#why did this person just call one of my drawings ugly and then proceed to talk about their entire life story

[yyshcul]

guys you know that i can read your tags when you reblog my posts right ??

[sweetmariihs2]

🪄My thoughts on Cedric The Sorcerer🌙 (until now)

(not that anyone cares idk i just wanna talk about him, it's a lot of random thoughts and it's messy, but it's fun to read I guess)

Did you like that cute moodboard I did for him? It took me like 10 minutes I loved it. It fits him so well I'm so proud of myself for doing this. The whimsigothic aesthetic matches him so well I wish more people knew it so we would have tons of moodboards and cute stuff of him in this aesthetic it would be so nice. Ok let me start my post

I wanna share some headcanons, talk about my first impressions, it's not really organized I just wrote down whatever I remembered and the result was that. I wanna share my new hyperfocus with more people, that's what I'm doing here today :)

Everything started when I saw this man on Tumblr and though "who's this guy and why is princess Sophia next to him?", when I clicked on the hashtag out of curiosity I understood that it's because he's a character from the cartoon, and I was like "lol another tumblr sexyman again let's move on keep doing my things and interacting with my fandoms" (december 24)

I also mentioned it to my friend on IG bc I saw a reels that was like "you don't have any weird fictional crushes right?" and then proceeds to show us an edit of him with millions of hearts around. I sent it to her and said "omg I saw ppl talking about this on tumblr" and we just laughed a lot because it was something we did not expected (not mean laughs, they were genuine laughs of shock and because that was very unexpected like HOW IN THE WORLD, and she remembered him in the show while I didn't)

Some days later I saw more fanarts of him on tumblr and that made me a little curious, but not enough to search about the subject.

After some days I just couldn't forget him, and that's when I searched his name on youtube purposely trying to find compilations of his funny moments to understand what was happening

And boy I did

At this point was just having fun and laughing thinking "omg another guy who's sassy, has good personality and is another ugly-atractive character that has a fandom on tumblr, I got it, he's very nice" and I went to do other stuff again but this man just DIDN'T CAME OUT OF MY MIND

Just making an interruption here, I loved watching Disney Junior as a kid, maybe when I was six or seven, idk I don't remember, and I was a huge fan of Sofia The First, it was one of my favorite cartoons from Disney Jr alongside Doc McStuffins and Art Attack. AND I JUST DON'T REMEMBER CEDRIC IT'S LIKE I NEVER SAW HIM IN THAT SHOW, EVER. I literally don't remember him being part of the cast i'm sorry Cedric 😭 now he stands out so much to me, he's carrying the whole show on his back. Btw now that I mentioned Disney Junior I would like to say that here in Brazil Sofia First is actually called Little Princess Sofia, and Doc McStuffins is Doctor Toys. Sometimes I call Sofia "Princess Sofia" but I don't even know if that's how they call her in the english version, I watched everything on portuguese 😭 but ok let's move on (I have more things to say related to the brazillian dub, but let me finish my train of thought first)

As I was saying this man just didn't came out of my mind, and I was like "Oh no another hyperfocus where people around me will make fun of me because they will say that he's ugly and that liking kid's shows is something weird 😭 I can't take this anymore" and I tried to deny it but I CAN'T i'm almost making a pinterest board for him, I just accepted my fate (gonna draw fanarts soon and no one can stop me)

I found a list of every chapter he's in and i'm watching every. single. one. of. them. I watched the movie first, and boy this is gave me so much nostalgia because I remember some vague objects and scenes from when I was a kid, I used to love the Disney Princesses, when I got a little older I started watching Descendants, I grew up watching Tangled and Frozen and I swear to god I almost teared up from nostalgia during the episode Rapunzel shows up, and they didn't changed her voice actor, that's what got me. It was like travelling back to a time I didn't even remembered that existed anymore. Because since I haven't seen Sofia The First in about 10 years, I don't even remember anything FROM the show except for some parts, and that this show had so much old Disney energy that I didn't even know made a difference, but it does.

I'm sounding like a granny here but (i'm not even in my 20s yet) it feels like another time, Disney changed so much. Some of the new movies are good, some are bad, I see Disney much more as a company that wants money and makes movies instead of that perfect place where all dreams come true and every girl is a princess (Here in Brazil I never had a dream to go to Disneyland because Disney in the early 2010's invested more in products and blue ray DVDs in Brazil, since the parks were in the United States and we weren't really the target audience for that. So they didn't minded making publicity about it, so I just watched the movies and Disney Junior). Everything felt more magical when I was a kid, I spent my days watching DVDs and sometimes had some Disney princesses themed toys, it was so fun playing pretend that I was a princess and I really felt like one. Rewatching Sofia The First made me feel like this again because they made this show at the time that their public were HUGE fans of the Disney princesses and it has the same characteristics, plots, even styles of the songs and soundtracks, visuals + I watched it when I was younger. It's not just "princesses" it has the whole Disney girly early 2010's magic into it and it made me so bittersweet, even if they tried they could never do nowdays a movie inspired by that time and give me the same feeling as a REAL movie from that time does. Sofia The First: Once Upon a Time was like watching a new movie from that old Disney, one that I didn't saw before, but at the same time I did, and that's the best part. The end of the movie gave me so much nostalgia that I almost cried too. That experience was amazing :")

It gives me the same nostalgia that I feel when I hear that song "a dream is a wish your heart makesss" it makes me cry how I miss to be a little girl again (i'm crying right now btw i'm very intense with my emotions)

(And hell I don't remember Cedric at all, since when he was there the whole time? Now that I know that he's there I'm feeling like really reeeeaaaaalllyy vague memories are trying to come back in my head, but I don't know if my brain is doing this on purpose or i'm just confusing him with an equally vague memory of Cruella. I guess it's the first option, I'm trying so hard that my brain is making up memories. Weird.)

But yeah at first I saw everyone falling to his feet and even though I understood that he was very funny and had a well-writen personality I couldn't really get why people were romantically in love with him. Well um I actually got it, he was a good character and was one more of these strangely atractive characters that people fall in love with, I've been there too. But I just couldn't see what was so atractive that people were simping over him, for me at that moment he was just funny and fits very well the "let's make a fandom" type of character, like for example Preminger from Barbie Princess and The Pauper. But then I thought "idk what i'm talking about i'm demisexual lol let's wait a few days" (That happened before. Many times.)

And I'm like. I don't know what's happening to me I'm so susceptible to weird (in socially non-fandom people's words) crushes and I thought I wouldn't be afected this time. Just so you can have an idea some of my last crushes were: Dr Flug from Villanos, Jackson Jekyll from Monster High, Raggedy Andy, THE Eddie Munson (for a whole year and some months, and I was so bullied after his "trend" ended because people said that his fans were cringe and everything (that's fake lol they are very nice)), 70% of my list are just nerds and sensitive guys with different types of mental illness yay my fav type

and now I think I'm feeling unironically atracted by this man it's just happening really slowly 😭 (DEMISEXUALS ‼️‼️⁉️⁉️💥💥💥💥💥👊👊👊👊)

I'm gonna be honest with you, at the moment I can't decide if I like him or not I'm so confused at the same time that I get it I also don't like how tf am I atracted by this man 😭 and then I'm like hmm he's acually cute let me search for some fanfiction

I'M SO CONFUSED I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ANYMORE i guess I'll just wait to see what happens

you guys know that tiktok audio "at first I was like 'hmmm feet' as a joke,,,,, but bro....... I don't think that's a joke anymore...." (that's me rn but with Cedric)

Also I would like to take this oportunity that you're listening to me talking about Cedric to say the most important thing that this fandom needs to know:

We need more Cedric representations in Whimsical/Whimsigoth/Whimsigothic aesthetic it's like it was made for him just search that on Pinterest please you won't regret

And I'm here wondering what kind of songs he would listen to. I think he would like dark fantasy music, or witch music. I don't care if he's on medieval era and people didn't had access to a lot of music genres at that time, we are talking about disney nothing is historically correct

I can't help but think about Lana Del Rey but being a huge fan of her songs I don't think that it matches his tastes. I guess he maybe would like Aurora's last album, The Gods We Can Touch. I don't know why, it's the witchy vibes I guess. But I don't know, it's still not something that matches him a lot. EXCEPT FOR THE SONG MIDAS TOUCH FROM AURORA. IT'S PERFECT FOR HIM YOU GUYS SHOULD CHECK IT OUT

The cover isn't giving the aesthetic though, Aurora made this song for a show and then put the show album cover unfortunately. But her aesthetics are usually whimsical and magic, inspired by theatre, greek gods and tarot. This song is so good 😭

And of course there are songs like Everything Matters that fits his vibe but idk it depends on who's listening since it's not about the lyrics. The Innocent has a small part who matches him a little, the whole song has that witchy vibe dancing around the fire, I don't know how to describe it.

Coming back to Cedric I think my favorite scenario is him having an apprendice not too much younger than him. I think it's cute. I've never seen any fics like this (in fact I just read like 5 oneshots which is almost nothing) and if you guys know any let me know. I think it's just nice the idea of living with him and being his apprendice while having like a romantic tension between the two characters. It's cute

Also remember when I said I was going to talk a little more about the brazillian portuguese dub? So, something that I thought was really funny happened to me: In the first season he had his voice actor obviously and I was already used to his voice some time after watching the cartoon. It was very funny to me because the first time I saw a "scene compilation" of him it was in english, so hearing him talk in my language was fun. And btw his voice actor did a really good job voicing him, he (had a similar voice and) was really expressive just like his english VA, so like, really nice 👍

And then at some point in season two, from one episode to another, his voice actor suddently changed????? And obviously I got a little sad because his first VA was really good and I was used to his voice :( but the thing is: The new VA wasn't just a new one, IT'S THE SAME GUY WHO VOICED DR FLUG HERE IN BRAZIL AND I WAS LIKE OMG

THEY ARE SO SIMILAR IN PERSONALITY AND NOW THEY HAVE THE SAME VOICE WITH THE VOICE ACTOR'S MANNEIRISMS AND EVERYTHING (because that VA really has an specific way to talk, he stutter a little, sounds a little ironic but at the time really anxious, make some funny sounds for no reason sometimes like his screams)

I was really upset when they changed all the brazillian voice actors in Villanos, and that Flug didn't had his full-of-personality-and-expressive voice anymore :( the new episodes now have new voices and eveything, and they did their best, but it's not the original voices anymore and it doesn't hit the same yk? And then BAM CELDRIC HAS DOCTOR FLUGS VOICE NOW BITCH TAKE THIS

and the fact that Sofia The First was dubbed even before Villanos came out it's so funny to me

So yeah let me show you guys his amazing work at voicing two of my favorite characters:

After they changed Cedric's voice actor I was a little annoyed by the fact that I couldn't hear Cedric anymore, just Flug 😭 but now I'm slowly getting used to it and it's starting to sound like Cedric again.

Before that happened I could see some similarities between the two but I thought that I was just thinking too much and trying to connect two fandoms that I like, so I just forgot about it. After that happened my mind just blew it all make so much sense right now

And they are so similar in personality that I had to make a list of everything they have in common:

They work for guys that are completely blind to their talents and think that they're just idiots all the time

They have more potential than people think

Their projects/spells always go wrong because people keep disrupting their public moments, and so they are seen and weak and dumb (when they're not)

Science/Magic guys (they keep throwing liquids from one pot to another and saying difficult words, only for someone to stop them halfway and the substance explodes in their face, making them angry because this person once again interrupted their project that was going perfectly)

Self-confidence issues

Anxious mess, are always nervous and scared of something bad happening all the time

Childhood trauma because people never really saw their acomplishments and again and again kept repeating that they are idiots who don't know nothing (when they are geniuses!!)

They say that they're mean and they say that they do mean things when actually they are just really nice. They just choose that path because they think it's the only one that can bring them sucess and recognition in the future, but they were never made for this. They just do that because they want to proof their value to people who can't see it.

At the same time that they are mentally unstable, sometimes their confidence is so high that they start to act arrogant because "they're too smart and their projects are amazing": "I love what I do I'm the best sorcerer/scientist in the world"

But when they need to show that to people something bad always happens (because of other people!) And their plan fails, leaving them with confidence issues

"I'm too smart you guys don't deserve me"

"I can't do anything right omg i'm so stupid"

Their movements and maneirisms are so expressive, they're both skinny and tall and keep making those anxious poses, fidgeting with their hands, always anxious, scared of something, thinking too much and overall being nervous and ankward around their bosses

Boss just treats them as failures and gives them orders, in which they respond in the most submissive and saddest way because they're just miserable and just two little guys who are trying to proof their value in a place where no one even see them as people

But sometimes they are genuinely egoistic and egocentric because duh they're the best sorcerer/scientist out there, hello everybody is gonna know their name when they rule the world bye

They act so stupid and lovesick in their official crushes episodes, it's so funny

And even if we never saw Dr Flug's official face there is a design out there in the fandom where he has black hair with white streaks on his bangs so like 👍👍

Well um I guess that's all I have to say about this subject for now

These are my thoughts 🫶

I feel like I said a lot in a short amout of time but I'm here writing since 04:30 AM and now it's 07:47 AM so like. yikes

[bvckbiter]

a couple of people were wondering about the pjotwt fiasco i referenced in my filipino!percy post so for those curious im gonna provide the best breakdown i can of that entire convoluted mess

ever since the live action casting, show fans have been saying repetitively that blonde haired blue eyed percy “just makes so much more sense” because blonde hair is like the sand and blue eyes is like the sea

I see a millionth iteration of that tweet and quote-retweet it making fun of how this fandom can’t come up with any actual hot takes of substance

op gets in my mentions all angry asking why the “discourse” makes me so triggered. I reply basically saying “im not triggered? and what discourse, we’re talking about the hair color of a fictional character”

op suddenly moves goalposts and talks about how leah and aryan faced racist backlash for their casting even though we were originally talking about percy's casting. I point that out and how theyre not even remotely similar cases, but she just goes “well it’s your fault you thought we were only talking about walker, and people like you who are disagreeing with my tweet are shitting on walker’s appearance which is harmful! So i will call you out! 🤓👆🏻”

I then proceed to be very baffled about how walker is getting harmed from any of this at all and try to end the convo since i realize that she’s not even arguing with anything I’m actually saying. But op continues being angry in my mentions going “how can you say that telling a 15 yo actor is a horrible casting and that he cant embody percy is not harmful!” and im like “huh???? Why did this come up i never said this you’ve lost the plot” and she says “i never said you said that YOU’VE lost the plot im sorry you’re stupid” ⁉️⁉️⁉️

the thread more or less ends there but op apparently firestormed a lot of people she caught disagreeing in her mentions so i wasnt the only battle she was fighting lol. Other people are talking about how while they enjoy walker’s performance, theyve only ever seen him as a character of color so… obviously blonde blue eyed percy really isnt the first thing they envision. Somewhere along the line, someone reposts THAT iconic fanart of latino!percy (from… well… user latinopercy) with the caption #MYpercyjackson

People jump on it in the comments and qrts saying “JUMPSCARE” who is that?!” “Idk who that man is” “this is your percy??? Be so for real…” One comment even said that he was ugly. Another comment said that he didn’t embody percy’s vibes because he was “too angry.”

I qrt talking about how scummy it is that people are attacking a fan depiction of latino!percy THAT WAS MADE WAY BEFORE THE SHOW WAS EVER ANNOUNCED just so they can make it known that theyre defending walker’s casting. I also point out that the fanart is a repost, so it’s really unfair for the artist that their art is being bandied around like that then receiving all that vitriol

Another motherfucker comes into my mentions saying “i need you to realize that a real life child is worth defending more than a headcanon.” I reply asking to clarify how walker is supposed to be getting harmed by any of this and why defending him should entail shitting on people who prefer dark-haired percy hcs. I also point out that if the actor is a real life person, so are the people who hold those hcs as well as the artist whose fanart was getting dragged into this.

Mf says that people are attacking walker over a drawing/hc, which aren’t real. I try to articulate that the imagined harm walker is facing is not in any way a tangible, material threat. He’s the most popular among the main trio and his acting has never been fully discredited just because of his hair color (unlike leah and aryan who people said only got casted for DEI and woke agendas, yk how the grifters go). “People hoping he’d dye his hair and wear contacts is not tantamount to harm and hate,” I said, and neither is having dark-haired percy and/or percy of color hcs.

I thought I explained it well but mf just repeats like a broken record that thinking like that is thinking that fake headcanons are more important than real life kids. No matter what I say in response. SEVERAL TIMES, AD NAUSEUM. “Headcanons aren’t real, the kids are.”

The final statement that really pissed me off was them saying this

That’s where the brouhaha ends lol. Since then I’ve also seen tweets making fun of people who genuinely prefer/want a percy of color over a blonde percy because they say and I quote, “percy has been white ever since the books.” Like, YES WE KNOW 😭 But there is a deeply held lore for percy’s ethnic ambiguity in the fandom that was there long before the show was ever in development.

I have no problem with people who prefer the show or blonde Percy or walker or whatever. But to for some reason crusade FOR it on the pretense of protecting the actor from some imagined harm is just fucking ridiculous to me. Just to backtrack, this all came about simply because I made fun of how repetitive the “blonde percy supremacy” take was. And that was construed as shitting on walker. That guy is not seeing any of our tweets if his parents and agents know half a thing about media training??? No one cares! It’s a fucking hair color! Besides, as much as they want to pretend otherwise, the books and the show are invariably separate canons. Not that they can handle an analysis more complex than “yay perca/beth crumbs in the show so show good” lmao

Needless to say, show stans piss me off lol and this is one of the reasons why. A lot of them are show stans primarily because theyre so (parasocially) attached to the actors. It doesnt just show in the crusading, it also shows in how they keep lock and step with every single movement of the actors’ activities on social media. But that’s another discussion entirely deserving of its own post lol.

[incorrectlumityquotes]

FULL REVIEWS: “Lost In Language”

Lost in language and I don't know much. Was I thinking aloud and fell out of touch? But I'm back on my feet and eager to be what you wanted.

Seriously? Nothing? You guys have never heard Air Supply? I mean, they’re old AF but still. It’s a funny pun. Whatever.

Back in the day (like it was so long ago) I didn’t know what to expect from this episode. The only thing I caught from the description was library, but hoo boy, we got so much more!

I love the cold opens to this show. It always reminds me that Luz is a silly ass hyper fangirl who still wants life to play out like it does on TV. 

“Learning about love and life through the eyes of a child.”

Spoken like a true person who have never done any actual babysitting. The Bat Queen gets her own soft intro for another episode, which I’m noticing more and more re-watching this show. She pays Eda to watch her baby in exchange for a butt-ton of money. Eda, in classic Eda fashion, would rather not split the cash with Luz and gives her an errand to run so she doesn’t have to do it. 

I don’t know about you guys, but liked going to the library when I was a kid. It was the only way I could play computer games or go on the internet. Getting online is the easiest thing in the world today, but when I was a kid, it was a luxury my parents couldn’t afford. And dumb-dumb kid me didn’t know that you can borrow movies and comic for free at the library too. That’s how I saw Jaws for the first time.

The library at The Boiling Isles is almost exactly what I expected. Kinda like the Hogwarts library, but with a lot more teeth and eyes everywhere. Luz has a bunch of fun just messing around, until she stumbles upon the cutest goddamn thing ever!

Amity reading to kids at the public library in her free time. My god.

I’m with Luz here. Holy hell, I did not see that coming. I thought Amity was the rival character, the Draco Malfoy of the show, the reluctant ally, the jerk with the heart of gold DEEP in there somewhere. Instead she’s at the Kid’s Corner reading her favorite childhood classic to toddlers. I didn’t know there were angels in the demon realm.

Stop. Stop! You’re already cute.

Seriously this moment made me go “aw” and laugh at the same time. It was weird. Also how does this library have a manga section? Do they import these books from JAPAN in the HUMAN REALM? Is there a publishing company that acts as the middleman? Or are these just the books that the trash slugs ended up barfing on the beach somewhere? I’m thinking too hard about a throwaway joke in the background. Big brain hurt.

