#ye ye sun !!! ye ye kong

[szynkaaa]

Just a gal and her Stone Monkey

this image pose template from here

HC since SWK cane change his size, the same applies for his Azure Dome form. So he can be as big as a mountain, or the size of a big yaoguai, or normal sized (whatever normal sized is for the Stone Monkey)

Much later on:

Slight NSFW under the cut

[laserdog10]

Sun after he finds out what CRWBY did to him and Black Sun.

Sun: I don't know what's happenin' to me~! Sun: I'm gettin' all the blame for things I didn't do~! Sun: Can anybody tell me just what I did wrong~? Sun: I'm all alone and I'm so confused~! Sun: I don't know what everyone wants me to be, Sun: I only know just how to be me~! Sun: Once I was the ape of the hour, Sun: They think I'm a coward, Sun: AN ABSOLUTE ZERO... Sun: I'M NOBODY'S HERO~. Sun: AN ABSOLUTE ZERO... Sun: I'M NOBODY'S HERO~. Sun: I'M NOBODY'S HERO~.

[deadsetobsessions]

Cassandra Cain wandered. It has always been so, it will always be so. The moment she clutched the bloody remains of her own freedom in her hands, Cassandra flew and flitted between the cracks of the places she finds.

The only thing that ever made her stay was her dad and their family. The only place she ever settled in for more than a scant number of months was Gotham.

But they’re in a place- a universe- Cassandra could never return to, could not follow, because they had forbidden her to do so. Tim’s grip on her arm, two textures of bloodied skin and torn gloves, told her everything he wanted to say. Her little brother all but shoved her through the crack between planes and universes, and begged her to live with fearful eyes and the grim set of his shoulders.

She has never been good at denying Tim.

The first few weeks were… difficult. She ran- liberated a boat, from men with sabres and cruel hands- and learned to feel the desperate pull of freedom on her hands amongst the waves. She was lost, adrift, silent in her grief. She could be free. She has never been freer. But Cass had never wanted to be free from those she claimed as her own.

Cassandra was built and trained to survive. To walk into a fight and come out the victor, no matter the cost. So she adapts and overcomes and tries not to wallow in her grief.

This new world was different. Brighter, in many ways, than her home dimension. Not that it was hard, considering her home was a wasteland by now, with the moving corpses of what once was her family. The former vigilante knew better than to take it at face value. The brightest places tend to have the darkest shadows. And so, she travels, looking for a purpose. Looking for Hong Kong, because she’s well aware she’ll never find a Gotham again. She braves the sea, travels in between groups of pirates and struggles to understand the slips of sounds that did not make sense to her. It was like before Bruce found her all over again and Cassandra tried a little to learn like how he would have wanted her to. But it is hard, and spoken language was never important to her, never necessary. It was relevant only because her loved ones deemed it important.

Then, she finds a boy on an island, whose words were simple and who was always warm-welcoming-happy-free.

Predictably, Cassandra learns the word “meat” right after learning his name. He was like… the sun. Bright, bold, and unfettered in his will. More stubborn than her brothers and sisters, a feat Cass had not thought possible outside of Gotham, and more than Bruce, only because he could not be swayed by logic. He was Monkey D. Luffy and he wanted to be freer than anyone else.

“Join my crew!”

Cass could not kill. She could not be a pirate.

“Shishishi!” He throws his head back when he laughs, and Cass can tell that he means it. That he thinks her silly for-

“Then my first mate won’t need to kill! We’ll be strong enough to leave people alive! That’s your dream, right?”

Cassandra is breathless. She is still. And- maybe Luffy doesn’t have the training she does, but he understood. She could read it in the lines of his shoulders, the way his rubber limbs don’t snap. She couldn’t believe that she would find anyone that would understand her will to never kill, not after dad, who had wrapped her in shadows that whispered safety and understanding-

“You wanna be free and you want to help without killing! I’m gonna be the Pirate King, and the Pirate King’s crew’s gotta be the free-est! And we can help people if they pay us in meat!”

- but Luffy was a supernova and Cassandra believes.

“Okay.”

“YES!” Luffy roars with happiness, grin wide as the glow in her heart. “I GOT A FIRST MATE!”

——

Cass contorts herself into the barrel- not a difficult feat, since she was already small to begin with- and sighs. She pokes Luffy’s forehead before lightly tugging on his cheek, stretching the skin a bit, in a small scolding.

“Awe, nap time!”

Cass sighs, too familiar with the antics of a chaotic younger brother.

[vintagegeekculture]

So, a friend of mine on Discord said something interesting, and I feel like you might have thoughts on it. So. What do you think of the idea of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as being "The Shaw Brothers for kids", a sort of gateway drug for "the kung fu genre"?

Not the Shaw Brothers, but Golden Harvest. Let me explain: 

I’m going to sound like a conspiracy theorist when I say this, but I believe the New Line Cinema “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (1990) movie was actually a money laundering scheme by the Chinese Mafia, specifically, the Sun Yee On Triad. 

Looking into the role of organized crime in martial arts cinema is a rabbit hole that goes very, very, very deep...and comes out somewhere very shocking at the end.

You mention the Shaw Brothers, but there was another Hong Kong Producer who was the only credible rival to the Shaw Brothers (and who eventually surpassed the Shaws) in martial arts movies: Golden Harvest’s Raymond Chow….a man who started off as the Shaw Brothers’ talent division, but who eventually founded his own rival studio to the Shaws (with rumored triad financial backing), and who made Bruce Lee, Angela Mao and Jackie Chan stars. Raymond Chow is widely, and extremely credibly, believed to be a middleman for the Hong Kong Triad, the Sun Yee On, who used Golden Harvest as a front facing money laundering scheme, as claimed by Frederic Dannen in "Hong Kong Babylon," and Yiu Kong Chiu in "The Triads as Business," books I recommend if you are at all interested in the topic of organized crime in the Hong Kong film industry.

Raymond Chow was also the producer and primary funder of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies. I mean, what does it mean when your movie is entirely produced and funded by a guy well known for being a triad middleman and money launderer?

And all of this happened at New Line Cinema, a borderline independent film company…one known for having dodgy financials it’s entire existence, no less, which ultimately doomed it? One of the most extraordinary things about the 1990 Ninja Turtles movie is that it was, essentially, an independent film. New Line would later become a powerhouse as a studio and created Lord of the Rings, but at the time, it was a mainly low rent operation, rather like Cannon films, known for the success of the slasher series “Nightmare on Elm Street.” So yes, I do believe "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (1990) was a money laundering scheme by the Chinese Mafia.

The triads in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan take enormous interest in financing martial arts movies for the same reason that they take a tremendous interest in financing porn movies: they’re quick, cheap, dirty, and can be used as a mechanism for laundering money, and a way to claim money from illegal sources (say, heroin) comes from a clean and legal source that can be claimed on taxes, like say, a movie studio. In addition, Hong Kong’s strict rating system, the Category III (equivalent to a far stricter R-rating) meant that very violent movies were handled in ways that were outside the law in ways similar to pornography. And according to several Senate investigations in 1991 ("Hearings on Asian Organized Crime"), the triads were actively involved in money laundering as well outside of Hong Kong, including currency trading and real estate, and the idea they could back a studio is entirely possible.

Everyone working in Hong Kong cinema has a story of dealing with the triads, who are interwoven into the city. Anita Mui's manager was was shot dead by mafiosos. Jimmy Wang Yu, the first Kung Fu star, was a suspected member of the Bamboo Union triad, and once borrowed money from one triad to pay another....and may have used his reported connections with the Triads to get Jackie Chan out of his initial contract with Golden Harvest, a favor Jackie repaid. Golden Harvest studios were actually firebombed in 1984, an event suspected to be due to Triad activity. Raymond Chow’s fellow producer and good friend who discovered Steven Chow, film producer Charles Heung, is well known to be the son of Heung Chin, who founded the Sun Yee On Triad, the largest in Hong Kong with over 25,000 members. And you don’t have to take my word for it; a US Senate Committee in 1991 on Asian Organized Crime identified Cheung as a leader of the Sun Yee On along with his brothers. Because of his association with Charles Heung and the Sun Yee On, Steven Chow, director of Kung Fu Hustle, cannot enter Canada legally.

Jackie Chan asserted Raymond Chow’s triad connections in his autobiography, and also claimed that he only hired triad members and other people who were mobbed up at Golden Harvest. One example would be producer Ng See Yuen, who produced Once Upon a Time in China for Golden Harvest, and who Jet Li refused to work with ever again after his manager was assassinated by triad gunmen (Jet Li blamed Ng See Yuen for his manager's death).

There's also Lo Wei, a Shaw Brothers director and known “Red Pole” enforcer of the Sun Yee On Triad, who came over to Golden Harvest, where he directed Bruce Lee’s Chinese Connection and Big Boss, and also directed Jackie Chan’s earliest “period” historical movies for GH. Jackie Chan, in his autobiography, stated that the reason he initially left Hong Kong to go to the United States for an American career was because Lo Wei, his director on Laughing Hyena, put a hit out on him for refusing to make Laughing Hyena 2, and Jackie had to flee the city when Lo Wei sent gunmen to his house to abduct him. When arriving in the United States, he had to avoid some men with machine guns at the airport. To this day, whenever possible, Jackie Chan goes out in public armed for fear of gangsters. 

