#we're all holding hands through the disaster of it all <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[sophsun1]

hi soph!! just wanted to say i hope you're doing okay after everything <3 thank you for still making so many gorgeous gifsets from that episode, i loved every single one of them!!

hey abigail!

awww, you're very welcome, i'm glad you're enjoying them and i hope they are maybe helping everyone heal a little somehow in their own way 💛

it took me two days just to be able to even look at a gif of them without bursting into tears never mind making one so i guess i'm feeling slightly less depressed about it all, though i'm sure i'll swing wildly back and forth the other way at some point lol.

i'm hoping to make a few more sets to celebrate what we got and going forward whatever happens with this fandom, whether everyone goes their separate ways and moves on to something else, it's been a joy to be a part of it all for however long we got them.

p.s 🕯 never stop manifesting tommy kinard's return 🕯

[estcaligo]

Nobody: Me at 3 AM: Glorious Masquerade represents the confrontation between polytheistic and monotheistic worldviews

Or "The Big Three of Olympus vs One Christian God" in the Glorious Masquerade event

Content Warning: Greek Mythology, religion, Christianity, Glorious Masquerade event spoilers

Note: I talk about things in this post from a researcher's point of view, in a descriptive and comparative manner mostly. Just some observations.

I've already discussed a similar concept before - Idia, Jade, and Sebek representing Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus, the "Big Three" in Greek mythology, the most powerful and important gods of Olympus - during the Harveston event. See the post here.

However, in the Glorious Masquerade, the situation becomes even more peculiar because the SSR characters are dorm leaders - those who are in charge. And then there's Rollo, who is twisted from Frollo.

Note: I will consider all sources of inspiration for Rollo, including the book and the musical, which were confirmed by Yana herself to be inspirations for Rollo.

What? Why? Who?

3 vs 1. The Big Three of Greek Pantheon vs The One God, who embodies 3 in 1 - the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

The Big Three are the three most powerful gods among the Olympians - Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.

Zeus commands the sky, lightning, kingship and summon any weather conditions.

Poseidon manipulates water, storms and earthquakes.

Hades has dominion over the dead and undead, darkness, earth-related disasters, and metals and jewels.

*By the way, lightning was considered just Zeus throwing a temper tantrum, and what happened when Malleus got angry? Right, he started throwing  lightnings left and right.

And now we have Rollo. Twisted from Frollo, who, as we know was a religious man (especially in the book where he is a priest, not a minister).

And despite there being other characters, such as vice-president and the assistant, they aren't "real" or “important” characters like Rollo.

So we can say there is only one (1) main character in this event.

2. 7 Dorm Leaders vs 1 Head of the Council

As is well known, Ancient Greek mythology features many major gods, each controlling different aspects of life (or representing them, or serving as patrons). This makes Ancient Greek religion a polytheistic system - meaning it has multiple gods - akin to the Great Seven and the dorm system at NRC.

The Dorm Leader Council functions much like a small pantheon. Not to mention NRC is located on upper hills, which resembles a mountain (Olympus) if we look at the landscape of the Sage Island.

On the other hand, Christianity only has one God, making it monotheistic religion. There are multiple saints in Christianity, who are patrons of different aspects of life, however it is important to note that these saints do not control - they are more like the intercessors between man and God.

Even the NBC itself is focused on one Villain and has one statue in the yard, not the 7 (the "pantheon" of NRC). And NBC itself doesn't have Dorm system like NRC.

3. Oral vs Written

Greek religious tradition is primarily oral, with legends and stories passed down through generations by word of mouth.

In contrast, Christianity is predominantly a written religion, where the written canon holds great importance.

How is it important here?

Well, in this event specifically the NRC guys spend their time walking around and commenting on things. We learn some of their lore and thoughts on various topics through dialogue. Even Professor Trein reveals his past verbally telling about it. Naturally, it’s a game mechanism. But since we’re talking about such details….

On the other hand, the most important part of Rollo lore is found by the Big Three in written form - Rollo’s diary.  It's also noted how Rollo prefers writing above all else. He writes in his diary, sends letters, and drafts invitations. While this may not apply to the NBC in general, since we're focusing on Rollo, this detail is worth considering as well.

4. Our guys vs That One

Another difference between the two religions is that the Greek gods had flaws that made them more similar to humans. They had tempers and they often held grudges. This made the followers of the religion not want to be like them but, instead learn from them and their shortcomings, frequently through fear. 

In contrast to the flawed gods of Greek mythology, Jesus is portrayed as a man who is to be aspired to, more so than the Greek portrayal of a god; who the audience learns from (imitating in a way), rather than obeys.

Our NRC boys are someone we know and who we’re familiar with. We know their struggles and fears, their dark past. Even the guys in charge of each dorm - the Dorm Leaders - are not so distant from the regular students. Well, more of less.

Whereas Rollo is described by all the characters we’ve met at NBC (and even from his vignette) as someone who is amazing, excellent, wonderful and so…exemplementry. Rollo, at the same time, distances himself from everyone.

5. Vertical vs Horizontal

A small but interesting observation is that many monotheistic religions, including Christianity, often have a “vertical mindset” - symbolizing a relationship between the human and God.

In Christian cosmology, we often imagine a vertical world structure: Hell at the bottom, the human realm in the middle, and Heaven above.

In this event, we also experience vertical movement when things get serious. Initially, when it's peaceful and fun, we mostly walk around the town (mostly horizontal, not including the lower parts).

However, when the action begins, Rollo first sends us downward into the sewers. From there, we start moving upward. The ascent of the tower is highly symbolic, as we are literally ascending towards the sky where Rollo awaits us (with his “judgment”)

 6. Masks

The whole masquerade theme is, of course, a nod to the cartoon and part of the game feature to get the characters to dress up.

But let’s remember that in Ancient Greece, masks played a significant role in theater, particularly in tragedies and comedies (twst features elements of both). In general, it is known that masks represent hidden nature, transformation, and more. 

Interestingly, only our NRC squad wears masks and costumes. We even encountered some Royal Sword Academy students, but they were not given costumes (again, a game feature, but still noteworthy).

On the other hand, there's Rollo, who isn't wearing a mask or even a costume. He doesn’t need to. He is who he is, with no need to transform into something else, as he represents the One, in our comparison here. 

What's even more interesting is that, despite not wearing a physical mask, Rollo is the one with ulterior motives in this event, and we only learn his true face later on. He metaphorically takes the mask off, even though he never wore one in the literal sense.

7. Catholic Guilt

The last but not least - Rollo's punishment, which, perhaps is the most fitting and cruel outcome for him. Rollo, after being defeated, expects harsh punishment because he is ruthless with himself and assumes others will treat him the same way. He failed and he expects to be punished. However our Big Three surprise him by concealing the truth and allowing others (the NBC mobs were the first to thank him for his bravery at the tower) to believe that Rollo was a hero. This situation forces Rollo into a state of internal torment, where he must live with the guilt of his actions while being praised for something he didn't truly do.

Rollo's punishment is psychological, forcing him to confront his guilt and shame in isolation. They choose leave him one on one with his Sin.

On the contrast, in Ancient Greek mythology punishments were often cruel and involved physical pain. One of the most popular example would be of course the myth about Prometheus, which, by the way involved Zeus.

And the way Big Three dealt with Rollo was truly cruel in its own way.

(from an interesting article about Greek Gods and punishment - here)

Fin

I left out some obvious notes like Malleus having horns, Rollo hating on magic etc.

Naturally, there may be other details I haven’t mentioned, so feel free to add any additional insights!

[cutielando]

not so happy reunion | r.c.

synopsis: in which the reunion in the Cameron family is a disaster

my masterlist

From the moment you and Rafe got engaged, you had left the Outer Banks.

Not because you were keen on doing so, but because Rafe wanted to escape from the hold his family, specifically his father, had on him.

You moved into a beautiful mansion on the mainland, both of you had stable and high-paying jobs, so you were living comfortably.

You had also gotten married after a year and a half of moving, only with a few close friends, Wheezie, Sarah and your family. Per Rafe's request, Sarah and Wheezie hadn't told their parents why they were visiting the mainland, using the excuse of a much needed girls' trip.

Even though you had advised Rafe to at least let his family know about the wedding, he vehemently insisted that you didn't tell them anything, claiming he didn't want them to ruin his perfect day with you like they did everything else.

However, Ward didn't want to accept the fact that Rafe didn't want to have anything to do with him or his family anymore, hence always sending you an invitation to the annual Midsummers party.

Every single time, Rafe would come up with an excuse as to why you couldn't make it. You were either busy with your jobs, you were feeling under the weather, you missed your flight, the excuse range was very wide.

However, now that you were also pregnant with your first child, you figured it would be time to pay the old OBX a visit, for old times' sake.

Rafe, even though he agreed on your behalf, was very much not excited to be back.

"Have we got everything?" you were finishing up packing your bags, making sure you had put everything you would need for your 2 day stay.

"Do we really have to go?" Rafe asked from where he was sitting on your shared bed, pouting like a small child.

You sighed and chuckled, amused because he was still trying to convince you not to go when you were literally minutes away from leaving for the island.

"Baby, we haven't been back there in almost 3 years. Don't you think it's time we do go and show people we're still alive and happily together?" you moved your hands so they were resting on his shoulder, his eyes at a level with your growing bump.

He sighed and leaned forward to kiss your bump and cradle it in his hands.

"I don't want her to be in that environment" he mumbled, speaking about your unborn daughter.

The moment you had found out you were having a girl, Rafe couldn't stop dotting on you. He was so excited to have another little princess running around, a mini-you. He was doing everything to make sure he got the hang of it all, from reading books to taking some daddy-and-me classes, watching videos and grilling his co-workers about advice.

He was the most prepared father-to-be ever.

"Baby, everything is going to be fine. She's safe in there, nobody is going to do anything to her, or me, or you. We're just gonna see some old friends, have a little fun and try not to get into arguments with your father. We're leaving as soon as we can, okay?" you were running your hands through his hair, twirling his dirty blonde locks around your fingers.

He nodded and kissed your bump one last time before getting up, taking your bags and hauling them to your car.

The ride to the OBX was quiet, Rafe's hand consistently resting on your bump as he drove and yours resting on top of his.

As you observed Rafe for the whole ride, you noticed how much he started tensing up the closer  you got to the island, full on freaking out by the time he had parked his car.

"Okay, let's get this over with" he muttered as he got out of the car and jogged to your side, opening your door and taking your hand in his, interlocking your fingers.

You slowly made your way to the reception, more and more of your old friends recognizing you and stopping to chit chat.

At first, Rafe's hand was tightly holding yours tensely, but his grip slowly became more tender and less tense as he finally managed to calm down and enjoy seeing his friends.

"Rafe?" Ward's voice boomed through the party, making everyone around you stop to observe the interaction.

Rafe cursed under his breath but turned around, coming face to face with his father.

"Dad" Rafe nodded and said, his grip on your hand tightening slightly.

You started caressing the side of his hand with your thumb, trying to keep him grounded and calm.

"Oh, it's so good to see you, my boy" the man pulled his son into a tight hug, squeezing him like never before.

Rafe coughed and just patted his father on the back, one of his hands still linked with yours. You could only imagine how uncomfortable the situation was for your husband.

"And I see you brought your girlfriend as well" Ward said once his eyes fell on you.

"Wife, actually" you proudly corrected the man, your other hand now resting on your clearly visible bump.

Ward's eyes followed your hand and once he saw the wedding band on your hand holding your baby bump, his jaw went slack and he was at a loss of words.

Rafe cleared his throat and let go of your hand, instead opting to wrap his arm around your waist and pull your body flush against his.

"I can't believe this. Congratulations. When did this happen?" his voice was now back to his usual icy tone, surely figuring out the fact that he hadn't been invited to his son's wedding.