AND back to reality...

Luz tries to extend the hand of friendship to Amity and Amity rejects it. I have...thoughts.

First, they this up with another parallel to Azura in the beginning of the episode. I get it. It’s a theme that they are doing, but I would have rather have Luz try to befriend Amity because she wants to, not because Azura did it. It’s not the only reason she does it, but it does kinda bug me a bit. It kinda goes back to Luz wanting life to play out like a story. 

Also, a part of me thinks that this is something Amity likes to do alone. Her way of getting away from everyone else and just do something that she enjoys and makes her feel good. We have no proof that it gives her extra credit, so she could just use that as a way to save face. She seemed so happy to do it too. 

Finally, you know what this else this reminds me of? The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai. There’s a popular fan theory that has been around since the eighties that if you look at The Karate Kid from the rival’s perspective, the protagonist is the bully. I’m more than sure that’s what going on here. From Amity’s perspective, Luz just gets her into trouble. We’ll get more into that later.

Luz walks off dejected and we get the second big surprise to punch me in the face.

Holy hell, why the fuck are you two so goddamn fucking pretty? I mean, holy shit, look at these two. My god. And ERICA LINDBECK as Emira? Jesus Christ, I’m going to be feeling things I shouldn’t be feeling in places I can’t say!

Joking aside, we get one of our first full introductions that didn’t come with a soft intro from a previous episode. Enter Emira and Emira, Amity’s older siblings who in true sibling fashion like to give Amity a hard time.  

“Hey, mittens!”

This seems normal at first. Siblings always rib each other. No big deal.

Amity storms off. The twins introduce themselves proper to Luz (and the audience) and they mess around for a bit. 

In fact, they have so much fun messing around with Luz that they decide to invite her back afterhours to check out The Wailing Star. Luz thinks that this is a great way to get on Amity’s good side by befriending her siblings. Why she would think this I have no idea.

Meanwhile the B-plot continues its adventures in babysitting. I don’t like using the word filler (so I won’t) but this B-plot is really just for two things: setting up Escape of the Palisman and jokes. It does both. No harm, no foul.

Also the twins said for Luz to meet back at midnight and Luz was at The Owl House for like a hot second. There’s like a huge gap of time there. What did she do until midnight? Whatever. If it was important it would have been animated.

Also also, I love all of Luz’s little saying in this episode. She does it a lot but they cranked it up in this episode. Featuring great hits like:

“This sour lemon drop has a hidden sweet center.”

and

“I thought we were as cool as cucumbers but we’re as sour as pickles.”

and my favorite

“Call me a library book because they were checking me out.”

I hope they keep doing that.

Back at the literal Wailing Star (I laughed so hard), The twins and Luz discover that The Wailing Star brings the content of the books to life. Does that work for all books in The Boiling Isles or just the library? Enough. No more big brain. The three proceed to...mess around some more.

The twins discover offscreen (Really? Really.) that if you edit the contents of the book, you change what comes to life. Then the twins reveal their true objectives. Apparently, Amity has been tattling on the twins whenever they cut class or do whatever it is that they want. They’ve decided to look for her secret little hideaway (that they somehow know is in the library), find her diary and post all the pages all over school to teach her a lesson. 

Um, fucking no.

And here we enter the true lesson of this episode and probably the reason why Hecate is draw with two faces. People being more than just what they appear to be at face value. 

Amity appears to be the bully character of the show, and while she did bully Willow, Luz and King, there’s more to her than that. Amity is lonely. As a fellow person who grew up lonely, trust me. I can tell from a mile away. She puts pressure on herself to be the best at whatever she’s doing and to be the best. She hates that she follows the rules but people like her siblings seem to get rewarded for breaking the rules and doing whatever they want free of consequence. She sees the double standard that they live by and it angers her. But at the same time, everyone seems to give the twins a free pass so she can’t do anything about it. 

Even worse, there’s no one for her to confide in. It wouldn’t make it better but it would make it easier for her to just vent and get the bullshit out of her brain. She doesn’t like her friends and the one friend she did like...that’s for another episode. Hence, the diary. Amity is a big ball of frustration and loneliness. I know because I grew up in a very similar way.

When you’re forced to keep your anger inside you, you lash out at any little thing that bothers you just to ease your frustrations. It doesn’t make it okay but it’s the only way to cope sometimes just to get by.

The twins on the other hand seem like everything you’d want in a friend. They’re fun; they like you; they’re attractive; they’re attentive. But in reality, they live in a world where they believe consequences and accountability don’t apply to them. And they’ll do anything to keep it that way. Even humiliate their sister.

Luz seems like a happy-go-lucky, friends to all things kinda person, but she can also be innocently insensitive. She just does things hoping they turn out the way they would for Azura without considering how the people around her would feel about it.

It doesn’t make any of these characters two-faced. We just are different things to different people.

Amity discovers what’s going down and Luz (being the empathic person that she is) decide to try to go talk to her. 

Then I’m reminded that this is a horror-comedy.

My god, you’re ugly.

One climax later (don’t laugh), and Luz and Amity try to make amends with each other. They both have to think about how they’ve been treating the other, earning the title of bully or not. They’re not friends yet but this is...better.

FINAL SCORE: 5 - Loved it.

Damn, The Owl House is one a roll. That’s what? Three 5 scored episodes already? Hot damn. This episode was fun but it really hit hard with the character work on Amity. She quickly became one of the most interesting characters and a fan favorite. And the third act provided a good amount of horror to call this a horror comedy. The B-plot is fine but probably one of the weakest only saved by several funny jokes. This is one of those episodes I kept coming back to and a favorite to watch.

Could you two please not? I’m gonna get in trouble.

[maribatshipper]

Ice Age Reader Insert Chapter 7

The three mammals drudge through the snow to Glacier Pass. Y/N carves some wood into figures of her friends and herself. A mammoth, sloth, tiger, a few humans, and baby. Manny sees the humans nearby and picks her up, placing her on his back with Junior, lying her down.

"Please don't be dramatic, Manny." She whispers to him.

He walks up to the human, lifting his trunk to pick up the baby, only for the human to hold up a spear.

"Can we call the human dude "Percy The Person"? Or "Henry The Human"? Please!" E/N asks.

Y/N nods, agreeing slightly as Manny takes the spear away from Henry the Human and throws it behind him. Y/N frowns, waiting when she hears the shouts of other humans.

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Y/N exclaims and sits up, letting Henry see her.

She picks up Junior and holds him above her and Manny's head like Simba from the Lion King. Henry turns around and stops the other humans from attacking Manny. She hears Sid collapsing and turns to see him passed out on the ground. She laughs slightly as the human look at them with curious looks. Y/N jumps down from Manny's back and gives him a smug look as she puts down Junior. Junior walks towards his father slowly, then gets picked up by his father. Y/N smiles.

"That's cute but disgusting at the same time." Y/N jokes.

Manny and Sid exchange glances and Y/N turns around. She walks with them, only for Manny to frown at her.

"What? We're a herd, aren't we?" Y/N smiles.

Junior coos, getting the boys and Y/N's attention. He reaches out to Manny and Sid, smiling. Y/N rolls her eyes. Henry looks at Y/N, a look Y/N can't identify written on his face as he puts down Junior. Junior walks towards Sid, causing Sid to pick him up and hug him.

"Don't forget about us, Okay?" Sid asks.

Manny picks him up with his trunk and smiles, "We won't forget about you."

Y/N smirks, "How could we? Just think about that crazy ice slide!"

Manny and Junior hug so close. Y/N smiles as Junior looks towards her. Manny hands him to her. Y/N smiles as she hugs him.

"Don't you dare do something stupid, kid. I want you to do something amazing." Y/N smirks.

She hands him to Henry, only for the humans to gesture to her to join them. She turns to Manny to see him gesturing to join them too. She realises what he's trying to tell her.

E/N whispers, "He's telling you to join the humans. Look at that. He doesn't want you. Probably never wanted-"

Y/N shuts her up quickly, as she knew this was gonna happen. Y/N frowns, pulling the figures she made out of her bag. She puts them down on the snow, gesturing to the mammoth figure, then pointing to Manny, then with Sid, herself, and Junior. She puts the mammoth, sloth, and tiger on one side of her while putting the humans on the other side, the figure of herself in the middle. She draws a circle around the human figures, then around the herd figures. She picks up her figure, looking between the two, then puts hers with the mammals.

"Family." She says, hoping everyone understands.

Henry nods, understanding well. She picks up the figures and passes them to Henry and Junior, and stands next to Manny, who's giving her a confused face. Henry picks up a necklace that was meant for his son and places it on Manny's tusks. The humans then walk away, with Junior waving back to them.

"Goodbye! Bye! Bye!" Sid cries, repeating the words many times.

"Sid..." Manny frowns.

Y/N sighs, "Let him get it out of his system."

Suddenly, Junior does the "Where's the baby" thing Diego taught him. Y/N's eyes widen as she turns, smirking.

"That's right! Where's the baby?" Sid exclaims.

Manny frowns, "Come on Sid, let's head south."

As Manny turns, he looks up and stops, seeing Diego. Y/N smirks, trying so hard not to laugh as Sid continues ugly crying as the baby does one more "Where's the baby", getting Diego to do it too.

"Goodbye!" Sid cries again.

Diego smirks, "Save your breath, Sid. You know humans can't talk."

Y/N makes an offended gasp, "What am I? Chopped liver?! I can talk just fine, thank you very much!"

Sid gasps and turns to Diego, "Diego?! You're okay!"

Diego smirks, "Nine lives, baby!"

Sid tackles Diego in such a way he ends up in a chokehold, but Sid doesn't realise he's choking Diego as he gives him a noogie.

"Sid, give the cat some breathing room, he just came back from the dead." Y/N frowns.

Sid then let's go and, in his excitement, punches Diego, causing him to yelp in pain.

"I could kiss you!" Sid exclaims, then proceeds to do so, repeatedly.

When he realises what he just did, he spits, disgusted.

Manny smiles, "Welcome back from the dead, Partner. Wanna lift?"

"No thanks. I gotta save whatever dignity I have left." Diego answers.

Y/N nudges Diego, smirking, "Dignity? Never heard of it."

Sid smirks, "Dignity has nothing to do with it! But I'll take that lift!"

"Sure, climb aboard." Manny frowns, letting Sid climb onto his back.

Sid exclaims, "Yeah! Mush!" When he realises Manny hasn't moved, he shrugs, "Or, not mush? Either way."

The herd starts walking away from Glaciar Pass, towards the sunset.

Diego asks, "So, kid, why didn't you go with the humans? They're your own species."

Y/N scoffs, "My own species left me for dead more than once, Diego. You guys have saved my butt a couple of times. I've grown attached to you. You're more of a family than mine ever was."

Sid smiles, "This is gonna be the best migration ever! I'm telling ya, I'll show you all my favourite watering holes! You know this whole Ice Age thing is getting old. You know what I could go for? Global Warming!"

Manny smirks, "Right."

"Keep dreaming." Diego scoffs.

Y/N shrugs, "Not in our lifetime. In a few hundred years maybe."

The end.

A/N: How'd you guys like it?

[panharmonium]

Gwen seems to get a little overlooked by fandom, with all the focus on Merlin and Arthur, and you generally have good thoughts on character developments and relationships.Merlin clearly cares about her a lot, and so does Leon, and iirc Arthur makes slightly better decisions when he's with her. Can you talk about her?

iirc Arthur makes slightly better decisions when he's with her

i always say to my sister when watching this show that arthur is his best self when he is in proximity to gwen.

he does make better decisions when he’s with her.  (in the early seasons.  late-season gwen is a different story, to be addressed later...)

gwen, more than merlin, is the one who spurs arthur’s development into a Better Person.  and it is, i think, worth noting that this isn’t a mission she takes on, not the way the Dragon tells merlin “perhaps it is your job to change that,” re: arthur being an ass.  gwen doesn’t set out to teach arthur how to be better.  that isn’t her responsibility.  arthur makes better decisions around her not because gwen is actively investing her energy into “reforming” him, but because he simply sees how admirable and worthy and incredible she is, and, evaluating himself in contrast with her, he wants to be better.  just being around her and being witness to what an amazing person she is makes him try harder.  it gives him the moral courage to openly defy his father, to stop gaius’s execution, to abandon his pride and give up the glory he would have received for secretly winning the joust in 2.02, etc, etc.

what he learns from her, he learns because she’s just existing and living her life and refusing to compromise her own ideals or concede her dignity.  that’s what he loves about her, and it’s what i love about her, and it’s part of why i really struggle with gwen’s story in season 5, though i suppose it kind of started in S4, too, where she stopped having much relevance beyond being arthur’s love interest and it was like...the writers didn’t know what to do with her, now that there were no obstacles to her and arthur being together.  

arthur makes a lot of poor decisions in S4 and the back end of S5.  huge, whopping, catastrophic decisions.  but gwen’s role as a witness to these decisions in the later seasons seems to be to just like - reassure him every time he does something bad.  every time arthur starts doubting himself, there’s a scene of him and gwen having a little talk in their chambers, and she tells him how great he is and that everything’s fine.  eg in ‘the disir,’ where arthur’s wondering if maybe he HAS transgressed somehow - gwen just tells him that he is a good and just king and if the disir knew him like she did, they “would feel nothing but love.”  

and i just - 100% do not believe gwen would let arthur off the hook so easily.  i don’t think that’s consistent with who she has previously been shown to be.  gwen’s role was never to be arthur’s cheerleader.  she’s the one who always calls him out on his bad behavior.  she tells him he’s wrong for insulting a peasant’s generously-offered cooking, for treating her own house like his personal hotel, for pretending to cook an apology dinner but not actually putting any work into it, for allowing an execution to proceed even when he thinks it’s unjust, for capitulating to agravaine’s demands that she and arthur stop courting each other.  she has a backbone and a strong moral code, and even when she’s still just a servant and arthur is a prince she doesn’t hesitate to let him know what she thinks.  that’s what he finds so admirable about her.  that’s what draws them together in the first place.  the first time arthur even gives gwen kind of a...second glance is when gwen tells him off for insulting hunith’s cooking in ealdor.  she distinguishes herself in his eyes, then.  people just don’t talk to him like that, particularly not lowly servants.  but gwen - gwen knows what is right, and nobody, not even a prince, gets to change that for her.

and then she just - stops doing that, in S5, and every scene she and arthur have together is just her affirming every bad decision he makes, soothing away his worries/guilt.  when in reality he SHOULD be worried, and he SHOULD be feeling guilty!  and it’s not that i expect gwen to just pop up on the side of magic-users - i don’t think it would be that simple - but i do expect her to have her own mind about these things.  if we as an audience can see a morally questionable aspect to arthur’s decisions, gwen should be starting to wonder about it, at the very least.  

gwen should have had her own engagement with the moral dilemmas of S5. and she should have had her own engagement with the Morgana Problem, too - for which we HAD an incredibly promising vehicle in the form of the whole ‘enchanted gwen’ arc, but which the show completely did not capitalize on.  nothing in that arc ended up being about morgana’s betrayal or loneliness or her ruined relationship with gwen or gwen’s conflicted feelings about her former friend having become this bitter enemy - like - the whole point of that arc, for me, was this sort of horrifying sadness for morgana, who was using gwen to get to arthur but also literally like...enchanting her friend back into her life.  creating a fake companion for herself.  and i don’t necessarily even think morgana consciously acknowledges what she was doing, but that was what was going on, underneath it all.  morgana is so desperately alone and this is literally the only way she can have another person “care” about her.  magical compulsion.  

this should have been a Big Deal for both of their characters, but it wasn’t.  gwen could have recognized what was going on and been left conflicted at the end of that arc, because even though she is afraid of morgana and angry about what morgana’s done to all of them, there is still a piece of her that cares.  morgana being foiled once again and confronted by the ugly truth that she can’t even mind-control a friend for herself should have been a crucial moment in morgana’s development.  but that’s just not where the writers were trying to take things, apparently, which is completely bizarre, because that’s all i can see when i look at what that arc was supposed to be.

anyhow.  gwen is my favorite character of the ladies on this show, but the show failed her spectacularly at the end (and granted, it failed everyone at the end, but gwen i honestly think got the worst deal out of the main 4, in the sense that hers is the arc that would need the most modifying for me to find it believable.  merlin, morgana, and arthur have arcs that - to me - make sense up until 5.12, and they don’t necessarily need changing, just more time to actually finish themselves.)

gwen’s story, on the other hand, is something that i feel needs some actual edits - mostly because she doesn’t really HAVE an arc, in the last season.  she’s just there.  off to the side.  she’s become a not-quite-recognizable version of herself, one of arthur’s many accessories.  

and she deserves SO much better than that.

[peak-dumbass]

Thoughts on Sons of Garmadon cuz redesigns :]

Also instead of watching all of the season and then adding my thoughts later I instead took notes while watch the season so that’s why this post is incredibly long, sorry about that :/

Anyway enjoy :>

Sorry for the accidental posting and I don’t want to rewrite everything so here’s from the original post

Lloyd reading the title of the episode also caught me off guard the first time I watched this

Basically Lloyd caught me off guard entirely the first time I watched this

Also his eyebrows are now THICC

“Still thirsty?”

...

I can see why people like Nya a lot (._.’)

Nya’s badass and f—king love her

Also the water bubbles she makes look really nice

Jay mimicking Cole is adorable

The first time we see them after a year and the first thing we see them do is argue and disturb a group of people that took a vow of silence 

I love them

“Did I call you at a bad time?” They’re in the middle of a fight with the mechanic, what do think?

Also Pixal calling Lloyd “Master Lloyd” :’/

“Whoever said fight fire with fire clearly didn’t know what they were talking about.” “Hey, you’re stealing my lines!” I love you Kai

“Who likes ice cream? I do! How was that line Kai?” I love you Zane

Them teasing Lloyd for his deeper voice and them just genuinely having family fun bonding time just fills me with such happiness that I can’t describe with words :’’’’’’’’>

Misako abandons Lloyd yet again, and she was just starting to act like a good mother in Hands of Time >:/

Jay is not understanding a single thing being said to him, but at least he’s trying 👌

Their excuse for not mentioning the royal family throughout the series is “they like their privacy”? Really? Like really? Are they expecting us to believe this bullish-t? 

Lloyd seeing Harumi for the first time: Can You Feel The Love Tonight🎶

Now Cole’s the only one who hasn’t had a crush in the series he is so gay and the writers can’t convince me otherwise

Can I just say the lighting for the inside of the place is beautiful? Cuz it is.

Also I just realized Cole’s the only ninja that isn’t wearing sleeves on his ninja suit, that’s cool👌

Since Harumi’s natural hair color is white, does that mean she’s albino?

“The maskes must never be reunited” Says the person who reunited the mask >:/ I know she’s acting good here but still

“No thank you, I actually gave up sweets. My body is a temple.” The moment I heard that for the first time I was like “WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO MY BOI?! WHO HAS HURT HIM?!”

Lloyd, stop stalking the princess, that’s illegal >:|

“Don’t worry, we’re ninja, we’re experts at this kind of thing” They proceed to loose the mask, let their main villain onto their ship, and Lloyd gets a crush on her :/

Grade A ninja-ing right there 👌👌👌

I’m on episode 2 and seeing Harumi acting nice and sweet and connecting with Lloyd and knowing that she’s faking all of it, I just feel so so so so bad for Lloyd :’<

Cole, don’t try to give Lloyd advice about girls when you aren’t even attracted to them

Ok so I procrastinated a bunch on doing this for some reason so Yee, let’s continue

I’ve only seen Mystake for 1 scene and if anything ever happens to her I’ll kill everyone in this room and myself

Oof I’m now sad and realize why everyone likes her

Ok so we all agree the tea Mystake gave Jay and Lloyd to see the drawings move is weed right? Or had weed in it?

