#this is how I come up with words for the most part btw ruse

[strelles-universe]

Grabbed a word from asitatu phrases! -> Ashamish neha (a moonless night)

I realized that since the phrase as a whole means, "an unprotected night" or "suspicious" that it makes sense that grabbing that first bit "moon-lack" would probably be used casually.

So now ashamish means unprotected and vulnerable, suspicious or jumpy. And now that I'm writing this, it could probably also derive into "ever-moonless" which would be interpreted as "paranoid" and "gullible" at the same time.

Anyway this was pretty rambley - what do y'all think?

EtA: Nalashamish -> paranoid, gullible, prone to suspicion

[ellsbclls]

" wow... you look... you look amazing. " for peter please? i love love love ur writing btw!

NOTE: This... ended up so embarrassingly long... i don't even know what the word count is, but i can bet it's a good 20%-30% longer than the average blurb.

WARNINGS: cursing, quirky🤪 mentions of drug use, implied making out (but can be perceived as sex, dear god please don’t perceive it as sex though), and some good ol’ fashion stark!ready x peter parker banter

They say, "never meet your heroes." Well, Peter wished he had adhered to that warning before he ended up here — a lanky, overdressed thumb towering high above the roof of the Avenger's Compound.

A semi-annual assembly of New York City's finest heroes that had little to do with their civic duties, and much to do with their inhibitions, and just how much alcohol it would take to release them — but there was one glaring problem.

Peter didn't drink.

He never saw the allure, especially when it came at such a high risk. He'd convinced himself that he refrained for the sake of Aunt May, the only remaining part of his family who put her life on the line to ensure his safety and overall well-being — the Spider-Man reveal already took some getting used to, he didn't need to add drunken night expenditures to her overnight fretting. Yet, when Flash's 'End of the Year' party had been raided by the police, a small part of him found joy in knowing he needn't fear the police or their breathalyzer test, even if he was deemed Pussy Parker for the remainder of that summer.

Even if he wanted to instill some liquid courage into himself, he hadn't the basic courage to let himself be vulnerable like that, in front of all the adults that made up the Avengers. Mr.Stark had already commented on his only suit, and how small he looked as it swamped his form, and the entire altercation made him wish the roof would just open up and swallow him whole.

Bullies, you'd call them.

There they were, New York's finest Defender's, huddled around the Mastrangelo like it couldn't put their entire life savings to shame, hosting a rousing game of beer pong upon its marble exterior. Your father was lucky your mother was still in Milan, tying up loose ends on a new line of bullshit you didn't concern yourself with. You just counted the days until she returned home, and you could soak up every ounce of her nurturing presence.

God, did you miss her.

It’s not like your father wasn’t just as nurturing, competitively so, to a point were you almost felt smothered — but you were too alike. In spaces where you both held too stubborn, your mother was there to mediate, and with ceaseless barrages of dry humor came her firm, unwavering severity, proving her love with candid remarks instead of jesting quips.

“Oh, free intern!” He dragged you from your nostalgic supercut with your endearing nickname, coaxing a fierce glare from your hues. “Run down to that place on 7th street and get some beer? And not that Miller Coor’s Bud bullshit, the upper echelon on Sigma Delta Nu delicacies.”

Jesus Christ.

You had caught glimpses of his argument with Steve, complaining about how stupid it would be to pour anything top shelf into a red solo cup — blasphemous really — but you didn’t expect him to do anything more than concede.

"Father of the year, everybody." You clapped just above your head, prompting the remaining company to join you. "I think you're forgetting that I'm not twenty-one."

"First and foremost, I know I am," Tony counters your triumphant grin with a sarcastic one. "Which is how I know that your fake ID says 21."

"Stark, it's fine. I can grab the beer," You thanked God and her impeccable timing once Steve interrupted, settling himself between the two of you with outstretched palms. "I could use the fresh air anyway."

You mimicked Steve's stance, cocking your brows toward your father. "See? Problem solved. Now leave me alone."

Losing interest in the company exponentially, you started to retreat, but groaned once your father's voice pierced the air again. "Nuh-uh-uh, Rogers. Why? So you can go to the nearest GNC and snort a container of protein powder? I don't think so."

You retreat to the furthest recesses of your mind as Tony and Steve bicker back and forth about honesty and friendly competition. Steve wouldn't know how to bump a rail if the U.S Army assembled a thorough, interactive training course on it, and his age quadrupled the life expectancy of most snow-packed socialites. Yet, on the other hand, you were shocked that your father even knew what a GNC was — ultimately, you were riled from your thoughts by an irksome realization.

"Are you fucking- Why can't old man Jenkins do it?" you gestured wildly toward the enhanced super soldier in question, blind to the obvious offense scrawled across his features. You seldom took your opulent lineage for granted, but when situations such as these presented themself, a selfish corner of your mind wondered what it would be like to have a run-of-the mill, cheesy-pun equipped, golf short wearing father. "You'd rather risk your daughter's own safety, and the sanctity of her criminal record, for a stupid game of beer pong?"

Natasha's incredulous laughter chimed between your incessant back and forth, spurred by the uncanny resemblance you and your father shared between every aspect imaginable — your dry wit just so happened to be in the spotlight.

"Yes," He didn't bother to meet your glare, already familiar with its scorching beam against the side of his face "Yes I would."

Hues practically rolled into the back of your skull, exaggerating your every move to a thespian level to make it clear, to even the boniest of heads, that you didn't take pleasure in this task. You were so excited to finally unwind at this event — slam down the sugary mocktail your Uncle Thor always "forgot" to order virgin, dangle your feet over the shallow end of the pool, maybe even shoot a few low jests at Bucky if there wasn't a carnal gleam in his eyes.

Your thrilling plans were now put on hold just to support your father's mid-life crisis.

"I know, I know." He tried to repeat the name of the wine stop n’ shop, only for you to wave him off. He wasn’t wrong — you had been abusing your fake ID in that very stop n’ shop for years, though you’ve recently come to the conclusion that the cashier was far more interested in your chest than your credentials. "If I get arrested, I'm bring you down with me. I'll tell Business Insider that FRIDAY's just one, big elaborate ruse for the underground Fake ID business you have on the side. They'll eat it up like-"

"Love you, honey! I'll venmo you!" He butt in, sending you off with a wave of his fingers.

You flipped him off, shouting an earnest 'I love you' in return. There was no denying that you loved each other, some would even argue that he loved you more than he loved himself — you just chose to show it in your own, eccentric way.

Mere seconds into your newfound task, you stopped dead in your tracks. You could make out that bed of chestnut locks anywhere.

"Parker?" Swiftly surveying his frumpy attire, you struggled to stifle the upward tilt of your lips. Even as he stood uncomfortably before you, visibly seconds away from crawling out of his own skin, he still managed to be the sweet, endearing Peter you knew and loved. "God, I didn't even realize that was you."

You didn't have the heart to tell him that you caught one fleeting glimpse of him at the very beginning of the festivities and thought he was a part of the catering company, nor did you feel a need to disclose the snide remark you whispered into your father's ear about the miserable staff. There was no sense in kicking a dead horse while it was already down.

His gaze weighed heavy against your frame, though, bolstered by an overwhelming intensity that forced you to wonder if he could read your mind. Though, if you could tap into his thoughts, you'd be shocked to find a reflection of your own — bewilderment, adoration, the tell-tale signs of a burgeoning crush, and the myriad of excuses that disputed them.

He could only manage to stumble over his words, complimenting you with sentiments that could never amount to the emotions welling in his chest. "Wow... you look... you look amazing."

And you couldn't argue, not with the way you were pampered hours prior. Mercier had smothered your hair in this honey-infused serum that made your curls bounce to life with each step, and the custom Jacquemus silhouette you were sporting hugged every ample curve enticingly so. You felt like a million bucks, and you probably cost that much give or take, so why deny it?

Peter, on the other hand — Well, he was very lucky that he was so cute, and his jawline could probably cut Vision's infinity stone straight out of his skull. It almost made up for the tragic shape of his suit, and just how tragically out of place it was at this event.

"You look, um-" Softness tugged at the corner of your eyes as they crinkled dotingly. "You look very cute."

"That was a very convincing half-truth." He chuckled, a subtle pink hue blooming over the valleys of his cheeks."

"Oh, so a part of you knows you're cute." You teased, enjoying the way the pink hue grew deeper.

"Oh! Oh, no... No, I mean, kind of? On the scale of confident perspectives, I think-uh-cute... Cute is on the lower end? And you know what? My Aunt May-"

"Peter, you wanna get out of here?" You interrupted him, hoping to save him from all the words he had yet to stumble over. "And then immediately come back?"

"Yeah," He vigorously nodded his head, despite being equally as confused. "Yeah, I'd like that a lot."

"Come," You offered your hand, a small gesture the two of you have woven into your complicated relationship. 

You'd tend to straddle a very thin line between friendship and something more, reaping all the warm, tentative affections of newfound lovers without explicitly considering yourselves so. The both of you, for as brilliant as your merits show, continued to convince yourselves that the hand holding, the comfortable silences, the mornings plastered against each other's sides, were simply happenstance. Despite the increasing willingness of each encounter, you'd only ever chalk it up to chance. So when you offered your hand out to him, he took it in stride — because the two of you would indulge in every ounce of attention you could get your hands on, at least until one of you inevitably came to your senses and found someone worth your time.

Your fingers were firmly intertwined as you led him to the roof’s exit, tugging him down the staircase and through the vacant halls of the top floor just in time to catch the elevator. You found no reason to keep his hand hostage once you were inside, so you begrudgingly retracted yours. You swore you could hear a pitiful huff come from his side of the elevator, but you chalked it up to wishful thinking. 

Now it was just you and Peter, left to your own devices, and roughly ninety-two floors away from your destination. Just enough time to do what you were aching to do.

“Peter,” You murmured, and his gaze flickered to your own without a moment of hesitation, drenched in a hopeful haze you failed to decipher.

“Y/N?” He echoed, tilting his body toward your own.

“You look...” You paused, unsure of which word accurately portrayed your thoughts. ”insane.”

“I know.” He whined. You tried to stifle the giggle that bubbled at his hopeless demeanor, brows furrowed together as he squeezed his eyes shut, shoulders slumped impossible low.

“It’s a good thing you have such a charitable friend.” And you made light work of his suit jacket, the air suddenly rapt with a thick air of electricity as you worked the offending article off his shoulders, haphazardly tossing it on the ground. Protests formed on the tip of his tongue, but he opted to swallow them in return for your help, going slack when you ran your fingers through his meticulously gelled hair.

Though he embodied the vision of a suave, debonair socialite alarmingly well, with his carefully quaffed locks, nothing suited him as well as the pillowy, fawn tendrils that made up his soft curls. You needed them back, needed a reminder of your sweet, darling boy, and patience was never your strong suit. 

You wondered if he was in need of the same reminder, seeing as he’d let you manhandle him without so much as a hum of discontent.

All done. Only a few revisions, and he was a completely different boy. Clad in a crisp, white shirt, sans its horrifying grey counterpart, you rolled the sleeves up to his elbows and unbuttoned the top three discs. The fabric was taut against his impressive set of muscles, leaving little to the imagination with each sweeping roll of his arms. You’d pat yourself on the back, but you were too busy drooling all over your work.

“Is- Is this good?” He broke the silence with a tentative query, peering back at you through his lashes.

"Yeah,” You voice came out strangled at best, distracted by the flurry of butterflies ravaging your stomach. There was something about this moment — maybe it was the glint of tenderness ridding his gaze, or your tight proximity, or maybe it was fate, finally persuading you to topple over that dangerous line — but regardless, you decided it was now or never. “but there's still something missing," 

“My jacket?” He breathlessly queried. His eyes frantically searched your face, like he couldn’t settle on just one feature to admire.

“No, no...” You breathed back, cautiously inching closer, until there was only a sliver of space separating your chests. "You need to loosen up, Parker."

“And what- What do you suggest I do?” His gaze flickered down to your lips shamelessly, and returned just as quickly. 

“Do you trust me?” 

“I’ve trusted you this far.”

“Good,” You sighed, your breath fanning over his lips before you greedily chased its warmth, kissing him with such feather-light pressure, it almost felt like a dream — a thrilling, delicate dream. You had to tear yourself from his lips before you delved even deeper, hoping to find a mirror image of your relief, your satisfaction, in his own features. However, before your eyes even fluttered open, his palms swept under the curve of your jaw, and coaxed your mouth back to his, instantly qualming any of your fears as you both melted into the exchange. He tasted of spearmint, and cherries, and something so intoxicatingly him that you could barely restrain yourself.

You wanted him, God, did you want him, and for the first time, someone wanted you just as much, without an ounce of greed to it — He wanted you for you.

The remaining seconds of the elevator ride were filled with fervent kisses, and wandering hands, your fingers playing with the curls at the nape of his neck while his bunched the silky fabric of your dress. It was all smitten, indulgent brushes of your lips until the elevator dinged, and the doors opened up to reveal the fashionably late, dynamic duo —Sam Wilson and James Buchanan Barnes.

