#“we should all just collectively agree to have them be single and not show any interest in anyone since they don’t deserve love!”

[prettymonegasque]

not acceptable

Charles Leclerc x fem!driver! reader

Summary: Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do when your pretty boyfriend is a lil dumb

Warnings: Excessive cursing, Lando slander, grown men sharing a single brain cell, fluff?

Word Count: 1.3k

Based on my favourite scene in Schitt’s Creek

In all the two years you’ve been in Ferrari, the speculations and rumours of you dating Charles were non-stop. Neither of you paid much attention to it. You were both in happy relationships. However, that changed in the summer of ‘22 when you broke up with your partner. It wasn’t messy and you both agreed it was for the better. You focused on the rest of the season. 

Fast forward to the summer of ‘23, you and Charles were both single. You decided to give in to the speculations and give the relationship a real shot. You went on a few dates, each one being more fun than the previous one. Yet neither of you took the leap to become exclusive. You both liked each other but it wasn’t said out loud as much as you would’ve wanted to. So when Charles invited you to a game night with his friends, you thought it would be the one where he introduced you as his girlfriend. 

You knocked on his apartment door at 7 pm. You had brought a charcuterie board because you panicked and the first thing your mind thought was cheese. 

“Y/N! Come in.” Charles opened the door and hugged you. You tried your best to return while managing the charcuterie board. He laughed at your struggle, took the board from your hand and led you in. You spotted some familiar faces in the room. “Hey, guys. This is Y/N. My teammate as you know.” To risk being dramatic, the only description for what you felt was “death by a thousand cuts”. You still forced a smile and greeted everyone. You took a seat on the sofa next to Charles. “You brought a charcuterie board?” Pierre asked puzzled. “Dibs on gouda.” Yelled a familiar Brit.

**************

For the next few hours, you forced yourself to forget about your “teammate” and focus on the game instead. To everyone’s surprise, you were very good at Monopoly. You had already collected over $7000 worth of assets. You were more than happy to win by default. Arthur suggested Uno and everyone complied. You had never played it before which made the group very happy. 

When you got your cards you leaned over to Charles and whispered “What the fuck should I do now? ” Charles peeked at your cards and by instinct you shied them away from him. “You have to show me the cards so I can tell you what to do.” He laughed. You rolled your eyes and showed him the cards. “How the hell did you get 3 +4 cards?” “Why? Is that bad?” “No no. It is very good and I am very grateful my turn is before you.” “I am gonna crush these motherfuckers” You silently giggled.

“Y/N your turn,” Andrea called out. You placed the +4 card on the table. “Seriously?” Lando sighed and took 4 cards from the deck. “I thought you'd never played this before.” “I haven’t. I’m just that good, Norris.” “You know you could put all the +4 cards at once? ” Charles whispered in your ear. When your turn came again you placed both your +4 cards down. “Oh come on. You’re an absolute ass.” Lando exclaimed. “You just got destroyed by a UNO rookie, Lando” Pierre doubled over in laughter. “Also you have only one card left. You can call out UNO” Arthur nudged you. “UNO!” You yelled. “Well, I guess we have a winner. ” Lorenzo sighed and folded.

You started feeling a little guilty. Your winning spree kept cutting the game short. It didn’t look like anyone was having any fun. Even if Charles isn’t going to introduce you as his girlfriend, you still want his friends and brothers to like you as Charles’ girl. Charles brought in Scrabble as his last resort. He wasn’t expecting to go through 2 games so quickly. You were chosen as the judge. You promised yourself to go easy on everyone. You weren’t sure if you were making a good impression on everyone but boy did your ego love this. 

**************

“What do you mean ‘rizz’ isn’t accepted?” Arthur yelled. “Mate it isn’t in the dictionary.” “Then why does everyone call Lando ‘NoRIZZ’?” “Hey!” “I consider it as an acceptable word. We know the meaning. It exists. It’s a word.” You chimed in. “Thank you!” Arthur smiled and added 13 points to himself. The game continued and you limited yourself to simple words. And you accepted every word regardless of how ridiculous it was. 

“Yes Pierre ‘Fuck’ is a word.” 

“I mean we all know what ‘OMG’ is”

“Sure, Charles. You can make Frenglish words.” 

You could physically feel the pain from the insanity of some words but you were on a mission. You nodded and smiled and carried on. The words became chaotic by the minute. Your last straw was when Lando argued that “Skibidi” should be accepted. 

