#oh look it's a miracle! i've updated!

[hero-of-the-horn]

the home inside your head (chapter 8)

While renovating her house, Yang takes in a friend of Weiss’s who needs a place to regroup after ending things with an abusive ex.

Blake learns how renovating a house can look a lot like recovery.

She presses hope between her ribs like petals between pages and thinks of new beginnings, of growth.

She stares, dumbfounded and burning, working her jaw around split indignation and embarrassment. Her thumbs hover over the keyboard as if they have any more clue than she does at how to respond (besides curling up in her bed and dying from mortification).

[roosterforme]

The Younger Kind Part 41 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: When Bradley really does have to work late, you spend a fun evening with Noah, but Bradley starts to realize all the ways his life is holding yours back when you go out with friends. Then as soon as you let Bradley see you in your formal dress, he wants to take it off of you. In fact, it'll be a miracle if the two of you make it through the retirement party at all.

Warnings: Swearing, angst, fluff, smut, spitting, butt plug, and age gap (18+)

Length: 4900 words

Pairing: Single dad!Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x babysitter!female reader

Check out my masterlist for more! The Younger Kind masterlist.

Your phone screen lit up with a call from Bradley just as you shoved the last bite of your sandwich into your mouth while you were typing up a patient's chart. "Hello?" you managed while you chewed.

"Baby, I'm going to be late today. For real," he said, sounding a bit cautious. "Here, talk to Nat. You're on speaker."

"Hi," came his best friend's voice as you finally swallowed. "He's stupid and annoying, but he's not lying. We're staying late with the new mechanical crew to learn about an update."

"I'm assuming you're calling to make sure I can pick Noah up?" you asked as you smiled. It almost made you feel good that Bradley was being so cautious this time around. 

"Yeah. Can you?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Okay, perfect. I know I've been asking a lot of you," he said, his voice soft and deep. "But I trust you with everything. And I'll make it up to you."

Now you were smirking as you looked around to be sure none of your coworkers were around. "Are you going to make it up to me in our bed or in the shower, Daddy?"

He made a strangled noise and you heard Nat shriek in the background. "Baby, I said you were on speaker," he whispered. "Well, now you're not."

You had to stifle your laughter as you said, "I need to go. I'll get Noah from daycare. And then I'll try my pretty dress on for you if you're good, Daddy."

"Fuck," he muttered. "Yeah, I'll be good. I'll be so good."

You had to squeeze your thighs together at the prospect of making him beg. The retirement party for Admiral Bates was just a few days away, but you hadn't let Bradley see you in the purple dress yet. For the past few days, ever since you told him what Casey said to you, Bradley had been letting you hold all the cards. When he came home from work that day and told you that Casey shouldn't be a problem for you anymore, you gasped. He told you what he'd said to her, and then you gave him a blowjob. 

"I'll see you at home later tonight," you told him softly. "In my pretty Princess dress."

"I can't wait."

"Oh, and don't forget I have happy hour with my work friends on Thursday."

"I'll make absolutely certain I leave work on time on Thursday," he promised.

When you made it to the preschool to pick Noah up, you smiled at Casey. "Oh, hi. I'm here for Noah," you told her, annunciating each word like she was very stupid. She rolled her eyes and handed you the clipboard as you asked, "No bakery box today?"

She didn't acknowledge you or say a single word as she walked to the classroom door and went inside. You filled out the sheet on the clipboard, smiling as you saw Bradley's signature from earlier this morning. Then Noah came streaking out toward you. "Can we take Skittles on a hike?" he asked as he ran into your arms. 

"Of course," you told him, kissing his soft curls as you practically threw the clipboard at Casey and led Noah outside. "Daddy will be home late, so we can do whatever we want."

His face lit up as you buckled him in his car seat. "Can we get ice cream?"

You pretended to consider your answer before saying, "Of course we can get ice cream!"

You drove home with the windows down and the kid friendly playlist on. When you stopped at a traffic light, you turned around to sing along with Noah. And when you parked your car in the driveway, you carried him inside while you sang the dinosaur song together. 

"I love you so much," you told him as he wrapped his arms around your neck. You unlocked the front door and went right to the crate in the kitchen. Skittles was looking up at the two of you with the biggest, sappiest brown eyes you'd ever seen. Well, other than the ones the Bradshaw boys frequently gave you. 

Noah squirmed out of your arms and went to open the crate door just the way you showed him how. He was so gentle with the little pup, and she whimpered and whined until she was able to lick Noah's hands and face. "Come on, Skittles," you called as you opened the back door. She limped her way across the kitchen floor, and you had to force yourself not to pick her up since she was supposed to be moving around on her own. It was bad enough that Bradley carried her around all the time. She looked at you, and you bent to ruffle her purple bow before she wandered outside to the grass. 

"Should we go get ice cream first and then eat dinner after that?" you asked Noah with a smile.

"Yeah! We can pretend it's opposite day!"

"Great idea."

----------------------------

When Bradley got home, he was irritated. The mechanics took forever to get everything in order so he could sign off and leave for the day. The downside of being responsible for his jet was that he was really responsible for every little detail. When he let himself inside, he could hear the bath water running and laughter coming from the bathroom. 

He poked his head inside to find you kneeling on the floor next to the tub while Noah played, and you were both giggling. Skittles perked up and ran for Bradley, and then Noah saw him too. "Daddy!"

You whipped your head around to face him with a bright smile on your gorgeous face. "Hi, Daddy. You'll never guess what today is."

"Tell me," he said as he walked in still wearing his flight suit and boots, scooping Skittles up in one hand. He knelt on the mat next to you with a soft groan and then buried his face against your neck with a little nip. "I'm dying to know," he whispered as he kissed your ear. Then he reached for Noah and kissed his wet cheek as you turned the water off. 

"It's opposite day!" Noah exclaimed. "The water is dry, and I don't like dinosaurs," he said before bursting into a fit of giggles. 

"Opposite day?" Bradley asked, pretending to need help with the concept while Skittles licked his face. "Can I have another example?"

"We had ice cream before dinner!"

"Noah," you scolded playfully. "You weren't supposed to tell him that!" You eyed Bradley sheepishly. "We did end up eating dinner... just after dessert."

He kissed your cheek. "You're the best Mommy ever. You make everything fun."

"Were you good today?" you asked softly while Noah claimed all of his rubber duckies were sinking when they were clearly floating. 

"So good," he promised. The way you bit your lip reminded Bradley that it had been a few days since you and he had sex. He thought maybe you were ovulating, but it didn't really matter. He needed to do a better job of keeping you full regardless. 

Things had just been a bit hectic, and the tiny dog in his hand was evidence of that. If you got pregnant, things would get even wilder around here, but he didn't mind it. He actually craved it at times. And when he reminded himself that he finally had a teammate in you, things always felt manageable. 

"I have an idea," he said as you washed Noah's hair. "After this, I'll get Noah in bed and let Skittles out one more time, and then you can take your time getting ready while I get a shower."

You nodded. "Did you hear that, Noah? It's time to wake up instead of go to bed."

He laughed again. "Will you read me a good morning story?" he asked Bradley.

"Absolutely, Bub," he replied. "I mean... no, I won't? Opposite day is confusing."

When he got Noah to change into pajamas under the guise that he was really getting dressed for daycare, Bradley heard you get into the shower. Once Noah was tucked in, he took Skittles outside. The bedroom door was closed, so you must be in there putting on your purple dress for the retirement party. He couldn't wait to see it.

Bradley got in the shower and took his time, but he was yawning almost nonstop. He needed to get it together so he could fuck you if that's what you wanted. He'd made a lot of promises about that kind of thing, and he didn't want his age to start catching up with him. "Shit," he mumbled as he toweled his hair off before wrapping it around his waist. 

But he shouldn't have worried. As soon as he walked into his bedroom, Bradley stopped short. You were bending and petting Skittles in her little dog bed, but you really did look like a princess. 

"You're wearing your crown," he rasped, and you stood to your full height and turned to look at him. "Jesus." The purple dress was indeed two pieces, and the top was beaded and very tastefully showcased your tits. Then the skirt was some sort of sheer flowy materials in a million layers, and Bradley wanted to run his hands all over it. But not as much as he wanted to run his fingers along the strip of your skin that showed just above your belly button. 

"You like it?" you asked, twirling for him as you brought one hand up to hold your paper crown on your head. "You paid for it," you said with a laugh. 

The fabric of the skirt swung around your body and moved with you. Bradley was entranced. "Yeah, I like it," he whispered. "Everyone else at the retirement party is going to like it too." Maybe a little too much, but there was nothing to be done about it now. And Nat was right when she'd said you would look incredible next to him in his dress white. "Fuck."

"Daddy," you gasped, looking up at him as his towel fell away from his waist. He was half erect, and he hadn't even touched you. All he had to do was look at you or smell you, and he was ready to go. 

You were standing very close, but you didn't let your hands meet his body, and you seemed too perfect right now for him to touch you without permission. Just like actual royalty. "Princess," he whispered as you licked your lips. "Will you let me pull that pretty skirt up and fuck you?"

In response, you brought your hands up to your hips and jutted your chin in the air. "That was very lewd, Daddy." He grunted as the fabric of your skirt brushed along the head of his cock. He could smell your body wash as you ran your hands up to your top and over your breasts. He could practically taste your pussy as his mouth watered. "You better start begging."

Your gaze followed him as he slowly dropped to his knees in front of you and buried his face in your skirt. He kissed the soft layers as he asked, "Please, Baby? I'll do anything you want. Just let me have your pussy. Please."

You brought your fingers up to stroke his cheek and run your thumb across his lips. "You can do better than that."

His cock was throbbing now. "Anything you want. I'll get you off just right. You know I will. I'll worship you." He kissed the soft skin just below your beaded top with the gentlest touch of his lips, and you moaned his name.

Bradley kissed and nuzzled his nose against you, whispering please over and over again before you finally said, "Stand up." He was on his feet immediately, cock at attention and cheeks warm. "Don't mess up my dress," you told him, running your fingertips along his abs as you walked over to the bed. You bent at the waist with your arms and cheek pressed to the soft bedding. You looked so innocent and perfect with your teeth digging into your glossy lip, but you sounded dirty as hell when you said, "Come fuck me, Daddy."

Bradley growled as he reached for your hips through all the layers of your pretty skirt. He forced himself to go slow, pushing the fabric up inch by inch and savoring the way it felt in his hands. Eventually your perfect thighs gave way to your wet pussy, but then Bradley's head tipped back as the most ridiculous noise escaped his lips. 

"Baby," he moaned, rubbing his cock all over your ass and through your wet warmth as you gasped and grabbed at the bedding. You were wearing your purple plug and puckering around it beautifully. So needy, the way you were grinding forward against the edge of the bed. "This is fucking gorgeous," he crooned, gently pushing on the base of the plug and giving you more pressure. 

You rolled your hips back against his hand and raised up on your tiptoes. He knew you wanted your pussy full as well as your ass, and he was going to give you his cock and his cum. Eventually. But first he knelt behind you as you whined, and he pinned your hips in place. "Bradley," you gasped, trying to fight the hold he had on you, but he wouldn't allow it. With your voluminous skirt pushed up to your waist, Bradley kissed you from behind and swiped his tongue through your wet folds. 

"Oh," you gasped loudly, trying to thrust back to meet him.

"Shh," he warned, pressing your plug with his nose. "I'll fuck you just right, but I want you to cum on my mustache first."

It took almost no time, not with how sensitive you were. He debated edging you until you squirted for him, but he figured it was better to ruin the dress after the retirement party. So Bradley ate your pussy like the meal it was until you were on the verge of tears. Every long stripe of his tongue had your legs shaking a little harder. He just wanted a little more before he let you come. So he licked up to your plug and spit, watching his saliva drip back down to your pussy as he finally let you have a little pressure on your clit with his middle finger. 

"Daddy!" you nearly screamed as he rubbed you with steady circles. Your hips jerked as you got his mustache even wetter, crying out against the bedding. But Bradley didn't stop the motion with his middle finger. He kept going as he stood and smiled at your face buried between your fisted hands. 

"That's a good girl. Keep nice and quiet." 

He fucked you, bending over your body and gently kissing your back as he rammed himself deep a few times. You felt somehow even fucking tighter when you were wearing the plug, and Bradley made sure he pressed it deeper as he railed you. 

When he kissed your shoulder, your pussy clenched around him. He wasn't even sure if you were still on your first orgasm or if you'd started to come again, but either way, he felt like your knight right now. When you turned your head to take a deep breath, your crown rolled off, and Bradley watched you look back at him as he fucked into you and bottomed out.

"Am I allowed to come, too?" he grunted, leaning in and licking at your glossy lips. 

"Yes," you whispered, kissing his tongue before he stood at his full height, grabbed you by your hips and thrusted and unloaded. 

Bradley ran one hand up along your beaded top, stroking your bare skin when he came across it. He listened as you hummed and laughed softly while he looked at your purple outfit, your purple plug, and your purple crown on the bed. He'd never had anything so bright in his life before you. 

"Don't mess up my dress," you reminded him, and Bradley just stood there with his cock still inside you and his hands full of fabric. 

"Well, what do you suggest I do back here, Princess?" he asked as you giggled and reached your hands back to hold some of the fabric. You bunched it up higher as you slowly stood, and then Bradley could feel the cool beads of your top against his abs and chest. 

"I think it's safe," you whispered. Bradley withdrew himself, and with a grin, he dropped to his knees behind you. He watched his cum drip down your inner thighs, and when you tried to press your legs together he told you no.

He shoved his hand between your thighs and whispered, "No, it's too pretty," as his semen dripped right from your pussy to his palm. "God, it's so fucking pretty." He kissed along the backs of your legs and the base of your plug, but he didn't move his hand until his palm was coated. 

When he stood again, he whispered, "I'll go get a wet washcloth so I can help you get undressed." But before he could leave the room, you met his eyes and raised his hand to your lips to kiss his cum covered palm and swiped your tongue through it. "Oh, shit," he groaned, watching as you cleaned him up. "How's that taste?"

