#technically i arranged it but eh

[skyllion-uwu]

Had to create a cento, or a poem made of lines from other poems. This is what I made. There's a lot of tabbing so I reflected this in the alt text by adding [tab] for each tab of spacing. Please let me know if there's a better way to reflect the spacing in the alt text. Sources listed under the cut

X Number by Chris Glomski

Bryant Park at Dusk by Geoffrey Brock

Venus Fly Traps by Yuself Komunyakaa

Charms for Love by Anonymous (Translated by Fiona Sampson)

Look to the Future by Ruth Stone

Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years From Now by Matthew Olzmann

[livesworthlivingau]

Lives Worth Living Chapter 32

ISAT/Two Hats spoilers below! CW: The author forcing their own surprise onto a main character. (For real this was genuinely my reaction when it was explained to me xD)

(For once you find yourself waking up before anyone else it seems. After carefully sneaking out of Isa's soft, unconscious hold on you, you slip downstairs with light footsteps. You peek over the couch to check on Vale, sleeping soundly, along with... Bonnie?! They laid on top of Vale, drooling lightly and both absolutely passed out.)

"G'Mornin." (You blink, turning to see Nille sitting at the kitchen table, sipping on a mug of coffee and having filled a plate from the arrangement of food the pair must have prepared while everyone slept.)

"You don't gotta worry too much about being quiet, they'd both sleep through a crabbing hurricane. Actually I think Bonnie did do that once." (She laughed. You smiled and walked over to join her, grabbing a nice big plate for yourself before speaking.)

"I guess everyone else had trouble sleeping, not that I blame them."

"They all got quite the bombshell dropped on them, that's for sure."

"... I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier."

"Eh, let bygones be bygones." (She smiled brightly, clearly not at all bothered by it.)

"You sure? You were just trying to help and I was being so rude and-"

"Frin, it's alright, I promise. I can tell you care about them a whole heck of a lot, and I know that can lead you down some bad roads when you think you're gonna lose them. So really, don't worry about it." (You nod a bit in response, giving a hesitant smile.)

"Thanks..."

"Don't mention it. I'm just glad Bonnie made up with them. They were listening last night, talked to me a bit about it before bed. They were still pretty unsure when I went to sleep though."

"Heh, they have a funny way of showing they care sometimes. Lots of yelling and calling me 'stupidfrin'." (You can't help but chuckle.)

"Oh don't I know it. That's their catchphrase for trying not to show they care!" (She joins in with your laughing, before letting out a soft sigh.)

"... You think Vay's gonna be okay?"

"I don't know... but I know I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure they will be. That's the least I can do for them at this point. Besides, you've practically been doing miracle work with them yourself." (You both chuckle a bit again.)

"I've had quite a few spirals in the past, guess I've gotten good at pulling people out of them."

"Yeah, you are really good at that..." (You smile lightly, remembering all the times she helped you in your former life once more. A life that no longer happened, and never will again...)

"Don't tell me I gotta pull you out of another one now." (She teases as she elbows you a little, getting you out of your own head.)

"Hah, no, I'm okay. Just remembering things... things that didn't technically happen anymore."

"... You sure you're okay? Have you really... sat and processed that yet?"

"Not really... and I don't know if I really should, that'd probably just make me freak out again..." (You lower your head, lightly rubbing at your arm scars through your clothing.)

"I know it's not pleasant, but... just ignoring it probably isn't much better. It'll be like a ticking time bomb, something could change and just set it off."

"... Yeah... You're probably right, as usual." (You say with a jokingly annoyed tone and pout.)

"Hah! I'm glad everyone's starting to learn that around here~."

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

(Eventually the others wake up to join you, enjoying the brilliantly prepared breakfast while its chef's remain sleeping on the couch. Your curiosity starts to get the best of you as you address Odile.)

"So, how close were you?"

"Pardon?"

"C'mon, you had to be theorizing something. How close were you to being right about Vale?" (She can't help but smirk a bit as she sets her fork back down.)

"I was still in the middle of piecing things together, but I had narrowed it down to some sort of odd relationship outside of the loops. They were likely from the island as well, or perhaps some manifestation from the universe itself." (She starts to explain, fishing out one of her journals and opening it to a page with theories scribbled across it.)

"I hadn't given the idea full credit, but I hadn't written it off either." (Her fingers tap at a line read 'Some sort of copy invented by the loops?'.)

"Heh, I shouldn't be surprised. You've figured things out with less before."

"Well there's a reason I don't often voice my theories until they're certain. There's a lot of different possibilities during the process of putting it all together." (Isa gives a little snort as he remembers something.)

"Like when you thought Sif was secretly some sort of Assassin?" (Mira gives a surprised gasp as Odile sighs in annoyance.)

"Yes, like that, thank you Isabeau." (She comments sharply.)

"Anytime madame!" (He teases back, pretending the thanks was genuine.)

"D-did you really think that madame?!"

"It was a theory. One that I foolishly indulged in while inebriated." (Isa curious slides the journal over in front of him to glance through it.)

"It's almost a shame the secret's out of the bag already, I would have loved to hear about some of these from a drunken Odile!" (She quickly snatches the book back up, loudly clapping it shut.)

"Thankfully, we've all been spared from that humiliation." (She sighs, looking around a bit, wanting to change the topic.)

"Oh, this reminds me, I wanted to test something." (She makes a familiar hand sign and brings her thumb and pinkie to her ear and mouth respectively... You blink a couple times in confusion. She closes her eyes to focus and you suddenly feel a familiar ringing. You instinctively and immediately put your hand to your head in the same way.)

"H-Hello?!"

"Ah, so it does work with anyone, that's good to know." (Her voice echoes in your head just like Vale's did in the past. You just sit there in a shocked silence for a moment.)

"Why are you so surprised? It's simple Wish Craft, isn't it?"

"WHAT?!" (You shout as you jump out of your seat, causing the others to jump back slightly.)

"... It's a simple ritual, based on intent, you wish to speak to someone, that's how Wish Craft works based on the other examples." (You slowly collapse back into your chair, placing your head in your hands.)

"Blinding stars it was just Wish Craft this whole time?..." (You had 30 years to put that together!! You didn't even relate them at all?! You idiot!! You snap out of it as you feel a large hand pat your back, along with Isa's hearty laugh.)

"It's alright, Sif. It's not like any of us knew anything about Wish Craft before that whole experience, right?"

"Yeah... But, wait... Why did it stop working with Vale then?" (You ask as you raise your head back up, a brow raised.)

"You weren't trying to call Vale, you were trying to call Loop." (You're stunned back into silence again... When you finally snap out of it, you make the sign once more and bring your hand back up to your face. You wish to speak with Vale. You hear a snort and shuffling in the living room.)

"Mrghh... Hello?..."

"IT DOES WORK!" (You shout into the sign before hearing a startled yelp, followed by a couple of thuds.)

"What the craaaaaab?!" (Bonnie's voice calls out tiredly.)

[o-sachi]

Record Store - Drabble for WinBre Week!

ᯓ you and kaji working together part-time at a local record store ᯓ character; kaji ren (wind breaker) ᯓ tags; fluff, college au, technically a budding workplace romance, has a 500 days of summer reference, afab reader, no y/n

[🐟]: for day 6 - part-time job prompt! @windbreakerweek

There was this guy you worked with at the local record store. He was pretty quiet and always wore headphones no matter what—which was fitting for a record store employee, you thought.

But that meant it was almost impossible to talk to him. So the register and the customer service were left in your care. He mostly handled the logistics like carrying the boxes containing new records and arranging them on the display shelves.

On his chest he wore the same employee nameplate that you did. It said "Hi I'm, Kaji," in black letters. You assumed he was the one who wrote his name with those asemic strokes. But all that mattered was that the nameplate served its purpose and everyone now knows his name is Kaji.

Unfortunately, that's about everything you know of this guy. Too bad he can't write his life's story or his favorite food on something he can plaster somewhere on his body.

Kaji was intriguing though. You found yourself stealing glances at him while you stood behind the counter and he'd be walking back-and-forth between the shelves and the storage room. The only time he'd talk to you was when he absolutely need to, but would you really consider conversations about work as ACTUAL conversations? No, not really.

It was a rather slow and peaceful day for the record store. To be fair, you've never experienced a busy day here. It was one of the many charms of this place. But you were bored out of your mind doing absolutely nothing at the register while Kaji was busy with rearranging the vinyls.

An idea popped into your head and you found yourself making way to the very same shelf he was at. Scanning his work, you realized he was arranging records by genre, so you started doing the same. He didn't protest—or maybe he really had no words for you—but he silently let you help him.

The music streaming through his headphones were loud enough that even as you stood a few inches away from him—you could hear it clearly.

"I love Deftones."

Kaji lifts one side of the headphones. "What?"

"I said I love Deftones."

He kept it lifted off his ear while he thought of something meaningful to say.

"You have good taste in music," you add, hoping that he could springboard from that.

"You like Deftones?"