"Almost 1 year and a half ago. Found out we were expecting a couple of months ago" Rafe's gaze on his father hadn't let up.

Ward nodded, biting the inside of his cheek visibly.

"And you didn't think to invite your family?" he bit back.

"Wheezie and Sarah were there. The only family I needed with me" 

The music had now stopped, everyone concentrating on the brewing tension between the two Cameron men.

"What are we and Rose then? We raised you!" 

"With all due respect, you didn't do shit. You left him to fend for himself his entire life and didn't give a shit about his well-being because you were too obsessed with Sarah. You don't get to do that anymore. We didn't want you there because you didn't deserve to be there, just like you are never going to be a part of our child's life" you burst, not wanting to let Rafe deal with this by himself.

Ward's eyes widened as they shifted from his son to you. He had remembered you as the calculated one from the couple, always trying to keep the waters calm and Rafe under control. He didn't expect you to talk back to him like that.

"We're clearly not welcome here, so we're going to leave" Rafe said.

On your way out, you bid goodbyes to some of your friends and gave Ward one last look before getting into your car and driving away.

"I'm sorry, I thought it would be a good idea" you said once you had made it home, now safe and sound in the sheets of your bed with your husband.

"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault. At least we managed to catch up with people before disaster struck" he teased, kissing your shoulder and hugging you from behind, his hands cradling your bump.

You laughed and settled in bed, drifting off to a peaceful sleep with the two most important people in your life: Rafe and your daughter.

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[erisweekofficial]

Tonight we're here to hype up @nocasdatsgay aka finnijer on ao3!

If you're looking for a multiship Eris super writer, you HAVE to check out her writing. Neris? Got it. Azris? Got that too. Eris x Reader? Check. But did you know you needed Cassian x Eris? No. Well now you do. We're incredibly impressed with the diverse range of ships! 🥵

Seriously though, there's so many great fics on her master list. We wanted to share a few with you to get started.

Neris but make it omegaverse (1) (2) (3)

Azris: Chokehold

Eris x Reader: So Where do I Start?

Or any of her Eris Week fics from last year!

Read on to learn more about @nocasdatsgay's opinions on Eris and what his tumblr blog would be like.

What is your favorite eris thing you've made?

This is hard. I was told to pick the thing with the most Beron* so The Price You Pay for Power. It’s from Nesta’s perspective but I get to work in hits of what Eris is thinking or planning through how she perceives him and his expressions. I think I did a better job in this story so far with writing what most consider “canon Eris”. He’s closed off, stern, but also does his best to keep Nesta safe after the disaster that was Family Dinner.

When do you think Eris got his first smokehound?

Smoke hounds are a prize possession of Autumn. I like to think maybe he got one as the eldest Vanserra but inherited more when his mother’s sisters passed away. Or maybe he just took over their care as a hobby since Beron couldn’t be bothered.

If Eris finally gets rid of Beron, what do you think would be his first act as High Lord?

Lift the exile ban on Lucien if there is one. He would definitely send a decree that Lucien is allowed to come home if he so chooses.

What do you think Eris is like as a partner?

Eris is attentive and calculated. That bleeds over into partnership. He’s got a mental catalog of all your likes and dislikes; preferences that you say don’t matter but do. I also feel like he is collected in public but in private his hands do not leave you. It’s almost grounding how he has to be touching you or holding you. I just think he’s a soft boy deep down but only for his partner and he would tear the world down for you.

What would Eris's tumblr blog be like?

I’m torn between a doggie blog and Prthyian’s latest hot gossip. Maybe he’s doing both. Dog tips and photos in the front, a scandalous article about the shadowsinger allegedly regifting a necklace in the back. He is xoxo Suriel.

*the mods would like to clarify that the threat was that if she didn't pick a favorite fic, we'd choose the one with the Most Beron™️ 🤣

[captainsophiestark]

Vigilante Book Club Part 3

Jason Todd x Reader

Part 1 Part 2 - Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober, and for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: DC

Day Four Prompt: "No, we're not doing that."

Summary: Jason and his new SO have their official first date.

Word Count: 2,216

Category: Fluff

A/N: Shoutout to @v1ckycheesue for commenting about wanting to see the date! I wasn't sure I was going to come back to this idea, but something just popped into my head, so now we're here :) No promises, but there might also be a part 4 at some point on the horizon!

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I stepped out of my building with a smile, waving as soon as I caught sight of Jason on his motorcycle, waiting for me right where he said he'd be. After months of friendship and forming a mini book club with the Red Hood, earlier this week, I'd learned his secret identity thanks to a phone call from one of his brothers. Thankfully, Jason didn't mind, and even better, it had led to Jason asking me out on a date. He'd had a bit of a family situation to attend to earlier, but tonight was the night, and having him meet me outside my apartment on his motorcycle was certainly a good start.

"Hey!" I called once I was close enough. "How did the family dinner disaster go?"

Jason scoffed and rolled his eyes. "It went great, once I got there and kicked everyone else out of the kitchen. Somewhere between five and ten of us regularly attending family events and somehow I'm still the only one who knows how to cook."

I grinned. "Well, from personal experience, I can attest that you are an excellent chef."

"Thanks, babe," he said, huffing a laugh as I finally reached him. He held out one arm for a hug, and I stepped into him, wrapping both my arms around his shoulders as he sat on his bike. He brought his other hand up to rest on my hip, giving it a light squeeze before moving me a step back from him. "You look great."

"Thanks! You do too. So... are you gonna tell me what we're doing tonight?"

"Not yet," he said with a grin. "I still want our first stop to be a surprise. But you do need one more thing before we go."

I raised an eyebrow as Jason turned around on the bike, digging into one of the side bags before turning back to me with a bright red helmet in hand.

"Here, let me help you get it on."

I smiled, Jason helping me pull the helmet down over my head before holding either side of it, giving it a little shake to make sure it fit snugly. He grabbed the part right in front of my mouth and ran his finger across it, giving me a satisfied smile.

"Looks good. Go ahead and hop on, and we can get out of here."

I climbed onto the back of the bike, wrapping my arms tightly around Jason's waist as he pulled his own red helmet on over his head. It wasn't the same as his Red Hood helmet, but it did look pretty similar. I grinned, even though Jason couldn't see me.

"You ready sweetheart?" he asked, his voice crackling over an in-helmet comms system. I nodded, then realized how unhelpful that was.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Although I do have a question."

"What's that?" Jason asked. He started the bike as he spoke, the engine roaring beneath us.

"As somebody trying to maintain a secret identity, don't you think it's a little conspicuous that you've got a motorcycle helmet the exact same color as your vigilatne helmet? And almost the same style?"

I heard Jason huff a laugh, and his response took a few moments to come through the radio. Part of that might've been Jason trying to focus while he merged with traffic, but he'd never be able to convince me that was the entire reason.

"Nobody's figured it out yet," he finally said. Now it was my turn to laugh.

"Well, there you go, I guess. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that nobody in Gotham suddenly becomes observant. You know, I could repaint your helmet in some sparkly colors for you, maybe put some stickers on it that say 'NOT Red Hood', help you keep your secret. We could make it a date night."

Jason snorted. "No, we're not doing that."

"Your loss babe."

I held tight to Jason as we swept through the city streets, looking over his shoulder and trying to figure out exactly where we were headed. I didn't put it together until we turned a corner and pulled into the parking lot for my absolute favorite bookstore in the city.

I gasped, and I heard Jason chuckle over the radio.

"I take it you're excited?"

"Jason, I got nothing but green flags from you from the moment you brought my favorite book back to me, but I cannot begin to tell you how amazing this surprise is. This is my dream date."

Jason chuckled again, pulling the bike into a spot near the front as he responded.

"I'm glad a bookstore date's as exciting to you as it is to me."

"Oh my god, you have no idea. You are actually a dream come true."

"Right back at you, sweetheart."

With that, he stepped off the bike and pulled his helmet off, taking mine from me a moment later when I did the same. I had a beaming smile on my face that I couldn't wipe off if I tried, and as soon as he saw it, Jason smiled too.

"Alright, I'll never be the one to put limits on getting books, but let me tell you what I was thinking for tonight," he said, taking my hand and helping me off the bike. We started walking to the front doors together, shoulder to shoulder and hands held tight. "I was thinking we each pick a book, ideally one the other person hasn't read before. Then we do an exchange and read the books the other person picked out for us."

Jason looked at me as we came to a stop just inside the bookstore, apparently waiting for my reaction. Like he hadn't just said something out of a romance novel.

I leaned up to kiss his cheek, squeezing his hand as I did. When I pulled back with a smile, Jason had one eyebrow raised.

"That sounds absolutely perfect," I said, and a minute later his face broke out in a wide grin.

"Okay, good. I'll go get your book, you go get mine. Whoever's done first finds the other."

"Deal. Let's do this."

Jason and I headed off in different directions, hunting through the bookstore for just the right book. A few weeks ago, he'd told me he'd never read Dracula, one of my favorite books and a classic that seemed right up his alley. We'd talked about reading it together for our informal book club, but we hadn't done it yet, and I couldn't think of a better book to get him for our date.

Unfortunately, we were in a bookstore, so I had to make a few detours on my way to my goal. I ended up with a small stack in my arms by the time I finally made it to Dracula, and I chewed my lip in thought as I stood betwen the stacks. What if he didn't have room for us to put these on the bike? What if we were going somewhere after this where the books would be a problem? I rarely managed to walk into a bookstore and walk out with nothing more than what I'd gone for, but maybe I could just take picture of the other titles with my phone-

"There you are."

I turned to see Jason behind me, a stack of books in his own arms. I grinned.

"I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who made a few pitstops on my way to the date book," I said. Jason scoffed.

"Of course not. I don't trust people who can easily avoid detours in bookstores."

"Neither do I. It's for sure a red flag."

"Well, I'm glad we both passed the test," he said, grinning again. "Now come on, you ready? I think it's time for the next part of our date."

"I'll follow you."

Jason and I checked out with both our stacks of books, which he carefully loaded into one of the bags on his motorcycle. It was a tight fit, but he managed to make everything work without any of the books being at risk of bent pages. The other bag remained conspicuously closed, and I raised an eyebrow at him as he helped me get my helmet on again.

"Is there a reason you didn't split the books between both bags?"

"Yeah."

"...And that reason would be?"

"A surprise." He grinned. "Come on, you'll know in a minute. It's not too far of a drive from here."

I climbed on the back of the bike behind Jason, holding onto him tight as we wound through the city streets. Before long, we were leaving the traffic behind, turning onto narrower and narrower tree-lined roads climbing up one of the mountains outside of the city.

"This is a pretty murder-y date spot, just so you know," I said over our comms. I felt Jason's chest rise and fall with a laugh under my hands the same time it came crackling over the radio.

"Are you trying to warn me about something, sweetheart?"

I shrugged. "I mean, you're the Red Hood. I think we're both probably pretty safe."

He huffed another laugh, taking one hand briefly off the handlebars to squeeze mine. I wrapped my arms around him a little tighter, and after a few more minutes of riding on darkened trails, we came out on top of one of the tallest hills. Jason parked the bike, then hopped off and offered a hand to help me. We both knew I didn't need it, but I took it anyway.

"Alright, this is one of my favorite spots in the whole city," Jason said, tucking both our helmets away before opening the tank bag that didn't have books in it. He pulled out a basket with one hand, then grabbed mine again with the other.

I followed him to the treeline, until we reached a ledge overlooking the city. I stopped short, letting out a little gasp. I'd never seen it from a vantage point like this before. All the lights sparkled like stars, while the forest around us was perfectly peaceful.

"Wow," I breathed. "Jay... this place is amazing."

"I know. And even better, none of my siblings know how to find it."

I laughed, watching as Jason took out a blanket and unfolded it, then started setting up the rest of an evening picnic.

