#she's just like her brother but way better <3 Tumblr posts

[mochinek0]

Drama-Bomb: Part 3

Marinette could feel the tension in the dining hall, as soon as she entered. A man, very similar to Damian, was at the head of the table. On his left was his mother and on the right were three gentleman; obviously his brothers from the way he described them. She could feel everyone's gaze on her immediately.

'Why did he decide now of all times to tell them about us?'

"So, how did you two meet?" Dick asked, immediately after Marinette had sat down.

"Dick!" growled Bruce.

"What we're all curious?" he defended himself, "Shouldn't we ask?"

"I see you gave them nothing." Marinette turned towards Damian.

"Was I suppose to?" he questioned, "I seem to recall a similar situation. Waterboarding would have been a better experience.

Mari giggled, "Maman was not that bad, not this quick, either. "

"Your father's size, at the very least, would have been enough." Damian recalled.

"I told you he looked big, but was a teddy bear." she smiled.

"Father is big." Damian stated, "You're father rivals Bane."

"Teddy Bear." Mari sang back.

Damian sighed. He knew he wasn't going to win this argument. He looked up to see his family was already examining their body language and mannerisms.

The Waynes remained silent. Damian and his girlfriend seemed close. She was teasing Damian and he wasn't getting upset. Apparently, he was secure enough to meet her parents. How long ago, they had no idea.

She turned towards Dick, "We met at university."

"How long have you been dating?" Tim asked next, "Apparently, Damian mentioned years? I was asleep when he told us."

"Two, almost three." she answered, calmly.

The Waynes sat there in shock. They knew Damian wasn't one to joke, but how had they not noticed him in a relationship for that long. How had he snuck out and left on dates?

'Have we gotten sloppy?'

Damian leaned closer to her, "They like to pry into every detail. They feel offended I was able to keep you a secret for so long."

Mari just giggled.

"What made you ask him out?" Jason questioned.

Marinette sighed, "Seems you've misunderstood. Damain asked me out."

She noticed that seemed to have caught them all off guard, even his mother.

Offended, Damian huffed, "I have eyes; thank you."

"Uh, De-Damian…same question." Jason spoke.

"Her creativity and intelligence." He announced.

"Huh?" Dick replied.

"We have business classes together." the youngest explained, "She has a unique way of looking at problems and strategizing her work."

"Why did you say yes?" Tim asked, quickly.

Damian's girlfriend smiled, "I like how honest he is."

"I mean," Jason shrugged, "that's one way to say 'offend people'."

"More like he is blunt with his words." Mari replied, "He doesn't mix his words or hide behind lies. It's not something everyone likes. People like to hear what they want, not what they need."

That wasn't the answer they had been expecting.

Talia sipped on her wine, "You know, Dear, you could do so much better."

"Mother!" Damian growled out.

Marinette remained silent and looked down at her plate.

'I guess everyone else thinks the same. They're all so quiet. His dad has just been looking at me and hasn't even asked me a question.'

"Silence, Damian." Talia remarked, "I was talking to Marinette."

'What?'

Marinette looked up towards Talia. She could see Jason cackling out of the corner of her eyes. She quickly looked at her boyfriend and surprisingly, he looked offended.

"My Dear," his mother continued, "if I have learned anything, is that these Wayne Boys, adopted or not, have the emotional compatibility of a gold fish. Something is always making them late for a date or they have to reschedule, last moment. Holidays like Valentine's Day or Anniversaries are not a priority for them; it's just another day to forget."

Marinette could see Bruce's face turning red and him attempting to shrink into the background. She couldn't help the snort and started laughing.

"Habibiti?" Damian asked, concerned.

"Relax, Damian." Mari smiled, "I'm sure your mother is just watching out for you. You mentioned your parents don't live together so she's sharing her experience. They do have a lot of questions; I believe my parents interrogated you as well."

Damian leaned against the back of his chair, "Tch."

They watched in amazement as Damian's girlfriend seemed to have some sort of command over him. He didn't talk back or complain. Talia watched as the boy she had raised fall in line with his lover. The feeling eased Bruce a tiny bit about the whole dinner.

"If our relationship were to continue, in the future, I'll sign whatever prenup you want me to, as long as my lawyer looks it over first." Marinette explained, trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Huh?" spoke a confused Tim.

"Well," Mari began, "Damian isn't as……extroverted as Mr. Wayne, but a woman does need her own reassurance."

"Such as?" Bruce asked, not sure if he liked what the answer was going to be.

"Damian keeps the Wayne fortune and I keep the money I make from my own business. I'll even keep my maiden name, if that's your desire." she stated, "Many woman want money, power or fame. Others…..revenge."

"And you?" Jason prodded.

"Let's just say if Damian were to follow in his father's….playboy theatrics," she smiled, "he would spend the rest of his life in regret and searching for someone who would never be found again."

Bruce cleared his throat.

'No wonder Damian told me not to use the 'Brucie' persona. She was definitely not a fan.'

"I don’t know." Dick chimed in, "He has the money and the power….the resources."

Marinette opened her mouth, but Damian shouted, "Enough!"

He turned to her and kept his gaze on his girlfriend, "Instantly?" he questioned.

Marinette glared at him, "Damian, you would be lucky if that's all I do. Adrien knows damn well how I get when I'm angry. I can and will leave you in a pile of ash, should you turn into my enemy. If you touch one of the few people I despise, beyond reason, I'll leave half your body on your mother's doorstep and the other, here, on the manor steps."

The room fell silent, with a bated breath for Damian's reaction.

"Understood, Habibiti." he replied.

"What if it's for a business meeting?" Dick quickly questioned.

He quickly found himself on the other end of Marinette's glare. He found he didn't like it and understood why Damian had caved. It was worse than Bruce's silence and Alfred's disappointment stance.

