#telling them all his nonsense ideas for a book series

[fazcinatingblog]

Faz's nightmare

[dreamwritesimagines]

The Eye of the Hurricane [27] - Midnight

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback, you made my day! ❤️I hope you’ll like this chapter as well, and please don’t forget to tell me what you think! ❤️

Summary: Some arguments have more tension than others.

Word Count: 2500

Pairing: MobBoss!Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader

Warnings: Violence, guns, crime, blood, explicit language, dysfunctional relationship (I'm serious, they have issues), mentions of sex and fighting. This is an AU, friendly reminder that I don’t condone any of the actions depicted on this story and please read with care.

Series Masterlist

Well then.

As it turned out, your plan to make your cousin look weak was working.

The first hit was an absolute success, and Ian was already crumbling. It was lucky for you that your father wasn’t getting involved and was giving him a chance to prove himself after the first attack to the shipment, because Ian was acting exactly the way you thought he would act.

Good.

It was going to make things much easier.

Bucky had dropped by to the apartment in the middle of the day to go take a shower which was quite surprising but judging by the blood stains on his shirt, it was needed. You were sitting comfortably on the couch, resting your feet on the coffee table with a book in your lap when he came into the living room and made a beeline to you to fling himself on the couch as well, pushing your book away to put his head in your lap. You pulled your brows together, tilting your head.

“Can I help you?”

If you didn’t know it better, you would’ve thought he was pouting.

“I need like five minutes to rest my eyes,” he murmured with his eyes closed. “How someone can be so goddamn stubborn, I’ll never understand.”

“Ah,” you said. “This can only be about—”

“Becca.”

You nodded your head. “What happened?”

“Mom wants to meet her girlfriend and Becca is acting like that’s a natural disaster.”

“Hurricane Winnifred,” you muttered and Bucky opened his eyes to look up at you, but then closed them again when you absentmindedly ran your fingers through his hair to play with it.

“Can you tell her she’s being nonsense?”

“I don’t think she’s being nonsense,” you told him. “Have you met your mother?”

“She’ll be nice.”

“Like fuck she will.”

“She’s nice to you.”

“Because she knows I won’t be nice if she won’t,” you told him. “Leila on the other hand…she’s way too polite.”

Bucky hummed and looked up at you again.

“Is Becca serious about her?”

“Oh absolutely,” you said. “Picket fence house and all that nonsense.”

“With a civilian,” Bucky mumbled. “That’s going to be fun.”

“Becca would never get with someone in the business, you know that.”

“Oh I know that, but I don’t think my parents do,” Bucky said. “They still hope it will happen.”

“Winnifred and my aunt would get along well,” you muttered. “Both boy moms.”

“So are a lot of people.”

“No there’s a difference between a boy mom and a boy mom.”

“You make zero sense, Charm.”

You shrugged your shoulders, still playing with his hair but his phone buzzed, making him let out a groan.

“No!”

“You’ll be fine,” you said and he sat up with a sigh, his eyes darting over the lines before he chuckled.

“Jesus, he really is the worst heir ever.”

“Ian?”

“Guess where he’s routing the next shipment.”

You frowned. “Where?”

“West side second dock.”

Your eyes widened. “What?”

“Has your father never taught him anything, seriously?” he asked and you covered your mouth.

“West side second dock, Jesus Christ…”

“I’d better have a decoy shipment then,” Bucky murmured. “Just in case.”

“Yeah that’s a good idea,” you said. “The cops will follow that shipment and bust it with any other shipment that day.”

“I’ll talk to my guys in the force, let’s see how that plays out.”

“Both us and the cops winning,” you mused. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“They’re not winning, it’s just going to be their small victory so that they’ll shut up for a while,” Bucky said as he stood up. “I’ll see you at dinner?”

“Sure,” you said as he kissed the top of your head. “I’ll meet my dad but I’ll be home around dinner time.”

“Have fun,” he said and walked out of the apartment, and you heaved a sigh.

“Yeah,” you muttered. “I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

                                                    *

Your lunch with your father was pretty interesting, because you knew he was trying his hardest not to let you know about the so-called attack, but he was way too tense for you to think everything was going well. You took a look at the bodyguards in the restaurant, then sipped your rosé, leaning back.

“So,” you said. “How is everything with the business?”

He shot you a look.

“You took longer than I thought you would,” he commented and you shrugged your shoulders.

“I’m just making small talk—”

“Y/N.”

You rolled your eyes.

“Fine,” you said. “I heard about the attack.”

“Of course you did,” he muttered more to himself, then sipped his drink. “There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

You tried to control your expression.

“I know,” you said. “Doesn’t mean I’m not curious. Do we know who’s behind the attack?”

“Not yet,” he said. “We’re searching for it though.”

Tension churned at your stomach but you nodded your head calmly.

“What shipment was it?” you asked. “You normally have multiple men around the perimeter, but Bucky said it looked like a sneak attack. How did they get past your people? Did they kill them?”

Your father licked his lips and heaved a sigh.

“Ian was responsible of that shipment,” he said, making you arch a brow. “He must’ve—Y/N.”

“What?” you asked innocently and he licked his lips.

“He will stumble a bit, everyone does when they first start taking responsibilities.”

You hummed.

“Funny,” you said. “I didn’t notice that with Bucky. Or Sam. Or Steve.”

“Ian is a bit more…enthusiastic to prove himself than they were, perhaps.”

You tried not to grimace at the blatant lie and took another sip so that you could control your expression.

“I’ve been told he’s fixing the situation,” your father said. “He’s much more angry at the situation than you or me.”

“But are you angry?”

“It happened in my territory, and it was my shipment, my business that they attacked,” your father said even though his voice was calm. “Of course I am angry.”

Guilt burned at your stomach but you knew you couldn’t let it affect you; what you and Bucky had done was necessary.

It wasn’t just your father’s business, it was going to be yours one day and you had to prove that Ian was a terrible option.

For the business, and the city.

One of the bodyguards came closer to mutter something to his ear and he nodded, then wiped at his mouth.

“Duty calls,” he said and you took another sip of your wine, then put the glass on the table.

“Alright.”

“Want me to drop you off?”

“No need, my driver is here,” you said as you both walked out of the restaurant. He hugged you and you kissed him on the cheek.

“Be careful.”

“Always am,” he said and one of the bodyguards opened the door for you, but before you got in, you heard your father’s voice again.

“Y/N.”

You turned around to look at him better. “Yeah?”

“How would you prevent it?” he asked. “If it was your shipment?”

A smug grin threatened to pull at your lips but you bit inside your cheek, then heaved a sigh.

“Twenty men around the perimeter,” you said. “Additional ten in every half mile, three hour shifts in rotation. Couple of cops under our pay in the outer skirts, preferably by the bridge and at least three people watching the street footage so that we would know the license plates of every car that gets a bit too close for future reference.”

He blinked a couple of times, the impressed expression on his face impossible to miss and you felt your stomach do a happy flip, then shrugged your shoulder, forcing yourself to focus.

“But it doesn’t matter,” you told him. “I’m not your heir, am I?”

With that, you got in the car and the bodyguard closed the door, the driver starting the car immediately. You grinned to yourself and leaned back in the seat as the car started moving through the street smoothly and you closed your eyes.

“Yet,” you corrected yourself. “I’m not your heir yet.”

                                            *

Bucky had texted you, saying he would miss dinner because of a meeting taking long so you had ordered some takeout, curled up on the couch with Alpine in your lap. Towards midnight he still hadn’t come home so you texted him only for him to text back the meeting was still going on, and you picked a show to bingewatch in the meantime.

For some reason you liked it when Bucky was beside you on the bed when you went to sleep.

You were so focused on the episode that you hadn’t even noticed when your phone buzzed, so when you saw the text notification from Ian, you frowned slightly.

You and Ian didn’t really text each other.

You touched the notification and sat up straighter much to Alpine’s meow of protest the moment you saw the picture of Bucky and Anna by the docks. Bucky was leaning back against the car with Anna right beside him, laughing at what you could only assume something he said.

From: Ian

Ouch. Didn’t last long huh?

Fury spread through you so fast that it made your head spin and you stood up from the couch, Alpine jumping to the floor as well. Your jaw clenched as you zoomed into the picture, then ran a hand over your face.

Of course.

The so called meeting was just a fucking excuse.

You didn’t even know why you were getting so angry, after all this whole thing was just a business deal but that was the thing; you two had a deal. That was his only request going into this marriage, that you two wouldn’t see anyone else behind each other’s back but there he was, breaking the same rule he had implemented. A mob boss not being faithful wasn’t supposed to be a surprise; you had grown up seeing it over and over again, Bucky’s own father included but this?

This was disrespect, and the fact that Ian was the one telling you about it made it so much worse.

You tried to see through the fury pounding in your head, tossed the phone aside and dug your fingernails into your palms, gritting your teeth.

That motherfucker.

How dare he?

By the time the front door opened, you had been pacing in the living room for the last half an hour, still lost in your own anger but Bucky’s voice made you stop dead in your tracks.

“Honey I’m home,” he joked as he walked in and you narrowed your eyes at him, making him tilt his head.

“What happened?”

Even if anger was radiating off of you and you knew that he could tell, you managed to smile but you had a feeling it was more of a snarl.

“How was the meeting?” you asked, your voice eerily calm and he licked his lips.

“It was fine?” he said like a question. “Why do I get the feeling that I’m about to be shot?”

You walked to the couch to grab your phone, then found the pic, your hands nearly shaking as you tossed him the phone with more force than necessary. His gaze fell on the screen before he looked at you again.

“You put people on my tail?”

“You fucking asshole!” you lunged at him but he had the same training as you had – probably heavier considering the cage fight- because he caught you basically in mid-air and twisted your arm, then pushed you before you could grab him.

“Sweetheart,” he said. “You know what the psychiatrist said about open communication, let’s talk about this.”

“You’re going behind my back?!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, it was a business—”

“Bullshit!”

“A business meeting,” he said as you took off your earrings to toss them aside, making him pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

“Charm baby, let’s not.”

“Oh no, let’s,” you said as you jumped over the coffee table but he caught your leg before you could reach him and threw you easily to the corner of the room. You landed on your feet just as easily but the vase by the corner fell off its stand to smash into pieces. Bucky’s bodyguards by the hallway must’ve heard the noise because the door slammed open, Hannah and Paul walking inside with their guns raised.

“Mr. Barnes?”

“Leave,” Bucky ordered, rolling his shoulders back as you gritted your teeth and pulled the pocket knife out of your waistband, flipping it open.

“…Sir?”

“Everything is alright, me and my wife are just having a small disagreement.”

“Mr. Barnes, are you—”

“She’s not going to do anything to me Paul but I can’t guarantee the same thing for you,” Bucky said. “Leave, close the door behind you.”   

Hannah and Paul lowered their guns, exchanging glances.

“Leave!” you snapped and they both rushed out of the door, closing it behind them in a hurry. Bucky gave you a smirk and opened his arms as if inviting you.

“It was a business meeting, princess.”

“In the middle of the night?” you asked as you stepped closer to him, both of you circling each other. “By the water? Are all your meetings that romantic?”

“We had to go check the shipment’s security because I don’t want to raise any alarms when Ian’s shipment gets busted—”

“Do you seriously think I’m that much of a gullible idiot?”

“Nah, I think you’re just jealous. It’s adorable, really.”

“I’m not fucking jealous!” you exclaimed as you lunged at him again, this time wrapping your legs around his neck to slam him to the ground even if he managed to knock the blade off your hand in the meantime. As soon as you two hit the ground, he caught your leg and flipped you two over, his hand shooting up to grab you by the neck, not putting any pressure but still strong.

Oh—

Oh fuck, this wasn’t supposed to make your heartbeat faster.

The only sound in the room was both of you breathing hard while you glared at each other for a moment, desire roaring through your veins, making your head spin.

Then his lips crashed into yours.

All your senses were too full of him for you to even think it wasn’t the best idea and to be completely honest, you couldn’t give two fucks whether it was a good idea or not, especially not when he was kissing you like this. You had no idea when you two had started ripping each other’s clothes but it was only when you felt his fingertips brush your bare waist, awakening fire underneath your skin did you realize you were only in your bra. You pulled at his crisp button up shirt until the buttons scattered around the room before you impatiently pushed it down his arms and bit at his lip, making him hiss for a moment to pull back to look down at you.

