#the rest of the scene is just as good i'd forgotten how much fun it is writing season 1 118

[chronicowboy]

morsel monday

this is literally just a made-up way for me to share part of a scene i love for the dilf next door because i couldn't keep it to myself so enjoy!!

Buck climbs up the stairs to the loft before falling face first onto the couch with a groan only partly exaggerated.

"You good, kid?" Bobby asks from the kitchen, tone half amused and half concerned.

"No," Buck mumbles into the cushions.

"Oh, no." Chimney sits down on his legs with a sigh. "Did Athena pop by to tell you that you're no longer allowed within one hundred feet of elementary schools?"

"No, Howard," Buck snaps, "I have not been added to the sex offender registry."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Hen mutters. "I found your sex life very offensive when you first started."

"Seconded," Bobby calls out. Buck rolls onto his back, knocking Chimney off his legs in the process, and drags a cushion over his face. "Alright, kid." Bobby sits down on the coffee table with a grunt. "What happened?"

"I met Christopher's dad," he tells them petulantly.

"Oh, shit." Chim sinks onto the arm of the couch. "He didn't like forbid you from seeing him or anything because I was only joking."

"No, worse." Buck knows he's being dramatic, knows that Hen and Chim will relentlessly tease him about this for weeks if not months, but he needs to vent about the hot dad next door.

"Buckaroo, what happened?" Hen prods kindly.

"Chris told me his dad burnt dinner again," Buck recounts, sitting up in the corner of the couch and clutching the cushion to his chest, "so I think this is the perfect opportunity to finally meet him because I had a lasagne in the oven."

"I didn't see you walk in here with a Tupperware, Buckley. Where are your leftovers?" Chim demands.

"In Christopher's hot dad's fridge," Buck grumbles.

"Ohhhhhhh." Hen nods to herself. "I see."

"You had me worried," Bobby sighs.

"No, you don't understand," Buck cries. "He's so hot. Like unfairly hot. Like looks like he just walked off a photoshoot or a porn set hot."

"Don't make me call in a HR representative," Bobby warns.

neighbours au taglist: @danielsousa @diazass @gracelcdomas @shortsighted-owl @juliaor @blazeturbo102 @i-spit-on-fire @alyxmastershipper @disasterpans (please lmk if you'd like to be added)

[picathartidae]

For the most recent round of ask game I'd love to hear your answers for 5, 9, 23, and 26. 💙

I'm still answering for Alassane, despite him being a Dark Urge, because my Tavs are all from a different D&D setting and none of them are sufficiently fleshed out when it comes to the Forgotten Realms. I really hope that's okay!

5. Did your Tav have any formal or informal employment? If yes, what was their job? If no, how did they make ends meet? How did they feel about it?

The closest Alassane ever got a real job was when he was about 10/11 years old and found himself homeless and briefly wandering the Outer City. Through various wacky happenstance, a blacksmith took pity on him and he ended up becoming the man’s apprentice for a few years. It ended, as all nice things in Alassane’s backstory do, with murder, when he was 15. From that point on, he was a career criminal and assassin, and finally ending up as an adventurer/mercenary during and after the events of the game.

It all instilled a very blunt pragmatism in Alassane, as well as a general lack of respect for money or the concept of private property. He doesn’t have strong feelings about what he does, he just does whatever he has to in order to survive and achieve his goals.

9. What was your Tav doing when they were taken by the mind flayers?

He was catatonic, as he had been for maybe nine months by that point, and imprisoned in the mind flayer colony deep beneath Moonrise Towers. Then his pod was shoved onto a nautiloid, and the rest is history.

23. What are 2-3 songs that your Tav would relate to?

I always struggle with these kinds of questions, because I don’t really engage with songs based on lyrics, but rather entirely on vibes. Alassane’s vibes are mainly aggressive electronic, grunge, and alt rock — with a few bits of other extremely eclectic nonsense thrown in. The best I can do are songs I have written Alassane doing things to, and why I picked them.

1991, by Golden Features

This is literally the song I wrote the dance scene in his first chapter to, and is probably the closest I have to a ‘main theme’. It’s electronic nonsense with no lyrics at all, which I liked and thought fit him because the heavy synth feels very artificial and unnatural in a medieval fantasy setting. Since Alassane (as the Dark Urge) was created rather than born, it seemed very accurate for the character, and helps give off this terrifying and uncanny vibe. And I could so very easily imagine him doing an impromptu Fosse-style jazz ballet dance routine to this song.

Let You Go, by RY X

For slower and more introspective scenes, usually dream sequences that aren’t outright nightmares. This is very much a song for post-amnesia Alassane that kind of has come to represent his growth as a character because there is actually a bit of symmetry with his arc in the lyrics.

Elddansurin, by Heilung

It’s a good aggressive sounding song with lots of percussion and growling that flows into something a bit softer and more melodic as the song goes on. It’s got some nice dualism to it, and I think that reflects Alassane’s whole deal very nicely. Heilung is also one of my favourite bands and this song is amazing fun to write violence to.

26. Does your Tav have a treasured item with them? If yes, what is it and why is it special? If no, how do they feel about item sentimentality in general?

He’s not an overly sentimental guy, at least not about material possessions. The closest thing he has to a treasured possession is a serrated dagger he woke up with on the nautiloid, and that’s because it’s basically the only connection he has to his past after the amnesia. Before he lost his memories, I doubt that knife meant anything to him at all.

What he is sentimental about is his name, which is its own complicated mess of a subplot that relates to his foster family and how he perceives himself. It's his last connection to the person he wishes he still was, when he was still an innocent child and before Bhaal ruined everything. His foster family was desperately important to him, and their murder was what broke him. He clings to his name in the vain hope that one day, he can find that boy in himself again.

[pradnyesh1008]

COC: Journey So Far #1

Long time no see, huh? Yeah, I know. My bad. Life's been a whirlwind lately, and that thread issue was like a constant migraine. But hey, it's sorted now. Happened a few days ago actually. The reason? Well, let's just say it was... interesting. But I'm not here to rant, so let's leave it at that.

Now, onto the main stuff. This will be long so…

I've changed the name of the game. Might change it again, who knows? The universe's name probably won't change though, because everything starts and ends with The Golden Throne. All the events are happening because of it, for it. But hey, if you come up with a cool name that fits the bill, I'm all ears!

The first book, for now, is called Crown of Conquest. As the name suggests, there's gonna be some conquering done by our MC due to politics, scheming, and a whole lot of other reasons. So yeah, war is coming. Not as big as you might think, but it'll set the stage for violence, gore, and all that jazz. I want you guys to get a taste of how wars are fought in this universe. I don't want anyone caught off guard when the big wars happen.

Back to the topic, progress has been slow. I'm at about 10k words right now. Why so slow? Well, between studies and other less productive activities {yeah, I'm looking at you, Girl (if you are reading this)}, writing has taken a backseat. But I'm planning to update this twice before Hot D season 2 releases. So now, I'm gonna write as much as possible.

Remember the Gazebo scene? Yeah, that was a tough one. Some of you were upset, saying it was torture, misery for the MC. I did give warnings several times before the scene happened but still, some folks were taken aback. In this game, there will be several scenes which will be morally complicated for characters. I've written these lines in my rework too but I'm gonna share here so you might understand the concept of this game:

"This is the reality of your position, the reality of power. It’s not just about wearing a crown; it’s about making decisions that can change lives. It’s about carrying the weight of those decisions, living with the consequences. It’s about understanding that every choice you make will have an impact, will create ripples that will touch everyone around you. It’s about realizing that sometimes, there are no right choices, only less wrong ones. And it’s about having the courage to make those choices, no matter how difficult they may be."

That's the whole point of this game.

As for the asks, there are 40+ of them. Most are ROs related. I know I said I'd answer them, but I don't want to spoil the personalities of the ROs before your first meeting with them. So, I'll wait till your first interactions with the ROs are done. Other asks related to history and world are so good. Seriously, you guys have some very interesting and damn good theories and questions. I can't believe how much you all thought from this small 100k WIP. They are so fun to read. And the rest of the asks, bug related and other stuff, don't worry. I know about them, and they will be resolved in the rework. I'm also going to drop our Mentor's details along with their portraits soon. So, be ready for it.

And lastly, If I haven't forgotten anything. Thank you so much to all of you who are supporting this and are really interested in this game. Seriously, thank you.

Catch you on the flip side,

Pradnyesh

[coldercreation]

Hello, I hope you have a good Day or night or what ever time it is for you :)

I finished reading "close your eyes" and I am in love with the Story and the characters.

At the moment I am very stressed about important exams and I don't have much time to do fun stuff between working and studying. But this Story never failed to pull me in and I really forgot about all my worries and I could relax while reading ❤️

I also read that you take Story ideas and I kept asking myself about something after that one scene where Isac and Nathan talk about fighting in the bond: Like how would they fight now that nathan is with them and about what do they fight and how would they solve these things.

I would find that really interessting to read and it could definitely strengthen their bond ^^

I look forward to reading much more of the boys and finding comfort in your storys. Thank you so much for sharing them ❤️

I hope you have a wonderful following week. Bye!

Helloo!! Thank you so much for you sweet messages!<3 I'm sorry it took me so long to get to responding, I'll combine responding to your first message with this one, I hope that's ok! I'm trying to catch up with messages and there's still tons left, but I'm slowly working through :')

In the other message you asked about the order in which the series takes place! I know you said you finished reading CYE already but I figured I'd still respond heh! There's not really a set in stone order to the parts, but some of the summaries will mention things like "takes place after Close Your Eyes" etc. Baseline is that CYE is "first", as it's the How they meet story, everything else kind of builds after that. Nowadays anything new I might write will most likely be "new" in their timeline as well. So sad!Kitty aka With You (For You) would be the latest point in the timeline (unless I've forgotten something lmao) as of now.

Ohh boy, I think delving a little into how fights, disagreements, and conflicts might go for them would be fascinating! There'd be quite the difference depending on how soon after Nat joining the pack these would take place I'd imagine, but either way I think it'd be very interesting. I'll definitely add this to my Ideas Doc! I have also been thinking about the fact that I haven't really written about Nathan's triggers or anxiety showing up in a... not so "pretty" way? when it comes to pack. Yes, he tends to internalise many negative things and just shuts down instead of lashing out or showing his feelings outwardly, but the closer and more comfortable he gets with the pack, the more likely it is that he might get snappy or short with them when he's overwhelmed (like he does with his parents or Sammy)-> followed by lots of angst and self-hate and shame and guilt etc. and a journey into learning how to communicate when he's reaching a point that he needs some space to calm down etc. So yeah, with that in mind too, there's definitely potential in this prompt of yours for a snippet or something in the future!