"Damian knows how to speak up for himself and say no. He doesn't like unknown people in his personal space and I respect his boundaries." Mari declared, "The fact that you have to ask me, tell me you still haven't learned this and you don't know your brother at all. The only thing that will happen is he will harbor resentment towards you."

"And if Damian chooses to come live with me?" Talia asked, shifting the focus.

"Fashion is universal." Mari smiled, "I can buy materials and sell from anywhere. I've had my own clients since I was thirteen."

Plagg zipped out from his hiding place, "Give me cheese, already! I'm tired of the back and forth when they all know."

"Plagg!" Damian hissed.

He turned to see his holder's family looking confused and frozen.

"Oh, they didn't know." he guessed.

"No they didn't!" Damian growled, reaching for him, "You're not getting your cheese now!"

"No!" Plagg cried, and quickly flew at Damian's face.

He latched on and whined, "It's your fault! You didn't feed me!"

"You didn't feed him!" Marinette asked, glaring at him.

The family watched the back and forth argument, trying to grasp what was going on. It was like Damian was being scolded for not feeding a child; no, not just a child, their child.

"I fed him!" Damian argued back.

Marinette gave him a pointed look.

"He fed me 'string cheese'!" Plagg cried out, "It didn't even taste like cheese. It was peelable! Bug, your husband is a menace to society!"

Marinette sighed, "That’s' why he's your holder."

'Wait! Damian's married!'

'Since when did he get a floating cat?'

'What is that thing?'

'How does she know what it is and why is Damian taking care of it?'

'If Demon Brat being a menace is a good thing. That thing isn't so good.'

Talia smiled, raising her glass, "Seems I underestimated you."

"Yes, you did." Marinette spoke, keeping her eyes on Talia.

The last thing she expected was for Damian's mother to say was, "Welcome to the family."

"Wait!" shouted Jason, "What?"

Marinette sighed, "Come out, Tikki. Might as well, since Plagg's stomach got him in trouble again."

The Batfam watched as a giant ladybug flew from out of nowhere and yanked on the floating cat's eat, chastising him.

"What are they?" Time questioned.

"Kwamis." Talia spoke, "Or Gods, to be precise."

Marinette glanced at Damian's mother. Talia held up her hands in surrender, briefly.

"Seems my son is much more tact when it comes to this relationships." she declared, with a smile "To think you hid a marriage from both of us."

Bruce tensed. He had forgotten the flying cat had called him that.

'He hadn't known Damian was dating. He didn't know he had gotten married. What else didn't he know about his son?'

Bruce looked over at his son and noticed his ear tips had turned red.

"Uh, that's Plagg's nickname for him." Marinette spoke, clearly embarrassed, "We're not….actually married."

Bruce relaxed more into his seat.

"We should-" he began.

Mari declared, "They won't be picked up on any recording devices, visually or audio."

"Alfred!" Jason shouted, "Bring out the hard liquor."

Bruce just nodded. He hadn't expected anything that had happened this week. His son was dating someone with access to Gods. Talia was sitting at the dinner table like she had always lived there. The girlfriend obviously knew who they all were and about his son's questionable past. A drink sound like a good idea.

[blorbologist]

look, ima just say that yes, the cast understands their characters best - but they are not writers, and might not know how to best get those traits across to their audience.

My brother is like, the ideal target audience for a new fan. Big nerd into anime and mature animation already, a fan of several of the VAs and has a smattering of D&D experience. He absolutely loved seasons 1 and 2! In fact, his favorite characters in s1 were Grog and Keyleth, and I believe that held true in s2 as well.

While live chatting to me watching s3, he was so frustrated by how stupid and childish she was acting. He's completely naïve to C1 (but has endured some C2 when my dad and I would watch together). Without me to explain the complexity and depth of her in the campaign, he's gone from absolutely loving a character to loathing her appearance on screen because the writing did her so dirty in ways that are, frankly, easy to spot and easy to fix. Telling him how Keyleth was in the campaign was heartbreaking - he found it so cool! That was the character he found so interesting!

But whoever she was, she wasn't apparent in s3 Keyleth.

He also called Raishan 'the worst schemer (archetype)' he' ever seen, and enjoyed bitching about episode 10 with me more than he did watching it, soo...

I use Keyleth as an example because she' the most relevant one, as a favorite of my brother’s and having been done so dirty this season. But it applied to... a lot. From the friendships to the character choices to just the whole structure of season 3.

It's one thing to know Keyleth is strong, and angry, and feels responsible for her people, and doesn't trust Raishan. It's another thing to communicate that effectively - and this goes for everything and everyone else this season too. You just hear more vocal complaints from fans who know the show because they have, right there, a blueprint for how these inner conflicts and personalities were shown very well, and so have easy examples for how it could have been done better.

But hey, how dare we engage with s3 as a work of art on par with s1-2 instead of turning our brains off, right? The campaign will always be there - as a reminder that this season definitely lost new fans and those that stay will walk away with carricatures of the characters compared to what they were in s1-2. Look - genuinely beautiful battle sequence! 😍 I have no concept of storytelling or writing and clap in delight at the third Ripley fight of the season! Wahoo!

(Ignore that all that gorgeous animation and score were not enough to keep my brother invested when he, a member of the target demographic, started getting annoyed by the writing. Nothing is worse for art than being annoying.)

