#this is a weird place to get personal but oh my god by brothers daughter is going to born so soon and make me an AUNT AAH 🥹😍🤯❤️

[hemingway-papers]

lupin birthday coming soon everyone and MINE too

[punk4ndisorderly]

light on

The one where Y/N is the daughter of a legendary Team USA coach and used to attend the development program with the boys. 8 years after they last saw each other in person, a reunion brings Jack and Y/N back into each other’s lives... and hearts.

if you keep the light on, i'll keep the light on

XVII XVIII - cage the songbird XIX

“Okay, so she totally ran out on you?” Luke asked, not taking his eyes off the flat screen.

“She left, yes.” his older brother replied.

“You must be a really bad kisser, bro.”

“Shut up.” Jack grumbled, throwing him a pillow.

Luke chuckled loudly in response, continuing to press down the controller’s various buttons, trying hard to beat the usual winner.

“You’re a weird dude.”

“Hmm?”

“You seem to be really calm about this whole ordeal. I’d freak if I were you.” the younger sibling shrugged.

“Really?” Jack smirked, raising an eyebrow. “And why’s that?”

“You do the whole big gesture thing, under the moonlight, dancing to a ginger dude’s song and she still decided to sprint like Bolt.”

“Jesus, Moose.” the Devils' player chuckled. “You’re such a drama queen.”

“No, I’m not.” Luke screeched, feigning hurt. “I just don’t get it.”

“I completely blindsided her with it, I’m not in a position where I can sit here and complain because Y/N didn’t tell me she liked me back. Maybe she doesn’t and I totally misread the signs. Either way, I’m not going to ruin everything between us even more by filling her phone with texts and calls.

“Well, yeah, that would take a ton of cool points from you. God knows your level of coolness is already below zero.” his brother teased. “Aw, damn it!” he moaned, realizing Jack had won the game. “Not fair, I want a rematch!”

“Sorry, Lukey. No rematches. You know you shouldn’t mess with the Mario Kart all-time champion.”

-

Y/N smiled as River's name popped up on her phone. She hadn’t heard from her brother since he had texted her to let her know they had arrived in Italy, safe and sound. Swiping her thumb over the screen, the doctor took her phone to her ear, holding it steady with her shoulder so she could continue doing Joey's hair.

“Hey, you!” she chirped, carefully brushing through her daughter’s soft locks. “How’s Italy?”

“Sunny, warm and dreamy. How’s New York?”

“Eh, you’re not missing much.” Y/N shrugged, earning a stifled giggle from River. “What’s up?”

Her brother took a deep breath, waiting a few seconds before replying.

“I need you to do me a huge favor.”

“Wait a sec.” the mother muttered, placing her phone on her wooden vanity. “Jo, sweetie, you’re ready to go. Why don’t you go pick out the pj’s you want to take to your dad’s?” she suggested, storing the pink brush back in the drawer where it belonged.

“Okay!” her mini-me chirped, nearly jumping up from the stool she had been sitting on while her zealous mother took care of her hair.

“Hurry before nana gets here, honey.” Y/N warned, picking up her phone again. “Sorry, have to get the kid ready. He insists on having her, again.

“Mmm…” River cringed, forcing himself not to make comments about the man Y/N had been in a relationship with for seven years. “How nice.”

“Yeah… Anyway… What can I do for you, lovebird?” the doctor chirped, quickly changing the subject.

“The wedding photographer e-mailed me about needing my approval for the final wedding album before finishing it up and making a couple of copies. I’ve seen the digital model, but there’s nothing like having the real deal in your hands, right?” River trailed off.

“And…”

“Well, David's parents are out of town and mom has Joey and you’re pretty much the only person I trust to get it done perfectly. You’re organized and we have similar visions so… I thought you could swing by the photographer’s house slash studio after work, check out what he’s got and let me know so I can give it the thumbs up… Or not. You know, maid of honor duty.”

“Oh, wow. You really want to put me in charge of that?” the doctor asked in disbelief.

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re my sidekick, after all.”

“If anything, we’re a duo.” Y/N retorted, jokingly.

“Fine.” the older sibling conceded. “As half of the most magnificent duo to ever exist, you should definitely help your other half with this very important mission.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll go through it between grading tests. Text me the address. Oh, and get off the phone! Enjoy your honeymoon!” she demanded.

“You’re a life-saver, and I do love you so.”

“Yeah, I kind of like you too!” the coach's daughter joked. “Have fun! Bye!”

Y/N hung up, just in time to hear a knock on her bedroom door. Her mother peeked through the open crack, her blue eyes meeting hers while a sweet smile formed on her lips.

“How did you come in?” she inquired, giving the older woman a peck on her cheek. “Josephine, how many times have I told you not to open the door to anyone?”

“It’s nana, mommy.” her offspring replied coyly, hiding behind her grandmother’s legs.

“I can see that.” Y/N chuckled. “But you should’ve called for me anyway. You know what they say…”

“Better safe than sorry.” her mom and Joey belted out in unison, mischief evident on their faces.

“Exactly. Go get your things, baby.”

Joey hurried away, leaving mother and daughter alone, only to come back in a split second, nearly dragging her grandmother out of the house. She knew full-well that before dropping her off and leaving her in her father’s care, Y/M/N Y/M/L/N would buy her an extra scoop of chocolate ice cream.

Hugging her mother tightly goodbye, the little girl left, secretly worrying that if she’d stay a minute longer she wouldn’t be able to leave. Not that she didn’t like being with her dad, but nearly since she was born it had been Y/N and Joey against the world, so it wasn’t exactly easy to leave her behind, even for a week.

The doctor watched as they drove away, mentally preparing herself for the oddly quiet week ahead of her. No Joey, nearly no noise. Her heart clenched in her chest, but as much as the two of them were essentially one, the five-year-old still loved and missed her dad. Y/N never wanted to keep her child from seeing her father, even if it meant that she was going to feel like a part of her was missing for seven days straight.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she adjusted the white cami top she was wearing, noticing her outfit was missing a key element: earrings. Going out without earrings on was practically the same as going out naked.

Stroking Finn's fur one more time after putting food in his bowl, Y/N left.

She drove in silence, looking out the window from time to time to gaze at the view. It was a beautiful, sunny late afternoon in New York, her favorite kind, and she resisted the urge to call the person she had been avoiding for over a week, even though she really wanted his company.

Jack and the kiss the pair had shared at River and David’s wedding wouldn’t leave her mind. The doctor could push it far back into her brain, but the nagging feeling of longing and endearment always came back. What the hell was happening? Had she let it go too far to back out?

Cole seemed to think so. Somehow, her friend knew she wanted to take a step forward but was too afraid to admit so herself. The conversation they had had at her house proved exactly that. Y/N had to talk to him, sooner or later. She just had to find the courage to do so. To achieve a middle term, to allow herself to be free and feel whatever she felt without guilt washing over her.

Pulling up to a quaint house nearly hidden by Jacaranda mimosifolia and its hundreds of tiny purple flowers, she laughed to herself. Only River could find a photographer that happens to live in the most peculiar, yet aesthetically pleasing little house in the city.

As if he had guessed, Ferdinand, the famed photographer, opened the door, greeting her with a cordial handshake.

“Did you have trouble finding my humble abode?” he asked, stepping aside to let her in.

“Not at all, River is pretty good at giving directions. I mean, I don’t think he's bad a anything, so you’d figure he's like Google Earth or something.” Y/N chuckled, taking in the way the light came into the house, illuminating the large living room, decorated with dozens of old cameras and framed photographs, all in black and white.

“That he is.” Ferdinand agreed, carefully placing the large album in a wooden boox, lined with black velvet. “The pictures are all numbered, as well as the pages. Any changes, just write them down. Oh, and the grooms asked me to print out a few extras for you. They're in the envelope inside.”

“For me?”

“Yeah, River and David picked them out themselves.”

“Oh god, I love them.” the doctor gushed, her eyes setting on the framed photographs on Ferdinand's walls once again. “Do you mind if I ask you a weird question?”

“Fire away.” the photographer shrugged, handing her the slightly heavy box.

“Why do you have all of these photos in black and white? Is it for the aesthetic, or…” she inquired, pointing at the wall.

“Ah.” he smiled. “I think that color distracts you from what’s happening in the picture. Sometimes you are so fascinated by the bright colors that you neglect the moment that was captured. The smile of a woman, for example. It doesn’t matter if she’s wearing lipstick, or if she’s got yellow teeth. What I care about it her smile. The way it pulls at the corners of her mouth, the shape of a dimple forming on her right cheek as the lips are parted to show a glimpse of her teeth, stained or not. Black and white allows you to focus on what’s really important.”

Y/n nodded, not knowing what to say in response to such a beautiful way of expression.

The coach's daughter thanked Ferdinand for his time and promised to come back with the final version of the album figured out as soon as possible, only to store the box in her trunk and go about her day, paying her weekly visit to the farmers’ market and stocking up on fresh produce.

As she finally arrived home, she almost forgot about the wedding album that laid in the back of her car. Luckily, her shopping rested on top of it, so when she grabbed the topped-up tote bags to take them inside, Y/N was reminded of her mission and the pressure of having it look perfect for two of her oldest friends.

Opening the heavy faux-leather album, she immediately saw the large envelope which contained the pictures River had insisted she’d keep. Her curiosity made her wonder why, but, as the dedicated maid of honor she was, and a methodical one at that, she decided to get the work done first.

The brunette had only gone through a few pages, marking a couple of alterations to be made, when she saw it. A picture of the guests, in which she could spot herself with Jack, well focused right in the center of it. There was a huge smile etched on her face as she looked back at him. That didn’t faze her though. It was the look in his eyes and the grin she could now identify as the loving kind on his lips.

She remembered now. She had been pretending to know how to tie his bow tie mere seconds before.

“I thought you knew what you were doing?”

“I never said I did.”

Y/N glanced at the white envelope beside her, this time not losing time resisting the temptation and tearing it up, only to find five photographs inside. They were all in black and white. And they all featured her and Jack.

A photo at the gazebo, when her stomach had growled loudly, asking to be fed, and the pair had burst into laughter. A photo of them dancing excitedly to the sound of I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), jumping up and down as pure enjoyment flooded through them. A photo of him, hanging on every word she said while they ate. A photo of her gazing into his eyes as they briefly swayed to a beautiful ballad. A photo of him, entering the log trellis with a bewildered look and a hint of hope in his eyes.

Ferdinand's words echoed in her head as she looked through the black and white pictures over and over again. Her heart banged inside her ribcage, ready to burst out and find its way to Jack. It wanted to let him know it was not his fault its owner had ran. It wanted to know if it could possibly open itself up to the possibility of love again. It… Was probably way over its head.

She took a deep breath. Maybe it was time to face her fears, to voice her concerns, to let someone in. Y/N knew she had been taking everything light-heartedly because once she let herself care for Jack, she would be exposed to the heartache and pain relationships bring along. But now, as her eyes scanned through every single detail of the photos se held in her hands, she wondered if maybe, just maybe, she’d take a chance on him, he could bring back love into her life. He had taken a chance on her at the wedding. Now it was up to her to decide whether she’d do the same.

The doctor got up, heading to the pantry to look for the hidden stash of sweets she always kept around for the times when she couldn’t think properly.

Reaching up to grab the old tin cookie container, she tripped on the canvas she had been considering throwing out ever since her brush stroked it with paint. Y/N kneeled beside her latest piece of art, carefully tracing over the outlines of her work with her fingertips.

 *

“Can you give me Jack's address?”

“Hey Junior! I’m great, just had meatballs for dinner. Delicious. Louie is okay as well. What about you?”

“Hi. Sorry.” the petite woman muttered, cringing at her lack of manners, adjusting her hands on the steering wheel. “I need Jack's address, please.”

Y/N had left the house in a hurry, holding on to. The painting under her arm and her car keys in her hand, clinging onto every bit of courage she had in her to go to Jack's house and talk. The doctor had only neglected to remember the fact that she had never been to his house and had no idea where he lived. So, as a grown woman would, she called up one of the only two people she knew for sure at some point was a regular at the Hughes abode. When that person failed to pick up, she turned to Trevor Zegras.

“You really don’t know where he lives?” her friend asked, genuinely confused. “I thought you guys had been hanging out, like, all the time.”

“Yes, Z, we hang out at his place and braid each other’s hair.” she grumbled sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “We’ve been out together a couple of times, but never really been to each other’s houses. Not since school, at least.”

“How did that never happen? Even Tiffani with an i has been to your house.” he chuckled to himself, scratching the back of his head.

“Well, I have a child who would probably tell her father there was a man coming. To the house and we both know how that would go down with Charlie. Now, would you please stop drilling me?” Y/N moaned, driving around with no sense of direction.

“That’s what she said!”

“Jesus, Trev, did someone drop you on your head when you were a baby?”

“So the legend says.”

“Just give me his address, okay?”

“Why do you need it? Oh, are you going to his apartment with nothing on but a raincoat and stilettos? I’m here for that, you little mynx.” her friend babbled excitedly.

“Trevor.”

“Okay, I’ll just ask Jack tomorrow… Got get it, girl!”

“The address.”

“Right! I’ll text you. He’s probably watching Beaches and crying to the sound of Wind Beneath My Wings, though. Believe me, you don’t need to rush to get to him.”

Y/N Y/L/N was back on track. Grabbing the bull by its horns wasn’t as hard when the bull was him. So why was she no nervous? Probably because Jack had been her friend for the better part of two decades, watching out for her with small, yet meaningful, acts of kindness, year after year, even when they’d been kept apart.

*

His apartment was located on the third floor of a relatively small, but luxurious, complex, practically by the city limits.

The elevator ride, right after she convinced the doorman to open the door for her, was spent trying to figure out what she was going to say when or if he opened the door, but, as soon as he did, all that came out of her mouth was: nothing.

Jack wondered if he was dreaming, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. Was he seeing things or had Y/N Y/L/N just magically appeared at his doorstep as soon as his finger hovered over her name on his phone?

“Y/N?”

“Hi.” she managed to let out, with a slight wave of her hand.

“What are you doing here?” the brunette man queried incredulously while holding the door open.

“You know when you said you thought you liked me and that you might actually like me a lot? The whole speech that could’ve been ripped off from a Nicholas Sparks novel? Well…”

“I’m not taking it back.” Jack spoke, incredibly sure of himself.

“I don’t want you to.”

Her words confused him. She had told him, just a week before, that he shouldn’t have kissed her and had walked away from him after his heartfelt confession. Now, as she stood at his doorstep, with a rectangular canvas in her bare arms, Y/N Y/L/N’s words told him he was surely dreaming.