Why is Cole hiding in a garbage bin when Zane is using a perfectly good newspaper? Also oh boy can’t wait to see Rocky DangerBuff and Snake Jaguar in action :3

The way Snake walked into the bar Jesus

and I’m trying to watch this without skipping it cuz to me the whole thing is very awkward and I can’t stand awkward stuff like this but I also heard there was glacier so I’m gonna try to watch this without yeeting my phone and burying my face in my pillow

Chloe: Snake is gorgeous and we stan

Me: I know he’s beautiful look at him, he’s amazing

He’s bad boi and baby boi at the same time and I love him

Just added Cole into a scene with the ninja when he’s actually still kidnapped by UV so noice job Ninjago HQ 👏👏👏

Zane looks so weird in the flash of Wu finding him dear god

Stop bothering him Cole, let Zane Rp as Snake for a little bit longer

DAD COLE DAD COLE DAD COLE DAD COLE DAD COLE DAD COLE

Cad is what Cole would have named the baby if it didn’t turn out to be Wu cuz Cole + Dad

Ali: "Why cad?" "Its cooler than Chad cause you take out the h for hoe"

Ali/clumsy you’re a genius

”you didn’t think it would that easy, did you?”

Guys is weird to think that UV is 100 times hotter after saying that line?

Mommy UV vs Dad Cole, Mommy UV is fighting Dad Cole for the baby

Oof I remember what’s gonna happen to Zane y’all and I’m not happy plz Mr.E stahp plz

Mr.E to the SOG after he kicks Zane’s ass: Guess who just got murdered!

“Not all men-“

Me: You’re right, Zane Ninjago would never do this

Mr.E: I’m on my way, I’m on my way, I’m on my way to kick Zane’s ass :D!

Cole is Pearl from SU confirmed, he was staring at baby Wu sleeping

Harumi: Maybe we can use this blanket at a Parachute?

Lloyd: What do this is a cartoon?!

Lloyd proceeds to do the exact thing he said wouldn’t work

Also Harumi is the best actor I’ve ever seen like seriously 10/10 👌 actor, playing with Lloyd’s heart strings like she’s been doing it for years

“How to be a heartbreaker” is Harumi’s jam and theme song

SO I WAS ADDING MY THOUGHTS ON HERE AND TUMBLR JUST DECIDED TO BE A LITTLE B-TCH AND CLOSE ON ME BEFORE I SAVED MY THOUGHTS AND NOW MY THOUGHTS ON HALF EPISODE 5 AND 6 ARE GONE OOF SO I’M JUST GONNA SAY THAT PIXAL IS HAVING SELF ESTEEM ISSUES OR SOMETHING SIMILAR AND SHE’S AMAZING AND IT’S MAKING ME SAD THAT ALL SHE SEES HERSELF AS ASSISTANCE AND NOTHING MORE

Also Lloyd falls onto a few branches and gets a hurt arm that requires a blanket while Nya was at the front of the ship with 0 protecction and was basically yeeted to the main deck while it crashed into the jungle and she doesn’t even get a break?!

I know Nya is stronger than Lloyd but GOSH DIDDLY DARN I didn’t know she was that STRONK!

Baby Wu: “Ninja never quit hehehehehe”

The ninja:

Lloyd: Confused Green Bean Noises

Harumi: kisses him on the cheek

Lloyd: •////• completely forgets what he was confused about

Harumi saved by lovestruck Lloyd and boners

Cole to Baby Wu: You took care of us, it’s only fair that we take care of you.

Me:

GOD I LOVE COLE HE’S AMAZING

Harumi and Lloyd during that one waterfall scene in Episode 6:

Also Harumi’s backstory for why she likes Garmadon and hates the ninja including Lloyd, it completely makes sense cuz she was a child that over heard that the ninja didn’t do sh-t and Garmadon saved the city so it makes sense why she hates the ninja and believes Garmadon should be Ninjago’s leader, and since it happened when she was young she didn’t think things through, she didn’t think about it from the ninja perspective and especially didn’t think about it from Lloyd’s perspective cuz she was a child, kids don’t tend to think about the other person’s perspective on things, so I think it makes sense and it’s really good 👌 also this is Ninjago’s first main female villain, all the other ones were either second in command or were in a crew that worked for a bigger villain so yeah that’s cool

“Don’t you guys have any idea what she’s doing? She’s resurrecting Garmadon! Lord Garmadon!” Yeah no sh-t Kai, the name of their gang is “Sons of Garmadon”, of course they know and of course they’re ok with it why do think they’re helping her?

“Then it’s a good thing the Quiet One isn’t a bad guy but a bad girl” It doesn’t matter that Pythor, Chen, Morro, and Garmadon had dicc, what matters is that the greater evil didn’t listen to them dipsh-t.

Harumi screams a lot, like Princess Peach/Damsel-in-distress amount of high pitch screaming and I’m surprised Lloyd or the other ninja haven’t told her to shut up at one point.

a slightly dark room suddenly turns a little bit darker

Harumi:

Lloyd: Jesus even when I was a kid I had tougher skin then you, I know this is a little hypocritical for my to say, but grow the f—k up god

Ok woah woah woah, how did Lloyd go from “I didn’t tell you about the fact that I’m part Oni, Mystake only told me and Jay” to “You’re the Quiet One” like he isn’t wrong but how did he put it together in such little amount of time?

Ok this is how the Lloyd vs Harumi fight should have gone down:

Lloyd: Give me a good reason not do destroy it right now.

Harumi: I’ll give you 2. You want to see your father again and you love me.

Lloyd: HAH! While you busy being a heterosexual b-tch I studied the blade!

Lloyd kicks Harumi’s ass and the day is saved

Am I wrong? Lloyd only met Harumi a couple of days ago, it’s like Anna from Frozen but LEGOs

“Love is an open door” is Llorumi shippers theme song

“I WANT YOU TO FEEL THE EMPTINESS THAT I FEEL”

B-TCH HAVE YOU NOT SEEN HIS F—KING CHILDHOOD HE HAS MORE TRAUMA THEN YOU WILL EVER GET YOUR F—KING LIFE TIME!!!

I KNOW SHE IS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER AND THAT SHE HASN’T SEEN HIS LIFE LIKE WE HAVE BUT DAMN IF IT ISN’T ACTIVATING MY PROTECC-LLOYD-AT-ALL-COSTS-AND-THAT-THIS-IS-TOTAL-BULLSH-T INSTINCTS

“Or we’ll have to get all ninja on you!” “What does that even mean?” “I don’t know I was improvising” Tbh that’s a mood Kai, at least to me

Lloyd: Guys, Rumi is the Quiet One!

The ninja who are currently surrounded by the SOG including Harumi: Oh really, ya don’t say?

Lloyd just got yeeted out of a waterfall so it sorta makes sense why he didn’t notice

Lloyd said I won’t let you get away with this and Harumi said YEET

They have Lloyd they have the masks and we have trouble

Baby Wu: Puppy!

that ain’t a puppy Sensei it’s a giant underwater scorpion monster

I forgot they tamed the giant underwater scorpion monster and named it Crabby, and Jay hugged one of Crabby’s claws, Jay’s favorite pet the ninja have ever had is Crabby confirmed

“So this is your true face without the mask, no wonder you covered it” Damn Lloyd is salty, LET LLOYD SAY F—K 2020

Chloe: Lloyd said "bitch u ugly" poetically

Me: Yeah, he got the saltiness from Kai and the poetic speech from Zane

“There was never anything between us”

One episode earlier

“You want your father back, and you love me”

One episode earlier

Harumi kisses Lloyd on cheek and proteccs him from the corrupted Samurai X suit

Me:

Harumi gets close to Lloyd

Me: KICK HER IN THE NONEXISTENT BALLS

Yay the most useful and totally not child abandoning character, Misako, is here and giving Lloyd information that he already knew and is being incredibly useful buy not only abandoning Lloyd for a second time in his life but also finding Baby Wu for the SOG Hooray

“Stop Rumi, this isn’t you!” B-tch you’ve only known her for a couple of days, and she has played with your heart, in dangered your friends, and tried to kill you and your friends on multiple occasions, and she nearly succeeded on killing Zane (though tbh Zane gets nearly killed every season so that isn’t a surprise)

“You were right, this isn’t me” YOU SERIOUSLY BELIEVED HE’LL FALL FOR THAT BULLSH-T AGAIN? AFTER YOU TRIED TO DROWN HIM AND HIS MOM WHILE SUMMONING HIS EVIL DAD FROM THE DEAD? HAH, B-TCH YOU THOUGHT!

“Stop. Save it for someone who cares” Yesssssss I love youuuuuuu by baby boiiiiii

Sees the arm coming out of the anvil-thing

Me: Terminator Garmadon? Also this is what happens when we complain too much, we also gotta be more specific people! We can’t ask for just Garmadon, we need to ask for Good/Sensei Garmadon or else we’ll get bullsh-t like this!

THE SCENE OF THE NINJA SINGING WEEKEND WHIP JUST PLAYED AND THE HAPPY WHOLESOME VIBES AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Also there’s no way harumi gets the resurrection spell right on the first try, like no way, impossible, like she even gets interrupted by Lloyd and the ninja at the end and then Garmadon appears after that? Like I’m not a witch/wizard myself but I’m pretty sure that’s not how spells work? You don’t just start a spell, stop before the spell is finished, and the spell still works :/

Also how the hecc did Garmadon know where to find Harumi? It was never explained, he just like punched his way into the police station and was like “Yo b-tch what’s up?”

“I can turn him once, I can turn him again” ends up getting his ass handed to him and nearly dieing for the millionth time in his life

“That sounds like a really bad idea” “And Kai knows bad ideas, he’s full of them” Oof Kai just got roasted

“Lloyd, what are you doing?” “I’m sorry, Nya. I have to confront him” OOF HE REALLY DID JUST PULL A KAI DIDN’T HE

I’m not gonna quote everything Lloyd says here cuz there’s too much but DAMN HE’S REALLY PISSED OFF AND IS REALLY DOING A KAI JESUS

I know we all wanted Sensei Garmadon back but I’m ngl this Garmadon looks really cool and gives really good evil speeches to unmotivate his opponent

OOF Y’ALL REALLY HAD TO ADD LLOYD HOLDING OUT THE PHOTO OF HIM AND GARMADON WITH LLOYD STRUGGLING SAYING “FATHER” AND THE PHOTO GOING INTO THE WIND DIDN’T Y’ALL MY HEART CAN’T TAKE THAT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AND I STILL HAVE TO MAKE IT THROUGH EPISODE 10 WHERE I KNOW LLOYD’S HEART IS GONNA BE RIPED OUT OF HIS CHEST AND STOMPED ON WITH A SPIKED SHOE

F—K HARUMI F—K NINJAGO HQ F—K EMPEROR GARMADON F—K THE SOG JUST LEAVE MY POOR BABY ALONE

Y’all I don’t think I can make it through the next episode f—k man

Holy f—k I forgot Emperor Garmadon reads the title card in episode 10 oof

“Not so fast!” “‘No so fast”?! You used that ages ago!” True, it sucked then and it sucks now

“My brother is coming” “How do you know?” “I know” Dang even baby Wu doesn’t tell people sh-t

“You sure you’re up for this?” “I was married to him once, I’m up for anything” Ok so you’re saying that as if you were the one that was treated badly in that relationship and not the other way around like it should be but whatever floats your boat pal

“Careful!” “Are you actually doubting my ability to closely approximate the true value of our surroundings? I’m a nindroid.” Damn Zane is pissed

COLE LITERALLY JUMPED OFF THE BOUNTY TO CATCH BABY WU NOT KNOWING JAY WAS GONNA CATCH HIM AKA HE WOULD HAVE DIED FOR BABY WU I’M SCREAMING GOD I LOVE COLE

Ok so Lloyd you are excellent at fabulous/eat-a-dicc-b-tch exits like wow 👏👏👏👏👏

Also the scene with the 4 OG ninja and Baby Wu traveling to the first realm looks really really nice ngl

All in all I really really like this season, it’s great 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[thiswasinevitableid]

Apology Flowers (Indruck)

@cyborgrabbit  requested 63 from the meet uglies:  “sometimes I steal flowers from your garden on my way to the cemetery, but today you’ve caught me and have demanded to come with me to make sure the “[person] is [attractive] enough to warrant flower theft” and I’m trying to figure out how to break it to you that we’re on our way to a graveyard.” They added, “If it wasn't a personal Garden but like a large private/public outdoor Garden that Duck was the main care giver for he absolutely would verbally attack anyone who touched his flowers”

Indrid considers the plants before him carefully; he wants variety, but he also wants flowers that fit the occasion and the setting. Roses would be nice, but as a human he can’t get them off the plant easily. He needs his mandibles for that.

He picks snapdragons, some lilies, some foxglove, and a smattering of pink and orange blossoms he can’t quite identify, wrapping them all in one big bouquet in a few sheets of USA Today. He’s so busy preparing himself for the hour ahead that he misses a change in the future and the figure stepping around the bushes. 

“Hey man, you know you ain’t supposed to pick those, right?”

He whirls, ill-gotten blossoms clutched to his chest.

“I, ah, I, yes, I, I am aware it is frowned upon in a public garden but none of the ones in the store quite, ah, suited my needs.”

The man, clearly an employee, crosses his arms, “so you decided to take some from the botanical gardens?”

“Yes. You have so may, I assumed a few would not be missed.”

“Maybe they wouldn’t, but if everyone gets it into their heads to take just a few, suddenly whole chunks of the garden are missing and all our hard work is for nothin’. Besides, average folks can’t tell the difference between a common plant that’s easy to replace and one that was a pain in the ass to grow.” He doesn’t sound angry so much as tired, as if he’s had this conversation dozens of times.

“I see your point. I, ah, I can’t really put them back though. May I keep these?”

The man smirks, “sure thing. I’m comin’ with you though. I wanna see if the person you’re given ‘em too is good-lookin enough to warrant flower theft.”

Indrid has zero desire to admit where he’s actually going.

“Ah, but, you are clearly at work. And I’m in a hurry.”

“Lucky for you I just got off and can walk pretty fast.”

Indrid sighs, defeated, “Very well. And no need to walk, I have a car.”

The man follows him to the little sedan he’s been towing behind the ‘Bago. Indrid opens the doors, pausing before he gets in, “are you certain you wish to come with me, Duck Newton? It’s not going to be very entertaining.”

“I’m sure. And how’d you know my name?”

“Name-tag.” Indrid replies automatically, hoping the man is actually wearing one.

Duck shrugs, and climbs into the car. As Indrid turns onto the main road, the gardener asks, “you been to Point Pleasant before?”

“A few times.”

“You got family here?”

“No. My family lives rather far away. Ah, what about you?” His distracted state is a blessing, as it keeps him from accidentally saying Duck’s words along with him.

“I’m from Kepler originally, moved out here for this job. Uh-” Duck turns, looking back at the arch they just drove under, “you sure we’re goin’ the right way?”

“Yes.” He says tightly, pulling into the cemetery parking lot.   

“Fuuck” Duck groans, smacking a hand onto his face in embarrassment, “why didn’t you tell me those were for this? Woulda eased up on you a little.”

“I wasn’t sure how to explain it.” He opens the door, “will you be joining me, or do you wish to wait here?”

“I’ll come help you pay your respects, seems the polite thing to do.” 

They enter the grounds, Duck removing his hat as they do. There are a few other visitors scattered about, the sky blue above them and the grass pleasantly fresh cut. 

Indrid finds the first grave, removes a snapdragon from the bouquet and sets it atop the stone. Stares at the name a moment, long enough to think the words he’d usually say aloud, then walks to the next grave he needs to visit. He knows their order by heart. 

He’s expecting Duck to become bored with his wandering, or try to talk with him, or offer some thoughtful but useless platitudes. But the human simply follows him from grave to grave, keeping a respectful distance between them.

Indrid doesn’t cry, he never does during this. But with Duck near him, he feels like he should. A human would cry, would they not? Only a monster would remain so unmoved. 

Not all of them are buried here, and so after a half hour they return to the car. 

Indrid stares at the wheel, “I have one more stop to take flowers to. I can drop you somewhere else if you’d like.”

“I’ll come with you. Come this far. But uh…”

“Indrid. You were about to ask my name. It’s Indrid.”

“Right, yeah. Look, Indrid, you seem like you’re dealin with somethin heavy and, well, I don’t feel quite right leavin you to deal with it alone. But if you need me gone, I can go.”

“I’d very much like your company on this next part.” 

“You got it.” 

They drive in silence, and Indrid turns on the radio because human music is one of his favorite things. Duck hums along at one point, the noise off-key and charming enough to make Indrid forget what’s ahead of him. 

When they approach the memorial, Duck says softly, “ah, thought I recognized some of the names, couldn’t place where. The Silver Bridge Collapse.”

“Yes.” Indrid sits down on the ground near the first row of bricks inscribed with names of those he failed to save. He sets the remaining flowers on a nearby stone, so it will be clear what they are for. 

A scuff as Duck sits down next to him.

“Did you know someone on the bridge.”

“Not exactly, no” Indrid sets his hands on his knees, focuses his gaze on cracked ground.

“I, uh, I think what you doin’ is real noble. Most folks come and just visit the Mothman statue.”

“I’ve seen Mothman plenty of times, I do not need to see him anymore.”

“Nicest ass in West Virginia.”

Indrid snorts in surprise, glancing over at Duck.

“Sorry, tend to goof when I’m feelin’ awkward.”

“It’s alright. My actions are less noble than you perhaps think. I, ah, I was there. The day it happened. I suppose you could say I have a, ah, a very intense case of survivors guilt.”

“Oh, Indrid, I’m so fuckin sorry. That must have been terrifyin.” Duck rests his hand on his knee and Indrid starts. He hasn’t been touched on purpose in two years, maybe more.

“It was. I come back whenever I can, to, to pay my respects. To say I’m sorry. Sorry that I couldn’t save them. Sorry that I failed.”

“Hold up now, you didn’t fail no one. Bridge collapse was an accident.”

“But-”

“Let’s say even if you, I dunno, had some way of seein’ it comin, you’re just one guy. One guy can do a lot, but he can only do so much. Trust me, I know. Whatever happened on the bridge, it wasn’t your fault.”

“I…” no one’s ever said that to him so sincerely, so plainly. But as the story he’s told himself all these years starts to crumble, emotion seeps through the cracks. 

He shudders, head collapsing into his hands. The strong arm wraps around his shoulders and he crumples, falling against Duck’s chest. Through the silent, sharp tears, he tries to be polite, tries not to make the man feel Indrid is any strnager than he already must. 

“I’m s-sorry, I shouldn’t, you don’t need to-”

“Hush now” Duck murmurs, hugging him, “just get it all out.”

Indrid does, streaking his face with and wetting Duck’s shirt with tears. When they finally abate, his mind is pleasingly clear, save for one question.

“Why are you being so kind to me?”

“Because it seems like someone needs to be. Plus, was kinda a dick earlier.”

Indrid snickers at his candor, “You were right to scold me for picking those flowers. Perhaps I should grow my own. There must be a way to do so inside a small space.”

“Can think of a few.” 

In all the futures, Duck clears his throat and says that even so, he should be going and that it was nice to meet Indrid.

“If you, uh, if you want, could brainstorm so with you over dinner.” A warm hand rubs his upper arm, soothing and protective. 

He sits up but stays in Duck’s arms, looking down at him, “I would, but you do not need to ruin your evening for my sake.”

“Wouldn’t call gettin’ to know you more ‘ruinin’ somethin’. Plus, you’re still in a raw spot. You telling me you wanna spent the rest of your evenin’ with your own thou-”

“No, no I do not.” Indrid says flatly. 

“C’mon, some friends of mine have a real nice place to eat near the gardens. French Onion Soup is to die for.”

“I have never had it.”

“Fuck, really? Well now we gotta go.” Duck smiles, his mellow enthusiasm contagious, and by the time they’re in the car Indrid is smiling too. 