Even Jackie Chan though, never made the assertion that Raymond Chow and the Sun Yee On had Bruce Lee killed. This is important to mention because if you talk to any Chinese person, nearly all of them believe with unshakable, absolute certainty that the Chinese Mafia killed Bruce Lee, which is literally the plot of Game of Death (which, incidentally, Raymond Chow produced). Everyone around Bruce was mobbed up, because everyone in the Hong Kong film industry was mobbed up; in fact, it’s an open question how much it existed for its own sake. It’s notable Bruce Lee died at the home of Betty Lo Ting Pei, Golden Harvest actress, and his known mistress…who was married to a triad gangster. It’s also known that the first person that Betty Lo Ting Pei called when Bruce died was not medical services but Raymond Chow, something that to this day, she has not attempted to explain. 

It can be hard to imagine what the motive is for Raymond Chow and the triads to kill Bruce Lee. After all, wouldn’t Bruce Lee be more useful to Raymond Chow alive than dead? I never saw the angle, here. But then, you consider that in the last few months of his life, Bruce Lee started to set the stage for his transition to behind the scenes roles like producer, and was assembling a lot of stunt talent around him (a lot of productions down the pipeline intended to have Bruce Lee in producer roles, like Circle of Iron). The rumor among the stunt players, as recounted by Sammo Hung, was that Bruce was attempting to form his own stunt and film production company (as Chiba later did successfully in Japan) and that would involve organizing and peeling off half the talent in Hong Kong….in a deeply triad controlled industry, no less. There was also a story recounted by witnesses that Bruce Lee, a temperamental and explosively violent man, physically assaulted Raymond Chow in his office with punches and kicks when he heard Chow had two sets of books in their shared production company, as Bruce was always keen to keep the triads out of his films. Ten days later, Bruce Lee was dead. And for weeks before his death, Lee told his friends "Hong Kong is getting too hot, I have to get out."

And you know something? A Ninja Turtles movie from 1990 is probably the least of it. In 2020, a few documents were declassified by the Taiwanese government that showed that the members of the Bamboo Union Triad had 19 top governmental positions in Taiwan from 1955-1984 (the era when Taiwan was in a complete state of military rule), including the National Security Bureau and all branches of the armed forces. In other words, Taiwan during the military rule era wasn't just corrupted by the triads, the triads were the government.

I never cease to be amazed at the incuriousness of the journalistic professions. Governments don't declassify documents - especially something as damning as triad involvement in government - unless they have to. So why would the Tsai Ing-Wen government reveal this now in 2020, especially when anti-corruption is the driving force of Taiwanese politics, and anti-corruption sentiment pushed the KMT out of power since the 90s? Outsiders believe that the single biggest question in Taiwanese politics is their relationship with the mainland. Kinda...the status quo is more or less a settled question. It's actually anti-corruption and anti-triad infiltration, which is why the DPP are the ruling party now.

The answer, I suspect, is that the triads are no longer working with the Taiwanese government, but with the mainland government. In the 1980s, Wong Man Fong, editor of the Xinhua paper of Hong Kong, said in several interviews he was asked by the People's Republic of China to reach out to the triads to help make a deal: no government interference in their activities, if they pledge to keep order in the city after the handover in 1997. I strongly suspect the mainland now has a similar arrangement with the Bamboo Union, Green Gang, and the Si Hai Bang they did in Hong Kong, especially since so much money is going back and forth with the release of trade to the mainland. In other words, the triads in Taiwan are active agents of the PRC.

Backdoor deals between government and the mob aren't out of the question, just ask the CIA, who used Giancana Crime Family assassins sent to kill Castro as a key plank of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the role of the mafia in the Kennedy Assassination, or how control of opium was a key under-the-table reason for the invasion of Afghanistan.

What I suspect happened is, the Taipei government is turning on organized crime now after decades and decades of ludicrous and obvious corruption, because to the triads, the money to be made with the mainland and unification is far more lucrative. It's no coincidence that the largest pro-unification party in Taiwan is led by a triad gangster who spent time in jail for racketeering, Chang An Lo, nicknamed "the White Wolf." Like John Gotti, everyone knows he's a mobster and that's even part of the White Wolf's coolness and appeal (if you could vote for Tony "Scarface" Montana, boy, I bet a lot of guys would), but nobody can touch him. In fact, combined with how the "light world" financial institutions are intertwined along with the underworld, there's an argument to be made that the reason the PRC hasn't tried to take Taiwan is that for all intents and purposes, they already have it.

In other words, the triads have gone from using the Ninja Turtles to money launder to essentially setting global geopolitics.

[lindsey-laufeyson]

Distractions- Chapter 15

Distractions Masterlist

Pairing: Reader x FWB!Tom Hiddleston

Series Warnings: SMUT, fluff, angst, friends with benefits

A/N: I told myself I would post this chapter before the new year and I just barely made it! This is one of my favorite chapters I’ve written so far, so I really really hope you like it!

Hawaii was quickly turning out to be one of your favorite places in the world, and it wasn’t just the idyllic weather or the gorgeous scenery. It was the culture. Everyone there was always so kind and happy. You learned that “Aloha” was not just the word for hello and goodbye. It was a way of life. It meant generosity, kindness, and love. And it was palpable everywhere you went. 

You were having the time of your life. Yes, you were having copious amounts of sex, obviously, but you also went whale watching, hiking through the rainforest, kayaking, shopping at a local market, and visited famous film locations for movies like Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, and, of course, the first film Tom shot in Hawaii, Kong: Skull Island, where Tom excitedly showed you around like a proud little puppy. It was really quite adorable.

When the two of you weren’t off on an adventure or fucking each other’s brains out, you were relaxing in the lounge or by the private pool and hot tub that you were pleasantly surprised to find out came with the house. One day you were laying out on a sun lounger, reading a book while sneaking glances at Tom who was doing laps in the pool. He looked so sexy when he was all wet. 

When he finished his laps, Tom stepped out of the water and toweled off, his sopping trunks leaving hardly anything to the imagination. “Are you ever actually going to get in the water, or are you just going to lay there teasing me?”

“I’m perfectly content laying in the sun with my book, thank you,” you told him matter of factly. “And I’m not teasing you.”

“Oh but you are, darling. You’re basking in the sun in your bikini with a book. You should know by now that’s enough to drive me mad.”

“That sounds like a you-problem, Tommy boy.”

Tossing the towel to the side, he laid on his stomach between your legs on the lounge chair, propping himself up on his forearms which rested on either side of your waist. Then he plucked your book from your hands and set it on the side table.

“Oi! I was still reading that!” you protested.

“Really?” He raised an eyebrow as he looked up at you, his head just above your chest. “Because if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were only using the book to try to hide your staring.”

“Good thing you know better then.” You ran your fingers through his wet locks. 

He gave you his best over-the-top puppy dog eyes. “Come on, Sweets. Come swimming with me.”

“Do you really want to wait all the time it will take for me to redo my hair and makeup before dinner tonight?”

“That’s what this is about? Not wanting to ruin your hair and makeup?” There was a bit of laughter in his voice.

“Have you completely forgotten how we met?”

“You’re getting in the pool.”

“I’m really not.”

All of a sudden he shot up and grabbed you, causing you to scream as he hoisted you over his shoulder. 

“Thomas William Hiddleston! Don’t you dare!” you yelled, kicking your legs and giggling uncontrollably. You let out another scream as he ran and jumped into the water with you. When you both resurfaced, you splashed him in the face. “You little shit!”

He wiped the water out of his eyes and then shot you a warning look. “Oh, darling. I don’t think you want to start that.”

“You started it when you forced me into the bloody pool!” you challenged, splashing him in the face again. 

“Very well.” He stretched out his long arm and used the entire length of it to send a tsunami of pool water at you. 

You attempted to dodge it, but you weren’t fast enough, and when you tried to splash him back he simply sent another wave at you, rendering your tiny splashes completely useless. 

“This… Is… Not… Fair!” you shouted between splashes. 

He didn’t let up. “What was that, darling? I can’t hear you with all the splashing!”

You flashed him your middle finger, making him laugh, and then you decided to try a different strategy. You quickly turned and made your way to the pool stairs to get out of the water.

“You’re not giving up already, are you?” Tom teased. You didn’t answer him, but calmly walked to the side of the pool closest to him, and then suddenly did a cannonball jump right next to him. “Shit!”

“HA!” you mocked him as soon as you came back up. He was nowhere to be found, however, which could only mean one thing. “Fuck.”

Suddenly you felt him grab your legs, and the next thing you knew you were being lifted out of the water and swiftly flipped over his shoulder, sending you crashing right back into the water. When you resurfaced you expected to be immediately assaulted by more splashes to the face, but after you wiped the water from your eyes, you looked at Tom to see him smirking and biting his lip, like he had a cheeky little secret.

“Am I missing something?” you asked, confused. 

“Funny you should say that…” He was attempting to hold back a laugh and you realized he kept looking at your chest. When you looked down, you saw that you’d lost your top.

“Thomas!” you shrieked, instantly covering your exposed breasts with your hands. 

He couldn’t contain his laughter any longer. “I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but I have seen them before, you know.”

“You did this on purpose!” You attempted to sound cross with him, but you couldn’t help but start to giggle as well.

“I swear to you I didn’t!” he defended. “I’m just incredibly lucky apparently!”