Stepping aside, he allowed the petite woman to come in, noticing that her hair looked silky and voluminous, just like it was the first time he had eve set his eyes on her. There wasn’t a hint of makeup on her face, and he could swear she’d never looked more beautiful in her life.

The doctor hesitantly opened her mouth to speak, waiting momentarily for Jack to gently nod, urging her to go on.

“I was cleaning up after dinner a while ago and I noticed most of my plates are slightly chipped. I mean, it’s completely normal, I’ve had them since I moved in with Charlie for the first time. They’re pretty old.” she began, as he listened intently, not wanting to say a word in fear she’d shut him out. “I realize I ran out on you and never really explained why. I know I don’t have to, and I know you’d never expect or force an explanation out of me, but I want to give it to you. I do. So…”

Y/N looked down at the painted canvas, tracing the boards of the metaphorical white china she’d spent hours working on. With another shaky breath, she showed him a small smile before handing him her most recent artwork.

“This is me. I’m a chipped dinner plate. It’s who I am now. I will never be the girl you met back when we were kids again. She’s been through hell. She’s been stomped on, pushed around, told to quiet down her voice. That force of nature handed her heart on a silver platter to a man who continuously made her doubt herself. A man who caused scenes because he was jealous of her coworkers. A man who made her feel tiny and like she wasn’t worth being loved for who she was. A manipulative man who wanted her to be some sort of fifty’s housewife who wouldn’t deny him anything or dare to speak up if she thought he was wrong. That girl isolated herself from her parents and friends because she thought that, by doing so, she was giving him proof that she loved him. But love is supposed to be patient and kind. Love isn’t easily angered, it doesn’t keep score. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. What he felt for her wasn’t love. He didn’t give her the love she needed and deserved. That girl, who had by then become a woman, managed to escape from an abusive marriage because of her daughter, a tiny human being who provided her the strength she craved to break free.

Jack's heart sunk to his stomach, aching madly as he was given an insight to what Y/N, the woman he admired and cared so deeply for, had endured during her seven-year relationship with her ex-husband.

He instinctively clenched his fists, forcing himself to refrain from reacting to what she was telling him. The singer could see how her face contorted, trying to conceal her emotions and how her previous relationship still weighed down on her chest. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her, but he knew better than to do that. He knew he had to wait for her.

“So she did. She let go of him and moved out. But she will never be the same she was before. A part of the person she was is gone. You can’t really do anything to recover the piece that is missing. I am chipped but I will never consider myself a victim of my circumstances. It happened, but I’m still here. I’m alive, I’m healthy, I have a beautiful, witty and kind five-year-old daughter whose love knows no limits. I fought long and hard to go back to the person I was before Charlie but, at the end of the day, it was senseless. She is not coming back. And you know what? It doesn’t matter. I needed the wisdom that came along with the heartache. I am different, but I am stronger. I’m chipped, but I’m not broken.”

The determined look on her face told him she meant every word she said. Y/N Y/L/N displayed her battle wounds fully and proudly.

“I’ve built a wall around my heart and I haven’t let anyone in since then. I tried to a while back, I swear I did… I think I wasn’t ready. I think that maybe, deep down, I wasn’t sure he was the right one, if he could handle all this insane baggage I carry with me. When you kissed me, I wanted to let my guard down. I wanted to stay there with you, under the summer sky, to tell you I also have something in me that tells I am slowly, but surely, falling for you. But my first instinct was to run. Eventually, I always do. I’ve been running for so long, Jack…”

“Y/N, I- ” he started, completely at loss for words.

“I’m afraid I’ll end up hurting you. I’m afraid things will go wrong. I have a daughter, I owe to her to be okay, to always be her rock. I can’t just close my eyes and go for it. She’s my priority, she’s my everything. You understand that, right?”

The doctor waited in silence as Jack gathered his thoughts and willed himself to speak.

“Of course I do. I would never, in a million years, ask you not to think of your daughter when it comes to anything. Joey will always be your number one. I am just asking you for a chance to be your number two. Or three. Or even five. I don’t care. I just want to make you happy. Walking-on-air happy. Singing-ridiculously-cheesy-love songs – 24/7 happy.”

She took one of his hands, which still held the painting, and placed it over her heart.

“Here. This is the effect you and your words have on me. And that honestly it scares me to death. I should probably be running by now, but-”

“I know, but Y/N, don’t.” Jack said as he laid his gift gently on his couch. “I know this is a big leap of faith and we have only scratched the surface on each other’s deep-rooted emotional issues and, trust me, I- ”

He was silenced by her lips, capturing his and pulling him in for a deep, emotional kiss. Both of her hands held his face close to hers, as if the world would end dared they lips move an inch apart.

“What does this mean?” he asked, regaining his breath as he watched her bite down on her bottom lip.

Y/N smiled softly, adjusting the collar of his plaid shirt.

“I don’t want to run anymore.”

[anotheroceanid]

Oh my gods thank you for answering me I'm about to sleep so I'll annoy you more tomorrow if you keep answering my asks, Kronos thoughts on Percy? Just because of the Rhea dress up series I'm now starting on your ask blog

Don’t worry, it’s nice talking ✌️

Hm… okay, but as I said, Titans can be creepy. (this can be considered a bit darker than the previous snippets, and it gets a bit of titan lore from WTHB, but nothing that counts as an spoiler)

You know these old guys who will look at you and tell you that you look just like their deceased wives? That was Kronos. But at a much younger age, Percy thought it was super normal being compared to a long-recluse titaness.

See, everything was happening so fast ever since he got to camp, that never once he reflected much on the “you look like your grandma” talks. He thought it meant in a “she sided with the Olympians too, now they’re not even on speaking terms with her anymore”, and coming from the guy who ate his kids, Percy wasn’t paying much attention.

Years later, it definitely snapped to him.

Probably talking to one of the other elder titans, he’d come to realise how much Kronos used to really compare him to his former wife. Even in the way he spoke to Percy. Weird. Weird. Weeeeird.

The thing is: after a millennia or two living on Tartarus (and worse, without a body), you don’t end up well. Kronos, all his siblings would confirme, was never in a good place… mentally speaking.

Their father detested him more than he detested anyone else, and in the meanwhile Ouranos worshiped the ground Rhea walked on. And Kronos had a huge, huuuuge crush on her ever since… ever. No need to say that Ouranos was 100% against it, that was his little girl, his favourite, the jewel of his world, one good thing about having kids is that one of these kids were Rhea.

But Rhea liked Kronos too, when he was just that silly guy that made her laugh, so she hoped eventually Ouranos would soften a bit to this potential relationship. Well, it never happened. The whole thing with the coup went on. Rhea could’ve told his father that her mother and brothers were conspiring against him, but turned out she liked Kronos more than she liked their father.

Kronos was very smug about it.

About the time the coup happened, some of the titans were already married. Tethys and Oceanus had a lot of kids already, Hyperion and Theia had Helios and Selene already, and it was just a matter of time before Koios and Phoebe started having kids too. Krios was trying to woo his violent sea lady and Iapetus was doing just alright as a bachelor (until Clymene was born, but that’s an entirely different story), and the other titanesses were still in their “Boys??? Ew!!!” era. So, Rhea and Kronos got together. Everyone knew it’d happen. Happy ending, right?

Nope. As stated before, Kronos never been in a nice mental state. But Rhea loved him very much, and thought Kronos’ turmoil was just a matter of time (yes, a pun) and that he’d be fine sooner than later and would like have kids just as much as Hyperion but a little less than Oceanos (she didn’t want to have that many kids).

Then, she got pregnant. And he ate the baby. Then again. Then again. Then again. Well, we all know the story about how it got to the rock.

But Kronos… not so much. Maybe something deep (as Tartarus) down, he felt bad about it. Maybe he did want to have kids. Maybe he even liked the kids that he had. He made a joke about his daughters’ future weddings on the day Helios got married to Oceanos’ eldest girl, Perseus, who was Kronos’ favourite niece. He spoke about them like they were sitting just beside him, not in the bottom of his stomach. That was terrible. Rhea cried a lot.

So everything to say: Kronos is not very aware of reality as it is. He’s a terrible person (titan, whatever), but he’s also a very confused one. So at the sight of Percy, he didn’t see Percy… At least, not all times. Usually, he’d see Rhea playing in a younger, boyish figure. Sometimes, he’d see his enemy. And sometimes, it’d mix. And if Rhea was a bit wilder, well, he wasn’t exactly the same either, so whatever.

And if if Rhea had loved him more than she loved her father once, maybe it could work again, right?

But Luke didn’t want to cooperate with this part of his plan. Thankfully.

[doodle-do-wop]

KOTLC AND PJO

@valentinerose529 passed on the brain rot so now I'm dragging y'all down with me

Please buckle up your non-existent seatbelts and keep all hands, wings, feet, tails, and horns inside the vehicle. This is gonna be a long post

So

As I've previously stated else where I firmly stick my foot in the hill that the Aphrodite Cabin (10) has so much more under the surface of pink and glitter (not that there's anything wrong with pink and glitter)

Aphrodite is quite literally the Goddess of Love if you're a PJO fan and don't know Greek mythology or you're a fan but completely forgot.

She has an ever changing form to each individual as well as an ever changing personality (in the PJO universe) due to beauty standards and the culture of the place she's in.

Love is complicated and messy, it's not the same for everyone or every situation.

Thus why I put Keefe in good old 10. What a better place for an empath than the Aphrodite Cabin?

Now moving onto the ever messy Vackers

I love Fitz and Biana. I do............but I got an entire skeleton of bones to pick with Alden Vacker and of he can meet me outside the Denny's parking lot please-

While not actually smart Alden did manage to become emissary in KOTLC and Athena seems to like mildly smart guys who end up being very mid dad's. Girls got a type and I can only say hopes and prayers she gets better.

Athena is a strategist and occasionally thinks only in the form of a game (I will be using chess). Athena knows when it's time to get sharp and wet the blade and move people to where they have to go. She may be immortal but time is still against her so chop chop guys, we've got a magical meguiffin to snatch and bring back.

Athena is the goddess of wisdom, war strategy, handicraft.

What better godly parent to leave an ever lasting shadow on the eldest son Alvar. And the bitterness that stems from being out shined by perfect child Fitz who developed a far more impressive power than his older brother.

"but Biana feels so Aphrodite coded!" You cry and I hear you but Biana is a fighter at heart. She likes winning Quest Hunt and tackling the shit out of people in Tackle Bramble (she would love rugby). She's competitive and clever though it's not clear where on earth that gene came from, clearly not Alden.

And let's not forget it was Biana's idea to turn shirt ruffles into weapon hiding spots. Girls got strategy and style. Athena would be proud.

(plus the absolute sandal that would be blowing up the Camp's gossip train of Biana potentially being Aphrodite's daughter dispite having two Athena brothers would be scalding hot)

Onto everyone's favorite technopath

"oh Hephaestus, we all know" well you're wrong bucko

Worm, germs, plotted plant I named Timmy. What has Dex Dizznee built so far? Bombs, multiple bracelets for punching, many devices used just to heck the government's most top secret files, a panic button/tracker, more devices that hack into the government's files, a circuit that shall not be discussed.

These are all pretty crazy cool shit and Hephaestus would be damn proud to have Dex as his son.

But Dex isn't his son.

Dex's dad is the father of thieves, travelers, and roads. Hermes

"WHAT?" Yeah I know I know. But think about it. Dex is smart, he's so damn smart but he's tricky too. He knows the chemicals needed to dye an imp pink with glittery nails to match, he can whip up a batch up balding blam to get revenge, he can also be easily lost in the background of things.

So what a major disappointment it must be, to be waiting any day now for the sign of the hammer in a blazing forge and get a stupid winged sandal instead.

The Song Twins

Tam and Linh really gave me a run for my money because they're twins but Linh is an obvious Poseidon kid while Tam isn't and however powerful and weird the gods may be, two gods can't have kids with the same woman at the same time. It just ain't possible.

Linh's water powers are important to her character but so are Tam's. But Tam can still have spooky powers just not in the same flavor. Linh is the pretty side of Poseidon's rule over the seas. The water that heals and the funny animal shapes she makes. But the deeper into the ocean you get the darker it becomes. Tam's powers are the less pleasant things in life.

Now for everyone's second favorite arsonist (not Sophie)

Marella Redek has Pyrokenisis and you're saying "oh this one's eazy, Leo, come pick up your sibling" but you're wrong yet again my friend.

While Marella would probably be super frustrated with getting the tinker cabin over something that could help her mom (y'all remember how helping her mom was her main motivation?) at least with the STEM geeks she could hammer out some kind of magic mood ring to help her mom or make a bracelet with charmed gemstones capable of alerting her mom or herself when danger is near or just something

But no

Instead Marella is stuck in the only cabin that couldn't have been a worst match up for her. Hecate. (I know I previously said Ares but I changed my mind)

Marella, instead of having a knack for magic like almost every other child of Hecate instead got the flaming torch part of the deal. Literally. Marella can also see strings of magic and she doesn't like it one bit.

And finally Sophie (because this is getting too long)

Sophie was a tricky one since she has all these powers and it was nearly impossible to put her in a cabin that really fit with her

What finally got me to decide was actually her teleporting powers and inflicting. They have a sort of lightning and thunder styled description so who better than lord thunderbutt himself, Zeus.

[moonflowerdamie]

i’m super bored so i’m gonna rate stranger things ships! buckle in folks, let’s get into it😎

•mileven—4/10•

it’s ok ig. i’m not like a hater of it? but it’s definitely not a great ship. no hate to mileven stans, it’s just not for me. i liked them in season 1 and 2, but it got toxic and weird in season 3 and season 4 solidified my disdain for it. i think mike needs to do some self-reflection (maybe discover a few things about himself—michael wheeler i know what you are) and i think el needs to become her own person outside of her relationship with him. i wholeheartedly support the el/mike exes-to-besties agenda though!

•jopper—8/10•

they’re so cute oml, i shipped them since season 1 and their build-up and eventual payoff was immaculate! i loved their early season tension and their kiss in season 4 was so so good. they fit so well together. they don’t get 10/10 only because a) i LOVED bob and joyce in season 2 more than life and will forever mourn that joyous man and b) i kinda loved the whole single grumpy father figure/lonely teenage daughter dynamic el and hop had.

•lumax—10/10•

this ship. this goddamn ship. the hurt/comfort. the angst. the teasing. the SOULMATISM of it all. seriously, these two are meant for each other. lucas is max’s safe place, her happiest memory and her favourite escape. max is lucas’ sunshine, his wake-up call, his reason to try. i didn’t use to love them, in fact it was only since season 4 that i’ve been such an avid shipper of them but god. they really are the softest. ‘i like talking with you, mad max’ and ‘i’m still here’ and ‘lucas!’ and the notes and the snowball and holy shit i love them sm.

