#“he was also my biggest regret” die

[moxielynx]

forever angry that Wu referred to Morro as his "biggest regret" mf YOU failed him

edit: I forgor I made this post lawl, I still stand by this btw that sentence really pisses me off, but I’m aware that Wu probably meant he regretted how he was with Morro rather than regretting Morro himself. What really pisses me off is the phrasing of the sentence, saying that Morro is his biggest regret rather than something more reasonable like, idk, saying he made a big mistake with Morro. I hope this doesn’t come across as me being an unreasonable Wu hater cause I’m not, I love Wu, it’s just season 5 Wu specifically that makes me angry cause I really love Morro 😭

[socksracoon10]

Hi love here I come with my first spontaneous idea 🩷

Reader is the Commodore's sister but sick of the ways of society. When Jack saves Elisabeth, reader is the one who persuaded James not to kill Jack and also the one he happens to threat in order to escape. She’s somehow drawn to the Captain and later gives Will the keys to the cell to set him free. Jacks thoughts circle around her, too and they reunite when she swings last minute from the Dauntless over to the Interceptor to join the pirates making way❣️

Curious of The Seas

A/N: Literally fell in love with your ask oh my god, couldn't stop thinking about it before I began writing!! Thank you so much for this request! Pairings: Jack Sparrow x F!Reader, Will Turner x F!Reader (Platonic), James Norrington x F!Reader (siblings)

"Don't slouch, stand straight," Commodore Norrington hissed at you. You glared at your brother, curving your lips downward. You hated how strict and loyal he was to the British Crown and how he enforced his rules onto you, despite being his "precious baby sister." 

Your brother didn't hate you, but he sure did a good job of making you hate him. He was pacing his quarters back and forth, rehearsing what he would say to Miss Elizabeth Swann upon meeting her. You rolled your eyes at the pathetic scene, realizing that if your brother were to marry Miss Swann you were next on the list for the most eligible bachelorette in Port Royal. Your body cringed at the thought and you wriggled your back to shake off the eerie feeling crawling down your spine and focused on trying to ease your brother at the moment.

"James, there is no point in stressing over something as simple as this. Tell her you are in love with-" You began but frowned when he interjected,

"Love? Don't be ridiculous!"

"So, you're not in love with her?" You inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"No, no, I very much am in love with her. But it is not proper for a man such as myself to say trivial things to the daughter of the Governor!" Your brother reasoned and you sighed in an exasperated tone, shifting your gaze out the window.

Elizabeth had stared at you with a quizzical look on her face when your brother and you had first approached her. You both shared the same expression of disdain for the situation. It was very clear to see that she was indifferent to your brother and surely was the very last man that she had any interest for. You, on the other hand, dearly loved your brother and wanted to save him from any heartache that she would cause him. You chewed your lip nervously, watching them exchange a few words of greetings before walking away. The commodore glanced over his shoulder, mouthing a few warnings to reign your behavior in for the biggest moment of his life before stalking away.

Huffing in annoyance, you picked the ends of your dress up and marched past the Governor who was just about to start a conversation with you. He awkwardly shut his mouth and watched you walk away to stand on the other corner of the pillar where your brother and Elizabeth stood. He leaned backward to get a good look at you, sending you another glare before returning his full attention to the woman in front of him with a nervous smile. You sighed, gazing out to the sea. Your brother had taken you once beyond Port Royal when you were a little girl and he swore it was something he very much regretted; all you could ever do since then was talk about sailing the seas. You desired to travel across the world, collect artifacts, and live a free life. Your brother scoffed at your desires, stating that he would rather die than see his little sister galloping around like a pirate of all creatures.

As you gazed out into the horizons with a look of yearning, you heard the loudest splash from below. Peering over the edges of the wall, you frowned at the ripples that seemed to bloom near the rocks and you instantly pulled back from your position and walked around to notice your brother screaming Elizabeth's name.

"What did you do?" You exclaimed, resting a hand on his shoulder. He pulled away from your grasp, beginning to take his coat off but you grabbed hold of him,

"The rocks, James! She's lucky that she didn't hit them on her way down! Come, we can reach her at the docks!" You urged him, yanking his arm. He seemed instilled with distraught, at a loss for words, "She must've jumped by your mere presence!"

Your brother sent you a nasty scowl and the playful smirk on your lips faded away instantaneously. You knew this was no joking matter; the poor woman could've died on her way down and she was to be betrothed to him anyway. As your brother scampered off with the rest of the guards, you found your feet rooted to the ground as you stared up at the sky. Something was amiss. The clouds darkened and circled about gravely, and the sea no longer held its silky blue blanket to comfort you. Before you could try and comprehend what must've occurred, you felt an urgent tug around your arms and you sharply turned to find yourself facing the Governor.

"Come now, my dear, you mustn't dawdle around when my daughter's life is in danger!" He exclaimed and you frowned at his words, resisting the urge to roll your eyes at him. Even if you wanted to help Elizabeth, there was surely no way you could swim into the waters with this puffy dress around you. You followed him down to the docks, pushing past the British officers to find yourself facing Elizabeth coughing up heaps of water from her lungs and then... a pirate.

With all the rifles surrounding him, you nearly thought they were aimed at your brother who stood in the way. You could only make out half his face, oblivious to the ensuing conversation that your brother was currently engaged in. You peeked around the Commodore's shoulder, carefully eyeing the strange man in your presence when his eyes flickered over to you for a sharp second before returning to your brother. Your breath hitched at the moment, taking in his disheveled and wet appearance as your brother remained as the shield between the man and you.

"He's a pirate," Your brother growled, his jaw clenching as he barked orders for his arrest. He ignored your gaping stare as he continued, "Sparrow, I assume?"

"Jack Sparrow?" You interjected, your mouth practically on the floor as you stared at him. The corner of the pirate's lips curved into a small smirk,

"It's Captain Jack Sparrow, love," He smiled with a wink. You smiled back before your brother forcefully shoved you behind him once again. He made a mental note to have a discussion with you about your behavior as soon as you returned home. He took the pirate's belongings and derided him for his lack of proper weapons, but it bothered him so deeply that you were so enchanted by the man. It irked him to think that his sister would fall foolish to a PIRATE of all people. He forcefully grabbed onto Jack's arm and began dragging him off before you cut him off,

"James! James!" You cried out, and your brother halted in his tracks and sent you a menacing scowl.

"Not another word from you, (Y/N)." He hissed, and you scoffed before pulling your skirt up ever so slightly to march up to your brother,

"This man, pirate or not, has just saved your betrothed's life! I suggest you at least show some mercy upon him!"

"One good deed is not enough to redeem a man's life of wickedness," Your brother corrected you as Jack was being handcuffed by a Redcoat.

"Though it seems enough to condemn him," Jack added, and you offered him a sympathetic look before turning to your brother with pleading eyes.

"Brother, please. I beg of you, consider an alternative for this man." You prodded him, as your eyes fell onto Elizabeth who smiled softly at your words.

"Please do so," Jack muttered, before dragging his bound hands around your neck. You gasped in response, tugging at the chains as your brother panicked.

"No one shoots!" The Commodore bellowed, holding his hands in the air, "Let go of my sister."

"Only if you return my belongings," Jack taunted with a haughty grin. He leaned closer to lowly utter into your ears, "You must be regretting your kindness, do you not?"

"I don't, but it seems that you'll regret it," You whispered, as you watched the guards hand in his belongings in a bundle. Jack nudged your back with his knee ever so lightly to grab hold of his things and you begrudgingly did so, before sharply turning around to face him.

"Now if you'll do me the pleasure... my, I don't think I know your name..." He said with a sly smirk. You frowned at him,

"It's Miss Norrington to you," You spat, placing his hat on. As you placed his sword, belt, and other personnel around him, you could feel his intense stare burning deep into you. If it was of lust or attraction, you did not know and at the moment did not necessarily care. Your mind was fixated on other things, and your brother was seething in rage as he watched Jack give him a look regarding your body against his that made him want to hurl. To think his sister was so close to a gruesome pirate! It was preposterous!

As you tied the last remaining string of his belt around him, you looked up at him with disgust. Not only was he a pirate, but this would be the talk of the town, and your brother's and your reputation would be spoiled. Your brother could easily regain his good fortune, but you were never as lucky. You hated the way the women would gossip and to think it was all spoiled over one man you decided to be too merciful with because your curiosity could not be controlled made you ready to commit arson.

"Is this how you repay me?" You hissed and the pirate smirked at your words,

"I saved your friend's life, and now you save me. Besides, you did after all wish for me to live. Now, suffer those consequences. When shall a beautiful lady such as yourself realize to never mess with a pirate?" He chuckled, before harshly turning you around with his gun aimed at your head. Your brother flinched at the sudden movement, making sure you were alright. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, you will always remember this as the day you almost caught Jack Sparrow," The pirate's voice boomed from behind you and the very next second you found yourself thrust upon your brother and Elizabeth. As Jack Sparrow hurriedly began his escape, he did not fail to include a personal message from his heart, "Thank you very much, Miss Norrington. I shall not ever forget such kindness!"

And you weren't ready to forget him, either. It would be for another reason. As the night raged on with a surge of pirates infiltrating Port Royal, you felt a growing desire to do something about it. Your brother had joined the Governor for his safety and left you at home to be tended to by the maids. Upon realizing that the front door would burst open regardless of the circumstances, you quietly slipped out the window in your nightly attire and made your way to the blacksmith's quarters where you knew for a fact that your good friend Will Smith would be. Will and you had grown as siblings; he was there for you more than your brother had been. He had anticipated your arrival anyway but found himself in jeopardy when his ears gathered the news that Elizabeth Swann had been abducted by the pirates. He was pacing around when you arrived and he quickly latched onto your shoulders,

"They've taken Elizabeth! I tried my best but-" Will began but you silenced him, bringing a hand to his mouth.

"I know what you must be going through. But there is not enough time. I heard you helped imprison Jack Sparrow." You whispered and he nodded his head, eyes wide as he tried to make the best of the situation, "Come, I have the key with me, we can both interrogate him and seek his help." Your hand fell to his own and led him towards the streets.

"Wait a minute," Will stopped you, and with a glance over your shoulder you already knew what he was about to say. He was going to prevent you from going. "(Y/N), I know you've always wished to escape Port Royal, but I cannot bring harm to you once you step foot onto the waters."

"Will," You chastised him, "I am no longer a little girl. I am very capable of handling my own matters."

"You are inexperienced, that's all I can say." Will rebuked your claim and you gasped at his words, before furrowing your brows,

"So are you!"

"Ah, but I shall be bringing Sparrow with me to help find Elizabeth."

"Oh, don't be so dull! I can help Sparrow and you as well. Do not prevent me from doing so! If it is out of fear that a pirate may do something towards a woman of my status, I assure you that no such thing will occur! If he dares to even look at me, I shall see to it that his eyes are gouged out by his blade!" You reasoned and Will took a step backwards, his lips parting in shock at your words. You had the spirit of a pirate in you that was for sure, and that was exactly what he feared.

"I cannot let you join. Your brother is... already facing loss," He replied in an awkward tone, considering how much he cared about Elizabeth, "He would be devasted to find you gone as well. Just stay put for now. I'm sure there shall be something more exciting for you in Port Royal."

You muttered a few unladylike curses under your breath and reluctantly offered him the key to the jail cell, "At least tell Sparrow that I was... delighted by his presence."

Will raised a suspicious eyebrow at your remark, unsure of how to respond. He nodded his head and then left you alone, as you brought your hands over your arms as your mind wandered towards the sea once again.

To say that Jack Sparrow was surprised by Will's statement regarding you would be an understatement. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that you so willingly offered him the key to his escape, considering how he had humiliated your brother and especially you in front of everyone at the docks earlier in the day. He chewed his lip, his eyes dilating at the thought of you. The way you stared at him in defiance, your temples rising and falling with the way you clenched your jaw. Of course, who could forget the sensation of your fingers pressed up against him as you fastened his belt? As much of the ladies' man that Jack was, there was something different about you. You weren't like Giselle or Scarlet, complaining about superficial things or just merely trying to get into his pants. He could tell there was this curious spirit fighting to break free when he first laid eyes on you. The way you cautiously peered over your brother's shoulder had made him... well, he certainly wouldn't say his heart skipped a beat. He wasn't a silly little boy. He was a man! A grown man, a pirate! CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow, mind you. And yet here he was, trying to justify to himself that what he felt for you was nothing more than just infatuation that would surely pass on.

