#without sacrificing literal pacing

[not-poignant]

so you kind of covered this when talking about how many alphas/omegas there were at hillview, but do you think you could go more in detail with the layout of the buildings or just the land in general? it would be wonderful to have a clearer picture of it while reading!

Tbh the things I want folks to focus on most - like the landscape, the beach, the vegetated sand dunes, even the names of the trees in the forests and the wildlife, get described quite a bit in Underline the Black.

As to the cottages themselves, they're being described over time as the characters experience them. So the colour of the rugs on the floor have been mentioned, the towels in Dr Gary's bathroom, the decor in his office, the material of the floor etc. Underline the Black mentions the colour of the bricks and even the actual brand of the metal used for the roofing (as well as the colour).

I don't know if I'll ever draw an actual map, but it's quite easy to search for images of the south west of Western Australia, of the places mentioned nearby in the Underline stories (Yallingup, Margaret River, Dunsborough, Donnybrook etc.) and of the trees to get an idea of what the place looks like (Karri, Jarrah). (Same with the beaches in that area). The specific reason I mention these kinds of things is so that people have keywords they can search if they want to see more specific images of the location. :)

Beyond that I don't want to go into too much detail, so that folks can come up with something that works for them, vs. something really specific.

But there's been thousands of words devoted just to describing the landscape / setting in four different Underline stories. (Both Nate and Flitmouse describe the landscape in some detail in Underline the Blue and Underline the Gold, and Faber talks a lot about the surrounding areas which you can also Google in Underline the Red). Highly recommend googling some of the places / trees / etc. already mentioned.

[zykamiliah]

people who think lbh ever had a crush on sj when he was literally 10 YEARS OLD (or younger!!!) do not understand him. i do not trust you with his character.

that child wanted someone TO TAKE CARE OF HIM!!!! that he was starstruck by shen jiu's immortal appearance, by that otherworldly immortal CHOOSING HIM!!!!! (this is the important bit!) doesn't mean he "had a crush". please. don't cheapen lbh's complexity like that. he thought he was getting a shifu, a shizun, a father figure. and that hope got completely obliterated the same day, and over and over with each pacing day, as the years went by.

"You were supposed to love me because you choose me" it's SOOOO daddy issues coded, c'mon.

do you know how many things SY!SQQ had to do to WIN Binghe over????? let me make you a list of the many times SY!SQQ was kind and the effect it had on Binghe:

--Giving Binghe medicine to treat his wounds (that didn't win Binghe's heart, it make him wary of this new development)

--Making Binghe ride with him on the carriage AND smiling at him (that didn't win Binghe's heart, but it made him go doki doki)

--When the OOC lock unfroze, promising that he would protect BInghe from the on (that didn't win Binghe's heart, but it did soften him and made him believe in SQQ, since the words were backed by his actions against the Skinner demon in order to save LBH and NYY)

--Giving Binghe a new cultivation manual ((that didn't win Binghe's heart, but "SHIZUN GAVE THIS TO ME!" For someone who doesn't have anything, being gifted something so precious was really meaningful)

--At the demon invasion, VERBALLY and OPENLY stating that he was 1000% sure Binghe would win. (that didn't win Binghe's heart-- no no, wait, this is it. This is truly the start of it all, because SQQ BELIEVED IN HIM. Listen. Listen. That level of blind faith was something that REWIRED Binghe's brain. He had NO ONE to believe in him until then!)

--When SQQ got poisoned by Without a Cure to protect Binghe, at the cost of his own life (BANG!!!!!! HERE WE GO!! The beginning of the congee making saga!! )

--Protecting Binghe FROM HIMSELF in the dream realm

--Treating him as the specialest boy in the world for almost 3 years

it's VERY IMPORTANT to understand that what won Binghe's love was Shen Qingqiu's UNCONDITIONAL LOVE: the willingness to put himself in harm's way to protect Binghe, give Binghe what he needs (a proper place to sleep, attention, encouragement, lessons, access to knowledge, etc), caring for Binghe in any way necessary, taking REVENGE on Binghe's name to punish his bullies; and the decisiveness with which he did all that, the fact that Shen Qingqiu never ever truly regrets sacrificing himself for and loving Binghe.

and with all that in one side, Binghe decided to RECIPROCATE. because that's just how he loves, and what he felt SQQ's love for him deserved in turn.

it was never "woah pretty immortal 😳"

now, after everything i've said, do you actually think that someone like Shen Jiu would EVER qualify for the esteemed position of "Binghe's loved one"?

pd: well, the sexual attraction does mean he actually went "pretty immortal 😳" at some point, but it's not like that would be enough for binghe lol the unconditional love made the attraction stronger. if the novel hadn't gone that route, sqq would have been just binghe's sexual awakening

[icantbelieveitsnotbutler]

Symbolism of Tower Bridge

December 1875: a committee is formed to create a new river crossing, which ends up being Tower Bridge. Ciel is born the same month.

1886: January: contract formed. March: Ciel officially becomes Earl of Phantomhive. April: construction of Tower Bridge begins.

June 1894: Tower Bridge officially opened.

I have four theories, the first being the most obvious:

One: The bridge represents Ciel. Between 1875 and 1886, Ciel is a child without a destiny, nascent like the bridge.

In 1886, construction begins on both the bridge and the man Ciel is to become. He's still just a child, but now with the responsibility of the earldom and the goal of revenge, his identity begins to truly develop.

The bridge will be completed in 1894. This could correspond with the year Ciel will die, which doesn't seem likely as the manga seems to be coming to an end soon. It could also represent when he would reach adulthood around 19-20 years of age. Even if he doesn't reach that age, Sebastian's comment, that "it will require quite a bit more time before it is finished," could still apply to Ciel. The time he needs to finish growing is time he doesn't have.

Two: the bridge represents Ciel and Sebastian's contract. Construction of the bridge and formation of the contract both happen in 1886, but the groundwork started being laid in 1975. The bridge, because that's when planning began, and the contract, because Ciel's birth is the first event in the chain led to him summoning a demon.

This would mean that their contract would end in 1894, which, again, doesn't mesh with the speed at which we seem to be approaching the end. A timeskip or drastic change of pace are possible, but might make the ending seem rushed.

Three: the bridge represents Undertaker's (or someone else's) plans. This theory takes the first statement, "The plans were laid around the time you were born," literally. The birth of the Phantomhive heir caused Undertaker, or the queen, or whoever was behind the burning of the manor, to conceive of a plan, the first step of which was the attack on the manor that killed Vincent and Rachel. The end goal of those plans will be fulfilled in 1894. This doesn't require Ciel to be alive.

The rest of this theory and the next contain manga spoilers.

In the case of Undertaker, if his plans are to put the cinematic records of both twins together in one body, the completion of the bridge (or the meeting of the walkways at the top, which will happen sooner than the actual completion) could parallel this.

Four: the bridge represents the twins, with each side representing one twin. The "plans" for their conflict were laid around when they were born and "contruction" of the conflict began when r!Ciel was sacrificed to summon a demon. The completion of the bridge or the meeting of the walkways could represent the final showdown between the twins.

[vectorisheree]

The relationship / dynamic between TSAMS Sun and Solar is so important to me I'm going to explode like you're really just going to drop the fact that Solar's mindscape is literally shaped after a scene from Charlie and the chocolate factory not because he likes the movie (well, he off handily comments on it 'I did like the mike TV section I guess' but last part comes off as him trying to justify why his mind is based off of it rather than him actually confirming that he enjoys the movie) but because he watched it with ,assumedly, his Sun?? Solar doesn’t specify which Sun he is speaking of (technically, he normally does clarify if he's talking about his home dimension so he's probably talking about our Sun rather than his but let me pretend)

(Putting a cut because this ended up way longer than I thought it was)

Also, personal head cannon for why Sun hasn't really been around on TSAMS since Eclipse came back is because Solar would never forgive himself if he even let the possibility of his brother/cousin getting hurt by himself happen again. Solar has already expressed guilt about how he believes his Sun’s fate is his fault (which it totally wasn’t!! His Sun knew the risks and chose to put himself at risk for Solar’s sake, which honestly shows how close they were that they’d both sacrifice themselves for each other), there’s absolutely no way he’d let another Eclipse hurt a Sun. Like Solar would have literally sacrificed himself for the chance of his Sun getting better as seen back when Eclipse came back the first time and Moon wanted to blow him up with the satellite where he only asks Moon to try to fix his Sun in return for him litterally dying (Which I'm pretty sure Moon never does??) and the fact that he was (sort of) willing to have his original body taken apart by his Moon in the hopes that his Sun would be able to use it

Sun and Solar rarely have one on one interactions (honestly, the only time that really comes to mind is the candy corn video but even then Solar was sort of forced into that situation as he probably wouldn’t be able to get out of the day care without getting eaten or something lol) which I personally think is because of Solar’s guilt, whether it’s because seeing Sun reminds him of his Sun and what happened to him or if he feels like he doesn’t deserve to be friends with Sun after what he feels he did (which could also be why he distances himself from the rest of the family by making himself the ‘cousin’ even though the others see him as close, Moon calls him 'family' when he gives Solar his house address (which is obviously very important and personal information, showing how much he trusts him) and Earth and Lunar list him as their ‘sibling’ in their tier list video) or both

(Apologies if this comes off as very sporadic, it's just the first time putting it into words JFAWJKFKJWAKFJ Like every time I think about this I have to go pace around to calm down like ???? hello???)

[tazienimp]

Haunted

(Tw for Janice and Janice related activities, also eyestrain. And super far down, super complicated timeline jargon that will probably become outdated sometime soon so, beware.)

I'm starting to talk like you do.

I can't remember

WHO I AM.

THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED, RIGHT?!?!

(Recommended song for the long lore read)

There's times where Doom's husband looks at him, and he can tell by his eyes alone, that that's not Mephy.

It wasn't enough for Janice to abuse Mephiles. It wasn't enough for her to continously try and kill his child out of blind jealousy and rage and in a fight for control. No she had to go beyond petty domestic abuse.