•byler—7/10•

this is with the exception of season 2 byler, which gets 10/10 (‘crazy together’ oh my god). apart from that, i get the hype for it, but i also want the best for my lil ball of fruity sunshine will byers. he is my baby boy and i will protect him. and i just think that mike needs to do some growing up before he’s ready to be with will. also, i’ve never loved mike as a character (again, with the exception of s1 and 2 mike, he was a sweetie) and i think he’d end up hurting will if they got together at this point. in the future, if mike can prove that he’s matured and grown into himself, i will wholeheartedly support this relationship.

•jancy—6/10•

again, it’s ok. i did love them in season 2, but season 1 jonathan was a creep, and season 3 jancy just didn’t do it for me. jonny boy has grown on me over the seasons, but i think everybody moved on from him taking nakey nakey pictures of nancy without her knowledge wayyyyy too quickly. also, they just want different things in life and that’s ok! i do prefer them over stancy, but if i’m honest, i am absolutely a lesbian nancy supporter. the comphet on that woman is insane. so again, like mileven, i am a nancy/jonathan exes-to-besties advocate!

•stancy—4/10•

they were not it in season 4. like, it made me angry that the duffers tried to push it on us again. i did sort of like them in the early seasons, but steve was a jerk and nancy needed to grow into herself and they went their separate ways for the better. steve became a good person and nancy became the strong, independent badass woman we all know and love. i love them as friends and co-babysitters of the kids, but not as lovers. their arcs wouldn’t have happened without their break-up, and they’re both so different as people that getting back together would’ve been like going backwards. steve’s speech about kids in the van made me physically ill with how a) out of character it was and b) how the duffer brothers tried to make it seem like pushing out 6 kids and living the suburban american dream (read: nightmare) was something nancy would want, when she’s spent 3 seasons displaying an obvious disgust for that kind of life. if they get back together in s5 i’ll be throwing something at the tv.

•elmax—9/10•

they. are. so. cute. i love this ship sm, it’s so wholesome and soft. it just works as well—el allows max to explore her own kindness, her own vulnerability, her own ability to care, and max allows el to explore her own identity, what makes her happy, how to be independent. season 3 elmax was superior, but that scene in s4 where they reunite is utterly breathtaking—‘if you touch her again, i will kill you again’ protective gfs!! honestly, if i wasn’t such a lumax shipper i’d be all in for them. as it is, my motto is currently this: max has two hands! one for el and one for lucas :)

•madwheeler—1/10•

no. just no. these two actively dislike each other lmao. max is perpetually annoyed by mike’s existence and mike thinks max is like, the worst. they couldn’t even do enemies to lovers because max would steal mike’s gf in a heartbeat and would probably rather eat glass than kiss michael wheeler. they only get 1 point because finn and sadie have a sweet friendship.

•eddsy—6/10•

they would’ve been cute tbh. and since it’s been discovered that chrissy is actually 18 instead of 16, it’s not a weird one either. when i thought she was 16 i was put off, but now i’m sort of neutral on it. that scene in the woods was very sweet and her and eddie totally could have had the whole popular cheerleader gf/metalhead nerdy bf thing going on. however, it was only one episode they were in together and the ship was never one i was like ‘oh my god i love this’ so. i will say that grace van dien does not deserve the hate she gets for shipping them, especially when joseph quinn gets none of it for the same thing. other than that, it’s not massively awesome but it’s pretty cute.

•willel—0/10•

if you ship this, seek help. they are siblings.

•henclair—4/10•

they could be cute ig, but i just see them as besties. add in the fact that lumax is one of my fav ships and dustin and suzie are super cute and this ship is just sort of meh to me.

•duzie—7/10•

very sweet. nerd gf/geek bf. ‘never-ending story’ was a cultural reset and they’re both icons for it. honestly, not a ship that rocked my world but they are super cute so. 7 points.

•rockie—7/10•

at this point i just want robin to have a gf. just let maya hawke kiss a woman on this show. at first, i was super excited for these 2, but then i saw the way miss buckley looked at nancy wheeler and i was like ‘vickie who?’ (i see you duffer brothers). also, vickie’s whole character felt like a diversity box tick. like she had no originality whatsoever, they just made her a carbon copy of robin which pissed me off. however, i see the potential. i would not be unhappy if they had a fleshed out, well-developed relationship in s5. especially since vickie, a bi girl, is being played by amybeth mcnulty, a bi queen.

•steddie—5/10•

ok. so. i don’t hate this ship. i really don’t. in fact, i’ve written them in some of my ronance fics. i think they could’ve been cute. however. they hype for these two was so overdone and the way people treated them in comparison to more fleshed out, developed dynamics like ronance was really annoying. especially because the majority of steddie shippers are straight women who then deny that ronance could ever happen. the ship itself was ok, but if i’m being realistic, they didn’t have that many scenes together and the fandom of this ship ruined it for me. the fact that the majority of fics in the ronance tag on ao3 are steddie with background ronance really grinds my fucking gears, and the amount of people who are fetishising steddie because they’re both attractive men is just so fucking irritating. overall, not a bad ship but a fairly toxic fandom (not all of you, of course—chill steddie shippers are cool, but some of y’all, jesus christ)

•harringrove—1/10•

awful, awful ship. no. don’t ship steve with the racist abuser just because they’re both semi-attractive white men. only gets a point because of joe keery’s fruity (not assuming his sexuality, just joking about his actions) behaviour towards dacre montgomery.

•stobin—0/10•

robin buckley. is. a LESBIAN. she’s GAY. SHE LIKES WOMEN AND WOMEN ONLY. if you ship these two romantically, i can only assume you’re a homophobic asshole who deserves sand thrown in their eyes. unapologetically, if you ship steve and robin as a couple, i hope you slip in the shower, motherfucker.

•stonathan—2/10•

i mean, it’s not the worst??? but again, i think it’s people shipping them just because they’re two white men who talked to each other. like, did y’all forget that steve literally called jonathan a slur? and that they tried to beat the shit out of each other? i don’t hate it the way i hate harringrove, but it’s so so unlikely and i’d be so puzzled if it ever was even hinted at.

•murray/alexei—6/10•

these two would’ve been cute. and i do think murray is gay, and probably did have a little thing for alexei. i don’t know about alexei but they were definitely cute friends. and i was so betrayed and upset by his death. a fairly good ship, no complaints from me.

and finally…

•ronance—1284028/10😌🥹😍•

the best ship. for nancy, for robin, for the show, for ever. they mean the world to me. they are the world to me. if i had one wish, it would be for ronance to be canon. they make me so fucking emotional because i want what they have. as someone who so heavily relates to robin (chaotic lonely lesbian who is desperate for love but feels she may never be loved as much as she loves, possibly autistic and feels destined to be an annoyance to those around her) i want a nancy. i want to be loved in my entirety. and those two, they get each other. sure, robin irritated nancy at first and they didn’t get on, but they grew. nancy, who’s never had anyone listen to her and believe in her with such intent, finds robin, who is more than willing to, who thinks ‘nancy’s a genius’ and would follow her anywhere. robin, who thinks all she can ever be is helpless and annoying, finds nancy, who trusts her with her life, who picks her and picks her and keeps picking her, who thinks she’s just as smart as she actually is, who understands her needs and her vulnerabilities and validates her, tells her ‘it’s ok’ and ‘you got this’. these two work in a way no other ship does and they are so undeniably soulmates. they need each other. they want each other. they deserve each other. there’s a reason i write about them so much—holy shit honestly i love them so fucking much.

anyways, that got a lot longer than i thought it would! i hope you guys enjoyed my ramblings haha :)

[mormonbooks]

Daughter of the Deep Review

Alright, it's been a little while since I finished this book but I'm finally writing the review.

4/5 stars!

This book is by Rick Riordan, and while he's not a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- so this book doesn't technically fit my "by mormons about mormons" criteria -- I wanted to include this book because it's one of the only pieces of mainstream media that has casual mormon rep that I've ever heard of.

Summary - Ana Dakaar's freshman finals trip gets turned into a life-death situation when Harding-Pencroft (the school she and her friends attend) is destroyed. The freshmen are the only ones left standing and they discover that there is more to their school than they originally thought -- Captain Nemo from 1000 Leagues Under the sea (also known as Prince Dakaar) was a real person, and their school was built to honor his memory and continue researching the incredibly advanced naval and marine technology that he had invented. Ana has to trust her friends Esther, Nelinha, and Gemini (as well as herself) while they try to win a war they never realized they were a part of.

Gemini Twain is the only Mormon character and he is great. Spoilers under the cut.

Well written - 5 Stars.

Listen, it's Rick Riordan. He's good at writing, what am I gonna say?

2. Fun Level - 5 Stars.

The story is just jam packed with fun and entertaining moments and ideas. The advanced technology is intriguing and silly at the same time, the characters are engaging and their relationships are fun! I had a great time jumping from suspenseful action moments, to heartfelt friendships, to tender introspection, and back to silly sci-fi. It's just a blast.

3. Complex Faith - 4 Stars.

Gemini's faith isn't explored very much, because he's not a POV character. That being said, he is one of the main characters that Ana interacts with, and we get hints that his relationship to his religion is complex. His parents are hippies, and he never knew them because he was raised by his grandmother. She is the one who introduced him and his brother to the church. His brother is on a mission, and Gemini is the only Mormon at HP. He's a really lonely kid. We don't get the sense that he's close with a faith community in the area. Although we don't know Gemini's personal relationship with God, his backstory makes him a unique enough Mormon character (basically, not a Peter Priesthood) that I think he warrants a high score in this regard.

4. Homophobia Scale - 4 Stars.

There is absolutely no romance in this book. I know people like the ship Ana and Gem and there is certainly room for that (and the difference in religion would be interesting to explore) but there is also room for all the characters to be ace, or literally whatever. So, while there are no gay characters, there are also no straight characters. Everyone is just ... trying not to die actually.

5. Mormon Weird - 1 star.

Because Gemini isn't a POV character, we don't get a lot of Mormon specific things. There is a moment where Gemini unthinkingly talks to a Nelinha (who is from Brazil) about his brother who is on a mission in Brazil, as if Nelinha would somehow know his brother even though Brazil is a huge place, which seems like a specifically Mormon Moment to me (in an affectionately, "Oh yikes, we do that don't we" way), but yeah. Not a lot of Mormon Weird included in this book.

6. Diversity of Characters - 5 stars!

Ana - Indian American, Hindu, multilingual (English, Irish, ASL, Bundeli, etc)

Nelinha - Brazilian, bilingual (English, Portuguese)

Esther - European American, Autistic (and written very well from my opinion), has an Emotional Support Dog

Gemini Twain - African-American, Mormon,

Plus lots of other characters who show up throughout the novel, all with their own backstories, ethnicities, and personalities. I love them all.

7. Other Problematic Stuff - 5 stars

Nothing to report. It was just great.

Conclusion - Please read this book!! It's just so much fun, the cast is so great, the world is fascinating, and the plot is engaging. I love Gemini Twain with all of my heart and I want everyone else to know and love him too. It's also just so refreshing to read a book that acknowledges our existence, and allows a Mormon to be one of the heroes in a sci-fi story, just like ... casually. I love him.

I said in my goodreads review that:  "I didn't necessarily see myself in Gem, but I saw all the boys I grew up with in Sunday School, the guys I served my mission with, and the men I met at BYU." He's a good one.

[countrymusiclover]

88 - Bloodline Deals

Part 89

Gemini Runaway

@icefrye19 @secretdreamlandmentality

Walking down the staircase I held my phone between my shoulder and my ear shrugging on my gray jacket. "Caroline, hey. I’m sorry that we just had to leave so suddenly. But my brother called asking for help.”

“Don’t apologize for that. You and Jacob have nearly gone through hell and back for each other. So if he calls you have to help him.” She responded through the phone until she put it on video showing her already growing baby bump.

Covering my mouth with my freehand I gasped grinning at her. “That’s crazy, Care. I’m happy for you though. If you ever need to rant about something. I’m your girl.”

“There is one thing that is annoying. The weird cravings and the desire to have alcohol. Since it helps with my craving for blood.” She ran a hand through her hair sighing heavily.

Throwing my head back I laughed remembering the torture during those months. “Oh my god. I hated that. Anyway don’t judge for me asking this but how are you that far along. It’s only been like two months since we came back here.”

“According to Valerie the heretic doctor. She thinks that maybe your uncle used his magic before he died to speed up the pregnancy. I’m not really sure. But enough about me.” The blonde vampire shook her head.

Walking down the last step of the staircase I noticed Hayley walking in the doorway. She hadn’t left her daughter's side for months while we tried to figure out this stuff with the Hollow. “It’s a long story but basically there’s a dead girl who wants more power than she already has. Hey Care, I have to let you go. Hayley just got here.”

“Tell her hi for me. Bye Rae.” She waved to me before I put my phone in my back pocket.

Hayley sat down at a table covered with a bunch of creamy treats that Klaus had rewarded the girls with after they saved our lives from Davina trying to kill him. “I guess apple turnover is a fruit.”

“Uh sorry that’s Nik’s treat. He literally compelled the owner to give over the entire candy shop. Anyway I’m sorry to call you here when you are concerned for Andrea. But you’re the only person Davina told more about the Hollow to.” Sitting down in a chair I pulled up I stared at her.

She brushed hair out of her face. “From what she told me it turns out that the werewolf curse was created by the Hollow. Which was surprising.”

“Dang that curse goes back that far. That makes her as strong as the Original Witch Esther.” I gasped, parting my lips. “That’s honestly something I worried about for Alina. She has her father’s temper but she isn’t always in control of it.”

The brunette wolf leaned up taking a bite out of one of the many desserts. “Have you told Klaus yet about the whole marriage thing?”

“I’m assuming Jacob finally told you about that. It was supposed to be Andrea but she’s only just now started to show her magical ability. And we won’t know if she’s half wolf until she accidentally kills someone. Regardless, we're getting off topic.” I crossed my arms over my chest leaning back in my chair.

She took another bite. “Fine, okay. She also said that my bloodline is what can kill the Hollow-“

“I knew it could be killed!” Hitting my hands on the table I interrupted her. “Sorry, sorry, continue.”

The crescent werewolf nodded. “Yeah so…I am the last of my line so if I die then the Hollow will come after my daughter. Even though she already is considering it, she can probably feel the magic running through her blood. I just don’t know what to do about it.”

“Wait a second. Davina is the link to the ancestors' magic. Maybe we can talk to them about how to stop her.” Resting my elbows on the table I leaned towards her.

Hayley finished her dessert by wiping her hands on her jeans. “We could try but I doubt they’ll be willing to help your daughters who they tried to kill as infants.”

