#truly the only thing keeping me from dropping out. who made me get into law school bitch i'm suffering

[deerest-deer]

received good feedback and a congratulations today on my presentation for my thesis project on queer horror <3

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

too many teens whining for validation, this blog needs more weird and stupid so...

AITA for kidnapping my friend and trapping her in the cheesebarn?

Hear me out:

The story starts about a week before my (20 at the time ftm) 21st birthday. If you live in the US you know this isnt just some lame 7th birthday or 36th birthday, this is one of the big boy birthdays, the special ones. Its when you can legal buy alcohol and are therefore truly an adult in the eyes of the law.

Naturally my friends (20s) wanted to do something Big for our 21sts. So they asked me what i wanted to do and i said i didnt really care as long as I got a road trip somewhere with friends.

Everyone thought it was a fun idea but it was a little short notice for everyone to get time off from work, but my other friend we will call C also had her 21st exactly a month after mine to the day, and the two of us agreed to share our 21sts and not do much of anything on my actual birthday. This is important, bc it was a SHARED birthday road trip.

I agree to let C pick the destination and I provide the car. We didnt have much of a plan as we were going to meet up with C's old roommate who lives in the city we picked to show us a good time.

It was 5 of us total and about a 7 hour drive altogether there with not a whole lot on the way there. We get to the city she picked and meet the roommate and honestly the rest of this part is just standard 21st birthday shenanigans. Its when we start the drive home things really start.

Remember its a long drive with not much to see? Well that was a lie. On our way back we see it, the Real "Happiest Place on Earth" as far as places with a mouse for a mascot go:

Grandpa's.

Fuckin'.

Cheesebarn.

Obviously me and the other people on the trip want to stop and see the magic, but unfucking fortunately C happens to be the only Basic White Girl ™️ in the entire world who hates cheese and isnt even lactose intolerant. This girl is notorious for making "petty" and "I hate Cheese" her entire personality. She would constantly make faces and gagging noises and talk about how gross and nasty cheese is if you so much as eat a grilt cheese near her.

Clearly she made it known that she wasnt on board with it. "NO! FUCK YOU ALL IM NOT GOING TO A PLACE CALLED A CHEESEBARN ON MY BIRTHDAY!!" were her exact words.

But i remembered i was driving, it was my car, and it was supposed to be my birthday too. So I put it to a vote. "Raise your hand if you wanna go to Grandpa's Cheesebarn!"

All hands raise but one. With C out voted we head to the cheesebarn.

Guys. This place is amazing. Its obviously making cheese its main draw, but yhere's so much more, its every shitty midwest tourist trap rolled into one glorious place. There's even a chocolate shop. We even got C's roommate to ditch work and come meet us bc shr heard "Grandpa's Cheesebarn" and knew she had to drop everything.

All in all a good visit, C even seemed like she had fun once we got there (she sure spent $300 on candies and dip mixes anyway). We go home. Things seem fine.

Then C drops off the face of the earth.

She wont respond to our calls or texts and at first we thought maybe she was giing through a rough patch or something and try to just keep reaching out but give her space. But then we find out that not only is she still hanging our with our other friends who couldnt make the trip with us. So clearly she's just pissed at us about something.

Finally one day a few months later i catch her at her job and just tell her "I dont care if you hate us, we'll never speak to you again if you dont want us to, but what the hell did we do to you??"

And she just looked me over and says "Well. You kidnapped me."

lolwut

And she yells (bc this girl loves yelling at people) "YOU KIDNAPPED ME AND TRAPPED ME AT A CHEESEBARN ON. MY. BIRTHDAY!!!!!"

And i just said "Well it was my birthday too," and havent spoken to her since. Its been over a decade and "No ragrets" as we said back in the day, but uts baffled me for years that that was her reaction. "Im just over you guys" i can understand, and its not like she was shy about telling people she hates them and their out of her life ever before. And from what i ended up hearing from our other friends she kept talking with it really was about the cheesebarn and how we "ruined her birthday".

No but srsly AITA??? For making her go to a cheesebarn???

What are these acronyms?

[fiyaa-xoxo]

Hello~ I apologize to flooding your ask box.

I just found out that according to Trey, he said Heartslabyul students are allowed to ask for anything for their birthday... It i's one of the Queen of Hearts' laws after all ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

So, can I request a scenario/headcanons that the reader/mc/Yuu ask to borrow Heartslabyul students out for a date or sthg for their birthday... What kind of things they will do and how will they react to such request and such...

Thank you and apologies if this request is hard to write 😅 Hope you'll have a lovely day 💕

Law No. 538 of the Queen of Hearts: The one with the birthday are allowed to ask anything for their birthday. Yuu's request to have a date with the Heartslabyul boys!! How will they react and what will they do in their date? PT.1 (Riddle Rosehearts, Cater Diamond, & Trey clover)

Hello you mustn't worry about flooding my ask box because you'r the only who has requested some writing from me. I'll do my very best to write your request, i truly hope you enjoy what i've written. Its not the best since i didn’t know what to write for some of them.And i’m teribly sorry that this request is long due i’ve been having writers block.

Riddle Rosehearts

✧˚ · . Red, Riddles face even redder than his hair. At first you thought that he was mad at you but he was just flustered. You two decided to have a private tea party in the middle of the rose maze. Riddle asked trey to bake your favorite sweets! And if your not super into sweets trey made some other foods fit for your taste. Everything was prepared just for you though some parts of the tea party were against the Rules Riddle did his best not the change anything since it was how you liked it. 

✧˚ · .When you two finished eating the food trey prepared Riddle handed you something “My Dearest Rose, since today is a special day your birthday i made sure that everything is perfect even my gift. I do wish you will enjoy what i have bought for you” After Riddle said that you opened the elegantly wrapt red and black box inside held a Stunning Rose Ring.  “Riddle.. Its beautiful thank you so much” 

“ Im glad you liked it i do wish you wear it someday My rose.This ring shows how much i love you.” By the end of the day Riddle dropped you off at Ramshakel And pulled you into a kiss and bid you a goodnight. When you closed the door you were a blushing and smiling mess.After that day you swore to yourself you’d always wear and keep the ring safe.

Cater Diamond 

✧˚ · .When cater heard what you said he was over the moon! “Aww our Y/nie wants to spend their birthday with me!! Don’t worry Y/n i’ll make sure you’// enjoy our little date 😉” You two decided to café hop everything you two bought will be payed by Cater so don’t you worry about losing money! Cater kept on taking pictures of you and the food. He couldn't help it you just looked so pretty. When you offered to feed Cater some of your Sandwich he made sure to take pics of it. 

✧˚ ·After you guys left the Café it was around sunset. Cater lead you to a park when you got to the park the tree’s were filled with lights and there was a fountain in the middle it looked so magical! Cater brought you near the fountain and handed you a orange paper bag. “Happy birthday Y/n i hope you like the gift!!” When you removed the wrapping paper that was on top of the bag it showed a painting of you and cater “Riddle nagged me to do some painting to get off my phone so. I made this for you!” “Hope you like it” “Cater i don’t like it..... I love it!! thank you!!!” “nice to hear Y/niee, i have one more gift too” After Cater said that he pulled you into a long kiss. Cater dropped you back to your dorm and gave u another peck on the lips.

✧˚ · When you got changed into something more comfortable your phone had lot of notifications from Magicam. You were tagged in a post with a lot of pictures from today even a pic of you and cater kissings!! but you remembered Cater didn’t take any pictures when you two got in to the park. Little did you know Cater used his unique magic and made the other caters hide behind bush's and climbed tree’s just to get pictures.Oh and the picture cater gifted you is safely placed on top of your nightstand.

Trey Clover

✧˚ · .Trey was quite shocked when you said you wanted to go on a date with him for your birthday.But he was also touched that you wanted to spend time with him. You decided to take a cooking class. Since trey is mostly good at baking you thought why not also enhance his cooking skills. The two of you arrived at the cooking class located in a restaurant near the plaza of the town. " Welcome, Welcome!!" said the hostess in the front " Are you two love birds here for the cooking class?" both you and trey blushed when the hostess addressed you two as "love birds" "a-ah.. yes we're here for the cooking class.. but we arnt a couple yet.. haha" said trey. "Ah my apologies i thought u two were with how cute you both look together.But moving on please enter this room, this is where the cooking class will be held." said the hostess with a smile.

✧˚ · You can trey entered the room which held a kitchen in. You both go seated and the class begun. "Hello everybody i am chef Andre, for today we will be learning how to makespaghetti and meatballs from scratch." The chef explained and demonstrated how to make the noodles and sauce and now he let you and the other attendee's start making on your own. Trey started off by making the pasta and kneading flour and eggs. "This is just like making dough in baking" said trey. You couldnt help yourself from staring at Trey. He has his sleeves rolled up exposing his forearm. Trey was well built himself. As you stared at him u didnt see that he threw a bit of flour at you "finally i have your attention again" he said chuckling "a-ah sorry about that.." u said

✧˚ · "Dont worry about it im just about done with the pasta and the sauce is done too" TIME SKIP You and trey finally finished cooking and was now cleaning off the flour he threw you. "sorry about that" trey said as he held your chin cleaning off the flour from your face

as he smirked. "Its fine" you said blushing. The pasta you both made was being packaged for you two to take back home. You both left the restaurant and walked back to the dorm. When u made it back to your dorm trey was walking with you towards the front door before he suddenly stopped "Ah wait before i forget here my gift for you y/n" he said smiling. He gave you a green colored big box. As you opened it held your favorite dessert. "I made it myself. It took me multiple tries to get it perfect just for you...Ah one more thing..." he took out a pair of van cleef black clover earrings . "I hope you like them" he said looking at you. "Trey... i love them thank you!!" u then went closer to try and kissed him. "Thank you for making today even more special" you said smiling ear to ear. "Its my pleasure y/n. Now go head inside i'll see you again tomorrow" he then winked. "Ah and dont forge to brush your teeth after eating the dessert" He gave u a kiss on your cheek then waved goodbye.

Requests are open!! ^^

───────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆──────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆────────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆──

[cocogum]

Alright Anon you dropped a heavy ass question on me and ngl it kinda made me think a bit too much on the whole thing....

But let me clarify something very quickly here.

There are no mentions of Yugo being king of any other kingdom in his previous lives in the World of Twelve because Yugo used to live in his original planet back in all those thousand lives. There were only eliatropes at that time, so he was only king of his own kingdom.

His first ever birth in the World of Twelve was the one we're seeing right now, where he had actually been living peacefully on another planet for a change.

Now that we're done clarifying that little detail, let's focus on how Yugo's rebirths work if he was reborn in the World of Twelve.

Let's list what we already know:

First, we have to remember that Yugo's status as the eliatrope king will never change no matter when or where he gets reborn.

Second, his rebirth will be planned and will have to be carried in full secrecy. His caretaker will have to be specifically chosen for the job. If there are still eliatropes around, then they might as well be his caretakers to quicken the process.

Third, no matter where he gets reborn, he will always be called back to his destiny by any means necessary (by having an animal as his companion like Az, by having visions, by having magical feathers carrying messages for him, etc.)