But it didn't. It never did. While of course, his thoughts about stealing The Interceptor were his priority, he just couldn't stand still without his mind fleeting over to the very image of you, dressed in that regal bright blue gown and your hair all curled and pinned to form the most exquisite portrait of a woman he'd ever seen in his life. He smirked to himself at the thought of you, wondering what you must be doing at Port Royal at the moment. What if your brother had you married off to someone else? What if you were to live the rest of your life as a boring wife to an equally boring officer? He shook his head, wriggling himself free from those imaginative concoctions. He was a pirate, damn it. He had better things to think about than just a woman he had seen days ago.

"You've got to be kidding me," Your brother grumbled as he pushed past you. You had boarded The Interceptor with him, not because you had wanted to - even though you took every chance out on the sea with gratefulness - but because your brother was so worried about the possibility of your abduction that he wished you were beside him at all times. Including those incredibly still moments of him gazing out into the sea. To him, he seemed to have an air of control, all the world's burdens upon his shoulder. This was his duty. When you gazed out into the sea, however, it was a plethora of possibilities. The unmarked territories you could claim, the desire for you to seek out treasure from all corners. You could be free. And no one would stop you. Save your brother, but that was something he'd always do anyway. Your attention focused on The Dauntless a couple hundred meters away as you noticed flocks of the British crew on small boats were paddling towards the ship you were in. Your brother gazed through his telescope and snarled at the sight, hesitantly passing the device for you to see as well. From afar, you saw Will Turner and... Jack Sparrow? The pirate? Both of them were flapping their arms around trying to make use of the mast. You guffawed at the sight, laughing at them. You turned to face your brother who quickly reminded you with his gaze about your behavior and you swallowed the amusement away as fast as you could.

The two ships - The Dauntless and The Interceptor - were locked horns now and your brother ordered you to come with him to board The Dauntless and put an end to Sparrow's madness. You reluctantly agreed, your eyes scanning around to see any sight of the familiar pirate you had so longed to see. 

"Search every cabin, every hull," Your brother barked, before turning back to you, "And you stay close to me. Do not go wandering about like a fool like you always do." 

You glowered at him, electing not to anger him any further as you stood on the deck. You watched him disappear among the surge of officers onto The Dauntless. You sighed, pacing back and forth when you noticed two men swing over to The Interceptor. It was Will and Jack.

Eyes widening in surprise, you tried to call attention to the situation but your cries fell on deaf ears. You stomped your foot and watched Jack cut off the rope ties, one by one. His gaze was fixed downwards until he looked up momentarily, and there you stood. He stood there for a few more seconds, completely surprised by your presence. Deep down, as much as he hated to admit it, he feared that he would never see you again.

"What are you doing? Cut the rope!" Will cried out in confusion before he followed Jack's eyes to you. Jack looked upwards at the rope still connecting the two boats before turning back to you,

"Jump, Miss Norrington!" He instructed, and you stepped forward, holding onto a long piece of rope. Upon hearing your name, your brother rushed out of the Captain's Quarters, pushing past his men.

"(Y/N)!" He yelled, his eyes daring you to make another move. Realizing that this was the only opportunity to acquire what you had spent so long yearning for; the deep blue seas, the adventure, and the whimsical treasures, you sent him one final glance before running off the deck of The Dauntless and swinging onto The Interceptor. With the final rope now gone, and the ship sailing forward at full speed your brother looked at you as if you were dead to him.

When The Dauntless was far behind and there seemed to be no danger at the present moment, you walked towards your friend Will and the pirate beside him. Will seemed elated that you were there, and he hugged you so warmly that you nearly forgot that he was not related to you by blood. Releasing you from his arms, he sheepishly stepped aside as Jack Sparrow stepped forward.

"Miss Norrington, it is a pleasure to have you on board with us. I almost feared you might not have the guts to swing over," He teased, his hand graciously wrapping around your own as he kissed your fingers with such gentleness that it surprised you. You cracked half a smile at him, narrowing your eyes, before responding,

"You may call me (Y/N), and please, I never turn down an opportunity for adventure."

[junhanner]

heyy can you write a ot13 svt reaction to you wearing a miniskirt just like this one? pleaseeeee thx 💖

hihi!!! yes , i can ^_^ also this skirt is very pretty i love it !!

a/n : pls ignore any grammar mistakes💔 english isn’t my first language

𓎢𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟 ౨౿ seventeen’s reaction to you wearing a 𐄹 miniskirt. ౨౿

𓎢𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟𓎟

✧ ꒰ঌ seungcheol ໒꒱ : #1 ass smacker in his group and also in the world . the SECOND he would see you come out of the bathroom/closet with this skirt he would actually lose it but in a good way ?????? would say something along the lines on “what did i do to deserve to be with the most beautiful thing in the world lord” (it’s unclear if he was actually talking about your ass or you but hey let’s say he was reffering to both)

✧ ꒰ঌ jeonghan ໒꒱ : would have the biggest smirk on his face everytime he would see you in something revealing . “wore this for me today hm??” wait till this mf sees u in this skirt. his face would literally be UNREADABLE excluding the fact a tear would roll down his cheek (he lowkey (highkey) liked that skirt too much)

✧ ꒰ঌ joshua ໒꒱ : “oh wow …” would be standing there like “🧍” just staring at you for a good 5 minutes . after contemplating his entire life goes up to you and compliments you like the gentleman he is duh (bonus part , would say something along the lines of : “thine fleshy posterior , like the rolling hills of the countryside and the elegant arc of a rainbow is a masterpiece to all” shakespeare ass comment)

✧ ꒰ঌ junhui ໒꒱ : that night he would actually sleep with his eyes open dreaming about that skirt on you. would and WILL get on his knees for you because are you even real??? hi??? hello????? “tian xin youre gonna wear this more often right? right??? Right??? RIGHT??” theres a slight chance he can actually die from it

✧ ꒰ঌ hoshi ໒꒱ : he seems like the person to actually drool .. sorry not sorry i will not regret dropping this information because its TRUE . hoshi would like to grab your ass so much because he claims it’s like doing the horanghae but like grabbing your ass while doing it??? creative i guess ..

✧ ꒰ঌ wonwoo ໒꒱ : raises a eyebrow and says “is this what you’re gonna wear today??? interesting…” he says readjusting his glasses ^_^ funny enough the whole time you two are out his eyes would be glued on that skirt …. “why are you staring” “excuse you , im actually not staring im observing. get your english right”

✧ ꒰ঌ woozi ໒꒱ : woozi would actually treat this as new song material so get that bag, i guess .. BUT he would jump on you the second you’re out of the closet wearing that skirt because it’ s criminal to think you can wear that skirt and not get your ass smacked by him the milisecond he spots you

✧ ꒰ঌ minghao ໒꒱ : would judge you but he would actually love that skirt so much .. “why ru staring like that leave the herbal teas alone man” “you should be ashamed saying that, your ass is literally staring at me” “ru sure those are herbs” once found out that hoshi thinks that grabbing asses looks like the horanghae (no wonder he actually grabs his members asses) and has stopped grabbing your ass ever since but would still give you playful ass smacks from time to time

✧ ꒰ঌ dk ໒꒱ : screams . yes. he will scream. does not care if you will scold him because how can he not scream?? in the end y’all just went to get icecream cause the restaurant dk was taking you out on closed but for him its okay as long as hes with you (and that skirt) ^_^

✧ ꒰ঌ mingyu ໒꒱ : would eat that skirt UP . will giggle and say “babee why didnt i know about that skirt before😇” next thing he knows hes actually tweaking and this is a CANON event. he would probably say “my ass is bigger anyways 🙄🙄” like we see sir ..

✧ ꒰ঌ seungkwan ໒꒱ : imagine surprising him at badminton practice with this skirt .. OH.MY.GOD the look on his face would be worth millions😭 “you wore this for me?????” part 2 but this time sounding like hes on the verge of having a heart attack. THE PEOPLE AT HIS PRACTICE WOULD 100% START TEASING HIM LMAAAOOO. prays to the lord every night starting from that day for you to start wearing that skirt more often .

✧ ꒰ঌ vernon ໒꒱ : no reaction. like no reaction at all. would say “cool” before going back to whatever he was doing (vernon i love you but 😞😞)

✧ ꒰ঌ dino ໒꒱ : jaw would hang open. down bad is actually a understatement right now, when he saw that skirt i swear he would actually be on the verge of tears . “dino are you okay??” “HOW CAN I BE OKAY??? YOU ARE MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY KILLING ME WITH THAT SKIRT”

[hkthatgffan]

Hey! You seem like a huge *Gravity Falls* fan, so I was hoping you could answer some of my biggest questions about morality in the show. Since the release of *The Book of Bill* (which I’ve read), do you think Bill could ever be redeemed or seen sympathetically? Is there a possibility for him to get better and maybe even have a happy ending?

I ask this because I see a lot of fans saying, "He's awful," or "He deserves everything coming to him a thousandfold," and "Don't sympathize with him!" But then I watch the show, and I see characters like Gideon Gleeful and Robbie who were also problematic—they did terrible things but still got happy endings.

I know Gideon went to jail, but he broke out and ultimately had a positive resolution. Robbie, for example, tried to brainwash Wendy into a romantic relationship (which is super messed up!). Even though it didn’t work, and Wendy only dated him because she thought he wrote her that song, Robbie knew what the CD was supposed to do. But instead of facing real consequences, he just went through a breakup and still ended up with a happy ending, with friends and a new girlfriend.

As for Gideon, he tried to kill Dipper, manipulate Mabel, and invade the entire town’s privacy—basically doing some of the same things Bill did. Yet, after going to jail and making a last-minute turn toward good, he still got a happy ending.

So I’m super confused. What should I be feeling? Is there a correct way to view these characters? What do you think?

Bill at his core is the personification of denial. We see in the book that the harbours some regret and hatred for what he's done to the people around him but he refuses to try and take it to heart and use it as a point to grow from. I mean, look at what he did.

He killed his entire dimension and family and yet tries to deny it was anything bad and that in fact he liberated them. He manipulated and almost destroyed Ford and yet denies ruining the friendship they had. He tried to kill Dipper and Mabel and yet acts like it was nothing. Bill is unsympathetic. He's a narcissistic sociopath who doesn't wanna admit it.

The difference with Robbie and Gideon is that they changed and grew past their issues. Robbie tbh was more so being a literal teen drama story while Gideon was made that way through his exposure to Journal 2 and how that corrupted him. Once both found a new lease on life, they were able to grow and become better.

Bill is not that. He cannot accept that he's not fine and that he's the sole survivor of his kind and has pushed everyone he knew out of his life through his own actions. We've all probably dealt with people like Bill Cipher. Be it a person, co-worker, significant other, friend, family member, etc. We've all had that person who acts full of themselves and manipulatively but in reality is suffering. But because of how they act and their refusal to do anything, you start to lose any sympathy or interest in helping or being there and just let them go. Congrats...you just escaped a toxic relationship.

As someone who has dealt with Bill Ciphers in my life like many of us probably have, it's easy to feel sympathy for him. Bill make his case out as such that you wanna feel like he deserves better. But he's a trillion year old being that has been doing the same thing over and over again and refuses to make an effort to move on and let himself accept what he did to his dimension and to people around him like Ford.

Ford on the other hand realized that and cut Bill out of his life. He's doing better now because of that and has his family by his side. Ford is an example of how to move on from such toxic situations and people and find happiness in your life again after that. Bill is the example of what happens if you can't.

Life is short. We all will die one day. We all deserve to lead a life free of people like Bill Cipher in it. The best thing we can do is follow Ford and find the people in life that make us happy and let go of Bill.

So, to answer your question, NO!