“That may be true, but they didn’t harm your daughter. So if you asked they could be open to the right proposal.” Placing my hand over hers she lifted her gaze to meet mine.

She nodded silently for a moment. “Thank you for helping me, Raelyn. You know I came here looking for my family when I was alone. But I don’t feel alone anymore.”

“You don’t have to feel alone ever again. Cause the thing with this family is that they always look out for one another.” Squeezing her hands, we heard angry footsteps vamp down the stairs.

“Raelyn, why is that old wolf woman blowing up your phone!” Whipping my head around I threw my hair that was in a ponytail around seeing my husband in a mood.

Hayley removed her hands from mine exiting the compound. “I’m going to go. Call me later, Raelyn.”

Once I could hear her footsteps were further off in the distance I slowly stepped towards him. “Nik, before you get angry like you most likely will. Just keep in mind that I didn’t have a choice.”

“What does she want?” His tone grew deeper within seconds.

Putting my hands together over my mouth I sighed heavily thinking. “In order to bring you and your siblings back together we had to make a deal with Mary. She had the last known location of the werewolf that we needed blood from-“

“Raelyn, what was the deal you made!” He stepped closer where our chests were pressed up against one another.

Meeting his gaze I saw the golden color breaking through showing he was going to snap once I told him. “Klaus, just calm down - uh”

“Just tell me, Raelyn!” He grabbed me by my shoulders where I sucked in a breath sharply.

Sniffing through tears under his strong werewolf grip I pushed him backwards, blurting it out. “She wants Alina to marry her son Jackson and bring the werewolf packs together. It was supposed to be Andrea but she just started showing that she has magic.”

“You sealed our daughter's fate to a bayou wolf. Did you ever consider that this boy might not be up to our standards!” Klaus raised his voice shouting through the house.

Vamping up into his face I growled. “I did what I had to do to get you back, Niklaus! I couldn’t bear another year without you. It was utter torture!”

“You want to talk about torture, Rae!” He shouted in my face, flashing his fangs and golden eyes down at me. Yet he turned his back to me wiping away tears with his arm. “The water in the pipes was like nails on a chalkboard. I was starving. I could smell the blood from the people on the street above me, I could hear their heartbeats. My own mind turned against me. It was taunting me. It was relentless. The first few weeks were the worst.”

Slowly walking towards him I put a hand on his shoulder hoping he was calmer now. “Nik, I’m sorry. I just didn’t see another way. Besides Alina and Jackson have been friends for a little while. It’s not planning to happen until they are older. Please just say something.”

“I’m going to kill that werewolf mother Mary.” He started to head towards the door.

Raising my hand into a fist I stopped him in his tracks. “Immobilus.”

“Uh Rae. Could you please stop using magic as a cheat.” He grumbled under his breath.

Rounding him until we were standing face to face again I still held my hand up in the air. His eyes returned to their normal baby blues. “Are you going to behave and not kill her? Otherwise I will leave you here until I get back.”

“I’ll behave, love.” He mumbles softly.

Waving my hand I released the spell off of him spinning on my heels heading to the middle of the bayou. “Regelo. Let’s go, Nik.” The walk there was pretty silent until we walked up onto her front porch. Seeing the elder werewolf preparing for dinner in her kitchen.

“What do you want?” Mary stopped cutting her tomatoes seeing my husband and I standing in the doorway.

My husband put his hands on the side of the door smiling at her. “Well we could start with some common courtesy. You could invite me and my wife here inside.”

“Not likely, vampire.” She snapped at him.

He raised his head, smirking at her. “I’m a hybrid dear. And so is my darling wife here. I am half wolf. We could be distant relatives for all you know.”

“Mary, please invite us inside. You called about our deal and I am here to discuss it with you.” I stepped in front of my husband giving her a small pout.

She sat her knife down on the countertop turning to face us head on. “Fine. Come in.”

Klaus gestured with his hand for me to go first with a smile. I nodded, stepping over the threshold and he followed afterwards shutting the door behind us with his foot. “See that wasn’t too hard to be neighborly.”

“Nik.” I sent him a glare when Mary made a disgruntled look towards his remark.

Mary headed into her tiny living room and we followed after her. She sat down in one of the recliner chairs with us on the couch. “So you’re okay with all this, hybrid?”

“Oh no. On the contrary I’d rather rip out your vocal cords for trying to wed my daughter to your wolf bayou son.” Klaus rested one hand on the side of the couch snarky.

I kicked my husband in the leg where he groaned, biting his lip. “What did I say back at the house!” I whispered under my breath at him with a deep glare.

“Oh come on.” He rolled his eyes.

Clasping my hands together I focused on the older werewolf. “Sorry about him, Mary. He’s a bit overprotective when it comes to our daughters. Given the circumstances you’ve seen with us I think you can understand why.”

“Yes. I’ve heard your story. The original hybrid and his heretic girl. I’m shocked there ain’t more tales of blood between the two of you combined.” She responded back.

Klaus leaned down resting his elbows on his knees. “Tell me Mary. If you despise our kind so much why even consider switching from her brother's daughter to ours hmm?”

“Klaus.” I scolded him.

Mary held up a hand. “Don’t worry about him asking questions, Raelyn. He has a right to ask questions. But it doesn't mean he will like the answer. The reason I agreed to the switch is because I have been watching Alina and my son together. They’re happy and I don’t want to break that up. I’ll accept that she has your vampire blood in her as long as you don’t do anything to break up their marriage.”

“We will do our best, Mary. Thank you.” I smiled towards the werewolf leader.

My husband sat upright grasping my hand while holding our hands on his thigh. “I’m curious at what age do you wish for them to have this wedding ceremony. You do recall my daughter is only the age of nine and Jackson is ten.”

“When they are adults preferably. Now it is about dinner time so I am going to ask you to leave.” She rose to her feet heading towards the front door, opening it for us.

Walking out the door I dragged my husband out of the house before he could cause trouble. “Thank you, Mary. Invidia.”

“What the bloody hell was that for. I behaved myself with no violence.” Raising my freehand Klaus winced holding the side of his head.

Lowering my hand I sent him a half smile squeezing his hand in mine as we walked back to the compound and through the woods. “Threats still count as not behaving. I know you’re worried. I am too. But if they’re happy that’s all that matters.”

“Fine, fine. I just want her to be safe and happy. Just like you are.” He leans forward giving me a kiss on the forehead making me smile.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[gascon-en-exil]

If I understand Intys gave us another romance option that is not incest but vaguely looks like it is ?? oh shoot. And the FE fandom still don't know how parallel universe works and that the Sombron are different people, right ?

A collection of anon perspectives, presented without commentary.

I am no expert in multiverse but the DLC is a no win situation if we consider that Sombron is the same as another Sombron as it would mean Alear can marry people they killed... oh no it's Awakening all over again

Alright, If I understand the whole family situation is a more elaborated scenario of "even if you marry Lucina, Morgan is not Chrom's grand daughter" but it's canon and it involves doubts on being siblings ? ok. Time to move out to a quiet place.

"My point is not that there isn't a non-incestuous explanation, because regardless of any ambiguity that would be covered by the playable Alear and Nel being from different dimensions." yes you forgot to add the fact that each time someone use that said explanation, they are regarded as a degenarate for genuinely liking the shipping while being freaked out by incest even fictional and not wanting to embrace it so using the deniable argument * cries in Leocorrin offender*. But hey if the game say it is, it means it's canon therfore... i am siding with the game sorry fans.

I think I will stand to my reading of "Alear is by no strech of the imagination related to the twins" but not because of shipping, but because it would give me a headache if the game began to treat them as such.

"Pointing out that fictional characters aren't real never leads to anything". so we are doomed aren't we ? we are doomed because people loves to take suspension of disbelief too far ?

That might not be that much of a problem after all, we all know that the vocal minority of anti is thankfully deprived of making the morality complaints more vocal. Thankfully because we are talking about a damn video game. Geez, just wait till they discover about mythologia

I feel like the localization team completely bought the father counterpart excuse because Nel keeps saying "I love you" without it being toned down or stuff.

My God, there is so many way to make those ships ok with the power of headcanon and fanfiction. You can ship them with the Alear of their dimension, rewrite their background, heck literaly anyhting you want. Just to give an example, some people who shipped Robin/2nd gen made their Avatar being a 2ndgen too <ith the power of fanfiction. Just do that and no more war.

Me : * looks at the twins*

Me : Au exist for a reason.

Alright if I understand correctly, Alear and the twins are both children of Sombron but it's different Sombron ?? What is it like how Lucina is the daughter of Chrom but not the one we play with in Awakening but a dead version of Chrom and Chrom's daughter is still a baby ?

The game does work on me personally. Like if you ship Alear/Veyle, Alear/Lumera, Alear/Sombron and Nel/Rafal, you do you but I am feeling sick imagining me doing this while I am perfectly fine with Nel/Alear and Rafalear....I dunno, those seems just a bit weird due to the story while Alear/Veyle seems just downright gross and immoral to me (but if you like it don't worry, I don't view any fans of this ship as a creep just dont like it at all)

There is this serie called Malcom in the Middle where at some point the main character makes up a list of all of his schoolmates dirty secrets and read those info loudly in public to make them stop mocking and bullying his brother, and it did work. Maybe we could do the same with the FE ships to have some peace and make the anti realized that moral shipping doesn't exist. (and why is it even necessary in the first place ?)

This whole thing is going to become a witch hunt where players who do play the game and accept to suspend their disbelief will get accused as if it was a crime to ship Alear with the twins for simply explaining that in canon they are not related, the same way players had to face rage for explaining that Anna and Jean's S support was intented for the youngest player demographic and not the adult playing engage... because if i put my head into the devellopers shoes obviously no reasonable adult would assume they put kid here to be for adult rather than others kids because guess what ? teenagers are generally attracted to teenagers !! crazy right ? just like the whole excuse for Alear and the twins to not make them siblings because people are rarely interesed into incest ! Who would have though that ?

"I can't imagine being that uncomfortable with IS being as carelessly tasteless as they always are while still playing these games."

why are you so right ? like ? come on the ship are most of the time weird but last time I cheked weird doesnt equal to immoral or unethical. There really is no need to be THAT upset about things. moreover i like it when game make things being messed up in a way that makes me laugh (* kof, kof Avatar/2nd gen and the Alear/twins*). I'd say the moment I would be creeped out is if there is Valter x Eirikia or stuff like that but I can only avoid those and I can see a fanart of it without fainting. My good Lord

"You know that there will be people adding Alear/Nel and Alear/Rafal to their lists of pairings you're not allowed to ship, alongside all those I mentioned earlier as well as any Avatar/2nd gen, Azurrin, Dimigard, Byleth/their students, and all of the eyebrow-raising Pact Ring options in base Engage"

How about the make it their "I am not allowed to ship" rather than making it every one's problem ? I don't even like those ships, I just find it stupid to fight over the fictional relationship of make believe characters.

FE fandoms crybabies : "NNOOO!! You can't marry Nel and Rafal they ArE TecHniCALly yoUR sIbLiNgS"

Meanwhile the game : Nel to Veyle " My Sombron is not your "papa". And Rafal has been my only sibling for a long time"

Nel to Alear "That said, though we are not family, we share a heritage"

Rafal to Alear " if you had been born one of my siblings, your disposition would have led you to a quick death"

Nel to Sombron (yes they have a special dialogue) "I am the daughter of another Sombron, in another world. If you know my face, then you merely recall a child who is dead"

Rafal to Sombron " I am a fell dragon from another world. Our relation is theoritical at best".

Sombron to Rafal " Surely you are not my child. No more of them remain"

(The fe wiki including Nil, Nel and Rafal to the list of Sombron's kids while in both Nel and Rafal's relative list, Veyle and Alear are nowhere to be found)

I dunno about you but at this rate it feels more like they deny it for the sake of wordlbuilding rather than to appease the fans

That's funny how Sombron in game have kids normal way while alternate Sombron has kids only by pair of twins. No matter the universe, the Sombron are rabbits.

According to the FE wiki pages for the fell kids, they are Sombron child but they don't count as sibling to Alear because the admins themselves don't know how to call their relationship.

Alright so the whole DLC is a what if scenario about what if Alear was a divine dragon from the start right ? then why do we have the alternate gender thing ? I am starting to wonder if it's not just another "alternate dimension" thing

[bmaxwell]

Alan Wake II

2010's Alan Wake would be high in the running for my most disappointing game ever. The open world tale of a frustrated writer whose stories start bleeding into reality released five years after it was announced (considered a VERY long development period at the time). The setup, vibes, and look of the game landed for me, but the gameplay killed it. It felt like the devs kept throwing combat encounters at me so I wouldn't get bored. I came back to the game several times over the years and bounced off each time.

This process was repeated with Remedy's 2019 release Control. Fascinating fiction, writing, style, and world building with rotten combat and an obtuse map. So any sane person would not fall for it yet again with Alan Wake II. Certainly not as a full price release. Thankfully this time it was different.

Well, different enough.

The way Remedy designs action and traversal in their games just fundamentally does not mesh with me. It's the inverse of the old Blizzard secret sauce. I don't think they are Bad at it since I'm in a minority with that opinion, but as much as I am drawn into the world, the part where I am pressing buttons often yanks me back out. Thankfully Alan Wake II is heavy on the story and aesthetics and lighter on the action.

Remedy's worldbuilding is second to none. I immediately fell in love with the cast and the "every person in this town is just a little bit off" presentation. Saga Anderson and her partner Max Payne Sam Lake Alex Casey as FBI agents investigating a disappearance in this fucked up little Twin Peaks town is just what my wife and I needed for a few weeks in November.

The game opens on a grizzly murder in the woods followed by a weird interaction in the local diner and it just spirals out from there. There's a cult of people in deer masks, dead naked dudes walking out of Cauldron Lake, a defunct coffee-themed amusement park, and the Koskela Brothers with their wonderful commercials. And good old Ahti. It's a rich tapestry of weirdness and I love it.

Like with 2019's excellent 13 Sentinels, early on I decided to just go along for the ride wherever the writers wanted to take me rather than try to hyper analyze it all. Alan Wake is trapped in the lake and he has to write himself out but there's a bad version of him named Mr Scratch who is already out causing trouble and wait now the real Alan is out too? Also Alan made his fame writing a fictional detective named Alex Casey and one of the agents investigating him is also named Alex Casey? And Thomas Zane and Barbara Jagger and and and...

Alan has written Saga Anderson into his story as the hero in an attempt to free himself from the Dark Place* and in the process has endangered her and those close to her. Maybe? Everything that happens has to be filtered through your "This might not be real" filter. Eventually Alan escapes the Dark Place and the game has you switch between playing as Alan and Saga in an attempt to unravel all the strange happenings in the town of Bright Falls.