Dinner really is delicious, though Indrid prefers the pie to the soup (though he must admit he enjoys watching the pleasure on Duck’s face as he eats said soup). Duck asks him about his travels, eagerly shares stories about the garden, and shows him pictures of his cat. When Indrid mentions he draws, Duck asks to see the little pocket sketchbook he carries, and proceeds to tell him a half-dozen times how amazing it is. He also hears Duck laugh for the first time, a ridiculous sound that he wants to hear a hundred times more. 

They talk until closing time, no longer across from each other but side by side, as Duck had hopped around to Indrid’s booth to show him more pictures of the gardens. The human offers his arm, and they walk at a leisurely pace. When he reaches the car he hesitates, then hugs Duck. The shorter man hugs him back.

“Thank you, Duck, for everything.”

“You’re welcome. You stayin in town?”

“For awhile, yes.”

“Well, hopefully I’ll see you around.” Duck slowly retracts from the hug, tips his hat with a wink and heads to his car. Indrid gets into his own, watches Duck drive away before heading towards the trailer park. As he reaches into his pocket for his keys, he finds a folded slip of paper with the words “dinner and movie tomorrow?” followed by a phone number.

He grabs his phone, and hurriedly dials. 

And in every future, including the one that comes to pass, Duck answers the phone with a smile.  

[shmisolo]

For Anyone Looking for Not-Super-Angsty-Stuff

I’m compiling mine (or at least the less-angsty stuff) into one list for ya.  

Seen ✔️✔️ 

His lock screen has three texts from Rey on it:

Rey Wife: Babe I know you’re probably busy right now, but you sent that pic to the wrong chat. Rey Wife: Bennnnnnn Rey Wife: Call me when you’re done processing your trauma.

And then about ninety chats from the Skywalker Ranch WhatsApp thread.

--

In which Ben sends a picture to the wrong chat.

The Sweater Curse

She’s never made a sweater before, but she saw the pattern on Ravelry and who cares if she’s only made (lumpy) hats before—she has to try it.  She has to make it. She has to make it for Ben.

“You realize that Hannukah isn’t an important holiday, right?” Ben asks as she makes eye contact with him.  His eyes are big and brown and—at this moment—mildly annoyed.

“Really?  Is it a giant conspiracy theory?  Part of the war on Christmas?”

“More than you realize,” Ben says and for the life of her she can’t tell if he’s joking.  He does this thing sometimes that’s confusing—where he’ll say something that sounds mopey but is actually snarky and it disarms her every damn time.  “In any event, ugly Hanukkah sweaters definitely aren’t a thing the way ugly Christmas sweaters are.”

“Well, they are now,” Rey says firmly.  “I’m making you an ugly Hanukkah sweater.  Deal with it. And stop moving.”

it's you and me (i know it's our destiny) 

It’s just a kid’s game, he thinks when jealousy pangs in his heart. But it’s more than just a kid’s game.

It’s Pokémon.

It’s the only good thing in his life.

Shalom Rav!

In which Rey comes to terms realizing that she is attracted to the rabbi.

Apples and Honey

When Ben catches wind that his mother is planning to foist a potential girlfriend on him when he comes home for Rosh Hashanah, he takes matters into his own hands: specifically, he runs to Rey and asks her to pretend to be his girlfriend.

atlanta > all atlanta > community > missed connections

In which Rey meets a cosplayer at DragonCon. 

Two to Tango

Rey: I need to ask you something awkward. Ben: What’s up? Rey: Can I give you a blowjob? Please?

Bang for your Buck

“We ready?” he asks her, sounding huffy.

“Nice to meet you Ben, I’m just familiarizing myself with your training,” she replies.

“Ok, well I don’t have all day.”

“No, you have,” she checks her watch, “another hour.” Because of course he’d booked an extra long session. Bless that sweet, sweet overtime pay.

“And you’re sure you know what you’re doing?” he asks her and she glances up at him, sure that her eyes are flashing because that’s fucking rude. She’s a professional. Amilyn wouldn’t have hired her if she didn’t know what she’s doing, and just because he apparently thinks he’s the center of the universe doesn’t change that fact.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your bang for your buck,” she tells him icily.

A Picture's Worth

reyjay: hiya your art is amazing

reyjay: it’s a big ask but could you draw me for my art final tomorrow? i’m shit at drawing people and i can’t fail this. can you help?

He stares.

And stares.

And stares.

kyloren: is this some kind of a joke?

reyjay: no?? why??

kyloren: you’re asking me to help you cheat your exam, but you’re not even offering me money?

Forged

There are several reasons that Ben would never have dreamed he’d ever receive this text. The first is that he’d be invited to a Halloween party. The second is that he’d never in his life expected to be in a serious relationship, much less the sort of serious relationship where his partner would suggest matching Halloween costumes. And the last is that he is dating someone who’s show only and they’ve only almost murdered one another twice. Because he’s an A Song of Ice and Fire fan. He hates Game of Thrones.

(Not) Interested

We're bringing Speed Dating back to Space Battles Bonanza! Register online for one of our special Bonanza sessions of 15 three-minute dates so you’ll no longer have to look for love in a galaxy far far away. Choose from one of seven speed dating sessions, two of which are queer focused. If the Insurgents can blow up the Doom Moon in 11 minutes, let’s see if you can make a love connection in only three.

There’s a history of successful Speed Dating at Space Battles Bonanzas, with long-term couples, engagements and marriages now among the alumni.

--

In which Rey & Kylo meet at their fancon's speed dating.

do or do not (do the do)

In which Ben, in an effort to improve his stamina (look he's making progress, ok?) after reading some articles that he'll never be able to unread, receives some coaching (that he very much did not ask for).

(Very much did not ask for.)

A for... 

Rey’s seeing double by the time there’s food on her plate. Oh. There’s food on her plate. That’s good. That’s unexpected at this point. “Eat,” Ben tells her.

So she does. It tastes good. Very good. She likes this food a lot.

“I’ll make sure she knows,” Ben says.

Oh she’s at that point of drunk where she’s just saying things out loud instead of keeping them in her internal monologue.

“You are,” Ben says, looking very amused.

She hopes she doesn’t say anything embarrassing.

“I promise, you haven’t yet, but oh boy, I’m looking forward to this.”

She shoves food into her mouth to keep herself from thinking out loud about his dick in her ass at his mother’s Passover seder.

The Love Committee 

In which Rey, tired of her bad luck with dating apps and failed relationships, enlists her friends' help in determining who she should date next.

They take it a little too seriously.

💦💦💦💦 

In which Ben accidentally implies that he gets his cardio from having sex on national television.

You, Me, and He

When they say that Kylo's brain is in his groin, they're not far from the truth.

Alternatively,

In which Kylo Ren is his own penis.

and beyond 

“Please?”

For a moment, he thinks it will be like the first time, him begging, her crying and saying no and him not knowing how to protect his crushed heart.

But she doesn’t cry, she doesn’t say, “Please don’t go this way,” she doesn’t look horrified or disgusted. She just grabs him by the front of his shirt and tugs his lips down to hers before reaching down to cup his cock.

we decided not to kill the wolves (we wanted to be wolves)

A pack of wolves lives in the woods to the north of Raddus and as winter looms, they have their eyes set on Leia Organa’s stronghold. Rey may be new to Raddus, but she’s not about to do nothing while it may be in danger. And besides, Poe must be exaggerating about wolves the size of bears. She’s not afraid of monsters.

myosotis 

Ben picked the flowers for their wedding.

The Kitchen

Rey and Ben, hunting for their first house.

Investiture 

In which Ben goes to daven for his father’s yahrtzeit and manages to prove to himself once again that he is both a terrible person and a terrible Jew.

Oh and he sort of falls in love.

The Sweetest Thing 

A post-coital trip to Waffle House.

with you i shall play

And when it's dry and ready, then Ben's dick Rey shall play.

Everything to Prove

“The show,” he says. “It’s probably best if they don’t—if we don’t—”

And Rey follows his line of thought at once. For all the program is one that doesn’t seem melodramatic—the height of drama in previous seasons came from someone’s cake falling over and that was about it—she does not doubt that the producers and cameramen would leap at the opportunity to make there be something out of nothing in their relationship—especially if there was something out of something.

“Yeah,” she agrees. “Yeah, probably. We can pick baking stations that are…” but she doesn’t want to complete the thought. She likes baking next to Ben.

“Or we can just be careful?” he suggests, sounding quite as pained by the prospect as Rey feels.

“Yeah, careful. I can do careful,” Rey says at once and her lips are on his again and he’s laughing now, and she’s laughing, and she didn’t think laughter would be part of all this. She didn’t think it could be. But here she is, laughing and kissing and holding a man who, at some point, she’s going to want to beat.

She does her best not to think of that now.

It’s a friendly competition, after all.

It’s not life and death.

It’s baking.

Brightblades 

In which Rey learns about a startling kink of her new boyfriend, and in which, much later, they roleplay it.

The Knotting Shop 

Ben realizes upon entering the shop that he had gotten the complete wrong impression from the name of it.

What the fuck sort of shop calls itself The Knotting Shop if it’s not about, well, knotting?

The answer, apparently, is a knitter with a sense of humor. An Omega, by the scent that seems to have landed in every colorful ball of yarn in the shop and which hits him right in the groin.

Let Go (Never Let Me Go) 

In which Rey swipes right on Ben, 35. Probably too much of an asshole for you, but my therapist is trying to convince me that assholes deserve love too, so here’s me on Tinder, and it does not proceed as she expects.

crossfade (cursed and blessed)

The Talmud states that on Purim one is to drink to the point of not knowing the difference between “cursed is Haman” and “blessed is Mordechai.” In other words, you’re supposed to get so blitzed you can’t tell your friends from your enemies. Rey and Ben might be taking this a little too literally at Leia’s annual Purim Party.

Kind Stranger

Ben stares at the text for a minute before opening up his computer and typing “+7793 area code” into his web search. Jakku. Of course he wouldn’t have recognized it. He confessed himself surprised to know that Jakku even had an area code. Did people still live in Jakku?

#kylothekiller 

It’s not the first time that Rey has seen Kylo pop up in her Fido stream, but it is the first time she’s clicked on him fast enough to be scheduled for a meet and greet with dog and owner on Saturday.

All Bets Are Off 

“Fake girlfriend. What does that even mean?” Ben asks her.

Rey rests a hand on his arm, feeling the muscles underneath his sleeve. “Babe,” she says, leaning close to him. “It means we pretend we’re madly in love. Think you can pull that off for your office pool?” Ben’s eyes flicker softly between each of hers and he swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.

[tc-obsessed]

july tc challenge

this blog is most likely just for me to talk about him because i really can’t talk about this with nobody else, so i am actually doing all the question at once cause I don’t have that much time to do it once a day

this challenge is made by @baeby-tc

1. describe your tc’s physical appearance.

He is taller tan me, has a curly hair he lets it grow to his ears and a little long so he can handle it, I have always seen him with it thrown to the back, he has brown hair and brown eyes, he is a bit full but I think it makes him cute

2. what was the first thing you’ve ever said to your tc?

He said my name to know if I was in the class and I think I said like, “That’s me” and he proceed to smile like always.

3. is your tc single or taken? Or are you unsure? And are you single or taken?

So far as I know he is single, we met after I broke up with a toxic ex, and now I actually am in a relationship, which its kind of hard because its not a serious one and he also knows I am in love with H.

4. is your tc more of the athletic type, the nerdy type or the artsy type?

Super duper artsy, he is my teacher at an art college, and also super nerdy he is like such a geek for like games and stuff I really don’t have a clue.

5. if you and your tc were in high school together, do you think you’d be friends?

Not really, I don’t think he would be able to handle or want to even be near me, I was really depressed and was super mean, and he is an easy going guy who doesn’t barge in somebody else’s problems, also he is super into cute girls and I am totally the opposite

6. name one song that reminds you of your tc and explain why that song reminds you of them.

The song is one that I love, and H kind of didn’t like much but since we heard it together he always pops into my head when I listen to it, its Graduation by Hyukoh. I think its one the moment I appreciate of him cause we were just naming random songs we liked and he literally grabbed his computer and started showing his songs as I said which ones I liked, we started with like two more classmates then just the two of us, until he left.

7. is your tc fashionable or are they more of the simple type? what is one outfit you’d love to see them wear?

Fuck no, like he is such a bad dresser, I am so interested in fashion and he always wears this ugly orange jacket, I swear to god I would kill to see him in something more for his age, like I think it’s really nice how he likes but he has such a bad style, I think if we ever come to be together I would go out to shop for him and try to find other color that its definitely NOT orange.

8. would you be willing to become a teacher and teach your tc’s subject if it meant you two could be together?

Not really like a teacher, but I would be so down to be his assistant, though he already has one.

9. does your tc drink or smoke?

No, I have seen photos of him drinking but now he always avoids it. And he doesn’t like the smell of cigarettes.

10. name one item that is always on your tc’s desk.

It used to be like a mug with coffee or a coke, now its just water. And I like to think it was because of me, but that’s an story I’ll leave for another update.

11. has your tc ever done anything that has either thrown you off, annoyed you, angered you or bothered you in any way? if so, what did they do?

Its unfair cause he is really nice, he has never said or done anything, I just get plain angry or sad when I cant see him, and that isn’t his fault.

12. does your tc have any past jobs that you know of, before becoming a teacher?

None that I know of.

13. does your tc have kids or siblings? if so, how many?

I am sure he has a few brothes.

14. are you taking your tc’s class next year?

Unfortunately I cant, he only teaches first and second years, and I am already a third year, if I could I totally would do it.

15. has your tc ever met your parents? if you were there, what was the meeting like?

Thank god no.

16. has your tc ever given you detention? if so, what was it like?

Nope, we don’t have it at college.

17. has your tc ever failed you? if so, how did you react? if not, how would you react?

No, and I think I would just accept it, like he is a teacher for a reason, if he thinks I didn’t understand and I need another year learning, so be it.

18. what are your tc’s hobbies/interests? are they similar to yours?

He is into like a really nerdy rp podcat/talk show? I am so into tv shows, he draws characters form the rp, and I just focus on drawing homework and ocs. So not really, but we both enjoyed game of thrones.

19. have you ever spoken on the phone with your tc? what did you talk about?

I have texted him before, never called, and mostly is for my new animated project or things for the student council, once or twice we talked about something not related to college, but that’s also a thing I plan on explain into detail later.

20. if you had your tc’s class during quarantine, what were your zoom calls like? if not, have you spoken to your tc since quarantine?

No, and I don’t know if its good or bad, because I definitely want to see him, but its not like its private so I guess I would be really sad for not having his attention. And yes, we have talked, I asked him for advices in my new proyect, he is really sharp and has a good, and then he responded two of my ig stories, so I am happy he actually talked to me first.

21. if you had the chance to go anywhere in the world with your tc, where would you go? what would you do?

So, I know he has gone to japan a few times, and I would actually enjoy to go with him there, like, imagine him saying his experiences and helping me with things he had to learn.

22. does your tc have any nicknames for you?

Sadly no, he is really professional, so if he ever gave me a nickname it would be kinda wrong, tho he calls me by my name when he is talking about work and by my nick name (everybody at my uni calls me by that), when we ran into each other at the u. sometimes he switches it up.

23. have you ever cried in front of your tc? why? how did they react?

I been close to it, but he actually passed by and I turned around so he wouldn’t see me.

24. have you ever walked/drove to/from school with your tc?

No, sadly. I am always early and he is always late. But we have bumped into each other on the stairs.

25. do you know which teachers your tc is friends with at school? if so, do you like those teachers?

Yes, I mean most of them know each other, and they are all so friendly.

26. why does your tc’s voice sound like?

Hard to describe, he has like a confident lowish voice.

27. do you like your tc as a teacher? are they a good teacher?

He super professional and like strict, and soo picky, like he can give you so many advices and at the same time try to make room fot you to think about it and have a solution yourself, he is great.

28. does your tc prefer books, shows or movies?

Shows I think, he likes how a character grows from his past mistakes, but he likes reading too.

29. is your tc stern or easy going, in class?

Kinda both, like he is really nice and easygoing until he needs to be stern.

30. how would you describe you and your tc’s relationship?

Weird, like we are friendly, but he has always this way to push me away, but at the same time we always makes things that caught my attention or he talks to me like nothing.

31. do you address your tc by their first or last name?

Yes, its actually normal, everybody calls him by his name or a nickname, i personally call him his name with a rhyme

[ananas-pineapple-thing]

Okay I barely remembering reading the series and could only really tell you the plot of the first two what did marissa do?

Hi!! I have a LOT of problems with Marissa, the way she was written, and things that are technically Angie’s Bad World Building but reflect on the character in a very unsavory way— so this might be long because I think it’s hard to understand without the full picture. I’m also gonna talk mostly about the second series (TodHunter Moon) so if you haven’t read that and are planning to, proceed with caution!!

MARISSA IN SEPTIMUS HEAP

Firstly, i loved Marissa in the first series! She was resourceful, cunning, and knew what she wanted. She was fun to read about. Quick rundown of her role in the first series from my (bad) memory: Marissa is introduced in Flyte as one of the Wendron Witches and the girl that Jo-Jo Heap has a crush on; she appears again briefly in Queste but doesn’t really do much; she again makes an appearance in Darke and reveals that she has left the Wendrons to join the Port Witch Coven (the members of whom have trapped Jenna), and then (i think???) curses Jenna to prevent her from leaving. Jenna curses her back to also keep her from moving, Then Marissa herself is in danger of being cursed by another witch, so she and Jenna strike a deal that if Marissa helps Jenna escape, Jenna will unfreeze her. Marissa helps her escape by kissing her, which turns her into a witch and allows her to leave.

This chapter is the biggest establisher of her character and also her wonky moral compass. even though she obviously helped Jenna only for her own gain, her character was written in a way that we appreciated the selfish side of her!! it was fun to read about her in that situation, because she got what was coming to her and ended up sort of befriending Jenna by the end. Then in Fyre I’m not sure what she did besides flirt with Beetle and start working at the same shop as Jo-Jo lol.

MOVING ONTO THE SECOND SERIES:

Marissa’s big role is in the last book in the trilogy, but first i’m going to set the stage with some details from the second book. It’ll make sense in a minute.THM expands outside of Europe and touches on a couple of places, including (according to a map on the first page) somewhere in the south of Africa. For reasons unknown, Angie Sage decided that the people living here are Arab, which is a little racist because the Middle East is Not in South Africa, but it’s whatever. She also gives these people Egyptian culture (or what white people who read a book on Egypt when they were seven think Egyptian culture is), which again, is odd but whatever. the illustrator draws these characters with dark skin— the only accurate thing about them being in /South Africa/. this will all be relevant in a second.

back to THM!! in this Arab Egyptian South African society- there is a place called the Red City. in the red city lives their Queen, who is dark skinned and Arab— so obviously she’s a HUGE tyrant!! I’m talking about a dictatoring-chopping off people’s heads-people in the streets cowering at her name-first resort is to murder-tyrant!!! WHAT A HORRIBLE SAVAGE LEADER!! brown and Black people are unfit to rule :-) all her useless brown subjects are too stupid and useless to stage a riot or chop off HER head (which would be easy because she’s established as an idiot in the last book. because brown and Black people are also stupid :-) ) so they just live in fear of her.

I want to stress that this is because they are Arab. because they are dark skinned. fun book!!

ONTO MARISSA AND HER ROLE REGARDING THE LAST BOOK AND THE SETTING OF THE SECOND:

Marissa’s traits that made her a fun character in the first series were brought into a ugly light in the second. unlike in the first series, however, she doesn’t face repercussions for her actions and therefore does not either learn from them or get her deserved comeuppance.

The last book in the trilogy is Starchaser, which I have a foggy memory of. I’ll do my best to explain Marissa’s actions in it— I’ll break it up into three parts for ease.

PART 1: MARISSA GOES SHOPPING

Marissa works for an evil sorcerer dude who wants to take over the wizard tower. How she came to work for him is beyond me, but either way he sends to buy something from some shady lady. The “something” is a bunch of little black beads that, if you say the incantation on the bag, turn into these evil beings called Kraaken who straight up kill Wizards. Marissa likes the sounds of this because she also wants to own the wizard tower! She buys the bag and keeps it for herself, and the buys a spell that will give evil sorcerer dude a terrible headache (I feel u evil sorcerer dude) to keep him distracted. Marissa then makes her way back to the castle, ready to put her plan in action.