“Oh shut it,” you told him, still giggling and attempting to splash him again. 

“Do you really want to start that again?”

You rolled your eyes at him and then looked around. “Where is my top anyway?” You looked at Tom who looked behind you, then back at you, before suddenly diving toward your bikini top.

“No, no, no, no, no!” You dove for it too, but you weren’t fast enough. Tom snatched it just before you could and when you tried to take it from him, he held it up as high as he could. At first you attempted to jump up to reach it, but you soon stopped and shot him a disapproving look. “I know what you're doing.”

He shrugged. “What can I say? I love to watch your tits bounce.”

You shook your head at him. “You know what? Keep the top,” you told him with a smirk, and without another word you exited the pool and headed toward the hot tub. Once you were chest deep in the hot, bubbling water, you looked back at Tom, removed your bikini bottoms, and dropped them over the side of the jacuzzi. 

He bit his lip and shook his head, then quickly got out of the pool and rushed inside. You were puzzled by this at first until not a minute later he came back out with a little foil wrapper in his hand and then climbed in the hot tub, removing his trucks immediately..

“Not so fast, Tommy boy,” you said. “You think I’m going to reward you for your behavior just now?”

He raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. “Well I can’t imagine anything involving your naked body would be a punishment.”

“I came in here because I am going to get myself off using one of these jets.”

His eyes lit up. “Ooh, naughty girl.”

“And while I will let you watch, you are not allowed to touch me or yourself.”

His face fell and his eyebrows knitted together, looking as if all of his Christmas presents had been taken away. “Please tell me you're joking.”

You simply shook your head at him, a self-satisfied look upon your face as you turned around in your seat and got up on your knees, bracing yourself with your elbows on the edge of the hot tub and a jet pointed right between your legs. From where Tom was seated, you knew he’d only be able to see your back and maybe some glimpses of your ass which was partially obscured by the bubbles, but he’d still be able to see your hips grinding, and he’d certainly be able to hear you. It was the perfect amount to tease him, and the perfect way to get back at him.

As soon as the jet hit your pussy, you began to moan. Yes, you were putting on a show for him, but by no means did you have to fake it. The powerful stream of water felt so fucking good against your clit and through your folds. You started slowly rolling your hips, but it wasn’t long before you picked up speed, bucking against the current to chase your fast approaching climax. 

“Oh, Sweets, you have no idea how fucking sexy you are,” Tom’s gruff voice came from behind you. “It’s borderline cruel, what you’re doing to me right now.”

“But you’re being such a good boy for me,” you praised him, a bit out of breath. You were so close.

“But are you sure you want to cum around nothing, when I could so easily fill that void for you?”

“Fucking hell,” you groaned. His words only brought you closer, until your orgasm suddenly hit you. “Oh god!” You quickly lifted your rear out of the water so he could watch you spasm and clench. 

Apparently that was all Tom could take. With a low growl, he stood up and grabbed your hips, leaning forward to whisper in your ear. “Permission to fill this pretty little cunt?” As he said this, you felt his fingers stroke your sensitive pussy. 

“Please!” you whined, completely losing your will to keep punishing him. As soon as the word left your mouth he pushed his hard cock inside you. The sneaky bastard must have known you’d give in, because he already had the condom on, not that you were complaining at that point.

You’d barely finished your first orgasm before Tom was fucking you toward your second, gripping your hips tightly as he thrusted in and out of you. It was a good thing there were no neighbors, because the two of you moaning and groaning combined with the sound of the water splashing and sloshing around you was anything but quiet, and certainly more than enough to vividly illustrate what the two of you were doing.

As you felt yourself about to cum again, you held on to the edge of the jacuzzi for dear life while Tom pounded into you even harder. His cock was hitting you in a spot that was making you see stars until finally you reached your second climax. Crying out in ecstasy, you pushed your hips back against his thrusts, encouraging him to cum with you, and that he did. 

“Fuck, Y/n,” he groaned, fucking you through your simultaneous orgasms until he finally fell forward, his hands bracing himself on either side of you. You felt his wet abs against your back, expanding and contracting with every heavy breath. Then he kissed your shoulder and stood back up so he could remove the condom, tie it off, and toss it on the ground to pick up later. “And to think, you didn’t want to get wet,” he said, sitting back down.

“Oh hush, you,” you told him playfully, standing up and combing your hair back with your fingers before attempting to wipe away the makeup that you feared had streaked down below your eyes. 

“Will you stop?” He put his hands on your hips and pulled you toward him, smiling up at you. “You do realize it is physically impossible for you to look anything less than gorgeous, right?”

You put your knees on either side of him and your hands on his shoulders. “Flatterer.”

“Exhibitionist,” he retorted.

You ran your fingers through the wet curls on the top of his head as you looked down at him. “You loved it.”

“It was agonizing.”

“Good.” You winked at him, and then he pulled you down onto his lap and kissed you.

…

On your last night in Hawaii Tom insisted on cooking you a fancy dinner. You protested, of course, telling him that you would be perfectly content just to order in again, but you knew that there was no changing his mind once he was set on something. 

While he cooked, you did your hair and makeup and got dressed. You had decided to wear a dress you had just gotten at a local shop in town. It was a white, flowy maxi dress, covered in various tropical plants, with a plunging neckline, low back, and a slit up to the top of your thigh. To accompany the dress, you curled your hair and pinned up one side with a flower clip. 

Tom had told you that you’d be eating outside on the dining set under the pergola by the pool. When you stepped out onto the pool deck, you saw Tom pouring two glasses of wine at the table set for two, underneath warm string lights. He was wearing dark blue trousers and a matching suit jacket tailored perfectly to his slim figure. Underneath his jacket was a crisp white dress shirt with the top three buttons undone, in true Tom fashion, giving you just a peek of his chest hair. 

“Hey, stud,” you greeted him. 

He set the wine bottle down and turned with a smile, but as soon as he saw you, his smile dropped to a gape. “Hi,” he said, examining you from head to toe as you walked toward him. You were surprised at how caught off guard he had seemed, like he’d never seen you dressed up before or something. “You look…”

“Like a typical tourist in Hawaii?” you joked, putting your arms out and striking a pose.

“Beautiful,” he finished, gazing softly at you as he stepped towards you and placed his hands on your waist. The compliment made heat creep up to your face and you glanced at the ground. 

“Well, you look like a snack and a half.” You smiled playfully up at him. “Speaking of which, what’s on the menu tonight?”

“You mean to tell me you didn’t sneak a peek at what was on the stove on your way out here?”

“Okay yes, but that was a flawless segue, was it not?” 

He laughed. “Why don’t you sit down, and I’ll go fetch our dinner.”

“Or I could just help you,” you suggested.

“Sit.”

You rolled your eyes as you dropped down in the chair. 

“Good girl,” he praised you with a wink before walking back into the house. He knew full well that those two words always went straight through your ears and down to your core, adding kindle to an ember that was constantly glowing when he was around. 

Tom had made his ‘famous’ (his words) spaghetti bolognese, and though you had to be extra cautious eating it given your white dress, it was delicious. Even more delicious, however, was the sticky toffee pudding he’d made for dessert. After you finished eating, you attempted to take the dishes, but Tom beat you to it, telling you he’d be right back and not to go anywhere. 

After he disappeared in the house, you grabbed your wine glass and moved to sit on the edge of the pool, hiking your dress up so you could dip your feet in. You tipped your head back and looked up at the night sky. The stars were so clear and bright, and the light, warm breeze felt so good on your skin. You’d give anything to stay here, but you had a plane to catch in the morning. No use in worrying about that now though. You wanted to enjoy what little time you had left while you had it.

With your head back and your eyes closed, you listened to the soft music Tom had playing, accompanied by the sounds of the island. After a few moments, you heard the sound of the patio door sliding open and shut, and then footsteps approaching behind you. 

“Hawaii suits you,” Tom said as he sat down on the ground to your left, facing you with one leg bent behind you so he could rest his arm on his knee. He’d left his suit jacket inside and rolled his sleeves up past his elbows.

You smiled, but kept your eyes closed. “Hawaii suits everyone. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s quite an agreeable little place.”

“Not everyone’s as gorgeous as the islands themselves, darling.” He leaned in and whispered in your ear. “Maybe even more.”

You opened your eyes and looked at him with your brow furrowed. “Don’t make me vomit up your delicious dinner, Hiddleston.”

He let his head fall forward as he laughed. “Are you enjoying your last night here?”

“You’ve outdone yourself, Tommy boy,” you said. “Why you would waste all this effort on me and not save it for a real date is beyond me.”

Tom paused for a moment as his smile faded and he looked down at the ground. “I hate it when you do that.”

“Do what?”

When he looked back up, you could tell he was genuinely frustrated with you. “Act like you don’t deserve my attention.”

You diverted your gaze to the glimmering surface of the pool. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Isn’t it?” He tilted his head into your line of sight to get you to look at him. Once you did, he gently brushed your hair off of your shoulder, the tip of his middle finger lightly brushing across your skin and leaving goosebumps in its wake. “I wish you could see yourself through my eyes.”

You gave a half-hearted smile. “And what do you see when you look at me?”

“Would you believe me even if I told you?”

“Try me.”