"Mmm," you hummed, licking your lips. "Good. Like me and you."

His mouth was on yours immediately, needing to taste it for himself as he wrapped his still wet hand around the back of your neck. His tongue met yours, and he tasted himself there along with the sweetness of your pussy. "God damn, Baby. I hope I can keep up with you."

You nodded as he pressed some soft kisses to your lips. "You always do."

---------------------------

On Thursday, you were getting ready for happy hour with your coworkers when Bradley walked into the bedroom. "You look pretty," he said as you applied some of your lip gloss. You smiled at him in the mirror, and he walked a little closer. There was something about you this week that he couldn't quite put his finger on, but he had the urge to fuck you nearly nonstop. 

"Thanks, Daddy," you sang as he rubbed his hand along your lower back. 

"Hey," he whispered, letting his lips meet your ear. "You think we have time for a quickie?"

You knew. You must have known by the way you were smiling. He literally couldn't keep his hands off you. "You just like calling me your little cream donut," you replied, but you didn't say no. 

"I really do," he said, reaching for your jeans zipper, but you took his hand in yours and pulled it away. 

"We don't have time," you scolded, kissing his lips and lacing your fingers with his. "You need to get Noah in the car so you boys can drop me off."

"Who's driving you home again?" Bradley asked, needing to be sure you wouldn't get in the car with anyone who'd been drinking. 

"Sarah," you told him, cupping his cheek gently. "She's seven months pregnant. The hardest thing she'll be drinking is ginger ale."

"Alright," he agreed, letting you finish up as he put Noah in the Bronco. Then he drove you and dropped you off at a trendy looking bar in the Gaslamp Quarter which was filled with people your own age. 

"Looks like a bunch of hipsters," he mumbled as he parked in the loading zone at the curb. He could almost imagine Greyson and his idiot friends hanging out here, and he reached for your hand. 

You laughed as he kissed your fingers. "Everyone under thirty looks like a hipster to you. And I mean that with love."

"You don't look like a hipster," he said, brow furrowed as he looked at your hand and briefly wondered why he hadn't taken the time to buy you a ring yet. 

"I see them," you said, pointing out the window before you leaned in to peck his lips. "I'll let you know when I'm on my way home." Then you crawled halfway over the seat and kissed Noah who was already yawning. "Night, sweet Noah," you whispered before kissing Bradley one more time and hopping out. 

He watched you wave to the group of other nurses he'd met briefly. All of them were around your age, and sure enough he saw Sarah with her pregnant belly. He looked at your elegant body; you looked so damn young, but you seemed older than twenty four. And you'd look just right with a belly like that. Bradley groaned and put the Bronco in drive when he saw a group of guys walk toward you and your coworkers as you were about to head inside the bar. You ignored them in favor of waving to Bradley, and he did you the service of waving back before he started driving home. 

You trusted him, and he trusted you. That was all there was to it. He refused to let Casey try to upset you with her bullshit, and you wouldn't chat up random guys. 

"I miss Mommy," Noah said as he yawned again. 

It had literally been five minutes since you got out of the Bronco, but Bradley honestly said, "Me, too." 

And he felt like an idiot after he let Noah eat the ants on logs you left for them. It was nights like this when he started to feel like he was holding you back. He still had engagement rings open on his phone internet tabs, and he knew you'd say yes when he asked. You and he had talked about forever. But these nights out would become almost nonexistent if you got pregnant and there were two kids to look after. 

Noah whined for you at bedtime, and Bradley had to bribe him with extra books since he couldn't have another goodnight kiss from you. Luckily that kid was usually asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but once he was out, Bradley was left alone with his thoughts. He tried to watch TV and even attempted a nap on the couch until you got home. He ended up drinking a beer and holding Skittles on his lap as she licked at the condensation on the bottle. 

"You are begrudgingly very fucking cute," he told the pup as she curled up on his thigh with her casted leg sticking out straight. He petted Skittles until she was sound asleep, her body rising and falling in a soothing rhythm. Bradley finished the beer as he tried not to think about you, which only made it worse. But he kept telling himself you wouldn't still be here right now if you didn't want to be. You'd stayed through Meredith and all of Bradley's bullshit, and you were still here now.

His phone vibrated with a text. My Princess: I'll be home soon!

Home. It was your home, too. You belonged here. So maybe he was supposed to miss you a little bit on nights like this. Perhaps it was normal to notice that your warmth was missing from the room. 

He closed his eyes, about to doze off, when twenty minutes later, you came bursting through the front door. Skittles carefully jumped off his lap and ran to see you as you pulled your shoes off. You looked a little exasperated as you bent to pet the dog before heading his way. 

"Did you have fun?" he asked, about to stand, but you headed right for his lap.

You groaned and settled in so you and he were chest to chest and you tangled your fingers up in his hair, your purple painted nails grazing his scalp. "Everyone my age is exhausting," you said before claiming his lips.

He rubbed his hands up your thighs and smiled against your lips as he asked, "You prefer the older crowd?"

You kissed the side of his neck and yawned before letting your cheek rest on his shoulder. "You know I do. I'm crazy about you and your checkbook and your inability to use a smartphone correctly."

"Well you came to the right place," he whispered. "I have all of the old man shit for you right here."

You giggled before kissing his neck again. "I love you."

Bradley wrapped his arms around you and held you close. This is where you belonged. "I love you, too. You want me to take you to bed?"

You yawned again and said, "I was thinking about you all night, you know? Dirty stuff."

"Dirty stuff?" he asked as you nodded. 

"Mmhmm. You wanna fuck a baby into me?" you asked as your fingers loosened in his hair and your hand came to rest on his chest. "We could do that," you murmured, your lips moving along his neck. "If you want."

Bradley chuckled and held you a little tighter. As much as he loved fucking you, he loved taking care of you even more. "Let's go snuggle, Princess." He scooped you up and carried you to bed where you immediately fell asleep in his arms.

--------------------------------

"This was not a good idea," Bradley murmured as he paced around his living room in his dress whites with his uniform hat in his hands. When he peeked out the front door, Amelia Benjamin was holding Skittles on a leash, and she and Noah were blowing bubbles. He checked the time and groaned. "Such a bad idea."

He could hear laughter coming from his bedroom, and he had to fight the urge to walk back down the hallway and knock on the door again. He knew what the response would be if he asked how much longer it was going to take before you and Nat were ready to go.

"You can't rush perfection," he mumbled to himself as he rolled his eyes and dropped back onto the couch. You already looked perfect all the time. And Nat always looked the same. So he didn't really get the point of the two of you spending the entirety of Saturday afternoon doing each other's hair and makeup just for Admiral Bates' retirement party. It was at the Botanic Garden; it would probably be so humid and crowded inside, everyone would look gross after an hour anyway. 

"Jesus," he grunted when he heard two female voices laughing about mascara. He stood and walked to the kitchen, considering making himself another cup of coffee to help him stay awake all night while he rubbed elbows with his superiors, but then your voice sounded louder. He returned to the living room and waited.

"I think your hair looks perfect," you said as Nat walked in wearing a pretty black dress that hugged her figure. Bradley could appreciate that she seemed to have more makeup on than normal, because her eyes looked bigger and more playful than usual. 

"You look nice," Bradley told her, but then his jaw dropped as you strolled in like you dressed up to impress every day. That purple dress. Fuck. He would always associate it with taking you from behind on the bed. But you looked incredible. "Holy shit, Baby."

"I know," you said with a grin as you spun into his arms. "Nat did my makeup." You kissed his lips, and Bradley didn't even care if that dark lipstick left a mark. Shit. He kind of wanted you to kiss him all over right now. 

"Beautiful," he whispered, cupping your cheek in his palm. You looked the same as you always did, really, with just a little something extra to drive him crazy tonight. 

"You look good, too," you said, running your fingers all over his service pins before taking his hat and plopping it down crooked on his head. He ran his hands down the back of your beaded top and pulled you snug against him. "We'll have a lot of fun with all of this later, Daddy."

Nat cleared her throat and clapped her hands. "Well, on that rather disturbing note, let's get going." 

Bradley looked you up and down one more time, kind of wishing you and he didn't have to go to the event at all. But Amelia was already here to watch Noah and Skittles, and if he didn't get you and Nat into the Bronco soon, you would all be late.

"After you," Bradley said as he opened the front door for Nat to talk outside. When you tried to follow, he wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you close again as you laughed. "Not you," he whispered. "You're mine, Baby. I want you with me all night, okay? No wandering off. You know how those Navy guys can be."

"Oh, I know," you replied as he ran his hand along that little strip of skin that showed above your skirt. "They can be very handsy."

"Mmm," he hummed as he looked down into your eyes. "So you'll stay with me?"

"Yeah. I'll stay with you."

------------------------------

Princess is going to look so pretty at the Botanic Gardens. Wonder if she'll end up with that skirt pulled up around her waist again. Thanks @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

PART 42

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[d1xonss]

Hi!! Could I request a one shot where reader and Daryl are like complete opposites?? But he realizes eventually he’s grown to love her or something like that?? Thank you!

Enchanting

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Reader

✧ Era : Season 5/6

✧ Pronouns : she/her

✧ Genre : Fluff

✧ Word Count : 3.6k

AN ~ Thank you so much for this request! I’ve been writing some pretty sad stuff lately so I’m glad to have something on the lighter side lol. I tried my best with this considering I haven't been writing much outside of the series I've been updating. But I'm always up for the practice. Hope you enjoy!

He just couldn’t wrap his head around it. How someone so fragile, so delicate, so perfect, survived this long in a world as shitty as this. 

Alexandria as a whole felt like a dream within itself. Arriving with his family at the giant gates after living a life of hell on the road, it was something he would call a miracle. Though he hardly believed in such a thing, he thought this was as close as it was going to get. Houses lined up down the road, running water, electricity, it almost seemed too unreal to him to even want to stay in a place like this. 

It took him some time to get adjusted, some of his people having to drag him out of the house by his hair to actually give this place a chance. They wanted him to open up, socialize a bit more with some of the people in the community seeing as they were planning to stay in this dream-like place. 

Carol was the most persistent of them all. She poked and prodded at him for days to get out of the house and actually give this place a chance. He would argue and say that he had left the house since their arrival, but in her mind, going out for hours to hunt was hardly the socializing she had in mind. All she wanted was for Daryl to be able to thrive here as the rest of them were slowly doing, not wanting to see him completely shut himself out.

So, after a whole week of trying to coax him out of the secure home, he finally agreed to a party. 

Did he enjoy parties? No, absolutely not. He didn’t know what to do at those types of events, not knowing how to really talk with others freely as it wasn’t exactly his strong suit. He would most likely just awkwardly stand in the corner by himself until enough time passed for him to be able to leave. And at least then he could say he tried.

When the day finally came it was safe to say he was a little nervous. He hadn’t talked to really anyone outside of his close knit group in what felt like forever. He had no idea if he would even be good at the whole “small talk” thing as he never once was to begin with. But still, he promised he’d try.

So, after getting back from a hunt he went on earlier that day, he headed towards the lit up house as instructed. Though the closer he got, the more nervous he became. His palms began to sweat a little as he wiped them a few different times on his jeans, trying to swallow whatever anxiety was creeping back up to haunt him. It shouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but it was. To him, it was.

He eventually forced himself to open up the front door with almost instant regret, seeing a few turning heads to notice his presence in the room. Though he tried to ignore it for the most part, only nodding to the familiar faces he saw in different areas of the mostly filled house. He already grew uncomfortable at the watchful eyes that managed to follow him, purposefully looking away as he kept his head down while he moved.

Alright, time to find a corner, he thought to himself as he subtly scoped the place out, preparing to be alone for most of the night.

“Daryl!”

Damnit.

He reluctantly turned his head to see Carol approaching him rather quickly with a wide smile on her face as she quickly brought him into a hug, “Oh, I’m so happy you made it.” 

“Mhm,” he hummed with a nod as he patted her back awkwardly before she finally pulled away, “Said I’d try…so m’ tryin.”

“And I’m very proud of you.” she said sincerely as she placed a hand on his cheek for a moment, before pulling back with an even larger smile, “You want something to drink?” 

He dipped his head in a nod of appreciation as she tapped his shoulder, “I’ll be right back.” she promised, before turning around to maneuver through the sea of people.

Daryl patted the sides of his legs nervously as he waited for her return, scanning over different things in the house that caught his attention. One was the slightly flickering light above his head, another was the music playing somewhat softly in the background of people’s loud conversations. And the third was a laugh. A quite delightful laugh that had his attention from the second it hit his ears.

Daryl’s head whipped in the direction of the sudden delicate noise, his eyes catching sight of a woman he had never seen around the community before. Over the past week he had managed to see a few other residents of Alexandria when he traveled outside, sending them a polite nod when he passed through. But he had never seen you before.

He watched intently as you interacted with someone else from right next to you, whispering something close to your ear as you let out another light and enchanting laugh. His eyes moved over the features of your face, seeing your eyes crinkling at the corners and dimples forming on your cheeks from how wide you smiled. His lips parted a little at the sight, his head even tilting a bit to the side as he continued to study your movements.

You occasionally tucked a piece of hair behind your ear everytime it got in the way of your eyes, your hand effortlessly falling back down to grasp the cup of the drink you held in your hands. Your nose occasionally scrunched up a bit as you spoke, clearly about something that brought you joy and it intrigued Daryl more than he was willing to admit. A part of him wanted to get closer to hear the delightful story you were surely telling. He could in fact almost make out the sound of your voice from where he stood-

“Here’s your drink.” Carol’s voice quickly cut into his thoughts.

He practically jumped out of his skin at her arrival, glancing down to see the beer bottle in her hands before swiping it in his own grasp with a quiet thanks. Her brows furrowed in slight confusion as now all Daryl could seem to focus on was the ground, but curiosity got the better of her as to why he was so jumpy. Her eyes glanced behind her shoulder and did a scan of the surroundings…before a smirk was brought to her face.

“She’s pretty.” she commented casually.