Sending you lots of good energy and vibes, I hope your exams go well and hopefully you'll find the time to relax and take it easy in between even when it's busy! SO glad the series has been able to offer a comfy resting place xx

[rigelmejo]

Little things I did recently:

Listened to 20 minutes of Silent Reading chapter 1 audiobook, twice. Understood more the 2nd time around. But I'm relying on remembering the plot to follow the description heavy portions. The dialogue portions I can follow almost all details, so they help me identify which scene I'm listening to. Exciting and humbling. Exciting because I CAN mostly follow the audio Drama now (i listened to a bit last week) whereas in the past I was lost with nl descriptions to orient me and limited comprehension of comversations. But humbling, in listening to the audio BOOK now, because back when I was reading modu as chinese practice I was Very Familiar with the descriptive words and the descriptive paragraphs were how I guessed what scene I was listening to (compared to chinese chapters I'd already read before and looked the words up). Where now, the descriptive words have faded from my mind, and are the harder parts to grasp the meaning of now. I think that...overall, my chinese listening is Better now than it was 6 months ago. But I can tell that the reading-only vocabulary I've picked up is much rustier in my memory, and much harder for me to recognize in listening with no hanzi to look at for reference.

Read 5 panels (chapters) of 19天. Ended up looking up 聚会 because I couldnt remember the "gather" hanzi was pronounced ju. For some reason I kept thinking it was zi like purple 紫. But no, it was ju, for gather: 聚集 gather (juji), 聚会 (juhui) reunion. Again, I recommend that manhua if you like funny, physical comedy, slice of life. It's fun, and even if you can't read something then the pictures have a lot of the comedy anyway.

Watched 40 minutes of qi hun (hikaru no go cdrama adaptation) in only chinese. NO subtitles. First time I tried watching a show with zero subtitles including no chinese subs. I've been listening to audioboks with no text recently though, so I guess I felt I might as well try a show with no subtitles. Hikaru no go is on iqiyi youtube free (still free thank goodness), and iqiyi is one of the channels that has no hard chinese subs - you can turn on english or chinese subs, but they arent pre-made on the video. It was really cool to try! 1. I understood almost every detail! I got lost when Chu Ying said some "sayings" to kid Shi Guang, and when Chu Ying explained playing go I only understood him saying the size of the board/placement number choices, I was confused about the rest of the explanation.

I didn't understand a few lines kid Shi Guang said, but he's speaking like a kid muffled and quick during those lines and I got the gist. It was really exciting just being able to WATCH the scenes, my focus not half torn on the subs. To actually hear how the lines are said, without translation changes. Some words I could guess from context like xia qi 下棋 for play go, since Chu Ying keeps saying 我想下棋。 and shi guang keeps saying to stop crying ToT. But I do think I could have guessed the parts I didnt grasp, like Chu Yings "sayings" if Id had the chinese subtitles on and saw the hanzi to help myself figure out what he meant. So I may rewatch the episode with chinese subs. But since this summer is about improving LISTENING COMPREHENSION, I am just pretty exciting it went so well. Also the show is just so comforting. Id totally forgotten Shi Guang's little intro where he explains what the show/journey will be about!

I wonder if they dubbed the show? I assume they dubbed it, probably, since most cdramas do. But kid shi guang and the other kids talk pretty natural sounding (not like trying to sound "acting" if that makes sense, with clear projected enough voices), which reminds me of To Dear Myself with zhu yilong which either used audio filmed During Scenes or instructed the actors to dub themselves speaking more realistically (i dont remember which, that show just had a Very realisticly visual audio and acting feel). Adult shi guang also has a very natural sound to how he speaks, like the sound of his voice we hear is how he would sound if talking to regular close friends.

In Japanese Glossika app, I've studied 1129 sentences, done 9137 reps (repetitions of sentences), and studied 24:39 hours. Glossika labels me in High A1 14.7%. While I've still got some significant complaints about the new glossika app japanese course, my stubbornness to complete all the fucking sentences and judge for myself how good/bad it is has definitely Motivated me to Study japanese more. I've studied those 24 hours in the past 3 weeks, so a little over 1 hour a day of studying on average. Thats way more than the ZERO time per week I was spending on japanese, and its audio so I've been able to do it with my regular life schedule.

(Truly glossikas Only Unique benefit to me is the listening mode, so I can press play and it gives me new sentences and reviews at time intervals it schedules on its own, so i do not have to put any effort into figuring out what to do next or take time away from other activities to constantly click my screen for an hour... i can just click play new, or click play review, and continue on with my life knowing I'm learning some new stuff and reviewing things i need to. If anything else fucking had this feature id jump to it instead. Clozemaster Kind of had this feature - and i paid for a while just for it - but clozemaster's Radio mode did not split new from reviews and did not spaced repetition schedule the reviews so there were a LOT of days i wouldnt hear new sentences or id review the same 300 sentences instead of different ones out of the 2000+ i had studied).

I am curious if the Chinese Glossika app course is better? I know the old cd chinese course was fairly good, as learner reviews mentioned some alternately worded things but nothing worded Wrongly. So if the new chinese app course, please please please, just used ANY of their people on staff who know chinese (like the maker of it) to human translate, then their chinese app course should be one of the app courses with the LEAST errors. Since its a language they, presumably, have the most access to human translators for. And im curious if therefore i could study using it. Or vice versa, if the new chinese app course is trash id like to review how fucking far their quality has tanked. I recognize more chinese than japanese, and i'd be able to tell within 500 sentences roughly what the error rate is in the chinese app course.

[therealandian]

things i thought about when working on stts but didn't actually wind up in the story:

jon and jonny getting stranded on a planet together and having to scrap together their own ship. i was even going to have it tie back into a bit in redeath where martin mentions abandoning jonny on a watery planet in retaliation for more or less selling him to hereward. originally they were supposed to not get along very well, but the moment i added jonny into the story i realized i could have a lot more fun with him taking jon under his wing. i was still thinking i'd strand them somewhere, including elias once i thought to add him in as well, but the closest i really got was the planet where jon got addicted to drugs lol. the water world bit got recycled and became por'zykev

jon actually learning to play an instrument. i just didn't have the time/a good opportunity to write this in. rest assured that he learned something, though

one version of the end involved jon and elias kidnapping little jon (who is midway through s3), jon replacing him at the institute, and then elias taking him away to some other planet. then martin was supposed to find him and kidnap little jon back before returning to earth while elias desperately chased after him

another version of the end that i did write some of involved elias adopting little jon instead of martin. but since i felt like it would add too much extra with how i'd written it, i decided against it. i may be persuaded to release some of that because there were still some great moments lol

there was a long period where i planned to have jon part from elias because he wanted time to accept that he would never see martin again. meanwhile elias would fuck off to earth. this ties into the 'elias adopting little jon' version, but isn't necessarily the only ending i thought of with this particular piece

the talyn were originally going to be warlords conquering the galaxy, but it was honestly way more interesting to have them just sorta be there as an overarching government that was relatively chill with letting people do what they'd already been doing. after all, a hivemind race would be all about cooperation

there was a whole conversation planned about the pros and cons of being a god with donovan's kids. this didn't wind up making the cut, but that scene did end with elias crying into mashed potatoes, and i think that's hilarious still

this isn't necessarily something that didn't make it into the fic since it's referenced a couple times, but it's important that everyone knows that elias adopted Every Child He Met who didn't have decent parents. there were many.

the bit where jon got dissected was originally 1) on a spaceship, 2) both jon and elias nearly getting blown to pieces by the talyn, and 3) way more graphic. jon actually demanded elias leave him behind and pick him up later, because in that version they already had the dread-not. this was the part where they realized they were friends and had a panic about it. i might be persuaded to post that bit too, actually. i was pretty proud of it at the time i first thought it up lol

there's a scene in my head that i started writing out that wouldn't have fit anywhere in the overall narrative (and i'd already finished stts by then). in that scene, elias has a sudden realization that he's attracted to jon and they have to have a Talk. jon naturally doesn't feel the same, and elias is fine with that so long as jon is happy. it would've probably been pretty cute, but it didn't really fit the pacing, and frankly i wanted to leave their relationship relatively ambiguous. they definitely love each other, but the form of that love is up to each individual reader

jon and elias have fucked at least once out of boredom. whether or not it ever happened again is anybody's guess.

there are definitely other things that i've since forgotten, but i thought it'd be fun to run back through and see what random stuff i'd planned to do throughout everything. it's pretty funny, because while redeath stuck pretty damn close to the original timeline, stts gave me the freedom to fuck around and find out, and i'm deeply proud of the result. sure, there are plenty of other things i probably could've done, adding or subtracting or reconfiguring different scenes and situations, but i feel like accepting that not everything is going to make it into the story with the way the pacing worked out is important. take the sheer amount of endings i plotted out in my head, for example. literally dozens XD

[xx-ingie-xx]

I'm so glad you're back! I was afraid something bad happened and I'm relieved to find out that it wasn't the case. A few months have passed since the release of TOTK, so the hype has went down and now I would like to read your opinion of the game. What are your favorite parts about it, what are the things you disliked and how would you rank this game with the rest of the 3D Zelda games?

Aw, thank you! Yeah, I'm sorry I post so infrequently. I'm hoping that will change once I start working on the Fortitude revision again. Finishing Forgotten has been such an uphill project for me. But I'll be so glad I didn't leave it unfinished.

My thoughts and opinions about TotK are below (emphasis on my opinions--I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and that's ok!).

Three things I enjoyed:

THE MUSIC. The soundtrack is amazing, especially the growing dynamics as you progress in certain areas. It has a psychological effect, and I found it really intense in the best way.

THE TEMPLES. I was very happy to see a return to more traditional Zelda dungeons. WAY more fun than the divine beasts, and I liked having the sages assist! Gave me TWW vibes.

Better NPCs and sidequests. Maybe it's just me, but it felt like the Zelda team put some extra love into creating the NPCs and all the quests that come with them. I've had more fun with them than I did in BotW - which had way too many simple fetch quests.

Three things that didn't do much for me:

The Zonai tech. It's fun to use, and I do appreciate how utterly amazing the development/coding is, especially considering the Switch's hardware limitations. However, I would be very tired of Ultrahand by now if not for the Autobuild ability, and even then my interest is mild at best. Also, it did not feel "Zelda-ish" to me. I don't think driving cars or shooting rockets belongs in a Zelda game. In fact I ignored the Zonai tech whenever possible. I would often walk instead of building a car, simply because it felt more "Zelda-ish" to do so.

Mediocre voice acting. I'm relieved to say Ganondorf was fairly good. The rest not so much. If Nintendo isn't willing to hire more expensive more esteemed VAs for a flagship franchise like Zelda, I'd rather they didn't do it at all.

Zelda's story. Don't get me wrong, I was very glad to see her play a stronger, amazingly brave and selfless character. The thing I'm not happy about is that she was once again separated from Link throughout the entire game. Is it really too much to ask that they work together side by side? *sigh*

Three things I strongly disliked: (warning: ranting ahead)

EMOTIONLESS LINK. I cannot express how much I hate this. Even if I put aside my love for Link as a character and my wish for him to express himself, I still think this blank-faced avatar approach is awful. It does not allow me to see myself as Link (which I believe was their intent) because I have feelings and he doesn't, seemingly. If anything, it had the opposite effect. I found It distracting and cringey and infuriating to watch Link react to everything with determination, confusion, or that stupid blank expression. There are some emotionally charged scenes in this game, and they fall very flat because of Link. At least, they did for me. UGH.

