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apenapaperandadoofus · 1 year ago

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Ohhh interesting- while I understand how someone might view the book like that as a person who’s favorite book id like to at least give my opinion about it

Thing is the romance from the book and movie are extremely different- and one is far more subtle than the other. So trying to get the same feel is almost impossible since the Ghibli is done in a more fairy tale sort of way (trust me I felt the same way when I watched the movie lol I was like: where’s my small actions of romance! Where are the characters flaws? Why is Sophie kissing the bird man when she should be throwing weed killer at him!

First things first- while I whole heartedly respect your opinion one thing rubbed me a bit off (respectfully ajdhdhd I don’t want to seem like I’m fighting lmao) also just in case- I am part of the LGBTQ community and have a close group of friends that are part of it as well (gays attract gays amirite lmao) so just in case I’m not a straight lady just saying stuff ajdhdbdb

While yes, Howl has the usual stereotypes of a queer man, I think saying that he’s gay just because he’s flamboyant af or likes doing his hair or likes fashion is kind of…very stereotypical? Just because a man does that doesn’t mean he’s queer- while we don’t know if he may be bi/pan it’s clear he has an attraction for women- and kind of assuming his sexuality because of personality seems a bit off? Like imo you never know until the person tells you or you ask. (And yes I do know there’s people that do conform to the stereotypes and that’s fine as well- however people should not be labeled based on it. The idea that gay men are all flamboyant, sassy and such is just really cliche atp)

We’ve been fighting for soooo long to break off stereotypes especially with what’s ‘feminine’ and what’s ‘masculine’ when like…there’s no difference? A man wearing make up doesn’t make him less ‘masculine’ etc etc you get the gist anyway I’m not getting into allll that but what I mean is we cannot say Howl is queer just because he does everything he does ajdbdbdb

I found it interesting that the book had Howl do that as a character when the book was written in the 80s. Like- for a man to be wearing makeup, being flamboyant, liking clothes etc etc was seen reaaaally bad in those times iirc. Like I obviously wasn’t born at that time, but I’ve got close familiars who had to hide that they were gay until like- the 90s/2000s because it was still seen weird at the time.

I like that like the whole book, DWJ makes it so you don’t judge people by their cover- so you don’t assume based on what everyone else says. That’s literally the message of the book. You don’t need to conform to societies expectations.

Now as for the other part- I kind of agree and disagree. When I finished reading HMC for the first time I was happy that Howl and Sophie ended together but was a bit like- wait a second what.

Then I read the book again and that’s when it became my favorite of all time.

The thing about DWJ is that you cannot read her books once. (I mean you can- but you will 100% enjoy it more if you read them various times). The beauty of Sophie’s and Howls romance, in my opinion, is how subtle and natural it is.

Sophie says countless of times that she feels charmed by Howls smile- from my memory she mentions it twice tho it could be more times. She gets angry when he mentions Miss Angorian! She tries to cut his suit so he doesn’t get hurt going to Mrs. Pentstentemmon (jfc I can NEVER write the name maam why) she literally goes to save miss Angorian just for Howl to be happy and she literally has an angry attack when she realizes she likes him (one of my favorite scenes haha!)

And Howl oh lord. He begins calling her nicknames. He takes her to Mrs. Pentsenaghhhhh so she can 1. Kind of give her blessing :000 and 2. See if she can take the curse of.

He also takes care of the scarecrow for her, begins flirting with Lettie only to get more info about Sophie (which once again hilarious Lettie was literally doing the same thing) he asked her what shop she wanted, what she wanted to sell- got her a big garden when she asked. He arranged for her family to visit her, went off to rescue her, got her her childhood home as well!

Anyway sorry for the long ramble (like I said- I love discussing and dissecting things like this and this is by no way me going “NO YOURE WRONG LISTEN TO THIS” since you were being respectful about it ahsbd just wanna make it clear I’m not attacking-)

In conclusion- I’m the case of the heteronormative plot maybe Howl shouldn’t be stereotyped because of how he acts in the book- at the end of the day personality does not define our sexual preference- and if you wanted to read a more queer romance with fantasy implemented im sure there’s a ton out there! It’s just hmc is not one of those :(

And the second I 100% get how you felt about the romance- I changed my opinion by rereading and noticing the little details and hints sprinkled throughout which is why this became my favorite book- but if the reader wanted a more passionate and heated romance it’s not the best book to read since it’s meant to be more subtle and natural.

Anyway I literally went off on a tangent do forgive me (and if my English wasn’t the best it ain’t my first language lol) that’s just my opinion in general about everything :D

(this is a ramble and isn't complimentary, so if you're in this tag purely for positive stuff, please swerve around this post; you have been warned, so pls don't add negativity to this post either, thanks)

Just finished hmc (book) and i have so many conflicting thoughts about it. Like it was obviously very well written in terms of the worldbuilding and the characters and the plot but then with the romance it felt,,, so odd to me.

Maybe it's the fact that it's decades old, but it has that feeling of vagueness that classics and stuff often do, where I don't feel at all invested because it all feels surface level. Like Sophie and Howl clearly have a connection, but I felt like it was never explored in a way that tugged at my heart strings, it was more like they had the grounds for friendship and then bippity boppity they held hands and were getting married.

Which gets me to another thing- this felt very much like someone had taken a very interesting queer character and put them in a very heteronormative romance plot??? Like howl has such major queer vibes, but then he interacts with sophie and vice versa like they're the protags of every heteronormative straight romance book (if there weren't even making out to keep your attention on SOMETHING), and it just feels like they were done dirty even tho they are as the author intended them to be and saw them as.

Idk just... They're such interesting characters and I would have loved to see their love story if it weren't trapped in a heteronormative cage.

The rest of the story is just so incredibly fun and engaging that whenever this stuff popped up and they were forced to play into these roles it felt jarring and left me at the end wondering if I'd just ruined the experience I knew from the ghibli movie and wasted hours just to end up feeling neutral about the story.

#hmc #api talks

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bratshaws · 2 years ago

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goodness gracious 84. brb x oc

a/n: b oy these future chapters amirite. AMIRITE

check out the fic's playlist made by the sweet @wiipes !!

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: fluff,Bea misses Rooster and we don't blame her.

chapters:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44

45/46/47/48/49/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64

65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77/78/79/80/81/82/83

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!!)

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @shrimping-for-all @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix

@lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2

@emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @kulicny @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads

The way Beatrice dealt with his absence this time was arranging their house, cleaning it, restocking areas. She watched a lot of compilations about restocking and organizing, because it was the only way she could distract herself the best she could.

She cleaned and organized the fridge, then the pantry, then the laundry room and her focus now was her art room. Well, office/ art room. The same way Rooster had his own office with his desk and computer, she had her own. Neither of them wanted any desk in their bedroom, it should be a place to rest and destress, their little sanctuary away from everything.

Her art room didn’t have a lot of stuff yet, mainly some materials she never used during college that she kept hidden for months after grad. The one good thing about it was the large window that overlooked the pool and backyard, and a bit of the patio too. It was a wonderful house…and Rooster barely had the time to enjoy it.

She wasn’t mad at him, she’d never be mad at him, but she did wish he was here. She could only hope he was okay and that he’d return safely so they could enjoy everything that he missed. Beatrice sighs, sitting down on her old couch that now was part of the art room’s decor, clasping her hands between her thighs, chewing the inside of her lip.

It’s been two weeks already, weird how time passed fast since she saw him off. Neither of them wanted to let go but they knew they had to, Rooster kissing her forehead then her lips, keeping the lip lock and only breaking when he stepped back, giving her a small sad smile and walking away.

She was happy she had wonderful people surrounding her, like Shells,Evelyn and Penny. Evelyn seemed to be the least affected by Jake’s departure, but she knew the other woman was missing him. As much as Evelyn keeps their relationship private, it was obvious the Texan wormed his way into her heart more than she expected him to.

Beatrice inhaled softly, “Okay.” she pushes herself upwards, “Time to do something else since I’m done here.” Jolene looked up from her spot in the living room, tail thudding on the wooden floors as the brunette walks past - leaning down to scratch the pittie under the chin - to the second floor.

Their room was already organized and clean but Beatrice stopped on the empty room before their own. They still hadn’t decided what they should use this room for, it was pretty big just like the other rooms in that house, with a large window that showed some of the neighboring houses.

Her feet echoed once she stepped in, running her fingers against the wall. She stood there, looking at the beige colored room with wooden floors, trying to think what it could become. They already had a guest room downstairs, maybe another one up here?

Or maybe, she should just think of what she wanted instead of using smoke and mirrors. A baby room.

It was insane, they never talked about it, but Beatrice could see it. It was big enough for a crib, she could paint the walls how she liked it - maybe some forest motifs or even the sea? She could see herself painting such things there, a small smile on her face.

She was having baby fever, especially since Cynthia was pregnant with her second baby…Beatrice couldn’t really help herself, especially since there was the picture of Rooster and his parents adorning the hallway downstairs, close to the piano in the living room. If they had a baby, would it look more like her or Rooster? Or a mix of both? “This is a terrible thing to think about with him gone.” she murmurs to herself, hugging her arms close and backing away from the room, stopping when she hears the very specific sound of a baby’s laughter.

She looked back inside over her shoulder, clearly there was nothing nor anyone in there, “I’m hearing things…or the house is haunted.” she kept on staring, waiting for the laughter to repeat itself. But it didn’t. It didn’t and Beatrice inhaled shakily, “I need to focus on something else.” anything else really.

Beatrice rubs her face with both hands, closing the door behind herself and looking around, propping her hands on her hips, “Alright.” she murmurs, “What…should I do?” everything was organized and clean…maybe she should watch some other videos for inspiration. There has to be other things she can do.

So she opens her phone and scrolls down YouTube with her thumb nail wedged between her teeth, walking barefoot down to the living room where Jolene remained lying down, only turning her head in Beatrice’s direction when she hears her coming down the stairs. “No, no, already seen this one, no…” she tsked, leaning her elbows on the back of the couch and tapping the ball of a foot on the wooden floor rhythmically, blowing a raspberry in frustration when she couldn’t find anything else.

That is until she found the DIY section of the videos.

Beatrice’s eyes focused on the thumbnail where she could see pictures of different projects. She always was interested in DIY, or flipping things - hence her vintage armoire - for better uses. Maybe that’s what she needed, something she could get her hands on and then see how it worked with the rest of the house.

Since the house was rented there wasn’t much they could do besides paint over certain walls with the condition they’d paint its natural color before giving the house back, so if she could find solutions for other things in the house…and things she knew Rooster would like it too, that is, she could surprise him.

She wasn’t good with power tools, yet, so she should try and find something easier. Maybe something - “Would you like to renovate your rental? Try removable wallpaper!” the overly cheery woman in the video announced, showing a sped up process of her adding said wallpaper to her dining room. Beatrice blinked, then looked around, locking her eyes on the kitchen, in the tiny wall right behind the built in island bar.

While she loved her new kitchen, she felt it could use…something different. Should she even do that? She didn’t know it yet…but she knew who to call in hopes she could figure it out.

–

“Look at this one.”

“Michael that’s horrible.”

Beatrice knew that Michael would like to get out of the house on his off days, his job at his friend’s gym was mainly at night so he had most of the day free. Her brother frowns, pushing the rolled up wallpaper back into the pile, only to grab another one with terrible tacky patterns, “What about this one? It has flowers.”