Daryl’s eyes flew up to meet her smug expression with a scoff, “Dunno what yer talkin bout.” he brushed off as he raised the bottle to meet his lips.

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes, “I’m not dense, Daryl, and neither are you…” she trailed off before glancing back once more to catch you laughing yet again, “I think you should go talk to her.”

A scoff was the only response he could come up with, a reddened pigment covering his cheeks at the suggestion. You were already having a good time, why the hell would you want to talk to someone like him instead.

“I’m serious.” Carol pushed, “I think it’s the right kind of socializing you need.” she finished with a wink.

He gave her a pointed look as he took another swig of the liquid, his eyes panning back over towards you as the person whom you were once talking with, suddenly walked away. So now you stood alone, swaying back and forth a little to the music in content as you occasionally took a sip from your own drink as well.

“Well, would you look at that…a spot seemed to open up.” Carol teased as she nudged his side a little to which he just brushed her away with an annoyed grunt.

Though he couldn’t argue as he continued to casually glance at you still standing alone, though it looked like you didn’t mind too much. You looked almost too peaceful in a cramped party filled to the brim with people. Maybe he should take a chance. Just this once in his life maybe the leap of faith would do him some good, giving him an opportunity to talk to you.

After having an eternal inner debate with himself and a loud sigh left his lips, he finally pushed himself to move forward. He tried to ignore Carol’s wide smile in encouragement as he passed by her completely, but it truly was hard to ignore. He huffed as he moved further, awkwardly squeezing by a few people lingering in the way before he could reach you.

Although it happened all too fast, now standing in front of you with somewhat of a blank expression as you now looked him in the eye. Daryl swallowed thickly as he stood frozen upon seeing your gaze match his, your eyes were beautiful as they seemed to hold something much more than he was expecting. Everything about you seemed to make time stop for him.

“Hi.” you greeted politely after a few seconds of silence, sending a smile his way that almost caused him to melt.

He cleared his throat, “Hey.” he responded dryly, now almost panicking as he didn’t think this through as much as he should’ve. He was suddenly rendered speechless, not knowing what to say next as you looked at him almost expectantly.

Though your eyes narrowed the smallest bit, the smile still remaining on your face, “I recognize you, you’re new.” you stated with a raised finger, “Apart of Rick’s group, right? Daryl?”

“Uh huh.” he mumbled as he continued to stare, almost in disbelief that you had recalled seeing him before, enough to recognize him and even know his name. He’d almost wished you would repeat his name again so he could hear you say it just once more.

Your smile widened even more if that were possible as you suddenly held out your hand for him to take, “I’m (Y/N).”

And just like that, after hearing your name for the very first time, he could never seem to get it out of his head. He didn't necessarily know it then, but you would soon become a person that Daryl cared very much for. Someone he would give up his life for. Someone he would grow to love.

He was infatuated with you, slowly finding the time to leave the house more and more so he could have a chance at catching you outside as well. Normally he would never be so bold as to plan something like this just to get a chance to talk to you, but he couldn’t help it. There was just something so special about you that he couldn’t ignore.

Months in the community went by just like that, getting countless chances and opportunities to spend more time with you on multiple occasions. You were honestly flattered that the stoic man wanted to seek you out whenever he got the chance, offering to help fix something in your house or inviting you out on one of his hunts, you were always excited upon his arrival.

In exchange you would always have something to give him in return for his countless acts of kindness. Whether it was giving him something you had baked or his worn jeans you offered to patch up and sew, you wanted to give him something. He always seemed to deny your persistence, wanting nothing in return as he thought you were the best gift he could ever receive. But still you pushed, batting your eyelashes at him until he finally agreed to take whatever you presented, leaving you smiling at his bashful state.

You knew of his growing feelings towards you, of course you did. You picked up on it after he stopped by your house about three different times to make sure the bathroom sink he had fixed was still working properly. Daryl however was still painfully oblivious as he failed to realize that after all this time, you too found yourself growing feelings for him.

“I think you should just bite the bullet and ask her.” Carol advised as she mauvered around the kitchen, cooking dinner for the two of them.

Daryl’s constant resort was to just scoff at her words as he held his head in one of his hands at the kitchen island, “Alright.” he mumbled sarcastically.

She whipped around with slightly widened eyes, “I’m being serious!” she said as she stirred something heated on the stove, “And you better do it fast before she gets swept up by someone else.”

His eyes quickly snapped up towards her at the possibility, “Ya think that’ll happen?” he asked, not even trying to hide his worry.

He cared for you deeply, unlike anything he had ever felt before, the last thing he wanted to see was you with someone else. But at the same time he was scared. Scared to ask you out for some kind of date if you didn’t see him the same way he saw you. He didn’t want to ruin what he already had with you, he didn’t want to scare you away. But the suggestion of you being with someone besides him now made him worry further.

“I think that it could happen.” Carol corrected, “She’s very kind and pretty, it’s hard for me to believe she hasn’t found someone yet.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing…” Daryl said as he trailed off, “Better then endin up with some asshole like me.”

The woman sighed heavily as she dropped the wooden spoon in her hands and turned around fully to face him, “Daryl, that girl absolutely adores you. You might not be able to see it, but I do. I think you should just…take a chance. Like you did with that party.” she spoke knowingly.

He sent her a glare through his lids, earning a small laugh from her as she turned back around. His mind seemed to wander for a long moment as Carol’s back was facing him now, thinking if now was really the time to make some type of move. He wanted nothing more than to just confess what he’s been feeling for so long, wanting to sweep you off your feet and never let you go. But it wasn’t that easy.

He had thought about this situation before in the past, a lot more than he was willing to admit, but everytime he seemed to always talk himself out of it. He didn’t know how you would react, if you would be offended or flattered. If you would turn him down easy for leave him brokenhearted. There were too many possibilities for him to ignore, too many scenarios to think through.

But in the end you were the kindest person he had ever met and he felt safe with you, safer than he had ever felt before. Perhaps that was the only reason he needed to finally take a chance.

Before he could even process what he was doing, he suddenly stood up from his seat and headed straight towards the front door, trying not to talk himself out of the sudden decision he just made. He was fast and light on his feet as he walked down the porch steps, nearly falling on his ass as he missed the last one in a hurry. But he hardly let it bother him, looking like a man on a mission to others he was passing by on the sidewalk.

The walk to your house felt fast and slow all at once, his heartbeat rapidly pounding in his chest with each step closer he got. He felt his hands begin to sweat a bit as he trudged up the steps to your pretty yellow house, noticing the arrangements of flowers you had on either side of the porch that matched your personality perfectly. He was inches away from the front door now as he stood back and hesitated to knock on the wooden frame to your home. His eyes glanced down for a moment to your welcome mat below his feet, scraping off his dirty boots as he would never wish to track mud into your house.

With his boots clean(ish) and a huff passing from his lips, he finally raised his fist up towards the door to give it a firm and heavy knock, waiting for you to answer. The seconds seemed to go impossibly slow as he waited, wondering to himself if you were even home. You loved to head to the gardens this time of day, picking your share of the fruits and vegetables being grown. Perhaps he had missed you completely, contemplating if he should just turn around and head back seeing as the seconds turned into minutes.

But then he heard it. The faintness of your voice calling through the house that you were coming, followed by the pitter patter of your light and delicate footsteps. He swallowed thickly before the door was suddenly swung open, revealing your smiling face that seemed to light up even more at just the sight of him.

“Hey!” you greeted cheerfully as you bounded forward to close the distance between you two, bringing him in for a tight embrace.

He grunted at the sudden impact, but smiled a bit to himself as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around you softly. He feared that he would break you if he squeezed a little too tight.

You pulled back with a smile just as wide as your eyes lingered a bit over his face, “What’s up? You need something?” you asked politely.

He couldn’t help but think that he needed you and only you, but it felt a little wrong to be that blunt right away so he settled with a shake of his head, “Nah, just…just wanted ta see ya.” he spoke honestly.

Your eyes twinkled at the sweetness of him as you laughed lightly, “I’ve been wanting to see you too.” you admitted, “It feels like it’s been too long since we’ve hung out.”

“Yeah,” he grunted as he cleared his throat a little, “Shit’s gettin busier round here.”

You nodded in agreement, a little sympathy on your features as you knew how much he did around here for the community, “But- uh…” he quickly corrected, “I’ll always make time for ya…no matter how busy it gets.” he admitted nervously.

Your heart warmed as you smiled at him sweetly, “You sure?” you asked a bit playfully, “You sure you’re not too busy?” you poked as you ventured out to take his hand softly in yours.

He smiled down at you as you intertwined your fingers with his, as you normally would do, “Never.” he promised.

His eyes then took the time to take in your appearance as he normally would do. Your hair was pulled back a bit as it was tied up with a light pink ribbon, framing your face angelically as a few strands fell from the front and landed just above your cheekbones. He then noticed the sundress that fit your figure beautifully, finding himself loving the many skirts and flowy dresses you constantly wore. And then the jewelry that hung around your neck, a tiny pink diamond that was shaped into a heart as it sat in the middle of your chest.

It was actually a gift he had given you weeks ago, something he had found on a run that just reminded him of you. It was so soft and delicate, and the heart seemed fitting to your style. 

“Did you…want to come in for a bit?” you asked as you noticed him grow a little quieter than usual.

He snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of your sweet voice, “Oh- uh- nah…I just came over here ta…ask ya somethin.”

“So ask.” you prodded gently with a soft squeeze to his hand that made his knees feel like jelly.

You knew that Daryl often had a hard time with things like this, seeing it made him uncomfortable to say or ask something out of his comfort zone. But you were always so patient with him it blew his mind, always willing to wait for him to just come out and say it.

“Alright, so uh…” he cleared his throat before swallowing thickly, “I was just um…just wonderin…if ya wanted to maybe…go on a ride with me sometime…?”

Your eyes brightened a little as you went to open your mouth to answer, but he quickly cut you off, “Nah, I mean- n-not like just a ride, but like…out together sometime…just the two of us...kinda like-”

His rambling went on for a few more seconds before you decided to cut him off instead. He suddenly clamped his mouth shut in a split second when he felt the softness of your lips brushing across his cheek, leaving a light peck before you pulled away with a smile.

“I’d love to.” you said.

The man was stunned to silence, feeling his face get hot and the burning of his cheek becoming more intense as he tired to process your actions. You couldn’t help but laugh a little to yourself as you gave his hand another comforting squeeze while gazing up at him through your long lashes.

“I’m free tomorrow at noon…if that works for you?”

He stood there in bewilderment for a moment or two before frantically nodding his head, not counting on his words in this moment in time. You nodded back before venturing your hand out of his hold and up towards his face to move some of the hair that had fallen over his eyes. He almost quivered at the feeling of your fingers gently touching his hair, silently wanting more though he would never ask.

“I can’t wait.” you admitted gently and quietly, lulling him back into the same enchanting trance he was hit with the moment he caught sight of you for the first time all those months ago.

~ Thanks for reading!

[melbatron5000]

Murder Board 2.0

Updated 9/27/24

Since I've figure a few things out, I need to re-do my Murder Board. New answers, new questions.

What I think I know:

Hints given out by NG are suspect at best. (I cannot blame him or anyone else on the cast or crew -- they spent A LOT of time and energy building this very meticulous puzzle game for us -- why would ANY of them give ANY of it away? That would ruin all the fun!)

Lots of the discontinuity of Season 2 can be explained by POV switches between characters. See here and here for more. I think the title/location cards are also probably POV Clues, that needs a closer look.

Crowley gave something to Aziraphale in his mouth when they kissed. It's the fly. Now, what else was in the fly besides Gabriel's memory? RECORDS. Incriminating records that are why the Metatron let Beelzebub and Gabriel go, but nailed Aziraphale. The Metatron knows Gabriel has those records, he doesn't know they got passed to Aziraphale.

Saraqael and Crowley and by proxy, Aziraphale are all working together. See here and here for more. That explains A. the tiny miracle blowing up into a 25 Lazarii miracle. It didn't. They had to cover for something else that did. B. Saraqael showing the archangels the book shop in 2019 in the spy hole. C. Crowley's spy turtle neck and where he went during Aziraphale's Job flashback. D. Why Saraqael helps him see the trial in Heaven. (Oh! Muriel's now in on it, too!)

Crowley's memory is fine, it's a red herring. It might mean something else, though. I think he is dissing Furfur, he is denying knowing Saraqael even after she gives him a reason to recognize her to hide that they are working together. He tells Jim he doesn't remember why they invented gravity, but that whole scene is from Aziraphale's perspective, so the conversation likely didn't actually go just like that.

Shax is on a mission besides Gabriel -- she's looking for whatever Aziraphale and Crowley are hiding. Gabriel is a side-mission.

The hand-washing comment from Crowley in the Resurrectionists minisode -- he tells DaVinci about helicopters in Good Omens the novel. It's just a thing he can do.

What is up with Maggie? Maggie's freaking Jesus 2.0. She's what Shax is looking for, and who Crowley, Aziraphale, and Saraqael are hiding. Also, where is God? God is busy being Maggie, that's where. That's why Crowley says "Oh God" before his speech in the final fifteen. He's bringing up what they're hiding, reminding Aziraphale that someone has to stay and keep an eye on Maggie. That's why he can't go. Now, how the FUCK did Jesus 2.0 wind up owning a record store she inherited from her family NEXT TO AN ANGEL?? (Ah, shit, now I'm doubting this one. Now I suspect it's Nina, and Maggie is Mary MAGdeline. Same questions still apply.)

SECRET SONGS??? Why are the songs secret?? I'm losing my mind, what is happening?? I think this is a message that A. Aziraphale and Crowley are okay, and B. We will absolutely be getting part 3 of 1941.

I still think the scenes might be out of order. Is it as simple as watching them in chronological order? Could be.

The Metatron is a naked man. i.e. he was originally HUMAN.

