#there's literally no reason in the world id be pregnant

[somnolent-scout]

So uhh.. as everyone has probably noticed, I have not been feeling well lately.

Alongside being mentally unstable thanks to the various internet disasters I've been shoved into, I've been feeling very physically sick. For the past three days, I've woken up with a sick stomach and extreme queasiness. I have yet to actually lose it, but it certainly feels like shit. My throat has been sore, scratchy, and has a weird waste taste to it. My vertigo has increased with zero explanation or cause. I also recently popped (possibly dislocated) my hip while trying to use the restroom. My head and body have been overheating, but no fever has been recorded. I can't seem to drink a whole lot of water either. I don't know what's wrong with me.

My symptoms have only worsened over the past few days, and they have yet to come to a peak or settle down at all. I don't know what to even test for at this point. I don't have a fever or loss of smell. It's not COVID-19.

Idk

[mbat]

no im thinking about pregnancy again, as in, how awful i think it is and how people act about it

i guess i have to start with hey! this is just my opinion! if you feel different, hell yeah! im not shit talking you or telling you to feel different! this is literally just me talking about my personal feelings on pregnancy and i dont expect anyone to actually read it and i dont really care if anyone does

anyway i hate how people act like pregnancy is one size fits all. i hate how people act like if you have a vagina and a uterus and whatever that you HAVE to get pregnant one day, that youre going to want to get pregnant eventually even if you very much dont right now. hell, that if youre a "woman" at all, they think youre going to want to be a mother in general.

it really does just go hand in hand with gender role bullshit and how people think that you HAVE to be and do and love whatever youre born with and if you step outside of that that youre the weirdo and youre the one in the wrong, and not that theyre the weird ones for trying to force this stuff on you.

pregnancy, like anything, is for the individual to decide. but god forbid you decide it isnt for you.

pregnancy to me is the worst thing that could ever happen to me. im terrified of it, im disgusted by it, it sounds straight out of a horror movie to me, ive been around it twice irl and it... it just doesnt feel natural to me even though its apparently one of the most natural things we can do as humans. its like looking at the uncanny valley and being told nothing is wrong but theres that pull at the back of your mind telling you to look away, something is wrong, something is so very wrong.

i had a dream many months ago that i got pregnant, and i was near the end of the pregnancy, i had somehow missed the window to get an abortion. i was in a living room surrounded by people, they were all so happy for me. i remember looking down at my stomach and feeling the worst dread. i was too late to stop it, to prevent it, to end it. my options were very few, and all of them were horrible to me.

and of course i havent even mentioned children. i dont want kids! again, its not one size fits all, its the individuals choice! i dont think id be a good father, and i dont want to be one anyway, i want my freedom, my time, my money, my life! why would i want to bring a child into this fucked up world anyway, just to fuck them up more because i really wouldnt be a good parent.

i dont even want to think about the actual birth part. endless hours of pain and disgusting things happening and emotions and... i could never. i could never i could never i NEVER will. i hate disgusting things happening and i hate pain

all of pregnancy is gross though. you are out of control of your own body. its like a parasite to me. something that isnt you is inside of you, and its changing your body and controlling it whether it even means to or not, and you cant just take it out, and its growing and

thats not even mentioning that you can feel it moving around. what. the. fuck.

i hate that people expect this of me. hell, not even just expect, but want this of me. my dad clings to the idea that one day ill give up all my 'i dont want kids' talk and finally be "normal" and want kids and whatever, because hey he wants grandkids :(. you have grandkids!!!! you have 3!!! its not my fault that only one of them is biologically related to you, maybe you should get over your weird attachment to things being biological and just learn to love regardless! i love my nephews and niece, theyre amazing and i love seeing them! i dont hate kids, by the way! i just dont want them for myself!

but honestly the whole reason i even thought about any of this is because, well tmi i guess, i think im starting a period and i just get so distressed about it. i hate that my body does this, i hate that its something i cant control and its disgusting and horrible. i just wish i could take my reproductive system out of me. and so i was like, i wish i could just pay a doctor to get it out of me! but then i remembered that theyd never do that because theyd be like OH BUT WHAT IF YOU MARRY A MAN AND HE WANTS KIDS. YOU NEED TO HAVE AT LEAST 2 KIDS BEFORE WE EVEN CONSIDER IT. and how if someone said that to me i dont think id be able to hold back from telling them that if i ever got pregnant and couldnt get rid of it that i would seriously consider offing myself. if i ever changed my mind about having kids (why would i) i would just adopt anyway.

i hate that my body is expected to belong to someone else, that my choices and my wants dont matter and im just a silly little girl and what i want will change anyway. im a person. im a full on person, and this is my body. i havent even mentioned how being trans factors into this because what more is there to say than 'im a man and that affects how i feel about this thing that people see as feminine'? or my pcos, which i have even less to say about because like, what is there to say ??

i hate that people dont care what i have to say about my own body, and my own future. i hate that my dad wants me to change how i feel about who i am and what i want, i hate that people i dont know that i havent even met expect me to do this thing that changes everything. i hate that people care more about hypothetical people than me. i hate that people think they know better than me about my own body and wants.

i never want to get pregnant. i never want to have kids. that is my choice as an individual, just like its someone elses choice to get pregnant and have kids. theres already enough people doing that in the world, there wont exactly be a shortage because i decide not to. its not my fault that other people see my choice as abnormal and the other as normal, that sounds like a them problem.

[line-of-fire]

Just got an idea for literally the Worst AU for Pixie (as if I haven't tortured her enough). Details under the cut.

Main premise is, she never escaped from when she was first captured in 2009, on that first deployment. Instead, she was actually turned over to some foreign government or group as a bargaining chip for whatever reason.

It takes a few months for her new captors to decide what to do with her, if she's even any use to them at all. But eventually, despite or maybe even because of her limited training, it's decided to mold her into their perfect soldier, their agent. But she's still pregnant, the training has to wait until the child is born. Until her captors have a real bargaining chip to keep her in line.

Evelyn is born, and the following weeks are mundane, normal almost. She's given the minimal nutrition to survive and be able to care for her daughter. Given enough time to bond with the girl, to see her as her own.

Enough time for it to mean something when she's taken away.

Red Simmons is twenty three years old, not quite twenty four, and she's been deployed, she's lost her best friends, lost the use of her arm, been captured and tortured, become a mother, had her baby taken from her, all in the span of a year.

She's broken, and she's vulnerable. Malleable to her captors wills. To become a killer for them, unquestioning.

It's as far from her nature as it gets. She became a soldier to save people, analysts didn't pick up a gun and fire upon other human beings, not unless they absolutely had to. She wasn't heartless. She wasn't a murderer. She had morals, she had ideals to fight for-

And they had her daughter, such a small, innocent thing. And while she wasn't heartless, they were. So really, she never had a choice.

Red's outfitted with a prosthetic arm, bionic, the technology cutting edge, better than flesh and bone. But it's not her arm, that much is made clear. It's a tool she's being lent, to serve them. The training's harsh, and she has no room to question any of it, not without endangering her daughter or her family-

It's a wonder how much can be discovered from a name engraved into ID tags. They're kept safe, under the belief that she's missing at best, killed at worst. But their locations are known, and that's enough to keep her in line, if Evelyn wasn't.

At the end of the day, after years of training and manipulation, Red Simmons is no more. That young woman with ideals and hope for the world is replaced by a cold-hearted mercenary that's given up that hope, given up on any dreams of escape, of returning home. She's given orders, and the orders are followed to the letter. Because if she doesn't, there's still that family in North Carolina that doesn't deserve death, not because of her. And there's still that little girl she can come 'home' to at the end of every mission, if she just follows orders, as long as she's their good little soldier.

Specialization wise, it's similar to the canon verses. Infiltration, sabotage, assassinations, that sort of thing. She's given the callsign 'Sierra 0', not even a proper 'name', just a phonetic letter and number. But 'Sierra' is close enough to a real name, even if it isn't hers.

The face covering is much more persistent as well. Before, it was just a simple balaclava, with the purpose of destroying her identity, her notion of free will. But now? It's willing. It's a choice she's made because she's ashamed of what she's become, who she is. Evelyn is the only one who she'll willingly show her face to, and ironically, showing her face is when she's putting on the metaphorical mask. Because Evelyn is given the impression of a normal life, going to a private school, looked after by nannies while 'Sierra' is on assignment, not knowing what exactly it is her mother does for work. And Red, despite everything, wants to give Evelyn that impression, until she's an adult and she can get out of that life, away from her gilded prison.

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

Define Woman

So this is going to piss some people off, but frankly speaking I don’t give a damn. 

The words woman and man were words used to define the sex of a person. However, we ended up with a situation where gender is no longer a reference to sex, but instead to some strange amorphous concept with no meaning whatsoever. 

Gender in it’s original context was just and only “Man” and “Woman”. In their original meanings. Which was, “Man: Adult Human Male” and “Woman: Adult Human Female”. The reason these distinctions are important, is because gender originally had no difference from biological sex. Somehow however, because of bad actors like John Money (A child abuser, pedophile, and scientific hack) he both was the foundation of and the root cause of the normalization of terms like gender fluid, gender non conforming, and other stuff related to the term gender. 

Basically this monster is the reason the term gender now means nothing at all. What’s worse, there are politicians and parents worried about their kids now, and are asking biologists, doctors, and scientists, to define what a woman is. Asking if only women can get pregnant. If only women can get periods, and resoundingly, a lot of them have bowed down to the new radical norm that is, “Trans women are women”. 

And yes. It is a radical ideology. You might ask why. Simple answer? Because woman is SUPPOSED to mean as stated above, “Adult Human Female”. So by claiming that trans women are women, you are falsely claiming that trans women, who are biological men, are SOMEHOW able to ignore science, and just by the logic of claiming as such, have become biological women. 

The dangers to this are vast but let me explain one of the biggest ones. I recently saw a doctor, though I question her credentials, say that “...trans people should be able to change their sex assigned at birth on their licenses...” First of all.....no one is “Assigned a sex at birth”. If you really believe that you should be stripped of any ability to practice medicine. Sex is observed at birth. Not assigned. 

Secondly, men and women have biological differences. Not just sex organs. The types of medication and the amounts of those medications are VERY different. There’s a reason that drugs need to be tested on both men and women and women that are pregnant and may become pregnant. Because there was a lawsuit in early years that found that drugs were not universal, and affected men and women differently. 

Imagine walking into the doctor, and they see your ID, and it says, “F” on the license. And you tell them, “I’m a woman, give me the drugs you would a woman”. And it injures you permanently or kills you. Congrats. You are a moron with no one to blame but yourself. Because fun fact about medications. They don’t just affect you differently based on your sex, but also your size, and other medications and health complications. 

Though as things would have it, there are trans people that think the most inclusive thing is to NEVER be asked about if they are trans, and always HAVE to be treated like the “gender” they identify as. I’m sorry Susan, who used to be named Steve. Medication isn’t “Bigoted”. Biology isn’t “Bigoted”. Your entire life is based on a fabrication that you can be literally anything you want to be. We don’t live in a fantasy world though. Medications, much like biology is rooted in fact. And it doesn’t discriminate. And no amount of screaming into the wind, will change that. 

And there are people that are going to find this post to be, “Transphobic”. Well sorry you are offended by reality but the ideology you are trying to push is dangerous. Why? Well aside from the medical risks in regards to medications, there are also the complications that come from transition surgery. Which frankly there are a lot of. Contrary to the popular activist pushed idea that surgeries, and hormones will have zero negative effects whatsoever. 

It gets more rough when you realize how many people are not sterilized because rushed transitions. Wonder how many dead bodies will be enough from detransitioners, and people who don’t realize they are not trans, who need mental health help instead, but just get told to medically and chemically castrate themselves. How many have to die? How many lives need to be ruined before it’s too many. 

The answer? For the people I’m directing this at, it will never be enough. Because most of you believe that a 2yo can decide they are trans, and should just get put on hormones immediately, and have their junk cut off. The sooner the better right? God forbit they are too young to know that on their own. God forbid parents are capable of abusing their kids. Like Jazz Jennings. Who’s mother is basically abusing “her” and using “her” for fame. And you might say, “Why are you putting her in quotes?”. Because I don’t think Jazz is a girl. I think that Jazz’s mother wanted a daughter, and decided to take advantage of how easy kids are to impress upon, and created a daughter. Said mother also on the Life of Jazz show mentioned that she has to wake Jazz up in the middle of the night to dilate. And they will personally take the dilator, lube it up, and wake Jazz up to use it. Even when Jazz doesn’t want to. 

And said, “Oh no, when Jazz goes to college, I better not find out that they are not dilating themselves, she’s going to strangle Jazz”. Sure call it humor. I see it as a, Jazz better not take this dream of having a daughter with a fake vagina away from me”. No normal human talks like that. She basically got famous for transitioning her 2 yo and she is loving the attention. 

What kills me the most though is the attempt to change what woman means. So what did they change it to in order to be more “inclusive”? “Woman: An adult human female, or a person who otherwise identifies as a woman”.......Which is a funny as hell definition, because it cites itself in the definition. Meaning you get caught in an endless loop of what the word means, which is nothing since it can’t have a meaning while citing itself. What’s worse though is that the definition also doesn’t renounce it’s association with biological sex. Which is more or less criminal in my opinion. Because if “woman” is only a reference to “gender” then it should remove it’s association with biological sex fully. And I’ll just start calling everyone male or female. 

Right up until they decide that they need to change the definition of Female to something it’s not. Though I will admit, it’s going to be comical watching feminist loose their shit when they start losing rights because when words change definitions, so to do laws. 

So again. Define woman. 

And before someone tries to imagine this whole rant is because, “You clearly hate trans people”, realize what I want is less harm in the world. Less harm means NOT chemically castrating kids. Less harm means not cutting off body parts of kids who are not even old enough to consent to the consequences of sex, much less permanently cutting parts of their bodies, and chemically stunting their growth. 

Pretty sure if most of the suicides of trans people were looked into, it wouldn’t be because of lack of acceptance. It would be lack of proper mental and emotional health. It would be the fact that rather than addressing the mental health of a person we just rush them to transition. 

The last point I will make is this. Once upon a time, you could be a guy or a girl, and rather than being taught from childhood to hate yourself, we just told guys, hey if you want to wear a dress, wear a dress. We might think you are gay, but ya know, maybe you just want to wear dresses. We told girls, hey if you want to wear a suit or jeans, you can do that. We might think you are a lesbian, but maybe you just like looking more masculine. Who knows. It was kind of a given for a number of years that you didn’t have to conform to gendered norms. Hell, in the 90′s girls started wearing baggy clothing in mass. That didn’t make them not women. It just means they wanted to dress comfortable, or act more masculine in general. 

Now a days, if the wrong people, see that, they will go out of their way to convince that girl, that she is NOT in fact a girl but a boy in a girls body. I consider that to be harm. Because what happens when that girl is peer pressured and led into believing she IS a boy. Then as soon as she transitions all of a sudden, her life gets a lot harder. She is stuck on chemicals for years, and might have a number of medical issue crop due to cross sex hormones or the surgeries done to the body not lasting. Her life goes from however hard it might have been, to 100x harder, which she won’t be prepared for, because no one is going to tell her what all is going to happen. And no one except people not following this narrative, are going to tell her the truth about the risks. No one except people that are not following this narrative are going to tell the person to go to a NON affirming therapist before they make any medical choices. 

I can’t count the number of people I’ve seen share stuff like off market CSH’s and blockers to minors. I can’t count the number of people I’ve seen share information on shrinks that will just give you a note so you can start hormones SAME DAY. And that’s scary to me that the people harmed the most by this are kids and those whom are autistic. And when they eventually do off themselves, the people who suggested all of that will go, “IT”S NOT MY FAULT! MAYBE IF SOCIETY WORSHIPED US THIS WOULDN”T HAPPEN!”. It’s sad but this really is a sick form of eugenics. And the people falling for it will end up never able to have kids or in fully developed bodies. And I feel bad for them. *sigh* This is a lot longer than I wanted it to be. Maybe I’ll turn it into a video with just audio and repost later. Just stay safe out there.  

[umsoheyaurora]

Its certainly possible that we have already gotten the nanites on board from all species…..we are suppose to respect our elders…..we are in the garden of eden….this is about to be the end of the old testament or its' equivalent in your native religious scripture or oral history

We are in the goldilox zone of all possible worlds…..we have moderate sized animals on moderately soded moderately gravitated planed

Possibly ACTUALLY in the center of the universe…..the smallest and largest are the oldest the native species from elsewhere….screwed the pooch (sorry doggo people). They can be reasoned with except for a few truly malevolent fuckitypes with their souls worn completely away by their voracious appetites for information, technology at the expense of learning namely, cuddlefish cuttlefish people…..technology and brains octopussihead psycho

She has seen me profess my love you Tove but still says nothing….i could literally say anything to get her to say anything and possibly do anything….. separation….. preemtive last minute switcheroo so she is pregnant with a mix of all soulless chucklefucks…. And with eons of observing experience The Aurora have found an optimum balance of time traveling responsibly and magic and tech and most of the biology and important items about me the rest are just whipped cream and sprinkles all on that tasty fucking cake…..

Such that all ur base R belong to us…there is NO WAY out for those who are about to die….except actually telling the truth out loud to someone or even written down so that i might be incanted later….to help them be saved……hell even the soul less could wish for no soul and still end up getting one because they cant tell the fucking truth….. so no ome has to go to hell or purgatory (god killed themselves) because it is officially about to be Hell on Earth while the good bois and gurls and all the bros and hoes LGBTQIA+ ally male 43……but you may want to say a prayer before bed…..cuz apocalypses don’t necessarily kill slowly do they and can come with out warning….so being god damn honest with yourself and not abusing magic or time or space or matter or thoughts or feelings…..intention matters and you cannot apply the following principle univeristy….

Thou shalt lie cheat, fuck, muck around with the above space and time…..and steal (necessities aren’t theft)

Mindrape is an abomination on god.

Killing on purpose without the comsent of any living thing is an abomination on god…..suicides go to heaven if actual suicides of course not purgatory….. abortions for some as is the mother and fathers purview over the jointly conceived individual life with general deference given to the one carrying the zygotes/spores/crotch fruit….etc…..

A good entity is Kind, Brave, Thrifty but Generous, CLEAN ( for fucks sake take a shower and stop eating so much shit and wash your god damn assholes out everynow and again be cause

Work hard play hard…..there is NO time to wait….we need all your support just to survive

Fyi - I’ve been home all night, cuddlefish squidbillies and bulbus octopussheads and spore/mushroom ….everyone actually.

They own all the money…..and they are going to take yours down….it wont be necessary because its about to get Heavy as Fuck at some point probably soon….

Beware the Ides of March….not certain but it would make sense plus some historical wifgle room built in with people defining it diffreentlyl

All of our medical oroblems could be the direct result of mindraping pushing witchy woman pysoginistic bullshit….all problems…..

Pandoras box was literally their cum-starved uterii all along in all cases ends up fucking themselves and blowong up in their faces…..no neither in a good way.