Although she's dead, she never left. She toys with Mephy in his sleep and makes him experience all of his worst fears and memories night after night, she fucks with his words and makes him a liar and a manipulator where only his most subtle of actions speak of who he really is, she turns him into a monster when he's angry enough that she can take the reigns, she's all but destroyed what little hope there was for him to be normal, turned him into her puppet.

All this and he has no idea he's haunted, that when he killed her she never released her razor sharp grip from his skin, and no one else knows either, everyone believes, that's who he is, that's who he always was. But Doom has always known something's not right. No, something's completely fucked when Mephiles looks at him like this. When he goes quiet, and all that's left is the molten, unadulterated hatred in his eyes.

However it's only there for a brief instant and then it's gone. It's a short enough window where Doom doesn't question it, he only assumes it's Mephy being upset, this is just how he is.

It fills Janice with great pride to know she's still fucking up her husband's life from the inside out. Just like she did all those years ago. The only thing that's changed for her is the body that she's in.

So, as you could probs tell, the other one was a warmup. You literally can't go into the Janice stuff raw without a bit of a warmup, yanno? This is the main course, and i hope you all enjoy~ i despise her but she's also been seeping into more of the lore lately, whether it be mentions of her or her signature color. So naturally i figured, yanno, why not shed some more light on this fucking boogeyman of a woman. She is the villain of my entire au, after all. At least, of the Corrupted/Neutral branch.

Now, warning, this is gonna get hella confusing, I'm gonna be talking about updated timeline nonsense. Stuff that i had to grab notes for, and i rarely have to do that with my au. So if you'd rather hop off now, this is your time to do so. Otherwise, class is in session.

The Corrupted/Neutral branch consists of:

- Corrupted

- Neutral (Genderbent doesn't count cause it's just Neutral but fucked in a completely different way)

- Second Chance

- Doomsday

- Kidnapped

- Abandoned

- Found

- Cult

- Arcane

- Overprotection

- Faithless

- Faith

- Hopeless

- Hope

- Rekindled

- Restored

- Liberation

These are all of the, at the moment, timelines that have happened the way they did because Janice existed for the first Mephiles, Phantom.

She drove him crazy. Just like Neutral Mephy, he killed her and spent three days pacing and ripping his face out of all the pictures in the house. He found the purple emerald which heightened his madness. He sacrificed Janice's kids to the void for power in the case he ever didn't have a chaos emerald on him, ensuring the Void's grip on him. He committed 06, yet he didn't forgive Sonic and Elise, so he died. As a ghost, he tried, and tried, and failed, over and over again to find a version of himself who would agree to forgive them and reset time to fix everything. Then he trapped that Mephiles, Neutral Mephy, for 15-16 years in the void and made him patch the Neutral Timeline so that what happened to Corrupted wouldn't happen to Neutral.

In doing so, he woke up his own dead children, and they began consuming time and space. So Phantom fucked around with the Neutral timeline, to create other timelines. Mainly Second Chance, Doomsday, Kidnapped, and Abandoned. Those four Crys's and Ames's were yanked into Corrupted with Neutral Crys and Ames, and the five pairs of counterparts were forced to fight their baby variants to protect every timeline.

Every timeline that has cropped up after that is a split, a twin, married into the timeline, or a child timeline of two other timeline.

Faith, Hope, and Rekindled are child timelines to Hopeless and Faithless, specifically, with Hopeless being married into the branch. Hope and Rekindled cannot exist without each other, while Faith can only exist by itself, technically creating a multi-timeline paradox

Overprotection is an early split of Neutral while Faithless is a later split from Neutral.

Cult and Arcane, twin timelines, are super early splits from Abandoned and Kidnapped (two more twin timelines), while Found and Liberation are later splits of Abandoned. The original Mephiles from Cult and Arcane, not the ones currently there, has been turned into Subject from Hopeless, while Mephiles does not naturally exist in Hopeless. The Mephiles's currently residing in Cult/Arcane, as mentioned before, was Abandoned/Kidnapped Mephiles. Yes that does mean there are 4 of this specific variant of him, and every single one of them are drastically different.

And Restored, is a split of Corrupted. A timeline where the ghost of Neutral Mephy is accidentally sent back to the very first timeline and stops Phantom from killing Sonic right before it's too late.

And of course, Neutral is the first split. The one that led to the creation of all other timelines.

Time is not relative. Time does not exist in a straight line. You cannot kill a timeline unless its strand residing in the void is destroyed/consumed. Time branches. It creates hybrid, child timelines with other timelines. It goes through similar reproduction to plants, fungi, and bacteria, spreading and growing their own strands within the void until eventually there will be an unending winding forest of them. If there is the possibility of a change drastic enough to change time, it creates a whole new timeline. And each timeline will crop up at different times, but every timeline will match up with each others' present, making the Void and time itself a truly eldritch creature.

Each timeline is biologically different in some shape or form. So you get errors. Deviations. Things that aren't possible in another timeline. People who act ever so slightly different on a fundamental level, or who look just a little off from their counterparts for seemingly no reason. If it weren't for these biological differences, timelines would not exist outside of mere tampering. Yet there are constants. Red strings of fate, the reassigning of souls, deaths that cannot be undone, only exchanged for other lives.

And all of this. Every single bit of this madness. Is due to Phantom, wanting to give the world another chance, give humanity another chance, live a normal life, do what he thought normal people did.

And he picked the one mortal woman who could fuck up reality itself and give the Void true sentience.

Sentience that has been influenced by people it favors.

Janice is my secret villain. Janice is the reason everything happened. Phantom would have never killed her and gone mad if she hadn't done the things she did to him. Things that i can only partially mention. And now, she haunts a handful of timelines by still being physically present, residing in the body of her unaware, suffering husband. The only being unchanged by time itself. She's a blight, a sickness. The creeping darkness that even the shadows are afraid of, that even the Void won't threaten. The only woman who can terrify a god. The only woman who can strike fear into an alien warlord with only a look. The only woman that can be felt and percieved by so many that don't even know she's there. Her red string of fate is forever tied to Mephy, to the point counterparts who have never met her, such as Null, still flinch at her glare and feel the intense urge to run if ever they are unfortunate to still cross paths with her.

She'd be so thrilled to see the mess she's caused.

WOOOOO OKAY EVERYONE WHO MADE IT PAST ALL THAT, GOOD JOB, HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND, ARE YOUR HEADS SMOKING CAUSE MINE SURE IS!!!!! I'm sorry i just get a huge rush whenever i get to go fully fucking mask off like this about my lore and how it works XDDDDDDD i genuinely doubt anyone else has made it this far so like, lemme know if you actually did and if you have any questions, i LOOOOOVE talking about this stuff XDDDDD

Also i totes didn't grow up as a massive Doctor Who nerd you're crazy shush-

Alright, i think i got like, one more thing lined up for you guys after this for today, you'll like it i promise, it's just Whiteboard doodles, and there'll be no long conplicated paragraphs so yanno you can get a break from my bullshit i sweeeeeaaaaar~ this is getting pinned tho. For like a while.

Love you all, see you then XDDDDD 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

[luvanniiee]

tonight

[ateez drabbles]

• pairings : ateez x gn!reader (individual though) hongjoong x reader , seonghwa x reader , yunho x reader , yeosang x reader , san x reader , mingi x reader , wooyoung x reader , jongho x reader

• synopsis: they work hard as idols to provide for you. they sacrificed a lot of things ……. even spending time with you. so this is what they do when they come home from touring!

• warnings : slight angst , smut mdni! , sex is mentioned but i dont go too much into detail. pet names, suggestive as fck,

• a/n : i hope you guys enjoy this , i might do a txt version or twice ! let me know! anyways thanks for all the support bookies !! okay ima not talk too much, just enjoy! oh wait also you might wanna listen to “tonight” by summer walker, that was the inspo for this!! okay byee

• story under the cut!

hongjoong

he had just come home from a 2 month tour. literally felt like hell for both of you. hongjoong felt like he couldn’t properly focus on his work , he missed you in more ways than you wouldve ever thought. but now he was home , in your arms. you cooked his favorite meal , and showered together , and put his favorite movie on, but he wasn’t interested in that. he was eyeing you like a piece of meat. take a picture , itll last longer. you said to him as you turned to him. im not interested in the movie anymore baby, i want you. i need you. please i just wanna make up for lost time. he said, need was dripping like honey in his voice. you felt your cheeks heat up. this was a first, usually you would be the one who was desperate for a touch. but he seemed like he would explode in the next 2 seconds if he didnt feel some sort of you. ive been on the road too long , tonight i wanna have good fun! he said as he pushed you down on the couch.

after playing catch up , you were left with drool coming from the sides of your mouth , legs shaking , and hongjoong still wanting more

seonghwa

you pace to get ready , seonghwa is coming home today. normally you would be happy, well you are happy that hes coming home, and he’ll be able to touch you the way youve been trying to touch yourself. but thats what your scared about. see prior to this , you broke one of his rules. absolutely no touching unless 1. youve asked and 2. hes given you permission. you were on the phone with him, and hes busy talking about how excited he was to see you, until you let out a small moan on the phone. what was that? he asked. oh..uh..nothing! you said. i hope my baby isnt touching themselves without daddy’s permission. he teased, he knew you were touching yourself to his voice. so he told you that he was going to punish you for breaking a rule. and thats how you are in this situation now. just then the door opens, revealing an angry and horny seonghwa. he only stepped forward to close the door behind him. his eyes burning holes through yours. oh…hey baby… you said trying to ease some tension. is that my name? do you need me to remind you honey? does daddy need to teach you a lesson and punish you? he said in a teasing low tone.

after that, you were covered in love marks, tears , sweat , legs are shaking hard from the times hes made you cum over and over. but after it all, he still kissed you and gave you the best aftercare ever, and even told you about the things hes seen while on tour until you fell asleep in his arms.