Aziraphale and Crowley are talking in subtext A LOT. Aziraphale's tells are easier to spot than Crowley's. He raises his eyebrows and does vocal bunny rabbit ears, says "um," and "ah." "Our Gabriel miracle," "The establishment in question," "Certainly on to something," "Haven't yet cracked the case." Crowley's tell seems to be being effusive. "Frozen peas," "You wouldn't be interested in love?" "Well, today is your lucky day!" "How do you know I didn't do it?"

We are missing the scenes that should mirror the Resurrectionists minisode. What we do have instead of mirrors to that are Crowley telling the demons they are out of order. He can tell time has been messed with.

There are two Crowleys. I think the head in the book shop is his way of keeping in touch while his twin is off doing things, and the red eyes are him, too. Now, why?? What do they need 2 Crowleys for?

What still needs answering:

The clocks jumping time. And why are the extras moving in double-time when we first arrive to Whickber street?

The weird hand in the 1941 photo.

Aziraphale's chair position being moved still doesn't make sense. Unless Crowley was talking to himself??

The extras behaving strangely.

Crowley's car being in the wrong spot on the road after Shax threatens him.

Weird sounds -- Aziraphale turns to look at a crashing sound when he returns from Edinburgh, to look at a car horn, the very loud clock in the final fifteen BUT ALSO when Jim says he will go out to the demons, nightingale singing when Crowley leaves in the FF.

I'm not sure that POV switches explain Crowley's sunglasses going from silver to black.

I don't know why Aziraphale went to Edinburgh, or why he stopped at the graveyard where Gabriel's statue is, or why he looked like he realized something important while he was there.

Why does Michael do the "nothing's in the box" thing with the matchbox? It's a petty specific action. Someone pointed out that Michael's nails look chewed and terrible, are we meant to stare at the matchbox while something else goes unnoticed? Well, duh. But what?

We most certainly did not get the whole scene where the Metatron is talking to Aziraphale. What else was said?

What did Crowley do during his ALL-NIGHT JAUNT in Heaven? Did he sneak around and steal something? Did he uncover something? Did they hurt him? I think he stole something.

What did Aziraphale do with his briefcase that he took to Edinburgh? We see it in the book shop from his POV, and Edinburgh is seen from Crowley's POV, so they both know it exists. And then it's gone.

Why does Gabriel prophecy with God's voice? IS it God's voice? It's a woman, is it Frances McDormand? It's hard to hear. When he remembers the beginning, I think it's God's voice. When he prophecies, it may be someone else. Frances McDormand has no credit in that episode.

Why the heck did Maggie and Nina go talk to Crowley while the Metatron was talking to Aziraphale? What they had to say wasn't important enough to leave Nina's shop during a rush, and I definitely don't think they derailed Crowley from what he needed to say to Aziraphale, though it might look at first as if they did. So what was that about? Were they trying to speak in husband-code to warn him about the Metatron?

When Shax stops Aziraphale for a ride, he says, "Oh, I really need to get to --" and then is cut off. He really needs to get to where? It's an easy assumption to think he means the book shop, or London. But is that all he means? Or was he on his way somewhere else? And if it was just the book shop, what does he mean he's late? Late for what?

When Crowley leaves Heaven, he tells Saraqael and Muriel to come, too. But in the elevator, Michael and Uriel are there! When the fuck did they show up??

Why does Beelzebub tell Shax to attack the bookstore? Aren't they worried about Gabriel being harmed? And they know Hell is understaffed. Maybe that's why they command it? Because they know Shax won't be able to get many demons?

What about the Masons? It's such a specific thing for the pub owner to bring up, what is the meaning of it? And Maggie has a Mason symbol on her necklace. Did the Masons carve the statue of Gabriel? When did they see him?

The only narration we hear in the entire season is Aziraphale in the Resurrectionist flashback. I believe this is to throw us off the POV character switches all season. But still, why do we only hear him narrate 1 flashback? I think he's reading the diary to himself in the present day. That would explain the end, "And that was the last I was to see of Crowley for some time." He JUST heard the story of the jukebox from Maggie. And Gabriel appearing at the pub -- same city that statue is in. Of course he thought of something important from that diary entry! Now, what did he notice?

Is the Book of Life a real threat? We hear two stories about it, that it's real and that its ability to erase beings was something to scare the cherubs with, this is inconclusive. Crowley gets nervous after Beelzebub talks to him, but I think he's pissed that Heaven and Hell have taken an interest in them again, especially since they're trying to hide Nina!Jesus.

So many promo posters show Aziraphale, Crowley, and Jimbriel together, or symbols of them. Three feathers: two white, one black. Tea cup, cocoa mug, wine glass. The three of them. Not with Beelzebub, not with Muriel, the three of them. And all three of them have been Jesus-coded in some small way. No one else. Those three. What. Why. Are they the sacrifice required to bring about the new world? Why not Beez, then?

The whole collection of Maggie's album's from the Amazon X-ray are great, big CLUES.

A post that I didn't reblog pointed out that the record Aziraphale is listening to when Garbriel shows up is neither Shostakovich nor 21 minutes long. That seems important, but I'm not sure how. (The record is opposite when Crowley gives Aziraphale the fly containing records -- the actual symphony is, according to the original blog, one written by a rebel in contempt of his government. Do the records have to do with the rebellion and fall?)

What the heck does Furfur mean by "little monkey in the waistcoat?" How does that sound like Crowley?

Why does Furfur change the subject when Aziraphale asks where Gabriel and Beelzebub would like to go?

Why does Mrs. H say "for God's sake" two times in a row? No one says that on this show without a meaning.

Shax notices Crowley going to Heaven and makes an epiphany face.

Why is the end credit music for the ball French cafe music? French must be important. And the end credit music for The Hitchhiker is old timey and scratchy, then skips and becomes the same song in a newer, clearer style. Because they repeat the bullet catch trick in the modern day, perhaps?

I thought I heard that Crowley and Aziraphale are in the fly in the opening sequence, but nope. So why are they in a cave?

Why are there multiple elevators and multiple mountains in the opening sequence??? What the hell does that mean?? And multiple Edens?? All right, what's up??

I count at least two times Aziraphale glances right at the camera, probably more. Who is he looking at? Us? Is he looking at Crowley?Why??

When Aziraphale arrives back from Edinburgh, he asks how "everything is with -- mm." Crowley says "he was sleeping, I heard him singing." I don't think they mean Gabriel. At the cafe, Crowley says when Gabriel smites you, you've been smitten. Aziraphale says he isn't "you know who any longer." Again, I don't think he means Gabriel. Who are they hiding?

What has Aziraphale's attention when he asks Maggie about Every Day? She points to the coffee shop, and all of a sudden Aziraphale can't stop looking out the window and gets very nervous.

Repeating themes: (I am just realizing that these aren't just themes, they are all Clues!)

Beverages of all kinds -- tea for Aziraphale, wine or whiskey for Crowley, cocoa for Jim. Oh, and LAUDANUM. And coffee!

Time -- lots of clocks/mentions of time. Everyone notices the ticking clock during the Final Fifteen, but it's ticking loud when the demons attack the ball, too. Also, why is the first scene of Whickber street shown at high-speed? Is time sped up? Or something else?

Love/partnership/togetherness being stronger than separateness

Memories/forgetting/remembering

Payment -- money comes up in both the Resurrectionists minisode and the Flesh Eating Nazi Zombies minisode, but no one pays for anything in present. There is bartering, but no money. Both times money is brought up, it's Crowley using Aziraphale's money, and both times, it's to buy a life. It's funny, but I feel like there's a point to it.

Rising from the dead -- Job's kids (even though they weren't actually dead), bodies used for science, Nazi zombies, the Second Coming. I think this is all just hinting around Jesus -- sure, hinting around Jesus, who we were expecting to show up in Season 3, but she's already here. The hints indicate that she is already on Earth, not going to show up next season.

Unreliable narrators. Because we are seeing the whole show from various characters' points of view. Because of that, we can only see what they know, expect, believe, or understand, but also what they want us to see. We need to take the whole second season with a grain of salt.

Death in general -- but 8a., I'm a dirty pagan, why didn't I make this connection sooner, death always leads to REBIRTH, change, something totally new and 8b. there are tarot cards in the magic shop, and even if you're not a dirty pagan, the Death tarot card means transition, something must die before a new thing can be born. Hmm.

Morality and what is "good" and what is right

Recognition and identity and hiding one's identity. Ah! Probably at least partly because Maggie someone? is Jesus. How would you recognize them? (I think it's Nina now.)

Licenses, permits, permissions, rules, proof, evidence, what's allowed. All of the minisodes mention this, and it all gets mentioned again over and over. Because Heaven and Hell do have rules they have to follow. Which drives home my theory that Gabriel stole some very incriminating records from Heaven when he left, Crowley got hold of them and gave them to Aziraphale during the kiss, and now Aziraphale is going to nail them.

Colors. Lots of colors!! Job's kids are dressed in the colors of Nina, Maggie, and Aziraphale's shops. Jesus on the Resurrectionist Pub sign is in blue and red, blue and red crop up a lot in extra's clothing, as do yellow and red, Crowley colors. The Ladies of Camelot are in red and blue. Aziraphale says Earth will be a blue-green planet, Nina's shop is blue-green.

Horses. Horse statue, horse wine label, people saying "dark horse." The four horsemen again? I feel like they already had their ride, so what the hell? I think it's because season 2 is an echo of season 1, I THINK -- I have to check -- that horses appear or get mentioned when the horsemen have corresponding scenes in season 1.

Numbers. A lot of numbers get said. Does it matter, or am I overthinking?

Repeating words and phrases:

Technically

Properly

Isn't it just?

Too late

Funny old world

Not as such

Made for each other

EVERYWHERE

Obviously

Two shakes of a lamb's tail

Dark horse

What are you/am I? As opposed to WHO. Aziraphale asks in the Land of Uz, and Crowley asks Gabriel.

Are you sure? Quite sure.

The Marvelous Mr. Fell is described as marvelous in his mysterosity, Shax says the demons have dangerosity.

Mrs. H in 1941 says "for God's sake" twice in quick succession.

Schtum

Every day

Hints:

Powell and Pressburg films

The Crow Road

Catch 22

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, Terry Pratchett in general

Jane Austin

Book Good Omens

Season 1 Good Omens

The titles of episodes, minisodes, places, etc. 7a. The Arrival: a book and a movie, though the book seems far more relevant. And lovely. The Clue: a movie. Companion to Owls: a line from a Bible story. I Know Where I'm Going: a movie. The Resurrectionists: two novels, each called The Resurrectionist, singular. Both look unhinged. The Hitchhiker: a Twilight Zone episode. Nazi Zombie Flesheaters: Literally no other reference. ?? Nazi Zombies do appear in a LOT of movies, comics, and video games, usually as a dark joke. The Ball: a video game. Irrelevant? It's a puzzle-based game, so maybe not. Every Day: a song AND a movie. Some themes repeat here: Puzzle games, being re-directed from one's path to find true love, death and being brought back to life in a gruesome and unpleasant way.

Objects that get a close-up/centering:

Starmaker's nebula book -- Nebula 231,080

Shax's compact mirror

Maggie's note

Shostakovich record

Tomatoes

The box

The Bentley

Eccles cakes

The bell

Head statue

The book Jim drops

Jukebox

Gabgriel's statue

Laudanum bottle

Phones in Edinburgh episode

"Very closed" sign

Broken whiskey bottles in 1941

Hourglass in Hell

Furfur's camera

Bullet catch in the magic shop

Instruction booklet for bullet catch gets 3 close ups -- because the bullet catch trick is that important, or because it happens 3 times? Both, I think.

Puppets

Dancers' silhouettes

Mr. Fell sign

The actual bullet

Angelic beings book

Photo evidence

Shax's shoes

"Surrender the angle" brick

[thedemonknownasbilly]

Howdy! I've got another poly AziraCrow x reader request for you, if you're interested

Ineffable husbands with a non-binary s/o who constantly gets misgendered and deadnamed during the holiday season since they're around family n stuff?

Ik its not malicious and it's out of habit but man, it's not great for dysphoria. Trying to disconnect myself from that so I don't hold it against anyone but. Idk. Sorry for rambling lol.

Sending love 💚

Their Name - Ineffable Husbands x GN!Reader

Boy, oh, boy this hit close to home. So basing a lot of the house descriptions/holiday traditions on my family.

Ineffable Husbands snapping at Reader’s family

He/Him for Aziraphale || She/He/They for Crowley

Great Room - the spare room usually adjacent to the living room, typically where the foyer enters into.

There was a lot you couldn’t tell your family. How your husbands were actually ethereal beings well over six thousand years old, how Aziraphale found a miracle that would help you to live forever alongside them, or how Crowley was the serpent they so often cursed in Sunday Service. But there was one thing you made crystal-fucking-clear, your name and gender identity. You came out as non-binary almost four years ago, telling your family how you wanted them to refer to you in only neutral terms.

You had met Aziraphale and Crowley a year after that, marrying them in secret two years later, just the past spring. Crowley had told you how they used all pronouns, so your favorite pastime was to call him your wife when using he/him pronouns. Aziraphale told you that he preferred he/him but wasn’t opposed to they/them if it was to put a bigot in place. That if he chose to present as a woman again for the first time in thousands of years then he would update such choices. Just a small family the three of you were.

Meeting them had been perfect for your mental health, you weren’t ready to date anyone, and a rainy day led to you stepping into the red and gold bookshop, with plants scattered about, books older than time itself, an angel and a demon running it. And they took you in without a second thought.

“Darling, you seem lost in thought,” Aziraphale broke you from your thoughts, your bottom lip sore from chewing it in stress. “What is it that troubles you?” You looked at him in the rear view mirror, smiling softly as you felt Crowley’s hand on your thigh.

“Just nervous, and feeling bad. I want to tell them about us, all three of us, and yet I’m too scared…” your family wasn’t the most open to anything outside of heteronormative, including polyamory unfortunately, leaving Aziraphale to be the “best friend/co-worker”, he had actually volunteered the title, saying it would look better for Crowley to be your husband since he appeared closer to your age than the white haired Angel did.