“That’s it. I can’t take this shit anymore. I respect the game too much to put up with this. You are way too old to use the word ‘Skibidi’, Lando.” “Yeah so wrong, Lando” Pierre fakes disappointment. “You! Fuck is not acceptable.” “Not acceptable. Yes sorry, Y/N” He bites back a laugh. “OMG!? Are you kidding me?” “I wasn’t.” Lorenzo shakes his head. “And my boyfriend sits there looking pretty and wanting to make up Frenglish words. THAT’S NOT EVEN A LANGUAGE. NOT ACCEPTABLE!” 

“I’m sorry. What did you just say?” Charles looked up at you. “I said Lando is old.” You tried to shift the conversation. “Why the fuck am I getting slandered?” “No. I think it was something about your boyfriend being pretty and making up words.” Charles redirects you. “Um... I don’t remember saying that.” You mumbled. “Yeah no. That’s what we heard. Right Arthur?” Pierre snickered. 

“Hey if my girlfriend says Frenglish isn’t acceptable then it isn’t, guys” Charles smirked. “Or it is. I don’t remember saying it.” You shrugged. “So you can do whatever you like.” The ceiling looked much more interesting than the gorgeous green eyes looking at you. “I think our work is done here. Let’s go guys.” Lando stood up. “And what exactly was that work, Norizz?” You called out as everyone was walking out the door chattering. Lando just smiled at you and closed the door. 

You and Charles remained quiet and just looked at each other for a long moment. “I don’t k-” “Do you r-” You both spoke at the same time. Gentle giggles echoed in the silence. “I was gonna ask if you regretted it?” Charles looked at you with a hopeful glint in his eyes. “No. God no. Charles, I don’t regret it at all. But to be honest, I kinda thought you hosted this game night to introduce me as your girlfriend. It sucked ass when you called me your teammate.” You looked down at your feet. You contemplated if sitting down would make this whole shebang less awkward. But Charles quietened your thoughts by standing up and taking your hands in his.

 “Cherie, seconds before you knocked, I was having a full-blown panic attack. I really really like you and I wanted us to be official but I didn’t know what you felt. The guys were there for emotional support because I do not trust myself with any high-risk situation.”

“You drive a car at 300 km/hr almost every weekend.” 

“Please. That is nothing compared to you. Every time I get in the cockpit, I’m more worried about your safety than mine. I was going to introduce you as my girlfriend. Trust me the word was on the tip of my tongue but I was being a pussy and chickened out. I’m so glad you did it tho.” His smile made those adorable dimples pop as he hugged you. “I’m so glad I did it too.” Your voice came out muffled with your cheek pressed against his chest. 

“And I’m so glad you called me pretty.”   

[yuki-world]

那维莱特 | NEUVILLETTE ; LEARN

summary | neuvillette finally shows you what an orgasm feels like with his tongue, too bad you want it with something else of his.

tags | nsfw (smut), fem!reader, slight corruption, loss of virginity, cunnilingus, vaginal penetration, semi-public sex, creampie, 3.3k words

a/n : pt 1 here --> teach, but can be read on its own! a gift for those who requested a part 2 hehe

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

“i thought you said we weren’t going to bring this up again, neuvillette?”

well… he wasn’t. but he reasons with himself that it's quite unfair if he doesn’t reward you for the deed you’ve done. after all, the chief of justice should be ensuring fairness. it’s only equal if you get something in return. besides, you asked him to help you experience what an orgasm felt like, and he did agree.

but he really shouldn’t. that blowjob was a one-time thing, he made it clear. he didn’t want to corrupt you too much. can’t have you being too addicted to him and his cock, can you? but… then again. if he’s already indulged in your curiosity the first time, surely a second time wouldn’t hurt? only to help you learn, of course. its not everyday that he gets a chance to experience any sexual activities considering how busy he was. its not like he found anyone to do this with; until you came along. but he hasn’t even courted you, its so backwards. what happened to tradition?

“i believe it’s only fair that i respond to your interests in… learning about orgasms,” neuvillette responds, pulling off his gloves. “furthermore, you waited the whole night for me. it's wrong of me if i let you leave empty-handed, no?”

it's true; you stayed up all night just to visit him in his office once he finished his work. he’s been so busy nowadays, it's only at night when he truly has any free time at all. you feel a bit bad for intruding into his free time, but you barely had the chance to talk to him this whole week. little do you know, he doesn’t mind a single bit. not when its you. truthfully, he misses your consistent pestering too. he’s been drowning in so much work, he just couldn’t find the time.

you giggle at the seriousness of his tone. you didn’t necessarily visit him to ask for any sexual favours. he was the one who brought it up when you stepped into his office at 1am. well, maybe, just maybe, he was looking forward to it.