Along your journey you will encounter a murderer's row of memorable weirdoes:

Saga's FBI partner Alex Casey. Alex Casey is also the name of the protagonist in Alan Wake's bestselling series of books. Total coincidence.

Rose. She works in the Oh Deer! diner in town. The first time you meet her, she addresses you by name as if she's known you for years and gives her condolences for the passing of your daughter last year. The one you just talked to on the phone.

Jaarko and Illmo Koskela. These guys run a wildlife tour in the area as well as the Coffee World amusement park. Their live action commercials are a highlight of the game.

Tor and Odin Anderson. These two old guys live in the local retirement home, but they used to be in a band called The Old Gods of Asgard.

Thomas Zane. He apparently disappeared into the lake decades ago much like Alan. He made a short little arthouse film that I watched in the game.

Ahti. The cryptic janitor from Control appears in this game as well. I love him.

Warlin Door. He's the late-night talk show host frequently interviewing a confused Alan Wake. He's definitely a key player in the story and I still am not 100% sure how.

The confidence they show in wedging live action sequences and frequent references to their past work into their video game is the work of a development team at the height of its power. Two musical numbers stand out in the game: "Herald of Darkness" which everyone knows and was performed live at the 2023 game awards, and "Dark Ocean Summoning" which was less acclaimed but awfully damn cool.

A lot of the videogame-y parts didn't land for me. I didn't enjoy the combat, I found much of the Alan gameplay tedious, and the Mind Place / Storyboard elements are better on paper than in practice. No matter, the game's highs are so high, and the things it gets right work so well that I can overlook its shortcomings. I'll take ambitious and flawed over safe and rote any day.

I'm invested in this story and this world now. I'm onboard for the ongoing mysteries surrounding Saga's origins and her daughter, Alan's madness and Alice's...well, Alice's whole deal. Alan Wake 3, the inevitable Alan Wake 2 DLC, Control 2...I'm in for whatever's next.

*Alan is not an especially strong writer.

[dzpenumbra]

3/31/23

Spring has started. I can tell. I can feel myself changing, like a flower blooming. Emotionally, I guess... personality-wise. I think getting outside and socializing helped a lot too. But I legit am feeling myself grow more optimistic and confident. Despite lots of stress. Despite extreme isolation. Despite the same limiting anxieties.

Today was very different. I had a really good dream. But, very vivid. My dreams have been insanely vivid lately. This one was really nice. There was a woman in it. Fuck it, I'll just share what I remember. It's a little embarrassing because of like... how far I've strayed from the confident person I used to be... but it's a good representation of like... the juxtaposition of who I currently am and who I used to be/aspire to become again.

I was out at dinner at a restaurant. I remembered it was too late to order delivery (past 9, it's rare for me to remember numbers from dreams, so that was how vivid this was), so I said fuck it and went out to a local restaurant that I found on an app. I remember it had some like... kinda fancy gastropub-like name, so I was like... "oh, my brother and his wife would probably like this place", they're both foodies... but the restaurant had (Applebee's) in parentheses after it. That sealed the deal for me! XD

When I was out at dinner, I was there with a young girl. She was probably about... 8? I would guess... I'm not very good at guessing, I'm a childless guy in my mid-30's who only has a less-than-1-year-old nephew, I'm not really well-versed in the skill of guessing children's ages. This girl was someone I was there to babysit, I was in the guardian role, I'm guessing she was a symbol of my god-daughter or a daughter figure, or an analog of my nephew in the future or something. In past dreams of mine, children under my care have typically taken the form of female so often that I'd honestly be surprised if my first child was male.

So I'm out to dinner with this girl and the waitress comes over and takes our drink order... and I get anxious for some reason, pressure I guess? I hadn't looked at the menu. I skimmed the menu and picked out a Shirley Temple, and the waitress kinda side-eyed me and went... "are you sure? That's kind of a kid's drink..." And I... dude, I fucking backpedaled. I was like... "oh... yeah... well, in that case, I guess I'll have a Sprite, that's fine." And as the waitress was walking off to take the order, a woman at a table nearby flagged her down.

She was an attractive blonde around my age, she was with her daughter, who was around the age of the kid I was taking care of. She said some conditions to the waitress that I didn't catch or don't remember, but it was something like... "if _____ happens, you need to bring him that kid's drink." Like... intentionally, lovingly, prankishly putting me in an awkward position so I would have to fucking "yes, and" my way through that shit. Like I used to. Like I haven't fucking done in ages.

I used to jump at the chance to make an ass out of myself! Okay... here's a few tangential stories, for my own sake, to remember the good times, the person I was and still am deep inside. I went to a metal concert with my brother and two friends. This was ironically the one where I got kicked in the shin with steel toed boots. I had so much adrenaline pumping through my system, I really didn't think it was that bad at all. I bought a pair of booty shorts from the merch booth for myself, as a stupid goofy outfit. I had tons of weird goofy clothes to wear to kinda... subvert peoples' expectations and make an ass out of myself to lighten the mood and lift spirits. Like a Jackass kinda thing. So at the end of the show, it was like... I guess... maybe very early summer, so... still pretty cold at night. And after the show, I was in the parking lot in skate shoes, black booty shorts that said "Yo Ho" on the butt, no shirt and sunglasses, chainsmoking with a lighter tucked into the front of my pants. Why? Because it's fucking funny, no one dresses like that! It's out of place! Idk I thought it was funny, like an Eric Andre or Tim and Eric or Jackass kinda thing.

Another memory that keeps coming back was the second year I got to play with one of my bands on stage. We had a band that was called ShugaLoaf, a completely improvised rock/metal jam band. My brother was part of the band, we had 3 guitarists, a bassist and a drummer, but we rotated instruments a bit, so I would rotate between guitar and drums, T-Humps would rotate between guitar and drums, shit like that. And I played that gig with... silver spandex hot pants, barefoot, a T-shirt with a sliced loaf of bread drawn on it and cut in half so it was like a crop top, a green clip-on bow tie, gold glitter painted fingernails and a fucking whole-head rubber wizard mask. It was so much fun. I don't even care if we were any good, honestly. I don't care if those like 40 people watching us enjoyed us, or if we were just complete crap. I loved just acting goofy and being weird and having fun. It's like that feeling you get at a Halloween party, you know? And you can get that feeling any time you want, if you want. It's just... less "socially acceptable" to do it outside of certain environments, so it helps to have supportive friends, or to just not give a fuck what people think. I tended to fall more in the latter camp, and... that changed quite a bit over the years. Especially after dating someone who never went along with my "yes, and's".

So... in the dream... this woman who I had never met before had overheard my anxious fumbling situation, and my neurotic "oh man, what are people going to think of me if I'm seen ordering that drink, oh mercy me..." bullshit. And she added in some game conditions where I would, somewhat by chance, be put in that situation and have to figure it out. And it was so... fucking... relieving. It was like a weight lifted. I could see how silly it was. And I knew so fucking well that someone like her was exactly what I need in my life to rejuvenate that part of me. And I know she lives inside of me, which is really cool, and I can tap into that whenever I want. But... god, it'd be so much cooler if I met someone like her... XD Right? A guy can hope.

The dream time-jumped a bit, she came over to the table, it turned out that her daughter was in the same class as the girl I was caring for, they were friends. It was a nice connection, we hit it off.

Later in the dream, the chick was skating down a sidewalk that goes down a big hill, this was on a college campus... most of the dream took place on a college campus for whatever reason... and the sidewalk just like... suddenly dropped like a curb right where the hill went to flat, and then continued normally after the curb drop. And she was coming down the hill and did that thing that I did skating the other day, that people who are not as experienced or comfortable on their board do, where they kinda jump off their board and run away in a different direction. Because she saw the curb and didn't want to eat shit on it, it spooked her. And I went over to her and she was upset about how like... "god, how could they put this here, that's so dumb, it totally ruins it", and I was kinda like "yeah, I think that's kinda the point! It stops people from bombing the hill". But I saw a golden opportunity to teach her how to comfortably drop down curbs, and help her with that; instead of being upset, to see the fun in it and the opportunity to learn a new trick, and... I woke up.

And... I couldn't get back to sleep. I could barely even journal it. Because this was after only 4 hours of sleep. And my brain is just a chaotic fuzzy mess at that point. I'm basically sloppy drunk at that stage, especially with several days of sleep deprivation added to the pile. So, I dream-journaled it, which is why I remember so much of it. And then I went downstairs and got a snack and passed out in the comfy chair again. Not sure why passing out down here works better than just passing out in my bed, but... hey... if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

I woke up the second time at 2PM. Right when I needed to be up for a shower before my doctor's appointment. All went as scheduled, I got to the appointment, the dude was really nice. But he did hold eye contact a lot. Which, at a core level, I appreciated... but in my experience of the moment was super overwhelming. To go from very rare social interactions, like... barely making eye contact with strangers in the hallway... to full-on holding eye contact alone in a room with a stranger, where they are wearing a mask covering half their face, and they're between you and the door. I mean... it's fucking intense, especially for someone with doctor-related trauma. I don't feel... threatened by it. It's just... intimate and overwhelming. Overwhelming, that's the best way to put it. It's like someone just like... injected a whole energy drink into my veins all at once or something. And this went on for... nearly 45 minutes. Dude, I was absolutely blown away that the doctor made so much time for me. I was completely expecting a 15 minute one-and-done appointment. And this dude actually made time for me, and addressed my recurring infection thing, that he thinks is a result of me shaving my head... interestingly enough... Like shaving my head is cutting my scalp, and then the bacteria are just... setting up shop in there and the infection is secondary. So... instead of bombarding it with antibiotics, which did not work, we're going to try to reduce the inflammation to make it less painful, and try a different self-care regimen. Either I'm going to keep my hair at a low buzz instead of basically stubble... or... I might grow it out. It might actually be time to go back to like... ponytail-long hair. It's been ages. But hey, if that will make these fucking nasty pimple-like things that hurt like fuck go away, I'm in. Speaking of, the doc actually took a sample from one of them too just to figure out what was going on with it, but had to like... pop one... and I'm just going to tell you right now. If you are ever offered the wonderful opportunity to have an infection on the back of your scalp popped... don't miss out on that gem of an experience. Absolutely wonderful sensation. Think those headaches you can get right where the occipital bone meets the back/neck muscles, plus... intense swelling pressure, and then kind of a feeling like getting tattooed, followed by stinging.

So yeah, it was good to have a pleasant doctor's experience (minus the little bit of pain). He seemed genuinely interested in my story and not rushed for time, which I expressed appreciation for very openly. I had my therapy appointment after, which went very well also. We're very buddy-buddy now, which is nice. We felt very on-the-same-page today. And I explained a lot about the anxiety shit... the big amorphous wall of anxiety, and how him reminding me the connection to the polyvagal system has been really helpful for me. I made the connection that like... well, he reminded me that I was raised with pretty poor expectations of relationships, because of my family. And I elaborated that, in addition to this, I had crap luck with friends, too. And romantic partners. And maybe I just didn't know any better? I didn't know that better was a real thing and that walking away in those situations was actually like... a good thing? I just got bad d20 rolls, you know? Meet a person, happens to be a fentanyl dealer.

And he brought into the conversation this time that I... see the best in everyone. EVERYONE. Like, I could see the best in a fucking Great White Shark that was eating my leg. Or a black hole that I was being sucked into. And we went back and forth on that, how frustrating that one of my best qualities, that has been a quality of mine since I was born, something very deeply rooted in my personality, has led me to where I am now. Because people have taken advantage of it. And used me. And abused me. And drained me dry. And left me bleeding on the side of the road. And ran. And screamed and blamed and pushed me away. You name it. And I took it all, and forgave it all. Because I see the light in all of us. I see us all as being redeemable. And there are many many many many many many many many many many many times that I wish I didn't. That I wish I could just turn that off.

And that's where the paradox comes out. If I see the light in everyone... why am I walking around expecting the darkness in everyone to strike me? Why am I skating and expecting someone to pull a gun on me? Or pull a knife when I'm walking to the medical center and try to steal my AirPods? Or have a cop pull me over and give me a ticket for skating in the sidewalk? Or have some cranky asshole yell at me because the clacking of my wheels on the sidewalk was "too loud". If I see the best in everyone, if I can forgive the Devil himself, why am I expecting the worst to happen all the time? It still confuses me. It hasn't always been this way.

And I explained to my therapist that I think that is the trauma component. That was because for years... since about... oh crap... I was gonna say the whole pandemic, but it was the summer before that too... and with my last relationship... at least a lot of it... so... let's be generous and say... since about 2017? Since around when I moved into my old house, the one on the pond? That's when the shit hit the fan. That's when I people really close to me... were regularly, very regularly, gaslighting and projecting and blaming me for their insecurities and unmanaged emotions and shit. It started with my ex. Then it was my parents. Then it was my little brother. Then it was 2 of my former best friends. Then my only other friend at the time. Then I looked around, and there was no one left. It was like when I finally pulled the Jenga block of my ex out of my life... in time, the rest of the tower just collapsed.

And, I shit you not, the catalyst for this was... me reconnecting with myself, rediscovering my confidence, rediscovering my creativity and inspiration, and cultivating motivation myself and diving head-first into creating my new life. A life that's about... 4 years old now. Happy birthday, New Me. :) Past Me would be scared shitless to share all this on the internet with random strangers, but New Me knows that life is too precious and fleeting to be scared of peoples' superficial judgement. At least... he tries to remember that... as much as he can... But man, people can be really fucking loud and nosy with their judgement, huh? People just really don't know when to keep their opinions to their selves anymore, do they? Thanks, Twitter.

So... I was kinda summing up for him that I think what I'm having is just sort of a... generalized trauma response to... being around figures that have more power than me? Because of being regularly yelled at and blamed by people very close to me, regularly, like several times a week, every week, for years. And having that be the only social interaction I had. It's like... you put a dog in a closet and smack it on the nose every time I tries to come out... it's gonna wince every time it comes out of the closet. Right? So... slow and steady... I'm just chipping away at the anxiety reflexes by building up my library of experiences, so it's not 95% of the time bad things happen when you interact with authority figures... it's like... 75%. Then 50%. Then eventually 20%... and so on. Like with my doctors. I definitely have a bit of medical trauma. A lot, actually. So... I was in the doctor's office all hunched over and shoulders up and had to be really deliberate to make eye contact. I think I was visibly not good. But the nurse was super chill and helped break the ice, and the doctor seemed very understanding and patient, and didn't seem to judge me the way I was expecting. So... my doctor percentage right now is like... 80% bad and 20% good. Which is much better than like "I shouldn't even bother setting up an appointment, they're just going to accuse me of drug seeking and kick me out." Much better.