Fourth, even when he gets reborn, Yugo will always feel like he's missing something in his life because of his nature and the fact that he hides his wakfu wings under his hat. He is aware that he's not like everyone else and will always be curious to find out who he is even when he doesn't have magical artifacts that can help him find the truth. He'll just go on adventures to find out who he is because it's in his literal nature to go out and explore the world.

Fifth, he'll never truly believe he's a twelvian because of his wakfu wings and his portal magic. If no one else is like him, then why should he think he's like them?

Sixth, Yugo will always find Adamaï and Adamaï will always find Yugo. They basically have a connected mind. At some point, they WILL meet and WILL learn more about their people together regardless if one of them knows more than the other.

These six points were made pretty clear in seasons 1-2 and made us understand how his future rebirths would function in the World of Twelve.

So if Yugo gets reborn in another kingdom and the sadidas would learn about it, I believe this could turn out in two ways:

1) Either they simply let him go and think that he was only their king in his past life, so he technically doesn't have any legitime ownership to his old sadida king title anymore. They also have to keep in mind their current sadida bloodline instead of relying on the past to ruin the system.

2) Or they still see him as their king without his memories and legally have the right to bring him back to their kingdom.

Either way, it doesn't change anything in the long run because Yugo's going to be screwed in any other kingdom.

Because if a literal infamous assassin trusted the Sadida Kingdom to take care of his two daughters, then there's no way in hell that Yugo will be safe anywhere else in the World of Twelve, especially when people know who he is now and what he has done in his past life (the one that we're currently in).

Yugo's going to come back to the Sadida Kingdom regardless of what anyone thinks 💀💀💀

It's honestly tough to guess what the sadidas might think about his rebirth due to laws and royal status being a thing.

But I can assure you that they'll most likely be shocked as all hell to find out that one of their old kings came back to life. They already know he's a demigod and will get reborn, but it's always surprising to know it when you see it with your own eyes, you know?

In short, if Yugo gets reborn, the sadidas will most likely have their jaws on the floor from knowing there's a sadida ruler from the past who returned. So chances are, they either leave him alone but intently watch him from the sidelines or take him back immediately.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that despite all that, Yugo would feel some emotions for the Sadida Kingdom even when he won't understand why. The feelings of familiarity towards the kingdom would be due to Amalia even when she's long gone... We've seen Yugo feel some feelings when he visited Mount Zinit in the manga between season 2 and the Ovas, so the chances of him feeling solid connections to the Sadida Kingdom in his next life are very strong.

[browneyedartist01]

My thoughts during the final hour of acomaf:

(Bare in mind that I notched up the speed to 1.5 then 1.75, and these thoughts are not in order)

-"You don't need proof that it works, I'm proof that it works-"

Weren't you made by high lords?

-"I will destroy your court."

And I will hate you. More so than I already do

-"He held out his hand like I was some pet."

"Come home."

My thoughts:

"Come home with me."

"Who are you?"

"The man whose gonna marry you, I'm Orpheus."

"Who am I?"

"Eurydice, *laughs* the girl who makes me wanna sing, the women I'm marrying."

-Why dose the evil man sounds like a radio announcer?

-Lucian really setting the bar higher already in how to care for your mate, as expected. (Go little Rock star)

-He broke through the bounds that a high lord couldn't break through just to go to her?!?!

-And he gave her his coat to cover her??

-"There were different kinds of torture I realized, there was ones I went through, what Rhys went through and then this."

Yeah, now you know how Tamlin felt utm.

- Did Nesta just give the evil king the middle finger? Ew, sarah cringe stop it.

-Cassian just keep dying sweetie, don't touch Nesta.

-Nesta be nice to your future brother in law.

- Freye unlocked a new power, somehow.

-Cheesy, this is all so cheesy.

- "his green eyes met mine, the sorrow and tenderness in them was the most hideous thing I've ever seen."

Wow, ok...

-Tamlin acting like Ryhsand though with Tamlin it's justified/understandable

- *me counting down the final 22 minutes while freye is dying*

-"I nerely gagged on his scent."

Freye darling, I get your upset about his deal with evil king. But he literally tried to save your sisters, stop being so dramatic.

- "my family."

It's been 3 months girly.

- "Tamlin ignored Lucian, so I did too."

Sums up Freye and Lucain's friendship

-Of course all the queens' want is eternal youth,

- Lucian naturally being the smartest one in the room.

-Noooo, not Ryhsand pov. 😭 this better not be the last 17 minutes.

-Holy crap, I just realized how similar this ending is to season 2 of lore olympus ending.

-Don't worry, the bat boys plot armor is thick. Sarah loves you monsters too much.

-Mor don't rip out the arrow it will only make it worse.

-Ryhsand please think, do you really think Tamlin would actually partner with evil king? He didn't even trust evil fae women when she first appeared, what makes you think he would actually help him beyond getting freye back?

-"she is my mate, my wife, the high lady of the night court."

BANG, CRASH A LIGHTING BLAST! (no joke there was thunder after he said this in the dramatized version)

I have 2 thoughts on this one:

1. There was a fan theory during the court trial in lore olympus (persephone was on trail for mass murder, long story) where hades and persephone got married before the trail started because at one point he called her his wife. This wasn't the case because she was 20 and he was in his 2000 (aka 40's) Idk if Rachel was a fan of acotar and wanted to steal from it (since acomaf was released in 2016 and the trial was released in 2020) but because people guessed it she dropped it. Idk that's just a my own theory.

2. How can she be the high lady when the mother is the one to give out titles? Do you realize what you just start Ryhsand? This could lead to more war against the more religious courts, this could lead to the end of the night court if the mother finds out... oh wait, this is acotar. Not real high fantasy, there's no real religious world building.

-"I've forgotten how quiet it was here, how small, how empty"

You do this every time freye, anytime your some where "better" you always just stick your noise up at your old home.

-Freye acting high and mighty towards Tamlin as if she wouldn't had praised Ryhsand for doing the same thing.

- Lucian, you are truly the best character.

-"My sister mate, the mother did indeed seem to have a sense of humor."

What do you mean? He would be a great mate. But then again you're suffering because of it...which makes it so much better.

- "as if he could do that to anyone."

But- but he did freye. And tbh I think he would have done worse to you if he deemed it necessary.

-Freye is really giving evil queen vibes. I wish I could enjoy it, but I know sarah is going to make her the "hero"

And that's it, Thank Saints.

[callunavulgari]

Top 25 Fics of 2023

1. whatever you want by Wildehack (tyleet) | Wolf 359 | Kepler/Jacobi | 5k

Kepler doesn't fuck him that first day, when Daniel swallows his pride like it's a hot coal he can feel boiling down to the pit of his stomach and dials the number left on the card. Heather Says: Back in 2017, Wolf 359 changed my life. I relisten to it every year. I reread fic. I sometimes write it. And THIS year, I was blessed with one of my favorites writing my favorites from Wolf 359. It's honestly exactly what I wanted out of a Wolf 359 fix it/coda.

2. god was a dog-man by @andthepeople | Teen Wolf | Derek/Stiles | 13k

“Do you have a secret teenage son?” Stiles demands, as soon as Derek opens the door. Heather Says: I did NOT watch the Teen Wolf movie this year. I did, however, relentlessly stalk reaction posts and (very select) gifsets. I also read this fantastic fic, which is now the movie in my brain because since I didn't see it, I'll never know.

3. then out of nowhere, somebody comes and hits you with an ooh la la la, ooh la la la, ooh la la la, ooh by @calciseptine | Deadpool | Peter/Wade | 49k

A man with spider-themed superpowers accidentally breaks into Wade's apartment. Heather Says: Deadpool is one of those fandoms that I'm technically a part of because I like it and I think Spiderman and Deadpool is both hilarious and hot, but it's always just on the edge of my peripherals. But sometimes Steve's fic just kind of creeps on me and demands my attention. This was my feel good fic this spring.

4. By the Laws of Magic by Lenore | The Sandman | Dream/Hob | 32k

It’s 1959, and Hob Gadling is working at a London auction house, amazing his colleagues with his uncanny knowledge of art and artifacts from the 14th century on. When he gets the assignment to catalogue a family library at a place called Fawney Rig, he looks forward to a working vacation in the country. What he finds is a house with a preternatural chill where odd disturbances happen daily, an ornate carved door with a secret clearly hidden behind it, and visions of his mysterious stranger every time he turns around. Heather Says: I honestly love this ship. The fairy tale elements combined with the very compelling idea that in another universe much like this one, Hob Gadling ends up saving Dream from his glass prison made for some truly great fiction.

5. Dawnshot Through the Heart by @sirnotappearinginthisblog | Wax&Wayne series | Wax/Wayne | WIP | 80k

Ten years ago, Wayne fled instead of letting himself get arrested for murder. He’s been an outlaw ever since, keeping one step ahead of the lawkeepers who want him dead or alive—especially Dawnshot. But his luck was bound to run out eventually, and he knows how it always ends for the Bad Guys in stories. Heather Says: I think that this is the only WIP on here but I cannot rightfully leave it off because I LOVED this fic this year. I love the Mistborn series, but I've never really sought out fic for it before. This one though, this one found me. The writing is SUPERB and I wish it was a bigger fandom because it deserves so much love, you guys. It's so so so good. I love Wax and Wayne's dynamic in the series. They're great. But also- what if they had an enemies to lovers thing going on that turned poly? WHAT IF?!

6. One Size Fits All by @entanglednow | Stranger Things | Eddie/Steve | 65k

Steve just wanted to do something nice for a friend, he doesn't mean to get Eddie's ring stuck on his finger, and it's definitely not his fault that everyone he knows is jumping to conclusions. Heather Says: This is not the last time that you will see this author or this ship on this list. I really would have thought that Steddie would have crept out of my brain right now, but NOPE. And part of that is because every couple weeks entanglednow drops an absolute BANGER of a fic that obliterates my brain for anything else.

7. you are spring by @wildehacked | Supernatural | Castiel/Dean | 20k

God makes a wish. His parents work some things out. Heather Says: I got very close to leaving this one off the list, not because it wasn't good or that it wasn't one of my top 25 but purely because I've been out of the Supernatural fandom for so many years. I mean, c'mon. I didn't watch the last FIVE seasons. However, getting to follow along wildehacked's rewatch journey on twitter was a blast from the past and then THIS lovely shining fic that they churned out lured me back in for one last nibble at this ship that took over my life for the better part of a decade. It is so incredibly amazing and since I never finished the series, I will happily go on pretending that this is how it ended.

8. Interim by starkraving | BotW/TOtK | Ganondorf/Link/Zelda | 95k

She has no throne. Girls without thrones should not have knights, but hers won’t go. Princess Zelda – the girl who killed Calamity – would love to fade into legend, but Link’s bought a house, he’s fighting off monsters, and he’s selling giant horses to strangely familiar Gerudo men. She'll never have any peace now. Heather Says: This fic. THIS FIC. Is so richly built. Is so intoxicating. It leans into found family. You spend chapter after chapter watching Zelda and Link traverse Hyrule with the hot Gerudo that they met along the way after the events of the first game. And it is so fucking compelling. Honestly, while I'm happy that they smooched, I would have been completely fine reading another 100k of just these three wandering Hyrule together, being absolute goblins. 10 out 10, will read again.