Their expressions were nothing short of priceless, one complexion green while the other ran pale at the sight of your interwoven limbs. You tried to open your mouth before they could comment, but you were far too late, buried in a booming wall of—

"This is a public space! You are defiling a public space!"

"I can't do this— I'm gonna take the stairs."

Their voices weaved into a messy, irritated harmony of disbelief, managing to still complement each other despite their varying levels of urgency.

An idea, a selfish, evil idea, popped into your head, and you enacted it before you could even unravel yourself from Peter’s hold.

"You just reminded me, I was about to text you! My dad needs a couple cases of Yuengling.” You gestured for Peter to press on the “Open Door” button, and by the time he started clicking the prompt, you’d already fetched your wallet, fishing your card out for Sam. “They probably have some at the corner store, but he’ll throw up if he finds out he was drinking alcohol from the corner store, so you’re gonna have to walk down to that market on Seventh.” You could feel Peter’s perplexed gaze gnaw at your shoulder, but you persisted in your impish pursuits, shoving the AmEx into his hand. 

“Chop chop, lover boys!” You hastily snapped your fingers in his direction, and yelled just loud enough to make sure Bucky accompanied him, parsing their punishment out evenly. 

Served them right, encroaching on such a perfect moment. 

Bucky’s groan echoed through the stairwell, followed by a childish stomp of combat boots, and you were pleased enough to shoo Peter’s hand away, pressing the “Close Door” button.

Sometimes it was nice being Tony Stark’s daughter — less backtalk from the sovereign throne of comebackdom.

“I thought you said we were getting out of here.” His brows were pinched together, the most adorable little frown forming between them.

“Oh, we most certainly are,” You replied, pressing the button for your floor. You could tell that the pieces weren’t clicking all the way, and you proceeded to spell it out for him, dropping a chaste kiss to the spot just below his ear. “We’re gonna go to my room. And then we’re gonna go right back to the party when we’re done.”

“When we’re done?” He mused, voice wavering beneath the soft caress of your lips, scattering even more tentative kisses down the column of his neck.

“When we’re done.” You parroted back, meeting his downward gaze through your lashes.”I think you still have some loosening up to do.”

[fluffbyday-smutbynight]

Lights in the Darkness (THoB rewatch pt.2)

(from part 1 here):

Sherlock crashes hard with his fear; not the fear of queernes per se: the fear of not being able to handle sentiment, lust, attachment. He pretty soon catches up on the hound being an illusion, anyway: "it MUST be a drug!". And what does he do to test his theory? He devises an experiment... to be conveniently performed on John.

Let's talk about John

I barely mentioned John in the ASiB post because his reactions don't deviate much from the standard: denial, denial, denial (and yes, he's so adorable when he does it). In THoB, things get a bit more... interesting.

It's curious that, when they first go to the moors at night, John is the one not buying into the whole "hound" ruse; he keeps pretty level-headed about it - until he catches on Sherlock's distress:

JOHN: Well, he is in a pretty bad way. He’s manic, totally convinced there’s some mutant super-dog roaming the moors. And there isn’t, though, is there? ’Cause if people knew how to make a mutant super-dog, we’d know. They’d be for sale. I mean, that’s how it works. [...] JOHN: Maybe we should just look for whoever’s got a big dog. SHERLOCK: Henry’s right. JOHN: What? SHERLOCK (his voice shaking): I saw it too. JOHN (shocked): What? SHERLOCK: I saw it too, John. JOHN: Just ... just a minute. You saw what?

Again, this is John's denial at work, but from now on we'll see it questioned.

Should we go deeper? Yes, yes we should.

Lights in the darkness

There's a lot of references to the darkness/light contrast - not surprising, given the gothic theme - the simplest being of course Bluebell the glow in the dark rabbit (also a reference to the original ACD glowing hound).

1. At the Moors

John notices a light blinking and decodes it as spelling "UMQRA" in Morse code. Later he will find it was just the random flashing of a car's headlights at a dogging site.

Immediately after, Sherlock texts him the photo of therapist Louise Mortimer to send him interview her, and John comments to himself:

JOHN: Ooh, you’re a bad man.

See how he will later dismiss his botched side investigation:

SHERLOCK: Did you, er, get anywhere with that Morse code? JOHN: No. [...]

JOHN: Look, forget it. It’s ... I thought I was on to something. I wasn’t. SHERLOCK: Sure? JOHN: Yeah. SHERLOCK: How about Louise Mortimer? Did you get anywhere with her? JOHN: No.

They argue a bit, and Sherlock tries to make up for it:

SHERLOCK: You’ve never been the most luminous of people, but as a conductor of light you are unbeatable.

What's the purpose of this whole sequence? To show us that John is a doofus at following leads? (btw, knowing Morse code is pretty badass) ...I think not. Let's strip it to its barebones:

John sees "lights" but can't read them correctly

John does "work" (investigation) and finds... illegal sex acts

John promptly welcomes a diversion (in the form of a pretty woman)

John doesn't get anywhere, at all

...unless we're talking about Sherlock

That's because, if we look at John as a unit with Sherlock, he doesn't even have to follow the lights. He is Sherlock's light, and what does light do? It exposes the truth; again, the theme of exposure (coming clean, coming out) reoccurs.

2. At Baskerville

John is back at the lab looking for clues. I'll borrow the words of Ariane DeVere's transcript (bold mine):

... the device lights up and nine bright bulbs shine straight into his eyes. [...] Opening his eyes a little, he squints and tries to see into the room. All the other lights in the room appear to have come on as well and – with his own vision blanked out by the arc lights – there’s a wall of whiteness all around him. [...] John groans and covers his ears, completely overwhelmed by the bright light, lack of vision and the noise. Grimacing, he starts to make his way across the lab towards the lift, holding his hand up in front of his eyes as the after-image of the arc lights keeps blanking out his vision.

Sherlock is enacting his experiment, crafting through suggestion a "hound" that terrifies John, which tries to hide by closing himself in a cage. Then, over the phone:

JOHN: It’s here. It’s in here with me. SHERLOCK: Where are you? JOHN: Get me out, Sherlock. You have got to get me out.

This sequence, if you recall it, is so shocking and powerful that you can feel John's fear. Light isn't a faint clue in the night anymore: light is blinding, disorienting, painful. If he is to Sherlock the conductor of a benevolent light, he also is still in the darkness himself.

This is all Sherlock's doing by the way, and notice that at this point he is already positive that there's no hound. He just has to prove how, he just has to prove it to John. See how John will rationalize it the next day:

JOHN: Listen: what happened to me in the lab? [...] JOHN: Hang on: you thought it was in the sugar. [...] (John turns his head away as he begins to realise the horrible truth.) JOHN: Oh God. It was you. You locked me in that bloody lab. SHERLOCK: I had to. It was an experiment.

Back to the lab, where a panic-stricken John lays it all out in just one line:

JOHN: Did ... did ... did you see it? You must have! SHERLOCK: It’s all right. It’s okay now. JOHN: NO IT’S NOT! IT’S NOT OKAY! I saw it. I was wrong!

There it is. John has finally seen something. John admits he was wrong. John's denial was wrong.

(to be continued in part 3)

____

[transcription source: Ariane DeVere]

[candlewaxandp0lar0ids]

I just binge read iicngyp and holy shit 👁👁 you’re SO talented 🛐🛐🛐 this series played out like a literal action movie in my head and had me at the edge of my seat.

I’m so excited for whatever comes next, I’ve always been a huge fan of slow burn enemies to lovers- the tension and the jabs are so satisfying because of the way it gradually builds up to the two characters finally growing/realizing their love for one another. Especially in the case of jungkook here where we see him slowly lessen his aggression at mc and becomes kinda whipped (?) 😳. I really don’t know why I enjoy the painstakingly slow pace 😩 it’s a guilty pleasure.

Also- was jungkook always somewhat attracted to the MC? Albeit subconsciously but he’s just slowly falling deeper? And when he kissed her was it out of purely physical attraction or did he really feel the weight of her words/noticed how she actually cared about him this whole time? I’m guessing he didn’t do it as a ruse to get her to react because when she lashed out at him he seemed confused and slightly disheartened.

Aaaaaa I’m so invested 😭💓 keep up the stellar work

Oh my gooooosh thank you so much!! iicngyp is definitely the most ‘visual’ thing I’ve ever written? Like there are so many scenes that I more or less have movie shots in mind for. Any scene where I talk about the click of OC’s heels on the floor, I picture a camera following legs for example, so I can't express how happy it makes me that you could see the whole thing!!

Oh no whipped doesn’t need a question mark, he’ll get there 😁 It will take time. And work (on my part lol). But he’ll get there.

So, okay, the thing to consider here is that OC was the only constant in Jungkook’s life for years when he fought at the Circle. That leads to a lot of complicated feelings on his part that he hasn’t worked through. In that moment, he realizes that she does care in some way, and so, while he would never have made a move if he thought she despised him, it opens a door. He kinda just gives in and does something he’s wanted to do for a long time, and her reaction feels like a confirmation for what he thought. So there is a part of him that was like “ahAH, I got her”, which is what OC sensed, but she is interpreting it the worst way possible and looking at him like he’s some kind of master manipulator and that’s just,,, not who he is,,,

Thank youuuu for the kind ask, this made me so happy to read!! I love seeing how much you've thought about those characters, it's so cool to see 😁 Btw I'll go on and ramble about the characters and the story any chance I'm given so I hope it's not annoying when I do that askdfnjbsdlgn

[razberryyum]

The Untamed and The Living Dead movie Thoughts

SPOILERS AHEAD!

If you haven’t watched the movie, it’s best not to proceed cuz you will be spoiled.  

OR, if you have already watched the movie and love it completely, AND you stan Yu Bin and will not put up with any criticism about his performance, it’s also best not to proceed cuz you’ll most likely be annoyed/upset with me. Let’s just agree to disagree right now and move on with our separate happy lives.  

Overall Rating for The Living Dead: 3 Lil Apples out of 10

Yeah, I know that’s pretty harsh…I waffled between 3, 4 and 5, but I had to settle on a 3 in the end because I don’t think I’ll ever rewatch this movie and there were just so many problems I had with it, that I realized I can’t say I liked the movie much at all.  

Before I go on, let me first address the big white elephant in the room: no, WangXian does NOT cameo in The Living Dead nor are they even mentioned in any capacity that would assure us they are still together and happy in the movie’s timeline. At one point Wen Ning does mention them in the same sentence, but only in relationship to himself (that they saved him) and the past. For those of us desperate for confirmation of WangXian happily ever afterness in the world of CQL (“us” meaning me only most likely), we get no assurance whatsover. This is especially disappointing since the movie apparently take place years later after the events of The Untamed so it’s really sad that we have no idea if they are together. Of course in the world of the novel, we know they are absolutely together, happily married, everydaying everyday, but it would’ve been nice if we were given some tiny morsel of comfort for WangXian of The Untamed.  

Not only does Lan Zhan not make an appearance, he’s only mentioned by Wen Ning once, as I indicated above. As for Wei Ying, he’s mentioned a few times and he kiiiiinda makes a cameo…but honestly, I wish they didn’t even attempt that cameo cuz it was so bad. It’s basically the backview of some extra dressed as Wei Ying and dubbed over by someone else that’s not Lu Zhixing-laoshi. Or if it is, the dub was so bad that it didn’t even sound like him anymore.

That’s actually one of my main problems with the movie: the dubbing or sound mixing just sucked. Every time there was dialogue it sounded very obviously that it was on a different track. I didn’t even feel like the characters were saying the words because their voices sounded detached from them. Whereas in The Untamed, I sometimes would completely forget that with the exception of Nie Huaisang, everyone’s line reads were performed by voice actor because the voices were blended so well within the scenes. I don’t know the technical terms of all this dubbing stuff so hopefully I’m making some sense.

Another big problem was the CGI. Holy crap was it bad. It was so bad at no point was I able to immerse myself into the action scenes…I didn’t feel anyone was in danger because they were being attacked by a bunch of obvious and bad CGI. One of the worse scenes that they showed THREE times was when the sister (Xiao Qing) being burned up in CGI flames. First of all her acting was horrendous (why was she covering her ears while she’s being burned alive??) and then the fake fire just made me groan out loud. I didn’t even want to look it was so embarrassingly bad.  

I’m trying to figure out when they shot this movie…in order for them to be able to release the movie so soon after the show, the filming had to overlap with The Untamed’s filming, right? So I guess budget was still tight, probably even tighter than the main show, since CQL probably didn’t start actually seeing the money it made from ads, etc until towards the end. Either way, it feels like they didn’t put much money into this movie, especially not the effects. And if I’m going to be honest, I think they probably just had their second…nay…probably third unit direct it. Or at least, they had their third unit decide on some of the casting cuz some of the performances were…OOF. One thing I really appreciated about The Untamed is that even with most of the background actors, there was hardly a glaringly bad performance. I’ve said before the worse really was the actor who played Wen Ruohan, which is a shame cuz he’s more than an extra, but overall all the performances by the supporting characters ranged from decent to strong with hardly a weak link. Here, in this movie, I would say most of the performances from the new cast members were very mediocre. In fact, the only truly consistently good performances from beginning to end was Zheng Fanxing (Sizhui) and that cute little girl in the beginning:

I was kind of sad when she got killed off cuz she was adorable and definitely a MUCH better actor that the dude who played her older brother…at no point was I remotely convinced he was scared so on the other hand I was happy he died. But I thought she was going to burn to death or something because it didn’t seem like a good idea to have her hide in a wooden cupboard with a lite stove…that was so stupid and weird. Btw, what the hell was with that cat screeching sound effect?? Sounded like someone was throwing a cat, but like WHY?  