So yeah, I got chinese food and watched an RP stream and that was basically it. Did some runs in the desire path project that I'm still super insecure about because I just don't think anyone will fucking get it... but yeah, since that's the case... here. Fuck it. I'll export the current progress and put it here. In case anyone read this far down.

That's 80 trips now. Looks pretty cool, right? It keeps giving me lightning vibes. I'm going to 100 runs, then I'm going to either start a new one... or... the idea that popped in my head today was... If I pop this into Blender and use the grease pencil, trace all these paths one by one, I can actually... animate this. I was thinking it might make more sense and be more accessible for today's audience to make a video for this kind of piece. That tells the concept, explains the parallels that I'm exploring (development of habits, learning, synaptic connection), shows bits of the process and then displays this final product in a form that's a bit more dynamic. I mean, this is very striking for me, because I know what it means, I know the scale. That circle shrine at the top has a 17m diameter, for scale. And I've seen the development of the really thick lines where the path has been steadily growing, to the point where there's nearly a solid line all the way throughout that formed completely unintentionally, it was just a byproduct of intuitive pathfinding as I was building a routine. So yeah, I'm putting a lot of thought into storyboarding and scripting a video for this and then putting it on Instagram and YouTube. I think it'll be good.

So yeah. Unfortunately, it got late again. But I have nothing to do tomorrow so... I might take a small dose of tincture tonight and try to just catch up on sleep as much as I can. It's very overdue.

Oh... and I have to finish my hoodie still... Hmm... Soon, soon... XD

[nosuchthingasagruffalo]

chapter 8

Charlotte had settled into her role on The Essex, she reported to the Chief Tactical Officer and had been able to attend trade talks with the people of the Q'nar sector. She still felt nervous when speaking to Captain Abioye and had promised heself she would speak up in the next meeting. She had a full day off and was just settling down with her latest must read - 'Multiphasic Shield Harmonics' when she saw a message flash on her Padd summoning her to the holodeck.

Seven of Nine had set up a programme running a simulation of her Aunt's lake house in Denmark, she hadn't stayed true to geography and had programmed the Copenhagen waterfront to be a ten kilometre hike away and she enjoyed sitting in her favourite restaurant with a cold beer after the long hike. She was so lost in thought she didn't notice the young woman stood in front of her, "Commander you summoned me?".

"It's ok Lottie, we're off duty now. Don't be so stiff, sit, woukd you like a lemonade?" Seven studied the Ensign before her. It occured to her how strange it was that humans take 18 whole years to reach maturity yet the past 21 years of watching the pudgy baby transform into an independent, challenging woman in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. "I'll get straight to the point seeing as small talk seems perfunctury given our relationship. I'm worried about you, you're putting far too much pressure on yourself, you're working too long past your ships and with your brother still missing I'm concerned for your mental wellbeing. I will put you on medical leave should the situation require it". She watched the blue eyes before her cloud into a grey storm "I can't let that happen to you, I've watched you grow up from day 1, hell I've grown and learned alongside you, so you see, I'm not just a concerned commander, this is personal"

Charlotte fought back the tears threatening to fall "oh Aunty Seven, I'm sorry, I just feel like I can't concentrate and then my work is sub par. This is supposed to be everything I've wanted and I just feel so flat, everytime I start to feel happy I remember Amal is still out there"

Seven placed her hand over Charlotte's "I know how you feel, when Icheb died I felt real loss for the first time and it scared me, having feelings I couldn't control, me of all people!" She smiled. "You know you're not just a god-daughter to me, you're my sister, in those early days back on earth when I couldn't face the reality of my Aunt and cousins, When Kathryn let me stay with her as long as I needed, the camp bed in your nursery. And you crying allllll night, I still maintain Borg children are much less terrifying. I remember when I took you to the funfair and you broke your arm climbing the helter skelter, I was terrified to bring you home, not just for your mother's reaction but because I had allowed pain to come to the thing that is most precious to me"

Charlotte smiled "I do remember that camp bed coming out a lot of times over the years, making you scare me with stories of dangerous alien races. I'm glad we shared that. Wasn't it ever a bit weird though? You know you and Dad?"

Seven had to surpress a laugh, "not at all, once we were back on earth I realised I respected and admired your father but didn't want to continue our dates. It did take me a while to realise the main reason that I didn't want to continue our dates was that he was entirely the wrong sex. I wish I had figured that out a little sooner" she smiled. "I often wonder what life was like for the other me, was I happy with your Dad? Probably, was I fulfilled? Probably not, I imagine it remained entirely platonic, bound together by the pain your mother had inadvertently caused us and then by the trauma of your loss. Your Mom used to be a lot less burdened you know."

charlotte sighed "I'm starting to see a little of it now. Dad said I should contact my Animal Guide but more and more I find myself in prayer. It's stupid right? I'm a scientist, our family barely observes the traditional holidays, logically it's nothing more than meditation but I keep coming back to it. Can you believe it, talking to a God who doesn't exist? Pretty irrelevant huh?"

Seven leaned closer to Charlotte "the Borg find religion a futile attempt by inferior beings to understand their own small singular existence... but they feel the same way about love too"

Before Charlotte could respond the holodeck timer went off. "Our time has ended. See you on the gamma shift Ensign".

*****

After their talk Charlotte didn't see much of the Commander. She did manage to speak up some ideas to Capatin Abioye, but she couldn't read whether his stern expression conveyed annoyance or praise. At her station she went through official communiques and logged them. There were some strange messages that seemed to be mangled and she saved them to her Padd to analyse later.

Today had been a long day of back and forth with the Q'nar Trevel who were suspicious of all outside races. A large ship had materlialised out of nowhere and struck a direct hit, the ship was on red alert. Charlotte performed sweeps of the region and saw a smaller ship approaching at speed. No sooner had she alerted the Captain when two aliens beamed on board, the pilot was shot immediately and the alien lifted his weapon at the Captain. Without a hesitstion Seven threw herself in the line of fire and Charlotte tackled him to the floor, two burly security officers grabbed the alien and cuffed his hands. "Commander, are you ok?" Charlotte could see Seven bleeding.

"We must restrain the other alien" Seven shouted. The alien had pushed into the turbolift and was heading to engineering. Quickly Charlotte disabled all the turbolifts and headed for a jefferies tube to intercept him with Seven hobbling behind her.

The tubes smelled of smoke and burning gel packs as the Essex was pummelled, Seven's superior eyesight led the way and Charlotte hoped they would make it before the bleeding got worse. The panel into engineering was jammed in place and it took both women to kick it open. The alien was attaching small explosoves to the warp core. Charlotte grabbed a phaser and aimed, she had practised a lot at The Academy and knew she needed to hit the alien's hand before he set them off. As the alien lifted his arm to detonate the charges Charlotte aimed and blew it clean off, Seven checked the wounded, and opened the main doors allowing the security team to run in and apprehend the alien. She felt the impulse engines kicking in and hoped they could get far enough through the system to avoid another attack. Relief flooded her as she saw the lights change from red to yellow and she hurried to Seven to request a beam to sickbay.

[nalanzu]

Weiss Kreuz Episode 12: Abschied

We ended the last episode on Omi finding and assassinating his biological brother, after said brother unrepentantly insisted that hunting humans for sport was justified if it achieved a desirable end, namely the election of their father to public office. There's been a lot of heavy drama in the last several episodes, and we're about due for a breather. We're not going to get it.

We open on Weiss in the flowershop, as Ouka is beginning to worry about Omi and all the weird shit that happens around him. Given that they were just kidnapped and shot at before the shenanigans at the party happened, one cannot blame her. The peanut gallery, AKA Yohji and Ken, think this is a security breach and also not fun to watch. Aya is uncharacteristically lenient and tells his teammates to leave them alone.

Not only is Ouka hanging around the flowershop, she's also joining Omi on deliveries. They're very cute, talking about Takatori as if he's a decent human being. Ouka invites Omi to dinner, and tells him that her father is very excited to meet him. She keeps squeezing Omi's broken ribs, which I should not be amused by, but here we are. She has a date at the movies planned. She is once again not taking a no for an answer.

Omi mutters to himself out loud that she's very pushy, as he walks back to the bike, and Schuldig gives him some shit for it. Schuldig also ostentatiously reads Omi's mind, and tells him he's a hypocrite because he's killed his brothers. Schuldig really gets under Omi's skin, by calling him a bloodthirsty murderer who isn't fit to touch Ouka and then laughing at him. Omi reacts like an adolescent, namely by threatening Schuldig with a dart. Schuldig finds this hilarious.

The rest of Weiss finds it a bit weird that Omi came home and locked himself in his room. There are comments about Young Men In Love and the conversation does not go to the dirty place it should when they're making those comments. Omi, however, is having nightmares about killing his biological relatives. Not sure why this is worse than killing anyone else, as he didn't grow up with them, but it's bothering Omi a lot.

Oh my god Ouka has an adorable poodle. She gets accosted by Schuldig while walking said dog, and recognizes him as the one who kidnapped Omi. Schuldig introduces himself as a bodyguard, and Ouka calls bullshit. Schuldig tells her Omi's original name and that Omi is actually her brother. Ouka reasonably tells him he's a liar, but Schuldig demonstrates his telepathy and tells her to ask her parents for the truth. He just likes throwing wrenches in things, doesn't he.

Ouka asks her mother about her father's hypothetical third son, and her mother responds just as Schuldig said she would by denying all knowledge of such a person. Ouka says she'll ask Takatori, and her mother caves. She pulls out an undamaged version of the picture Omi found in the burning house, in which she's holding a baby Omi, and confirms that Omi is Mamoru is Ouka's brother, and then says she was so surprised when Ouka showed up with him. Was she not going to tell her daughter that she was related to her new boyfriend? What the actual fuck.

Ouka runs off to talk to Omi, who isn't in the front of the shop, and then tells Yohji that she doesn't want to talk to him after all. Yohji decides he needs to meddle, and sends Omi chasing after Ouka. They're trying very hard to set up a tragic love affair, what with Omi falling hard for Ouka and his guilt about the fact that he has signed up to be a murderer, but the fact that they're using the secret siblings trope to do it means it isn't landing for me.

I'm also not convinced I should find it funny that Omi's worst fear is that Ouka finds out he's a member of Weiss, a group of prettyboy assassins who have been killing people for years, but that the actual truth of the matter is that they are allegedly half-siblings. There are a lot of things I keep finding funny that I think are supposed to be poignant or dramatic or tragic, though it's not limited to this show. I'm fairly sure the writers are aiming for a sense of noble tragedy here. I'm also fairly sure they've missed.

In any case, Omi has gone to talk to Persia about his love life. He wants to know why Persia hid his past and why he was sent to kill his brothers. Persia tells him that Takatori has been using the position he already has to enact control over Japan with the help of a secret organization, Estset. There are apparently MANY secret organizations in his version of Japan. (Were the 90s the decade of conspiracy theories? Or was it just Weiss Kreuz and X-Files?) Persia opines that Takatori forced his sons to help him, and tells Omi that even though it's difficult, sometimes you just have to kill people you're related to for the greater good.

Omi pulls the absolute most teenage line anyone has ever pulled and shouts that Persia doesn't understand how he feels. This is also a glorious set-up for the next dramatic reveal, in which Persia's identity is finally shared with Omi and the audience. "I do understand how you feel, because I'm Takatori Reiji's younger brother."

I mean, that is definitely a great Gotcha line.

Omi rallies pretty quickly and demands to know why Persia isn't out there doing the murdering himself, then. Oh, Omi. This is how the world works. Powerful and rich men get other people to do their shit for them. Omi isn't having it, either, as Persia explains that he doesn't have the strength to to what Omi does, and Omi spits back that Persia just doesn't want the blood on his hands. He also wants to know why Takatori didn't pay the ransom for him when he was kidnapped, which, hey, that's a reasonable question that's been bothering him for several episodes now. Persia is a lying liar and says he doesn't know.

Back to Takatori's assassins, Nagi is psychically typing and researching on the internet. Schuldig, oddly, is apparently able to share his gift. He also says minds taste like honey, which is weird AF. We're not sure what they're up to at this point, but it's probably not great.

Back to Omi and the date, into the theater he goes looking for Ouka. She stares at him from behind, as Schuldig pops up behind her. Back at the flowershop, someone has sent the rest of Weiss a message that Omi is a spy and to meet them at a specific place to learn more. They wonder who could have hacked their systems, demonstrating that they have no fucking clue how email works. To be fair, they're all GenX, so it does track. (Omi, the baby Millennial, is the one who knows tech. Which also tracks.) Ken, just stop talking.

Aya decides they don't have enough time to clear the meeting with Manx. Yohji jokes that if Omi was a spy, he's doing a great job, but they're trying to reach Omi to tell him about the shenanigans before said meeting. Back at the theater, Schuldig tells Ouka about Omi's murdery other job. He exaggerates just slightly, telling her that Omi was there to kill her father. She is skeptical, as she should be. Schuldig says he'll prove it.

Because they play right into his hands, the rest of Weiss is on their way. Schuldig says Weiss is trying to assassinate Ouka. She is, of course, tied up in his back seat. He sends Omi to the meeting place that was given to Weiss.

It's foggy and dark when they all arrive. Ouka, tied to a tree, screams for help. Weiss goes to help her. Omi immediately assumes they're there to kill her. I really feel this speaks as to a fundamental lack of trust between these people; Omi was ready at the drop of a hat to threaten his teammates when he found out his biological brother was their target, and he is absolutely willing to believe right now that his teammates and friends are going to murder his girlfriend because she found out their secret. Schuldig is fanning these flames, to be fair, and there's always the possibility that he's affecting Omi's judgment.

Aya hears Schuldig, though, and goes after him. Farfarello launches himself at Ken, and Yohji drags Omi into the dubious shelter of a tinfoil umbrella when Schuldig starts shooting at him. How the gun does not end the fight immediately I have no idea, but Weiss distracts Farfarello and Schuldig while Omi goes for Ouka and gets her away from the tree. She's upset, and tells him that they're siblings. Poor Omi. Her father is Takatori Reiji, he realizes.

While Omi and Ouka fall apart, Schuldig and Farfarello keep fighting Weiss. Omi decides that he and Ouka can still love each other and ease each other's loneliness, just as siblings. And not lovers. I don't think that's how feelings work, generally, but hey. It's pretty cute. He then says they'll be together forever, sealing her death warrant as Schuldig shoots her in the back literally the second he finishes speaking. She dies dramatically in his arms after he desperately kisses her. What was that about siblings, Omi? What was it?

The requisite rain required to punctuate such a Tragic Moment begins to fall. Weiss looks hot and brooding in their assassin outfits. Omi screams, clutching the body of his sister/lover. End episode.