“Behave,” he warned you, smirking slightly and you tilted your head, arching a brow.

“You first.”  

He let out a chuckle, then winked at you and leaned down to kiss you again.

Chapter 28

[moonstruckme]

Hi, I love your writing, I recently read your James Drabble about reader and James being domestic and reader eating all the blackberries. It gave off such summer comfort vibes, I was wondering if you would be able to write something with either James or Remus (you choose I love them both) and reader going to a farmers market or just laying in the summer sun while reader reads and maybe tracing lines on her back. I know I gave you a few ideas, but if you’re comfortable writing something, anything thing would be good, your writing’s always good.

Hope you’re having a lovely day :)

Thanks for requesting, hope you're having a lovely day too <3

James Potter x fem!reader ♡ 794 words

The sun is warm on your back, beating off the white of your book’s pages so glaringly you’ve had to put on your sunglasses to read comfortably. The top you’re wearing is cut low in the back so you can soak in the rays, and you’ve laid a blanket down on the grass to do just that. James is meant to be running the trail around the park, but he’d announced his break twenty minutes ago to snack on the strawberries you’d bought at the farmers market and has somehow fallen into tracing shapes on your bare skin. 

You’re pretending to still be immersed in your book, but it’s growing difficult. 

“What are you doodling back there?” you ask him. 

“Working on my cursive,” he says, drawing a loop next to your spine that makes you shiver despite the warm day. “My teachers were right, I lost the skill once I stopped practicing.” 

“You’re writing? What are you saying?” 

“Nonsense, really. But—hold on, I’ll try to write something and you tell me if you can understand what it says.” 

You laugh. “Okay,” you say, but James presses a hand to your back to still you, shushing with mock seriousness. 

“Shh, lovie, you’re shaking my canvas.” 

You set your chin down on the blanket, giving up on reading and closing your eyes to decipher James’ messages. 

His finger makes a couple of odd loops on your back, and you guess, “Do?” 

“Yes!” 

Another series of loops. They tickle as they get lower, and James tuts when you wriggle slightly. 

“Wait,” you say, “I didn’t get that one.” 

Your boyfriend sighs heavily. You think you can hear a smile in the sound. “Fine,” he says with great reluctance, “I’ll do it again, but please try to pay attention this time. I’m trying to ask you something urgent.” 

You smile to yourself, but focus in as he traces the letters again. 

“You?” 

“There we go! Knew you could do it. Alright, stay with me…” 

James makes it fairly easy on you. The majority of the words are short and simple, only a few letters. Do you want some…

You get stuck on the last one, making him repeat it a few times, slower and slower, until you guess, “Strawberries?” 

“Finally.” James lets out a big breath, drooping forward so he’s laid across you with his chin digging into your back. “Angel, you know I love you, but I don’t think that was my cursive’s fault. I think you need to work on your reading comprehension skills.”

You roll your eyes. “How is asking me if I want strawberries urgent?” 

“Because I’m about to finish them off.” 

“Wait, actually?” James’ weight lifts off you as you push yourself up on your elbows, turning to see the container of strawberries you’d bought only an hour ago. It had been heaping then, but now there are only a handful left. “Jamie, really?” 

He at least looks appropriately abashed. “You weren’t reaching for them,” he says, tanned shoulders creeping upwards, “and they’re really good! How much restraint am I expected to exercise here? I’ve left you five.” 

“I haven’t been reaching for them because I don’t want to get my book sticky.” You pout, exaggerating your distress for what you know it’ll get you in return. “I didn’t expect them to all be gone by the time I was ready.” 

“Aw, sweetheart, I could’ve helped you with that.” He picks up a strawberry by its stem, holding it out for you. “Here, open.” 

You sigh but tip your mouth open obediently, biting off the tip. Sweet, slightly sun-warmed juice explodes into your mouth. 

“That wasn’t hardly a bite at all,” James chides. “Have another.” 

You do. “I’m beginning to resent you more now that I know how good these are,” you tell him. The sweet tang lingers on your taste buds even after you’ve swallowed. “We should only get our fruit from that vendor from now on.” 

“They clearly know what they’re doing,” he agrees. He gives you another strawberry after the first is finished, musing while you crunch, “Come to think of it, I’m starting to suspect you only pretended not to know what I was writing so I’d give you a back massage.” 

You laugh. The thought actually hadn’t occurred to you, though his touch had felt nice moving over your back. “Write me another message, and I’ll let you know.” 

James swipes a finger up the length of your spine, laughing when you squirm at the odd tickle. “Would you like me to bring you a glass of lemonade while I’m at it?” he asks.

“Mm, that’s alright. We just need to find some palm fronds for you to fan me with, and I think I’ll be set.”

[whocaresstillthelouvre]

Stay Awhile & Listen

Elks Chapter 5

Chapter Rating: Explicit. 18+ (Minors DNI) Chapter Summary: Joel's back from patrol and he has a surprise for you. Chapter Warnings: An abundance of softness, oral (m & f receiving), cum swallowing, Joel talks a lot about feelings, reader's a nervous creature and Joel's good at taking care of her. Words: 3,700 Pairing: Jackson Joel Miller x Female Reader Series Summary: Life in Jackson is quite comfortable and simple for you. You love teaching your students and running your library, you love the comforts of living here, perfectly complacent with the company of your two cats, guitar, tattered CD book, and a few friends. You like comfortable and simple, though the feelings you feel whenever you see Joel Miller are quite the opposite. Once you meet him, it seems like he needs you in his life as much as you need him. Reader Background: Reader is in her 30's and comes from Colorado. No other physical descriptors besides her having long enough hair to put up. A/N: We've made it folks! First chapter with smut.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Masterlist Playlist *** “See The Changes” by Crosby, Stills & Nash. 

You’ve never been outside the gates of Jackson since your arrival. You’ve lived with barriers longer than without them, why would you ever sign yourself up to see what lies beyond the iron and wood confines? You’re well aware you know less about how to survive than your own students. You’re sheltered you’ve never doubted that, you’re okay with that. Joel? Not so much. 

“You’ve never wanted to leave?” Joel asks over a cup of coffee sitting next to you on his couch. 

It’s Saturday, he’s exhausted after almost a week on a patrol. You could tell as soon as he ambled into your library, tired eyed and a little more gruff voiced than usual… and yet he still invited you over for dinner. He insisted on it even, no matter how much you offered to host him. “Nonsense, you’re working all day, let me cook.” 

“Not really,” you lean back after placing your empty cup on the table, “I’ve really had no reason, and it was never asked of me. I’m sure it’s really dumb of me.”

“Not dumb, just not smar—“

“Just say dumb, Joel,” you turn towards him. 

“Never call you dumb,” a hand cradles your cheek, “I just think you should know the basics of how the world works outside here, just in case there’s a problem. I don’t like the idea of you being unprepared. Do you know how to shoot a gun?”

“I do,” you answer moving to rest your head against his chest. “They put us through a rudimentary training program here when I first got here, I know how to defend myself.”

“Rudimentary?” 

“Yeah, it means basic.”

“You’re so smart, glad there’s people like you still around.”

“Well,” angling your head up towards him, “you just spent almost a week in the wilderness protecting us and scavenging for supplies. I’m glad there’s people like you.”

“Hm. Speaking of scavenging, I have something for you. S’why I wanted you to come over here. Shut your eyes and don’t open them until I tell you, okay?”

“Is it good, Joel?”

He chuckles and kisses your forehead. “Of course it’s good, now do what I said.”

You close your eyes, placing your hands over them for extra emphasis. You hear Joel grunt as he stands, he grabs your chin, angles it up and gives you a kiss. 

You feel giddy as you hear him walk away, you try to ascertain where Joel is headed over the soft music playing, hearing his footsteps bound up the stairs. 

You’re downstairs all alone, yet you still don’t open your eyes. 

“Eyes still closed?” Joel shouts from upstairs.

“Yes!” You yell, your voice sparking with excitement. 

“Alright, coming down,” heavy footsteps thud down the steps, “don’t peek.”

“I’m not. Promise.”

You rock back and forth on the couch edge as you hear Joel take a seat on his coffee table across from you. You know you’re a nervous creature, but you haven’t felt this type of excited nervousness in years. 

“You can open ‘em,” he softly instructs. 

Your eyes open, first focusing on Joel, a half grin on his face, your eyes move down to see he has something sitting on his lap.

“How in the world? Joel! How did you find this?” your voice peaking with elation as you grab the small gray box away from his lap.

“Traded my brother for it. He ’n Maria need a crib, so I just signed myself up to furnish their kid’s room.” 

“You didn’t have to do that, plus I don’t want to take their stereo. I can’t do that to them,” you reluctantly lift the stereo towards him.

“They still have a record player and besides, they were happy to help you out when I mentioned it to Tommy,” Joel pushes the stereo back in your lap. “It’s small, but it’ll work until we can get you something better.” 

You push down on the CD door and watch it pop open, you’re amazed the hinges still work, you had something like this in middle school. It was blue, you covered it in butterfly and smiley face stickers. 

“Joel, this is… wow,” tears well in your eyes at his thoughtfulness. “I’ve never had someone do anything like you’ve done for me. You just fixed my guitar last week, and now this?” You hastily wipe a rogue tear that escapes away, “I can’t thank you enough, this is so sweet.”

“No need for tears, it was nothing,” he wipes a tear from your cheek, “really sweetheart, I wanted to do this for you.” 

He grabs the stereo from your lap, placing it next to him on the table. “I still feel like I owe you so much for what you did in there,” his head turns towards his studio. “For years I never believed beauty could exist in this world, people like you never survived,” his eyes meet yours as he turns back, “’n I walk into my home one day ’n you’re with Ellie, I finally meet the teacher she won’t stop talking about. You were so beautiful, ’n you left, leaving your CD. I listened to it, selfishly, because I wanted to know more about you.”

His voice is so soft, his words wrapping you in a feeling you’ve never felt before. 

“All the songs on there I’d never heard, pretty new things you left that I got to hear. Then, you fall ’n I bring you in here, you tell me you painted that elk picture, all I could think about that night was how beautiful you were, just like your painting. I see everything you do in that school room, how pretty it is, how nice you made it for your kids, how you painted the flowers everywhere. After years and years of the life I lived, I needed you to do something like that for me, for my life. Every time I’m around you, I just can’t wait until I see you again.” His eyes don’t leave yours as he brings his hands up to hold your cheeks, the pads of his thumbs rubbing against your chin. “I keep on thinking about that enigma word you called me, and you’re the enigma for me. You still want to make the world—this world better… and you do. I can’t believe you exist, so caring, so soft, so smart, ’n so beautiful. I like when you’re near me, I like how you make me feel new after all this time.” 

Your heart blooms inside your chest, he’s always a man of few words, but the way he confesses his feelings, the way his voice deepens as he tells he you how feels, it makes you want him even more.

His name leaves your mouth as a breath, “I like you near me.” You can’t think of anything else to say.

“That’s good, sweetheart,” he leans forward and kisses you, your hands moving to grab his arms. He’s so big and strong, yet his skin is always so soft and cushioned against your touch. 

His tongue parts your lips and languidly explores your mouth as you taste the bitter coffee left over on his tongue. The way his mouth fits against yours after his words of adoration makes you deepen the kiss grasping his arms tighter.

You want Joel, you’ve thought about last Saturday all week, tensity radiating through your body whenever you’d think about the feeling of your body pressed against his. Every night since lying alone in your bed you’ve been tempted to reach your hand between your legs and soothe the want, but you refused yourself. You dedicated a whole page in your sketchbook to drawing his plush lips, and now they’re back on you. 

You pull back from his kiss catching your breath. “Joel…” 

“You alright?” His wide eyes focused on you.

“I’m good, yeah, just… thinking about how little time it’s been… and I feel like everything is happening so fast… I don’t know, I like it, I just— is it okay?”

“It’s okay with me, if it’s okay with you,” he rubs your knees while he muses. “Time isn’t the same as it was, you take what you can get in the time s’available to you.”