Non-linear storytelling. It's highly restrictive, disjointed, and the impact depends on the order in which players obtain certain cutscenes. Please, Nintendo, no more.

The Zonai. I'm not a fan of most furry character designs, and Rauru is particularly strange, so it was immediately off-putting to me. I also strongly dislike the idea of them founding Hyrule and being "like gods" to Hylians. It's all very vague, and I don't understand how any of it works with past Zelda lore, especially when Hylia is so important in BotW. It's like they scrapped everything sacred in Zelda lore (the golden goddesses, Hylia, etc.), and replaced it with the Zonai. Meh, I'll stick with the old lore, thanks.

Also, a furry being married to a Hylian is also very off-putting to me. I don't know how that works, I don't want to find out, and I have no interest in learning more about Rauru or Sonia. Their fates had zero emotional impact on me, so I didn't get much out of that part of the storyline.

I could go on, but I'll stop there.

As far as rankings, I would place TotK with BotW because they are very similar. Here's how I rank the 3D Zelda games:

OoT/MM

BotW/TotK

TWW

SS

TP

So yeah, didn't love it, didn't hate it. Like with BotW, I'm very frustrated by all the untapped potential. As an avid Zelinker, I see the entire arc of BotW and TotK as an epic story of love, loss, bravery, and sacrifice. Link and Zelda both mirror and complement each other in so many ways, and I love the creative potential in that.

I also love the limitless exploration in both games - it keeps me interested for hours. But when the next Zelda game is revealed, I'd like to see a new formula, preferably a more classic one.

[sunflowerdigs]

Under the cut, my long af summary of how I would handle the Buck, Eddie, Tommy of it all in 7x06. Probably 911 will come up with something so much better (not probably, definitely, and I am hyped!). But...I spent too long on this so.

If I had my druthers, as both an enjoyer of chaos and of moving plots forward, I would have Tommy arrive at the bachelor party and have Buck be surprised to see him because Chim is the one who invited him. Why? Because Tommy knows people in Vegas, so he probably got Chim some fabulous deal on hotel rooms or bottle service or a show or something. Anyway, that's strike one - Buck didn't even know he was coming and didn't think to ask Chim for an invite (fair enough, really, he's a new bi, he's not used to bringing SO's to bachelor parties - also, he's technically not out to Chim and, surprise, surprise, Maddie kept this one close to the vest). But, Buck is genuinely happy to see Tommy and kisses him in front of Chim (a preview of what will happen at the wedding later on). For strike two, I'd have Tommy be surprised that Buck and Eddie coordinated their costumes. Maybe Buck picks up on that surprise, maybe he doesn't. For strike 3, I think I'd just have Buck and Eddie acting like a twosome, the way they always do. They know each other's karaoke song (and perform it together), know each other's drink order, are getting pictures taken of them posing together in their outfits, are talking about something funny that happened with Chris last week, all of it. It would be a much, much less in-your-face version of how Madney acted in front of Buck when he told them they were a couple.

Anyway, drinks start flowing, everything seems ok, but the cracks have formed (lbr, there were cracks in the relationship from the start and Tommy knew it - a cracked foundation doesn't mend on it's own, it just splits further asunder until someone takes the time to fix it). Tommy and Chim leave to go to some exclusive thing Tommy has booked for Chim. There is some noticeable unease between Tommy and Buck, but Tommy and Chim roll out too quickly for Buck to do anything about it (Tommy pointedly stealing another quick kiss from Buck before he leaves) and Eddie pulls Buck back into the club to have more fun. This is where Jonah snatches Chim - he tries to drug Tommy as well but doesn't give him a strong enough dose (or something), which is why Tommy is able to rescue Chim and get him to the hospital, then alert the wedding party. Jonah also drugs Buck and Eddie, who stay at the club. But we as the audience don't know that. And because of the uneasiness between Buck and Tommy before Tommy left, there's a sense of unease pervading the scenes of Buck and Eddie getting more and more out of control (maybe we also see Eddie not take a call from Marisol at the start of the night). It's just a montage of drunkenness, they invite a bunch of clubbers to their room and drink all of Chim's champagne, etc).

The point is, I wouldn't have them kiss in front of Tommy. If they did kiss at all, I might not even show it, because what we can imagine is almost always more exaggerated than what we actually see (both the audience and Tommy). The point would be to show the cracks in Buck and Tommy's relationship up against a backdrop of Buddie's closeness and let people think for themselves.

Then, the wedding. Tommy arrives as the big hero and gives Buck a big kiss in front of his family and friends, Vegas seemingly forgotten...except he's in his uniform. He's not staying at the wedding, he has a shift (Buck is left to wonder whether Tommy always had a shift at this time or if he purposefully took another shift after Vegas so that he had an excuse to jet early). Buck's family and friends don't notice anything amiss and congratulate/tease him good naturedly (Hen calls him "Evan" for the rest of the night, but with a warm smile on her face), all except for Eddie who is unusually quiet over with his Abuela. He tells her Buck already told him and asks her if she wants some cake. Abuela looks at him knowingly and makes one small comment that cuts right to the heart of the moment. I might also have her ask about Marisol and why Eddie didn't invite her. When he lies, she looks understanding. Then she would say something that would kick off Eddie's arc for the next two episodes (hopefully something about him coming to Texas).

Though, idk...I might have Tommy stay at the wedding after all and have Eddie leave early after watching Buck and Tommy cozy up to each other on the dance floor. I admit, my bias is towards jealous!Buck, but there needs to be balance. In my scenario, Tommy will have felt pushed out of the bachelor party by Eddie, so maybe that needs to be balanced out by Eddie feeling pushed out of the wedding by Tommy. Plus, that would allow for a parallel between the club dance scenes and the wedding dance scenes, one in drunken darkness with no friends or family present, the other sober and in the light with friends and family all around.

Then, at the end of the episode, maybe I'd show a clip of Buck in bed alone, looking through photobooth pictures and seeing one of him and Eddie kissing. And the look on his face says he remembers. Or maybe not, idk. I'm not overly fond of cheating and I don't know that Buddie necessarily need it to convince people - I think they can do that with body language alone.

[le-scenariste]

31 and 37 for Annie, Mary and kitty for ghosts ask

Hell yeah more asks >:)

31) If you could do a complete redesign of one of the ghosts' costumes, whose would you change and how?

Julian with pants and nothing else.

Okay I was tryna be funny but here's a more thought out answer. I know their costumes are not only meant to show their respective eras but also portray aspects of their personality but I really wanna see Cap in civilian clothes. And not just civilian clothes but casual wear. Cuz it'd be 40s fashion. I mean...COME ON. If we ever saw Cap in casual clothes I think I'd go insane. I mean considering Seb and I spent FIFTEEN (15) MINUTES going back to rewatch the scene with his jacket off and sleeves rolled up. GODDAMN. I also just wanna see this man RELAXED and AT EASE fuckin PLEASE GIVE THIS MAN SOME REST AAAAA. Anyways, Cap in casual wear and mayhaps even 40s gay fashion *eyes emoji eyes emoji*

37) What do you think [insert character name here] was like when they were alive? Do you think they were exactly the same as they are now, or do you think there were any major or minor differences?

Okay, we get to see a decent amount of Alive Kitty in her ep SO. She seemed to be very optimistic and upbeat as she is in death HOWEVER, those are her memories with rose tinted glasses. I do think she was outwardly bright and happy as she seems to be even in death but I don' think that was the case when she was alone. She tells Alison about the hide and seek game but part of me is imagining that Kitty very much assumed she'd been forgotten about but didn't want to go back and have to face that so stayed out and ate a handbag. Even when she tells the ghosts about her past, slivers of reality slip through. In life, she probably felt bullied by her sister and even her father but when she died she made herself forget that while keeping the optimistic personality. We don't yet know how she died but either way, Kitty probably watched as Eleanor faked being sad about her passing which made her think she actually cared for Kitty. Fuck, I'm rewatching Something To Share.

Mary very obviously changed quite a bit. She used to have a hard time even coming up with an insult but in death she was so creative and outspoken. She seemed a lot more fun and free after she died which is not really how that's meant to go. Always a little bit "odd" but not as vocal until she met Annie.

I think Annie was probably the same as Mary. Not as free until death. This is just from memory but she seemed to be in a kinda Puritan environment which would've been very dull and limiting especially for a woman. Although unlike Mary, it seemed to take no time at all for her to start insulting her past peers and shit which I think is hilarious what a fuckin legend and fair e-fucking-nuff.

Ty Anon, those were some good characters to make me think about in the second one. I don't have much to say on Annie considering we only see her in two eps but she does seem pretty cool ngl. And also uhhhh...I did not expect to ramble so much about Casual Cap. But now I really wanna see that so fucking badly. All these asks may have reignited my Ghosts hyperfixation

[lastlymatt]

Alex Rider Rewatch S1 Ep 1

I already mentioned this, but the fact that Yassen rolls up with the name Gregor plastered all over him is peak comedy.

The whole scene between Michael and Parker Roscoe is just the right amount of off. They are clearly not close, but you can tell it's because Michael Roscoe is creeped out by his son (for a good reason). I really like the setup to his death and the rest of the plot, but his death is so out there?? With hologram technology, that's only going to be mentioned once more and be instantly forgotten, which is a major shame.

And we have our first Yassen murder! 6.5/10 not that visually exciting, but the method was cool, and so was his outfit.

The opening song IS SO GOOD. I've been listening to it on repeat.

I love how Alex's first line is "not doing it", my precious reluctant spy boy. Also, this Tom? Chef's kiss, amazing, great energy, great outfit, but I have the constant urge to pull his beanie down over his eyes.

"But the laaadiesss", and then Alex proceeds to get absolutely zero concrete romance plots. No kisses for him, and I find it rather refreshing.

We get a showcase of Alex's skills, and it's a fun teaser for what's to come. Also, he has definitely broken into school before.

Oh Ian, why do you have to be such an ass? I'm glad that we do get to see him interact with Alex and Jack before he dies, and I like just how mundane his last interactions with them are. It's more than what we got in the books. Also, this Jack is amazing and a major mood. Ian is some spy, though, if he doesn't notice he's being served takeout.

The back-and-forth between the party and the warehouse is an interesting contrast. Martin is immediately shady as hell. I don't have much to say about the party outside of the fact that it captures the feeling of normalcy very well, which is kind of the point.

But the warehouse scene, oh my god. It's Yassen's 2nd murder! 10/10 Ian, we barely knew ye, but that Yas hit like a gut punch. Also, absolute bastard behaviour towards Wilby. I support that 100%. I enjoy how ominous Yassen is if you haven't read the books.

Alex hearing the news is such a good scene oh my god the acting is amazing. Someone wrap him in a blanket.

Is anyone else reminded of vultures when Jones, Blunt, and Crawley are standing over Ian's body?

"First his parents, now his uncle" I like this line to bring all viewers up to speed on the Rider's history in espionage, but if I didn't know any better, I'd think his mom was a spy too.