As for the three new players introduced for this movie—Gao Han as Xiao Yi, Wang Yifei as Xiao Qing and He Longlong as Zhou Zishu—I’ve never seen their work before, and nothing about their performances in this movie makes me interested in what they will do in the future. To be fair, Gao Han tried…you can totally tell he was trying REALLY hard in some of his scenes, but for the most part, he either overacted or strangely enough, underacted. He was just really inconsistent. I know Zhou Zishu was supposed to be a red herring so the fact that he started out looking sketchy AF was supposed to be a ruse since our narrator was entirely untrustworthy, but even in the context of that false narration, he was really bad. As for the sister played by Wang Yifei…just look at her performance as she’s being burned up again.  

By the way, I’m gonna say this now: if Wei Ying and Lan Zhan don’t even get to share a fucking real hug between them throughout the entirety of The Untamed, then I don’t think some generally unimportant-in-the-greater-scheme-of-things couple should be allowed to freaking KISS in anything related to the world of CQL.

I understand it’s all about the censorship, etc etc, but if any hetero couple deserved to share an onscreen kiss, it would’ve been Shijie and Jin Zixuan, and since even they were deprived of that, then these two nobodies should not have been granted this privilege. Seriously, fuck whoever decided to stick that moment in the movie. That’s just fucking unfair and really annoyed me. There better not be any more of that kind of nonsense in the Nie brothers‘ movie.  

The last I’ll say about performances is that sadly, I felt as if there was something off about Yu Bin’s. I totally understand that this is a different Wen Ning than the one we saw in the show—he’s older, more mature, since God knows how many years have passed already—so I don’t mind that he’s more serious. But at the same time, he was just so uneven that I couldn’t get behind his performance at all. He was always one key off, if that makes any sense, so it almost felt like someone else was playing Wen Ning entirely, someone who is completely unfamiliar with that character. And his work in the…whatever fuck that place was…Yin Metal purgatory?? (and for those who are familiar with Guardian, that place was giving me bad flashbacks to Dixing)…was kind of cringey overall.  

I wanted to love seeing Wen Ning be a badass wise uncle, so I actually feel really sad that I couldn’t enjoy his performance in general. However, what I absolutely did enjoy was seeing uncle and nephew bonding and working together…  

…just wish those moments weren’t marred by all that bad CGI.  

Wen Ning’s new look gave me pause though: not that I didn’t appreciate the whole metal look, but I kind of couldn’t figure out why Wen Ning added the chains back to his ensemble when he got rid of them back in The Untamed already.

I mean, if the black veins on his neck don’t attract attention, walking around wearing heavy, clangy chains sure would probably alarm people as well, I think.  

Last thing on Wen Ning: again, not that I didn’t appreciate his newfound ability to hulk out, but yikes, that whole effect was ruined by yet again bad CGI AND a really goofy score. Sounded like something they “borrowed” from Naruto.

Except for that one piece of music, I did like the score for the rest of the movie, especially in the opening credits since it definitely evoked a sense of creepiness. The images in the credits were good too. I can easily imagine that being the OP creds to a horror anthology.  

As for the story, I was fine with it. I liked that they related the family to Nightless City because apparently they are the ones who helped make Nightless City nightless? Here I thought it was the surrounding lava but I guess there were lanterns lighting the place up that I just somehow missed completely.  I liked the plot twist with Xiao Yi and his “sister”…although I did guess there was some incesty thing going on in the beginning…just didn’t think I would be right and wrong at the same time. I thought they would relate their relationship back to Wen Ning and Wen Qing somehow, considering the sisters shared the same name…this was before the “incest” part was confirmed of course…but they never really did so having Wen Qing share the same name as Xiao Qing felt like an oddity in the end. It’s also odd how they used the same phonetically sounding last name of “Xiao” since of course I immediately thought of Xiao Zhan (different characters). Like, couldn’t they come up with completely different names? Overall, the plot wasn’t bad, as mysteries go, at first I couldn’t figure out why the Yin Metal all of a sudden had all these new powers and why the metal wielder, Zhou Zishu, would become a ghost puppet himself, but with the plot twist, all of that was explained so I was fine with it. The last shot of “Xiao Yi” in the Yin Metal purgatory made me guffaw; yeah, that didn’t look suggestive AT ALL. 

The Living Dead actually makes me look forward even more to the next movie, The Fatal Journey. I’m hoping that since it’s potentially about the Nie brother’s past and Jin Guangyao, that perhaps there will be less need for CGI as it will focus more on just dialogue and story-telling. Not to mention, again, apologies to Yu Bin fans, but those three actors are generally stronger performers, so with them at the helm, I’m expecting/hoping for greater things.    

Since I’ve been mostly negative, I wanted to leave on at least one positive note: Sizhui is still an adorable puppy. His dads, wherever they are, whatever they’re doing during the movie, must be so proud of him. 

[slasherholic]

Hey there love! I sent a request b4 but since requests are closed you couldn’t write it so here it goes again. “I want a scenario where reader doms michael and denies him from release. Which leads him to begging. I want him all tied up with chains so he can’t get away. But I mean reader really doms him like she is totally in control. And I have something for this guy’s muscles. He is really big and strong so it would be so hot that you got him begging under you, isn’t it?” Im nasty 🤤😅 thx btw

Impulse

Michael Myers x Female!Reader

Some things are simply set in stone— birds fly, water is wet, and Michael Audrey Myers would have never willingly agreed to being tied down and left entirely at your mercy— but that little fact had not stopped you from trying.

That night, when he had approached you like a ravenous predator with a glint in his eyes that betrayed his desire, when he had swept you off your feet and shoved you face-first into the chilly bedsheets, when you heard the drag of a zipper and felt his strong hands tugging eagerly at the hem of your pants, you did something that you had never even dreamed of attempting for simple fear of the outcome:

You told Michael no.

You told him that, unless he let you try something new, he would have to provide his own release, because he wasn’t going to touch you.

Michael’s calloused fingers stilled suddenly against your waist. His body went rigid. His breaths fell hot and heavy and from his lips in a thinly-veiled frustration. The coldness in his eyes was unmistakable— in denying him his release, you were playing a very dangerous game.

A tense moment passed; and, when Michael did not ignore your wishes, when he did not bend you over and fuck you regardless of your warning, you proceeded with your plan. Your palms met the pulsing skin of his bare chest and you shoved him back against the bed. Michael did not resist. You straddled his hips, which he allowed as well, although by this point his muscles were wrought with tension beneath you, and you could tell that his patience was wearing thin.

You leaned suddenly forward to lay across his chest and intertwined your fingers teasingly through his hair. Your lips worked hungrily over his, a distraction, which he fell for— he did not see your free hand slipping slowly up to clip a cuff over his wrist. Only when he felt the sting of cold metal, when he heard the lock click sharply into place, did Michael lunge and make a grab for your arm; but, it was too late. His left hand was cuffed firmly above his head to the bedframe.

Never had you seen such a bitterly-cold look in Michael’s eyes. He jerked and pulled at the restraint, and the wooden frame creaked and whined under the immense pressure, but it seemed to be holding. You stated your proposal before Michael’s thrashing took the bed down.

“Michael, hold on— just listen to me.” You began, and Michael gave one final tug, and then he stilled. The coldness in his eyes alone was enough to send a shiver down your spine.

“Okay. I’ll uncuff you if that’s what you want, but Michael, I’m serious— you aren’t going to touch me tonight.” You stated. Then, you dangled the second cuff teasingly in the air. “Or… you let me finish, and we do this my way for once. It’s your call.“

Michael glared at the gleaming metal in your hand. His fingers balled so tightly into fists that his knuckles shone white.

Then, just as you had anticipated, his lust and desperation won out. Michael hissed a furious exhale through clenched teeth and slowly sunk back down onto the sheets, until his back was flat against the mattress. He grew as still as a corpse. His decision had been made.

Michael stared murderously ahead at the ceiling as you gently slipped the second cuff over his wrist. The sharp click of the lock sealed his fate— you wondered just how long it would take him to forgive you for this.

You stripped slowly. Now that Michael was cuffed, you were in no rush, so you allowed yourself a moment to enjoy his utterly vulnerable and flustered state. Still he refused to look at you. You straddled him, sank down on his hips teasingly close to his throbbing length, and let your busy fingers trace along the dip of his collar bones, then down to his toned abdominal muscles, where you marveled the rise and fall of his broad chest with his every heated breath.

Each time that your hands fell across his radiating skin Michael’s jaw grew tenser. Slowly, your gentle touches travelled down his body— to his hips, to his inner thigh— and finally, you ghosted your nails teasingly down the shaft of his cock. Michael gave a violent shudder. His thick member was painfully erect and dripping. You began to pump your hand along his burning shaft, and Michael arched impatiently into your touch, seeking relief from the torturous heat. The bedframe creaked and moaned as he tugged at his restraints.

“You’re not allowed to come, Michael.” You stated firmly, with as much authority as you could muster. Your hand quickened its pace. “If you come, we start over— is that clear?”

Michael’s only response was a hitched breath and a low, guttural growl, which you felt reverberate up his chest. Your own sex was throbbing now and demanded your attention; you gave in to your body’s desires.

You hovered over Michael’s hips and teased the thick head of his cock back and forth along your slick folds. Slowly, you sunk down onto his member. Your lips parted in a soft groan as the head popped past your entrance and began to stretch your walls. You worked him deeper inside of you until his warmth kissed your cervix, and you arched back, your mouth falling agape as his girth sheathed within you. You were stuffed.

You rocked against Michael’s hips, working yourself at a torturous pace along his shaft. Michael’s stubbornly blank expression was slipping; his brows had drawn together and a string of stifled groans fled his parted lips. He clawed at his restraints until the biting metal had chaffed a furious red band across his wrists.

You quickened your pace, taking Michael’s length deeper inside of you with greedy thrusts, until every roll of your hips was hitting the most sensitive spots within you and had you crying out in raw pleasure.

Michael was becoming entirely undone beneath you. Sweat glistened across his straining biceps as he yanked harder still at his cuffs.

Your muscles twitched torturously around Michael’s cock as you came. His eyes squeezed shut. You leaned forwards and pressed yourself against his burning chest, which rose and fell frantically with every labored, needy inhale. Michael had taken your warning to heart; you had not yet told him that he could come. Your lips pulled into a lazy smile. Truthfully, you hadn’t thought him capable of showing such restraint.

Your fingers travelled up to his brown curls and you gently kneaded his hair, planted light, teasing kisses across his collar bones, and up his neck. Michael’s eyes glistened with a sudden wetness. Goosebumps seized his quivering body. Your cupped his chin, tracing a finger lazily down his tensed jaw.

“Look at me, Michael.” You purred. Michael met your eyes. His bitter stare was unblinking and dripping with venom— his nostrils flared furiously with every inhale. Never had you seen such raw emotion on his face.

“I want you to beg for it.”

Your words lit a raging fire in Michael’s chest. His eyes grew darker still. You ghosted your finger along his lips with a knowing smile. When the cuffs came off, you were so screwed; but, what came next would make it all worth it.

“Just say the word Michael, and you can come.”

Michael gave a low, dangerous growl, a warning, as if he had adopted the mentality of a cornered animal. You held your ground, were about to reach down to once again tease his throbbing, swollen cock, when finally it happened—

“—Please.” Michael spat hoarsely. The word came out as a low hiss from between clenched teeth. The murderous glare that accompanied it sent a shiver down your spine. You shot him a languid smile, then nipped playfully at the soft flesh of his inner lip, and captured his mouth in one final kiss. Michael did not return your affection.

“Good boy— “ You whispered in his ear. “You earned it.”

Michael’s muscles twitched and strained against the cuffs as his torturously-denied orgasm swept his entire body. He shuddered and shivered, and then slumped back against the sheets. His muscles slackened. He went perfectly still. In an instant, any trace of anger, any hint of emotion, had vanished from Michael’s face. He stared blankly at the ceiling as if basking in the glow of his orgasm.

A knowing smile pulled at your lips. You weren’t foolish enough to believe his ruse. Michael was preparing to pounce; as soon as the cuffs came off, he would have his revenge.

Your night had only just begun.

[alltingfinns]

A Scandal in Belgravia

So I’m back on this.

The swoosh on some sped up footage in the previously, don’t remember noticing that.

This episode’s start gets so much funnier if you read some of the fic written between this and the previous episode.

Silly song now becomes more dramatic in TRF.

What did Irene offer Jim to get him so riled up? If it’s the plot plane plan that would explain why Sherlock is needed alive. But his emotional reaction... maybe he’s already been trying to get it on his own. Indicates possibly that Jim has been looking for a way to get to Mycroft.

“You’re typing a lot.”

This montage is nicely done.

Arguing about the blog.

The pouncing on the title.