You nod in agreement as goosebumps prickle along your legs from his touch. 

“You were in here only a few weeks ago when you fell,” Joel looks down, “still can see some of the marks left from the rocks on your knees.” He touches you firmer, like he’s trying to contain himself. “You’ve been on my mind since… sometimes you’re all I can think about I know it’s been a short time, but…” his hands roam farther up resting just below your thighs, “I want you, ‘n I really hate wasting time.”

His lips crash against yours, he’s never kissed you like this. It’s enigmatic, his mouth firmly against yours, and yet his movements are so tender, his hands petting you, slowly rubbing against your thighs, tongue languidly licking against yours, but the pressure against your mouth, the firmness of his fingertips as he rubs… he’s so tense and soft. Your arms wrap around his neck as you rise off the couch, your knees thumping against the table as you sit on his lap straddling his thick thighs, never breaking the kiss. 

Two weeks, it’s only been two weeks, but it’s been two weeks of longing glances, shared stories over meals, quiet understandings, smart replies followed by laughter. You’ve wanted this since you first saw him, the desire burning louder once he was no longer a handsome stranger. You’ve reached an ignition point, and Joel is right there with you, holding the match. 

His hands grab your hips, you can feel him against you, his pants tenting against your core.

Denim rubbing against denim as you grind down on top of him. 

Joel peppers kisses down to your chin, running his tongue along your neck, placing open mouth kisses against your collarbone. He explores you like he’s mapped his journey in his head. You tip your head back and moan out as his hands drag up and cup your breasts. He licks his way back up your neck, your hands grab at his jaw, the desire in his eyes darkening them. 

“Joel…” you breathe out.

“What is it sweetheart?”

“I—I want you.”

“Heh,” his exhale hits your lips putting his forehead against yours, “I want you too, baby.”

Baby. A new name, nobody has ever called you baby. The way his drawl stretches out the aaaa, the way his eyes darken even more as he sees what that word does to you, your lips parting with a moan. He catches your moan with his kiss, his lips sucking on your bottom lip, your lips parting to lick his. 

He grabs you by the hips, pulling you closer making you adjust on top of him. He grunts as you grind your core even harder against him trying to soothe the ache between your legs. His hands snake under your shirt, calloused hands palm at the soft skin of your breasts. You haven’t been touched by anybody in over a year, but this? You’ve never been touched like this ever. Other men pale in comparison to Joel Miller. 

Your shirt feels too hot against your skin, you grab at your collar and pull it off, Joel leans back to watch you remove it, he lets out a low rumbled curse as you sit bare chested on top of him. 

“Jesus Christ, you’re so beautiful,” Joel nuzzles his face against your neck and inhales. “Smell so sweet.” 

He buries his head between your breasts, thumbs stroking against your nipples as they harden under his touch. He moves his mouth sealing it over your nipple, your back arching when he sucks it farther in. You whine at the sensation, the want in you sparking even hotter at his touch. 

“Good baby?” His words muffled by your skin, his mouth doesn’t leave your breast. 

“Y-Yes, want your shirt off,” you gasp out, “Want to feel your skin.” He pulls away and straightens, lifting his faded black shirt up and off, throwing it on the couch behind you. 

Your hands reach out and survey the broad expanse of his chest, he’s so warm, you can feel the raised skin of the small scars peppered on him, the smattering of hair across his chest that leads down his belly to his jeans. His breathing rising and falling faster against your hand as you run it across his waistband. You watch yourself unbutton and unzip his jeans. Your tongue comes out to wet your lips as you rub your hands along the length of Joel hidden underneath his underwear. 

“Couch, let’s move,” Joel hisses out. “Here, get up."

You stand on shaky legs, he stays sat on the edge of his coffee table. His hands hold your hips pulling you closer to plant a kiss on your stomach. 

“Want to see all of you first, been thinking ‘bout this after that first day you were on my couch.” 

Your cunt clenches at his words, you don’t think you’ve ever been this wet, and he’s barely even touched you. 

Joel unbuttons and unzips your shorts, he glances up, you give him a nod with a smile that he returns. He pushes your shorts and underwear down leaving you bare and standing in the middle of his living room. Dark brown eyes roam over your body fully on display for him, brows furrowed in concentration as if he’s trying to memorize every mole, curve, scar, and mark on your body. 

“Can’t get over how pretty you are,” he stands up from the coffee table, leaning forward taking your chin in his hand and placing a kiss on your lips. “Now, sit on the couch for me baby.” 

You slowly lower down sitting in the middle pushing your legs together to try to quell the ache in between them.

He stands, his large body looms over you, jeans slung low on his hips, cock laying rigid against the denim. He bends forward and kisses you, hands grabbing your thighs spreading your legs open.

You can feel his breathing accelerate against you as his finger moves across your folds, testing your response, you moan into his kiss as he dips it in and traces a line from your clit to your hole and back.

You’ve imagined him doing this to you back when he was just a crush, just your handsome stranger, your enigma. You never imagined how thick his finger would be, how gentle his touch would feel, how his teeth would gently nibble against your bottom lip. 

“Christ. You’re so tight and it’s just one finger baby,” Joel says, voice low and whispered as he looks down. “Can I taste you?"

You have no words, you grunt a yes as he lowers himself on the floor and pulls you forward, spreading your legs wider. You’re not even shy, being on full display like this, legs stretched open, your pussy dripping for Joel to see. You want him to see all of you, it’s all you’ve ever wished for since that first day you saw his handsome face.

He leans forward, nuzzling his nose against your core. His groan vibrates against your cunt as he tastes you, licking a stripe up.

You’re dripping wet, when Joel adds a second finger you can feel how smooth it slides in and out of you. He looks up from in between your legs while swirling his tongue around your clit, his deep brown eyes gazing into yours. You can’t stop staring at him, the lines between his eyebrows set in determination as he eats you. Your fingers run through his hair, softly combing the waves as his fingers and tongue devastates you.

He’s proven to you numerous times how much he cares for you, but this? This is the ultimate way. The way his fingers pump you, the way his tongue presses down on your clit with the perfect pressure, this is the care you’ve always wanted. 

It’s all so much. What the two of you are doing here in his living room, the build up over the past couple of weeks, the crush you’ve had on him for months culminating here on his couch. The same couch he touched you so tenderly as he bandaged your knee, now that hand is gripping it to stay wide open as he devours you. 

You can feel your orgasm climbing inside with each lick against your swollen clit, each rub of his beard against your sensitive folds, each twist of his fingers inside you. You’re close, so fucking close, and when Joel moans against you, your pussy clenches as it floods with your orgasm. He pulls his fingers out, his tongue licking down to drink you in, tenderly lapping up your wetness, like he’s savoring you and trying to stretch out the time he has between your legs. You moan his name as he leaves a kiss on your clit before pulling away, his mouth and chin glistening from your orgasm. 

Your body tremors through the aftershock of your orgasm, legs still spread wide, your mouth held agape as you pant for air. His hands rub up and down your legs, watching you in awe.  

“Everything about you is too sweet,” he says with a shake of his head as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “Still can’t believe you’re real."

He kisses your knee before placing his hands on the couch, anchoring himself to stand. He winces as he rises and stretches his back out. 

“You okay?” you ask as you scoot your back against the couch, noticing how his cock still lays hard underneath his jeans.

“Yeah, just a bad back… probably shouldn’t have been on the floor for that long,” he sees you grimace in guilt, “but it was well worth it.” 

He settles on the couch next to you with a huff, pulling you next to him, feeling his bare chest against yours. 

“What about…” your hand runs up and down his thigh. 

“Mm?” Joel kisses the top of your head. 

“What about me doing the same for you?” your hand moves to grip his bulge. “I want to taste you too.”

Joel groans against your hair, “Yeah? Not gonna argue with that sweetheart.”

Your body thrums at the thought of having Joel in your mouth. You quickly get up from the couch excited that now is your chance to be able to show him how much you’ve thought about this moment.

“You just might be the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen baby,” he whispers in awe as you stand between his legs, “s’not gonna take me long.”

With his sweet words, you kneel down and tug at his jeans and briefs revealing his cock. It’s so large, just like his focus on you, just like the tension in the room, just like the orgasm he just gave you. 

You watch his face as you place a hand on his thigh and wrap your other hand around his rigid shaft, your eyes following the gulp of air he swallows travel down his neck. His skin is so soft here, so warm, you can’t wait to feel him inside your mouth. You slowly pump your fist down his length while lowering yourself onto the floor.

God, he’s gorgeous. His cock twitches in your hand as you hold it, wetting your lips, you bend forward and lick the drop of him that’s leaked out his tip. Salt, sweat… Joel. You moan at the taste, Joel lets a low curse growl out of his mouth when you take him deeper into your mouth. He’s so big, he stretches your lips, opens your throat, fills your mouth fully.

“S’good,” he croaks, his hand brushing a piece of hair away from your forehead, “so pretty.”

You bob your head down taking him to the back of your throat, the thought of how much his big cock is going to fill your cunt sends a flutter through your body. 

Joel’s hand tangles in your hair, lightly tugging and setting a pace as you suck him. 

“S’good baby, close— m’close,” his hips rising and falling to meet your movements.

You nod and hum in agreement hollowing your cheeks and sucking harder. 

His hips pull up, your name whispered out of his mouth as he cums down your throat. You swallow every drop, reveling in the taste of him now being a part of you. 

“Jesus Christ,” he pants, “s’amazing.”

———

“So, about the CD player,” Joel’s voice interrupting your reverie, “I’ve decided it comes with a condition.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, you come with me outside of Jackson for a day.”

“Joel…” 

It’s too late for ultimatums, the only reason you haven’t gotten off his couch and walked home is you’re too comfortable laying against his body that’s currently only clad in his underwear while all you wear is his t-shirt.

“It’s important, it doesn’t have to be now, but soon,” his tone is serious, like he’s overtly concerned about your safety and wellbeing. “Please do it for me, sweetheart.”

“I don’t know what’s out there…”

“And I do, ’n I’ll keep you safe, it doesn’t have to be for long… just long enough so if you do have to leave… it won’t be your first time out in years,” he urges. “Get your bearings ’n everything.” 

“You think I’ll be okay out there?”

“I wouldn’t ask of it if I didn’t think you’d be okay.”

“I suppose it makes sense.”

“S’pose so. Doesn’t have to be now but just, when the time is right, I think it’ll be good for you.”

“Okay, if it means I get to keep the CD player.”

Joel tightens his arms around you, pressing his lips against your hair. “You get to keep the CD player darlin’.”

You don’t leave Joel's until the next morning, the both of you falling asleep on his couch with his arms wrapped around you. 

A/N: Hi! If you've made it down this far, I appreciate you. Thank you for reading and sticking with this story. If you'd like to be added to the tag list, let me know.

Tag list: @orcasoul

[tree0frog]

Hi, I just recently came across your blog and I really liked the way you write.

Can I make a request about the twelfth doctor and Clara?

Where Reader is in Clara's class at Coal Hill School, and she always enthusiastically talked about her main hobby - space. Since childhood, she could look at the starry sky for hours, and also talk about it for hours. She reviewed all science fiction films and TV series on space topics, reread all the works of famous astronomers and astrophysicists. Can name all astronauts and cosmonauts in chronological order.

In short, she is the number one fan of everything cosmic, and everything seems to be fine, except for the constant endless bullying from classmates and passive-aggressive reproaches from parents on the topic that "how stupid it is at her age to get carried away with such nonsense." And one day, hiding in a remote alley in the backyard of the school, Reader accidentally sees her teacher Miss Oswald first talking to a strange old man, and after that how both of them go into a strange blue booth.

Hi sorry this took so long iv been busy with work and college and trying to finish the other 100 things I wanted to write lol hope you like it .

i will do a part two if its asked

strange man

main master list

doctor who master list

platonic Clara x teen reader

To most, you were weird quite a freak even.

But to Clara you and your mind were amazing. You found comfort in her from the start bonding over your love for all things space and sifi.

The doctor started questioning his companion when she took little gifts from their travels.

"what's a {Y/N}?" he asked looking up from his book.