Letting out a nervous little chuckle, he briefly looked out at the dark landscape before turning back to you. “I see a beautiful, talented, and kind hearted woman,” he began, lightly grazing the back of his index finger up and down your spine. Feeling self-conscious, you looked down at your feet swaying beneath the surface of the water while he continued. “Who has been taught she has to earn her worth, when in reality she deserves the world just for her existence alone.”

You looked back up at him to find him looking at you with an intensity you hadn’t seen from him before. It wasn’t lustful, but rather a different sort of longing that almost had a hint of sadness behind it, and once his gaze met your own, it pulled you in. Suddenly, you couldn’t hear the island sounds, couldn’t feel the cool water lapping at your shins, or smell the chlorine emanating from the pool. Slowly, hesitantly, you both leaned toward each other, only ever breaking eye contact to glance at the other’s lips, and then stopped a hair’s breadth away from one another. You stayed like that for a moment, feeling his breath mix with your own as he brought his hand up to delicately cradle your face. Finally, his lips met yours with the most gentle caress, before pulling back once again. You responded in kind with a kiss just as tender, but increasing in depth, only parting when you finally remembered to breathe. When you slowly opened your eyes, you were in a haze. Tom’s eyelids fluttered open as he swallowed hard.

“You’re right, I don’t believe you,” you joked. You both laughed as his head fell forward onto your shoulder. When your laughter subsided, you could hear a cover of the song “Chasing Cars,” by Jessy Hayden playing softly over the speakers. 

“Dance with me,” Tom whispered, placing a kiss on your shoulder and looking up at you with his baby blues. 

“Do I have a choice?” you teased him.

“Not really, no.” He gave you a little smirk before standing up and offering you his hand. 

You lifted your feet from the water to the concrete and took his hand, allowing him to help you stand and lead you to an open area of the patio. With your fingers intertwined, he held your hand close to his chest while his other hand slid around your waist to the small of your back. Meanwhile, you brought your free hand to the nape of his neck and he leaned his head down, his nose lightly brushing against your cheek, as you began swaying side to side to the music. You closed your eyes, enjoying the smell of his cologne and the sound of his voice singing the lyrics just barely above a whisper. 

You had no idea how long you’d been dancing by the time the playlist ended and the music stopped, but you hardly noticed. Tom had begun placing sweet and slow kisses down your neck. You hummed contentedly before finally finding the ability to speak again. “Hey, Tommy,” you cooed softly in his ear.  

“Yes, sweetheart?” he replied between kisses.

You took his face in your hands and kissed him softly. When your lips parted, you took his hands in yours and took a few steps backward, biting your lip and smiling at him. Then, with a wink, you turned around and led him to the bedroom. 

On the way there, Tom removed his shoes and socks, and once in the bedroom, you stopped at the end of the bed. You turned around and began unbuttoning his shirt while he resumed kissing your neck. It wasn’t rushed or frantic like usual, it was slow and deliberate. Soon after his shirt hit the ground, so did his trousers and boxers. Then, with one pull of a string, your dress followed. 

Tom lowered himself to his knees in front of you and slowly pulled down your lace panties. After you stepped out of them, he ran his hands up your legs, stopping at your hips. You watched him intently as he began placing light kisses on each little mark he’d left on your body throughout the week. First the fingerprint bruises on your thighs and hips, then the bite marks and hickeys on your breasts and collar bone, following the map of his own creation back up your neck until finally reaching your waiting lips. 

“I could kiss you all night,” he quietly mused.

“You’ll have no arguments here,” you replied with a smile as your hands made their way up to cup his face, returning his kiss with increasing passion. In response, he picked you up with your legs wrapped around his hips and laid you down gently on the bed, barely parting his lips from yours in the process. At the same time that his tongue entered your mouth, you felt his large hand begin to fondle and massage your breast, your hardened nipple rubbing against his soft palm. You hummed with pleasure, pushing your chest further into his touch, to which he responded by rolling the sensitive nub between his fingers. Letting out a little whimper, you bucked your hips. 

Tom knew exactly what you needed. He slid his hand down your stomach and started stroking your wet folds. You moaned into his mouth as he dipped the tips of his index and middle fingers into your entrance and spread the wetness that had pooled there to your needy clit, gently rubbing it in a slow, circular motion. At the same time, he released your lips from his so he could suck on the most sensitive spot on your neck. Your breathing became more labored as your pleasure built slowly and steadily. It felt amazing, but you needed more.

“Fuck, Tom, I need you,” you pleaded. 

He lifted his head and gazed earnestly down at you. “Baby, you have no idea.” 

After quickly putting on a condom, Tom grabbed your hand, your fingers lacing together, and pressed his forehead to yours as he pushed inside you. Melodic sighs escaped both of your throats with every measured thrust, reveling in the physical connection as if you hadn’t done it hundreds of times before. Every so often he’d kiss you again, sometimes just barely brushing his lips over yours, and it felt just as electric as it had by the pool. You had no idea why tonight felt different, felt emotional, but it was almost overwhelming. As you came closer to your release, your moans mixed with his like tea and honey, getting sweeter and sweeter until you both came undone, wordless praises falling from your lips.

Tom’s head fell into the crook of your neck, panting against your damp skin while you stroked his hair. You laid like that for a while, Tom occasionally placing a kiss to your neck between his heavy breaths, until he reluctantly pulled out of you and tossed the condom in the bin. When he laid back down, you rested your head and hand on his chest and draped your leg over his hips while he absentmindedly ran his fingers through your hair. 

“Hey, Tommy?” you said after a few moments of laying in comfortable silence. 

“Yeah, baby?” he replied sweetly.

“If I could see myself through your eyes…” you began thoughtfully. “...Would I end up wanking in front of the mirror all the time?”

Tom’s chest shook underneath you as he burst out laughing. “Probably,” he managed to reply. 

You looked up at him and began laughing too. 

…

The rest of the night was filled with more laughing, cuddling, kissing, and incredible sex. Neither of you fell asleep until the wee hours of the morning, and it was all too soon that your alarm woke you up. 

You reached over and turned it off. 

“Absolutely not,” you heard Tom mumble as he pulled you close, your back flush against his chest. 

“What?” you asked with a grin.

“You aren’t leaving,” he grumbled into your hair.

You stroked his arm that was wrapped tightly around your waist. “As much as I wish that were true, I have to get back to work.” 

He growled. “How long do we have?”

“I have to leave for the airport in two hours.”

“So an hour to sleep and an hour to have as much sex as possible?”

You giggled. “‘Fraid not, Tommy boy. I still have to pack and then I thought maybe we could have some breakfast and coffee together before I leave.”

“I think we can make that happen,” he said as he leaned over you and kissed you. “How do you feel about me riding with you to the airport?”

You looked at him skeptically. “You’d spend an hour in the car just for an extra thirty minutes with me?”

“Is that alright?”

“More than alright, darling,” you told him with a grin as you rolled onto your back, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissing him deeply.

After a generous amount of snogging, you stopped abruptly. “I should check in for my flight!”

“Should I be concerned that that’s what you were thinking about just now?” he teased you.

You reached for your phone, only to find it had died since your alarm went off. Afterall, you’d been a bit too distracted the night before to remember to charge it. “Shit.” You turned back to Tom. “Can I use your phone to check in?”

“Of course, love.” He grabbed his phone from his nightstand, unlocked it, and handed it to you. “I will get started on breakfast.” And with a kiss to your cheek, he got up, pulled on his boxers, and headed to the kitchen. 

Though you were sad to be leaving, you couldn’t stop smiling as you logged in to your British Airways account. Something felt different, and even though you couldn’t quite place it, it had you walking on air. 

You were just finishing checking into your flight when a notification popped up on the top of Tom’s screen. It was a text from Evelyn Dawson, and without thinking, you clicked on it. 

Your smile instantly disappeared. You felt like someone had kicked you in the stomach. Of course. How could you forget? This was the arrangement afterall. You were both free to sleep with other people, and why wouldn’t he sleep with his stunning costar? 

You cursed yourself when tears began to blur your vision. You felt incredibly stupid for reacting this way when he’d done nothing wrong, and for expecting anything different. This is what you both wanted: fun with no strings. No getting attached. 

You couldn’t let Tom see you like this. After marking the message from Evelyn as unread, you called Koa to come pick you up. Then you plugged your own phone in to get as much charge as you could while you quickly packed, trying your hardest to focus on what you were doing in order to prevent more tears. Once you had everything, you made your way out to the entryway. 

“Wow, that was quick,” Tom said as he cooked some delicious smelling eggs. It was too bad you wouldn’t be able to sit and enjoy them. 

You stayed in the entryway, looking out the window for Koa. You wanted to avoid looking at Tom as much as possible. “Yeah, well, I guess the Honolulu airport is quite busy this time of year,” you explained sheepishly. “So I thought I should head out now.”

You heard the stove click off and a moment later, Tom appeared from around the corner. “What? Darling, I’ve just made breakfast.” He chuckled slightly, but you could tell he was concerned.

“I know, I’m sorry.” You gave him a brief apologetic look before looking down at your fidgeting fingers. “I just– erm– I really don’t want to miss my flight, and Koa will be here any minute.”

“Okay, yeah, just give me a minute to get dressed and then–”

“That’s okay,” you interrupted. “Stay and eat. You shouldn’t let the food go to waste, and I’m probably just going to sleep in the car anyway.”