PART 2: MARISSA AND JO-JO

Marissa and Jo-Jo have this weird relationship thing going on. Jo-Jo is totally in love with her and Marissa is just kind of there. She treats Jo-Jo rudely and take advantage of the fact that he’s in love with her, and Jo-Jo is aware of this but it only makes him want her attention more. Despite this, we get a couple of hints that Marissa cares about him more than other people, which isn’t a lot.Marissa is having a party!! Jo-Jo gives her a charm as a gift. It was to control people and make them do as you say for a certain amount of time or something similar. I can’t recall! More on this later.

Later, the Kraaken from Marissa’s bag get activated somehow. They almost kill Jo-Jo, because Jo-Jo is a wizard!! let that sink in: Jo-Jo is the one person we know she cares about and she bought evil beings that are made to kill him and his family and other people like him. She knows that this happened and shows no regret.

Jo-Jo ends up getting rid of the Kraaken in a heroic feat, so (simplifying events a LOT here, since this is all actually a subplot) Marissa decides she wants the Palace instead!! which is owned by the Queen Jenna, who is also Jo-Jo’s little sister. Using the charm Jo-Jo gave her, Marissa tricks Jenna into giving up her circlet (crown, basically) and ownership of the Palace. she had NO qualms about deceiving someone Jo-Jo cares about.

and then (i have NO memory of how this happened) the Queen of the Red City shows up. Marissa tricks her into giving up her crown and palace. she gives the circlet back to Jenna, only because she “has something better”.

All of this was very frustrating to read and I don’t think I was alone in wanting her to get some sort of comeuppance before the book ended.

PART 3: THE ENDING

I don’t know what the heck happened to the Red City’s Queen, but she is somehow removed entirely from the equation. Marissa, who has evaded jail time i guess (do they have a jail???), has the Crown.

obviously the only solution is for her to colonize the Red City!!! now this part is technically on Angie’s world building but it adds another layer of Awful to Marissa. She, a white women, walks into this city and becomes it’s Queen, saving the black and brown subjects from their horrible blood thirsty ruler. Marissa is also objectively a bad person who would make a bad ruler, but this book doesn’t care because it’s a bunch of savages that she’ll be ruling!!! and she’s also at least better than their savage Queen!!!! this screams white savior.

AND THEN, Marissa asks Jo-Jo, who she has been horrible and manipulative to the entire book and who she also indirectly almost killed, to come with her to the Red City and live there.

Jo-Jo, who is still wrapped around her finger in this toxic relationship, says yes.LET THAT SINK IN: Marissa spent the entire book being an awful person and an awful girlfriend. she deserves a sucker punch to the face at the very least.She gets a kingdom and gets to keep her boyfriend. she gets everything she wanted, her happy ever after, and not once does the book suggest we should be anything but satisfied with this.

IN CONCLUSION

Marissa could have been a villain and a well written character. a well written Villain is fun to read about, even if you don’t agree with them. However, Marissa was written poorly and frustratingly. most villains are acknowledged as being in the wrong, and the last book in their series certainly doesn’t end with them being rewarded for whatever they did. Despite Angie obviously wanting us to root for her, Marissa never showed a hint of guilt for whatever stunts she pulled. She was selfish. And her ending didn’t reflect her actions at all, which was extremely unsatisfying.

Her character arc, for a main secondary character, was very badly written. She never learned a thing. Also, Jo-Jo’s own state is ignored and he ends up staying in the toxic relationship and /living/ with her. It’s a total train wreck!!

and that’s why I personally didn’t like her!! hopefully I explained this well, and didn’t ramble too much!! If i was confusing, feel free to shoot me another ask!!

[nct-jungjaehyun]

miracles pt.1

[9:51am] doyoung took the bowl out of jaehyun's hand and threw it to the ground, causing the cake batter to splatter all over the floor.

jaehyun simply sighed and walked over to clean up the mess doyoung just made.

doyoung marched over to jaehyun's kneeled body and yanked him up by his collar.

doyoung harshly pushed jaehyun against the wall and shouted in his face, "would you wake up? it's been two years! you have to get over her! why are you locking yourself in this bakery and making stupid cakes? it's your birthday today! you should celebrate,"

doyoung expected jaehyun to forcefully push back, but jaehyun doesn't.

for once, jaehyun did not fight back. it was as if jaehyun was lifeless.

jaehyun pulled doyoung's hands off of him and muttered, "let me be,"

jaehyun carried on with what he was doing, cleaning up and baking. he's been baking for two years now.

doyoung watched his fellow brother sadly. he could not believe his own eyes. doyoung had hoped that he could help jaehyun, that he could make those pretty dimples appear again, but the scene before him just shattered his heart.

jaehyun, on the other hand, did not even care if doyoung was watching him or not. it would be the last thing that bothered him.

jaehyun just focused on his baking. as he mixed the ingredients, the memories of you and him floated back into his mind, like always.

it was well known to everybody that you loved baking. he even brought you to a bakery to make a cake for your birthday. you were ecstatic to make a cake that will fit your own taste buds. it was going well until he began drawing on your face with flour. he said you looked cute with whiskers. you retaliated by cracking an egg on his head.

his heart warmed as he remembered that you had to tippy toe to do that.

at first he was a bit angry, thinking you went too far, but when you laughed, he completely forgot about being mad. he was just happy that you were happy.

the food fight carried on with laughter and yelps of happiness. eggs were cracked everywhere. flour rained all over the room. colored icing colored the walls. it was a mess, but in the end, the two of you still made a cake.

jaehyun held the sides of his face, "oh my god, my cheeks hurt from laughing so much,"

you were no different as you massaged your cheeks.

he inspected the cake placed between the two of you and then playfully crossed his arms, "well, happy birthday, there you go, your cake,"

you laughed in amusement and smelled the cake, "it looks ugly, but it smells pretty nice, though,"

he released his arms and relaxed into his chair, "i am so sorry," he laughed, thinking about the cake-making process.

the two of you did not even follow the cook book. you two just put random amounts of ingredients and mixed.

he continued, "this was probably not the birthday you wanted. this cake probably tastes like something mark would make,"

you looked on the positive side of things, "hey, it looks ugly, but maybe it tastes good,"

jaehyun grinned, "alright, let's give it a taste then,"

he cut a small slice from the cake and then used a spoon to scoop up a small piece. he fed it to you and was prepared for you to spit it out.

but you didn't. instead, your smile only grew brighter as you beamed with excitement.

"it tastes so good!" you exclaimed.

jaehyun couldn't believe it. he went over to your side to take a bite from your plate.

"wow," was all that escaped jaehyun's mouth.

the rest of it was you two fighting over the delicious cake and wanting every last bit of it. him playfully elbowing you away to get to the cake and you shoving the most cake as possible into your mouth.

the cake was miraculous, because it was made spontaneously. to this day, both you and jaehyun never knew what the recipe was for it. remembering what was added into the cake was the last thing on your minds when trying to cover the other person with cake ingredients.

the cake was a miracle. what came next was the opposite, a tragedy.

a few weeks past your birthday, the day that the best cake was made, jaehyun and you were supposed to meet up again at the bakery to make another cake.

jaehyun stared at the ring he placed in front of him while waiting for you. three hours past and there was still no sign of you. he checked his phone multiple times and there were not any messages or calls from you. soon enough his phone was spammed with phone calls. they were all saesangs. annoyed, he figured you probably won't show up as well. just as he was about to leave, he heard footsteps in the hallway. you were here! he hurriedly picked up the ring. he wanted the ring to be a surprise for you. but he was in such a rush to hide the ring that he accidentally dropped it. the ring rolled off from the cute heart shaped box and disappeared. when he looked back up though, he was not met with your pretty face, but with doyoung's.

at first he felt a sense of relief that it was not you. he can find the ring and hide it before you get there.

but doyoung proceeds to tell him that you won't be there. you got in a car accident.

it turned out that while you were on your way, there were saesangs on your tail. you did not want others interrupting your date with jaehyun. you were in the middle of texting jaehyun to cancel the date. you were not watching the road and before you knew it, you crashed against another car.

despite his manager telling him not to, jaehyun still rushed to the hospital with doyoung as fast as he can.

but when he got there, there was nothing he could do to help except wait for the surgery on you to finish. he prayed and prayed that you would be fine. he repeatedly told himself that you will walk out of this hospital safe and sound, you will be in his arms again, he will hear your beautiful laugh again and again, you will be okay again.

the surgery was finally finished but the news were not so great. the doctors said you were in a coma. you may wake up in a week, a month, a year, or even never.

jaehyun could not believe his ears. how could this happen? this just all came out of nowhere.

the doctor comforted jaehyun and then handed him something that you refused to let go of when they rescued you.

it was your phone.

jaehyun opened your phone through the plastic bag. he was faced with the messaging screen. your message was never sent, but he was reading it then.

it read, 'i can't make it :( we'll make my birthday cake next time! i'll be there and we can enjoy our delicious cake together!'

things only got worse. the next few days were more painful than the last. he watched as you laid lifelessly on that hospital bed and there was still nothing he can do. he wished he was in your spot instead. it hurts his heart to see you like this. at the same time, he cannot stop hearing your text message in his head. the last phrase kept repeating in his ears. he can imagine your voice saying that.

'i'll be there and we can enjoy our delicious cake together!'

for the first few weeks, the hospital became his home. he stayed at the hospital more than he did at the dorm or practice room. he stayed right beside you. he wanted to be there the moment that you wake up. because you will wake up. you have to wake up. you have to be okay again.

as he fell asleep beside you one night, he had a dream. he saw that you had woken up and you were happily eating the cake with him. you were laughing with him just like old times. everything was okay. and then he woke up.

it was so real. he thought you had actually woken up. but when he looked up, you were still laying there like how you've always had.

then it hit him. the cake! the cake was a miracle. he has to make the cake.

he will make your cake and you will wake up and enjoy it with him.

that's what he's been doing for two years.

instead of promoting nct, he's been trying to make your cake.

doctors said that tingling your senses may wake you up. the other members tried it all: singing, dancing, acting, cracking your favorite jokes, asmr, mukbang, and even more. but you're still not awake. this only made jaehyun believe even more that the cake will do the trick. if nothing else will, the cake definitely will.

beep beep!

the oven's beeping pulled jaehyun away from his thoughts. he put on his oven mitts and pulled his precious cakes out of the oven.

the other members came at doyoung's call to celebrate jaehyun's birthday but ended up joining doyoung on the couch. they watched as jaehyun taste tested every single cake. it was honestly amusing when they do not know jaehyun's purpose and watch jaehyun either spit out the cake, or gag and then spit out the cake. jaehyun crossed off on his notebook the list of ingredients for each of the cakes that failed to avoid making the same ones in the future.

like how it's been for the past two years, none of the cakes even came similar to the one that he and you made.

jaehyun does not give up though. he makes a new set, write down the ingredients for each cake, and then puts them into the oven. this cycle repeated everyday.

the nct members sighed and turned around to look outside the window instead. they were tired of watching jaehyun try again and again.

"what is he even doing? why is he making cakes?" haechan asked the group.

nobody replied to haechan. haechan himself did not even know why he asked such a dumb question. he knew, they all knew, that the answer to that question is only known by jaehyun and you. you were in a coma. jaehyun is in pretty much in a coma as well since he stopped paying attention to the outside world.

the question is left unanswered.

"hey, where'd he go?" chenle chirped.

"maybe he got a stomachache from all the cakes," mark said.

haechan suddenly jumped up in enthusiasm, "birthday prank! let's mess with his cakes!"

taeil pulled haechan back down, "jaehyun is serious about his cakes, leave him alone,"

doyoung stood up, "haechan is right, he's been ignoring us for these stupid cakes! i'm done with him. let's mess with his cakes!"

doyoung headed over to the kitchen and pulled out the cakes that jaehyun just put into the oven.

haechan and the other members bounced over to join doyoung. they grabbed random ingredients and mixed it in with jaehyun's cakes.

"guys, stop!" taeil warned.

"jaehyun is gonna come back soon," taeyong added.

the members do not care. they wanted the old jaehyun back and maybe this will make jaehyun pay attention to them again.

"he's coming, he's coming," taeyong whispered as he slaps the boy's' backs to let them know.

doyoung quickly put the cakes back into the oven and then joined the rest of the members who already rushed back to the couch.

they waited in anticipation with jaehyun for the oven to beep.

when it finally beeped, not only jaehyun, but all the boys stood up excitedly.

jaehyun, of course, did not notice the boys acting different. all he cared about were the cakes.

jaehyun sighed as he took a bite out of the first cake. he almost choked as he tasted it. he wondered why it was so sour. he did not remember adding so many lemons to the first one.

hushed laughter echoed among the boys' area. each member whispered what they added into each cake. lemons was apparently lucas' doing.

jaehyun tasted the second cake. his eyebrows furrowed together as he wondered why he tasted watermelon in this cake. he admitted, it tasted alright, but it was not the cake he was looking for.

the rest just tasted plain awful and the boys' laughter only grew louder and louder.

jaehyun was still oblivious until he tasted the last cake. he took a bite and tasted it thoroughly. he was stunned and frozen. nct couldn't hold it in anymore and finally bursted out laughing.

jaehyun finally noticed their odd behavior and pretty much put the pieces together: they messed with his cakes.

the members ran over and danced around him as if they just won an award.

when they noticed jaehyun was not smiling a bit, they immediately calmed down and felt bad.

some of them were afraid, mostly doyoung and haechan, who hid behind the tall members, johnny and lucas.

"jaehyun-ah, we're sorry, we just wanted to have a little fun for your birthday," taeyong explained.

"what did you guys do to my cake?" jaehyun asked.

jeno decided to answer when no one else stepped up, "we, uh, kinda added a little bit of everything and mixed it all in?"

jaehyun stepped towards jeno and raised the last cake in his hand to ask, "what did you guys put in the last one?"

they were all confused. jaehyun did not seem mad. he seemed almost like he actually wanted to find out what they put into the cakes, specifically the last one.

"please tell me," jaehyun begged, "i've been wanting to make this cake for two years,"

nct did not hesitate to help him. none of them asked any more questions and all told him what they each added.

although they cannot recall completely, jaemin said he put a lot of sugar, johnny remembering that he cracked a few more eggs, yuta claiming he poured more milk, jungwoo saying he added some chocolate, and haechan saying he put a few strawberries. it was the weirdest list of ingredients but jaehyun still combined the members' addition of ingredients to the previous ingredients he already added and made a new cake.

he took a deep breath before taking a small bite.

this was it!

the rest of nct watched in silence as jaehyun tasted the cake. to jaehyun, it was like he can hear your laughter again as the sweetness dissolved in his mouth. he had to hurry. with a huge smile on his face, he quickly got frosting and decorated the cake. he had to bring it to you so you can wake up.

ding!

just as jaehyun was about to leave with the boys, an ear piercing 'ding' sound stopped him in his tracks.

taeyong picked up the ring that fell from his finger, "hm, i forgot to return the ring to our stylist,"

"is the ring too big?" chenle asked out of curiosity.

jaehyun shouted before taeyong can answer, "the ring!"

"what ring?" everyone asked.

jaehyun put the cake on the counter and ran around frantically, eyes on the floor, looking for the ring he was supposed to give you two years ago.

"guys, help me look for a ring! i lost her ring here!" jaehyun orders.

the boys obliged and helped him look. it was the least they could do.

jaehyun cannot believe that he forgot the ring. he had always meant to find the ring but whenever he got to the bakery, making the cake got the best of his mind and the ring eventually slipped out of his head.

everyone searched. drawers opened and closed. tables and chairs were lifted up at down. plates and bowls were moved left and right. but they still cannot find the ring.

jaehyun was starting to feel anxious. could it be that someone came by, saw the ring, and stole it?

it was one of a kind. he had his and your initials carved on the inside of it.

his eyes glanced over the wall in front of him and that's when he noticed. to the left of the clock displayed a reflection of a rainbow.

it was the ring! the ring reflected off the sun onto the wall creating a rainbow!

according to the angle, the ring should be hidden under the counter. jaehyun immediately ran to the counter and looked under it.

there it was!

"guys, i found it," jaehyun declared.

"then let's go! she's waiting for us!" johnny shouted.

the boys were hollering and pushing jaehyun out of the bakery. they all packed into the cars and taxis and made their way to the hospital.

while sitting in the passenger seat, jaehyun closed his eyes and prayed to himself.

you have to wake up. you promised me you would enjoy this cake with me. i finally made our cake again. you have to keep your promise.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

[i’ll take this to my grave]

Day 16: Notebook #twdgdrabblechallenge

Note: Omar? Omar.

AO3

---

With every stroke of the pen, blue ink fades, leaving the paper with nothing more than an indent of words. Omar shakes the pen, scribbling up at the top of the page in hopes that more blue will begin to swirl. 

Eventually, it does and he’s able to continue his writing. 

With Clementine and Louis’ upcoming wedding, there’s been more than enough excitement vibrating in the air surrounding Ericson. Omar doesn’t try to describe such a thing with pretty words or similes or whatever else could be used to make his journal entries more entertaining to read. 

Not that this is used to impress anyone. The only person who’ll ever go back to read through it is himself. That is unless something happens to him and the others go through his things to bury with him, which they would find this journal with a note in the front cover saying, “I’ll take this to my grave.” 

He added that in from the start because the things he writes within these pages are things that would probably get him kicked out of Ericson on account of the brutal honesty that the others might not be fond of. 

Not that they’re bad things. Omar doesn’t sit down and confess his undying hatred for his family and home, because he doesn’t have any. 

But, say if Aasim or Ruby were to pick up this notebook and read its contents, there would be flushed faces and angry, sputtering words. 

Then again, if they read the entire page he dedicated to the way Aasim obnoxiously denies his feelings for the girl while simultaneously looking at her like she holds that last remaining beauty in a world full of so much ugly, then maybe they’d stop being stupid and become a couple already. 

Aasim would read Omar’s statement that should get over himself, grow a pair and tell Ruby how he feels. It’s not like Ruby doesn’t return his feelings, because she does. 

The only issue is, she doesn’t know that she does. 

That may be a bold statement to make on Omar’s part, given that he’s going off of everything that he sees while remaining uninvolved, but it’s hard to miss. Ruby lights up just as much whenever Aasim walks into a room, and she seems to have a hard time keeping her hand off of his arm when talking to him. 

Aasim and Ruby aren’t the only ones Omar writes about, though.  

When Clementine and AJ arrived, he expressed his interest in getting to know them in hopes that they would be great contributors to their small community, then proceed to share his confliction that followed Marlon’s death. 

He’s written pages after pages on his theories and suspicions about Mitch and why he does some of the things he does, things that Omar would never bring to light with anyone, especially Mitch himself. 

He’s written about the fact that James still isn’t sleeping here permanently after spending two years with everyone here.

Sometimes, he hears the piano playing in the middle of the night and writes that Louis is down there again rather than sleeping and Omar still doesn’t know why, and how he wonders if Clementine knows. 

Willy and the way he looks at birds in the sky. 

Tenn and AJ and the things they consistently draw. 

He’s even jotted down different ways to potentially help Violet and her relationships with Clementine and the others but had never actually executed any of them. 

The blue ink runs dry again and it’s time to face the fact that this pen is dying. 

Omar searches through his drawer, finding a black pen missing its cap. After a few scribbles, it comes to life and he continues his work, moving on to his third page of the night. 

It may seem more than a little odd that he, well, “studies” his friends and writes about them as he does, perhaps a little invasive, but he has to remember that Aasim does the same thing much more publicly. Maybe he doesn’t stop and watch the others like Omar does, curious about what really lies behind their exteriors and what makes them tick, but he writes about the things they did that day and everyone knows about it. 

Maybe he gets away with it because he calls it a “History Book” rather than a diary or a journal or whatever. 