" A kid in my class gets bullied and I thought this would hear them up doctor, their mind gosh it is just incredible you'd love them" she laughed tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

so life continued for some time Clara would bring you small gifts from her travels and would tell you about them.

" so the man in the box whats he like?" you asked taking a drink from your bottle and you found yourself eating lunch in the safety of your teacher's classroom like most days.

"Well, he can be very grumpy most of the time VERY Scottish old the doctors are very smart as well"You smiled as you went on listening to your teacher ramble about this old man who could travel in time and space.

The other kids would tease and pick on you for believing in things like that however to you well it was different just the idea that life could exist beyond earth was so amazing to you and to find someone who shared your interest even if she made up still story to make you feel better its worth it.

The bell rang singling that it was the end of another day at the hell you called a school,walking past the back gates you noticed a blue box that wasn't there before outside side it was a man and you.

Teacher?

you froze in your seat as you watched the pair enter the blue box your eyes met the strange man's gaze as he smiled at you before you watched him shut the doors and the blue box faded into nothing.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

"Is this what sadness does to people?" Good omens season 2, please

Ough this is perfect,,,haven't written for this series in 3-4 years so it's good to be back

Time for some emotional damage(tm)

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 (of course)

........

The bookshop never felt emptier.

With Aziraphale having gone away to Heaven, possibly for good, it was just you and Muriel left to pick up the pieces and run the place in his stead.

You always offered to watch over it for him if he was ever out of town, not caring about whether he pays you or not. You're just happy to help a friend out.

In recent days, however, you noticed the number in your bank account has "mysteriously" gone up a couple hundred dollars, and after doing the math you realized it equated to the hours and days you worked at the shop.

You would have been eternally grateful, but it saddens you more.

Knowing he was watching over you and helping you pay the bills, yet never physically visiting you, left you feeling guilty whenever you spent that money.

Selling the books wasn't an option, as you knew that's not what he would've wanted. And you'd tell Muriel not to even think about doing that, instead letting them indulge in them and allow them to read things about humanity that piqued their interest.

You knew they were an angel sent to spy on things, but it never bugged you; their spirits remained optimistic, mainly because they're ecstatic to work alongside a "human person" such as yourself. They were a delight to hang out with as you showed them your human customs and the like.

Sometimes they'd have to report back to Heaven, though it's only for a short time, and they'd return to Earth to let you know how Aziraphale's doing.

"Oh, he's grand! The Metatron is highly pleased with his work! Big changes are coming from the upstairs, I can tell you that much!"

The one thing they could never say, however, is when he'll revisit Earth, claiming they couldn't personally ask him...and they'd rather not upset any higher-ranking angels with such a dubious question.

You understood, and left them be.

Still, you'd look across the street and hope that heavenly elevator would one day reappear..and you'd see Aziraphale step out, cutting his ties to Heaven for good, and making things right.

It could happen at any time.

A few weeks, a few months, a few years....or maybe a few hundred years after you're long gone will he finally change his mind.

Neither Heaven nor Hell (or anywhere in-between) will be able to stop you from coming back and giving that oblivious angel an earful should you learn of his return.

For now, however, you wanted to focus on the present.

And that meant not just running the bookshop...but also helping Crowley process all of this.

Nobody was more heartbroken than the demon who's been by Aziraphale's side for over 6,000 years and helped him stop Armageddon, only for their relationship to crumble in just one day.

All because he was pushed to communicate his true and honest feelings.

You had no idea it even happened until he showed up on your doorstep at midnight in a drunken stupor, saying he was "gone".

Your immediate thought was death or "discorporation", but then he managed to tell you that the angel went back to Heaven and it was "over" between them. He stayed the night, crying and blubbering nonsense when he thought you couldn't hear him, and left the next morning before you could tell him he can live with you.

Since then, he stopped by the shop less and less often, always wearing his shades despite being once comfortable enough to leave them off around you.

It hurts to see him close up all his emotions, not wanting to burden you with his "miserableness".

All he does now is go on long drives with his plants and shout at them for the simple crime of existing, jam to Queen and Hoizer songs to drown out the noise in his head, and drink until he can't walk straight.

Suddenly poison became his new preference over red wine.

When he does visit the shop, he just mopes around and rambles about something he and Aziraphale did a few centuries ago, clearly in a state of reminiscence.

He never did, however, explain what he did in a final plea to make him stay..

You'll soon come to learn that tonight as you were getting ready to close up shop, sweeping around while Muriel organized some papers on what used to be the angel's desk.

The bell above the door jingled, and you turned off the music, looking to see Crowley enter. For once, he didn't look immensely drunk, which was a good thing...but still, he had a persistent forlorn expression.

The same kind you'd see after somebody breaks up with the love of their life.

"Evening, Crowley." You smiled sympathetically, putting down your hot chocolate. "We were just locking up shop for the night."

"I can see that....is he..?"

"No." Sighing, you shook your head, before looking to Muriel. "Can you excuse us, Muriel?"

They blinked, staring at you and tilting their head. "Should I go upstairs?"

"Yes, if you could..thank you."

"Righty-o!" With a pep in their step, they closed up the book in their hands and headed up the steps, promising not to eavesdrop on whatever conversation you're going to have with the demon.

They honestly never minded his presence, even though they really should be reporting on his behaviors.

Either way, they respected your space.

Once they were gone, you glanced back at Crowley to see him flop into one of the chairs, ready to down the entire wine bottle that somehow manifested in his hands.

"I think that's enough for you, mister."

You walked over and took it from his grasp, watching him whine and mope that he can "handle" his liquor, to which you called bullshit..considering he very much can't. He hasn't since Aziraphale left.

"I see ya found your...replacement..?" His words were slurred, being hard to understand with his thick Scottish accent.

"Crowley, you're looking at this all wrong. Muriel's not his replacement-"

"Bullockssss...they're...so jolly and angel-like...like his stupid face was."

"That's because they're both angels. Look, can you just..sober up already?" You huffed, growing irritated. It's like you were trying to parent some 6,000 year old teenager. "I know you can do that instantly."

"...you do?" He gawked behind his shades. "Since when didja know that much about me? Who told you, silly human?"

"...you did. We celebrated New Year's Eve together. Several of them, actually."

"Ah....you got me there. But I promise 'm fine." He sat up, gazing at you intensely. "This is the only way I can tell ya what..um...really happened that day, and if I don't tell ya now I'm...I-I'm never gonna tell ya...because this "communicating" thing's getting to be real hard lately and-"

"I get it. I understand, Crowley." You pulled up a chair, sitting across from him with a slight frown. "Can you..just look me in the eyes so I know you're taking this seriously?"

"...'m as serious as I ever was, [y/n]-"

"Crowley."

"Fine. Is THIS serious enough for you?" With bitterness to his words, he ripped off his glasses to scowl at you. His golden eyes were already filled to the brim with tears, looking more animalistic, while simultaneously having lost their spark.

You tried not to flinch, having not seen them in such a long time that...you nearly forgot what they looked like at all.

When you didn't react the way he expected, he sighed and slumped back in the chair, keeping the glasses in his lap.

Eventually, he confessed to kissing Aziraphale in a last-ditch effort to make him stay and understand that he wanted to be with him and only him.

He wanted them both to go off to the stars together, like Gabriel and Beelzebub got to do after the archangel got his memories back.

It was so easy for them, yet apparently impossible for the two who have been collaborating for thousands of years...as Aziraphale simply couldn't detach himself from Heaven and thought that he could "fix" Crowley if he went with him.

It just didn't seem fair.

At one point, he nearly started smoking again, seething over three certain words that were spoken to him after that kiss...only to calm down as your hand came to rest on his knee, and you guided him through one of the human breathing exercises he once used.

This time, he got to ten without causing a lightning storm in the bookshop, thank goodness.

Only afterwards did he manage to tell you those words.

"He said..."I forgive you"."

"For..what?" Your eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

"Exactly my point!" He threw his hands up in the air. "Forgive me for what? That? Or for being an idiot who held onto the tiniest bit of hope that we could'a worked something out?"

"....you know, I never understood these...mushy feelings you humans get." He brushed away a stray tear that rolled down his cheek, only for another one to fall down the opposite side. But he gave up and just sniffled, hands clasped together. "Is this what sadness does to people?"

"...I wish I knew what he meant, Crowley."

There was a pause.

"Unfortunately, yes." You nodded, leaning over to take his hands into yours. "It sucks, and you wish it can all just go away with some drinks and Queen music..but as long as that hole stays in your heart, nothing will ever fill it."

"Then how do you cope? 'cuz those things haven't been doing a lotta good for me lately.."

For a moment you were quiet, wondering what you could possibly do to help him feel better in this moment. You couldn't just drag Aziraphale out of Heaven and demand him to do the "apology dance".

But you eventually did think of one thing that assures him that he's not alone and didn't have to carry this burden.

"Well, some of us humans appreciate hugs during times of sadness. Would you care for one?"

As you took your hands away, Crowley looked up to see your holding your arms out to him. His gaze was intense as he debated on whether or not to take this offer of yours.

Demons didn't give or receive hugs.

They didn't deserve them.

But he already came to the conclusion that he wasn't like most of his kind.

Why did he care?

"Listen..I know this won't make everything better. It won't bring him back, but-"

But you stopped as his head came to rest on your shoulder, although you wrapped your arms around him right away, ignoring the stench of sulfur in his clothes and wine in his breath. You knew he needed this comfort badly.

It didn't take long for him to break, his voice hitching with quiet sobs as he hugged you back, unshed tears finally flowing as he grieved for what could have been.

All you could do was let him lean on you, feeling your shirt growing damp.

"H-He was everythin' to me, [y/n]..."

"I know.."

"We...W-We could have been us. Together for eternity."

"I know. Maybe he'll come back some day."

"...i-it's gonna take more than a miracle for that to happen.."

[markantonys]

More Twitter nonsense.

"Rand has no connection with Tam in the show."

"Rand's relationship with Tam is so central to his character and his development that he feels like a different character without it."

Like...what? It's not missing we just didn't get as much of it as we would've liked. And how is he an entirely different character than book Rand? I hate this idea by the fandom that Rand is an entirely different character than he is in the books cause they didn't include this one specific thing. Rand is probably one of the closest adapted of the EF5 imo

rand's relationship with tam in the books is just a few scenes in book 1, the very occasional thought in books 2-11, and a few scenes in books 12-14. it's not that much! i remember spending much of my readthrough going "okay the rand-tam relationship is sweet but why does it get THIS much love in the fandom? it's barely been in the story at all after the first book?" their relationship is significant to rand's character arc only in books 1, 4, and 12, and even then, only book 1 has it as a book-long theme whereas it just comes up briefly in 4 and 12, but in 12 its brief relevance happens to be as part of rand's biggest turning point in the series, which makes people remember the relationship as being a lot more significant to his overall story than it actually is imo.

if you take all that and adjust it proportionally for the 4 million words:64 hours book:show ratio, then yeah, that's not going to work out to be all that much screentime. the show has and will continue to fit in what they can for that relationship, but it has rightfully deemed rand's relationships with his fellow primary characters as more important to the overall story than his relationship with tam, who is a secondary or tertiary character. and that's the case in the books too; i'm fond of the rand-tam relationship but it 100% is overhyped and isn't nearly as big a part of the story as people think it is.

plus, the thing that's "central" to rand's character arc is the idea that his upbringing and his roots in the two rivers have shaped him into a good, humble man who can succeed where LTT and his arrogance failed. in the books, the rand-tam relationship is one of the vehicles for that, but it's that broader idea that's important rather than the specific relationship. all the show has done is shift the focus to use the EF5 relationships as the vehicle for the very same idea, since the EF5 relationships are a much larger and more constant presence throughout the story than the rand-tam relationship. it was a good narrative choice for a time-constrained medium that must tell the story as concisely and efficiently as possible (the rand-tam relationship only serves this 1 theme & function, but the EF5 relationships serve many themes & functions and serve multiple main protagonists' arcs instead of only rand's, so you get more bang for your buck with them, so to speak). but a lot of book fans really struggle with the idea that the show can and does convey the same themes and emotional beats using different scenes/characters/relationships/etc, and so many Show Complaints stem from that inability to see the forest for the trees.