"If like, you should stay down beneath~"

"Yeah, I love them."

Holy shit. Kaji was short-circuiting like an idiot. Normally, the news that someone listens to the same music as he does is nothing amazing. But finding out the pretty girl at his part-time job did? It had him feeling some type of way.

Safe to say, you caught his attention. Hook line and sinker. He removed the headphones from his ears completely, setting them slowly around his neck—telling you that he was ready to listen whatever else you had to say.

"That's cool," he stammered out.

For a long while, the only sound between the two of you were the sounds of the records being shuffled on the shelf. The tension was more palpable than ever.

"There's this music festival on Friday evening," you said. In all honesty, you wanted to continue the topic of music and that seemed relevant at the moment, but it was too late once you realized the implication of it.

He cranes his head to look at you, wanting to make sure he wasn't reading into it too much. But it was accidental and he did read into it too much. "Rock music?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Who's playing?"

You decided to double down on it. "Let's go together and see."

The slight shift in his expression was a dead giveaway that your words had an effect on him. "Eh... uh... like as co-workers?"

"Ouch, not even friends? Besides, who goes to events like that as co-workers?"

"So... what? Friends?"

Jeez. You sigh. "If I called it a date, would you mind? And no, not a friendly date."

What date isn't friendly—he thought. Hearing the word d-a-t-e, there was no way he'd misinterpret that. He was hoping your invitation was for something more than friends anyway.

"Sure, it's a date then."

o-sachi © 2024 pls do not translate/copy/reupload my work on other platforms.

[starkwlkr]

she’s real! | fabio quartararo

i wanna fight whoever thought it was a good idea to put the valencia gp and the abu dhabi gp on the same day at same time

Fabio never imagined he would find a girlfriend if he was being honest, though he had been thinking about a certain woman. With his busy schedule, a relationship was the last thing on his mind. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have time to do things he enjoyed like attend an f1 race. Tom and him were invited by Mercedes to attend the Monaco Grand Prix.

Before the race started, the two friends were in the Mercedes garage checking out the two cars. Tom was excited to even be in the same garage that Lewis Hamilton was in. But the seven time world champion wasn’t around.

“Look, this one has a Spider-Man sticker.” Tom pointed to the small sticker stuck on the halo of the car.

“I like it. I might start putting stickers on my bike.” Fabio joked.

“It’ll look cute.” A female’s voice said from behind them. They turned around and saw the owner of the car. “Toto’s son, Jack, put it on there. He said it was to give me speed.”

“Cool.” Was all Fabio could say. Tom knew he had a small crush on the woman so it wasn’t a surprise to see Fabio so starstruck by her. “You have a cool car.”

“Thanks.” Y/n replied with a smile and walked away to speak with her engineer.

“That was so painful to witness.” Tom said as Fabio kept staring at her until she was no longer in sight.

“Did you hear her? She said my bike looks cute.” Fabio sighed. “I’m in love, Tom.”

“No, you’re just crazy.”

Crazy? That didn’t stop Fabio from asking Y/n out after the race. He was surprised she even said yes. They arranged a dinner on a day neither of them were busy, which was three weeks away. Both Fabio and Y/n were counting down the days until their date and when it finally arrived, they acted like lovesick teenagers. By the fourth date, Fabio had asked Y/n to be his girlfriend. She, of course, said yes.

Their busy schedules kept them apart, but they managed to keep their relationship working. Their relationship was a secret to everyone but their families. Yes, even Fabio’s best friend, Tom, didn’t know that Fabio had a girlfriend.

“So if I leave right after the race, I can make it.” Y/n spoke to Fabio over the phone. She was in her driver’s room braiding her hair for the race.

“Yeah, okay. My mom misses you already. I think she loves you more than me.” Fabio teased. He was currently in Malaysia while she was in Austin.

“I miss her too.” Y/n replied.

“What about me?”

“Eh.”

“Love you too.” Fabio chuckled. On Fabio’s end, Tom was just about to enter Fabio’s motorhome. Who was making El Diablo laugh? Did he have another best friend?

“Okay, good luck and I love you. Bye.” Fabio ended the call and stuck his phone inside his pocket. Tom entered the motorhome and saw Fabio casually sitting on the small sofa.

“Your mom called?” Tom asked.

“No.”

“Dad?”

“No.”

Tom nodded. “Is there a secret girlfriend or something?” He started chuckling, but it faded when he noticed that Fabio wasn’t denying it. “Are you serious?”

“I was going to tell you, but I wanted you to meet her first. Well, technically you’ve already met her.”

“Who is it?”

“Y/n L/n.” Fabio answered.

“No, really who is it?” Tom asked again.

“I’m telling you. Y/n L/n.”

“April fools already passed, mate, you can stop joking.”

“When she comes to the French gp, it’s going to be satisfying saying ‘I told you so’. Just watch.” Fabio said.

[basicallyaturtle]

never been part of a tag game, sounds really fun! tagged by dear Lanvender, @khan-crete

Do you make your bed? A freshly decrumbed, stuffed animal arranged and dirty clothes removed bed feels great. How often do I do this? We mustn't ask (like once or twice a month) that's all making the bed entails for me, I just have a fitted then normal sheet and blankets

Favorite Number? 4 4 4 4 4! I've loved four my entire life she is like a goddess to me. 2+2 2*2 2^2, divides into halves twice. can only compete with sixteen, whose status and 2^4 and 4^2 is nice, but not as symmetric. 37 and 73 have a place in my heart as the 12th and 21st primes, but not a large place compared to 4

What's your job? What do I get paid for? undergrad lab TA, what do I do? grad research in low energy nuclear physics

If you could go back to school, would you? In school technically still. Would I rewind time to experience school again? highschool no college yes. would I go back for another college degree? I could be convinced if it would be cheap and unobtrusive to my current schooling. Was always torn between physics and linguistics. I made the right choice but I always wonder what if.

Can you Parallel Park? I have done it, on the driving test, like four or five years ago. I think I could do it again, but not too confident

Do you think Aliens are real? Eh, probably in a 'the observable universe 9.3e+9 ly across, it must have happened more than once' kinda way, but not in a 'they've been feeding us tech for thousands of years or are visiting us' kinda way.

Can you drive a manual car? Never tried, hubris tell me yes, anxiety with even normal cars tells me I'd probably fuck up the transmission while trying to leave the driveway. gonna say yeag

Guilty Pleasure? I think like cheesy childhood disney live action movies?, generally I'm pretty full chested about the things I enjoy

Favorite Type of Music? yeah, hard, a lot of vocaloid, which isn't reallly a genre, a lot of edm genres from like old school monstercat, a lot of jrock by way of anime OP's of show's I've never watched then finding other songs by those artists. some rock music though that genre is also extremely expansive and I'm not sure how I'd categorize a lot of it. Generally my music consumption consists of a group of maybe five songs completely unrelated on repeat for months at a time and genre is not a huge factor in that

Do you like puzzles? twisty puzzles like rubik's cube type puzzles are really fun working, towards doing a 3x3 blindfolded but challenging, I used to do jigsaw's with my mom but over the course of a very long time because we'd get frustrated. crosswords, but I'm no good at them

Favorite Childhood Sport? Soccerrrr. Wish I'd stayed with it, but there were only a couple more years before there wasn't a league for my age group anyway, been trying to get back into it recreationally

Do you talk to yourself? I do, but as if I'm talking to someone else. I prefer not to do it because I'm not content with my voice atm, but I find myself doing it a lot especially when getting stuck on research stuff trying to talk it out or I will say a comment to someone I disagree with outloud rather than typing it and posting it. A lot of this is to my reflection which is probably part of the reason it feels like someone else lol

Tea or Coffee? tea all the way. drank iced sweet black tea my entire childhood and started drinking it hot with milk in college. I was the kind of person that disliking coffee was a sort of pillar of my tastes, but then a few years ago made it with like half milk and a lot of sugar and like it, lotta people wouldn't call that coffee, but eh.

First thing you wanted to be when you grew up? The actual first thing was everything. I would amalgamate like all the stereotypes of things kids want to be into one so a firefighter-astronaut-whatever else. When I got a better sense of my interests, inventor, so I guess like product designer, but what that meant to me was I got to sit around and think of neat gadgets and items then figure out how to make them like freeze ray, time machine, clone gun, that kind of thing lol. the first practical idea of a job I wanted was theoretical physicist in like middle school, which I kinda am now so success I guess

What Movies do you Adore? not much of a movie person, but like to watch movies other people are interested in with them, love castle in the sky, LOTR, howl's moving castle, your name, probably others in those categories I don't know about yet or have forgotten and I have a strong soft spot for childhood halloween movies like twitches and halloweentown

I'm curious what @arc-archernar and @charyou-tree have got to say if they'd like to, and anyone else that wants to participate!