[cherryrikis]

BETTER LUCK TOMORROW - three ! breaking principles

pairing : nishimura riki x reader

synopsis : after being in the wrong place at the wrong time, you (as well as your friends), were framed for the death of your brother and disappearance of your boyfriend. you all had no hope. no job, no money, none of you were even allowed to graduate. at least, until a stubborn kid on a dance scholarship suddenly acts as your savior, riki helps clear your name all for the sake of a school project.

this episode contains the following : swearing, mentions of death, court dates, house arrest, violating parole, and juvie + jail

authors note - these last few days were so busy cz halloween, school, (and the dodgers winning the ws!!) all that stuff😭

previous | masterlist | next

the two stood in front of your house.

despite jungwon telling riki not to do so, he knew there was no point in trying to change his mind.

you weren’t hard to find, because they knew you still lived with your family (aka heeseungs old house). so riki didn’t hesitate to drive straight to your place.

but he did hesitate to ring the doorbell.

jungwon watched as riki reached out, before drawing his hand back every few seconds. he grew so tired of standing in the hot sun, until eventually pressing the button himself.

they expected your mom or your other older brother to answer, literally anyone but you.

“oh, jungwon? i was wondering who was at the door. well, wow. this is.. this is really awkward. you haven’t come by since the funeral.” you coughed.

“hi yn.” he smiled. “i know, it’s been a while.”

“whos this?” you ask, pointing your head in riki’s direction.

“what? seriously? i was one of heeseungs friends. i came around just as often as jungwon!” he exclaimed.

“im sorry, i don’t remember all of my brothers- i mean, heeseung. i don’t remember all of heeseungs friends. but, look. i get that it’s been a while since we’ve all met, but i think you guys should go.”

“wait yn!” jungwon called out right before you closed the door.

“don’t you wanna know why we’re here?” he asked.

you frowned slightly as you thought on the matter, before nodding your head.

“fine, go ahead.” you sighed.

“senior project. you remember, don’t you? for college apps-” “i never got to apply. i wasn’t even allowed to graduate.” you said sternly, cutting riki off. “you remember, don’t you?”

riki turned with wide eyes to face jungwon for an idea on what to say next, but jungwon only mouthed the words ‘hurry before she tells us to leave again’.

“we want to reinvestigate that issue before your next court date because-”. he cleared his throat aggressively as he carefully chose the next few words. “because we heard you violated your parole.” riki swallowed, but it wasn’t enough. his face fell as he watched your expression change.

“you’re saying you think you can solve my case for your final project? nice fucking try you two, but not even my lawyer could help me out as you can see here.” you scoffed, before sticking your leg out from behind the door, to point out the ankle monitor you wore.

“house arrest. huh.” riki muttered.

“it’s worth a shot. we might be able to prevent you from being incarcerated again. and clear any charges from your record if we can prove it wasn’t you.” jungwon stepped in, beginning to ramble.

“yeah. jungwons mom is an attorney! and his sister is studying law.” riki smiled. but, he paused when you raised your hand in a way that screamed the words ‘stop talking’.

“listen, as much as i appreciate the gesture, i think im the last person you want to free. everyone’s seen me as the person who killed her brother and boyfriend, for the last 3 years. nothing else. if you want answers, go interview one of the others who were framed. aeri got out around the same time as me.”

“but yn- you were lucky you only got juvie! even after you turned 18. if this next court session doesn’t go well, you could go into like, a real jail!” riki exclaimed with wide eyes.

“goodbye riki. nice seeing you jungwon.” you nod, before slamming the door in their faces.

“well that couldn’t have gone any worse.” he sighed.

“you know what, im going home. i still have that french exam to study for. but uh- i have some theories. i’ll see you around man.” jungwon huffed, patting riki on the shoulder before he walked off your front porch.

riki followed without a second thought, before they both eventually split ways.

taglist ! @jiiyen @prettiestgirlontheplanet @hannicorpse @wonsboo @murazbae @stilesks @soobinbunnie5 @blvengene @r1kification @gyuvision @goldenmellow @ariluvssssss100 @who-tf-soddhi @mmurazz @jaemified @strawberrieswithchocolateo3o @heartheejake @hoonsdrnkdzd @wonkixo @yangjungwonnie @tya0

[homeofthelonelywriter]

Let's call it Fate | Part 12

(A/N) In honor of the new tour announcement and me ACTUALLY GETTING TICKETS AAAHHH ahem...here is the next part! I'm sorry for the month-long break, a lot happened, but hopefully, I'm back at it!

Pairing: Cardinal Copia x Reader (no Y/N)

Warning: google translate translations, abusive parents (especially mother), arranged marriage, age gap, bullying, talk of grandparents and death of a grandparent, mistreatment of Ghouls, threats, angst, fluff, kissis, bit of spice

Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12

Once the doors to Copia’s office closed behind the three of you, a shiver ran through you. Not because it was cold or anything, but because reality came crashing down on you and even though you could act on your feelings whenever you felt like it behind closed doors, you couldn’t do so out here. Copia seemed to come to the same realization, as he quickly raised your hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss against your knuckles, before he gently lowered it and let it go.

“We shouldn’t…not out here, not yet.”

You nodded in agreement, gently tracing the spot where his lips had been just a moment before you started moving and making your way to the mess hall. While most members were already at breakfast, a few were still wandering the halls and you couldn’t help but blush as you felt their eyes on you, walking around the ministry with two of the highest-ranking members—some things you would never get used to.

Once you stood before the massive doors, Copia leaned in, pressing a quick and soft kiss to your hair before whispering in your ear.

“Aurora will pick you up after breakfast, and bring you to class. If you need anything, just tell her and she’ll come get me, okay?”

You nodded and watched as he and his brother entered the mess hall, while you waited for a few moments before you entered yourself. Once you had grabbed some food and something to drink, you quickly made your way to the usual table, where Lila was already waiting. And the moment you sat down, she was all over you.

“Where were you yesterday? Are you okay? Did something happen? Wait…why do you look so happy? What’s happened? Are you okay? I already asked that, but are you okay? What’s going on?”

You chuckled, shaking your head with a smile as you started to eat.