“Mikey, no,I told you I wanted something with color but not this.” she says, gently pushing it away from his hand, “Not to mention it’d have to be more geometric than that. It looks like it belongs in a museum.”

“Well, you like museums.” he says back only to earn an eye roll from his little sister, who stood on her tiptoes to check the taller shelves. This department store was so full of things, especially for DIY, that she was going to get distracted in minutes. She didn’t even know what she’d do, but she knew it’d be useful. Michael leans his large shoulder against the iron shelves, crossing his arms over his chest, “So…how are you feeling?”

Beatrice sighs, looking around for a stool or anything that could give her a boost - she was tall but not tall enough to reach the wallpaper she liked - “I’m…fine.” she doesn’t look at him when she says it, biting her lower lip and checking to see if anyone was around - anyone of the employees that is, before she stepped on the bottom shelf for impulse. Her brother, who wasn’t stupid, pushed off the shelf he was leaning against to pretty much cover Beatrice like she was some sort of international dignatry and he was the security guard, hiding her from view, “Got it! Finally.” she grabbed two rolls of wallpaper for safety.

She drops the wallpapers into the cart, leaping down from the lower shelf before anyone could notice, then looks back at Michael who just has his eyebrow up, “What?”

“Are you sure you are fine? You are in that house all alone.”

Yeah, don’t remind her, “I know, but I’m fine!” Michael hums, not believing it, “Time will go by fast, Brad will be back before I know it. Plus we’ll be able to talk, like we did before.” Michael hums again, digging his hands in his dark jeans’ pockets as he follows her through the aisles, pursing his lips, “I’m fine,Michael.”

But was she? She was holding on better than she thought, with the fact that it’s been two weeks. She missed him terribly, but there wasn’t much she could do besides wait and pray for his safe return. Beatrice tried to keep her mind occupied so the goblin voice wouldn’t snarl terrible thoughts inside her brain, she didn’t need that. He was going to be fine and they were going to enjoy it when he gets back.

“Do you want me to stay with you for a bit? You know I wouldn’t mind.”Now, normally she’d say no because these past weeks have been quite calm but…honestly she wouldn’t mind the company either.And Michael was always someone who’d be with her if she was scared - honestly any of her siblings would, but Michael always stepped up to it before anyone - “I can help you set up your new project.”

He nods to the shopping cart, which in turn makes Beatrice look as well, laughing softly ��...okay.” she says, gently bumping her shoulder against his large bicep, “Thanks Mikey.”

“I accept payments in cannolis and chocolate cake.” Beatrice gasps in fake offense, trying to shove him away but he just leans to the side instead of moving, chuckling at her annoyed look that only melted into a brighter smile, “Plus,I only saw your house like…for a few minutes, I don’t know everything in there. You can give me a tour.”

Beatrice just smiles, then nods her head, pushing the cart forward until they reach another aisle. She didn’t know if it was because of the videos she watched or because she desperately wanted to keep her mind occupied, but she had several ideas. The wallpaper would be the first one of the big projects she was planning, she could also paint something too, maybe that’s how she’s going to keep herself distracted.

Beatrice’s cart wasn’t full of things, only a few essentials that she’d need. As Michael helped her put her things inside the red Jeep, her phone buzzed nonstop, something that wasn’t common since she rarely got calls so early in the afternoon.

But she grabs it, seeing it was Shells calling, “Shells?” she asks while pressing the phone to her ear, “What’s going on?”

“Where are you right now?”

“Right now? Uh, I’m at Mackenzie’s…why?”

“Bea, you need to follow the road down Mackenzie’s and then go to downtown.” Shells sounded way too excited ,”I want to tell you but I don’t want to tell you because it’ll ruin the surprise!”

Now that called her attention ,”Surprise?” Michael looks up from the trunk of her car to her, furrowing his eyebrows, “Uh, but okay? I’ll go there.”

“Park close to Giordano’s and walk down the sidewalk! Bye!”

Well that was weird, she even commented with Michael at how odd it was that her best friend gave her locations to go. But knowing Shells, it was better to not ask and just go. Beatrice hopped in the driver’s seat, her car still smelling new and fresh, wth Michael taking his spot on the passenger’s side as they made their way out of Mackenzie’s parking lot.

She tries to think what would’ve made Shells so excited, a new Kylie Minogue tour that she just saw a poster of? That’d be enough for her to call Beatrice that while she wasn’t a Kylie fan, she’d be just as happy as her friend.

She follows Shells’ directions, reaching a very commercial area that was so packed she couldn’t even park her car close to Giordano’s as Shells asked. But as soon she turned the ignition off, she saw a blonde head appear in the distance, followed by her body jumping up and down with her arms in the air trying to get attention, “What the hell?” she mutters, stepping out of the car with Michael close behind, locking it and then rushing to meet Shells halfway.

Before she could even speak to Shells, the blonde engulfed her in a hug, bouncing on the spot with a very confused Beatrice hovering her hands by her sides, “I’m so proud of you!” Beatrice just blinked in shock, still not understanding what her friend was talking about, but she couldn’t even ask her, because Shells clasped onto her hand with a vie grip and took her forward, through the sea of people, past Giordano’s and to a crosswalk.

“What’s going on?” Beatrice could only see the same old buildings and offices in this area, “I don’t know why you mmf-” Shells grabbed her face with one hand, squeezing her cheeks and directing her gaze upwards, past the buildings and to a tall billboard. Beatrice’s eyes widened, her blonde friend’s hand dropping from her jaw so it’d go slack.

There was a billboard there, right on the side of a building and whose face was right on it? Hers. It was her face. It was Marcus’ collection, it was finally launching and he chose her to be the main focus of it. She knew he liked her, calling her his muse and whatnot, but she didn’t expect to be the so called ‘centerfold’. Beatrice gasps, “That’s me.” she remembers when he took the picture, with the low angle and the rosé colored sunglasses and the flowy pomegranate colored off shoulder dress, “That’s me!”

Pure Beauty by Marcus Beverly it said in maroon colored letters right by her cheekbone on the picture. Beatrice was in shock, Shells was still jumping up and down by her side - a few passersby looked at them weirdly but didn’t care much to ask what was going on- “It is you!It’s you Bea!!”

“I-I am…o-on a huge billboard…o-on a building.” she didn’t know if she should cry or laugh or both. Her brother was dead silent, looking up at the billboard as they were. Beatrice let out a cracked laugh, feeling the cry climb up her throat and almost break free, still in complete disbelief at what she was seeing, “I…It’s me…it’s me!!” she finally lets the tears roll down, trying her best to not cause a scene in the middle of the sidewalk.

“Holy shit.” Michael finally speaks once he shakes off the shock of seeing his little sister in a billboard, “Holy shit, it is you.”

Shells grins even more, clapping her hands rapidly “I was driving by and the moment I saw it I almost caused an accident and I had to call you!” She proceeds to pull out her phone, taking a picture of Beatrice looking at her own face while cupping her cheeks, completely enamored by what she was seeing and unaware of Shells’ phone by her side.

That was her, it was her. She knew the pictures looked nice, after all Marcus did send her some but not all of them. And she couldn’t share with Rooster or anyone else since it was part of a collection and they couldn’t have ‘leaks’. But now she could send Rooster the pictures and send him this one! She was so…so happy, a complete opposite from hours before as she tried to keep her mind occupied. She couldn’t believe it, she was still trying to understand that yes it was her and no she wasn’t dreaming, “Wow…I…”

“We gotta send this to Rooster.” Shells announces, “I’ll send you the pics I took, he’s going to flip out.”

Meanwhile,Michael stood to the side, watching his little sister vibrate and cry and just look like she won the lottery with how happy she was. When he found out about it, he wasn’t worried, after all she was a grown woman. But he knew that while their parents said yes - and Guillermo agreed - they might’ve had a bit more difficulty understanding this.

But honestly, there was no way they wouldn’t be proud. Beatrice looks stunning, like she always is and always should be, she was glowing. So much had changed within her and he was so proud of how much she grew mentally. He knew how much she struggled, she rarely spoke about it but he knew how much of a toll it took on her.

Beatrice meeting Bradley and eventually dating him, was meant to happen. He knew that, they were just two peas in a pod with how much they completed each other. At her birthday it was so hard to imagine her without him and vice versa, and to see his little sister blossom into the woman she always was meant to be made his chest warm up with pride. “I’m going to send this to mom and dad, you know they’ll love it.”

She had no fear in her eyes when he said it, no doubt, she just smiled wider, “Okay! Let them know the address too so they can come and see for the first time too.”

Growth.

It was a great look on her.

She stood there, admiring her own face - not vainly, nothing like that…she was just…she was just really happy to accept that gig. For several reasons, but the boost that it gave to her confidence was astronomical, she felt so much better and free and…she felt she could take over the world if there was a chance. And she had Rooster’s support on it too, his support was of the utmost importance. “Come on Bitty.” she hears Michael say, dropping an arm around her shoulders, “I think this deserves a small celebration.”

Bea looks back at her picture, the way her green eyes look greener and her lips look fuller and shiny, “I-I…okay.” she whispers, only stepping away from Michael to hug Shells, who was still bouncing like a child with how happy she was. She said she was going to show the pictures to Penny and Amelia, then to Evelyn if she hadn’t seen it yet. The brunette nodded, backing away from the sidewalk to wander back where she parked her Jeep, waving Shells goodbye and not being able to contain how wide her smile was getting.

“That was me, Mike.” she whispers once she pulls the keys out of her back pocket, looking up at her older brother with stars in her eyes, “Mike that was me!!”

“I know, sis.” he grins, dropping a huge hand on her head to mess the brown strands just a bit, “You look incredible.”

Beatrice sniffles, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands while nodding. What a turn this day did, from wondering about DIY projects to now seeing her face on a billboard and honestly she couldn’t complain about it. She drives them back to the house, where she’s still smiling and not believing what happened, just giggling to herself, picking up Jolene - who looked confused as heck even if her tail wagged - to kiss her cheeks and head, bouncing the dog on her arms before she sets her down.

Michael watches his little sister practically skip around her new house, taking the time of her being distracted to have a better look at the neighborhood and then at the door and front of the house, he could find someone to put a camera there if she wanted. Beatrice’s happy humming was heard all through the house, which made Michael smile and eventually step inside, locking the door behind himself with the key she had dangling from a magnetic shelf, watching it snatch the keys up once he was done.

Beatrice is setting everything inside her art room, Michael letting her know he’s going to get some water but she just tosses him a distracted ‘okay’ when she receives the pictures from both Shells and Marcus. She chews her lower lip with a smile, thanking her friend and thanking Marcus even more, telling him she just saw the billboard and couldn’t believe it was her.

She was smiling so hard her cheeks hurt, reading Marcus’ heartfelt message about how ‘You should believe that beauty is yours, darling. I just worked with was already beautifully done.’ making her eyes sting with more tears…but now she had something else to do.

She didn’t know when he’d be able to see the message, even if it was possible for him to read it now, but she was going to send the pictures to him either way. She chews her lower lip, taking a deep breath before she finally types a message down.

Bea (14:45)

‘Hi Roos! I just wanted to send you a message to say hi and that I love and miss you so much! Something really cool happened today and I think…it’s better if I show you than tell you! I miss you so much, I hope you are safe and I can’t wait to see you!