[wedontdeservethestars]

Can U do Johnny Cage w/ a reader who looks exactly like her sister Kitana? Thx 🙏

Ok. First of all anon I am SO sorry this took me like. 7 months to get around to. Idk why but for a while I just had NO workflow with this one BUT!! I ended up liking how it came out! Lots of emotional stuff in this one, with reader and Johnny learning to appreciate one another. Again--so sorry for the wait but I hope you like it!

(AO3 link here!)

“Kitana, baby!”

“No.”

“Ohhh, the other one.” 

That was how most of your conversations with Johnny began. Sure, you were technically the younger twin. You were second in line just behind the new Kahn, and despite the numerous times you and Kitana had agreed to this arrangement of Kahn and Royal Advisor (though, in all honesty, you held more power than a simple Advisor), you couldn’t help the jealousy you felt towards her. How could you not? All because of a few mere minutes of time-difference, you had spent most of your life in Kitana’s shadow. The forgotten sister.

“That isn’t my name, either.” It was bad enough being mistaken for your twin by anyone, but for some reason the fact that it was Johnny made you even more irritated. 

“Sorry, princess,” he shrugged carelessly. 

“And I’m not a princess,” you continued. The words felt sharp on your tongue. One of the first things you insisted upon when Kitana took over the kingdom was to remove your title entirely. You couldn’t stand the thought of her growing to such a powerful rank while yours stayed the same. Princess. You hated the word. It seemed childish. 

“Man, I just cannot win today, huh?” Johnny waved his hand as if to say, ‘ah, well,’ and wiped any memory of the past few seconds from his mind.

“If you’re looking for Kitana Kahn,” you said, emphasizing her title, “She’s with Master Liu Kang.”

You pointed a finger towards the opposite end of the venue, where, indeed, Kitana stood with a few close friends. Though she and Liu Kang weren’t touching, they were indeed standing rather close together. Besides, Johnny was well aware of their relationship to one another. Most were. You couldn’t understand why he tried so hard to gain the affection of an already-involved woman. 

Johnny, following your aim, squinted, lifting his shades. He apparently decided that he didn’t like the company she kept, because he shook his head, flipping the glasses back down. “Eh. Whatever. Was just gonna check if she’s havin’ a good time.”

“Are we supposed to?” you mumbled, mostly to yourself. Outrealm-Earthrealm meetings like this weren’t your idea of a good time, even if the events were thrown specifically as pleasant meetings where members could laugh and drink and be in good nature with one another. To keep the peace, Kitana had explained when she first brought up the idea. There had only been a handful so far, but you hadn’t enjoyed yourself at a single one of them. Maybe you were just too much of a wallflower. 

“Are you supposed to have a good time a party?” Johnny tried to clarify. “Uh…yeah. Yeah you are.”

“It’s not really a party…”

“Drinks. Music. F…” Johnny frowned as he drew out the ‘f’. His mouth started to form the word ‘friends,’ but he quickly backtracked. “Fffffun people.”

“I suppose,” you grumbled, arms folded over your chest. He sighed and gave you a nudge.

“C’mon, loosen up! You don’t have to do anything. No world to save, no politics or anything. Just relax.”

You were about to point out how, technically, the only reason this ‘party’ was happening was because of politics that specifically dealt with the two of your homeworlds, but the thought suddenly exhausted you and you let it slide. “I don’t…relax easily.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” Johnny chuckled and took a sip of his own drink, some sort of foamy liquid with an ungodly color of aquamarine fading to green at the bottom. It looked like it could kill. Half-heartedly, you hoped it would. “Tell you what, next drink is on me.”

Well. It couldn’t hurt. “Fine.”

“Hella.” He gave you a grin, his teeth too perfect and square, and grabbed you by the arm, practically dragging you to the catering bar. “C’mon!”

“Johnny, slow down–” you frowned. “I’m in heels!” 

“What’dya want?” he asked as you stumbled up behind him.

“Uh…” Your gaze skimmed over the menu. Drinks you’d never heard of with ingredients even less familiar. Of course, the catering company had to come Earthrealm. “I don’t know. That one looks fine.”

“Shoulda known you were a Pinot Grigio kinda gal.” He leaned over and murmured something to the bartender, who tried his best not to look flustered (and failed). You scoffed. You couldn’t ever imagine giving into Johnny’s “charms” so easily. Never.

Shortly, a tall fluted glass was in your gloved hand. You took a tentative sip and immediately felt your tongue dry up. Not letting yourself wince at the sick, bittersweet tang that overcame your taste buds, you bravely took another sip. Johnny didn’t take notice–he was in the midst of downing the rest of his glass. Slamming the glass down, he stifled a quiet burp into his fist and laughed. You rolled your eyes. When the bartender turned around again, there was already another glass of whatever horrid drink he’d just finished. 

“Thanks, stud.” He raised his glass and gave a wink to the server, who, this time, couldn’t stop a shy little smile from coming across his face. You felt sick.

“Thank you for the drink,” you mumbled and started to hightail it out of the crowd, but a hand on your shoulder stopped you. 

“Hey, c’mon. At least talk with me a little. Not like you were doin’ anything else.”

You sighed. Damn him. “Can we at least go somewhere quiet? I don’t like crowds.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he shrugged. Realizing you weren’t going to get rid of him so easily, you decided to suck it up and scanned the venue, looking for a way out. You spied a patch on the outskirts that wasn’t too populated, a little garden area with leaves that glistened in the dew of night and held promise for some peace and quiet. 

“This way.”

While squeezing through seemingly endless amounts of people, you heard Johnny behind you, stopping to talk to a few and saying a quick ‘hi’ to nearly everyone else. You wished he would just focus on the task at hand, but then again, did you expect him to act any other way?

“So, Edenia,” he said awkwardly as you two came up on your destination. Fortunately, your guess had been right–it was much emptier and calmer over here. 

“What about it?” You turned to face him and suddenly wished he weren’t so tall.

“Uh…how’s it going?” he tried. “With your sister as ruler, and all.”

“Did you really insist on continuing to stay with me just to take about my sister all night?” you asked curtly. 

“No! No, just, uh, y’know. It’s a big shift, I’m sure. And…” He gave a timid chuckle and lowered his voice to a stage-whisper, as if he had an audience you didn’t know about. “I’m just trying to make conversation. Help me out here.” 

Your lips twitched. You hid them in your glass. “It’s going fine.”

“Good, good.” 

There was a silence, and before Johnny could say something stupid, you decided to at least try. “How are your…movies?”

“Oh, great!” You couldn’t begin to describe the amount of relief that washed over his face. “We just finished wrapping Breaknose Mountain last month. That’s gonna be a good one. Give the audience a good ol’ tug at the heartstrings. Y’know, I don’t really get to do dramas often, which, like, whatever, every actor has their niche, and mine happens to be awesome-as-shit stunts and comedy and, like, shirtless scenes, so I always have to really appreciate the times where I get to hunker down and get into a serious role. Not that all my roles aren’t serious, at least, I take them seriously, but it’s different, y’know?” 

For a moment, you didn’t know what to say. Truthfully, you didn’t know–Edenia didn’t have movies and the stories and theater your culture did have were nothing like whatever was going on in Johnny’s films, based on what he had described to you before–but the way he spoke about this…it was the first time you saw something genuine in Johnny. Something more than the brash sense of style and flirtatious glances and overconfidence. 

“That’s…interesting.” You weren’t lying.

Johnny smiled, and for once it didn’t come off as entirely jaded. “Nah, I just…uh, actually, forget it. It’s kinda stupid.”

“I’m sure it’s not.” You were curious to see whatever side of him was starting to peek out. “Tell me.”

“Okay,” he chuckled with a nod. “I, uh…I haven’t been on a stage since I was a kid. Like, live acting, in a play. Probably not since high school. And…I miss it. A lot. It’s different from film. And the stuff I did then, I’m sure it was shitty as hell, but it felt real.”

He paused, a wistful look coming across his face. He looked distracted, like he wasn’t really seeing you anymore even though his eyes were still trained on you.

“I loved Shakespeare especially. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as alive as I did when I got to be Romeo. It was…everything. It was funny, it was sad, it was romantic. There was fighting. There was kissing. And the audience, they were right there in Verona with us. Living and breathing the same air. Or…that’s what it felt like, at least. With movies, you just…you film. And it’s usually on a green-screen set. And then you go home, and…you wait for it to come out, and the reviews come in. But they’re just words on paper. Comments. Everyone sees you act but no one sees you act.”

“Johnny…” You had no idea exactly what he was talking about in terms of sets and Shakespeare and whatever Verona was, but you didn’t need to. “That’s…”

“Dumb,” he said quickly, eager to put back on that Hollywood-boy persona. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I mean, I’m one of the biggest stars in America. Why would I want anything else?”

“I don’t think it’s dumb,” you frowned.

“Oh.” A look of genuine surprise came across his face. “Well…thanks, I guess.”

“Maybe you could still perform onstage if you really wanted to.”

“Eh, doesn’t really match the Cage brand,” he smiled sadly. “It’s okay. It’s just somethin’ I think about sometimes.”