9. one hundred years past by tciddaemina | BotW/TotK | Ganondorf/Link | 38k

Link wakes up a century early. It changes everything. Heather Says: Can you tell that playing Tears of the Kingdom left me desperately thirsty for any and all Ganondorf content this summer? I'm a sucker for all sides of the poly triforce but I'll admit that Ganondorf and Link scratches that enemies to lovers itch PERFECTLY if it's done well. And this one is done well.

10. Step Right Up by entanglednow | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 3k

Steve had mostly given up on trying to meet anyone new after everything, but it's been six months and his friends had started giving him pointed nudges to get out there again. Heather Says: Told you it wouldn't be the last you saw of entanglednow. I actually think that this might be my favorite fic that they've written? Which is saying a lot because I will scream it to the rafters that any Steddie fan should read their fic. But this is FUN HOUSE MIRROR MAZE and MISTAKEN IDENTITY KISSING. Guys, I have no chill about this fic. I have no chill about Steve's hands in Eddie's hair, or the sounds that he makes, or the smell of strawberry. It is just so so good.

11. the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it’s you by @greatunironic | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 35k

Sixteen years after the world didn't end for the last time, Max Mayfield showed up on Steve’s doorstep and said, “You gonna walk me down the aisle in May or what?” Or, it’s 2002 and Steve Harrington attends a wedding, a funeral, and a birth. Heather Says: I genuinely do not think that I have words for this one. It is one of those all encompassing fics that sucks you in and just won't spit you out again. It hurts, an ache just under the breastbone. But god, it's so beautiful.

12. Fight Night by @rlnerdgirl | Teen Wolf | Derek/Stiles | 12k

Stiles starts fighting in college. He doesn't tell anyone. Heather Says: There are three...? Yeah, three Teen Wolf fics on this list. Three. Like it's 2015 again. Like my brain broke and time went ticking all the way back to when I was ridiculously invested in these characters. But honestly? All three Teen Wolf fics on this list are incredibly therapeutic. They get to be the ending for me instead of whatever clusterfuck good ole Jeff tried to pull. This one in particular is fantastic because it's canon-divergence after SEASON one. Yes, we have Erica and Boyd. Yes, Stiles is BAMF. It's a good read.

13. strange fear i ain’t felt for years by Sister | Batman | Tim/Jason | 31k

“Can’t believe a pretty thing like you has to come begging to the Red Hood,” he says against Tim’s neck. “Thought they’d be lining up down the block for you. Thought Daddy would need to get the shotgun.” Heather Says: Oh look, another ship and fandom that I was only peripherally aware of that had me in a chokehold for a good month and a half. I don't even like DC that much.

14. Silver-Tongue by starkraving | Baldur's Gate 3 | Astarion/Karlach | 9k

Astarion fast-talks an abnormal number of enemies into killing themselves in the shadow-cursed lands and the team makes idle (then less idle) conversation about it. Heather Says: Okay, so I STILL have not finished this game. I have however very carefully consumed as much content as I can get my hands on without being completely and totally spoiled. This was the first fic that I really loved in this fandom. It's no surprise that I ship Astarion happily with everyone, but damn is he good with Karlach in this one. Their characterization is perfect.

15. A Sign of The Morning by ToEdenandBackAgain | Stranger Things | Eddie/Steve | 86k

Vecna is dead. The Upside Down is cut off from Hawkins yet again. Steve is trying to go back to normal, whatever that is. He's also trying to figure out exactly how Eddie Munson has managed to fit so easily into his life. Heather Says: Honestly? What can I say about this one? It has 19,000 kudos despite being published last June. It's on a ridiculous number of collection/rec lists. The tension is exquisite. The found family? Even better.

16. Phantom of Truth by Haiju | Danny Phantom | Maddie Fenton & Danny Fenton | 58k

Locked away in a secret government lab with Phantom as her sole object of study, nothing stands between Maddie and the truth... except, perhaps, herself. Heather Says: Oh look, another fandom that I have never ever been a part of. I saw this REALLY NEAT and angsty tiktok (tw for ghosty gore) and basically immediately was sucked into a show that I've never even watched before. The comments lead me to this fic which is perfectly gen, angsty, and honestly absolutely perfect. I cannot get over how much I loved this.

17. Manacled by senlinyu | Harry Potter | Draco/Hermione | 370k

Harry Potter is dead. In the aftermath of the war, in order to strengthen the might of the magical world, Voldemort enacts a repopulation effort. Heather Says: I did the thing. I read the incredibly dark fic that I've been avoiding since 2018. I typically steer-clear of anything that is overly bleak and I do not tiptoe into non-con waters often. But one of our groomsmen who isn't even involved with fandom read this so that his girlfriend would watch Star Wars with him and then spent a good portion of a Halloween party talking it up. So I gave it a shot. Over all, it is too bleak for me. That said, I finished it in a weekend. I loved it. I hated it. I wish I'd broken it up over a longer period of time because the emotional bleed off of it was intense.

18. Ready for Love by @idiopathicsmile | Singin in the Rain | Cosmo/Kathy/Don | 12k

Don and Kathy would move in together. They would have a dog or two and then inevitably, a small parade of adorable little brats who would call him Uncle Cosmo, and they would spend less and less time with him, not on purpose but busy with the rest of their lives, and ultimately Cosmo would learn to make his peace with it because he’d have no other choice and he would have to try to move on and not live too much in his memories. He could picture it so clearly, he figured if the songwriting gig with Monumental didn’t pan out, he could always return to the backwater circuit with a new act: The Amazing Cosmo of the Cosmos—ladies and gentlemen, he sees the future, he reads the stars, he silently pines for his best married pal and all the while tap dancing! Don and Kathy inviting him along on their honeymoon, though—that part was a surprise. Heather Says: I LOVE this movie. It is one of my biggest comfort movies. I watch it to feel happy. I watch it when I'm sad. And I have always shipped these three but NEVER read fic for it. And honestly? I'm glad I waited for a good fic to find me because this one was perfect.

19. A Series of Forgettable Events by @trensu | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 27k

Steve wanted to be a dad more than anything. Unfortunately, he was a single dude in his thirties which meant no adoption agency in the world was willing to give him a chance. Or at least no human adoption agency. Heather Says: Honestly just a delightful little jaunt in a world where Steve wants to be a dad, Eddie is a very overprotective siren, and the kids are, well. Little horrors. I love it. There's a sequel now which I am very patiently waiting to read it until I am less busy in RL.

20. the dry sand of daylight by @andthepeople | Inception | Arthur/Eames | 15k

Arthur is married to Eames for the better part of a decade. Then he wakes up. Heather Says: This fic left me ACHING for the Inception fandom circa 2010-2012. When livejournal was still a thing and the fandom community was alive and thriving. It is so achingly tender and perfect. I had forgotten how much I loved them.

21. brutalist masterpieces by @greatunironic | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 12k

Ten years on, in a town in Nova Scotia, on the edge of the Atlantic, Eddie finds Steve again, and also maybe himself. Heather Says: Maybe that's my thing this year. Achingly sweet tender pieces that leave you reeling in the aftermath. This fic is SO incredibly beautiful.

22. What Made Milwaukee Famous by synthetica | Danny Phantom | Vlad/Danny | 30k

Ten years after establishing a tenuous truce, Danny crash-lands at Vlad's Milwaukee lakehouse with a particularly nasty wound, three days recovery time, and absolutely nothing to do but talk to his long-lost archnemesis. Heather Says: I'm told that this is something of a rarepair. However, from the limited information that I have from the series I can say with full certainty that two ghostly beings locked for years as enemies growing up and meeting in the middle? Fully my thing.

23. then now and always by @raisesomehale | Teen Wolf | Derek/Stiles | 13k

Stiles is stuck. Stiles is stuck in the fucking snow in the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere at night with a broken down car three days before Christmas, and the nearest tow truck company—over fifty miles away—doesn’t open until morning. Heather Says: And here we have the promised third Teen Wolf fic, the most cathartic of the bunch. I am so so sweet on future fic particularly in this fandom with missed chances. And this one is just so syrupy sweet. It's winter! There's horses! Derek's an alpha! They smooch. Anyway, this is how I cope with a series finale that didn't happen and a movie that doesn't exist.

24. Terminus by @rcmclachlan | Loki | Loki/Mobius | 4k

"Keep me here," he begs against Mobius's lips. "You must keep me here." Heather Says: What do you mean you didn't spend all three replays of the Loki series finale weeping into a pillow? What do you mean you didn't spend the next few days trying to find the perfect coda? What do you mean that you didn't find this fic and positively expire from the sheer fucking tenderness in Mobius' voice? What do you mean? What. do you. mean? Anyway, I know I'm not supposed to have number one favorites. This list exists because I cannot condense it further than 25. But guys, this was my favorite fic this year.

25. Eye Of The Beholder by @entanglednow | Stranger Things | Steve/Eddie | 22k

Eddie works himself up to ask Steve if he can borrow his instant camera, because the type of pictures he wants to take are…not the kind he can get developed in town. Heather Says: And to round it out, another Steddie. This one with sexy photos. The tension is killer.

[just2bubbly]

They were all aware of the large number of people who hated Cinder. They hated her for being lunar. They hated her for being a cyborg. They hated her for marrying Kai

Kaider (comfort)

Hey, you are one of the lucky people that is getting their requests answered so quickly :) Tried to do your request justice, you can read similar type of writing in Sometimes Love Stays (hurt/hurt) and Love Hurts, Love Heals (hurt/comfort)

Masterlist

Marriages are Fragile

Ship: Kaider

Words: 1.6k

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Cinder's Perspective-

"Kai," she whispered, standing at the doorway of his dark office.

He didn't nod in response, there wasn't any way to tell whether he was lost in thought or perhaps surprisingly lost in slumber- the silhouette of his bent form, face dropped in the hollow of his long fingers was the only indication of his presence in the room.

She switched to the ambient setting of the room- not too bright but enough to cast light on Kai's wearied frame. She had felt it before she saw that one- Cinder could read Kai easily- not to misinterpret, Kai was a true diplomat at heart, nothing of his face or movement was spontaneous but in the company of his loved ones he had nothing to hide, he displayed every smile, every scowl.

She gave him time to adjust to her presence, taking a seat.

"All good?" She questioned, laying her hand on his lower back, drawing circles to ease the stress.

"Hmm, uhh- yea. All good." He said, trying to sound confident but failing at it, his words sounded rather sceptical to believe in.

"You know you can share your problems with me, right?"

"I know, Cinder. I'm not trying to hide them from you. I just can't bear to tell it to you." He explained, fingers finally leaving his face.

She noticed how his hair which had been all prim the last time she saw him, was now pointing in all directions- he must have pulled at them often for such a result. Eyes half closed, and gaze losing focus every second.

"I'd hear out all you have to say, no arguments from my side promise- just someone to rest on," she suggested, Torin had mentioned Kai's distress in recent weeks. He continued to work longer hours in his cubicle, skipping meals unless it was brought to him- Cinder had an inkling of what this was all over, however, she truly wished that he wasn't stressing over it.

"It's all right, love. We have better things to talk about, did you have your dinner?" He asked, very well trying to divert the topic.

"Not yet, I was thinking of having it with you."

"What are we waiting for, let's go then."

"Yes," she agreed, however, none of them bothered to get up. She continued to draw circles on his back and he kept on staring into oblivion, both lost in respective thoughts.