I don't think Bill Cipher can be redeemed or seen in a sympathetic way. He tried to. But he's shown even in the Theraprism that he can't. He's doomed to live forever with the shit he's done. And it's his own fault.

Bill can say he's fine but in the end...he's not. And he never will be. There is no redemption for Bill Cipher.

[gingermintpepper]

One of my biggest pet peeves is the assumption that something has to be sad for it to be tragic.

I've always been a big believer of the 'Apollo has an awful love life'/'Apollo is plain unlucky with love' line of thinking but it does bother me that the general reasoning for that statement is given to the concept of 'Apollo is somehow undesireable and thus rejected' (Cassandra/Daphne/Marpessa) or 'his lovers die young and thus their love is unfulfilled' (Cyparissus/Hyacinthus/Coronis). I personally think that's a very unfortunate way of looking at things - not only because it neglects the many perfectly cordial entanglements and affairs Apollo has had, both mortal and divine - but because it presents a very shallow interpretation of the concepts of love and loss and how loss affects people.

Apollo can still grieve lovers that have a long, healthy life. The inherent tragedy of an immortal who knows his lovers and children will die and cannot stop it does not stop being tragic simply because those lovers and children live long, fulfilled lives. The inherent tragedy of loss does not stop being tragic simply because someone knows better than to mourn something that was always going to end.

What is tragic is not that Apollo loves and loses but that loss itself follows him. Apollo does not love with the distance of an immortal, he does not have affairs and then leaves never to listen to their prayers again. He does not have offspring and then abandon them to their trials only to appear when it is time to lead them to their destinies. He raises his young, he protects the mothers of his children, he blesses the households that have his favour and multiplies their flocks that they may never go hungry. He educates his sons, he adorns his daughters and even in wrath he is quick to come to his senses and regret the punishments he doles out.

Apollo loves. And like mortals, there will always be some part of him that wishes to protect the objects of his affections. Apollo, however, is also an emissary of Fate. He knows that the fate of all mortal things is death. He knows that to love a mortal is to accept that eventually he will have to bury them. There is no illusion of forever, there is no fantasy where he fights against the nature of living things and shields his beloveds from death. Apollo loves and because of that love, he also accepts.

And that, while beautiful, is also tragic.

[solaireverie]

sv5 | stars all aligned and they intertwined

pairing: sebastian vettel x f!singer!reader

summary: [ social media au ] despite parting ways years ago, you and sebastian somehow find each other again (or: sebastian becomes your wag after his retirement)

warnings: language

faceclaim: anne hathaway + pinterest

author's note: seb is literally the definition of a wife guy. i love him so much. enjoy!

liked by phoebebridgers, oceanblvd, sebastianvettel and 3,459,127 others

yourusername the biggest thank you to everyone who came last night. i adore adore adore all of you with my whole entire heart ❤️

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user the finger in the first pic??? y/n girl are you trying to tell us something 🤨

↪ user i don't get it? does it mean anything special?

↪ user it's one of the most famous celebrations of ex-formula 1 driver sebastian vettel. they dated a while ago and he was at her concert last night!!!!

↪ user awww that's cute 🥺

sebastianvettel Always lovely to see you again 😄

↪ yourusername likewise 💕

liked by sebastianvettel, gigihadid, charles_leclerc and 874,935 others

tagged: sebastianvettel

yourusername behind the scenes 🎥

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user new music soon??? 👀👀👀

↪ yourusername maybe 😉

charles_leclerc 🤍🤍🤍

↪ yourusername ❤️❤️❤️

user seb and charles in the likes 😳 ariana what are you doing here?

↪ user seb's also tagged lololololol the rumors are terrible and cruel but honey most of them are (probably) true ✨

sebastianvettel Mein engel ❤️ [ my angel ]

↪ yourusername mein weltmeister (und fotograf) 💕 [ my world champion (and photographer) ]

↪ user absolutely unwell over this interaction. what do you mean seb took the photos. why are they calling each other pet names in german. UNWELL.

↪ charles_leclerc trust me it's worse in person

liked by lewishamilton

↪ user charles?!?!?!??!?! lewis?!?!??!?!??! y/n's collecting all the fast car boys fr 😭

liked by yourusername, danielricciardo, charles_leclerc and 481,359 others

tagged: yourusername

sebastianvettel These hands had to let it go free and this love came back to me

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yourusername this love is alive back from the dead ❤️

liked by sebastianvettel

user THEY'RE SO FREAKING CUTE?????????

user so happy for them 🥺 it was really obvious that they were in love and that it was just bad timing the first time around...

charles_leclerc mom & dad :)

↪ yourusername who taught him this??? charles darling i'm afraid i'm not quite at that age yet

↪ danielricciardo i claim the fifth

↪ yourusername you're not even american 😑

user the caption sounds a lot like a lyric 👀

liked by yourusername

liked by sebastianvettel, dyl.an, billboard and 7,936,872 others

tagged: sebastianvettel

yourusername I fell terribly in love with someone when I was in my mid-twenties, before either of us knew who we were. It was a love that people write tragedies about, a cautionary tale told to children for years to come, a car wreck you can’t look away from. In the end, I walked away from everything we’d built with tears in my eyes and walls around my heart. 

I don’t regret the paths I chose and sacrifices I made. The starkest realizations I’ve had about myself came in the days after, when I cried myself to sleep and pretended I didn’t know his name. I created some of my most beautiful music when I couldn’t enter a room without seeing him in the crowd. I grew from the experience the way forests grow back after a wildfire.

However, I always regretted letting go of him. He was the one I knew I could always count on, the one who held me in my darkest days, the one whose smile I searched for wherever I went, despite knowing I was the one who erased it from my life.

Ten years later, after I had already buried everything we once shared, I received a text from an unknown number. 

What came next is well-documented in pictures, notes scribbled on coffee cups, and train tickets across Europe. While we may have been the right person at the wrong time a decade ago, patience rewards those who wait.

I found myself falling for him all over again. It felt like a homecoming and a rebirth at the same time. We had changed and matured in our time apart, but we still knew each other like the backs of our hands. At his core, he is still the man I loved, and something in my soul knew that. 

Love is a strange thing. It is something we feel deep in our beings yet something we will never fully understand. It is untameable, maddening, and fickle. It is also enchanting, captivating, and thrilling. If there’s someone in your life who loves you, count yourself lucky. If you love someone, I hope they appreciate you.

This album is both a love letter to him and for him. It is an ode to his figure against the sunrise and arms around my waist. It’s a time capsule of carnival games, elaborate bouquets, and endless late-night conversations. I treasure each and every second I get with you, especially the ones we spent writing some of the tracks together.

My love, adore adore adore is yours.

comments on this post have been limited

likes and reblogs are appreciated!

masterlist

for the nerds like me, here's a breakdown of y/n's music in this verse

[faith2wood]

hey! i just finished beholden. i wanted to ask what got you writing, what had you stop for a decade, and what got you back in?

Ahhhh! Asking me why I write? You wanted word vomit? You're getting word vomit.

(There's a little spoiler for Beholden under the cut.)

What got me writing?

RAGE. 

No, really.

I was a lurker/reader in the Buffy fandom at the time, and I'd only occasionally read HP fics — 95% gen!fic, 4% low rated canon romance, 1% Sirius/OC smut, because the rest of my faves were kids, and I wasn't interested in anything else. 

And then after DH, with Draco getting pushed to the brink of redemption, but not crossing the line, and with Harry's view of him changing — always so sorry, so sad for him, always noting how scared he seemed, even switching to calling him 'Draco' — I was left with such a need to read that pairing. I wanted Draco to cross that line, and I wanted that soft understanding Harry had found for him to get explored. 

So, I tried reading Harry/Draco fics. And OH MAN. 

I was no stranger to character-bashing and unusual interpretations of canon — Buffy fandom was pretty damn crazy — but I knew my way around that place. With Harry/Draco, I stepped into the WILD. Fic after fic, all I could find was everything I loved and everything Harry loved in canon torn apart to pieces. His friends, his girlfriend, his House, his beliefs, his humor, the things that he wanted, the things that he fought for, the things that he was willing to die for, his character growth in DH, the confident brave man he became after Dobby's death, all of it dismissed, usually in a handful of exposition paragraphs. Endless apologies for the pure-blood supremacists. Draco 'redeeming' himself by quoting lines written by his fans on discussion boards, and therefore showing me he's not regretful, just full of excuses. Or he's not even redeemed, just cool and rich and suave (lol) and so much wittier than that bumbling, irrationally angry Harry Potter that felt plucked straight from OotP with all his teen angst painfully exaggerated. And then in those fics Harry just goes with it because he thinks Draco is hot. 

I could go on. I won't. 

So, I had that petulant moment where I thought, "Fine. I'll do it myself. How hard can it be?" 

Well, pretty damn hard, apparently. It's hard to create convincing drama. It's hard to get the characters in the right frame of mind so your plot could work. It's very hard to write smart and witty characters. It's hard to convincingly redeem someone. It's hard to juggle a cast of side-characters. It's hard to spell the word nesscscseary. It's especially hard to take that perfect, plausible, well-thought out story in your head and write it down without losing at least half of what makes it good. It's also hard to find time to write and write well. And of course your personal opinions on canon and fanon can seep through no matter how hard you try not to preach, and it can totally ruin a story.

That realization tempered my rage. It didn't mean I was willing to read the things I don't like, of course; I always liberally use that back button. But I did eventually find fics that I love and reccers I can trust, and learned to forgive when authors cut some corners.

Oh, but the taste of POWER writing gave me. The fact that I can just write the things I want to read. Cater to my own preferences. Simply not include the things I don't like. I want it, it's there; I don't want it, it's not.

So that's why I started writing. So I could read exactly what I wanted to read. Stories perfectly tailored for me. Honestly, I'm my biggest fan. I'm my own writing bitch. It doesn't even matter if I fail to do a good job while writing down the little movie that played out in my head, because I know my own intentions. I thought it all through. What I've written might not make sense to a reader sometimes, but it always makes sense to me. And I can always forgive myself if I feel like I failed. I find it very, very easy to forgive myself. Others, not so much, especially if I start to suspect they don't love Harry enough.

What made me stop writing?

I didn't stop writing. I stopped posting. I stopped interacting with fandom. I felt like I had my fill. I'm happy to recycle plots and read and write similar things over and over again, because I want what I want, and I won't apologize for it, but apparently I've reached a limit after all and felt like I have nothing new to offer.

I kept writing stuff. Fanfic for other fandoms, original stuff, even HP fics. Most of it unfinished and unedited and unpresentable, but enough to satisfy my occasional cravings for specific things. Which, as I said, is the whole point of my writing.

So I'll rephrase your next question: What got me to finally finish a Harry/Draco fic and post it? 

THE CURSED CHILD. lol I haven't seen it. Or read it. I haven't even read the synopsis. Next gen, eh, I was never interested. But I caught some spoilers about it on tumblr and reddit — about Draco's wife being ill and dying. That's some incredible stuff. Draco being so loving and dedicated, standing up to his parents, so heartbroken when the person he loved died but still being a wonderful father to his son. It's like I discovered a whole new Draco to think about. It got me all inspired. It's everything I ever wanted for him, except of course his wife dying. So he got to save his seemingly terminally ill lover in Beholden, and got the chance to be a loving, tender husband I wouldn't dare to even imagine after finishing the books, as it would feel too OOC to soften him up to that degree.

It likely wasn't visible, but in my mind, Beholden is kind of a Cursed Child fix!it fic — for that tiny part of the story. I needed it so desperately, I actually finished and posted it.

I have a few more asks in my tumblr inbox, and I'll very happily answer them, but it might take some time.