Acknowledging, truthfully….literally having True Faith in yourselves to 🎼Be All You Can Be” GenderSpectrum Godheads that you ALREADY ARE……because you have a piece of The AlphA and The OmGa inside each of you because They gave all their love to make us that way….whether we like it or not….You may have been 🎼Born That Way, Baebaes….but its a collaboration and always has been….Even if your nature is to be an absolute Lying cheating cum hungry drug abusing whore of a Kappa Head/Tribble/Squidbillie/Outsider/or any of the Myriad Forms (sup Darwin)…..

you are now being told again….that you are Gods and Goddesses. i know some of you have a little alot more than 40% Neanderthalesque DNA and it might need to be repeated…..

AGGCTU - All Go

TGATAUCA The Gods

Oh god samurai jack and his ‘sword’

I was thinking of writing up a little 50 shades of Grey Contract….Akina and I try Everything BUTT STUFF possibly with some oral but not kisses on the lips and no vaginal penetration…..is that Doable??? She meed to shave anyway…..

It took ~half my life before I new I was lied to……thanks BaeBaeS U are so Clutch and you dont even know it.

[maschotch]

Just to popcorn off the anon post about the fandom obsession with Reid’s autism and/or angst surrounding it and/or angst about him, I completely agree with their and your take. There is such a hyper fixation around this in general with him, just because he’s the most popular character in the show. Idk, I’ve been in other fandoms and I’ve only ever had 1 fandom favorite be my fav in the show, and it was EXHAUSTING. Any fanfiction was obsessed with either 1) riddling said character with various mental illnesses and making them suffer to uncomfortable amounts 2) making said character queer and/or trans IN ORDER to make them a victim of a hate crime 3) dump a ridiculous amount of physical/s*xual/mental abuse on character for angst. I adore angst, but it gets exhausting when it seems the fandom favs, USUALLY less masculine male characters (or overly feminized by fandom and are usually white/white passing) consistenty are burdened with these tropes. It just makes me feel gross, especially in the case of criminal minds where Morgan, the canon victim of s*xual abuse, gets far less attention in this fics related to this trauma than Reid (or Hotch, who has the whole situation with Foyet that could be easily interpreted as and analogy for r*pe). But no, both are older, masculine, less soft fem boy then Reid (which just adds to the misconceptions about who can be victims of s*xual assault). Other than r*pe, people also wrote more pregnancy fics related to Reid than, I don’t know, let’s say Emily, who literally has the whole story about getting pregnant at 15 and having an abortion. Give me a story about her!

I guess I’m just sick of the hyper feminization of Reid (mostly in fanfiction tbh). It just speaks to a larger trend in fandoms, and is a general commentary on the weird views of gender and sexuality/perception of autism in our society. A certain type fits into a certain box, and people run with it.

thats such a good point…. i think white twink chars in most fandoms get treated like that but especially the very ~~gnc~~ reid??? its almost like that justifies all the shit fic authors put him through? like ive seen more pregnant reid fics than i have other mpreg fic for other, more popular characters in much bigger fandoms. its such a weird fixation that ive never understood

and like… ok people can hc what they want i guess but sometimes i’ll see people theorize that reid was sexually abused by his father and im like ???? where do you get that?? again, you’ve got morgan and hotch right there who have storylines specifically around that, but apparently thats not good enough bc they’re too masculine?? theres just a lot fucked up with that

i feel like people use their own projecting on/identifying with reid to justify the extremely homophobic/transphobic/ableist/whatever treatment, but its such a prevalent pattern in reid fics that its really just concerning. its really hard for me to believe that this is therapeutic for this many people when its much more likely that the majority are just continuing the trend of fetishizing gnc, neurodivergent, queercoded skinny, white men. especially by majority white, abled w depression or anxiety so it doesnt count!!, cis but i was questioning so it doesnt count!!, straight but i think jj is hot so im probably queer!! women—its the same story every time

[princehrry-writings]

Angel with a Shotgun

here we go. this popped into my head after i watched a tiktok about angel shots. if you go on a date and don't feel safe for any reason, please please please find a safe way to remove yourself!! asking for an angel shot is a great way to do that!!

WARNING: tw mentions of implied SA, stalking, harassment, police, EMT's, hospitals, alcohol, being drugged, swearing,

please don't read this if any of this stuff makes you uncomfortable. i don't get graphic with anything but still, put yourself first and be safe!! i love you <3

wordcount: 1907

Harry Styles x Reader

masterlist

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It started off as a normal night. Y/n had met this guy in class and he’d asked her out for drinks. She didn’t get any bad vibes from him, none of her friends had heard anything bad about him, so she deemed him a suitable guy to go have a fun night with.

She’d met him at a bar just off campus and was having a really great night! The pair were dancing and talking and laughing, genuinely enjoying herself for the first time in a long time on a first date.

In Y/n’s experience, usually guys were creeps and girls never decided she was what they were looking for, so she had a hard time in the dating world. This guy, Jack his name is, seemed ok. Keyword being seemed.

She should have known. When he asked to meet her at a bar all the way across town, she should have put it together that he wasn’t what she was looking for. He didn’t put up too big of a fight when she insisted they meet at the bar closer to campus, that way she would know people there and be in a familiar place if she needed to get away from him quickly.

When he started making comments that were off putting to her, things she doesn’t really want to repeat in fear of actually vomiting all over the table, she starts looking for a way out. He keeps trying to play footsie with her under the table and is getting visibly frustrated at her lack of participation, so she tells him she’s going to get them another round of drinks after finishing the one that was already on the table and quickly exits the booth before he can protest.

Harry had been watching from across the room at the bar, seeing this couple who looked like they were on a first date. He watched as they laughed and talked, getting to know each other. But as the night went on, it seemed the woman was getting more and more uncomfortable.

He had told his coworkers to keep an eye out for the two in case anything was to go down, and when he sees her get up and make her way over to his bar, he has a feeling he knows where this is going.

“What can I get for you, love?” He asks her, leaning over the counter to hear her better. She sniffles a little, and takes a deep breath. Leans in before timidly asking.

“Can I get an angel shot?”

Harry’s senses are quickly kicked into gear and he nods, gesturing to his coworker that he’s gonna get this taken care of before meeting her on the other side of the bar. What neither of them had realized was that 1. Jack was walking up to them and 2. he had slipped something into her drink apparently because suddenly she could barely hold her own body weight. Harry caught her before she hit the ground and Jack rushed over, playing the part of concerned boyfriend but the bartender saw right through it.

“Sir, I’m gonna have to ask you to back up.” He tells the man, authority very present in his voice. Jack doesn’t take well to this, eyebrows furrowing and voice lowering in defense.

“S’cuse me mate, but I’m gonna take my girl home. She’s had a few too many, f’you know what I mean.” He chuckles and goes to scoop her up. Harry stops him, putting a hand on the guy's chest, stepping between the girl and this guy.

“You'll do no such thing. This girl has obviously been roofied and it’s you she was running away from. The only thing you’ll be doing tonight is talking to the police, who are making their way in right now to do with you what they will.” Harry says, watching the color drain from this bloke's face. He turned around, ready to make a full run for it but was stopped by not only the police but also a crowd of other guys who heard what was going down and were ready to step in if assistance was needed.

“I didn’t do anything wrong here! She was trying to take advantage of me!” He cries as he’s put in handcuffs and taken away.

“Yeah, it’s obvious the one who’s passed out cold because she was drugged was trying to take advantage of you.” Harry yells after him before turning around and scooping the girl into his arms. Due to the commotion and the presence of not only police but also paramedics, the premises was cleared and the bar was shut down for the night. Harry held the passed out girl close to his body, having had his coworker fetch his jacket from the break room to keep her warm now that the club wasn’t filled with body heat, and waited for the paramedics to come in for her.

When they come in and place her on the gurney, she starts to stir. Little whines and groans escape from her and the EMT’s check her vitals, deeming her stable and letting Harry know she’s going to be ok. He decided to follow to the hospital just so she has a familiar face when she wakes up and has someone to explain her situation that isn’t a scary doctor.

. *

.

It’s a few hours of unrestful sleep at her bedside and his co-worker showing up with a change of clothes for him when she finally starts to come to.

Groaning and reaching up to hold her head but realizing her arms are too heavy to move, she rasps out, “Where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital,” Harry explains, wanting to reach out and hold her hand but not wanting to startle her, “You’re ok but the doctors wanted to keep you overnight for observation.”

“You’re the bartender I asked for the angel shot aren’t you?” She questions after a pregnant pause. He hums a confirmation and she looks over his face a few times, before tears well in her eyes.

“What happened?” A few tears fall from her eyes. She can’t remember much after leaving the table, just the sight of green eyes and curly brown hair nodding at her when she asked for the shot. The rest is pretty much a blur, just random flashes of scenes she can’t quite make out in her head.

“You came over and asked me for the shot and then a few minutes later you passed out. The bloke you were with slipped something in your drink. And unless something happened at the table that I didn’t see, then nothing else happened. Do you remember anything happening at the table?” He explains, hoping her answer is no.

He’d learned her name from the EMT’s who checked your ID once you were loaded into the ambulance but he didn’t know the name of the man she was with. He realizes she doesn’t know his name either.

“No, was just being a sleazy dick. I don’t know how he could have slipped me something, I didn’t get up before I went to you. Must’ve turned my head for a bit too long. God, I should’ve known this was gonna happen!” She groans but he shakes his head.

“You can’t blame yourself for this, darling! He’s a sleazeball, a no good lowlife. S’not your fault.”

“What’s your name?” She voices, peering into his pretty green eyes.

“M’Harry,” he smiles, timidly reaching for her hand, rubbing his thumb soothingly across the soft skin.

“Thank you for staying with me Harry! For helping me…” Y/n says quietly. He shakes his head with a small smile.

“No need to thank me, pet. Would do it over and over again.”

Her smile, while tired and defeated, was enough to show him her gratitude. She feels a weight lift off her chest, hearing that nothing bad happened after she got to him.

She knows it’s probably just nightingale syndrome, but Y/n thinks Harry is terribly adorable. With his messy brown curls and tired green eyes that make it look like he hasn’t slept in ages. She thinks she could see herself going out with him, which is an odd thought considering what happened last night. You’d think that would be enough to turn her off to men for good, but there's just something about him. But now isn’t the time to bring any of that up.

“I’ll call a nurse, tell em’ you’re awake.” He voiced, making his way to the door after gently placing her hand back on the bed.

. * .

“Ms. I’m just calling to let you know the restraining order has gone through. You won’t have to worry about him anymore.”

Y/n felt a weight lift off her chest. After months of being harassed and stalked, she would finally be left alone. Harry leaned in, pressing a kiss to her cheek, stroking the loose hair out of her face.

“S’ finally over, lovie. It’s all over!.” He whispered in her ear, pulling her closer to him, rubbing up and down her thighs. She felt tears spring to her eyes, tears of relief, tears of joy, but also tears of sadness because the last few months had been some of the hardest of her life. She was ready to move on and be done with this nightmare.

When Jack had found out Y/n and Harry got together after that night, it’s like it activated something inside him. Like he thought she was just playing hard to get and he had to literally stalk her to get her attention. He seemed to think she was playing a game. Somewhere in his twisted little mind he had the audacity to think she actually wanted him.

He’d sit right next to her every single class period and would get up and move next to her when she tried to get away with him. He’d show up at her house, sitting across the street just watching her front door, he’d call her phone and text her, he’d wait outside her other classes and follow her around campus. She complained to her university, told them what was going on and they didn’t really do anything. She went to campus security and they brushed it off because “She wasn’t in any danger. He just wants to get to know you.”

So she finally was forced to file a restraining order. Her case was still open, from when he got arrested that night at the bar. They're charging him with second degree assault and criminal harassment because apparently she’s not the only girl he’s done this to. Many other women had spoken up since news of that night had spread around campus. Yet still, the university did nothing.

Harry stood by you every step of the way, picking up the shattered pieces on hard days. He wanted to beat the shit out of this guy and he would if it wouldn’t interfere with the case. He knew you needed him and he didn’t want to chance anything.

There was a pregnant silence between the two lovers. Just letting the silence wash over them, letting themselves breath freely without this weight suffocating them, they basked in it.

It wasn’t completely over, because there was still a trial, but he wouldn’t be coming around without getting arrested again.

That was enough for Y/n to breathe easy.

[glitxhwayventeen]

The Half-Blooded One

Yangyang

Characters: Yangyang x female reader

Warnings: complaining, pain/soreness/injuries, mentions of mental manipulation, mentions of crying, mentions of war, implications of being a soldier, mentions of abandonment and death, mentions of blood, weight mentions, mentions of an accident, family/sibling issues/ten being a bad brother, some swearing/cursing. I think that’s it but lmk if i missed anything pls!

Author’s Note: So just gonna say it now, she’s one of my favorite mate’s for reasons that have yet to be made public. Let me know how you guys like her story! I know this is short but More will be explained with the Second part to his story trust me! And I love Ten I swear it’s just for the story don’t hate me!!!!

Please remember that all of these chapters and the content within them are a work of fiction! They’re just for fun/entertainment!

Watch It All Burn Masterlist

The Half-Blooded One: Part 2

Bold- Mandarin Dialogue Italics- Thoughts

🥀

Tag list-

It was just a normal day. Yue and Kun were in the kitchen cooking a new recipe they had learned together for dinner. Xiaojun and the very pregnant Daiyu were arguing over his guitar playing keeping her up at night for the umpteenth time that week. And Sicheng, Ten, and Yangyang were playing some weird card game the eldest of the three had invented. The only thing out of the ordinary was that one of their pack members was out of town for the next month visiting his various sisters.

But other than that, it was really just another normal day for their small little pack. That is, until a phone ringing erupted through the trio’s peaceful playing, making Chittaphon’s eyes suddenly widen in distress at the caller ID before excusing himself to answer the call.

The youngest of the group of 7, though a bit startled at the departure of their second in command right after said call and whispering in secrecy with the alpha in the kitchen, didn’t think much of what had happened as he figured it was too close to bedtime for him to care.

The group that was left finished up the meal that the eldest mated couple had cooked for them, sent some random funny small talk around the table as everyone wrapped up their plates, and commenced out their day with quick good nights in order to go on to their respective rooms.

Once in his room on the ground level, Yangyang hurriedly ridded himself of his confining shirt and slipped into his sleep pants before crawling his way under his covers and resting his head on his plush pillow, eventually drifting off to dream land after yet another rather boring evening with his pack.

Everything was as it should be. Yet he still couldn’t help but wonder where in the world had Ten gone after leaving so suddenly. And why the hell hadn’t he come home yet?

——

It wasn’t until he heard the front door of their relatively large home fling open at about two in the morning that he got his answer. The piece of wood had bounced back to the wall behind it, causing his eyes to pop open from their deep sleep.

The pink haired boy was so startled, he didn’t even think to put a shirt on before opening his own bedroom door in order to rush down the hall to investigate.

Some part of his brain that had actually managed to wake, which wasn’t a large part mind you as he was literally snoring in his bed less than a minute ago, reasoned with him to have some sense of caution as, when he stealthed his way to the end of the long corridor, he could still smell a foreign scent through his mind fog.

A foreign wolf’s scent. And the further he creeped towards the set of stairs near him, the faster the boy realized he could hear murmured voices, signaling the intruder wasn’t alone.

But as he made his way past the staircase and to the front door, and as his brain began to pulse more to life, he finally figured out one of the voices was that of his own pack mate. The very same packmate that had ran out of their warm house in the middle of the night mysteriously only hours ago.

Once Yangyang closed the up until that very moment large still wide open door that had woken him from his slumber, he could sense his brother along with what was now sounding like quite a few other people panicking in the kitchen about 30 feet away from him.

And he realized something else: he could smell blood. A lot of it. And pretty fresh blood at that.

Yet there was something… off about it? He couldn’t quite place what essence he was getting along with it, but he knew that whatever it was, he more than likely wasn’t gonna get an answer as to it’s origin unless he followed through with his little middle of the night mission.

So, pushing the unsettling worry feeling he felt in his stomach to the back of his mind, he jogged his way to where everybody was.

And that’s where he was met with you, unconscious and unresponsive on their marble kitchen counter as Ten paced around you, all but tearing his rayven colored hair out.

He felt it immediately. It was exactly as Kun and Sicheng had described to the pack during their many days of fawning over their mates.

Like the whole world had melted away and suddenly you were the only thing he could pay attention to, the only thing he WANTED to pay attention to, you were all he wanted to think about. Nothing else was relevant. Nothing from before mattered. Now, all his mind could focus on was the sound of your shallow breathing and the beautiful gray tinted glow that surrounded your form.

Chittaphon was speaking some unknown language to a mysteriously tall, slightly darker skinned boy with piercing emerald eyes Yangyang hadn’t ever met before while Kun & Yue looked to be doing their best to keep the small wolf from descending into madness by reassuring him that all would be well. Sicheng & his very sleepy, very irritable pregnant mate checked you from head to toe for wounds and injuries to get an accurate reading on what was going on with you and why you were unconscious.

Dejun, he would later learn, was actually off at some house party trying to see some pretty girl he supposedly had a crush on, so he wouldn’t even know what was going on until the next day when Yangyang had the opportunity to fill him in on it.

How typical. The one person that may actually be helpful to him in his current situation who might’ve tried to fill him in on what was happening was out of the house for the night. Just Lovely.

Just as the stranger was about to open his mouth to speak, his eyes landed on the maknae statued in the doorway, which made Yangyang suppress an automatic growl that had started bubbling in his chest out of instinct to protect his mate from people he considered unsafe or unknown.

Instead of saying whatever it was the guy planned on saying, he cleared his throat and nudged Ten while gesturing towards Yangyang’s direction, something that caused everyone to turn their attentions towards him and away from you.

But his eyes weren’t moving from your lifeless looking form. He was too stunned to speak. He was too frazzled to shift uncomfortably in his place.

If he hadn’t known any better, he could’ve sworn he wasn’t even breathing as he witnessed Sicheng and Daiyu pry their eyes away from his own place of arrival to continue working on figuring out what was wrong with you.

After what seemed like a century of silence, Yueguang was the first to say something to the freaked out boy, “X-Xiao Yang!” His normally calm sister stuttered nervously, “W-What are you doing up out of bed? You’re su-supposed to be asleep!”

“I-I, i know um-” the youngest swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat to gain some control over his unstable cracking voice, “I heard the door hit open a-and I um- w-who is s-she?”

It wouldn’t have been the first time Yangyang was awoken in the middle of the night by a strange sound or scary event. The pack had friends all over the city, many of whom were fellow wolves who went to whoever they could to seek refuge in times of need. Hell, it wouldn’t have even been the first time he had seen someone as injured as you. He’d seen people get hurt, he’d seen them get better, and he’d seen them die before. It wasn’t anything new to those living in the supernatural world.

But the feeling of imminent shock of having just woke up and the sudden imprinting sensation rattling through his body were just made it too much for him to comprehend everything at hand easily.