"Your chamber looks so different under the moonlight. It looks divine, like fairy lights cast in a room," she noted, trying to keep a conversation flowing.

He glanced at the ceiling and admitted, "It does look better this way."

The room looked poetic this way, not a place where laws got made, and treaties decided, a brooding four-walled room of significance - The Office of The Emperor. In this light, it seemed more appealing to work here than it was.

"So?" She prompted again.

He hummed in response, "I know what you are asking but let's not do this."

"I'm concerned about what got you in this state," Cinder pointed, trying to coerce him into speaking.

"Noth-" he appeared to keep on denying, Cinder knew then that he wouldn't be giving in tonight but surprisingly Kai continued, "Just us."

"That should be the least of your worries," she murmured, tugging his side, her hand circling his waist.

"It's just not that easy, Cinder," he revealed his lips lingering over her ear.

She sighed, already not liking whatever Kai had to say.  

"We can have dinner and sleep on our problems and talk about it tomorrow?" She suggested, all along she had been the one trying to coerce him into speaking but now that he brought it up, Cinder didn't want to discuss it. It was about her or like Kai had mentioned, us and there wasn't much to discuss over how much the people hated her and how they loathed Kai for marrying a Lunar, a Cyborg.

With the Lija Merin crime on trial, the bigotry against Lunar was becoming very vocalised- their glamour which hadn't been questioned for a long time, was back to the debates of Earthens. Cinder, being the Lunar with the highest power in the country was likely to be more criticised than others, with gruesome allegations being thrown at her every hour of the day and the credibility of The Commonwealth challenged, the two rulers were quite worked up.

"Perhaps," he agreed, "We should eat dinner."

His words stopped the chain of thoughts that Cinder had been trying not to think about for days. Even with the suggestion hanging in the air, they continued to stay in their seats. His hands had covered hers entirely, the cold metal against his warm hands imitated a sense of comfort.

His shallow breaths could have been a sign of sleep, not something Cinder would ever complain about. She would be happy to fall asleep on the couch not too uncomfortable if she had his company for the night.

"I don't want things to go amiss, I don't want to be stupid and let this go," he voiced, soon after Cinder had been nearly overcome with sleep. His words took a lot longer to register in her half-awake form.

"That won't be happening, Kai," she slurred, "You can't get rid of me that easily!"

That exclamation made Kai smile, which was a sign for her to continue, "Besides the hate is just part of our period- when the trial is over, everyone will forget about their prejudices and move on. We endure it for as long as something new comes by that takes attention off us." She reasoned.

He smiled at her, this one sadder than the previous one, his fingers gently tousled through her hair. The soft pressure of his fingertips against her scalp pulled her back into a state of slumber.

"That feels so good," she moaned, her head lying in the crook of his neck.

"Mum used to do it when I failed to sleep," he mentioned a long pause following his words, the silence luring Cinder further.  

"You know, after she was gone," he said in a tearful voice, Cinder hummed in reflex, "-everyone wanted Dad to get married again. To have a child, a spare if I died prematurely," he tried joking only to choke on his words. Cinder who was now wide awake, threw her limbs over his and enveloped him as he continued to speak. Kai always became sensitive when talking about his parents.

"I was a skinny kid who always worried the Triantas if I would survive the plague or any potential attack. That was why they always kept me under the observation of security, Dad got excessively criticised for not remarrying and now it seems like it's my turn to face the same criticism for not marrying someone that people will love," he expressed.

"Oh Kai, how long have you been thinking this?" she asked, her brows furrowing in concern, Kai shrugged, mumbling a deaf answer.

"You cannot just keep it all in yourself- and your Dad didn't want to have a spare, cause he loved you and your Mom. He believed in you. We got married because we loved each other, just like your parents. People will criticise me for being Lunar and Cyborg because there isn't anything else to talk about. It's all just gossip and if we look at it like that then there is nothing to worry about. One law in their favour and they would start singing your praises- you allow yourself to be easily influenced, Kai," she said, pressing a light kiss on his forehead before hugging him tightly.

His hands soon found their place at her waist, squeezing her torso with so much strength, it felt like choking. She could feel the wet drops falling on her skin, as he sniffed 'I love you' and she whispered it back in the crook of his neck, peppering kisses along.

They stay there for a long time, Kai taking his time to calm down and match his breathing patterns with her. Cinder doesn't mind, hugging Kai is similar to sleeping in his arms vertically, but when her stomach growls, both can't hold back the wet laugh that erupts.  

He loosens his hold on her, drawing back slightly to look into her eyes, "Thank you," he murmurs, head nuzzling against hers. She lets him have his moment before saying, "I'm really starving, Kai."

"Oh, yes- can't have my wife passing to hunger while I have a moment," he laughs, pecking her on his cheek.

"I think your moment was too prolonged, love. Next time cut it short," she quipped.

"Noting it down as we go, Your Majesty."

She laughed at his antics, happier to see him like this, "Do you want to eat alone tonight? Maybe with a movie?"

"Love the idea, but you're too tired to survive through a movie. Let's eat in the 'room," he replied, helping her wear the shoes she had discarded sometime while comforting him.

"Works, I will arrange for something. You clean up those files and come soon, ok." She agreed, pointing to the pile of paperwork he had scattered across the table.

He nods, walking to the desk to make most of the work he had left undone, Cinder smoothens her dress before leaving, the light falling on her shoulder gives a glowing sense.

"Only yours," he says, aloud, confusing her, "What?"

"I let only gossip about you influence me," he explains.

Cinder beams, "I know, it makes me love you more." The door clicks after her, leaving Kai behind thanking his stars for marrying Cinder, against the Commonwealth's better judgement.

__

A/N: It get's a little disheartening to post oneshots with no interaction, so please do comment and reblog! <3

tagging: @gingerale2017 @fangirlforever0704 @salt-warrior @slmkaider @cinderswrench @cindersassasin @therealkaidertrash211

[bridgertonbabe]

Bridgerton Group Chat AU - The Darkest Timeline

As a thank you to both @silverhallow and @holybatgirlz for writing hilarious pieces inspired by the Group Chat AU, I have written this entirely ludicrous and outlandishly batshit drabble for the series. This is an extremely over the top and completely far-reaching out of the realm of reality insight into what might happen in the darkest of timelines of this AU if the Bridgertons were to ever truly take a game night way way way too far.

Entirely based and inspired by this clip from Community following the events of study group's own chaotic game night:

"To Phil." Simon slurred as he raised his half-drunken bottle of vodka. "May he rest in Phil."

There was a pause as he processed what he had just said before he snorted and cackled, and then proceeded to pour out some of his vodka onto the floor by his chair.

"Simon, don't you think you've have enough?" Kate remarked with a wrinkled brow of concern as she watched her inebriated brother-in-law across from her.

"Of you." Simon instantly threw back.

Kate gasped from the offence made against her as Simon knocked back another mouthful from his bottle, all the while maintaining a pointed resentment-filled glare at her as he drank.

"Guys, I've been thinking about that night over and over." Penelope piped up. "One thing has become clear; this is the darkest most terrible timeline."

"Enough with the timeline crap, Pen!" Kate exclaimed.

Though she had endured the most amount of years faithfully attending Bridgerton game nights and knowing full well all the horrors that were bound to unravel and occur, ever since that night Penelope had well and truly cracked. She hadn't cried nor grieved nor shown any ounce of emotion since that fateful night, instead her brain had rewired itself (as a form of coping mechanism) to narrow in on the semantics of that evening as she obsessively tried to think up every alternate timeline that might have occurred had she interfered at numerous points of that night. Every time the rest of the spouses had seen her since all she had been capable of speaking of were alternative trajectories stemming from that night as well as fervently mentioning the odds and probabilities of the events playing out the way in which they infamously had.

"Phil had a heart attack and dropped down dead!" Kate hysterically reminded Penelope. "Simon's a drunk, Lucy's locked in a mental ward because her guilt drove her insane, Michael lost an arm in the fire," - she gestured to Michael sat beside her, who in turn emotionlessly (his merry persona now long gone) gestured with his only arm to where his other arm should have been - "Gareth lost his larynx because for some dumb reason he tried to destroy a flaming troll doll by eating it-"

"Clearly you don't understand anything about defeating trolls." Gareth's electrolarynx-powered voice interjected.

"Our spouses are all either dead or in prison, our children all got taken away by social services, and now the doctors have pronounced Sophie's practically brain-dead and that it's up to us whether to pull the plug on her!"

The last five remaining spouses all looked to the bed they were sitting around where Sophie lay comatose amongst a sea of tubes and wires keeping her alive, the beeping of her heart rate monitor and the machine pumping oxygen into her filling the momentary silence in the room.

"Life has gone to hell, Penelope! This is real!" Kate cried with the despairing hope of trying to get her sister-in-law to touch back in with reality. "Look at us! Look at me!"

"Kate." Michael uttered in a low voice, unable to look at her. "You put one wash-away blue streak in your hair - and I lost an arm." he stated in as tempered and controlled a voice as he could muster, as he finally turned to look her in the eye.

"Exactly." Kate nodded back at him. "Life got dark."

"And all because Michael rolled a one." Penelope said.

"Oh I love how this is all my fault somehow." Michael replied, his voice inflected with growing exasperation.

"It's mine." Penelope shook her head dismissively. "I've run through that night over and over in my head and I keep coming back to one thought; I should have caught the die and not let you roll it. That's the exact moment I've pinpointed all of the chain of events from that night stemming from. I failed to do that and we all suffered for it. But I'm going to make it all up to you."

Penelope then put down the pair of scissors she had been using and picked up the black pieces of felt she had been fixatedly working on since they had convened in Sophie's hospital room. She then distributed each of the pieces to her remaining fellow spouses, each of them receiving them with curious expressions.

"What is this?" Michael deadpanned after examining the cut out black felt piece he had just been handed.

"Of all the timelines this is clearly the darkest which is why I propose we commit to being evil." Penelope explained matter-of-factly. "I've made us all black goatees out of felt, I suggest you put them on until you're able to grow your own." she advised in all seriousness.

While Michael turned the fake goatee over in his hand, his eyes narrowing in on it with every passing second, Simon simply slipped the goatee onto the neck of his bottle before swigging from it once more.

"From now on, I am Evil Penelope." Penelope declared after putting on her fake goatee. "We are the Evil League of Bridgerton Spouses and we have but one evil goal; return somehow to the prime timeline - the one that I stopped you from rolling that die - then we destroy the good versions of ourselves and we claim our proper lives."

Kate and Michael looked at Penelope blankly before their attention was drawn to Simon whimpering across from them as he looked to Sophie's lifeless figure.

"It should have been me." Simon wept. "I should have been the one who got hit simultaneously by the firetruck and ambulance from both sides... I'm so jealous!" he cried out and waved his bottle about, spilling some of the contents over Sophie's bedding.

"Simon, don't say that!" Kate spluttered. "Everything about that night was godawful and should never have happened in the first place-"

"The darkest timeline." Penelope breathed under her breath in reiteration.

"-and there was nothing we could have done to save poor Sophie!"

"Evil Pen; as Evil Michael am I allowed to pull fewer punches with everyone?" Michael addressed his obsessive sister-in-law in a low voice brimming with a deep resentment that none of the other in-laws picked up on.