[x-liv25-jamieswife]

hiiii! i love ur head cannons so much omg.

if it’s okay could i request the inheritance games characters on social media if that makes sense? thank u!

tig social media head canons

of course! SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. i'll do a few hcs for each of the characters. they all have one public and one private account (this isn't relevant for all of the characters hcs in this post but eh). i hope you like them <3.

avery: (i actually did these a while back and never finished)

she also has a shared insta account with grayson for the aesthetic pictures they take of nature together (i've mentioned this in so many posts, i will die on this hill)

she also has an old one she doesn't use anymore filled with people from her old school who never gave a fuck about her asking her if she remembers them and if she could send them some money. she and max sometimes go back on the account and laugh at her old classmates/teachers' messages (the first part is canon but eh)

max sometimes gets avery to do stupid tiktok dances or funny videos. avery pretends to hate it but she kinda likes it. (jameson eats them up)

xander sometimes hacks her public account and posts really weird shit. avery almost got cancelled once and alisa got pissed at xander. she made him make a statement

she uses her private account to like her fans videos. her fans know that it's her but obviously none of them follow her.

she makes the wildest get ready with me videos (like grwm to talk to the president or smth like that). she doesn't do them often, but when she does people eat it up.

obviously her account is verified and she has like 50 million followers or smth crazy

jameson:

at least half of his videos/pictures on his account are of avery and him. the captions are always smth cute like a song lyric or smth.

he makes tiktok dances with his fans when they ask him to.

his bio would be smth like "property of avery grambs, please return me to her if lost"

a lot of videos are of him trying to beat world records and basically just doing really wild and/or dumb things (like how many spoons can i balance on my body)

he's very big on following back his fans and just interacting with them in general. he likes all of the averyjameson videos he sees, comments on edits, etc. people love him for it

when he was younger, he had a phase where he posted thirst traps. his brothers laugh at him for it. he doesn't do it anymore and finds it embarrasing.

grayson:

rarely posts on his public account but still has millions of followers bc, well, he's a hawthorne.

he loves making his insta look aesthetic. his insta matches a theme and he gets pissed at xander whenever he hacks his account and messes it up.

he only has one pinned tiktok which is a video of him twerking bc his brothers dared him too. accepting that dare is his biggest regret.

like i mentioned earlier, he has an account with avery where they post aesthetic pictures of nature. he also has one (under another name) where he posts random pictures he takes of people and stuff. the caption is usually the date he took it on.

when he does post smth on his insta, it's usually a picture taken at an event or some announcement of sort (idk what that could possible be though)

xander:

makes the wildest storytime videos where he talks about all of his failed experiments and shit (one of them was "storytime on the time i accidently castrated a dog)

he definitely has a public spam account which is basically just a fanpage for all of his favorite things.

xander has a secret fan account where he posts edits of avery and just gushes about how much he loves her

he posts really funny pics of his brothers that they definitely would not want on the internet whenever they do smth to annoy him (he once posted a pic of grayson slapping his own ass)

a lot of his videos are like 'day one of building a roller coaster for hamsters'

speaking of his experiments, he usually makes polls where fans can decide like the color of smth or the shape of the roller coaster.

nash:

replies to his comments addressing the commenters as 'love', 'sweetheart', or 'darling'

he has a help line linked in his bio for people in abusive situations that want to escape (does that exist? i think so)

like jameson, he mostly just posts pics of libby with taylor swift lyrics as the captions or smth simple like 'my sweetheart'

he posts many polls where fans can decide what cowboy hat/boots he should wear that day.

he'll sometimes post videos like 'a day in the life of a rich white boy who works as a bartender'

libby

she most definitely pretty much only posts baking videos (this is a given). she has a website too with all of her recipes.

she loves baking and giving her confections to homeless people. she posts videos about this too.

she also posts videos of her just ranting while she dyes her hair.

this was a trend a while back, but she once posted a videos where she went through her different hair eras and ranked them.

like nash, she has a help line linked in her bio for people in abusive relationships.

max:

she has a booktok/bookstagram that follows a specific theme.

she loves posting controversial things cause she likes causing drama (on her normal account and her bookstagram)

she posts a lot of rants where she just hates on men and the patriarchy. xander comments huge paragraphs on every single one of them agreeing with her.

on tiktok, she posts a lot of transition videos (like her looking like shit to her with really nice makeup and led lights in the back)

she posts grwm's just like avery (they obviously aren't as wild though but they're hilarious) (i can imagine her making a 'grwm to get disowned by my parents')

[hami-gua]

永别了，亲爱的 Farewell, My Beloved

Long overdue since Qingming has long since pass (oops).

Blade x gn! Reader

Takes place in game — not canon though

Warning: Chinese is used (English translation provided), angst hurt no comfort (first time writing this angsty)

Please read to the end for credits and reference.

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━

Shoes echoes through the barren halls. The figure moves through the doorway, his steps slow. And then he stops. Right in front of the wall of name plaques. His red eyes scanned the whole wall, searching for a particular name and walking to it right as he spots it. He carefully pulls out a clean cloth — and with care, wiped down the plaque. It didn’t need to be cleaned, as workers everyday made sure all plaques are cleaned out of respect. Once he was done, he placed the bouquet of white chrysanthemums in front of it then sits down.

The figure couldn’t help but think of their death. Of the three that had to pay a price, he alone had to pay the biggest. He made a promise to them and he broke it. The what ifs began to speed through his head. He’s died once, and he wants to die again. He wishes he can be with them in the afterlife. That is, if Mengpo doesn’t make him drink her soup. Not that he could see them anyway. Not after what he’s done.

He places two cups and pulls out a jar of wine. After filling both cups, he took his and raised it — drinking it all after.

“I’m sorry,” was the first thing he said to them, “I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess.”

He wants to apologize but no matter what he says, he knows no explanation could cut it. It was his error in action. In emotion. There was no way words can express his regrets.

“我与你的记忆损乱了，“ a tear slips from his eye, “你长得什么样，我也记不了了。我也记不住你的声音了。我只能记得你的名字，但也记不了多久了。“ [Memories of me and you have been messed up… The way that you looked, I cannot remember. I also cannot remember your voice. I only remember your name, but I cannot remember that for long either.]

The figure sat in silence for a bit before starting once more, “当年，如果不是我，也不是丹枫的话，你今日该会是什么样了？你还会像以前一样跟景元玩象棋吗？跟丹枫看书？跟镜流和白珩逛街？或者跟我练功？” he drank another cup full of wine, “可惜，三个付出代价去了，一个早已离去，最后一个孤独的留在了罗浮。不知你和白珩有没有相遇。我想是。我们当时挣扎了好久，现在平安多了。你若在的话，肯定会喜欢现在罗浮的环境。“ [That year, if it wasn’t for me, and Dan Feng, what would you have been like today? Would it be like it was then, with you playing xiangqi with Jing Yuan? Reading with Dan Heng? Shopping with Jing Liu and Baiheng? Or would you have been sparring with me? …. Sadly, three paid a price, one has departed, and the last one is left lonely on Luofu. I don’t know if you and Baiheng have caught up. I’d like to think you guys did. Our time was so messy, but Luofu today is much peaceful. If you were here, you’d definitely like Luofu today.]

Amidst his rambling, another figure approached. She stood right behind him, gazing up on the plaque.

“It’s time you wrap it up, Bladie.”

Blade hummed in acknowledgment, “Just a little more time.”

The lady stared at him a bit longer before sighing and heading out, saying she’ll be waiting for him at the entrance. After he was sure he was alone again, he spoke softly.

“是时候该走了。如果我没有捅你一刀，你今天应该还会在吧。对不起，这是我最后一次能看你了。仙舟没有我的地方了。在这个人生里，可能再也不会有人像你一样叫我的名字了。我永远也不可能是应星了。” [It’s time I should get going. If I didn’t stab you that day, you would probably still be here. I’m sorry, this is my last time seeing you. There’s no longer a place for me on Xianzhou. In this life, there will be no one to say my name the way you do. And I will never be able to be Yingxing anymore.]

Blade gets up and places the jar of wine next to the filled cup. After, he bows to the name plaque three times. Then, he turns and walks out of the room — leaving Luofu till his death arrives.

永别了。。。[Farewell…]

亲爱的。[My beloved.]

─── ∙ ↤THE END↦ ∙ ─---

I've been thinking, should I make banners specifically for the characters I write? Or would that be too much? Cuz right now, I can't decide on a banner for each story.

Qingming 清明: Called Tomb-Sweeping day in the west. People visit the graves of their deceased love ones. Even going as far as cleaning and retouching graves. It’s customary to offer food and wine (or other beverages they loved).

White Chrysanthemums: White flowers, mainly white chrysanthemums are placed during funeral and the dead. Don’t gift these to people please (unless you desperately wish for that person to perish).

Mengpo 孟婆: A deity in the underworld that gives passing souls her specialty called 孟婆汤 (mengpo soup) that would wipe their memories for their journey in their next life.

Bowing three times: I was taught this at a young age, but when bowing to gods and ancestors, you bow three times. Usually it’s very quick, but I like to take it slow (cuz I think it shows deeper respect).

[mtkay13]

-你身上有光 dyptich-

BACK AGAIN with more "Light on you" stuff! I really can't let go of this passage, haha. And I have A LOT MORE TO SAY so Let's go! (LONG post ahead)

This post will contain:

my own attachment and what I love in this scene

what lead me to depict them like this

a personal translation of the passage in the book

But to begin with, a little something about storytelling. In order to help writers, some "storytelling rules" have been set up and theorised about. Those rules are, of course, meant to be broken, and one does not need to follow them in order to write a good story; but during the storytelling course I followed, a few of those rules have stuck with me, especially this one:

The main character, the hero of the story, will be the one to shine or to "save the day" in the end.

Again--does this rule need to be respected for a good story? Not necessarily, but when struggling with how to manage an ending or a main character, it can be helpful.

Anyway. For me, this scene, the "there's light on you" scene, kind of is that scene--that one scene where ZZS is the main character, is the hero. TYK has an interesting story structure, where if you go by the book of typical wuxia stories, ZCL would be the main character; and if you look at whom goes through the biggest internal journey throughout the story, it would be WKX. ZZS's own story technically spans across both QY and TYK, which makes TYK a bit more about WKX's journey than ZZS'.

But that very scene is not only ZZS saving WKX, but also ZZS reaching the conclusion of his own journey. By the end of QY, ZZS didn't go and meet with Jiuxiao. He deliberately looked the other way, too scared to go check on him, too superstitious; and in the end, Jiuxiao died. TYK puts ZZS in a similar position: someone he loves is away, and the choice to go reach them is in his hands. He decided to respect WKX's wish to go and fight his own battle alone, yet he ultimately went against it, changed and moved on from who he was in QY, to go and fight by WKX's side.

It's no surprise that I'm very into ZZS, and this image of him bathed in light, beating the scorpion to his own game and "taking back" this main character spot... It makes me go insane. Not to mention all the incredible quotes of this passage. "His person"? "There's light on you"? Come on!! I'm also. Obsessed with how and what WKX saw. What he must have felt, as he was ready to die, when he saw his person, his husband, dashingly get rid of all the enemies, almost at the peak of his power, come and "collect his corpse"--save him? Just!! Imagine!!! Imagine being WKX and this is how it ends!!! You're the GVM, you've had the life you've had, you finally meet someone that you truly love, the guy's about to die, then maybe not, AND THEN HE COMES TO SAVE YOUR LIFE AGHHHH 😭😭😭 Sorry, I REALLY like this. REALLY.

-------

cough--So, about their expressions and what I wanted to represent. For ZZS, to me... it was a mix of closure, fondness, and satisfaction. I think that ZZS had a "good time", going back to who he was before: tailing the scorpions, going undercover, ambushing from the shadows--not to mention slowly retrieving his full power. I think that this ZZS feels quite good, especially now that he got the confirmation that WKX is still alive. Then, the feeling of having done "the right thing". He's... beyond regret, now. He was able to follow his heart, quite literally, and that also feels good. The fondness is of course because he's looking at WKX. What else is he supposed to feel?? They haven't met for 3 months! I think that he's worried, but they trust each other. He trusts that WKX will survive this, that he'll be strong, that he won't die on him. So yeah. I wanted this ZZS confident--in himself, in WKX, in the future. WKX is a bit dazed, there. Probably in pain, and a bit stunned as he wasn't expecting it. But he's also... a bit enthralled; by this light, by how impressive and efficient his husband is, and, of course, the fact that ZZS came for him. The person he loves, the person whose life matters more than everything else now that WKX has reached his goal, came for him, came to save him. This stupid guy came for him instead of going to the mountain to prepare on his own. Yet another blatant show of them being so alike, isn't it? I guess... it's just a lot of love, a bit of pride, the faintest hint of him being amused, even--and maybe relief, as well. He won't die, and ZZS is there, and he's strong, and again, like for ZZS, there's a future--which he never allowed himself to properly consider, I believe. -------- Finally, a personal retranslation of that scene. I did it not because I thought it really needed it but because the only existing TL of this part of the book doesn't allow for reposting and I figured I may as well try. So for anyone who doesn't remember the passage or hasn't read the book/reached this chapter, here it is!