Love you! Tell everyone I said hi!’

There were so many pictures that they had to be sent in a folder file, which meant it’d take some time until it was fully sent his way. While she waited, she pushes herself to her feet to meet Michael in her kitchen, checking everything in there while sipping ice cold water, “What are you doing?”

“Checking the cabinets,” he opens and closes a few doors, “This is a pretty good house, sis. Gabby really helped you out on finding it. But I think you can ask if you can add some cameras outside.”

“Oh?”

“Just because it’s a nice neighborhood doesn’t mean it’s crispy clean. Not to mention porch pirates. Did I mention the time I fought a guy who was trying to steal my slippers? Slippers,Beatrice and he was lucky I didn’t break his jaw or something.” she wanted to roll her eyes but he had a point, “And now that your face is on a huge billboard…I don’t know, taking extra precautions isn’t wrong.”

Beatrice blinked, then pursed her lips. In her euphoric state she completely forgot about that, “You are right, I’ll see what can be done.” she says and then pushes herself to sit on the counter, with Michael following suit so they are now side by side.

“So, you plan on going professional? Because of your photo shoot?”

“Oh, no, I don’t think so. I mean it’s nice and all but…I don’t know, I love the Hard Deck, and I want to work on my art.” she shrugs, “I don’t see myself leaving it so soon.”

“Fair. But if you did you’d do great. Just so you know.”

Of course he'd be supportive, “Thanks Mikey.I’ll keep that in mind.” she says, gently bumping his shoulder with her smile slowly faltering, “When you asked me if I was fine I…I am fine, you know? I just…I miss him, already. The house doesn’t even smell like him yet besides our room…and…yeah. But I’ll be okay.”

Michael hums, clasping his hands between his thighs as he looks around her kitchen, “You will be, I’m sure he misses you just as much sis.” he says gently, patting the top of her head and then pushing himself from the counter, “I saw some ice cream in your fridge, how about we have a ice cream fest to celebrate your photo?”

“Ice cream fest? Now?” he nods, already opening the freezer. Beatrice thinks on it, biter her lower lip, then shrugs, “Oh, what the hell, why not?”

#bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x oc #top gun maverick #bradley bradshaw x reader

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werewolf-w1tch · 2 years ago

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part 3 of my ROTTMNT x TMA crossover analyses in which i decide which TMA entity a character from ROTTMNT would serve/vibe with! (villain edition)

part one here and part two here

yes i know it’s been days. i’m in school what do you want from me.

so far we’ve got mikey, raph, leo, donnie, april, sunita, cassandra, and splinter. figured i’d switch gears a bit and do a villain specific one! (draxum, shredder and the krang will be their own post. there’s a solid amount of villains without them and i plan on splitting draxum by baron draxum and barry draxum and also shredder based on the shredder at the end of season 1/beginning of season 2 and the shredder at the end of season 2)

spoilers for tma and rottmnt (i finally finished it! yay! i’m in pieces)

hypno!

i really like hypno. was NOT expecting coran’s voice to come out of him when i first met him but it adds to his charm. i love his whole character. he is the villain ever.

hypno is a corruption-marked spiral avatar with some stranger thrown in there for funsies! i feel like in the tma-verse he would start up as a spiral avatar given his whole magician schtick. the stranger comes from his illusion abilities and that one episode dedicated to the 80s fashion montages aka the best episode ever.

and you can’t have hypno without warren stone!

warren is so fucking funny to me. the only person who ever remembers him is his boyfriend and we love him for that. i want to kick him into the sun.

warren is a corruption-marked stranger avatar with some lonely sprinkled in there! i am entirely giving him stranger vibes because literally no one remembers him, but on a more serious note i feel like that really fucks with him sometimes (which is the lonely part). there’s no way it wasn’t jarring going from a renowned news reporter to fucking forgotten in like two seconds. even meat sweats is remembered for his cooking legacy. sounds like a certain rat person huh. (except instead of letting it get him depressed warren turned his bitterness into a weapon. good for him. gay people amirite)

speaking of meat sweats...

look at him. a lil guy. he will shout slurs at you and burn down your kitchen for daring to serve him toast that isn’t properly browned.

meat sweats is a pretty obvious one. he’s a corruption-marked slaughter avatar that also gained his loyalty to the flesh following his mutation. meat sweats is another one i really like; his design is funky and i genuinely enjoy his abilities to twist his body and also absorb the abilities of others. 10/10 character design we should make more characters like gordon ramsey.

repo!

ok real talk i fucking LOVE repo’s design. he’s my top three favorite villain design out of all of them. just look at him. what a guy. run him over on your way out.

repo is one of those characters that gave me a bit of a hard time cause outside of his obvious corruption marking, i wasn’t too sure what would fit him well. i eventually settled on a corruption-marked hunt avatar who is eye aligned. repo’s constantly hunting down people who owe him money and he also always seems to know how owes him money and by when. a true businessman. (he is so gender i want his claws. its the fucking purple isn’t it god dAMN IT but also. i want to crouch. like a creachure.)

ghostbear!

honestly i don’t really care for ghostbear. his design and powers are cool and that’s kinda it for me.

ghostbear is a corruption-marked spiral-aligned end avatar. he’s a ghost (obv) and i threw in the spiral cause i felt like it helped to explain his specific abilities with shifting in and out of corporeality (is that a word??). again, not much to say for him. i don’t really hate him, i just can’t bring myself to care about him.

purple dragons!

i also don’t really care for the purple dragons. i found them pretty annoying and hard to like and like ghostbear, i just couldn’t bring myself to care about them.

i’m gonna give the purple dragons all the nomination of eye-marked web avatars. they’re super techy and i feel like they could be really formidable foes (i’m pretty sure they’re in the older shows? i wouldn’t know i haven’t watched them but like. i don’t really care abt them so we’re moving on)

crabs!

not only did i forget that these guys have names but i also forgot they were in the fucking show KAJFHASKFJHDSKJF

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh they’re gonna be corruption-marked slaughter avatars. punchy punch go snip snip.

foot brute and foot lieutenant!

(they don’t have names?? they named the fucking crabs and not the main baddies of the show??? what the fuck they are so cool?????? also queer relationship goals if leos a baby gay and hypnowarren are old gays then these guys are like. the elder queers. anyway)

i fucking love these dudes!! i love their dynamic!!! they are so fun i love their daughter too!!!!! ok actual analysis time.

foot lieutenant is a spiral-marked web avatar with some desolation thrown in there. they’re also trying really hard to get slaughter marked. foot brute is the slaughter avatar foot lieutenant is trying to be and they also get some desolation in there.

ok that’s it post over i’m going to bed. also, unrelated, did you guys know that todd is a part of the villains wiki. i thought that was fucking hilarious.

#rottmnt hypno #rottmnt warren stone #rottmnt meat sweats #rottmnt repo mantis #rottmnt ghost bear #rottmnt purple dragons #rottmnt sandos brothers #is that their tag????#who fuckin knows #rottmnt crabs #there ya go #i got distracted for like 20 minutes halfway through writing this and forgot what i was doing #i just realized i forgot about big mama as well so yk what #she's going with the other big baddies #SIGH

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moonstonediaz · 3 years ago

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buddie: a natural progression

i’ll start this out by saying i am not worried about future of buddie. i’m not 100% certain the story will take us to full canon buddie, but i am about 80% sure—which is plenty for me! okay, onward.

the show has already raised the question “why is eddie with ana?” they’ve put this to the forefront of our minds by having carla bring it up with eddie in 4x13, and the fact that eddie hasn’t directly addressed it yet in the show tells us that something is coming. likely a breakup. but will eddie initiate this? i think it’s important that he does, that he makes that choice for himself and not have it made for him by ana leaving.

tim has said that he “doesn’t know” what the fate of the eddieana relationship is and, well, that tells me all i need to know right there. given that they’ve done all but remove her completely, i think it’s pretty safe to say a breakup is coming. but when? in between seasons? early season 5? we’ll have to wait and see for that, but i’m pretty positive that’s coming soon.

back to what tim said, he “doesn’t know” the fate of their relationship and he “doesn’t want to define” buck and eddie’s relationship yet…what else is that supposed to mean? how else are we supposed to read that? what—do they expect us to think that eddie just hasn’t found the right one yet? that he doesn’t already have everything right under his nose—a best friend, a partner, someone he can count on to have both his and christopher’s best interests at heart, a family? are we supposed to think that they’re going to introduce another rando next season for him to pursue yet another relationship that’ll feel forced? that he’ll put another person in chris’ life that could leave again? i’m gonna say it’s highly UNLIKELY.

eddieana has been cringe from the start. their whole relationship feels forced and awkward to me. (re: awkward breakfast date, creepy math date and the no-kiss, weird cheek kiss at the homecoming party, etc.) (not to mention, ana’s been little more than blurrywife at this point, amirite?) and i know it’s probably structured this way so buck and eddie could have that talk in the hospital, but if my boyfriend had been shot and was being discharged from the hospital, you can bet your ass i’m there to take him home 👀 … not to mention eddie doesn’t trust ana. his immediate reaction was to bristle and get defensive when he thought she was snooping around on that kid and his mom in 4x13. one of their very first interactions was a negative one with the skateboard incident. and we all know who came through to make it all better for christopher. eddie might find it easy and nice being with her, but he doesn’t trust her. that’s not a good foundation for a long-term relationship.

speaking of foundations…bucktaylor had a good foundation for friendship, and maybe even a potential relationship in the future, but the second that kiss happened and she ran—from a man who has a history of abandonment issues—foundation crumbled. she then came back and made the comment about buck not chasing after her when his literal best friend partner was posted up in the hospital unconscious after getting shot right in front of him. that made ME bristle.….girl. and i know i don’t need to mention it, but the second she left after kissing him and eddie wakes up? i see you, eds 👀. bucktaylor could have been natural if taylor hadn’t used buck’s vulnerability to her advantage in 4x14. imo, the show really screwed up an awesome blossoming friendship. instead of being what buck needed in that moment—a friend to lean on while dealing with yet another trauma—they forced a romantic arc between the two instead of letting it happen naturally.

you know what makes the most sense, narratively? buck and eddie gradually shifting from best friends to romantic partners. because, honestly, when i call them ‘best friends’, it doesn’t feel like enough. those words are less than the magnitude of their relationship. when i think of 9-1-1 and best friends, the pairs that come to mind are chimney and hen, bobby and michael, hen and athena. i don’t think of buck and eddie because they’re not just best friends. they’re more than that. they always have been.

the way i see it, eddie making buck legal guardian over christopher was the most natural next step for their relationship. it wasn’t shocking at all, it made sense. their foundation is solid. the only thing that surprised me was the fact that eddie’s been sitting on this information for a year. SIR.

there’s no one eddie trusts more to have his and christopher’s backs than buck. there’s no one buck trusts more to fight for him and his self-worth than eddie. and he’s just now beginning to realize this. they’re partners. they’re a unit. they’re a family.

it’s natural.

#911 #911 on fox #911 spoilers #evan buckley #eddie diaz #christopher diaz #buddie #buddie endgame #buddie meta #911 meta

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terrainofheartfelt · 3 years ago

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"It's been more like a 'Choose Your Own Adventure'!" A Rufly Playlist

Finally, a use for my Dad(™) music taste! I threw in a few live recordings/rough sessions because that’s rock and roll, babey. YouTube link here

image sources: (x) (x) (x)

American Girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

If you think this isn’t a rufly song, then idk what to tell you.