"Certainly." Penelope nodded.

"I hate you!" Michael exploded. "I hate you all! I hate the stupid fucking family we all married into! I hate your stupid sci-fi crap!" he barked at Penelope. "I hate you for standing back and letting the rest of us foolishly marry in one by one so you weren't alone being married into that wretched family of monsters!" he shot at Simon, who shrugged uncaringly and carried on necking back his vodka. "I hate your stupid fucking electrolarynx!"

"Rude." Gareth's robotic voice retorted.

"But I hate you most of fucking all!" Michael turned on Kate, much to her incredulous chagrin. "You who enabled, encouraged, and exacerbated the Bridgertons in their heinously insane competitive ways! You who were just as bad, if not even worse than some of them when it came to those stupid fucking games! You who Sophie was chasing to try and save from going back into the raging inferno when she got hit by the emergency vehicles because you were crazed enough to insist that if you counted up all your cards you could prove you had won!"

"But I did! I did win!" Kate retaliated, her maddening competitive glint returning to her sharpening gaze in spite of everything that had befallen them all.

"Sophie is on her deathbed because of you!" Michael yelled, his voice breaking with long-amounted incandescent rage.

"Well maybe if she wasn't so desperate to prevent me from proving just how badly she had lost-"

"That's it!" Michael screamed and jumped to his feet. "I can't take this anymore! I'm filing a restraining order against each and every one of you! I want nothing more to do with any of you! With any of this!"

With that Michael stormed out, flinging the door open with his one remaining arm and slamming it emphatically after him.

"Hey!" Kate leapt up, tearing the door open, and followed after him. "It's a group decision to pull the plug on Sophie - you don't get out of it that easily!" she called out as she marched after Michael's retreating footsteps.

A crash within the room then brought Penelope and Gareth's attention to where Simon had just passed out from all the alcohol he had consumed, having fallen out of his chair and into some of the machines keeping Sophie alive, his bottle crashing on impact and sending glass shards across the floor.

Gareth then turned to share a look with Penelope - and that's when she noticed that he too was wearing one of her black felt goatees. There was a shared nod of agreement as they both mutually decided on the path they were about to embark on

"Evil Pen and Evil Gareth!" they both chanted; and thus began the new Evil Chapter of their lives.

[zoloftkat]

I feel like I’m the only one who hates disbarred Phoenix. I can’t stand hobo him. I hate it so much it colored AA4 to the point I couldn’t truly appreciate Apollo till AA5. It’s an interesting idea but I feel like it’s so terribly incorporated until the last trial of AA4. Like it felt like I was thrown into boiling water and was expected to roll with it. Genuinely made me almost drop the series.

The way Phoenix was characterized always felt a little off and incomplete—I found myself liking it more when he wasn’t featured. The attempt at creating emotional character growth for Phoenix as he deals with his own blunder of (unwittingly) submitting false evidence and his plans to enact justice in his own way, but also introducing Apollo, leads to both characters feeling heavily watered down. In turn making Phoenix feel mostly out of character.

If Phoenix’s own failings and Apollo’s frustration with the legal system took more precedence, that strain would have created a deeper emotional complexity. Phoenix fully taking on a mentor role, trying to grapple with the corruption of the legal system and his contribution to it, whilst seeing Apollo’s rightful disillusionment would have built more tension in the story and given Apollo and Phoenix better growth—highlighting this struggle, rather than it being oddly mentioned but not fully investigated, and quickly swept under the rug in cases 2 and 3, It would have made the final collision of these two ideologies in case 4 so much sweeter, as the friction would come to its climax, as even though Apollo ultimately gets to the truth, Apollo’s distrust in the system would hit its peak.

Additionally, aside from the mishandling of Phoenix’s disbarment and Apollo’s introduction, when he does comeback in game 5 it feels almost anticlimactic. His real first case while funny, wasn’t the comeback I was quite hoping for, and his actual reintroduction in turnabout countdown feels odd as Athena was capable at that point to defend on her own, but I think it would have been so much sweeter if he kept that mentor role throughout 1-4 of DD keeping that established anxiety from AA4 growing as we see the shambles the legal system has fallen into, and then defended for the first time (not necessarily when he got his badge back) in turnabout for tomorrow finally bringing the “dark age of the law” to a close facing his demons and blunders head on like he always has.

I guess that’s the issue. Phoenix is always charging forward, sticking to his morals and unwavering. And to see him truly rattled and vengeful in AA4 as he realizes how messed up things are, and to still continue charging forward, still pursuing for the love it, for his own moral righteousness, and the attempt to show this dynamic fails in AA4. But it didn’t have to. And instead of making this what could have been my favorite game, it becomes wasted potential—a memory of frustration and anguish.

I’m just irked. I was in angry tears for most of my AA4 play through. The connection between AA4 and AA5 felt weak and so much was left feeling unresolved in AA4. The second trilogy’s games suffer from the formula of the AA games and I find myself increasingly frustrated by it.

Side note: WHY DID THE JURIST SYSTEM just DISAPPEAR!? Like Phoenix has fought hard to do this to finally get Kristoph convicted, and it’s just not a part of Dual Destines. (not sure if it comes back in SOJ as I’m only on case 2) Also, the fact that Klaiver and Apollo seem almost unbothered by Kristoph’s misdeeds weakens not just Kristoph, but also makes those relationships feel superficial when they weren’t supposed to be.

Okay, I have said my piece, sorry I think about AA4 Phoenix and Apollo A LOT.

[thenanamisimp]

This isn't something I've really done much since I started this blog but I really wanted to discuss this week’s TGCF episode.

This is your spoiler warning!!

Heaven official's blessing season 2, episode 6 spoilers but there are also discussions of the respective scenes from volume 2 so if you haven't finished reading the novel, I'd suggest maybe not reading this post.

For context, I saw a user on twitter discuss how the donghua has been adapting Hua Cheng's display of emotions towards Xie Lian.

Source

I also saw another user discuss the difference between how the novel/audio drama and the donghua have been showing Hua Cheng expressing emotions.

(I can't share the source as the OP is now private on twitter)

While I haven't actually listened to the audio drama and I'm only on my first re-read of TGCF, these posts inspired me and I have thoughts and opinions that I need to share before I implode (one day it’ll happen I swear).

The scene the posters are talking about is after hcg saves xl from the heavenly Xianle palace, where they talk about what happened at paradise manor (aka xl apologising for burning down the armoury and lying to hcg about the earth master and hcg apologising for hurting xl’s arm).

In the donghua, we see hcg very obviously upset. He appears obviously and genuinely very sad about having hurt xl, even with the whole incident having been an accident. The distress in his eyes and voice is evident and clear-cut, seeming perhaps even a bit childish. In contrast, when reading this scene in the novel, while hcg definitely comes across upset, his distress appears a bit more calm and collected and he instead truly seems like a responsible adult who made a mistake and is sincerely apologetic for it to xl.

I believe that there’s multiple reasons why the dongua team chose to show hcg’s emotions in the way that they did. In my opinion, a reason why they could’ve chosen to do it this way is because of censorship. Now hear me out; clearly as a western fan I can’t speak much on Chinese censorship as I’m not highly knowledgable on the subject. However, I’d like to believe that the producing team is trying to work around the censorship laws in their own way. By making hcg’s emotions a little more over-the-top and obvious, it’s a lot easier for us as the viewer, especially queer fans that might understand queer dynamics better than others, to see and pick up on the subtext of what those exaggerated emotions mean while never having to be said out loud. And yes, we could argue that for those of us who have read the novel, it’s easier to recognise those subtle moments of vulnerability even if hcg’s reaction was made as ambiguous as it is in the book, because we have a lot more context. We have to remind ourselves that Hualian’s love story is never gonna be shown in the donghua in the same as the novel and people who are new to the story won't pick up on their relationship as easily.

As someone who hand’t heard of TGCF until Netflix licensed the donghua in my region (in 2021 I think?), I actually highly appreciate this difference in hcg’s character in the donghua. And while I don’t appreciate queerbaiting, watching season 1 made me search for the original source material and ended up with 8 very expensive books on my shelf (it took me 2 years to find volume 2 in stock somewhere…. 2 YEARS because I refuse to buy from amazon). San Lang (specifically referring to hcg’s form in volume 1 or season 1) is definitely slightly more aloof and energetic than hcg in his real form, so I do believe that his adaptation in season 1 was a lot more true to the source than season 2 seems to be.

My personal opinion is that, we need to view the donghua with a little more leniency as they have limits to the scenes they will be adapting later on (if the donghua doesn’t get dropped. Let us all pray together) and they have to make some things a little more obvious (but still no homo) to keep as much of the gay factor as they can without getting, you know, arrested. At the end of the day, it comes down to us what we prefer to consume and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people preferring one over the other. It's valid to prefer hcg in the novels and it's valid to also enjoy hcg's donghua adaptation, even if he's different and not completely true to the OG material.

Now when it comes to the whole “making xl seem oblivious thing”…. The jury is still out on this one I’m afraid. This was the final scene of the latest episode meaning, we don’t actually know how they’re gonna adapt the following scenes and this could very heavily affect the way xl reacts from here on. An adaptation is just that and like mentioned before, the donghua team has to make decisions on how to adapt things due to censorship. And at the end of the day, I think this is an interesting take on xl’s character as one of the biggest parts of his character is how he struggles to accept love and care from other people so one can argue that… He actually is oblivious in this scene? Especially at this point in the story considering he’s known hcg for like, a week, 2 weeks max (do not quote me on that, I haven’t actually calculated, I am lazy. Point is, he hasn’t known him for very long at this point in time). And while I would for sure be a bit disappointed if he still is presented like this later on in the story, we’re still too early into it to criticise the donghua over this and future scenes that haven’t even been touched yet. It’s not in any way fair to base our opinions on the upcoming scenes on a singular 2 minute clip of Hualian’s interaction.

So, I have said my peace. Please remember that everything I’ve discussed is purely my opinion and not fact, so take this post with a grain of salt. I’d actually love to discuss this further with people so please send asks if you have anything to add!

(This is also another good post to read about the censorship stuff I talked about in this post. I like how this user phrased it.)

Once again, thank you for reading a (lengthy for once) ramble!

theNanamiSimp

[virgo-dream]

tonight's Hob headcanon: he has a truly atrocious singing voice. unfortunately for everyone around him, he also loves to sing. there's a biweekly karaoke night at the New Inn (the staff talked him down from a weekly event for the sake of their eardrums) and people in the know attend solely to listen to Hob sing Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" SO badly that it should, frankly, be against the law.

the exception to this is in the Dreaming, where Hob's singing voice matches what he hears in his head, where the passion and the feeling that he puts into it are discernible by others and not just himself.

the result of this mismatch is that Dream has no idea what Hob's singing sounds like in the waking world until he happens to drop by the New Inn on karaoke night and he and Matthew both get their faces absolutely blown off by Hob's godawful take on "You've Got A Friend In Me."

xo @hardly-an-escape

@hardly-an-escape oooo thank you for this!!! as a singer myself, this is my biggest nightmare lol but knowing Hob, I think he probably doesn't care what others think! he'll sing his big heart out and whoever doesn't wanna listen can plug their sour ears lol but also....... you know how every thought can be made into a sad hurt/comfort fluff thought? well..........