“Don’t fret, I know it’s not ideal, but we can pretend for one night.” Aziraphale reassured, his blue eyes seeming brighter despite the dim light in the Bentley.

“We’re here, love.” Crowley said, parking behind your uncle’s familar white SUV. “You two ready?” You looked over to Crowley and nodded, unbuckling and turning back in your seat to give Aziraphale his final kiss of the night.

Immediately you wanted to slink back into the Bentley when you heard a chorus of your deadname being yelled through the house, directing Aziraphale to the dessert table to place the Eccles cake while you set down the ancient wine bottle with the other drinks.

“This is Anthony,” you introduced your husband to your family, he was dressed in their gray button up with his red tie, black blazer and slacks. “And this is our dearest friend Azira.” Aziraphale was done up in his usual outfit except he traded out the faded waistcoat for a newer one.

“What a pity we couldn’t attend the wedding, but I suppose (s)he’s always done things his/her own way.” Your mom said, feigning innocence as your hand tightened on Crowley’s.

“Ah, yes, I suppose that’s what drew me to them. Their fierce determination.” Crowley glared slightly, a faux grin on her lips as they enunciated your pronouns. That was how the night would continue, both Crowley and Aziraphale determinedly trying to correct your family through their own speech.

“That’s it!” Aziraphale was the first to snap, seeing tears in your eyes as he sat across from you at the dining table, luckily the children were eating in the great room, the tv playing football flickered at his outburst. “I have absolutely had it with you lot misgendering them! They told you four years ago that they preferred gender neutral terms and informed you of their very legal name change, what is so hard to accept?”

When your mom went to speak, Crowley interrupted. “Nope, wrong answer there, see it’s not that hard, maybe in the beginning, to adjust, to try. But you lot never tried, did you? Instead our partner here is almost in tears, they were stressed about even coming, but unlike you all, they value you. And yes, I said our partner. Azira is not just a friend, in fact he’s as much their husband as I am.” Crowley rose from her chair and offered you their hand, which you gratefully took, letting him guide you out of the house with Aziraphale following behind you.

“I’m sorry, that was improper and I know that-” Aziraphale stammered out, feeling like he messed up but being cut off when you suddenly hugged him, laughing softly against his shoulder.

“Don’t you dare apologize, did you see their faces? That was so worth it, I have you two, and we’re a big enough family for me.” Aziraphale hugged you back tightly and kissed the side of your head, you felt Crowley press against your back, joining your hug and kissing Aziraphale.

“Happy Christmas, loves.”

“Happy Christmas, dear.”

“Happy Christmas, little devil.”

[stormheartgames]

*Peeks My Head In Here*

So, hello, lovelies! 🥹 I know I said I'd update you when I could and I'm sorry for disappearing for so long, but things have been very hectic here. I'll give you a more detailed explanation under the cut, for those of you who are interested.

Everything below being said, I have been speaking with my friends and someone else who is in the IF community about coming back for realsies this time, and I think I'm going to start working on another project as a sort of mini-therapy for myself. It's going to be shorter than Calling of Metem's Hollow is by a long shot, but I will give you guys a little teaser for what I have planned shortly.

I have already started overhauling my blog a bit to make way for other games, but you'll still have access to everything CoMH related, I promise! 😘 Since I am StormheartGames after all.

I also just want you guys to know I have missed this community a lot. It's been hard being away from you all and from being away from writing in a larger sense. I do run D&D for some of my friends (oh god, do I run D&D) but that's not quite the same as creative writing, haha. Anyway, look out for more posts from me. 😘

Good news: I did get disability, so my life has gotten a smidge easier in the long run! It was just in time; I come from a poor family and we were rapidly running out of "windfall" money, so to speak, to pay all of our bills. 🥹 So my life is more stable in that way.

My medical stuff has only gotten worse, unfortunately, which is one reason I disappeared. Lots of pain from day to day, and it makes it so I can only sleep 4-5 hours a day. I won't bore you with the details, obviously, but it's been a whole rotten thing. I'm getting what treatment I can, don't worry about that.

I did not touch on this last time, but I've kind of become a full-time caretaker for my younger sister. She got very ill shortly after her birthday last year (I mean within days), and will never recover unless some kind of miracle happens. We are trying to get her on disability as well, but they are fighting us every step of the way. It has...not been easy.

But so long as things keep going the way they are, I'll have some free time to write and hang out again, so there's that. 🥹

[aurorangen]

After graduation came a break before work started for Renee. It was also Jay and Miracle's wedding! Renee and Vincent travelled all the way to Chestnut Ridge for this special occasion and it was such a joy to see Jay again! Though Vincent felt a bit light-headed upon arriving. He was just tired from the long journey, right? But don't worry he felt a lot better after a nap on the bench.

Transcript:

Renee: Finally we are here! Now where are we meant to meet Jay and Miracle? Vincent: Uhh my head [takes a moment to respond] Didn't he say New Appaloosa? The town centre? Renee: Let me check google maps again. Aha! We are in New Appaloosa.

[Renee continues looking. She zooms out to Oasis Springs, to an area of endless desert…just out of curiosity] Renee: I guess they couldn't update the map as there's no evidence. So this place must be Strangervil-

[Vincent's mind goes blank for a second and suddenly Renee's voice seems so far away. His head sways to one side and his eyes struggle to stay open. He could see Renee but everything looks blurry] Renee: Vince! Are you ok? [she grabs hold of him and they walk towards a bench to sit down]

Vincent: Shit. I just blanked out for a sec. God, I'm so knackered from the flight. Renee: Here have some water. We'll rest for a bit longer, there's time [snuggles close to him] Vincent: [smiles and rests his eyes] What would I do without you Renee?

Jay: [clears throat] Ahem still recognise me? Renee: Jay!?! Ahh Jay, it really is you! Damn, it's been so long! Jay: You're the same as always! I missed you, Renee.

Renee: And Miracle [squeals] Woah you're so beautiful in person! Miracle: Thanks gorgeous! You're exactly how Jay had described! [sees Vincent resting] Oh is Vincent OK? Renee: Yeah he's just tired. Hey Vince look who's arrived.

Vincent: Oh it's Jay and Miracle! Sorry, my head's a bit [he blinks a few times] It's so good to finally meet you two, just call me Vince, any friend of Renee is a friend of mine! And congrats, we can't wait for the big day! Jay: We've been dreaming about it forever, right Mir? And I've heard so much about you Vince.

[The guys continue walking as they get to know more about each other] Vincent: [nudges him] Oh god what did Renee tell you? Hopefully only good things eh? Jay: Well…interesting to say the least [they laugh together]

[thewebcomicsreview]

Homestuck 2 updated early this month, and we're Yiffy now. It's a Valentine's Day miracle!

Yiffy was one of the most interesting characters in HS2, because literally everyone treated her like shit constantly. Jade's giving her daughter a smooch but also Jade sent her off to a boarding school explicitly because she was embarrassing to acknowledge and also Jade named her child Yiffy Longstocking on a joke and never bothered to change it. In the epilogues, Rose acknowledged that nothing in Candy was "real" and she was joining the rebellion basically for the luls, and one some level Jade and Rose don't think Yiffy is a real three-quarters-human person, and I think they think of her more like an OC in a game they like.

Well, that was my read of HS2, lets see how HSBC handles her.

Oh, this visual is great. Kanaya is so pissed off she's turning into the Ancestor art style in real time. She also kind of looks like Batman, here.

No doubt if your POSSE OF PUBESCENT PUNKS back at school could see you now they'd throw up laughing.

I am suddenly way more interested in Yiffy's gang than I am in half the HS1 cast. What kids join a gang led by a dog girl named Yiffy Longstocking?

Engineering that reprieve might be just about the only real solid your no-show non-mom has ever actually bothered to do for you.

Oh thank christ, there was a part of me worried that Yiffy wouldn't resent her parents for being the second-worst parents in HS2. This is the most interesting thing in the sequels, I think.

TAVVY: ,,, And also, everyone knows you exist now,,, instead of just me,,, TAVVY: And our moms

TAVVY: Wow,,,! YIFFY: TAVVY: You know, i was almost kidnapped,,, once,,, TAVVY: My mom removed the window, after that, TAVVY: Which, um, sucked, TAVVY: Though, i guess you'd know, uh, about that,,,

Oh, interesting. Tavvy knew about Yiffy this whole time? Actually, this and Yiffy's description of him via narration earlier imply they grew up together. I guess that makes sense, since he's Jane's kid and Jade inexplicably put Jane in charge of Yiffy, but he never told Vrissy about her secret sister? That's a bit fucked up, dude. Yiffy's not saying anything (and I hope she doesn't for a long time, until she has something meaningful to say), but her text color is Dave's red, even though she's not related to Dave. Or she is and HSBC is going to retcon HS2's most hated plot point somehow.

Pepis

Look at this ARRANT BEAVIS double fisting those cans of pop

"ARRANT BEAVIS" is a great Homestuckism

The Sylph has been slow boiling, you can tell.

Interesting that Yiffy refers to Kanaya as "The Sylph". I don't know what else she'd call her, I suppose, but Yiffy of all people being the one to mention Classpect is odd.

You've only been around this earth for 15 years, but it's a self-evident fact that there are no useful authorities. Gifted with unimaginable power, their concern only stretches so far as to manhandle those dependent on them, and tangles into ineffectual deadlock the instant it meets a challenge worth addressing. Potential killed for the sake of comfort. True kindness is real, but only for those that bare teeth and break skin. Why should these disingenuous, bystanding, spineless, SELFISH adults get anything they want?

Fuck yes, Yiffy hates all the HS1 characters. I've been hoping for this, she has more beef with them all than even Tavros, and it's a bit of Vriska energy this comic has needed that neither actually Vriska really provides.

Yiffy being the best thing about HS2 was maybe a hot take before, but hopefully it isn't now. She's great.

JADE: and of course you arent obligated to ever forgive me but... i dont want to lose you too! JADE: i love you kanaya JADE: youre my family KANAYA: You Fucked My Wife

This is the best update in the entire comic.

KANAYA: And Though That Travesty Of A Name Is Undoubtedly An Incomprehensibly Offensive Piece Of This Particular Puzzle KANAYA: What I See Is Not An Explanation KANAYA: But A Glossing Over Of The Worst Detail ROSE: Jane.

Yeah, HS2 kind of glossed over Rose/Jade putting TrumpHitler in charge of their literal child. I could copy/paste this whole conversation but basically Kanaya is pointing out that there's like fifty plot holes in Yiffy's backstory and it makes no fucking sense at all and are they going to retcon her to being Jade/Dave's ecto-kid?

ROSE: You've managed to exhume the solemn cadaver of my mother's memory and make her the star of another argument. KANAYA: As If You Ever Bothered To Bury Her ROSE: What does this have to do with anything!? KANAYA: What I Am Doing Is Demonstrating That I Have No Intention To Mediate This Situation KANAYA: Or Pacify It KANAYA: Or Even Be A Little Bit Nice Right Now KANAYA: So Perhaps Youll Actually Take Me Seriously For Once

This is the well-earned sass we've been waiting for since Yiffy's reveal.

ROSE: But more than anything else, I took her up on it because it felt oddly ROSE: inevitable. ROSE: Anyways, ROSE: Deep down, I knew it didn’t matter. ROSE: However we handled it. ROSE: Whatever hurt we caused. ROSE: It was never that serious.

Man, I'm glad that I'm live-blogging and put my read of the situation up as I went because I fucking called it. Yes! I am capable of retaining information when I read instead of staring at the screen slack-jawed.

ROSE: I knew you would forgive me. KANAYA: Rose KANAYA: When Did You Stop Trying JADE: yeah rose!!!!! JADE: what the fuck!!!!

Oh shit, Candy Rose is evil?

JADE: b-but i just dont want things to get even worse!!!!!! KANAYA: Then stop pretending that my feelings are top priority KANAYA: AND TRY BEING HONEST FOR ONCE JADE: WHAT DOES IT EVEN MATTER!!!!!!! KANAYA: Excuse Me? JADE: you heard me! JADE: you were wronged kanaya! JADE: the truth cant change that JADE: saying it just fucking hurts more JADE: what does that accomplish? JADE: its so embarrassing, would you even get it if i had?

JADE: you have no idea what its like out there JADE: how traumatizing dating regular citizens was JADE: imagine trying to love someone who already knows every available detail about you JADE: who has *opinions* on what happened to you as a child JADE: who assumes youre indestructible JADE: newsflash it fucking sucks!!!!!!! because no matter how nice they were JADE: they didnt want to know me JADE: they wanted to date the god of space

I have no notes, this is great and I'm thrilled everyone is mad now.

JADE: so everyone could lecture me again on how "bad" my "boundaries" are? ROSE: (I did that one time.) JADE: you want bad boundaries JADE: do you know how many people would be waiting outside public bathrooms to talk to me about their problems? JADE: this one guy randomly started apologizing because they cooked their hamster in the microwave! JADE: and they looked so sad... i had to hug them and say it was ok JADE: but it was not ok! JADE: they murdered their hamster! Rose: Ugh... JADE: and their other hamster killed itself KANAYA: JADE JADE: out of loneliness!!!!!

What the fuck, this is amazing.

The art here is great, by the way.

JADE: millions of people told me they loved me JADE: but i was never a real person to them JADE: i couldn't let that happen to yiffy too KANAYA: What JADE: i had to save her kanaya! JADE: give her the chance to grow up as a normal kid with a normal life

Jade she's half-dog and she's named Yiffy Fucking Longstocking, that ship has sailed. How are people not going to know she's your child?

Oh, okay. She wears a hat. Sure.

This art is so good!

KANAYA: Even If I Didnt Want Her KANAYA: She Was Already Here

*Makes a note in my "ominous foreshadowing lines journal*

What. Why does Jade have a Frankenstein in her inventory? What's that about?