And for one desperate moment there / He crept back in her memory / God, it's so painful when something that is so close / Is still so far out of reach

Light My Fire - The Doors

Making this playlist was fun because I got to imagine a lot of precanon Rufus/Lily, and how they came to be. And like, I can see Rufus covering a LOT of these, yk?

The time to hesitate is through / No time to wallow in the mire

Funny Feelin’ - Langhorne Slim

I can also see Rufus actually writing some of these. Like this one!

Well, I got my eye on you, baby / And I know I ain't the only one / But if you just say maybe / My lonely days would be done

Superstar - tswift

If you don’t project onto at least one tswift song can you even call it a ship playlist?

And I knew from the first note played / I'd be breaking all my rules to see you / You smile that beautiful smile and all the girls in the front row / Scream your name

Lay, Lady, Lay - Bob Dylan

Tour life vibes

His clothes are dirty but his, his hands are clean / And you’re the best thing that he’s ever seen

Fire - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Your kisses they burn / But your heart stays cool

Fooled Around and Fell in Love - as performed by Morgan James

Because Lily Rhodes really did fuck around and find out.

Free, on my own is the way I used to be / Ah, but since I met you baby, love's got a hold on me

Don’t Let Me Down - The Beatles

Nothing says Lily & Rufus like a Beatles deep cut.

I'm in love for the first time / Don't you know it's gonna last

Shadows of the Night - Pat Benatar

80s rock vibes, babe!

You can cry tough baby, it's all right / You can let me down easy, but not tonight

She - as performed by She & Him

She may be the love that cannot hope to last / May come to me from shadows of the past

Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles

Tell me that you want the kind of things / That money just can't buy / I don't care too much for money / Money can't buy me love

Second Hand News - Fleetwood Mac

It’s breakup chapter time, y’all

I know there's nothing to say / Someone has taken my place

Hungry Heart - Bruce Springsteen

I met her in a Kingstown bar / We fell in love I knew it had to end / We took what we had and we ripped it apart / Now here I am down in Kingstown again

Piece of My Heart - as performed by Big Brother and the Holding Company

Have another little piece of my heart now, baby / Well, you know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good

Love Really Hurts Without You - Billy Ocean

In my head, this is the “Lily and her cavalcade of failed relationships post-Rufus” montage song

You walk like a dream and you make like you're queen of the action

Halls - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

This is the “Rufus touring post-Lily” montage song

Thought a broken heart could write a perfect song / And it did and I was right so now you're gone

Mulholland Drive - The Gaslight Anthem

Okay so we all know about the Dair & Rufly parallels, and this song nearly ended up on that playlist, but the vibe didn’t quite fit. And I think, in my heart of hearts, that this song (though probs more punk than Lincoln Hawk sounds) reads like Rufus could have written it. And there are lines that are so evocative of both Dair & Rufly like I still remember holding you, just out of sight of her - like! That’s Valentine’s day 2012 amirite??? And: But it scared you, love, to need someone, so you killed it all instead. And the imagery of Mulholland Drive with Lily being from LA...Anyways this song is one of my all time favorites.

Would you miss me if I was gone and all the simple things were lost? / Would you ever wait on me to say / Oh that I’d just die if you ever took your love away

Malibu 1922 - COIN

You're some old man's new trophy / Locked up in some house in New Jersey / Now money's not a problem / But 20 years it seems you've forgotten

How’s the World Treating You - Elvis Presley

Pilot Rufly vibes, but sad!

Every sweet thing that mattered / Has been broken in two / And I'm asking you, darling / How's the world treating you?

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - The Gaslight Anthem

Pilot Rufly vibes, but sexy!

Can I get a witness, pretty baby? / I still love Tom Petty songs and drivin' old men crazy

It Ain’t Me Babe - Bob Dylan

“You made a choice to be Lily Bass, and we both need you to go do that.”

Go lightly from the ledge, babe / Go lightly on the ground / I’m not the one you want, babe / I will only let you down

Harvest Moon - Neil Young

It’s about the lovers to strangers to hostile acquaintances to friends to lovers again.

When we were strangers / I watched you from afar / When we were lovers / I loved you with all my heart

Home From Home - Roo Panes

“Well, it’s Thanksgiving, and I couldn’t think of another place that felt more like home.”

Because I'm starting to realise the question worth asking is, who? / I'm starting to realize the question worth answering is you

You Got Lucky - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

I mean. I mean they do fight a lot.

If you don't feel complete / If I don't take you all the way / Then go

Are We Free? - Mick Flannery and Susan O’Neill

I like how this whole song is a dialogue, but always comes together at the chorus

Are we free to understand / or bound to repeat again / all the wars of before?

The Bones feat. Hozier - Maren Morris

“The king and queen of reconciliation” - Dan Humphrey

No, it won't always go the way we planned it / But the wolves came and went and we're still standing

Songbird - Fleetwood Mac

They didn’t break up, what are you talking about?

And I love you, I love you, I love you / Like never before

Beginning to Feel the Years - Brandi Carlile

And I'm beginning to feel the years / But I'm going to be okay / As long as you're beside me--along the way

Call on Me - Big Brother and the Holding Company

Baby, when you're down and feel so blue / Well, no, you won't drown, honey, I'll be there too

Lily - Benjamin Gibbard

It was too perfect. I had no choice.

Lily is a big brass band who fills the air with song / Lily is a destination and she's where my arms belong

Hard Feelings - Brian Fallon

And the time used to stop in her hands / I could feel it go hesitant / When it rained in Manhattan / We took shelter in the spare room at the Grand

#rufus x lily #lily x rufus #rufly #gossip girl #playlist #source: ggcaps #i swear I've been meaning to post this before the asks I just got today

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maerambles · 3 years ago

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Chapter One

Keeper of the Lost Cities - Shannon Messenger (October 2, 2012)

Buckle up, folks, this is going to be a long one.

“Have you decided that you’re too smart to pay attention to this information?” [Mr. Sweeny, Sophie’s High School Teacher] (Ch.1, p. 3)

“Since you’ve decided you’re above the lecture, why don’t you give it?” [Mr. Sweeny, Sophie’s High School Teacher] (Ch.1, p. 5)

Mr. Sweeny grumbled something that sounded like “know-it-all” as he stalked off to the exhibit in the next room over. [Mr. Sweeny, Sophie’s High School Teacher] (Ch.1, p. 5)

What kind of teacher speaks to a 12 year-old like this? Mr. Sweeny should reconsider jobs if he his going to chastise his smartest student like this. From my experience, the smarter students like Sophie were always favored by the teacher, and I’m sure they would have ADORED Sophie for being able to not only keep up with high school level students, but to beat them. Mr. Sweeny has no reason to be bullying a literal child.

Also, why is Sophie being grouped in with a bunch of 17/18 year olds? There are special programs for highly advanced kids! San Diego is a city of 1.41 million people, and if my town of 80 thousand can have programs for kids like this, I’m sure San Diego does as well. I was 12 when this book came out and I had friends in these gifted programs. Not sure when this book takes place, but it’s from the iPod era so she should be in a program. I guess more tragic back story for Sophie, amirite?

He didn’t seem to realize that unless the giant dinosaur replicas came to life and started eating people, no one cared. (Ch.1, p.4).

What a sad group of high schoolers, the kids in my class would have loved this! But the school that I went to was so underfunded we didn’t even get field trips, so to each their own.

It’d been her secret - her burden - since she fell and hit her head when she was five years old. (Ch. 1, p. 4)

I know Sophie is ~different~ but wouldn’t it be natural for her to mention this to her parents? When I was younger I had a friend who got really bad headaches as a kid (same age as Sophie), and spoke to her parents about it so she could get the proper medication and examination about it. It’s pretty clear that hearing the thoughts of others is not only bothersome to Sophie, but painful, so painful to the point that she has to listen to music to block out the noise.

I don’t believe for a second that a five year old would keep this to themselves, and surprised (at least to my knowledge, maybe this gets explained later in the books) that her overprotective parents never did anything about this. This constant pain makes me feel sorry for Sophie, because chronic distress is not something pleasant.

She’d glanced at it when they entered the museum, and her photographic memory recorded every detail. (Ch. 1, p. 5)

I’ll probably make a bigger rant about this when I analyze her character (because it’s a big part of who she is), but it bothers me how Sophie just... gets her powers triggered and than just has them at their fullest extent? The concept of triggering powers is cool, but once we get past 2 or 3 powers it feels like the character isn’t working for it at all. Sure, any normal human won’t ever be telepathic or have a photographic memory, but we can understand her struggles through the hard work she gets to master them.

Imagine if you were reading a book of a completely different character, one outside of fantasy, and they just woke up one day and knew how to sing all the right notes perfectly, knew how to swing the perfect serve in Tennis just by watching Serena Williams do one once on T.V., or could cook a perfect batch of cookies without burning a single one in the first try. Sure, MAYBE that could be interesting within the first few pages but constantly having to see them get, well essentially gifted with these cool powers can not only get boring but frustrating. Where’s the fun in just being good at things the first try? What if Sophie could only hear the thoughts of kids at first, and then as she focused harder and got older she could start hearing the thoughts of adults?

Sorry for the long rant, but expect it to come up every time Sophie has a new ability because I feel like she never works for any of the abilities she has. She’s reliant on abilities that she can barely use or understand because she didn’t take the time to fully develop them, fully feel the excitement of finally reading a particular hard-headed person’s mind or figure out why her photographic memory had trouble projecting correctly the stars in the night sky. There’s no... development. It’s even more frustrating knowing Sophie is arguably the most powerful elf to exist but doesn’t know how to use those powers. I would blame the black swan, but this feels like something Shannon Messenger did to get certain plot points rolling faster.

“Nice job, superfreak.” Garwin Chan - a boy wearing a T-shirt that said BACK OFF! I’M GONNA FART - sneered as he shoved past her to join their classmates. (Ch. 1, p. 5)

Garwin was still bitter Yale had offered her a full-time scholarship . His rejection letter had arrived a few weeks before. (Ch. 1, p. 5)

No offense to Garwin, but unless you’re wearing that shirt ironically I highly doubt Yale is the best fit for you, buddy.

So she’d be attending the much closer, much smaller San Diego City College next year - a fact some annoying reporter found newsworthy enough to post in the local paper the day before - CHILD PRODIGY CHOOSES CITY COLLEGE OVER IVY LEAGUE - complete with her senior photo. Her parents freaked when they found out. (Ch. 1, p. 6)

They’d even called the newspaper to complain. (Ch. 1, p. 6)

The editor seemed as unhappy as they were. (Ch. 1, p. 6)

This is illegal. As someone who is studying law, the act of publishing a news article without the consent or knowledge of the subject/person is illegal. Especially of a minor! Since the article was officially published and had a picture attached, Mr. and Mrs. Foster not only have a case, they have a GOOD one. What are they doing complaining to the editor?

He was probably fifteen, and by far the cutest boy she’d ever seen. (Ch. 1, p. 7)

Stupid, but the fact that she’s 12 and he’s 15 makes me uncomfortable? In retrospect they’re not too far off in age but it just makes me uncomfortable because she’d be a 7th grader and he’d be a Sophomore in High School. Technically.