Dream had avoided music for as long as he could remember. It is hard to escape something that is so present in the mind of dreamers, that plays in the imaginary background of every argument, every victory, every kiss and every loss. Still, he avoided music, because no voice could ever sound as sweet as the one he'd lost far too soon, the only one he wished he could hear sing again.

Still, it didn't mean he could ban people from dreaming of music, because it would be largely unethical of him, and if Dream took one thing seriously (not to say he didn't take all things seriously, but one clearly above all) it was his work. He would not keep dreamers from creating music in their slumber, but he would also not engage with those minds. They were loud enough on their own, and if he had to bring himself any closer to them than he was strictly required to... well, that would certainly overwhelm him to the point of making the entire Dreaming completely devoid of sound for a while.

There was one mind that he'd never refuse a visit to, and that was Hob Gadling's very loud, very musical sleeping brain.

The first time Dream heard Hob sing, it made him cry on the spot.

Tears just rolled down his pale cheeks, and he felt so vulnerable that when Hob noticed his presence, all Dream could do was say "this dream is over" and disappear from the Waking for a week. When they did meet again, Hob apologised profusely for upsetting him, even though he didn't know what had caused Dream so much distress, and only then did he notice that it wasn't Hob's fault, how could it be?

They sat together in silence in Hob's living room after Dream told him of Orpheus' divine talents, of his beauty and his music, of the tragedy of his death and the cowardice of his father, if Dream could even call himself Orpheus' father, and not his biggest detractor, a traitor in the face of love that now he knew he'd do the same to recover.

Hob kissed the tears away from Dream's cheeks, and promised to not sing again. Dream just shook his head, and said "Do not deny yourself the joy of music, for I once too knew it and reveled in it."

As their relationship progressed, Dream allowed Hob more agency in the Dreaming. They'd meet every night, sit together in the library, watch the magical sunsets of the Realm of Dreams and Nightmares, and Hob would sing him lullabies and love songs, kiss the tears away from Dream's cheeks much like he'd done that first time, and let the salty taste of them accompany his lips down to Dream's own.

Dream loved to hear Hob sing. He was talented beyond belief, and it felt like a curse lifted, a gift from the Creator themselves bestowed upon a very undeserving Dream of The Endless, to love one who sang as sweetly as a songbird. Dream began to enjoy music again, to actively seek it out. He'd buy Hob records in the Waking, or pluck brand new compositions from Hob's favourite (living) musicians to gift Hob in the Dreaming, only to hear Hob's rendition of his own favourite tunes. Anything could sound good in that voice. It was the voice that made the music bearable.

That was, until one Christmas party at the New Inn.

Hob (and everyone else, really) had already downed quite a few drinks. Dream was a little tipsy himself, which wasn't entirely uncommon, but was very confused by Hob's hesitance to join his friends, who were all belting out to, with questionable skill, even more questionable music. "I can sing to you later, duck." "I really shouldn't." "no one likes actual singers doing karaoke". Dream was not convinced. In fact, he had the feeling Hob was lying to him.

"do not deny yourself the joy of music, for I have now found it again through you, and do not wish to lose it again."

And so, Hob had no choice but to sing.

He walked up to the little makeshift stage they had crafted specially for the Chirstmas get together, grabbing the microphone like he was on his way to being hanged for shagging the prince of England. He found a song that he was sure he wouldn't completely butcher, and as all of his friends cheered him on, and Dream smiled one of his rare smiles saved only for Hob's eyes, he let out a sigh.

"...y..YooUuu'vE GooT A FrrieeenD IN Meee."

Dream.

"...yOU'Ve got a... f..frIEND In mEEeee..."

Dream wasn't sure what exactly he was feeling.

He only then understood Hob's hesitance, the way his face seemed to scrunch up in painful agony as he belted out the notes, afraid of disappointing Dream. Matthew was perched on his shoulder, trying his best not to let out a very human laugh out, hiding his beak against the lapel of Dream's trenchcoat. He almost wanted to laugh, but not at Hob, never at him. At the situation. At the voice Hob's brain had crafted only for Dream's ears. At how now, because of Dream, Hob felt uncomfortable with his own skills.

"t..thERE Isn'T A-AnytHINg I WOuldn't dOOoo f-fOR YooU.."

So Dream stood from his seat, to the surprise of Matthew and of all others in attendance, and joined Hob on stage. He grabbed the other microphone, showing Hob a gentle smile, before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. And so, his voice soared out of the speakers, a full, near baritone croon, but Hob knew it was meant only for him.

"Some other folks might be A little bit smarter than I am Bigger and stronger too Maybe But none of them will ever love you The way I do It's me and you, boy."

Dream kissed Hob again, to the sound of aaaws and cheering and clapping. "I'll love to hear you sing later when we're in bed." He whispered into Hob's ear, but perhaps a little too close to the microphone. Perhaps, he'd done it on purpose.

And that's the story of how Dream of The Endless got his singing voice back. A true Christmas Miracle, if you ask Hob.

[polyamorouspunk]

what do you consider 'punk' and how did you get into it?

I’m going to preface this by saying this ask is over a month old. At first I just felt like this was too big of a topic to tackle, and then when a new wave of what I’m going to call discourse in the community came up, it just felt like it was going to add fuel to the fire. I ended up making some posts about it anyway, but I guess since I just got asked this again, it’s time to really sit down and answer: what is punk to me.

Punk is a conglomeration of similar ideas, however, some people have different ideas of what is and isn’t punk. I, for example, do not support the vegan movement, but I do know people on here who have patches like “meat is murder” on their battle jackets. That would be an example of a punk ideal that not everyone shares. The basis, the foundation of punk though, as a political ideal, is anti-government and anti-capitalist. There are some things thrown under those umbrellas too. For example, I think you can label being “anti-cop” and under the umbrella of anti-government if you wanted because law enforcement is a government agency.

Punk is a fashion style. Time and time again we have pointed at large fashion brands (I’m looking at you Hot Topic and Spencer’s) and gone “I can’t believe they’re profiting off an aesthetic built on cheap DIY and making it expensive”. When I went a few days ago I found a black beanie with a safety pin and 3 d-rings that was slightly “distressed” as the fashion industry likes to call it. $16. Go get yourself a black beanie, find yourself a safety pin and some d-rings and cut it up yourself, if you’re doing it right it should NOT cost you $16. And if it looks like it’s going to cost you $16 then either you’re shopping in the wrong places or you need to find a 🖐️ discount on that shit *cough* excuse me I’m not sure where that came from. The most recent example of this (this is July 2023) is Hot Topic selling Hobbie Brown merch for the new Into The Spiderverse movie. Selling branded merch of a character who is anti-brand and anti-capitalist. This is not to say that you can’t pick up some stuff from Hot Topic. There’s nothing wrong with taking a liking to something and picking it up and adding to your style. I truly believe that. I also don’t have room to talk since I’ll be honest, dropping $100 a month on band merch is pretty much the only thing keeping me sane these days. Is that very punk of me? No, probably not. However I’m enclaved in this capitalist hellscape working for $9 an hour on pieces people pay $400 for, so if I need to indulge in buying band merch to keep me sane, so be it. It’s my money and I can do what I want with it, and I’ve also been donating money to trans organizations as well. I also like to thrift and DIY. The piece I’m working on now is a patch I got for like $7 from Hot Topic and a bag from the dollar store and I put the patch on the bag and I’m adding some details. A lot of the patches on my vest came from Hot Topic but a lot also are hand-made from me just buying fabric and going ham with fabric paint. DIY or Die should be the core idea. Thrifting should be the core idea. But it’s also not wrong to pick something up you like here or there. Even then, though, focusing on Etsy and stuff should be the preference. And I’ll shop at Hot Topic over Amazon any day. On that note, it’s okay to have other aesthetics as well. You don’t need to dress punk 24/7. You can have other fashion interests and still call yourself punk. There’s no need to limit or restrict yourself in an effort to not feel like a poser.

Punk is a music-based subculture, but punk music has so many subcategories and bleeds into many other music genres. There are people and perfectionists out there who will demand to draw lines between what is and isn’t punk music, but music is all about taking inspiration from other artists and making it your own, putting your own spin on it. You can get away with listening to any alternative music, whether it be emo music, pop punk, goth music, metal music, ska, etc. Taylor Swift is not punk, though. Neither is really any “pop” artist. Don’t get me wrong: I LOVE listening to indie pop music or whatever. I mean even just Imagine Dragons I love Imagine Dragons, but I’m not kidding myself into saying that it makes me punk to listen to Imagine Dragons. My Chemical Romance on the other hand is totally something is some weird subgenre of punk music. Listen to MCR doesn’t “make” you punk but someone doesn’t have the right to call you out for listening to MCR and calling yourself punk in conjunction to it, like Imagine Dragons, for example. Wishing you had the money to spend $2000 on Taylor Swift tickets does NOT make you punk. The MOST I will spend on concert tickets is $200 and I haven’t hit that yet. I think the most on an actual ticket-ticket I spent was $80 for my FOB concert in a few weeks. Once again: I work for my own money. I work while disabled, and whatever I’m not spending on myself goes towards charity and paying the bills. I’ve seen PTV, FIR, and CTE for $25. Local punk shows cost usually between $5-$10, maybe up to $25 depending. Lots of music is even ~free~! Go see some free music even if it isn’t “punk” music! That’s what’s really punk.

Punk is knowing when to be angry and when to be gentle. I think you do need to be angry to be punk. I started calling myself punk because I WAS angry. I was angry at a lot of things. And I needed a healthy outlet for that anger and this blog was born. I needed a place to yell about the things that bothered me, and slowly that became me reblogging posts about people yelling about the things that bothered them, and those things were not having rights, our rights being taken away, anger at murder by cops, etc. supporting that anger. Punk is NOT about a peaceful approach to everything. If you are against the idea of violence in every scenario then you are not punk. If you object to the phrase “punch Nazis” you aren’t punk. And while we’re at it let’s talk about Nazi punks. They exist. You can’t deny that. They are in fact a subculture of the punk subculture. They are punk, I think, in their own way, because they hate the government and stuff, but not for the right reasons. They want to make it worse. They hate the government like people who stormed the capital on January 6th hate the government. For the *wrong* reasons. And in that way they are posers even if they check the metaphorical boxes. Because punk is also about helping the community. It is about a peaceful and loving touch to those around you. It’s about recycling and planting wildflowers and volunteering for marginalized people. It’s about taking that anger in one hand and that want to see a peaceful and loving society in the other and balancing both. You can be angry all you want, and attend protests and yell all you want, but if you aren’t being kind to the people around you then it’s not really for anything. A better world starts with just doing something nice for someone. That’s attainable. That’s in the now. Don’t set your sights so high you’re missing the opportunity to change the world by putting a smile on someone’s face. But yes: you do need to be angry to be punk.

Punk is about individuality and not asking permission. The first way to not be punk? Going on anon and asking a punk blog if it’s okay to call yourself punk for xyz reason. That’s it, you’ve failed the basic test. Real punks do not ask. They do. Punk is about making it your own. It’s about not caring if you’re “doing it wrong” because you’re doing it YOUR way, and if you followed a set of rules on how to do it then that would automatically make it the WRONG way. The hard and fast rules are really just hate the government, hate cops, hate capitalism, hate bigotry, be angry, listen to music that wasn’t meant for family friendly public radio, dress in a way that freaks the right people out, and start doing some activism. That’s how to be punk.