"You know, I'd actually really like to meet your siblings."

"Oh don't worry, you will. They've been wondering for a while now who I've been meeting up with regularly. They're all nosy motherfuckers, they'll probably show up in disguise to crash our next date."

"...Is it weird that I'm kind of excited for that?"

"Yes. Extremely."

I just laughed again, moving to join Jason on the picnic blanket he'd set up for us. I sighed and leaned into him as he wrapped one arm around my shoulders.

"I have to say, this might be the best date I've ever been on. Buying each other books and a romantic picnic overlooking the city? That's impossible to beat," I said.

"That was my goal," he said, pulling me closer with a grin. "I'm glad I succeeded. Now come on, I don't want this food I packed going to waste."

Jason and I dug into the picnic, which was packed full of our favorite foods. We laughed and talked the night away, perfectly comfortable, just the two of us. It was technically our first date, but we'd been spending our nights together for long enough that a peaceful, romantic night together seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

"Jason, that was amazing," I sighed, leaning into him once we'd finished dinner. He leaned back on his hands, and I curled into his side.

"Yeah. It was. You know, I'm really glad that guy stole your favorite book."

"I guess that's one way to say you're glad you met me."

Jason grinned and leaned in to kiss my temple. "You get me."

I sighed, and the two of us just sat there together for a while, curled up on the blanket and looking out at the city. Finally, I sighed.

"So... what would you think if I proposed a finale for this date?"

"That depends. Is this a subtle way of telling me you're ready for the date to be over?"

"No! I just had an idea I think you'll like, and I want to pull my weight a little on making this the most magical evening ever."

"Oh yeah?" Jason asked, sitting up and moving me with him. I turned to face him, a giant smile on my face as his hands wandered to my waist. "And what might that idea be?"

"I was thinking we could go back to my place..."

"I'm with you so far."

"And then I was thinking we could make some tea and curl up on the couch and read the books we got for each other."

Jason grinned, putting one hand at the nape of my neck and pulling me in for a kiss. I smiled into it, leaning forward and resting my hands on his chest as Jason deepened it. When he finally pulled back, I was breathing hard.

"That sounds fucking perfect. You're literally my dream date, let's go."

I laughed, especially as Jason packed up our picnic with record speed, then took my hand and nearly dragged me back towards the bike. The two of us laughed the whole ride to my apartment, only to cuddle close on the couch while we started reading hand-picked books together. It was definitely too early to call, but I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my nights just like this.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989 @space-helen

DC Taglist: @gaychaosgremlin @v1ckycheesue @lavender-dinos

[writing-frenzy]

Beautiful Disaster AU- 2:

:P so the gremlins for this AU won't let go it seems; fitting as I eat noodles I get the author man himself, along with his favorite hater.

:3

Edit: I almost forgor to put a link for part one

Here is another poem/quote thing :3

I'm beautifully broken,

perfectly imperfect,

beautiful in my flaws.

All together I am a Beautiful Disaster.

By Unknown

Again, this fits both SQH and SJ so much :3 This will be set kinda after the Moshang extras, just without the ship happening so far (because rebuilding trust and care, and loyalty takes time, Mobei being patient enough because SQH is worth it, with SQH learning he is indeed worth it, more than worthy.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite what most think of the An Ding Peak Lord, the glorified immortal secretary/janitor of the Cang Qiong Mountains never misses any time. He has more months, years plotted way in advance then anyone would dream, dates and times printed into his mind with an ever ticking constantly echoing his steps. He plans weeks ahead of anything he can afford to, considering people and patterns he has noticed, procuring orders before they were ever thought to be sent, knowing his martial siblings won't noticed the needed thing until it is too late.

But even he is not all knowing, author god he may be, so when things run out faster than he expected (Ah, embezzlement or incompetence, take your pick of what it could be! Maybe even both, it could be one of those days.) He takes days at a time to get these 'urgent' orders filled, replaced, fixed, or cared for to the best of his ability.

And he can assure you, that you will find no better than him when it comes to time and logistics; he has it down to the minutes it takes him to eat a bowl of noodles, to the seconds it takes to wipe the blood from his hands from yet another sad little assassination.

His days, like any An Ding Disciple, are numbered and ruled by the water, sand, and hands of a clock.

(Needless to say, Airplane sometimes thanks himself for his lazy writing, for example; that regular clocks do exist here, even if they are usually only for the holier-than-thou nobles/too rich to ever think types. It had been one of the first ever things he bought with his hefty Peak Lord allowance, and one of the few expenses he never regrets.)

No, Shang Qinghua never misses any time; he just chooses to skip inconveniences so that he could be spending his valuable time on things that actually do need his attention.

Of course, not like he'll ever let anyone know the difference.

"Liu-Shidi, there shouldn't be any meeting today? I'm pretty sure the next Peak Lord Meeting is when Peak Lord Shen comes to his Peak Next week?" Shang Qinghua whines, feeling the drag on his pale blue An Ding robes as the Ban Zhan War God drags him to the meeting that was in fact today, but knowing his transmigrator bro, will usually put off to next week because Yue Qingyuan is a fucking pushover.

(The man literally let Shang Qinghua back; sure yeah, probably until he at least trains a successor, but the pale blue robed Peak Lord would bet money it was partly because his head disciple terrifies all the other Peak Lords. Not that he can blame them, seeing as Bai Weizhe has finally forgiven him for leaving him behind; the young man's talent and temper is a legendary thing to witness, almost seems a shame he's wasting away at An Ding.)

"There's been a development; Mount Tonglu has settled." was the grim reply Liu Qingge gave, voice tense as his body was, never letting up his grip on his clothes, getting firmer in fact, as if ready for a runner.

"... oh... oh.. OH FUCK!" Shang Qinghua lets himself curse in English, digging through his sleeves for a paper-ah, the good talisman paper, good, good, and his lucky specialized pen he had made just so he could write everywhere, "We're gonna have to hold a conference with the other sects, aren't we? We'll-fuck, have to prepare relief efforts for the common folk, patrols will have to be bolstered and increased-Damnit! We'll have to get offerings ready for the Heavenly Officials just in case..." mumbling to himself, he sends his hastily written note to his Head Disciple as a paper plane, still muttering to himself as Liu Qingge continues to drag him forward to the meeting room, only dropping him once they get inside, knocking him from his stressed filled muttering.

Just to see all Peak Lords are in attendance, with a bonus Luo Binghe even right next to Cucumber bro all grim faced.

AH! Why is there so much work?! Mountain, why now of all times and places do you have to settle? Couldn't have done until Shang Qinghua died or somehow fucking ascended? But Shang Qinghua says nothing, just letting out a pathetic whimper to the disgust of a few of his fellow Peak Lords, though a few do give a sympathetic glance.

Heck, Fan Qingxue of the Alchemy Peak Shoushan and Yao Qingli of the farmers peak Dong Ye look like they want to join him in it; Ah yeah, those two ladies were the ones deathly afraid of ghosts. Since they've always been pretty cool and the ones who gave him the least shit to worry about besides Mu Qingfang, Shang Qinghua thinks he can spare some of his good calming teas and drinks...

Or they can just go straight for Zui Xian's harder spirits (ha).

"As I'm sure everyone knows why we are here, let us get down to business." After Zhangmen-shixiong cuts through his usual bullshit with that simple opening(surprise, surprise), the immortal carries on, "After all these centuries, Mount Tonglu settling bodes ill omens, with it's last settling the precursor to a plague and famine that almost wiped the mortal plane from existence." with those grim words spoken, the atmosphere gets chilling.

"If I recall Zhangmen-Shixiong, it took thousands of desperate prayers and many more offerings before the Heavens answered the call of the people, putting down the cause of it all; a Ghostly Calamity." Yi Qingyao, Peak Lord of the beast taming peak Yanlin, says as her pale, scarred hands reaching up to sooth the twittering little bird on her shoulder. "Will we have to once more rely on their power?" Will they answer us goes unsaid in her words.

While the Heavenly Officials have been quiet for a long time, it is obvious that they are still there, what with prayers still being answered and merits still being met; just more undercover, detective style really. At least, that's how Airplane had wrote it out in PIDW; had to get a few goddesses in the harem some way after all, and having the Heavens be like secret agents in his mind had been funny at the time.

(Though it does put into a new perspective the harem overthrow and everything; hmmm, feels like he should do another house cleaning around now, just in case...)

"As nothing has happened so far, it wouldn't due to try and summon those from higher plane when we don't even know what we will be up against; with no intel about the threat, we don't know if we will need a Martial or Spiritual God." Liu Qingge states, the war strategist coming out in full swing. "It would just be a waste of resources and manpower to offer without any knowledge, especially since we do not know how long the Calamity has had time to settle into their power."

"What do you mean time to settle?!" Fan Qingxue asks, alarm coloring her face even paler than before, hands clenched into her handkerchief; like this, she really does look like a dainty little princess, all big eyes and perfect brown hair, no one would think she would be a treasure hunter the like of Indiana Jones.

"From what is known, Mount Tonglu can be open for years, centuries at a time before the gates of the City of Gu Close, the true regulators of the mountain; it never settles, only until years after a Calamity is reborn does it finally rest, all its energy spent on the new, cruel rebirth." Sun Qingfu, Peak Lord of Ku Xing, answers her with a frown, his regular smile lines stressed from it as he does. "If I may ask, does anyone know just when the Gu City gates last opened?"

By the quiet that happens, the grim face of those who do know, it is not going to be an answer they like.

"... From what was found, it was almost eight years ago." was spoken ever so softly, Shang Qinghua feeling his own eyes widen as his mind does the math;

Almost eight years ago? When Cucumber-bro...

Here, the Ban Zhan War God seems to twitch, jaw clenching for a minute before it smooths away, all emotion erased as he turns to the resident Demon Lord.

Ah, while Shang Qinghua has an idea of just why Luo Binghe is here, sitting at the table with no one bothering to comment on it; considering the Demon Emperor's vast influence, and still in control over a certain, foretelling/divination talented sect, he inwardly pleads with his Shidi, hoping it will get through.

Please do not get into a fight here with the protagonist son! (May his Protag also not start anything please!)

"Has Huan Hua Palace managed to gleam any information about the upcoming Ghostly Calamity at all." Liu Qingge asks Luo Binghe, Acting Grand Disciple of Hua Hua Palace still, even being a Demon Lord as he is. (Though, his son is more of a figurehead then anything, what with Huan Hua needing all the help they can get, at least until they restore their reputation just enough to 'promote' another.)

"... From what the Divinators have said, not much has been managed to be gathered, something seemingly blocking their sights and tools." Luo Binghe says, before looking to the sect leader, a question seemingly in his eye, to which he gets a short nod.

"It seems that both Huan Hua Palace and our own Divination Division have been trying to qualify the Calamity coming to little ends; very few details have been gathered, but I'm sure you have received details of the same city?"

That gets a stark frown on his Protagonist's face, dark eyes flashing a gloomy red before he says those damming words. "Jinlan City."

Eight Years.

Jinlan City.

... Oh Fuck his life with a rusty spoon; this is not the fucking time for a god dammed plague/famine thing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You two bit, sell-out hack of an author! How in the fuck could you leave out such important world building! Just for fucking sex plots!" is ranted when they're alone in the bamboo house on Qing Jing Peak, Luo Binghe being in high demand to work with the other sects as the current head of the golden cultivators. Damn, but is Shang Qinghua glad that's not his problem anymore, even if he feels a bit sorry for the Hua disciples he revived just to take over his paperwork duties.

(What, it's not like he could have used that plot device for himself, considering that the Sweet Dream Seven Petal Rose could only be used on righteous, young souls, both of which he is not. Gongyi Xiao and his little bunch are doing great last he checked, even if they now have a newfound hunger for spiritually dense rocks and plants; still a surprise to have that many good nuggets in such a gilded, slimy place like Huan Hua.)