And she couldn’t place his accent. Kind of British, but different somehow. Crisper? (Ch. 1, p. 7)

The fact that Fitz is supposed to be British is SO adorable. Like of course he would be.

She wasn’t used to talking to boys - especially cute boys - and it made her brain a little mushy. (Ch. 1, p. 7)

This isn’t a problem necessarily with KOTLC in particular, but I’ve noticed that almost every single female led book I’ve read the love interest (or one of) is always introduced in the first chapter. This is something that I personally don’t like, as it isn’t equal to the books I’ve read with male leads in it. HP, PJO, and TMR all have their female love interest introduced SEVERAL chapters in and in HP’s case, SEVERAL books in. I’m sure Harry x Hermione shippers would disagree, but they’re relationship isn’t describe as anything other than platonic until much later in the series because they’re so young when the series starts.

Kids thoughts were like stinging, high-pitched needles - and so many at once was like an angry porcupine attacking her brain. (Ch. 1, p. 8)

TELEPATH LORE!! Please Shannon, what are the minds like for older people? Babies? Can Sophie even read the minds of babies? They can’t formulate words, so I don’t imagine Sophie will hear them. I know that later in the series she does read animal and ogre minds, but I want more information!

Fitz? What kind of name was Fitz? (Ch. 1, p. 9)

It’s not an unusual name, lol. Sophie really doesn’t go out much, huh.

The smoke from the fires burned her lungs and white bits of ash flew in her face, but she ignored them. (Ch. 1, p. 10)

If it’s this dangerous outside why are they on a field trip? Wouldn’t it be postponed? It sounds dangerous if you can’t even go outside for fresh air! I don’t know what the adults in these books are thinking, even the human ones.

She was going to die. (Ch. 1, p. 11)

Woah, what an end to the FIRST chapter!

Sorry if I was a bit too negative, it’s just that there so much in this story that just doesn’t make sense? And a lot of it can be fixed. She can still be bullied by kids her own age, she doesn’t specifically need to go to high school. Sometimes I wish that authors didn’t try so hard to make the characters likable by giving them dead parents or having them be bullied, like sure, that defiantly happens to people and it’s sad but I think it’s a cheap way in books to get us to feel sorry for the main characters. I think this is done as to say, “oh look, this character has a shitty life so it evens out when later in the series they get everything they’ve ever dreamed of” sort of thing.

But overall this chapter was good! It didn’t have a lot of information overload but we still got introduced to important elements of Sophie’s life. And Sophie and Fitz both seem like cute characters so far! I can really see them being fleshed out well in the future, that is, if Shannon Messenger is up to the challenge.

Like I said, if I critiqued something that gets explained later in the books, please let me know! As long as it doesn’t spoil the books, though. I’ve only ever read the first four and on top of that I don’t even remember those very well.

Anyways, until the next one! (Also, I promise that my reviews won’t always be this long!).

Also, to whoever read all of this, I give you an imaginary badge of honor! You deserve it, champ.

#KOTLC #Keeper of the Lost Cities #Reviews #Book Reviews

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patrickztump · 3 years ago

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☕ camping, the TV show Monk, standing-only concerts? (+ ☕ bonus freebie beverage for Any Opinion)

camping well i've never been camping* so my opinion could change should i ever do, but over all i think it could be fun. really my biggest hiccup with the idea is bathrooms. either camp sites with them (ideal) or having a way to go comfortably (second best) thats not just... peeing in a bush. i’m picky i know, but bathrooms are a Big Deal for me lol. bugs (ticks and mosquitoes specifically) would also be a problem, but not so much as one as off deep woods is my preferred scent in the summer. oh, snakes too. simply Do Not want a copperhead working its way into my tent.

*assuming camping is in a tent, in the woods, maybe at a campground or just ~out there~

monk monk reminds me of my middle school friend; she was a huge fan of monk and tried to get me to watch it, but i just wasn't interested in it at the time. lately i've kind of watched it off and on when i stumble upon it, and it's like a lot of crime dramas - leans more to the goofy/comical side (not that bones doesn’t lmao but is has booth amirite). it's okay, still not a favorite. but i find the theme song terrible lol

standing-only concerts HATE IT. provide chairs. i especially hate them in the dead of summer and it's 80º at night with no less than 80% humidity. the amount of times i've felt lightheaded and like i was going to pass out from fatigue/heat exhaustion and dehydration and didn't have a seat? numerous. a seat would have helped me recover/regain strength much faster than i actually did. so yeah, i really think seats should be available.

anything? well, since you asked..

toxic simmers. the sims 4 is deeply flawed right now with bugs and glitches and lacking depth for basegame alone. we all know this and want it fixed and revamped - it is a seven year old game after all. but simmers (twitter specifically) HARP on the issues, what they want, and how “no one asked for that” when new packs are released (albeit valid for the star wars pack), they are never happy or satisfied with anything. i don’t follow any simmers on twitter but do follow the sims, so twitter shoves tweets pertaining to the sims, ea, and video games in general down my throat. and every. single. tweet. about the sims is someone complaining about something. it makes the community look angry, bitter, and downright unpleasant. i don’t engage with it much past sharing a build i made every now and again because of how unhappy everyone is. i’m unhappy! my game on ps4 literally lags, freezes, and crashes, it’s borderline unplayable as of late and it irritates me - but i don’t sit around b*tching nonstop on twitter.

#ask #sometimes-i-talk-a-lot #ask game #so it sort of finished off as a rant #oopsies #but it is incredibly annoying to see anything from a 'passionate' simmer

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ekebolou · 3 years ago

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I haven’t forgotten the wordbuilding stuff. I got distracted by planning the Academy grounds.

It’s funny because I started off with all the ideas about strategic design, and comparison and addition to the previous structures (let’s face it, they copied the Palace tower - it’s copying - actually it’s puerile dick-measuring, but that’s still copying). And then I started thinking about who is actually building it, and how long it would take to build.

Because the foundations of the idea of the Academy are laid out by Keadar-Ainjir himself. And he definitely builds the Academy Tower (diiiiiiiiick-measuring). But he doesn’t live that long. He’s pretty young when he initiates the rebellion (older than Nika and Cole during the war, so less late-twenties and more early thirties, but since paths to advancement would be very different back then, that would be young for the position he takes on), but it takes a long time to come to fruition, and the coup at the Palace is several years after the war starts, and then he’s got to, you know, establish a whole new system of governance. And deal with when they find out the royal family was not eradicated. and then there’s more rebellions (because of course there are). Wulsh starts to get uppity. Adineh starts meddling. It takes a long time to get stable. He dies maybe in his sixties. Maybe it’ll be early seventies, but probably not.

And the Academy is a major engineering project. It’s built out of the same basalt the Palace is (only more, and better, because penises need to be compared). It’s not that easy to mine. A lot of stone will have to come from somewhere else just because you already have city built over where the original mines were. Those are the places (out in the Ards and Namera) the tend to rebel, too, and being looped into a massive engineering project doesn’t help make ‘em NOT ornery.

He focuses on the wall, and the Tower. He’s a smart guy, but he’s not a builder. And he’s distracted. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do with the palace, but he knows it can’t be a seat of new governance, and then it turns out a royal baby lived (Adineh and the nobility both frown on baby-killing, post-coup anyway) and any idea of maybe trying to tear down or convert goes out the window because he can stash the nobility there and not spend any more money on them, and he’s now got a real excuse for a whole new center of power for the military. So he builds the tower and the starts (and mostly finishes the wall.

His lieutenant takes over after him and really has enough to be getting on with making sure nothing gets fucked up once Keadar-Ainjir is dead. It’s really remarkable. He does some sketches, defends the principles of the place as written down by his predecessor, but mostly lets whoever cares most keep developing the Academy. The first classes are tiny - maybe 20-30 kids - and the grounds are fucking huge. Because I’m phenomenally bad at picturing spaces, the rather arbitrary picture I drew is sectioned off to something like 800 acres. Good-ol’ K-A walled off 800 acres (remember - some of this is existent city walls that he added to, so he didn’t build the whole circumference wall) and built a fucking enormous tower in the middle and died.

Originally, I was concerned with what an actual experienced military tactician would decide for how the grounds were planned, and then I realized it’s going to be the work of decades. Plans will be found, lost, discarded. Different visions will intervene. Resource scarcity will have a say. The things that Keadar-Ainjir can gift to the physical presence of the place are limited, but important, and probably would’ve faded without his lieutenant being so adamant about them, if nothing else. That thing, as per the grounds, is not defensibility, but the idea of self-containment. Now, this isn’t like a castle is self-contained, obviously, because the major food supply for the Academy comes from way far from the grounds, as discussed in earlier ramblings. He builds a wall, he builds a tower - he sets a boundary, and gives it a center. Everything needed to go from boundary to center - from periphery to seat of power - is within the walls.

The result being a kind of stupidly designed campus. They plop the first building down right next to the Tower, some 80 years after K-A dies, and it’s kind of all-purpose - dorms, classrooms, storage, library, spaces for combat practice, etc. But this is dumb, and the outgrowth of temporary buildings as class sizes starts to go really points up how dumb this is, because the Tower is supposed to be special, but they can’t move the whole building because labor costs money, so sort of... semi-wall the rest of the space around the tower, then start plopping buildings around the original building, and at one point they wall off what was a nice arch-lined walkway which becomes the famous seldom-used hall of alcoves by the kitchens (because damn me, I did establish some places in previous writings I want to keep).

And they toss up some dorms, but one of the reasons to build on the other hill back in palace-building days (other than the fact that it was slightly taller) is that this hill has an awkward slope, and is actually quite narrow where it levels out, so they either have to level the ground, build off-level or into the hillside, or just put shit where the ground is already level. They generally opt for the latter.

And now I like it. I’ve drawn it out a few different ways, but I like it - because it’s messy. There’s an idea behind where everything is, but it’s a very big idea and anything less wouldn’t get expressed properly. And at this point - the Academy Dayz stories - they’re still behind, because they’ll always be behind, and the class sizes have required the building of extra dorms for the First and Second Year classes that are wattle-and-daub and shitty wood and bricks, pushed all the way up against the walls, and the Southwest gate is stupidly built, because the city started to creep around the Academy walls and they didn’t want that, so the destroyed a bit but couldn’t destroy it all (because people live there), so they just built a new wall and now there’s a double gate - like, two gates, fifty feet apart and it’s super inefficient. And there’s all this shitty detritus up by the Northgate, which is actually brick and nice and an extension of the street outside but it’s awkward because it violates the sacred boundary between City and Academy, so cadets are strictly forbidden from going over there even though it’s right near the Second Year dorms. It’s like Hogsmeade, only instead of magical candy and butterbeer you’ll just catch an asswhooping if you go in there without permission (but who wants to, because ugh, townies, amirite)

I still don’t know where the showers are.

#worldbuilding notes #kostas stuff

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verai-marcel · 4 years ago

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The Things That We Could Be (Charles x F!Reader, Biker AU, 18+, 1 of 3)

Summary: You’re a freelance writer, trying to bust into the world of journalism. While the local paper gives you a few assignments here and there, you’re looking to catch a big break. When you start sniffing around one of the local motorcycle clubs, you find more than you can handle, and it leads you to discovering secrets about the owner of your favorite cafe, a man with warm brown eyes and the kindest smile.