“I’m good. Better than good, actually. But I can’t tell you what’s going on, not here at least. Wanna grab lunch and chill in my room before work starts?”

Her eyes flickered over you, taking in every aspect before she slowly nodded.

“Okay. Just…you’re alright?”

She looked at you concerned, reaching over the table, taking your free hand in hers, and squeezing it. You nodded, your heart swelling with love as you looked at your friend, happy to have her.

“I’m alright.”

After a few moments of studying you, she nodded and returned to breakfast. The two of you continued to eat in peace, but that peace didn’t last. Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw two black figures, making their way to you and Lila, and before you knew it, Aurora and Cirrus sat down on either side of you.

“How you doin�� girlie?”

You smiled at the two Ghoulettes, chuckling as you noticed that Lila just stared at them in surprise.

“Oh right. Lila, these are Aurora and Cirrus. Aura, Cici, this is Lila.”

Lila swallowed nervously as she forced a smile onto her face.

“Ah…n-nice to meet you.”

Cirrus smiled politely and nodded, but you noticed Aurora dragging her eyes over your friend, a smirk growing on her lips as she leaned over the table, her cleavage on full display.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Lila.”

You could only describe her voice as a low, sexy purr and you couldn’t help but chuckle, as the Ghoulette gently took hold of Lila’s free hand and kissed her knuckles while keeping eye contact. By then, Lila’s face was a bright red and you could swear she was about to faint.

“Aura, don’t give my friend a heart attack upon the first meeting, please? Still trying to get her used to you guys.”

The smirk still present, she leaned back and turned to you, and shrugged.

“Just shooting my shot.”

Still smiling, you rolled your eyes and elbowed her in the side, making her laugh.

“Anyway…”, Cirrus spoke up, playfully glaring at Aurora. “…just let us know when you’re done and we’ll get you to class, okay pretty?”

You nodded and smiled at the other Ghoulette, quietly thanking her before you continued with your breakfast. Lila was still red as a tomato, but after a few moments of collecting herself, she also continued to eat.

It didn’t take you and Lila long to finish breakfast, and before you knew it, the two Ghoulettes were accompanying you to the classrooms. Midway there, you realized that you didn’t have your books with you, but Aurora reassured you that they were already in the classroom waiting for you.

“Cardinal Copia asked Phantom to retrieve your bag from your room and leave it in the classroom. Should have everything you need.”

You couldn’t help but smile at Copia’s thoughtfulness, your heart racing as your cheeks grew warm. Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw Lila watching you, a knowing smile forming on her lips as your small group continued walking. And if you were honest with yourself, you could barely wait for lunch to tell her all about it.

Thankfully, time passed quickly once you arrived at the classroom and the lessons started. Cirrus decided to be inside the classroom, not trusting Noah to not pull something during the lessons. Aurora stayed outside, much to her dismay, since that way, she couldn’t stare at Lila the whole time.

Once the lessons were over, the pair of you quickly packed up your stuff, before rushing to the mess hall, where you grabbed some food and headed straight back out. On the way back to the set of double doors, you caught Copia looking at you, a soft smile spreading on his face once he realized you were looking at him. If you could, you would’ve continued looking at him, but you didn’t want to draw attention. So, you turned your attention back to Lila and left the mess hall, Aurora and Cirrus right behind you.

Once you reached your room, you tried to convince the two Ghoulettes that you’d be safe in there and that they could go about their day, but they insisted on staying outside and just keeping watch.

“You must have better things to do. I’ll be fine, I promise. And Lila is here as well, so he wouldn’t pull anything.”

Aurora smirked as she patted your head as if you were a little child.

“We will stay. End of discussion. Besides, if the Cardinal finds out we left you alone for even a second, he would send us straight back to Lucifer, and as much as I enjoy it down there-”, she looked over your shoulder, straight at Lila. “-the snacks up here are so much more delicious.”

You could hear Lila shriek behind you, as Aurora looked her up and down. With a defeated sigh, you rolled your eyes, but thanked the two, before you closed the door and turned to your friend, whose face once again rivaled the tomatoes growing in Primo’s greenhouse.

“I’m sorry about her…but you seem to have caught her attention. If it gets too much, just tell me and I’ll tell her to back off.”

Lila kept staring at the door for a few more moments before she shook her head and turned to you.

“It’s fine…I think. Just not used to someone being so…direct. And towards me for that. But…but she’s cute…hot.”

A smirk grew on your face as you listened to her. And knowing Aurora, she was pressed up against the door, listening to every word.

“But, that’s not what we’re here to talk about. What’s going on?”

You sighed again, before plopping down on your bed, glancing down at your hands, before looking at Lila again.

“It’s a long story, so you better sit down.”

She did just that and plopped down right beside you, and you began your story. You skimmed over some parts, the ones she already knew about, but you mentioned your growing connection with Copia from day one, how you couldn’t help but slowly fall in love with him. How Noah pulled you aside before the black mass and threatened you, how that led to you distancing yourself from Copia, and how that led to you being in such a bad mood. And then you told her what happened the day before, about your talk with Primo and how he sent you to go find Copia. How you barged into Terzo’s office and how Copia and you kissed.

“Is that why you’re only calling him Copia? You two are together?”

By then, your lips were pulled into a wide smile, your cheeks hurting. And you nodded, blushing as you once again realized that you and Copia were together.

“Yeah, we are.”

Lila sighed beside you, her head in her hands. You looked over, confused as to what was going on when she started chuckling and shaking her head.

“Took you guys long enough.”

A frown took over your face.

“You guys have been dancing around each other for weeks! I mean, you can’t tell me that you haven’t been smitten by him since the very first day. I mean, the way he offered you his hand and helped you out of the car. The way he watched you and you him and, oh my god, I’ve been shipping you since day one!”