yunho

normally, yunho doesnt make the first move. but being away from you for 2 months really drove him crazy. you and yunho were supposed to be playing a board game. but as you were moving your peice, you kinda realized that the game was no longer yunhos interest. his eyes were on yours, eye fucking you. he wanted to fuck you as soon as he stepped in the house. but he dared himself to see how long he can go before actually losing his mind. you okay? you asked. he nodded lightly then stood up to walk over next to you. he started to kiss your neck leaving marks on you. fuck i cant hold back anymore. yunho moaned out as he laid you down. he leaned over you and started kissing you. soon it turned into a lazy makeout. then you started to thrust your hips forward for an ease in the ache between your legs. fuck baby please. please let me make up for lost time. he said as he looked in your eyes. it only took a nod for him to go absolutely insane.

afterwards, he cleaned you up. did you still wanna play the game? you asked. not really , but i do wanna play with you again. he smirked. one hell of a night for both of you.

yeosang

although he has a reserved and calm demeanor, on the inside yeosang knew he has too pent up to be calm. there was a welcome home dinner for him. his parents and yours all at one table, welcoming yeosang home from his tour. it literally took everything in him to not kick everyone out and have his way. the way you looked as you took a sip of your drink, the way you would lick your lips clean, it drove him up the wall. excuse me. he said as he excused himself out of the room. he went to the bathroom to wipe his face. he had to do something to distract himself. just then you opened the door and the. locked it behind you. you want it as much as i do dont you? he said. you just stepped forward and kissed him. it didnt take long until he was stripping himself and stripping you too. you both started to feel on each other. then he bent you over the sink, and forced you to look in the mirror.

after that you walked out, both parents gone. but there was a note. ‘if yall are gonna fuck, at least have the decency to give us the boot.’ both of you visibly embarrassed but laughed it off later.

san

you and san were just chillin on the couch. tv was background noise at this point. both of you wanted to so desperately feel each other after a long time. but the thing is, you both want to see who will cave first. san was the dominant one in this relationship so obviously hes gonna try to out wait you and make you cave first. you just wanted to push his buttons. you looked at his side profile, admiring the way his jaw would tense here and there. he took a deep breath and looked at you. you know you want me baby. he teased. you knew if you touched him first, you would not only lose a bet but you would be in for a shitload of teasing. oh san, youve been gone for 2 months, all pent up. only having to use your hand to relieve yourself. i had a vibrator. so i think you need me more. you cocked back. your reply shocked him but it also made him mad. so all he did was pull his pants down, licked his hand and started pumping himself. you cant lie, you really wanted to taste him. but youll be teased.

fuck it. you decide and replace his hand with your mouth.

you should play this game more often, you thought.

mingi

mingi has just come home that day. you and him spent the entire day hugging and kissing each other. you couldnt get enough of him, you missed his scent. so when night time came, it was about dinner time. you cooked his favorite food and you even volunteered to clean the dishes. but he insisted that he helped you. so you didnt turn him down and as you washed he rinsed. you started to lean over the sink to relieve some of the pressure in your lower back. so water was splashing on you as you washed. he couldn’t take his eyes off of you. the way your hands were moving in the water, the look of concentration, it was a bit much for him. it took a lot for him to restrain himself from doing you right then. so he waited until later that night.

baby… mingi would whine. yes? you replied. please, i need you to touch me. i miss your body so much. please i cant hold back anymore. he confessed. who were you to deny him? so you started by kissing him slowly, then marking him, touching him softly. he couldnt take this slow pace much longer. baby… i cant wait. he moaned slightly. so he flipped you on your back, he starter to grind his hips into you to relieve some pressure. you both moaned at the contact. want this? please tell me you want me as much as i need you. he whined. it turned you on because of how submissive he sounded. you nodded and thats all it took for him.

after that, he started to talk about how good the tour was, how much fun he had with his bandmates, all while youre laying there with your legs shaking like crazy, and your eyes could barely stay open.

wooyoung

this man just couldnt wait to hear you. wooyoung had some friends over, but he was starting to regret it. the more he sat next to you, inhaled your scent, it made him crazy. there was a movie on, and all his friends were watching it. you tried to watch, but all his teasing touches were really distracting you. sometimes his hands would slide a little too close to your pussy. you let out a loud sigh that sounded almost like a soft moan. his friends would glance occasionally, but wooyoung would tell them that it was because you were “yawning because your tired”. but soon after all the teasing, he finally touched you. he started to rub you, drawing small quick circles over your clit. you had to excuse the moans that would slip a little as a yawn or something. but when he started going faster, you couldnt contain it anymore. so you put your head in his neck, and bite down softly to quiet yourself. wooyoung could hear your small moans and whimpers as you came on his fingers.

in the dark it looked like you were resting your head in him. if only they knew about the dirty things that were happening under the cover you had across your lap.

jongho

it all starterd with a facetime call. you were wearing one of his shirts. he was on his way home from the airport when you started teasing him. flashing him and giggling afterwards, or moaning his name, just teasing him to the point of no return. but when he got home, it wasnt funny anymore. all the teasing you did to him made him sexually frustrated. the smile on your face disappeared when he opened the door and said strip. you wanted to retaliate but there was no way you were gonna do that. no way you were gonna fuel his fire by bratting even more. so you did as told. bad girl, teasing me like that. jongho said. his voice was dripping with lust, making it deeper. it turned you on. im sorry, i just uh wanted to play a little. you said as your voice cracked a little. oh you wanna play? ill play with you. he said teasingly.

to make a long story short, one of the best nights you’ve had.

teehee

©️ luvanniiee on tumblr !!

[envihellbender]

A fic based on your 3rd most played song recently or 3rd song on our blend

Revelator - Deafheaven

Only by the grace, we see active mistakes

And exist in their wake

Moving on dictates

We grasp the wounded face

Of our own faint embrace

—

Fandom: The Locked Tomb

Characters: Gideon Nav, Harrowhark Nonagesimus

—

“Right. Attempt number seventeen,” Harrow whispered to herself as the projection built itself around her. She recreated the last - or only - place she remembered seeing Gideon happy, and she tried not to read too much into what that meant. Her eyes watered as Gideon Nav appeared before her, Harrow felt a strange tightness in her chest and sickness in her stomach like she always did around Gideon. But… It was different now. Horribly different. Harrow tried to push those feelings down and begin but as always Gideon barged in and started first.

“Really, Nonagesimus?” She said as she paced up and down the room, a recreation of their quarters from Canaan House. “Couldn’t bring me back into, I don’t know, somewhere with some good food and pretty girls?”

“Dear God, you’re still not right!” Harrow exclaimed. “Gideon is far more disgusting and witty than that sorry attempt-”

“What do you mean I’m not right?” Gideon interrupted in childish anger. “You’re not right! You’re all kinds of twisted up wrong.”

“That’s more like it. Hello Gideon.” Harrow actually managed a smile on her pale, distressed face. She didn’t remember when she last felt her lips stretch across her face, and she was sure it made the skin crack.

“Hello yourself. So what is this place? Since I’m dead and you didn’t eat me.” Gideon flashed an accusing look at Harrow. “So what, am in the fridge? Just hanging out next to God’s tuna sandwich?”

“No.” Harrow paused, she sat on the end of the bed. There was a heavy lump in her throat that made her voice sound as if it was underwater. “I… I can’t. I can’t do it.”

“What? Why? Am I not good enough for the Princess? Am I too salty? I know you’d rather blend me into bonemeal soup but unfortunately-”

“That’s not the problem!”

“Then what is it? I gave myself to you and I’m not good enough for-”

“I can’t. I can’t do it. Your life should mean more than just a pile of meat to make me-”

“To make you a Lichter? Your dream? I mean sure I think it’s weird but-”

“I already did so much to you! I destroyed you. I kept you locked away. And… I blamed you. For existing.”

“Yes, we went through all this. Then I sacrificed myself so you could eat me.”

“Why?” Harrow almost sounded as if it was an accusation, as if Gideon had committed a great crime by doing something, anything, for Harrow.

“Because it’s hot as hell, I dunno,” Gideon shrugged, her voice a barely comprehensible mumble, Harrow thought.

“Gideon!” She scolded, almost feeling like her old self. Almost.

“I was gonna die anyway.”

“We don’t know that-”

“Why are we really here, Nonagesimus?”

“What do you-”

“Harrowhark. Come on. Whether we like it or not no one knows me better than you. I mean, not only am I the person that knows you better than anyone else, I’m a metaphysical construct created from your own head so I’m literally the person who knows you more than the person who knows you the most.” Gideon’s words hung in the air for a moment, maybe even a minute or two of silence where Harrowhark simply stared at Gideon’s feet and blinked rapidly. Eventually the words came from her mouth, so smaller it sounded like a mouse’s squeak rather than something that came from a human mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

“Wait, did you apologise? Are you the real construct? Because you would never-”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Harrow interrupted speaking rapidly so her voices were merging into each other. “I killed you. I killed you and I can’t face your remains. And I don’t want to- I don’t want to remember. I want it to all- I miss you. I miss you. I can’t- I can’t live without you. I would rather forget everything. Rather be dead. Rather be braindead than-”

“Don’t you dare, Harrow. Don’t you dare.”

“You don’t have to approve, I just… I wanted you to- to know.”

“Yeah. Well. I don’t know. Because I’m not real. She will only know how you feel if you eat her. Or me. But the real me.” Gideon folded her arms and scowled at Harrow, in a way that almost felt nostalgic.

“Gideon you are being infuriating and-”

“Well maybe you should’ve made me less salty, Princess.”

“I can’t- I’m sorry I killed you.”

“You didn’t kill me.”

“I did-”

“I chose to die.”

“No. No that’s not what you’re supposed to say,” Harrow cried falling backwards onto the bed in exasperation. She wanted Gideon to join her, instead she stood and stared. She pushed herself back up and got to her feet.

“What am I supposed to say?” Gideon eventually asked.

“Yell at me. Blame me. Hate me.”

“Nah. Not happening. You’ll have to make another Gideon doll if you want that.”

“You- I deserve it.”

“Maybe. Don’t care. Not happening.”

“You are insufferable.”

“Makes you almost want to call me Griddle again and lock me up in the ice cold cells, huh?”

“No.”

“I know what you’re planning, Harrow.”

“No you don’t. Gideon wouldn’t know.”