Author’s Notes: This story has been in my head for a while. Hope you like it. Also disclaimer: I did some light research on motorcycle clubs, but I really don’t know a whole lot about them, so this may come off as pretty generic. That’s fine, we’re here for the Charles smut, amirite? Also, can you guess what song I took the title of this fic from?

Tags: plot, drama, violence, cheesy 80s vibe, bathroom sex, doggy style, smut, romance

AO3 Link is here, sweetie.

Word Count: 2567

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Chapter 1 - New Girl in Town

“C’mere Natasha,” you cooed at the calico cat that had walked towards you as soon as you had entered the cat area of Crafty Cats. This cat café was your haven, your home away from home, ever since you had moved to this area two months ago. Pursuing your career of news journalism, you worked for a local paper, hoping to get enough experience to break news left and right. It was the hunt for the story that drove you; the search for truth kept you going even when your boss cut your articles time and again. You dreamed of one day crafting the words that would move hearts around the world.

But for now, with your crushing student debt, you settled for any job that would keep you afloat. Even though this town was small and relatively quiet, there were still stories to be told. Pulling out your laptop, you started typing away as Natasha leapt into your lap, curled herself into a ball, and purred loudly. Patting her absentmindedly as you hemmed and hawed over your word choices, a soft chime of the bells tied to the door heralded another visitor.

"Your hour is almost up."

You looked up at Charles, the owner of the café. His long black hair was loosely tied up in a queue, but shaved on either side of his head. Tendrils too short to be tied back fell around his face, framing a strong jaw and a gentle smile.

And that voice? Ooh, it was like sinking into a hot bath. You could listen to him talk all day.

Unable to stop yourself, you pouted. "Already? It feels like I just got here."

Charles laughed softly before looking through the large window that separated the cat area from the café. Then he turned to you and placed a finger to his lips, winking at you.

"Maybe you still have another thirty minutes left," he said with a smile. "I won't tell anyone if you won't."

You grinned. "You're the best, Charles."

He just shyly shrugged as he began to reach down toward Natasha. He paused, looking at you for permission to get closer. "May I?"

"Of course," you said, leaning back to give him room. He gently pet Natasha's head, a smile on his face as she lifted her head to rub against his palm.

You envied the cat so much at that moment.

With Charles so close, you could see the profile of his face, so beautiful to you, and the lines of scars on his cheek and jawline told a story that filled you with a burning curiosity. You wanted to ask, but you also got the feeling that it would be overstepping some boundary and the warm aura that surrounded him would disappear.

So you swallowed your questions and continued to watch him pet Natasha for a few more moments. When he got up, he looked at you, almost as if he was going to pet you next. Or maybe it was just you projecting your fantasies onto him. He walked away, heading out the door and entering the cafe again. You looked through the window and watched him talk to the barista who was working at the bar, and then he headed through the back door, presumably to do manager things.

You turned back to your laptop. He had given you an extra 30 minutes. Better make them count.

***

“I thought you quit smokin’.”

Charles shrugged as Arthur came up to stand next to him, leaning against the back wall of the cat café. It had been a long day, and even though he rarely smoked anymore, today just seemed like that kind of day. He took a long drag, blowing out the smoke slowly as he looked up at the crimson sky.

“Who’s the girl?”

Charles turned to look at Arthur, an eyebrow raised incredulously. “How’d you know?”

Arthur chuckled. “You used to smoke a lot whenever you had your eye on someone.”

Charles let out a short laugh. “Am I that easy to read?”

“Nah, I’ve just known you long enough.”

Charles smiled as he put out the rest of his cigarette. “She’s a writer. Watching her work in my café… It’s nice.”

“You goin’ to make a move then?”

Charles turned to him, a wry grin on his face. “I’m not letting this one get away.”

***

You were packing up your laptop just as you saw Charles and another man come through the back door. It was sunset on a Saturday, and Charles always shut the cafe down early on Saturday nights to give him and his barista a break. Spotting the barista grin as she saw the other man, you were suddenly intrigued by the way they looked at each other, a heat to their grins as she reached for him, pulling him close. He kissed her forehead gently, his head tilting to one side slightly to gaze at her, and you felt as if you were watching a much more intimate moment. Heat flooded your cheeks as you quickly looked away, continuing to pack.

Once you had everything put away in your laptop bag, you moved to get up, but a small paw attached itself to your leg.

“Sorry Nattie, I can’t stay.”

The calico meowed and dug her claws in.

The door opened and closed. You could hear Charles laughing softly. “She really likes you.”

You managed to pry Natasha’s claws out of your pants and stepped out of the way before she batted at you again. “I’d adopt her if I could, but my apartment doesn’t allow pets.”

Charles nodded. “I understand. Arthur over there is in the same situation,” he said, nodding towards the man who was now holding the door for the barista as they exited the cafe. Arthur looked up and waved goodbye with two fingers as Charles waved back the same way.

He looked back at you. “If you ever move into an apartment that can have pets, you’ll have to fight him for her,” he joked. “Natasha only likes the two of us and Arthur.”

Your shoulders sank. You were stuck in a 6 month lease for the only place you could afford, a dinky studio apartment in the next town over. “It’ll be a long time before I can move,” you lamented.

Charles stepped closer to you. His concern was pouring out in waves; when you had told him during a previous visit about where you lived, he had immediately told you to go home while the sun was still out. You were still trying to figure out what places were safe and what places weren’t, and when he had talked about how the motorcycle club in that area had a tendency to harass new people to the town, you started to keep up your guard and to play it safe, getting home before dark and locking the door. So far, so good.

But you were also curious about this motorcycle club; were they really as bad as Charles said they were? He was just a cafe owner, what would he know about this? Had they threatened him in the past?

Your train of thought stopped when he placed his hand on your shoulder. His warmth was inviting, his touch was gentle. You wondered for a split second how it would feel to have his hands all over your body.

“Charles?”

“Just… stay safe, alright?” He looked away for a moment, thinking over something before looking back at you. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Your heart skipped a beat. “Alright,” you said, a little breathy. “Thank you.”

As if your heartbeat wasn’t erratic before, the smile that bloomed on his face made your cheeks warm and your breath quicken. You nodded at him and headed for the door, trying to hide how he was making you feel.

But as you walked past him, his hand brushed the small of your back, and he quickly caught up with you so he could hold the door open like a gentleman. “See you tomorrow?”

You smiled. “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

***

Back at your place, you took a deep breath. You were going to do this. You were going to start investigating the local motorcycle club.

***

A week had passed. While you were churning out articles for websites and the local paper, you were also asking around about the MC. Most people just knew to steer clear of them, that if you didn’t bother them, they didn’t bother you. Some suggested you stop investigating them, to stop sticking your nose where it shouldn’t go. But of course, you couldn’t do that. You wanted to know what they were about, what was their motive.

Some men wanted power & money. Others just wanted to watch the world burn.

You were hoping it wasn’t the latter.

***

A banging on your door woke you up late at night. Startled, you grabbed the metal baseball bat near your bed and slowly walked towards the door, only for it to suddenly burst open.

Three big, burly men poured into your doorway, the light outside making their silhouettes even larger.

“Heard you been askin’ about us.”

You swallowed.

One of them walked up to you. You swung your bat.

He dodged it and grabbed it, pulling it easily from your grip. “We don’t want to hurt you, baby. Unless you keep asking about us.”

“Why?” you asked. It was the first thing out of your mouth, and once you asked, the rest came out. “Why is this town so afraid of you?”

One of the other men stepped forward and grabbed you by the throat as you tried to step away. You clawed at his arm, but he was strong as steel, his fingers digging into your neck.

“We don’t owe you an explanation, lady,” he said. “Stop askin’ about us.”

“Or else,” the third man threatened.

You hated being told what to do. But you saw the danger in your situation. You clamped down on your urge to question them. It’d be hard to write a news story if you were in a hospital. Or dead.

So you kept your mouth shut and stared them down.

“You goin’ to stop?”

You nodded, just to get him to let you go.

The man let you go, pushing you backwards with a hard shove. You staggered back, but stayed on your feet.

“Don’t think about calling the cops,” the leader said, taking a practice swing with your bat. “They can’t protect you all the time.”

Then he swung the bat into your TV, smashing it into bits. Tossing the bat onto the ground, he and others laughed as they walked out the door and into the cold, dark night. As they left, you caught the symbol on their jackets: in large letters, ODB written across the top, with a green skull inside of a four-leaf clover below it. The letters MC were on the right of the symbol.

It was the O’Driscoll Boys.

You fell to your knees, shaken and scared, but also filled with an all-encompassing anger, burning-hot and laced with frustration.

You had a feeling you weren’t the only one who had dealt with this. And you also had a feeling that you couldn’t stay here while you investigated further. As if this was going to stop you.

You just had to find another way.

***

You stared at apartment listings, trying to figure out a new place to stay. Unfortunately, so many things were outside of your budget. Maybe if you skipped a meal every other day?

“Tell me what happened.”

You blinked and looked at Charles, who had managed to sit next to you without you realizing. You were so deep into your house hunt that you hadn’t paid attention to what was around you. Perhaps it was because you felt safe here.

Perhaps it was because Charles was here that you felt safe.

He slowly reached for you, his fingers touching your shoulder. “Who hurt you?” he asked, gentler this time.

You reached up to your throat; your scarf had slipped down a bit, revealing the bruises around your neck. Looking down, you answered him in a soft voice. “The ODB MC.”

“Fuck.”

You looked up quickly. He had spoken with such hard anger that you were surprised to hear it from him.

You took a deep breath and told him what had happened last night.

At the end of your story, he took your hand in his big ones, making you feel small, but protected in his grasp.

“Do you have a friend you can stay with? You can’t stay there, it isn’t safe.”

You shrugged. “Not really.” The few friends you had lived far away. Family was far away too. You were stuck.

He squeezed your hand. “Stay with me. I can sleep on the couch, but I’ll sleep better knowing you’re safe.”

You blinked. He was offering his room for you? “Charles, I couldn't impose—”

“You wouldn’t be imposing. Please.”

Looking at his serious face, you nodded, accepting his offer. You had the feeling that if you refused, he was going to pick you up right there and then and keep you in his room anyway. There was an intensity to his protectiveness that stirred your heart, made you want him to lock you away.

He smiled. “Thank you. I’ll help you when you’re done here.”

***

That afternoon, he had his barista hold down the fort while he helped you pack up some of your essentials; you weren’t planning on staying with him for more than a week, but he let you know that you were welcome to stay for as long as you needed to.

You had told your landlord that your place had been broken into and that the lock would need to be fixed. When he saw your bashed-in TV, he said nothing, solidifying your theory that he had turned a blind eye to the MC when they had walked through here. He knew, and he wasn’t going to do anything about it, which pissed you off even more.

***

Charles carried your two duffel bags full of your stuff up the stairs in the back of the cafe to his apartment. On the way to his place, he had told you a little more about the downtown area where he and his friends lived and worked. One of his friends, John, was happily married with a daughter and owned a flower shop close to the clock tower that served as the town center. His other friend, Arthur, worked at the local tattoo shop, but lived elsewhere. A lot of the businesses in the renovated part of downtown were live-work spaces, so Charles had his little loft apartment above his cafe.

“Makes the commute pretty nice,” you remarked as you followed him up the stairs.