"Hmmm, more focused on what could get me my rent money at the time, you know, like an adult." Shang Qinghua sasses back, looking over all the reports constantly being sent to him, signing something there, double checking there, burning that paper here. "And considering how Calamities need actual, real deal gods to handle their fucking business, I made the executive decision to just not include them into the story."

"Binghe wouldn't lose!"

"..."

"... No, he wouldn't! He the- He's your protagonist..." here Shang Qinghua looks over to his bro, being hit once more just how young the other actually is, green eyes wide as they take him in.

"Calamities were not named lightly bro; they earn that title through pain, agony, and a resentment that refuses to ever fucking die." Here, Airplane comes into full swing, rambles of a favored topic only an author can understand dumping out, "It was one of my favorite things to plot out in my original draft, I did so much research and writing for what I was going to have as a neutral recurring character for an arc or two here or there, someone who could make the Luo Binghe bow in respect. Calamities were a part of the whole for the reason pure blooded Heavenly Demons were wiped out." he explains, only for Shen Qingqiu to interrupt.

"Because very few Demons or Spiritual Creatures can affect ghosts, so that the protagonist could show off fancy cultivation tricks with his companions or wives." his green clad bro finishes, a death grip on his fan.

"Yeah, had to justify at times why my protag would bother leveling his human side, considering how op his demonic blood was. I figured ghost would be an even playground, while not effecting demons much, couldn't actually be effected that much in turn." Shang Qinghua shrugs, wincing at the pops and cracks as he does, before going right back to his paperwork; he really should have went back to his peak, he really would get more done, but with his favorite hater's memory, it would be worth the cutting into his time if it could jog his own memory of his story.

From what he wrote in Proud Immortal Demon Way, Mount Tonglu was only in one arc of his story, his son having to find the ghost of one of his favored wives to revive her, who ended up being sucked up into the mountain. Luo Binghe had to struggle hard, getting the aid of a sexy Ghostly Cultivator and a Demonic one to help him along the path to find the ghost of his wife. It was a race against time and enemies, ghosts who would rip anyone to shreds, and to ensure his ghostly wife wouldn't gather too much energy from the place so that she couldn't leave.

Thanks to his Sexy helpers, plot amor, and general bullshit plot devices, Luo Binghe saves his dear wife's ghost, revives her, and has some sexy papapa times with all three ladies from the adventure. (Though the two don't actually end up wifed to Luo Binghe from what he remembers.) But despite all the bullshit, Airplane remembers at the time he only wrote the group going as far as the second level, just in the mountain proper, and sure as hell nowhere near the really important parts; the ancient city of Wukong, and the Kiln that attracted all the ghosts in the first place. Otherwise, he would have had to write a fight scene that Luo Binghe could not win.

And couldn't pay his bills; so thus, Mount Tonglu and all its possibilities got shafted, just another plot thread left dangling among the many others he had in the wind, taunting his readers as it were.

One that gives context, but no longer any help with their situation.

After that bit of thoughtful silence, Cucumber bro begins to say something, only for a knock at the door to interrupt them.

"Shizun, apologies for interruption, but the Head Disciple from An Ding Peak is here." that sweet voice can only be from one of his sweetest characters, one Ning Yingying.

"Ah, you can just come on in Bai Weizhe, I don't think-ah!" Shang Qinghua calls, before sputtering as his bro proceeds to spit take all over him, "Gross, seriously gross bro."

All that gets is the stunned, incredulous gaze from his friend, before his rather stunning Head Disciple comes in, looking like he should be the Peak Lord honestly. Really, he makes the light blue and grey of the HD Uniform look like the highest fashion, with those highly noble features and crystal grey eyes. The young man is just missing a crown in that silky black hair, and bam, he'd look the part.

Well, then he'll get that look in those usually gentle eyes and then he'll look more like he should be the Ban Zhan or Qing Jing Peak Lord; just like now, a storm brewing clouds as he takes in the two Peak Lords before him, darkening as they look to his dripping Shizun.

"This disciple hopes he was not interrupting anything? There is unfortunately much work for Shizun to do, and so little time to do it." His disciple says, face perfectly bland even as he ignores any of the custom greetings one should do before their elders, especially those way above in seniority. Raising an eyebrow at his disciple, as while Shang Qinghua could let him get away with murder, decorum and manners are not something his disciples skip on, a tool he has trained them to practically weaponize.

But Bai Weizhe merely smiles like sugar won't melt in his mouth, completely transforming that handsome face into a truly devastating attack, his raging eyes the only give away. Hearing Cucumber bro choke beside him, Shang Qinghua makes to stand up, sighing once more.

"Ah well, just another storm to weather through, maybe if I'm lucky I can just hide away on my Peak or the Northern- I'm not lucky am I?" Shang starts hopefully, only to see the darkening of his disciple's eyes.

"...When the Divinatiors were divining into the future, they managed to find out one more thing." Here Weizhe's eyes flicker, looking down for a minute before back to him, the only sign he gives off he is worried, "When looking to see who would go to investigate, Long-Shigu only kept getting omens of death, no matter who was drawn from the lots..." Here, his disciple takes a deep breath, Shang Qinghua himself now worried for his student, putting a hand on their shoulder to ground them, calm them however he could (along with himself).

"It's only when Shizun's name was drawn to go that the omens lightened at all."

... Fuck, if Long Qingyu, the Zui Xian Peak Lord, the best Divination Master this side of the Jianghu that wasn't part of Huan Hua said so, then it was so...

Damn it to planes and noddles, but he's already missing his bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I look at you, and I just love you, and it terrifies me. It terrifies me what I would do for you."

By Alexandra Bracken

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shen Yuan can fully admit, if only to himself, that he might just be, slightly, just ever so slightly, terrified.

Of course, he'll admit this too no one; despite how OOC the System has let him become, how it stays in 'standby mode', some habits have just become too ingrained at this point to change, forged as they were into his shield. It has been both a boon and a bane as it were in his day to day, keeping him together through most storms in his life, even if it's left him sopping wet afterwards.

But in the end, at least he still has someone to warm him up, a calm within that storm to rest his weary body for a time... Even if they truly aren't an actual escape from said storm.

"Shizun, is there anything you need? Anything I can do?" His Binghe fusses, those clear dark eyes of his not able to hide the tightening worry scrunching them, face still beautiful even as full of negativity as it is.

"Just be as ready as possible; we do not know what to expect, with assumptions being a foe that could blind us when we least expect them." Shen Qingqiu speaks, truly trying not to think about it, about just what kind of situation they are about to be walking into, the ruins of Jinlan City just a bit before them damningly, the Base Camp the Cultivation Sects pulled together to create rest less then a mile away in the distance.

'Oh, but how hard it is to not make any...' the transmigrator can't help but think, grimacing behind his fan as he can just notice the stares from others around them, some judgmental, other pitying, but all still obviously looking at them.

After all, eight years ago was the day he first 'died' in this world. Combined with the issues with the Sowers, then the resulting destruction of said city... it didn't paint the best of pictures.

As expected of a protagonist; even after the 'happy ever after', there was still no rest from possible story lines. (Shen Yuan honestly at times was just... tired of them. Didn't he and Binghe, especially his Binghe, deserve a rest?...

He'd rather be caught in a wife plot even at this point.)

"... A-Yuan?" was whispered rather lowly, right into his ear and behind his fan, so no one with advanced cultivation could hear or see what he was saying, "Is this some sort of... event?" His disciple asked, making his Shizun pause in his fanning for a moment, before returning, not even so much of a twitch on his face.

"...That has not made any signs of movement beyond what it has told me and your Shang-Shishu." Shen Yuan answers carefully, ignoring the brief twitch of disgust on his husband's face at the mention of the other man, "It has been quiet since a year ago." At least, from what Shang Qinghua has told him about his months long misadventure.

"... I see." there, just slightly, is a bit of relief in Luo Binghe's face, Shen Qingqiu unable to stop his own weary smile at the sight.

Despite everything, despite how he will never, ever tell his fellow transmigrator, he is grateful the man convinced him to tell Binghe as much as he could about their transmigration.

Even if it felt like a kick in the teeth at the time.

("... Bro." Shang Qinghua has a look in his eyes that makes Shen Yuan freeze, fully reminded, in that moment, in that time, that for all his fellow transmigrator plays around and whines, the man has earned his Peak Lord title, and all that it entails. "You know the tropes, the clinches, the story; what part of keeping all those secrets to yourself seems like a good idea?"

Here he couldn't help but bristle, "And in what story do you see a character actually talk about being from another world, hmm? What can I even say?!" He stops himself from going to hit the other with his fan, the urge stifled as he sees those brown eyes darken as they narrow.

"I've found that as long as I kept it vague, I can get the general idea of what happened across. I've experimented with My King and my Head Disciple, and the only time I was stopped was when I was about to mention the System directly. Otherwise I was good to go..." here the older man pauses, before he sighs even as Shen Yuan gaps, honestly stunned the other man actually tried something like that.

"Look, Shen Yuan, do you want your relationship with Binghe to work out?"

"!! Of course!"

"Then tell him; tell him before it is too late and you really become a foil for Yue Qi and his Shen Jiu." here, hearing his name and the mention of those two, Shen Yuan cannot help but pale, seeming to stop and stare at the bitter author god before him.

"Wha-"

"... Cucumber-bro, for all you remember about my stallion protagonist webnovel, you seem to always forget it's a tradegy at its core..." here the other man just looks so tired, staring into his teacup instead of directing those all too knowing earth colored eyes to him.

"And the promis of love was always meant to be Binghe's greatest weakness.")

"Ah, greeting from this Disciple to Shen-Shishu, Lord Luo." was greeted, Shen Qingqiu nearly jumping if he hadn't already noticed his husband was looking over, even if he did look stiffly over to the voice.

One Bai Weizhe stood there before them, not a hair out of place, his face neutral, calm and as if he probably wasn't plotting how to slit your throat in your sleep. Like he isn't secretly some powerhouse that could probably go toe-toe with Yue Qingyuan and even toy with the man if he felt like it.

"Ah, good day Bai-Shizhi, has everything been completed and set up?" Shen Qingqiu asks, fanning himself lightly, doing his best to pretend that this is just a regular disciple, that their is nothing wrong with them, that he is just a wrong word from breaking out into a cold sweat.

"Yes, this disciple was sent to gather all the participating Peak Lords coming from Cang Qiong Mountains; all preparations have been made, Long-Shigu and Huan Hua Palace saying soon will be the best time to enter the city. I'm sure that these Lords can find the way their themselves?" Shen Qingqiu nearly frowns at this subtle though pointed disrespect, having to gently tap his fan on his husband's shoulder before he can say anything.

"These Lords are capable of it, though it would do Shizhi well to remember their manners; I'm sure your Shifu has taught you better than that?" The Peak Lord comments, knowing if he doesn't say something, then Binghe will-

And while that face is still as calm as before, those eyes giving nothing away, there is something about that pause that says Shen Qingqiu has said the wrong thing.

"This disciple will keep it in mind, Shen-Shishu. Please pardon me, I must go and find the other Peak Lords joining the scouting force." With that, and a shallow boy just respectful enough, the young man hurries along, the pale blue and grey of his robes fluttering in the wind as he goes.

Outwardly, the Qing Jing Peak Lord seems as calm as can be, soothing his fussy husband as they walk over to the main tend of the Camp, not even flustered a bit by the altercation.

Inside on the other hand, Peerless Cucumber is just 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Airplane of all villains you picked up, why him!? Why him as your HD?!'