“so you’re gonna give me a mind-blowing orgasmー is what you’re saying,” you teased, and he chuckled.

“more than mind-blowing, y/n,” he corrects, making his way over to the sofa. “so much so that you’ll never forget your first. you have my word.”

seeing him so bound on making you feel good was attractive, to say the least. its the way that he kneels down, fingers free of his glove gently stroking your thighs, that has you drooling. it's insane how much his touches affect you, you’re sure he noticesー notices the way your legs part for him immediately. he didn’t even have to ask. he plants a kiss along your inner thighs, pushing them nearer to your chest. he doesn’t bite or suck; he’s just so gentle.

you squeak as he hikes your skirt up, face flushing red the moment his eyes focus on your covered cunt. “is… is this really okay, neuvillette?” you ask meekly. it's embarrassing how wet you got from him just kissing your thighs.

“foolish question,” he replies. while he understands it's your first time showing yourself to anyone, there’s no need to be embarrassedー not in front of him. he slides your underwear off, your glistening pussy on display. all for him to see, and taste. his thumb slides up your folds, collecting some of your stickiness. he has to have you.

you let out a gasp as his tongue settles onto your pussy for the first time, the warm muscle making you clamp your thighs around his head instantly. fuck, what was this feeling? he barely even made any movements, but you already feel like you’re on cloud 9. he flicks his tongue against your cunt, lapping up all the juices.

he sucks on your clit occasionally, making your whole body twist in pleasure. your thighs were clamped so tight around him, you thought you were suffocating himー not that he minded. “fuuuck, neuvillette,” you whined as he sucked particularly hard. his tongue experimentally dips into your hole, and you throw your head back. you felt tight even on his tongue; the confirmation that no one else has fucked your little hole just made his cock twitch.

neuvillette tongue-fucks you through the entire session, spreading your lips apart to get a better taste of you. he couldn’t stop himself; you tasted amazing. no other taste could satisfy him after this, he’ll need to eat you out everyday to feel fulfilled. “you taste absolutely divine,” he breaks away for a few seconds, before diving back in to taste your cunt once again.

he was addicted. you couldn’t help but feel something approaching, almost like you needed to pee. “waitー ahhー i feel weird,” you tell him, but he continues eating you out. he knew how close you were, and he wants to edge you so bad. just to tease you a littleー take the orgasm right out of your hands. but he won’t, not this timeー not your first time. he’ll let you enjoy every single moment of it. you deserve it after all.

“neuviー please, waitー fuck!” your legs shook as you reached your high, clenching onto his tongue and juices gushed out of you like a waterfall. your breaths quicken as he continues his movements, cleaning up every last bit of your cum. you taste so sweet, he would never get tired of it. in fact, he’s already planning to invite you to his office tomorrow; just so he can savor you once more. and maybe the day after. and after.

he finally pulls away, lips and chin glossy from your wetness. you take in the sight in front of you, and you blush. “so that’s what an orgasm feels like…” you trail off, and he wipes your juices off his face with the back of his hand.

“it felt good, yes?” he questions, standing up.

the erection in his pants was so obvious. you saw the outline of his cockー it looked like it was going to burst out of his pants from how hard he was. you blinked a couple of times as he handed you back your underwear. you were a little dizzy from how powerful that orgasm was, you don’t even notice him giving it to you. all you could focus on was how turned on you were from him getting hard from eating you out. your hole clenches around nothing, as you chewed on your lip. perhaps… you needed something inside of you.

“are you alright, y/n? you seem a bitー”

“can we…”

what?

oh, oh no. he knows what you’re going to say; he knows exactly what you’re going to ask for. thoughts are racing through his mind because he’s been thinking about this ever since the day you gave him a blowjob. he can’t allow himself to take your virginity, not here, not now. you’re barely ready to take anything inside of you, much less his cock. do you even know how big he is? oh, of course you didー so why are you asking this of him? he might tear you apart with that fat cock of his, and he definitely does not want to hurt you. and defiling you in his office? no, he’ll do it on his bed where you’re comfortable.

“…can we have sex?”

his eyes widened, thoughts doing a 180-degree flip when he hears those words come out of your mouth. it feels more surreal when you actually say it, when you actually ask him. he might’ve expected it, but that tone you asked it in was definitely… something. you asked so sweetly, it would be a crime to say no to you. someone as powerful as him, being so weak for you was something he’d never imagine would happen.

maybe he should really start thinking with his head instead of his dick; he’s so hard. he’d be a fool to not take your offer. to feel your cunt squeeze around him the moment his tip prods at your entrance, you’d probably whine and cry out from how big he was, nails clawing his back exactly the way he likes it. fuck, how tight you’d feel as he slowly inserts more of himself into you. would you even be able to take his entire length? it doesn’t matterー he’ll stretch you till you’re able to, till you can handle all of him.

but he knows better than to give into his desires so easily… right?