You watched as she jumped to her feet and started dancing around the room, almost acting out what she was saying. But you were confused.

“How did you see all that? I mean the car thing, I thought everyone had already arrived and were waiting inside?”

“Oh, I arrived just before you and was in the doorway. When I heard your car pulling up, I stopped and watched. And just so you know, I wasn’t offered a hand out of the car.”

You blushed at the innuendo. But how would he have known?

“But what about your parents and the arrangement? Surely they won’t take too kindly to you and the Cardinal being…you know…an item.”

“Well, he may or may not have called and invited them here and we may or may not have talked to them this morning. My father, he-”, you took a deep breath, shaking, before continuing. “-he agreed to call it off.”

Lila looked surprised, but at the same time extremely happy as she walked back to you and wrapped you up in her arms.

“So you’re free? Free to be with the Cardinal?”

Her voice was quiet but hopeful. And you nodded with a smile on your face, hugging her back.

“Yes, I’m free to be with him.”

Right on cue, a soft knock came from your door, before a familiar voice called through it.

“Amore, may I come in?”

You carefully pulled away from Lila, as you called out to him, telling him that he could come inside. The door gently opened and he stepped inside, before closing it again and glancing at you and Lila.

“Oh, scusa me, I thought you’d be alone. I can leave if you-”

You quickly interrupted him, reaching out in his direction.

“No, no, it’s fine. We were just catching up. Is everything alright?”

Copia smiled in relief and walked over to you, his hands landing on your waist as he quickly pecked your cheek in greeting. You beamed up at him, your hands instinctively reaching out and landing on his chest, passively smoothing over the fabric there.

“Everything’s fine. Just wanted to check on you since you didn’t have lunch at the mess hall. And I wanted to ask if you want to come over after dinner?”

He then turned to Lila and smiled at her.

“C-Cardinal Copia, hello.”

Still smiling, he waved her politeness off.

“Please, Copia is fine. Friends of my love, are friends of me.”

Lila nodded, looking slightly nervous as her eyes found the clock on your wall and widened.

“Shoot, I have to get going. I’ll see you later!”

She quickly rushed out the door and you caught a glimpse of Aurora getting up from where she had sat down on the floor, and following your friend. But Copia quickly caught your attention again, as his hand softly cradled your face.

“Everything alright?”

You hummed, leaning against his palm and closing your eyes as you breathed him in, finding comfort in his presence.

“Yeah, everything alright. I just wanted to…update her, so we skipped the mess hall for lunch. I…I hope that’s alright?”

Your eyes fluttered open as you glanced at him, suddenly unsure if it was even a good idea to tell anyone about it. After all you kind of agreed to keep it private for now.

“Of course it’s alright. She’s your friend, she would have found out eventually. And as long as you trust her, I do too. I’m just glad you have someone aside from my Ghouls to spend time with and talk to.”

Relief flooded you and your hands moved from his chest to his waist, where they wrapped around as you pulled yourself closer until you were hugging him. His arms wrapped tightly around you and he gently rested his head on top of yours, smiling to himself, while your head rested against his chest, listening to the quick beating of his heart.

The two of you stayed like that for a minute or so, until you carefully pulled away and glanced at the clock yourself. With a heavy sigh, you noticed that Lila was right to run off, your work hours were about to start.

“I have to change, will you accompany me to the greenhouse?”

Copia smiled.

“Of course, I’ll wait outside.”

He was about to leave, when you caught his arm, stopping him.

“You…you don’t have to leave…stay.”

His eyes widened and you watched as a slight pinkness crept onto his cheeks.

“A-Are you sure?”

You nodded and after a moment of hesitation, he nodded as well, before getting out of the way and sitting down on the edge of your bed. Once he sat down, you quickly grabbed the uniform that was given to you for work and started to undress. While your back was turned to Copia, you felt his eyes on you, following your every move and tracing over your body. Once you were only wearing your bra and panties, two warm hands wrapped around your waist and pulled you against a soft chest.

“You’re beautiful, amore. È solo fottutamente delizioso. Potrei mangiarti subito, mia piccola tentatrice. You know what you’re doing, don’t you?” (Just fucking delicious. Could eat you right up, my little temptress.)

You chuckled, leaning back against him, humming as his lips ghosted over the column of your neck, leaving little kisses in their wake. Your hand found its way into his hair, fingers running through it, lightly pulling on it, when he sunk his teeth into your soft skin, before kissing it better, while you enjoyed the way his hands groped the fat around your waist. Your breath came out in little, soft pants as his hands slowly trailed higher, gently squeezing your breasts.

“Copia…”

You could only describe what left your lips as a whine. You wanted more - needed more. But before it could go any further, a deep sigh left Copia’s lips and he leaned his forehead against your shoulder, closing his eyes as if to calm himself down.

“As understanding as I know my fratello is, we should get you to work.”

You nodded, slightly out of breath, but as soon as his hands left your body, you pulled the uniform on and turned to the Cardinal. He looked disheveled as he sat on your bed again, still watching you. With a light chuckle, you walked over to him and stood between his legs while you carefully fixed his hair and the smudging around his lips.

“Better?”

You hum appreciatively before you leaned down and pressed a light kiss to his forehead.

“Better.”

He grinned, before getting to his feet and taking your hand, leading you to the door.

“Let’s get you to my fratello.”

Translations: amore...love scusa me...excuse me È solo fottutamente delizioso. Potrei mangiarti subito, mia piccola tentatrice...Just fucking delicious. Could eat you right up, my little temptress. fratello...brother

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Ghost Masterlist

Master-Masterlist

Tags: @antoniamarie1989

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[rinbylin]

THE WOMEN OF SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957)

Susan Hunsecker: Who could love a man who makes you jump through burning hoops like a trained poodle? Sally: Sidney, you make a living. Where do you want to get? Mary: But don’t do it like a little boy stealing gum from a slot machine. Rita: You’re a snake, Falco. You’re a louse, a real louse. Loretta Bartha: Leo, this is the first clean thing I’ve seen you do in years. Linda James: Me, with my Jersey City brains?