“Yeah, she would. She’d know. Because she knows you. More than you like to admit. And this Gideon - who is again, a construct from your own head - knows what you’re planning even more.”

“I just… I didn’t… I just want to- just one thing.” Harrow dove forward and took Gideon’s face in her cold hands. She hadn’t kissed anyone before and wasn’t entirely sure how to go about it. She pressed her lips into Gideon’s and hoped for the best. They were soft and warm, which broke Harrow from the illusion immediately. Gideon’s lips wouldn’t feel that way, they’d be chapped and cold. Now that she looked at Gideon properly she wasn’t right all over. Her hair wasn’t auburn but a light ginger, and her eyes… No, it was all completely and utterly wrong. She turned away and let out a shrieking exhale, and fell to her knees. Her hands made fists in her hair and she began to sob. Not delicate tears falling down her face, but brutal, loud cries that caused her larynx to ache. It felt as if her throat would rip open, as her head throbbed. It never worked. No matter what she did, she couldn’t move her heavy, feet forwards. She was stuck here. The only option was to forget.

[lesbianalanwake]

Severance S2E7 and S2E8:

–the way S2 has been recontextualizing things in unexpected but not surprising ways…..

–the pacing is more wonky this season, but I find it forgivable because it's not written or conceived like a typical TV show? not sure how to put it into words, but Severance pulls a lot of inspiration from everything except TV (movies, video games, literature, myth), only it's in television format. the world's longest surrealist arthouse film. a TV adaptation of a book, only the book doesn't exist. a video game in setting and environment (invisible walls, hazy borders of unreality), only you don't play it.

–and I do like the fractured pacing for what it does…… narrative form and function should serve each other, and in this season, we’re reintegrating, things are unraveling, character motivations are shifting…… they are all hurtling towards something that none of them can quite predict. the form (erratic pacing, dramatic shifts in perspective) follows the function (the characters are in chaos and unable to find solid ground, the setting itself is starting to shift).

–Gemma's episode and Cobel’s episode had to be their own thing. we’ve seen enough of Lumon to know that it's rotten, but these episodes pulled the veil back significantly, and you aren't supposed to be able to look away or get relief from it. it's all of Lumon's human rights abuses and worker exploitation and racism and misogyny, all of its ugly roots with a spotlight on it.

–Gemma’s episode: I made a post about this already, but Severance has always had an underlying metaphor for reproduction at play through the innies (“you brought him into this world without his permission”), with the innies like “children” that their outies have created – or like the “inner child” of their outies. but this episode gets more explicit in that theme, and touches on the other side of the “parent”/“creator” part of that dynamic – not the exploitation of the child or the ethics of creating life, but the exploitation of the parent. Gemma is not a parent, but she wants to be. it’s a pressure she places on herself (even Mark wants to give up, and maybe wasn't that interested in having a kid anyway), but it's an implicit societal pressure that she's responding to, that every woman will be faced with whether she wants children or not. it's a normal thing to want (and I’m childfree! but most people aren't), but it can't be extricated from the society that creates that pressure, that uses reproduction as a tool of control. Gemma's desire for a child leaves her vulnerable to being preyed on, and she doesn't have to be pregnant to explore the ramifications. she has more than one “innie,” and we’ve already established that innies function as a metaphor for children in more than one way. those innies are used to control Gemma and keep her contained; even when she manages to escape the testing floor, Miss Casey has no hope of getting all the way out. it's bringing metaphor and literalism very close together without sacrificing the metaphor.

–add to that the fact that Dichen Lachman is Tibetan, and that they've touched on the experiences of black employees at Lumon, and they are starting to take a look at racialized misogyny too, which is not something I expected from this show. I don't expect them to delve into it too literally, and I don't necessarily think they should, since the show is helmed by white men, but I don't think it's pure coincidence that Gemma is the one on the testing floor, that Natalie is the “voice” of the Board in an increasingly horrifying way, that Miss Huang is the “Wintertide” candidate to replace Cobel. which brings us to…

–Cobel’s episode: This hit me hard…… I’m from a semi-coastal town that's increasingly becoming a shadow of itself, and I moved away because there were just…. no prospects there. I’ve watched that area slowly be eaten away by the oil industry and by natural and man-made disasters, and I've been part of the clean-up for the damage it's wrought. my dad had BP (yes, that British Petroleum Company) trying to smear his character and career to discredit his reports on the environmental impact of the 2010 oil spill. I have been there, in the emotional space this episode inhabited…… going back and feeling that wretched grief of a home that's still there but vanished too, haunted by a dead parent whose memory will always be there even when they're long gone. the religious rot promising salvation with one hand and choking the life out of people with the other, the brain drain….. I knew they were going to do something interesting with Cobel, but god damn.

–it's the cycles upon cycles perpetuating themselves endlessly. Kier Eagan was a factory worker (and the product of incest) who turned around and exploited factory workers, who invented cult-like religious beliefs that he inflicted on his family and descendants, who are in turn inflicting that continually on each other, then on the rest of the world and on their workers, who in turn inflict it on each other, while the innies are themselves a surreal take on the cycles we inflict upon ourselves because of the larger forces we are stuck within. and the roots in American industrialization and evangelicalism/religious fanaticism, still present even when contained within pristine corporate walls.

–I truly, truly enjoy every character equally and am having a great time when anyone is on screen, but Cobel and Milchick and Helena are lowkey my favorites. S2E2 made me wonder if they were setting up threads of discontent with Lumon for all of them, and I was right. I love a miserable asshole stuck in a pit that's both of their own and others’ making. rooting for them!

–Reghabi and Cobel backstory WHEN.

–I did NOT expect Cobel to be the brain behind the severance chip, but that's what I mean by unexpected turns that aren't actually that surprising. just like Gemma being alive for real. I keep predicting things that turn out to be true, and then they throw me a curveball, which is just the way I like storytelling. like…. of course she would be. of course it's always been about wanting to excise the misery from your brain.

–I do think they haven't done enough to set up Devon reaching out to Cobel. like I understand it and can follow the logic; I’ve been expecting it since S2E2. Reghabi means well, but is closed off and doesn't explain herself (likely a protective, defensive habit, when working against Lumon is dangerous). she doesn't give Devon a real reason to trust her, because from Devon's point of view, she walks into the scene of her brother at death’s door with a strange person in his house who caused it. and he agreed to that, but Devon doesn't know every detail of what happened; she does know that her brother has been hiding things from her, that he's not the best at judgment calls, and that he's not necessarily of the soundest mind (an alcoholic stuck in grief whose life is in shambles). she doesn't know Reghabi at all, but she knew Mrs. Selvig, who was kind to her and good with her baby, who was Mark’s former boss pretending to be his normal neighbor but who also told him to quit Lumon and got fired herself. it's the devil you know kind of situation for Devon.

but they don't spend enough time exploring the trail from point A to B to C. it can all be inferred, but this is a case where the audience needs a little more to grab onto it (and I’m usually team “fuck the audience, don't explain anything to me, I can figure it out”). presumably it got lost in the shuffle of juggling so many threads, but since episode 8’s runtime was a little shorter, they should have opened with a delve into Devon's reasoning and then proceeded to show how her instincts about Cobel are more correct than she or Reghabi can know.

–another piece of disembodied head imagery. if Kier Eagan's frozen fucking Disney head is somewhere in Lumon’s hell basement I’m going to screammm.

[rose-reveries]

⚠️BEWARE THE EPISODE 4 PJO SPOILERS⚠️

Episode 4: The things I like, the things I don’t, the things I miss but I’m okay with them not being there

The things I liked about the new episode:

I liked the conversation at the beginning in the train. Very reminiscent of the book where we get to learn a little bit more about Annabeth and how she arrived at camp. I found it interesting how here we changed it from Annabeth’s father always resenting her birth to Annabeth’s father considering her “a gift” until her step-mother came along. I don’t mind this change at all and all in all still makes sense as to why Annabeth ran away when she was 7.

“But at least with gods you know the rules” okay Miss Chase your autism is showing (/j)

The flow from seeing the centaurs (which is something I believe only Percy saw in the books) to letting this be how Grover opens up about Pan and why he wants to be a searcher was a nice little combination of scenes to save time. We still understand how Grover feels about humans and their mistreatment of nature but it’s just in a slightly different way than the books and I’m okay with that change.

The BANTER between the trio was SO good this episode. You can really feel the bonds between these characters (especially Percy and Annabeth) forming this episode.

The pacing in this episode finally started to feel a little bit better than the first 3 episodes. I actually do think the change in how they meet Echidna helps with this because it prolongs the hunt whereas in the book the Echidna and Chimera scene IS quite short and fast. Meeting Echidna on the train, having them run and try to heal Percy, Percy gets worse, Percy sacrifices himself to let the other two get away, fight scene, he falls into the river, etc. Just way better pacing than like, for example, episode one where Alecto literally just flies at him and without moving he stabs her and she dies 💀

Okay, my FAVORITE new thing about the episode does have to be making the Arch a temple to Athena. If the gods still rule but have adapted to the west it makes total sense that they still have temples but they’re just modern American landmarks. Super cool and I loved this change.

Also, rather than Annabeth and Grover just heading down in the elevator before learning there’s a monster, I do like Percy stepping in and sacrificing himself to let them get away. It shows his loyalty to his friends, and how he would rather fight a monster than let them die without reason.

Since the Arch is a temple and Athena had to give Echidna permission to enter, and she did so due to Annabeth’s impertinence, this REALLY helps with the shows current message of heroes and monsters and what those terms mean, but also just how the gods are like BAD. I think it’ll help make Luke’s reasoning for turning on the gods make SO much sense for new audience members.

Percy and Annabeth banter?? ADORABLE

TOTALLY CALLED THE WATER REACHING OUT TO REACH PERCY LMAO. I know RR said he had Percy jump into the river because he didn’t realize how far it was from the arch so this is like sort of a retcon but yea, it works. Percy can manipulate water we learned this with how he pushed Nancy into the fountain.

Things I didn’t:

I think Echidna breaking into the train ✨magically✨ was eh. She could have simply just been on the train like how in the book she was just simply in the elevator.