“Yup. Have to be sure to at least put a shirt on though, or I get yelled at,” he said with a laugh. He had mentioned his barista was like a little sister to him, and that he was lucky to have her. He mentioned having put the idea in her head to go out with Arthur, and was happy they had gotten together. You wondered at his observation skills, to see to the heart of someone and what would make them happy.

Would you make me happy?

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Chapter 2 is next!

Tagging @mrscharlessmith @fangirl-ramblings @eeeasyguuurl

#Charles Smith #charles x fem!reader #rdr2 #rdr2 fanfic #biker au #writing #fanfic #modern au #lemon fanfic #nsft

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suffering-and-happy-about-it · 4 years ago

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I want to tell you... (Part 8.)

Description: Nathan Drake is not the exact definition of an unhappy man. His job is steady, his friends still see him from time to time, he plays football, but his marriage is his main problem. Many things will change when a special person comes to his life.

Part Summary: Some things from the past are about to be revealed slowly... And you don’t know if you feel relieved that Nate knows first bits about you or if you want to keep the things secret.

A/N: x

Word counter: 2.7 K

Tagging: @missdictatorme, @peakymarvels, @nemodoren, @flavorishy

Series master list: H E R E

Nathan’s car sing-along playlist: H E R E

This time, Nathan promised himself to be better than before - and he texted you right the other morning when he woke up. First, he was feeling weird about it, but as soon as you texted back, a grin appeared on his lips. You've even sent him a photo of your completely moved-in living room with a heart emoji, which made grin all shift long.

It took exactly three days before your other hangout. Your semester was starting in October and you hadn't got many friends in the town, so when Nate offered you any kind of escape from the loneliness, you've accepted right away.

The hangout wasn't originally even Nate's idea - it was Sully's. They were just hanging out at Sully's place, Florence has been gone for the shift, and both boys were getting ready to visit a farmer market in the nearby city when the idea crossed Victor's mind.

"Hey, kid?" - Sully sighed as he walked out of the bedroom, adjusting his belt on his jeans. Nathan expected the old man to ask if the visage suits him, but Victor pulled a completely different Uno card.

"You know, I was thinkin' about that girl of yours. Ain't she free for the day? I mean... A bit of help never hurt anyone, amirite?" - The old man adjusted his Cuban shirt, having Nathan thinking about two things in particular. How could he charm Florence while wearing such fashion crime and why on earth he wanted to meet you? The first one was bothering Nate way more, but he still asked about the second subject. - Why would I invite her to shop with you?" - Nate asked confusedly, earning a chuckle.

"Because you, boy, have been staring outta window the whole time I've been in the bedroom, thinkin' about her. Didn't you?" - Sully asked, knowing he's right. Nate was thinking about you - yet he was thinking about the best text to respond with to your last joke. It wasn't like he was just mindlessly signing, talking about how pretty you were. - "How am I lookin'?" - Sully turned at himself in the mirror, putting a cigar between his lips and aviators on his eyes, before hooking them on the hem of his white top. Nathan rolled his eyes, standing up.

"Like someone whos too old to be attractive, but he still thinks he has it. Come on." - The younger man asked, already hearing his phone ringing as he called you, hoping you wouldn't pick up. To his bad luck, you've picked just after the second sound. Your voice told Nate that you're really glad to hear him.

"Hey!" - A joyful cheer came out of the phone, making Sully chuckle at your excitement as he locked the apartment door.

"Hi, nice to hear from you." - Nathan greeted you back nervously, looking at the old man giving him his well-known grin. Nate felt like a nervous girl asking her boy out to the prom, so he took in a deep breath to ask you if you'd like to join them, being interrupted by your giggle. - "You're out of breath? You're jogging or something? I mean, jog in this weather is a suicide, but you do you." - You rambled, being lost in the thoughts inside of your head.

The weather was beautiful, indeed. The sun was shining, and the air was nicely warm, so it would be ideal weather to go to the beach for a swim. But having you thinking that Nathan is jogging made Sully chuckle as the young man rolled his eyes at him. Nathan would jog only if necessary and Victor mas aware of that. It was more probable that Sully himself sets on a jog, this boy would rather go to buy an ice-cream, sit on a porch and watched the nature.

"No, unfortunately, I don't jog, so..." - Nathan answered, having you chuckle with quiet 'kay added in the end. - "But I'm going to a market and you, miss, are going with me. How does that sound?" - The man said with confidence, having Sully make a dramatic surprised face as both the man walked to Nate's jeep standing in front of the apartment building.

"You don't even ask me if I have time today? Rude." - You answered, and for a moment, Nate felt saved because you won't be going with them. - "Sure, where will you pick me up?" - You asked suddenly when Nate plugged his phone into the car's Bluetooth, suddenly hearing your voice everywhere around them. Sully was quite amused with the personality you seemed to have so far.

"I don't know, maybe on the street, you're livin' at?" - The old man asked, having Nate's eyes widen in horror. Sully just innocently opened up the window, lighting one of his cigarillos up. Nathan hated it when the man smoked in his car, but he also learned that resistance comes in vain when it came to this man, so he just rolled his eyes and set on the road.

"Excuse me, who is that? I thought I'm talking to Nate." - You asked nervously, all the humor suddenly leaving you.

"Don't mind him, it's my best pal. So, in twenty minutes at the corner of the street? I think I won't be able to drive in because of the people and stuff." - Nate smacked Sully's thigh angrily, watching the man having a problem with containing a serious face as he turned around to look from the window. For a while, there was this weird silence on your end, before you sighed.

"'kay, I'll be there. See you, both." - You said your goodbye swiftly, already hurrying off to put some clothes on.

"Was that necessary, Sullivan?" - Nathan sighed, turning on one of his car playlists. This man was a sucker for singing in the car when he was stuck in a long colony, so he made a few playlists over the time - some included rock'n'roll when he was feeling fierce, one of them was solemnly based on the legendary 80s' songs, but he had an indie one of the modern music that kids these days listened to as well. And because he knew that Sully's more this oldies guy, he turned this one on, having Sully sigh unpleasantly. But he deserved it at the end of the day.

"Shed see me one way or another, kiddo. Or did you plan on shovin' me into the trunk, makin' me jump out of it as a surprise once we arrive there?" - Sully responded with his typical sense of humor, having Nate take a while to think over his stupidity. No matter how much he didn't like it, Sully was right. You'd see Sully when they'd be picking you up, so maybe, it was better to be aware of the danger beforehand. You've been looking exquisite, almost kicking the breath out of Nathan's chest, which sully didn't miss at all - he just didn't say anything out loud.

You had the same denim overalls on, with another amazing t-shirt a huge sunhat on your head. The old man sprang up from the co-drivers seat, opening the door for you, offering you a handshake. - "Hi." - He said. Oh Lord, this man was at least twenty years older than you, but he had some damn charm inside of him. - "Name's Victor, what 'bout you?" - The man gently kissed your knuckles, stealing breath out of your lungs.

Nathan couldn't but eye-roll at the sight of Sullivan. This guy was something, trying to impress every lady around even if he was taken. - "I wonder what Florence would say about your 'bout you, Sully." - Nate peaked out of the car, giving you one of his typical grins. At that, Sully chuckled and winked at you, as you still realized you're holding his palm in yours and that you also have a boyfriend. - "I'm Y/N. It's nice to meet you, Victor." - You smiled back calmly, finally letting his hand go as you climbed into the car next to Nate. Sully didn't miss the dreamy look on the young man's face as he watched you settling down.

"Hey, Mr. Drake." - You told him charmingly, immediately vibing to Nate's playlist. Nathan smiled after a while, waiting before Sullivan settles his ass down on the backseat.

"Hey, how are you?" - Nate started a small chit-chat as you set on your way. It took you quite a long time since, in the middle of your journey, Nathan decided he wants to have an ice-cream, so you had to get an ice-cream. And when you finally set on the real way, there was a huge colony of cars because of some roadwork ahead. You and Sully chatted about his girlfriend, about how he's doing, what is he doing. He was a business owner, which quite surprised by someone who was looking like Sully. Suddenly, a song dropped, having both you and Sully to look at Nathan, who started dancing around, mumbling the words.

"Well, here we go again." - Sully mumbled under his mustache, rolling down the window to have another cigarillo. For a moment, you were amused by simply watching Nate vibe to the song, before he turned to you and sang you the lyrics. - "What are you doing? Stop." - You told the man between the waves of laughter washing over you. Soon enough, you noticed that Nate rolled every window down, now screaming the lyrics from the top of his lungs. For a moment, it almost looked as if you just let the man make an idiot out of himself, but suddenly, you started dancing too, yelling the lyrics on the man driving the car next to yours.

"Like strangers. Perfect pretenders. We're falling head over heels, for something that ain't real. It could never be us, eh, just you and I." - And at that moment, Sully was sure by two things. First was that the people on the front seats were just kids in overgrown bodies, Nathan especially. And the second thing was that he understood what Nathan saw on you. Elena was crazy at times, she was fun and really smart, but she had never sung one of Nate's car songs as passionately as you did. Sure, he didn't crush on you as Nathan did instantly, but you were likable.

The people in the cars around yours were laughing at the sight of two adults making such moves and faces during a pop song, there was no-one angry about you blasting the whole highway with the song. - "And you were acting as if I was embarrassing you?" - Nathan asked you unbelievably when the colony moved forward, grinning at you. - "You, miss, outshined me. You're way better at car sing-along than I am."

"Well, I couldn't let you know my strengths from the very first moment, could I?" - A classy smirk appeared on your face before you turned to look out of the window. - "But Sully is looking like his ears are about to bleed every second. You okay?" - You turned to the big man on the backseat, who had that grin on. - "Well, it was an impressive concert, to say the least."

You needed to say... You were grateful that Nathan made you come to the market that day. It was happening in a small village and it was obvious that you either had to have friends there or know about this place on your own to find about a market like this. There were animals, hordes of vegetables and a lot of gardening tools. You almost bought some, but Nate told you not to because you didn't have even small flowerpots at home. Even if the market wasn't too big, you spent almost three hours there. And just when you were walking back to the jeep, Nathan was carrying four bags of goods in his palms, you heard your phone ringing. It was from Mike.

"Hey, baby." - The man sighed and you could already tell what that will be about. You were about to spend another day at home on your own. - "What're you doing?" - He started sweetly, as he always did.

"Oh, Nate and his best friend took me to a market to buy some veggies because Nate is about to cook dinner for him and his girlfriend. How about you?" - You asked Mike back. Yeah, sure, he was quite surprised that you were spending time with Nate again, but he decided not to comment on it. You were hanging out quite a lot.

"Guess where. I won't be at home until midnight, again, so..." - Mike breathed out and your face automatically saddened. Nate caught this just when he and Sully finished packing the goods into the trunk, so he slowly walked up to you, but didn't let you know that he's standing just a few feet away from you.

"Are you sure it's about work?" - A sour question left your lips as you tried to stay calm, not to cause some drama in front of Sully and Nate. But Nathan furrowed at the words you've said. He almost started assuming what you were talking about, but you asked another one to his good luck. - "Or is there someone else in work again?"

That made Nate widen his baby blue eyes and from the stress, he started to toy around with his fingers. Mike was cheating on you with someone? Was it before you moved there, was it happening now or..? How long did you know about that? Jesus. Nate didn't know why is he still listening to such an intimate call, but he had an actual feeling that in a way, it made him more sure about the feelings he was having for you. You didn't deserve such a jerk. - "Yeah, sure, whatever. I'll find some program for myself, don't worry about it."