While I did watch the series first and read the books second, I am very happy with how they modernised it because some things feel very dated, especially in the first few books, and the seatbelt thing was always weird to me. Going over the speed limit makes a lot more sense, and the way Alex discovers what happened is incredibly smart and well-adapted.

Not sure where the decision came from to make mi6, not really mi6?? Why is it The Department now, and why do their headquarters look like they belong in a horror game? Alan Blunt, my beloathed.

THIS FUCKING SCENE

JUST BRILLIANT

The confusion, the chaos, the way Alex doesn't even need to call for them to all instantly disappear. Now that's a scary scene. I am stealing it for RPG purposes.

8/10 amazing first episode if I didn't know whump was coming, I would've been hooked anyway.

[candiedsour]

How Genshin Impact characters would react to someone flirting with you || (Liyue)

Hello everyone! I apologize for the wait but I finally finished the Liyue version ٩( ᐛ )و I was originally supposed to divide it into 2 parts but then I decided against it ( ͡°³ ͡°). Part 3 will probably be uploaded in 3 days. But in the meantime, enjouy reading! o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

-E <3

Zhongli ❌💸

How he'd react to someone flirting with you really just depends on his mood

He doesn't really interfere because he knows you can handle it yourself

You two have had the person flirting with you pay or discount something you both bought on more than one occasion and he's not even ashamed of it

"Ah, my lady. Your beauty is simply etheral."

The shop owner said as you examined the jade.

You looked up from the Noctilucous Jade and met Zhongli's eyes. Completely ignoring the owner.

Zhongli's put the Jade onto the table and reached into his pouch for Mora.

Though, once he opened it; he grimaced. Once you saw his expression you realized that neither of you had enough Mora to pay for the Jade.

You cringed as you saw the amount of Mora in the pouch and looked back at the shop owner to apologize.

That was, before an idea clicked into your mind.

You then berought forth the most charming and flirtatious face you could muster and smiled at the shop owner.

"My deepest apologies Sir, but I don't think we'll be able to buy from you today. " You sighed.

The owner widened his eyes at your statement and quickly replied with

"Oh no, it's fine your can just pay any amount you have now and come back to pay for the rest! "

"Thank you so much Sir, I am forever in your debt for this. " You said as you grabbed his hands.

The owner was completely smothered by now, he had completely forgotten Zhongli's presence and was looking at you with completely entranced eyes.

If it wasn't for Zhongli's years of experience in concealing his expressions, he would probably be laughing out loud by now.

"That was quite the show my dear, I doubt that he would have noticed anything even if we had robbed his whole stall. "

Beidou 🏴‍☠️♀️

Just like with Kaeya, no one would really flirt with you since they know about your relationship with the captain of The Crux unless they're clueless

And Beidou being Beidou, would not take shit from anyone. Clueless or not

If the other person is being persistent, she doesn't really mind throwing hands

"It's a shame that you have a lover, otherwise i'd have made you mine by now. " The creep said as he grabbed both of your hands.

You leaned backwards, trying to get away from the man. You desperately scanned the area for anyone who would help you.

You then met Beido's eyes with a look that clearly read "please help me".

Once she saw you, Beido walked over and tapped the man on the shoulder.

"She's mine, now let her go." She said as she glared at the man who was holding onto your hands.

"And if I don't?"

The person didn't even register anything before Beido's fist collided with his jaw.

"I ain't scared of fines, I'll fight whoever disrespects my partner"

Xiao 🔪👺

Doesn't really care if the other person is flirting with you or not

If it gets to the point of harassment he will give them a whack with his polearm

He looks like he doesn't care about you but that's just because he knows who you're going back home with

"Would you like to accompany me on my travels, my fair lady? " The traveler said as he loaded his belongings onto his cart.

"I'd have to decline the offer. I already have a lover I am devoted to. " You said with a smile as you passed him the packed food you had bought from the inn.

Xiao watched you two from the distance, he sat on the balcony if the Inn as he waited for you to bid him farewell on his missions as well.

"Were you watching me? " You said you peek at him from behind.

"I was simply making sure he was not a dangerous individual. " Xiao replied, stotic as usual.

"Are you here to bid me goodbye?" He asked as he gazed at you.

"Goodbye? Oh no, I'm going with you! "

"Even though you are hundreds of years old does not mean you are invincible. Therefore, you should refrain from fighting recklessly. "

Xingqiu ⚔📚

He usually just tells the person bothering you to back off, politely. Of course

Though, he doesn't really mind if the other person is rude or persistent; it's just an excuse for him to have a little 'fun' behind the scenes

If they're rude, they'll most likely find themselves having a number of minor inconveniences

"Sir, please let go of my partner." Xingqiu confronted the creep.

You quickly ran to his side. Not wanting to be near the man for a millisecond longer.

"And what's the pretty boy going to do to me?" He jabbed at the blue haired boy.

Although he was slightly irritated. Xingqiu paid no mind to him and walked you back to your house.

"Y/n do you recall the creep from yesterday afternoon? Yes, I received a notice that he is trying to buy brass for his stall. I convinced every merchant selling fish in Liyue to not sell him any, I also bought some brass. Would you like some? "

Chongyun ❄🍦

He doesn't really like confronting people so he'd just make up an excuse to take you away from them

If the other person decides to be start an argument, he'd try to keep his cool. Not wanting to go into the manic state he usually gets into once his body overheats

Sadly, on more than one occasion; he has lost his cool and completely and ends up causing chaos to anyone who's unfortunate enough to be nearby

It's been at least a solid 15 minutes since the guy sitting next to you have been pestering you about going with him to the Lantern Rite festival.

And for what felt like the 30th time, you declined.

You really wanted this person gone before you meet up with Chongyun but he kept following you so you just plopped down somewhere on the stone ground.

Unfortunately for you, the other person did not take the cue for him to leave but instead; had taken it as an invitation to sit down and talk with you instead.

At some point, you considered kicking him in the face but refrainwd from doing so. But now, you're regretting that decision.

"Y/n! Me and Xingqiu were looking all over for you. " Chongyun said as he ran over to you two.

The guy looked surprised as the two boys walked over you where you were sitting.

"Who are these people? " He said. As if they were the ones invading into someone's personal space.

Chongyun instantly realised the situation and whispered something to Xingqiu. He then gave you the hand signal for "Run for it" And pointed to behind him.

Almost in a flash, all of you three started sprinting away, leaving behind a very confused person.

"Thank Rex Lapis we didn't actually get into a fight this time"

Hu Tao 👻🔥

Whenever she sees someone flirting with you, she'd ask them about their health

She'd then weird them out by introducing her as the 77th director of Wangsheng funeral parlour

The person flirting with you would probably be very uncomfortable at this point and leave, but if they don't Hu Tao would hand then one of her buy 1 get 1 funeral coupons

"I simply cannot resist your beauty. " The man said as he leaned in closer to your face.

"Hello there good Sir! How is your health? " Hu Tao asked as she appeared seemingly out of nowhere and before you.

The man seemed confused at her question.

"Pardon? " He asked.

"Ah, I have forgotten that I have yet to introduce myself. Please call me Hu Tao. 77th director of the Wangsheng funeral parlour! " She introduced herself and took out her hand for him to shake.

He seemed a bit uncomfortable at the mention of funerals but nevertheless he ignored Hu Tao and went back to your conversation.

"What do you say to dinner at Wanmin Restaurant? " He pressed on, flat out ignoring Hu Tao's whole existence all together.

"Here's a coupon, it's buy one funeral, get one free. I hope I'll see you soon! " She said as she dragged you away. Leaving behind a very disturbed man.

"I should've said 'I hope to see you again businesses-wise. ' "

[balmasedas]

desperado / druglord!javier peña au. 

chapter one.

summary: reader is a dea agent. violence has arisen in the streets of colombia and she's determined to bring javier peña to justice. things take an abrupt turn when, instead of her finding him, he finds her and realizes they got much more interest in each other than just drug-related topics. 

warnings: only +18. overall, this is smut so smutty. canon violence. detailed warnings in every chapter. spanish traductions are in the notes, though for the sake of non-spanish speakers, spanish dialogues will be minimal and not relevant to the plot.

word count: 2.5k.

You throw your sweater in the backseat of your car before exiting it. In the morning, you had dug through your boxed-up winter clothes after shivering in your shirt-sleeves as soon as you got out of your department. Now, the temperature has risen to the seventies and you give yourself a clap in the back for deciding to wear something decent underneath. Spring in Colombia is a nightmare.

The crime scene is packed with local police and DEA agents. There are no civilian spectators this time, they know better than sticking their noses in the Medellin's cartel businesses.

Upon your arrival, you don’t need to identify yourself to the uniformed men guarding the perimeter. They know you well by then. You are the only female in the team that has to deal with these kinds of situations —gruesome, gut-churning, dirty shit. Not a very much "lady-like" job, some would express. For that, you have earned yourself the title of a gritty woman. Maybe because you were gritty, maybe because you were a woman.

Sometimes, though, you find yourself wondering why you turned down some run-of-the-mill desk job back in Virginia. It would’ve been a dull routine, for sure — hideous, even; but gossiping about some flash romance between two co-workers is less taxing than having to witness five rotting corpses at first daylight. 

"Jesus Christ," you lift your sunglasses to your head. Your partner, esteemed, weary agent Steve Murphy, turns around at the sound of your voice. 

“You’re up early.” he asserts, with a raised eyebrow. 

You purse your lips. “Had a bad night. Ran out of whisky at one am.” 

Not even Hugo, or Hughie for his gringo friends, could help you. You forgot that his daughter would be celebrating her birthday and his all-night store would be closed until the next morning. Normally, you would own an arsenal of alcohol, but it has been an abnormal week and a hell of a night —starting with the spiral of violence that has arisen in the streets of Medellin.

"Well, look at the bright side: your stomach is empty," Murphy mumbles.

Looking at the bodies in front of you, you can’t agree more: their hands are tied-up to the oxidated wire behind them, hanging by their arms. They are barefoot and scantily clad. There is a visible gunshot wound in all of their front heads, some flies are already hovering around the open flesh. A quick death to eternal torture, you suppose.

"When did you get the call?" you inquire.

He fiddles with his wristwatch. "About two hours ago." you only hum in response, keeping your eyes in front of you and paying no mind to Steve who only grows impatient at your silence. "You think this was Peña's job?" he adds.

You nod in denial. "If it was, it doesn't make sense." Not one bit. "Peña works underground, quiet, like a sneaky rat. I'd even say they're more well-behaved than most cartels. So why do this?"

Why such a declaration of violence? Why draw even more attention from the authorities? 

"Maybe he decided to toughen his punishments?” You scoff at his remark.

“He can do that without half the city knowing it. A ditch is much more subtle than a monument to death blocks from the US embassy.” 

Murphy smirks. “Seems that you have given it a thought before, Sarchie.” you narrow your eyes. He knows you hate that nickname. Your tendencies to boss him around had brought you consequences: the unofficial title of a Sargeant. Sarchie, shortened and friendly.