“Is everything alright?” He stepped toward you and went to put his hand on your waist, but you bent down and picked up your suitcase before he could. 

“I’m fine,” you tried to convince him as much as you were trying to convince yourself. “It’s just time to get back to reality.”

Tom’s brow furrowed. “And which part of this exactly wasn’t real?”

As if on cue, Koa pulled up to the house.

“I’m sorry, Tom. I—”

“Don’t worry about it, Y/n,” he said, sounding defeated. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

And with that, you hugged him and left as quickly as you could before he could see you tear up again.

Taglist: @chronicallybubbly, @the-princess-of-loki, @princess-ofthe-pages, @darcylikesloki, @kikster606, @foxherder, @simone818283, @newtomofgods, @christinebloodwrittings, @tom-hlover

[incarnadin3]

L Is For Love - Pt.1 (Soulmate!Au)

A/N: I saw this idea on a Tumblr post and omg I wanted to write it so bad. This probably will turn into a short fic, and my replaced au fic will be on hold for a while cuz I need to reset my brain (I have commitment issues) Anyways, enjoy~ (Also I'm not familiar with writing gender neutral reader so if you spot a mistake please let me know!) Also it refers to furries at one point, and it isn't meant to be derogatory or anything, trust.

Pairings: Lucifer X GN!Reader, Leviathan x GN!Reader

"Oh I can't believe it happening to me"

A tattoo. One simple letter, inked into your arm the day you turned 18.

What value does one sole letter hold?

Everything.

That one simple letter becomes the reason you breath, sleep, eat, live.

Some call it a scam, saying a letter can't define who your lover should be. But of course, only the ones who haven't experienced it, will judge it, no?

They say fate holds the reins, deciding who will meet who, when and why. So when you get your letter, don't stress! All will fall into place when it has to.

No one can change what is written in the stars....

As the sun shone through the pastel curtains, you groaned, covering your face with your hand, still half asleep.

Suddenly, a throbbing pain shot up your hand, and you cursed, pressing into the pained area with your other hand to deviate the pain. Grumbling, you stumbled to their feet, cursing as you nearly tripped over your own dirty socks, as you opened the bedroom door. You stumbled into the bathroom, squinting at the harsh white light of the bathroom, as you heard your annoying brother shout,

"Oi! You think you can be any less louder?! What are you, King Kong?! Stop stomping around the house!"

"Shut it!", you yelled, or more like groaned, sleep clouding your voice.

Blinking quickly, you tried to make sense of your surroundings, your eyes travelling over the sickeningly white walls and countertops, with speck of black marble in them.

Another round of pain shot up your arm and you hissed, quickly running your left hand under the water. Your eyes went to your wrist to see what was making it hurt so bad.

A black mark.

You frowned. Had your idiotic brother drawn on your hand while you were fast asleep? Was that it? But upon closer inspection, you noticed a very messy letter inked into your wrist.

L

"Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this"

A soulmate mark is an inscription in one's wrist, of their fated soulmate. One cannot pick his soulmate, for it is decided by fate.

You scoffed, slamming the book shut, and instantly regretting it when a plume of smoke shoots up and you cough, face red as other people sitting near you shoot you a dirty look.

You hated this library with a passion. You loved reading, yes, but this library sucked. It made it seem as if talking was a crime, and dropping a book, a sin.

Grunting, you grabbed the heavy book and lugged it back to its original spot, because god forbid you placed the book in those bright yellow plastic carts. Even though they were made and placed for the very reason that you could place books in there instead of heaving them back to their original spot, you'd much rather commit arson that use the cart. It was for show anyways.

As you walked out of the library, your eyes fell on your wrist again, tracing the L inked into it.

It annoyed you greatly that you didn't know your soul mate's name, just the letter.

"If fate wants to decide my soulmate for me then why the fuck can't I know their full name?"

You suddenly yelped, stumbling into something that sounded a lot like coins, and cursed. Kneeling to pick up the coins, you realised you had tripped into some beggar's coin jar.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!", you apologized, quickly picking up the coins and dropping them back into the jar. You raised your head to look the homeless man in the eyes, his haggard white hair and beard covering his face. " Are you okay?!"

"You cannot change fate. You will meet him when it is fated. Don't fight it."

Taken aback, you blinked once, then twice. "I-I'm sorry?"

"Don't question fate. Fate is decided, you will meet him when the time is right."

Your breathing quickened as you stared at the man, still kneeling. His beard was too white to be related to old age. His hair was too full and too shiny to be old. His eyes were too bright, his lips were too full, his skin was too-

You gasped as if someone had pulled you out of water right as you were drowning. You quickly jumped to your feet, backing away from the man.

"I-I'm sorry, I have to go!"

Quickly dropping a coin into his coin jar, you turned and took off running, cold sweat dropping down your face. It wasn't until you were a good three blocks away that you calmed down, panting.

Crossing the street, you murmured to yourself, "psycho old man, what the fuck was he try-"

Beep!

A horn sounded as you turned, car light's blinding you as the last thing you saw was a horrified expression of the driver as he surely ran you over.

For some reason, you felt no pain. Did you die? Probably...

You groaned, opening your eyes to see a dark mahogany ceiling, with floating candles. Hogwarts? Was Hogwarts heaven suddenly? Was this some software update you didn't know about?

"Ah, it seems your awake..."

You shrieked, jumping six feet into the air, and saw a man with bright red hair, and....horns?

Your wrist tingled, and you internally thought, was this furry your soulmate?

"My name is Diavolo, future king of Devildom, or as you humans may call it, Hell."

Your eyes widened. So you did die. And you didn't even go to heaven! But at least on the bright side, this furry...or whatever he was, wasn't your soulmate. So, yay?

"I know you must be confused right now, but allow me to explain. We were planning on bringing you here for some time as a part of an exchange student program. However, while we were about to summon you, you nearly got into a terrible car accident. Thankfully, albeit some mysterious reason, we were able to save you before you died. Now, let me introduce you to the demons you'll be living with."

And just like that, you were a human exchange student in Hell. The “demons” you were supposed to live with weren’t there when you first arrived, so you were told to live in the Purgatory Hall, with two angels and a suspicious looking human. After that day when you found your soulmate’s letter, you hadn’t seen it again. You knew two of the demons had their names start in L. Could one of them be your soulmate?

You were dying to meet them, but as that creepy old man, and practically everyone in your life had said, you had to wait for fate to make you two meet.

To be continued….

[livuyang]

snowfall director has now closed his account because he is facing criticism from novel and drama fans. fans were dissatisfied with the ending so he released an alternative ending for characters but this made them more mad. they said if he didn't put in the drama, there was no need to read it. they are also saying why they changed a rapist character and gave him a redemption arc, the director also cut a lot of situ and milan scenes (not due to censorship), he was the one who turned the female lead into a vampire they changed it, he changed also the ending in the novel, from it seems he gave extra scenes to ryan ren and cut from others characters. you can check it on weibo just searching chinese name of the drama. i will keep watch the drama but it's so sad seeing this.

the alternative end:

a few years later

△mi lan sat at the table and wrote a letter. the handwriting is beautiful but free and easy, quite in the style of shen zhiheng.

mi lan: (vo) mr. shen, i have also traveled all over the country, met many friends, and read many stories. i thought i would no longer remember the name shen zhiheng. however, everything i saw seemed to have your name written on it. i think this is the world you taught me.

△mi lan's room is piled with a lot of groceries, and the whole small room is like a grocery store. almost all the items that used to be in shen's mansion are preserved and placed in various positions within reach. there is also a piano in the sun.

mi lan: (vo) you once told me that you wanted to see when the prosperous era would come. i especially want to tell you about my experiences over the years. i have seen wars, sufferings, and the difficulties when it was first built, but i have also seen that this country is getting better and better. you… should be very happy, right?

△mi lan was walking on the street and happened to be standing at the door of a concert hall. there is a poster hanging outside the concert hall, which reads: the most mysterious pianist lan tianjin-hong kong concert.

△mi lan looked at the full moon on the poster and was lost in thought.

mi lan: (os) mr. shen, study hard and write, and see the world for you… you used newspapers back then, and now i use music. i am learning the path you have taken, moving forward step by step. i am so lonely, so lonely, i seem to have finally become you, so where are you?

mi lan: (laughing and whispering) i have waited for you year after year. waiting for the first spring rain every year. so today, i miss you especially.

△as soon as the words fell, mi lan seemed to feel a familiar breath, but when she turned around, she saw nothing.

2,

△situ weilian walked slowly through the cemetery, and then stood in front of one of the graves.

△situ weilian was holding a bunch of tuberose flowers. situ weilian slowly bent down and placed the bouquet in front of the tombstone.

△the tombstone reads: tomb of mother jin jingxue

△situ weilian stood in front of the tomb, looking at these three words.

△at this time, a descendant (female) of the jin family came to visit the tomb, and for the first time saw a young boy standing in front of jin jingxue's tomb. very curious.

descendant: hello, do you know grandma jingxue?

situ weilian: (chuckles) of course i know her. she is the most beautiful woman in tianjin.

descendant: (even more curious) i heard so too. my mother said that this grandma was the most fashionable person in tianjin. she never got married and lived a very chic life. it seems that your family has also received her kindness.

situ weilian: yes, you are right.