He’s so hurt. He knows ash!

“We do watch the news.”

“You said boring and switched the channel.”

First time where “people” = John.

And the hat.

“It’s time.” I never thought about the waiting period.

Ehh, Hudson called up to the next floor so John’s room? Boys?

Ha cool, a SAAB. An old one too. I’d guess a 900 model from the early nineties.

Lestrade probably makes these calls a lot.

I get Sherlock’s confusion, he’s just in a sheet it’d make sense for him to be humiliated.

Their silent conversation + John’s acceptance of the absurdity.

That was a pretty long look on Sherlock’s lap and then asking about pants.

The Swedish subtitles on Netflix just referred to John as ”kronans gosse” I love it!

John took the queen liking his blog as a point in their argument.

I always like looking at John during the sheet bit.

Mycroft and John conversing in subtext that you need to remember their original conversation from a whole series/three episodes ago. And people think johnlock is too subtextual.

They made “the woman” a work title clearly to explain why Sherlock would refer to her that way. A bit harder to work in the context from ACD canon. It would be weird if Sherlock in modern times went “a credit to your gender” for defeating him.

Sherlock’s reaction Mycroft’s veiled assertion settles the question, I think. He’s making a “damn, he’s got me there” face. Mainly because John’s presence, if we considers his previous statement. If it were just him and Mycroft he’d just say “just because I haven’t done it doesn’t mean I can’t understand it!”

Btw, in case you think my typing speed is phenomenal I am hitting pause when something gets really interesting to me.

The parallel of checking the pictures have the “obvious” reading of romantic set up. But Sherlock is still learning details of a case he has been given so another reading is that while he’s targeting her she’s targeting him.

My reading is backed up by Sherlock’s immediate demeanor. His interest in her didn’t really appear until he found out she didn’t ask for anything. Blackmailers are a dime a dozen, but someone making a point of threat against the reputation of the BRF without asking for direct compensation? That’s someone with a plan and someone who can give him the kick he feeds of from casework.

John getting the last word in only for Sherlock to get the laterer word in.

Pinching an ashtray from the aforementioned BRF, whom himself mentioned as his first client with a navy, just to make John laugh? Some things are priceless but for everything else there’s MasterCard.

Okay, I had to back up a bit but: I don’t know who’s getting these pictures for Irene, but the last one that makes her smile is focused on John. She sees Sherlock more naked in the pictures where he’s fully clothed in the back of a cab than when he was in just a sheet on the pavement.

More parallels. This is really about their similarities. Could still be considered romantic foreshadowing “they’re made of the same cloth” type.

Ah yes, punch me.

That little dialogue snippet about “punch me” usually being subtext is what got me to first watch this show.

In general I have a lot of issues with how they handled Irene. But I especially don’t think I get the nudity in this scene. It reveals to Sherlock immediately that his ruse was all in vain since she either a) knew he was coming anyway or b) usually greet priests in distress while stark naked and might therefor just be stark raving.

Unflappable John Watson. Oh dear, my flat mate who I just beat up is sitting in front of a naked dominatrix with his vicar collar between her teeth. “I’ve missed something, haven’t I?”

He doesn’t like being a third wheel either. “I had tea too! Just so you know. In case you thought Sherlock got tea at the palace by himself. I was there too. The tea was lovely. Just the right temperature.”

Dammit.

Now I want tea.

Wait wait wait! When did John put his “date” shoes on? Only time it makes sense is when Sherlock was looking through his disguises. (He definitively wouldn’t wear them to traipse around the muddy crime scene.) Maybe they’re part of his “battle uniform”? Also obviously Sherlock can only “deduce” date because he knows what shoes John wears on dates. This isn’t really clothed people are easier to deduce.

How is he not deducing the heck out of her make up and ear piercing? Is it because she’s acting so extraordinary that her indicators become harder to contextualise?

Or is that whole thing just a plot hole?

And her comes her actual opening chess move. Nudity and banter was just setting up the pieces.

“Somebody loves you.” She pressed John’s big red “DO NOT PRESS” button right away. Later she says Jim told her how to play the Holmes brothers, but he definitively gave some pointers on John as well.

There’s something about John’s facial movements when Irene says he knows exactly where to look. Hard to compare with the sheet scene because of the different angles. But yeah, John is bi.

“You do borrow my laptop” with such an angry glare.

Wait are Irene’s shoes those shoes that are expensive because they’re red on the bottom? (I do not care enough to google their names.)

And it’s when John starts to smile that Sherlock does his verbal keysmash. Officially Ben said it was because Irene was paying attention to John instead of him, but she does that a number of times previously and has had quite a moment of getting cosy at John. But up until then John has been a bit standoffish. Of course you can only take so much of a pretty lady flirting with you before your smile reflex gets activated. Also he whips his head immediately at Sherlock in medical concern for his friend and Sherlock can speak clearly again.

Sherlock thinks he knows her game now as he makes his move getting her to confirm that the pictures are in the room.

Imagine the egg on his face if John hadn’t managed the smoke alarm in time.

“Amazing how fire exposes our priorities” should be part of a collection of lines that are only said once but thematically repeated throughout the show.

Some would argue maybe “I really hope you don’t have a baby in there” could be added but I don’t think it could be considered as repeated enough thematically.

Sherlock being his usual demanding self about turning off the fire alarm. The fool! Doesn’t he know how hard fire alarms are to turn off? (Maybe just a problem for me...)

Okay sure, easy enough with a gun, but impractical as a long term solution.

Umm, excuse me why does he go “no disrespect but you were clearly born in the 80s” in an episode from 2012? The most she’d be is 32, so clearly she looks at most like that then. Why would she be insulted by that? Also he earlier called a dude unhealthy, stupid and with bad breath in front of him without clarifying level of respect. So basically he’s needling her by adding that. That’s the most positive spin it can get.

John apologising for not stopping /forewarning about a whole bunch of trained killers sweeping in? That is diehard loyalty.

She’s staring hard at him as fire exposes his priority.

She actually does give him a clue by looking down the moment he looks at her. Never thought of that.

He heard something click wrong, looked at her for additional clue so she looks to the side “get out of the way”.

I love that John’s priority is medically inclined in the action scene, checking the vital signs of the guy that got shot.

“Observant?” “Flattered?” Honestly he shouldn’t be so surprised by the first bit as it was obvious some kind of observation + deduction got Sherlock the code.

As usual Sherlock gives zero fucks about gun safety. I feel John at some point is going to tie him down and lecture him about it. “We do not scratch our heads with the barrel of a gun, and we don’t call for the police by shooting in the air!”

You know if you’re knocking him out cold regardless, you don’t need him to drop the phone first. You just wanted the beating to be literal.

“He’ll be fine. I’ve used it on loads of my friends.” Yeah no, tell the doctor what chemical knockout drug you just put in a former drug addict!!

I wonder how much of dream Adler is actual Adler speaking to a drugged out Sherlock.

Could be nothing with the only real part being “hush now, returning your coat”. Would make sense for a dreaming brain to jumble the two cases together.

Start of series 2 we get to see Sherlock’s bedroom while John’s remain a mystery after 4 series.

John is not on the top of his game this episode. “What woman?”

And so it begins.

Mycroft does not have “shut up Hudson” privilege.

That whole phone noise discussion is punctuated with embarrassment.

Ah the gaping jaw that set the sails for the lestrolly ship.

“Christmas is canceled!” I love when John banters with Sherlock.

Sherlock is mean to Molly, but to be fair she kind of blundered a bit with the others and Sherlock complaining about John being away was clearly something he told in confidence. Telling Greg and John that their loved ones are betraying the trust put in them is general misanthropy, but Sherlock probably feels justified in needling Molly about a crush that he figures none of them know anyway.

Oh John’s look there. Greg clearly knows too what is coming but John has the recognition factor.

“Oh shit. It was me. Still me? She still has a thing for me?”

For a sort of dramatic moment it still has one of John’s absolutely funniest facial journeys. “Wait, you apologised? You know what an apology is? Are you feeling well?”

Obviously Irene’s text signal gets a lot of funny moments, but nothing will beat the timing of this one. And now I am imagining Jim with a pair of binoculars sitting across the street and telling Irene “now, send it now, it’ll be fucking priceless!”

And Greg “wait really?” When you’re not sure what your consultant can do to surprise you next.

I believe I made a post about it earlier but Jeanette’s boyfriend just said he’s been keeping track up till 57 on text messages that his platonic flat mate gets where the signal is a woman moaning.

“Do you ever reply?”

Jeanette starts working on her break up speech about then, I believe.

Molly nervously gulps a drink. Now Molly is everyone’s favorite John mirror. Medical professional with a crush on Sherlock, and whose favored type of outfit involves knitwear. John usually takes a drink at emotionally difficult times. Is this Molly handling her rejection, or showing what John is doing/will do without showing John?

Mycroft. If they passed a new law why would Sherlock know about it before you?

“How did Sherlock recognize her from... not-her-face?”

Mycroft answers with a smile and leaving the room.

“I got plans”

“No” I know you. If it’s a date you’ve probably bungled it already. Regardless if it is or isn’t you’ll still prioritize my brother because you always do.

John really goes for the superconfident strategy when dating, huh? “I always thought I was great.”

“I’ll even walk your dog!”

“I don’t have a dog!”

“No, because that was the last one...”

Always thought you were a great boyfriend, huh?

When even your landlady who got out of her marriage through execution thinks you bungled it, you probably bungled it.

Think I’ll break here and continue the rest of the episode tomorrow.

[ofstarlightandfirehearts]

Kingdom of Ash

So it's been a few hours since I've finished KOA and I'm still nowhere near okay because so much happened in it - so much joy and also so much pain in this book. I loved every second of it.

Before I start on my thoughts on it (all under the cut to not spoil anyone) I just wanted to give a shout out to Sarah J Maas - for creating such beautiful, beautiful flawed, complex, very human characters in this beautiful world. It has been a wonderful ride, following this amazing, strong badass character go through her trials, her struggles and still being so unyielding, still so full of light and hope even in the face of darkness. I love Aelin's character so much. So... what I'm saying is... Thank you so much, Sarah.

Now, onward. Also... this will be lengthy.

I think the best way to do this is by characters and my favorite (heartbreaking) moments from each of them or around them in their chapters.

But first... Aelin, Dorian and Manon just... they shone through this entire book. All of them had their personal doubts about their task - CAN Dorian get all the Wyrdkeys, CAN Manon unite the Irontheeth and the Crochans, CAN Aelin live with herself if Dorian somehow forged the lock and CAN she let him do it, CAN she rule Terrasen if she were to find a way to live after forging the lock?

I had so much fun reading each of their POVs because these were the 3 rulers of the new world, that better world they all fought for, and yet how much they doubted how can they make it happen, will it happen, if it did happen how can or should they rule? There was a lot of internal struggle with them all. There were a lot of personal revelations for them along the way and it was really, a beautiful journey.

Okay, now for them all separately. The sections for Aelin, Dorian and Manon are gonna be long.

Aelin: - Her not being tricked by Maeve's mind games, holding on through Cairn's tortures all for Terrasen - that was her one thought that kept her from breaking: how can I protect Terrasen? - Her escaping Cairn and her running into Lorcan and Gavriel, and her screaming TAKE IT OFF TAKE IT OFF and then Rowan, bless him, trying to calm her down enough to try to get it off. That part just... that gutted me. - All the blood oaths... including Gavriel's. That was such a somber, beautiful moment. The one with Fenrys was just... amazing. She refused to let him stay there in that camp alone AND SHE BROUGHT HIM BACK TO LIFE.  - Her using her power - all that power she had kept pushing down to save for her showdown with Maeve - to save the soldiers (and Lorcan and Elide) at Anielle. That was some next level AMAZING, badass shit man. I will definitely be drawing this scene.  - Her falling through the worlds after forging the lock - after opting to save Elena over them taking Erawan with them... only to be betrayed by those stupid, ugly selfish gods... and then having Aelin get payback by unleashing literal hell on them in their realm.  -Her falling through the realms was so... cool. So cool. - AND WE ALSO GOT A CAMEO FROM THE WONDERFUL RHYS AND FEYRE. SHE FELL THROUGH EFFING VELARIS. I FREAKED. I'M STILL FREAKING. THAT WAS AN AMAZING WAY TO BRIDGE THE TWO SERIES.  - AELIN/CHAOL/DORIAN REUNION. 