How do you get into punk? You just do. Where I grew up there was a group of older teens who dressed in all black and had dyed hair and swore and lot and sat around and smoked and drank. They intimidated me. I wanted to be like that when I grow up.

I’m so much more than that though. I’m an angry transmasc, someone who rivals in horror and bloodlust as a metaphor for their own violent nature, who scares people enough they lock their doors. But I’m a girl in her 20s who loves buying lemonade at the local boba tea shop and whose favorite animal is butterflies who loves to sit in grass and make friendship bracelets.

So I find things that fit both of my selves and more. I started listening to Fall Out Boy on a suggestion, and from there I found My Chemical Romance, and all these other bands. I started shopping at Hot Topic and wearing all black with band shirts and giant rubber band bracelets. From there I slowly started experimenting by buying some spike bracelets from Hot Topic and started listening to heavier music. I found people on here who had cool battle jackets and I kept an eye out while thrifting and finally found one of my own. I took the patches it came with and started painting over them. My trans patch used to be Obama. Now it’s transgender. Transgender Obama, if you will. I started listening to people online, who told me stories of cops who killed people for no reason. But I thought cops only killed bad people? Well, it turns out that “bad people” is a pretty good metaphor for “people with darker skin”. I started listening to podcasts and I learned horror stories of the US government doing human testing on populations of black people. Can you imagine? They used to do that shit! But… do we really think they just… stopped? Or did they just get better at hiding it…

Getting into punk is about slowly morphing yourself into someone who listens and takes action. It’s okay if you’re like me and you got into punk because you wanted to dress like the scary older kids in your town or you were just really angry so you started a blog called “polyamorous punk” with the work punk in it, or you just really liked My Chemical Romance as a teen. You don’t have to get into punk because you want to fix everything that’s wrong with the world, but that’s how you end up feeling. Over time though as you mature you learn that’s unrealistic. So you do what you can and support the people who are doing what you can’t.

[miiishra]

Here is a little taste of the new chapter! Enjoy!

Rowan didn’t know what she had expected. 

That Oko would lead her to what looked to the be the seediest part of town rank with lawlessness should be at the top of her list, and yet she was still caught off guard.

Rats scurried out of the way as Oko approached a door and knocked in an oddly specific way that made Rowan tilt her head curiously. A pair of cloaked strangers making weird knocks looked even more conspicuous in a part of town that couldn’t give two rat droppings about law and order. She wouldn’t put it past Oko if he was doing the whole secrecy thing for the sake of theatrics. 

“There ain’t no need to knock like that, you damn overgrown junebug!” shouted a gravel-rough voice from the other side of the door that proved exactly that. The door swung open and the light from within the hovel revealed the most disgruntled looking goblin Rowan had ever seen. Short, treebark brown, thin limbs and ears much too big for the rest of him covered in tufts of dark fur, he reminded her of the brownies back home, but his dark eyes glowered with an intelligence brownies couldn’t even mimic, not in the way he was snarling up at Oko.

“You know that’s not what I am, Ricky,” Oko replied good-naturedly, all charm and pleasantness. 

The goblin — Ricky? — waved his long-fingered hand dismissively. “Bah! Fae or Fey, what difference does it make? Come in here and let’s get this over with already.” 

Rowan blinked. Fey? The pronunciation was ever so slightly different from “fae” and yet it carried an entire world of difference between the two. 

Oko wasn’t a fae? 

Under her breath, Rowan tried to pronounce “fae” and “fey” but she couldn’t get her tongue to twist in just the right way that made it sound different to her ears. She nearly jumped when the door slammed shut behind her and Ricky the goblin suddenly snapped, “And just who in the Sam Hill is this? Finally, got yerself a girl, did ya, junebug? Or did ya intend to sell her? I don’t dabble in that business, but I may have an interested contact — ” 

“Sell me!?” Rowan squawked indignantly. 

Oko held out his arm to keep her at bay. “I have no such intention. In fact, it is I who belongs to her.” 

Rowan’s protests could only come out as garbled noises as Ricky the goblin gave her a look filled with such disdain and disappointment, she wanted to die from shame. “Truly, there is no accounting for taste,” Ricky spat between fanged lips, then shook his head where the fur from his ears didn’t bother to reach. “Whatever. Just don’t let the Sterling Company catch ya.” 

He waddled around to a work desk, still muttering, “Buying people is kinda frowned upon in these parts, y’know. Unions all over the place. People yapping about workers’ rights and fair wages and only eight-hour workdays if you can believe that. The entire Multiverse was already falling apart with this nonsense, the Phyrexians were just trying to finish us off quickly.” 

Rowan couldn’t hold back the snort of a laugh that had been bubbling up in her throat. The old goblin reminded her too much of her aging great-grandfather who constantly ranted about “kids these days” in her earliest memories. 

Ricky snapped a finger at her. “See? That right there. No respect, no respect at all, not even under my own roof!” 

“Rowan, you are bothering the gentleman,” Oko whispered from the corner of his smile, which was now struggling to maintain its charming shape. Louder he said, “If it would please my master, I would greatly appreciate it if you waited outside whilst I take care of some boring logistics with my appointment here? I shall only be a few short moments.” 

“You’re two days late, you goodfornothin’ junebug!” 

She raised an eyebrow. “Master?” 

Oko’s dark green eyes flashed with a warning. 

She glared back at him, only to let him know that she would not be cowed. “Fine. You have five minutes, my faithful servant. Don’t go running off on me now, or your punishment shall be most severe.” 

“Not a worry, my dear Master, I promise to be a good boy,” Oko replied with a singsong voice that made her want to scream. Ricky the goblin groaned with loud and obvious disgust. 

And just like that, Rowan found herself kicked out of a goblin hovel to stand alone in a seedy street in a suspicious part of town.

[leohttbriar]

the people have expressed my own deep desires (and by people i mean @cmayw and @holodax on this post, so thanks y'all) and i felt compelled to at least try to offer something in answer. so. i give you. the final scene of the unwritten kiradax bringing-up-baby au. baby (not present) is a giant tardigrade. bareil (present) is boring.

you drop an olive i sit on my hat. it all fits perfectly.

With their Bajoran space-faring ship finally docked at the station (a certain Starfleet Commander Sisko was thrilled to witness its mooring), the Bajoran and Cardassian law enforcement officials having retreated and released Jadzia and Kira, and Baby the tardigrade long gone into the ether or some other obscurity known only to Starfleet freaks, Kira donned her blue robes and walked along the promenade with Bareil, trying and failing to communicate even a fraction of messiness of the previous three days.

His quiet presence was jarring. And then, worse, he started asking her questions like: “when the wormhole would officially transfer to the authority of Bajor” and “what exactly is a tardigrade” and “why are you talking so much about a worm-person” and “honestly, Nerys, stop talking about this Dax creature” and “Are you paying attention to me?”

If Kira had taken a hammer to her skull she’d have less of headache and, if her luck prevailed, she would also be dead.

“Are you paying attention to me?”

“Yes, love,” she said, patting Bareil’s hand gently.

“Well then,” he grabbed her shoulders and hauled her in front of him. “Mind telling me why you look like someone’s just spit in your tea?”

Kira shrugged. “I don’t look like that,” she said, mildly.

“You definitely don’t look like you’ve just robbed the Cardassians of a chance to stake a claim on a strategic point of travel in our star-system…”

“I’m not the one who did that, Bareil,” grumbled Kira.

“Nerys.”

“What?” she snapped, stepping out of his grasp and turning her gaze back out the observation window. She couldn’t help but think of how ridiculous the wormhole looked, all squiggly lines and heaving waves and so on. She said as much: “It’s a silly thing, isn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t call it silly.”

“It is, though,” she insisted. She twisted the length of her blue sleeve around her wrist anxiously. “It’s the silliest thing I’ve ever encountered.”

Bareil stepped next to her and tried to dislodge her busy fingers from her robe. She stubbornly kept twisting away at the fabric—Don’t tell me what to do, I’ll ruin my clothes if I want, she wanted to snap, as if that would at all indicate an appropriate level of mental stability.

“What’s going on, Nerys?” he whispered to her, in his careful tone. Kira wanted to un-stick his vowels with a pick-axe.

“Nothing is going on,” she said. “We got what we needed—the wormhole is free for exploration and free from the Cardassians—the provisional government has stopped whining at me like children—the tardigrade is back where she—”

She cut herself off with a sob.

Bareil tried to pull her into him but she just shrugged him off again and began vigorously flapping her hands around her face, as if to fan away her own stupid sadness.

“Nerys…” he said, reaching. “Tell me, please? What’s wrong?”

“Just,” she sucked in a breath that sounded more like a honk. “Do you think she’s happy?”

“Do I think who’s happy?”

“Baby.”

“…Baby?”

“The space-bear!” cried Kira. “The tardigrade! That—that—crazy Starfleet woman—she didn’t tell me where she put Baby—after chasing around the star-system, trying to find a place for a thing like that! That space-bear is as much mine as it is hers now. She can’t just keep that information from me!”

“Nerys—”

“And, what, just because I’m not Starfleet I don’t deserve to explore the wormhole, too? That’s I’m just supposed to stay here on Bajor and be a Vedek’s wife?”

“What—”

“After she trapped me on that planet and made me listen to the ‘songs of the proto-universe’ or whatever horse-shit,” she threw her hands out, now getting truly angry, “after she ruined my ship and delayed this whole project for a dumb animal! After she tried to trick the Prophets and then almost made the wormhole collapse and then dared the Cardassians to invade again! After she lost my earring and nearly wrecked everything! She doesn’t even want to share the space-bear? Are you kidding me?”

She slammed her hand on the observation glass.

“Not on my watch,” she snarled. “I’m getting Baby back. And my earring.”

Bareil looked at her for a long moment. Then he drew a hand down his face and said, “You don’t want to be a Vedek’s wife?”

Kira blinked.

“Bareil,” she said. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

He sighed. “I’m not sure I know you anymore. Let alone anything you mean.”

“Bareil.”

“Are you more upset about losing your old earring?” he asked, crossing his arms. “Or are you more upset about losing the one I gave you? For our engagement?”

Kira opened her mouth to respond, more sure than anything what her answer was and what the right answer should be, but her voice stuttered and squeaked and nothing emerged. She tried again.

A grunt.

She swallowed and tried harder, the words of assurance so real and close and exactly everything she thought would be easiest to say.

Silence.

She patted her throat to make sure there wasn’t an unexpected knife lodged there, cutting off her voice before it could start. She frowned.

Bareil, with the deepest of sad eyes, truly too sad for Kira to fully meet, uncrossed his arms and sighed again.

“You’re not who I thought you were,” he finally said. “Or your…priorities have changed.”

“Hold on—”

“Goodbye, Nerys.”

He walked out.

Kira could think of no rational reason to go after him. Which was probably his point.

She turned and punched the bulkhead and then hissed out a string of curses she hadn’t used since her resistance days.

“He didn’t sound too happy.”

Of course. Of course she'd found her.