Speaking of Echidna, it would’ve been so cool to see a snake lady :’). They did it with Medusa and Alecto but I guess they spent their whole budget on that because no snake lady to be seen.

I know the Mist would be hiding it from mortals… but even in the book Grover is like wearing pants and a hat. If they spent less cgi on Grover they could’ve animated some other stuff I’m sure.

The choice to keep depicting Kronos as this wraith instead of a voice from a pit is interesting?? We are already not setting up for Kronos reveal (like there was no Kronos exposition in the museum in episode one which I though was weird). Also I’d say that they’re doing this because they want new audience members to believe Hades is the BBG or something, but if they wanted us to think that why not mention the Helm of Darkness? The Helm would definitely help allude to this wraith figure we see I think. Or show us the hellhound. I don’t know. Weird. I think there is a lot of missing information that is IMPORTANT to the story that shouldn’t have been left out.

Things I miss but it’s fine they’re not there

The trio just never lost their stuff, huh? Like…the bus didn’t explode. They didn’t have to return a poodle for money to a train to Denver. I understand this was all probably cut for time and money sake.

Wish we took the time in the arch for Annabeth to talk about wanting to be an architect.

In conclusion, I liked this episode and I am enjoying the series. But this means that the Lightning Thief Musical is still the most book accurate adaptation of Percy Jackson and that makes me lol

[some-murmurings]

i'm happy that video essays are a popular format on youtube now. i've loved the genre for years and, with care, it's a reliable source of accessible education.

that said, the popularity of video essays on youtube makes me feel like my brain is leaking out of my ears. it is so easy to immediately tell when an author has no actual investment in the genre and sees it merely as a vehicle for #Content™️©️®️

There are three basic qualities I see suffering the most for this

1. Length

I see so many of these newer channels pumping out 8 hour pieces that are closer to exhaustive book reports then they are tight, well written examinations of something and, while I LOVE the diversity inherent to the video essay format, this is a terrible way to explore a topic. It's boring, lame, and extremely profitable.

Quinton Reviews is a good example; I like his work occasionally, his recent thing on Dan Schneider was genuinely pretty good. It did still suffer from the resulting pacing sickness from overloading on information and underloading on composition & organization. Wendigoon is an even better example. Most "iceberg" style vids also are (not u jan misali. never u.)

Also, there's no defined rule for the length of a video essay. They can be 5 minutes long or 5 hours, flash fiction or a full-bodied thesis. Shots of tequila or a whole bottle of wine can both get you drunk.

2. Pacing

Obviously related to length but this is another problem; video essayists have always struggled with this and it got worse recently anyways.

A lot of that "information overload" is to blame. It's important that, when researching, YOU come to a strong, nuanced understanding of a topic through disparate sources. It is, by nature of the format and genre, an extremely bad idea to try and make your audience learn the information the same way.

We don't need a thousand sources spread across several dozen sentences, we want the 3-4 (max) best sources on a given subtopic concisely synthesized into a coherent idea.

Use music, jokes and relevant graphics to make this information as engaging and interpretable as possible without sacrificing accuracy. It's okay to abridge and note that you were, in fact, abridging. We don't need to know every detail about every single thing loosely related to the topic.

Dan Olson from "Folding Ideas" is a good example of this. His script writing and camera work does an extremely good job of creating effective flow with an appropriate amount of detail & nuance. So, pacing, basically.

3. Topic

U can tell some of these jamokes don't give a fuck or shit about the thing they're discussing. Worse still when it's some inane internet drama they're recounting like its "news."

To be clear: the best video essays are OFTEN on topics you have no previous interest in. Roblox_oof.wav by HBomberguy is an easy example. This shit is a complete mess thematically but, because the author engages deeply and effectively with the topic, it literally doesn't matter. It's an insanely good video you should spend all 2 & 1/2 hours in rn. Go. Watch it.

Nor is internet drama a bad topic to cover. You're allowed, encouraged really, to discuss the weird bullshit people do to each other but like... this is closer to a soap opera than it is a national news headline. Looking at you, "Turkey Tom" or whatever the fuck your name is.

There's something to be said, too, for how quick people are to make an essay about a still moving situation. I know the algorithm is an insatiable maw of content hunger but, counterpoint, ONLY MAKE A VIDEO WHEN YOU CAN ACTUALLY DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENED. If there's reasonable suspicion stuff isn't done, SHUT THE FUCK UP. It's okay if you misjudge a timeline here or there, you're allowed to admit fault and correct yourself, but, like, cmon.

Also something to be said about how quick so many essayists have ALWAYS been to talk about someone else's business without permission, particularly intimate partner violence.

4. Style/Presentation

Video essays are an extremely novel format, particularly for education, so there's a genuine debt of easy-to-adopt styles. And, because of the recent growth, there are a lot of new people entering the space with very little experience in it.

That said, the next time I hear that fucking "influencer cadence" I'm gonna EXPLODE. You know the one, they slow down towards the end of a sentence to lend "gravitas" and overarticulate every. single. word. to, idk, build credibility?

It's shallow and obnoxious and I hate it. Nothing makes me skip a video faster than a boring intro & a predictable cadence. Be honest about the way you speak. If you struggle to create rhythm & flow with your voice, use music! Seriously, music sampling is a super valid method, most indie artists would be JAZZED to have their stuff in parts of their video. A lot of orchestral stuff is in the public domain, especially a lot of famous "classical" works. Put Beethoven's 5th in your video about potato farming in russia, God might not be real and if she is she'd ALSO think it's funny.

Another problem: predictable cuts & generally uninspired editing. I know editing is a pain in the ass but, like, it IS still a creative process. You do have space to do interesting stuff here and, if you can't focus for that long, literally just make a shorter video.

It's okay if 95% of your transitions are purely functional, the trick is to make those 5% REALLY silly to keep your audience on their toes.

5. Tone

You don't need to be "an authority" on a topic to make a good essay about it. It helps but, as long as you're clear & honest about the limits of your understanding and you've done your due diligence, you almost certainly will be fine to talk about anything you want.

If you want to build credibility quickly, consider starting with disambiguation instead of dry recitation. Dates matter less to me than actually understanding a topic better. Even better if you come across like another autistic person infodumping about whales or w/e.

I'd keep going but my phone's gonna die. U get the gist. Lots of format problems that algorithm-brain is exacerbating.

[neverlearnedtoread]

Spinning Silver

⭐⭐⭐⭐; the staryk king and mirnatius with the word 'wife' on the board: there's only one thing more horrible than a wife.... *rips off paper* MY wife

Oh?? 👌😉😏

women are fucking amazing and wonderful and terrifying and unequivocal badasses. especially to their husbands. it's about the fantasy of a marriage you have no control over being perfectly suited to you in ways you didn't even know it could

inhuman fae creatures that actually have a separate culture and set of rules they are governed by. they're much more powerful than humans, of course, but they are bound to their laws, and if you're smart you can work with that

fairytale-esque magic system that relies heavily on (1) trickery (2) Having Audacity and (3) the rule of threes 😉. we love a soft magic system that rewards big swings and BDE!

not one, but TWO separate arranged marriages engaged in HEATED pvp AKA two people bound in hostile matrimony trying to kill each other while having 'wait, are they hot? fuck!' moments

you can be cold and practical and still be a good person. you can be strong enough to protect yourself without sacrificing others. with a good enough grasp of contracts you can force a demon to leave your kingdom AND husband unharmed in a 2-for-1 deal

No.. ❌🤢🤮

multiple POVs with no names for chapter titles so you have to figure out who it is from context clues - if you're like me and love a little puzzle to go with your reading time, you'll really enjoy it (Novik does it VERY well) but if you get confused easily or don't wanna put in the brainpower its annoying and overly complicated

if you don't like enemies-to-lovers where they actually argue and are ideologically opposed, you're not gonna enjoy the romance subplots. this is not a 'forbidden-lovers' kinda enemies-to-lovers. this is firmly in the 'my husband misses me a lot - but his aim is getting better!' zone

really quick wrap up - it gets tied up a little too fast after the final confrontation with the Big Bad. i wouldve liked at least to have irina POV at the end because her side of things just. gets left hanging

Summary: Miryem is a daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, and though her father doesn't have the hardheartedness to be a good one, she'd rather be despised for what she's owed than starve. Her knack for the trade, coupled with her sharp tongue, draws the ire of her village, and even more alarmingly, the Staryk's attentions; faerie creatures who only covet gold, they take her offhanded boast that she can turn silver into gold quite literally, and show up at her door to hold her true to her careless words - which, honestly, kind of backfires on them when she rises to the challenge and upends their realm into complete disarray, so maybe there's a lesson there for the next group of nonhumans to learn: don't bet the house against a human girl whose Had Enough Of All This Bullshit. She might win.

Concept: 💭💭💭 I don't know Rumpelstiltskin's story very well, and Ice Kingdom aesthetics aren't my favourite (you can blame it on my residual dislike of Frozen), but I DID read Uprooted before this. I wasn't as into the book blurb as I was with Uprooted, but I'm an experienced (and opinionated) enough reader to know when to trust my gut - if I find an author's writing style easy to read, and I enjoy how they handle their themes, I'm not afraid of diving into deep waters. If it's that bad, I can always DNF

Execution: 💥💥💥💥 As I've come to expect with Novik's writing, a wonderfully easy read; the storytelling voice flows smoothly and makes me want to keep on reading. No slogging through difficult to understand passages and too slow pacing for me! I instantly wanted to collect every POV character like puppies in a basket, no matter how brief their sections were. I will say the ending does forget what it wants to say and simply ends on a happy note, instead of a complete thought. It doesn't tie in the POV characters together strongly enough - I would've loved to see an epilogue scenes with the 3 main female characters supporting each other, or at least being three distinct Bad Bitches!

