brain and his legs. He hoped that Ladybug would actually get the rest she needed. When they parted, the white of her eyes shot red. Had her mask been shorter, he was certain that substantial dark circles would rest below them. But Ladybug was determined. Adrien guessed that he would likely only get a few hours of sleep before Ladybug was out patrolling again. She wouldn’t expect him to be there, but he couldn’t imagine leaving her alone. 

Almost reaching the sweet reprieve of his room, a thundering smash shook the chandelier. Crouching, he peered through the railing’s posts. A weakened Papillion trembled on all fours. 

How did he find out where he lived? Why would he choose to attack Adrien when he, himself, had trouble standing? With a flash of rage, Adrien thought that Papillion must have believed he was weak too. Silently, Adrien called for his claws, waiting for Papillion to make the first move. Carefully opening his baton’s screen, he began to type a message to Ladybug. His typing was interrupted by a scream emanating from the man. 

Instead of standing to fight, Papillon stayed upon the floor, hollering for Nathalie. 

“No,” Chat gasped, praying that his fatigue had led to an incorrect assumption of the villain’s identity. His gasp, however, notified Papillion of his presence. 

Furiously, Papillon jumped up. “You mangy cat! How dare you come here!” 

Chat swallowed a brick as he recognized the familiar tone of rage. Pushing reality out of his head, he played Chat. A hero dressed in black, who had managed to catch Papillion at his house. “How dare you take the Miraculous’!” He boomed in feigned confidence. 

By the time Papillion began throwing blows, the opportunity to send for help disappeared. Chat, who could typically avoid attacks with poised ease, was dragged by his and Plagg’s shared depletion. Though Papillion and his Miraculous’ were also overexerted, Papillon simply had more cards in his hands. If one shot missed, he could easily call upon another. In pure desperation, Chat called upon his cataclysm as he rushed towards Papillion’s face. 

Papillon shell-tered himself against the cataclysm, followed by a fatal counter attack. As Chat’s body spiralled across the floor, his head cracked against the marble, leaving a thick trail of blood. 

Papillon sneered as he watched Chat Noir struggle to breathe. His cat ears hung limply as his chest heaved. “How kind of you, laying down a red carpet to finalise my defeat.” He sneered as he strode confidently through the scarlett streaks. 

Chat’s ring began to sing its final tune.

Allowing his weapon to materialise above his hand, Papillion relished the chance to finally learn his foe’s identity. “Bye bye, Kitty.”

[solarishashernoseinabook]

Solaris reviews The Book Eaters, by Sunyi Dean (2022)

Oh hey, my first topical book review!

Summary: Devon is a book eater: a being human in appearance but monstrous beneath the skin. She and her race live off of books, and by eating them they absorb their knowledge and stories. Her son Cai, in contrast, is a mind eater: he feeds off people, absorbing their knowledge, memories, personalities and lived experiences. There's a drug that can save him, suppress his disastrous appetite and allow him to live a relatively normal book eater life, but the people who make it are gone, apparently disappeared into the English countryside. Devon is determined to find them for her son's sake.

Content: This book was dark, but imaginative. We get musings on the nature of love, morality, and how to move on when life seems bleak. It's heavily character-driven to contrast a very straight-forward plot, but it never feels either stretched to fill up space or rushed to get things over with. The book jumps back and forth in time quite a bit, covering Devon in the current day in her quest to save Cai, and her early life and young adulthood. Through the present-day narrative, we get action, suspense, and interesting character interaction; through the flashbacks, we get worldbuilding, insight into book eater lives, and an understanding of how Devon came to be who she is when the book begins.

Who I think would like it: I think this would appeal to anyone who really likes character-driven stories, because as I said, that's the main focus of the book. You won't get any fake-sounding science about the biology of book eaters (thank fucking goodness, as that can all too easily backfire), so people who aren't normally sci-fi fans don't have to worry about being put off by technical descriptions or scientific jargon.

Things it does well: I really like Cai and Devon as characters and their interactions with each other. Cai especially would have taken a lot of work for the author to write, and I think she did it well. I also liked the flashback chapters, because it was nice seeing Devon's character development.

Things that could be improved: Honestly, not much. There's one little hiccup in the timeline, but that's little more than a typo. This isn't something that should be improved, per se, because it's a stylistic choice, but Dean's writing style uses a lot of sentence fragments, and while they're not exactly to my taste, they do fit the tone of the novel fairly well.

My review: My elderly neighbour heard about this book first and was excited to read it, and she told me about it. I picked it up not long ago and I'm glad I did. The plot itself is very simple and direct, but with enough character development and world-building that this never feels like a bad thing - actually, having too much of a complicated plot would have caused the story to get lost in itself. The grim tone makes it a nice October read (I say, in September), and taking place in a modern-day setting with some mild sci-fi elements give it a broad range of appeal.