△situ weilian listened to this lively voice, and his expression gradually softened. the descendant placed the flowers.

△situ weilian slowly squatted down, looked at the name on the tombstone, and finally spoke in a low voice.

situ weilian: i'm sorry that i couldn't fulfill my promise to you. you must have left very disappointed.

△in front of the tombstone, only the flowers were shaking gently.

3.

△ sister zhang came out of the concert hall and grabbed mi lan.

sister zhang: the concert is about to start, where are you going?

△ mi lan couldn't help but take a few steps back, stretched out her hand to feel the falling rain, and smiled.

mi lan: sister zhang, i won't play in the concert hall today. i want to go to another place.

△ mi lan suddenly turned around and trotted.

4.

△ mi lan ran to a square, where there was an old piano, which was placed in the corner for tourists to use when the square was attracting customers.

△ mi lan suddenly walked over, sat down and started playing the piano.

△ the first song she played was the first song she learned when she was in the choir.

△ the spring rain gradually fell in the sound of the piano.

△ the crowd that had gathered to listen to the piano began to slowly disperse, until the whole square was filled with only the rustling sound of rain and the piano sound like a heaven and earth music.

△ in the rain, a man holding an umbrella slowly appeared on the square. the whole world seemed to have only one listener, but only this one listener.

△the sound of the piano gradually became softer.

△mi lan looked up at the man standing beside her, who stretched out his hand to shield her from the rain. it was shen zhiheng, whom she had not seen for a long, long time.

△mi lan stood up in disbelief, and slowly turned to look at shen zhiheng.

mi lan: you are… mr. shen.

△shen zhiheng held a pot of bright red camellia in his hand. he just looked at the much more mature mi lan tenderly. then he answered softly.

shen zhiheng: yes, i am. i'm back.

shen zhiheng: (os) mi lan, i crossed mountains and seas just to accompany you to listen to this spring rain.

△the rain hit the piano keys, as if it had become a melody again.

△the sky and the earth are getting farther away, just like the rising sun.

△the spring rain is falling down.

△the budding red camellia finally bloomed. the rain fell on the flowers, on the leaves, and in every corner of this world.

[telleroftime]

Today's dose of Bowser brainrot - imagine if one of the Kingdom's hosts a seasonal beach event where all the royals get to meet up and hang out in a less politically stressed environment. Picture the Kongs, the Koopas, Princess Peach, the Boos. All because one tropical kingdom wants to flaunt their friendliness.

So of course Bowser attends and in his natural fashion tries to gain Peach's attention. What he gains instead is Reader.

Reader is a merfolk. They're used to the royals partying near their favourite sunbathing spot and every since they first saw Bowser they had a sort of crush on him. The Koopa King's flamboyant nature made Reader laugh. They were in awe with his claims of love and were always surpised that the princess in pink never took him up on the offer.

Reader would have, and it takes a lot of prompting from the other merfolk to even get Reader to try and talk with him.

The sudden interaction startles Bowser at first. Fish aren't supposed to talk eventhough the only thing inherently fish-like about Reader is their tail. But they do. They talk and for once there's someone that's happy to talk to the king.

Reader shows him all their favourite spots. Their sunning rocks, the corals, how to 'surf' the giant eels. They show him things that the other royals never had to luxury of seeing. Bowser was the first. And his kids too, of course.

And yes.

Alternatively, following that merfolk beach event idea, Reader is more akin to a selkie. They and others of their species are content with the foreign royals visiting once per year though they never truly interact. They see eachother from a distance and that's it.

Well, that is until Reader leaves their shifting skin (I haven't decided if it'd be a seal or not or if it's just loosly based on selkies) and Bowser is the one that hands it back.

No idea if this is actual mythology or whether some fandom made it up, but that's akin to a proposal for Reader's culture. Well, more than that. Bowser, unknowingly, has wed Reader and now the two have to figure out what to do about it and how to fix the mess they're in.

Actually, that could be an idea all on it's own.

Plus I'm certain the proposal thing was fandom related but I like it so I'm calling creative liberty.

[butididntpourthewhiskeys]

50 Things I'm Convinced Taylor & Travis Do - End Game Edition 🏈❤️‍🩹🍂

Yes, I have tried being normal about this relationship. No, it didn't work. Don't take this too seriously. Just a little bit of fluff on this cold Sunday 🥹📚

Taylor sending Donna selfies of herself with Travis with the caption “we miss you!"

Travis walking around her house with Olivia on his arm going “she’s my favorite. now i know, she’s my favorite.”

Travis saying “You too” when the flight attendant on Taylor's jet tells him to enjoy the flight

Travis buying Taylor cough drops at the airport because there’s 13 inside, and the flavour reminded him of her

Taylor not being able to watch old The Voice Kids episodes anymore because it breaks her heart when the kids cry when they’re sent home.

Travis randomly ordering her lunch from a local sandwich shop whilst she’s rehearsing because he knows she forgets to eat and then gets lightheaded 

Taylor being used to a random sandwich and a diet coke being passed to her by her team and not even asking whose idea it was for her to take a quick lunch break 

Travis finding a note in Taylor’s phone from July with all his green and red flags listed, and quickly noticing that the red flags column only consists of “psychopath: eats pineapple on pizza"

Travis always folding his clothes neatly together whilst being in his own little world when unpacking his suitcase 

Travis texting Taylor to ask what her room service coffee order is whilst she’s in bed next to him talking to Tree on the phone 

Taylor waking up at night to Travis being unable to sleep and him murmuring “I just realized Donkey Kong is bullshit. He’s a gorilla, not a donkey. Our kids won’t play that game, it’s just too confusing.”

Travis never leaving the house without a pack of gum or mints in his pocket

Taylor grinding her teeth at night and Travis gently waking her up whenever she’s doing it with her face pressed against his chest, reminding her to wear her Invisaligns, and her replying with a tired “thanks, baby” before opening her mouth to put them in half asleep

Taylor being silly and placing her index finger on his nose whenever he naps, asking him to say “oink” 

Travis wanting Taylor to get a dog and naming it “Donut”

Travis having a favorite pen and not letting Taylor touch it 

Taylor asking Travis to run his hands through her hair when she’s too restless to fall asleep after the show 

Travis always waking Taylor up if she decides to sleep past 3pm and peppering her face with kisses 

Scott refusing to call Travis any other name than “Trav” 

Taylor occasionally asking Travis to hold her hand when she’s got trouble falling asleep and feels anxiety rising in her chest 

When Taylor moves away from him in the middle of the night, Travis always wakes up and pulls her back to him, mumbling “Where do you think you’re going, get back here,” with his eyes still closed

Whenever they haven’t seen each other in a few days, Taylor asking Travis if it’s okay for him to share his pillow with her as she feels too far away from him on her side of the bed

Travis kissing the pad of her thumb whenever her hands are on his face as the sun rises 

Taylor mumbling “stop being so hot” whenever he flips his pillow to the cool side at night

Taylor before shows always promising Travis that she’s fine and no, she doesn’t want to talk about it, even though he knows minutes later she’ll be spilling her guts, listing off everything that could go wrong.

Travis always explaining to Taylor that his clothes need “a pop of color” and “a pop of swag” because “no one can be sad with a pop of color and some swag”

Taylor squeezing his bum when he walks by the bed to charge his phone, and her mumbling “tight end” 

Travis always sending dozens of picture into the group chat with Taylor’s family, making sure to take a picture of any eras tour movie banner he sees, every Taylor Swift mention at the airport, even sending them selfies of himself with a picture of her on the cover of some trashy magazine 

Travis always being the last one to sit down at the table whenever they go out to dinner with her family as he doesn’t want to intrude

Scott texting Travis the latest NFL odds and Travis pretending like he didn’t know and thanking Scott for the update 

Travis always noticing when Taylor gets nervous, because her chest starts heaving and she starts picking her finger nails whilst she’s in the car, which he always stops by grabbing her hand and leading it to his mouth to give each finger a gentle little kiss 

Taylor always apologizing to Travis whenever there’s fans screaming as soon as they see the two together 

Travis dancing around the hotel room in his boxers singing “Olé Olé Olé Taylor” whenever she doesn’t want to get up for her flight in the morning 

Taylor not struggling to fall asleep or doze off in his arms at all, because she’s never felt safer with anyone, no matter where she is: bathtub, airplane, car seat, sun bed, couch, hotel bed, whirl pool, dinner chair.

Travis thanking Scott and Andrea for doing the dirty thirty-four years ago and Taylor hitting him hard on her birthday 

Taylor having a note on her phone with baby names that start with a "T"

Taylor sometimes secretly wishing she’d never had written a love song for anyone before Travis 

Travis just randomly staring at Taylor whenever she speaks and her not noticing, but Andrea just smiling at him quietly 

Travis always asking Taylor to say “three thin thieves” whenever she’s wearing her Invisaligns in bed, and him dying laughing every time 

Travis being able to sense whenever Taylor is about to get emotional or upset over something, and his left hand automatically wandering to her lower back, and the other one to her right hand because he can't stand any space between them when she needs him.

Taylor waking up sweaty at night from a nightmare, and Travis pulling her closer with his eyes still closed going “I got you. I got you, baby.”