“Well…I bet you were wonderful onstage.” You offered your best attempt at a smile, and Johnny gladly took it.

“Oh, I was.” Immediately your smile dropped as his old facade came back up, but he just laughed. “Kidding. Thank you. Really.”

“Humph,” you said in return. 

Johnny swirled what remained of his beverage around in its glass. “Can I ask a question? And promise you won’t get mad?”

You sighed, but nodded, finishing off your own drink almost just to spite the flavor. “Fine.”

“It’s about Kitana,” he warned.

“I thought we got past that.” But you waved your hand to tell him to keep going. 

Still, Johnny hesitated. “How do you really feel about her taking the throne. ‘Cause, like, you guys aren’t just sisters, right? You’re twins?”

You nodded once. Words sat on your tongue, but you knew you letting them escape would be a mistake. “I feel like…I shouldn’t talk about that.”

“Why not?” He cocked his head. “It’s just you and me. No one’s gonna hear.”

“I don’t care about what others think,” you lied. Surrounded by this kind of company, your jealousy could easily be misconstrued as planned treason. 

“Then why won’t you tell me?”

“Because I hardly know you. And it’s not an issue for a Earthrealmer to worry about.”

“So it is an issue,” he pressed. 

“No,” you huffed, “I didn’t mean–”

“Didn’t you?” His ocean blues pierced into your skull and you had to avert your own eyes. 

“Don’t do this,” you muttered. 

“Do what?”

“Cage.”

“What?” he asked again. “Listen, I’m just sayin’–if you can’t talk about this stuff normally, then I don’t mind being an outlet. Like me and my stupid theater dreams.”

“The aren’t stupid,” you said before really realizing you were doing it. Quickly, you moved on. “And that doesn’t equate to the politics of my kingdom. Not at all. One is a dream. The other is…”

“A dream?” he asked knowingly. “Of…running away? Being Kahn? Going back to the way things were?”

You didn’t deny any of his guesses. You also hoped he wouldn’t notice that detail. “Why do you care so much?”

“I…don’t know.” He frowned into his drink, and then had some more of it. “Just wanna get to know you. Know what you care about. Not what the Royal Advisor of Edenia does.”

There was silence for a long time. It got to the point where it was almost impressive how long Johnny was keeping his mouth shut for. You were clenching your teeth so hard you thought they might crack when you finally answered him. “Kitana has…everything now. We spent so long dreaming of the day when we would finally overtake that monster who killed our father, and when we could pay respects to our lost mother, and…Gods. I don’t know. We planned everything together, in hushed whispers at night, ever since we were children. We both agreed she should be Kahn. That I would remain by her side. But…it feels more like I’m behind her, or beneath her. And why shouldn’t I be equal with her?”

He stared at you. You suddenly felt awful for voicing your ugly desires.

“No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that. That was…”

“You’re right.”

You stopped dead in your tracks. “Excuse me?”

“You’re right,” Johnny said again. “I mean, like, I don’t wanna start a whole-ass Edenian civil war or anything, but I think it’s pretty normal for you to feel this way.”

Secretly, you were immensely relieved to hear that. “It feels like it isn’t.”

“I don’t know how else you’re supposed to feel about it.” He wrinkled his nose. “Content? ‘Cause that seems like a pretty shitty deal.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter either way,” you tried to brush off. “I can’t do anything about it.”

“You could talk to her,” he offered.

“Deceptively simple answer,” you replied in such a way that made it clear how often you’d thought about this. 

“I don’t think it is.” But he backed off when you gave him an annoyed look. “But hey. I barely know what’s goin’ on with my own country’s politics, let alone yours.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” 

Johnny let you stew in the conversation while he finished off his drink, setting the glass on the ground beside yours. “Well, I guess…I’m sorry. That you’re in this position.”

Hearing him say that felt like a cool breeze filling your lungs. It didn’t solve any of your problems, of course, but it was nice to have someone just…listen. Understand. 

“Thank you,” you said, and you meant it. “I’m sorry for you, too. About your acting stuff.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he shrugged, but you thought you saw his chest relax like yours had.

The silence you shared was a little awkward, but it wasn’t tense like the previous ones. It was a little bit nice, actually. You looked around the venue, deciding that the location and lights and music were a little bit nice too now that you really thought about it, and when you looked back Johnny was staring at you in a very, very particular way.

“Hey,” he said softly. “I can give you something Kitana doesn’t have.”

“What’s that?” He was close, now, his face looming over yours. It made you nervous. You almost wished he would get closer. 

“I can’t tell you until I give it,” he smiled. His eyes searched yours for something–understanding of what he was talking about, maybe. His smile widened: he’d found it. Rightfully so. You did know what he was talking about.

“You promise she doesn’t have this?” you asked, feeling your chest grow tight. Johnny moved in closer–his strong nose was nearly touching yours now. 

“Oh, big time,” he laughed quietly. 

You gave a simple nod, and that was enough. Johnny sealed the kiss. 

[merakiui]

That ceo!azul did sum to me but likr- imagine you and azul in a kind of "arranged marriage" troupe but its actually just him forcing u into this situation. How'd u even get here? Well first, you were fired from ur work bcs of "mistreatment towards other employees" issue. Defending urself won't work when there's someone pulling the strings from behind. Second, u can't really rely on ur parents since they're too old to be working, welp- they're relying on u since they're too old so-.. oh! I know! Job hunting! What? U bumped on someone? Sorry! "I've falled for u" well- sir, technically i bumped into u so u fell-… What? Go on a date with u as a compensation? Uh- sure?? Ohh this man named Azul is a nice man, too nice actually. He treats u well, cares for ur family, is kind, financially stable and most of all! Is devilishly handsome! A perfect man who doesn't expect anything from you(yet)! Hm? U want me to live with u? Sure! Eh? Sex? Ok! Huh? A wedding? Uhm- sure?? W-what?? A… Baby..? That's unexpected… O-ok? Since he's a good man and dotes on u.. nothing can be wrong right?

😵‍💫 he's so fine,,,, and he's the full package, too! So no matter how much you try to avoid him or tiptoe around all of these things he wants from you, everyone you know thinks he's a blessing. He's a well-off man with an impressive job. He has the resources to care for you and your parents as they're getting on in years. And he's sweet and handsome and has an impeccable fashion sense. Seriously, why haven't you married him yet?! >:( everyone thinks you're crazy for not grasping such a good opportunity, but then they don't know Azul beneath the perfect, pristine façade he upholds. He dotes on you, but it's to an unhealthy amount. And he's trying to be patient, but he wants that ring on your finger as soon as possible, preferably with a baby on the way as well, but he can exercise a little restraint for your sake.

He brings you to all sorts of fancy events and introduces you as his lover. You meet his parents and he's so excited to tell them that one day the two of you will be wed, but in the meantime you're trying day and night for a child. You can try to run away, but when you show just an ounce of defiance or you stray too far from Azul's hold the Leech twins are there to remind you of where you ought to be. Sometimes they're assigned to watch over you while Azul's at work. Ever since you got involved with him, he's insisted you needn't work. So you quit your job (at Azul's behest) and now live in his luxurious penthouse. You feel like a child when the twins are put on babysitting duty. You try to chase them out, but they're here to stay, grinning down at you and slyly warning you to play nice (or be mean; they don't mind it when you're rough).

You're the worst at saying no, and since Azul has done so many good things for you and your family it's impossible to deny him what he wants. You feel like no matter what you do you can never repay the debt you owe him. Even though you try to plead with him about wearing protection or how you think it would be smarter if you took birth control, he's adamant that it has to be raw. He wants to start a family with you! Can't do that if you're practicing safe sex now, can you? Don't be silly, (Name). He'll take good care of you once you're pregnant. After all, he always has. So just lay back and let him give you what he wants you want.

[meltingpenguins]

Ineffable.

One of the most beloved and important words in the Good Omens fandom.

But are people aware just how deep it goes in the book? How much, in the book, it is tied to Crowley and Aziraphale's character-arc and development throughout human history?

When the word is first use by Aziraphale it's when he declares that one shouldn't question the Almighty's ways cause they're ineffable, not for people like him or Crowley to understand.

“You’ve got to admit it’s a bit of a pantomime, though,” said Crawly. “I mean, pointing out the Tree and saying ‘Don’t Touch’ in big letters. Not very subtle, is it? I mean, why not put it on top of a high mountain or a long way off? Makes you wonder what He’s really planning.” “Best not to speculate, really,” said Aziraphale. “You can’t second-guess ineffability, I always say. There’s Right, and there’s Wrong. If you do Wrong when you’re told to do Right, you deserve to be punished. Er.”

This is in the Garden of Eden. Aziraphale has just been appointed to guard the Eastern Gate, and has given away the flaming sword he had received for that task, meaning he was meant to strike down anyone who tries to get into the garden (i.e. Adam and Eve, at the time), and instead defied God's orders and gave the sword away.