Does this book have…: ✅= yes ❓= not sure ⭕= possibly/mixed ❌= no

Romance? ✅ Not a huge amount, as the relationship Devon forms is very much in its infancy by the end of the book (and we're not even sure if it'll be a relationship after the story ends, as it comes very late in the story). Just enough romance for me to say it's there, but it's not a main focus of the book.

Sex? ⭕ No on-page sex, but sex does happen, and it's more something Devon endures than enthusiastically consents to. It's given little-enough mention that I don't think it'll be triggering to people who have issues around sexual violence, but do be aware that Devon doesn't enjoy sex.

Racism? ❌ Nothing that I could detect. Some unsympathetic characters are mentioned to be ethnically Mediterranean, but so are sympathetic characters, and Cai is ethnically mixed. Note that I am white. A person of colour reading this book might have a different opinion on this than I, so do not take this as authoritative. Dean herself is of Asian descent and was raised in Hong Kong, and her experiences with race and racism may well have been represented in the novel in a way that went over my head.

Sexism? ✅ Book eater society is heavily sexist, which is something Devon has had to struggle against. Be prepared for sexist comments made by male book eater characters, and be prepared for poor treatment of women by them.

LGBTQIA-phobia? ❌ One comment from a character in an early chapter saying that girls don't marry girls, but this character is heavily sheltered. There's a semi-prominant asexual character and some characters who experience same-sex attraction, all of which is portrayed positively.

Ableism? ❌

Swearing? ✅ Like, so much swearing. Lots of swearing.

Drug/Alcohol references? ✅ Devon is an alcoholic, though once the main thrust of the story starts she doesn't have much time to touch alcohol much. Nevertheless, early chapters contain plenty of references to alcohol, and so do the flashback chapters. There's technically drug use as well if you count the medical drug Cai needs.

References to or actual violence or suicide? ✅ A lot of violence, and in some places it can get rather gory.

References to or actual animal death or cruelty? ❌

Recommended: Yes

[philia95]

I decided to let out my opinions on Invincible (2021).

❌ The animation was shit :( Because I had heard such good things about it, my expectations were really high. I was severely disappointed. Everytime they "flew" away into the distance I lost the will to live. 💀 Same with the CGI.

❌ The character designs were boring or maybe I'm just tired of superhero aesthetics. Why does Eve look like every DC/Marvel female lead? She looks too similar to Jean Grey from X men and Mary Jane from Spider man imo. And her costume... Pink on pink? Why? Literally so many colours go with pink. Tbh none of their costumes blew me away (Mark's is ok but the rest are so basic). None are iconic like a Spider man. Same with the non-human characters. Even Ben fucking 10 had better character designs and outfits than this show. I'm not sure if that's the point of the story though since I haven't read the comic. Maybe they're ment to look generic on purpose as a critique of superhero culture idk I'm reaching. 🥲

❌ This one's just a personal preference but I don't like excessive gore and violence in media unless it serves a purpose or it's incorporated in an entertaining way. For example idk why but I don't mind it in Dorohedoro. Violence and gore fits into the setting and plot because it's so fun and bat shit crazy you don't notice it much. In Invincible's case it was a mixed bag for me. The show is very violent and sometimes it's used effectively (e.g. to show how brutal the "benevolent heroes" can be, again, critiquing superhero culture) but sometimes it's just thrown in there for the hell of it which I don't like. Shows don't need to be excessively violent to be taken seriously or considered "for adults".

❌ Has boring cliché tropes like the gay best friend who does nothing but support MC. The female characters aren't interesting either but it's early days. I'm guessing Eve has more significance later on in the comic.

✅ Plot is interesting so far. I'm solely watching this to see how Mark reacts to finding out his father's really a villain. Love the dynamics between them (also with the mom. She's an interesting character, can't imagine how she must feel). Having a morally bankrupt father figure isn't new but this show manages to keep it interesting. Family dynamics in general are fun to watch. I also like the set up of certain characters like the underground gang leader and the creepy robot. I'm interested to see what happens with them.

✅ Mark's very relatable and likable as an MC. He's just a sweet kid who makes a lot of mistakes love that for him. He also explores familiar themes of identity and coming of age. Also did I mention the mom?? MVP parent of the year so far.

✅Damien Darkblood. Give this demon a raise.

Overall, disappointed but hopefull. I know it's only the beginning of a long story so I'm looking forward to the plot unfolding. I just hope the animation significantly improves in later seasons.