So he did probably what wasn’t the smartest or most well thought out thing he could’ve done at the moment and asked who you were.

He had known you less than ten minutes and yet he was already head over heels in love with you. He was already more concerned for your fading life than his own safety. You were already the only thing he cared about.

To him, it didn’t matter that he would more than likely die if you died on their kitchen counter in the coming moments. To him, all that mattered was that his pack did everything they could to keep your barely fluttering heart beating because he couldn’t bare the thought of having the world losing a light as bright as you. Your life was already more important than his.

By that point, even though Chittaphon had gone back to freaking out around you, Kun picked up on what had happened: his usually jittery and loud baby brother was now standing quiet and still as stone in the kitchen doorway because he had imprinted on the random girl that laid practically dying on their countertop.

And Kun wanted to help the pup and explain everything to him so he could be kept in the loop. He really did. It’s just he… wasn’t sure how to handle the conversation he was going to have to have with him. And he definitely wasn’t sure how to have the conversation out loud where Ten could easily pick up on the situation at hand.

Luckily, the stranger Yangyang had never formally met until a few moments ago decided it would be easier to just lay all the facts out for everyone and let them fall however they were meant to, “Look kid she’s… Chittaphon’s little sister. She was in… an accident… that ended up hurting her pretty badly.” The green eyed boy held some hesitation in his voice, almost as if he was trying to be careful as to not say something he wasn’t supposed to, “Since it’s safer here for her than where we’re from, your alpha gave permission for her to stay here while she tries to heal.”

As he switched his gaze from the rando dude in his normal eating area to you. Yangyang knew he was probably in some sort of shock. But that didn’t mean he could help an itching statement from leaving his mouth, “Bu-but she doesn’t look like any of the pictures of Tern that he’s showed us…”

“Um yeah well, she’s Ten’s other little sister,” Kun eventually chimed in once he himself pushed passed the initial jolt of finding out about the youngest boy’s new predicament, “Apparently he’s got two. And, because the country she came from is a total war zone right now, and because she’s got some serious healing to do, everyone thought it would be best if she stays with us for the time being.” The alpha gave the second oldest wolf a sympathetic smile as he sat his strong hand on the boy’s boney shoulder to try and bring him back into the conversation.

But Ten didn’t smile back. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even give his gege a glance. All he would do was stare at you as you attempted to let out small jagged breaths, not that anyone could blame him. Everyone in the room would have all felt the same type of horror if they had to watch someone they love fight like hell to push and pull their chest up and down.

“That’s all great we’re all caught up. But guys, she’s gonna need moved before her injuries start closing up again.” Sicheng declared seemingly out of no where.

Yangyang watched as your brother’s eyes finally moved to the tallest of his packmates in surprise.

“Agreed,” The small pregnant mate added as she wrapped what looked like a dish towel around one of your arms to compress some stray bleeders, “This hard counter will only make us have to rebreak her bones to set them into the right positions later. And i don’t think anyone here wants to deal with that. So it’s best she gets to an actual bed as soon as possible.”

At that point, Yangyang still wasn’t completely sure what the older group was doing awake in his house so late at night or why they were saying the things they were saying, he was in a fuzzy daze from watching you struggle to keep afloat. But he knew in his gut that he didn’t like the way ‘rebreak your bones’ was brought up into their conversation.

He’d seen breaks before. He’d witnessed both his brothers and friends get seriously harmed and have to hold each other down to snap their limbs in order to reset them. Hell, he’d had to rebreak his own bones a few times before because he was too slow in triaging them. He wouldn’t wish that type of white firey hot pain on anybody. Especially not on you.

“B-but just getting her in here was hard enough. We had to dose her with too many different pain killers to knock her out and stop her from crying.” Ten interjected, quickly remembering the shrieking sobs you emitted from your mouth when they had to get you from the airport parking lot to a cab in order to get you back to the house, “She’s still too hurt. Moving her upstairs to my room’s gonna be too much for her! Her body’s been through too much in one day. The jostling alone- She could go into shock!” The shorter wolf reasoned with pure dread lacing his tone.

Before anyone else could say anything to try to persuade your brother into moving you upstairs despite your pain so that you could get some proper rest, Yangyang drew himself out of his trauma trance and offered his own first floor master bedroom as a solution, “She can take my room downstairs.”

The second the sentence was fully heard by all in the room, a deafening silence overtook the previously chaotic scene as everyone turned their attention to stare at the young pup.

Finally, Yueguang butted in out of concern for the young boy after several long seconds of no one moving or saying anything, “Xiao Yang,” she notably used her motherly nickname for him, as if it may have somehow change his mind/offer, “are you- are you sure?” She questioned, not knowing why her usually reclusive baby brother would want to give up his place of solitude to someone who was a total stranger to him.

“Ten’s right. Moving her upstairs will just move her around too much and make her that much worse. So why wouldn’t I be sure about trying to avoid that?” The pup rhetorically asked without thinking, his eyes still laser focused on you.

He knew if you were even remotely aware of what was going on that you would be in unbelievable agony staying where you were. Yangyang wouldn’t sit on that counter long enough to have a polite conversation with whoever was making dinner let alone lay flat on it with no cushion when he was gravely injured.

He wanted better for you. He wanted whatever it was that could get you fixed faster.

Besides, everyone else in the pack had rooms on the second floor. There was two mated couples living in the house already, one of them with a baby on the way. They shouldn’t have to give up their rooms or their privacy. Especially considering they didn’t know how long you’d need to stay in one to heal.

Which meant he was sure Dejun and Hendery wouldn’t want to give up their rooms either. They would have most likely forced the pup to do it anyways since he was the youngest.

And he figured your brother would have a hard enough time sleeping knowing you were struggling to stay alive through the night. He didn’t need to be sleeping on a lumpy couch so you could take his less than ideal bed.

Yangyang originally took the downstairs bedroom because he thought it was the best room, the pack let him pick first out his first since his family’s money was what helped them buy the place and generally helped to keep the pack from being homeless.

Having money mean he was able to have the most expensive furniture and the most up to date tech. He slept like a baby every night because his bed was of the highest quality and hardly ever felt the need to leave his room due to him having his own mini fridge. Why wouldn’t he want his mate to have access to it all if you were in need of it?

In his mind his room wasn’t just a a quick solution to your problem, it was the only solution.

“If the kid’s offering,” the green eyed foreign wolf pitched in before anyone else had the chance to, “Why are we even analyzing it? She needs somewhere comfortable to be while she gets better. What better place to be than a place where she won’t have to be moved around to much to get to it?”

As the guy who came with you went to pick you up, Yangyang’s jealous and territorial instincts began running through his body.

Yangyang wasn’t normally a jealous person. In fact, he used to consider himself a pretty easy going person. But the second he witnessed your friend attempt to be close to you, alarms went off in his head.

He didn’t want the guy speaking or being around you let alone actually touching you when he didn’t know him from Adam. To top it off, the guy was another werewolf with a scent he didn’t recognize.

And that’s how he found himself quickly rushing over and stopping the giant male from lifting you to his arms, much to the two unsuspecting mates and Ten’s confusion.

Not knowing how well his older brother would react to his recent imprinting on his little sister, and not wanting to rock the boat until the boat was actually patched up, the younger wolf thought carefully before choosing his next words, “I-I’ve got to go to my room to get some stuff out before she takes it anyways. Doesn’t seem right to have to have multiple people make multiple trips.”

Even though Yangyang himself considered what came out of his mouth a half assed lie at best, the rest of the room, minus Sicheng and Kun who had understood that their little brother was only being possessive over you, seemed to have bought the excuse as they easily let him scoop your delicate wounded body up in his arms and take you carefully to his room by himself.

——

On the cautious walk to your needed destination, he was able to get a better look at you than he was able to before when you were laying on the counter.

You were wearing sweats that were a few sizes to big for you as bottoms with a racer back tank top and what he could only assume was a fake cameo military style looking jacket. Your outfit, minus the hole filled jacket adorned on your shoulders and the occasional blood stain from your bandages that needed changed, seemed neatly pressed and clean.

You had jet black hair like your brother, though yours was much much thicker than his, eyelashes and eyebrows included, though one of your eyebrows had a newly formed cut sliced through the middle, and was even borderline curly from what he could see sticking out from it’s messily braided hairstyle.

You had the same circular sweetheart face shape and button nose as Ten did, but you definitely had fuller lips than him and you had much more defined and higher cheek bones.

He could tell based on how simply you fit in his arms that you were much shorter than even Dejun. If he had to guess, he’d say you were probably barely even five foot tall, much like the now pregnant Daiyu.

But most notably, he noticed that, while you had a similar muscle tone to your brother, you had a few shades darker of a complexion and had a bit more curve to you than most traditional Chinese born people did.

And he could’ve swore he saw some black ink markings between some of the gaps of your jacket lacing your skin, tattoos also being something relatively unchinese like. Which lead him to believe there was probably more to the story of your background than the average television ideal-sibling relationship, but he figured he’d get to know the answer to that question when you thought he’d need to know.

No matter what, he thought you were the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life and he didn’t even know your name yet.

Right as he got to his bedroom door, he saw your eyelids lazily flicker open for a few moments like you were trying to wake from a dream. Though it was more of what he saw when you opened them than what you actually did that caught him off guard.

You had eyes so icy blue he almost thought that you may have been blind or had issues with your vision, but he could detect that you were confused as to why you were seeing him, a total stranger, and not whoever had carried you into the house or brought you to the house.

So he ruled that thought out and again just chalked out your difference in appearance to whatever genetic situation it was that you must have came from.

Once in his room, he gently laid you softly on his bed and brought his blanket up to your shoulders.

Though once he turned to head back out of the larger bedroom, it only then seemed to dawn on him how messy of a person he was. He had clothing both clean and new scattered about his floor, half his drawers were opened and visibly rummaged through, and his desk had various wrappers and soda cans piled on it instead of in his near empty trash can.

Figuring you’d probably be out of consciousness for a while, he thought it best to just tidy up quickly before anyone else came in and saw the state of the room he had so eagerly gifted to you.

So almost supersonically, he began picking up his clothes and putting them in his clothing hamper regardless of if they were clean or not, he quietly pushed everything in and shut his dresser drawers, and put any empty soda cans and snack wrappers in his trash can all while doing what he could to not draw attention to what he was doing.

When he looked over to your still sleeping form, your eyes were still set closed and you hadn’t moved, causing him to sigh in relief. He definitely wouldn’t have forgiven himself if he woke you up when you were as troubled as you were, though he still didn’t know quite what was wrong or how it happened.

And the answer to that gnawing question is exactly what he had his sights set on next.

He grabbed a blanket and pillow from his closet to make a makeshift sleeping arrangement for later and tiptoed his way back to the kitchen.

Even halfway there, he could feel the tension radiating from behind the walls in front of him. Whatever conversation they were having was clearly a very serious one and one that, while he didn’t know if he had a right to listen to, he planned on joining.

“You can’t be serious Canton?” The squeakier voiced male of his packmate said in disbelief.

Serious? Serious about what? And who/what the fuck was a Canton?

“It’s true Chitta. I have no reason to lie.” The stranger, named Canton apparently, explained.

Chitta? He must’ve been using some strange nickname for Ten. But he didn’t like using his real name? So why on earth would he have made that nickname with it when he already had another he actually seemed to enjoy? The night was just getting weirder and weirder.

“So everybody went down?” Ten surprisingly clarified just as Yangyang entered the now quiet eating area to see the rest of his family watching the two wolves speak to each other.

Daiyu was sat on one of the dining room chairs pulled up towards the sink with Sicheng holding her shoulders from above in comfort. Yue was, as usual, wrapped in Kun’s arms as he leaned against the counter in front of the sink.

And Ten was sitting atop the island counter while your mysterious friend was settled beside him with his backside leaned against a wall closer to the back door, almost detaching himself from the situation.

Yangyang took it upon himself to stay situated against the doorway frame to the entrance incase they thought to stop the topic when they realized he was in the room.

But, even if the wolves in the room noticed his presence, they either didn’t seem to mind keeping the subject going or they didn’t seem to care enough to stop it. Either way, he wasn’t gonna complain. Though he did want to know what they meant by ‘everybody went down.’

Canton shrugged in shoulders in defeat with an eye roll, “Yeah. And she was the only one left standing when we went through the rubble. I honestly thought she wouldn’t make it either but, being what we are seemed to keep her alive long enough for us to stabilize her and to fly her here to you.”

Only one left standing? Rubble? What we are? Yangyang’s head was spinning at all the possible information being thrown at him.

The guy was making it sound as if people died. And that you may have apparently been a werewolf too…? But he didn’t sense anything else other than a strong scent of wolf on Canton.

Did that mean that you… could’ve been a wolf too? Was Yangyang just too wrapped up in his imprinting on you to notice the signs when he first saw you?

“Does she know?” Yue asked, almost scaring the two who seemed to forget that there were other people in the room with them.

Did you know? Did you know what? That they were all werewolves? Or that you weren’t in wherever your home country was anymore?

The foreign wolf scratched the back of his head to play off his surprise at the taller of the female’s question, “Does she know what?” He scoffed.

Yangyang couldn’t tell if he really disliked Canton because he didn’t like his limited personality or if he really only disliked him because you knew him first. But either way, he wanted to know the answer to the question he asked too, so he thought it best to just not say anything at how annoyingly arrogant the foreign boy sounded when he spoke.

“She means does she know everyone she knows is dead?” Kun deadpanned with a hardened look Yangyang had never really seen before while back hugging his mate and giving her a kiss on the back of her head.

It was nice knowing that the alpha didn’t really seem to take to the new boy either, it made Yangyang not feel too bad about possibly disliking him.

But what was most important from the interaction they were all having was that you were in an accident where people around you, people that you were more than likely close to, had died.

Part of his heart already ached for you, making him have to hide a whine that was threatening to spill from his lips. He couldn’t even imagine the heartbreak you’d end up feeling when you woke up.

Another part of him worried for you. What could’ve happened to you that was so bad you may not have even known you had lost people because you were too busy trying to stay alive? And what in the hell would’ve possessed them to bring you here if you weren’t even informed of their deaths yet?

There were still so many pieces of the missing puzzle that was your life and the maknae wasn’t even sure how he could get answers to any of them without seeming insensitive or rude.

Canton cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest, visibly uncomfortable at the alpha’s explanation, “I’m not 100% sure. I know she knows she got hurt on a mission. But i dont know if she was told about everything that happened leading up to when we extracted her from the aftermath, I didn’t get to check on her until a few hours before our flight. You’ll just have to see when she wakes up and is coherent I guess.”

You got hurt on a mission? What mission? And did he mean they ‘extracted you from the aftermath’ figuratively or literally? And why did he say ‘you’ll just have to see?’ What was this guy?

He was giving answers as if he was some kind of robot or machine. It only made Yangyang confirm that he just didn’t like him as a person in general.

“You’re leaving?!?!?” Ten frantically quizzed the much more muscular boy you came with.

“You know I don’t have a choice Chitta.” Canton spoke in annoyance, pushing himself off the counter to fully face all the baffled faces looking up at him, “It’s all hands on deck. Things… have gotten bad back home…”

He sighed as he ran his hand through his short matted locks, “You can see what they did to her!” The foreigner all but yelled, eyes noticeably getting teary and spotting red as he spoke of the accident that harmed you, showing the only real sense of emotion he was capable of since entering the house, “They’ll do it again. They always do! Except next time they might do it to some girl who isn’t trained for the types of situations they’ll be put in! Or it’ll be some innocent kid!” He clenched his fists and jaw, doing his best to hold in his anger so he wouldn’t alarm or scare the mates surrounding him.

Yangyang was still confused as to what the guy was talking about. And he was even more confused as to why it seemed as if he didn’t want to upset the two girls around him. But he could see the pain in his eyes as he spoke to his friend. He was hurting too.

Maybe not in the same way as you, but something clearly traumatized him. Maybe he was just putting up a front to keep everyone from seeing how upset he truly was.

“I have to go back. Our people will keep fighting until we have no one left to fight for us, you know that. I’m no exception.” He finished, turning to face the back door and closing his eyes to keep the streams of salty tears that had been slowly flowing down his cheeks over the past days from undamning.

“B-But Canton,” Yangyang watched as Ten got off the counter and walked to reach up and put his palm on the other boy’s shoulder, “You know how our relationship is. She’ll never listen to me. She won’t want to be here. She needs you more than me. Neither of your families are even fully from the country. You’re only half bloods. You aren’t obligated to stay there and fight for them you know. You can-” The second oldest in the pack was cut off before he could finish his sentence.

“It’s not about obligation Chittaphon!” The non-native boy spun back around, this time with full crimson eyes, to speak, “It’s about doing what’s right. It’s about helping the helpless and saving every person you possibly can no matter the cost!”

The pure confusion on your brother’s face seemed to just aggravate your friend that much more.

“You’re such a fucking coward you know that?” Canton chuckled, for some reason amused at the whole situation, “You have the balls to say that we’re half blooded, and you may be right because we are. But even as a half blood, your sister puts her whole heart into everything she does. She’s had more honor and compassion from the day she was born than you have or ever will have. You blame her for everything and treat her like she’s an inconvenience. That’s why you don’t get along!” Canton walked forward, causing Ten to go backward till he hit his back against the counter.

None of the three remaining boys in the room really understood where Canton’s sudden anger was coming from. But they had an inkling of an idea as to why his fuse with their packmate was so short.

“You say she’ll need me but that’s only because you know you’re selfish and you’ll feel guilty. You know that without me here, there’ll be no one to put you in check when you force all that resentment on her like you always do!” The boy barked in his face, worrying the pack elders available to intervene as they gestured to Yangyang to guide the girls out of the room, which he did swiftly so that he could be back in the kitchen to see where the insuring fight was going to go.

See, it wasn’t that Ten was a bad person, far from it, he was a great person with a great go getter attitude.

But that was the problem: his self serving ambitions and constant lying/undermining upset people to their core at times.

It upset people to the degree that, for a whole school year, the Dean of their university refused to allow him on the actual campus because he insisted he had to ‘reformed himself’ to match the ‘code of conduct’ of the school. Which he didn’t necessarily do, he just got better at hiding his scheming ways.

They always just assumed he was in good standing with his family because he called Tern and his father regularly and visited them whenever he could.

But after the interaction they found him having with your assumed friend, they guessed he was no better with family matters as he was with his personal matters, at least when it came to you. Hell, they didn’t even know he HAD another sister, so he must’ve really had issues with you.

“You’re worried that one day she’ll finally snap and be done with you because of how you treat her, even though she’s never anything but kind to everyone, because even the sweetest people have their limits!” He began baring his fangs at him, which was when Kun and Sicheng decided it was probably best to at least hold him back a little as to not actually let him lunge at their brother.

“You’re worried her new handicaps will be too much for your little shrimp dick self to deal with and so you want someone here to babysit her! But YOU’RE her real god damn brother for fuck sakes! You need to take care of her the way she’s always taken care of everyone around her! You need to be better asshole! She deserves better!” He hissed, pulling himself back from the smaller Chinese boy, slowly in a huff and making his way to the back door.