Now, while Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky had made plenty of low IQ and forgettable villains in the story, it just meant that when he actually pulled out the good ones, he made them unforgettable. From the beloved 'Big Brother' Pan Shan, a villain only in protection of his family, to the literal 'Calamitous Beauty' Tan Xifeng, a woman so proud and strong she rather turn to ashes forever then be trapped in the Harem, Bai Weizhe was just as up there, the calm 'True Mastermind' in the name of revenge in PIDW.

In the set up, The Bai Family is a very high ranking Cultivation Family, just as high if not more so than the Liu family, said to be descended from heavenly beings, granted power and weapons of that level because of it. But over the years, with less and less powerful Cultivators coming from the family, the Bai Family head got desperate, making his son marry multiple women to try and birth a hopefully powerful heir. And seeing how much of a playboy the man was, with plenty of bastards beforehand, it wasn't too hard for the man to put out it seem. Of his many spawn, two ended up as wives to Bingge and of course a few becoming villains for the arc.

But Bai Weizhe, when first introduced, it shows one of his half-sisters, a future wife, trying to defend him from another of their siblings who were attempting to torture him. All throughout the arc's mystery, one learns more of the future wives alongside this weak bastard son of a maid and the Family Head's son, learning they were little more than a slave to the Family Head and his Son's whims.

Bai Weizhe had seemed like a helpful, if slightly talented npc, being more of an awkward emotional support then any seeming threat, even if things seemed ever so slightly off about him, most of which could probably be excused by just how abused he had been. In fact, many thought the man would become a little brother character, Binghe taking in the poor bastard son as a future assistant or something because of how intelligent he was (with rotten girls going even farther and saying he would become part of the harem.)

But when the plot twist was revealed, with it turning out the murders and almost complete alienation of the Bai Family was all his doing, daringly using the protagonist to do his dirty work for him... it had been as shocking as it was satisfying to the readers, some actually rereading the entire arc with eyes wide open to take in all those little clues and cues to the real monster hiding behind the mask.

But of course, Luo Binghe being Luo Binghe in Proud Immortal Demon Way, Th Bai Bastard meets his end and Bingge gets the Bai Family twins and some family treasure as a bonus... (Though, from debates and such, it actually has been argued that his death may have either been faked or the man had a back up prepared.

Knowing PIDW and all it's bullshit plot devices... he can see it, especially after meeting him.)

But coming to the tent, Shen Qingqiu pushes all thoughts aside, face grim as he looks over his fellow gathered Peak Lords.

Yue Qingyuan. Shang Qinghua. Mu Qingfang. Liu Qingge. Qi Qingqi. Himself and his husband.

"Both the best and worst team to send." Long Qingyu's bitter words spoken broke through the tents atmosphere, making everyone tense as she did. The Zui Xian Peak Lord took a gulp from her bottle, truly stressed if she was drinking in front of them, "I cannot say much, or do anything else but offer this one last advice; make sure you actually listen." she stresses, golden hair slipping from her messily made bun as she pushes it back even as she takes another swing of her drink, mismatched brown and green eyes closed as she does.

"Listen to what?" Liu Qingge asks, eyeing the woman as she finishes her drink with a mournful look.

"Just as I said; listen. Do not assume, do not judge, do think before you damn well speak-" Here she stops herself, teeth gritted as she breaths through them, before opening her eyes once more, "I can say no more, not unless I want the omens to darken even further. Just get ready to go." with that, the woman is gone as fast as she came in, closing the tent behind her with a loud snap.

Staring at everyone, meeting eyes with a few before looking to his Binghe, Shen Qingqiu starts to prepare himself, checking just in case for anything that could have been missed.

Come what may, he and the others will be as ready as they can be, going against the Calamity as they are.

It'll have to be enough.

(Oh, but they will never be ready, unknowing of the poisonous green eyes watching, waiting for them all this time.

They've waited long enough.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's note:

And here we have our favorite disaster bi's, Airplane and Cucumber-bro! Man, both are great characters, my bias being Airplane, but Shen Yuan is also such an interesting character to delve into, being one of the favs I both want to hug and just smack over the head :>

The second quote I found I feel can really seem to resonate with Shen Yuan, when our boy stops repressing and actually lets himself feel.

Also, while I like BingQiu... boi, does that relationship have issues, ones I really hope they did indeed talk through when they could (They have a fuck ton of time to do so, so here I had Airplane help and kick them into gear; nothing like be reminded of tropes and the fact that your hubby is a fucking Tragedy Protag. :> )

Anyways~

Airplane: *Revives a bunch of disciples because he does not want to deal with the paperwork* ... why are you looking at me like that, stop that, go back to your sect.

So many OCs this chapter, I'll just do a spot light for one because then this chapter will just be author's note. (not too mention how he kept worming his way everywhere, just smiling at me as he did.)

Bai Weizhe: Means Outgoing, great sage because I like it; little fun fact, how I have my OC Bai Weizhe: he was actually a high IQ Villain in PIDW, (think if Lan Zhan and Jin Guangyao had a baby, he'd be that baby :3 ) the bastard son of a great cultivation family where Luo Binghe was doing the 'acting like a pig to get the tiger' sort of deal. He was actually a genuine, hidden boss level threat for at least one-two arcs before he had to get fridged for papapa plot (tho.. more like a faked death, Airplane always had a soft spot for his villains after all :3). In fact, it was mentioned in Villainous monologue that he had went to join CQM sect, but due to sabotage by his family, never got the chance in PIDW.

In SVSSS, Airplane was still in the process of working on his 'applying by application' process to An Ding (because I love this headcannon, it gives me fucking life, I am still mad for losing the bookmark to the story that inspired it.) so he still picked disciples by the digging test for a while. He sees this one poor little guy digging despite looking like he's gonna pass out any minute, powering through it with sheer determination and spite, the other Peaks Lords and Disciples already dismissing them, thinking he has low cultivation/poor prospect.

Shang Qinghua though doesn't care about all that; he very much wants that determination (and spite, gotta respect it) He can use all he can get! *After the kid cleans up and gets the drugs out of his system, Shang Qinghua blinks, double takes* WTF when did I have a talent on my peak??

Bai Weizhe: *Smiles like butter won't melt in his mouth* I've always been here Shizun.

(Does Airplane remember him? lol nope, but Shen Yuan sure does :D)

Also, none of the An Ding disciples really 'care' about Shang Qinghua's betrayal (Anyone on An Ding? Oh, they've dreamed of much worse; so much worse~) :) They Just :) Are a bit Upset :) about being Left Behind. :) But its all good; their Shizun came back :)

(And if the sect knows whats good for it, he'll stay where he fucking belongs.)

[kiwiana-writes]

Weekend WIP Game

@welcometololaland has invented a new WIP game and we're all blessed for it.

Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only write one fic at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more). (If you're an artist or other non-fic fandom creator, questions can be found here!)

1. WIP List: Sigh.

-The Last Five Years || The Next Five Years -The way we get into each other's bones [Angstapalooza RWRB Edition] -[Alex & Bea fake date] -[arranged marriage redux] -[Bodyswap] -[D&D flirting] -[fetlife lol] -[Findom] -[Hands free] -[Henry writes] -[Henry/Alex/Liam/Spencer] -[Hockey bf Henry] -[horny soulmates] -[Leverage AU] -[Orpheus and Eurydice] -[Rafael prequel] -[Shaan/Zahra] -[Vegas fuckup] -As sure as the dawn brings the sunrise -Auroras and sad prose -Buzzing through my veins -Chantilly lace and a pretty face -Climb up and meet the sky -Hold up, rewind, knock me off of my feet -Just one moon (and one golden sun) -Rafael is surrounded by disaster queers [Actor AU verse] -Secret Agent Raf 5+1 [Actor AU verse] -What's left of me in our little vignette -Years of dreams just can't be wrong

2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest? The way we get into each other's bones [Angstapalooza RWRB Edition]

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest? The Last Five Years || The Next Five Years - it's designed as a duology, so idk if each individual fic will beat out angstapalooza, but the duo definitely will, and y'all will want to read them together (unless you love pain I guess??)

4. Which WIP is your favourite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why? It changes day to day but right now I have @clottedcreamfudge going fucking feral at me over [Hockey bf Henry] at any given hour of the day which definitely makes it really fun to just... write a snippet and immediately be shrieked at.

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why? For some unknown reason, Years of dreams just can't be wrong which is the Anastasia AU?? I don't know why it's fucking with me so much, but it's very rude actually.

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why? The way we get into each other's bones [Angstapalooza RWRB Edition] -- it's gonna be a balancing act in terms of not being gratuitous emotional pain etc

7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why? The long ones: The way we get into each other's bones [Angstapalooza RWRB Edition], The Last Five Years || The Next Five Years, [Leverage AU]. Maybe a few of the others depending on how the plot spins out.

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block? ...have you seen the length of this list?

9. Which WIP has your favourite OC? Tell us about them? [Rafael prequel] is the only one that has any OC of substance right now lol

10. Which WIP is the sexiest? In terms of what is actually on the page right now, not what is planned to be written, it might actually be [Henry writes] right now.

11. Which WIP is the angstiest? The way we get into each other's bones [Angstapalooza RWRB Edition]

12. Which WIP has the best characterisation (in your humble opinion)? ...I mean I hope all of them lol. For fun let's say Chantilly lace and a pretty face

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)? Climb up and meet the sky, the vintage plane fic my beloved.

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on? The way we get into each other's bones [Angstapalooza RWRB Edition], though Years of dreams just can't be wrong has given it a surprising run for its money.

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why? The way we get into each other's bones [Angstapalooza RWRB Edition] -- I wrote a fic lovingly deemed angstapalooza for another fandom and people collectively lost their shit over it, so... idk I guess y'all love pain???

16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs? Yes. And then I wake up and can't remember enough to write it down and then I cry.

17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other fics don't? Oh for sure! The Last Five Years || The Next Five Years has the non-chronological chapter order baked into the format, so making sure the chronology is right and that readers can follow where we're at is a complexity. [horny soulmates] has one of those worldbuilding things where the less thought you put into it as a reader the better because otherwise it's a Problem so trying to make sure it makes sense without being horrifying if you think about the real world implications is a balance lmao. What's left of me in our little vignette has some time-related fuckery. [Orpheus and Eurydice] is written in verse, so. You know.

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humour? In terms of what's actually written right now, probably Hold up, rewind, knock me off of my feet? But I like to think they're all funny lol.

19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process? [Henry/Alex/Liam/Spencer] runs through all four listed POVs which is fun and also requires a lot of pondering about whose POV we have when for maximum impact. [Rafael prequel], Rafael is surrounded by disaster queers [Actor AU verse], Secret Agent Raf 5+1 [Actor AU verse] are all Rafael POV, but the latter two are actor AU verse so I have a bit more leeway -- the first one is is canon compliant, though, so teasing out the little info we get about him and building the timeline is a beast of a job. [Shaan/Zahra] is fully epistolary so doesn't technically have a POV I guess.

20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs. The way we get into each other's bones [Angstapalooza RWRB Edition] is a prologue + 10 chapters and all those chapters are titled already lol, because I've never approached something in a normal order in my life.

Definitely NOT tagging as many people as I have WIPs holy hell but let's go @affectionatelyrs @celaestis1 @cha-melodius @clottedcreamfudge @cricketnationrise @daisymae-12 @dumbpeachjuice @happiness-of-the-pursuit @heybuddy-drabbles @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @hypnostheory @indomitable-love @inexplicablymine @lilythesilly @maxbegone @myheartalivewrites @nontoxic-writes @orchidscript @rmd-writes @sherryvalli @smc-27 @sparklepocalypse @stereopticons @suseagull04 @tintagel-or-cockleshells

[nightfang22]

Can't Erase Heartbreak Part 2

A/N:Wow!Thank you guys so much for all the love on my last post!I'm so glad that you guys like my writing.Really it means a lot to me.And upon request by @erensbbg with the wonderful base idea for this fic I grace you all with part two!Let me know what you guys think and remember my requests are always open!Enjoy!