The Scorpion raised his hand and was immediately handed a weapon. His smile vanished as he looked at Wen Kexing leaning against the tree, already quite injured. He said: “For someone like the Ghost Lord, I must act in person—it would be quite disrespectful to get someone else to do the job.” 

As he spoke, he raised his hook across his chest and approached slowly. He continued in a low voice: “I invite the Ghost Lord to walk ahead on the Yellow Spring road.” 

He then fell silent, raising the hook higher and higher. Wen Kexing opened his eyes, quietly looking at him, his pitch-black irises like two dark pools of murky water, calm as if he wasn’t the one about to die.

The Scorpion suddenly felt a violent gush of wind surging from the side, charged with killing intent—electrified by an aura of death, goosebumps rising on his skin, he shouted as he lifted his hook in the air and promptly sliced through—the assailant was wearing the black robes of the scorpions, but didn’t wear a mask, had a soft blade in hand—he swiftly avoided the hook; a sudden, sharp pain made the Scorpion cry out as the soft blade wrapped around his arm which, at once, was ripped from his body and fell to the ground. 

The several scorpions standing behind their leader immediately assumed a tactical formation—but then, a dashing figure, a metallic chime, and they all stood, dazzled; one swift move for it to be settled: one man standing, several men on the ground. Whether they were dead or alive, all of those who layed still were missing the arm holding their weapon. 

Wen Kexing recognised the man. He abruptly sighed, and said in a low voice: “Idiot, what are you doing here?”

Zhou Zishu threw him a side glance and sneered: “I came to collect your corpse, madman.” 

The effects of the Nails of seven apertures and three autumns were suppressed by the medicine Da Wu had given Zhou Zishu, and at that moment his gong fu had been restored to nine parts of its peak capacity. If the Scorpion already wasn’t on par should they have a fair fight, then he didn’t stand a chance when ambushed from the shadows. 

Zhou Zishu turned to the Scorpion, the pointed end of Baiyi slightly angled down, and he sharply asked: “You dare threaten my person?”

A bit stunned, Wen Kexing watched the back of the man standing in front of him, and slight shivers started coursing through his fingers resting on the ground. 

The Scorpion’s face was deathly pale, yet he still managed to smile and painfully say: “Ah… Brother Zhou, my apologies, I didn’t expect you to honour us with your presence.” 

He briefly gauged the two men, waving his remaining hand: “Great master, we won’t counter any further. We bid you farewell———retreat!”

The few scorpions that were still alive crawled and scrambled to their feet and hurriedly followed the Scorpion as he withdrew. Zhou Zishu didn’t try to follow and just turned around to face and look at Wen Kexing.

Wen Kexing’s eyes shone brightly, but he simply chuckled: “You should be more careful for…” 

Before he could finish, Zhou Zishu’s eyes focused, he swiftly twirled, the blade that was in his hand suddenly split through the air in a beautiful arch—a tinkling sound as it hit something, and soon enough a muffled groan rose from the woods behind them. Zhou Zishu shook his head and sighed: “Using the same move against the same person twice—are all these scorpions merely one trick ponies? And they dare claim to be on par with Siji manor?”

Wen Kexing watched him, slightly dazed. His mouth curved into a smile as he suddenly extended his hand in the air, trying to catch something.

Zhou Zishu frowned and asked: “What are you doing?”

Wen Kexing said softly: “There’s light… on your body. I’m catching it to see…” 

Thanks for reading!

[acoraxia]

sleepiness is clutching me like i am a weak victorian child ready to be claimed by the mother of death, the lady of hell, and i am welcoming it because i crave cold, unloving touches, before the canadian winds take me away in two days

my brain keeps thinking about Soul and Heart pacts in Gods Calamity and the side effects of being a vessel for a crowned bishop

like the effects of the crown are often explored but i think it’d be funny silly if you experienced the Horrors (tm) in which you go through multiple growth pains, your body decided to go through metamorphosis but then went “mm, nah, let’s go back i want a different form” and forced your body to go back to a silly little lamb, and also you CAN have children but the process will probably not be normal and you will regret making the decision because birthing a god is not a simple process and also your spouse is not even a cat he’s an eldritch abomination

Heart Pacts ensure that you are one with your bonded god/vessel and that’s gay as hell sure but i think it could drive someone insane to know what someone else is thinking about them all the time, everyday, of every week and every second. You feel their pain and they feel yours so you’re forced to be vulnerable and let your guard down and you know what they’re going to do when that happens. sometimes gods are Not the Best (see: greek, norse, etc. mythology) and they Will fuck you up and abuse this little heart pact. And sometimes they’ll corner you in your silly little lamb outfit and stare you down and you’ll wonder why your heart’s racing and when Narinder smiles you’re like Oh Fuck He Wants To Hunt and you have a 3 second window before he pounces.

Soul Pacts are weirdly funny to me because it could amount to nothing in the end if you just straight up die. ‘Vessel don’t die’ and then they die and you have to start from Zero just to regain all the lost progress you made with your funny little bird. Shamura why’d you pick a BIRD of all people come on bucko. And then you tell them if you die then they’ll become a god and they stare at you with the biggest, more disgusting eyes in the world and go ‘You Won’t Die :)’ and you don’t know how to fucking feel about it because What Do You Mean By That and they don’t elaborate and proceed to tell you love ballads in the form of scripture and you just have to live with that. You literally go This Alliance Could Be Broken if One Of Us Dies and they go Guess We’ll Defy Death Then :) and you’re mortified by their commitment (you totally don’t have commitment issues and this won’t be talked about in couple’s therapy)

And then there’s Leshy and the Fox engaging in mutual cannibalistic behavior

[roploem]

How am I still here? SQH au:

The thigh hugging wasn’t enough.

Disciple SQH is running through a snowy forest, dodging ice shard projectiles. SQH isn’t very athletic, he can feel his lungs constricting and his body feels on fire unlike the snowy environment.

SQH looks back on the life he has made for himself here, how the other disciples who died on this trip had their own thoughts and ambitions. How they died for nothing.

Tears form at the corners of SQH’s eyes. He’s going to die, he is going to die and the system will erase his soul. He wonders if the system will be merciful and send him to this world’s heaven, he doesn’t get his hopes up though.

Suddenly SQH feels a sharp pain from his shoulder, his body freezes up and his knees buckle. SQH supports his body with his hands and knees, his unprotected hands meeting the icy chill of snow.

He steadily looks at his shoulder.

Red. His entire shoulder is red with blood. His shoulder muscles have been decimated with an ice shard that has landed a few feet ahead, covered in his blood. He will bleed out in a few minutes with this type of wound.

HIS character, the one he made just for himself, not his fan base. His favorite, is going to kill him.

SQH really can’t ever be happy, can he? He’s all alone in this world.

The only person he would ever claim to be even close to being a friend in both of his lives, is his biggest “hater”. Peerless Cucumber. It might sound sad, but looking at Cucumbers comments really helped him mentally. It helped him discover he wasn’t a terrible author, well, at the beginning of his novel at least. Cucumber also supported him financially, even if it was to just bash him quicker.

SQH’s one regret is that he never got to meet the person who put food on his plate, kept him in his home, and payed his medical bills. That might be an exaggeration, especially with all of the other people who bought things from him, but Cucumber was the only one who only brought SQH’s official merch. None of that quick cash stuff.

SQH’s arms shake underneath him as he hears Mobei’s feet crunch in the snow, he’s getting closer. SQH has always been pathetic, he admits it, ok? He just wishes he was able to at least make a friend in this new life, or even just meet his son, Luo Binghe.

SQH’s vision is blurring, his body is going numb, the pain isn’t as intense, and his lungs feel like they are shrinking. So this is it? Is being a ratty disciple and a terrible author all SQH amounts to?

His eyes flutter shut as he feels Mobei skewer him with another ice shard through his abdomen. He is finally dead.

…

SQH’s eyes shoot open as he sits up with speed. His body aches and his throat is dry. He looks around and sees it is a patient room in Qian Cao.

How was he here?

How is he alive?

What happened…?

SYSTEM!!!!

PART 2 COMING SOON!!!

(Omg this has been rotting my brain for DAYS. Istg. I hope y’all enjoyed this as much as I do!! Love you all!! Tyyy)

[lovemesomeeddiemunson]

The Proposal - Part 5

Summary: When Steve Harrington is threatened with deportation, he blackmails his long suffering assistant, Eddie Munson, into marrying him. Steddie! The Proposal Au, Part 5 of 7. 4232 Words

Series Warnings: Blackmail. Food mentions. Mentions of unhealthy relationship with food. Cursing. Self harm (by means of tattooing.) Homophobia. Death of a parent. Abandonment by parents. Shitty parents. Homophobic parents. Parents with entitlement. Classism. Eventual sexual situations (no actual smut!) Brief allusion to a panic attack.

Authors Note: We're almost to the end here y'all! How we doing? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

“So, uh, you’re a Junior?” Steve’s words break the silence.

Eddie, who is laid out flat on his back, staring at the ceiling flinches in answer, his voice small. “No, I’m not.” Not technically. 

“Oh, I just, I thought…” Steve tries to press, but Eddie cuts him off. He doesn't want to hear it. “It’s just a nickname.” 

“Just a nickname.” Steve repeats, voice laced with doubt.

“They don’t have those in Italy?” Eddie cuttingly replies. 

At which point Steve sits up and turns to glare at Eddie. “What’s your problem, man?” 

Eddie shrinks under his gaze, frowning unhappily as he mutters back. “Nothing.” Unconvincingly.

Steve purses his lips at that, and presses on. “Did I strike a nerve? Is it a sore spot for you?”

“Ohhhhh. I’m sorry. That question is not in the binder.” Eddie replies with a halfhearted little chuckle.

“Oh, really? I thought you were the one that said we needed to learn everything about—“ Steve starts but Eddie shakes his head. “Not about that I didn’t.” 

“But-“ Steve protests.

“Not about that, Steve. Good night.” He snaps. Regrets it when Steve flinches.

Unsure how to fix it, he stews in silence, breathing deeply, trying to come up with something. Thoughts going around and around.

He’s properly kicked himself for the whole interaction at least four times by the time Steve speaks again, his voice timid, words totally unexpected as they break the silence that had settled awkwardly over the two men sharing a bed.

“I like watching The Real Housewives.” He volunteers quietly, interrupting Eddie’s thoughts with his unprompted reveal.

“Huh?” Eddie answers in confusion, eyes still fixated upwards.

“Not in the ‘haha, isn’t that funny, he likes that trash’ kind of way. I actually quite enjoy it.” Steve murmurs back, fiddling with the blanket pulled up to his chest. 

Still confused, Eddie takes it in as Steve continues, “I took ballroom dance lessons in the sixth grade…My first concert was Bob Seger and the Silver bullets…” 

Clears his throat. “I think Kirk Hammett is sexy…My first kiss with a girl was with Carol Perkins when I was thirteen. Later that same year I also kissed Tommy Hagan. They’re married now.” 

Eddie laughs in bewilderment. 

“Never had a pet.” Steve glances at Eddie, who isn’t looking back at him, which makes it easier for him to say what he wants to say next. ”The tattoo I wanted to remove?” He asks, humming, “I got it on my ribs because I wanted it to hurt. It’s in Italian - verso cose più grandi. It means ‘Toward greater things.’ I got it after my parents disowned me.”

There’s another silent pause before he continues “I haven’t…slept with anyone in…over a year and a half. And uh…I went to the bathroom and cried after Billy suggested that I was going to die alone.” 