What Aziraphale is doing here is he's using 'ineffable' as a 'get out of jail free-card'. He's using it in a way that pretty much says

'I technically agree with you, but I mustn't doubt the Almighty, what with me being an angel and all, and you know first hand what doubting and questioning God entitles.'

He has his doubts about the whole tree thing and all, but he fears Falling, so he weasels his way around it. Doesn't mean he's not thoroughly rattled at what happened and what might happen:

“I’m not sure it’s actually possible for you to do evil,” said Crawly sarcastically. Aziraphale didn’t notice the tone. “Oh, I do hope so,” he said. “I really do hope so. It’s been worrying me all afternoon.” They watched the rain for a while. “Funny thing is,” said Crawly, “I keep wondering whether the apple thing wasn’t the right thing to do, as well. A demon can get into real trouble, doing the right thing.” He nudged the angel. “Funny if we both got it wrong, eh? Funny if I did the good thing and you did the bad one, eh?” “Not really,” said Aziraphale. Crawly looked at the rain. “No,” he said, sobering up. “I suppose not.”

Here we have Crowley/Crawly pretty much forget for a moment who he is talking to. He might try to cheer Aziraphale up (he's only mentioning that a demon can get into trouble for doing the right thing) already showing traces of his own kindness, but Aziraphale's dry 'not really' and Crowley's reaction to it show how worried Aziraphale is, and Crowley respects that. Knowing first hand that the angel has all reasons to be worried.

But, chronologically speaking, the next time we see Aziraphale use 'ineffable' it's about 5000 years later:

And just when you’d think they were more malignant than ever Hell could be, they could occasionally show more grace than Heaven ever dreamed of. Often the same individual was involved. It was this free-will thing, of course. It was a bugger. Aziraphale had tried to explain it to him once. The whole point, he’d said—this was somewhere around 1020, when they’d first reached their little Arrangement—the whole point was that when a human was good or bad it was because they wanted to be. Whereas people like Crowley and, of course, himself, were set in their ways right from the start. People couldn’t become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked. Crowley had thought about this for some time and, around about 1023, had said, Hang on, that only works, right, if you start everyone off equal, okay? You can’t start someone off in a muddy shack in the middle of a war zone and expect them to do as well as someone born in a castle. Ah, Aziraphale had said, that’s the good bit. The lower you start, the more opportunities you have. Crowley had said, That’s lunatic. No, said Aziraphale, it’s ineffable.

See the shift? Now Aziraphale is using the term as a 'argument winner'. Like a smug 'I'm right, you're wrong, nothing you can do about it'. Why?

Because over 5000 years Aziraphale really settled into being upper class, posh, privileged. What's he's doing here is very much in the same vein as all those 'if you can't pay rent eat less avocado toast' articles.

He's saying that poor people have 'more' opportunities in life (not just in terms of doing good or bad, looking at it) than rich people, because why should rich people take up jobs for example. It is a twisted logic we still see today from people in positions of privilege.

The kind of people that will tell you you have much more a shot at saving the planet because you can just use paper straws, while they are woefully barred from doing this kind of good because there's only fancy black plastic straws on their private jets and yachts.

And they expect you to agree with that.

Aziraphale has the heart in the right place, but he's still an asshole who has grown very comfortable being part of the human upper crust.

(Crowley, and Hell by extension are more akin to the working class folks, and Crowley endorses it, but that is an analysis for another time)

So yeah, by now 'ineffable' has become more of an argument winner.

One that Crowley throws back into Aziraphale's face at a later point and with great impact, but we'll come to that in a moment.

Because chronologically speaking, we see another shift in its use:

“Listen,” said Crowley desperately, “how many musicians do you think your side have got, eh? First grade, I mean.” Aziraphale looked taken aback. “Well, I should think—” he began. “Two,” said Crowley. “Elgar and Liszt. That’s all. We’ve got the rest. Beethoven, Brahms, all the Bachs, Mozart, the lot. Can you imagine eternity with Elgar?” Aziraphale shut his eyes. “All too easily,” he groaned. “That’s it, then,” said Crowley, with a gleam of triumph. He knew Aziraphale’s weak spot all right. “No more compact discs. No more Albert Hall. No more Proms. No more Glyndbourne. Just celestial harmonies all day long.” “Ineffable,” Aziraphale murmured.

This is when Crowley is trying to convince Aziraphale that this whole Armageddon business is a rotten cause, and let's just not do it and all...

Now Aziraphale uses 'ineffable' in a way more akin to what it was used like in Eden, but with a bit of a twist. Now it's more of a 'I mustn't question God's ways, but dang I have an urge to bite someone'. It's again used as a way to avoid outright doubting god, but he's really grumpy about it.

Curiously, when he uses it again a few lines further down:

“And then Game Over, Insert Coin?” said Crowley. “Sometimes I find your methods of expression a little difficult to follow.” “I like the seas as they are. It doesn’t have to happen. You don’t have to test everything to destruction just to see if you made it right.” Aziraphale shrugged again. “That’s ineffable wisdom for you, I’m afraid.” The angel shuddered, and pulled his coat around him. Gray clouds were piling up over the city.

Now it's more leaning towards argument winner again, but mixed with the above. (but leaning towards argument winner, or better argument ender.)

The next use is from Crowley, when they're both very plastered:

Crowley decided not to argue the point. “There you are then,” he said. “All creatures great and smoke. I mean small. Great and small. Lot of them with brains. And then, bazamm.” “But you’re part of it,” said Aziraphale. “You tempt people. You’re good at it.” Crowley thumped his glass on the table. “That’s different. They don’t have to say yes. That’s the ineffable bit, right? Your side made it up. You’ve got to keep testing people. But not to destruction.”

Crowley is using it part in the dictionary meaning of the word, half in a throwing it back into Aziraphale's face way, as if to say 'hey, here's this nonsensical bit that people keep getting told not to question, cause if they would it'd very quickly fall apart'

However:

“I can’t interfere with divine plans,” he croaked. Crowley looked speculatively into his glass, and then filled it again. “What about diabolical ones?” he said. “Pardon?” “Well, it’s got to be a diabolical plan, hasn’t it? We’re doing it. My side.” “Ah, but it’s all part of the overall divine plan,” said Aziraphale. “Your side can’t do anything without it being part of the ineffable divine plan,” he added, with a trace of smugness. “You wish!” “No, that’s the—” Aziraphale snapped his fingers irritably. “The thing. What d’you call it in your colorful idiom? The line at the bottom.” “The bottom line.” “Yes. It’s that.”

Now (a few lines of drunken philosophizing and stumbling over each other's thought) Aziraphale uses the term very smugly again, in an attempt to get the upper hand in the argument. Crowley's not buying it.

Aziraphale still tries, though:

“Then you can’t be certain, correct me if I’m wrong, you can’t be certain that thwarting it isn’t part of the divine plan too. I mean, you’re supposed to thwart the wiles of the Evil One at every turn, aren’t you?” Aziraphale hesitated. “There is that, yes.” “You see a wile, you thwart. Am I right?” “Broadly, broadly. Actually I encourage humans to do the actual thwarting. Because of ineffability, you understand.”

(Translation: I -could- do that myself, but I can't be arsed, too much work)

Then, 11 years later, we have this bit:

He thumped the steering wheel. “You’ll be amazed at the kind of things they can do to you, down there,” he said. “I imagine they’re very similar to the sort of things they can do to one up there,” said Aziraphale. “Come off it. Your lot get ineffable mercy,” said Crowley sourly. “Yes? Did you ever visit Gomorrah?” “Sure,” said the demon. “There was this great little tavern where you could get these terrific fermented date-palm cocktails with nutmeg and crushed lemongrass—” “I meant afterwards.” “Oh.”

Crowley uses it in a similar way to how he used it in the drunken talk, but more bitter. And in a 'I know how much you love using this word to win arguments >:Y ' way.

And then comes the bit where everything culminates:

“What’d I do? What’d I do?” said Crowley, pushing open doors at random. “There are people out there shooting one another!” “Well, that’s just it, isn’t it? They’re doing it themselves. It’s what they really want to do. I just assisted them. Think of it as a microcosm of the universe. Free will for everyone. Ineffable, right?” Aziraphale glared. “Oh, all right,” said Crowley wretchedly. “No one’s actually going to get killed. They’re all going to have miraculous escapes. It wouldn’t be any fun otherwise.” Aziraphale relaxed. “You know, Crowley,” he said, beaming, “I’ve always said that, deep down inside, you’re really quite a—” “All right, all right,” Crowley snapped. “Tell the whole blessed world, why don’t you?”

THIS is the ultimate bit of usage of the term between these two. Crowley takes the word that Aziraphale, for 6000 has come to use as a privileged way of winning arguments and throws it back into the angel's face.

And Aziraphale? He catches on, but he also knows Crowley well enough for a glare to convey two things:

That was low, but alright, I get you, and I apologize for using the term to win arguments.

However, I know how much you care about humans and Earth and all, even though that is a thing -you- can't say out loud, so I know you are not happy with the prospect of these people killing each other.