“i…” neuvillette is at a loss for words. he’s already too far in, its best that he stops at eating you out. but his dick is twitching in his pants, and your hands are reaching towards his beltー

“y/n,” he calls out, and you stop. “maybe… maybe not this time.” heavy emphasis on the word ‘maybe’, because any little thing you do might just change his mindー he’s that weak.

“why?” you pout, disappointment written on your face. your hand retracts, and he looks away. “you don’t want to fuck me?”

god, you… you and your vulgar words. so bluntly said as if you weren’t just embarrassed a while ago. you really think that he doesn’t want to fuck your brains out? “it's not that, love. it's just…”

“i can take it, if that’s what you’re worried about,” you smile, and he swore his heart started beating a little faster. it's silent, and you try again, hands reaching for his pants.

he doesn’t stop you this time.

your hands are already halfway through with unbuckling his belt, and you plead once more for any confirmation from him. “please, neuvillette? take my first?”

“fuck, alrightー okay,” he says breathlessly, his hands moving yours away as he unbuckles his own belt. he couldn’t take it, not when you were begging so nicely. it just shows again how hard it was to say no to you. he might give you everything you’ve ever wanted if you just asked.

“but you have to promise me,” neuvillette starts, unbuttoning and pulling off his clothes. “if i make you feel any discomfort, please voice itー”

his sentence gets cut short as you pull him down for a kiss. sometimes he just talks too much, you think. it was sloppy, tongues intertwining as he pushed you onto the sofa, crawling on top of you.

he breaks away from the kiss, hands hastily taking off your top. he pulls down your bra as he gets a glimpse of your bare tits. kisses work their way down your neck and onto your nipples, sucking and fondling each tit. you let out a moan when his hands slide down to your hips, pulling your skirt off.

“you are the most beautiful woman i’ve ever laid my eyes on,” he compliments, giving you a kiss on the forehead. your cheeks heat up. “really?”

“you think i, the chief of justice, would lie to you?” he asks, and you roll your eyes. he frees his cock from the constraint of his pants, and he presents himself, hard and erect all for you. he lets your hand roam around his body, finally landing on his cock. you give it a few experimental strokes, making him sigh. small drops of pre-cum leak out from the tip.

no matter how intimidated you were by his size, you were determined to take it. no way were you leaving tonight without your virginity taken.

he spreads your legs apart, sticking two fingers into your mouth. “suck,” he instructs, and you do. your tongue licks around his fingers, coating them fully with your saliva before he takes them out. one finger is inserted into you with no resistance, and he tries with a second one.

you moan at the pleasure as he pumps his digits into you, your wetness making it so easy to slide in and out. were you that turned on? it felt weird at first, but you got used to it quickly. it didn’t hurt or anything, but you definitely felt him stretching you out. he feels how tight you are, clenching around his fingers like you didn’t want him to take it out. but you did want something moreー this didn’t fill you up enough. “how do you feel, y/n?”

you hummed in response. “mm, it's not enough. i want something bigger,” you respond, and he takes his fingers out. he pops them into his mouth, tasting your sweetness once more. “i’ll give it to you. i’ll give you everythingー anything.”

he swallows as he lines his cock up with your entrance, seeing how big he was compared to your pussy. fuck, he might really tear you open. he spreads your pussy open with two fingers, his cock rubbing against your folds. “are you ready? take a deep breath for me.”

you heed his advice, nodding as you inhaled. he rubs his cock-head against your entrance a few more times, before he finally pushes the tip in.

you moan immediately, feeling the stretch of his cock. oh, he was big alright. it was only the tip, but you felt like he was going to split you in half. “so… mmhー big…”

its taking everything in him to not cum right now.

his head was spinning, it felt like he was in another world. he really just took your virginity, he really just deflowered you. did he even deserve this opportunity, to be your first? decades of not fucking anyone really heightened every feeling. you were so tight, he could barely move. you clenching around his fingers prior was nothing compared to this. his fingers on your waist grip harder, and he has to stop himself from even attempting to push his cock in any further or else he might really spill his load inside you.

“neuvillette? iー i said you can move,” you repeat. he must’ve not heard you. after all, his mind went blank the moment he pushed his tip inside of you.

“just a moment,” he clears his throat, panting as he dips his head into your neck. so this was what he has been missing out on? he might become addicted, and it's just the tip that's in you.