(also! it's very easy to "shortcut" parent-child relationships because the audience has a prebaked assumption of how deep such a relationship is and we thus don't need to spend much screentime showing its depth. for example, rand and tam had only a couple scenes in s1, but my show-only mom was very emotional when tam asked about rand in nynaeve's test in s2! i don't doubt that if the TGS scene were to make it into a later season, it would hit very hard for her regardless of how much time was spent on that relationship in prior seasons.)

[newtonsheffield]

As tumblrs resident Anthony person, can you explain why folks relate Anthony to Eloise?

Is it because they are super stubborn people?

Am I…? Tumblr’s…? Resident…? Anthony…? Person? Is that me? Is that the reputation I have?

I’m happy to give my opinion on this for whatever that might be worth (Possibly very little)

I have spoken at length that the siblings that Anthony probably has the closest relationship with are Benedict and Daphne. And IO think it’s because Benedict is the closest to him in age and likely never truly looked to him as a father figure and Daphne I think it’s because as the eldest son and eldest daughter they’re both fulfilling importantly roles in their family. Anthony is providing for the family and Daphne needs to marry well to set the precedent for the rest of the girls and also as the first sibling to get married she’s cementing the social sphere for the rest of them in a way.

But the Bridgerton Siblings in general fall into two main groups (and so do their spouses but we’ll leave that for now). There’s the logisticians and the dreamers.

The Logisticians are- Anthony, Eloise, Francesca and Hyacinth

And the Dreamers are- Benedict, Colin, Daphne and Gregory (Gregory is the biggest dreamer of them all which is hilarious because Lucy is the most extreme logistician in the series. Literally polar opposites. She has no idea what to do with him)

Anthony and Eloise I think, both have a quite blunt, no nonsense attitude. Even though in the book Eloise ran away to meet Phillip without telling anyone she still did it for a really practical reason. She felt lonely and her best friend who she thought she’d be a spinster beside got married and Phillip had already suggested through his letters that they should meet and see if they would be suited for marriage. The path was laid out for her. And She went for it.

Anthony feels he should marry Edwina because she’s the diamond. So she must be the best woman™️. She is polite and not stupid and pretty so he decides to pursue her. Then he married Kate because he couldn’t bloody well leave her alone and he had to. So he just got on with it. And he had a conversation with the girl he was about to marry who already felt like a burden about how she shouldn’t expect him to fall in love with her.

That’s how blunt and forthright these two are. That’s what I think it is.

I think as well that Eloise was only… eight? When Edmund died? She was probably one of the first of the siblings to need Anthony so there’s that relationship as well. Really though, Anthony dotes on all his siblings. He can’t even really bring himself to be firm with Gregory when he’s telling him he needs to be productive. He’s more just like

“hey. You upset my wife by not turning up for dinner and now I’m being forced to have this conversation with you. Very not cool!”

So ah… yeah. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[gatitties]

OMGOMGOMGOMG I HAVE BEEN WAITING SO LONG FOR YOUR INBOX TO BE OPEN I LIVE YOUR WRITING!!! I wanted to see if i could request a witch reader x the straw hats??? Like imagine if Eda and Rain from The Owl House had a kid that acted like Luz. Like how she always wants to stand up for others and is kind, but also pretty innocent and naive at times. Like if Sanji flirted with her she wouldn't really understand that he's flirting.I could imagine her also having a little friend like owlberrt or at least an owl staff. Also like her mother her hair is kinda like a mini pocket dimension that she shoves things in

but instead in this universe the day unity is a day where a bunch of witch hunters come to their island and kills all of them but she somehow manages to survive. Like it would happen a few years or so before she encounters the straw hats. When she meets them it does take her a while still to tell them her full past thought. She meets them on some random island running from some local store owner because like her mother, she is a trouble maker but she's not as good at stealing. With the fact that her parents died and couldn't teach her much, all she has is old books and journals from both of them. Which mean that she's not that good at magic and messes up her spells a lot

i'm sorry if this is confusing i've just had this idea in my head for MONTHS and in crappy at explaining things D:

Again im sorry if this is to much or confusing i just really want to see your ideas of some HCs for this.

a meme for your collection (if you have one lol)

─Strawhats x witch!reader

─Summary: Some unfortunate events make you meet what you can consider a second family.

─Warnings: none

YEEEE thanks for contributing to the collection of cursed memes on my pinterest, I love it <3, sorry for the delay, I also had to look up information about the owl house because I didn't watch the series and f I changed a little how they met, sorry for that too 😔

─ Not even you know how you managed to survive the witch hunt that day, but here you are now, sailing on a wooden plank with a backpack that doesn't even have food or water but a couple of books on spells.

─ At first it was a small boat but you tried to cast a spell so that the wind was in your favor and you turned the small boat into a piece of plank, you were not a very experienced witch but you survived.

─ Your eyes lit up and you screamed with all the strength you could when you saw a ship.

─ Your first thought was to try to steal one of the emergency ships, but you ruled it out when you saw the crew, you weren't that clever and it seemed like they had nothing to do with the witch hunt.

─ The first to see you was Usopp who was fishing when you scared him to death, the others noticed you once they saw you wave your arms strangely (you were trying to do magic but nothing came out)

─ You complement Luffy quite well once you start interacting with the crew, Nami probably scolds you a lot because he asks you to do some magic and it ends up going wrong.

─ Last time you transformed Sanji's face into a trout for trying to make Luffy's portion bigger, you're lucky that the cook likes your presence, although you completely ignore his strange behavior when he is with girls.

─ You and Zoro have small competitions to keep your pride high over any nonsense, like a healthy rivalry (you both end up lost in the strangest places).

─ Probably and, despite not understanding anything about magic, Robin will help you with some spells here and there, she is a cultured woman and she seems to understand some descriptions much more than you.

─ Usopp repaired your cane when you chipped it once, you thanked him because he reinforced it so it wouldn't break again.

─ You and Chopper go out to look for ingredients together, whether to make medicines or potions.

─ Jinbe is curious about your culture and your home island as well as other sorcerers, you can spend hours talking about witchcraft with him, Franky and Brook will join in sometimes.

─ When you take the courage to tell them why you were alone with nothing and adrift, they feel a little sorry for you, If you don't plan to stay here with them, you will be welcome whenever you want and If you want to continue with them, you are already part of the crew!

─ For once you feel that you are advancing in your process of learning as a magician, feeling indebted to these pirates, you decide to help as much as you can and improve your skills even more.

[nkjemisin]

Hello, hope you're doing well. Love your work a lot :)

If you don't mind, I'd like to ask an open-ended question about the Great Cities Trilogy becoming the Great Cities Duology.

It's fantastic either way! I'm just curious about how things would be different, in different circumstances.

I appreciate your time. Wish you all the best ❤️

Spoilers for the Great Cities!

Thank you!

It's important to understand that when I start a new trilogy, I really only plan out the beginning and the end in detail. The rest is just general points I mean to hit in each book. So I can tell you some ideas I thought about putting into the books at the time, but I can't tell you exactly what I would've actually written if my initial plans hadn't gotten derailed -- I'm not that much of a planner, and I tend to change course midstream anytime I get a better idea for something. But here's what I wrote into the first outline.

Book 1: What you read

Book 2: Tentative title: "The City Hard Fought." America vs. New York. I'd been planning to have a demagogue president -- obvs inspired by Trump; I started working on developing this as a book in 2017 -- attack New York City to further his political ambitions. This would've taken the form of the president eventually threatening to bomb the city/all blue cities. At the time I came up with it, the idea seemed completely far-fetched and silly... Aaaaaaand then Trump started attacking New York City to further his political ambitions. I realized I really didn't want to speak some ideas into existence, and also that I couldn't make something like that funny when it was really happening and ruining people's lives. So I changed things up. The mayoral race would always have happened, but I originally intended to put the start of it in the background of the second book and have it culminate in Book 3. R'lyeh would've spent a chunk of this book being punished for her failures in Book 1, effectively taking the metaphysical stuff off the plot table for a while so human nonsense could move to the forefront. Aislyn and São Paulo would've ended up trapped in the Ur with her (hadn't fully worked out how), and that plot would've turned on Aislyn convincing R'lyeh to do a jailbreak. The end of the book would've been Manny's family calling him home.

Book 3: Tentative title: "The Last City" or "The City Unbowed." New York vs. everybody else. With the demagogue president dead (I was planning for him to get eaten by the Ur, painfully and slowly), things would've gotten metaphysical again, with multiple cities coming to life and causing chaos, effectively led by the newly-awakened Chicago. I'd intended the core of this book to be an escalating "cold war" between NYC and Chicago, with their star-crossed romance and Brooklyn's first 100 days as magical mayor (dealing with an ambitious senator attempting to use NYC to establish himself as the next big demagogue) echoing the politics of the living cities. Among other things, it would've turned out that the Ur was manipulating things to cause war between the living cities, via a traitor in Manny's family, in order to weaken the cities and cause the "falling to the bottom of the Tree" problem that you saw in TWWM. I always planned to end with the climactic "all the living cities march to war as ghostly giant robots" scene that happened in TWWM, but I'd planned for R'lyeh to fight alongside them, and they would've been fighting a manifestation of the Ur itself. Probably a Cthulhu-like monster -- but monsters aren't very interesting to me, so as with TWWM the real threat is the Ur's authoritarianism.

So, different but not that different. Not sure I would've been able to fit in everything I'd originally planned; when I first come up with a new series I tend to be big on ideas, but not all of them work when I start writing. As you can see, I retained most of the major plot elements I'd originally planned. I think the biggest loss was the character-specific subplots I had planned. Like, Veneza would've had a blowout with her racist father; Chennai's ancient avatar was going to try and seduce Padmini back home to take over from her (same subplot involving the risk to Padmini's visa status); Brooklyn would've been a badass mayor; Manny and Neek would've gone on some awkward dates and probably had at least one awkward morning after. I would've spent more time on R'lyeh as she basically starts to decolonize herself. We would've gotten a lot more of Evil Manny, and Neek would've had to talk him down/win him back at some point. Also, tentatively I'd originally planned that Neek's revealed name would be "Nueva." Glad I changed my mind about that one.

Sad that it won't happen, but there's always fanfic! (Don't show it to me tho. h/t @seananmcguire )

[luvfy0dor]

Bsd and Book Tropes/Types!

╰┈➤ Atsushi, Dazai, Kunikida, Ranpo, Yosano, Akutagawa, Chuuya, Higuchi, Fyodor, Nikolai, Sigma

CW: None!

Description - Book types and tropes I think various bsd characters would enjoy. These are just some of my opinions, if you feel I've incorrectly characterized any of them please tell me! Also, this is based off of the main storyline, I haven't read Stormbringer, 55 Minutes, etc yet.

Atsushi Nakajima ☆

╰┈➤ Comic books, found family, childhood friends to lovers ☑

I feel like these are a no brainer, but I think Atsushi, if given the chance to read them as a child, would have really liked comics and grown up with them. I think he would like super hero/action stories. Specifically because of the Odasaku-Man show/series/franchise in BSD Wan. He'd probably enjoy DC, Marvel, The Avengers, etc.

Atsushi, to me at least, seems like the type of person to really want to connect to whatever he's reading and be moved by it. I think found family is probably a big thing for him because of Dazai bringing him into the agency and all. I think he likes sentimental and happier story lines that can make you cry solely because they have to end at some point.

Atsushi would probably like to watch the characters grow up together, probably torn apart by some unforseen event and eventually rekindling. Like I said, I think he would really like sentimental stuff, and seeing people rejoice and fall in love is probably really heart warming to him.

Osamu Dazai ☆

╰┈➤ Poetry, soulmates, MAJOR plot twists ☑

To be honest, I feel like if Dazai were to sit and read anything, it would most likely be a poem. I don't think Dazai is the type of guy to analyze poetry for fun, but I think he has a subconscious habit of doing it. Either he's pretty into it or he's skimming through it and tossing it to the side the second he's bored.

If I had to pick a romance trope that Dazai would like, I do think it'd be soulmates. Or maybe like, right person wrong time. I think he would like the angst of it should the book take a turn and end in tragedy, or he might also enjoy a fulfilling and satisfying ending. I think he likes the idea of two people being destined to be together, one soul two bodies type thing, you know? ;]

I think he likes major plot twists but only if they catch him off guard,which is probably pretty rare. He likes the feeling of surprise when a book takes an unexpected turn.