With that, you turned on your heels and Nate's head sprung in the opposite direction as he pretended that he wasn't listening to you. You didn't know how much he heard, so you just gave him a careful look. - "Uhm, I and Sully talked about inviting you over to the diner... I mean... If you want to, of course, but I would like some help with preparing the masterpiece... That's what I wanted to ask... You about..." - Nate mumbled with nervosity in his face, still playing with his fingers. It was a relief that Nate didn't hear any of what you just spat at Mike.

"I think I can save some time for you and these two. It's your lucky day, Nathan." - You answered, fighting the urge to cry at least. Back when you were living in your old place and things got bad, you used to yell at each other. So you decided to move to a different town, start over - you finally started working on your degree and Mike had won a good work offer. And for the few months, the situation had settled down once again. Mike stopped seeing these... Ladies and it could be felt the love had come back to your relationship.

It was almost a month and a half since you've met Nathan (it took quite a long time before you heard back from him) and the relationship was getting cold again. It wasn't even that Mike was gone for a lot of time, it was just the feeling of love disappearing again. You were almost seeing Nathan more often than your boyfriend, which was sad, but you could understand him a lot of aspects of his relationship with his wife. That was why you were fond of spending time with Nathan, most likely.

When you watched that awkward goofball smirking as he looked away from you. So you immediately took off to drive back to Sully's place. It made you feel better about yourself once again - Sully pulled up all of his best jokes for you, so he had you giggling in no time at all. Nate was thinking about the conversation he heard, but he joined the conversation not too long after. And just like that, you were headed with two practical strangers to the apartment of one of them.

#nathan drake #nathan drake x reader #nathan drake uncharted #uncharted #victor sully sullivan #elena fisher #elena fisher drake #naughty dog uncharted #naughty dog

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lovelyparkers · 4 years ago

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mr. america?

peter parker x rogers!reader (this was requested <3)

summary: you're steve rogers daughter and he finds out about you and peter's secret relationship. y'all are like eighteen ig idk

warnings: fluff, uhh make out sesh, dad!steve

words: 1124

you jumped out of bed when you heard a knock on your door, immediately knowing it was peter. you two were having a movie night in your bedroom at the avengers compound, and luckily your dad was out for the night on some avengers business, meaning you could have some alone time with peter.

"hey," peter smiled as you opened the door, "so your dad just left, meaning...movie time! how does nightmare on elm street sound?"

"great," you smiled back, tugging his arm into your room.

there was a fresh bucket of popcorn you made not too long ago, ready for you and peter to chow down on. you placed it on your lap after you and peter got comfortable under the covers. peter turned on the movie and you two dove into the popcorn, eyes wide and full of suspense while watching.

once the popcorn was finished in almost ten minutes because it was so tasty and you two were so hungry, you cuddled closer. peter pulled you into his side, wrapping one of his strong arms around your waist. you laid one hand across his chest and felt his soft heartbeat, warmth radiating off of him. at this point there was zero space between the two of you. you couldn't cuddle closer if you tried. every now and then peter kissed your forehead with the slight turn of his head. you smiled under the contact of his lips.

he rubbed his thumb oh so gently on your waist, giving you chills. in return, you traced your fingers over his chest and abs, sending him chills.

peter breathed in and sighed, "i'm so glad we can have some alone time finally." it was a rare occasion, as your dad was always on your tail to make sure you didn't cause any trouble because well, you were quite the trouble maker on the battle field. a comedic relief often, but that sure brewed up trouble with fellow villains. you had super strength, like your father and were incredibly skilled in combat. recently, steve made you stay home at the compound because his fatherly instincts would kick in and didn't want you getting hurt. he also always kept an eye on you and peter, confused by your closeness yet oblivious to your relationship.

"me too," you replied, "my dad is constantly on our asses."

peter laughed, "yeah, it makes me think he knows."

you scoffed in return, "please, he is oblivious. the only one that knows is wanda, you know how much she loves to read our romantic teenage minds. plus she would never tell him, she's too good a friend."

"we will have to tell him eventually, ya know, unless he finds out," peter pointed out.

"eh, i don't wanna think about that now. he's so overprotective. won't even let me fight sometimes, who knows what he would do if he found out. let's just enjoy this alone time," you smiled up at peter who smiled back. gosh you were so lucky. he was such a sweet and caring boy, who would never hurt you. and was he lucky as well. he really had the most compassionate and beautiful girl ever. not to mention you're both avengers. well, technically.

the movie was long forgotten about at this point. 80's horror films, amirite? you've seen it, peter's seen it, and now you were entirely focused on each other.

he glanced down at your lips, finally capturing them in a soft kiss after what felt like forever. every kiss you shared was in secret, but each one better than the last. both your cheeks flushed, warm to the touch as he held your face in the palm of his hand to direct the kiss.

peter tilted your head to deepen the kiss. one hand on your cheek and one around your waist. you had your hands laying on his shoulders, softly rubbing them which he loved.

with each passing second, the kiss became more and more passionate, adorned with love.

you quickly became out of breath, having to pull away for a second to catch some air. peter desperately leaned in closer to reach your lips again, but you held your hand up to his lips. you both laughed, cheeks cherry red, and hair a mess. before finally continuing the kiss, peter brushed some stray hairs out of your eyes to stare into them lovingly. he pecked your lips, eager for more, then paused to whisper,

"i love you y/n."

"i love you too, pete."

he smiled that big, wide, dopey smile he always gives you then leaned into to kiss you more.

then there was a knock on your door, followed by the soft call of your name which went completely unnoticed by you and peter.

steve furrowed his eyebrows at the rustling he heard in your room but no reply.

"y/n?" he called out again before opening your bedroom door. his eyes went wide at the sight of peter parker leaning over his daughter practically chewing her face off.

"y/n!"

at this very second peter's eyes went wide in fear, reciprocating steve's. he recognised that voice immediately. you jumped up and pushed peter off of you.

"oh hey dad, you're uh, home early?"

"yeah i am. mind explaining why you and Queens here were chewing face," he asked concerned, pointing at peter.

"uh mr. america sir, i mean captain rogers—wait no, uh cap...? steve? it's not what it looks like," peter asked, flustered.

"well i-it looks to me like you and y/n were...were...fonduing," steve answered.

"really dad! calm down, we were just...kissing."

your dad nodded his head, "oh well yeah..and why is that?"

"well because.."

"we are dating," peter finished.

"didn't see that coming."

"so...? you're not mad?" you asked.

"well y/n/n, you're just my little one still. don't go 'doing the do' you know. you better not have. i'm looking at you, Queens," he glanced at peter again, who was still fear ridden but glad your relationship was out in the open.

"i got it mr. america. i mean, mr. rogers."

"don't go breaking her heart."

"he would never, we are happy."

your dad smiled, glad you were happy. and with that he left, an approval of your relationship. and you and peter went back to your cuddles, now fully relieved you didn't have to hide.

"oh shit, that went much better than i thought it would," peter sighed.

steve yelled out from the hallway, "language!"

#peter parker peter parker imagine peter parker imagines spider-man spider-man imagines peter parker x reader peter parker fluff

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breadknight-likes-things · 4 years ago

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Bread’s Game Journal 06/17/20: Through The Dark Portal, An Outland Retrospective, Part 1: Hellfire Peninsula.

Have I ever mentioned that I tend not to like the color red? No? Well I guess it doesn’t really matter.....Hellfire Peninsula is so red....anyway! Hellfire Peninsula is a really interesting zone in the context of World of Warcraft, because as far as we knew of a place called “Outland”, all of it was Hellfire Peninsula! In Warcraft 3 we visit this place and we’re more or less told all out the remains of Dreanor look like this, which isn’t strictly true, but then again isn’t that far off either. Heck, HP was originally planned to be in the base game of World of Warcraft as an endgame zone called “Outland”. Regardless of what this place was supposed to be before, or when it was supposed to actually make it’s way into the game, where it is now is a strong introduction to Outland as a whole, and a big flashing sign telling all players that walked through The Dark Portal that this world is going to be nothing like the places you saw on Azeroth.

Hellfire Peninsula is in...rough shape. There’s only one zone that’s held together worse than this chaotic place, and even that one at least has someone attempting to make it better. Fire spews from the ground all the time, Fel-Orcs have taken control of what few fortifications are left, The Horde and Alliance have picked an inopportune time to start fighting again and demons have a solid foothold in all areas of this, introductory recall, zone. It’s a hell of a sight you get to see when you walk through the dark portal and see a vanguard of soldiers barely holding off a demon assault! That moment was by far the most cinematic WoW had gotten to up to that point. You’d never really been placed in the middle of something that felt that grand before then, and WoW would increasingly find refuge in that kind of spectacle going forward.

Good thing we don’t have to spend too much time in this zone amirite guys?...2 levels you say? Possibly four you say? To shreds you say?

Lore wise, Hellfire Peninsula is one of the most intriguing in the entire expansion. I mentioned at the top that this was presented to us in earlier games in the canon as “Outland” so, in some neat moves, you can see remnants of the earlier games that took place here scattered around the environments. The alliance has multiple forts built here, obviously constructed when Dreanor was still, well, Dreanor, as one of them has sustained heavy damage and the other is quite literally tilting off the edge of the world and into space. The Horde has setup Thrallmar as a base of operations, but the old Horde, now comprised of the aforementioned Fel-Orcs, rules the land from Hellfire Citadel, an imposing as hell fortress resting at the very beginning of the path of glory. It’s the small details that really bring this stuff together well, banners of Lorderean scattered in the old Human keeps, the uh....interesting makeup of The Path of Glory, and that giant killer robot that roams the lands looking to pound your level 58 body into dust. Oh yeah did I forget to mention the Fel-Reaver? That thing was absurdly terrifying at the time and it’s still a little creepy today, even being 80 levels above it!

Best Refuge In A Broken Land Award: Falcon Watch:

Lest WoW let us forget the two brand new races they introduced in Burning Crusade, both of the towns visited in the second half are Blood Elf and Draenei themed for Horde and Alliance respectively. I always thought seeing the opulent Blood Elf Architecture contrasting with the literal hellscape all around you was really interesting!

Random Screenshot Of The Day:

This is probably the most well worn piece of trivia in World of Warcraft, but, you ever look closely at what’s paving the path of glory? It’s....not a pretty sight.

Stray Notes:

- Hellfire, while looking great to this day, is absolute trash from a questing perspective. Everything here is painfully outdated Vanilla WoW style quests stuck in a game that’s now in it’s 16th year of evolution. I really wish they’d somehow go back and re-do Outland, but I know that’ll never happen.

- Oddly, for a game purportedly about The Burning Legion and it’s crusade....this is probably the zone with the heaviest Legion prescience? And it’s the first one? I’ll get into this later but a lot of this expansion packs overall storyline got pretty muddled at multiple points!

#video games #World of Warcraft #world of warcraft shadowlands #world of warcraft battle for azeroth #wow #wow bc #wow burning crusade #world of warcraft burning crusade #breads game journal #bread's game journal #bread #game journalism #game journal #game journaling #retrospective #mmo #wow retrospective #wow classic #world of warcraft classic

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