“Killing someone? Yes, you. Multiple times a day.” you put your sunglasses back on and walk away. The forensic police won’t be there until the next half hour, at least, and you are too disquiet to wait around. Plus, your stomach is growling, but Steve doesn’t need to know that. “We’re gonna need their names, I’ll see what I can find. You have a little chat with the coroner and see if they can speed up the autopsy. The sooner the better, ok?” you spot the smirk on his face. You know what he’s thinking. You shut your car's door and point a finger at him through the window. A clear warning sign in your eyes. “Shut the fuck up and do it.”

(,,,)

Happy hour. You give up on the investigation and stop off at ‘Chiquita’, a popular local bar near your place. The prices are cheap, the drinks aren’t that good but they do the job. The place is crowded — hot couples with wet, glowing skin grinding against each other. Happy or horny or both. You take a mental note to have some fun later. 

As you sip at your bourbon and crack your peanuts, you let yourself dwell on what you found out about your case. You finally got the names of your five guys. For that, much research wasn’t needed: All of them had their IDs in their pockets and they were exactly who you feared they were: no ones. No ties to any big names, no official involvement in any cartel — at the most, a few minor possession charges. As for weeks, your few clues have led to nowhere and the enigma surrounding the Medellin cartel seems to worsen with every minute that passes by.

You hate mysteries. Colombia’s full of them. 

You take your second bourbon in one smooth shot and ask for another. You grab a colombian peso from your wallet and slide it across the wood. Your eyes stop at the picture of your parents that you carry around. It’s tiny and worn, just like your relationship with them. They haven’t heard from you in weeks, a fair deal, if anyone asked. They don’t have to deal with their fucked up daughter and you can focus on your work filled with dead ends and a ghost that haunts you while you’re awake: Javier Peña.

“¹Qué tomas, preciosa?” a velvety voice caresses your ears. A pleasant smile breaks quietly over your lips. Just in time.

You turn your head to the side. The stranger, with chocolate-skin and inviting eyes, is waiting for an answer. You tap your fingers against the glass.

"Bourbon," you say. "²Pero no me vendría mal un trago más." he grins and holds up two fingers to the barman. He sits at the empty seat beside you, he’s exuberating confidence. He’s offered you the bait and you'd taken it.

"³Algo más que se te ofrezca?"

You look him in the eyes. You know how the story goes from there. It isn’t any different than the one from last night, or the night before. As an apex predator, he's out for something to satisfy his hunger. He won't go home without reaching his goal and you're desperate enough to let him.

"⁴Sí. Hay algo más que puedes hacer por mi."

(,,,)

The fucking cat on the window has been staring straight into your eyes for the last fifteen minutes. Matias, the guy you've met hours before, is too focused on you to notice the awkward presence of the animal, so you don't bother shooing it away. 

He's enjoying himself, pounding into you in a symphony of lust bites and moans. But the sound of skin on skin doesn't match the intensity of your passion for this encounter.

It's not that his performance was terrible, it was just... soft. So soft, too soft. From the sweet nothings, he gasps on your ear to the gentleness of his grip on your hip. 

You aren't a sweet girl. If you were sweet, you wouldn't have traveled all the way down to Colombia to participate in the war on drugs. If you were fond of delicateness, you would've stayed inside and touched yourself to a Cristina Peri Rossi novel instead of searching for strangers at bars.

You don't like to believe you are a special case. On the contrary, you assume your attitude is the rule and not the exception. Not a hell of a woman, but a woman made of hell – waking up already worried about the hours ahead of you. How could you not? Your life is as wide and empty as the sky. Unstable, unpredictable. Anything can happen. A good meaningless fuck is the only moment you allow yourself to feel something — someone. By then, the detachment that gets you through the day disappears and raw feral emotion takes its place. 

You are addicted. It's like a drug, but worse. Drugs don't have feelings, people do.

You’d grabbed Matias' hand and wrapped it around your neck a few times but your request had been ignored; you’d even pushed his ass against your body so you could get closer to a feral touch, but he had insisted on something more caring and delicate. 

And delicacy just won't do. 

So, after a few tries, you give up. You lay still, under his heating body, dead eyes directed at your window. No emotion whatsoever, no release. Like a numb, stiff sex doll, rooting for his satisfaction. Forgotten until next time.

“⁵Donde?” he blurts in your ear. You evaluate your options quickly. 

“⁶Adentro.” Any other place would demandsñ more attention. By then, he would be aware of your passivity and asking too many questions. You don't answer questions, you make them.

His body tenses and trembles. You feel heat dripping between your legs but it doesn't come from you. He leaves a few small pecks on your neck — thankfully, the last ones for the night. Matias breathes over you for a few seconds before he gets off. You stare at the roof in silence, and when he asks if you finished, you simply nod.

You can't grasp what he says under his breath after you ask him, as nice as possible, to leave. What he does or doesn't vocalize, it doesn't matter. You won't be repeating with him. You never fucked the same person twice. 

Once you hear the front door shut, still resting on your bare skin, you lit a cigarette. The room is void of artificial light, and the cat is still in the same place, with his silhouette contoured by the gleam of the moon.

"Sneaky bastard." you chuckle, then get up from the bed and slowly approach it.

You stop at the wooded frame of the window, maintaining your distance. Not too close to scare him or him to scare you. He isn't a friendly guy. He isn't even yours — just a grumpy cat that stops by your department too often demanding some food. You tried to get him to come inside before, but all you had won from your offers were a couple of scratches. Nonetheless, the cat has seen more of you than many people have. So, even though you renegade from him, you found yourself inevitably attached. He's the closest thing to a family, after Murphy, of course. But Murphy hasn't seen you on your worst, yet.

"Hope you see the same shit I see." you grimace and shake your head. "Not like that, I mean... I should choose better who to fuck with. And they should choose better too." the cat remains silent –obviously– and you keep talking. "You could make yourself useful and spook them away before I have to." he meows, you roll your eyes and decide to leave him alone. "Then again, I could do it myself if I told them I hold long conversations with the stray cat that lives in my window."

You choose to take a bath and call it a night. You glide through the living room, though before you can reach the bathroom something stops you. There's a noise outside, some glass breaking down on the streets. You can ignore it, conflict isn't a foreign subject in Colombia, especially at late hours. But then it repeats itself a second time, and the third bugs you too much for you not to grab your night robe and take a look at it from your window.

The only light pole is out of order; there's not a soul in sight; music can be heard from afar. You see nothing out of place until you do.

Your car is parked across the street. All four windows have been smashed, the tires are flat. You barely waste time cursing before you flee out of your place. You thought the night couldn’t get worse but the world has a disturbing obsession with testing your patience. 

Once you take a step outside and approach your damaged car, you’re not sure where your chills are coming from. Perhaps, because of the unfriendly weather or maybe because you’re suddenly aware of how idiotic was your decision to go outside. 

Everything inside your vehicle is left untouched. There weren't objects of value anyways. You find no logical reason for someone wanting to wreck a car just because —yours, of them all.

Big red warning signs color your mind. Your eyes scan your surroundings with speed. It's a dark, lonely dessert. You're now sure that what happened isn't some random event. The victim could've been to another person, but you weren't just another person.

"⁷Discúlpeme, señorita." a voice throws yourself far from the source. You reach for your gun just to find nothing there. Damn you. "⁸Está bien?" you look at the man. An old man that, at first glance, doesn't represent a threat. His voice is gentle, his voice is tinted with a caring voice. You lower your defenses, just a bit, not enough to stay around.

"⁹Sí." you mutter.

Slowly, you walk back to your apartment. Old man glues his eyes to your form and you don't take your own off from his'. Before reaching the sidewalk, you trip with something. Your back collides against a car and you're ready to apologize when the owner exits it there’s not a sign of rage in his face. On the contrary, his stare is blank and his mouth doesn’t even twitch.

Bad news.

You intend to run, but another guy blocks your passage and two more appear at each side of you. You turn over to ask the old man for help, but he’s gone along with your last piece of hope. Can’t blame him, you would’ve escaped too if you had the chance. However, you can’t and the smartest thing to do is acknowledge it and work from it. 

You stay still thinking it will persuade them to opt for gentle treatment. 

How naive of you. 

A set of fingers dig into your arms, another one grabs you by the neck and lowers your head as they drag you into their car. Guarded by two of them who sit at your sides, a dark cloth bag is placed over your head and your wrists are restricted with a zip tie. 

All you have left now is your hearing, you pick up a few things: the engine roaring, the tires burning on the asphalt as you speed off, some spanish words thrown in the air. Nothing substantial, nothing of use.

You sit in silence and wait for the worst.

[emachinescat]

I've decided to watch MacGyver from the beginning (again), and I'm live tweeting the experience with every tweet tagged with #savemacgyver. I thought it would be fun to share my collected thoughts from the episodes on here as well.

My Thoughts on S1E2, "Metal Saw"

Seriously love the music in this show!

THE FREAKING BELT GRAB. You can tell they've done this kind of thing before.

I always love it when Jack and Mac have heart-to-hearts in the middle of super intense, dangerous situations. Like... it's sweet, but time and place, guys?

"Hi, I'm Jack." Nervous Jack is bebby.

Ew, sweat. Like, I know it's "realism" to have sweat stains on clothes in situations like these, but that's one bit of realism I can always do without. Gross.

Is that a bit of PTSD I'm seeing with Mac there on the couch? That's a kind of realism I can always get behind.

Riley finding Mac and Boze in that compromising position will never not be funny. "But he was on top." I love Riley more every episode.

Riley is a really good liar from day one.

I love the joke about ex-cons benefiting from being in relationships with stable people (i.e., fake boyfriend Bozer), then the immediate cut to Bozer with his whole arm inside the vending machine. Great stuff.

Love the Riley and Bozer bonding... right up until the cringe-tastic "Slide me your digits."

"Soon, I'm gonna woo you the same way Romeo would have wooed Juliet if they had Snapchat back in the Renaissance." Bozer and his surprisingly accurate pickup lines. The Renaissance did in fact start in Italy around the 14th century, when R&J is thought to take place.

I love all this psychoanalyzing of Mac. "Adapting is his survival mechanism." Also I'm living for Jack sticking up for Mac to Patti.

"This place has been searched by everybody and their dog." Is this a Texas thing or an old guy saying? Either way it's great.

Nothing beats the early days of Mac and Jack. Nothing. I wish we had gotten more interactions where Jack has to parent Mac: "Stop touching that. Look at me." ❤️❤️❤️

Jack so concerned about Mac and putting on the kid gloves = everything I could have ever asked for and more.

Jack has such a big heart. Poor guy, the look on his face when he sees that the reporter is actually Sarah...

Paperclip sculptures: When I first started watching the show, I thought they were lame. Now I miss them so much. Does that mean I've gotten lamer or that they were always cool and I was always lame?

"Closest time I ever came to coming home in a box." Oof. This line hits different now, and not in a good way.

I just love how Jack is this big tough ex-Delta who is so open about his emotions, particularly with Mac. And the way Mac reassures him... Their bromance is top-tier.

"Oh, like when they invented fire!" Another zinger.