“you feel so good, fuck, i…” he mutters into your neck, slowly pushing more of his inches inside of you. you whine, hands wrapping around his neck. you have no idea how bad he wants to slam his entire length into you right now, but he stops himself. you felt so full, so fucked out, you could barely form a sentence. his cock was already hitting your cervix, but it still wasn’t all the way in.

“how are you feeling? tell me,” he demands, and you struggle to let out any words. “goodー great, i don’t know, please,” you mindlessly babble. you don’t even know what you’re saying ‘please’ to.

neuvillette starts painfully slow, dragging his cock in and out of you to let you get used to the feeling. the stretch was amazingー you didn’t know having a cock inside of you felt this good. it stung a little, but nothing too painful that you couldn’t handle.

he eventually picks up the pace, going faster once he sees that you’re starting to ease up. “want it faster?” he asks, and you nod eagerly. you could take it, and you wanted to feel all of him.

he throws both your legs over his shoulders, pressing them against your chest as he drills his cock into your tight cunt. the feeling of you clenching around him each time he thrusts into you has him feeling drunk. he fucks you so hard, yet so gentle at the same time; it doesn’t seem possible, but somehow it is.

your nails dig into his arms as he continuously pounds his cock into your hole. you’re ruined, and he likes it that way. the face you’re making right now has him groaning out. he doesn’t care that he’s in the officeー doesn’t care if anyone walks by and hears both of you moaning. you feel so fucking good around his cock, none of that mattered.

“y/n, you’re so tight,” he hisses, your pussy clamping onto him like a vice grip. he leans down to kiss you again, fucking into you harder.

you moan into the kiss, hands pulling at his hair when his cock hits a particularly pleasurable spot. he can’t lie, pulling on his hair makes his balls tighten. “so good…” you drool, and he smiles.

you couldn’t think about anything else but the way neuvillette’s cock was slamming into you so roughly. you could barely respond. it's like he was craving for this, like he was depriving himself all this time just for this moment. you felt your orgasm coming much faster than the first time.

“i’m gonna cumー neuvillette, ahh,” you moan, and his hands immediately reach down to rub at your clit. “yeah? enjoying yourself that much?” he teases, and you whine in response, and he pounds into you harder. you’re so close, so close…

“fuck!” you almost screamed out as your orgasm hit you. you see nothing but stars as your pussy clenches on his cock impossibly tighter than before, your eyes rolling back from the amount of pleasure that just washed over you.

“ohー fuck, y/n, this is…” his hip stutters at the sensation, warmth and wetness drenching his cock. you pant as he continues fucking into you, still feeling the aftershocks of your orgasm. he was chasing his own high too.

he needs to cum inside you, he won’t settle for anywhere else. he wants to see you squirm as his warm cum fills your insides. he wants to see that white ring of cum form around the base of his cock, watch it all leak out after as he struggles to stuff it back into you.

“let me cum inside of you, please, y/n,” he begs, and who were you to say no? the iudex of fontaine begging you? you’ll gladly allow him. you were planning on letting him even if he didn’t ask. “do it, i’m all yours, neuvillette.”

hearing those words were his final straw. “take it, fuckー take it all, oh,” he halts with one last thrust, dumping his load into you. white, milky cum fill your insides, warmth spreading throughout your lower half as you moan at the feeling. it almost felt comforting.

he continues depositing his cum inside your cunt, panting. he didn’t think he would cum this much, was he really that deprived of pleasure? he sees his cum leak from your cunt even though you’re stuffed full of him.

“my love,”  he calls, caressing your cheek, and a peck to your forehead. you shy away. “you.. you really need to stop calling me that.”

he raises his eyebrows. did you not like that? but he’s been calling you that all this time…

“before i ask whyー are you alright? i didn’t hurt you, did i?” he asks, concerned. you giggle, he’s always so caring. as expected of neuvillette.

“yes, i’m fineー great even,” you smile, and his expression softens at the assurance. “good.”

“just that… should you really be calling me that? i mean, i don’t hate it, if anything its the opposite, but,” you clear your throat. “we’re not even… together. unless its just, a one time thingー or something like that.”

“i understand,” he says, and you make eye contact with him. he looks gorgeous, covered in sweat but absolutely glowing. ah, focus. “my apologies for confusing you, but i do have intentions of courting you.”

oh?

“you do?” you ask, and he can’t help but laugh. “are you saying you haven’t seen the way i look at you, y/n? and whatever we’re doing now is… i wouldn’t do this with someone i didn’t have feelings for.”

you hum. “i mean, you haven’t exactly made a move, unless you consider this one?”