Eddie pulls the blanket tighter around him, the statement unexpectedly tearing straight to his heart when Steve adds. “That’s my biggest fear. Or, it was.” He stammers. “Lately I’ve been much more afraid of-” he cuts himself off. Squeezes his eyes shut. Leaving the words unspoken.

“Doesn’t matter.” He whispers. A few more beats go by. 

Eddie thinks he may be all out of revelations, until, in the softest voice possible, he whispers another confession that shocks Eddie to his core. “I’m uh, I’m losing my hearing.” 

To which Eddie’s head finally shoots over to look at him, his jaw slack. 

“I haven’t told anyone that. For obvious reasons.” Not meeting his eye, Steve clears his throat. 

“Steve,” Eddie’s voice breaks. He had been coordinating this man’s entire life and he’d had no idea. None. 

“It’s been gradual but - yeah. Too many concussions.” He explains with a dry chuckle. “I’ve had it checked out. Gotten a second and third opinion. It’s not a matter of if at this point, uh, it’s just a matter of when.”

He glances at the ceiling. “I guess you didn’t know. I thought you might suspect…all the emailing lately. The transcriptions I have you write up of my meetings…And then, there’s been a difference in the music. Comments you’ve made on the stuff I used to produce. How it was good. Past tense. I had more confidence in my abilities then…I didn’t rely so heavily on projections and numbers and all that bullshit that spells sales, yes, but good music?” He almost smiles. “It’s not the same. You’re right. Try as I might to fill in the gaps - experiencing the way the music feels…”

He gives a little shake of his head. “It’s not the same. And still, I couldn't do a thing without you. You, who are so loud about your opinions of the demos that artists send me when they’re worthwhile, or they’re garbage and I - I trust you.” He admits, the most damning admittance of all.

“You um. You know good music. And you know me. You’ve always been able to see me more clearly than I - than I’ve liked.” He stops. Swallows thickly, voice low again, and reserved. “I’m sure there are many, many, other things, but that’s all I can come up with right now.” 

Eddie rolls back over in the bed, and clenches his eyes closed as Steve finishes.

It’s silent for a bit.

“Eddie?” Steve broaches finally, his shaky voice attributing to his vulnerability in the moment they’re sharing. “You, uh, you there?”

“I’m here.” Eddie promises softly, “Just - just processing.” 

That was one way of explaining it. How his world has been tilted off of its axis. Left him fumbling for his footing, unsure.

This was unexpected. 

Even Steve, as he’d clearly hated opening up to Eddie, he’d done so. Given him much more to work with than the surface level things Eddie already knew. This was a deeper intimacy than just knowing if his stove was gas or electric, and Eddie is…lost with it.

Still, he knows how to ease the tension, if nothing else. He slowly starts to smile, probing, “You really haven’t slept with anyone in almost two years?”

Steve snorts. “That’s what you got out of all of that?” 

“That’s a long time.” Eddie defends himself.

“Yeah, well, firstly, you’re rounding up, and secondly, I’ve been a little busy.” Steve sarcastically answers. 

Eddie chuckles, and then there’s silence again between them. 

It’s comfortable, until, “Who’s Bob Seger?” Eddie suddenly asks. Steve sits up in his bed like a vampire exiting a coffin.

“Who’s Bob Seger?” Steve questions. “You - you know.” He starts singing in a surprisingly good voice, “You take those old records off the shelf - I’ll sit and listen to ‘em by myself. Today's music ain't got the same soul. I like that old time rock 'n' roll.” Steve grimaces. “You’re telling me that you work in the music industry, and you don’t know who Bob Seger is?” 

Eddie’s smiling. “I was kidding…I just wanted to hear you sing.” 

Steve whacks him with a pillow, both of them giggling until they settle back into the bed, silence filling the room once again.

“Steve?” Eddie asks him.

“Yes?” He replies.

Eddie gives it a beat - then changes his mind. “Thank you, for telling me.”

Steve lets out a little laugh through his nose. “Yeah…well.”

Eddie figures he owes him his truth, for the interview if nothing else. “And for what it’s worth…They call me Junior for my dad, Al…Spitting image, you know? Chip off the old block…The acorn that didn’t fall far or whatever it is you want to call it.” He chuckles humorlessly. 

Goes on, “I’d never really liked it when they said that but, uh, less so now.” Steve listens, lets Eddie talk, watching his lips move. Eddie is louder than he probably needs to be, out of consideration for Steve. “A couple years back he cooked up this scheme - I should have known better, really, but what he promised it was just - so tempting. So I got involved and it - it got real dicey. People got hurt. The house burned down, all mom’s records just - gone.” Eddie exhales. “He took off to save his own ass and uh, I haven’t seen him since. He didn’t bother coming back for me.”

Steve’s heart breaks for Eddie - who continues on with his explanation like it’s all well and good now, like it didn’t permanently alter him and his own personal Munson Doctrine. “I was supposed to move to California, but after the fallout, I had to stay a bit. After everything I put Wayne through, I had to stay a bit. And he - Al - he knew how to find me in California so I…I moved to New York instead, and now, here we are.”

“Here we are.” Steve chuckles. Thinking about the insanity of it all.

But, he also knows how to ease the tension. “None of that was on your job application, by the way.” He teases.

Eddie chortles. “Steve, you have to know by now that everyone lies on their resume.”

Steve glares at him. “You had glowing references!”

“I found those names and phone numbers online, sans the proper extensions, and figured you’d probably never actually bother to call them.” He snickers.

Steve gives a faux gasp. “You lured me in under false pretenses.”

“Sure did. And now you’re marrying me. Sucker.” Eddie laughs. Steve laughs too,  feeling a slight hitch in his throat.

“I…I don’t know if I properly apologized for that yet.” Steve supplies, ruining the light jovial moment with harsh realities.

Eddie winces. “No need.”

“There is a need though. Trapping you in this marriage I…I wish I hadn’t been so careless to let it come to this.” He sighs. Eddie sighs too, and doesn't berate Steve for his own negligence and mistakes. Which Steve appreciates.

“Well, it’s like you said, I’m yours now. Come hell or high water, til quickie divorce do us part.” He smiles, like Steve isn’t laying here trying to recover from Eddie calling himself his. 

“Sure.” Steve says weakly, and Eddie gives him a little nudge with his foot. 

“What’s done is done…and you know, for what it’s worth, I’m actually getting a pretty good deal out of this. A record deal. With a hot albeit temporary husband to parade around town, so…”

And Steve knows he’s attractive. He does. Has never doubted it, but to hear it from Eddie, when he’s complacent in all of their scheming…It messes him up a little. He gives a weak laugh at Eddie’s words, because it’s what’s expected of him, even as he’s reeling.

“Get some sleep,” Eddie says then, like it was nothing. “We’ll talk tomorrow. I want to see how your studying is going.” 

Right. Studying. For the interview. An impending deadline they were steadily marching towards, and their true goal, regardless of whatever…this was.

Steve nods, and Eddie says, “Night, Steve.” softly.

Steve’s answering voice is hollow.  “Buona notte, Eddie.”

Upon their return to New York, Steve is feeling deeply unsettled.

Not because of the ruse - that, in itself, remains as solid as ever. 

Through a warm goodbye with Wayne and a cozy plane ride home, Eddie had played the part perfectly. A doting fiancé who wore his love on the outskirts of his sleeve.

But now, they were back, the honeymoon was over, so to speak, and Eddie was already back to himself again. A doting employee.

He runs over the list of things Steve needs to know for work the next day, and asks Steve what he needs from him, willing to give and give and give.

Steve tries not to wince. “You’re off the clock for now.” He tells him, to Eddie’s utter confusion. “Seriously.” He swears. “Get some rest. There’s nothing so important we can’t tackle tomorrow morning.”

So Eddie, in his cute band shirt and dark wash jeans, had taken his own car home. Probably unpacked. Probably ate something without guilt, played his guitar, took a nap - something fucking normal, while Steve went home, to his big empty apartment, alone.

Well not, totally empty.

“Dingus.” A female voice calls out affectionately as he walks through the door.

Rather than being disturbed by the intruder in his home, Steve’s shoulders slump in relief.

Robin Buckley - his best friend, wielder of a spare key, and the only person in the world who was privy to the inner workings of Steve’s mind - somehow always knows when he needs her.

She’s dressed well, smiling from the bar stool at his kitchen island with one of his fancy waters to sip on as his doorman deposits his bags inside, Steve passing him some cash before he goes.

As soon as he has that business settled, he’s falling into Robin's arms, almost crushing her in his encompassing hug.

“Woah!” She laughs. “It hasn’t been that long. Just a week.” Referring of course to her own trip - the one she’d disappeared on before this whole mess had gotten underway.

Steve gives a head shake in any case. “That’s like forever,” he whined as she laughed some more, ruffling his hair. Giving him a once over. 

Clocking immediately that something is wrong. “Why the dark cloud, Stevie?”

He makes a face. Trying not to cry. She gets a brief flicker of panic across her face. “Oh no.” She says immediately. “Who do I need to kill?”

He wheezes out a laugh, and then, against his better judgment - involves Robin in his crimes as well. Because why not her too, on top of Eddie? Why not ruin everything he touches, like he always has. Because he’s bullshit - his love is bullshit - he…

“So…you like him. Your assistant.” Robin says finally, before he can fully spiral.

Steve nods pitifully. 

“But you can’t tell him, because of the…current arrangement. And the blackmail, not to mention the work relationship you have - holy shit Steve this is so inappropriate-” she rambles.

Steve moans. “I know.”

“Well, does he like you back?” Robin suddenly asks. Steve glares at her. “Robin, please, be serious.”

“I am serious!” She defends. “You said things changed while you were out there, right? What if it wasn’t just one sided.”

“That could never happen.” Steve bites.

Robin huffs. “Why not?”

“Because he’s…good, Rob. He’s so fucking good, and sweet…And fucking, down to earth. And I’m…not.” His lip quivers. 

Robin grasps his hand. “Steve…”

“There’s no way he could ever like me. This is just a…a helpless situation I’ve put him in, that he’s making the best of.” He leaves no room for argument. “I just…I had to tell you. Had to hear you say all of that. To remind me. You’re right. You’re right, and it’s fine. It’s just a stupid crush. I’ll get over it.”

Robin doesn’t look like she believe him. Which is…fair. What she says next is not.

“Or…” she starts. Steve raises an eyebrow. “Or?” He presses.

She sort of smiles, “Or you could…woo him.”

“Woo him?” Steve gapes.

“Well yeah!” She defends. “So long as your plan is to end this boss-employee dynamic, why not try and keep him? You’re pretty likable when you’re not a raging bitch. I don’t see why he would be impervious to your…charms.” She snickers.

Steve squeezes his eyes shut, tries to keep her words from invading his brain. “That’s insane.”

“Why? Because you might actually end up being happy?” She stares him down. “You deserve to be happy, Steve.”

“Not like this. Not at his expense.” Steve argues firmly. 

Robin only sighs. “Just think about it, will you? Start small. Get to know him. Treat him like a person, instead of…whatever it is you do.”

Steve grimaces. Robin sits back in her seat, swinging her legs, casually adding, “I can’t wait to meet him.”

Steve looks at her funny. “Meet him?” He asks.

She rolls her eyes. “Yes, Steve. That’s how this works - you meet his family - he meets yours - or has it been so long since you’ve done this that you forgot?”

He swats at her. “Shut up.”

She laughs, “I’m serious! He sounds wonderful, and he’s going to be Mrs. Harrington - we need his blessing to continue our Bitchin’ Brunches, and oh! Do you think he’ll do the marathon with us? It’s still pretty far out, we can get him a shirt made-”

Steve lets her go, talking aloud in circles while he gives responses where appropriate. Once they’re mercifully done discussing the whole thing with Eddie, they move on to her latest field research trip, and other important topics they’ve had stirring around in their brains while they’ve been apart.

It feels good, like he’s truly come home, a feeling Steve didn’t have when he thought he was returning to an empty apartment.

And with Robin in his corner, it feels like everything else will work itself out.