But, Omar notices more things about them than they could ever possibly know and without a way to express it, he’d go crazy. Or, he’d end up saying more than he should and chaos would ensue. 

This is a safety precaution. 

Yes, that’s a great way to put it. 

Despite the number of entries he has dedicated to them, they’re not the sole focus of this notebook.

Sometimes, Omar writes about how the stew he made, or about a pretty flower that he saw growing outside the gates. 

Sometimes, he writes about how he’s not feeling good, or how he feels so damn good he could sing. 

Sometimes, he writes about Marcus and his parents. 

And sometimes, he writes about what happened on the delta. 

Those ones are a bit harder to put to paper, and it’s not something he feels like diving into today. He’d rather write about the fact that Clementine and Louis are getting married soon and how the music room looks ever more beautiful now than it ever did before. He records his plans for their wedding dinner and expresses his concerns over the choice of lighting Mitch insists they use, which then leads him down another road of thought with Mitch and James spending every night in the basement- presumably- working on said lights. 

After about five pages, Omar’s hand begins to cramp, a sign that it’s time to wrap it up and put it away. He finishes with a final thought on whether or not Violet will actually attend before shutting the hardcover notebook. 

Placing it back in his box, making sure it’s on the bottom beneath Marcus’ photos and T-shirt, Omar sits back and sighs. 

“Another day,” he mumbles to himself with a soft chuckle. “Another night.”

The box slips safely beneath his bed and Omar prepares to bury himself in his blanket and let sleep take him where ever his dreams wish. 

[cryoculus]

Hello! I just saw demon!Oikawa official art and was wondering if you could write anything with that version of him? 🙏🏻 It could be funny or whatever. Thank you(´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

»Word Count: 4,529 words Cross-posted on AO3

Ugh I finally finished this. But heads up, Tumblr’s formatting system is a little ugly right now and I can’t put timeskip lines like I used to. But that hardly makes a difference on mobile. If anything, the asterisks make it easier to read on the mobile app. Anyways, I’d recommend reading on AO3 instead, but it’d mean the world if you left a like on the first one shot (cough potential fanfic cough) I’ve posted in a good while. 

***

“Another gas leak?”

Your ears perk up at Kawanishi’s concerned voice resounding from the cashier. Curious, you throw him a curious look over your shoulder, momentarily tearing yourself away from your current duty which takes form in replenishing the shelves with fresh pastries. From where he’s seated, Kawanishi stares at the small television propped on the counter with a prominent crease marring his brow. He must be watching the news again. It is only two in the afternoon—far earlier than the designated time slot for the regular news broadcasts. But for the past week, flash reports were invading TV screens in sporadic times of the day, all of which depicted the same message.

“The Miyagi Police Department are diligently looking into the matter, but the evidence at hand is supposedly still inconclusive. But it hasn’t escaped the public’s notice that all the victims of the aforementioned gas leaks were customers of a single company that refilled their gas tanks regularly. Today’s victims from downtown Sendai have been sent to the hospital and are yet to regain consciousness—”

“The world is becoming a real scary place to live in.” Kawanishi clicks his tongue before promptly switching off the TV. “I’m probably going to start cooking my food with bonfires now.”

“You can’t even cook for shit, Taichi.” You snort, re-adjusting your plastic gloves before resuming your previous task.

He returns your jab at his lack of the particular life skill with a grimace. “Hey, I man the cashier way better than you ever will.”

“Your point is…?”

“Could you just shut up and get back to the kitchen?” Kawanishi rolls his eyes, pretending to busy himself with the sales logbook on the counter even if there aren’t any customers inside the bakery.

A jeering chuckle slips past your lips at his dismissive behavior. But knowing full well that you still have a pot pie scheduled for delivery later in the day, you decide to leave Kawanishi to his own devices so you can get started with the order. However, when you set foot in the kitchen, you are met with the sight of Reon teaching the newest recruit, Goshiki how to properly hand-knead pie dough without making too much of a mess.

“Reon, I thought it was my turn to handle deliveries,” you half-whine before peeling off your plastic gloves for disposal. After, you pull out one of the folded metal chairs tucked away in the corner to watch Reon’s demonstration. Though from the knowing look in his eye, he is well aware that you are more than glad that he took over your responsibilities to give Goshiki a quick tutorial.

“Tsutomu here told me he was tired of inventory,” he reasons with a shrug, hands still occupied with the task before him. “He’s been here for almost a month and I’m sure Wakatoshi won’t mind if I teach him how to bake.”

Your gaze meanders to Goshiki who is staring at you with a hint of timidness to his posture; those dark eyes of his conveying a subtle plea. “I-Is it okay, senpai?”

Before you can even think of holding it in, your lips curl into a wide smile, cackling at the younger boy’s formality. “Tsutomu, it’s more than okay! And don’t call me senpai. Makes me feel old.”

Reon eyes you with amusement. “Aren’t you a few years away from turning thir—”

Before he can finish the sentence, you stomp over towards him to jab a finger in his face. “I don’t make offhanded comments about your life so don’t you make any about mine.”

“Ah, what is it with the youth these days?” a fourth voice intrudes in the conversation. “Always so insecure about aging. The older you become, the more things you’ll know about the world, you know~”

You whip your head to the direction from where it came from, and lo and behold, one of the bakery’s owners shoved past the kitchen’s double doors to grace you with his presence. There was always something about Tendou Satori that put you on edge; not in a bad way, really. You’ve long convinced yourself that maybe it’s his unconventional appearance that you find unsettling. That fiery hair and those glinting rubies for eyes certainly cater to his reputation. But besides the occasional eccentric comment from him, the way the air crackles with an intangible tension that you can’t quite wrap your head around in the rare instances that you’re in the same room is still hard to ignore.

“Tendou,” Reon acknowledges him tentatively. “You’re here early. Don’t you usually drop by at seven on weekends?”

Tendou perches himself near the tiled sink, the heels of his sneakers colliding with the wooden cabinets underneath as he sways his slender legs. “Eita-kun told me told me to haul my ass here as soon as I could or he’ll skin me alive.” His mouth puckers a little, eyes darting around. “Yet the present audience only consists of one head baker, one trainee, and one age-conscious little bird.”

A soft sigh escapes Reon as he quietly asks Goshiki to retrieve the rolling pin from the cabinets. The younger man carries it out with the most enthusiasm you’ve seen on someone who usually just acted upon another person’s orders. Quite the cheery one, he is.

“Where’s Eita then?” Reon inquires with upturned brows.

“Beats me,” comes Tendou’s indifferent reply. “He’s probably out there bullying Kenjirō. You know how Eita-kun has regressed into the embodiment of bitterness when Kenjirō finally grew his wings and outperformed him in his own game.”

“I don’t think putting it so casually is a good idea.”

“Senpai!” Goshiki’s voice is too loud for a too quiet room as he hands Reon what he asked for. “Will you be needing anything else?”

Reon shakes his head, taking the roller from Goshiki’s grasp. “Could you go start making the filling? I heard from Shirabu that you knew how to cook.”

“Really? Shirabu-senpai put in a good word for me?”

“Uh, I wouldn’t say it’s ‘good’ exactly…” His voice trails off once Goshiki launches himself into the storage room presumably to gather the needed ingredients. Chuckling to himself, Reon dips his hands in a nearby bag of flour and proceeds to knead the dough into flatness. You watch him with careful vigilance since pies aren’t really your forte. Your expertise lies in bread, which isn’t as demanding as that pastry that needs too many conditions satisfied to be considered good. Making a crust that isn’t too brittle and a filling that shouldn’t be too savory is beyond you. You’re quite relieved that Reon took over for reasons that lie beyond your own laziness.

“So, (Name) was it?”

Your attention retracts back to the most peculiar out of your bosses. Tendou gazes at you with a glint of mischief crinkling his eyes, lips upturned into something akin to a sneer. “Yes?” you respond, shifting a little in your cramped seat.

Tendou hums an unfamiliar tune without letting up his thinly veiled interest. The way he’s staring reminds you of how a scientist would look at a foreign specimen, and you  aren’t very sure if you are glad to be on the receiving end of it. You’re drawing blanks as to why it seems like he is addressing you like it’s your first day on the job, but you’ve been told that Tendou has a habit of forgetting employees’ names and faces. He’s probably just familiarizing himself with your presence in the store since your shifts usually didn’t last long enough for you to cross paths with him. When he doesn’t speak any further, you decide to shift your line of sight back to Reon’s devoted handiwork.

“Wakatoshi-kun did a real good job on this one, huh?” A low chuckle rumbles from Tendou and though his voice has dipped into a whisper, you’re certain that he meant for you to hear.

With one brow quirked, you turn around with the intent of asking what he meant by that, but your plans are abruptly derailed when Goshiki walks back from the storage room, cheeks tinged with pink as he approaches you.

“What is it, Tsutomu?” you ask.

He reaches out a hand to scratch the back of his neck. “Um, could you please teach me how to open the stove? The one we have at home isn’t as hi-tech…”

You can hear Tendou sputtering behind you, causing Goshiki turn a few shades redder. You offer him a soft smile before hopping onto your feet to help him out and his face seems to light up a little at your willingness. The reaction makes you presume that he might not be used to getting helped around a lot, given that Shirabu, the guy in charge of keeping Goshiki in check, has an apparent dislike for slow learners. Speaking of which…

“Do you know where Shirabu is?” you ask him, suddenly hyper aware of the lack of staff inside the shop. Early afternoons aren’t the most hectic time of the day, but you aren’t used to having only three people with you in the kitchen. Hayato and Soekawa are nowhere to be found either. If Semi was here, he would be squawking like a parrot, appalled at their unexcused absences. But even the supervisor himself isn’t present.

Goshiki shakes his head as the two of you stalk off to the stoves lining the westernmost wall of the room. “He told me I was under Reon-san’s care for the day because he had somewhere to be with Ushijima-san.”

You nod slowly as you instruct him about the different buttons and switches on the stove. He seems to have committed every word to mind and begins tinkering with what he could with experimental curiosity. After asking if he needs any help with the actual cooking, he insists that he can do it on his own. When you slump back to your seat, Tendou is gone and Reon is already placing the flattened dough on a pie tray.

“Hey, Reon?”

“What?”

“Where the hell is everybody?”

The set of his jaw tightens ever so slightly. When Reon says he doesn’t know about the others’ whereabouts, you would’ve been convinced of his cluelessness had you been any less perceptive. With that sincere face of his, lying through the skin of his teeth would be a breeze if he needed to do so. But of all the people in the shop, Reon is someone that you’d spent the most time around alongside Kawanishi, so spotting a few chinks in his unflustered demeanor comes easier to you than most.

Just as you’re about to press the topic further, the sound of the back door of the kitchen slamming open makes you jolt in surprise. Emerging from outside are the very same people you’d been pondering about not ten seconds ago.

“Reon, get the herbs and incense now!” Hayato barks as he drags the metal chair you were occupying earlier across the floor to prop it against the wall. There, Ushijima gently sets down a half-conscious Shirabu and—

“S-Shirabu-senpai?” The terror creeping from Goshiki’s voice rattles you all the way to your bones when your eyes train themselves on the discolored skin of Shirabu’s neck. His pale complexion is marred with a bruise that runs too dark a shade to be considered normal—the purplish red slowly fading into black. A trail of blood dribbles from the corner of his mouth as he stares into the space in front of him with a dazed look in his brown eyes. Ushijima is calmly telling him to stay awake, but you aren’t sure if the message is getting through when Shirabu doesn’t even give him so much as a minimal reaction. Soekawa, Tendou, and Semi appear a little shortly, with the latter two apparently engrossed in one of their untimely banters.

“Hah? You guys purposely kept me out of it ‘cause you’re concerned?” The furious scrunch of his face takes you aback. “And where did that plan lead to, huh, Semisemi?”

Semi clicks his tongue. “You wouldn’t have been able to handle them with that injury of yours.”

Injury? From what you can see, Tendou looks like he’s in perfect shape. But from the way his frown deepens, he might have taken Semi’s words to heart.

Reon hurries back to the scene (when did he even leave?) with what seems like a jar with kanji engravings on the lid that are too small for you to read in one hand, and a bundle of incense sticks and a lighter in the other. He tells the others to give Shirabu some space to breathe and they comply, save for Soekawa who took action to assist Reon with whatever he planned to do with the strange jar. Why a mortar and a pestle are inside Soekawa’s messenger bag is beyond your understanding, but no one else in the room seems to find anything amiss when he procures it, so you decide to keep your questions to yourself.

Reon crouches by Shirabu’s feet to uncap the jar, setting the lid on the floor. Inside is a solid surface divided into two sections: one that seems to hold stark white herbs you’ve never seen before and one with three holes poked into the clay. Reon immediately shoves three incense sticks into the holes, igniting them with the lighter without a second thought. Smoke rises from where the sticks burn, diffusing the air with the sharp scent of pine needles and musk.

Soekawa gathers the ivory leaves in his hands to crush them on the mortar while he asks Semi to hand him ‘the salve’ from his bag. He rummages through Soekawa’s belongings and hands him a dirty reagent bottle. Soekawa pours a slimy, transparent substance from the bottle onto the mortar and mixes it with the crushed leaves with his bare fingers. He mutters something that’s out of earshot when he rises to his feet and applies his concoction onto Shirabu’s affliction. The contact seems to finally rouse him from his stupor when his face contorts in agony and a blood-curdling shriek pierces your ears.

Your skin prickles at the sight of Shirabu thrashing against Ushijima’s and Hayato’s restraining grasps as Soekawa covers the entirety of the bruise with the salve. When you feel Goshiki shuffling closer to you, you whisper, “What the absolute fuck is going on, Tsutomu?”

There’s prominent hesitation in his eyes, like he knows exactly what’s going on, but he isn’t allowed to tell you. As the filling he was previously preparing lay forgotten on the stove, your stare hardens. You’ve been working here for half a year now, and not once did you witness anyone else barging in the kitchen sporting a malignant bruise that required herbal treatment. Yet Goshiki, who’s spent less time in the shop than you have, is already in on the situation?

“A strange sight, isn’t it?”

Out of reflex, you jump away when you hear Tendou’s voice whispering in your ear. With the convoluted display in front of you, your boss’ outlandish behavior does nothing to aid your peace of mind, but the way he’s observing the others as Soekawa treats Shirabu makes you feel like this isn’t an uncommon occurrence.

“You aren’t really supposed to see this, little bird.” Tendou sighs, stretching out his limbs before draping one arm across your shoulder. “Wakatoshi-kun doesn’t really like picking fights, but Kenjirō can be a little stubborn. I’m all in for a beatdown any time, but couldn’t they have delayed that little scuffle until you weren’t in the shop?”  

You frown. “Wha—”

“(Name).”

Your eyes snap back to Semi, whose thin lips are pressed into a line. “Is it okay if you take your time off now? We’re not going to cut it from your salary, don’t worry.”

“Eita-kun, don’t you think we’ve kept her in the dark long enough?” Tendou groans, sounding rather annoyed. “She’s bound to find out either way.”

Semi glares at him. “That isn’t your decision to make, Tendou.”

“It isn’t yours, either,” the redhead rebutts, staring him down with resilience.

“But it is mine.”

The sincere baritone of Ushijima’s voice envelops you like a warm blanket. At the same time, his domineering presence overshadows his candor and you’re left thinking that this man could be such a walking contradiction at times. He stands tall above the rest of the men around you. When you sneak a glance behind him, Shirabu has calmed down enough to deem him worthy of release. Reon is speaking softly to Shirabu as Soekawa wipes off the blood on his face. Strangely, the dark bruise on his neck has already lightened into a softer shade of purple—the skin around it yellowing at the edges. When your gaze shifts back to Ushijima, he’s staring at you with intensity pooling in his olive eyes.

“We are seraphim,” he speaks flatly.

Those words garner a variety of reactions: Tendou bursts out laughing, Semi drags a palm over his face, Goshiki is stunned into silence, and you’re craning your head to the side, wondering if you heard him right.

“Wakatoshi-kun, you don’t just drop a bomb like that without any context,” Tendou says, wiping a tear from his eye.

Ushijima’s brows knit in confusion. “What bomb?”

“Even after making a million souls, you’re still terrible at talking to your own craft, aren’t you?”

“Excuse me,” you interrupt, “but can someone tell me exactly what’s going on? I feel like the useless extra character that isn’t involved in the overall plot.”

Tendou’s mouth curves into an eerie smile. “Oh, but you’re actually the main protagonist, little bird.”

“Would you lot stop talking in riddles?” Semi snaps before turning to you. “Look, (Name). I know this is a lot to take in but Wakatoshi is telling you the truth. We are seraphim. Angels. You see Shirabu over there?” He jams a thumb behind him, gesturing towards Shirabu as his prior hesitation to enlighten you is completely cast aside. “The reason why he got that blight is because he tried to jump the demon king on behalf of Wakatoshi himself. Of course his retainers wouldn’t allow that so they grabbed him by the neck to restrain him—”

“Hm, I wonder why Eita-kun just let that happen to poor Kenjirō when he could have warded them off with a single wave of his hand,” Tendou sneers at him, to which Semi responds with a hard glare.

“Tendou, there is nothing Semi could have done,” Ushijima insists. “We were outnumbered. The fault lies within myself. I should not have heeded Shirabu’s request of having an audience with the demon king in light of the incidents happening today. It could have been settled in a different manner.”

“Tch, unless it’s about completely eradicating that demon clan scum, I’m not hearing it.”

“You’re being an idiot again.” Semi smacks Tendou’s shoulder. “They’re assholes, but their existence is necessary, just like ours. Unless we want the balance of nature tipped, the best we can do is keep them in check.”

Tendou shrugs. “They’re the ones devouring souls left and right like it’s no one’s business. Stupid brutes are consuming souls faster than Wakatoshi-kun can make them. Would nature really go haywire once those who are out to destroy everything in it are erased from existence?”

“You know that’s not how it works.”

“Then how does it work, huh, Eita-ku—”

“Silence.”

You didn’t know that it was possible, but the pitch of Ushijima’s voice dips even lower when he utters that single word that has everyone in the room cowering at his authority. Even Hayato and Soekawa have paused to take a look at what’s going on in their side of the kitchen. Ushijima’s face remains unperturbed even after his assertion and the room is plunged into pregnant silence, not a soul daring to speak after Ushijima himself. But the tension is ultimately shattered when the kitchen doors fling open to reveal Kawanishi poking his head from the entrance.

“Oi, (Name), your favorite customer placed a milk bread delivery again,” Kawanishi shamelessly announces. If he noticed the tense atmosphere, he doesn’t show it.

It was all too much. You couldn’t bring yourself to stomach every word that the three men had fed you. Seraphim? What is this, some fantasy series? What would angels be accomplishing by running a damn bakery? Hearing Kawanishi spouting something about deliveries makes you have some semblance of normalcy to grab onto, and you want nothing more than to take it. This was probably just some sick joke that they managed Ushijima to go along with to spite you. And a demon king injuring Shirabu? You’ve never heard of that story before. Without so much as a backwards glance, you head over to the front with Kawanishi, pushing all thoughts of seraphim, and the demon king, and Shirabu’s bruise at the back of your mind.

Kawanishi is silent when he places two packaged loaves of your signature milk bread in a paper bag, and you’re glad he doesn’t probe you for any reaction about the scene from earlier. At the back of your mind, you wonder if he’s in on their game. Did he notice what was going on back there? Is he going to convince you that he’s seraphim, too?

But Kawanishi has never been the confrontational type. Instead, he writes up the receipt for the order as usual, tears it from the pad and hands it to you. “If he asks for another discount, you can tell him to piss off.”

“That’s not very nice.”

“It’s not very nice to keep ripping the shop off by charging the guy less than the actual price just because you think he’s cute either.”

Your face heats up at his accusation. “I-it’s not like that! He’s just been such a frequent customer. H-he deserves a little mark down, don’t you think?”

Kawanishi stares at you, unimpressed. “I’m pretty sure he never drops by the shop and prefers deliveries because he’s only interested in you.”