Taylor asking Travis to turn up the TV real loud when she’s going to the hotel bathroom in the morning and him overdoing it so that they both end up yelling at each other to communicate through the noise 

Travis whispering a low “oh, i love you so much” whenever Taylor turns around at night and opens her eyes confusedly for a second 

Travis claiming the little curly strand of hair on her bangs “his” whenever she’s sweaty after her show 

Taylor laughing while answering emails in bed because she hears Travis singing “big reputation, big reputation” over and over again in the shower and it sounds absolutely horrible

Travis watching her perform and just shaking his head over and over again because he can’t believe how talented the woman who he wakes up next to every day really is. 

Taylor and Travis both being worried to leave the cats alone with his dogs because they both know that her cats will outsmart the doggies and find ways to scare them

Taylor holding up one of Travises giant sweaters in front of her mom while doing laundry and saying “have you ever seen something like this? king kong. I'm dating the king kong.” 

Travis sometimes waking up at night and watching Taylor sleep whilst making sure their noses touch gently. Gently enough to make sure she won’t wake up.

Taylor running into Travises arms after each show, kissing him with a giggle on her face and him whispering a gentle “my angel” against her lips without anyone else noticing.

[le-panda-chocovore]

TojiShiu Headcannon

At some point, just to see how Shiu would react, Toji tried to learn a few korean words. He also practiced saying Shiu's entire name with the actual korean pronunciation and when he found the result kinda good, he used it

The first time he called him Gong Si-Woo, the middleman stopped everything and turned to him very slowly. "How did you call me ?" He asked, eyes wide open in surprise.

"Kong... Gong Si-Woo ? Did I said it wrong ? That's it, right ? Shiwoo ? Si-Woo ?" Toji started to doubt and feel stupid because the korean man doesn't react at first, then a huge, genuine, and gorgeous smile appeared on Shiu's face. It was so bright and warm and pure that Toji felt his heart exploding. After that, Shiu was like a bright sun, his smile never left his face. He even insisted on paying food in an expensive restaurant for Toji, who didn't complain about it.

Later, Toji added, "Wait, I actually learned a few other things." And after Shiu encouraged him to tell him, he finally let out a shy "Ahjussi" because he's not sure of that one.

Shiu looked at him for a few seconds before crashing his mouth against Toji's lips and kissing him feriously. He let his hands run on the strongest man's body while he licked against the scarred lips then into the wet mouth.

"Wait-" Toji managed to say between the kisses. "Does me speaking korean make you horny ?"

Shiu groaned against his lips, capturing them again, then went for his neck.

"It does," Toji affirmed his own hypothesis since the middleman was too busy living lovebites and hickeys to answer him. "Are you hard already ?"

"Yes," Shiu breathed out sharply, hands already on Toji's ass. "Can I blow you or do you want me to put it directly ?"

Toji snorted and stole a kiss against the man's lips. "Do whatever you want, Ahjussi ~"

Needless to say it was the most incredible sex they'd ever had.

[quitealotofsodapop]

How does Shihua react to the fact the monkey in front of her is, for all intents and purposes, a version of her son that grew up orphaned and, based on the story he told of the Stone Palace being abandoned, had not even known his own inheritance until kong after he had taken it

Prev.

Shihua is saddened for this version of Shihou - this "Sun Wukong" who fell through space and time.

Not only was her elder son born orphaned, but without any of his kind, save for the long-passed Storyteller/Elder who found him.

And from what Wukong knows, her younger son Luzhen, may not even exist in his world.

Yes, Shihua's heart aches for her son. And her people.

But a part of her is proud.

Her son, even when left with nothing, still made himself into a King in his own right. Rebuilt the Stone Palace from ruins twice over. Accepted any and all primate demons with open arms. Has made the gods and Heaven itself shake with his drive to protect those he cares for. Even if the outcomes were not always ideal.

She is also very curious.

As it seems that her son and his fated fiancé are already married in that other world. With a cub too!

As much as she wishes to help the interdimensional castaways - part of her aches to let her son and his troop go.

[gaybd1]

So my favorite character in The Brothers Sun is Taiwan. Like yeah Taiwan has its own shows and movies but it just feels Different to see Taiwan in a big international/American show! It’s SO cool actually and so um here are some thoughts I had and things I Noticed about different Taiwan scenes and things in the show idk

Episode 1

the opening shot of Taipei tells us this is a Thursday- the top of 101 is green and is a different color every day of the week

that corkscrew-shaped apartment building we see Charles living in is kind of an urban legend here in Taipei. They say it’s the most expensive place to live in the city, that each apartment has its own swimming pool, and that there’s an elevator specifically to bring cars up to display in your living room. No idea if the interiors look like that for real though

I was gonna say it’s pretty crazy he has an American-style oven in Taipei bc nobody does but actually in that apartment… yeah he probably would

afaik there’s not a way to (“legally”/officially) stream any of those famous British baking shows here rip

I do wonder if they actually filmed the opening scene in the corkscrew building or if they just really pay attention to detail because the skyline seen out the window matches up to what it would really look like from that part of the city

the shoes, I mean we all know about shoes-off houses but yeah

豆漿. Soy milk. Yeah

They definitely eat Hi-chews in one of these scenes

Episode 2

It makes way more sense for the guys to have snuck out for shaved ice as kids than youtiao… I’m just saying… like would *I* do that yes but it’s usually just like. A thing you eat with soup or breakfast

Episode 3

“Are you sure you can handle-“ “the heat? I’m from Taiwan.” lmfao BITCH Taiwan has some of the blandest cuisine I’ve ever tasted (he does think it’s too spicy tho lol)

“Keelung. A fishing village just north of Taipei.” Okay like I can see how the older generation would call it that but it’s actually a whole ass city…

Episode 5

Not a Taiwan thing but the Maotai made me laugh. It’s like the Coca Cola of Chinese baijiu and imho it’s just as awful as every other brand

Episode 6

ok the episode that made me want to make this list

the Costco shit IS funny because vitamins, baby formula, that’s all the good stuff you want to bring back from abroad BUT actually we have Costco in Taiwan and can easily get a lot of that stuff? This concept imo would fit a lot better for China than Taiwan. It’s still very much a thing to load your suitcase up with baby formula on the way home to China, and there’s actually a huge smuggling business bringing it in through Hong Kong but I digress

Idk why I’m happy to hear Changhua and Douliu mentioned in an American TV show… Seriously, I don’t know. They’re kind of like nowhere places I’ve never even been. I just feel like everyone’s grandparents live there.

Even the way they film Mama Sun on the plane. Like the Mandarin music in the background with the announcement for Taoyuan airport… to me it feels specifically like a transpacific flight to Taiwan lolol but that’s definitely like a bias probably

Okay not to be SO nitpicky but so when she looks out the window on the plane to see Taipei 101 etc I’m not sure about that? The airport is actually in another city and I feel like I usually come in around and over the ocean or something?

But WOW the taxi scene my favorite scene it’s SO visceral and SO Taiwan… the street, the lights, the Cosmed/Mos Burger/7-Eleven, the street noises, like I can FEEL Taiwan through the screen and HER FACE taking it all in I WANT TO SOB

The temple, beautiful like this episode makes me believe Michelle Yeoh is Taiwanese lol

I appreciate the viscerality of the night market shots too but it seemed a bit empty

Okay so Mama Sun’s mom is super rich too based on where she lives which I guess it makes sense. But what I am curious about is the story about why they’re speaking Cantonese because Taiwan has a lot of languages but that’s not one of them like officially at all. I wonder if there’s a character backstory there or they just like. Didn’t want to bother teaching Michelle how to speak Minnan or something

The cemetery too is so fancy, I mean it fits but wow that’s expensive real estate

In the hospital scene, Taipei 101 is lit blue out the window, making it a Friday. Has everything in the show so far happened in only 8 days?

Episode 7

“Last night the Boxers made their move” 101 says it’s Tuesday for anyone keeping track

I LOST it at the Foodpanda driver assassin the first time I saw this… So Taiwan

Big fancy church in Taipei? I know they exist but I’ve never seen one in person (like 2%? of the country is Christian)

A mom bringing back tea as a souvenir from Taiwan? 100% real

Episode 8

RAW is a real restaurant in Taipei. It’s very fancy and very expensive and had I think two Michelin stars. I don’t know ANYONE who’s actually been there lol

[godzillajuniorreborn]

I am so SICK of gatekeepers in the Godzilla fandom. I am sick of people lashing out at Toho, I am sick of people lashing out at Legendary, I am sick of people lashing out at IDW, and I am especially sick of people lashing out at Tristar. Yes, Tristar gave us a dud in the form of Godzilla '98, however, at the end of the day, it's just a bad movie, but you people treat it like it took your puppy and shot it right in front of you.

We are living in the golden age of Godzilla content right now, and we now have new movies and content coming from Toho and new movies as well as a reboot of King Kong in America, not to mention IDW pumping out new comics on a monthly basis. Godzilla hasn't been this mainstream since the 70s or the 90s, maybe even more so. So, kindly do me a favor and grow up.

I do NOT need people attacking new fans for liking the MonsterVerse movies or the new Toho movies, or even the 1998 film. We are all Godzilla fans here, so kindly get your heads out of where the sun don't shine and get over it.

[nathsketch]

You have asked me if my LotR pieces were available for purchase, and yes yes, they are :)

My shop is currently in birthday sale mode (40% off!), during the month of August (another trip around the sun 😳, sheesh), and you can find these and many other artworks here ⬅️

Also, more locations have been added to the list of countries I can ship to, for example, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. I'm still hoping that New Zealand will be open soon! Please bear with me NZ friends!