Steve approaches the subject of ‘Robin’ one morning a few days later while Eddie hands him an expense report.

He presents her as a fact of his life - nonnegotiable. Eddie isn’t nearly as perturbed as some of his romantic partners have been in the past - but then again, he and Eddie weren’t really romantic partners.

“Looking forward to meeting her.” Eddie replies. And Steve kinda hates that. How easily Eddie agrees to anything he asks. And it’s not Eddie’s fault, it’s his job, it’s why he was hired, but…

Steve would be lying if he said he hadn’t spent way too much time dwelling on Robin’s words.

And he yearns.

“Oh, and uh, one more thing…she knows.” Steve adds.

Eddie raises an eyebrow. “She knows.” He repeats. Steve doesn’t like the look on his face, like he’s done something wrong.

“I…she saw right through me. In two seconds. I couldn’t lie to her. I can never lie to her…And it helps, kind of? She’ll corroborate our story. Someone in our lives had to have known, right? Even if it was a secret?” He rationalizes.

Eddie’s face is blank. “I guess.”

Steve is frustrated. “Why are you upset?”

“I’m not.” He lies. Steve glares. His expression cracks. Eddie sighs, walking on eggshells and oh Steve hates that even more.

“It’s just…we laid the groundwork, swore no one knew and now there’s another layer to it. Another person whose answers need to match, more of this I need to coordinate and I just…it’s a lot.”

Steve deflates a bit. Want to apologize but instead offers a flat, “I get that.”

Eddie exaggeratedly perks up, handing him his highlighter, “Don’t worry about it, Steve. I will figure it out.”

He goes to exit the office. Steve feels like shit, calls out. “Eddie?”

The other man stops and turns around. Steve sighs. “I’m really sorry but, I need you this afternoon, after my meeting. We have to go to my apartment.”

Eddie doesn’t mind, he had to work this afternoon anyways. Nods dutifully. “Course,’ whatever you need.”

He heads out. Steve drops his head onto the desk, feeling pain starting behind his eyes, spreadsheets forgotten.

Eddie gets back to his work day - thinking nothing of Steve’s latest request for his time.

Since the engagement, Eddie has been pulled to and fro by him in a whirlwind, always insisting on Eddie being clocked in for it, even if their business is dubious at best. 

The other day he’d spent the morning with Steve at the bank and they opened a joint bank account, Steve flirting with him the whole time they were under the scrutiny of the tellers, crooning about how what was his was now Eddie’s too. Something that made Eddie’s eye twitch if he thought about it too hard.

Today it seems it will be more of the same. 

As instructed, after his boss’ noon meeting, Eddie finishes up everything he needs to do and meets Steve at his apartment.

Arriving promptly, he takes the elevator up to his floor, where Steve lets him in, greeting him warmly, as if this afternoon is a distant memory - and maybe it is, but still Eddie is wary - until he sees that they aren’t alone.

He looks at Steve for clarification as to why there’s another man here, and he doesn’t miss a beat, diplomatically introducing. “Eddie, this is Johnathan. Nancy’s boyfriend.” 

Eddie does a double take. “Nancy as in, Nancy Wheeler?” He asks.

Steve doesn’t sound happy about it, although he’s smiling. “Yes.” 

Eddie glances back at the other man, telling him. “Um, hello.” So as not to be rude.

“Hi.” Johnathan gives an awkward wave with one hand, his other setting down a mug of coffee onto a coaster that rests on Steve’s expensive coffee table.

Then Johnathan stands. “Now that you’re here, I’m gonna go finalize the set-up.” He disappears from the living room at his words, heading to another area of the penthouse.

Eddie watches him go before glancing at Steve with concern and asking “Why is your ex’s girlfriend’s boyfriend here, and what is he setting up?” 

“Johnathan’s a photographer.” Steve explains to him, begrudgingly admitting. “The best, actually.” 

Then his voice lowers as he continues. “He’s also discreet. No investigative prodding like you might get with his romantic counterpart.” The jab comes so naturally even as he bulldozes past it. 

“I figured, since we needed to take some pictures, that he would be a good bet.” Steve rubs the back of his neck.

“Pictures.” Eddie repeats.

“For the engagement announcement. Or…whatever else we might need them for.” He looks meaningfully at Eddie. “I thought we’d start with some formal staged pictures here? And then get some candid photos at our usual date spots?” 

Oh.

Eddie understands. “Right. Of course. And Johnathan is the best. Makes sense.”

Steve briefly looks exhausted before he carefully smoothes his face over. “I-I didn’t hear what you said. But, nod? If we’re good?” 

Eddie nods. 

Steve nods too. “Okay. Good. Uh, come with me, please.” 

Eddie can’t remember the last time Steve said ‘please’ to him…Actually, well, he’d gotten a sarcastic one with his proposal…but a genuine please? It’s…strange.

Nonetheless Eddie follows as Steve leads him to his office. Inside there are three racks of clothes tucked to the side. When Eddie goes to peruse through them, he’s surprised. “These are mine.” He says in confusion. 

Steve nods. “Your bandmate Gareth had a spare key.” Steve had made some calls. Some assumptions too, figuring if his best friend had full access, that maybe… “I though that authentic would be better.” 

Eddie takes him in for the first time then - his soft looking yellow pullover and jeans. Is this who he is? Authentically?

“I’ll make sure you have one of your own. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.” Eddie tells him. Simple enough. This was the man he was supposed to marry - and if nothing else, con aside, there was trust between them. Steve had admitted that he trusted Eddie, and Eddie, in his own way, trusted Steve too.

Not to mention that Eddie had had unfettered access to Steve’s apartment for years. What was a little reciprocation, in light of that?

Eddie leaves it at that, attention elsewhere as he starts combing through the racks, sweetened by his getting to choose. Eventually he decides he wants to dress up, just a little bit. 

Settling on black once again, it’s a softer version of his usual style. 

A nice belt with a simple silver buckle, to accompany a pair of high waisted jeans that are free of rips or blemishes, and a shirt with a low cut that exposes his collarbones and some of the skin of his chest, a peak of a tattoo, the black fabric interrupted by an occasional floral pattern or rose composed of an orangish-red or cream color. 

Satisfied with his find - Eddie disappears to go change, before rejoining Steve, his hands fidgeting with his hair. 

“Up or down?” He asks, and Steve, who had been staring at him - lips parted - seems to snap out of it. Gesturing for Eddie to stay still before he steps into his personal bubble.

Hello.

He gently takes a handful of Eddie’s hair, winding and unwinding and unraveling it in and around his palms - before he manipulates it into a makeshift hairdo, trying to get a feel for whether it should be pulled out of Eddie’s face or left down.

“Hm…up. You have such a pretty neck.” Steve’s lips are hinting at a smile, and Eddie wishes he had chosen for him to leave it down - because said neck is currently flushing at the compliment and Eddie knows Steve can see it.

What the hell?

Then Eddie notices Johnathan, lingering in the doorway and pretending to still be adjusting his camera settings, and he feels as though he’s had his veins dipped in ice water.

Right. This wasn’t real. Steve didn’t really like his neck or find him pretty. It was all a performance. 

And Eddie’s a performer. He can do this. Playing along, he grins back at Steve, showing too much teeth. “You know your sweet talking gets me all riled up, big boy.”

Steve looks…elated. “You promise?”

Jesus H. Christ.

A weak chuckle, and Eddie bats him away before gathering his hair in his own hands, pulling it up high, trying to sort the smaller pieces into something artfully messy.

Steve lingers, fingers twitching like he wants to intervene, but lets him be, still looking at Eddie even as he angles his body and asks Johnathan, “Where do you want us?”

Series Masterlist Next Part: Part 6 Previous Part: Part 4

[randompjofan]

pjo headcanons cuz im bored

•the hephaestus and hecate cabin convinced chiron to let them make demigod-safe phones

•the catch is calling people will attract monsters anyway, so they stick to iris-messaging

•the first app nearly everyone downloaded was insta

•the gods took notice and apollo immediately downloaded it as well to stalk everyone

•most of the gods followed suit

•the iris cabin started an lgbtq+ pinterest page (they go INSANE during pride month)

•nico and piper were the first one to follow them

•reyna's way of coming out as bi was following them

•the romans and the hunters threw a RAGER when she did

•the greeks gleefully joined in

•venus got angry but couldn't do anything about it because bellona threatened to stab her in the gut

•the gods HATE getting injuries that should be fatal because in those moments they always wish they could die

•frank was really confused about lgbtq stuff at first, but he's starting to understand it now

•one year after jasons death, on his birthday, nico asked if hades would be able to resurrect jason since zeus was jason's dad

•hades mentioned this to zeus and at first he said no, but here threatened to make him sleep on the couch for another decade. He agreed.

•the apollo kids have karaoke nights on thursday

•there's also a camp-wide movie night, but sometimes they dont do it because how it works is one cabin must pick a movie and all agree on it

•when it was the hades cabin's turn nico and hazel sparred for either Tangled (nico) or The Princess and the Frog (hazel)

•hazel won, but let nico choose tangled because that way he could make fun of will the whole time

•when it was the poseidon cabin's turn, Percy asked annabeth to choose between finding nemo and moana

•she stood on a chair so she could look down at him, looked him right in the eyes and said "no."

•he got her back later by repeatedly singing the "Where's My Dad" song from finding nemo

•i'll make more movie night hcs later

•reyna and jason act like nico's mom and dad

•the entire apollo cabin has basically adopted nico at this point

•chiron often mistakes nico and will for patroclus and achilles and it makes him so happy that they're basically reincarnated versions of them he's one of their biggest shippers

•chiron has also shipped percabeth since percy arrived at camp no matter how many times annabeth insisted she hated him and he has no regrets

•grover and chiron often argue who the biggest percabeth shipper is and once percy told sally about this she iris-messaged them both and showed them t-shirts that said "#2 percabeth shippers" then turned around to reveal her shirt, which said "#1 percabeth shipper"

•athena and poseidon have agreed to get along until percy and annabeth die

•hades and apollo have also agreed to get along until will dies, as nico has been promised a place in hades's palace already and plans to take will with him

•nico has the worst nightmares out of all the campers by far, but annabeth is a close second

•hazel introduced nico to sanrio and gave him a kuromi plushie

•he has it on his bunk

•frank will sometimes transform into a peregrine falcon so he can visit chb in a matter of two hours

•nico taught hazel how to shadow travel after the war with gaea so she can get to chb at any tima

•will gets mad when she shadow travels, but nico gets even madder

•calypso has major trust issues and she really does want to be close to leo but she has a hard time

•the aphrodite kids have made it their mission to help her out

•on meg's birthday, apollo teleported to her in Lester form to wish her a happy birthday

•meg cried because she thought that apollo had forgotten her

•the hermes cabin caught connor with malcolm pace while staging the rocky horror picture show prank on chiron

•they immediately told the athena cabin about this, and all they said was "we've known for a month."

•the athena cabin is actually really good at telling when people are in love, but the Aphrodite campers are a bit quicker

•ares brags about clarisse and frank ALL THE DAM TIME.

•hades brags about nico and hazel constantly, and many times restates that he actually tried to be a good dad.

•nico will visit the underworld a lot during winter

•persephone always asks him "is your boyfriend here?"

•will decided that since the underworld is nico's second home, he'd visit with him

•things got reaaaaally awkward when he saw persephone (tsats reference)

•one of the first things persephone told him was how she turned him into a dandelion

•percy and annabeth iris-messaged nico at this moment cuz they got bored and laughed their asses off

•While Jason was in Elysium, he met Esperanza Valdez and Emily Zhang. They were actually good friends. He looked for Marie Levesque as well, but Nico told him to stop, and didnt elaborate. He wondered why, but stopped anyway.

•when he told leo and frank about this, they started SOBBING.

•a few weeks after piper started dating shel, they were at a park when piper realized there were karpos in a nearby field. She tried to shoo them away, but Shel just said "oh, those dont really hurt you, its ok." Thats how they found out shel could see through the Mist.

•a lot of people have a crush on rachel at chb and even some at camp jupiter. Rachel knows and when she told annabeth annabeth said "wow, you sound like percy." They practically died laughing.