- The comraderie between her and all the females in this series. Her and Hasar's fond bickering, same with her and Borte and Ansel. The faith and pride she had in Yrene and Elide. Her friendship with Lysandra will always be one of my favorite things about this series. The weight of the world that only she and Manon can understand up in the aerie after the battle and her support in Manon's loss. There were so many beautiful friendships between all the females in this book. THIS GIRL MAKES FRIENDS WHEREVER SHE GOES AND IT'S A BEAUTIFUL THING. - The final showdown - her playing with Erawan, trying to pit him against Maeve. And then after Erawan was carried away, her pulling her cadre out of their hallucinations, opening up that portal to allow the old Fae of Terrasen through, having Fenrys deliver his well-deserved killing blow to her. - Her coronation - the Little Folk coming to give her Mab's crown - LET'S JUST TALK ABOUT THEIR NEVERENDING SUPPORT OF AELIN THROUGH ALL THE BOOKS. AND LET'S GO BACK TO THE KING OF THE NORTH - THAT BEAUTIFUL STAG WHO LIT THE WAY FOR AELIN AND THE KHAGANATE TO GET TO ORYNTH. - Okay, Aelin's coronation - the procession, how she had all the females go down into the city with her because they all played just as huge of a part in the war. They honestly did so much.  - AELIN/CHAOL/DORIAN GOODBYE EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT A FOREVER GOODBYE. LOOK, I SOBBED THROUGHOUT THAT WHOLE PART. MY BABIES. MY BEAUTIFUL BABIES WHO STARTED IT ALL, BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH AND LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH. I CANNOT.   - The ending - her waking up to the field of those flowers that were thought to be wiped from existence during the first siege all those years ago. Another scene I must draw. 

Dorian: - Dorian learning how to shapeshift was just... I wasn't expecting that at all. And he learned it so well from the Stygian spider - and the way he LEARNED how to do it - by digging into the spider's mind and finding that kernel of power and taking it for himself. - This poor kid is still so traumatized by what happened to Sorscha. And I know there's a lot of mixed feelings about Sorscha but honestly I liked her. His guilt over her, and also how he left Rifthold in ruins to flee. His doubts on ruling, can he rule, how will he be different from his Valg "father" and also the ultimate question he had to come to terms with: Was he himself part Valg, since his father's body was possessed by a Valg. - His friendship with the Thirteen. I just. And then at the end... that's who he looked up to the skies to find, not knowing he'd never find them in those skies... or any skies ever again (crying). - MORATH AND MAEVE. Those were some of the most stressful chapters of this book and I was worried for a bit, especially when Maeve found him. - THE WAY HE TRICKED MAEVE AND BROUGHT DOWN MORATH FROM THE INSIDE. THAT WAS BADASS, DORIAN. I’M SO PROUD OF YOU. I will also be drawing this.  - CHAORIAN REUNION. HIS REACTION WHEN HE SAW THAT CHAOL WAS STANDING. STANDING. AND THEN RUNNING TO HIM. THOSE STUPID, STUPID BEAUTIFUL BOYS AND THEIR STUPID BEAUTIFUL RELATIONSHIP. - Him desperately trying to reconnect himself with Aelin after Aelin pushed him back out the portal as she finished forging the lock by herself. The sheer panic Dorian had because he could not, would not let his friend do this alone. That was heartbreaking. - Dorian is so clever - I always forget how clever. His ruse at the end with Erawan - and as Yrene had him pinned down, him nonchalantly going, "Oh btw, I was the one who destroyed Morath." - I know a lot of people were kind of complaining about the lack of Manorian in the book but WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN. THIS BOOK WAS FULL OF MANORIAN. Their quiet support of each other. Them knowing each other so well - Dorian figured out Manon was the one who led the Ironteeth back to the Crochans to prove herself just like that. Him thinking of who he most wanted to be like when learning how to shapeshift himself, and he thought of Manon. - The ending where he wants wyverns as part of his aerial legion, and he wants Manon to come and teach those future riders how to fight, how to be.  - “What do you want.” You, all of you. GDI.  -THAT BIT WITH YRENE. "You could just get married." AND THEN DORIAN BLUSHES FURIOUSLY. BOY. YOU WANT TO BE WITH MANON. JUST GET MARRIED ALREADY.

Manon: - OKAY I'M JUST GONNA START IT OFF WITH THE THIRTEEN AND JUST HOW MUCH THEY LOVED MANON AND RESPECTED HER. SO MUCH THEY ALL SACRIFICED THEMSELVES FOR HER, THEY DID THEIR UNYIELDING SO SHE CAN HELP CREATE THAT BETTER WORLD THEY ALL WISHED FOR, EVEN IF THEY COULDN'T BE A PART OF IT, AS LONG AS MANON LIVED THAT'S ALL THEY CARED ABOUT. LOOK, I THINK I CRIED FOR THOSE ENTIRE 2 CHAPTERS AND THEN THROUGH HALF A THIRD CHAPTER. I'M STILL GETTING TEARY EYED THINKING ABOUT THEM. HOW DARE YOU SARAH. HOW DARE YOU. - That field of flowers, how everyone at Orynth paid their tributes to the Thirteen and Manon in the center of it, quietly mourning those beautiful, brave loyal twelve women who have done nothing but support her for all those years. I just can’t get over it. This will be the first scene that I draw.  - How Aelin promised that she would put up a statue, something to pay a permanent tribute to them.  - THE PART WITH ABRAXOS ALMOST DYING AND ALL ABRAXOS WANTED TO DO WAS SAVE MANON. JFC. AND MANON LITERALLY BEGGING ISKRA, HER ENEMY. TO LET ABRAXOS GO. - Manon's doubts over winning over the Crochans. It was a long, long process for her to do so but she kept at it, trying to earn their respect as much as she could. - The showdown between her and her grandmother and the Yellowlegs heir. Hells. yes. - The way the crown lit up as soon as it sat on Manon's head. You go girl. - I loved Glennis. - The passing of the eternal flame through all of those hearths in even the remotest parts of the country when the word went out their Crochan Queen needed them to fight for Terrasen. That was a powerful, powerful scene. - When she went to the Ferian Gap to speak to Petrah, to lay out the truth of what the Ironteeth at Morath planned to do - what her GRANDMOTHER planned to do - which made those Ferian Ironteeth rebel and join them against Morath. In other words... MANON WAS BORN TO LEAD.   - The end, when she sees Dorian and he realizes the Thirteen are not there. "I miss them." (CRYING) - I also love how she struggled to care, to feel that being a caring leader did not make her a weak one because that's what she was taught. A good leader does not care, they are ruthless and do what must be done - but Manon has always had a softer heart, even if she didn't want to admit it, and her caring... it made her a stronger leader. - Her realization that the curse had been broken - they all - Ironteeth and Crochans - can return to the Wastes. Because the curse finally, finally broke. Starting with the Thirteen's sacrifice. Even in death, they helped her get home. - Her promising to stop by Rifthold to pay our wonderful King of Adarlan a visit time to time.

Rowan + the cadre (minus Lorcan): - Rowan, you beautiful beautiful bird you. He was so relentless to get to Aelin and after finding her... his patience with Aelin afterwards, helping her train, helping her heal. - I'M SO ECSTATIC WE GOT ONE MORE CARRANAM SCENE WITH ROWAELIN IN THAT FINAL BATTLE. - Rowan exacting exquisite revenge on Cairn after finding out Cairn whipped Aelin. I think Cairn deserved an even more gruesome death than he recieved... and that death already was gruesome. - Rowan finding the strength to tear himself out of the hellish hallucination that Maeve played with him... with a little help from his Fireheart. - Rowan's reactions as Fenrys told Rowan little by little just what was done to Aelin in those months apart. - Listen, Rowan's farewell to Dorian and Chaol was just as emotional for me. - HOW MUCH HE JUST LOVES AELIN. THAT EVEN THOUGH HE'S HELLA ANGRY AT HER (Hello, forging the lock scene) HE LOVES HER SO MUCH AND THAT HE'LL TAKE HER ANY WAY, whether Aelin possessed exponential amounts of magic or not - he just loves her as she is. - How he noticed right away that she wasn't as warm as he remembered after she gave most of her magic to forge the lock. AND ALSO AFTER SHE JUST GOT BACK FROM DORANELLE. He could see she was faking most of that famous Aelin bravado and swagger. - Fenrys - god my heart broke for him so many times. He had to watch his brother literally kill himself because of the stupid blood oath to Maeve, HE couldn't do anything to stop it or help Aelin as Cairn tortured her over and over and over again... but it was the thought of Aelin being almost burned alive, that he knew she was being taught to fear the power that she loved so much that Fenrys fought and WON against the blood oath with Maeve.  - How he couldn't winnow because it reminded him of Connall and it hurt too much and Aelin understood why he couldn’t.  - Fenrys being that lifeline to Aelin during those months too, and it never stopped being their personal form of communication even after they were rescued from Maeve. I loved the relationship between Aelin and Fenrys. - Gavriel - everything he did was to get back to his son, and by god, he did get back to Aedion just in time... TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF. JFC KIDS. STOP SACRIFICING YOURSELVES. - Also, Gavriel, was that really necessary? Was it? - Gavriel being the gentle voice of reason, of being super sweet with Elide, using his magic to brace her leg. Also for being the buffer between Lorcan and Elide, which could not have been more awkward of a situation to be in. But he did it without complaint. - THE CADRE'S TRIBUTE TO GAVRIEL IN THAT ROOM AS THEY SUNG THE SONGS OF OLD TO HONOR THEIR FRIEND WHO HAD FALLEN FOR NO GREATER CAUSE THAN TO AEDION (and Terrasen).

Elide/Lorcan: - Lorcan. Lorcan, Lorcan. You big lovestruck idiot. The entire book he tried so hard to get Elide to forgive him. - I was LEGIT scared he was gonna die in Anielle. BUT ELIDE CAME AND SAVED HIS ASS. And she would not let him go, even as he told her to abandon him so she might make it back in time. This whole scene had me on the edge.  - LET’S ALSO TALK ABOUT HOW ELIDE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO REALIZED LORCAN WAS NOT UP ON THE WALL WITH THEM.  And she did not care, she literally took Chaol’s horse and went hunting for her tall brooding brute.  - LISTEN, THIS BIG BROODING BRUTE PUNK GAVE UP HIS IMMORTALITY TO BE WITH HER. LIKE. LORCAN.  - ALSO. LORD LORCAN LOCHAN.  - ELIDE IS A BADASS OKAY. From pretending to be Cairn's jilted lover to get intel to find Aelin - which was HER idea, btw to her facing down her uncle - her abuser for so many years and telling him she will never think of him again as she walks out leaving him there with her head held high, even though all she wanted to do was run.  - She is so smart. So so clever - SHE came up with the plan to take down Erawan. And holy shit, it worked.  - Her friendship with Yrene was so sweet. I love how those two bonded. - Elide walking down during Aelin’s coronation, but not wanting Lorcan to brace her foot. She wanted to take that walk down the aisle with pride. I’m so proud of you girl. 

Chaol/Yrene: - YRENE IS MY FAVE. Like what an angel. SHE is also one of the biggest badasses in this series. TAKING DOWN ERAWAN THROUGH SHEER WILL AND TALENT ALONE. - All the healing she did - always endlessly healing and she did this while being PREGNANT. - Her always healing while Chaol was fighting kept me on edge because if one of them falls, both do. And this is the sole notion that kept Chaol fighting so hard. - Chaol and his father - what a complicated relationship. But Chaol kept his shit about him around his father. And as furious as Chaol was that his father kept all those letters from his mother from him... "Keep them, those will be the only things to keep you company" is more or less what he said before wheeling himself out of the room... and Anielle. - Chaol's first thoughts as he went down during the final battle was Yrene. And the joy he felt when he saw she was there after waking up from his unconsciousness, alive with him after taking down Erawan. The pure pride he has for her. UGH YOU TWO STOP IT. - Yrene's beyond brilliant idea to build a Torre Cesme on the main continent, so that she may still teach others how to heal. And she’s going to be asking some of the Old Fae from whom a lot of the healers are descended from.  - Yrene has such a gentle soul - I love how she's thought of ways to help Elide's foot for days after she met Elide because she just wants to help her and fix her foot. - I was sad we didn't get as much Chaorene as I would have liked but there was so much going on.

Aedion/Lysandra/Evangeline: - First off... Aedion made me so angry this book. Like... how dare you blow up at Lysandra like that - humiliate her and SPEAK TO HER LIKE THAT. Do you think it was easy for her to go along with that plan? Knowing that her best friend was somewhere being tortured, not knowing if she'd ever even SEE her best friend ever again alive? His treatement of her during the first half just pissed me off. - And he didn't realize how much he hadn't meant it until Lysandra had shifted into Aelin's likeness as she tried to take down the ilken... THAT ALMOST KILLED HER. And she did that to rally HIS army to keep fighting. - LIKE YOU NEEDED HER TO HAVE A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE TO REALIZE HOW SHITTY YOU'VE BEEN TREATING HER? GET OUTTA HERE. - So yes, I felt like him having his title stripped from him was justified. For that treatment of Lysandra alone. And I love how Lysandra told him straight up just that too. "I've had men degrade me but never as you have and it is unforgivable." - But I also like how the newly appointed general was like "Yeah thanks, so Aedion what are we gonna do?" - LYSANDRA YOU DESERVE ALL THE MEDALS IN THE UNIVERSE. THIS GIRL IS A FIGHTER, SHE IS A BADASS, CONSTANTLY SHIFTING INTO WHATEVER SHE CAN TO TAKE DOWN AS MANY MORATH SOLDIERS AS POSSIBLE. I FEEL LIKE SHE DID THE BULK OF IT IN ALL HER FORMS. - As angry as I was at Aedion... I was also super happy when they did sort of get back together. And I like how it was subtle. - ...Except for that hallway scene. If you know what I mean ;) - EVANGELINE! What a sweetiepie. This girl wore down one of the toughest Lords of Terrasen. I love how soft Darrow was with her. It was very, very sweet. And bless her heart, I love how she wanted to keep busy being Darrow's messenger, and I love how Darrow kind of sensed that she needed a purpose. Something to ground her while her friends fought. - Aedion, as much as you made me angry the first half of the book, I gotta hand it to him for holding off Morath for like 90% of the book before Aelin + co. got there. You go Aedion, you go.  - THE BLOOD OATH. HE FINALLY GOT HIS BLOOD OATH WITH AELIN. AND SHE DID IT BEFORE SHE WAS CROWNED. I cannot. 