“Don’t talk to me about obligation and need Chittaphon,” Canton growled as he reached for the back door handle and turned the knob to open the door, “You’ve never once helped anyone in need. You won’t even help your sister out of familial morality. She deserves better than that you know…” He visibly gulped as the end of his sentence cracked.

Yangyang could hear in his voice the care and love he must have had for you. Part of him was upset that another man was speaking about you in such a way, even though he didn’t know you himself, if was just his territorial instinct.

But the other part of him was oddly grateful to your friend. It seemed as if he risked a lot to bring you to the relative safety of their home.

He knew how hard it was to have to leave loved ones behind, especially after a tragedy. The pup of the pack knew how difficult the decision to leave you here while he had to go back to wherever it was you both came from must’ve been.

“Make no mistake,” Canton moistened his throat once more to gain some composure and continued, “I called you because she had no where else for me to turn to now, not because I thought you’re a good brother to her. Personally, You make me sick. If i had another option, ANY other option at all, I would’ve taken it over you.” He emphasized, “But I had no where else for her to go. And I had to get her somewhere safe. Don’t make me regret it.”

Just as his hand finally pulled the door open, he turned his head to Yangyang’s direction and spoke softer, in a more somber voice than he had used while speaking with your brother, “Watch out for her kid. She got screwed over in the game of life.” He informed him with glossy greening eyes, “The friends she grew up with and the family she had left are all gone. And her brother’s the worlds biggest jackass.”

He gripped the handle of the door harder to vent out the invisible frustration at your situation that he wasn’t wanting his eyes to show, “Make sure she doesn’t get fucked over having you as her mate yeah?” He questioned rhetorically, making Yangyang tense at the sudden mention of him being your mate as he knew full well that his brother had no idea he had imprinted on you yet.

Well now he knew for sure. Now the real question was, was Yangyang actually gonna live to get to even know your name or not?

And with that, the boy walked out of the pack’s house and closed the door, causing the mates to peek their heads through the doorway to see what was happening. But not even the four wolves surrounding the counter knew what was happening.

“Make sure she doesn’t get fucked over with YOU as her WHAT and WHERE was I now?” Ten blinked with a raised brow.

Fuck.

(Edited 12/2/2022)

[owlbloop]

Tw: Mention of sexual assault

I do believe all life is sacred, but a fetus lacks awareness or thought and a total ban of abortion ignores medical nessesicty anyways.

Even if you consider a fetus alive there's no sane point to make towards preventing things like aborting a stillborn or bringing a child into the world that will survive a few days and then die painfully. You aren't pro life if you're signing death warrants for birth givers.

I do believe all peoples lives are important. So I don't believe the government can stop them from making choices about their own body, that the government can force a person with a uterus to surrender their bodily anatomy, particularly with the consequences.

One in five babies miscarries, we have an incredibly high childbirth mortality rate, we don't provide services to take care of these children, we don't run the foster care system well enough for the overloaded thing to handle even more youth, we aren't paying for these peoples medical care and them giving birth in the first place, we aren't giving them good sex ed, abuse and rape are massive issues.. I believe that people with uteruses have important lives that they deserve to live unburdened or crippled by something they never asked for. I don't believe a fetus' possible eventual life outways destroying the lives of innocent people.

Guess what, ace and sex repulsed, still could get pregnant one day, even as a teen. I'm afab and could be sexually assaulted. Maybe I wouldn't have access to resources in time. Maybe they'd fail. Maybe I wouldn't be able to bear bringing it up and might end up hiding it happened, only to discover even worse luck later. That theoretical pregnancy could wreck my body, potentially kill me, the psychological consequences could be devastating, there'd be a kid I'd probably want nothing to do with, my sensory issues make it a struggle to even be around very small children, the stigma id have attached to me could be life altering. Don't have sex? I'd never voluntarily have sex, and even if for some reason I did later in life my partner would be extremely unlikely to be male if I consented to it. So you can't begin to say something like that would be my fault, that I should risk death, permanent damage, and the complete alteration of my life, potentially as a minor, for something I never intentionally risked or asked for.

Yeah, I'm christian. Last I checked the Bible says to love everyone, to be a good Samaritan, to treat others like decent human beings. Didn't Jesus tell a guy he was better off amputating his hand than groping a lady? I'm obviously not him, but I severely doubt this person would blame sexual assault on the victim.

I'm not going to hurt anyone, punish anyone, or threaten anyone because they were scared or unprepared for a child. We should be trying to improve the system instead of hurting those already harmed by it. Nobody is getting an abortion for funzies, they're getting it because they aren't ready for a kid or that kid will end up being the literal death of them. People are more than their ability to give birth.

I don't have it in me to hate anyone, to wish permanent harm or death on anyone, and I mean anyone. The core of Christianity should be love and acceptance, we say Jesus died on the cross to help us, protect us, so we could live even with our flaws. Even if you think God would be against homosexuality, aren't we taught he loves all of his creations, no matter what we do? That he forgives our transgressions? Do you think he'd send LGBTQ people to heck? That he'd approve of mistreating people for something beyond their control? That he'd hate someone for making such a difficult choice about their future and the life that could form inside them?

I don't believe in a God that hates anyone, and I strive to keep sympathy for and recognize the decency and beauty in even the cruelest most difficult people. Of course I don't like everyone. Some people are awful horrible people. But inside they have thought, a life, and a mind. They are aware, they can suffer, and they deserve to live and be treated humanely, even if they wouldn't do the same. Please stop hurting people for your beliefs. I can't stop you from thinking what you do, but don't force it or take it out on others.

Religion shouldn't be used to justify pain. It's something fascinating and valuable to many people, it's something that effects so many lives and perspectives, but it should not be a thing of harm. Religion is not a weapon. It's a lense and aspect of life not everyone takes part in, and no one is wrong for their participation or lack thereof. When we use our beliefs to hurt people we are taking a part of so many people's lives and smashing it to shards, just to justify something that it rarely even justifies in the first place.

I miss being able to take pride in church, and everyday it gets harder to find the good parts. But it's still something important to how I grew up, and it's still important to me now, so please stop twisting it into something so destructive

[simschallenges]

Zodiac Legacy Challenge

(note: because the original poster has deactivated, i am reposting an archived version of the challenge rules retrieved with the wayback machine. all of the following text is a copy of the original post by @autumnalpixels.)

As someone who is a bit of a nerd when it comes to astrology and witchcraft in general, I of course love learning about western zodiacs. So I thought I’d bring my love of the zodiac signs to the sims.

I know that a challenge with this name has been made before, however mine will be more structured for each generation. This is a 12-generation legacy, with each generation representing one of the different zodiacs.

Side note: This legacy is not meant to misrepresent or offend anyone. The generations are being based off of descriptions of the zodiacs from this website. Feel free to read up more about each zodiac to get a better sense of your sim’s personality!

Starting out:

Feel free to make your founder however you’d like. Traits for each heir will be listed in their section, but their looks are up to you so feel free to get creative! You’ll start out like a traditional legacy on one of the 50x50 lots (or 64x64 if you’d like). Here is a link to Pinstar’s legacy rules.

General Challenge Rules:

Honestly this is the only way to fail the challenge, other than not producing an heir.

Generation One: Aquarius

“Aquarius’ are shy and quiet, but on the other hand they can be eccentric and energetic. However, in both cases, they are deep thinkers and highly intellectual people who love helping others. They are able to see without prejudice, on both sides, which makes them people who can easily solve problems.”

Who ever said eccentricity was a bad thing? You are a little out there and can be pretty spacey sometimes, but overall you are very passionate about your morals and strive to make other people’s lives better. Just be careful not to become a pushover.

Traits: Self-assured, Insane, Ambitious Aspiration: Leader of the Pack Career: Politician

Goals:

Reach level ten of the Politician career, either branch

Complete your aspiration

Have a club gathering at least once a week (your club can literally be for anything! Get creative!)

Have three kids, get married as an adult

Have at least four good friends (they don’t have to be a part of your club)

Reach level ten of the Wellness skill

Generation Two: Pisces

“Pisces are very friendly, so they often find themselves in a company of very different people. Pisces are selfless, they are always willing to help others, without hoping to get anything back.”

You love to socialize and surround yourself with all different kinds of people. Your parents loved you and raised you to be kind and perhaps a bit sensitive. You can be insecure at times, especially when it comes to your significant other. For some reason, you can’t seem to stay in a relationship for very long. Is there a way to fix this?

Traits: Creative, Jealous, Gloomy Aspiration: Soulmate Career: Painter

Goals:

Have at least two friends of a different race/gender/sexuality than your sim

Reach level ten of the Painting skill

Reach level ten of the Painter career, either branch

Must go through at least two girl/boyfriends before settling down

Have two kids

Own a pool (at least a 4x4 size)

Generation Three: Aries

“As the first sign in the zodiac, the presence of Aries always marks the beginning of something energetic and turbulent. They are continuously looking for dynamic, speed and competition, always being the first in everything - from work to social gatherings.”

You’re competitive and hard working, and can sometimes come across as a bit arrogant. However, you have a bit of an inferiority complex, so every time your sibling or a friend succeeds, you aren’t too happy about it and always try to one up them. But after a while, you realize that you acting this way is pushing away the people you care about. Can you salvage these relationships before it’s too late and the damage is done?

Traits: Hot-headed, Ambitious, Perfectionist Aspiration: Renaissance Sim Career: Secret Agent

Goals:

Be enemies with your sibling until you are both YA

Only have one friend until you are a YA, since they were the only one who stuck around

Repair your relationships as fast as possible

Reach level ten of the fitness skill

Reach level ten of the Secret Agent career (any branch)

Complete your aspiration

Go for a jog for a total of three hours each week

Have one kid

Generation Four: Taurus

“Practical and well-grounded, Taurus is the sign that harvests the fruits of labor. They feel the need to always be surrounded by love and beauty, turned to the material world and physical pleasures. Stable and conservative, this is one of the most reliable signs of the zodiac, ready to endure and stick to their choices until they reach the point of personal satisfaction.”

You grew up truly appreciating food and what it meant. You were amazed how a simple meal could bring a family together, and how many memories were made because of that. You were close to your parents and were taught to always stand your ground and share your opinions. However, this caused you to become a little bull-headed (pun intended). You’re super stubborn and don’t like to be wrong, and won’t admit that you are ever wrong. This makes romance hard for you, but you keep trying because you are a hopeless romantic at heart. And once you find that special someone, you are loyal ‘til the end.

Traits: Romantic, Foodie, Materialistic Aspiration: Mansion Baron Career: Business

Goals:

use the cheat sims.get_sim_id_by_name {PlayedSimFirstName} {PlayedSimLastName} Get the pregnant Sim’s ID, then use the cheat pregnancy.force_offspring_count {simID} {amount}

Generation Five: Gemini

“Expressive and quick-witted, Gemini represents two different personalities in one and you will never be sure which one you will face. They are sociable, communicative and ready for fun, with a tendency to suddenly get serious, thoughtful and restless. They are fascinated with the world itself, extremely curious, with a constant feeling that there is not enough time to experience everything they want to see.”

Growing up, you had the “perfect life”: two parents who loved each other, lots of friends, good grades, and a beautiful house. You were living the good life, so why did you always feel like you wanted more? You decide to take a step on your own, leaving your family behind to pursue your dreams in the big city. However, you quickly realize that life is harder than it seems. You can’t find a job you’re comfortable in, you can’t hold down a relationship, but you find solace in entertaining people and throwing parties. Something about being a host really makes you feel happy.

Traits: Noncommittal, Outgoing, Insider Aspiration: Party Animal Career: None

Goals:

Must have a twin (feel free to cheat for this)

You are the opposite of your twin, in obvious ways such as style, but also in more subtle ways such as emotions and reactions to events (for example, you could be stereotypical and make one of the twins a “preppy” person and the other an “emo” person)

Reach level ten of the charisma skill

Must move out to an apartment with the Needs TLC trait

Throw every type of party at least once

Complete your aspiration

Have three jobs (at least one week for each) before deciding to freelance (writing books)

Travel to at least two community lots each week and stay there for at least an hour

Have at least level four in three different skills by the time you’re an elder

Learn all of the recipes from the vender stalls in City Living

Have one set of twins (keep trying until you get them)

Be caught cheating by your spouse (you can decide whether they stay together or not)

Generation Six: Cancer

“Deeply intuitive and sentimental, Cancer can be one of the most challenging zodiac signs to get to know. They are very emotional and sensitive, and care deeply about matters of the family and their home. Cancer is sympathetic and attached to people they keep close. Those born with their Sun in Cancer are very loyal and able to empathize with other people’s pain and suffering.”

In another life you would have become a doctor, but in this one you are content with looking after your family and making sure your children grow up the best they can. You’re a loving but strict parent, and just want what’s best for your children. However, will you push them away by being too overbearing?

Traits: Gloomy, Jealous, Family-Oriented Aspiration: Super Parent Career: None

Goals:

Gen six heir must reach level five in Imagination and Communication as a toddler

Master Baking skill

Master Cooking/Gourmet Cooking skills

Host a tea party (or a small get together) every week. Invite over your neighbors, your friends, your family, whomever you’d like. Must have a baked good for the gathering made by you.

Complete your aspiration

Pick up woodworking as a hobby and craft every sculpture

You live off of your parents’ money until you get a spouse: you are to be a house wife/husband, and will never have a job. You’re allowed to sell duplicate sculptures for money, however.

Show off your sculptures by putting them on display somewhere in your house!

Pack a lunch for your kids every morning. If you forget, make them a snack when they get home.

Keep the house clean—all you have to do all day is chores, after all!

Have two kids

Both kids need to have A’s in school

Generation Seven: Leo

“People born under the sign of Leo are natural born leaders. They are dramatic, creative, self-confident, dominant and extremely difficult to resist, able to achieve anything they want to in any area of life they commit to. There is a specific strength to a Leo and their “king of the jungle” status. Leo often has many friends for they are generous and loyal. Self-confident and attractive, this is a Sun sign capable of uniting different groups of people and leading them as one towards a shared cause.”

Your parents were so overbearing to you and your sibling growing up that in your teenage years you began to rebel. Staying out late, skipping class, whatever you could think of. Your parent made sure you got good grades, but you didn’t care about school. All you cared about was your music. You were going to make it big, and you didn’t need calculus to help you rock out on your guitar. You’re arrogant and stubborn, but determined to succeed no matter what the cost. Unfortunately, that means that you can miss out on things that are most important in life.

Traits: Materialistic, Music Lover, Cheerful Aspiration: Musical Genius Career: Entertainer

Goals:

If your heir for this generation is male, come up with some sort of reason for why you got the baby. The mother didn’t want it, the mother died in childbirth, whatever. You can even move her in until she gives birth, then they have a big fight and she walks out on them.

Generation Eight: Virgo

“Virgos are always paying attention to the smallest details. Their methodical approach to life ensures that nothing is left to chance and their heart might be closed for the outer world. This is a sign often misunderstood, not because they lack the ability to express, but because they won’t accept their feelings as valid. The symbolism behind the name speaks well of their nature, born with a feeling they are experiencing everything for the first time.”

You grew up without a strong parental figure in your life, which made it hard for you to trust other people. How do you know that they would be there for you when you truly needed them? You’re cautious and shy, but curious about the world. You truly enjoy learning and collecting things, and through this passion is how you meet the love of your life. They are the only person you can trust, but they can tell you’re always holding yourself back and hiding parts of yourself away from them. Can a relationship last with this kind of distrust?

Traits: Loner, Geek, Bookworm Aspiration: The Curator Career: Scientist

Goals:

Marry a coworker who has at least one trait in common with you

Get married right before becoming an adult

Separate from your spouse for a while after a large fight (your choice if they get back together)

Reach level ten of the Scientist career

Complete your aspiration

Have a home library (at least 25 books)

Finish a collection (your choice)

Have two kids

Generation Nine: Libra

“People born under the sign of Libra are peaceful and fair, and they hate being alone. Partnership is very important for Libra-born, and with their victorious mentality and cooperation, they cannot stand to be alone. The Libra is an Air sign, with expressed intellect and a keen mind. They can be inspired by good books, insurmountable discussions and interesting people.”

You thrive on socialization. Your parents are kind of shy homebodies, but you crave constant company and cannot stand to be by yourself. This can come across as quite overbearing to some people, so sometimes it’s hard for you to make friends. And, despite being such a sociable person, you are kind of oblivious when it comes to romance. You are very childish in the best possible way, and are the kind of parent to get down in the dirt and play with your children. You are a very supportive parent and you strive to make your family as happy as they can be, through whatever means.

Traits: Unflirty, Loves the Outdoors, Goofball Aspiration: Big Happy Family Career: Social Media

Goals:

You post a lot about your kids and about your life, so take as many pictures of your kids as you can!

Generation Ten: Scorpio

“Scorpio-born are passionate and assertive people. They are determined and decisive, and will research until they find out the truth. Scorpio is a great leader, always aware of the situation and also features prominently in resourcefulness.”

You grew up watching true crime television shows and superhero movies and decided that’s what you wanted to do with your life: bring justice and fight evil. Unfortunately you can’t become a superhero, but you can become a police officer/detective. You want to make the world a better place than it was before, and you want your legacy to be something of legend. Hardworking and dedicated to your craft, you tend to focus too much on work and it puts a strain on your relationship.

Traits: Ambitious, Good, Genius Aspiration: Nerd Brain Career: Detective

Goals:

Get married to your high school sweetheart

Complete your aspiration

Reach level ten of the Detective career

Reach level ten of the logic skill

Reach level ten of the handiness skill

Get a divorce (you can decide who gets custody of your kids)

Get remarried as an elder, retire from your career

Have three kids

Generation Eleven: Sagittarius

“Curious and energetic, Sagittarius is one of the biggest travelers among all zodiac signs. Their open mind and philosophical view motivates them to wander around the world in search of the meaning of life.”

You love travel and learning new things. You want to experience as much as you can in your lifetime, which means meeting people different from yourself. You heard that one of your ancestors (generation five) was a big traveller too, so you decide to follow in their footsteps.

Traits: Outgoing, Noncommittal, Dance Machine Aspiration: Friend of the World Career: None

Goals:

Live in three different worlds for at least a week before settling down

Have kids with three different people

Never get married

Make money freelancing (collecting, gardening, painting, writing, whatever you wish!)

Completely redesign your house at least once (after settling down for good)

Go to every festival (unless you’re at work/on a date/at a wedding/etc)

Travel to the Nightclub every Friday

Complete aspiration

Master dancing skill

Master comedy skill

Generation Twelve: Capricorn

“Capricorn is a sign that represents time and responsibility, and its representatives are traditional and often very serious by nature. These individuals possess an inner state of independence that enables significant progress both in their personal and professional lives. They are masters of self-control and have the ability to lead the way.”