Because after this moment, the term is used twice in a way that seems to have it replace 'fucking' or 'bullshit' or 'ffs can't we just get our shit together about this', by all means:

Good old Malachi. He’d been a nice old boy, sitting there, dreaming about future popes. Complete piss artist, of course. Could have been a real thinker, if it hadn’t been for the poteen. A sad end. Sometimes you really had to hope that the ineffable plan had been properly thought out.

(when we learn more about Aziraphale's collection of prophecies and which prophets he knew personally)

“This is not to say you have not performed well,” said the voice. “You will receive a commendation. Well done.” “Thank you,” said Aziraphale. The bitterness in his voice would have soured milk. “I’d forgotten about ineffability, obviously.” “We thought you had.” “May I ask,” said the angel, “to whom have I been speaking?” The voice said, “We are the Metatron.”

(When Aziraphale's contacting Heaven)

His shades flew to a far corner of the room, and became a puddle of burning plastic. Yellow eyes with slitted vertical pupils were revealed. Wet and steaming, face ash-blackened, as far from cool as it was possible for him to be, on all fours in the blazing bookshop, Crowley cursed Aziraphale, and the ineffable plan, and Above, and Below.

(after Crowley got hit by the jet of water in the burning bookshop)

This ALL brings us to the most amazing double-act in the whole book, the bit that really let's Crowley and Aziraphale's chemistry shine:

Crowley stuck his head in his hands. “For a moment there, just for a moment, I thought we had a chance,” he said. “He had them worried. Oh, well, it was nice while—” He was aware that Aziraphale had stood up. “Excuse me,” said the angel. The trio looked at him. “This Great Plan,” he said, “this would be the ineffable Plan, would it?” There was a moment’s silence. “It’s the Great Plan,” said the Metatron flatly. “You are well aware. There shall be a world lasting six thousand years and it will conclude with—” “Yes, yes, that’s the Great Plan all right,” said Aziraphale. He spoke politely and respectfully, but with the air of one who has just asked an unwelcome question at a political meeting and won’t go away until he gets an answer. “I was just asking if it’s ineffable as well. I just want to be clear on this point.” “It doesn’t matter!” snapped the Metatron. “It’s the same thing, surely!” Surely? thought Crowley. They don’t actually know. He started to grin like an idiot. “So you’re not one hundred percent clear on this?” said Aziraphale. “It’s not given to us to understand the ineffable Plan,” said the Metatron, “but of course the Great Plan—” “But the Great Plan can only be a tiny part of the overall ineffability,” said Crowley. “You can’t be certain that what’s happening right now isn’t exactly right, from an ineffable point of view.” “It izz written!” bellowed Beelzebub. “But it might be written differently somewhere else,” said Crowley. “Where you can’t read it.” “In bigger letters,” said Aziraphale. “Underlined,” Crowley added. “Twice,” suggested Aziraphale. “Perhaps this isn’t just a test of the world,” said Crowley. “It might be a test of you people, too. Hmm?” “God does not play games with His loyal servants,” said the Metatron, but in a worried tone of voice. “Whooo-eee,” said Crowley. “Where have you been?”

These two little shits <3

They know to the rest of Heaven and Hell and probably Earth 'ineffable' has an entirely different meaning than the term has to them. And they are milking it for what it's worth <3

The last word in this, however is not had by either of them:

“Well,” said Crowley, who’d been thinking about this until his head ached, “haven’t you ever wondered about it all? You know—your people and my people, Heaven and Hell, good and evil, all that sort of thing? I mean, why?” “As I recall,” said the angel, stiffly, “there was the rebellion and—” “Ah, yes. And why did it happen, eh? I mean, it didn’t have to, did it?” said Crowley, a manic look in his eye. “Anyone who could build a universe in six days isn’t going to let a little thing like that happen. Unless they want it to, of course.” “Oh, come on. Be sensible,” said Aziraphale, doubtfully. “That’s not good advice,” said Crowley. “That’s not good advice at all. If you sit down and think about it sensibly, you come up with some very funny ideas. Like: why make people inquisitive, and then put some forbidden fruit where they can see it with a big neon finger flashing on and off saying THIS IS IT!?” “I don’t remember any neon.” “Metaphorically, I mean. I mean, why do that if you really don’t want them to eat it, eh? I mean, maybe you just want to see how it all turns out. Maybe it’s all part of a great big ineffable plan. All of it. You, me, him, everything. Some great big test to see if what you’ve built all works properly, eh? You start thinking: it can’t be a great cosmic game of chess, it has to be just very complicated Solitaire. And don’t bother to answer. If we could understand, we wouldn’t be us. Because it’s all—all—” INEFFABLE, said the figure feeding the ducks. “Yeah. Right. Thanks.” They watched the tall stranger carefully dispose of the empty bag in a litter bin, and stalk away across the grass. Then Crowley shook his head. “What was I saying?” he said. “Don’t know,” said Aziraphale. “Nothing very important, I think.” Crowley nodded gloomily. “Let me tempt you to some lunch,” he hissed.

The book leaves it delightfully ambiguous if the figure is Death (who we have seen talking like that so far) OR if this is actually God stepping in and vibes part of their memory because they've gotten a little too close to the truth and it's not yet time. The book's ambiguity really works wonders here.

So, yeah, there you go. It's amazing how much the use of this single little word tells us about these characters and who they are as people.

<3

[vacantgodling]

re. about

REN -> renjamin when you want to scream my name like a disappointed and scandalized parent, rimz for cool kids, R.A.A for formal stuff (OFFICIALLY!!!!!)

26 -> 10.02 i age up

black, transmasc (he/him) & queer (achillean/mlm 🌲🍵☁️🧊🈳)

also been dating the love of my life for 6 years now & we make stories together. check them out here! -> @mothgrudge

neurodivergent, surprising no one

since tumblrs dying find me elsewhere here

also here’s a general psa for youngins that want to follow me. if you’re like 16-19 please read this first. i’m not making a rule or anything that i don’t want youngins following me but like please understand i’m an adult and i’m not tailoring my space to you.

you’ll rarely find me outside of tumblr but i offer art commissions, i have a discord (i don’t really do huge servers they make me anxious but 2-6 people is chill) & i have an art insta. i also have a pinterest for my wips. u can also technically add me on battlenet but i only play overwatch (tis my special interest). i also have a bluesky now if anyone else is on there LMAO

re. wips

i have a LOT of them. but the main one you truly need to know about is:

THE FALL OF GALERÉ BOOK I: PARAMOUR || “saved” from an imminent social death through arranged marriage, HYACINTHUS SHRAPNEL is whisked away to The Chateau aux Aisles D’or, where an unlikely sexual relationship with his butler AMON leads to far more than he bargained for. -> wip intro & powerpoint intro || character intros || gunn sibling kin assigner || s: paramour (main tag) || writing recaps

however i will talk about my other wips at random. you can find a full masterlist of all my wips and ideas HERE!

i also have a wip sampler series where i’m posting passages that encapsulate major vibes or themes of my wips. part one is here!

re. navigation

talking -> musings and personal thoughts

about renjamin -> insight to me / who i am

ren analysis -> when i get meta about my wips

ren mix -> a treasure trove of my music taste

ren polls -> any polls i make

ren reads -> for my ramblings and analysis as i try to get back into books

friends tag -> talking with friends or boosting my friends work

others work -> boosting other writeblrs work

hall of fame -> praise / things that make me happy that i want to keep

ren writing -> all of my writing in one place

ren poems -> all of my poems in one place

ren fic -> all of my fandom related writing in one place

short stories tag -> micro or flash fiction bits and bobs

ren art -> all my art

q eh you eh -> queue

sex mention -> tag for any sexual content.

worldbuilding -> all of my worldbuilding notes across all my wips

find the word tag -> for this game specifically so i can find it

last line tag -> for this game specifically so i can find it

ren hot cakes -> specifically for my overly opinionated opinions

writing recap -> tracking my writing journey so i can hold myself accountable

to read -> others works that i need to get around to reading

rens ocs but sims -> for when i make my ocs in the sims lol

ren plays -> me talking about video games but it’s usually overwatch

[atrueneutral]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤️

Thanks for the tag, @theemptyislost! ❤️

Self-love, eh? lol I feel a smidge awkward doing this, but I'm going to bite the bullet and do it anyways. 🤸‍♀️

[He Will Be All She Knows] [Baldur's Gate 3: Raphael x Tav] Tav dun goofed in going to the House of Hope alone (with some cheese as a kind parting gift). Raphael didn't like that. In response, he spends a year planning his revenge, but, oops! Developments arise between a mouse and a rat-fucking-bastard.

My first foray into writing fanfic since 2002, and no, you can't read my shitty InuYasha fanfics that I wrote when I was twelve. (Well, technically, you can... they're still online... but moving on...)

[Blood in the Wine] [Balder's Gate 3 AU: Raphael x Tav / Astarion x Tav] A monk who has nothing to hide gains entry to an abbey run by a man she suspects isn't a man at all. There are secrets to uncover at what many call the House of Hope...