I know there are definitely worse things I've seen and enjoyed. This one really revels in its melodrama; there are highs and lows - mostly lows - as it tries to pulverize the hearts of its viewers into dust with how Painful And Tragic the events are for the four very pretty male protagonists. Sometimes this lands better than other times, but now that we've gotten halfway through the show, it's beginning to feel a touch repetitive.

One might make an argument for Ouka being an entry for the Women In Refrigerators column, and it's hard to dispute that she dies specifically and only to cause Omi grief and pain. With pitch-perfect comedic - I mean tragic - timing, even. The point at which she differs slightly is that we do see a little more of her as a character. She is, to be fair, entirely focused on Omi. We don't get a lot of her internal emotional journey or her motivations, although there's a glimpse of that when we hear about her growing up without a stable paternal presence in her life, but the emotional development we've seen for her is roughly on par with what we get from the show's protagonists. She does have a clearly defined personality. She's not quite a woman-shaped cutout who does nothing more than die for male angst.

On her own, Ouka is a perfectly reasonable entry in the Weiss canon of characters. Taken alongside Schreient, Asuka, Maki, and sister!Aya (Yuriko escaped to a presumably happy life in Australia, so she doesn't make this list), the women of Weiss paint a rather bleak picture of female representation. There are very few positive outcomes for women, in this show, though most of the early one-off characters involved in the case of the week ended up with dead boyfriends rather than stuffed into the fridge themselves.

As far as Omi goes, it's A Lot. The reveal that he's related to Persia who is related to Aya's nemesis is A Lot, and it's not necessarily handled badly (aside from the well-timed rain, and the well-timed gunshot, and the absolutely cringe-inducing foreshadowing) but it's not really handled well, either. All the subtlety of a ton of bricks, this show, as I am once again struck by how thoughtful many fanworks were in comparison. (I said many. Not all. Not even most. I know what this fandom was like.)

As far as vanity projects go, though, hey. I'm still having a lot of fun revisiting it.

[thedarknessthatloveindespite]

djkdkdkd reasons why I thought I might be autistic: so like, when lmao my mom told me to get this thing to my aunt — who lives quite a few away; like getting on bus to get to her — and I left! immediately! after giving her the thing and my mom was like…..that’s so rude????? i was confused djkdkdkd since ???? didn’t she just tell me to do that, and I did! i came only to give her the thing! how is that rude! anyways so: next time I went, i made sure to go inside but the problem is sobs. I DIDNT KNOW WHEN TO LEAVE???? and my aunt DJKFKF was cooking something so I was just. Sitting there not even going on my phone because i thought that would be rude, since yknow, im staying in another person’s place currently. Like lmao i stayed there for more than an hour i didnt. even Spewk to her because jfkfkfkfd she was doing something and typically bexsuse we don’t have that kind of relationship.

it’s really funny when I think of it back now. like every time I went to her place it was so djdjdjdkd bexsuse I never knew how to say I wanted to leave without Seeming rude so I just stayed there 💀 for hours. also help. the way my uncle remembered me as being…. like apparently one time he needed like help with uhh stuff and since they usually go for my older sister for that — if i recall correctly, it was tech stuff — and so my mom was like, my other daughter can do it. and then djkdkdkdkd my uncle was like…she? AND I TOTS GET HIS REACTION because pls whenever i went to their house i was so awkward 💀 and barely talked/didn’t talk properly(….? If that makes sense) AND WOUOD ALWAYS HAVE THIS WEIRD SMILE THING because when I’m like nervous(?) and talking to people uhhh whatever I don’t know to word this but yeah lmao i had this awkward smile on my face. the girl that always smiled djkdkdkdkdkdkdkdkd it was so funny. im way better at talking to my uncle now but still fjkdkdkdkd in some ways because I’m not really…close to him? but djkdkdkd he’s the type that says “i love u” after the end of the phone call. and hilarious thing: one time we were talking to him (we as me and my sibs) on phone and he said that at the end, me and one of my brother were like djjdjdkdkd because we aren’t verbally affectionate people and I think I said “thank u” or smth then lmao if you tell me you love me verbally that’s all I will say to u or just plain out ignore you like i didn’t hear u JDKDKDK anyways my other brother responded with i love u and then looked and me and said ‘u said thank u?????’ JDKDKDKDK it is really funny thing lmao in hindsight

like yeah, looking… im really bad at ‘knowing’ when it comes to relationships — I’ve been Angsting about this friend I haven’t seen in like two years since end of school despite how she lives close to me bexsuse !!! i really don’t want to ask her if we can meet up because i never done so before and I don’t know exaxtly if we’re friends enough for that but I know we’re friends enough that we like each other and enjoy each others company and shit and text sometimes. also like yeah, about phone numbers and asking for email: i do Not know about that. like recently, i was in this thing for some weeks and towards the end — one of the girls there that we had some amicableness between us and some other girls suggested to create WhatsApp group and I was like, yeah ok, sure. At that time, there was another person who joined the thing and I think we hit off pretty well?? And also she was sitting next to us while we were creating the group chat and !! i was wondering if to ask her if she wanted to join and stuff but also considering how im not the person who was creating the group chat. what if she didn’t want her ???? i don’t fcking know and didnt want to ask so yeah.

like also. the same group of people I’m talking about — in the beginning, we weren’t like this at all. i was generally sitting next to them but So Very Quiet. bexsuse I didnt….Know how to initiate conversations ???? and also like. because they’re talking like oh my god the many awkward moments while they are having conversation and I can hear them and one time — i said something — and cries, it felt like i was Outsider butting in. like !!! until one of the girls started to talk to me one time I probs would have never been ‘apart of them’ but still even after that it was super awkward sometimes because it didn’t feel like i was apart of their whole conversation thing. I hate doing Friends thing. or meeting new people because of this, it’s just so bewildering and confusing to me. i don’t knwo FJFKFKKF what’s the ‘right’ thing to do: even something as simple as ‘saying hello’ while you meet outside of the thing fjfkkfkf

like. jeez. i deff do overthink A Lot djkdkdkdkd and that probs makes everything so much worse lmao

[http-barnes]

own you || loki

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: don't taunt a God if you can't handle the consequences. ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: loki x fem!reader ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: who's asking????? ɢᴇɴʀᴇ: smut;fluff

You often found yourself in difficult situations because of your big mouth. Whether it was on purpose or not, you became known for always getting in trouble, especially with the sons of Odin.

You met as children. Odin decided that their sons should have their personal guard, and he offered generous compensation for whoever was willing to subject their young children to military training. Odin needed to make sure the future soldiers were trustworthy, and what better way to ensure that than to make them grow next to his children, and train beside them. Although Frigga disagreed with this decision, Odin had the last word as per usual.

Many families signed their children up, but your adventurous and reckless personality placed you high in Odin's consideration. It would later be revealed that you were a nice addition to his sons' guard, however as someone who lived in the palace you could be quite... messy. And noisy. And clumsy. Again, you didn't get on their nerves on purpose, it just happened often. Although you had become family and they loved you anyway (they just wished you were a little less... all over the place).

You had even managed to make Thor angry. He was someone who got angry easily, but he didn't punish people unless absolutely necessary in his eyes. And you managed to piss him off.

"You know you should really stop calling him that..."

"Oh come on Loki it's cute! He should be flattered, not angry!"

Loki, who was leaning against one of the columns of the castle, raised an eyebrow at you and laughed at your state. Thor had laid you on your back, and placed Mjolnir on top of your hair. An effective way to make sure you stayed there and 'thought about the consequences of your actions' without putting you in a jail cell.

"I don't think the God of Thunder likes to be called 'golden retriever'. He's gonna stop taking you to Midgard if you don't stop finding cute things to compare him to."

You stuck your tongue out at Loki and found trouble with yet another brother.

Loki and Thor treated you like a brother. There was one other girl on your team, but they treated her much differently. You always wondered why, but you weren't jealous, since both brothers were much closer to you. Although Loki looked at you strangely sometimes, his stare would linger and he would inspect you many times throughout the day, but then again, Loki was strange.

Odin didn't like you all that much, but Frigga (who you were sure was incapable of disliking anything) loved you and was the one who always helped you get dressed for banquets.

It was a part that you hated: banquets and royal parties. You'd have to be there, and most times since those events had the royal guards present anyway, you and the rest of the people assigned to watch over the Odinsons got to sit down at the table. Which meant complicated dresses and uncomfortable hairstyles.

"You look lovely, Y/N." Frigga told you, as she finished fixing your dress.

"Well, I don't feel lovely."

She laughed at your joke and stood in front of you, as if admiring her artwork. Frigga then stepped closer and placed a hand on your cheek.

"You're like the daughter I always wanted to have, I would be honoured to have you as a daughter-in-law."

You nearly choked in your own spit.

"With all due respect, no thank you."

The woman laughed and stepped away from you, as she fixed the table with all the cloths she used for your dress.

"My sons are still in their rebellious phase, which I'm afraid isn't passing anytime soon, but they are good men."

You blushed at Frigga's words. Imagining your lifelong friends as anything other than just that was weird...

You thanked her and left the room, to meet with the rest of your friends before the dinner party. Everyone's eyes landed on you as soon as you stepped in the room. You didn't look like a soldier or a guard, you looked like part of the royal family.

"What's with all the boobs? Since when have you had those." Thor said, smiling proudly at his joke as he shoved a bunch of grapes in his mouth.

"Not for you to look at, asshole."

"Oh? Who is it that should look at them?" Loki teased.

You squinted your eyes and covered your chest with one of your hands.

"A handsome young lad worthy enough to do so, which excludes all of you in this room."

Thor, Loki, and your two other friends started jokingly complaining.

You usually got together before every royal event, to drink and eat. You'd show up already slightly drunk and full, which meant you didn't have to pig out in front of important people. The drunk part was just so the party would be a little more tolerable.

You arrived early to the dinner party, and the shoes Frigga had lent you mixed with the strong wine, had you bumping and crashing into everyone.

Eventually, you felt a hand wrap around your waist.

"You drink like a Midgardian." The voice you recognized as Loki's whispered in your ear.

You faked a shocked expression, which was a lot more exaggerated since you were drunk, and pressed your index finger against his chest.

"You take that back Mr. Odinson!"

"No can do!" He said, before vanishing into the crowd.

You pouted and carried on with walking around. The dress Frigga made you seemed to be a hit, as numerous men (and even some women and in between) brought you drinks and tried to court you. Throughout the night you could feel a pair of eyes burning in your skull, but you assumed it was just Odin giving you his disapproving stare once more.

At some point, you weren't sure when, you had been talking to the same guy for a long time, and he kept bringing you drinks and getting closer and closer. Suddenly, a familiar arm wrapped around your waist.

"Alright, it's time we go Y/N."

"Wait!" You protested, trying to get away from his grip "But I was talking to him!"

"You can talk to him later."

Loki brought you into his room and sat you on the bed.

"What did you do that for?" You asked, pouting.

Loki brushed his coal-black hair back with his hand, as the other rested on his hip.

"He was just trying to screw you! And he was doing that by getting you drunk."

"So? What if I wanted that."

Loki looked at you. You couldn't quite understand what that look meant, as it was a mix of emotions.

"Come on he just wanted you because you look good in the dress, that's disgusting."

You moved uncomfortably in the dress.

"I look better out of it."

Loki licked his lips and smiled.

"Oh, I'm sure of that."

You stopped and widened your eyes at the comment.

"Loki! That's not what I meant! I meat I look better out of it and in my usual garments."

The man got walked closer to you and gripped your jaw with one hand, forcing you to look at him.

"And you know what I meant."

"Loki..." You started.

"Yes, Y/N?"

"Never in your life."

You stood up, and made your way to the gigantic gilded door with wobbly legs.

Loki didn't let you get far, he grabbed your hips and pulled you back into his chest.

"You're gonna go back into that room to talk with the peasant when you could get something better," he paused, as his hand pulled your skirt up "right here."

You let yourself melt into his touch.

Loki let out his signature cocky laugh, and if he hadn't gotten you wrapped around his finger it would annoy you, but in this scenario, with the dim light passing through the curtains, even that was hot.

You allowed him to slip the dress off of your body, leaving you with nothing on. Loki kissed down your neck, until he reached your shoulder, always keeping a tight grip on your waist.

"It was worth waiting to see you, darling..."

His deep voice and flattering words had you shivering. Loki turned you around and ghosted your lips over yours, almost as if asking for permission, giving you a chance to push him away if you felt uncomfortable, but instead you closed the gap.

That gave Loki the green card to do what he wanted to, and so he gripped you tighter and pulled you closer. You could feel his hard-on poking at your thigh, and you allowed your hand to trail down his body, as the other one played with his hair.

"Nuh-uh," Loki said, grabbing a hold of your hand "your job is to take care of us, so for tonight," he paused, and whispered in your ear "I'll take care of you."

In one swift movement, Loki had you lying on his bed, facing the ceiling. The God settled between your legs, and spread them so he'd fit. Loki pampered the insides of your thighs with kisses, getting closer and closer to your core, right where you needed him. And you soon found he had more than reason to be cocky about everything, as that was another thing he was very talented at.

He sucked on your clit as his fingers slapped your thighs. His digits then teased at your entrance, but he refused to give you what you wanted.

You gripped his hair tightly, out of desperation.

"Shit, Loki, please!" You begged.

He smiled. That annoying smile you were sure you'd see more of from now on...

Loki's lips kissed up your body, taking their sweet time with your breasts, kissing and sucking on them, as one of his hands took care of the unoccupied breast. Before he could kiss you again, you stopped him.

"Wait- I wanna... I wanna see you. Please?" You asked.

Loki smiled and gave you a long kiss.

"As you wish."

He climbed off of the bed and you watched attentively as the man stripped down to nothing. His body had gotten more toned since last you saw him without a shirt on, and your eyes were glued to him.

Loki hovered over you once more and tipped your chin up with two fingers.

"If you behave I'll guarantee this won't be the last time you see me like this."

You blushed, and before you could reply, his lips were on yours once more. Loki's kisses were a match of his personality, intense, and always in control.

You were very aware of the way his tip ran up and down your folds, but you weren't expecting him to slam into you as mercilessly as he did. The kiss muffled your moan, but just barely, and as your fingers gripped the sheets of his bed, Loki's hips started moving slowly. Once you got used to his length, the God started bottoming inside of you faster and faster, his eyes switching between the way your tits bounced and your pleasure-filled face.

"Such a good girl, taking my cock so well."

His lips left a kiss right under your ear, before he whispered.

"I own you now, no one else gets to fuck you but me, got that?"

"Shit, yes Loki!"

The way he claimed you was turning you on beyond belief, and you never thought his cockiness and ego would be as hot as it actually was.

Loki kept thrusting into you, a string of praises leaving his mouth every so often.

As he felt you tighten around his cock, Loki's hand trailed up your body once more, and wrapped around your neck, making you moan his name uncontrollably.