You hated how free spirited and laid back your parent was, and craved structure and discipline. Since a teen, you had a schedule every day after school: do homework, practice your skills for an hour, eat dinner, go to bed. Moving around so often meant that you didn’t make many friends, so you chose to devote all of your time to mastering as many skills as you could. But focusing in on one detail of life made you miss out on the bigger picture.

Traits: Ambitious, Snob, Mean Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy Career: Tech Guru

Goals:

Since this is the final generation, you can choose whether to have kids or not. Preferably none.

Reach level ten of the Tech Guru career (either branch).

Master logic skill

Have at least level seven in three other skills (your choice)

Follow a schedule every day; spontaneity is not your strong suit

Get married as an adult to someone who shares at least one of your traits and is in the same career as you.

Live in an expensive house (200,000 simoleons or more) by the time you’re an adult

Surround yourself only with other snobby people

Buy an expensive item every Wednesday. (Perhaps even start a collection of expensive artwork or sculptures and showcase them somewhere in your house. Feel free to get creative with it.)

Oh wow, we’ve made it to the end of the challenge! I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to show me pictures or update me on your playthrough on this if you’d like (tumblr: autumnalpixels.tumblr.com/twitter: @absoluteking8). You can also use the hashtag #autumnalzodiac so I can see your posts and reblog some of them!

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to tell me and I’ll take them into consideration. <3

[365days365movies]

March 15, 2021: Clash of the Titans (Review: Part One)

Please. Let me write a Greek mythology movie. I’m tired.

I am SO TIRED of Greek mythology being so...misused. Do y’all realize how much potential lies in an adaptation, a PROPER adaptation of Greek myths? Because it’d be fantastic if done well. Look, I’m not a writer, let alone a script or screenwriter, but I could write a better adaptation of Greek mythology, I swear I could.

Full warning, you might wanna skip this part. It’s gonna be...REALLY long. 

So, yeah, this “review” is getting broken up into two parts. The first part here is really just a rant/hypothetical Perseus film that Id make if I had any screenwriting ability. Yeah, it’s basically a fanfic, so feel free to, like, not. Check out the Review here. Read ahead at your own peril.

You might be saying, “OK, bet; how would you adapt the story of Perseus?” Fair question, metaphorical yet judgmental person; how would I do it, exactly? Well, I’d mostly do it straight, to be honest. But you need to make this a cinematic adaptation, right? SO story changed need to be made, I get that. And I think that needs to start with the gods.

First up, you need Zeus, if for no other reason than to father Perseus. I do like the fact that he’s a patron for Perseus throughout these movies, but I don’t like Zeus as a straight-up dad. That’s for various reasons, but I’ll get there. Perseus’ main patron, instead, should be his half-sister: Athena.

Seriously, Athena needs to be a big part of this movie. She’s not exactly one of the biggest patrons for heroes, but she does like them. In the case of Perseus, she should sympathize with him. Perseus, after all, is one of the first major Greek heroes. Yeah, he really should be one of the first, and that needs to be fully acknowledged. Athena, in her LITERAL INFINITE WISDOM, should see the young demigod for what he could become: a bonafide hero. And so, she needs to be a part of this movie. One of her key allies should be...

Hermes should be, well, mercurial. Always moving, never truly still, because dude is CONSTANTLY busy. Not only is he a messenger, but he’s also the god of medicine, AND a psychopomp that escorts spirits to the underworld. Yeah, he wears a lot of winged hats. He’s also another extramarital child of Zeus, giving him sympathy for Perseus as well.

While he’s mostly a neutral god, he could also serve as a messenger from Athena to Perseus, delivering to him the gifts from the gods. He could even be the one who gets the Helm of Darkness from Hades, given his relationship to death and the Underworld. So, he’s gotta be in there as an ally of Athena. Hell, he could even be the one who finds Perseus and tells Athena about him in the first place. OK, Athena and Perseus now have an ally, so what about a villain?

Well, this movie had Calibos and technically Thetis, the 2010 had fuckin’ Hades (because of course they did), but no. Both are the wrong choice. The right choice here, in my humble opinion, is one that MAKES FUCKING SENSE.

Hot take: POSEIDON IS AN ASSHOLE. I realize that this statement has doomed me to a death at sea, but that won’t stop me from hiding the truth. Yeah, dude’s the god of the ocean, and of horses, but he’s also the father of countless monsters, nearly as horny as his younger brother Zeus, and the god of earthquakes. He’s a petty, tempestuous god, as angry and ever-changing as the ocean that he rules. And he’s ABSOLUTELY the right choice for a villain of a Perseus movie.

The movie would begin in the ocean, the source of all of the troubles in this movie. 20 years before the main events of the film, we emerge from the ocean and soar over an island, on which is a beautiful temple. Waves wash over the island, enveloping it. A woman’s scream is heard in the background, as we soar over the island, following an owl that is flying away from the island. As we fly over the ocean, narration tells us that this is a world of gods and monsters, and the owl flies over creatures in the ocean, like hippocampi and other such creatures. The owl flies over another island, which on screen text identifies as Argos. Here, a shower of gold dust flies up from a building. Perseus has just been conceived.

Cut to a day not too far afterwards, where King Acrisius is meeting with an unseen trio of women, in a cave on a mountainside. The king tells them that his daughter, Danae, has become pregnant, although he knows not by whom. The women reveal that Zeus is her lover, and that this will bring great ruin onto the kingdom of Argos, especially onto Acrisius himself. This is a big problem, too, as the kingdom of Argos worships Poseidon as their patron god. Acrisius, see, was planning on saving Danae for Poseidon, as a perverse offering to the god. But Zeus beat him to the punch, which has made Poseidon angry. And so, Acrisius sacrifices his daughter to Poseidon...by putting her in a box, which he casts out to sea.

Poseidon is about to destroy the box and Danae, who is still pregnant with her child. However, Zeus won’t have it, and in a battle between the two gods, a storm with golden lightning rages over the sea, and sweeps the box away, to the safety of an island where it washes up on shore, AWAY from Poseidon’s wrath. Zeus’ protection saves Danae, who has given birth to a son: Perseus. Poseidon, spurned of his revenge against his brother, makes a child of his own. But we only see its shadow beneath the waves. He’ll come back later.

Time passes, and a few things happen. The kingdom of Argos falls, and Acrisius is brought to ruin, as the mysterious prophetesses predicted. They are starved of fish, and the king is blamed, for condemning his daughter to death. He is driven into exile, and Argos is destroyed...by Poseidon’s mysterious child, who is only known by the name Cetus. The city still exists afterward, so that Perseus has a place to return to, but it’s wrecked.

Meanwhile, Perseus grows up, into a young man. He’s not particularly strapping, but he’s still surprisingly strong and hardy for his size. All the while, he’s watched over by a little owl, the same one we saw in the beginning of the film, flying over the ocean. Appearing below the owl is a rooster, which flies up next to the owl. Both of them watch the young Perseus, then look up when they hear the screech of a golden eagle, flying high in the sky above them. They look at each other, as the eagle flies up to the tip of a nearby mountain. The owl and rooster fly off, with the rooster flying higher than a rooster should be able to fly.

We follow them as they pass through the clouds, and they turn into their true forms: Athena and Hermes. They watch the golden eagle fly into a separate grand temple, as thunder and lightning appear. We’re not gonna see Zeus until nearly the end of this movie. Athena and Hermes discuss Perseus in Athena’s temple on Olympus. Hermes is a bit busy, so he’s off in a hurry, but Athena sits and ponders Perseus’ situation.

Perseus, meanwhile, has a different problem: surviving. Poseidon’s been particularly dickish lately, and the fish stock around Perseus’ island is low as FUCK. His mother, meanwhile, is older now, and struggling with her health. An old hermit walks into the village one day, and hears Perseus’ troubles. The hermit tells Perseus that the fish market is good near the nearby kingdom of Aethiopia, which includes a large and prosperous city that may also have medicine to help his ailing mother. Perseus decides to go on the journey there. As he leaves the hermit, we see the hermit’s eye color change to a sparkling electric blue.

Perseus heads onto the seas, with a fishing boat leaving for Aethiopia. The second that boat hits the water, Poseidon senses the blood of Zeus on his ocean. Being the petty asshole he is, he sees his chance to finally exact revenge on Zeus for stealing Danae from him. He sends his child, Cetus, after the ship to sink it. We don’t see the  Cetus brings rough water with it. However, Zeus again protects the ship on its journey, and Poseidon’s SUPER butthurt now. He watches Perseus make his way to Aethiopia.

Aethiopia, in this movie, is a city that doesn’t particularly worship any one god. It’s not exactly the least theistic place in the world, though, because its residents will still fear any action that the gods take against them. That’ll come in handy later. Perseus lands there with the boat, and is immediately overwhelmed by the city’s grandeur. Additionally, he stands out here, as the people there are mostly, surprise surprise, black and brown in skin color. BECAUSE IT’S NORTHERN AFRICA!!! YEAH! Andromeda COULD BE BLACK, FUN GODDAMN FACT. Aethiopia was used to describe southern kingdoms below Libya, which was northern Africa! Come on, man!

While wandering blind through the city, Perseus bumps into a young woman, shrouded in plain vestments as she walks through the village. And it’s immediately love at first sight for Perseus, although the young woman seems somewhat nonplussed. This is the beautiful and radiant Andromeda, and YEAH! I’M RIPPING OFF ALADDIN A LITTLE! SUE MEI! See, Andromeda’s trying to explore her kingdom, as she’s been somewhat sheltered throughout her life, protected in the castle by father King Cepheus and shallow mother Queen Cassiopeia.

The two part quickly, but her visage remains in Perseus’ mind, horny Zeus’ kid that he is. He finds out who she is later on, considering what’s about to happen. See, there’s a festival going on, and it’s actually leading up to Andromeda’s 20th birthday. The overly clingy Cepheus honors his daughter unnecessarily, setting up an entire 2-week celebration leading up to her birthday.

During the nightly celebration, which Perseus attends, there’s a great feast. He bumps into Andromeda once again, and the two start talking. Andromeda is kind, if naïve, and wants to be a good queen to her people. However, she feels like a trophy, set aside for any given suitor wanting to win her heart. Perseus sympathizes, and feels a bit guilty, as her beauty was what struck him most at first, but has now begun to appreciate her as a person, over the course of this conversation. Said conversation is watched by Athene, in owl form once again.

The conversation’s interrupted by Queen Cassiopeia, who makes a speech about her daughter, and you know what’s coming here. She says that her daughter is beautiful, moreso than any of the Nereids, or anything that the sea could produce. And everybody laughs, it’s real funny, people agree...and then, we zoom over to a nearby fountain. The water begins to shake, and then, the ground itself begins to shake! Because Poseidon is the GOD OF EARTHQUAKES. COME ON, USE THIS SHIT!

Poseidon, pissed off, manifests from the water of the fountain, and we now see his visage in full for the first time, and it needs to be IMPOSING. He looks at the queen, and at Andromeda herself. He says that for Cassiopeia’s hubris, they are to be punished. Her child will meet one of his, the great Cetus, and then they’ll be able to compare “prowess and beauty”. This is certain death for Andromeda, obviously, and everybody knows it. This is to be done on her 20th birthday, or all of Aethiopia will fall. It’s then that Perseus steps in to defend Andromeda.

Poseidon looks at him, and says something like: “And look! As if to perfect this offering, Zeus’ bastard steps in the save the day! Well, child, do you offer yourself to me, after evading my justice for so long?” Everybody, INCLUDING PERSEUS, if totally shaken by this revelation. See, Perseus had NO IDEA that he was the child of Zeus. But he swallows his surprise, and offers himself in Andromeda’s stead. As Poseidon’s about to kill him there and then, he hears a hoot from the rafters, and sees the visage of Athena overlapping the little owl. Not comfortable with this situation, he offers a deal: if Perseus can complete a task for him, he will spare Andromeda’s life. Perseus accepts IMMEDIATELY, without hearing the task. And that task?

Kill the Gorgon Medusa, and bring her head back to Aethiopia before Andromeda is sacrificed.

Yeah, not good, and definitely unfair. Perseus isn’t exactly a warrior of any prowess, so this won’t end well for him. Poseidon laughs, and disappears into the water of the fountain. Silence befalls the hall, and all eyes turn to Perseus. Athena leaves, and flies up to her temple, angry and frustrated. She then decides that, if Poseidon is going to meddle in the affairs of the mortal world so strongly, then she will do the same. She finds Hermes, and the two start to conspire.

The next morning, Perseus heads out on the journey, although he has no idea what to do. Andromeda begs him not to do it, but he says he has little to lose. King Cepheus, humbled by Perseus’ intentions, promises whatever Perseus wants if he succeeds. Perseus states that he wants little, but will take assistance for his mother and village. It’s done. And Andromeda, to the surprise of her mother, almost offers her hand in marriage to her as well. But she stops short, still hesitant.

Perseus is about to go the distance, when a little owl catches his eye. Something tells him to follow the owl, and he does. Athena reveals herself, and Perseus is struck, not knowing what to do. She tells him to find the Greae, as they will tell him how to get to Medusa. He asks how he will get there, and Athena gives him his first divine item: Hermes’ winged sandals, loaned to him by the messenger god himself. The sandals will guide him to the location of the sisters. And Perseus accepts.

He makes his way to the sisters, the shenanigans with the eye stay about the same (it’s pretty solid in the 1981 film, not gonna lie), and from there, he finds out where to go. In the meantime, Athena’s and Perseus’ deeds are being noticed by the gods, eventually making their way to the three brothers. Poseidon is, of course, enraged at these happenings, considering them dishonorable to him, and also incensed as this is coming from Athena, a long-standing rival of his. Hades seems neutral about it. And Zeus...we’ll come back to him. Hermes, joined by Dionysus, speaks with Athena in Olympus, and delivers something to her to give to Perseus: Hades’ Helm of Darkness. He’s curiously chosen a side, but why isn’t known even to Hermes. Will that reason ever be revealed?

I have my reasons. Dionysus, also inspired by Perseus’ origins (which mirror his own as well), gives to Athena a wine-colored cloak, impervious to harm from all poisons and corrosive items. Inspired by this, Athena thinks on her history with Medusa. And, uh...remember that scream from the beginning? Yeah, Medusa’s “birth” coincides with Perseus’ conception. While Poseidon was...busy...Zeus went for Danae behind his back. And we’re going to sanitize Medusa’s origin...a little. But for Athena’s sake, specifically.

Poseidon raped Medusa. That’s a given. And Medusa was a priestess of Athena, but not a great one. Although Athena was angered at Poseidon’s actions GREATLY, the one who inevitably suffered for it was Medusa. Poisoned by Poseidon’s actions, she was transformed into her current form. And in this case, it’s not made clear whether or not Athena directly caused it...but it’s clear that Athena did nothing to stop it. This can be changed in some ways, but this is how I’m changing it for the movie. If you disagree, entirely understandable, I’m open to suggestions here.

OK, after that flashback, we see that Athena’s kind of ashamed of her actions, but not entirely. I realize that this is a stretch for Athena’s character, but this is a movie for wider audiences, so we’ll go for it. There’s a reason, I promise. Athena delivers the gifts to Perseus, which he finds once he’s left the cave of the Greae. That’s the cloak from Dionysus, the Helm of Darkness from Hades, and Athena’s offering, a mirrored shield. Perseus heads out to slay Medusa.

Poseidon, meanwhile, has his own ideas. He goes to speak with Hera, a shadow antagonist who’ll get her day later on. He persuades her to help take care of Zeus’ bastard son, and she reluctantly gives him permission to use one of her creations. What this is is left a mystery for the time being, but not for long. Perseus is busy flying with the winged sandals, and is thinking on how easy the journey has been. He’s getting a little cocky, in other words. But that’s quickly stopped when he’s blind-sided by something hitting him in the sky. He’s sent flying, and when he focuses up again, he sees what’s hit him.

YUP. HARPIES. Now, at this point, you may be saying: “365, you hypocrite! That never happened in the original story of Perseus! You sonuvabitch!” To that I say:

This is supposed to be a movie, and it’s gotta be a little exciting.

The origin of the harpies is entirely unstated, and Hera loved her some birds, so it makes sense that she would have some. In fact, I kind of want to make them women that Hera punished with this form, possibly for their association with Zeus at some point.

I’m setting something up, just trust me here.

Harpies as a concept are a familiar enemy to most audiences.

They’re cool, and an aerial battle’s even cooler here.

Perseus needs some mortal peril, because of something that’s about to happen.

OK. With that, the Harpies attack Perseus, and Perseus realizes that he doesn’t have a weapon to fight them with. He’s forced aground, on a seemingly desrted island. The Harpies fly off for now, ready to pick Perseus off later. Perseus, now stuck on the island, wanders around. At the same time, Zeus, sees this, and turns into an eagle once again. He flies off to a volcano, as an irritated Hera looks on. At the volcano, he flies into a cave, lined with veins of many metals. This is Hephaestus’ forge.

Hephaestus is another of those gods that I feel like never gets his day in court. There are many reasons for that, to be fair, but I’d like him to have a role in this story. He’s a relatively neutral god, mostly caring about his work at the anvil, moreso than anything else. I also like the idea of having him almost be a running joke in his scenes, in that he always comes up with devices far beyond their time. Like, at a certain point, he offers something for Zeus to give to Perseus, which he calls a “thunderblast”. And it’s a fucking CANNON, YEARS ahead of its time. You also see sketches for smaller versions, which are just straight up guns. But, y’know, eus will refuse that.

Speaking of that, THIS is the first time that we’ll see Zeus’ true face, lit by the light of the forge. And there are a few reasons for this, one of which being that Zeus’ casting should be a big name, and a surprise in marketing. But other than that, Zeus’ really shouldn’t have too much import in the story, outside of Perseus’ creation. However, looking at Hephaestus, who is himself a cast-out and neglected offspring of the gods, Zeus actually manages to eke out a little guilt for his actions for one. He asks Hephaestus to make something for him and Perseus. Hephaestus is hesitant, but agrees upon hearing about Perseus’ origins, because Hephaestus is ALSO HIS HALF-BROTHER...in this movie. Hephaestus’ origin has changed in different tellings, but I want him to be Zeus’ kid. So, yeah, Hephaestus agrees to make something...simple.

Perseus is on the island. There, he’s being watched by YET ANOTHER mysterious figure. Because, yeah, that’s how these people should work. See, there’s another benefactor for him that I want to bring in for various reasons. This island appears to have been inhabited at some point, but was abandoned for unknown reasons. Perseus wanders around, and stumbles upon a ruined Great Hall, open to the sky. He wanders in, nervously. But then, to his surprise, he sees a great feast before him, as a fire roars in the hearth at the end of the hall. He looks at the fire for a moment, and sees a woman tending it. But as the fire bursts, it produces a flash of light, and the woman is gone. Who was she, though?

The LEAST used and talked about goddess in all of pop culture. An unofficial/occasional Olympian, and far less popular than Dionysus, who usually takes her seat. I actually want her to have given Dionysus her seat, as she will be wandering the world, bestowing blessings on the households of those worthy mortals who honor her. To Perseus, she gives this gift, and this hall with maintain this gift in the future. This goddess is Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth and Home.