“Shut up, Taichi.”

***

You park the shop’s delivery motorcycle by the curb of one of the most lavish houses in the neighborhood. You don’t spend a lot of time in this part of the city out of your usual deliveries to this one business tycoon. The man seems to have taken a liking to the milk bread which no one in the shop makes better than you do. He hasn’t really given you his name, but he told you that he earned the nickname ‘Grand King’. You snorted at that and insisted on calling him King instead.

When you ring the intercom to King’s residence, his familiar voice greets you with enthusiasm. “Oh, (Name)-chan! You’re here early. The snobby cashier told me that the delivery would take about an hour or so.”

You find yourself laughing at the way he addresses Kawanishi. “You’re in luck, King-san. I just made a fresh batch earlier this afternoon. That’s why you didn’t have to wait.”

“Alright. I’ll head down to fetch it.”

Static rattles from the intercom and you know that King has ended the exchange when the red button stops glowing. You hum a song you heard on TV yesterday as you count the cars that roll by the street. Seven have already zipped past when the smaller gate creaks, revealing one of the most attractive people you’ve laid your eyes on.

Usually, King would greet you wearing his complete three-piece suit, hair slicked back into perfection while a condescending smirk danced across his lips. But on weekends, you could hardly imagine him being one of the most powerful men in Japan, given that he opts to wear a rumpled shirt that’s two sizes bigger and pajama pants with aliens patterned onto the fabric. His chestnut hair is sticking out in all directions in a way that suggests that he just rolled out of bed.

King half-greets, half-yawns, “Helho, (Name)-chwan.”

“Long night?” You quirk an eyebrow before handing him his purchase.

“Mmmm not really,” he says, rubbing his eyes. “I just ran into a couple of…business rivals. They didn’t make my morning very enjoyable.”

“I see.” You spare him a nod of understanding, trying your best not to stare at how adorable the way his brown eyes droop when he stares inside the bag. He makes a satisfied noise as he fishes his wallet from the pocket of his pajamas.

“A thousand yen, right?” You don’t miss the teasing lilt in his voice.

The way you giggle at that makes you want to slap yourself, but you manage to regain your composure before he notices it crumbling. “Sad to say the snobby cashier is giving me shit for the discounts. Could you pay for the full one thousand four hundred yen in the meantime, King-san?”

He chuckles before pulling out a single banknote from his wallet. “Keep the change then.”

You receive his payment with a curt bow but when your eyes land on the value of the money in hand, your jaw nearly drops to the ground.

“K-King-san, this is too much! Way too much!” The ten thousand yen bill quivers in your hands as you insist that you’d be alright with a smaller bill.

King waves away your concern. “Then just hand over the amount that snobby-chan wants. Keep the rest for yourself. Consider it as my compliments to the chef.” The grin plastered on his handsome face leaves you wondering how the hell this guy is still a bachelor. Your pretty certain that your face is as red as Tendou’s hair by now, and you’re glad he doesn’t point it out.

“It’s been nice seeing you today, (Name)-chan,” he chirps. “But I really have to go. I still have some matters to deal with after I’ve had my fill of this delicious treat.”

“You’re t-too kind,” you sputter.

Deliveries to King’s household last longer than your typical trips, since the man always charms you into some small talk. But that’s usually it. Nothing really lies beyond these swift meetings in front of his house. Even if he’s expressing some subtle interest towards you, at the end of the day, you’re just a humble baker and he, a successful businessman.

But today is quite different. Before he disappears behind the gate, King tells you, “I’m thinking about dropping by the bakery to see you in action. Expect me in a few days’ time.” His velvetine voice draws you in like a moth to a flame and all you could do was nod dumbly at his proclamation. He bids you a quick farewell with crinkled eyes and a peace sign. You know for certain that his sunlit smile is already imprinted in the back of your eyelids.

As you head back to the bakery on your scooter, King’s words only seem like one of his musings; something he won’t really act on given his tight schedule. What good would it do him to go out of his way to pay you a visit?

But little did you know that demons never lie.

[garyofrivia]

For They Shall Be Satisfied

Arthur Morgan x OC


Chapter 4

(masterlist in bio)

A/N: boy howdy, it’s been a minute on this one, huh? i’ve decided to not post this on AO3 anymore due to incredible typos and posting issues that i ran into. also, if you want to check out the other chapters, check my bio/page for the masterlist! i’m pretty sure tumblr is still weird with links in posts so this is likely how i’m going to handle chapter postings from now on. thanks to whoever reads, feel free to lmk what you think! i want to keep this one going for as long as i can... hopefully. Annie is a special one. enjoy <3

Warnings/Categories: Violence, Blood; Angst

(WC: 6,037)

“You boys ready to ride tonight?” Dutch boomed as he slung his saddle over The Count’s back. Annie looked up as she combed out Nero’s tail, studying Dutch as he worked.

“Aye, aye, cap’n,” Davey said, raising his hand in a mock salute while Mac giggled at his brother’s antics. Dutch just winked at the pair of them and carried on with his business.

 Annie and the rest of the gunmen stood around talking for a while, double and triple checking their guns and ammo as they waited for the sun to sink down over the horizon. The temperature would surely drop once night fell, so she slipped on her dark jacket over a black shirt. Even on a ridge, her dark outfit would help her blend into her surroundings once the sun went down. 

They decided to go with the original idea: three groups with three lookouts ready to raise the alarm at any sign of danger. They were to meet Benson and his men at the crossroads and head to the ambush site together. It was strange, being so uneasy about the plan. It was her idea, sure, but it wasn’t a good idea to move on it at all. The sunset caught her eye for a moment, all the orangey-red colors erupting over the Earth as a moment of clarity came over her. She couldn’t be distracted if she wanted this to turn out well. It was a silent promise she made to herself. 

“It’s more beautiful that I’ve seen in a while,” Charles said, joining her at her side as she gazed at the horizon.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen it this red in quite some time.” Annie said, glancing at him as she absentmindedly adjusted the buckles on her saddlebags.

“Supposedly that means we’ll be getting good weather soon.”

“Good weather? Here? That’s likely.”

Charles chuckled lightly and returned his attention to oiling his gun. Annie caught Arthur’s eye as he was saddling Boadicea, strapping the girth as tight as he could. He hadn’t said much to her outside of hesitantly discussing details for the job. He glanced at Charles as he stalked away, and then back at Annie with a new look of tension in his eyes. She watched him angrily jam the buckle into place on his saddle and begin to adjust the rest of his gear. 

“You good, Morgan?” she called.

He didn’t look up to meet her eyes. “Yep. You?”

“Yep.”

“Great.”

Annie nodded and hid a sly smile. Whatever he was upset about, it was something trivial for sure. He wasn’t one to keep his opinions to himself unless it meant he knew it was about  something foolish. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, she bit her tongue as she thought of ways she could eventually confront him about his sour mood as of late. 

“What are you laughin’ at, Princess?” Micah drawled, making Annie’s skin crawl.

“I caught a glimpse of your ugly damn face,” she said, eliciting a snicker or two in the background. “Couldn’t quite help myself.”

“Yeah, ha-ha, very funny. You’ll be thinkin’ about my face tonight in your dreams… amongst other things.”

Sean and Charles snapped their heads up in horror to watch what would happen next, but Annie simply chuckled. “You’re right! I’ll be dreamin’ about your face and how twisted it’ll look when I’m skinnin’ you alive.”

Micah laughed. “You’re a little firecracker, ain’t you?”

“Micah,” Dutch warned. “You keep provoking her like that, I’ll be tempted to cut her loose on you.”

Annie tauntingly snapped her teeth at him as he stalked away to finish readying up. Dutch shot her a knowing smile and she just shrugged. Even though he was newer to the gang, it was a common thing for Micah to let his mouth run longer than anyone wanted to hear it, especially if it was directed toward Lenny, Charles or any of the women. Annie enjoyed putting him in his place, though admittedly, he figured out how to push her buttons fairly quickly. It was almost admirable. 

By the time the gang had shared cigarettes and a small bite to eat, it was dusk and Dutch called for them to mount up. As they took formation to ride off, Annie nodded to Karen who winked and cocked her shotgun to assume her place guarding camp. “Come back safe, y’all!” 

“Men! Let’s ride!” Dutch bellowed and spurred The Count to a gallop and the wild faces of the Van der Linde Gang cheered and took off after him.  

The thunder of thirteen horses racing across the plains would have been a fearsome sight to anyone. The ground trembled as they moved swiftly up the road in a tight two-by-two formation with Dutch at the head, Hosea and Arthur just behind him, and John and Annie taking up the rear. The rendezvous point was about a forty-minute ride north, though, it felt longer with the building anxiety in the air, no matter how hard Annie tried to ignore it. Arthur and Dutch began exchanging words up ahead, slowing the pace to a steady jog as they neared the location. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but 

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” John mumbled, low enough for only her to hear. 

“Yeah,” she said, glancing over to meet his fickle eyes. “Me too. I… Let’s just get it over with.”

John looked nervous, but he nodded in agreement all the same. For a moment, she swore she saw Jack’s face flash before her. John had to stay safe for his son’s sake, if not his own.

Their posse moved at a steady pace down the road and with a glance around at the surrounding landscape, Annie knew they were getting close. Eventually, she heard a familiar whistle from up front. The riders slowed as Benson and a few of his men came into view just ahead on horseback. 

“Hello, gentlemen,” Dutch said, riding up next to them.

“Mister Kilgore, so nice to see you again!” Benson said. 

“I believe we can be straight with each other now, Mister Benson,” Dutch said, sliding down from The Count.

Benson sighed, resigning himself to the failure of his ruse. “Yes, I agree, Mister Van der Linde. I trust we can count on each other’s discretion.”

“Glad to see we have an understanding, then.”

“Certainly. Shall we proceed?”

“Of course.”

Annie was surprised to see that he only had three men with him. Though, that’s most likely why his “employer” was seeking the help of outlaws. He tensed when he recognized her, but he managed to smile politely. She tipped her hat and smirked, subtly reminding him that he was outnumbered if he felt the need to try anything.

Dutch confirmed the details of their plan and the diversion with Benson. There was an old abandoned house a few hundred yards off the road from where they would launch the ambush. Benson’s men would blow it up and make sure it caught fire to catch the attention of the escorts that were now all suspected to be lawmen. 

“Lawmen?” Dutch asked suspiciously. “All of them?”

“We have scouts along the route,” Benson said. “In Van Horne, they traded their hired guns for deputies. Not to worry, this shouldn’t change a thing. In fact, we can use this to our advantage. Deputies will be more inclined to answer a call for help along their journey. It will work.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that it’ll work,” Dutch said. “I’m sure everything will go according to plan.”

“Indeed, Mister Van der Linde, it shall.”

“What my friend here is too polite to say,” Annie said and cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention to her, “is that if it don’t go according to plan, you’ll be the first one we come lookin’ for.”

Dutch turned back to Benson and clapped him on the shoulder. “She’s right, I am too polite to say it. But we have… an understanding. So surely that is not a situation that we will come across.” 

Benson avoided her eyes and cleared his throat. “I assure you, I anticipate this to go off without a hitch. I know you all to be true to your word.”

Dutch laughed and mounted his horse. “Yes, that we are, my friend. Let’s get this show on the road, then! Shall we?”

“Alright, everyone split off,” Arthur said. “Mac, Bill, Hosea, Javier you’re with me. John, Lenny, and Davey, you’ll go with Dutch and Charles, Sean, and Micah are with Annie.”

“Cream of the crop,” Micah grumbled to himself but loud enough for everyone to hear. Annie glared at him as he rode over to join her, Sean and Charles not far behind. “Who organized these damn groups, anyways?”

“I did,” Annie deadpanned. She wanted to keep an eye on the loose cannon of the crew and Hosea had been more than happy to let her take that responsibility.

“Aw, you really are sweet on me, ain’t ya?” he winked at her.

Charles groaned and Sean chuckled. “Last person she’d be sweet on is you, ya ol’ sack o’ shit.”

Annie chuckled quietly. She always had a fondness for Sean and his lack of a social filter. Silently, she motioned for her counterparts to follow and started off to the top of the northernmost hill.

“Watch for Hosea’s signal,” Annie said. They could see the silhouettes of the men on the opposite ridge illuminated in the moonlight, one of them waving. She waved back to confirm they were in view.

“This could take a while,” Sean groaned.

“Yes, and you’d do well to keep quiet,” Charles said. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Ambush, or whatever. That Benson fella seems a bit curious, don’t ya think?” 

“Shut up, Sean,” Annie said. 

“I’m jus’ sayin’.”

“Hmm, I agree,” Charles added. “He was a bit fidgety. This could turn out to be more than it seems.”

“I’m countin’ on it,” Annie mumbled. 

“That why it took so damn long for you fools to jump on this thing?” Micah asked.

“Shut your damn mouth and focus, idiot,” she snapped, shooting him a glare that could kill. 

They finally fell silent and Annie turned her attention to the horizon where the house was set to blow. Any minute, they would be coming up on the horizon...

There they are. About a mile off, she saw the first of the riders pull into view, illuminated by their lantern lights. She counted six escorts and four wagons. Hosea waved his hat and she returned the gesture and while Lenny was out of view, she prayed he saw him. 

“Here we go,” she said. “Masks up.”

“Oh, I’m fuckin’ ready,” Sean said, bouncing in his saddle. 

Waiting for them to get in range seemed as if it took forever. Annie’s heart quickened with each passing moment, filling her with anxiety where there’d usually be adrenaline. The seconds ticked by excruciatingly slow, yet so incredibly fast. She could feel the tidal wave of chaos building and building, waiting to crash down into the gully at any second. 

Hosea and he gave the first signal to Benson’s men, waving his white handkerchief. Within a few seconds, there was a massive explosion on the ridge behind him. The fire was quick to start, illuminating their silhouettes against the night sky with a haunting orange glow. Annie heard voices, Benson’s men, calling for “help”. The caravan stopped in its tracks and all but one rider took off immediately. She was almost shocked that it worked.

Hosea waved the rag in the air once more. Show time. 

Annie sucked in a breath. “You’re up, boys. Get goin’.”

Micah, Sean, and Charles raced down the hill to meet the rest of their Van der Linde counterparts and Annie whipped out her sniper rifle. She’d removed the scope since it would just limit her visibility in the darkness of the new moon - It’s a trick she learned while hunting at night, even though it was far more difficult to hit a shot without the proper sights for most everyone. But she wasn’t most everyone.

The fire in the background illuminated the scene ever so slightly as the horizon glowed like an inferno. She scanned the terrain, alternating between her binoculars and bare eyes, looking for any sign of movement. They were clear for now, so long as they worked fast. 

She kept on looking up and down the road and back at the gang. At the hills. Towards the horizon. Nothing. It seemed too good to be true. Surely someone would have heard the blast and would come to investigate. How much time had passed? It felt like it’d been an eternity.

The sound of snapping twigs behind her nearly made her jump out of her own skin. She whipped around, frantically shoving the bolt action of the rifle into place and bringing her grip up to aim.

“Who’s there?” she demanded a bit too loudly.

“Don’t shoot,” a familiar voice said softly. 

“What the hell?” Madelyn. 

The girl stepped into view from behind a tree. Her hands were raised in surrender and her fingers were trembling in fear. Even though Annie could barely see her face, it was certain that she was terrified out of her mind. 

“Give me one goddamn reason I shouldn’t shoot you right here,” Annie threatened in a low voice.

“They’re comin’. The O’Driscolls, t-they know about the job.”

“What?”

“They… took me… and I-I was-. They’re comin’. You gotta get outta here. They wanna kill the lot of ya.”

“Why should I listen to you?”

She seemed exasperated and desperate as she spoke.“Why the hell else would I come up to you like this? I ain’t got no gun. I’m just tryin’a help.”

Annie thought for a split second. She was right, but nevertheless. this could be a ploy. Though, then there’d be no way Colm would ever pass up an opportunity for 10,000 dollars to risk sending someone to warn them as a distraction.

Annie made a split second decision, one that likely saved the lives of everyone in the Van Der Linde gang that night. She barely noticed Madelyn flinch as she swiftly traded her rifle for her revolver. She turned her aim to the sky and fired three times. She turned toward the road to make sure the boys were preparing to make their escape.

When a few moments passed, her stomach started to churn. No one was leaving. She heard someone shout but couldn’t make out who or what they said. She looked up to where Hosea should have been, but he was sprinting down the hill on horseback. She jumped into action, leaving Madelyn in the dust.

“What the hell is going on?” She heard Hosea yell as she rode up. “You heard the signal! We need to move!”

“We’re almost… finished,” Dutch panted as he slung the first saddlebag full of cash onto his shoulder. 

“What is it, Annie?” Charles asked uneasily. “Why’d you sound it off?”

“It’s Colm,” she breathed. She could hear her own heart pounding in her ears. “He’s here.”

“Goddamnit!” Arthur cursed, kicking the wheel of a wagon. “That English bastard set us up.” “You seen ‘em yourself?” Micah said.

“That girl from the saloon found us and warned me. We gotta get outta here, now.”

“Annie, you can’t be serious,” Dutch said.

“Dutch, we don’t have time for this,” Annie said. “Why would she risk tellin’ me if it weren’t honest?”

“We stick to the plan,” Hosea declared, before Dutch could protest. “Split up everyone, and meet back at camp. C’mon!” He kicked his horse to a sprint. Lenny immediately followed, while Charles, Davey, and Mac swung up on their horses and chased after them. Javier hesitated, looking between them and Dutch, but eventually decided to take off.

“Damn it! We were so close,” Dutch said. He went to swing the saddlebag over his horse’s back, but a shot suddenly rang out through the pass. The bag exploded next to Dutch’s head, sending cash and coins flying in every direction. The Count reared, neighing loudly. Nero, as steady as he usually was, had also been spooked and started to pace. Annie tried to calm him as she turned and saw a horde indistinguishable silhouettes swarming the road from the west. 

“Go, get outta here! Now!” Annie cried.

The remaining members of the gang jumped onto their horse’s back and took off in the opposite direction. She glanced over her shoulder and watched as Boadicea carried Arthur down the dark road. Everyone was in the clear. Wait… Not everyone. 

Annie raced back up the hill. She didn’t know what came over her, but she knew she had to help Madelyn. If the O’Driscoll boys found her after she helped them, they’d most definitely kill her. Or worse.

She halted next to Madelyn and reached down with a steady hand. “Get on.”

“What? Why are you helping me?”

“Christ sake, get on the horse or get killed, I don’t rightly care.”

Madelyn nodded and hastily hoisted herself into the saddle behind Annie. She kicked Nero to a gallop and they started to make their retreat.

A shot rang out.

Annie cried out in pain and involuntarily kicked Nero’s side, making him skid into a sharp left turn. She toppled off his back and hit the ground with a thud, rolling clumsily to a stop, face down in the dirt. An indescribable pain overtook her body and her worst fear had been realized.

“Fuck! Fuck, I’m hit!”

Madelyn yelped and struggled to stay stop Nero’s back, but she gripped the reins so he would stop pacing nervously. “Shit! Are you okay?”

Annie ignored her and struggled to her feet, clutching her side where the bullet had torn apart her flesh - in through her back and out the other side. Warm blood was quickly soaking the inside of her shirt and started to pool where it was tucked into her pants. This ain’t good. This ain’t good, at all. She poked a finger through the hole in her jacket and groaned.

“Damn it, this is my favorite one,” she muttered. Her vision narrowed and everything suddenly seemed slower as the adrenaline started to kick in. 

“What do we do?” 

“You know how to ride a horse?”

“Y-yes.”

“Help me up, then.”

Maddie shifted her position into the saddle and held out a hand for Annie. She sucked in a breath and lifted herself onto her horse’s back, grunting as she held back a scream of agony. Her abdominal muscles were shredded just below her rib cage and she silently prayed that nothing important was harmed.