Personal Enjoyment: ���❤❤❤❤ Mostly because of Irina and Miryem (and Wanda)'s absolute BDE. They truly brought their stories to life and felt very dynamic, constantly driving the story forward through their actions, especially because their personalities and characteristics were so well-suited to the challenges they faced (Miryem rules-lawyering the Staryk, Irina taking to politics, Wanda keeping faith despite all the shit she's been through). Honorary shoutout to the complete hilarity of Mirnatius's POV (though ultimately it IS more indulgence than necessity, I respect Novik for it) - may he spend the rest of his life desperately drawing his wife in vain search of her bad angles!

Favourite Moment: the running gag of mirnatius losing his fucking mind trying to prove irina isn't hot. you know that post that's like 'find a blorbo to draw and your art skills will start improving so much faster'? irina is his blorbo. special mention of the scene he gets jealous realizing a random guard has a crush on his behated wife and immediately jumps to the conclusion that irina would want to fuck the guard for the sake of the kingdom. babygirl the hoops you are jumping........where is this gymnastics routine even going 😭 this man is not beating the meow meow allegations..

Favourite Character: It's really a tie between Miryem and Irina, who are both so similar yet different at the same time. Miryem's BDE was enjoyably explosive - she throws it in everyone's face, which is perfect to play off of the Staryk's otherworldly impassiveness. Irina's BDE was a lot more...steely. Quietly coming into her own as she realized how adept she was at politics, and how perfectly well-suited that made her to being tsarina - and when they finally met each other? it was so funny when were like 'hey...why dont we kill our husbands via pokemon battle??'

[therandompagesblog]

The Alpha Pack: Y/N

Trigger Warnings: None

The sun was setting, and the moon was rising. It was a foggy day in Wolfgang. The night was cold, and the sun burned. It was nearly the annual Knoxx festival year. It was the day werewolves celebrated every year, marking the anniversary of when the Knoxx wolves, hundreds of years ago, broke the curse of the full moon, thereby allowing wolves to shift between their human and wolf forms. We celebrated the four days to pay homage to their battle and fight against the witches who wished to trap wolves into their wolf form forever. Only changing when the full moon came.

We celebrated with fire and a feast. Decorated the area with shrines and crystals. Even our grandmothers presented ferns and snapdragons to the shrines. We made shrines every year, but in the heart of our city, the Head Alpha lay in his crypt peacefully. It was almost as if he was like a God that one would go to and pay respects. I did so once a year. I should do it more often, but I forget. I pay respects to Omega Min. She was the real fighter in the war. Omega Min saved and protected the other omegas from the witches. Even abandoning her alpha to save the others. She even sacrificed herself in the cave to protect the young omegas. Both male and female. She was underappreciated, but to us. She was our God. Our divine figure. Omega Min listened to our prayers and saved us from getting into trouble. She saved me many times when I would beg her not to let me get caught for sneaking out to sit by the well to see her cave.

We omegas are not allowed out after dark. Not without another beta or alpha. It wasn't safe. There was still a chance the witches could come after us. All of us. We were the darkness to their light. The imbalance of the world. The witches were there to save, and we were there to torment, even though we were not the problem. It's just one set of witches had a problem with wolves. The Nightingale witches. It was something along the lines of a witch falling for a wolf and then getting hurt when they discovered their omega. It wasn't the witch's fault, but her hatred had been passed down through generations. Just like all stories. It was not the only reason we were not allowed out. It was down to omegas that could be exploited, along with Stray Kids and Ateez, who had been known to be down at Wraithmarsh by the ruins, casting dark ancestors. It was freaking everyone out. Worrying about all the packs. Alpha Seungcheol was worried too, as something in the air was making his pack sick because they lived near Wraithmarsh. It was a cause of concern.

Today was the only day we were meant to forget things, but everything was tense. Alpha Zack disappeared after the fire show. Mother Theresa was burning wood, and she was literally Mother Theresa. That woman was a saint. She protected all the omegas that were kept by the river, talking and mingling while the betas watched closely. No one was truly enjoying themselves, but no one was paying full attention. Half wanted to enjoy themselves and drink vervain and smoke juniper, while others were pacing up and down. "Theresa said she's going to round everyone up," Kim whispered as she stuffed her face with the sausage roll she found. "Let's go for a walk up by the creek and go to the cave," I suggested. I didn't want to celebrate any longer. I wanted to spend time at the cave and celebrate Omega Min. "We'll get into trouble, Y/N," Kim stated. I looked at her and nudged her. I pointed towards the betas who were focusing on the other omegas. "They will notice Y/N." Kim looked at me and then shook her head, "Fine, but can we go out through the north exit. I know it's a longer walk, but if my father or our alpha catches us, we're in trouble." "Yes! Yes! Let's go. I gotta take the snapdragon and stock." I told her, quickly running back to grab my flowers before heading out the north exit.

The north exit didn't have a pathway, and it was easy to lose your bearings, but it was somewhat safer. The woods were surrounded by other wolf packs and shrines that protected us from witches, but it all looked the same. "Why stock?" Kim asked as she zipped up her coat. "They're similar to snapdragon, and apparently she liked foxgloves and delphinium, but nobody grows them." I sighed as I clutched the flowers close to me. "People should worship her more." "That is true," Kim said sadly. "I hate how she is not recognised because she was an omega who abandoned her mate." "I would abandon mine. Omegas should have an omega pack." Kim looked at me with shock. An omega pack was an impossible idea. Omega's could not lead and had no authority. It would even weaken the authority of alphas. "No? Bad idea, huh?" I teased. "Shut up!" Kim snapped.

The further we walked, the more we passed the same willow tree, and our senses got confused. We were angry and irritable wolves. It was getting darker, and the fog was getting heavier. We could even smell the fire from the festival that was approaching us after it had been put out. "This is ridiculous", Kim said. "Omega Min. Help guide us to the right path—ouch!" "That is disrespectful! She has answered enough of your prayers, and you're begging her to save yourself again." Kim chided. "I have a feeling we're going straight. She always saves me." She always did. Omega Min never failed me. "Yeah, until we stumble upon Ateez or Stray Kids." Kim chided again. "Now you have ruined my mood."

We continued to bicker along the path when we heard low voices talking. It was only when our names were alpha called out that we realised we were in deep trouble. Alpha Zack was standing at the border with two other head alphas. Alpha Zach was scolding us, but my nose was smelling something deep and musky. It was yanking me towards it. Burnt wood and cedar. It was him. My alpha. I almost kicked myself at the thought as I stared at him. He had dark brown hair. Slightly long, past his ears. His grey eyes were soft as they watched me with interest. Until he and the other alpha growled at my head alpha. Alpha Zack stopped his deafening rant and realised what Kim and I had stumbled upon. I realised Kim, too, had found her alpha, but she was shy, petrified even. She hid behind me as the other frowned. He went to step forward, but the other alpha stopped him. He warned him that their presence would be overwhelming.

Alpha Zack interrupted the discourse and asked us why we were out again. "So?" Alpha Zack asked again with his sharp eyes while the longer-haired alpha sniffed the air and stepped back as if securing the area. "To see Omega Mins' cave. You know–" "So why did you not ask the betas to come with you?" Alpha Zack scolded. Instantly, I looked at the alpha in front of me, who also crossed his arms in slight anger. "Because they were smoking juniper and drinking vervain. They had no interest." I sighed. "Do your betas not pay attention?" The other one asked. "Of course, but it's hard during a celebration." Alpha Zack rushed. He never wanted anyone to judge his pack or his community. Wolves make mistakes, and he didn't want the two alphas to think their mates were treated poorly. "Do they not pay attention?" The taller one asked. "Not when juniper is involved," I muttered. I felt like I couldn't lie to him. "You should be protected." The taller one whispered into my hair.

I blinked and came back to my senses and realised I ran straight into his arms, feeling guilty. I did not want my alpha to think I was defiant already. I did not want him to be angry. Yet, I did not expect to run into his arms. His strong arms gripped as his muscles flexed while Kim was panicking on the spot, causing the other alpha to panic too. He was younger than my alpha and seemed inexperienced, whereas mine seemed to instinctively know what to do. "What is your name, Omega?" He whispered. Nudging his head against mine, coaxing me to look up at him. "Y-Y/N. Y/N L/N." He smiled and repeated my name. My name rolled off his tongue like a hymn. "Chan. Chan is my sacred name." My mouth dropped open as I realised he told me his name straight away in front of the others. A sacred name was a private name to be used by mates and family members or unless the alpha gave you permission. "Chan?!" Chan nodded and let me go until a random wolf came excitedly past to see Kim. "We found our omega. Oh no, she's scared. What do we do? I'll get Yeosang, he knows what to do. He will calm her down. Hi Chris." The other person said something and ran off, causing me to blink in confusion at what was happening. "My alphas would never behave like that," Chan grunted as he held me tightly. Not wanting me to be close to the two wolves that appeared, the other being Yeosang.

Chan walked me to the other side and took my hand, placing it in his big one. "I shall walk you back?" Chan offered. "Back?!" I whined. Realising he was abandoning me. "My omega is so needy already. You need to rest and come back to your senses. Besides, I need to tell the others I found you." Chan told me. His voice was caring. "How will they react?" I said nervously. "Happy. They will be happy. Some may be nervous and uncertain. Some will be so excited they will start building nests, but none of them will hound you like Ateez. They are uncontrollable fiends." Chan jested. You could tell he was close to Ateez, as there was no malice in his tone. "We are here. I will see you in three days to give you some time." Chan said as he stroked my hair, before placing a kiss on my forehead. "What-" "I will save your friend from Hongjoon and Seonghwa's anxiety," Chan told me, taking his shirt off to reveal his abs. "Take my shirt for your comfort." I nodded and took his shirt, watching him walk off into the distance as he disappeared in the trees. "What the fuck just happened?"