And that was the update. Honestly? Banger, easily the best HSBC update yet. I could, and if I didn't have DnD in five minutes perhaps would (and perhaps still will!) write a whole essay on this. Phenomenal. A+

[sageistri]

I have been entertaining the thought that RM demanded a solid promotional campaign and rollout since he’s been witness to everything that panned out last year. He watched from the sidelines JK getting posters, ads, promotion videos, playlisting, radio, influencer collaborations, media play and more. And I believe RM is someone who understands charts a fair bit. He watched one of them get everything on a silver platter and now probably wants a better package for himself too. Good for him. I hope everyone gets it. They still won’t get the scooter package, but anything is better than nothing. I hope JM gets it too. He’s gonna go to new heights with a half decent, unsaboataged album rollout.

Yeah so far his promo looks better than for indigo, not necessarily because of the posters alone but because I've seen a couple press releases giving insight into the album, and that's always a good way to drum up excitement.

But in my opinion all that doesn't do much if he's not getting the basics, the things that actually drives streams up and help with chart positions, which is good playlisting. What's the point of doing these things that only armys are going care about if they aren't doing the stuff that will get his music to a broader audience.

If a TTH placement wasn't the most important of all, some hybe artists wouldn't be getting it for every release and spending months on there.

Also I saw a lot of armys saying new jeans got the playlisting and support that BTS solos didn't get, and I agree but do they also forget that one member got more than new jeans ever got which means that Hybe could give it to the other members but they don't want to?. Like I understand saying "oh this rookie group got this but not bts", but I'm not going to blame a group of young girls for a decision hybe made themselves. Yes mhj is a leech, but I highly doubt she stopped bang pd from giving the others playlisting. Armys talking about payola when when jk is literally right there. If jk could spend months on TTH with multiple songs then I think other BTS members could get a good placement as well.

Like we all witnessed seven being moved up multiple spots on TTH in a single week, when usually the playlist gets updated weekly. Do you know the kind of in you need to have to get Spotify to do that?

Posters mean nothing when there's no playlisting, radioplay or even a good amount of physical cd stocks. If those weren't the ultimate needs, jk wouldn't have gotten all of that with 50k CDs being restocked every week.

Yes Tae got versions (but no CDs mind you or TTH), Hobi got CDs (and posters according to someone) but still no TTH. Everything's worse because the members aren't even here to perform or promote the music at all so they should be getting other ways to spread their music. At this point they can only hope a miracle happens for them.

Y'all don't understand how much work playlists do for an artist but I do understand and that's why I always talk about it. It's how you increase your monthly listeners because more people are introduced to your music, it keeps your Listener count and streams stable even of you don't drop music for a while. The weeknd doesn't have the biggest streams debut but he has the highest monthly listeners in the world and stability because his songs are added to a shit ton playlists.

At this point it feels like Hybe is doing all these little things like posters and CDs (with not even enough stock available) to hide the fact that they are not actually doing anything. Like I seriously doubt jk had less than 50k CDs first week for all 3 of his singles, but here they go giving other members 10-20k CDs that never gets restocked again. But of course jk Stans will say "I thought y'all said x could achieve what jk did if the got the same promo?, well look at friend(s)"... Itunes pre-orders and a couple versions does not even begin to put a dent in the kind of promo and push seven got but ok. If Hybe decided to give the other 6 members the exact same kind of push jk got they would definitely go bankrupt so why would they do that?

So right now even with Jimin I'm not banking on them doing what's expected, my hope right now is that he's able to get a broader audience even without their help. Lots of other artists have done it and he could.

[hero-of-the-horn]

the home inside your head (chapter 9)

While renovating her house, Yang takes in a friend of Weiss’s who needs a place to regroup after ending things with an abusive ex.

Blake learns how renovating a house can look a lot like recovery.

She presses hope between her ribs like petals between pages and thinks of new beginnings, of growth.

She swallows, thinking of the proximity they’ll share in bed for the night. A silly thought, maybe, considering how often they’ve shared a bed before. But tonight feels different, full of reckless choices and skewed judgment. Tonight feels like falling.

[guardevoir]

Fiber arts update!

hooooookay. Been a while.

Weaving first: finished another scarf

the tension was so fucked - so unbelievably fucked - that it's a miracle I got a scarf out of this. I think I accidentally wound the warp on tilted or something, and then ended up having to tension individual strings in many creative and interesting ways.

That aside, it's not washed yet, but it turned out mostly okayish in the end. The yarn did have some very unfortunate color changes - there's a whole row of really abrupt orange stripes in there that look weird with all the long fades - but that wasn't on me, so whatever. It's a scarf, it's nice and colorful, and I like the size of it.

Then, spinning: 200 goddamn grams (just over 7 ounces) of 4-ply incredibly blue Merino.

It is hard to overstate how violently blue this stuff is. Unfortunately, the fiber was also somewhat meh - had some odd little lumps and the occasional bit of vm, and I would've loved to do more prep on it, but spinning from the fold limited my options somewhat. But ah well, it is what it is.

The little middle bit of yarn is also cable-plied because I ran out of two singles and essentially went "fuck it, why not". I didn't want to mess around with too many center-pull balls or spend forever rewinding it.

Still needs to be washed, too, but yeah - that's a HUGE chunk of stuff I can check off my to-do list.

Next up is the same amount of 4-ply grey merino, which I might cable-ply in its entirety tbh, but I'm not sure yet.

Also, I've officially been spinning for a year, as of like three weeks ago! So, happy fiber arts anniversary to me I guess.

/edit: oh yeah, bonus WIP photo of the big hank of blue stuff on a bobbin because it looks really neat and satisfying

[lucienarcheron]

Elucien ( Taylor's Version ) 🦊🌸

Originally made this a few years ago but had to update it with the newer Taylor songs and her versions of the songs! This was inspired by the many many T-Swift songs that fit our lovely OTP Elucien. I will be highlighting all the lyrics that fit Elucien in each song and I have always said, TSwift is for Elucien and Elucien only haha. I started from her earliest albums and worked my way up, so buckle up, this is a long post! You can find the playlist here.

Invisible (Taylor Swift). This is a song I can see from Lucien’s perspective and ugh, it crushes my heart.

And you can't see me wantin' you the way you want her* But you are everything to me And I just wanna show you *She don't even know you *She's never gonna love you like I want to And you just see right through me but if you only knew me We could be a beautiful, miracle, unbelievable Instead of just invisible There's a fire inside of you That can't help but shine through *She's never gonna see the light No matter what you do And all I think about is how to make you think of me And everything that we could beI just wanna open your eyes And make you realize

Untouchable (Fearless). This song genuinely hurt my feelings. Every single lyric works for Elucien. The whole entire song just works from both Elain and Lucien’s perspectives. She’s untouchable, like a distant diamond sky. They’re reaching out to each other by can’t tell why (they can, it’s the mating bond) but my favorite of the lyrics is: Untouchable burning Brighter than the sun And when you're close I feel like coming undone

You Belong with Me (Fearless). One specific part that stands out coming from Lucien’s perspective.

Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find That what you're looking for has been here the whole time If you could see that I'm the one Who understands you Been here all along So, why can't you see? You belong with me You belong with me

Jump Then Fall (Fearless). Lucien’s pov as him and Elain start to get to know each other as friends. Lucien just can’t help the way his heart beats frantically for this adorable girl.

I realize your laugh is the best sound I have ever heard I like the way I can't keep my focus I watch you talk, you didn't notice I hear the words but all I can think is we should be together Every time you smile, I smile And every time you shine, I'll shine for you

Whoa-oh, I'm feelin' you, baby Don't be afraid to jump then fall Jump then fall into me Baby, I'm never gonna leave you Say that you wanna be with me too So I'ma stay through it all So jump then fall

Well, I like the way your hair falls in your face You got the keys to me, I love each freckle on your face Oh, I've never been so wrapped up, honey I like the way you're everything I ever wanted I had time to think it oh, over And all I can say is come closer Take a deep breath and jump then fall into me 'Cause every time you smile, I smile And every time you shine, I'll shine for you

The bottom's gonna drop out from under our feet I'll catch you, I'll catch you When people say things that bring you to your knees I'll catch you The time is gonna come when you're so mad, you could cry But I'll hold you through the night until you smile Whoa-oh, I need you, baby Don't be afraid, please, jump then fall Jump then fall into me

Today Was a Fairytale (Valentine’s Day). The song that summarizes how every day will be for them moving forward.

Today was a fairytale You were the prince I used to be a damsel in distress You took me by the hand

&

You told me I was pretty When I looked like a mess

&

Time slows down Whenever you're around Сan you feel this magic in the air? It must have been the way you kissed me Fell in love when I saw you standin' there It must have been the way Today was a fairytale It must have been the way Today was a fairytale Today was a fairytale You've got a smile That takes me to another planet Every move you make Everything you say is right Today was a fairytale Today was a fairytale All that I can say Is now it's getting so much clearer Nothing made sense 'Til the time I saw your face Today was a fairytale

Mine (Speak Now). This is a song I can see representing if (when) Elain leaves the Night Court to work with (become friends) with the Band of Exiles.

Do you remember, we were sittin', there by the water? You put your arm around me for the first time You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter You are the best thing, that's ever been mine

If you think about it, Elain is a rebel waiting to be unleashed. The careful (mediator) daughter of a once careless (up until the end) father. I can see them sitting there, enjoying the silence, and Lucien getting the courage (and with her permission) to put his arm around her for the first time.

I Almost Do (Red). For this song, I view it as Elain’s resistance to Lucien being her own stubbornness. She’s scared of finding something she could want forever, scared of how there’s a pull towards him even when she doesn’t actively want it. Her resistance can be viewed as her fighting the pull of the bond because she doesn’t want to be influenced by it, she wants to make her own choice. I’m sure she could be wondering how often her mate thinks of her compared to how often she thinks of him.

I bet This time of night you're still up I bet You're tired from a long hard week I bet You're sittin' in your chair by the window Looking out at the city And I bet Sometimes you wonder 'bout me And I just wanna tell youIt takes everything in me not to call you And I wish I could run to you And I hope you know that every time I don't I almost do I almost do I bet You think I either moved on or hate you 'Cause each time you reach out there's no reply

Treacherous (Red). This song makes me think of Elain and Lucien both being drawn to each other because they can’t help it, even when they try to resist it. For Elain, Lucien is the hard choice because it challenges everything she’s come to know about the mating bond and takes her away even further from the life she wanted. I can see them hating the attraction they feel but succumbing to it regardless (not as far as haters to lovers but definitely reluctant until they start hashing it out — “is it the bond or do I truly feel this way?”).

I can't decide if it's a choice Getting swept away I hear the sound of my own voice Asking you to stay And all we are is skin and bone Trained to get along Forever going with the flow But you're friction

& Two headlights shine through the sleepless night And I will get you, and get you alone Your name has echoed through my mind And I just think you should, think you should know That nothing safe is worth the drive And I would follow you, follow you home I'll follow you, follow you home

Message in a Bottle (Red). This song is all Elain realizing her feelings for Lucien after all this time and distance. She's reaching out, scared but he could be the one she loves, right?

I know that you like me And it's kinda frightenin' Standing here waitin', waitin' And I became hypnotized By freckles and bright eyes Tongue tied

But now You're so far away and I'm down Feelin' like a face in the crowd I'm reachin' for you, terrified

&

'Cause you could be the one that I love I could be the one that you dream of Message in a bottle is all I can do Standin' here, hopin' it gets to you You could be the one that I keep, and I Could be the reason you can't sleep at night Message in a bottle is all I can do Standin' here, hopin' it gets to you

This Love (1989). This song is so soft and I want to scream because of how it fits so well. Both Elain and Lucien would consider the bond both positive and negative because of how it came to be, how it shifts their memories and faithfulness to their previous lovers.

In silent screams and wildest dreams I never dreamed of this

Tossing, turning Struggled through the night with someone new And I could go on and on, on and on Lantern, burning Flickered in my mind, only you

This love left a permanent mark This love is glowing in the dark, oh-oh, oh These hands had to let it go free, and This love came back to me, oh-oh, oh

Your smile, my ghost I fell to my knees When you're young, you just run But you come back to what you need

Wonderland (1989). Certain lyrics reminded me of their moments with Hybern when Elain got turned. The few moments before, when Lucien picked her up and away from the cauldron tipping Nesta so Elain doesn’t get wet. The tense, crazy moments after finding out she’s his mate.

Flashing lights and we Took a wrong turn and we Fell down a rabbit hole You held on tight to me 'Cause nothing's as it seems And spinning out of control

I reached for you But you were gone I knew I had to go back home You search the world for something else To make you feel like what we had And in the end, in Wonderland, we both went mad

You Are In Love (1989). This song screams Elain watching up one night and looking at Lucien's sleeping body next to her and realizing, "Oh. This. This is it."

One look, dark room Meant just for you

&

No proof, not much But you saw enough

&

No proof, one touch But you felt enough

You can hear it in the silence, silence, you You can feel it on the way home, way home, you You can see it with the lights out, lights out You are in love, true love You are in love

&

You kiss on sidewalks You fight and you talk One night he wakes Strange look on his face Pauses, then says You're my best friend And you knew what it was He is in love

&

You two are dancing in a snow globe, 'round and 'round And he keeps the picture of you in his office downtown And you understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars And why I've spent my whole life tryin' to put it into words

Delicate (Reputation). Normally this is a Nessian song for me but with Elucien? This is a song that is going on as they very slowly get to know each other, possibly pretending they’re not falling very deeply in love with each other because it’s too #delicate to rock the boat.

You must like me for me Yeah, I want you

Is it cool that I said all that? Is it too soon to do this yet? 'Cause I know that it's delicate

Isn't it, isn't it, isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it, isn't it, isn't it? Isn't it delicate?

Sometimes I wonder; when you sleep Are you ever dreaming of me? Sometimes when I look into your eyes I pretend you're mine, all the damn time 'Cause I like you

So It Goes (Reputation). This is the moment Elain and Lucien stare at each other, seeing each other for the first time as equals and not...fighting it. The moment right before...the kiss and they fall. But when you get me alone, it's so simple 'Cause baby, I know what you know We can feel it And all the pieces fall Right into place Getting caught up in a moment Lipstick on your face So it goes I'm yours to keep And I'm yours to lose You know I'm not a bad girl But I do bad things with you So it goes

Dress (Reputation). Does this one even need explaining? Elain and Lucien exploring their relationship without anyone knowing, without anyone interfering. Shameless plug of my own fic where I used this song just for them.