Doppo Kunikida ☆

╰┈➤ Slow burn, historical fiction ☑

Kunikida likes slow burn because it's something he can read through for a while. I think he likes trilogies and series, especially if he really enjoys the storyline and characters. He probably likes the reliability of being able to pick the same thing up for a while after dealing with whatever nonsense takes place at the agency.

I think he likes reading about things that he has at the very least surface level knowledge about. He likes when authors stay true to the actual events while creating a storyline around it. Like, for example, a love story that takes place between two soldiers in a war. So long as it stays true to the actual events, I think he would read it.

Edogawa Ranpo ☆

╰┈➤ The "Chosen One", Found Family ☑

Ranpo definitely has a hard time finding books that he'll actually enjoy. I can't remember if he said he did or didn't like mystery books though because they were to easy for him to solve? I don't remember, so I'm not gonna include mystery books for him. I think he would really like books where the main character is a "Chosen One" though. I don't really know why, it just seems like the type of story he'd sit through while simultaneously making fun of it.

"This guy thinks he's so special all because he can ____! I can do that too."

I think he'd also like found family because, like Atsushi, he found his family in the detective agency. He and Yosano are like sister and brother and Fukuzawa is like his father. I think they would have a special place in his heart for sure.

Yosano Akiko ☆

╰┈➤ Bad Girl/Good Boy, one of us is famous ☑

I think Yosano would feel as though the good girl/bad boy trope is way over done. She would probably be happy to see it switched up once in a while. I think she really likes the contrast of the two types of personalities and characters, but she also wants to see the characters be smart rather than immature or stupid. She probably wouldn't want to read the same stereotypical "Character A trips and falls, landing right on top of Character B." She likes when stories can stand out and be unique.

She also probably like the idea of one of the characters in the relationship being able to uphold themselves without their partner, that independence seems like something she'd find interesting to read. I think she would really take interest in the plot and how it could come out, maybe angsty because of the famous ones busy schedule? Maybe it ends with the famous one's career coming to retirement because they felt it's more important to make time for their partner? I think she'd find all of the possibilities interesting.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa ☆

╰┈➤ "I hate everyone in the world but you", childhood friends to lovers, nonfiction ☑

Honestly, I have like, a big list of tropes in front of me and it was really hard to pick for him because none of them really seemed very him to me. If you catch him reading a romance book though, it's probably "I hate everyone but you" or childhood friends to lovers. I think they could both go hand in hand for him. The "I hate everyone but you" trope reminds me of like, only being able to trust this one person thoroughly. Trust like that is gained through years of companionship such as childhood friendships into adolescence and adulthood. I think his childhood probably would have an effect on this preference.

"We've already been together so long, you know me and I know you and there is trust. Why would I ever want to start all that over?" Type of thing.

While I think he doesn't mind fiction occasionally, I think he prefers to read about real things. It's more serious.

Nakahara Chuuya ☆

╰┈➤ Workplace romance, second chance romance, secret romance ☑

Chuuya seems like the type of guy to like romance and moderate thrill, so I think he leans towards romance stories that could build up suspense or get the characters into a little bit of trouble. As for office romance, I think he likes the idea of falling in love with someone in a place he kind of has to be every day, that person making his day better. It also means he would get to be close to his s/o and I think he'd knowing that they're okay, which is why I think he'd like that trope. The thrilling part is that maybe it's against a code of conduct in the office? Maybe they get caught dating, what happens after that?

Second chance romance to me is exciting because you get to see characters learn and grow from their mistakes, and I think Chuuya finds acknowledgement on wrongdoings really important. But characters might also mess up again, which is always interesting to watch go down.

Secret romance is self explanatory on the thrill factor. It can give you so many questions that are most likely answered in the book itself, like why is it a secret?

(I also think he enjoys super hero comics but wouldn't admit it in fear of being called immature because of that Odasaku-Man scene in bsd wan)

Ichiyō Higuchi ☆

╰┈➤ Workplace romance, YA rom-com, bad boy/good girl ☑

She definitely likes the idea of workplace romance because of her massive little crush on Akutagawa. Like Chuuya I think she'd like the idea of being around your s/o even while having to work, whether the work is boring or not. I think her crush also influences the bad boy/good girl thing, although I don't know if I'd call her a good girl. I think she would like to consider herself a good girl.

YA rom-com also seems like her thing, like she would read it while laying in her stomach, kicking her feet, twirling her hair, and giggling.

Fyodor Dostoevsky ☆

╰┈➤ Philosophy, poetry, life's hardships ☑

Oh boy. He doesn't even get tropes, I don't think he'd read fiction. I do think he'd read philosophy books though, like he's probably read up on Confusious and Aristotle or something like that. Even if he doesn't agree with the philosopher he's reading about, I think he'd find it interesting.

He definitely appreciates poetry, HE'S the type of guy to analyze it in his free time. I think he'd find poetry beautiful when done right.

Because the real Dostoevsky grew up poor, I think bsd Dostoevsky has an appreciation for books written about struggles an author has faced. Fyodors past hasn't been mentioned in the main storyline of bsd atleast, so I'm just going assume he grew up poor until other information comes out. I think hearing about other people facing the same thing he did in childhood might give him a sense of humanity. He said during his "happy group counseling hour" that only he and Dazai could understand each other because of their levels of intelligence. Maybe seeing other people having something in common with him would be something he would like.

Nikolai Gogol ☆

╰┈➤ Independent mc ☑

Nikolai doesn't seem like the type to read a lot, but because of his ideology associated with freedom, I think he'd like books with a strong lead character. I don't think he'd like books with main characters that rely heavily on other people or have a bland personality outside of their significant other. He'd like characters that solve their own problems and obtain their own goals.

Sigma ☆

╰┈➤ Magazines, cook books, friends to lovers ☑

I think Sigma reads like, the people magazine so he can understand what's going on in pop culture and have some knowledge of what's going on. He probably likes knowing what's trending. I think he'd also like the "Home Decor" sections of the magazines or like the scratch and sniff parts. I don't know why, I just do.

He'd also probably read cookbooks occasionally and memorize recipes when he's not memorizing every detail about his customers.

I think Sigma would find romance stories endearing, specifically friends to lovers. Kind of similar to Akutagawas, I think he would like the idea of already having that trust built through friendship. Because Sigma is so naive and how much he's been used, he likes reading about characters who already have a good friendship that is built on reliability and trust. That friendship turning into a romance eventually.

[bookofmirth]

Potential spoilers for the Azriel, Nesta and Bryce HOFAS bonus chapter ahead.

Omg. I found it so funny when Bryce asked Azriel if he has a mate and he said no, flatly.

And even after that she proceeded to ask him if had a partner or spouse and he said no again to both , You could just tell how annoyed he was about it 😂😂

It’s also quite telling and funny that SJM so obviously did that on purpose,

If I am not reaching, it just shows us that nothing is going on at all, currently in velaris in the Elain and Azriel department like it’s cobwebs there.

Nothing is going on with Az anywhere. It's crickets and tumbleweed.

Sorry I really used your ask as an excuse to rant for a minute here.

The thing is, we all know he does, in fact, have a mate. We may disagree on who it will be, but this is sjm, we all recognize how much she loves mating bonds, despite certain people getting their panties in a twist over who Elain is mated to. But either way, we all know that Azriel is going to end this series with a mate. Obviously, he will.

The issue is that right now, he thinks he doesn't have one. He has spent time wondering if Elain was his, and... months later, has come to the realization that she isn't. He already had her in mind, so the idea that he's in denial about it or something is nonsensical.

And no, he wasn't trying to protect her. Nesta didn't try to hide her mating bond with Cassian, which she could have done by masking their scents (we've seen them do it before). When Bryce asked if Nesta had a mate, she didn't deny it. What the fuck would Bryce want with Elain anyway??? She knows that Nesta has a mate and does nothing with that knowledge. She may know that Rhys and Feyre are mates too, but I am trying to finish this book so I'm too lazy to search haha

Now, we've seen sjm talk about how characters come onto the scene and surprise her and the other characters. We have it with Elain surprising Lucien, Hunt surprising Bryce, Cassian surprising Nesta. Things just click when sjm puts these characters in a room together. So if it were going to click with Elain and A*riel, it would have already. Especially since he actively spent time thinking about it. They've spent time around one another regularly for... two years? They got close but had a failure to launch, and now they haven't fought for each other or interacted (that we know of) for 6-7 months? Az would know if he was mated to Elain, since he was actively wondering about it. You know, kinda like he was wondering the same thing about Mor.

[magnorious]

Review: ‘We Take a Zebra to Vegas’, Percy Jackson Episode 6

***Spoilers Ahead for all books and show. TL;DR at the bottom***

After episode 5 I was starting to wonder if episode 3 was a fluke. Here we have the potential for the only non-book reference I wanted in the entire show: Would Nico cameo in the Lotus Casino?

Small, I know, but book fans were robbed of ever seeing him on screen once already when Titan’s Curse was never adapted and with his massive popularity, I was almost certain he’d be here. The closer we got to the Lotus Casino, however, the more I wanted to be wrong. Almost none of the characters look like they’re supposed to, many of them with inconsistent personalities to match. I went from hoping for a blink-and-you’ll miss it reference with a little scruffy 10-year-old that book fans would be able to tell is Nico by his appearance alone to hoping they’d not touch the matter with a 10-foot pole.

After the absurdly dramatic and angsty episode 5 that was supposed to be semi-dangerous and funny, there was a chance to have both the whimsy and wonder of the Lotus Casino, and the rather chilling escape. Before that, the conversation about conservation in the back of the zoo trafficking truck. There was a lot of opportunity for more quiet character moments as well as the adventure and absolutely no need for more nonsense filler.

Onto the episode and given that Hermes is in the thumbnail, are we all in agreement that he only exists here because he’s played by Lin Manuel Miranda? That’s the reason, right? He barely exists in the first book otherwise.

We start right off the bat with more interesting changes. Instead of IM-ing Luke in some random car wash, they do so in the zoo truck. The scene in the book was funnier, because it existed in the place that it did to be funny and the pay-to-pump water gave a clear time limit. But more importantly – they decided to scapegoat Clarisse… for reasons.

Why? Just why? In the book they spend 99% of their quest accusing the wrong person, Hades, and don’t realize they’re wrong until it’s too late. Everyone in the book was like “it’s Hades, it’s gotta be, his kids were Nazis” (a detail I still can’t believe exists, wow). Chiron said it was Hades, everyone said it was Hades, based on ancient biases that Hades spends the entire series proving wrong. He is the best godly parent by a country mile by the end of Book 5 and all of that groundwork started here, when Hades was just as much a victim of the Master Bolt nonsense as everyone else.

Clarisse is neither here nor there, because the writers didn’t have the foresight to script or film any scenes at camp of this random arrest that’s supposed to be important now. The jump cut from ‘the animals have a plan’ to them stopping traffic on the Vegas strip was funny, but it robbed the scene of the seriousness it should have had. More powers Percy doesn’t get: His ability to talk to horses and horse-adjacent animals.

Once they make it to the Lotus Casino, the script does this incredibly irritating thing where it removes the tension of the unknown from every hurdle they meet. Percy’s trapped alone against a mysterious monster in the book and has no idea how to beat it? Nope, Annabeth exposits all over it. They enter a seemingly-abandoned, mortal waterpark and only get suspicious once it’s too late? Nope, Annabeth figures out immediately that it’s a godly amusement park and they must be careful. Two twelve year olds and a satyr are immediately charmed by the glitz and glam of the lotus casino and get trapped for almost the rest of their time limit for the quest? Nope, Grover exposits all over that, too, ruining the mystery and any danger or threat.

Why?

The show also does the irritating thing where it creates problems just to solve them later and before you go “that’s the point of conflict” I mean it creates meaningless problems through meaningless contrivances, like every horror movie cliche that forces its characters to make illogical choices so they don’t just run away from the horror.