Kira had either the urge to launch her phaser at her—Jadzia—like a heavy projectile and screech the screech of the desert lizards on Bajor, or to melt into an amorphous vapor so she didn’t have to listen to Jadzia’s nonsense for a single second more.

Instead she dropped her chin and closed her eyes and groaned.

“How long were you listening, Dax?”

“Oh, not very long,” was the breezy reply.

Kira pinched the skin at her temples, which was now bruised from the amount of abuse she’d put it through the past few days in Jadzia’s presence.

“Dax.” She was going to punch another wall. “My engagement has just ended. My future is up in the air. What do you want.”

“Don’t fret,” she replied, walking lightly up to her side. “I have a gift for you.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather you not.”

“It’s a present, Nerys! Come on, relax. Take it.”

Kira opened her eyes—if only so her brain would stop focusing on the particular rhythm with which Jadzia said her name. She looked up (and up and up, why was she so damned tall?) and narrowed her eyes at the wide-eyed expression of innocence on Jadzia's face.

“What is it.”

“Open it,” said Jadzia, un-phased and smiling as wryly as ever. She shoved the package at Kira who refused to lift a hand to hold it.

“What. Is. It.”

Jadzia pouted but obligingly unwrapped the package herself. She opened a box and then held it out for Kira to see. There, atop a black fabric, an earring shimmered.

The earring was the same burnished silver of her old beritium one—only this was darker in color, with a purple tint. The puncture point was still a half-circle, but within the rounded center was a starburst pattern, its tendrils expanding out amongst the rings.

On the upper chain was the ear-cuff, made of a reddish-gold with a thin flare like a glass wing, or glass sail.

The bottom chain had a single amethyst stone and, within its crystal, the tiniest carve-out of a planet—Bajor.

Kira, with a shaking hand, touched the stone and gasped at is warmth.

“So you can always have Bajor close, of course,” said Jadzia, in her casual—her weird—way. “I know—I know I made things hard for you. And I’m sorry. For not…understanding…why you have to do what you do. I know it’s my fault that the others were lost. But there!” she thrust the earring. “Made of beritium and an alloy from Trill—I didn’t have enough beritium. The stone is also from Trill, but I can take it off if you want. The cuff is made from a granite from Bajor, though, look!”

She was speaking far too fast. Kira briefly considered fainting.

“How cool is that?” continued Jadzia, unconcerned (habitually) with Kira’s sanity. “It’s just metallic enough to be manipulated, and in direct star-light, it’ll light up like a gold moon!--Isn’t that neat?--See there was this bacteria that used to eat up the earth and then poop out this granite-like waste—which is sort of how all granite is made--all tumbling and breaking apart--and then being smooshed together again under intense pressure--and this Bajoran bacteria used to have guts strong enough to remake rock! Delightful, right? And--and they--the ancient Bajorans--used this granite thousands of years ago to build their space-ships, too! Like yours! Anyway--that’s what the sail on the cuff is for. To be like your ship and you--you like the the ancient Bajorans--they used the granite for the ship's bolts and mast, to hold everything together--and help capture sunlight.”

She took a breath and withdrew her fingers, which had drifted around Kira’s wrist so she could hold the earring steady as she lectured about ancient bugs and space sail-boats—both things that were present on the earring procured and gifted to a now brain-dead Kira.

“So…” said Jadzia, dropping her gaze, looking awkward for the first time since Kira had met her. “If you don’t want it, that’s okay. I only thought I should try to replace the other one. All that happened happened because I just wanted to keep you near me. And I just did anything that came into my mind.” She shook her head at herself. “And well—I want you to know that”—she raised her gaze to Kira’s again—“I am sorry, Nerys. Truly.”

Then, business done, she nodded and stepped away.

Rapidly, Kira’s brain came back online. The facts of the situation hit her in the lungs and had her coughing out a phlegmy and embarrassing, “Wait.”

Jadzia paused at the stairs, turned around, and raised a single eyebrow.

“Don’t apologize,” said Kira, sounding a bit like a strangled bird. “Don’t apologize. I ought to thank you!”

Jadzia frowned. “Thank…me?”

Maybe it’d taken her a little too long to understand. But, to be entirely fair to her, she’d been a soldier since she was a child and, since then, she’d been far more on the lookout for threats than treasure.

“You see,” blurted out Kira, eyes watering, joy racing through her like a scream. “I’ve just discovered that the past few days were the the best few days of my whole life.”

Now there was no escaping it. The truth. She didn’t want her old earring made of the scraps of Cardassian vessel she’d shot down as a kid. She didn’t want Bareil’s earring, precious to her planet, the sign of a leader and a leader’s faith. No she wanted this one—this chaotic one, this privilege of wondrous love and duty—made out of the actual shit of prehistoric bacteria.

“Nerys,” said Jadzia, her eyes filling.

“Jadzia,” said Kira, reaching out a hand.

Jadzia didn’t take it, choosing instead to rush forward, pin her against the wall, and scoop her into a kiss. Kira threw her arms around Jadzia’s impressive shoulders, feeling weightless for the first time in her life, feeling pink and full and happy.

Jadzia pulled back but Kira was wasn’t in the mood for her contrariness. She yanked Jadzia’s lips back to hers and wrapped her legs around Jadzia’s waist. Below, her new earring dropped to the floor with a sweet thud.

“Darling,” gasped Kira, breathing in Jadzia’s smile and kissing it again. “This is going to be terrible, just terrible—but will you marry me?”

Then she kissed her before Jadzia could begin to start talking once more.

[thenightling]

This is my review, thoughts, and theories from the latest episode of Interview with The vampire. Episode 4 of season 2. I think the showrunner mistakes unnecessary twists as being clever. So here are the twists I anticipate. 1. I suspect Santiago's maker was Nicolas. We keep going back to Santiago's story. By the way, it's trite and very CW that the story of what happened to Santiago's maker, from being "killed" for breaking one of their laws, to finally revealing the law he broke was making a vampire without permission... this is very CW when plot points like that are unnecessarily drawn out. It pulls me out of the story and reminds me that this is TV writing. And yet they had the audacity to pretend it's "Soapy" to reveal that Lestat was involved with the theatre coven? 2. It's pretty clear that the visions of Lestat are NOT hallucinations like the showrunner tried to make us believe in the first episode of season 2. He's obviously astral projecting to Louis. He' been telling Louis things that Louis did not know such as how long Lestat was an actor, and what he had sewn into his suit pocket. 3. Though I really would like the reveal that Armand messed with Louis's memories, I'm starting to wonder if this lazy showrunner and writing team are keeping the soft woobified version of Armand and the one who messed with Louis's memories was Marius to sabotage the interview and protect the vampire race. This would be a major deviation since Marius was amused by Lestat's rock career in the books.

4. It looks like they're going to change why Claudia was condemned, perhaps foreshadowing that her being condemned is because she makes Madeleine into a vampire.

While I'm on the thought did anyone else go "Ah, yes! This was written by a man who knows nothing about womanly anatomy and behavior!" when Madeleine commented with surprise and apparent suspicion about Claudia's breasts still being small two years after they met. That was... weird... She might as well have said "This is unnatural! We've known each other for two years and your titties aren still small to medium sized! Why aren't they Dolly Parton sized yet?!" Claudia is played by a nineteen-year-old. A dress maker would know some people have small breasts. Also they're not THAT small! Just because you say something doesn't make it true. Claudia didn't need to give a war time explanation for her size. I haven't grown since I was thirteen. I'm five foot one and forty-two-years-old. And I didn't get my first period until I was fifteen. So Claudia being apparently sixteen and small chested should NOT be gaining attention from the dress maker. Yet again the show had a ridiculous amount of smoking. Why the Hell was hallucination / astral Lestat smoking? Madeleine talkin about the boy Yahtzee. "He paid with food and cigarettes." I think if this show runner could make the rats smoke he would. By the way, I STRONGLY suspect that Lestat may be in Paris, perhaps being held prisoner. Hmm... Have we actually ever seen the rats in the body disposal thing? That would be stupid though. Anne Rice's vampires, in the novels, don't eat. I know they did here but it would still be stupid that he wouldn't cry out to Louis "Hello! I'm here!" Now I'm imagining some idiotic "He was so starved for blood that he ate the flesh from the corpses, looking for whatever drops might remain." Yeah, they would do that... It also looks like there will be a theatre uprising and Santiago's group will be who condemn Claudia. And Armand truly won't be able to stop it. (I'm guessing the show runner missed the parts in the books and the subtle clues in the movie that Armand was actually behind it. He seems to miss a lot of what's important in the books, like he only read a poorly written wiki entry. Unless all of this is false memories? How would Louis know about the calls Santiago made while he and Claudia were not around? Who told that part?

Finally, why are the theatre vampires upset at Louis for living like a human? I thought that was the entire point of the vampires LEAVING Armand's Satanic coven under the cemetery? They used lines about Lestat for Louis here. Why? Lestat already taught Armand's followers that they can live like humans two centuries earlier. Why recycle the plot?

And why are they still following the Satanic coven rules? Sabbats? The Theatre is supposed to be secular.

[autumnalwalker]

Heads up seven up tag x2

Catching up on old tags as I start to get back into writing, so I'm combining this tag from @avocado-frog with this one from @kahvilahuhut.

Passing the tag (if they want it) to @vacantgodling, @maskedemerald, @sam-glade, @sleepyowlwrites, @ahordeofwasps, @stesierra, @somealienquill, @moondust-bard, @cljordan-imperium, @sarahlizziewrites, @late-to-the-fandom, @winterandwords, @memento-morri-writes, and an open tag to anyone else who wants to participate.

So now for fourteen(ish) sentences from Part 2 of the First Witch's Testament (the "..." paragraph is the omitted voice of the one conducting the interview):

The part of the city I lived in had a reputation for being dangerous and violent.  This reputation was only partly deserved, and even then only if you were upper class or a cop.  If you were just a stranger passing through the wrong part of town the worst you needed to worry about were sidelong glances and body language that silently promised that fucking around would be promptly met with finding out.  But if you belonged there, then you belonged.  

I’m still not sure how much I was truly a part of the community - I tried to keep everyone living in my proximity at arm’s length, socially - but word got around quick that the tall chick with the cane and occult jewelry was someone to look out for.  Turns out that when you can keep the record of the time your neighbor got arrested for talking back to an officer during a “random” pat down from showing up when they apply for a job they become invested in making sure you continue to make rent on time.  Do that sort of thing enough times with enough people and you get a reputation as a resource worth keeping around.  The nighttime walks between my grimy apartment block and the poorly-maintained metro station were easily the safest part of my day. 

…

Maybe it was more than that, sure.  When I moved there I made a point of trying not to get too close to anyone for the sake of limiting collateral damage in the area if I ever brought down legal or corporate attention, but you can’t hear all the sob stories people came to me with and not be at least a little moved.  Not without being colder than I ever even pretended to be. 

All the same, that’s why I did most of my offline socializing across town in a forgotten little patch of green whose residents weren’t nearly so well prepared for the hammer of the law to drop on them at any time. I had an arrangement there too: I made sure city inspectors continued to forget about them and overlook the mountain of zoning violations and in return they provided me with food from their wall orchards, upcycled clothes, and regular in-person socialization.