[greenerteacups]

oooh please someday tell us what you think of GOT

oh, no, it's my fatal weakness! it's [checks notes] literally just the bare modicum of temptation! okay you got me.

SO. in order to tell what's wrong with game of thrones you kind of have to have read the books, because the books are the reason the show goes off the rails. i actually blame the showrunners relatively little in proportion to GRRM for how bad the show was (which I'm not gonna rehash here because if you're interested in GOT in any capacity you've already seen that horse flogged to death). people debate when GOT "got bad" in terms of writing, but regardless of when you think it dropped off, everyone agrees the quality declined sharply in season 8, and to a certain extent, season 7. these are the seasons that are more or less entirely spun from whole cloth, because season 7 marks the beginning of what will, if we ever see it, be the Winds of Winter storyline. it's the first part that isn't based on a book by George R.R. Martin. it's said that he gave the showrunners plot outlines, but we don't know how detailed they were, or how much the writers diverged from the blueprint — and honestly, considering the cumulative changes made to the story by that point, some stark divergence would have been required. (there's a reason for this. i'll get there in a sec.)

so far, i'm not saying anything all that original. a lot of people recognized how bad the show got as soon as they ran out of Book to adapt. (I think it's kind of weird that they agreed to make a show about an unfinished series in the first place — did GRRM figure that this was his one shot at a really good HBO adaptation, and forego misgivings about his ability to write two full books in however many years it took to adapt? did he think they would wait for him? did he not care that the series would eventually spoil his magnum opus, which he's spent the last three decades of his life writing? perplexing.) but the more interesting question is why the show got bad once it ran out of Book, because in my mind, that's not a given. a lot of great shows depart from the books they were based on. fanfiction does exactly that, all the time! if you have good writers who understand the characters they're working with, departure means a different story, not a worse one. now, the natural reply would be to say that the writers of GOT just aren't good, or at least aren't good at the things that make for great television, and that's why they needed the books as a structure, but I don't think that's true or fair, either. books and television are very different things. the pacing of a book is totally different from the pacing of a television show, and even an episodic book like ASOIAF is going to need a lot of work before it's remotely watchable as a series. bad writers cannot make great series of television, regardless of how good their source material is. sure, they didn't invent the characters of tyrion lannister and daenerys targaryen, but they sure as hell understood story structure well enough to write a damn compelling season of TV about them!

so but then: what gives? i actually do think it's a problem with the books! the show starts out as very faithful to the early books (namely, A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings) to the point that most plotlines are copied beat-for-beat. the story is constructed a little differently, and it's definitely condensed, but the meat is still there. and not surprisingly, the early books in ASOIAF are very tightly written. for how long they are, you wouldn't expect it, but on every page of those books, the plot is racing. you can practically watch george trying to beat the fucking clock. and he does! useful context here is that he originally thought GOT was going to be a trilogy, and so the scope of most threads in the first book or two would have been much smaller. it also helps that the first three books are in some respects self-contained stories. the first book is a mystery, the second and third are espionage and war dramas — and they're kept tight in order to serve those respective plots.

the trouble begins with A Feast for Crows, and arguably A Storm of Swords, because GRRM starts multiplying plotlines and treating the series as a story, rather than each individual book. he also massively underestimated the number of pages it would take him to get through certain plot beats — an assumption whose foundation is unclear, because from a reader's standpoint, there is a fucke tonne of shit in Feast and Dance that's spurious. I'm not talking about Brienne's Riverlands storyline (which I adore thematically but speaking honestly should have been its own novella, not a part of Feast proper). I'm talking about whole chapters where Tyrion is sitting on his ass in the river, just talking to people. (will I eat crow about this if these pay off in hugely satisfying ways in Winds or Dream? oh, totally. my brothers, i will gorge myself on sweet sweet corvid. i will wear a dunce cap in the square, and gleefully, if these turn out to not have been wastes of time. the fact that i am writing this means i am willing to stake a non-negligible amount of pride on the prediction that that will not happen). I'm talking about scenes where the characters stare at each other and talk idly about things that have already happened while the author describes things we already have seen in excruciating detail. i'm talking about threads that, while forgivable in a different novel, are unforgivable in this one, because you are neglecting your main characters and their story. and don't tell me you think that a day-by-day account tyrion's river cruise is necessary to telling his story, because in the count of monte cristo, the main guy disappears for nine years and comes hurtling back into the story as a vengeful aristocrat! and while time jumps like that don't work for everything, they certainly do work if what you're talking about isn't a major story thread!

now put aside whether or not all these meandering, unconcluded threads are enjoyable to read (as, in fairness, they often are!). think about them as if you're a tv showrunner. these bad boys are your worst nightmare. because while you know the author put them in for a reason, you haven't read the conclusion to the arc, so you don't know what that reason is. and even if the author tells you in broad strokes how things are going to end for any particular character (and this is a big "if," because GRRM's whole style is that he lets plots "develop as he goes," so I'm not actually convinced that he does have endings written out for most major characters), that still doesn't help you get them from point A (meandering storyline) to point B (actual conclusion). oh, and by the way, you have under a year to write this full season of television, while GRRM has been thinking about how to end the books for at least 10. all of this means you have to basically call an audible on whether or not certain arcs are going to pay off, and, if they are, whether they make for good television, and hence are worth writing. and you have to do that for every. single. unfinished. story. in the books.