Mac grabbing that giant cigar right out of that dude's mouth 😂😂😂

Love some good fight-scene Mac whump! 👏👏👏 And bar fights are always a blast!

Riley with the car door - such a boss. "What? You told me to stay in the car, and I did."

I've seen some people say they don't like S1 Mac's hair. I kind of dig it, to be honest. He looks like he's 5, but I love it.

Mac has made a lot of DIY cutting torches in his time, but they never get less impressive.

Jack trusting Mac to save Sarah while he keeps watch is just *chef's kiss*!

These early episodes have so many MacGyverisms. One right after the other. It's awesome.

I've never been a big fan of the dark either, Mac.

The first scene with Mac and Sarah is so beautifully tense and whumpy (he way he scrabbles for purchase, gasps for breath, that hitch in his voice as he tries to squeak out Jack's name) that I had to rewind and watch it again.

The hopeful disbelief in her voice: "Jack Dalton came for me?"

Sarah can kick some serious ass. I can see why Jack likes her. Too bad she's about to lead him on the rest of the episode, while actually having a fiance...

Sarah: *leans out of car, shooting her weapon with deadly, terrifying precision* Riley: I agree, this woman should not have kids. 😂 Everything that comes out of Riley's mouth is gold.

Riley asleep in the back of the car while Mac sits quietly and Jack and Sarah have a sweet moment is like mom and dad with the kids in the backseat. Except mom has a fiance and hasn't told dad yet, even though she's had ample opportunity.

Because seriously, Sarah. It's not that hard to tell him the truth. Giving him those big eyes and flirting with him, thinking he has a chance is just cruel. I have never liked her character, and this is why.

Mac and Jack giggling about Jack's crush on Sarah like middle-school girls is life.

"You're just gonna have to let that go." Man, I love their relationship.

Gosh, the scene where they find Luis always hurts so badly. These early episodes did not play around.

"There isn't always time to beg some suit back home for permission to do what's right." I'm not a fan of Sarah, but I love this line. Also, this is pretty much the synopsis of the whole show.

Riley's hair used to be so LONG! 😍

The loyalty of these three! And I love the OG trio so much.

This sleazy guy in the computer place makes my skin crawl.

Love how Patti's like, "Mac will be back by then." Not Jack, not Riley. Just Mac. Can we say teacher's pet? I actually lowkey love this though.

"Who is this guy?" Much like Doctor Who's "It's bigger on the inside," I never get tired of people being equally amazed and confused at the stuff Mac can do.

I've never been the biggest car chase junkie, but Barrios jumping over the car using that log in the road is pretty dope.

Sarah's rage is chilling. And Jack talking her down breaks me every time.

Again, I love the loyalty of our team. Everyone sticks up for each other, ending with Mac's totally unbelievable but still somehow 100% genuine "It was me. I forced them." TOO good.

First mention of Oversight this early. Just thinking about who it is that doesn't like unsanctioned ops just makes me 😤 I wonder if the writers knew who OS was at this point or if it was a later development.

I do wish we could have gotten more conspiratorial, approving Patti. She's so much better than expressionless, bland Patti.

The way Sarah never told Jack about her fiance Jeff (who is in fact a cinnamon roll but still a discount Jack) pisses me off. "I tried to tell you." Yeah, right. It's not that hard to say, "Yo, I'm in a relationship."

Jack NEVER should have found out about Jeff the way he did. There's no excuse.

It's not okay, Jack. She did you wrong. You didn't deserve that. Stand up for yourself, man. Gosh, he's so broken here, and I hate it.

"At least we have each other... Don't look at me. I know how weird it sounded." THESE TWO I SWEAR 🤣🤣🤣

Poor Mac. I do love how we get his obsessive tendencies so early in the show, and how they keep coming back, even as late as season 5. As someone with clinically diagnosed OCD, this makes me feel seen and I love being able to relate to my favorite character.

Love the found family antics at the end. Riley and Bozer making dinner while Mac and Jack play basketball? Perfection.

Lol, Bozer calling Riley a "caramel goddess" has such Schmidt/Cece vibes from New Girl, and I dig it!

Ew. More sweat. I know some people find sweaty men attractive, but that is NOT my vibe. I prefer my men clean and freshly laundered.

The way Riley glances back over her shoulder at them as she walks away, as if to make sure they're really there, that this is actually real!!!

"That's not even... that's true, actually. That's sad." Jack 🤣 Also, "I'm hungry." Big mood.

As a Grandpa Harry stan from the OG show, I eat up any mention of him in the new one. I just wish we'd gotten more of that wonderful man in the reboot. Still, I'll take what I can get!

I'd honestly forgotten how much I enjoy this episode! So solid, full of bromance, found family, and lots of good-natured bickering. Can't wait to watch the next one, hopefully tomorrow! In the meantime, please keep fighting for our show! Together we can #savemacgyver!

If anyone wants to join me in my re-watching and tweeting adventure, please do! It's my way to take about an hour a day in my busy, busy life to commit to the #savemacgyver movement. (And to enjoy my favorite show yet again!) If you do tweet as you watch, make sure to tag EVERY tweet with ONLY #savemacgyver so we can keep that hashtag trending! :)

Thanks for letting me share my (numerous) thoughts on this episode. This was really fun, and I hope it's something you all enjoy, too. I'd love to know what you all think of the episode in the comments! ❤️

[iplaymatchmaker]

(2) my mbti is infp-t and the last time i did the pottermore test i got a ravenclaw, so there's that! oh and i'm also quite introverted so you won't find me in rowdy places like a party or concert. i don't do great with people who force me out of my comfort zone, people who aren't decisive and aren't the communicative type (i get anxious trying to guess what they mean and overthink). for the prompts i'd like bonding and fairytale au for cinderella! thank you so much! o(≧▽≦)o -juice

Hello, thanks again for requesting Juice! Once again, sorry for the delay. This is the ikerev part of your ask. I’m sorry in advance for the rushed ending of the second prompt, I didn’t want to take even longer writing an entire fic and thought this was a good place to leave it. I hope you like it!

I match you with

Sirius!

When you first arrive in Cradle you are wary of the army officers, but the warm environment makes it easy to relax and be yourself. You quickly grow close with the Queen, Sirius. Your friendship begins when you catch him watering the flowers in the courtyard. You are surprised at first, considering your first impression of him, but that is quickly forgotten as he rambles to you about the importance of maintaining the garden, even with a war in the horizon.

Despite his busy schedule, the two of you spend a lot of time together, and it quickly becomes apparent that you are compatible. The black army headquarters has always been a lively place, curtsey of Fenrir and Seth, but Sirius is glad to have another cheerful voice around, especially when it’s paired with your friendly chatter.

While you dislike showcasing your worries and insecurities, Sirius is always quick to read you and tries his best to lift your spirits without pressuring you to talk when you’re not ready.

You spend a lot of time exploring each other’s interests, as he introduces you to the ways of Cradle and you teach about him about the Land Reason. At first he tries to blame this on simple curiosity, but the reality of it is, he enjoys listening to you talk about the things you’re passionate about, sometimes wishing he could make your eyes light up the same way they do when you discuss your favorite books, although he won’t tell you that.

You finally confess your feelings, moments before the full moon rises and the portal back to your world appears. Until that moment, when Sirius’ hand wrapped around your wrist, stopping you in your tracks, you thought he didn’t return your feelings. It wasn’t until then that he expressed to you how much he wanted you to stay. “I know it’s selfish, but I want you to stay by my side!” All the pieces fell into place as he wrapped his arms around you, your bodies so close you could feel his pounding heart, realizing he must’ve run to catch up with you. “I will.”

Prompt: Bonding

It was hard to contain your excitement as you walked the narrow streets of Cradle, your hand not leaving Sirius’ as you looked at the shop windows.

“Look at that dress!” You pulled him along, hearing him chuckle behind you, not daring to complain as you dragged him inside the store.

You had agreed on this shopping trip a few days ago, on one of the rare days Sirius was staying in your room instead of the opposite. Your attention had been solely focused on your book for about an hour when he spoke up.

“We should go out on Saturday.” While he was always thoughtful, he didn’t often suggest outings, considering his packed schedule.

“Aren’t you on patrol with Fenrir on Saturday?” you couldn’t deny your excitement at the prospect of spending time with Sirius, but you didn’t want to burden him,

“I have already spoken with him. With Amon gone, there isn’t too much work for us during patrol. He can handle it on his own. So what do you say?”

“Okay!” You nodded, pulling him closer as you set your book aside.

While you enjoyed your time trying new clothes and browsing the bookshelves around the shops, you couldn’t help but feel guilty that Sirius was spending his day off following you doing things you enjoyed, despite his reassuring words.

“Don’t worry about me, I can keep up.”

You decided to take a break at one of the nearby cafes for much needed rest. You tried your best to read him but you had difficulty guessing what he was thinking.

“So, are you having fun?” you were taken aback by his question, considering he was letting you take him around town to all the places you wanted to visit.

“Of course I am! The weather is wonderful today too.” You took a bite of your desert, hoping to successfully bury your worries where he couldn’t see them.

“I can tell when something is bothering you, you know.” It didn’t seem to fool him. You sighed before reaching out to cover his hand with yours.

“I just want you to enjoy today too. This is your day off, we should be doing something you enjoy.” He squeezed your hand, his smile not faltering.

“Seeing you having fun is more than enough joy for me.” You could tell there was something he wasn’t telling you but you decided to leave it alone, not wanting to ruin the day.

“Thanks Sirius.”

By the time you returned to headquarters the sun had set and both of you were exhausted. After a quick shower you found Sirius outside, carefully inspecting a batch of purple and white flowers in the garden.

“What’s that one?” You stand next to him, wrapping your overcoat tighter around yourself.

“Night Phlox. They’ve almost bloomed. They have a very strong but pleasant smell when you plant many of them near each other.” He smiled, wrapping his arms around you, shielding you from the cold.

“What do they mean?”

“They can mean all sorts of things, but the most widely accepted meaning is partnership, harmony and unity. Pretty spot on for the black army, don’t you think?’ you smiled, enjoying listening to him talk about something with such care.

“Yeah.” The sound of the wind against the leaves was the only thing breaking the silence until you spoke up.

“Hey Sirius, why were you so intent on making today all about me?” there was no accusation in your voice, a simple question spoken under the night sky, a time where people can be honest, without hiding their troubles.

“We spend a lot of time at headquarters because of my job, doing things that I’m comfortable with. I just wanted to spend a day bonding over something you enjoy doing.” He tightened your arms around him, placing a quick kiss on his lips.

“You know I love spending time with you, no matter what we’re doing.”

“And I love seeing you happy.” Your eyes locked and an overwhelming feeling of joy spread through you.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Prompt: Cinderella AU

It was becoming increasingly difficult to mask your disdain as ambitious men reached out every few minutes, attempting to make conversation. You could offer them more than a smile and a kind word, knowing that everyone there had an ulterior motive.

“An organized ball where the goal is to woo me isn’t exactly a romantic story now isn’t it?” you didn’t want to deny your father’s wishes, knowing there was pressure as he grew older for you to find a husband, but it was still hard to accept that you would never have the chance to live a fairytale-love story, like those you read about in books.