Taglist:

@catlove83 @myrkhive @xanhnax @courtnort455 @notcamii @mizyink @yazzyu @galaxy4489 @dahliadaenerys @jennibahng @estella-novella @rylea08 @tsunderelino @dilfdetector

[gianna-foxwood]

She was no strategist, but Gianna didn't need to be when it came to the siege. The ending was all the same, the others making as much ruckus as possible, creating the necessary diversion for the council and the other coven members to turn a blind eye to the path that she and Envy would be taking to the center. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she waited for the others to start, barely able to hear the First Son's words and that of her brothers over the sound of her own breathing but still, Gianna held firm; a hand on the strap of her satchel that carried everything she needed and the other grasping Envy's tightly. She knew that once this all was over, she was going to get an earful from her brothers over her decision to be the one to bring the First Daughter back to life– but there was no one else who could. She was the one who'd researched, put in the hours to find the spell, and intricately decode every language that the First Witch decided to script. It would have taken more time to teach someone else the intricacies of the spell than it would to just do the damned thing herself. It was less collateral that way, at least she hoped.

Gianna didn't need to be told twice to move once the fighting started; her feet carried her in the opposite direction of the fray, following every back alley she knew of to remain out of sight for as long as she could. Stealth wasn't the goal, not when a demon Prince was close behind her with a powerful aura that could tip off anyone within a close radius, but rather speed. The longer they remained undetected, the longer they had to at least start the spell without interruption. It wasn't long before she felt it, the waves of fear and pain rolling through the coven in unison as the others began the slaughter– it almost took her breath away, but she managed to swallow it down; a hand swiping against the sweat that was beading on her forehead. "There it is," the witch finally said, gaze landing on the council building, the heart of the coven. It wasn't a large building by any means, but it was imposing when compared to the buildings surrounding it, like the shield they were, which echoed real life. Every life outside the council was sacrificed if it meant keeping them safe. Gianna moved quickly around the building, locating the fire escape and wasting no time bounding upwards to the roof. The view at the top would have been something the witch would have stopped to gaze at had it not been under the circumstances that brought her to the coven's door. She hadn't wished to see the carnage firsthand when she could feel it. "It's not going to be long before they start trying to find us," Gianna mused, mostly to herself, to keep moving, dumping her satchel so that the contents spilled onto the concrete– her hands moving in a flurry to group everything together by what she needed at what time. Grabbing the chalk, she placed an X on the ground before walking a few paces in a couple of directions, mapping out a large enough square to draw the sigils she needed for both the resurrection and tether spell. One of the things she'd learned in her rundown with Azriel after he had learned of her intentions during the siege. He wasn't happy, his glower even more severe than normal, but her safety was still his priority, and if there was someone who knew how to write sigils and runes perfectly, it was him. Nothing could be miswritten, not a single misstep, or else it could quite literally implode in their faces. With one last glance at Envy, a shaky smile on her face, Gianna turned to the book in her hands and began to painstakingly trace the ritual sigils onto the ground.

[archoneddzs15]

PC Engine - Lemmings

Title: Lemmings / レミングス

Developer/Publisher: Sunsoft / Psygnosis / Kuusoukagaku Corp.

Release date: 27 November 1992

Catalogue No.: SSCD2003

Genre: Puzzle Action

Format: Super CD-ROM2

A rare version of Lemmings that did not see a release in the West for the Turbo Grafx despite the conversion being import-friendly thanks to having virtually no language barrier. This is the last game I also own in my PC Engine library compatible with the PC Engine Mouse. Other games that support it include Tokimeki Memorial, 1552 Tenka Dairan, A-Train 3, The Atlas Renaissance Voyager, Brandish, Princess Maker 2, Digital Angel Dennou Tenshi, Eikan ha Kimi ni, Nemurenu Yoru no Chiisana Ohanashi, and Power Golf 2. Anyway without further babbling let's get on to this PC Engine Super CD port of Lemmings.

Your task is to rescue the Lemmings across 120 levels of fast-paced puzzling. These creatures simply walk blindly through the world in the hope of reaching safety at the end of the level - unfortunately, these levels include steep drops, gaps in the ground, barriers, and rivers amongst other hazards.

Lemmings is a series of puzzle action games originally spearheaded by DMA Design who are these days known as Rockstar Games North. Since then, Sony now own the Lemmings franchise rights. The variety of lemmings at your disposal is just right - not too many, not too few. Just when you’ve gotten into a habit of sacrificing the little dudes, along comes a level where you’ve got to save 90% or more of them. There are hundreds of levels but amazingly, the game never gets tedious, as there’s enough variety of different challenges to keep you interested.

There’s literally nothing to dislike about Lemmings. As close as I can figure, it’s a perfect game.

[serene-sundisc]

My collected thoughts on the themes of Canto V (Extremely heavy spoilers for Canto V)

So, Canto V is probably my favorite so far, (which is surprising based on how good Canto IV was), despite some issues I had with pacing, it felt like it culminated extremely well in the dungeon of the chapter. While I appreciated the expanded lore (and a whole new Color!) of a Nest, it did make the early parts feel a little disjointed (though I guess that was on purpose, to communicate the chaotic nature of the Great Lake). The thing that really got me though (besides the angst between Queequeg and Ishmael oooough doomed by the narrative yuri) was the extremely strong theming of the chapter, which I wanted to write and share my thoughts about. Again, fair warning that this is extremely spoiler heavy, and very rambley as well.

**First, the Whale in the room:**

This one is kind of cheating, as it's given to us directly by the game (and is also already a common phrase), but I still think it warrants investigation. The White Whale, and whales in general symbolize great purposes. Ishmael describes the whale oil as something that could "turn others just like them," and that people are alike because they seek to paint others like themselves, to "fill them with things that make us." In this sense, Whales are a perversion of the natural human desire to bond with others and to be like others. To be consumed by a Whale is to lose yourself and what makes up who you are as a person. Living Whales turn you into a Mermaid, while dead Whales "\[scatter\] your sense of self, until there is nothing of you left." Mermaids are made up of people who have been consumed by whales, and who have lost all sense of reason and simply lash out blindly. We can think of Ahab like a Mermaid, and as a Whale. Ahab is not only a Whale in the sense that she is Ishmael's target, her hunt, but because she swallows up others. She makes them lose their purpose, and lose their reason, their personalities, for her own goals. She concocts a story to absolve Pip of his guilt, and to preserve the lie that she would never allow her crew to die without her permission when Stubb is about to turn. She even almost manages to convince Dante to give up the Bough in their head for the sake of killing the Whale. She fills the lost and purposeless with her words like Whale oil, and she spreads madness as well as any Calamity.

Ishmael, without a purpose in her life, joined the Pequod to "hunt a Whale," to find a purpose, but she didn't feel the same purpose that the others on the Pequod did. When she fell into the dead Whale's oil, it reveals to Ishmael how lost and insignificant her life feels even aboard the Pequod, before she is offered a "rope" (literally, and in a metaphorical sense) by Queequeg. Through bonding with Queequeg, she finds a purpose in her life, until Ahab's reckless mission to kill the Pallid Whale takes everything away from Ishmael. In the same way that Ahab sacrificed her crew, Ishmael begins lashing out and isolating herself from her busmates; they both begin to lose anything that could be valuable to them in pursuit of this singular goal.

We can see Pallidification as an extension of the White Whale; people can resist it as long as they hold fast to a meaningful goal (which, for Pequod Town, was to kill the Pallid Whale itself). When Queequeg's conviction in this ultimate goal wavers, when she saves the sinners from taking the unstable bridge against her Captain Ahab's instructions, when she digs up her heart and bears it to Ishmael once more, she is consumed by the Pallidification. Perhaps the Golden Boughs, as a manifestation of Light and which connect to the psyches of the Sinners, protect against Pallidification due to their inherent link with the sinners' goals.

To be swallowed by a living Whale is to lose yourself to an irrational, all-consuming purpose. To be swallowed by a dead Whale is to lose everything, even the purpose itself, as Ahab did when Ishmael stole the kill of the Pallid Whale from her. It is to realize the futility of a purpose, or to concede to the ultimate meaninglessness of that purpose, to have actualization stolen from you. Ahab's betrayal of her crew leaves no one to mourn her or lament her fall to madness, a fate that Ishmael narrowly avoids by working with her busmates. There was no crew left of the Pequod, no Pequod itself, no Pallid Whale for them to hunt, and with no crew, ship, or whale, there was no Captain Ahab. As Starbuck says after pulling Ishmael out of the dead Whale; "Dying in that oil... would've left nothin' for nobody to remember."

**Another one obvious one is rope:**

The rope symbolizes the precious connections made with others. Purpose found beyond Whales. Ishmael describes the rope tied between her and Queequeg as "one that could never be severed" (despite the actual rope snapping quite quickly). However, in response, Queequeg says "That rope. It snapped." We could take this literally, but both Queequeg and Ishmael mean it as a bond. She meant that her bond to Queequeg could never be severed, shown by how Ishmael further says, "No, no... We can make it whole again... we can tie another knot. She is hoping to rekindle her relationship with Queequeg when they hopefully both escape the whale ;\_\_;). However, even in the sense that the rope represents their bond, it has snapped, at least for Queequeg. Queequeg never knew if she would ever see Ishmael again after being swallowed by the whale, while Ishmael held steadfast in the belief that Ahab (and, indirectly, Queequeg) still lived on. So, she abandoned her hope of seeing Ishmael again and devoted herself entirely to killing the Pallid Whale, lest she become Pallidified before either could happen. This is why Queequeg says "To meet you again... I have to escape. Have to kill the Whale. But do that, I had to... cut the rope. I... buried you." And when the sinners finally escape the Whale, the rope she sees that "she has a feeling won't snap" symbolizes her connection to Dante and her busmates, her friends, her newfound purpose in seeing their journeys to their ends before going her own way.

**Another metaphor lightly touched on by the two is burial:**

Ishmael said she wanted to be buried at sea to escape the mundanity of her life in the Nest, while Queequeg said where she comes from people are buried underground to be forgotten. Ishmael never "buried" Queequeg, but Queequeg felt she had to bury Ishmael. Queequeg put her "heart to sleep", devoting herself to the same Whale as Ahab. This is the moment that Queequeg "becomes" Ahab, as Ahab says in her GasHarpoon EGO. When Ishmael reconnects with Queequeg, Queequeg is able to open her heart to Ishmael again, to realizes she wants to choose her own path again, to the point when she pleads for Dante to help Ishmael find her own path again as well. Though she is unable to defy Ahab again, she has a brief moment of clarity before dissolving, where she "sees the sunset" in Ishmael's hair, and speaks her name again (another sappy tragic lovers moment aaaaa).