And another irritating thing! Spoiling bigger mysteries before their time: We didn’t learn about May Castellan until book 5. Why is this here? What purpose does this serve? Percy realizing he didn’t even know Luke’s last name for five whole years meant something to him. Seeing Luke’s tragic, mortal mother, after hating him for five years *means something* to Percy and to the readers. The gods damned Lotus Casino was absolutely not the place to discover any of this. Why did they do this?

Also, who tf is Augustus? He’s fine. Grover’s random side quest is fine. Every consecutive episode leaves me more and more annoyed with him, but it’s *fine*.

They do actually forget their purpose in the casino, thank the gods. Or, Grover does. Annabeth continues to give away May Castellan exposition like Halloween candy, smack-talking Hermes in a way that she’d never dare at 12 years old. Hermes is still only here because he’s played by Mr. Miranda. He’s fine, he’s just not Hermes. His “woe is me, loving mortals is so damn hard” speech exists. The sentiment is four books early, but it exists.

I understand why it’s here. They’re trying desperately to capture Percy’s internal conflict over whether or not the gods and his dad care about him, if he should let himself be disappointed presuming that they don’t. Problem is– in the book, Poseidon didn’t send a naiad to give him false promises of a clandestine meeting. In the book, the naiad told Percy there’d be a vague “gift” in Santa Monica, and Percy was never naive enough to think that gift would be his dad.

The entire season so far has tried to give nuance to both sides of the “do the gods care and should they be expected to” argument and it’s just not a very well written attempt. Why? Because it had five entire books to give both sides, and they’re shoving as much of it as they can here like they’re afraid they won’t get renewed for season 2. In doing so, they’ve made a tonal mess.

Once Hermes is gone and done randomly and spitefully sabotaging their quest, Percy, unseen, figures out that they’ve lost time and lost Grover. Also, Annabeth pick-pocketed the God of Thieves? Funny, but no. The script has its weird Mitichlorian moment sciencing lore by adding in the detail that lotus nectar or whatever is pumped in through the air, a question no one had and a plot hole that didn’t exist.

They do manage to keep the fear and unsettling realization that they’ve lost time, but their amnesia is inconsistent and confusing, considering that they overexplained how the casino works. Then they’re gone using a God of Thieves’ Car gimmick.

No Nico, thank the gods, unless he was one of the VR kids in the background. It would have been wonderful to see him in a better script.

In the book, they get instantly dazzled by the food, the video games, the nice clothes, nice suite, all things Percy could never dream about growing up poor. There is no Hermes and he only figures out something’s wrong when he meets other kids displaced from time and has to shake Annabeth and Grover from the illusion. They use their casino cash cards with infinite money to hail a cab all the way to LA and it’s funny.

They create more problems that didn’t need to exist by forcing Percy to drive a taxi and okay, that was genuinely funny. I am shocked, though, that Annabeth’s pride let him drive.

The episode comes to an end with them supposedly by the Santa Monica Pier… in a thunderstorm. In southern California. Odd choice, but okay. I'd say the storm exists because Poseidon's pissed but I really think it's there beacuse "dark and stormy night" fit their new vibe better than bright sunlight.

Maybe in live action it was tricky trying to make him both dry underwater and still plausibly underwater and not just rotoscoped in with a hazy green filter. For all their love of exposition, they never actually told non-book watchers about that, or that he can breathe underwater and control some currents. It’s also supposed to be night time, and yet he’s lit as if it’s high noon far above on the surface – they could have just written the beach scene at noon.

Then the naiad he was supposed to talk to in St Louis drops the bomb that the Summer Solstice deadline already passed, Poseidon got too impatient to wait for Percy after the casino delay, and the gods are now at war.

What the fu…..?

Percy resolves to keep going despite armageddon already happening apparently. She gives him exactly the right amount of pearls that he needs, not three, which would force him to choose, and then cut to black.

—

How is the best part of this episode Annabeth’s completely deadpan and exasperated Dude when Percy asks her not to make fun of him? That, and Percy driving the taxi.

Once again, to all the set designers and VFX artists and costumes and makeup and foley and music and score and everyone in between – you’re amazing, keep up the great work. To the actors, you were given a bad script and bad direction and you did the best you could.

Having just come off watching Game of Thrones for the first time and seeing little Arya, Bran, and Rickon Stark’s actors doing donuts around these three just goes to show that it’s not that child actors’ lack of experience that’s the problem. Heck even Baby Percy is better than these three. It’s how much or how little help they get in conveying what they’re supposed to. These kids were thrown to the wolves.

I don’t watch the teasers and I stay away from all marketing for the show. I don’t know who’s been cast to play any characters we haven’t already seen so what Hades and Poseidon look like are a complete mystery that I do hope pays off.

With two episodes to go they have the following left from the book to adapt: Crusty’s water beds, the DOA studios, the entire trip to the underworld and Cerberus and Hades that took two hefty chapters, the Ares fight, Percy’s trip to Olympus, Luke's betrayal and reveal, and the return home to find Hades had paid his debt.

Suddenly the mini series with an episode to burn in St Louis has to sprint to the finish line.

Maybe if they hadn’t spent ten minutes expositing with Hermes they could have at least crammed in Crusty and the DOA, but it looks like armageddon is already upon us so who knows? They might’ve just tossed out the rest of the book to write their own ending.

TL;DR This show is a mess and this episode actually has me nostalgic for the brevity of the horrible movie because they didn’t even try and it’s fun to make fun of. This is just disappointment stretched out across seven hours instead of speedrun in 90 minutes. The skeleton of the book (mostly) remains intact and to all those who keep saying “at least it��s not the movie,” you’re right. Enjoy.

[dominickeating-source]

TV Zone Special Issue #48 (2002)

Keating The British End Up 

It's hard [not] to notice that Lt. Reed is the only British character in a strongly American series. Steven Eramo met with actor Dominic Keating to talk about Enterprise's old new frontier.  

THE CREW OF THE Enterprise NX-01 had no idea what awaited them when they warped off into the cosmos on their first mission to the Klingon home world. As tactical/armory officer, Lt. Malcolm Reed was responsible for maintaining the ship's defenses.  He spent his first few months in space fine-tuning the targeting scanners for the photon torpedoes and getting the phase cannons to work. Not one to pass up an adventure, the lieutenant has also had his fair share of close encounters with some friendly and not-so-friendly aliens. So the past twelve months or so have been anything but dull for him.   Like his TV alter ego, Dominic Keating did not know quite what to expect when he signed on to play the very British Reed on the latest Star Trek spin-off Enterprise.  According to the actor, his first year in the Trek universe had plenty of ups and very few downs. "I couldn't be more pleased," enthuses Keating. "I'll admit, though, that initially I was a bit concerned that the Initial thrust of the show seemed to be the triumvirate of Captain Archer [Scott Bakula], T'Pol [Jolene Blalock] and Trip [Connor Trinneer]. At one point I was going to phone [Enterprise co-creator and executive producer] Brannon Braga and ask him, 'Hey, what's up?' I didn't want to become the guy that only said, 'Hull plating is down 25%, Captain,' in the best British accent that I could muster.

"In retrospect I'm so glad I didn't make that call and act a bit like a headless chicken if you will because suddenly things began to change. Around the corner came stories such as Shuttlepod One and Sleeping Dogs. It became clear to me that Malcolm was going to have a distinct role to play in the telling of this ensemble story. I also didn't expect my character to become the 'action man' of the piece. As a child I was always good at playing cowboys and Indians in the backyard. I loved to run around and hunker down behind a wall and pretend to be fired upon," laughs the actor.  "Now all these years later I'm getting to do it all over again but in outer space. I'm over the moon - no pun intended - about that.

"I was at a Trek convention in Las Vegas recently and Brannon was also there. We spent an evening sitting and chatting quite casually for the first time. He and I discussed the fact that in some ways Malcolm Reed is one of the most enigmatic and versatile characters on the show. He's the least prone too two-dimensionally and the viewers seem able to accept any sort of contradiction in his character flaws. As a result, the writers can go any way with Malcolm and I like that. At one turn he's charming and coy and the next he's bad tempered and irritable. Then there are times that he's all by the book and no-nonsense and yet he can also be a jokester with a very dry sense of humour. I think Malcolm has great prospects in the years to come."

Like many actors, Keating is his own worst critic when it concerns his craft. That said, is there anything he would have done differently when it came to playing Malcolm Reed in Enterprise's first year?  "Well, there was that one look I gave Hoshi [Linda Park] in the pilot. I thought I was being charming and sexy and I just looked camp and ridiculous. I'll never do that lip movement again," he jokes. "I've never done 26 episodes of something back-to-back and then seen it weekly. I mean, I do watch the episodes and I watch them with a fine-tooth comb. I weed out what does and doesn't work. There are some things you do that seem fine at the time but, in fact, actually end up telegraphing something else. You don't want to get too highfalutin insofar as, 'What's my motivation? Where's my obstruction? Where am I going with this?' If something doesn't feel right you have to be aware of it and tell yourself, 'That doesn't work, kid?' 

"This is also my first time playing a part where I've begun to allow who Dominic is into Malcolm," continues the actor. "I've never trusted myself to do that before.  When you read a three-line character breakdown at the beginning of your audition process you kind of get locked into that description. With Malcolm it was, 'Shy around women, button-down, by the book, typical Brit.'. Descriptions such as these very much denote how you're going to play your character, but only if you let them. For the first time I've been able to flesh Malcolm out and play him at odds with himself. For example, if I as Dominic thought a moment in a scene had a tinge of humour to it and felt it was appropriate to laugh at then I'd let Malcolm laugh. This is where that murky land of who's Malcolm Reed and who's Dominic Keating becomes the finished product.

"I know there have been times when Rick Berman [co-creator and executive producer] has said to me, 'That's too much, Dominic'. There was a nightclub scene in the Risa episode [Two Days and Two Nights] where I was too loose. We ended up doing another take and I had to tone things down slightly. Because Malcolm was on holiday I thought, 'He can let his hair down a bit'.  Unfortunately, I stretched things a little too thin and you could see his cellulite," chuckles Keating. "You have to be careful not to do that."

MOST REGULAR Enterprise viewers will agree that the actor's first season tour de force is the aforementioned episode Shuttlepod One. In it, Malcolm and Commander (Trip) Tucker are returning to the Enterprise after a mission when their shuttlepod is damaged.  They manage to reach their rendezvous point where they discover that the Enterprise has apparently been destroyed in a collision with an asteroid. The two officers suddenly find themselves marooned in space with only a few days of air left.  

"Oddly enough, the filming of Shuttlepod One wound up crossing with Sleeping Dogs because Les Landau, who directed Dogs, was taken ill," recalls Keating. "As a result, director David Livingston was called in right away to start shooting Shuttlepod One. We did four or five days on that episode and then Les was well enough to come back to work. So we filmed the last day of Dogs right in the middle of Shuttlepod One, which was a little weird. We actually shot the scenes for Shuttlepod One pretty much in order, which is very unusual, and we were well into a rhythm. It was somewhat of a rude awakening for me to suddenly be pulled out for a day, dressed in another costume, and put back on the Klingon battle cruiser with Jolene and Linda to finish up Dogs.

"I remember filming the last scene of Shuttlepod One in sickbay and not wanting it to end. I was sad. It was a good energy to have, though, as it lent itself nicely to the scene. It had been a wonderful week and my best experience to date in front of a camera. I think it's a terrific piece of hour-long TV I really love working with Connor.  He's a very generous and talented actor and we have a good rapport on and off-screen.  Rick Berman was so excited when he saw the rough cut of the episode that he came down to the set to pat Connor and me on our backs. He told us, 'Of all the shows I've ever produced this is the one I'm most proud of. That's weighty praise, indeed."   

At the time of this interview (early September) Keating and the rest of the Enterprise cast and crew were well into filming the show's second season. One of the first stories to be shot was called Minefield. It features Malcolm Reed, who finds himself pinned under a deep-space mine on the hull of the Enterprise.  

"Finally Malcolm and the captain are seen in close proximity with one another," says the actor. "If there was one disappointment I had about the first season it's that I didn't get to do an awful lot with Scott. I certainly never got to sit at Captain Archer's mess table, and God that bothered me. Even Anthony Montgomery's character of Mayweather sat there. Come on, he's just an ensign, Malcolm's a lieutenant. We take these things very seriously," he jokes.  