“well, this is slightly backwards, but tell you what,” he starts, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “come home with me, and i’ll plan something for the both of us in the morning,” he whispers into your ear like it's a secret. “how does that sound?”

“i… think that sounds lovely.”

ー @yuki-world

taglist: @lavenderslemonade

[burst-of-iridescent]

Aang was indeed a bad father. It's way past time we stopped making excuses for him.

An all too common defense for Aang is the fact that he's a monk and is not well-versed in how parenting looks. Yeah! No shit! But do you know who is well-versed? Katara! They talk as if Aang is a single parent like Toph but he is not. Katara's been on Aang's side since the day they met, always stood up for him, always complimented him.

Is this really the thanks she gets? Are they really that disinterested in explaining Katara's side of the story? As if her not getting a statue wasn't insulting enough.

Another major flaw in this defense is that Aang is not just a monk. He's the avatar. This means, part of mastering all elements also means embodying all of the ideologies based on said elements. That includes elements/ideologies completely opposite of his own. His daughter's crack about Aang "cutting and running when things get tough" shows that he's learned absolutely nothing.

We never truly see him master all the elements, he just gets them and, more or less, calls it a day. I'm even beginning to doubt that he's truly mastered his default airbending and he just got his tattoos prematurely because the monks were impressed with his scooter invention.

Zuko got the privilege of understanding the ideologies of other nations, allowing him to grow, and unlearn any toxic masculinity lessons through them, and would blow a gasket if he ever saw a kid get mistreated by a parent in any way. Is it really any wonder why Zuko is the more popular character and the most requested choice for Katara, in comparison to Aang?

using the "but he was a monk!" argument to excuse aang's bad parenting is fucking baffling to me. even leaving aside that aang did have a father figure (or are we collectively ignoring monk gyatso?), i don't think you need to witness fatherhood in action to understand that showing preferential treatment to one of your children is a messed up thing to do. that seems like the kind of thing that should be common sense, especially when you're best friends with the guy who's walking proof of what happens when you play favourites with your kids.

truthfully, i also don't fully agree with katara being able to compensate for aang's supposed lack of knowledge. while i do believe katara was a good mother, and i don't think it was her responsibility to teach her own husband how to be a good parent, i have my doubts about how much, if ever, katara called aang out on his behaviour towards bumi and kya. if their relationship in atla was any indication, i suspect katara very much turned a blind eye (or at most tried to gently suggest that aang pay more attention to bumi and kya) to aang's flaws in this area, as she (unfortunately) does in most others. that's one of the reasons i was never able to get onboard with kat.aang, because katara is the only one of the gaang who is never able to meaningfully challenge aang, even when he desperately needs it. (the only time i recall her trying to push him to do something he doesn't want is in sozin's comet when the fate of the literal world depended upon it. not a good omen, methinks.)

the katara we knew in atla might not have idly sat by while aang favored his airbending child over the others, but the seeds for who she turns out to be in lok are already planted. it's not a stretch to see how katara's blind faith in aang, and her unwillingness to confront his flaws, could have easily led her down the path to the woman who would fail to stop her husband from neglecting two of their children.

it's no surprise that aang in lok is repeating all the same mistakes he did in atla, because his character arc came to a screeching halt at the start of book 3 and was never picked back up again. how are we meant to believe that aang ever became the avatar (yknow, the embodiment of all four nations in one) when he was still, at the very end of the show, prioritizing the values of one nation over the others?

truly the shocker of the century that people might prefer katara to be with a character who had a believable arc with well-written development and a satisfying conclusion, instead of the narrative equivalent of a brick wall.

[multifandomlvr]

Chapter 1

“Oh, wow! Can you believe it? The pro hero’s Red Riot, Pinky and Cellophane are going to be here to talk to our class?” Hikari’s friend Akira said excitedly.

Hikari smiled, she was a fan of the hero’s, she didn’t have a particular one she liked better than the other one. She had several authentic merchandise and clothing.

“Of course I’m excited. I wonder why they picked out class to come to out of all of them.” Hikari wondered.

“Who cares?” Akira said laughing a bit.

“Yeah, you’re right. I also heard that there’s going to be a table with some unreleased merch at the end of lunch. We should finish eating early so we’re the first ones there.” Akira said.

Hikari wasn’t so sure. As she’s stated before she liked the heroes but wasn’t the typer to go out and get every single thing they released. She usually went out and got the clothing with their hero names on it and such.