Our secret moments in your crowded room They've got no idea about me and you There is an indentation in the shape of you Made your mark on me, a golden tattoo

All of this silence and patience, pining in anticipation My hands are shaking from holding back from you (ah, ah, ah) All of this silence and patience, pining and desperately waiting My hands are shaking from holding back from all this

&

Inescapable, I'm not even gonna try And if I get burned, at least we were electrified I'm spilling wine in the bathtub, you kiss my face and we're both drunk Everyone thinks that they know us, but they know nothing about

Lover ft. Shawn Mendes (Lover). Once they’ve opened themselves to the beauty of what they have together? Inseparable.

Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close? Forever and ever, ah Take me out, and take me home You're my, my, my, my lover &

I'll sing love songs to you when we're eighty See, I finally got you now, honey, I won't let you fall

&

Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand? With every guitar string scar on my hand I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover Look in my eyes, they will tell you the truth The girl in my story has always been you I'd go down with the Titanic, it's true, for you, lover And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me And at every table, I'll save you a seat, lover

The Archer (Lover). I see this as a very Elain song as she’s battling with her own self and mindset as well as what the bond means to her and her potential with Lucien.

Combat, I'm ready for combat I say I don't want that, but what if I do? 'Cause cruelty wins in the movies I've got a hundred thrown-out speeches I almost said to you

Easy they come, easy they go I jump from the train, I ride off alone I never grew up, it's getting so old Help me hold onto you

I've been the archer I've been the prey Who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay?

I Think He Knows (Lover). This fun song is Elain’s thought process as she shamelessly becomes o b s e s s e d with her mate, the love of her life.

I think he knows his footprints On the sidewalk Lead to where I can't stop Go there every night

I think he knows his hands around A cold glass Make me wanna know that body Like it's mine

He got that boyish look that I like in a man I am an architect, I'm drawing up the plans It's like I'm seventeen, nobody understands No one understands

He got my heartbeat Skipping down 16th Avenue Got that, oh! I mean Wanna see what's under that attitude Like, I want you, bless my soul And I ain't gotta tell him I think he knows I think he knows

I think he knows When we get all alone I'll make myself at home And he'll want me to stay

&

He's so obsessed with me, and boy I understand Boy I understand

Paper Rings (Lover).  Reluctant mates to friends to best friends to lovers? This is the song Elain scream-sings from the rooftops.

The wine is cold Like the shoulder that I gave you in the street Cat and mouse for a month or two or three Now I wake up in the night and watch you breathe

Kiss me once 'cause you know I had a long night (Oh!) Kiss me twice 'cause it's gonna be alright Three times 'cause I've waited my whole life

&

I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings Uh huh, that's right Darling, you're the one I want, and I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this Uh huh, that's right Darling, you're the one I want In paper rings, in picture frames, in dirty dreams Oh, you're the one I want

&

Kiss you once 'cause I know you had a long night (Oh!) Kiss you twice 'cause it's gonna be alright Three times 'cause you waited your whole life (One, two, one two three four!)

&

I want to drive away with you I want your complications too I want your dreary Mondays Wrap your arms around me, baby boy

You’re the one I want

False God (Lover). Elain and Lucien fighting to know, “Do you want me for me? Or is it the bond?” Give me angry kissing. Give me some frantic hands roaming bodies that set their souls ablaze. Give me the moment they break away from the heated kiss and have hurt in their eyes because those idiots turned away from each at the same time.

They all warned us about times like this They say the road gets hard and you get lost when you're led by blind faith Blind faith

But we might just get away with it Religion's in your lips Even if it's a false god We'd still worship We might just get away with it The altar is my hips Even if it's a false god We'd still worship this love We'd still worship this love We'd still worship this love

I know heaven's a thing I go there when you touch me Honey hell is when I fight with you

But we can patch it up good Make confessions and we're begging for forgiveness

Afterglow (Lover). I see this song as Elain’s perspective as she’s been fighting against this bond and pushing Lucien away because she thinks it’s the worse thing that’s happened to her then slowly realizing exactly how in love she is with him.

I blew things out of proportion, now you're blue Put you in jail for something you didn't do I pinned your hands behind your back, oh Thought I had reason to attack, but no

Fighting with a true love is boxing with no gloves Chemistry 'til it blows up, 'til there's no us Why'd I have to break what I love so much? It's on your face, and I'm to blame, I need to say

Hey It's all me in my head I'm the one who burned us down But it's not what I meant Sorry that I hurt you I don't wanna do, I don't wanna do this to you I don't wanna lose, I don't wanna lose this with you I need to say, hey It's all me, just don't go Meet me in the afterglow

I lived like an island, punished you with silence Went off like sirens, just crying

&

Tell me that you're still mine Tell me that we'll be just fine Even when I lose my mind I need to say Tell me that it's not my fault Tell me that I'm all you want Even when I break your heart

Daylight (Lover). After the heartbreaks and all the fights…they walk into the daylight together.

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you I've been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night And now I see daylight, I only see daylight

&

And I can still see it all (In my mind) All of you, all of me (Intertwined) I once believed love would be (Black and white) But it's golden (Golden) And I can still see it all (In my head) Back and forth from New York (Singing in your bed) I once believed love would be (Burning red) But it's golden Like daylight, like daylight Like daylight, daylight

&

I wanna be defined by the things that I love Not the things I hate Not the things that I'm afraid of, I'm afraid of Not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night I, I just think that You are what you love

Mirrorball (Folklore). Learning the beauty of falling in love and seeing how a mate is an equal, a mirror to show you all the wonderful sides of themselves.

I want you to know I'm a mirrorball I'll show you every version of yourself tonight I'll get you out on the floor Shimmering beautiful And when I break it's in a million pieces Hush When no one is around, my dear You'll find me on my tallest tiptoes Spinning in my highest heels, love Shining just for you Hush I know they said the end is near But I'm still on my tallest tiptoes Spinning in my highest heels, love Shining just for you

Invisible String (Folklore). Isn’t this the song for every mate? Highlighting how there was always a string tying them to a chance for a most magnificent love.

Time, mystical time Cuttin' me open, then healin' me fine Were there clues I didn't see? And isn't it just so pretty to think All along there was some Invisible string Tying you to me?

&

A string that pulled me Out of all the wrong arms right into that dive bar Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire Chains around my demons, wool to brave the seasons One single thread of gold tied me to you

Peace (Folklore). A song from Lucien’s perspective. A future high lord from a broken home. How could he ever bring her peace?

But I'm a fire and I'll keep your brittle heart warm If your cascade ocean wave blues come All these people think love's for show But I would die for you in secret The devil's in the details, but you got a friend in me Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?

And you know that I'd swing with you for the fences Sit with you in the trenches Give you my wild, give you a child Give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other Family that I chose now that I see your brother as my brother Is it enough? 'Cause there's robbers to the east, clowns to the west I'd give you my sunshine, give you my best But the rain is always gonna come if you're standing with me Willow (Evermore). Elain as she’s realizing how Lucien has sneaked into her heart by being everything she didn’t know she needed.

I'm like the water when your ship rolled in that night Rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife And if it was an open-shut case I never would've known from that look on your face Lost in your current like a priceless wine

&

Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind Head on the pillow, I could feel you sneaking in As if you were a mythical thing Like you were a trophy or a champion ring And there was one prize I'd cheat to win The more that you say The less I know Wherever you stray I follow I'm begging for you to take my hand Wreck my plans That's my man You know that my train could take you home Anywhere else is hollow I'm begging for you to take my hand Wreck my plans That's my man

&

Wait for the signal and I'll meet you after dark Show me the places where the others gave you scars

Gold Rush (Evermore). Elain, as she watches Lucien dazzle every crowd he’s in, feeling both proud that he’s her mate (while still nervous and apprehensive around him) but can’t help being slightly annoyed at how many people seem to want his attention.

Gleaming Twinkling Eyes like sinking ships On waters so inviting I almost jump in But I don't like a gold rush, gold rush I don't like anticipating my face in a red flush I don't like that anyone would die to feel your touch Everybody wants you Everybody wonders what it would be like to love you Walk past, quick brush I don't like slow motion double vision in rose blush I don't like that falling feels like flying 'til the bone crush Everybody wants you But I don't like a gold rush What must it be like To grow up that beautiful? With your hair falling into place like dominos At dinner parties I call you out on your contrarian shit And the coastal town We wandered 'round had never Seen a love as pure as it

Ivy (Evermore). The struggle of wanting someone while they both navigate the waters of grieving an old love. The struggle of how they find themselves in each other’s dreams.

Your touch brought forth an incandescent glow Tarnished but so grand

And the old widow goes to the stone every day But I don't, I just sit here and wait Grieving for the living

&

Oh, goddamn My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand Taking mine, but it's been promised to another Oh, I can't Stop you putting roots in my dreamland My house of stone, your ivy grows And now I'm covered in you

I wish to know The fatal flaw that makes you long to be Magnificently cursed

&

it's a fire It's a goddamn blaze in the dark And you started it You started it So yeah, it's a war It's the goddamn fight of my life And you started it You started it

Cowboy Like Me (Evermore). Elain and Lucien realizing they’re both more similar than they think, having to cater to the feelings of those around them, telling people what they want to hear and just trying to make the most of life. Until they find each other.

You're a cowboy like me Perched in the dark Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear Like it could be love I could be the way forward Only if they pay for it

You're a bandit like me Eyes full of stars Hustling for the good life Never thought I'd meet you here It could be love We could be the way forward And I know I'll pay for it

And the skeletons in both our closets Plotted hard to mess this up

&

Now you hang from my lips Like the Gardens of Babylon With your boots beneath my bed Forever is the sweetest con

&

I've had some tricks up my sleeve Takes one to know one

Long Story Short (Evermore). Elain has had her ups and downs, struggling to find herself, letting herself get lost in options here and there but finally, finds her way home. To herself. To Lucien.

Fatefully I tried to pick my battles 'til the battle picked me Misery Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep And you passed right by

&

And I fell from the pedestal Right down the rabbit hole Long story short, it was a bad time Pushed from the precipice Clung to the nearest lips Long story short, it was the wrong guy Now I'm all about you I'm all about you, ah Yeah, yeah I'm all about you, ah Yeah, yeah Actually I always felt I must look better in the rear view Missing me At the golden gates they once held the keys to When I dropped my sword I threw it in the bushes and knocked on your door And we live in peace But if someone comes at us This time, I'm ready

&

No more keepin' score now I just keep you warm (keep you warm) No more tug of war now I just know there's more (know there's more) No more keepin' score now I just keep you warm (keep you warm) And my waves meet your shore Ever and evermore

Lavender Haze (Midnights). The moment I heard this song, I knew it would be an elucien hit. This is Elain and Lucien in the stages of secretly getting to know each other away from everyone. I see this from Elain's POV as they try to take it slow and stay in that lavender haze~

Starin' at the ceilin' with you Oh, you don't ever say too much And you don't really read into My melancholia

I've been under scrutiny (yeah, oh, yeah) You handle it beautifully (yeah, oh, yeah) All this shit is new to me (yeah, oh, yeah)

I feel the lavender haze creepin' up on me Surreal, I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say No deal, the 1950s shit they want from me I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

&

All they keep askin' me (all they keep askin' me) Is if I'm gonna be your bride

Sweet Nothing (Midnights). Elain and Lucien knowing they're each other's safe spaces.

They said the end is coming Everyone's up to something I find myself running home to your sweet nothings Outside, they're push and shoving You're in the kitchen humming All that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing

&

And the voices that implore, "You should be doing more" To you, I can admit that I'm just too soft for all of it

And lastly, to wrap it up with an oldie, I’m Only Me When I’m With You (Taylor Swift). “Mine…you are mine and I am yours. Mate.”

Friday night beneath the stars In a field behind your yard You and I are painting pictures in the sky Sometimes we don't say a thing Just listen to the crickets sing Everything I need is right here by my side

And I know everything about you I don't wanna live without you

I'm only up when you're not down Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground It's like no matter what I do Well, you drive me crazy half the time The other half I'm only trying To let you know that what I feel is true And I'm only me when I'm with you

[naavispider]

Update! Merry Christmas! I've broken up for the holidays now so have a lot more time for writing! I'm working on Merciless right now, and also I hope (we need a christmas miracle) to finally finish the epilogue of The Cat's in the Cradle 💀 I'm also monitoring the ask box, which is extensive atm, so if it takes me a while to answer those please don't hate me 🙈 In the meantime, have a scene from Merciless that I decided to cut:

“You’re gonna have to KILL ME!” 

“I don’t like this any more than you do.”

“I don’t know, okay! I don’t KNOW!”

The boy’s eyelids fluttered to a close, and the technician next to Ardmore looked up worriedly. “General-” she stammered. 

Just then, the roaring of the machine suddenly began to fade, and the rotating lights slowed to a less sickening pace. A whirring noise signalled that someone had deactivated it. Ardmore turned towards the operating desk, furious. 

“General,” the recombinant Quaritch was pacing towards her, his tail swishing. “Let me try the more personal approach.”

But Ardmore had had enough. The boy had withstood the most invasive interrogation techniques the science personnel had developed. He wasn’t takling. She hated to admit it, but it seemed like Mercer had been right. 

“Oh no, Colonel. Socorro won’t talk. He’s had his chance.”

Quaritch’s eyes widened in surprise. They darted from her stern expression over to the boy, panting on the vege of passing out, and back again. “What do you mean, General?” His voice was layered with something deep - a warning.

“You won’t have any more success than what we’ve tried already. He’s not your son.”

“General-”

“Take him back to the cell,” she ordered the two security, cutting Quaritch off. Immediately, they stepped forward and began unbuckling Socorro. She turned her attention back to Quaritch. “He’ll be placed under Mercer’s supervision. If we can’t get the intel then we’ll take what we can get.”