AND YES I AM AWARE OF HESTIA IN THE ANIME DANMACHA. Doesn’t goddamn count, because that obviously isn’t Hestia. The Greek goddess deserves some respect, as she’s literally the oldest of all of them, and was VERY respected in Greek culture, by LITERALLY EVERYBODY. So, yeah, Hestia’s going to appear here, ever so briefly.

The other reason for this is...well, the Harpies show up, as Perseus eats. They perch on the roof of the Great Hall, and watch him eat. He notices them, and as he reacts, they come down to take the food and attack him. Perseus realizes that the food has revitalized his weary body, and he runs. However, the Harpies prevent egress, and he still has no weapon. Until...

Thunder clashes, and lightning strikes in the middle of the Great Hall! The fire goes out, but light is coming from something in the center of the table, as Perseus and the Harpies look on. With the lightning bolt, there traveled a harpe, a type of sword, which is embedded in the table. But this is no ordinary sword, as it chines silver, almost blue in hue, as electricity arcs off of it. This is a divine sword, forged by Hephaestus on the order of Zeus himself.

But the sword is nameless...for now. Perseus uses the flashes of the sword to fend off the harpies. When one of them lunges at him, he quickly moves in response to it, and strikes it just, slicing off a wing. The other Harpies fly away in fear, but not too far. Perseus takes the opportunity, and leaves the great Hall, maybe grabbing some food on the way. Now armed, he has a way to kill Medusa, and to take her head. He heads to the island, with new purpose.

Meanwhile, in Aethiopia, the people are starting to panic. Remember when I said the city wasn’t particularly religious before? WELL THEY ARE NOW, since they’ve realized that they’ve profaned Poseidon with their arrogance. The vain Cassiopeia is now terrified, for herself rather than for her daughter. Cepheus is terrified for Andromeda, and Andromeda...well, Andromeda is putting hope in Perseus, but she is also prepared to sacrifice herself if necessary. But deep down, she doesn’t believe it will be, because she oddly believes in Perseus.

However, Cepheus won’t be able to hold off the hordes forever, It’s been nearly a week, and Andromeda is to be sacrificed soon. And if Cepheus won’t do it, the newly religious Cassiopeia and the crowd will.

Poseidon realizes that his plan with Hera’s Harpies didn’t work...perfectly. Damn, he’s still alive. Plus, the Harpies won’t get off of the island now, especially seeing that food seems to be magically appearing every night, due to Hestia’s gift. Maybe and island with magically appearing food beset by Harpies will, I dunno...come backcoughcogchJasoncoughcoughArgonautscoughcough. Nevertheless, Poseidon hatches another plan, a back-up plan to get revenge on Zeus and Perseus. He tells a nymph to “find him”. We’ll get to “him” later.

However, this is a problem for Perseus still, because he’s been thrown WAY off course from the island of Medusa. Even with the sandals, he’d be cutting it close to get back to Joppa with Medusa’s head. And that’s if he gets back with the head. Still a big if, that. In any case, he’s headed there to do what he must. He’s already faced the Greae and the Harpies, so, hey! Not too bad so far, right? Just Medusa next, and then a giant sea monster! Hahaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Well...whatever. For Andromeda, and for something else, he’s going to do it. Perseus looks at the sword, and wonders what’s up with the whole “Zeus is my dad” thing yet again, but shakes it off as he continues flying. Above him, an eagle flies. Said eagle is soon joined by an owl, and the two share a look as they follow Perseus. He’s close to the island, and Medusa’s island is prominent on the horizon, shrouded in a dark eerie fog.

Perseus lands on the island, after hovering above it for perhaps too long. This is, unsurprisingly, the same island from the beginning of the film, now in ruins. He gears up, and this includes the Helm of Darkness this time. He creeps into the temple, and is struck by surprise when he sees a Gorgon slithering next to him. OH SHIT

On first glimpse, the invisible Perseus notes that the creature is indeed monstrous, standing 6-feet tall, with snakes for her short hair and fang-like teeth protruding from her mouth. And while there are some details not actually in Greek mythology, I do like some details given in the films. Firstly, this Gorgon is armed not only with her looks and teeth, but bows and arrows, as seen as she takes an arrow, and coats in in poison dripping from her teeth.

Perseus realizes the danger that he’s in, but also doesn’t realize that this ISN’T Medusa. YUP. This is one of the Gorgons, but not Medusa. He approaches the creature, confident in his invisibility. However, he isn’t careful enough, and accidentally kicks a pebble. The Gorgon looks directly at him, into his EYES, and he’s paralyzed! But...he isn’t turned to stone, curiously. This is how he figures out that this isn’t Medusa, but simply another Gorgon. He also realizes how careless he’s being, and takes care to avert his eyes from the Gorgons and Medusa.

He gets over his paralysis eventually, then carefully makes his way to the main temple. On the way, he encounters another Gorgon, completing the trio of Gorgons present in mythology. He walks into the temple, and as he does, a door slams shut behind him. Now the Gorgons up until now have been monstrous and fairly tall women, with snakes for hair and hideous visages, but also with mostly humanoid bodies, with legs that they can walk upon. Medusa, though...Medusa’s different.

As the door closes, Perseus is clearly unnerved. The temple seems empty in front of him, but he also sees statues littered around it, clearly those of mortal men turned to stone by Medusa’s gaze. He walks carefully, and as he does, he hears a voice call out, asking who’s there. She can smell him, sense him, and he is not completely invisible to her. Perseus says nothing, as not to completely give away him position. But he is TERRIFIED, and the audience should be as well. Because we see glimpses of her throughout the temple. You ever see the new version of Disney’s The Jungle Book? Remember how they first showed Kaa?

In the same way, coils of a snake’s body are seen, slithering around Perseus, who’s looking for Medusa. All the while, a hissing voice speaks to him from the shadows. She recognizes that his patron is Athena, her former priestess. She explains her rage, both at Poseidon for what he did, and for Athena for abandoning her and condemning her to this terrible fate. She asks why he’s come, guessing that it’s to kill her. He confirms this, but upon hearing her story, expresses his doubts.

But Medusa...Medusa doesn’t really care. If this is a favored beneficiary of Athena, as she used to be, she wants him fucking DEAD. And she doesn’t care who he is, or what his mission is, or about his feelings. he’s going to turn him into stone, and display him in her collection, so that Athena can see something she loves turned into a monstrous form. And now, we see Medusa in full. And I gotta say, Harryhausen had it right. So did Warner Brothers in adapting it.

Half snake, half woman, with long, LONG snakes for hair, and a long snake body as well. She’s also surprisingly beautiful, as I actually do like the idea of keeping her beautiful, in a way to remind her of what she used to be. She’s armed not with a bow and arrow, but with a stone spear. And she’s BIG in form. Her head is still human-sized, but she was clearly a tall woman when she was human. She uses her body to rear up to terrifying heights, though, and Perseus can only see glimpses of her as she reveals herself.

She attacks him, and Perseus has to think fast. In the original myths, he gets her in his sleep. In the movies, it’s a combination of luck and mirrors. But here...here, it’s going to be different. See, we’re going with the old fallen pillar gag. Perseus enrages her, and tricks her into knocking over pillars of the temple that they’re in. She attacks with the spear, with statues thrown by her snake body, with her snake body, and also with an addition: spitting venom, like that of a spitting cobra.

But he manages to either dodge it, or block it with the corrosive proof cloak. All the while, he avoids her gaze, but his helmet is knocked off in the process. She can see him now, and that’s bad news. But only one more column needs to fall. Perseus tricks her into knocking the temple down around her, and she’s trapped in the rubble.

Perseus escapes, and the other Gorgons outside are knocked out by the debris. However, Medusa’s definitely not dead. He stumbles across her, under the rubble, and still enraged. She’s trapped now, though, and he can kill her easily. She actually asks him to, and he refuses at first. But Athene, in owl form, lands on a still standing pillar, in Medusa and Perseus’ eyeline. They see it, and they know that it’s a sign of what Perseus needs to do. Perseus closes his eyes. And he swings.

The blood washes over the sword, smoking. Now christened in an act of mercy and strength, the blue-silver turns to gold, and a name appears on the blade: Chrysaor (and yeah, I know Chrysaor was a dude, but I am TAKING CREATIVE LICENSE HERE). But Perseus is upset by this, feeling that he wasn’t a great hero at all. But Athena appears, and notes that mercy is also a quality of heroism. Something even the gods could learn (referring to herself, and her actions in reference to Medusa). He looks at her, unsure of what to think. 

Not that it matters, since he’ll never get back to Aethiopia in time to save Andromeda. And then...the rubble begins to shake. Perseus arms himself, and he points the sword at the rubble, expecting to fight a Gorgon. But instead, an unexpected creature springs up from the rubble: Pegasus.

YUP. I’M STILL DOING IT! I realize that Pegasus is NOT Perseus’ mount, but he is actually linked to the myth via Medusa. So, yeah, Pegasus is born of Medusa. Perseus looks at Athena, who notes that Pegasus looks swift, and seems to be a way back. Pegasus is also pretty grateful to Perseus, as he’s technically responsible for his freedom. So, yeah...he gets ONE ride.

Perseus puts the head of Medusa in the cloak of Dionysus, and gets on Pegasus. As Perseus takes off with Pegasus and Chrysaor, Athena looks at the body of Medusa. Zeus, as the eagle, looks on, and follows Perseus to Aethiopia. Athena stays behind, and then is joined by Hermes. He notes that he’s here for Medusa’s soul, as Hades has been waiting for her soul this whole time. There’s his ulterior motive. But Athena tells Hermes that she’ll be accompanying them. She will speak to Hades.

But enough of that, because Andromeda’s set to be sacrificed! The angry mob has hit a fever pitch, and it’s day before her birthday! Cassiopeia, now fully in the cult of Poseidon with the rest, brings her daughter to the rocks to be chained up. Cepheus tries to stop this, but the mob stops him instead, imprisoning him on the command of Cassiopeia. Andromeda is also taken captive, set to be sacrificed to Poseidon to gain his favor.

Perseus gets to Aethiopia, and lands near Joppa, the capital city. Pegasus takes off, bidding goodbye to Perseus, who thanks him. Pegasus has a date with a kid named Bellerophon. And Perseus is finally feeling confident. Although, he’s not entirely sure what he’ll do when he gets there. But he’s got the head, so what could go wro-BAM!!!

He’s blindsided, with a hit to the face by a rock! And here, we get a bit of an aside from the myth to add something. See, Perseus wakes up, as he’s been out for a WHILE. As he wakes up, he sees an old man, clearly bedraggled and haggard. The man notes that he’s awake after all, and Perseus notes that he has the sword and Medusa’s head in the cloak. This old man introduces himself as an old banished king. He explains that he is there to kill Perseus, on command from Poseidon. You see, he’s been given a chance at absolution, for offending him via inaction many years ago.

The two have a heart-to-heart of sorts, about the expectations of the gods, and Perseus asks why he hasn’t killed him. The king doesn’t reveal his full reasons, those being that Perseus is, of course, his grandson. But Perseus asks him to let him live, in order to save someone with the item in the bag. Curious, the old king looks in the bag...

Stone. And thus, Acrisus’ prophesied downfall is done. Shocked and saddened by this, Perseus nevertheless takes the head, his sword, and his sandals. and takes off to save Andromeda. More time’s been lost, and Andromeda’s lost her hope in Perseus, as has everybody else. By the time he gets there, Poseidon’s released Cetus, who can look however, but I will say I think the incarnation in the 2010 movie was pretty solid. Cetus heads off to kill Andromeda, under the watch of Cassiopeia and her cult of Poseidon.

But then, Perseus shows up to present the head, and sees Cetus having arrived to devour Andromeda. Instinctively, he presents the head to Cetus, and turns him into stone (because I think that’s a cool way for him to go). Andromeda is saved, but Poseidon is PISSED THAT HIS PLAIN FAILED. He rears up from the ocean, complete with earthquake tremors, ready to kill Perseus himself. BUT ZEUS IS FUCKING DONE WITH HIS BULLSHIT.

He steps in the way of Poseidon, and screams that there’s been enough damage done! At the first full appearance of Zeus, EVERYBODY in Aethiopia reacts. While everyone bows in reverence, Cassiopeia’s so freaked out that she runs away. She’ll be leaving the city altogether, and when she does, she’s watched over by a cuckoo (or a peacock). This is Hera, and as a god of women AND OF MOTHERS...she’s going to be punishing Cassiopeia for her deeds.

Zeus and Poseidon speak, and the two come to tentative peace. This is settled in the courts of Olympus, where everybody involved comes together to speak about this affair. They note that, despite Poseidon’s petty bullshit, something unique has happened. A mortal child of a god, spurned on by their actions, has managed to outsmart and defeat countless obstacles. And now, celebrated for saving Andromeda and the city of Joppa, Perseus is celebrated. Zeus predicts that he will be made king, with Andromeda as his queen. And this pleases Zeus greatly. Poseidon, still angry, is not convinced. But Zeus directs his attention away from Perseus’ celebration, and towards one of his children: Pegasus.

A new age is now dawning in the world of man, and in the world of gods. As Pegasus flies over the oceans, he flies over an island, as Zeus narrates on the nature of this new age of heroes. And as Pegasus lands, we see the city of Corinth in the distance. The narration concludes, as we are introduced to a young man, a prince named...Bellerophon.

Cut to black.

Well...almost. There’s a mid-credits scene, where a newly crowned Perseus goes back to his island with a fleet of ships to see his mother, and bring her to Aethiopia to live happily. And then, there’s an after-credits scene, with Athena. She’s looking at the mortal word, and looking forward to this age of heroes. She sees that some divine intervention may be needed in the land of Boeotia. She asks her attendant to fetch her shield. And Medusa, saved from the Underworld by a penitent Athena, brings her the shield, Gorgoneion, now adorned with the image of Medusa’s former self, as a reminder to Athena to be merciful. And off she goes, to help another burgeoning hero: Cadmus

AND SO THE AGE OF HEROES BEGINS

Alongside a theoretical franchise, of course.

If you read this nonsense, then...wow, why? But also, thank you! Mostly for putting up with my mad ravings. I’ll be putting the the straight-up review of this film later today, but...I really needed this off my chest. Any thoughts? Any ideas? Any criticisms? Any petty insults? I’ll take it, whatever it is! THanks again for putting up with this.

See you in the ACTUAL REVIEW!!!

[stephkaylor]

FAVES and FAILS: The Vampire Diaries

So I have decided that since The Vampire Diaries has a spin off, The Originals, I am going to divide the characters based on where they appeared the most. So on this list I will be talking about the Salvatores, the Petrova/Gilbert line, the Bennets and Caroline, etc. but I will discuss the Mikaelsons, Hayley, etc. on their own list with the other characters that appeared on The Originals mostly. As always, spoilers are abound as I will discuss storylines and character arcs below, so be warned of that.  In any case, here’s my FAVES and FAILS for The Vampire Diaries. 

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER: Damon Salvatore

Could it be anyone else? I don’t think so. He’s a delightful little sociopathic shit and I love everything about him. He is 99% id and 1% ego, if that, and even when I hated him, I loved him (god, I sound like Elena…). In any case, love this man, five stars, would recommend, chef’s kiss. 

LEAST FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER: …I think Matt Donovan…?

Ugh, it’s hard to pick between Matt, Tyler, and Jeremy, but I think it has to be Matt. I never enjoyed his judgey attitude against everything supernatural, he seemed pretty whiney most of the time, and he was just genuinely uninteresting for the majority of the show.  Not into it. Pass.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER: Katherine Pierce (Katarina Petrova)

I thought about giving this post to Caroline by default, but if it comes down to it, Katherine nudges her way into the top spot. Katherine gave no fucks, knew what she wanted and was unapologetic about how she went about getting it, and an all around bad bitch. Was she primarily evil? Yes. But, to be honest, it never really bothered me. 

LEAST FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER: Bonnie Bennet

God, this woman was annoying. She was hypocritical, judgmental, and far too holier than thou for me to swallow her bullshit. She constantly played favorites with Caroline and Elena (I’m sorry, you hold Caroline becoming a vampire against her for like two seasons, but when Elena becomes one, it’s not her fault? Sure.). She hated all supernatural creatures because they “go against nature”, but it’s totally chill for you to perform sacrificial magic to get what you want, unleashing a terrible evil in the process (but it’s not her fault). How she nearly excommunicated Caroline just because she stayed with Stefan after Stefan killed Enzo, as if it was her fault in any way. How everyone treated her like she was a special little unicorn because she’s a Bennet Witch and she’s so magical, like, please, gag me. I could go on, but I honestly cannot be bothered. Hard pass. 

THE CHARACTER THAT DESERVED BETTER: Caroline Forbes

She was essentially shunned by all of her friends and family for becoming a vampire, even though she didn’t choose to become one at all. Also, she was basically used as collateral damage for the entire Salvatores and Gilberts versus The Mikaelsons debacle just because Klaus liked her. She was always the second choice no matter what the situation was (unless it’s her being impregnated with magical twins without her consent and then guilted into carrying the babies, but poor Alaric just lost his wife. I’m sorry, unless it’s your uterus, shut the fuck up). I’ll just be over here doing what exactly NO ONE on the show did, and pick Caroline first.

DEADWEIGHT CHARACTER WE SHOULD’VE DUMPED IN 2009: Tyler Lockwood

I couldn’t pick Matt twice, so Tyler, I guess. He was selfish, a terrible boyfriend to both Caroline and also Liv later, and if I have to hear that boy whine about his fucking sire bond one more time I will literally throw my laptop off of a bridge. 

UNDERHYPED CHARACTER: Lorenzo “Enzo” St. John

Honestly, he’s one of the one things that made the last few seasons of the show bearable.  His delightful British rogue was a lovely way to fill the void that the Mikaelsons left in my heart, his devil-may-care attitude was man-made-manifest of what I was always thinking while watching the show, his BFF relationship with Damon and later Caroline was a joy to watch, and he was way too good for Bonnie. 

OVERHYPED CHARACTER: Alaric Saltzman

He is marginally more bearable right now on Legacies, but he annoyed the shit out of me while he was on the first show. Does he hate vampires or is he best friends with them? Does he want to be a hunter or does he want to stay away from anything supernatural of any kind? Also, he (along with nearly everyone else) basically guilted Caroline into carrying his magical siphoner babies, which is a touch too icky for me…

SHIP YOU WOULD SELL YOUR SOUL FOR: Delena (Damon and Elena)

Could it be anyone else? I never shipped Stelena, as I found both Stefan annoying and Elena too woe-is-me while she was with him. She made Damon want to be a better person and he made her embrace who she really was, monster and all. They had a perfect balance between themselves, and it was a joy to watch. He got the girl, guys. 

SHIP YOU JUST WERE’N THAT INTO: Steroline (Stefan and Caroline)

They were just too…meh. I was entirely uninterested in them, whatsoever, and isn’t that even worse than a ship that you hate? I used their scenes for a bathroom break or to get a snack, as I was guaranteed to miss nothing interesting or important while they were on screen. 