here's an example: in the books, Quentin Martell goes on a quest to marry Daenerys and gain a dragon. many chapters are spent detailing this quest. spoiler alert: he fails, and he gets charbroiled by dragons. GRRM includes this plot to set up the actions of House Martell in Winds, but the problem is that we don't know what House Martell does in Winds, because (see above) the book DNE. So, although we can reliably bet that the showrunners understand (1) Daenerys is coming to Westeros with her 3 fantasy nukes, and (2) at some point they're gonna have to deal with the invasion of frozombies from Canada, that DOESN'T mean they necessarily know exactly what's going to happen to Dorne, or House Martell. i mean, fuck! we don't even know if Martin knows what's going to happen to Dorne or House Martell, because he's said he's the kind of writer who doesn't set shit out beforehand! so for every "Cersei defaults on millions of dragons in loans from the notorious Bank of Nobody Fucks With Us, assumes this will have no repercussions for her reign or Westerosi politics in general" plotline — which might as well have a big glaring THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT stamp on top of the chapter heading — you have Arianne Martell trying to do a coup/parent trap switcheroo with Myrcella, or Euron the Goffick Antichrist, or Faegon Targaryen and JonCon preparing a Blackfyre restoration, or anything else that might pan out — but might not! And while that uncertainty about what's important to the "overall story" might be a realistic way of depicting human beings in a world ruled by chance and not Destiny, it makes for much better reading than viewing, because Game of Thrones as a fantasy television series was based on the first three books, which are much more traditional "there is a plot and main characters and you can generally tell who they are" kind of book. I see Feast and Dance as a kind of soft reboot for the series in this respect, because they recenter the story around a much larger cast and cast a much broader net in terms of which characters "deserve" narrative attention.

but if you're making a season of television, you can't do that, because you've already set up the basic premise and pacing of your story, and you can't suddenly pivot into a long-form tone poem about the horrors of war. so you have to cut something. but what are you gonna cut? bear in mind that you can't just Forget About Dorne, or the Iron Islands, or the Vale, or the North, or pretty much any region of the story, because it's all interconnected, but to fit in everything from the books would require pacing of the sort that no reasonable audience would ever tolerate. and bear in mind that the later books sprout a lot more of these baby-plots that could go somewhere, but also might end up being secondary or tertiary to the "main story," which, at the end of the day, is about dragons and ice zombies and the rot at the heart of the feudal power system glorified in classical fantasy. that's the story that you as the showrunner absolutely must give them an end to, and that's the story that should be your priority 1.

so you do a hack and slash job, and you mortar over whatever you cut out with storylines that you cook up yourself, but you can't go too far afield, because you still need all the characters more or less in place for the final showdown. so you pinch here and push credulity there, and you do your best to put the characters in more or less the same place they would have been if you kept the original, but on a shorter timeframe. and is it as good as the first seasons? of course not! because the material that you have is not suited to TV like the first seasons are. and not only that, but you are now working with source material that is actively fighting your attempt to constrain a linear and well-paced narrative on it. the text that you're working with changed structure when you weren't looking, and now you have to find some way to shanghai this new sprawling behemoth of a Thing into a television show. oh, and by the way, don't think that the (living) author of the source material will be any help with this, because even though he's got years of experience working in television writing, he doesn't actually know how all of these threads will tie together, which is possibly the reason that the next book has taken over 8 years (now 13 and counting) to write. oh and also, your showrunners are sick of this (in fairness, very difficult) job and they want to go write for star wars instead, so they've refused the extra time the studio offered them for pre-production and pushed through a bunch of first-draft scripts, creating a crunch culture of the type that spawns entirely avoidable mistakes, like, say, some poor set designer leaving a starbucks cup in frame.

anyway, that's what I think went wrong with game of thrones.

[bitchfitch]

tbh I'm never going to stop being mad about the Manx syndrome that makes Manx cats manxes. It's an easily, Visually identifiable trait that causes the afflicted animal life long discomfort and mobility issues so severe many need specialized care and equipment to give them a normal life. And that isnt even taking into account how many die as kittens or who need to be put down because they'll never have the minimum quality of life needed to subject them to their difficulties.

there's 2 genes that can cause shortened tails/no tail in cats and while it's debatable how ethical the other one is, due to how important tails are for cat communication, the bobtail Gene is at least not devastating to the animals welfare. Unlike Manx syndrome it just causes the kittens to be born with fewer tail vertebrae. All the other vertebrae are unaffected.

Manx syndrome, in the more severe cases, which to be clear are the breed standard and are considered Desirable, cause the back half of the spine to fail to form correctly. This causes the cats to "hop like bunnies" bc their hind legs are partially paralyzed. they have severe nerve issues bc their spinal cord isn't fully encased in bone like it should be. The paralysis effects their guts too, making many of them incontinent or unable to relieve themselves properly. which leads to chronic UTIs and them needing frequent baths. which, they are cats, they do not like baths.

The main defense of the continued intentional breeding of manxes is that it is a naturally occurring mutation, as in its a landrace breed that initially happened on its own in the feral cat population on the island of mann. "if they were able to survive and reproduce under those conditions then surely it's ok" type of argument. A dominant trait spreading through a feral cat population on a small island that has no predators and plenty of small animal prey to eat, is not a defense. it's the law of large numbers.

[cuteniaarts]

Small drawing collection of my latest creation Emran as a teenager/freshly minted Air Acolyte, for my dear partner in unhinged OC shenanigans @katkastrofa, as promised <3

[cureblogging]

Gonna say something potentially controversial:

I think Heartcatch suffers from the Up phenomenon in that people remember it as an excellent, if not flawless masterpiece when it actually has One (1) excellent, if not flawless moment in the beginning and is otherwise nothing special.