“What you need is a secure future. This is for your own good.”

You knew that if you were to achieve that goal, you would need to interact with the men at the ball, but the context of the celebration made hard to relax, let alone do so in a room full of people.

“Daughter, this is a ball. Should you not be dancing?” your father’s voice was full of concern, despite his previous incitement.

“Yes, I will do that, father.” Not wanting to upset him, you smiled before setting off towards the middle of the room as the band started playing a quick valse. You looked around for a partner when you felt strong arms around, pulling you along with the other dancers.

“I’m sorry if that was out of line, you looked a little lost.” When you looked up to see the face of your partner, your words died in your throat. He stood quite a bit taller than you and his eyes were a deep shade of purple, unlike anything you had seen before.

“U-um, yeah.” You tried not to forget the steps as the two of you moved along, not wanting to make a fool of yourself, tripping over your skirts.

“So, how come the princess herself finds a moment alone during a ball in her honor?” despite his teasing words, you could tell he felt out of place in the crowded room.

“I’m not sure I’d consider this an honor… “ concern imideately painted his features but you didn’t want to bother a guest with your own issue.

“So, where are you from? I don’t believe we have met before.” You run a mental list of acquaintances from the local noble houses but you didn’t remember seeing him before.

“I’m… “ his voice trailed off, leaving you with many burning questions.

“I’m Sirius, Sirius Oswald.” He smiled, the uncertainty from moments before replaced with a warm smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” You smiled at him, deciding not to pressure him for answers he didn’t want to give.

“You never answered my question” he spun you as the music sped up, taking you by surprise.

“You didn’t answer mine either.” A playful smile played on your lips.

“I suppose I can’t deny that.” Through the bur around you, you could see that the rest of the couple had left the dance floor, placing the two of at the center of the attention.

“Everyone is looking at us.” A faint blush appeared on your cheeks a you danced together.

“They are looking at you.” He smiled at you, his grip on your waist tightening.

“Are you ready?”

“For what?”

Before you could question him further, you were in the air, your dress spinning around you. Time seemed to slow down, a feeling of freedom flowing through you. From your position you could see the faces of the party-goers but in that moment it didn’t matter. It was just you and him, a scene right out of a fairytale.

When he set you down, your cheeks were flushed, heart pounding in your chest. You barely registered the music slowly fading away as they switched to a softer sound.

“Thank you for the dance.” His hand left yours, while his warmth sill lingered.

“My lady.’ He bowed before turning to leave.

“Wait! Could I see you again?” you resisted the urge to grab his hand, not wanting to make a scene.

“I’m not sure that would be the best idea.” You tried to speak up but your voice was drowned out by the surrounding noise, so you could only watch as he moved further and further away, before eventually disappearing in the crowd, leaving you alone, with only a brief memory to look back to.

Rumors of the charming man who danced with the princess could be heard all around town during the next few days. You tried to keep your head low as you walked around the stalls, looks for the right shop.

When you opened the door, a bell sounded, announcing your arrival.

“Hello. How could I help you?” A tall man stood at the back of the room, watering a patch of white flowers. You looked around the room to ensure you were alone before removing your hood, still unsure of whether this was a good idea.

“P-princess.” He fell into a quick bow, not daring to look at you.

“Hello Mr. Oswald.” He hesitantly raised his head, looking over the cloak covering your dress.

“Just call me Sirius. How did you find me?” an awkward smile appeared on his lips.

“I told you I wanted to see you again. Plus, after you told me your name, it wasn't very hard to find you.” You stepped closer, looking at the assortment of flowers around you.

“So this is where you’re from.” You were only teasing, but he seemed to have misunderstood.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you. I wanted to keep up the illusion but the you came here and..” you were taken aback by his genuine apology.

“N-no, I’m not disappointed!.”

“You aren’t?” You nodded, trying to express your feelings as best you could.

“No, I’m not. Why would I be?’ he run a hand through his hair, messing it up more than before.

“I’m just a commoner. And you’re a princess. There is no reason for you to be interested…” you shook your head firmly.

“I didn’t want to meet you again because I thought you were a noble. I just... I want to feel what I felt when we danced together again.” You were expecting him to laugh at you, but he only looked back in awe.

“W-was that odd? I apologize, I just-“ he didn’t allow you to finish.

“No! It’d not off, I’m just… surprised. I don’t have much to offer to a princess.” he fidgeted with the hem of his apron, eyes glued to the ground.

“Could you perhaps offer me some of your time? I would like to get to know you better.” A smile slowly formed on his face.

“Alright then. Who am I to say no to the princess after all?”

“Thank you.” You smiled at each other, excited to see where this would lead you.

You spent a lot of time together after that, slowly getting to know more about each other. When you introduced him to your father, he was admittedly hesitant at the idea of you not marrying a noble, but when he saw how happy the two of you were together, he couldn’t deny you your wishes.

“You have my blessing. You better take care of my daughter young man.”

“Always, sir. I love your daughter more than anything.” He placed a kiss on you hand, a promise of greater things to come.

“And I you.” Happiness overflowed you as your lips met in a light kiss, sealing the truth of your words.

[plasticnightmaredoll]

I thought I'd make some comments about the first episode of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," kind of in the same way I made a post about my thoughts on the "WandaVision" season finale. I don't plan on doing a post with my thoughts, opinions, and theories for EVERY episode of TFatWS because a) I don't have that kind of time or patience, b) Things are probably going to change left and right as the series progresses, just like in "WandaVision" so I don't see a need to document all of this, c) I ramble enough as it is lol

Of course, there are spoilers under the cut, so if you haven't seen the first episode, then I suggest you...don't look under the cut! If you have seen the episode and just want to see what another MCU/Marvel fan thinks, or if you don't care about spoilers, then have at it.

I will say that the first episode of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (I'm going to refer to it as TFatWS from now on because that title is long af) was good and brought forth lots of mystery and intrigue, but it didn't grab my attention quite as much as the first episode of "WandaVision." But this may be due to the fact that WV was just so bizarre right from the start, and there were tons of questions right out the door. So, the mystery (and confusion) was more intense than for TFatWS.

I still plan on finishing TFatWS, but I hope it picks up a little more in the next episodes.

Another thing I will mention that's really not much of a spoiler: Poor Bucky! Just like Wanda, he needs a damn break already 😭

And lastly, I haven't read any Marvel comics because I just don't have the time, energy, patience, sanity right now to devote to them. That, and I have always preferred manga (Berserk is still my favorite manga/graphic novel of all time. Hell, it's my favorite fictional story of all time! And the 90s anime is one of my favorite series ever). My Marvel knowledge is heavily based on what the MCU has provided, but I do know things that happen in the comics because I do read up on various comparisons between the comics and the MCU entries and people's theories based on the comics. So, I'm not completely clueless.

Ok, spoiler time!

I don't really have a list of things I liked and disliked for this first episode of TFatWS because it's just way too early for that kind of stuff, and who knows where the series is going to go from here. I'll just make a list of thoughts and opinions:

James "Bucky" Barnes/The Winter Soldier

POOR BUCKY! I mean, goddamn, this man can't get a break. We see just how much his time as a Hydra agent affected him, causing him to have nightmares about those he killed while brainwashed. He's closed himself off from others because he's depressed, burdened with immense guilt, and probably feels like he's not worth helping at this point.

I also like how we got to see just how negatively he was affected by being at war for so long. He'd be put into hibernation by Hydra, and awoke every time to go kill some people. Rinse and repeat. That was his life, which isn't much of a life if you ask me. The same happened when he was freed from their control and while it's understandable why he had to fight in "Infinity War" and "Endgame," it was clearly a lot for him to handle. He didn't get a lot of peace, and even now that things have settled, he still has no peace.

At first, I was wondering why Bucky was going out of his way to befriend his elderly neighbor, Mr. Nakashima since he wasn't associating with anyone else, not even Sam. Then we find out that Bucky was the one who murdered the old man's son why under Hydra control. He can't bring himself to tell Mr. Nakashima because it's too painful and he's too ashamed. He's trying to prepare for it, I suppose, by befriending the man, but at the same time, I don't think it's going to be less unpleasant to deliver the news.

I literally felt heartbroken for Bucky when I realized that he had killed Mr. Nakashima's son. Like, omfg, Bucky, this poor guy...he has to live with these painful memories of things he was forced to do and it's depressing to witness.

I know it seems weird that no one recognizes who Bucky is, but I have a theory on that: Those that do are people who actually know him or those who have seen his face at the Smithsonian. Those who don't recognize him may never have been to the museum or simply didn't remember his face. I mean, Captain America was the main focus of the exhibit, and he was in the public eye all the time, so Bucky could easily be forgotten. Also, after the Blip, people clearly have had a lot to deal with after being missing for several years while the rest of the world put itself back together. Bucky is the least of their concerns.

Sam Wilson/Falcon

Sam, our good boy Sam. I was expecting him to keep Captain America's shield, even if he didn't use it right away. I mean, I know in "Endgame" he said it feels like it belongs to someone else, but I thought he'd change his mind and keep it. But he ends up donating it to the Captain America exhibit, which was unfortunate. I mean, I understand why, and I thought, "Well, he can just go grab it later" but then...well, that's going to be discussed later.

I was glad Sam kept trying to reach out to Bucky despite how things seemed very tense between them before. I can understand why he didn't just visit in person because that would have overwhelmed Bucky. I am suffering from severe depression and I know how difficult it can be to have a surprise guest attempt to make chit chat. Not fun.

We find out how Sam's sister has been trying to make ends meet during the Blip. Things aren't going well financially for her, and she is considering selling their father's boat to bring in some much-needed funds. Sam tries to help by convincing her to go to a bank and take out a loan. He hopes that his status could help influence the bank's decision as well.

But that isn't in the cards. The bank can't approve the loan because now there are regulations post-Blip regarding such matters. Not even Sam's status as Falcon -- an AVENGER -- amounts to much. Then the accountant awkwardly behaved like a fanboy during the whole meeting, even going so far as to ask for a selfie from Sam during the most inconvenient moment. This scene shows, to me, that being an Avenger doesn't change everything, yet, they're still famous and loved (for the most part). It's a strange feeling: "We love you guys for all you've done, but yeah, we can't really help you out."

I'm glad Marvel is choosing to show the negative effects of the Blip. It's great everyone returned but...everyone literally popped back into existence. We saw some of this chaos in "WandaVision," and we're seeing more in TFatWS. It's a realistic approach because, like, yeah, people being gone for several years, presumed forever missing then suddenly reappearing out of thin air is pretty extreme. Not to mention, those who returned didn't always find their loved ones and friends waiting for them (i.e. Monica's mother died during the Blip)

Flag Smasher

Not much to say here other than we have a new villain to watch out for who clearly has superhuman abilities. The cause that his group stands for threatens to make things even worse post-Blip than they already are, and geez, give people a break already! But you always have fanatics that will terrorize others for a cause.

Captain America 2.0

Who is this random white boy and why is he the new Captain America? I know who he is from the comics but that doesn't make it any better. It just makes it worse! This guy's going to be a disaster, clearly.