Quaritch opened his mouth in what honestly looked like shock. “General, you can’t-”

“That’s my decision.” The certainty in her voice was enough to turn the air between them ice cold. “You and your squad fly at dawn. Find me Jake Sully. Then we can talk about the boy.”

[gallawitchxx]

weekly tag wednesday thursday!

oooh baby, look at all the hotties that tagged me to play yesterday: @darlingian @creepkinginc @suzy-queued @metalheadmickey @too-schoolforcool @lingy910y @crossmydna @sgtmickeyslaughter @iansw0rld @juliakayyy @thisdivorce & @energievie !!!! THANKS HOTTIES! how fun!

how is your day going?: so far so good! i honestly laid in bed for hours this morning - much longer than i intended to. but i think that's fine!

are you okay?: life has been super whumpy lately & i haven't been riding the waves all that gracefully. but yeah, i'm okay! this too shall pass.

what is your favourite shade of your favourite colour?: i don't really have a favorite color, but i love turquoise that's more blue than green.

are you single?: i am Very Married!

are you happy about that?: yeah! my wife's the best! we have our shit, like all couples do, but i wouldn't be who or where i am today without her. i'm very lucky.

what age do you feel in your brain?: oooh... 970?

do you feel like the good times are behind you or ahead of you?: both! past, present & future good times for me, bayybeee!

do you have a best friend?: many! but in the traditional sense, yes. i have two besties who i've known since childhood & it's a blessed miracle that we're still loving up on each other after all of these years.

did you have a childhood pet?: i had fish & a couple of cats!

do you sing or whistle around the house?: oh, i was literally just singing take me or leave me from rent (both parts thank you very much) while doing the dishes! so yes! my wife & i also are constantly making up dumb songs lolol.

do you light candles or incense?: yes yes both! more candles now, but incense when we used to *gasp* smoke weed inside hahahalksgjsl. but now we're strictly backyard stoners, so the candles work just fine. plus, i have tons of witchy candles too that i'm always working with for spells & such.

are you busy Friday night?: no? lol. what day is it? we have some weekend plans, so a friday night in sounds grand!

if you were a circus performer which act would you be in?: probably a fortune teller (typecast), but i think in another life, i'd want to be a trapeze artist & swing from the rafters!

what is your favourite outfit?: oooh this one's easy! a white mock turtleneck, my black Wildfang overalls, and sneakers!

what's the last thing you created?: i'm working on a writing project for work & still attempting my end of the Having a Ball collab with @callivich (hi calli, ily calli, thank you for your patience calli), but i suppose the last thing i created was this art of mickey's booty.

what is your favourite fic or book of all time?: it might need an update, but my forever favorite book is a tale of two cities by charles dickens. my favorite fic? shit that's hard. eerrrrmmmm - i truly cannot answer this, sorry lolol.

what are you looking forward to?: by this time next month (plus a few days), i'll have hugged all of my favorite people! HOW EXCITING FOR ME!

what can put you immediately in a better mood?: a movie night with the pals! a play sesh with my pup! a smoocherooooo.

do you like hugs?: love 'em! c'mere! let me squeeze you round the middle & bury my nose in your neck!

what is something you wish people understood about you?: oooh. um, i think that because i'm pretty positive all the time, people don't think to check in on me & see if i'm doing ok? this isn't a plea by any means lol - i'm good! - but it takes a lot of effort to keep a good attitude when the world can be so harsh. also! i'm a witch! don't mess with me! *wink*

tagging @heymrspatel @howlinchickhowl @whatwouldmickeydo @whatthebodygraspsnot @milk-o-bitch & @squidyyy23 - who may not ever see this, but who i almost put down for favorite fic! (i'm DAD's #1 stan!) & who i miss every day of my life! if you don't want to play, that's cool! imagine we're laying together in a field of green, looking up at a clear, sunny sky. ily.

[manonamora-if]

May Check-In

This is a bit late, because I've been debugging the past two days.

So I bought Tropico 6 during the last Steam sale. If you haven't seen me posting for a while, blame by wish to be a benevolent dictator of a fake Caribbean island.

Onto the usual index:

Recap of last month’s progress

IF Events in the Next Month (I won't do this anymore)

Plan for the next month

Still long post under the break. If you want a mini version, head on over to itch.io as usual!

April Progress

From last month, what did we do:

Play more games: ✅

I started so good, finishing reviewing the SeedComp! entries, as well as the Revival Jam and had started on the Spring Thing... then I got distracted by the TALJ and Tropico... I also need to update @manonamora-if-reviews at some point... It's at least 100 reviews behind.

Finish the Code of Ch5✅ of Harcourt and edit the Ending Chapter ✅

YES! IT IS DONE! I have finally fixed those godamn doors in the maze that were giving me so much trouble. Also MelS has gotten my edits on all the Chapters/files (and was given extra comments because I also fixed some code in previous chapters). He is hard at work dying editing the missing text.

The only thing left for me is to: - add the maze visuals (map, book/letter formatting) - settle on a design for the final maze puzzle (need to so some research) - include the missing chapter/text (waiting for MelS)

Finish fixing The Roads Not Taken. Or An Eggcellent Preparation. Maybe the other parser too (it just needs a smidge of polish).

LOL... This is the shameful failure that is following me around, ringing that darn bell.

Should i give up on it? Maybe one day...

Complete the TALJ entry. ✅

I have been battling this one the whole morning trying to fix so many bugs. But I'm pretty happy about it. For one: it was actually tested by someone (not like last year). For two: it's actually an easy parser (like you can't lose!).

And the idea had been ringing in my head for so long, I had the prompt submitted to last SeedComp!.

But yeah, this had been happening for a while already. And even though it doesn't have the level of polish I had hopped (future me problem with updates), it is probably one of the better one I've made.

Anyway, play Lysidice and the Minotaur (I'll have an official post tomorrow). (and you can vote for it if you want...)

What else happened this month????

Well, the SeedComp! ended, so I had to deal with all the admin, and making the cool stickers for the different entries. That took quite a bit of time... but worth it! Some really cool entries this year, yet again!

Well, this is more of it's been done last month but released this month: Les lettres du Docteur Jeangille has been translated into English, for the Spring Thing (in the Main Garden, if you feel like voting for games). You can find the post there!

I've been also drafting some post-mortems, one for Jeangille and one for Lysidice. They should come out during the month, at some point.

:/ I have to update my website again now...

I wanted to do an entry in the Dialogue Jam, but my idea didn't pan out on time (too buggy for release). Or eer... cough cough... I had enough will power not to do it? Anyway, also I made the Really Bad IF Jam, which starts today!

What’s happening in May?

As mentioned at the start, I'm dropping this section from my check-in. First, it's buried deep in a wall of text, so no visibility (it should have been a separate post, oh well). If people actually check the events out, I'm sure it would be a miracle.

But mainly... a zine has popped up recently, specifically about IF called What's New in IF? (@if-whats-new), releasing weekly. Since it includes events, like the jams/comps/conferences I used to mention here (and it looks more sleek than a Tumblr post), I'll just leave them do all that hard work instead 😅

So yea... as long as the zine is happening, I'm out 😅 Well, I'll drop them links to my jams and stuff I see, because they seem to be looking for help in finding stuff.

The PLANtm for May

I'm playing Tropico, so I'm getting and will probably going to get less stuff done. Which is not a bad think. Breaks are important. Will I go on a break this month?

Probably should...

But if I don't, where's what I hope to do:

Play more games: On my juicy list I have: the Spring Thing, the newly released Dialogue Jam and TALJ, the Locus Jam and Really BAD IF is happening this month too (so more gameses!), and a few non-comp releases I've had my eye on.

Code Chapter 6/Endings: I need to wait for MelS for this, since he's editing my comments. I'll prob look for visuals for the puzzle in the meantime.

Fixing an older games. Instead of new, do something old.

Write the next Chapter/Scene of a WIP, because it would be good to actually do that. And make some actual progress at seeing stuff being done. (I want to write some Razac snippets....)

Let's have a boring month!

~

The 2024 To-Do List:

LOL, I've only done the website! :D

The hopefully maybe easy to handle To-Do:

fix the bugs in EDOC + overall the French version to match (waiting for Adventuron to get the French language)

fix the bugs of TRNT + find a way to add the missing pieces (giving up on the translation)

fixing the interface of LPM and the popups + check animal interactions

figure out the One-Button JavaScrip/jQuery issue...

edit the loading screens of the completed tiny games to include the program/format logo at least.

The 'Need a Bunch of Content to update but it's planned!' To-Do:

Update my website (bunch new title - also I don't think the logo clicky thing work...) + redo my itch page

Finish TTATEH (MelS dependent)

Finish Exquisite Cadaver (half-way mark by this summer - manif)

Finish P-Rix - Space Trucker (main path at least)

Update CRWL (it's been almost two years... I'm ashamed)

The Unlikely But it Would be Dope To-Do

Finish The Dinner as it was planned (and translate)

Finish In the Blink of an Eye as it was planned (and retranslate)

Finish The Rye in the Dark City

Fixing TTTT (at least fixing, maybe try adding some storylets)

And finally The 'It's impossible, but one can wish' TO-DO:

Remaster SPS IH (if I managed to start this after completing the rest... I'm going to eat a whole sheet cake).

Start the IFComp project (2025? Might end up being a ST?)

[welkinsky]

Levi X Reader | So Close Yet So Far (2)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (Coming Soon!)

The next few days were okay-ish since nothing happened with Eren. You were kind of disappointed that you didn't get to see him turn into a titan. You knew this wasn't some game and this was not about whether you get to play Titans or not, this was a serious topic. 

But living here has made your day so empty because back at the HQ you'd be busy the entire day with cases but here everything that comes within the radius of Eren is being checked and monitored so you don't get that many cases sent your way. 

Plus you have been monitoring the experiments that Hange is doing on him and none of them led anywhere.

You were happy that now at least you're getting some sleep during the day because you just CANNOT sleep at night. Not even in your house let alone a castle. So this one night you decided to get something warm to help you sleep. You saw some guards sitting outside the dungeon where Eren was kept. They got up to salute you but you quickly asked them to be at ease.

You appreciated how dedicated and true to their words Scouts were. You never need to cross-check anything with them like with MPs.

As you reached the mess haul you could hear some voices. You wondered why are people up at this hour? As you got closer to the gate you could hear them a little. You didn't want to eavesdrop but you wanted to know who it was since you were trying to avoid Levi's cold gaze.

"What is she even doing here? All she does is fool around all day while we are here working our asses off." said one voice. "Oh to be an official. What does she have over Zachary anyways? I've seen how he was looking over her the entire time we were there as if she is the one who was making the decisions?" "I'm sure they are up to something. She really has him in her palm, doesn't she? I mean she is hot we cannot deny that..." They continued talking but you decided it was better to walk away. This was not the first time you heard things like that.

"Leaving so early? They were just getting to the best part." said a familiar voice from behind you. You looked over and it was HIM. Distress was clear on your face. You didn't say anything and turned back around and walked back to your room. You could feel his sharp gaze following you.

One thing was clear, it was easy working with Scouts because they are true to their words but they were the same as others. Always daunting on the fact that you get to live a more comfortable life than them. Only if they knew. It was all the shiny parts that they were able to see. But you didn't blame them for it.

A few days passed and you were all having lunch outside this afternoon in the experiment grounds. You were taking updates from Levi and Hange about the progress in the experiments because till now, Eren was not able to turn at all. And then it happened.

With a loud strike of an electric bolt and a HUGE figure emerged out of thin air. As the smoke dispersed you could see it clearly. So this is what a titan looked like. Levi took you by the hand and pulled you away from it, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he shouted. But it was all a background noise, for the thing you see right now, is a miracle.

Within a second everyone had their swords out and pointed toward Eren's titan form. Wait, did they not believe him too? If so, then this could be a problem. As if Levi heard your thoughts he barged and tried to stop them. Continuously checking your expressions too. He knew that this is not going to look in the reports and could be a huge setback for the entire situation.

After all of that was sorted you went back to your room to complete some work. None of them stayed to talk to you, they knew they messed up. Even Hange gave you a weak smile that clearly said, "Please don't mess this up for us"It was late at night when you went to the mess hall to pass some time. It was on the first floor and had the best view.

As you entered you were happy that there was no one so you helped yourself with some warm water and sat near the window looking at the stars. "Do you ever sleep?" it was him again. Your situation with him was very weird because you can feel his eyes are always on you and when you look back he pulls them away. If it was someone else, you could have considered the possibility that they were into you but his gaze is always just so cold and empty, this could never be a possibility with him."No. But you don't either do you? We always cross paths at night" you said with a smile trying to act cool when you're VERY nervous. His expression changed a bit then went back to cold. "I might almost think that you're following me or something. Do you worry that I might do something to Eren?" you said now jokingly but half curious to know his answer.

He just went ahead and started making some tea and replied with his back towards you, "I have better things to do." You scanned his body from up and down. This was the first time you could have a good look at him. He sure was muscular and those straps only enhanced it. Not even a single crease on this shirt even though he had his sleeves folded.

As you were checking him out you realized that he can see you through the kitchen glass door and he was doing just that.

You turned your back to him again as if nothing happened when on the inside you were contemplating jumping out of the window now.

Both of you were silent until he leaned over from your back and put a cup of tea in front of you. You flinched a little which he DID notice but you acted cool.

 "Tha--nks." you thanked him thinking he'll keep it there and walk away but to your surprise he sat down next to you with his back against the window.

You looked at him surprised wanting an explanation for sudden kindness but what he said next just made you stutter like an idiot. "You'll get a better view like this." He said with a smirk.

"I- No no no no that's not it I-" you said waving your hand in front of your face. "You?" he said leaning close to your face. You just sat there like a statue and hoped that he'll disappear right then and there.

He just scoffed and leaned back again, "I'm just messing with you. You're my superior why are you always so scared of me?"

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 (Coming Soon!)

Thanks For Reading and for all the support! Have an amazing week <3

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