Stretching my legs with this one. Research is involved as well as carefully arranging my pieces on the board to ensure this plot delivers Glorious Payoffs. Like HWBASK, I know *exactly* where this is going. Just 👏 gotta 👏 keep👏 writing 👏 the 👏 damn 👏 thing. I will finish this story!

The rest under the cut.

[May - June - July] [Fallout TV Show: The Ghoul x Lucy MacLean] Lucy's been having thoughts about a certain Ghoul, and she decides to take matters into her own hand upon finding a lovely pin-up calendar.

The moment I saw these characters... I said, 'I'm going to ship them, aren't I?' And... I did. I do. So this is my sole contribution to the fandom and the ship. Some playful smut.

[Truths] [Baldur's Gate 3: Raphael x Tav] Raphael made dinner, but Tav isn't hungry. Raphael makes Tav eat anyways, and she doesn't like the food.

A Raphael POV chapter from HWBASK. He's a cambion with complicated (icky) feelings he wants to deny, but I won't let him.

[O, Apple of His Eye] [Baldur's Gate 3: Raphael x Tav] Raphael and Tav can't escape each other - no matter the timeline or universe.

My collection of prompts and drabbles and other ideas involving these two. I view these as fun exercises for writing, and the prompts have been great fun to navigate. Thank you everyone who has contributed.

I'll hit up some inboxes, but no pressure.

[unfinishedficsillneverwrite]

The syndicates' identities are leaked, they all go into hiding but alot of the family members of said villains, including the angel of death's wife, are captured and all of them put in prison for conspiring.

Tommy, a hero who knows damn well other heroes and politicians interact with villains too, thinks that prison is a bit harsh.

most either didnt know about their family being villains, or weren't really involved outside of knowing and not snitching.

The angel of death’s wife, who hadnt even known about her husband being a villain, had been put in Pandora's prison.

Prison, tommy decides, especially pandora’s prison, is too much. 

Tommy tried to weigh in to get them to not put them all in prison, they say “lol no stupid young hero, we need an example, we dont care if its fair” 

tommy makes a reactionary decision

Tommy causes chaos by leaking files of all the only slightly illegal deals politicians and hero’s have made with villains for territory and co-operation and such

(tommy wishes he had the time to visit all the innocent people in prison, but he needs more time to compile the files and only has time to visit kristen because shes in pandoras vault and therefore closer)

Tommy gets in contact with quackity, who the gov commonly contact for deals, and tells him this is not hero business, he’ll have the family members of the syndicate including angels wife out soon and asks where they need to meet

Tommy leaks one last (horrible) file to ensure a larger protest outside the prison/hero’s hq

(its the same building to ward off prison breaks from the inside and out)

grabs the angels wife, kristen, first, and leads her out the side of the building, her and him both wearing janitor outfits to cover his hero fit and her prison uniform, the medical mask hiding tommy’s hero mask

Tommy delivers kristen right into her family’s arms and after their reunion ends he tells them he’ll be back with the other family members soon he just has to break them out of their individual prisons.

Kristens family, after sharing a look, offer their help. 

Tommy is stoked, the syndicate, his childhood idols, just offered to rescue people with him.

But he’s on a time limit so he can only bring one of them. (idk pick one yourself to go with him)

They bust into the prisons together, in the end they get and bring back all the family members from prison safe and sound.

He’s exhausted, but he’s also feeling very vindicated. He always knew he’d make a great jail break villain. Which he now technically was.

Eh, he was planning to defect anyways.

Then he like, becomes a separate villain who’s just like chill with the syndicate and who comes for brunch every once in a while with them

Or kristen gets phil to offer tommy a place in the syndicate and quackity like arranges a place for tommy or something idk

also side note i remember wanting to make more tommy and kristen bonding scenes into this but just didnt have the energy

so some lil bonus ideas i had

tommy finds out from kristen that while she didnt know about her husband and kids being villains, she isnt too torn up about it at all, because she had assumed from all the bruises that her boys were in a fight club again which she considered worse

tommy after begging sam nook, the regular gaurd, brings kristen paper mache animals and she gets to keep them in her cell

[justallihere]

B4 i start i want to be clear this is hot a complain about your fic, i love it a lot and since the married is literally ordered by the crown it makes sense the rule is ignored.

Am I the only one who feels like the fandom completely ignores the fact that people in Navarre can't like, get married b4 a certain age? Again this isn't about your fic, it's about smtg else.

When we meet Dyland we learn that there is a age requirement to be married and one of the perks for riders is that they can get married right after graduation. So this means the age requirement is higher than 23.

This means is literally impossible for two characters to go into the quadrant eith a legal marriage.

If it's an arrangement marriage orchestrated by the crown then sure bc Tauri can simply make a exception. But other than that? Not rll. And I'm just: plzzzz acknowledge that this isn't technically legal. Either handwave it bc its a fic or play it up but plz tell me the fandom is aware this is a thing

(Again to be 10000% clear this is not a critic neither to you nor your fic)

I’m gonna be completely real with you bestie: I don’t remember this bit of lore at ALL 😂 maybe it’s the same for the rest of the fandom that it’s just been overlooked? For the sake of this fic you can assume either that the law is nonexistent in this AU or that Tauri made an exception. I think if it was just a regular marriage it would play a bigger role but as this is literally part of an agreement with Tyrrendor it’s kind of like. Eh.

I understand the frustration though! But honestly part of the beauty of fandom and fanfiction is just ignoring the parts of canon you don’t like or care about 💀

[eclipsesart]

Sweet Spring

After months of traveling and wandering around, Eclipse has finally found a friend! Well- eh- technically. She's still just as excited though :)

As one season comes to an end (I know I know, I'm late) a new one begins to bloom. Let's see what's in store for us this spring! Ah, it is so nice to be able to go outside and not freeze to death.

I'll be completely honest. Drawing grass is a pain. And I didn't even do that many blades! It just somehow always look funky- NOT ONLY THAT, BUT WATER. Jesus. I'm not even going to say anything about water. (How the heck do I make it look like it's moving??)

Very happy with this though. It took a bit longer than my usual drawing time, as I kept having to re-do the reflection and the mountains because I didn't like the flower arrangements, but I'm glad the end product is nice! Not my best work, but I'm quite proud of it.

PS: I'm so sorry for those of you who are allergic to polen-

[bunbeeplays]

The Lemon Legacy: Generation 1, Chapter 115 - Every Rose Has Its Thorne

Ophelia's in Del Sol Valley to represent The Main Squeeze at the Starlight Accolades tonight, because their latest single was nominated for Best Song!

I don't think Xander is technically allowed to attend because he's not famous, but the Watcher is gonna teleport him in anyway.

Xander: Good luck, Lemon Cake.

Ophelia: I'm just happy we got nominated. Thank you for being here though.

Host: Let's get a move on, folks, I can't cash that big ol' check if there's no show!

The first Accolade goes to Thorne Bailey for being an all around great Sim! Don't know why that's a category, but okay.

Don't get used to this sitting arrangement. The crowd was apparently playing musical chairs during the entire ceremony.

Thorne: I'd like to thank my beautiful wife Octavia, our son Orange, and our two Neighborhood Stories kids the Watcher doesn't know the names of.

Ophelia can't believe she's in the same room as Thorne Bailey. She wonders if Hector ever did talk trash to him about her…

Host: And the winner of our next Starlight Accolade is… Some random teenager!

The random teen is named Sasha and she wore her finest randomized outfit!

Sasha: This one's for my stans who threatened every member of the Accolade Committee. Literally couldn't have done it without you. Rando Army represent!

Okay, enough "Watcher" commentary, this is me, Kelsey, talking. I have never had a Sim go to the Starlight Accolades but is it ALWAYS this chaotic? Everybody keeps getting up and talking over the host, nobody stays in their seat, or sits in a seat at all! It's a NIGHTMARE

Host: Our last winner is-

Megumi Ito interrupts with her horrendous violin skills.

Host: Thank you for that, Megumi! You're famous for being a skier and have no musical interests so I don't know why you're doing this but why not.

Even this guy's getting annoyed at the chaos.

Host: I'm gonna be honest, gang, the Watcher doesn't remember this girl's name and neither do I. She's also some random famous teenager.

Tea Neighjur: Thank you to my FlipFlop followers, and my manager for bribing the judges to give me this award! …I mean the Watcher. Mwah!

Ophelia: That was… something.

Xander: Sure was. Sorry you guys didn't win.

Ophelia: Eh, brushing elbows with celebrities was kind of fun.

Speaking of… Thorne's getting ready to leave. Ophelia would love to share her side of the story regarding her encounter with Hector.

Ophelia: I'm gonna try to catch Thorne. You want to come with?

Xander: Nah, I don't want to pass out and flop on the ground, this suit is dry clean only. I'll just get a drink for double the usual price at the bar. Good luck!