“Jesus Christ,” she growled through gritted teeth. They were chattering with the tension in the rest of her body, her mind getting blurrier with each wave of adrenaline being pumped through her veins. “Go that way ‘till you hit the river. Don’t stop.”

Doing as she was told, Madelyn urged Nero to a sprint and Annie clutched her side, trying to keep the bleeding to a minimum and to keep her balance on horseback without stirrups. 

She took a breath and clenched her jaw. In a flash of urgency, she turned behind her and fired in the direction of the pursuing O’Driscolls, managing to tag one on the shoulder and knock him off balance. Aiming as steadily as she could, she fired again and brought him to the ground. She snapped her sights on the next target like she was aiming down a long tunnel. All she could hear was the sound of her own gun as it went off in her hand again and again. 

BANG. BANG. Click. Reload.

Frantically, she grabbed six rounds from her belt and shoved them into the cylinder as fast as her fingers could manage. The pain - or maybe the blood loss - was blinding. Her vision was fading, slowly… and then quickly, in and out. One more shot. One more. 

One more… Another rider toppled off their horse as she found her mark.

“Keep goin’,” she grunted as Nero started to slow his pace. They’d been running for a while and he wasn’t used to carrying two passengers. 

C’mon boy. You can do it. She started to fire blindly to cover their backs, again and again. Her hands were shaky and slick with blood. Fumbling a bit more with her gun, gasping and grunting through gritted teeth, a few rounds slipped from her fingers as she reloaded. Focus. Focus, focus, focus… Feeling more and more unsteady, she gripped the saddle and tried to regain balance. 

“You alright back there? Annie?”

She shook herself to consciousness. “They still chasin’ us?”

“No, they’re gone. I think you scared ‘em off.”

Annie tried opening her eyes, but she couldn’t even lift her forehead off Madelyn’s shoulder. “Keep… goin’.”

Each stride her horse took was a dull stab of agony. The constant movement was ripping apart each attempt her body was making to stop the bleeding. She didn’t even realized she’d fallen until she slammed into the ground like a sack of grain. It was a haze. The stars in the night sky swirled around her as if she was at the bottom of a tornado, looking up into the spiraling whirlwind of chaos.

“Annie! Shit!”

“Bedroll…”

“What-.”

“Bedroll. Get it… and a shirt… in the saddlebag.”

Madelyn did as she was told and retrieved the bedroll and extra shirt. She and spread the roll out and tried to help her move on top of it, but she swatted her hands away. Grunting, Annie took out her hunting knife and managed to cut out a long strip of the padded canvas, slicing it in half, working with her eyes half open and her whole world spinning.

“I can do this,” Madelyn said, trying to take the knife from her.

“No just-,” Annie groaned. “Help me patch it up.”

The blood on her black shirt made it look like an oil slick, as if she was an automobile leaking fuel. Maddie lifted it and there was a flood of red. It stuck to her fingers like tree sap, thickening every time she touched the fresher blood that oozed from the wound. She carefully placed the canvas padding on the dime sized opening in Annie’s abdomen. It was a scary thing that something so small could cause so much trouble.

“I’m going to roll over,” Annie mumbled, “and you need to get the other one on my back.”

Madelyn nodded and gulped, her hands shaking uncontrollably. She inhaled sharply and heaved herself off the ground, crying out as her weight shifted. Maddie helped her shed her jacket and pressed the second square into place, holding them together as if Annie would crumble into pieces if she let go.

“The shirt…” She tried to speak, but Madelyn was already tying the patches in place with by the sleeves. Annie had lost so much blood already, that she was starting to see in distorted colors. Red. So much red. It consumed everything, as if the earth had been swallowed by it. She knew she didn’t have long.

“Go on, get out of here,” Annie breathed. “I can’t…”

“No, no, no, we didn’t spend all that time patchin’ you up just for you to give up.”

“You can’t... lift me.”

“You’re gonna have to help me, then. C’mon.” She put Annie’s arm over her shoulders and snaked her own around her waist, careful to not put pressure on the patches. “One, two, three!”

Annie cried out as she stood, unable to form a coherent, thought let alone see anything beyond a few inches in front of her own face. Another round of adrenaline must have kicked in and she somehow made it onto the saddle, grasping onto the horn for dear life. Madelyn mounted behind her and put her arms around Annie, holding the reins out in front in case she fell again. She put her feet in the stirrups and peered over Annie’s shoulder, getting a clear view of the path ahead.

“Stay awake now, ya hear?”

Annie struggled against entering into a state of delirium. Trying to ground herself in reality, she realized something was missing… My hat! She groaned and let her head fall back against Madelyn’s shoulder. Madelyn… How kind…

“Annie! C’mon, stay with me.”

Annie ignored her panicked voice and said the only thing that came to mind. “Your name ain’t really ‘Madelyn’, is it?”

“No. It ain’t”

“What is it… then?”

“Jenny. Jenny Kirk.”

***

Arthur tapped his foot in anticipation as Dutch paced between the fire and the camp entrance. After everyone had split up, all but Charles, Javier, and Annie had made it back safe. It was risky returning to camp this early after a job gone bad, but they hadn’t been followed. Arthur figured that must have been what was holding up the rest of them.  

“Damn it, Dutch, we had a plan,” Hosea said as he massaged his temple. “Why’d you pull that shit back there?”

“Pull what exactly, Hosea?” Dutch said, whipping around to face him. Arthur had been listening to them go at it since they returned. “You need to calm down, my friend. Everyone here is capable of handling themselves.”

“Dutch, he’s right,” Arthur interjected. “We knew Benson wasn’t trustworthy. It ain’t a matter of how well we can handle ourselves, cause that wasn’t no gunfight. It was a setup, plain as day.”

Dutch shook his head. “We needed that money, boys. If you’re not prepared to take a little risk for that, then I don’t know what to tell you!” 

“It already was a risk!” Hosea said, exasperated. “That’s why we needed to stick to the plan.”

Dutch threw his arms up in defeat. “Well, it failed anyways, so why are we still arguin’ about this?”

The rest of the camp had gathered outside their tents to see what all the commotion was about. “What happened, Arthur?” Mary-Beth asked, pulling his attention away from the two men arguing. 

“Just a job gone bad.”

“So no money?” Karen asked. 

“Only a bit. Not nearly as much as we were countin’ on.”

Tilly joined them. “Have y’all seen Charles yet? Or Javier and Annie?”

Arthur looked through the trees and caught a glimpse of the empty road. “Not yet.”

“I hope they’re alright,” Mary-Beth said.

“I’m sure everything’s fine, Mary-Beth,” Tilly assured her, but her voice wavered enough for Arthur to tell she wasn’t entirely sure of her own words. 

Just ask she said it, two riders appeared on the road and made their way through the trees. Charles and Javier. 

“Boys!” Dutch called. “Good to see you back.”

“Sorry we’re the last ones to the party,” Javier said. 

There was a pause and the air grew tense. 

“You mean Annie ain’t with you two?” Karen said.

“No,” Charles said. “She’s not back yet?”

“We ain’t seen her, but I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Dutch said.

“That’s it, I’m goin’ after her,” Arthur stated, starting for his horse.

“Are you jokin’?” Dutch said, raising an eyebrow and stopping Arthur in his tracks. “O’Driscolls and lawmen are crawling all over these parts.”

“She’d do it for one of us,” Charles said. He nodded at Arthur. “I’ll go with you.”

“No, no, I need you both here,” Dutch said. 

“He’s right, boys,” Hosea said. Arthur glared at him. “We can’t risk any other wild adventures tonight. She’s capable, she’ll make it back in one piece.”

Arthur let out a sharp exhale and eyed the two of them, unable to think through his own rage. Annie was capable, sure, but this didn’t feel right. Dutch had screwed her, screwed them all. He told them to keep on with the robbery when she gave the signal. If they’d just listened to her signal...

The energy of the camp rippled, voices murmuring around Arthur, wondering where Annie had gone. The atmosphere was growing thicker with tension and the anxiety welling in his chest made it so he could hardly breath. He couldn’t take it anymore. Just as he turned away to get some air, he saw something down the hill, across the river. A single black horse with two riders. Holy shit…

“Hello?” a small, female voice called out, just barely over the sound of the rapids upstream. 

“Who’s that?” Dutch bellowed as Charles drew his rifle to his shoulder.

“It’s Nero…” Hosea said, his voice flooded with concern.

Arthur ran over to the ridge to get a clearer look. The black stallion was breathing heavily, glistening in sweat as he bowed his head in exhaustion. 

“M-my name’s Jenny. Annie’s here with me, but she’s hurt real bad.”

“No, Arthur, wait!” Dutch said, trying to grab Arthur’s shoulder as he rushed forward. He shook the hand off and took off down the hill to the riverbank. 

“Can you get him across?” he said, trying his best to hide the dread in his voice as he saw the limp body, slumped against the stranger’s chest.

Nero didn’t hesitate as he crossed the water, even though it was somewhat deep. The horse plowed through the flowing water and onto shore, almost as smoothly as if he was on land.

Annie was unconscious and the blood on her shirt glistened in the dim light of the distant campfire. Her face was white as a sheet and covered in a cold sweat. “Charles! Could use your help here!” 

He heard Hosea call Grimshaw for assistance as John and Charles came rushing down the hill. They took in the sight of the wounded woman, speechless. 

“Arthur?” Annie murmured, reaching out her hand to touch what she didn’t think could be real. “That you?”

“It’s me, alright.” He took her bloody fingers in his hand and squeezed. 

“Damn it, I’ve died and gone to hell,” Annie said, a hint of a mischievous smirk on her face. 

He smiled and shook his head. “No, not quite yet, Annie girl.” 

Even though she was dressed in black, the slick stain of blood covered most of the right side of her body, from her ribcage to her thighs. Streaks of red matted stray hairs against her forehead, mixed with the tear marks on her cheeks and the sweat on her neck. He wanted to say he’d seen worse, and he probably had. But this, for some reason, shook him to the core. 

He lifted her off the back of the horse and cradled her in his arms. She wasn’t light and his front was now soaked in blood, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “Charles, hitch her horse at the posts, make sure he’s watered.”

“What about her?” John asked, gesturing to Jenny who was covered in blood herself.

“You, Miss Jenny, are with us now,” Dutch said, walking down to join them on the riverbank. “Go wash up, Miss Jones here will help you. You can have Annie’s spot until we find you a place.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jenny said with a breath of relief.

“‘Sir’ was my father,” he said. “You can call me Dutch.”

Arthur brought Annie up the hill as most of the camp watched. She was drifting in and out of consciousness, but at least she was alive. He gently laid her down on his own cot, making sure she was comfortable. She winced and her eyes fluttered open slightly.

“Step back, Arthur,” Grimshaw said, pushing her way into the small area, fresh bandages in hand. She replaced the bedroll patches slowly but securely, cleaning the wounds with what Arthur figured was gin as she worked.

“Ahh!” Annie yelped as the alcohol splashed into the open wound. “Huh. Nice to see you, Susan.”

“You too Annie, you lucky, lucky girl,” Grimshaw said. “Can I use your jacket, Mister Morgan? And will you give us some privacy?”

“Oh, uh, sure.” He said, shedding his coat and handing it over and turning away as Grimshaw carefully removed Annie’s tattered and stained shirt. She covered her so that only she could see as she wiped away the blood from the wounds with a wet cloth.

“Tilly, can you get one of Miss Bolton’s shirts from her things, preferably a light one?”

“Is she gonna be okay, Miss Grimshaw?” Mary-Beth asked with a look of horror on her face.

“Yes, Mary-Beth, she’s gonna be just fine.”

He saw her nod and bring a hand to her mouth, holding back a sob. The rest of camp was watching, but keeping their distance. He saw John say something to Abigail as she tried to walk over to help. She protested for a moment, but he pulled her into a small hug and shuffled her and Jack back into their tent. The suspense had settled since she was back and more or less in one piece, but Arthur’s own fists were clenched with anxiety. 

“Arthur,” Dutch called, snapping his attention away from the scene. He and Hosea were standing back, trying to keep everyone from crowding around the lean-to. 

Arthur sighed with frustration and walked over. “What is it, Dutch?”

“You alright, son?” Hosea asked. 

“Yep.”

“Arthur…” Dutch said, studying him.

“I’m good.”

“She’s gonna pull through.”

“Yeah, I know.” The shakiness of his voice was hard to disguise. “She knew it was a damn trap, too.”

Hosea furrowed his eyebrows, giving him concerned look he hadn’t gotten in a while. “We can get you a bedroll. You can sleep in the-.”

“I’m good,” he said, cutting him off. “I got the chair.”

“Arthur-,” Dutch started.

“I know what my goddamn name is, Dutch, quit sayin’ it,” he snapped.

Dutch sighed and raised an eyebrow. “I was just gonna tell you to keep an eye on her for the night. That’s all. Make sure you get some rest.”

Arthur sighed and ran a hand through his hair, lifting his hat slightly. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

Dutch squeezed his shoulder and sent him back to Annie’s bedside. Grimshaw finished with the buttons on the fresh shirt and stepped back.

“I can keep an eye on her, Miss Grimshaw.”

“Thank you, Arthur. When you can, try to get her on her side, she won’t listen to me. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Of course,” he said. He suddenly recognized the white button up Annie now had on. “Hey, is that my shirt?”

“Yes,” Tilly said as she balled up a few bloodied rags to be washed. “I couldn’t find any clean light ones of hers, I’m sorry.”

He shook his head and forced a small smile. “No, Tilly, it’s fine. Thanks. Get some sleep, I’ll take it from here.”

Tilly nodded and took her leave. Arthur turned back to Annie, hesitantly. Her eyes were closed but she had a slight grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. He reached down to the end of the bed and pulled the thin wool blanket up to her shoulders.

“They put me in your shirt?” she mumbled, eyes still closed. “You’ll have to burn it now, surely.”

“Do you ever stop jokin’?”

“Only when there’s nothin’ to joke about.”

Arthur chuckled. When this had happened before, she almost didn’t make it. It was terrifying to watch her fight against seemingly unbeatable odds. But nevertheless, she fought hard and won. He feared she wouldn’t be so lucky this time around. He felt a sudden urge to take her hand. Like his, it was calloused and rough, but smaller and somehow more delicate. He held it gently and she absentmindedly squeezed one of his fingers. 

She met his gaze and for a moment, Arthur saw the same sadness reflected in her cloudy, hazel eyes that had always been in his own. In a strange way, it was comforting to him. To know that he was just as afraid as she was, to know that the path ahead of her could prove to be treacherous. It meant she still was still breathing, her heart still pumping. It meant she had a chance. In that moment, somehow, they both knew everything would be okay. 

“Get some rest,” he whispered.

She grinned and her eyes blinked closed. “I’ll rest when I’m dead.”

[wordsinherhand]

Stuck

2 Corinthians 4:16-17 (ESV)

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, Do you ever find yourself stuck, that it seemed like you cannot see the direction of where you are going, the dreams you have cultivated a year or two ago seemed like it is on pause and you just felt frozen in time and place?

I was in that box for a month. But, today, although it was kind of late, I did some editing and video making of a promotional video and posting for a work that I have placed on hold, because of that feeling in that one month. And I feel contented and pleased! Applause is in order!

Why was I stuck for a month? After I took the greatest decision to separate from my partner early this year which was a whole moment of freedom for me, next was the Lunar New Year which I felt was not really celebratory but yet still meaningful and after it ended, I was figuratively paralyzed in my mind and heart. I felt like I had no future, so unsure of what to do next.  It probably happened as I was transitioning into singleness. Where making decisions requires it to come from me, without having another person’s requirement to affect my decisions, and that whatever I should decide, I must take into account how it would impact my toddler. 

Have you ever make big decisions on your own? If you have not, who was it that have a huge influence in your decision making stance? Were they necessary in most of the decisions you made?

I can identify two things that had made me stuck for one whole month, unable to move forward, nor did I want to look back and return to my old life. Here it is:-

1. WANT IT NOW

I have so much going on in my mind. I wanted to sew, draw, create videos, design posters, practice my guitar, memorize songs, go jogging, go out on a date with my toddler, hang out with the girls, etc. There is just so much I wanted to accomplish and I want to get it done YESTERDAY. 

I was chasing after false sense of accomplishment. I thought if I could get ALL of the list done in a short time, it is because I am suppose to succeed in doing them for I am hardworking and are trying my absolute best to do it. Because of that, when the things I planned wasn’t going according to the way I wanted it, the slightest,tiniest disturbance of my schedule will disrupt my sense of accomplishment, and that stumped me in my place. I will become frustrated, angry and eventually I will just eat up the frustration and stop doing the plan I laid out and just stare at my phone for hours to numb myself from the frustration and defeat.

2. ASKING FROM SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT

I had this mentality that if God wanted me to do it, He will surely provide me the means to do it, with such strong sense of entitlement. For example, I can play the guitar ( rusty skill now since I left guitar for almost a decade, but this is the entitled me thinking ) but there is no need for me to practice until God calls me to use the guitar somewhere. 

This pride, stopped me from really focusing on playing, and like the point above, if I did pick the guitar up to play, the moment something disrupts my guitar playing session, I will just stop because of annoyance and angry because someone or something trying to stop me accomplishing something in that moment.

I will then proceed “righteous” prayer, asking God to come back faster , or to bring me into my calling sooner, so that I do not have to “suffer” the “world” trying to stop me pursuing God’s calling for me.

It is not wrong to pray such way, it is something we should pray for, for our purpose in life to come to pass, for us to meet the Lord and rejoice in His magnificent presence! But, most of the time our prayer sounds like we are asking God to move in our terms, in the way we like and how we want it. Your prayer that says “ Lord, You can change my situation now” will not change anything, there will be no break through, there will be no visible direction because you are clouded by ‘me,me,me,mine,mine,mine’ mentality. When your prayer change to “Lord, You can change me for this situation now,” God’s hand move mightily. And I am experiencing that now.

THE PRAYER

Psalm 37:7 , 18

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! The Lord knows the days of the blameless,  and their heritage will remain forever; 

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

When I changed my prayer, my eyes, my heart was instantly shaken. I prayed, or in better words, I cried to God honestly, I cry out to the Father who created me in my mother’s womb, of the things that I see in my heart that is holding me back. My idea of success, accomplishment, expectations, all went out of the window of my mind, as God was changing my worldy idea of accomplishments and success, into a Kingdom mindset of accomplishments and success.

Within that one moment of change, I came into a realization that I need Him to change ME, not my situation. I then cried out to God the Father, I spilled out all my concerns, my worries, my lacking and my dreams, I told Him the aching desires in my heart, the things I want for myself and my child, and after that episode, I hear Him say , “ Be still, fret not over other’s accomplishments, I know what is to come in your life, and you know My plans for you is not to harm,” 

The awareness of knowing He is in control, that His love will lead me to where He needs me to be eventually, opened my eyes to just steward myself in ways He would want me to.

Taking one step at a time to work with what I have now without strive is so rewarding. He renews me daily for the work I need to get done for the day.

I am a mother, a daughter, a friend, a servant in Children Ministry, an aspiring decor entrepreneur that really has no idea where or how will I be financially stable but in Him will I trust, and I will do all of what I am called into NOW, one step at a time. 

I will serve my daughter with smiles, I will serve my parents joyfully, I will chit chat with my friends happily, I will do the things I have now with peace.

I am currently writing too, as a way to tell God and myself, I will not delay just because there is no channel, I will write on Tumblr (because gifs reactions and no one reads on Tumblr, so that I can practise writing without the weight of having an audience) to sharpen my writing skill.

If you are stuck, allow God to check your heart. Sometimes, changing the one verb or adjectives in your prayer shifts your eyes to the Father’s will in you.

Allow yourself to be vulnerable, and when you see there is something need to be dealt with, within you, do not condemn yourself of the things you find ugly but immediately give all that ugliness into His hand, because beating yourself up will not help you get your breakthrough, telling yourself you are no good is not your job to do, you are in no position to judge others so you are also in no position to judge even yourself, so, give it all to Him will most certainly bring you into a new place of freedom, just go to Him without fear. He is there for you.