“Eh, I probably won’t buy anything. Maybe if they have clothes. But my room would be filled with so much stuff if I collected everything that the hero’s released. Plus, my wallet and bank account would hate me.” Hikari explained.

“You’re right. Lets hurry and get to class so we can get front row seats!” Akira said and the girls ran down the hallway giggling along the way.

Meanwhile at Red Riot Headquarters, Kirishima, Mina and Sero were getting read yin their hero outfits to go to school.

“So... Kirishima, who’s the lucky girl you have our sights set on?” Mina asked. She knew Kirishima very well. She knew he liked them young but never stuck with any of them.

“I’ll show you when we get to her class. I know her father which makes it even better.” He said.

Kirishima wasn’t afraid to admit he liked young girls. Not too young, just sixteen years old.

Girls that age were so impressionable and if he found one, he liked enough to further a relationship with and share his life with he would mold her into the perfect wife for him.

“You know her father?” Sero asked.

“Yeah, we went to high school together, him and his now wife got pregnant during their last year of high school and decided to keep her. Although I don’t think she knows who I am. We lost contact for a bit. But we’re talking again. He practically worships the ground I walk on.” Kirishima explained.

“Wow… I’ve never seen you go this hard for a girl before.” Sero said laughing.

“Yeah, yeah whatever. I like this girl alright. I’ve learned a lot about her, had to get some of her files.” Kirishima shrugged.

“Wow Sero. This might be the one for Kirishima.” Mina joked with Sero. The three of them laughed.

Kirishima couldn’t agree more. This girl might be the one.

[jinmukangwrites]

Linked Universe: Choose your own Adventure [5]

Final part for the "tutorial"! Can't wait to REALLY begin the story. This part, along with the previous ones, will all be uploaded into AO3 within the next few days as well :)

---

Master Post

Health and Inventory

Previous Post

----

(Sneak into the portal, at 70%)

----

We should not push our luck, Twilight decides. Both options are incredibly dangerous, and unpredictable, but if they could avoid a battle with not only a formidable enemy, but an infected formidable enemy, they should try.

He pads over towards Legend, then sits down and his feet, glancing at Time to make sure this is him showing his decision.

Time sighs while Legend grins, giving Twilight a heavy patting on the head right between his ears. Twilight doesn't growl, but he does give Legend a very well translated glare. Careful Collector, have you forgotten that I know why your hair turned pink?

Legend swallows, and takes his hand off from Twilight's head, looking chastised.

"I suppose that's the majority," Time says, although no one really looks too miffed about no longer staging an ambush.

Twilight huffs, standing up on all four paws and carefully treading around the clearing first. Wild catches up beside him, helping clear a good pathway that even Time in all his shiny armor could get through the bushes without much sound.

The Hinox continues to snore, rubbing its belly at various intervals. The heroes circle the clearing, staying within the tree-line, the ones who can stealth helping those who are a bit more heavy-footed. There's only one near mistake, Sky almost stepping directly on a stick that would no doubt wake the dead, but Wind grabs onto his sailcloth before he could, yanking him back by the sloth, nearly choking Hylia's Chosen Hero, but thankfully avoiding the stick.

Finally, they make it to the other end of the clearing, facing the portal with the Hinox sleeping on the other side. With a little bit of hassling, they wrap Wild's cloak around Time's armor; no doubt immediately creating a walking furnace, but also helping only slightly to muffle the armor clinks.

With Time looking effectively mummified, it's silently agreed with a unanimous nod that it's time to rip off the bandage.

Twilight goes out first, with the dimming light and the natural abilities of beasts, he is easily the best choice for leading. His senses will more easily detect any changes in the Hinox's behavior. With him at the front and Wild at the back with the ones whose feet always seem to shuffle or clothes creak, they had a shot at getting out of this scratch free.

Right?

As if Hylia herself decided the luck had to run out some time, Time's armor creaks too loudly too closely to the Hinox, even despite the attempts to muffle.

The Hinox startles out of its sleep, arms flying out and legs jerking, eye flinging open with a single, glowing red iris. The whole group freezes, each one hoping, or praying if they're favorable to the gods, that the monster will not notice them and go back to sleep.

Yet, the eye turns towards them and it's face twists in fury.

Twilight growls and barks at the others, rushing forward to tug Four, the closest one to him, forward and knock him out of the group's collective fright. Four reacts immediately, grabbing Wind's hand and making a mad dash.

The rest of the group reacts in turn, but so does the Hinox.

It shouts wordlessly at them, nothing but a garbled gurgle as it gets too quickly to its feet. It wobbles for balance for just a moment before beginning to stomp around the portal towards them.

Twilight snaps at ankles, trying to get the others to run faster.