"Scott and I spent 16 hours a day for five days in EV [environmental] suits for the filming of Minefield, which is no mean feat I'll tell you. Poor Scott threw his back out and we both lost 10 pounds. It was one hell of a week. However, it was terrific working with Scott. It's quite a gargantuan episode. Not wishing to sort of taint it in any way but in some respects it was Shuttlepod One revisited only with Malcolm and Archer.  One big difference was it had a ticking clock. I can honestly say that week�s 'guest star' was the biggest prop I�ve ever worked with," laughs Keating.

IN AN IDEAL world, the actor would love to be doing episodes such as Minefield and Shuttlepod One every other week. However, he realizes this is not possible given the inherent structure of series TV and, in particular, Enterprise. "Early on I thought that Enterprise was going to be ER only in space," he says. "The ship would be the emergency room and you'd have these seven doctors who were spacemen all having interesting story lines with each other. And there would be new patients - the aliens - coming in each week. That's difficult to do, though. I also know that Trek has an established format and they're not about to throw that out the window.  

"I've heard through the grapevine that ideas for new episodes have been mooted and debated at production level meetings.  And the word will come back that, 'Yes, great idea. Too bad it's Shuttlepod One.  We've been there, done that.' You can't do it again for whatever reason within the confines of this series. I suppose in more reality-based shows like a medical or police dramas that Human relationships do kind of go round and round in circles and some scenes do seem like one another. However, I guess it just doesn't ring true with Sci-Fi.  That said, I think the people in charge of Enterprise have done a fine job of presenting a Sci-Fi adventure epic and introducing a cast of characters that the viewers can get to know and, hopefully, come to care about."

Like most actors associated with a Star Trek series, Keating has made a point of going to conventions and meeting the fans.  "I'm actually the convention king on our programme," he laughs. "I've been to 12 or 13 already. Just recently, though, I've taken a bit of a  backseat from them. I thought, 'OK, that's enough for now'. It takes a lot out of you I've got to say. You're up at 5 in the morning, get on a 6 o'clock flight, fly for four or five hours, do your hour on stage, sign autographs, pose for pictures, and then you're back on a plane to Los Angeles. By the time you get home you're like, 'I'm knackered'. However, it's tremendous fun meeting and talking with the fans. I remember the first con I did was quite nerve-racking but I've since gotten into a stride, and quite frankly you can't shut me up now. The biggest one I've done so far was in Germany where six thousand people turned up. I walked out on that stage and it was like being in a boy band. I felt like a member of N'Sync for the day. It was extraordinary."

IT WAS TWO YEARS ago when TV Zone first met up with Keating.  He was in the middle of filming his first episode of The Immortal in which he portrayed the wickedly handsome and decidedly evil demon Mallos, the Lord of Darkness. In many ways this was the start of the Leicester lad's new career in America.

"I'd just done a film with Burt Reynolds, Rod Steiger and Tom Berenger called The Hollywood Sign," says the actor. "Sadly, it never was released here.  Apparently, it was a big hit in Holland because the director [Sonke Wortmann] was a Dutch fellow. Right after that I was cast in The Immortal and went up to Vancouver to shoot the first few episodes with Lorzeno Lamas [Raphael 'Rafe' Cain] and the beautiful Kira Clavell [Vashista].  

"It was around this time I began to realize that suddenly I was working more regularly than ever before since coming to the States. While I was going back and forth from Los Angeles to Vancouver to do The Immortal I got a call from Zalman King. He cast me in his new erotic/comedic romp ChromiumBlue.com in which I play a bisexual ghost, can you believe it? Hey, I'm versatile if nothing else. I went from the Lord of Darkness to the Queen of Camp and now the King of the Armoury Room on Enterprise.  I don't think even Robert De Niro can boast that litany," laughs Keating.

"Never in a million years, though, did I think I'd end up on a seven-year Sci-Fi series like Enterprise, but now that I have it's fantastic, I'm definitely of an age where I'm old enough to appreciate it and young enough to still enjoy it, you know? I'm so grateful to whatever higher power saw fit to bestow this upon me because I realize how fleeting such things can be. If they didn't like one little thing I did in the network audition I might not have gotten this job. Sometimes it makes me shiver when I think how fortunate I truly am." 

Source: www.dominickeating.com

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

sully family trip to the library 🥺

So much drama.

I really don't think Jake and Neytiri are library people, I think they're bring your kids to the local rock climbing gym parents. I live in a world where they're just like, doing the most insane shit all the time. Pre-kids they were like what if we randomly skipped work today to go sky diving, and what if tomorrow we try a kickboxing class? Like their idea of a fun date or couple activity is trying something they've never done before and seeing who is better at it. One week they're in a couples cooking class like bullying the shit out of each other's food while the rest of the class is like 👀 because it's couples cooking you were supposed to make something together? Next week they're learning parkour, and every time the other falls first they run over and make sure that person is okay and then they point and laugh. By the time the kids are born it's crazy. Kiri, Neteyam, Lo'ak, and Spider in the back of a stupid family skateboarding class watching their mom not so subtlety push their dad so he falls and then pretending not to have seen who did it like Jesus Christ, right in front of us?? Our salad??? (This got off track can you tell I'm entering my Jeytiri era rn?).

So yeah I don't think the library was their main place before their kids. But now the kids love reading and the jocks (their parents) must entertain them.

I think Kiri and Neteyam vibe hard with a good book, while Lo'ak is with his parents in that he'd rather be outside doing something athletic and dumb. Spider and Tuk are in between, they can be swayed either way and get bored with reading or with dumb shit. They have short attention spans.

I think Jake does really good voices in the childrens section, so he without fail will find himself surrounded by like 15 kids and not notice until the end of the book because he feels like he has 15 kids anyway. Parents don't realize he's not there to read for everyone because he's so good at it and he's got so many kids sitting there listening who don't all appear to be siblings lol.

Neytiri really likes the romance books. I think she's a little bit of a romantic, and even if reading isn't her favorite pastime she'll get sucked into a good romance. Jake likes John Grisham type detective dad novels, but he'll read all the YA nonsense his kids say is good. He's read all of The Hunger Games, Divergent, John Green, he and Tuk are caught up on Percy Jackson. Lo'ak reads those crazy sports books middle school boys read, and those My Weird School books. Neteyam has read all the books. Man is reading Stephen King and Octavia Butler and what not way too young. Idk just every book, all of them. Kiri mostly has as well but she and Tuk have also read every single Warrior Cats book multiple times. Tuk also eats up the Rainbow Magic series, and some Junie B. Jones.

[the-hinky-panda]

The Preacher's Wife Series: Escape (Part I)

TW: Domestic spousal abuse: emotional, mental, physical, and sexual

Hank’s in love.

Again. 

It’s too soon, the wounds from the previous relationship still fresh, still stinging. But he thinks back to feeling Maggie pressed to his side, her hand in his, her head resting against his shoulder. It was one of the only times that he actually followed the speed limit back to her rental, trying to draw out the time. He can’t get it out of my mind just how perfect everything had been. He certainly doesn’t believe in romantic nonsense like soulmates but the feeling of watching Maggie walk into the cabin by herself was like watching a piece of himself go with her. 

Maybe he is starting to believe in soulmates. 

Either way, the problem remains of her husband and the process of getting her and the two children out of that mansion in La Jolla. He can’t contact Maggie directly so he approaches the next best thing, Maggie’s sister, Stitches. She’s been the medic for a couple years now and hasn’t mentioned anything specific about Maggie and her marriage. She’s hinted at being concerned for Maggie, always excited for Maggie’s visits to Santo Padre. But never has she brought up to the club a fear for her sister’s safety. 

Stitches is organizing her medical supplies in the treatment room in the clubhouse when Hank finally tracks her down. He’s only been back from Big Bear Lake for two hours and he can’t shake the conversation he had just earlier today in the truck with Maggie. He raps lightly on the open door. 

“Stitch, you got a minute?” 

“Yeah, absolutely.” She stands up and immediately starts scanning him, looking for any injuries. 

“I’m fine,” he waves her off. “I, uh, I actually wanted to talk to you about your sister, Maggie.” 

Concern immediately clouds her face. “Maggie? What’s going on with Maggie?” 

“I ran into her, up at Big Bear Lake.” 

Stitches’ concern dissipates immediately and she breaks into a big smile. “Oh yeah, she was heading up there for a conference.” 

Hank smirked. “Conference.” 

“Ah,” Stitches leans against the exam table. “So she told you about her other ‘job.’” 

“She did. My mom likes reading her books.” 

Stitches’ grin gets wider. “I’m sure the next time she’s visiting, we can stop by and see your mom if you want. It’ll do Maggie good, finding people who enjoy her books. She doesn’t get to have that satisfaction too much.” 

Hank smiles at that but then gets to the real reason for his visit. “Has Maggie ever said anything about how her husband treats her?” 

All positivity drains from her face. “I know he’s an asshole. Emotionally manipulative and a bully. I’ve been stashing money and family heirlooms for her in preparation for her to leave but she keeps telling me the timing isn’t right yet. Her publisher is also holding on to her royalties as well. Why?” 

“She just said a few things that concerned me. Wanted to get a clearer picture from you.” 

Stitches’ mouth is a firm, tense line. “What things?” 

The words are so bitter on his tongue when he says them. “I think he’s hitting her.” 

“That son of a bitch.”

She starts to move past him but he puts out a hand and catches her shoulder. The explosion is expected and he is prepared for it thankfully. “Now hold on. You know if that’s true, we do have to wait on her.” 

“Dammit, I know.”  She emits a frustrated noise and kicks the small trash can. “Shit. I had no idea he was hitting her or that it was even a possibility. He’s so focused on goddam appearances I didn’t think he would do that.” 

“It seemed like she let it slip when we were talking. She said it was never anything to go see about at a hospital or ER. I don’t think anyone knows.” 

“Course not. Simon Peters needs to keep his reputation clean or he could lose that money machine of a church. Can’t have a wife sporting bruises and casts…” Stitches pauses in her rant, her eyes going wide. “Oh my God. Her foot.” 

“She mentioned breaking it but didn’t say how.” 

Stitches returns to pacing the small room, her face thunderous. “I knew it. I knew Simon had something to do with her broken foot. The bones on the top of her foot were just snapped. She had to have metal pins and plates in there to fix it. She said her foot got caught under a box and she lost balance and fell backwards. It sounded fishy to me but she assured me that’s all it was.” 

Hank feels that sick feeling settling in his stomach. “What did it look like to you?” 

“It looked like someone stood on her foot and pushed her backwards, that’s what the breaks looked like.” Stitches lets out another sound of anger. “Six years! Six years, she’s been stuck in that house with that asshole! And I didn’t…” her eyes flood with tears and she covers her face with her hands. “I didn’t know, Hank. God, I didn’t know.” 

“What the hell is going on in here?” Bishop appears in the doorway. 

Tears are still streaming down her face and gives both Hank and Bishop the most helpless look. “My sister needs help.” 

Bishop turns to Hank. “What kind of help?” 

Taza appears at Bishop’s shoulder, peering into the room. “What’s going on?” 

“Stitches’ sister needs help,” Bishop says. 

Hank fills in the rest of the information. “Abusive husband.” 

Bishop nods. “He armed? Security guards? What are we talking?” 

“He’s the pastor of a megachurch,” Hank answers. “Lives in a mansion in La Jolla.” 

“The kids,” Stitches says. “We need to get the two kids too.” 

“Alright,” Taza puts his arm around Stitches’ shoulders. “We will. You talk to her, find out when would be a good time to get her and the kids out.” 

“Safely,” Hank adds. 

“Safely,” Bishop repeats. “In the meantime, if we have something coming up that needs attention, I’ll make sure at least three guys stay behind to help. You pick them. Okay?” 

Stitches wipes her eyes with her sleeve. “Okay. But don’t you have to bring this to the table or take a vote in Templo or something?” 

Bishop  glances at Hank and Taza, who give him minute nods, and he shakes his head. “No vote needed this time. Sometimes, we’re just all in agreement.”