[kakusu-shipping]

A bunch of Mario Family headcanons:

Because I think a very normal amount about the larger Mario family and very very very much want The Super Mario Brothers Super Show Reboot all about them

G-Poppy and his wife moved to American from Italy in their 20′s, making Mario and Luigi third generation immigrants

G-Poppy’s dream was to own and run an authentic Italian a Restaurant in America, but after the birth of his oldest son, Pio, the need for quick cash to pay rent was more pressing, thus why he got into Boxing

Papa Mario’s full name is Pio Mario Jr, he’s named after G-Poppy

Pio is a good 5-6 years older than his younger brothers, Arthur and Tony, who are only a year apart at most

Sense bills were tight, Pio spent a lot of his childhood being another income to the house hold, working hard labor work like construction to keep the family afloat while his brothers were young

Eventually G-Poppy got too old for wrestling and finally realized his dream of opening a Restaurant; Punch-Out Pizza. This put the family in more financial struggle, forcing Pio to take up more work while Arthur and Tony helped in the Restaurant

Now that G-Poppy is retired Arthur and Tony run the business together. Arthur’s the finance guy, where Tony runs deliveries and hands on manages other employees

It was actually their Grandmother who made Mario and Luigi’s caps for them, she’s also made G-Poppy’s. She passed before Louisiana was born, thus why she couldn’t make her a cap as well

Tony’s a huge horror movie buff, he loves old classics and has a huge VHS collection. Part of the reason Luigi is so scared of the paranormal is from catching glimpses or watching whole movies with Uncle Tony growing up

Another big part of Luigi’s fear though may just come from Uncle Tony loving to scare him. A big pass time for Tony was waiting around corners in Halloween masks to jump scare Luigi, or telling him ghost stories any change he got

Mario also got a bad fear from Uncle Tony’s movies; Pianos. He’d just happened to catch a pretty nasty scene of the lid of a Grand Piano crushing someone when he was younger and it stuck with him pretty hard

Louisiana is about 11-12 years younger than Mario and Luigi, so despite being cousins the three have a hard time relating to one another from the large age gap

Louisiana prefers to go by Louise, though only Mario and Luigi call her that. She was also the first one in the family to use the “Lou” nickname for Luigi, which Mario quickly also picked up

Arthur loves baseball, the Mets especially, but really he’ll watch any team play. He regrets not being on his school’s baseball team when he was younger, due to having to help at the restaurant, thus why he signed his daughter Louisiana up as soon as she was old enough. She’s stuck with it to keep her dad happy

Mia makes 90% of the meals in the Mario household, with the occasional help from Arthur. She learned most her dishes from her own mom, and a good deal more from Pio’s mother after marrying into the family

Marie is absolute rubbish in the kitchen. Mia’s given her multiple lessons and had her help with dinner many times around when she was expecting Louisiana, but she rarely made anything edible. The only one who ate her meals was Arthur, who just wanted to support his wife with all he had, even if it made him ill (which it did. Many times. Tony made fun of him for it)

Tony loves to work on machinery, mostly motorcycles, and has bounced around working part time as a mechanic here and there before his duties at the restaurant drag him back

Pio, Tony, and Mario are the only ones in the Mario family with a drivers license, though Tony was the only one who drove regularly until Mario bought the van

The Mario family owns 4 gaming devices; The Brother’s NES that they bought with their saved up chore money in Middle School, a Wii Marie and Mia do Wii Fit on in the living room, Uncle Tony’s PS2 that’s mostly collecting dust, and the Home Computer that Louise plays Roblox and Minecraft on

The Mario family apartment has 3 bedrooms; Pio and Mia’s, Arthur Marie and Louise’s, and Mario and Luigi’s. G-Poppy sleeps on a chair in the living room, and Tony sleeps on the couch

Louise has already called dibs on Mario and Luigi’s room when they move out, Tony says he prefers the couch anyway so he doesn’t mind

Pio pushes a lot of his own raising onto Mario, as the oldest he thinks Mario should be responsible, a support for the family, not chasing his own crazy dream that could crash down onto them into debt

On the flip side, Arthur puts a lot of what he wanted for himself onto Louisiana, pushing her to do new things and plays sports and do after school activities like he never got to do having to work in the Restaurant growing up

Tony’s the only one he sees this happening, and thus has stayed the fun uncle who’ll get you out of that thing you don’t want to do if asked. He’s listened to a lot of vents from the kids as he drives them from one activity to the next, and tries to remind them their parents are doing their best, and love them a lot. For everyone but Luigi that reminder fell on deaf ears

[rosykims]

ik the implication of the von valancius succession is that our RT is just some random fucking 7th cousin twice removed but i actually think its so funny if leda is theodora's daughter.

[megaclubdiolis]

柄本 佑 || 「光る君へ」 (2024) · 第十四回 「星落ちてなお」

[heyitsphoenixx]

.

[mayclair]

im starting to hate every single character on gossip girl besides eric blair and nate iwl

[potatoesandsunshine]

origins has a hold on me...

[evandorepart2]

ok anyway im leaving in. the day after tomorrow at like 2am so im just saying its tomorrow cause im literally just gonna stay up till then theres no point in sleeping. BUT two things. one i need to finish packing. my clothes are dry so i just have to bring them upstairs and pack. sort of stressed out bc like. i like my outfit i dont want to change it but everyones telling me its too hot for a leather jacket like i know!!!! but its my jacket :(

anyway i just have to do that so ill do it now and then…on top of that i wanted to get the draft for my ghost story done but i havent been working on it at all >_< ive just been reading comics the past couple days. so tomorrow. for sure. i will definitely work in getting the draft done totally.

but ugh im kind of nervous i havent seen these people in so long and im not great socially. also i dont go on trips in general so like. i hope i have energy for a full month yknow. i have a tendency of isolating myself when im stressed out but i dont have any space to do that…not that i should but whatever you know