CHARACTER YOU LOVE TO HATE/FAVORITE VILLAIN: Kai Parker

What does it say about me that all of my favorite characters are violent psychopaths…? I’m just going to leave that to be unpacked with the future therapists I’m bound to hire. Kai was the perfect evil. He was powerful, purposeful, and unapologetically demonic in the very best way. I could watch him terrorize my favorite characters forever and not get bored.  Perfection.

FAVORITE STORYLINE: Stefan and Damon’s Brotherhood

If you don’t think this is what the show was about at it’s core, you’re wrong. They loved each other, they hated each other, they died for each other, they killed for each other, and, ultimately, they let nothing and nobody come between them. If you asked me who Damon loved more, Elena or Stefan, I COULD NOT answer you, and isn’t that just the fucking point?!

STORYLINE WE COULD’VE DONE WITHOUT: Magical Babies

I know that a major reason this was even a storyline is because Candice Accola got pregnant, but still…how? Like…she is a vampire..? She is unable to biologically change…? Like can someone grab me a biology textbook and explain how this a thing that can happen BIOLOGICALLY, please? I get that they are mythical creatures, so science doesn’t mean much here, but it just doesn’t make sense in any universe. Also, as I said above, the fact that Caroline was impregnated without her consent and then largely guilted into carrying the babies is a touch too rape-y for me…

BIGGEST PLOTHOLE: Do they go to school, or…? 

Like, are they just compelling the teachers to not notice them not attending class like 90% off the time? Also, how do the people in Mystic Falls not know anything about the supernatural? Like, they aren’t subtle AT ALL so how do they keep sliding under the radar? Also, in a lesser way, how are hybrid witch/vampires a thing? Like, I thought if a witch dies (like they would have to if they become a vampire), they lose their magic…?Make it make sense, Julie!

MOST HEARTBREAKING MOMENT: Damon Dies (the first time)

Honestly one of the saddest moments in the entire series was Damon’s ghost watching Elena lose it when he doesn’t make it back from the Other Side. They were finally happy and together and they can only enjoy it for like five minutes before it goes to shit. Why, Julie??!

BIGGEST EYEROLL MOMENT: Magical Babies (again)

I try to not use something twice on this list but COME ON. This was ridiculous and I do not support this in any way.  (Also this twin bullshit is still fucking annoying on Legacies, if anyone was wondering).

MOST SHOCKING MOMENT (any spit-takes?): Elena forces Kathrine to take The Cure

This was one of the moments that I literally gasped aloud. Most of the time the foreshadowing on these shows is seen from miles away, but I honestly did not see this coming at all. Also, Kathrine was basically the LAST person who wanted that cure so it’s crazy that she was the one to end up taking it and turning human.

MOST BADASS MOMENT: Kathrine kisses Damon at the end of Season 1

Like I said before, she is the original BAD BITCH of the show (not an actual Original, but you know what I mean…) and this was an amazing entry for the character who would be, largely, the villain of the series. It played on the feelings that Damon is developing for Elena, it finally introduced the person who started it all for the Salvatores, and it showed us exactly who she is at her core, and that she isn’t sorry about it at all.

SERIES FINALE SATISFACTORY LEVEL (use no words, just gifs):

OVERALL MARKS OUT OF TEN (10 being this show has changed your life for the better, you happily rewatch the series over and over, and the show has made your life better in some way. 1 being this show gave you nothing but trust issues, a stomach ulcer, and high blood pressure, and you honestly do not know why you did this to yourself) 

7 out of 10. 

I look back on The Vampire Diaries with the kind of fondness that only comes from a bizarre mix of nostalgia and incredulity. When scenes from this series show up on my instagram feed or on my Youtube recommended page, an involuntary smile creeps across my face without me realizing. I could do without like half of the characters and some entire seasons were completely unnecessary to watch, but it gave me some of my very favorite characters and ships, and spawned an entire universe that I still enjoy to this day. This magical, crazy, beautiful world was a joy to experience, even when it made me want to beat my head against a wall at least once per season.

If you want to see the other ones I have made, here's the original post with links. x  Hope you like these! (I say to probably no one...)

[avatar-the-last-jerkbender]

my heart is screaming out

- an OsaAka fic -

AO3 

Osamu: hey theyre throwing a party for me tmrw bfore i leave for college r u coming

Read 1:37 AM

(Somewhere in the distance, a little bell rings)

Osamu: hey theyre throwing a party for me tmrw bfore i leave for college r u coming

sorry i cant something came up

(A little bell rings)

Osamu: hey theyre throwing a party for me tmrw bfore i leave for college r u coming

yh what time? ill b there

(No bells ring, and we can finally move on)

Keiji is drunk. The most alcohol he’s had before is sips of champagne on New Year’s Eve but something about the sense of finality and charged atmosphere leads him to say ‘fuck it’ and knock back two White Claws barely an hour after he steps through Osamu’s front door.

The living room is usually as familiar to him as his own but now it’s packed with bodies and almost completely dark, save for the disco lights flashing around the room.

Keiji feels warmer, fuzzier than usual and finds himself cackling wildly at something Atsumu said, all his usual composure and inhibitions gone. Once he finishes gasping with laughter, he melts further into the sofa, content to spend the rest of the evening laying there completely boneless.

“Keiji!”

Osamu’s arm drapes around his shoulders as he pushes away from a cluster of people, settling heavily into Keiji’s side. The line where his thigh meets Keiji’s, where their torsos are now mashed into each other seems to burn, made even hotter by the way they’re both sweating and the alcohol coursing through Keiji’s bloodstream.

“I haven’t talked to you all evening,” Osamu gushes. “How are you doing?”

Keiji has stopped laughing now, fully raptured by Osamu’s gray eyes, pupils dilated in the dim lighting.

“Hi. I’m good.” He can smell the cheap beer one of their friends brought on Osamu’s breath and he vaguely thinks he should be disgusted. “Really good.”

“I’m glad you came,” Osamu says.

Keiji beams at him and he sees the surprise in Osamu’s face.

He distantly remembers what the other man had told him about his smiles.

Apparently Keiji had five of them:

1. The fake one 2. The one when he found something funny despite his best intentions 3. The one when he was being mean 4. The one when he was embarrassed 5. And the genuinely happy one

He has no idea which one Osamu is seeing right now but whichever one it is, he seems to like it, turning even redder before burying his face into the crook of Keiji’s neck.

“You’re going to kill me,” he groans, breath wafting over Keiji’s collarbone and making him shiver.

Keiji twists slightly to sling a leg over Osamu, moving his arms up to wrap around broad shoulders. Maybe if he held on tight enough, Osamu wouldn’t leave for college, wouldn’t leave their friends, wouldn’t leave their hometown. Wouldn’t leave Keiji. He tightens his grip and shifts further so he’s straddling Osamu and propping his chin on his shoulder. “Not if you kill me first,” he counters, as Osamu’s hands slip down to his waist.

It’s not like they haven’t cuddled before. While Keiji isn’t the most tactile, Osamu more than makes up for it, messing with his hair, linking their hands or pinkies when they walk next to each other, hugging him frequently.

But it’s different now, with the way Osamu’s looking at him like he’s the only thing in the world, the gaze he’s only seen in fragments and glimpses. Never as concentrated as it is now.

“Keiji…” he breathes and somewhere behind them, in the sea of chatter, Keiji hears someone go,”hey where’d Osamu go- holy fucking shit!”

They inch closer, lips almost touching before Keiji comes to his senses and turns his head away, pushing at Osamu’s chest.

“Wait, no. I can’t do this to you. I’m sorry.”

Osamu’s eyes flash with hurt and his jaw tenses but he nods, releasing his vise-like grip on Keiji.

The silence between them is not awkward but it feels heavy and sad, all the giddy happiness from earlier completely gone.

“I need a drink,” Keiji says numbly, clambering off Osamu’s lap and almost tripping over someone else’s foot in his haste to get to the kitchen.

The sudden brightness makes him blink and squint as he spots a pack of 4loko and makes a beeline for it. The bottle is in his hand before he changes his mind and opens the cupboard for a water glass instead.

Osamu was always meant for bigger and better things. More than what their city could offer him.

And that’s why Keiji knows he has to let him go, so he fills the cup with water from the fridge, drinking it fast to try and get rid of the sudden lump in his throat.

(A bell rings)

It’s not like they haven’t cuddled before. While Keiji isn’t the most tactile, Osamu more than makes up for it, messing with his hair, linking their hands or pinkies when they walk next to each other, hugging him frequently.

But it’s different now, with the way Osamu’s looking at him like he’s the only thing in the world, the gaze he’s only seen in fragments and glimpses. Never as concentrated as it is now.

“Keiji…” he breathes and somewhere behind them, in the sea of chatter, Keiji hears someone go,”hey where’d Osamu go- holy fucking shit!”

They inch closer, lips almost touching-

-until Keiji sees the look on Osamu’s face.

The passion from before has been replaced by pure sadness and it’s enough to immediately clear Keiji’s head.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, clambering off Osamu’s lap and settling into his side.

“S’okay,” he hears Osamu say, twining their fingers together as Keiji lets his head drop onto his shoulder.

Keiji feels his chest pang. The warmth and roughness of Osamu’s hands are a welcome contrast to his own, which are almost always clammy and cold.

He doesn’t know how they’re going to stay warm with Osamu over 1000 miles away.

Somehow he falls asleep like that, fingers tangled with Osamu’s as his eyes slip shut and the noise of the party fades into the background.

He doesn’t hear Osamu’s quiet, “I’m sorry too,” as the evening goes on.

(A bell doesn’t ring. But a dice is rolled instead, spinning and clattering until it lands on:

1)

Keiji Akaashi, University Student (21)

It’s past midnight and the caller ID is one he hasn’t seen in a few months, but it still makes his heart flutter and his stomach drop.

Keiji Akaashi immediately stops typing his English assignment and picks up the phone. “Hello?” he says, stifling a yawn.

“Keiji?”

Instantly, he knows something is wrong. Osamu’s voice is small and scared in a way he hasn’t heard in a while.

“Is everything okay?” Any traces of sleepiness are gone now and he feels fully alert, fear churning in his gut.

“I fucked up,” Osamu mumbles. “I fucked up so bad.”

Here’s what he tells Akaashi:

Osamu is dating a girl named Hitomi

and he didn’t really feel the need to tell Keiji about her because it wasn’t anything serious he swears (and that hurts Keiji in a way he doesn’t want to decipher- when did they start keeping secrets from each other?)

and it had only been a few months (months!!! That’s pretty serious!!!) but

Hitomi

was

pregnant

“I’m so lost,” he hears Osamu sniffle slightly. “Help me, Keiji, please.”

Keiji takes a shuddering breath, knowing that this is just another piece of Osamu he will never get back. “You’re going to be a great dad, ‘Samu. Get some sleep okay? We’ll talk in the morning.”

They may be time zones apart but Keiji would rather cut out his own heart than abandon the love of his life his best friend.

Besides, he means it. Osamu would be a great dad.

(A bell rings. Roll the dice again, this time it lands on:

4)

Keiji Akaashi immediately stops typing his English assignment and picks up the phone. “Hello?” he says, stifling a yawn.

“Keiji?”

Instantly, he knows something is wrong. Osamu’s voice is small and scared in a way he hasn’t heard in a while.

“Is everything okay?” Any traces of sleepiness are gone now and he feels fully alert, fear churning in his gut.

“I fucked up,” Osamu mumbles. “I fucked up so bad.”

Osamu tells Keiji about Hitomi, the girlfriend he has literally never heard of.

He learns Osamu is going to be a father at 21.

Well then.

“Congratulations,” Keiji chokes out, over the weight of his own feelings. “You’ll do great ‘Samu. I believe in you.”

Don’t you dare abandon them like you abandoned me.

(An easy way to determine futures is to draw a flowchart. The bell’s been rung and the dice’s been tossed. Draw infinite lines out from infinite nows and see where they lead)

Whether or not they stopped calling after the news of Osamu’s child didn’t matter- the same thing always happened.

Osamu called on Keiji’s 25th birthday.

Keiji told Osamu about the wedding.

Keiji asked Osamu to be the best man.

Osamu and Keiji both knew something didn’t feel right.

Keiji and Osamu both said nothing, offering platitudes and empty conversation.

How’s your child doing?

She’s four now! Would you like to see pictures?

They’re both so fucking stupid.

But there’s no reason to ring the bell here so Keiji marries Akinori and Osamu suffers in silence and Akinori cheats on Keiji and Keiji calls Osamu crying and Osamu asks where he is and Keiji is outside his apartment door and he opens it-

Osamu’s arms felt like coming home.

(Unfortunately, a bell rings now)

They’re both so fucking stupid.

But there’s no reason to ring the bell here so Keiji marries Akinori and Osamu suffers in silence and Akinori cheats on Keiji and Keiji calls Osamu crying and Osamu asks where he is and Keiji is outside his apartment door and he opens it-

Keiji almost falls into Osamu’s arms, just as big and familiar as he remembered then. But then he sees the man in the background and feels his broken heart crack just a little further.

INTERMISSION

“Pleasure of love lasts but a moment. Pain of love lasts a lifetime.” - Bette Davis

CONTINUATION

“I’m sorry to intrude,” Keiji says, suddenly feeling foolish.

“It’s fine. You’re always welcome.” But Osamu looks distinctly uncomfortable and the man behind him continues to scrutinize Keiji with sharp eyes.

“Hi,” Keiji says, regaining his composure. “I’m Keiji Akaashi.”

“I’m Rintarou. I’m ‘Samu’s boyfriend.”

The nickname sounds so different when it’s not Keiji saying it.

They shake hands.

“We just moved in together,” Osamu says. “Would you like to stay for a bit?”

Keiji gives a smile, one of the fake ones Osamu hates. “I’m sorry, I think I have to go.”

(A bell rings)

“We just moved in together,” Osamu says. “Would you like to stay for a bit?”

“So when were you going to tell me you got a boyfriend?” Keiji blurts out.

(A bell rings)

“We just moved in together,” Osamu says. “Would you like to stay for a bit?”

Keiji chews on his lip, considering. “Sure, why not?”

He picks up his suitcase and heads inside.

(The dice lays abandoned and the bell rings again.)

Somewhere, in another path of the universe, they meet as old men. They talk about everything that could have been, dance together one last time before parting ways once again, secure in the knowledge that their love will last but too scared to finally take the leap and see how it plays out.

Somewhere, in another path of the universe, they meet as old men. They talk about everything that could have been, dance together, and finally agree to take the leap and try to make a relationship happen.

After all, timing means nothing if you aren’t willing to work for what you want.

There are other universes where their love doesn’t behave as gracefully as they want it to, where they never talk again but-

Not this one.

Ring the bell, please!

(Multiple bells chime)

It’s not like they haven’t cuddled before. While Keiji isn’t the most tactile, Osamu more than makes up for it, messing with his hair, linking their hands or pinkies when they walk next to each other, hugging him frequently.

But it’s different now, with the way Osamu’s looking at him like he’s the only thing in the world, the gaze he’s only seen in fragments and glimpses. Never as concentrated as it is now.

“Keiji…” he breathes and somewhere behind them, in the sea of chatter, Keiji hears someone go,”hey where’d Osamu go- holy fucking shit!”

They inch closer, lips almost touching-

Keiji pauses to look at Osamu’s face. He looks scared and slightly sad, and Keiji sees a million futures play out in front of him.

In another life, maybe he wouldn’t be selfish with Osamu’s affection. Maybe he would let Osamu go do whatever he wanted, even if that didn’t include Keiji.

But Keiji also knows he loves Osamu in a way he loves no one else and while he knows he could fall for other people and welcome them into his life-

(Keiji can practically count Osamu’s lashes. They’re short and black, a contrast to the dyed gray hair on his head.

He slowly runs a thumb over Osamu’s cheekbone, skin soft under his fingers and continues to make eye contact, unwilling to look away for even a second.)

-Osamu is the only Osamu he will ever meet. It’s an undeniable fact and somehow doesn’t entirely seem like a bad thing.

“We should-” Osamu starts and Keiji smashes their lips together.

He can taste beer on Osamu’s tongue and he chases it, tilting his head so he can kiss him deeper.

Osamu’s arms are wrapped tight around his waist and Keiji settles even further into his lap, trying to mold their bodies together.

Someone wolf whistles in the background and Atsumu is shrieking, “ewwwwww!” but he can barely hear them through the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

They pull apart with a gasp for air and Keiji self consciously wipes his lips with the back of his hand. Osamu looks just as blissed out and confused as he feels, eyes wide and mouth open.

“I know you’re leaving. I know the time isn’t right. But I don’t know if it will ever be,” Keiji says, pressing his forehead against Osamu’s. “I don’t want to lose you. Please, can we try?”

From here he can see the slightest bit of moisture welling up in Osamu’s eyes.

“Of course. Anything for you, Keiji.”

Keiji smiles wide, one of the genuine ones he knows Osamu loves and leans in to hold him tighter.

(No bells ring. Everything is okay. They’ll be okay.)