Nestaq + the Khaganate: - DISAPPOINTED WE DIDN'T GET MORE NESTAQ. I WANTED MORE SARTAQ WORSHIPPING THE VERY GROUND NESRYN WALKED ON AS HE DID IN TOWER OF DAWN. - I feel they were just there for the updates in the war, what was happening sky-side... I just needed more from them. I know there was a lot going on but... a little bit of Nestaq cuteness would have been great in that big clusterfuck of a situation. - I will say, the cute thing at the end where Sartaq teases Nes about being Empress and she makes that face. Cute, Nesryn, cute. - I DID WANNA SEE MORE OF BORTE AND YERAN BECAUSE THOSE TWO CRACK ME UP. - I fell in love with Borte in TOD and I was even more in love with her in KOA. She is so fun, so snarky... I love how she got the opportunity to lead the cadre at the front lines during that final battle. - "You are all Fae?" Oh Borte.

Okay so I'm gonna end it here. I still have so many thoughts and feelings on this series. Still sad that it's over because I love these characters so much.

If you've read all the way through... I congratulate you. And I'm sorry that I like to talk :P But I appreciate it!

Feel free to message me if you want to continue talking about it BECAUSE I'M NOT DONE TALKING ABOUT IT.

[bigbluebarns-blog]

ABLEISM REDUX

Well… There are so many different dimensions of disability that people can be ableist toward those with different disabilities than their own. …And it’s only in the last couple of generations (within my lifetime, at least) that Disability Rights groups have banded together in a common cause (Rather than, say: Rights groups for the blind working only for the blind, Rights groups for Cerebral Palsy working only for Cerebral Palsy, etc.).  Matter of fact, based on my own recollections, I think working together for universal access rights only really got any steam in the 1970s – when I was already a teenager.

Confession time: until relatively recently (like, the last 10 years, or so), as a physically disabled person, I was biased against those with intellectual disabilities, and would get quite insulted if anyone mistakenly thought I was “R

—–ed.”

@theborkplanet IDK HOW TO SEPARATE MY COMMENTS FROM YOURS AND COMMENTS FROM YOURS. HENCE THE CAPS. 

I WAS ALSO BIASED AND PROBABLY STILL AM SOMEWHAT, TOWARD PPL WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES(ID). I TOO USED THE R WORD. GROWING UP MY EXP WITH PPL W/ ID WERE NEGATIVE OR GROSS, AND NO ONE EVER BOTHERED TO EXPLAIN SOMEONE’S ID TO ME, SO ALL I KNEW WAS NEGATIVE BEHAVIORS EG JO GRABS STUFF AND SCREAMS; NO ONE EVER EXPLAINED HER AUTISM. MOE HAS DOWNS SYNDROME, IS OBSESSED WITH SAYING “BOOBIES” LOVES THE EFFING BEACH BOYS AND FARTS A LOT AND NEVER SHUTS UP; HOW ANNOYING; NO ONE EVER TOLD ME ABOUT PERSEVERATING, OR THAT DS CAN CAUSE GI PROBS SOMETIMES. AL MUTTERS, HE STINKS, AND HE KNOCKED OUT HIS AIDE SO I’M AFRAID THAT AL WILL GET ANGRY WITH ME AND KNOCK ME OUT; NO ONE EVER EXPLAINS HIS CONDITION, SO I GLEAN MY INFO FROM EAVESDROPPING and RUMORS. THE ABLE-BODIED ADULTS DIDN’T BOTHER TO PROMOTE UNDERSTANDING EVEN THO WE WERE ALL TRAPPED ON THE SAME SPECIAL ED BUS, SO THE PASSENGERS WITHOUT ID TALK SMACK ABOUT THE ONES WITH ID. THE ONE TIME I ASK, “WHAT’S AL HAVE?” ABLEBODIED ADULT SHAMES ME FOR ASKING AND BLATHERS ABOUT CONFIDENTIALITY. NOT TRYING TO JUSTIFY MY PREJUDICE; JUST RELATING EXP. I’M ALSO WORKING THRU IT BUT U R RIGHT; NEVER 100% DONE. 

I’m working through it, and like to think I’m getting better (and one huge part of that is learning just how deep and intertwined institutionalized ableism really is, in our societies). But as with being a White woman dealing with racism, I have to remember that it’s a case of continuing recovery, and not something I will ever be 100% over and done with.

Thanks for sharing, @aegipan-omnicorn. You’re lovely.

@bigbluebarns, I don’t personally know anything about suffering racism, being a white american myself. However, I do know a thing or two about suffering ableism, both at the hands of able-bodied people, and disabled people.

People are incredibly social animals and will band together in groups with other similar people. This is natural, and it is good. It can be healing and cathartic to hang out with people who “get it.” But this tendency can also have an extremely dark side, as we see with “isms.” This is going to get long, so I’m going to break it here in consideration of people’s dashboards. Again, I can only speak to ableism and sexism so please keep that in mind.

OMG, I LOVE THESE NAMES AND TRADEMARKS. DID U INVENT THEM?

Ableisms I have suffered at the hands of disabled people:

The Cripple Police™: These are the people who, in an overzealous bid for limited access available, arbitrarily decide who is disabled enough to use a mobility aid, bathroom stall, parking spot, and even sometimes the label of “disabled.” If you are not Crippled Enough, you can be subject to any form of social punishment they deem to be necessary.

I HATE THE CP AND I’M CONSTANTLY REMINDING PPL THAT U DO NOT HAVE TO APPEAR DISABLED IN ORDER TO USE HANDICAP PARKING. IT’S LIKE THEY WANT U TO WEAR A TAG STATING U R DISABLED SO THEN THEY CAN ASSESS IF U MEET THEIR RANDOM CRITERIA.

Example: I used to be able to walk longer distances with a service dog, but was still a high fall risk. My doctor (a licensed neurologist) prescribed me a parking placard so that none of us had to worry (as much) about me passing out in a parking lot where no one could see me, and getting run over. A lovely woman in a wheelchair, who just happened to park in the accessible spot next to me, proceeded to scream at me and my service dog all the way into the store. A manager rescued me by going along with my ruse of knowing him, and invited me into the back were I fucking hid away until they told me she had left the store. It. Was. Scary.

EGAD SOUNDS HORRIBLE. BUT YEAH THERE IS A DISABILITY HIERARCHY

The Born This Ways™ : The experience between people who were born disabled, and who acquired disability later in life, vary a great deal from one another. BTW ableist types actively minimize the experiences of other disabled people, simply because they hadn’t been baptized since birth by xyz. In other words, the suffering was not identical to their own, thus must be invalid.

Example: I became disabled after adulthood, and tried to find solace after being subjected to ableist responses from friends and family members who were unable to cope with the “broken me.” I found lots of great disabled people who helped me, but I also found people who routinely scoffed at my experiences, again informing me that I was not “disabled enough,” and suggested I was being deliberately weak, or histrionic. Sometimes it was almost eerily word for word what my ableist friends/family said. How strange…

I’VE SEEN THE ACQUIRED DISABILITY IS BETTER. TM ADIBS MIGHT IMPLY, “WELL I’M A QUAD, BUT AT LEAST I GOT TO EXP BEING ABLEBODIED; I’LL HAVE EXP U SADSACK LOSER BTWS WILL NEVER HAVE. I GOT TO BE NORMAL FOR A WHILE” MOST OFTEN I SAW IT COME FROM PARALYZED PPL WHO WISHED THEY COULD WALK AGAIN. I WAS BORN WITH CP AND AB PPL ACTUALLY ASKED ME “WOULD U RATHER BE BTW OR AD?” BEFORE I THOUGHT ABOUT IT, I SAID “BTW, CUZ THATS ALL I KNOW AND I’VE HAD IT FROM DAY1 FALSE EQUIVALENCY WHEREAS ADIBS HAVE TO ADJUST” NOW THO I KNOW THAT EVEN I AS BTW HAVE HAD TO ADJUST TO CHANGING SYMPTOMS. DO U WANT 2 BE A TREE OR A MOUSE...UHHH...FALSE EQUIVALENCY ALERT, CAN’T COMPAPARE APPLE N ORANGE.

The Faker Police™: I think anyone with an invisible illness has experience with this one. This is when people who “look disabled” refuse to believe someone who “does not look disabled,” and proceed to treat them as hysterical attention seekers instead of…well, anyone else. These people often practice double ableisms–I have noticed that many also tend to judge Disabled Enough based on mobility aids. Then, they try to chase the “fakers” out of the community, because everyone knows “fakers” are why we have additional burdens added (like further hurdles to access, government aid, etc).

ALSO IF U HAVE AN INVISIBLE DISABILITY LIKE YOURS AND ME ALSO, I SEE THE “WELL EVERYONE GETS DEPRESSED/SAD/TIRED.” I END UP FEELING LIKE I HAVE JUSTIFY THE DISABLING NATURE OF MY DEPRESSION/ANXIETY TO A WEG. 

Example: Before my condition had progressed to me needing a mobility aid, I was already facing discrimination in the workplace. I requested an accommodation to have the crappy fluorescent lights removed from above my desk, as they provoke bad neurological symptoms. You’d think it was a little thing, but when I asked for advice on dealing with skeptical and belligerent management, I met the same reactions in some disabled people, followed immediately by “Fakers like you are why we see knee-jerk reactions like the word ‘no!’ Come complain when you’re actually disabled and need to have a ramp installed! Until then suck it up!”

The Totally Qualified Disability Judges™: This one seems to arise from the natural tendency of people to compare their situations to the situations of others. If they arbitrarily judge another person’s situation to be better or more favorable, then that person is not As Disabled, or Disabled Enough, or Disabled At All. Then, based on that judgment, they try to socially punish the condemned, or to excommunicate them.

Example: Some conditions are really straightforward and don’t vary widely. People with the condition all seem to have similar limitations. My condition is the exact opposite of that. I have the chronic form of migraine disease. Lots of people get migraines, but not all of them have more than 15 a month, and migraines can last anywhere from a few hours to three days. To some people, pain is the most disabling feature of a migraine, to others, the accompanying neurological weirdness is. (Migraines are often proceeded by cortical spreading depression, a phenomenon also exhibited in epilepsy. Just for an example).

So, when people hear what my condition is, they remember that one lady they used to know who had to lay in the dark for a couple days each month, and wonder why the hell I’m in a wheelchair. It doesn’t make sense to them (who cares that migraines don’t make sense to the most brilliant neurologists in the world), so they decide that I just must not be disabled. Or, if I am, it’s hypochondria. 

 I’VE SEEN: YEAH HAVE U TRIED XYZ CURE? IT REALLY HELPED THAT 1 LADY. IF U DON’T TRY XYZ WELL THEN UR LAZY N ALSO PROBABLY FAKING THE EXTENT OF UR DISABILITY?

Fun fact: Internalizing ableism from medical doctors, and from some close friends and family, and THEN the disabled people I came into contact with later, and from whom I seeked guidance, prompted so much self doubt that I had a licensed psychologist work me up for hypochondria and other related psychological conditions. It…turns out that I am not a hypochondriac. I could not find relief from all of these experiences until I encountered a neurologist familiar with my condition, and fellow disabled people who have been around the block, and who are not so embittered by their experiences that they deigned to expose others to the same.

For that reason, I will always be vocally critical of ableism within our community. I will not sugar coat it, nor will I flatter ableist disableds by giving them another name. That goes for my own ableism, too. Now that I have worked through a lot of my own, I can use my aids with confidence and obtain a freedom that is at least emotionally similar to the one I had when I first formed my adult identity (which was as an abled person).

AH YES, IN MY CASE, INTERNALIZED ABLEISM=ANXIETY N DEPRESSION. STILL NOT SURE IF DISABLED PPL CAN BE TECHNICALLY DISABLED BUT THAT’S JUST LINGUISTIC SEMANTICS.

CLEAERLY WE BOTH KNOW DISABLED PPL ARE CAPABLE OF ASSHOLERY.

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO BOLD TEXT IN POSTS? #TUMBLR NOOB

For an example of sexism from women, see my post Never Underestimate Old Women, in which an old lady cashier schools us for self-righteous activism.

Thanks for the discussion!

[gyakutengagotoku]

GSvsAA - Spirit of Justice - Character Profiles

Following the AJ and DD ones, here’s the last of the second trilogy. From here, I’ll be jumping back to AAI and I’ll see how I’ll tackle it later. Perhaps it’ll be easier if I go in order of the files and work out the in-game sequence afterward. We’ll see.

Master post. I’ll update it later when I have time.