**Parallelism & foil between Ishmael and Ahab:**

This one is also fairly obvious, but I think worth discussing because of how different Ishmael ended up being in the end. Though Ishmael was said to dislike long hair because it was bothersome, she ends up growing her hair out between the crash of the Pequod and her joining of the Limbus Company. Why? Because Queequeg says that it reminds her of the sunset, and that she liked the color. So, perhaps, she lengthened it out as a gesture of remembrance to Queequeg. This is a fairly easy read of, but there is also a metatextual reason for this. Her long, unruly hair also makes her resemble Ahab's. While her bright, orange hair reminds us of warm sunsets, Ahab's drab, grey hair is cold and comfortless. While Ishmael became like Ahab in her pursuit of vengeance, suffering the same obsession and shortsightedness to the degree of being willing to leave her busmates behind if they delay her from finding Ahab, she ultimately "scorns" her Whale by not only refusing to kill Ahab, but taking her kill, taking her Whale.

**And that's it for my thoughts!**

This was pretty long, so if you bothered to read it all, thank you, and I'd love to hear your thoughts too. There was a LOT, to this Canto, stuff I noticed but either felt really obvious/not that deep such as the sunset, compasses, and butterflies, or that I didn't understand well enough to touch on (did you catch the religious themes? After being dropped in the dead Whale oil, Ishmael says she was "reborn that day, maybe," almost like a baptism, and the heart-within-a-heart of the final battle with Ahab resembles a Chapel, bathed in white, almost holy light, sinews mimicking stained glass windows, not to mention Ahab being a Hebrew name. Does this have any metaphorical significance? Maybe. I haven't thought about it enough).

This is unrelated now so if you don't like this take then ignore it but NOOOOO HEATHCLIFF QUEEQUEG ID I DONT LIKE THE IMPLICATIONS UGH. Heath has grown on me more but I just don't like it. I don't see him as a particularly soft or caring person in the way that Queequeg was, and he's certainly way more abrasive. I guess he also is singularly-minded in his motivations, but... Ugh.

[thehangerson]

OKAY here is my explanation for spamreblogging from you and also @/flashsidewayss (who i couln't find asks for or i would not send a weird joint ask) i read all of both of your psych fic bc that show makes me feel insane and it is like. no one else is doing it like you. also ive been listening to the playlist for ceceverse and like. we need the annotated version. anyway im approaching character limit and also realizing this is deranged and unintelligable but the gist is. i appreciate your contri

HELLO. many months later here is the annotated ceceverse playlist!!!

im gonna put a text break bc this will be LONG. sorry. purple text is stuff @flashsidewayss had to say. this will justbe some misc. notes and thoughts on the songs and some will have lyrics that i associate etc. hope u enjoy

Cecilia - Simon & Garfunkel

DUHHH!!! it’s THE ceceverse song. shawn named her after this song

The Room Is Filled With People That Love You - Foresight

this is one of my favs. fantastic song first of all but also SO ceceverse. like. life’s a precious thing!

Seven - Sleeping At Last

seven by sal you mean the most shawn song in the world. no lyrics to mention here bc. Well. all of them.

the enneagram songs are @thatchedrooftavern’s domain and he agrees that this is a major shawn song

"let me tell you another secret of the trade: it feels like sinking when i'm standing in one place" and the farewell and welcome home parade bit

Growing Pains - COIN

again. deeply a shawn song. 

This song is a little applicable to shawn just in general and also shawn and gus’ relationship which is one of the like. Pillars of this au.

Six - Sleeping At Last

another @thatchedrooftavern song, more of a gus song

"when everything feels heavy, I've learned to travel light" its the struggle of being around for those you love while also meeting your needs for activity and adventure

Vines - Hippo Campus

Big fan of this album! Some lyrics to mention would be “Failed by design, slow your pace down to mine / Watch my back, heave a sigh / Keep it safe, make it right”

10 Steps - Christian Leave

I can’t really find the words for my thoughts on this song, but the chorus is sort of just about how people can change so much during such time, and what you want with your life could be completely different from what it started as

I Can’t Handle Change - Roar

sorry about this one! self-explainable i think

Seventeen Going Under - Sam Fender

shawn spencer… yeah

with that relationship with his father? please. no notes

Sparks - Coldplay

this song is supposedly about romantic love but its very applicable to a parent-child relationship i feel

“But I promise you this / I'll always look out for you / Yeah, that's what I'll do” etc etc

Nine Lives - Odie Leigh

“Cats have nine lives, I have two / I live one for me, and one for you”

the annotation on genius.com for this first verse is this, “At minimum, I live for both of us but, preferably, I will fade into what I can be for you, an extension of you. I am the pencil you hold, the car you drive, the phone you stare at. It’s intoxicating to exist within other people. It’s hardly “sacrificing” myself to this person, but being able to hide within them.”

Together - The Raconteurs

for me this is The shawngus ceceverse song.

another album i love. @flashsidewayss once had to loan me $9 so i could buy the cd. no specific lyrics to mention.

The Book of Love - The Magnetic Fields

AUGHHHHHHHHHHHH

^get help. in all seriousness yeah. ceceverse ass song. in the literal sense im pretty sure we’ve mentioned in a few published fics about how cece is a big reader, and they do lots of reading together despite shawn not being one.

Rain - Bishop Allen

if its ever gonna get any better its gotta get worse for a day!

Coming of Age - Foster The People

lots of lyrics to mention here…. “You know I try to live without regrets/I'm always moving forward and not looking back/But I tend to leave a trail of dead while I'm moving ahead”

“I seem to hurt the people that care the most” etc etc “And even when I'm wrong, I tend to think I'm right”

Clay Pigeons - Michael Cera

deeply ceceverse vibes

have an attachment to this song spanning back to an older fic named after it… the third verse in specific

“I'm tired of runnin' 'round lookin' for answers to questions that I already know/I could build me a castle of memories just to have somewhere to go/Count the days and the nights that it takes to get back in the saddle again…”

Way It Goes - Hippo Campus

and so we return to this album… there's a lot we can’t control but lord knows we’re trying huh

A World Alone - Lorde

this song is quite a ceceverse song and also quite a shawngus song in general. something something finding peace in someone who understands you fully and loves you

You Make Loving Fun - Fleetwood Mac

an og ceceverse song! i listened to this song a lot right when i was first dreaming up this au. this song is super cece and shawn and also a little shules tbh i think its on my shules playlist also

The Gold - Manchester Orchestra, Phoebe Bridgers

second verse here… shawn ceceverse to me

Landslide - Fleetwood Mac

yeah. “Can the child within my heart rise above?/Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides?/Can I handle the seasons of my life?”

i also listened to this song a lot while writing this fic

Ahora Te Puedes Marchar - Luis Miguel

this one is just fun idk. a fun interlude

A Complete List of Fears Ages 5-28 (aprox) - The Yellow Dress

this song has always to me felt very much like a song you’d sing to a child to make them laugh. The chorus is so silly but closing it with “Oh, but mainly losing you/These days, mainly losing you” is. well. yeah

the repeated assurances that things will always be okay, even if bad things happen

More Like You - Orla Gartland

this song is far more applicable to things we haven’t posted, and more applies to cece as she gets older. her dad is her best friend, and she wants to be just like him when she grows up

100 Strangers - Circa Waves

this whole song is very shawn ceceverse

Gypsy - Fleetwood Mac

i could write a LOT about this song however. a specific to mention is that the bridge most likely refers to when Stevie Nicks married her late friend’s husband to help him raise his child. their marriage wasn’t long because they weren’t in love exactly but they both loved the child, which was enough at the time

Caught in the Middle - Paramore

the bridge in this one. etc. a shawn song

For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her - Simon & Garfunkel

AUHGHGHGHHGHGHGH

apparently Paul Simon has said that this song isn’t about a real person, but about more of a belief.

Green Light - Lorde

i think a lot about how the color green isn’t representing a negative in this song, but is more representing like a fresh start and something new

All My Little Words - The Magnetic Fields

AUHGUFGHUFDGHKDFGJFDSLJDFSKDLG

this song is here as more of a reference to shawn’s feelings on his own relationship with his father irt his relationship with his daughter. i don’t know how much we’ve written about this in posted fics but he does have a deep at the very least subconscious fear that he will lose his kid the same way his father “lost” him. i have more to say on this if anyone wants to hear it

Last Kiss - Taylor Swift

“So I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep” this line specifically we thought about a lot when writing this one for obvious reasons

“And I hope the sun shines and it's a beautiful day/And something reminds you you wish you had stayed/You can plan for a change in the weather and time/But I never planned on you changing your mind”

this song is here in reference to shawn and gus obviously. gus has really conflicted feelings about the years shawn spent away especially in this au, which we dig into a little in that fic and a few others

Never Grow Up - Taylor Swift

self-explanatory i feel

Graceland Too - Phoebe Bridgers

just like. i dont know. really really loving someone that you would do anything for them, no matter what. this song is also a little about loving people who have a hard time loving themselves so read into that if you wish

August (Acoustic) - flipturn

August regular is SO psych. August (acoustic) is SO ceceverse

Pluto - Sleeping At Last

insert pluto joke here. this song is here as a reference to shawn realizing that. it takes a village and the people around him are there to help and he should let them

Clean Slate - The Mountain Goats

move on and move out, yk? a very shawn song i think

The Wolf - The Crane Wives

sent to me by the lovely @thatchedrooftavern

shawngus lowkey. “can it be easy for once?/'Cause I’m no good at being kind to myself/Or anyone”

“I am a falling axe/I am a sharpened knife/I am a poison asp/I am a risk to your life”

Daydreamer - The Crane Wives

this song is a lot about like. societal norms and expectations

“How many times can someone start again?”

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For - U2

Like why would you say this to me

generally a very shawn song

A Month Or Two - Odie Leigh

idk. give it some time!

long story short - Taylor Swift

probably a little shawngus. also shawn and cece generally. the chorus etc

Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall

the whole song. what a special girl :)