Happy Sunday, precious! 🍃

Find me here: Instagram | Website & Portfolio

[maspers]

Ranking the Miracucast by good they are at playing UNO

Marinette: She has a strategy. She plays to win. Her family has been playing UNO since before Marinette was in nursery school. She is ruthless and takes no chances. There are no allies in UNO. ...She still ends up losing more often than not because that's just how UNO is. 7/10

Alya: She's mostly just at the table for fun, and really enjoys how into it her friends get. 4/10

Adrien: Yes. 10/10

Nino: You would not expect this man to be good at UNO. But everyone just kind of... ignores him? He just casually goes along causing no drama, until he's the first person to call "UNO!" and everyone wheels around in their seats to face him with shocked looks on their faces. Adrien, however, can see right through Nino's facade and the moment Nino says "UNO!" both of them know that it's on like Donkey Kong. 9/10

Chloe: She has no idea whatsoever how to play, but she refuses to lose to Marinette. There is drama. There is house rules. There is drama about house rules. But they keep inviting Chloe back to the table because when she plays she also *hosts* the game at Le Grand Paris, and while they may not be good at much the Bourgeois family DOES know how to host events better than anyone else. 5/10

Sabrina: Initially didn't participate and was just there to act as Chloe's valet. Then one day she joined the table and curbstomped everyone, then went back to helping set up the snacks like it never happened. This has happened a couple times since then, and nobody understands it. Adrien and Nino have begged her to teach them, and she acts like she doesn't know what they're talking about. The only person to ever match Sabrina in a game of UNO was Marinette's mother Sabine, and all the players that were involved in that game signed an NDA stating they can't reveal who won. I have no justification for any of this, but I can feel it in my bones. 11/10

Mylene: Surprisingly vicious, but experienced players have no difficulty dispatching her. 6/10

Ivan: Unfortunately he is not very good at this game. There was one time he actually won though, with a pretty good strategy, and his smile was brighter than the sun. Since then everyone has wanted him to win again, but none of them are willing to sacrifice their own chances of victory for it. Ivan doesn't mind. He's just happy to be included. 2/10

Rose: Everyone expects her to be secretly good at this game for some reason. She doesn't understand why. She's pretty average at the game, but enjoys when she plays a card normally and everyone else glances around in a panic. This is fun! 4/10

Juleka: By herself she's a little better than average, but she's a real menace when Luka is also in the room. She knows all his tells and micro-expressions, and since Luka is Luka (see below) that means she knows everything. There have been talks of banning the Couffaine Twins from playing in the same round as each other, but such a ban was pretty impossible to enforce. 8/10 by proxy

Kim: In regular UNO he's a complete failure, but when the group is playing with large amounts of house rules he starts doing really really well. Not on purpose. Most of the time, however, he just shows up to eat snacks and arm wrestle with Ivan in the background while everyone else plays. 3/10

Max: Like with every game he's played, he knows ALL the strategies. Card percentages, color probabilities, the works. He should, by all accounts, be an expert at this game. But he does not understand the Heart Of The Cards and so he keeps losing. 6/10

Alix: Is definitely cheating. All the time. Everyone knows it. And it hurts, because Alix is legitimately good at the game too. Her classmates are begging for a regular game, but she just loves seeing what weird stuff she can get away with. Alix/10

Nathaniel: He wasn't particularly interested in the game originally, but then someone (Chloe maybe?) commissioned him to make a massive custom deck with original art based on the superheroes. Since he makes the cards, he somehow also became the judge on what can and cannot become a permanent house rule, since that often leads to new cards being made. He's still really awful at the game itself, but everyone showers him with praise and view his title as Deck Keeper as worthy of unparalleled respect. And since he made the cards, he's the only one capable of countering Heart Of The Cards bullcrap. 5/10

Lila: Has literally never played UNO before, though she will never admit it. 0/10

Luka: The jury's still out on whether or not his inner music hyper-empathy counts counts as cheating or not. Since they can't prove he's using it to know what everyone is feeling about their cards and plays, he's still permitted at the table. But the fact remains that he's very good at this the game. 8/10

Kagami: She has absolutely no idea what she is doing. The amount of cards in her hand sometimes gets so large Felix or Adrien has to provide one of their hands to help hold them. But she is also having the most fun she's had in a long, long time. So let's focus on the positives, shall we? -10/10

Marc: He swears the deck is not rigged in his favor. Nathaniel asserts there's no way he COULD rig the deck in Marc's favor, and Max ran the numbers to prove it. But somehow every time the group starts a new round Marc draws his cards and yup full of wild cards again. 6/10

Ondine: This was Kim's idea of a date. Ondine was not impressed. But she did stay for the snacks, and at least gave it the old college try. UNO just isn't her vibe, and that's okay. 1/10

Aurore: Doesn't usually play with everyone else, but she DOES know how to play, and one time she was asked to join a game when most of the group was unavailable and they needed more players. It was a bit awkward because she's a big Adrien fangirl and is used to playing with a different set of house rules, but they made it work, and fun was had. 4/10

Felix: He tries. He tries so hard. Everyone was wary when he joined the table, but there fears were unfounded because Felix is absolutely pathetic at UNO. He has the rules memorized. He keeps track of all the house rules meticulously, which interestingly means he's very good at keeping the game running smoothly. Everyone turns to him when there's uncertainty about a particular situation. But he just can not win. Ever. He doesn't even get close. He's managed to call "UNO" a grand total of once in his lifetime, and that was because the rest of his cards ended up in Kagami's hand instead somehow. It's awful. It's mortifying. He's a chess prodigy, an expert tactician, how has he been reduced to this? 1/10

Zoe: Was really excited to play, and let out a squeal of joy when she saw Nath's custom cards. She knows how to play really well, and was really quick on the uptake when it came to all the house rules, too. Since she's around technically the group no longer needs Chloe to host, but Chloe took that as a challenge to be an EVEN. BETTER. HOST. Zoe is not complaining, less work for her. And she still beats he sister most of the time, so it's all good. 7/10

[alarici]

Mercury

Character: Near | Nate River

600 words | Teen and Up Audiences | No Warnings | General Pairing (none)

The planet closest to the sun.

(This is just kind of a depression wank of sorts. Again!)

Content warn: mental illness, gender issues, disability and maybe internalized ableism, brief mention of sex.

Full text below cut

The counselor asks them, “When was the last time you did something because you wanted to do it?”

And they don’t answer. There are many answers on the tip of their tongue.

“I solved a million-piece puzzle yesterday, and the day before that, also.”

“I bought myself a leg brace. I don’t use it.”

“I slept with a man from the Hong Kong police force on 21 October 2011.”

The answer isn’t no, not exactly. But Near doesn’t say anything.

The counselor sighs and moves on.

“So, have you read the Dialectical Behavior Therapy book I gave you?”

“Yes. I don’t agree with chapter seven and eight.”

Tsk.

—

A week later, Near cancels their next haircut.

The next day, they ask Roger to drive them to the town center and leave them there. They walk into a store at random—they never enter a store without knowing what it sells, if it sells what they want, it it’s open for the ten minutes they can spare to window shop—and stand between the woman’s section and the men’s. Casuals. Dresses.

Shoes.

—

What you are is what you’re supposed to be. You were made as the Christian god intended.

And what did he intend? A mass of flesh and bone. A fleshy chest and narrow hips. The face of a child, now pushing twenty five.

Near doesn’t believe in gods they can’t see.

Near doesn’t fit nicely into many Boolean categories—or, they fit into all of them poorly and agree to fall to the side that’s been suggested, what’s been easiest.

True. False.

Error. Error. False.

Here’s the facts: To do what you want is to introduce uncontrollable variables. To bend and break plans, schedules, rules. To place your toe in uncertain lands and hope the grass is greener where you cannot see.

—

Alone in their room, they twist ten centimeters of hair between their thumb and their pointer finger and listen to the whip of the loop as it turns.

The ceiling is very far away. Under the skin, something tickles, squirms, insists to be felt.

If you don’t like the way your life is, change it.

Near is invisible and everywhere at once. A great man, an overgrown child. They look at the dark ceiling and make a map of their life. Destination: I didn’t think I’d make it so far.

The tyranny, the lie, of choices gnaws at them.

When was the last time…?

Near wants to rest. Wants to have long hair, like the woman in the magazine. Wants to walk ten miles in the snow. Wants to hold something or someone close enough to feel their own pulse. How complicated, this job of being human.

They cancel their next appointment. Nobody mandated the therapy. The Dialectical Behavior Therapy was not the correct treatment for them. They did not feel emotions strongly. They were not mad.

The internet suggests EMDR. They buy another set of clothing, a size to big. They try on the leg brace, again. They check their skin in the mirror and don’t look at the eyes.

They plan to take a walk on Tuesday at 6 AM so no one will see how slowly it goes. How difficult. Nor the way they smile at the geese and play guessing games with the cumulonimbus. You’re too old for such pastimes.

Someone will call them, “ma’am.” Another, “kid.” Most frequently, “Sir.” Nothing sits right. Not the shoes from the store. Not the leg brace.

But they want to walk on.

They have to. Which isn’t a want, at all.