Since there’s already a thread for these names on Court-Records, I’ll be brief with the entries this time, unless I find some extra trivia to add. And while it’s atypical of me, I’ll share my speculation on the origin of some less obvious puns for the English names too.

Spoilers ahead.

Main cast

Rayfa Padma Khura’in (レイファ・パドマ・クライン) rei is “spirit”; while the reibana (霊花) is an alternate name for the higanbana (彼岸花), aka the Lycoris Radiata, an ominous red flower that grows in Buddhist Hell and is said to guide spirits into the next reincarnation. It’s frequently seen in funerals. Fyi, the higan refers to the "other side” of the Sanzu River, which is similar to the River Styx. padma means “lotus” in Sanskrit. Khura’in was taken from the Kurain we know, which in turn has been taken from the Klein Bottle. Trivia: Her Song of Ceremony is sung completely in Japanese. By that logic, we could have expected an English dub, but I guess Capcom US wasn’t interested, since they only gave us subtitles instead. A few internal game files have given her name as “Honfa”. I can only guess it’s referring to how she’s the central (hon) character to this game. Also, she’s the kind of girl who would be pretty “serious” (honki) about her roles.

Edit: Added a link to the official source of “Kurain”.

Nahyuta Sahdmadhi (ナユタ・サードマディ) Previously, we thought nayuta was the Sanskrit word, meaning “myriad” (or in some East Asian languages, “10^26 or 27), but as it turned out, it’s just the name of someone Yamazaki knew from his university. It was originally a placeholder name, but Eshiro liked it so much it came to be. His last name is based on the phrase hotoke no kao mo sando made, “Even the Buddha will get angry if you brush his face thrice,” or in other words, “Even the Buddha has limits.” It also may come from the Sanskrit word samadhi, a state of meditative consciousness. Trivia: Throughout the game are scattered references to the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, and he gives us three. Three times he gets to bind a defense attorney, referring to the three disciples of Monk Tang, the novel’s protagonist. Apollo is bound on the head; Sun Wukong is restrained by a magical crown that shrinks when a certain sutra is chanted. Athena's arms are bound; Zhu Bajie has been bound several times throughout the story due to his lewd and disrespectful tendencies. Phoenix’s favorite arm is bound. While there aren’t any particular instances of Sha Wujing’s arm being bound (that I can recall), he’s always been the most responsible of the disciples and is somewhat gullible compared to the other two. :3

Ahlbi Ur’gaid - Bokuto Tsuani (ボクト・ツアーニ) His name comes to “boku to tsua- ni”, or “on a tour with me”.

Shah’do - Mitamaru (ミタマル) mitama is “soul”; maru is a common ending to a boy’s name. He’s a “soul[ja] boy”! I’m sorry, I won’t do that again. His English name, literally “shadow”, may refer to how he’s always tagging along by Ahlbi’s side. Trivia: Shah’do is in fact the only non-human character in the entire series to play the part of the main cast in a game. He even got his own character entry, complete with quote, on the official site! Sadly, I have no idea what he actually says.

Episode 1

Pees’lubn Andistan’dhin - Potdino Nikawas (ポットディーノ・ニカワス) pottode means “coming out of nowhere” and niwaka means “suddenly”, likely referring to how he appeared in the intro out of the blue to join this country’s religious practitioners. din in Arabic means “religion” or “way of life”. Also, DEEN, pronounced with a long e-sound, is the name of a well-known Japanese rock band. Trivia: According to a tweet from Eshiro, this guy’s name is officially “Nikawas”, but for the longest time he and some others mistook it as “Niwakas”, which made it into the final release.

Paht Rohl - Miima Waruhito (ミーマ・ワルヒト) mimawaru is “to patrol”, so his name becomes “patrolling person”. Aslo, waru can mean “bad”, so he’s also not such a good person as he seemed.

Episode 2

Bonny de Famme - Nanano Mimi (菜々野 美々) If you flip the kanji in her last name, they make yasai (野菜), meaning “vegetable”. mimi is “ears”. de Famme probably comes from “defame”, given her and her sisters’ machinations behind the scenes. 

Betty de Famme - Nanano Kiki (菜々野 輝々) Kiki is named like her sister, though kikimimi means “ears poised for listening”. Also, the sound a bat makes is often romanized in Japanese as a ki sound.

Roger Retinz - Shinoyama Kanenari (志乃山 金成) It’s custom in Japanese TV production slang to switch syllables of a name or saying around, so we switch his name around. Shinoyama becomes yamashino, and Kanenari becomes narikin (金 can be pronounced kin). Thus, yamashi no narikin means “a swindling nouveau riche”.

Mr. Reus - Mr. Menyo (Mr. メンヨー) menyou (面妖) is “strange” or “suspicious”. I’ve heard speculation from other fans that Reus can be switched around to make “ruse”, as he is a masterful magician. His real name, Manov Mistree, is originally Fushigi Naohito (伏木 直人). fushigi na hito means “a mysterious person”.

Episode 3

Tahrust Inmee - Marmer Ahtam (マルメル・アータム) marumeru is “to make bald” and atama is “head”.

Beh’leeb Inmee - Sahra Ahtam (サーラ・アータム) sarasara is onom. for “silky” or “flowing”, in this case referring to her hair.

(Between these two, I can’t quite make out why they would choose these names, since they seem like very generic puns for witnesses in a case. Perhaps that’s the point?)

Puhray Zeh’lot - Ogam Mainiche (オガム・マイニーチェ) ogamu is “to worship”, and mainichi is “every day”, so it’s “pray every day”. His real name is Reehl Neh’mu, and its Japanese counterpart is Fon Myo, from honmyou, “real name”.

A’nohn Ihmus - Nanashiino Gonbe (Tent.) (ナナシーノ・ゴンビェ（仮）) Yes, the “tentative” is part of his name. nanashi no gonbee (名無しの権兵衛) is an anonymous or unidentified name, like “John Doe”.

Datz Are’bal - Datz Dinigel (ダッツ・ディニゲル) His complete name comes from datto de nigeru (脱兎で逃げる), or “fleeing as fast as I can”. Interestingly, his English name gets to keep the same first name, thus making “that’s a rebel” or “that’s horrible” (the latter probably regarding how he first looks on his wanted poster, but I’m not as sure about this one).

Lady Kee’ra - Torihime-sama (鳥姫様) It literally means “Bird Princess”, but it’s not an actual name. I was surprised to learn that she got a name in the English version. Her real name is Ihmsan, which is the same in the JP version. I’m not sure about the whole pun here, but imu is a verb meaning “to avoid, shun”, like a taboo. It’s supposedly taboo to say her name.

Edit: Okay, so it’s actually based on imu, 仏, in this case meaning, “a dead body” and the honorary suffix san. It’s referring to her killing spree. (The same kanji when pronounced hotoke is referring to the Buddha or someone with such imagery, though it applies less to her.)

Plumed Punisher - Torisaman (トリサマン) It’s an offshoot of Tonosaman, aka The Steel Samurai, but with tori for “bird”. Btw, Tonosaman comes from tono-sama, “lord”, and the word “man”.

Episode 4

Bucky Whet - Uchidate Susuru (内舘 すする) uchitate is “freshly kneaded”, while susuru is “to slurp”. His English name is from “buckwheat”, the kind of dough commonly used to make soba noodles. Interestingly, the embroidery on his lapel reads 上戸, ueto, but pronounced as jougo, it means “hard drinker”.

Taifu Toneido - Senpuutei Bakufuu (旋風亭 獏風) senpuu is “hurricane”; bakufuu is “blast”, like of wind or from an explosion. The tei (亭) is an honorary suffix that’s added to the pseudonym of a rakugo performer.

Geiru Toneido - Senpuutei Puuko (旋風亭 風子) I think Puuko was just chosen for its cuteness. The first kanji in her name is the one for “wind”, and ko is a common ending for a girl’s name.

Uendo Toneido - Senpuutei Bifuu (旋風亭 美風) bifuu, written as 微風, is “breeze”. His other personalities are named after rakugo characters. Kisegawa is the same in both versions. Her name is from the story Omitate (”The Choice”). Patches is Ippachi, and Owen is Sadakichi. Both appear in various rakugo plays and are well known stock characters; Ippachi as taikomochi (a male geisha) and Sadakichi as an apprentice. Trivia: Patches and Kisegawa speak in nonstandard dialects. I’m not quite sure which, though, so if someone could lend a hand, I’ll be happy.

Jugemu (ジュゲム) He’s named after the titular character of the rakugo play, Jegemu.

Episode 5

Dhurke Sahdmadhi (ドゥルク・サードマディ) It’s probably from Druk, the Bhutanese thunder dragon and their national symbol. There was even lightning behind him when we saw his silhouette in the anime prologue. Not to mention, Druk is also the “king” and “protector” of Bhutan; kinda like how this guy was nominal king of his country too.

Paul Atison - Kiyoki Masaharu (清木 政治) kiyoki means “proper” or “clean”; the kanji in his given name, when read as seiji, mean “politics”. It’s also this alternate pronunciation that makes it into his email. For comparison, in English, his full name is “Paul Atison Wimperson”, thus making his initials in his email “PAW”. (Coincidentally, he is kind of a “dog”, and not the kind I love. >:3c )

Archie Buff - Sanagi Fumiaki (佐奈樹 文明) sanagi is “pupa”; and the kanji in his first name, read as bunmei, mean “civilization”.

Sergeant Buff - Sergeant Sanagi (佐奈樹 軍曹) aka Armie Buff - Sanagi Philnelia (佐奈樹 ヒルネリア) Her name is probably from hirune, for “afternoon nap”. She’s a shut-in and is seen wearing her pajamas even well into the afternoon. (The colors are actually based on the Japanese air self-defense force uniform, but they look like pajamas.)

Ga’ran Sigatar Khura’in (ガラン・シガタール・クライン) garan is a Buddhist temple; namely, the “seven halls” that make up temple grounds. Her middle name may come from shi, kataru (死、語る), meaning “death speaks”.

Inga Karkhuul Khura’in (インガ・カルクール・クライン) inga means “karma” or “cause and effect”; karakuru is “to manipulate”. The rest of his name falls into the joke with Jugemu (wiki page linked above in Jugemu’s entry). (If someone could also help me break down his incredibly long full name in Japanese, that’d be great. I’m hoping it has a little more substance than “How could this name be any longer and more pompous than it already is”.)

Nayna - Baaya (バアヤ) Her name isn’t so much a name as it’s Rayfa calling her “granny”.

Amara Sigatar Khura’in (アマラ・シガタール・クライン) amala (阿摩羅) is a number, 10^23, and also a Buddhist term: Amalavijñāna, the highest level of “consciousness”. amara also means “immortal” in Sanskrit, having survived two assassination attempts. In her case, her middle name also refers to shi wo kataru (死を騙る), “faking a death”.

Jove Justice - Odoroki Sousuke (王泥喜 奏介) It’s almost the same as Apollo’s name, but the hou replaced by sou (奏), for “play music”. So, “Surprise! Here’s a music boy!” I mean, I couldn’t exactly use “play boy” since that sounds wrong...

DLC Episode

Ellen Wyatt - Outsubu Shizuku (大津部 雫) outsubu means “a large amount”, particularly of something small; shizuku is “a drop”. So, yeah, lots of tears.

Sorin Sprocket - Haguruma Raito (八久留間 来人) haguruma is a “gear”. Raito sounds like “light” as well as “Wright”, as in the Wright Brothers. (It has nothing to do with Nick or Trucy. Nick is forever earth-bound anyway.)

Pierce Nichody - Juumonji Kazuharu (十文字 一治) The kanji in his surname make up “character for ten”, which is 十, a cross. It’s likely referring to health organizations like the Red Cross. The kanji of his first name are “one” and “heal”, respectively; referring to his hard choice while he was still a surgeon.

Dumas Gloomsbury - Yonekura Seiji (米倉 静次) nekura is “gloomy”, “dark”. Perhaps his first name is from seijou (清浄), meaning “clean”; as in, he was innocent of the crash incident.

Edit: Okay, so Ash has told me that I made a wrong guess. The only other idea I can surmise is seji (世事), “ways of the world”, so that it works as nekura na seji to make “a gloomy world”.

Edit 2: And another wrong guess. Okay, I’m out of ideas. As I mentioned above, seiji as 政治 is “politics”, but the only connection I can make with him is how the Sprockets are indirectly tied into it and how he’s been made a scapegoat.

Selena Sprocket - Haguruma Hikari (八久留間 ひかり) hikari is “light”, to match her brother’s name.

Extra: Locations

Tehm’pul Temple - Ji-in Temple (ジーイン寺院) ji’in is “temple”, so the name is a repeat of the same word. Hence the English name.

Penrose Theater - Trompe Theater (トロンプ劇場) It’s from the French “trompe-l'œil​“, the art technique that creates 3D optical illusions from realistic 2D images. Penrose is likely from the impossible triangle, popularized by mathematician Roger Penrose.

Take-2 TV - Nidomi TV (ニドミテレビ) nidomi (二度見) is to “look twice” or “double take”, as in surprise. How convenient that in English, “take” has another appropriate definition.