Warnings:Minors DNI,drinking,heartache

Pairing:Present Mic x f!Reader

Word Count:995

You were walking down the streets in the dead of night, cheeks chilled from the wind grazing your still wet tear stains. With no bags packed and no will to live, you went the only place that your mind could think of. You knocked on the door with your head hung in shame, beginning to sob again when he opened the door. Hizashi looked at you with first a smile which quickly faded into a look of concern. "Hey, hey, hey. Why ya cryin'?" He put a comforting arm around your shoulders and led you inside where it was warm. He sat you on the plush couch that you'd always loved. It was this bright sunshine yellow shag disaster of a thing that you two had found near a dumpster when you were both still in college. You couldn't believe he hadn't gotten rid of the thing by now. He even started sewing little patches over the holes from the wear and tear of time passed. He wrapped you up in your favorite blanket that he kept in his hall closet and gave you a cup of tea before sitting next to you. "What happened, honey bee?" And that's all it took for you to break down and tell him everything. How Aizawa was late coming home, how you went looking for him at the school, how you found him with Ms. Joke, even how you smashed a bottle of expensive red wine over his head before leaving to come here. You, of course, didn't leave out the bit you said to Shouta about wishing that you had fucked Hizashi on your honeymoon. Hizashi was your best friend in the whole world. You've known each other for years. There's nothing you couldn't tell him.

                                        *Fast Forward 4 Years*

It was a warm spring day and your sundress clung to your figure beautifully as you walked through the park with your boyfriend, of 3 years now, Hizashi. After that fateful night and a long dragged out divorce process, you moved in with Hizashi. He asked you out when you two were making dinner together one night. It took you completely by surprise but it's been the  best decision you've ever made. You've never been happier. Holding Hizashi's hand as you guys walked through the park made you feel like you were walking on air. "I love you." He turned to you and smiled. Those three words are the quietest he ever speaks, as if he'll break the moment or you by talking too loudly. You giggle. "I love you too, 'Zashi." You turned to look up at his tall frame and smiled. He was leading you down a beautiful cobblestone path. To where, you were completely clueless. "When are you going to tell me where we're going, 'Zashi! My feet are getting tired." You whined and pouted which only resulted in a chuckle from him. "I offered to carry you, Princess but you were the one who said 'I can walk on my own!'" You turned a crimson red at his words. You did say that but you didn't think you'd be walking for so long. Grumbling, you continued your walk in silence until Hizashi stopped. "We're here! Happy anniversary, baby." The smile on his face was so wide you were sure that his cheeks were going to split. "Oh, 'Zashi. It's wonderful!" You look at the soft blanket laid out on the ground and the cute, rustic picnic basket in the center. There were flower petals all around and a small music box.

You sat down with Hizashi and giggled as he took out a bottle of your favorite strawberry moscato. You had lost your taste for rich dark reds after you divorce from Shouta. You swirled the wine in your glass and took a sip as you looked out at the setting sun surrounded in hues of lavender and pastel pink. Suddenly the music got more soft and instrumental and Hizashi has abandoned his glass of wine in favor of looking at you. "(Y/N), there's something I've been wanting to ask you for a long time. I spent countless hours and countless days beating myself up for not doing it sooner. And don't even get me started on how badly I beat myself up when Aizawa got to you first." He moved so he was sitting directly in front of me. "(Y/N), I've been in love with you since the day I laid my eyes on you. And I never forgave myself for letting Aizawa have you first because I was too much of a coward to stand up. But now," He paused, maneuvering so that he was on one knee in front of you. He pulled a ring box out of his jacket pocket and opened it up to reveal a gorgeous amber ring. "I won't lose my chance again. I got it made with amber instead of diamonds because I know how you think diamonds are such a cliché. (Y/N), what I'm trying to say is….will you marry me?" He looked at you with hopeful and anxious eyes. You covered your mouth to hide the gasp as tears fell down your cheeks. You couldn't stop your fervent nods even if you wanted to. "Yes! Oh my gods, Hizashi! Yes, yes I'll marry you! Of course I'll marry you!" You wrapped your arms around him as you squealed with joy. He picked you up and spun you around before setting you back on the ground, slipping the engagement ring on your finger. "I love you." He whispered in your ear. "I love you too, 'Zashi." Little did the two of you know, your private moment wasn't so private. From a nearby tree, a very drunk Aizawa was watching the whole thing. Bottle in hand, tears streamed down his cheeks. His quirk may have been powerful but there was one thing that he knew he couldn't erase. Aizawa knew that he can't erase heartbreak.

[team-heavenly]

Chapter 26 - Part 3

You know the drill by now. Part one is here, part two is here...

Yeah, so uhhh, fun fact! In all my years of playing this game, I never once tried to leave Aegis Cave apparently, because this genuinely surprised me. THERE'S AN INVISIBLE WALL. YOU CAN'T LEAVE. YOU CAN ONLY FINISH THE STORY LINE, FAINT, OR USE AN ESCAPE ORB.

And this kinda upset me because, y'know, for the first time this entire damn run, I finally had a pile of Orans and Apples and other basic things, and I wanted to drop them off in storage to make room for more.

The good news: I did in fact pick up an Escape Orb, so we said SEE YUH!

While we were back in town, I fed a Wonder Gummi to Celebi via Rotom's juicebar, and we got two surprises packed into one!

WUH- OKAY THEN.

And now, some moments that nearly gave me a freaking heart attack.

Damage runs deep </3 Hell of a line.

Also, moments that nearly make your eyeballs fall out of your head until you remember your Garchomp has Huge Power.

Speaking of, here is a non-inclusive list of the moves and abilities I remember seeing from the Unown (either in dungeon or from recruits):

Moves:

Ice Ball

Faint Attack

Thrash

Hyper Beam

Luster Purge

Lunar Dance

Gunk Shot

Dark Pulse

Extrasensory

Hammer Arm

Spit Up

Flash Cannon

Abilities:

Sturdy

Illuminate

Truant

Aftermath

Natural Cure

Serene Grace

Bad Dreams

Drizzle

Cloud Nine

Snow Warning

Heatproof

Filter

A true grab bag, which was honestly kind of fun when it wasn't trying to kill us.

Anyway, we only had to go through three times before getting all the stones we needed and then some! IYKYK.

When we return to the waypoint, we do a funky little dance just kidding, we only close our eyes.

So, here I am, entering the Nonsensical Expanse, getting pumped we get to find out who the first of the three Regis are, right?

But then I have something so unexpected happen that my 3DS nearly falls from my hands.

Wh-

WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT ISN'T HERE?!?!?!

No, but I was legitimately upset over this. I consulted my friend @exploring-the-sky to see if love knew anything about it.

Well, this is what happens when you use a build from nearly two years ago, I guess.

At every portion of Aegis Cave, I left at least once and came back, and it was always the same. There was no one to fight. So now we'll never know who Regice is! That beautiful guidepost I put together to translate every character and place from their canon counterparts? You know, my actual pride and joy? I literally CAN'T put anything down for Regice now except ??? or ERROR 404.

THANKS A LOT, GAME!!! >:l

Or just replace it with any Pokémon you want, I don't make the rules here.

Next stop: Neat Creek.

We already have C and K so this shouldn't be too painful... I hope.

Nevertheless, when we inevitably come back around, we find what looks like a letter...

Wait, did y'all actually run into a boss? DID Y'ALL ACTUALLY FIGHT A BOSS?? PLEASE, TEAM CHARM, I'M BEGGING YOU-

Ugh, well. Guess we're about to find out, anyhow. We enter the Colossal Rift and hold our breaths...

OH THANK ARCEUS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY I AM TO SEE YOU!!

...Words said before disaster, Part 21,894-

Despite our one-two punch of Meteor Mash and Powder Snow on Celebi, Rhyhorn wouldn't go down easy. In fact, he got off some Dragon Dances , which made me kinda nervous! And Seed Flare missed, like, 4 times in a row?? Then I REALLY started to panic when he used Mirror Move! But in the end, we persevered.

Ohhhh, I see... so, Not Regice just granted us the guardian's permission pre-emptively and went "lol bye losers, I'm out"? That's the explanation I'm going with, anyway :P

When we approach the Nonsensical Trench, there seems to be no sign of Team Charm...

We picked up two E stones in the last segment of the dungeon, so all we're missing is S, T, and L.

Why, hello there! This one even gave us a stone right away :)

It turns out Unown S and T also spawn on this very first floor! I stuck it out as long as I could and, lo and behold, we didn't have to go through more than once! \o/

Okay, now you gotta do the ritual thing to move on to Part 4.

[vizthedatum]

Polyamory is about love, community, and caring for each other while respecting our various human needs

Maybe THE REAL polyamory is:

(context: you're in a telephonic court hearing with your ex/spouse)

your girlfriend sitting on your left rubbing your back/legs and wordlessly sending supportive vibes

your other girlfriend messaging you loving affirmations (bc she couldn't be there)

your friend (who you have a huge crush on despite you breaking up with them several months ago because you're a disaster-queer, and they're probably one too, and maybe y'all weren't compatible but, like, you talk every day, and they're one of your best friends now lmao) checking in on you

your ex-lover and close friend (who you also have a huge crush on and you enjoy his company immensely, and you've made plans to go swimming in his pool (with your partners) multiple times this upcoming summer lmao) sitting on your right holding your hand and then buying you drinks and snacks from the coop nearby (*cries*)

your casual long-distance lover and friend being super kind and supportive the past several days (well, tbh, the past year basically)

multiple friends reaching out and not invalidating your trauma... and not invalidating your very understandable human responses to everything you've gone through

your long-distance roommate/QPP (queer platonic partner) being a badass and so loving <3

this guy who you barely know, who wants to have sex with you but has heard/listened (and hopefully understood) to your emotional needs (because you're trying to be better with communicating that now), consistently messaging you every day to greet you, be supportive, and turn you on (in a respectful way) -- (and you honestly don't even know if you want to pursue him (it's all so initial), but like, also, this is such an ideal approach and situation for a more mature series of potential hookups)

consistent sapphic yearning because, as established, you're a disaster-queer

making plans to go to an event with your poly friend and a new lover person (*swoons*) this weekend! The social support has just been essential to my regulation and self-care.

co-regulation with my whole polycule and friend group, since *quotes own blog* meow (it's true though! and we are stronger for everything that we're all going through. together.)

and learning/healing attachment traumas while acknowledging that you've made mistakes in the past (and that harm has also been done to you) - it is not easy to be so vulnerable and to love again, but it is essential for me (even though I'm so scared I'll be hurt again)

[oonajaeadira]

Hey hey.

Idk if you're still doing prompts/requests, but I'm working a play and we open in 5 days and it's literally been the worst theatre experience I've ever had. No one knows their lines, costumes aren't done, sets aren't done, one of the tech guys is both an asshole and an idiot, and I'm barely getting paid. I want to do the show because I like working with my friends and I love making theatre, but I've never been this stressed/angry/tired.

You've been doing a lot of PATS lately, but I'd love to see how Dieter would help/reassure/distract his partner (I'm non binary) going through something like this.

Thanks if you can and thanks if you can't, I love your work 💜

OMGS. I've been there. I'VE BEEN THERE. I'm so so sorry, Smudge. Those productions are the WORST. Those are the ones where you come home and wonder why the eff you're selling your soul to the dying-est of artforms.

(Don't worry, the artform's been dying since inception. So, you know. For the past few thousand years.)

Unfortunately, I don't really take requests. PATS makes it look that way, but that whole series is an experiment in building a storyline with reader input. I started off with a story that I thought would be a one-off and then through asks it started to evolve. There are 3 chapters (a fourth is on the way) and each one has a series of answered asks in the form of "sessions" bridging the gaps in between. This all started during Kinktober 2021 and trickled through for the next couple of years. I'm doing a readalong reposting to gear up for the series to pick up again, which is why you're seeing a lot of him on my tumbles right now. We're currently on day 8 of 22.