•nico is actually close to mr. D to the point where he's allowed to play cards with him and mr. D actually calls nico "nico"

•it drives percy insane

•clarisse is really good friends with will as her and her siblings often end up in the infirmary and she feels bad for being rude to michael yew

•she's basically will's mom

•both camps call reyna and clarisse "the in-laws"

•nico will rent out his cabin for group sleepovers and just sleep in the apollo cabin

•one time they had a sleepover with the seven, nico, will, reyna and clarisse (will made her come) and they watched scream 5. During each kill scene frazel walked out of the room, percy, leo and jason watched through their fingers, piper and annabeth made a face every time she was stabbed, clarisse subconsciously mimed each stab while staring intensely at the tv, reyna and nico watched in silence and no one could tell if they liked it or not, and will just sat there labeling all the ways they would probably die and how the hell did Tara carpenter survive

•Nico is actually TERRIFIED of lightning after what happened to his mother and Bianca

•nico still has the statue of hades that bianca gave him

•drew tanaka is actually a decent fighter

•lavinia eventually became immune to the rashes from Poison Oak after seeing her so many times

•the first time will plagued someone was when a hecate camper hid austins saxophone in the Mist out of spite and he had a mental breakdown

•lou ellen made that camper sleep on the lawn

•the archery range is actually for all projectile weapons and the last time the romans visited lavinia got a manubalista bolt lodged in the target

•the valhalla kids visited CHB once

•people could only tell mallory and rachel apart from clothing and voice

•they decided to swap clothes for a day and watch people spiral because they're cruel like that

•alex and nico made shirts that said "glow-in-the-dark boyfriend club" and gave it to will and magnus

•leo met alex. It was horrific.

•hearthstone got flirted with by 6 dryads

•blitzen got frustrated by that

•jack met nico's sword and fell in love

•nico was deeply disturbed by that

•the song Mama's Boy by dominic fike is LITERALLY NICO. FIGHT ME FUCKING FIGHT ME CMON LETS GO-

•the "percy isnt nico's type" jokes DO happen very frequently, but percy doesnt make them, the entire camp does MINUS percy. Percy's just clueless lol

•not a lot of kids in cabin 14 are part if the lgbtqia community, but they are ALLIES TO DEATH.

•the hecate and hermes campers are OBSESSED with halloween

•frank was really intent on getting nico to trust him after he started dating hazel

[classicanalyzer]

Star Wars Acolyte - Night Thoughts

"Freedom. The freedom to wield my power the way I like. Without having to answer to Jedi like you. I want a pupil, an Acolyte. But this one...went back on our deal. She exposed me. So, now I have to kill every single last one of you. I don't make the rules. The Jedi do. And the Jedi say I can't exist. They see my face, they all die. Aw, look at you two. Right back where you started." "Qimir"

HOLY SHIT, THIS EPISODE IS SO GOOD.

I love how badass Jecki was against both Mae and "Qimir"...sadly she didn't survive "Qimir" (I was not expecting how fucking brutal her death was and I was so sad). She managed to not only take down Mae who took down a Jedi Master in combat but hold out for a good while against a Rule of Two Sith (even breaking his Cortosis helmet!). She was simply too badass to live with her amazing dual blade stance. Jecki is truly Sol's Padawan.

I know I thought "Qimir" couldn't have been the Sith but I love this show's execution of him being the Sith. He's so jacked, I guess we know why he chose to be a seemingly carefree chemist. I love how he comes across as a psychopathic manchild with how he wants the freedom to do what he wants...which is killing Jedi. "Qimir" is definitely the Sith Apprentice (or rather Acolyte) and not the Sith Master. I think he wants an Acolyte to overthrow his master.

I'm also so happy that the show didn't try to make the Sith sympathetic. That was one of my biggest worries going into this show. We see the insanity of "Qimir's" "reasoning" for hating the Jedi and their attempts to stamp out the Sith for good.

I think what's going to happen is that the Jedi think "Qimir" is the Sith Master and not the Apprentice. Then after they kill him, they'll not tell the rest of the Order and Republic about this little incident. Since they're sure this time the Sith are truly extinct, and they don't want to cause any unnecessary panic.

I love how "Qimir's" armor and helmet are made out of Cortosis, a material that can temporarily shortcircuit Lightsabers.

Poor Jecki and Yord, the two Jedi were trying their goddamn best but it wasn't enough against the Sith. Jecki did an amazing job in this episode despite being a Padawan. Yord also grew on me as the show went on, and it was surprising how brutal he and Jecki's deaths were. Their deaths also show how unnecessarily cruel the Sith are. I'm also thankful that Bazil and Pip survived this episode given how murder happy this show is.

It's sad to see how far the twin's relationship fell apart. Mae truly wanted to be with her sibling again, even willing to abandon her Sith master...but Osha will always see her as irredeemable which one can't blame her for. I was screaming when Mae posed as her sister and even more so when Osha was left at the "mercy" of her former Master. I really hope Mae backs out of her presumed plan to kill Sol.

Everything about Sol in this episode, the panic and heartbreak in his voice and face when asking Yord to bring Osha to safety and Jecki's death shows how much of a father figure he is. Sol truly saw Osha, Jeckil, and even Mae as his children. It's truly a case of what if Obi-Wan died in TPM instead of Qui-Gon and we see that good is not nice at all. If it wasn't for Osha, Sol might've done something he would've regretted. I wonder if he figured out by the end that Mae is impersonating Osha.

ALSO THE USE OF KYLO REN'S THEME NEAR THE END. His Knights of Ren-looking helmet might actually hold more than we thought. Perhaps "Qimir" founded or inspired the Knights of Ren.

I hope Sol can help Mae and perhaps redeem Mae. On the other hand, I really think Osha might fall to the Dark Side. It would be a nice subversion of what we thought Osha being the Light Side Twin and Mae being the Dark Side Twin. Great darkness has the possibility of being just as bright while great light has the possibility of being just as dark. I wonder if "Qimir" will tell Osha of the Sith version of the events at Brendok that make the Jedi look worse than they are. However, perhaps Sol would tell Mae the actual version of events which shows that while the Jedi are flawed, they weren't responsible for the deaths of her Coven and even tried to save some, even if some (Master Torbin) believe it was their fault that it came to these series of events.

This is an amazing episode and my favorite episode of the show. Once again I felt this episode was 45+ minutes rather than under 30 minutes. Truly the definition of all killer and no filler. I love this show so so much.

[mixelation]

Okay I got to the ~controversial~ part that people usually cite when they talk about not liking Minato. Here's a summary + some thoughts

so, obito has run off after leaving minato with an ominous threat ("I shall rule this world..."). minato teleports the kyuubi away from konoha. he also grabs kushina and naruto. it's unclear to me what his plan is at this point-- idk if he just needs kushina or if he's already planning to make naruto the new jinchuriki at this point.

kushina says she will take the nine tails with her "to her death." usually when people cite this they say she means she'll seal it back inside her and then die, but unless the viz translation misses something, she doesn't explicitly say this. (the line before it is "i can still do it" and it's unclear what she means-- she says it as she's restraining the kyuubi though.) note that if she does this, the kyuubi WILL eventually reappear

i wanted to include the panels for minato's facial expressions. he looks extremely upset by the idea of kushina sacrificing herself, even crying. then we see an abrupt shift to a less emotional expression as he explains his plan to her

his plan i think is what turns people off, because it's sort of..... very weird how he frames it?

basically, he says instead of kushina dying, he can seal the last of her chakra into naruto so she can see naruto grown up. note he's not just making this up out of nowhere-- she just said not being able to see this is her biggest regret. he also says that by using the reaper death seal, he can permanently seal away half the kyuubi, and that by making naruto the new jinchuriki, he'll preserve he "balance of bijuu." he also says some things about jiraiya's prophecy about a chosen one and believing in naruto, and also he's concerned about the masked man "bringing catastrophe" to the world.

kushina, of course, yells at him because she'd rather die with her regret and have naruto grow up with a father. this is minato's answer:

there's a bunch of things about this i don't like either. first, i don't like how it's framed. i don't mind the facial expression shift-- i don't mind minato being able to school his emotions in order to Get The Job Done. but i don't like how kushina is kneeling while minato stands and literally talks down to her. it might be a translation thing affecting teh tone, but i haaaate the way he tells her she should understand as someone who's lost her country. he does eventually kneel, to be eye level with her, but i wish he'd done it before giving her this speech.

i also mostly just don't understand his reasoning as stated LMAO. i think part of it was kishimoto had to write something that matched up with previously established details (some of which he wrotet ages ago and maybe hadn't fully planned out yet), while also making minato seem cool. part of it might be that the viz translation seems pretty clunky? although i remember whatever fan translation i read years ago ALSO not making sense. so here's my best faith interpretation of kushina vs minato's plans.

Kushina's plan: She dies and temporarily kills the Kyuubi.

PROS: Kushina is going to die anyway, so she might as well take out the raging chakra monster when she does it. Minato lives and can raise Naruto.

CONS: Does not address Obito's threat. Konoha loses the Kyuubi as a tool/weapon. It's unclear what the ramifications of the Kyuubi re-emerging eventually will be-- could end with Konoha just being attacked again.

Minato's plan: He sacrifices himself to the Reaper Death Seal, permanently sealing away half the Kyuubi. He puts the other half of the Kyuubi and the rest of Kushina's chakra in Naruto.

PROS: Konoha keeps control of the Kyuubi (keeps it as a weapon, prevents potential disaster when it reappears, gives Naruto a tool/weapon to use against Obito when he reappears). Kushina gets to see grown up Naruto. I do not know what he means by Kushina teaching Naruto a lesson only a mom can, but maybe he means only Kushina can help him with Kyuubi stuff?

CONS: Naruto is now an orphan. Konoha loses their leader.

OTHER TALKING POINT: Minato seems genuinely convinced Obito is a world-ruining force. IDK how, but he is right.

ANOTHER NOTE: Minato says the "full" Kyuubi can't be sealed away. I don't really know what this means because clearly Mito accomplished this, and somehow it got in Kushina (and Kushina seem confident se can temporarily kill the Kyuubi). Maybe he means under the current conditions he can't do it, like maybe baby Naruto can't hold the full Kyuubi or Minato can't do the sealing jutsu for some reason (time, chakra, skill, etc). The Reaper Death Seal was def needed to seal half the Kyuubi away forever, but it's unclear if he needed it to put the Kyuubi in Naruto at all. I think tis last part pisses some people off, because you can read this like Minato maybe had the option to put the full Kyuubi in Naruto and not use the reaper death seal at all. However that reading doesn't make a lick of sense, so I don't think that's what's going on.

YET ANOTHER POINT: This is headcanon-y, but the Kumo ambassador that kidnapped Hinata when she was three was there as part of peace treat negotiations at the end of an unspecified war. I've chosen to interpret this as the end of the Third Shinobi War. This means that the village is actively at war, which would probably contribute to Minato's reasoning for why keeping the Kyuubi is so important. The one-shot manga showed jinchuriki as powerful weapons of war; loosing theirs would be a huge detriment to Konoha. I think what he means when he starts talking about duty to a village/nation is basically: I need to keep Konoha strong as my duty both as a shinobi and as a father, so Naruto has a safe place to grow up.

AND FINALLY: I think "Kushina gets to see Naruto" is a bonus of Minato's plan, not like... the basis for his decision-making, like some people claim.

Even if his logic makes very little sense and I had to squint real hard to squeeze a coherent argument out of it, it is pretty clear Minato thinks this is the best outcome for Naruto. I know it sounds bizarre when Kushina's plan is "Naruto has a dad." However-- and again, this is best faith reasoning, but also the only way I think his argument makes sense-- Naruto needs an overall stable/safe village to grow up in. Minato has fought in war; I think this would affect his reasoning. He doesn't want Naruto to grow up like that.

Also, Kushina agrees with him and starts bantering as they both die impaled on the Kyuubi's claw, which is cute.

Also apparently these rando ninja think they saved a random baby. This is why no one knows Naruto's parents.... they're dumb........