One last powerful thrust was all it took to send you over the edge, and Loki, who had been holding himself back for a while, let himself go and came inside of you as well.

The God fell beside you on the bed, as he tried regaining his breath. He looked over to your fucked out face and smiled, pulling you closer in the process.

"You behaved accordingly, we may repeat soon."

You hummed, as you were too tired to reply, and the last thing you felt before dozing off, was Loki kissing the top of your head softly.

The next day you were very aware of what you had done. You didn't regret it, of course, you weren't as drunk as it seemed and you quite enjoyed it, but 'next mornings' were something you were very bad at, so you collected your clothes and left.

As you closed the door of his bedroom, you turned around to face none other than Frigga. Coming out of her son's bedroom, messily wrapped in the previous night's attire didn't leave much to the imagination, and so she smiled, with a knowing look, and walked away. But not before making a cheeky comment.

"Loki, hm? I always thought it'd be Thor."

[omg-im-such-a-masochist]

MR. REIGNS

Prompt: Requested by nonny

Word Count: Long-ish

Pairings: Roman Reigns x Reader

Warnings: +18, smut, degradation (name calling), flirting, daddy kink, sir kink, age gap

Editor: @thenightmareismyreality

Tag: @ziasaph , @theworldofotps , @sophiewolfheart-blog , @wickedsunfire , @akiko-tanaka , @aerynscrichton , @sassymox , @waywardwrestlewritingwaif , @reigns-5sos , @lustyromantic , @auawdo , @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch , @nicolewoo , @writtingrose , @bayley-no-friends

Notes: Disclaimer - For respect purposes, I’ll be using a fictional name for Roman’s daughter on this fic. If you’d like to check out my other works, you can find them on my Masterlist

It’s finally Senior Year - and what a fucking relief that is! No more stressful and endless studying hours, no more busting our asses off for mediocre grades, no more shitty frat parties “and last - but certainly not least- no more breaking up with asshole boyfriends at said crappy parties!

I don’t like younger guys. They’re inexperienced, get flustered easily, and don’t care whatsoever about reciprocating pleasure towards their girlfriends or hookups! I like older men...there's something about them that’s just perfect. “When I first met Amber Reigns, I never imagined that I would be blessed with such an amazing best friend. That’s why I knew it was wrong to have the hots for her father, but c’mon! Have you seen the man? He’s delicious! And I’m made of flesh and blood, therefore I have my weaknesses too. And Mr. Reigns is one of my biggest weaknesses.

“Y/N” Amber peeked her head inside my dorm room “Are you ready? My dad’s waiting for us in the parking lot”

“Yeah, I got everything I need” I said while putting on my backpack

“Do you mind going to the car? I’ll be right behind you, I just need to leave some books at the library, because if I don’t they’ll fine me like twenty dollars” She rolled her eyes in annoyance

I giggled “Sure. But don’t take too long flirting with the library boy” I responded in a teasing tone

She stuck her tongue out and left.

I made my way towards the parking lot and saw him standing there, leaning sexily against his pickup truck. He was wearing an extremely tight black tank top, which did nothing but accentuate his rippling muscles and tanned skin that were on full display. The intricate patterns of his tattoo could be seen from afar, the way the black lines molded to his skin like a shield never failed to turn me on, and a pair of black joggers caressed his strong thighs beautifully. His long, black, silky hair was tied up in a tight knot at the back of his head....the man was a fucking sight for sore eyes!

“Hello, Y/N” He greeted with a smile

“Mr. Reigns�� I said shyly

He grabbed my backpack and placed it in the trunk of his car “How are you?”

“I’m good, sir. How are you?”

“Better now” He winked and smirked. And I almost came in my pants

“Where’s Amber?”

“She went to the library to return some books, sir”

“Don’t I get a hug?” He smiled

I awkwardly hugged him as I felt the smell of his cologne filling up my lungs and this weird feeling of wholesomeness took over me

“Let’s get inside the car, it’s too hot out here” He laughed

Amber had invited me to spend this holiday weekend with her family, and since I wasn’t feeling much in the mood to go home, I said yes. The only thing I didn’t know was that she planned on going to Mr. Reigns’ house instead of her mom’s house. Before I could fantasize in my daydreams for too long, Amber had returned from the library and hopped into the vehicle.

“Who will be spending the weekend with us?” Amber asked as she fastened her seatbelt

“Your uncles will be coming tomorrow afternoon with your cousins. Your brother decided to go to his girlfriend’s parents, and your sister is coming over on Sunday” Mr. Reigns replied as he turned onto the highway leading to his home.

During the two hour long ride, Mr. Reigns and Amber spent most of the trip conversing animatedly, occasionally asking me a question or two to keep me from feeling too left out, but I let them mostly catch up amongst themselves.

When we got to his place it was the end of the afternoon, and Mr. Reigns went to the kitchen to cook us dinner. I took the opportunity to shower and change into some clean clothes, nothing fancy though, just a pair of yoga pants and a gray tank top. While Amber was taking one of her famously long baths, I got bored and decided to go downstairs to see what Mr. Reigns was cooking.

“Y/N, to what do I owe the pleasure?” He smirked

“Amber is taking a bath” I rolled my eyes in fake annoyance

“Oh great” He grunted, but a smile danced on his lips “That will be quick” He joked, and I laughed in response

“So when is your girlfriend coming?” I asked nonchalantly and leaned against the kitchen island as he chopped some carrots

“Girlfriend?” He chuckled “I know nothing about that”

“How is that possible?” I asked in disbelief

“I don’t need someone in my life in order to be happy, Y/N”

“I’m not saying you do, Mr. Reigns. I’m just saying I find it hard to believe that a man like you doesn’t have a girlfriend”

“And why aren’t YOU spending the holidays with your boyfriend?” He teased

“Boyfriend? I know nothing about that” I mocked

He cackled “And why not? Maybe a boy in college wants to be your boyfriend?”

“I don’t like young guys” I shrugged

“Oh really?” He scooted closer “What do you like then?”

“I like older men”

“How old?” He flirted

The vixen part of my brain woke up once I saw the fire in his eyes “Around your age”

“My age?”

I nodded

“And what does a twenty two year old little girl like you know about men my age?” He licked his lips

“Oh Mr. Reigns...I know a lot” I smirked

………………………………………………………………………………………..

We went to sleep late that night, so the next morning I didn’t even hear Amber calling for me so we could go to the grocery store. When I slowly opened the door of the guest bedroom, I heard Mr. Reigns saying:

“I’ll stay here with her and you go to the store, because God forbid if I forget to buy whatever is your addiction at the moment” He chuckled

“Dad, stop!” She giggled “You’re making me sound like a terrible person, AND it’s Twinkies, ok?”

“Again? I thought it was chocolate with nuts”

“Nope, it’s Twinkies now, and just for that, I’ll buy an extra box just to piss you off” She laughed deviously and left out the door.

When her car left towards the highway, I saw Mr. Reigns going up the stairs and coming towards my guest bedroom. I quickly went to the bathroom so I could brush my teeth.

Mr. Reigns slowly opened the door of my room as I was leaving the bathroom.

“So you’re awake?”

“I woke up when Amber was leaving”

“Why didn’t you go to the store with her?”

“Wasn’t feeling like it. Why are you in my room, Mr. Reigns?”

“I came to check on you”

“Why? Do I need someone watching over my sleep?” I laughed

“I just wanted to make sure you were ok, Y/N”

With a smirk on my lips, I said “So you had no other intentions AT ALL?”

“Would you like me to have other intentions?” He chuckled

“Who wouldn’t?”

“You know this is wrong, right?”

“If I heard it correctly, Mr. Reigns, you were the one who wanted to stay behind, and you are the one who came up here” I shrugged

“Touché” He pushed me down on the bed, and covered my body with his

“If it’s so wrong, why are you doing it, sir?”

“Because” He licked his lips “Everything that is forbidden tastes sweeter, don’t you think?”

I giggled while my hands dipped inside his white t-shirt “That’s your shitty excuse?” And chuckled “C’mon, I know you can do better than that”

He cackled “Maybe...or maybe it’s the truth” His hands pulled my satin shorts down “I’ve thought about this ever since I first saw you”

“So why did it take you so long to do something about it?”

“I wanted to make sure you felt the same” His lips brushed against mine

“We better hurry up before someone gets here”

“It takes two and a half hours to get to the store and back, baby. We’ve got plenty of time” He smirked and kissed my lips deeply.

His full lips tasted like caramel coffee, something he drank every morning without a fail. I undid his perfect bun and let his black, silky hair fall upon his shoulders as we kissed. Moaning into the kiss, I pulled his hair while I wiggled my hips, which made him groan.

“So eager” He slapped my ass “I like that. Makes me wanna fuck you even harder”

He took my wrists and locked them on top of my head while rubbing his bulge against my core.

“Please, daddy” I moaned “Please fuck my pussy”

He growled at my pleading and pulled his joggers down quickly. Roman teased my clit with his tip, sliding it up and down my folds, applying more pressure every time he hit my little nub.

“No more teasing, Mr. Reigns... Please...”

Roman smirked and slid in me with one soft thrust.

“Fuck” We moaned together

My eyes rolled to the back of my head as he filled my core like nothing else. His size was beyond perfect to me and I couldn’t hold back my moans of pleasure any longer.

“That’s my good little slut, moan for the one who owns this pussy” He pulled all the way out, until just the tip was in, and then he went in again with a rough thrust

“Oh yes, Mr. Reigns. Keep going please” I moaned loudly

He gripped me by the neck and chuckled “Such a needy whore! I love seeing what I can do to you. The power I have over you...How you lose yourself while I fuck you” He slapped my ass vigorously “You’ve been waiting a long time to have me in you, haven’t you, my sweet whore?”

“Yes, sir” I panted

“Then tell me! Who’s my filthy little slut?”

“Me, daddy”

He snarled before fucking me faster “Say it!”

“I’m your filthy little slut, sir” Tears started to gather in my eyes, as I could feel overstimulation being so close

“Then cum for me, like a filthy, little, slut” He whispered in my ear, while pinching my clit.

It didn’t take him long to reach his high, and Roman quickly pulled out and spilled his seed on my mound.

He leaned down and captured my lips in a sweet kiss

“C’mon, let’s get cleaned up” Roman looked up at the clock and continued “And if we’re quick enough in the shower, we can have another round before someone gets here”

He picked me up in his arms, bridal style and whispered

“I still need to taste this pussy or else I’m gonna become a mad man” He smirked when I gasped

And ran towards the bathroom.

Please, if you’re comfortable with it, let me know your thoughts on this? Feedbacks are always appreciated ❤️😘

[themultifandomgal]

Peter Hale- Former Lunatic

Peter and I have decided to finally tell the rest of the pack that we are dating. I’m a little worried to what everyone else will say about this as there is a large age gap between us. I’m 20 and Peter is 35 so yeah it’s a big age difference, I just hope my younger brother Stiles and my dad are ok with this

“Hey dad, we have a guest for dinner tonight” I say nervously placing down an extra plate

“Who?” Stiles asks

“Erm just someone I’ve been seeing”

“Well does this someone have a name?” dad asks, but the door bell rings. Stiles and dad look at each other

“I’ll get that. Just, be nice” I leave the kitchen and walk over to the front door. When I open it up Peter is stood holding some flowers

“Hey” I greet kissing his cheek “these look beautiful. Thank you”

“Anything for you” I take Peters hand and walk onto the dining room where Stiles and dad are sat

“What the hell his he doing here?” Stiles grumpily asks

“Well, Stiles, dad, Peter and I are dating and we're very happy"

“What?" dad looks at Peter confused

“He’s a lunatic?" Stiles says crossing his arms

"Former lunatic. I'm much healthier now"

Peter interrupts wrapping his arms around me

"Look I know we’ve all had our differences”

“Yeah when he tried to kill us all” Stiles mutters

“He’s also 15 years older than you YN”

“But I really am happy and Peters changed. Can we please just try to get on?”

“Well Peter take a seat”

Dinner is going well… ok maybe not. We’re all sat in silence eating

“So Stiles how’s it going with Malia” dad brings up. I look at Stiles feeling the uncomfortable tension. Dad clocks on “oh that’s…”

“Weird? yeah dad it is” Stiles replies “isn’t it incest?”

“How? your not sleeping with someone related to you” I frown

“I think he means because he’s dating my daughter and I’m dating you, love” I look at Peter and raise my eyebrows

“I know what he’s on about, but it’s only weird if he makes it weird” I point at Stiles. Once again it goes quiet and it’s awkward once again. I place down my knife and fork and sigh

“I know that this isn’t what you were expecting, but I really do like Peter”

“If I could just say…”

“No”

“Stiles!” I shout

“All I was going to say is that YN means a lot to me” he takes my hand in his and gives it a squeeze “I’ve done some really bad things, I know, but YN makes me a better person and I will do everything to keep her safe”

“Well, I guess that’s all I could ask for in a partner for my daughter. But remember, I have a gun and I will use it, bullet dipped into wolfsbane and all” dad threatens

“Got it”

The rest of dinner goes a little smoother thankfully. At the end of the evening I walk Peter to the door

“I’m sorry that this wasn’t the best dinner, but we knew it was always going to be weird”

“The next one will be better don’t worry” I smile at Peter “just have to break the news to Derek and the rest of the pack”

“Oh I’m sure he already knows” Peter smirks and I frown at him confused “he’s probably heard us” my eyes widen and I hit Peter on the chest

“You told me we were lone”

“We were, until we weren’t”

“Oh god eww he’s heard us… oh my god that means the others know”

“Calm down YN I can hear your heart racing. That’s the price you pay for having super sonic hearing. We will officially tell the others tomorrow and then we can hold hands in public”

“Ok yeah your right”

“And even better we can do this” Peter leans down and kisses my lips

“Ok now I can’t wait” I smile at Peter

“See you tomorrow”

“Bye Peter” we share one last kiss before he turns to go into his car. I walk back into the house and see Stiles sat at the top of the stairs

“So you and Peter. I hope you know what your doing with the old man. Maybe for his birthday you can by him a walking frame” Stiles laughed

“Of course I know what I’m doing and if you don’t shut up it will be you who need a walking frame”

“What why?” he frowns

“Because I’ll break both your legs and you’ll have to learn to walk again. I may be human but I can do some damage”

“Ok ok. But don’t come crying when he’s in a wheelchair because you broke his back while you were…”

“Stiles I’m going to count to 3 and I suggest you run” Stiles’ eyes widen and he runs into his room. I laugh hearing his door slam shut

“Can’t believe he’s still scared of you” dad says chuckling

“Ahh never gets old” I make my way up to my room to rest for the night before having talk to the others tomorrow.