Ophelia: Mr. Bailey, wait! Can we talk before you leave?

Thorne: Apparently we can, because you're doing something besides asking for a selfie. You're a celebrity too, yeah? Pardon, don't think we've met.

Ophelia: Ophelia Lemon. I'm the lead singer of The Main Squeeze.

Ophelia assumes that's not going to ring any bells for him but-

Thorne: Ah, Orange listens to your music all the time. You've got a good set of pipes. Sorry I didn't recognize you, just haven't had the chance to look you up myself, I suppose.

She's speechless.

Ophelia: Thank you. That's a big honor Mr. Bailey.

Thorne: Thorne's fine.

Ophelia: Right. Listen, Thorne, if Hector Laurent told you anything about me, none of it is true.

Thorne dwells on this much too long for her liking.

Thorne: Who the bloody hell is Hector Laurent?

Ophelia: Uh… he's the owner of the wedding venue you got married at. He said you stayed in touch.

Thorne: The bloke with the fedora?

Ophelia: Yeah.

Thorne: I mean, he kept texting me saying if I ever remarried he'd give me a discount, but I wouldn't say we're close.

Ophelia: Of course that little… Well, thanks for hearing me out, anyway.

Thorne: No problem, dear. Mind if I get an autograph for Orange?

Ophelia: Of course!

She tries to steady her shaking hands as she signs an autograph for the son of the biggest musician out there.

Thorne: Thanks, love. That'll earn me some cool dad points.

Ophelia: Being Thorne Bailey isn't enough?

Thorne: Apparently not. Kids.

Thorne: Pleasure to meet you, Ophelia. Keep your chin up. You'll have your own Accolade someday.

Ophelia: Thanks, Thorne. That means a lot.

Fan: OMW your faves could never!!!

Ophelia: Do you ever get used to the fans?

Thorne: Yeah. Honestly the ego boost is nice. Take care.

Thorne disappears into the night. Ophelia might not be going home with a trophy, but some kind words from a 4-star celebrity are good too.

This fan is definitely going to go home and write Ophelia Lemon/Thorne Bailey fanfic but she's too happy to care.

Ophelia tries to go back in to check in on Xander but someone approaches her.

Fan: Wow, Ophelia Lemon, in the flesh! I gotta say, the Accolades were totally rigged this year. We stan our citrus queen!

Ophelia: Oh! Thank you!

Fan: Can I have your autograph?

Ophelia: Sure!

Ophelia tries to get back in the building several times but fans keep coming up and asking for hugs and selfies. How can she deny the people that have given her the opportunity to keep doing what she loves?

When she finally pulls away from the crowd, she runs into Brytani.

Ophelia: Hey, Brytani, remember me?

Brytani: You're making yourself awfully hard to forget, kid, and I mean that in a good way. You're popular tonight.

Ophelia: I guess so. I've never had this many fan encounters in one night before. Guess it's a coincidence.

Brytani: Honey, come on. Thorne Bailey knows who you are. He barely remembers who I am and we dated for like a year.

Ophelia: I think he just knows me because Orange listens to me.

Brytani: Thorne doesn't strike me as dad of the year. He must be hearing your name elsewhere too.

Brytani: And not just that, he had a CONVERSATION with you. Thorne doesn't speak to anyone that's not a 4-star celebrity besides his own wife and kids.

Ophelia: Well, I'm not a 4-star celebrity and he spoke to me.

Brytani: I'm really gonna have to spell it out for you, huh.

Brytani: Ophelia, you made it. You're a 4-star celeb.

Ophelia: Wh-What? We didn't even win an award tonight!

Brytani: Only like one of those are given fairly. You think anybody's reading Tea Neighjur's legacy thread? Nope! It'll be your turn soon, my fellow Proper Celebrity!

Brytani: Trust me, I can tell. You'd be sparkling if the Watcher hadn't turned that feature off.

Things did feel… different. Maybe Brytani has a point.

Ophelia: Oh my Watcher! I think you're right!

Brytani: Go out there and pose for that crowd. You've earned it.

Ophelia basks in the flashing lights as some of her fans whisper excitedly amongst themselves and others take pictures of her and shower her in praise.

"She's slaying tonight!" "YASSS QUEEN!" "Mommy! Sorry. Mommy! Sorry. Mommy! SORRY! MO-"

Ophelia tries her hardest to stay humble, but just for tonight, she allows herself to be a little self-absorbed. After all, becoming a Proper Celebrity is something to feel good about!

While all of this has been happening, Xander's just been enjoying his drink, unable to talk to anybody else at the bar because they're all celebrities.

Octavia's waiting for her husband, because she's too juiced to realize he already left without her lmao

[thessalian]

Thess vs Why We Fight

Another one from the bowels of Reddit, mostly because it's interesting.

There's a subreddit - r/antijob - that I follow mostly to keep track of real people's experiences in the workplace other than my own. And there was a post where the question was asked, "Why do you do more than the bare minimum?" That was the title, anyway. While the question was genuine, it was also at least half a lead-in to "If you're not stealing time back from the company that abuses you for too little pay, you're doing it wrong".

Thing is ... I had an answer. And that answer is: "I do it for the patients".

Yes, I complain a lot about how much I'm being taken advantage of by my colleagues. How management is allowing and in fact encouraging me to torture myself by taking on overtime that Occupational Health has told me I should not be doing. But the thing is ... I could technically just ... not do it. I could say, "Fuck it; you're on your own". And I probably would, except for the fucking patients.

See, I type histology reports for a living. And while some of those are absolutely routine, bog-standard stuff that shouldn't be an issue ... a lot of them aren't. They don't take out your tonsils or appendix or gallbladder unless there's something wrong. They certainly don't take off your breasts or cut out your kidneys or segments of your fucking intestines unless there's something wrong. They don't stick needles in you to take pieces of your liver or your prostate or your lungs or that weird lump on your breast, or cut off bits of skin because that mole just doesn't look right ... unless there's something potentially wrong. Nine times out of ten, they're looking for cancer.

Now, I know a lot about cancer. I've worked a few oncology departments in my time. And the main thing I know is that you have to catch it early. The sooner you catch it, the sooner it can be treated, and the sooner it's treated, the better the odds that you'll get full remission. More to the point, if you delay any of that, it might spread to another part of the body and then the odds of the patient's survival just drop into the sub-basement. The first step to catching it? Getting histology results to the right people. And even though I only do the macroscopic reports and not the microscopic ones that let you know whether a thing's malignant or not, they can't authorise a report without that information on the damn form. So, in my own small way, I am helping to save lives. That is why I do what I do. That's why I couldn't really hack anything that wasn't directly medical. Arranging the diary of the head of the Royal College of General Practitioners or handling submissions to a medical journal? Eh, I could do it, but it wasn't satisfying. I want to be helping. I want my job to mean something. And mine does.

So I answered the Reddit post with that very fact. And I got, "Well, it wouldn't be your fault if things got delayed; it'd be the boss' fault for not hiring more staff". And thankfully someone else got in before me with the reply of, "Yeah, and Thess is going to feel so much better about a patient potentially dying, potentially painfully, just because it's not technically their fault, even though they could have done something? Have some fucking empathy!" From what I can tell, half the people who read that remark of mine think I'm a hero, and the other half think I'm a doormat. I dunno; maybe both, maybe neither. I just know that reports need doing ASAP because sometimes, even a few days makes a difference.

I don't think my colleagues understand that. I don't think my colleagues let themselves understand that. They just look at it as, "They dictate, I type". I never forget that the tissue those doctors were cutting up and poking at while dictating this stuff was fairly recently attached to and/or inside of a human being, and the fact that they're getting bits cut off or out means, as I said above, that there is something potentially wrong. Best case scenario? Everything's fine, and the patient gets relief from the stress of potentially being sick a little sooner. Worst case scenario? There is a problem and the report gets to the right people quicker, and the patient stands a better chance of surviving it. Either way, it's important. What we do is important.

So I guess it's not even just work ethic, although that's a good-sized part of it. Most of all, it's making a difference, in a small way that might become something huge. And that's why I work three hours of overtime when we're this swamped.

...I just hate that my empathy and general humanity is being taken advantage of by lazy bints who only see it as "it's just a job; do the bare minimum".

[unforth]

What's this? Yep, another May Trope Mayhem fill for @duckprintspress that no one can actually see because it's also for the Kink Meme Buffet. This fill is for MTM Day 5: Marriage Before Love.

I tackled another "unspecified fandom" prompt this time, so I can be a little more specific since it won't actually give much away...

Fandom: Guardian (book? show? eh idek. they have long hair so maybe book???)

Ship: Weilan, ofc

Setting: Historical-ish AU, arranged marriage, first meeting, have to consummate on their first night as a couple

(Historical-ish because yeah it's technically historical but Zhao Yunlan still talks like a modern punk and I'm not sorry.)

I really thought I could write this one in 2k words and instead it's almost 4,500, oops. Too many of these fills are getting too long, I really can't keep this up *sweatdrop*