Sam realized at that moment he fucked up by giving the shield away, but this can only mean he'll find a way to retrieve and -- hopefully -- take up the Captain America mantle. Captain Falcon? Captain America Falcon? Captain Falcon America? I suppose you can have fun with that.

[haikyuu-scenarios-box]

Hi. I'm the anon who asked about au's. I'm just shy, so don't take offense my apology! You're great and friendly! I'd like a scenario request though! I've been into vampires since the Halloween season, and wanted to request one. A little late, but I guess any time is a good time, haha. I'd like it to be with Tsukishima being vampire and spending the night at his crushes house, and he ends up feeding on her in her sleep? You can do what you like with this idea! I'm very interested to see it!

A/N: omfggg i went so so overboard with this,, im just so damn weak for vampire!tsukishima. TW: blood obviously. Also, keep in mind that this request involves a character coming into the reader’s bedroom to p much prey on her while she’s asleep. There’s nothing sexual involved, but if you suspect that that type of scene may trigger you, then I suggest you either don’t read this or read at your own discretion. Ok?? ok,..,, you’ve been warned and you’re on your own now. Word count: 1,870 (lmao my bad)

UNDER THE CUT.

____________

His fingers were akin to glass; their delicacy threatened with a shatter as they brushed against the daisies. Traces of pollen were dusted along his palms, petals of ivory stroking the length of his legs. Sparse grass had buried itself into the folds that rested within his clothes, lightly pricking his skin. 

Discarding the vivid memory, Tsukishima recalled that he hadn’t seen the cottage by the meadow in over a century. 

To Tsukishima, those memories resembled scratched segments of dusty videocassettes. He remembered that he had a brother named Akiteru, a seamstress for a mother and a labourer for a father. Their faces, however, were permanently forgotten. It didn’t bother Tsukishima, though - he preferred it over death. If it weren’t for Yamaguchi turning him, he would have died following the pillage. 

Prior to meeting her, Tsukishima never kept track of time since he had all of eternity to live. In the past year, he’d grown attached enough to maintain his relationship with her, but not attached enough to risk getting his head severed from his body. Tsukishima planned to cut her out of his life soon.

‘Look at you all zoned out,’ she teased, ‘I didn’t take you for an art critic.’ 

‘You want a critique?’ Tsukishima sneered, ‘this painting’s really ugly.’

‘It’s not ugly!’ she exclaimed, ‘Ojiisan gave it to me. He bought it from an artist in Nagiso long ago.’ 

‘Well, he had awful taste,’ he knew that that wasn’t his real opinion. What else was he supposed to say, though? That the painting of a cottage by a meadow reminded him of his first home? That he was alive before her grandfather was? 

Of course not.

‘You have a lot of nerve saying that…’ she poked the bridge of Tsukishima’s glasses, ‘… when you’re the one who’s wearing those. Get nicer frames.’

‘I’m sorry I like to see,’ he sarcastically said with a smirk, ‘is this how you treat your guests?’

‘You’re the one who said my painting’s ugly,’ she shrugged, collapsing on the couch. ‘I think ojiisan said he met a vampire when he visited Nagiso.’ 

‘Don’t be stupid,’ Tsukishima sneered, joining her, ‘there’s barely any in Japan.’

‘Yes there is,’ she asserted, ‘they used to live savagely centuries ago, but they’ve integrated into human society.’

Tsukishima was almost taken aback. She was right - creatures of his kind still existed and they integrated well. Too well, to the point where they were widely considered to be an extinct being.

‘Let me guess, your ojiisan told you that,’ Tsukishima masked his surprise with a taunting tone, ‘do vampires also disappear in mirrors and wear black cloaks?’ 

She crossed her arms as she stuck her tongue out childishly, ‘Make fun of me all you want, but he said that he knew what he saw. A young woman in an alleyway,’ she shuddered, her spine graced by a shiver, ‘her fangs buried deeply within a mangled cat, slurping up all its blood.’

‘How scary,’ Tsukishima mocked, pretending as though he hadn’t done such a thing. He was repulsed at the idea of feeding on animals, but centuries ago, there were times where he found himself desperate. All he fed on nowadays were suicide victims beneath a nearby cliff and from blood banks. Yamaguchi did the same.

‘Whatever,’ she stood up, stretching her arms out with a yawn, ‘don’t come crying to me if you ever do come across a vampire.’ 

‘Because in that situation, I’d definitely come to you,’ Tsukishima sarcastically remarked, ‘I’d feel safe with your wooden stake and silver.’

‘You realise I can make you sleep on the couch instead of the guest bedroom, right?’

____________

Every attempt he made to quiet his mind had failed; it descended, further, further and further into an obsession with the possibility that a long blade would soon sever his head. 

Tsukishima was never aware that she possessed any knowledge about his kind. Vampires became less of a reality and more of an old tale. Not many knew that they ate human food, drank human drinks - the only difference was that it was all tasteless and that his nutrition could only be obtained from fresh blood. Put simply, human foods were a useless filler. 

Although she didn’t mention it, Tsukishima believed it was likely that she was aware of that fact. As his pupils fixated themselves to the ceiling, a year was suddenly no longer a fleeting moment to him. A year’s worth of a close relationship with a human was a long time. Especially when the human belongs to the minority that believed that vampires still lived amongst them. 

Yamaguchi had warned him of this, urging him to recall when hiring vampire hunters was common practise, when suspected vampires (and any human who sheltered a vampire) were burned at the stake, begging for any form of mercy. 

Tsukishima began packing away the belongings he brought with him to her home, concluding that her memory of him had to turn into a mirage, just like the faces of his family. As he made his way out the guest bedroom, he realised how he loathed how fond he grew of her. Tsukishima wanted to fully remember the arch of her brows, the lashes that curved away from her waterline, the wit of her tongue, the outline of her lips.

He passed by her bedroom, knowing that he couldn’t rely on his memories. Eventually, the centuries to come would led them to disintegrate into ashes, where they will never arise again - memories bore no similarity to a phoenix.

Turning around, Tsukishima quietly placed his duffle bag on the floor and carefully opened the door. He was unsure as to whether he could remember her once he left - but he was confident that he wouldn’t forget the flavour her blood carried. 

Her body had already been lulled into a deep state of sleep - after all, Tsukishima possessed heightened senses and could hear her slow and rhythmic breathing. 

The emotional attachment Tsukishima held towards her was constantly denied by him, until he envisioned his pillow beside hers. He falsely hoped to share that blanket with her for the nights to come, perhaps even bicker over blanket-stealing the following morning. Maybe she snored sometimes and he could tease her about it. Would they wake up at the same time, or would he wake up first? 

Tsukishima didn’t want those thoughts to exist anymore. He wanted them to burn with intense fury and relief; identical to the burning of suspected vampires centuries ago. 

She was already asleep on her side, her body facing the wall. Kneeling beside the double bed, Tsukishima warily placed a hand on her shoulder. The thumb of his other hand rested along the angle of her jaw, gently pushing her head further away from her neck. For a couple of seconds, Tsukishima merely stared at the skin he was about to pierce. She’ll keep him in mind while the marks scab over and bruise, but after that, she will forget about him; because he’ll be long gone by then. 

The longer his fangs grew, the more reluctant he became to bite into her. This wasn’t going to be the first time that Tsukishima fed on someone alive - there was a time when he was forced to do so. He knew his neck anatomy quite well, he wasn’t an idiot who recklessly bit into people and accidentally killed them.

Tsukishima’s felt the tip of his fangs touch her neck. This situation lacked any similarity to his past feedings on sleeping humans, for it was completely unrelated to survival. Rather, it was a feeble to cure his illness of melancholy; the fever that forced him to breathe the air that, to him, resembled the very salts of the ocean. Every inhale filled his lungs with blue hellfire.

That was what drove him to finally abandon his loyalty to cautiousness.

Tsukishima haphazardly sink his fangs into her neck, memorising the intensity of the iron. He knew that if he were to suddenly pull his head away in that moment, he’d rip her neck wide open. But he had to bite down with that much force. He had to remember her. 

As hot, thick scarlet slid down Tsukishima’s throat, he began to actually consider the consequences. With the mark, she’d easily have the power to report him. Although the probability of anyone believing her was slim, his actions were still creating the possibility of his death. For a mere second, Tsukishima even pictured himself turning her.

Once a low yelp was heard by Tsukishima’s hypersensitive ears, he rid his mind of those disorganised thoughts. He was sure that his absence of self-control had awakened her, yet he began to question whether he really was scared of getting killed. Tsukishima’s lived for centuries. He’d seen it all. 

With that realisation, Tsukishima strengthened his grip and pushed her head even further away from her neck. He noted that as his gulps turned longer and deeper, her whimpers grew louder and her knuckles curled themselves into the sheets.

When he finally pulled away, he watched her reluctantly place her fingers on the wound, smearing the bloody marks in the process. Tsukishima’s lips were still warm, a crimson trail slowly dripping down his chin. 

Tsukishima sat up, retracting his fangs back into his gums. He headed towards the door, wiping away the blood with the back of his hand. He forced the turmoil within his chest to be replaced with apathy, since he already knew the facial expression that will rest upon her face once she turned around - forehead wrinkled, eyebrows knitted, lip corners pulled downwards - sheer terror.

‘You…’ she trailed off, her voice uncertain, ‘… if you wanted to bite me that bad, you could have just asked.’

For the first time since Yamaguchi turned him, Tsukishima was the one stunned by a human. His eyelids drew themselves back slightly, his mouth agape with an intense confusion. Tsukishima didn’t want to look at her - he had no desire for her to see the breach of his facade. 

‘I already knew.’ 

After a long pause, Tsukishima snapped. ‘And you didn’t tell me,’ The apathy within his chest started to dissipate, an immeasurable confusion and fury settling in. ‘Instead, you decided to have a casual conversation with me about my kind.’ 

‘Kei,’ she said, ‘turn around and look me in the eye,’ she’d never used his first name before. He never did, either, although he always wished their relationship would reach a point where he could. 

Tsukishima obliged with her command. ‘You think I’m a fool, do you?’ his skin almost sizzled against his bones, overwhelmed by every form of hurt he’d experienced throughout the centuries. ‘All this time, you acted like you’re oblivious to what I am and spoke to me as though I’m a human.’

Mainly, it was the hurt that was buried within the sense of imminent loss.

‘Well, I’m not a human,’ Tsukishima revealed his fangs once more, clenching his teeth in anger, ‘and that means that I’ll kill you right now.’ 

‘You won’t,’ she said, her smile soft enough to be mistaken for a smirk. She was smug about the fact that her suspicion was true, though - this was Tsukishima’s crush, after all. 

She slowly stepped closer to him until she was able to firmly press her chest against his. Tenderly placing an open palm against Tsukishima’s cheek, the pad of her thumb gently stroked his cheekbone; an attempt to induce tranquillity within him. Once her gentle gesture ceased, she hooked an index finger underneath the fabric of her shirt, pulling it away from her neck to expose the bare skin of her shoulder.

‘Drink.’