Kurukurutei (来来亭) It means “Come Come Place” (the tei actually means “pavilion” in other contexts). Incidentally, that tei is also a suffix to denote a place as a restaurant. Trivia: Ash@C-R has noted that there’s a ramen restaurant chain in Japan with the same name but different pronunciation, but it’s probably a coincidence.

Alright, with that, I clean my hands for tackling AAI in the coming several days, but I expect delays over this weekend. I’ll be heading out of town for a day.

[aseriesofunfortunatetexts]

All right, so I was trying to write a short little Esmé/Georgina/Olaf snippet for @countolafnph, and somehow it ended up being 2700 words long. I hate it, and my life, I’m basically just waiting for the sweet embrace of death over here, but until that happens, how about I let all of you watch my descend into poorly structured fic hell too? Oh, there are smutty parts btw. Surrounded by way too much blabbering, but they’re there.

She honestly doesn’t even notice that Olaf has stopped trying to be part of their conversation before it is pointed out to her so rudely by Olaf himself.

In Georgina’s defense, Esmé is one of the most fascinating people she has met in her entire life. She has always had a very hard time explaining this to other Volunteers back when they used to meet up to discuss work and consumed a bit too much alcohol, back before the Schism finally broke them apart for good, because those boring, narrow-minded idiots would look at Esmé’s most distinctive personality traits – namely her obsession with beauty, fashion, glamour, and what’s “in”, as well as her perfect disregard of any person who isn’t herself – and see them as proof of what a rotten human being she is. Meanwhile in Georgina’s world, these things are what she admires most about her on-off-maybe-sometimes-lover. She can listen to Esmé drawl on for hours about recent developments in fashion, changes in the restaurant scene, which clubs are hot and which ones you should never go to unless you want to be ostracized from polite society, simply because she enjoys how passionately Esmé feels about it all. Georgina has always been drawn to passionate people, and while it has gotten her into trouble in the past, she hasn’t been able to bring herself to quit this particular habit just yet.

In turn, it’s obvious that Esmé appreciates finally having a proper audience for once. Her pathetic excuse of a husband isn’t interested in these things at all, and while his cowardice and fear of conflict leads him to make constant attempts to pretend like he cares to gain Esmé favor, it’s obvious to everyone involved that he doesn’t actually care. Olaf can fake interest quite convincingly for a short amount of time, especially if the conversation revolves around what a delightfully cruel person Esmé is, but he will start getting too bored to keep up the act within an hour. Or he will realize that he won’t be awarded for his obvious sacrifice with sex, and you can see it very clearly on his face when he does.

Georgina on the other hand doesn’t have to fake anything, she loves every second they spend together, no matter what intrinsically pointless things Esmé wants them to do. Once in a while, when she plays her cards right, Esmé will take her out shopping during her visit, and that is the experience of a lifetime. Esmé clearly admires Georgina’s personal style, because rather than simply trying to force her into things that are in at the time, like she does with literally everyone else, she will try to find ways to combine the two. Like when Orientalism was suddenly in for two weeks and all the women in polite society had to wear saris, the brighter the better. Esmé bought her a dress in dark blue silk instead, in the professional cut Georgina prefers, covered in the most beautiful embroidery, elaborate flowers made of silver thread and tiny sapphires, all of them glinting like stars when she moved. They went to a party uptown later in the evening, probably hosted by someone important, but all Georgina remembers from it is that Esmé never took her eyes off her all through dinner, and as soon as the plates were cleared she dragged Georgina into the bathroom without a word, accidentally tearing open a seam in the dress when she tried to rip it off her too quickly. Neither of them cared.

They brought Olaf along for one of these shopping trips once, and it was well worth the energy it took to convince him to come. They managed to buy two nice suits for him before they accidentally got too close to the women’s section, and after that it was all dresses and lingerie for the next six hours. What should have been a brief weekend visit ended up with them staying in the penthouse for a week, just so they could fully appreciate every purchase – a phrase that here means treat Olaf like a dress up doll all day long, fuck in all of the seventy-one bedrooms at their disposal, as well as most of the living rooms, dining rooms, sitting rooms, standing rooms, etc. only pausing on occasion to eat and discuss who is the most pathetic loser, Jerome or Lemony Snicket, and then moving on to whatever dress and/or room came next.

Olaf had looked particularly gorgeous splayed out on the polar bear skin rug in front of the fireplace in the southwest corner library, wearing ridiculously expensive lingerie in deep, blood-red colored lace, with a matching garter belt to keep up a pair of sheer stockings, the crisp white fur beneath him a stark contrast to the black wig he favored that week, his make-up perfectly applied, And even though Georgina and Esmé did nothing but look at him for a very long time, he didn’t mind at all, he just basked in their undivided attention. When Esmé told him that they wouldn’t be touching him, that he would touch himself based on their instructions instead, he didn’t voice a single complaint, in fact he practically purred at the idea. He was so well-behaved that night, doing anything they asked, never reaching down to touch his cock before they told him to, even as the front of his pretty panties became more and more soaked with pre-come the longer the torture continued. By the time they finally decided to take pity on him, all it took to break him was a simply question: “Would you like to come, Olaf?”

The noise he made was so beautiful, a whimper so high-strung that even Esmé couldn’t deny him when he finally managed to whisper, “Yes.”

Esmé had gotten to her feet and slowly walked over to his tense, sweat-soaked form, bending down low enough to see that his mascara had started running, and he had ruined his carefully applied lipstick by biting his lips. She reached for his face, dragging her sharp fingernails down his cheek, then along his jawline, smirking when he sighed at the touch. “You know the magic word.”

Olaf’s eyes, previously unfocused and clouded with lust, had cleared immediately, and for a moment all he did was stare at Esmé in silence. They never really know how he will react to such a bold demand, whether it will be met with defiance or not. That time it was met with surrender, unconditional surrender. “Please,” would no doubt have sufficed, but he went on to actually beg afterwards. Esmé rewarded his decision by kneeling down next to him on the rug, tracing her fingers in nonsensical patterns down his heaving chest while Olaf pushed his hand down the front of his panties and finally grabbed his cock, moaning so loud that if Jerome was somewhere in the penthouse at the time, and he probably was, he would definitely have heard.

As high strung as he was, Olaf hadn’t lasted long after that. When Esmé caught one his nipples between her fingertips, pinched it hard, and called him “our pretty little slut”, it was all over, and Olaf came with a roar, arching his back off the rug. Some of his come landed on Esmé hand, and for a second he looked terrified when he noticed. But Esmé simply held the hand out towards him, and as he licked it clean, Georgina could see the color of his cheeks deepening, even though they were still flushed from his orgasm, and she mentally added another entry on her long list of Kinky Shit Olaf Likes.

… But she digresses.

Esmé is making them another round of drinks at the bar (this week’s hottest cocktail: The Mamarita. It has wine in it, so Olaf approves), happily listing all the places she would have taken them this evening, if it weren’t for the fact that all of them were 'out' by lunch. Georgina stands by the windows, enjoying the gorgeous view as she listens, only to be startled by Olaf suddenly sliding up to her. He steps right into her personal space, forcing her to crane her neck back to look him in the eye. The decidedly irritated – and therefor very unattractive - look on Olaf’s face does very little to convince Georgina that she ought to shift her attention from a woman as beautiful and alluring as Esmé to a petty man-child like him. But it does make her realize that it’s been a while since Olaf spoke, or maybe it’s just been a while since she cared to listen. In any case, the lack of attention they’ve paid him has obviously become too much to bear. Still, he doesn’t say anything, he just glares at her, so Georgina decides to forego words as well, tilting her head a bit and smirking instead of actually asking ‘what do you want now?’

For a while nothing happens. Then, with a gracefulness that you wouldn’t expect a man Olaf’s age to be capable of, he carefully drops to his knees in front of her. Oh, the look on his face is still angry, bitchy even, endless defiant despite the position he just put himself in. Georgina almost laughs at him. Olaf really brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘attention whore’, although she supposes she shouldn’t feel too above it all in this situation, because his ruse is going to work; she can’t say no to him when he gets on his knees, no matter how obvious it is that he’s only doing it because he can’t think of another way to get her attention. Does it count as being manipulated when you realize that it’s happening and allow yourself to be pulled along anyway?

Esmé is still talking, oblivious to what is going on behind her back. Georgina tries to keep listening, but then Olaf puts his hands on her ankles, slowly gliding his long fingers upwards along her calves with enough pressure that she can feel the touch clearly through the boots she’s wearing, never breaking eye contact with her at any point. When he reaches the upper edges of the boots he lightens the pressure, running his fingertips teasingly along the bare skin just above them while Georgina tries her best to keep her breathing steady, before finally curling his fingers around the back of both her knees and resting them there, his thumbs pressed against the sides of her kneecaps. If he had been holding on tighter one might have been tempted to accuse him of clinging to her knees, but like this it’s somewhere between playful and reverent. The effect his touch is having on her – damn him for knowing her this well – must be clear, because his scowl is fading, quickly replaced with growing smugness. Obviously he decides to push his luck then, releasing her knees with a leer and trying to slide his fingers up the back of her thighs and under her skirt.

Georgina punishes that startling display of insolence in the same way she always does, by delivering sharp blow with the end of her cane to the part of Olaf’s body that happens to be within closest striking distance. In this case it’s his thigh. He lets out a sharp gasp, his fingers stopping their journey upwards immediately, although he doesn’t let go of her. His eyes are shining brighter than usual, his pupils already growing large with arousal, and when Georgina reaches down to card the fingers of her free hand through his hair, he leans into the touch like a cat seeking attention from its owner. She indulges him for a little while before grabbing a fistful of hair without warning, pulling it sharply to force him to tilt his head back and expose his throat to her. He has a very nice throat, actually, and the noise he makes when you pull his hair is very nice as well, an appealing mixture or pain and delight.

Said noise must have gotten Esmé attention, because she suddenly stops talking, and when Georgina manages to tear her eyes away from Olaf to look at her, she finds that Esmé has turned to face them, finished cocktails held loosely in her hands. The wicked smile she directs at Olaf’s kneeling form makes Georgina’s pulse skip a beat. “Have we been neglecting you, darling?”  

Olaf looks ready to deliver a snarky response, so Georgina gives his hair another hard yank, and the only sound he ends up making is a long hiss. “Don’t ruin it already,” Georgina says. “You were doing so well, keeping your mouth shut.”

For a few seconds Olaf seems to be silently debating how best to proceed from here. He has their undivided attention now, so all that’s left is for him to decide what he wants to do with it. It can’t have been a difficult decision, because moments later he allows all his muscles to relax, dropping his head back and willingly bearing his throat further without Georgina having to pull his hair to make him do it. He lets his hands falls from where they were still resting on Georgina’s things, and instead, very slowly, puts them behind his back. And even in this position, with every aspect of his body language screaming submission, his eyes are still glinting with barely concealed insolence. They will need to work to keep him like this.

Well, Georgina Orwell never shied away from doing some work. She lets go of Olaf’s hair and starts petting it instead, knowing how much he secretly likes that. “Say, Esmé?”

“Yes, darling?”

“Is submission ‘in’ these days?”

Esmé laughs brilliantly. “Submission is always in.”

“Lucky you, huh?” Georgina ask Olaf, dragging her fingernails along his scalp and smiling when he shudders.

Esmé leaves Olaf’s drink at the bar, but she brings one over for Georgina, who immediately accepts it without acknowledging Olaf’s pointed sigh at her decision to stop petting him in favor of alcohol. Like he’s got anything to say in regards to alcohol and priorities. “I’ve been meaning to ask,” Esmé says, reaching down for Georgina’s cane. “Have you ever used this on him?”

Olaf tenses momentarily, but when Esmé starts stroking her beautiful fingers up and down the cane just under the handle - which Georgina has to admit she is clutching a bit hard right now - the sight of her caressing the sleek black wood is obviously arousing enough to him that he soon manages to get a hold of himself and relax once more.

“No,” Georgina answers, unnecessarily.

Esmé giggles this time. “A good old fashioned caning is a beautiful thing.” As if sensing Georgina’s hesitation, she continues. “I’ll go first, show you how it’s done?”

The only immediate reaction that springs into Georgina’s mind is that she wants to kiss this amazing woman, so she does. Esmé’s lips taste like the cocktails they’ve been drinking and her expensive lipstick, and it’s the sweetest thing Georgina has ever tasted. They kiss until Olaf starts shifting his weight from one knee to the other in a clear sign of impatience, at which point Esmé pulls away back from Georgina to glare at him. “The fifth bedroom on the right. There are already ropes attached to the headboard. When we get there you’ll be naked and kneeling on the bed, ready to be tied up. You got that?”

Olaf is just as remarkable graceful when getting up from his knees as he is getting onto them, Georgina notes.

“Do you want to bet on how many strokes he can take before breaking?” Esmé asks once he is out of the room.

Georgina gives her a wry smile. “When was the last time we managed to break him?”

“There’s always a first,” Esmé says. “I’m betting ten.”

Georgina’s lack of experience with this particular kind of physical punishment makes is very hard for her to come up with a good estimate, but she decides to give Olaf more credit than Esmé apparently does; “Fifteen.”

Esmé smirks, taking a sip of her cocktail. “You’re on.”