Every once in a while I might open up a call for requests, but it will be a specific challenge, usually when I actually have time to write and want to have a bit of fun. Mostly I don't take requests because I get busy IRL and write slooooooowwwwwww and have a list of fic I really want to get to already. (Besides, you're most likely not going to get the answer you came looking for. I'm a little shit and tend to like to subvert asks into a soft mess. I can't help it. I'm selfish and write what I want first and what's requested last. )

Because, you see, if it was Dieter? In my head it would usually be pot and porn and falling asleep together on the couch. Not terribly exciting.

Except. Maybe if you're really going through it, he might try to surprise you by baking cookies. You'd come home from rehearsal near tears, just wanting to get high and railed, and he'd be standing there in his joggers and bathrobe holding the ugliest, burn-iest tray of cookies and he'd explain with puppydog eyes how he wanted to surprise you but he fell asleep watching the History channel. There's still dough ready to go and he's just about to start putting together another tray for the oven. It's endearing and hilarious and just enough disaster that you walk over and turn off the oven, take the mixing bowl in one hand and his arm in another and start pulling him toward the bedroom.

He complains that he only wanted to distract you from a hard day and you assure him he's accomplished that, but you both might get more enjoyment if you just eat the dough as it is....

...off his ass.

He agrees.

[the-firebird69]

There's some more things happening these guys are realizing that they are not alone and they're being watched and screaming these players the four groups or so and Mac proper too they're figuring out that they are a huge golf walls you don't want to do anything the people want I'll always fighting and in trouble and huge groups of people are now going around and getting in trouble and they're trying to fight it's turned into a lot of people doing it and mostly it's these guys fighting each other and they want the big groups to fight top side and didn't say that they used to have the plan and they're trying to enact it and it's not working at all no now it is huge that they won't back off and they won't see the logic and they don't want to act normal the percentage has gone back up it is a large percentage of people that are running around doing it huge numbers there's probably 10% of the population engaged from both sides and 50% of them are at a 60 threat level out of 100 and another 40% are at 70% the remainder are at 80% or worse or 80 or worse actually and they are engaging people all over the world huge groups of police paramilitary police and some national guard are out and they are stopping them and holding in aggressors everywhere. 90% of the police and forces are normal people

This is a disaster waiting to happen we are moving out we were at 11.7% maximolok 9.3% minority will lock this morning and it is getting bigger but now those numbers have changed it's more like 11.1% and 8.7% and minority warlock have big mouths and boy and then start up fast and die quick like our sunset their heinous when they're they are heinous when they're up and it did say anus and really it is like that. They go totally bad real quick that is a huge drop for both of them and getting bigger today evacuations will begin momentarily we expect about one or two percent of them within the next day will leave dropping the numbers significantly and will inform you when the numbers change but by tonight it's going to be lower but they're going to fight through the night so we'll have a report at the end of the day and tomorrow morning another one this is huge. The cavern last night dropped about 2.3 ft which is 2 ft 4 in about today it's dropping probably a total of 3 in only and tonight it will drop probably 2 ft 4 in and it will be just inches from dropping by the time he's at the mall the caverns will be dropping into the ocean huge clouds will be forming when he gets out radiation will begin hitting some people will die immediately and he'll be back at home when they start dying fast and in shelter but the radiation will still be very high at his place very very high

More shortly

Thor Freya

Olympus

This is gross but it's been happening for quite a while. We have built up forces we are building up a lot more now and I am calling an hour to sign on we're at war these people are minor ivy and they're a massive handful and we need to be ready

Hera

This is what we're saying that's what she did say. And we are requesting to sign on and you call us to let us know your status and that you wish to sign on and we will make you work will help you and you help yourself as well as a team we're going to get you in and to a safe place with real jobs

Thor Freya

Olympus

[kingayatospalace]

Beyond the Facade

Dee x Male!OC!Olezka

A/N: This one feels a little ooc because I'm trying to delve into Dee's inner world which is difficult since they don't go into too much depth in the series so yeahhh. I hope you enjoy~

Warnings: none (let me know if I should add anything)

Word Count: 1 236

Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8

Chapter 3: For Your Enjoyment

Today is the first time Dee will be walking home with Olezka and obviously he has to wait for him because he just had to forget to give Andrei his phone back at the end of the day.

"I live down this way as well," Olezka says as he finishes fixing up his bangles.

No response. Okay. We're being quiet now.

This walk reminds Dee of the first time he asked Lif out. All that's missing is Heavy showing up and stealing his spotlight. When he eventually did confess his feelings for her, she didn't reciprocate, opting rather for them to stay as friends. She does however have a certain glint in her eye when speaking with Heavy, one she never seemed to have with him. He still talks to her sometimes, albeit mostly online, too embarrassed to face her anymore.

When they reach his home, it is quickly made apparent that Olezka is the perfect house guest. Quietly taking in his surroundings, not asking any questions, following instructions to a T.

"My parents know you're coming over, they just aren't here right now. We'll work in my room upstairs but we have to go through Heavy's."

"Heavy? What's heavy?" Olezka thought.

-

"Looks like he's not here," Dee says as he opens the door to their bridged room.

"BOO!"

"eEK! WHAT THE HELL HEAVY!!"

"AHAHAHAHA I totally got you this time!! Ahaha and your scream ahahahaha!!"

"Oooohhh, not what but who is Heavy. This must be his brother," he thinks.

Olezka's never seen Dee get scared or that mad before. It turns out Mr. Calm does have a fuse and it's pretty short.

When Heavy finally stops laughing, he notices Olezka. "Hey," he greets with a smile, "Are you Dee's project partner?"

"Yeah," Olezka's odd smile makes its return. "Nice room," he looks around.

"Thanks!" Heavy beams. "I told you my room was cool," he then tells Dee who all but rolls his eyes in response. "Can I join you guys?! I can totally make your project more exciting than whatever boring ideas Dee has!"

"Absolutely not," Dee tells him immediately, definitely sounding irritated.

"But-!"

"I said no Heavy," he walks into his room.

"Don't worry," Olezka whispers to Heavy, "If it looks like the project needs to be cooler, I'll definitely come and consult with you," he tells him before following after Dee, leaving Heavy with a big smile on his face.

This is either about to be the beginning of something amazing, or the blooms of complete disaster. Either way "the sooner we get started, the sooner we can be done with it".

-

When Olezka enters Dee's room and begins to look around, Dee begins to feel slightly self-conscious. That's new. His room looks nothing like Heavy's. What if he makes a negative comment about it? What if he thinks the posters on his walls are ridiculous? What if he finds his bookshelf to be pretentious? Lots of people have bookshelves in their rooms, right? There's that odd feeling in his chest making its return.

"Are you planning to sit down?" Dee asks, not able to take the silence much longer.

Olezka gives a little nod and puts his bag on the floor before sitting on the chair at his desk. Dee decides to sit on his bed.

"Nice chair," Olezka says, wiggling into a more comfortable position. "I wish my mom would let me put posters up in my room, they make yours look epic."

Dee lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, the weight of the air lightening, and Olezka gets straight to business.

"Since I'm left handed, I would like to do the left brain," he says.

"Seriously? I'm the more logical one, so I should do it," Dee quips back, deadpan and feeling even more like he's in for a long ride.

-

The first week has gone by and considerable progress has been made. Every time Olezka comes over, Dee has to wait for him to talk to Heavy first and only afterwards can they get started. Déjà vu. Olezka has been figuring out how to navigate Dee's temper and how not to annoy him, which has also been going well.

While Dee was expecting Olezka not to pull his weight, he's actually put in a lot of effort. Asking questions when he gets confused, confirming any ideas he has with Dee before putting them down and giving insightful input whenever Dee proposes something as well. Not that he's enjoying this or anything, but it's been so easy to work with Olezka, no wonder Andrei likes to hang with him. He will never admit that though and will continue to give him attitude regardless.

Olezka offered to put the poster together saying he has "one epic idea that'll put the others to shame". Dee just went with it, not wanting to get caught on the other end of another long-winded explanation of Olezka's thoughts.

-

Three weeks in and they are close to finished. There were some missed days when one of them had a prior engagement to fulfill but both still did what was required of them.

Text from Dee: "Can't make it today. Got stuff to do."

Reply: "Coolio. Hope whatever you're up to goes well."

Sometimes Dee felt like Olezka knew exactly what he was up to. His messages of encouragement sometimes felt a little too situationally accurate.

Text from Olezka: "Heyyy sorry I can't make it today. Heading out with my mom."

Reply: "*Thumbs up*"

Throughout this entire process, Olezka has learnt that Dee has quite the impressive memory. He has only slipped up on facts a handful of times and can recite a conversation from beginning to end if needs be (to get his point across). Dee has learnt that Olezka works very well with his hands. When he saw the progress that had been made on the poster, he really was quite impressed with his handiwork. There were some sketches and the background and decorations were so pleasing to the eye.

-

Week four of six and they were done, each quite proud of their work and receiving high praise when they were the first to submit.

The poster turned out great. Their individual documents were wonderfully formatted. Dee could feel the pride swelling in his chest from the wonderful work that they handed in, that he didn't have to follow Olezka around for him to finish his part. Or threaten him to give updates. Or- you get the point.

-

Olezka has met Dee's whole family by now. He calls his dad "Mr. Glam", which is kinda weird to hear but it's become their thing so whatever.

"It's great to meet you sir. I'm Olezka," he says, extending his hand to shake Glam's.

"Likewise," Glam giggles as he shakes his hand back. "You can call me Glam."

"Mr. Glam! It's so fancy~ I like it!" he says and they laugh together.

His mom doesn't really care, only asking a few questions the first time she met him, "What's with him?" being her main one and moving right along. She's "Miss Vicky".

Of course he gets along swell with his brother. It seems a given that people automatically get along with Heavy.

Maybe everything is fine. Maybe there really is nothing to worry about. Maybe, like Olezka, Dee can relax...right?

There are two more weeks until the presentation.

[crossoverglobaloutreach]

OUR BETTER PROCESSION

Let’s consider how blessed we are in the better covenant of Jesus Christ by comparing and contrasting two remarkably similar passages of scripture, one from the Old Testament, the other from the New.

2nd Samuel 6 opens with King David bringing the Ark of God's Presence back to Jerusalem. He gathers not just any crowd, but "all the chosen men of Israel" (verse 1). He leads the illustrious procession as they set out with the ark, rejoicing and celebrating as they go (verses 2 through 5). But disaster strikes suddenly in verses 6 and 7, bringing the procession to a crashing halt:

"Then they came to the threshing floor of Nacon. And Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, because the oxen nearly upset it. And the anger of Yahweh burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God."

Someone dared to touch the ark and a surge like lightning struck him dead. That thunderclap of power shattered the happy mood and ended the procession. We're told David was angered by the intrusion of tragedy into his joyous plans (verse 8), but also frightened that the Intruder was God Himself (verse 9). The parade melted away in sorrow and confusion, stranding the Ark far from its intended destination.

Now, consider another procession, one found in the gospel of Mark. In chapter 5, we see the Living Ark of God's Presence, Jesus Christ, surrounded by a large crowd, as they escorted Him to His intended destination - the home of a synagogue ruler. That ruler's daughter was deathly ill and he had begged Jesus to come and heal her. Jesus had graciously consented. We're told a large crowd - more likely a "rabble" than "the leading men of Jerusalem" - pressed in on Him as He walked with Jairus (verse 24).

The Uzzah of this procession was a woman with an issue of blood. That made her ceremonially unclean, but she was still determined to dart in among the crowd and touch Jesus. And when she did, "power flowed out from Him" (verse 30).