[dhampirbf]

just finished off my first issue of the new killjoys series, national anthem, here are my thoughts

‼️ spoiler warning lol‼️

instantly dragged me head-fucking-first back into my mcr phase from three years ago. i am ruined. there is SO MUCH i immediately love about this series, from the incredible, poem-esce beginning to the incredible retro art style. the characters are just perfect - on the same wavelength as the others we know and love from previous iterations of kayjay media. mike milligram is edgier than i expected, which is just perfect, because i always felt poison and the gang were a bit too cheery for being stuck in a post-apocalyptic hellscape after surviving a massive war.

as for the plot? amazing. the writing is just as stunning as it was for TTLOTFK and national anthem immediately leaps into the story without delay. the dialogue fits the aesthetic of what we know about the kayjay universe perfectly and the story gives us more insight to what came before the analog wars and what life was like right after. maybe it’s just my interpretation (and of course this is just the first issue), but id love more about what the wars were ACTUALLY like, what it was like to fight in them. i still can’t figure out who exactly the enemy was because BLI and the weird, unseen but ever-present, unnamed oppressor are still in existence after the wars. might just be me, so if anyone knows where to find more on that, hmu. but honestly while reading it, i don’t care about the pieces im missing. it’s THAT good on its own.

the first issue opens with mike bleeding out, which deeply upset me because i do not like to see my favorite characters die, but it was done in such a beautiful way. we get to see how useless he feels - how he’s literally been tossed aside like the garbage he thinks he is - and then our story begins.

we meet the rest of the original fabulous killjoys (i imagine this is a prequel to party poison and the other comic, in my mind poison and val are “generations” following mike) and BOY, they’re incredible. the codes, red and blue, are (i assume) beta versions of the red and blue we see in TTLOTFK. kyle 100%, whose name we don’t learn in the first issue, is pretty reminiscent of kobra but maybe it’s just cuz he’s blond and rollin’ with mike. his design is very new and i totally dig it. animax is probably my favorite of this crew, though. he’s very much new and his design ROCKS. a color changing suit?? for real??? amazing. animax strikes me as the dad friend of the group (he tries to calm down blue and mike at the playground scene with the a.k.as)

SPEAKING of the a.k.as.... holy fuck. adore them. all of them are SO COOL and offer totally new insight to what it might have been like to crawl around in the zones right after the analog wars. so many new faces! new concepts! new headcanons! once again, im in love with their designs and concepts (god bless shaun simon and gerard) and it’s times like these that i wish i was a more talented artist.

another thing i really enjoyed is that the identity of some of the killjoys is more revealed and accessible. blue is called maria right before her (sobbing) death in mike’s arms and we see about halfway through that mike was a grocery store clerk. i’ve seen that red’s name is sophia in some official character design sheets, but we haven’t heard her name in the book yet. but to know that these were normal, real people in the world we live in gives the story a different, heavier context. these characters had their lives uprooted and torn to bits by a war they had to fight in. no wonder mike is so miserable and “screwed up”.

national anthem also immediately touches on trauma more than once and, in my interpretation of the underlying message, points out how trauma is an important tool in shaping who we are as individuals. the pretty subtle thing about the pill marketed to treat the affects of trauma is something that really fascinated me. how the antagonist of this series markets a pill that treats trauma but the side effects essentially make a person lose themselves, navigating life like a zombie.

i also loved the subtle callbacks to the original kayjay universe we know and love, with an appearance of tommy chow mein and a reference to the phoenix witch. however, ive got some criticisms.

first, was not a fan of the romance subplot between blue and mike. blue (and red, for that matter) are characters we know to be lesbians and i really don’t think that should be muddled with. even if blue is bisexual, even polyamorus, and has romantic connections to both mike and red, id personally rather have her stay with red exclusively. maybe it’s just my heterophobia /j but im not a fan. apparently she was even pregnant with mike’s child before she died? ehh.

second, and this is probably just because it’s the first issue, but i feel like there are a lot of questions unanswered. is this an AU or the same universe as TTLOTFK? if it’s the same, what is the timeline for mike milligram and party poison? do they exist at the same time or is party poison inspired by mike, who came before him? or do they exist completely separate? i hope i get these questions answered.

honestly, i may write up something of a review for each issue i read (i have three). it helps me remember what i read, anyway. kinda like an english essay. but overall, i really love this series and this universe. i kinda fell out of kayjays for a few reasons, but a lack of content was definitely one of them. i never thought i’d see killjoys media again and then gerard goes and presents us with this amazing series with new characters and a new story to delve into and it ROCKS.

[anavirable]

A semi-deep dive into the Equality Act

HR5, otherwise known as the Equality Act, is a bill in the United States that would, at a federal level, prohibit discrimination based on “sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system.” So, for example, this bill would make it illegal to deny a couple housing for being a gay couple. Which is great! Unfortunately, the implementation of the bill has a lot left to be desired.

On thing you may notice is that this bill includes sex in its added protected categories. The Equality Act correctly identifies:

(4) Women also have faced discrimination in many establishments such as stores and restaurants, and places or establishments that provide other goods or services, such as entertainment or transportation, including sexual harassment, differential pricing for substantially similar products and services, and denial of services because they are pregnant or breastfeeding. 

The Equality Act explains the struggles of LGBTQ people as:

(3) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (referred to as “LGBTQ”) people commonly experience discrimination in securing access to public accommodations [...]. Forms of discrimination include the exclusion and denial of entry, unequal or unfair treatment, harassment, and violence.

(As a side note, yes, this bill flat out calls gay people “queer” in this legally-defined acronym.)

From there, the Act refers a few times to “LGBTQ people and women” as the groups they’re aiming to protect. So far, not too bad, and this bill will help more than it hurts. It also does make some great points. For example:

(12) Discrimination based on sexual orientation includes discrimination based on an individual’s actual or perceived romantic, emotional, physical, or sexual attraction to other persons, or lack thereof, on the basis of gender. LGBTQ people, including gender nonbinary people, also commonly experience discrimination because of sex-based stereotypes. Many people are subjected to discrimination because of others’ perceptions or beliefs regarding their sexual orientation. Even if these perceptions are incorrect, the identity imputed by others forms the basis of discrimination.

This correctly identifies the discrimination people experience due to failures to conform to various sex-based stereotypes. Unfortunately, the bill continues with:

(13) Numerous provisions of Federal law expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, and Federal courts and agencies have correctly interpreted these prohibitions on sex discrimination to include discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex stereotypes. In particular, the Supreme Court of the United States correctly held in Bostock v. Clayton County, 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020) that the prohibition on employment discrimination because of sex under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 inherently includes discrimination because of sexual orientation or transgender status.

Last year’s Bostock v. Clayton case was a case in which a trans-identified male sued for discrimination after being fired from his job for following the women’s dress code. The court correctly ruled in favor of the trans-identified male - this person was fired for failing to conform to sex-based stereotypes. Unfortunately, the court did not use this reasoning to support its decision. The court did not find that separate dress codes for women and men is sexist - instead, it said that it’s sexist to force a person to conform to sex-based dress codes rather than gender identity-based dress codes. It’s difficult to express how painful that is. Transphobia under these laws isn’t a crime - it’s just a form of sexism based on gender identity rather than sex. Which means any case that comes down to sexism vs “transphobia” has no real way to legally differentiate the two.

And the Equality Act reinforces this decision. The majority of the act is just rewriting the Civil Rights Act to include “sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity)”. Sexual orientation and gender identity aren’t even their own protected classes - they’re just legally identical to sex.

In places where sex was already a protected class - for example, in employment, the Equality Act waters down these protections:

(c) Other Unlawful Employment Practices.—Section 704(b) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–3(b)) is amended—

(1) by striking “sex,” the first place it appears and inserting “sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity),”; and 

(2) by striking “employment.” and inserting “employment, if, in a situation in which sex is a bona fide occupational qualification, individuals are recognized as qualified in accordance with their gender identity.”.

Now onto the most important part, the definitions. I’ll start with sexual orientation:

(5) SEXUAL ORIENTATION.—The term ‘sexual orientation’ means homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality.

This is fairly straightforward, assuming everyone agrees for example that “homosexuality” means “same-sex attracted.” Since the bill doesn’t further define it, the sex-based versus “gender”-based distinction is still up for debate, should it ever become legally relevant. Next:

“(4) SEX.—The term ‘sex’ includes—

     “(A) a sex stereotype;

     “(B) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition;

     “(C) sexual orientation or gender identity; and

     “(D) sex characteristics, including intersex traits.

You’ll notice that none of these are just... biological sex. The closest is “sex characteristics, including intersex traits,” and it’s listed last. You’ll also noticed that “sexual orientation or gender identity” are once again listed under “sex,” which makes most of the rest of the document redundant overkill. But, onto our last relevant definition:

“(2) GENDER IDENTITY.—The term ‘gender identity’ means the gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, regardless of the individual’s designated sex at birth. 

That’s right, gender identity is literally defined as “gender-related identity”! This is what people are talking about when we criticize the self-ID aspect of the law. There is literally zero way, in reality or under this law, to determine whether a person truly has the gender identity that they claim. There is literally nothing stopping “cis men” from using this federal law to access women’s spaces except for their good word. And we know how that turns out.

So, what does this cover? This applied to titles II, III, IV, VI, VII, and IX. Most relevant to feminists would be Title 7 and Title 9.  The Rules of the bill say that, in respect to these titles:

“(1) (with respect to sex) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition shall not receive less favorable treatment than other physical conditions; and

“(2) (with respect to gender identity) an individual shall not be denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity.”

This is the part where the bill finally distinguishes between sex and gender identity. The conclusion? Women only need sex-based protections for sex-based medical conditions. Sex-segregated spaces are sexist against people with a gender identity. It would honestly be so much less painful if the bill didn’t pretend like it was actually improving women’s situation. You know, like the bill literally addressed at the beginning, about how women are discriminated against in the public sphere. Now we’re somehow being sexist for wanting sex-based rights.

Anyway, the Equality Act sucks and will do more harm than good. Which is a shame, because there are definitely positives to it - namely in providing protections for same-sex attracted people. The good news is, the fight isn’t over yet. See my next post on how we could have the best of both worlds.

[chilling-seavey]

Anything But Mine (d.s.) - Chapter Eleven

A/N my entire dorm room smells like cleaning supplies and fresh spring air as I have been scrubbing all day with the window open in preparation for my two week hibernation. Hope you all are staying healthy and away from triggered stans ;)

Thursday, October 31st, 2019

“Look out! Here comes the fiercest, most ferocious animal in the world!”

Daniel came down the stairs and into the living room, carrying Clementine in his arms. She was dressed in a giraffe costume, little freckles drawn on her chubby cheeks, and a huge smile plastered on her face. Daniel had matching drawn on freckles on his cheeks. The room ‘awe’d out loud.

“Say ‘rawr’.” Daniel whispered to her.

The ten month old let out a tiny ‘rawr’. The room offered her a gasp, making her smile proudly. Daniel set her on the carpet so Florence could take her picture.

“Giraffes don’t say rawr.” Corbyn piped up.

“They don’t say anything, actually.” Daniel rolled his eyes. “What am I supposed to tell the kid? ‘Say nothing’!”

“She’s good at that.” Zach nodded.

“I think this is the cutest giraffe I have ever seen in my entire life.” Corbyn said, “Even surpassing Daniel.”

“Wow.” Daniel pouted.

“I’m very glad I trusted you to pick out her first Halloween costume.” Florence said quietly as she sat back down on the couch, plenty of pictures in her phone to send to Callum.

“I told you I knew what I was doing!” Daniel teased, picking the baby back up.

Florence put on a soft smile, keeping her eyes on her best friend and daughter. Only a few nights before, someone who meant so much to her virtually walked out of her life. She hoped Grayson would come back to her eventually, she felt like a piece of her heart was missing and he had only been gone for three days. Florence spent the day of the 31st at the boys’ house and into the late afternoon when she would take Clementine trick or treating. Aidan, Jonah, Corbyn, and Jack were going to a party that night down the street, leaving Daniel and Zach to entertain their all too familiar guests.

“Finally done.” Aidan said as he and Jonah came downstairs as well. Aidan had dressed up as a zombie, ripped clothes that he had thrifted and green and brown paint smeared over his face. Jonah was a cop, his black button up mostly undone and tucked into his black skinny jeans. The handcuffs that hung off his belt made the room howl and clap.

“Shut up.” Jonah laughed.

“Sexiest cop I’ve seen.” Zach called out.

“Clementine looks so cute!” Jonah beamed, leaning in to gently poke her cheek.

“Get - your - dirty - hands - away from her.” Daniel said quietly, covering the baby’s head with his hand and turning away.

“Dirty hands?!” Jonah frowned.

“You know what I mean.” Daniel eyed the open button up shirt.

“Let’s get a move on.” Corbyn said, jumping up from the couch and grabbed his helmet from the ground.

“Why are you still 7 years old with your damn astronaut costume?” Jack grumbled, giving his friend a shove towards the door.

“At least I actually dressed up.” Corbyn retorted.

“I did too!” Jack protested, gesturing to his ripped jeans, beanie, sunglasses, and skateboard. “I’m a skater boy!”

“You look exactly the same as you always do. Just shirtless.” Corbyn frowned before walking for the door.

“There’s no pleasing anyone.” Jack grumbled, stopping to kiss Clementine’s cheek on the way after his friends. The oldest few left with loud goodbyes.

“I hate being a literal child.” Zach frowned, his voice muffled slightly behind the fake vampire teeth he wore, as he leaned his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. “Now I’m stuck with the baby gang all night.”

“You could have gone. No one there is going to ID you.” Daniel said. 

“Yeah until my mother finds out. Then I’ll be dead. I’d rather be sober than dead.” Zach grumbled.

“Suit yourself.” Daniel shrugged.

“You can have Clementine’s candy.” Florence said.

Zach perked up, “Really?!”

“Hey! I was going to have the candy.” Daniel frowned.

“You shush.” Florence directed to her best friend. “Zach’s the other baby here so he gets first dibs.”

“Hey!” Zach frowned. Florence chuckled.

“We should head out!” Daniel said, rocking Clementine dramatically in his arms. “Before the baby falls asleep.”

“Yeah. I don’t want to have to carry him to bed.” Florence nudged Zach before standing up.

“You guys are so mean.” Zach grumbled before following them to the door.

The group walked down the street in the direction away from the frat houses. A few streets down, more young children and their parents were out trick or treating in the setting sun of the Toronto suburbs. Clementine, from her spot in Daniel’s arms, peered around the bustling street with her mouth open wide, one arm draped lazily over his shoulder.

“Where should we start?” Daniel asked, coming to a stop.

“There!” Zach pointed to a house on their left. A bunch of children were at the door and they could see and older lady dropping pieces of candy in their bags. The children rushed back down the steps as Daniel led their tiny group to the door. The old lady smiled at them.

“Say ‘trick or treat’!” Daniel said to the baby. At merely ten months old, Clementine only curled shyly into him.

“Well aren’t you the cutest giraffe in the city?” the lady chuckled. “How old is she?”

“Ten months.” Florence answered proudly from beside them.

“A first Halloween calls for lots of candy.” The old lady said, dropping a few pieces in the bag that Florence held. “Any for the little boy too?” she asked.

It took Zach a second to realize she was talking to him. He stood at only 5’6” next to his friends’ 5’11”. Daniel bit back a smile at Zach’s appalled face.

A nervous “N-No!” was all he got out.

Once they were back on the street, Daniel burst out laughing, Florence smiling next to him.

“All of you, shut up.” Zach grumbled.

They continued down the street, stopping at a few more houses. Florence finally took Clementine for a little while, after convincing Daniel that his arms would give out if he didn’t pass her over. A few adults complimented Daniel on his matching face paint to the baby, making the shy boy blush and thank them.

After thirty minutes, Zach claimed the baby, carrying her up to the next house excitedly.

“He could be her big brother.” Daniel snorted as the two of them waited on the street.

“Yeah, if I gave birth to him at 2 years old.” Florence rolled her eyes.

“I mean...whatever.” Daniel chuckled, sliding his hands in his pockets. Zach cut across the lawn to the next house, Clementine’s little giraffe hood bouncing on her head. Florence linked her arm through Daniel’s as they walked on together.

“When are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?” he questioned.

“What do you mean?” Florence asked.

“Oh, come on.” Daniel laughed. “Any other day you would kill yourself laughing by an old lady calling Zach a little boy. You barely smiled.”

“How are you so good at reading people?” Florence chuckled.

“I just know you well.” Daniel shrugged. “So what’s up?”

Florence looked over at Zach standing at the next house with Clementine in his arms. The gentleman at the door was fawning over the baby.

“I don’t know where to start.” Florence mumbled.

“Try it.” Daniel shrugged.

“I met this guy, Emilio, the other day. He’s Callum’s new boyfriend’s twin brother.”

Daniel repeated the long title to himself and then nodded, encouraging her on, his eyes on the pavement in front of them.

“And we hit it off. I guess, bonding over how much we miss our brothers when they’re in LA.” Florence sighed.

“Ok?” Daniel said slowly.

“And we hit it off. Like, really hit it off.”

“And by that you mean you slept with him.” Daniel stated plainly.

“Fuck, don’t say that.” Florence held her face in her hands. Daniel only frowned at her as they stopped walking. “I mean, yeah, I did, but I don’t...I feel like shit about it now.”

“You regret it?” Daniel asked.

“No.” Florence said. “God, no. He’s fucking amazing.”

Daniel tried to smile but it didn’t show.

“Grayson found out though. Monday night. He thought that we were dating this whole time but I thought we weren’t.”

“I thought you were too.”

“Fuck.” Florence whined, running a hand through her hair. “I don’t know, I just messed everything up. Now Gray isn’t speaking to me.”

“Why didn’t you think you and Grayson were dating?”

“We never talked about it; about titling anything. I’m still getting over Matt and trying to figure out who I am and trying to raise a baby. I didn’t want the ties to a relationship. I don’t know. I wanted experiences. My first and only relationship left me pregnant. I just...fuck, I don’t know. I wish I could just relive so much and change so much.”

Daniel took her in his arms, holding her warmly before saying, “I know it feels like the end of the world but it’s not. Everything happens for a reason. Things will work out. Grayson is just hurt and it was all just some miscommunication. It’ll smooth over.”

“Do you hate me?”

Before anything else could be said, Zach came trudging down the street, Clementine giggling in one arm and the arm holding the bag of candy wrapped around her back.

“This kid is heavy.” Zach wheezed, pushing the baby towards Daniel who scooped her up.

“Surprised you lasted that long with these noodle arms.” Daniel patted his best friend’s bicep, Clementine curled in his other arm.

“Speak for yourself. You’re literally a walking breadstick.” Zach rolled his eyes.

“Do you think we’re done for tonight?” Florence asked. “I’m tired.”

“Tired?! It’s barely 8:30.” Zach gaped.

“Look at her.” Daniel said, gesturing to the baby who was falling asleep on his shoulder.

“I wanted more candy.” Zach frowned pathetically, looking into the open bag in his hands.

“Poor little baby.” Florence draped her arm around his shoulders and they all headed back towards their house. Zach opened a chocolate bar on the way and he and Florence shared it. It wasn’t long before they were back at the house, Daniel flicking the lights on as they entered.

“I will never understand how you don’t like chocolate.” Zach said loudly through a mouthful.

“Can you shut up?” Daniel whispered sharply, gesturing to the sleeping baby.

“Sorry.” Zach sighed. “But honestly, it’s weird.”

“I didn’t ask to be this way.” Daniel grumbled, laying Clementine down gently on the couch. He reached for the diaper bag where her change of pyjamas was.

“I got it, Dani.” Florence whispered. He stood back and let her change the baby into her pyjamas. Zach sat across the room, eating candy, and scrolling through his phone.

“Are you staying over?” Zach asked Florence briefly looking up over the top of his cell phone.

“Uhm-“ Florence looked to Daniel.

“No. I’m driving her home.” Daniel answered for her.

Florence couldn’t help but feel that simple sentence as a stab to her heart. More often than not, Daniel had her stay over; now he seemed to be getting rid of her. She figured it was because of what she told him on their walk. Did he think less of her now?

The ride back to her apartment was filled with awkward silence. Daniel didn’t even turn any music like he normally would. Florence found herself biting her lip nervously until it tingled, staring intently at the passing city lights. Once in the parking garage, the two didn’t move for a moment too long.

“I’ll see you on the weekend?” Florence asked.

“No, I’m at the studio all weekend.” Daniel said.

“Oh. Will I get to hear anything you produced yet?”

“Possibly.” Daniel shrugged, not looking at her. Silence fell over them again.

“Ok. I better go.” Florence sighed, leaning over to hug him awkwardly before getting out of the car. She grabbed sleeping Clementine and her things and waved as Daniel drove off, leaving her, yet again, standing alone in the parking garage.