The stories follow the same arc right up through the unplanned touch. In each case, a surge of power struck the toucher. But the stories diverge sharply there: The woman didn't die; she was miraculously healed! Jesus' procession wasn't broken up, it continued, after pausing to bless her. She probably joined the crowd as they moved on. Nor was Jesus kept from His intended destination. He arrived at Jairus' home and healed his daughter, raising her from the dead.

The crowd in Mark 5 wasn't better than the one in 2nd Samuel, it was likely rougher and coarser. The "toucher" wasn't better - the bleeding woman was "unclean," while Uzzah was a man of standing. So, what accounts for the drastically different outcomes? What was better in Mark 5 vs. 2 Samuel 6? The Ark at the heart of the procession was better, as was the crowd's access to that Ark.

The ark Moses built was not to be touched (Num 4:15), nor even looked into (Num 4:20, 1 Sam 16:19). But the Apostle John opened his first letter with these words, "That which was from the beginning... what we beheld and touched with our hands" (1 Jn 1:1). Perhaps that's why God declared through the prophet Jeremiah the first ark would no longer come to mind nor be sought after (Jer 3:16). Why should it, when it was merely a type and shadow of the better Ark, Jesus Christ?

Moses' ark passed away with his covenant. Both have been replaced, supplanted, by something, Someone, superior. Our Ark can be touched. Life giving power flows from ours, not death dealing. In Mark 5, not only was Christ touched, He also touched the dead little girl. We have come to One who touches and is touched, with blessing flowing out from Him either way.

Now we have joined the greater procession of the Present One. It stretches back to Jesus Christ walking among us twenty centuries ago and reaches beyond today to His glorious return. Like the procession to Jairus' house, this one also ends in resurrection - ours! Let's not shy away from touching Him along the way and letting Him touch us. As Hebrews 10:22 exhorts us, "Let us draw near to Him with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith".

"And a highway is there, and a way. The 'Way of Holiness' it is called. The unclean do not pass over it. And He Himself is by them, those going in the way, so that even fools shall not err therein" (Is 35:8).

  - Matt Schilling

[ishigamisenku]

This is why I love Dr.STONE so much. Because, not only does it give us an incredible story, but it presents us with questions that go far beyond the end of the story. An anime about science and rebuilding society offers us some incredible opportunities to ask questions and discuss some pretty philosophical topics; i.e. the morality of human beings, how well we'd handle a disaster such as this occurring, what we'd do about it, etc. We're met with moral dilemma early on with Tsukasa, and his opinion that they should NOT revive everyone and live in a world where we don't encounter the corporate greed and selfishness that has been alive and well for generations. He's seen the corruption this causes, and he wants to start anew. Give humanity a clean slate. Senku, a character that is presented as someone who leads with logic and reasoning over feeling and emotions, is of the opinion that they should revive EVERYONE regardless of age, race, social status, etc. He thinks everyone should have the chance to advance and move forward within this new world they've been given. The idea to him, as we all know, is very exciting. However, Senku also acknowledges that if they revive people too quickly, their resources will deplete fast, and they don't have what they need to sustain large populations of people...yet. So he agrees they need to be choosy on who they revive for now. It's only logical. Both offer really good points, and regardless of who you side with, there are some incredibly interesting aspects of both sides to explore.

SPOILERS below the cut. If you are not caught up in the manga and you don't like spoilers, please do not go past the cut. And buckle in friends, this accidentally became a long post.

The questions OP raises in this post are things I've thought a lot about as well. Do we just go along assuming that since Senku spearheaded this whole thing, he's the one that's essentially in charge? How much power does he hold? We know enough about Senku to know that while he is obviously a leader-type character, he surely wouldn't want to concern himself with leadership on a large scale such as being a head of state or government. Senku's got one thing on his mind, and it's science. He wants to be able to have time to work on his scientific endeavors, and continue to contribute towards the advancement of science. Buuuut he's also not alone in his leadership, since we know he has the four other "Wise Commanders." We DO see Gen kinda working as an ambassador of sorts, though. A Diplomat. So, seems that they put his yapping (affectionate) to good use. For what happens to the petrification device...At the end of the series, we discover the origin of the Medusa device, and their motivation is explained. (Albeit a rather lame motivation and the way this is handled story-wise is not my favorite, but I'll do a deep dive on my opinions on the Medusa origin on my own time.)

While the rest of the Medusa/Why-Men decide to leave and find some other intelligent life to leech off of, one of them stays behind. From this point on, this Medusa is primarily only seen with Senku, and we can assume he is the Why-Man Keeper. We can also infer this from the fact that when see him in Ch. 232, he is quite literally wearing the vacuum tube they keep Why-Man in on his body:

We also get this exchange in Ch. 3 of 4D Science:

Sooo my guess is Why-Man sticks with Senku. There never seems to be much issue with anyone else in the main cast interacting with it, but they do seem to have it guarded when Senku doesn't have it with him. They are definitely aware of the fact that if in the wrong hands, Why-Man can be used as a weapon, and they acknowledge that. The concept of using Why-Man for eternal life is also acknowledged, and they stay quiet about that because they don't want anyone trying to get their hands on it for that reason as well. This is also explored in the 4D science chapters through interactions between Chrome and Kaseki. But this brings us to the question of mothers being revived to see their children grown- Due to the petrification, any biological being petrified doesn't seem to physically age. Chronologically, technically, yes, but not physically. This was quite literally Why-Man's "gift" to humanity, as stated by Why-Man itself. As long as people remain petrified and their statues are kept safe from weathering or breakage, they'd be fine up until they are ready to be revived. We know this pretty early on. This is sort of best-case scenario given the issue of resources not being plentiful enough to sustain large populations, as mentioned earlier in this post. They can revive more people as they go along once they feel they can be properly sustained. But the unfortunate fact there is... anyone revived DOES go on to age. So that could absolutely lead to someone's child being revived before them, and once they are revived, they have to experience the shock of their child having aged while they seemingly didn't themselves. And that's a lot to process in a scenario where they already have to attempt to process the fact that they've been encased in stone for over 3,700 years. It's all just such an interesting scenario overall. Again, this is why I adore this story so much. Yes, it gets you really excited about humanity's ability to persevere, adapt, evolve, and overcome. But it also raises some really interesting scenarios for us to stop, sit, and think about. Buuuuut... maybe I just really like getting deep, philosophical, and existential. I know that's not everyone's vibe. If you read through all of my crazed rambling, thanks! And thank you for this post, OP. You raise some super great questions.

Thinking about how the world will never go back to “normal” after Senku brings everyone back. Given how nature has fully recovered cities, it’s going to take probable years to go back to the massive carrying capacity we had. How many will have to leave behind loved ones to be revived later down the line because they can’t sustain that many people? How many mothers will wake up with their children fully grown and older than them? And how will world politics regard Senku? What will happen to the petrifaction weapon? It’s so interesting and intriguing and the thing I think abt the most when Dr. STONE is mentioned. What happens when everyone is revived?

[its-my-whump]

Whumpril2023 – Day 29

Surrender - Punishment - "Final warning."

Sequel of Andys story and suffering going on - previous (Day 27)

TWs: blood, screaming in pain, aftermath of torture

All of a sudden a big commotion took its course. The P.E. teacher Mr. Walker, instructed different students to call an ambulance and the police, to get the school nurse and clear the locker room. “If I see one of you, using your phone for something other than to call for help, all of you are going to detention for the next year. Do I make myself clear!”

Andys skin was clammy and cool. His heartbeat steady, but he was still unconscious. Peter and some other kids had turned him, so he was laying on his side by now, a sweater under his head. To lay him on his back was out of the question, but staying on his stomach could have complicated his breathing. Little pools of blood had already summoned on the floor. His originally white undershirt looked like a requisite from a horror movie.

The nurse wasn't anywhere to find, a student put his head through the door to the locker room, to inform, then closed it again. Gladly the ambulance had arrived this very moment and paramedics were making their way down the hall. A cluster of agitated and distressed kids leading their way.

Everyone still in the room making way for the medics to work. Beside Mr. Walker, Peter and 2 other students were left to help and assist in any way they could.

“Dear Jesus, Mary and Joseph. What the hell happened to him?” The smaller one of the newly arrived spit out, while he was already on his knees taking Andys pulse.

Peter was mumbling, he had such a bad conscience, for pushing him against the wall. He knew he didn't inflict any of the wounds, but he guessed that his behaviour had made his condition much worse, then it had been before. “He already looked like shit and really pale, when he came in here. After taking of his shirt, he just collapsed.”

“Damn. What's his name?” The other paramedic asked and was told by all 3 students in unison. “Andy, can you here me?” He was gently rubbing the boys sternum. An oximeter was put on his index finger, after the blood pressure monitor was pulled over his limb arm from the other colleague.

2 officers entered the locker room, murmur from the hallway accompanied their entry, and was locked out again, the second, the door was shut behind them.

The boys eye lids were fluttering woken by the hand on his chest. He only managed to open them slightly. An undecipherable silent, definitely painful, sound escaped his hardly parted lips. “We're going to cut your shirt open. Alright? It's going to be unpleasant.”

He gave his colleague, who was kneeling behind the patients' back, a slight nod.

Police were already talking to Mr. Walker, so the sound of scissors cutting through cotton and Andys silent whimpering sounds perished into the ambient noise. The cut was finished, but the medic needed to fold the fabric back to have a look at the extend of the disaster.

The taller man on Andys frontside signalled his partner to stop. “You. What's your name?” A finger pointing in his direction. “Peter.” “Okay, Peter. I need your help.”

On unsteady legs the big guy encircled the bloody heap on the floor and kneeled beside the man who had asked for him. Desperate glazy eyes full of pain were trying to focus on Peter from the floor. He wanted to look away, Andys look was piercing his core. Peter felt so shitty and his own heart sank into his stomach.

He was instructed what to do and could only nod for an answer. 3 pairs of hands working on the kid now. While the small guy started to pull the fabric away from the wounds, which was already stuck to some of the cuts, his colleague took a strong hold onto Andys shoulder and fixated him on the ground. Peter gave support by holding the kids hands and squeezing them slightly to encourage him to do the same, when the pain was getting too much. This handling was more than necessary, because the moment the first guy started to pull on the cotton, an animalistic cry of pain ran through the room. Peters fingers felt like being trapped in a bench vice. He didn't wanna imagine what the kid must be feeling right now.

Andy tried to escape, his whole body fighting against them in pure agony and desperation. Peter could hold the kids look only just so slight. He felt his own eyes watering while big tear drops streamed down the other boys face. Andys gaze confirmed, his mind wasn't completely here, he wasn't completely conscious, but unfortunately it was enough to suffer. Sweat dropped down his head, which he was hitting on the cool flagging, the sweater had already been pushed away by his struggling movements.

His breath was ragged, every fibre of his body fighting, still he tried to speak. “Please stop! Stop punishing me, Dad. Please. Sto..” He wasn't getting enough air into his lungs, his words hardly understandable. Peter put one of his hands under Andys cheek, to prevent him from injuring himself in his fight, while his other was still tightly holding onto the boys hands, which were hardly squeezing back by now. His own chest hurt, just by watching Andy resisting in despair.

“Almost done.” The guy on the other side tried to encourage. But Andy was shaking even more so. His cries started to die down into desperate whimpers and more pleading, his strength just vanishing. “Stoooppp.”

The kid struggled a last time. Peter saw Andys eyes rolling back, leaving only white, but his lids stayed slightly open. All tension had left his body. The weight of his head suddenly pushing down on Peters hand, while the grab to his other hand loosened. His whole body went slack.

The big guy beside Peter was panting, while he himself was still trying to swallow the big lump in his throat and the smaller of the paramedics stated plainly. “Unlucky bastard, to make it till the end. Just to pass out, when the worst is over.”