Don't fight. Run.

A whiz, and a single arrow streaks through the air. Within not even a heartbeat, an explosion bursts through the air, right where the Hinox's face had previously been.

Four and Wind make it into the portal.

Yet, as the smoke clears, the Hinox reveals its eye perfectly unharmed, a singed hand lowering from its face. An angry eye glares directly down at Wild.

Wild swears. "Get to the portal!"

It's a blurred dash. Wild does his best to distract the Hinox, firing arrow after arrow, allowing Time, Sky, and Warriors to pass through.

However, just as the rest of them were about to reach the portal, the Hinox roars, slamming its arms down like two organic clubs.

Twilight feels himself be knocked back from the impact, rolling violently onto the ground and scraping through the grass. He can hear Legend swear, Wild snarl.

Hyrule scream.

Twilight's immediately to his feet, feeling bruised but thankfully nothing more. Legend is on the ground groaning, a first red drop leaking from his temple as he pushes himself up to his knees. Wild, however, stands back, his bow raised and rapidly firing at the Hinox. Arrows pierce the thick skin one after another, but none affect the creature as it leans down, a meaty fist wrapped around Hyrule's torso, pinning him to the ground.

Hyrule shouts angrily, using a broken arrowhead he must have found nearby to stab the Hinox in the back of its hand, yet the monster doesn't release its crushing grip.

"Let go of him you fucker!" Legend shouts, scrambling to his feet and pulling out his sword.

The Hinox grumbles, squeezing tightly around Hyrule, making the boy's face twist in agony, and turns to glare at Legend. However, at that second, Wild releases a perfectly aimed arrow.

There's no explosion, it's too close to Hyrule for Wild to risk that, but there is the smell of sudden ozone as electricity erupts through the Hinox's body with its source being an arrow sticking out from its eye.

The Hinox howls, stumbling back and using one hand to tear the arrow from its eye. Twilight has no idea how the thing can still see after an injury such as that, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that it still has Hyrule in its grasp, waving Hyrule around in the air as it catches its footing.

Then, to Twilight's horror, the creature roars and throws Hyrule at Wild.

Wild does his best to catch Hyrule, but soon both heroes are knocked to the ground. Twilight immediately turns tail towards them while Legend swears and pulls out his own bow, rapidly shooting at the Hinox's eye until the creature is forced to cover it.

Twilight grabs Hyrule by the back of his tunic, dragging him up off of Wild. Wild blinks up at him, his face pale, but he thankfully returns to the present quickly, scrambling to his feet with a groan and helping get the barely conscious Hyrule onto Twilight's back. It's then that Twilight notices Wild is favoring his right arm, and his left is hanging wrongly out of his shoulder.

Shit.

"We need to get into the portal," Wild says, while it's distracted.

"C-collector-" Hyrule wheezes, "we can't- can't leave him-"

"We're not," Wild grunts, glaring at the monster. "Traveler, can you shoot?"

Twilight glances at Wild as Legend gives a string of words that would make Twilight's Zelda blush as he dodges a heavy blow, releasing another arrow, furiously preventing the Hinox from turning its attention to the others. Not for the first time, Twilight finds himself under the realization that Legend is undoubtedly the most experienced out of every single one of them.

"I- it's blurry," Hyrule says, fingers curling weakly in Twilight's fur. "And my ribs-"

"Its eye is red, the only thing red in front of us. Just aim for that, and shoot when I tell you to. You can do this, wizard." He shoves his nearly broken bow into Hyrule's hands, as well as an arrow.

Twilight whines, about ready to return back to his Hylian form, but Wild glares at him. "You are faster and stronger as a beast, when there's an opening, make sure you get magic hands through that portal. Collector and I will be right behind you."

Twilight cannot even argue before Wild turns towards Legend.

"Collector! How sharp's your hookshot?"

Legend releases another arrow, buying him a moment to look at Wild with wide eyes. His eyes dart to Hyrule aiming an arrow, and he groans. "Whatever you're planning, Champion, it better work!"

Legend shoves the bow onto his back, then snatches his hookshot. Before Twilight can even begin to comprehend what the plan is, Legend shoots the hookshot.

The Hinox, expecting the target to be its eye, covers it. However, the sharp metal hook slams into the back of its hand and lodges itself in the meaty flesh. Then, Legend yanks.

The grapple's chain shortens, bringing the Hinox's hand back towards him. Black blood spews onto the ground as the creature groans, attempting to pull its hand back.

"Fire!" Wild shouts.

Hyrule releases the arrow. The bow shatters with the release.

The arrow hits right on target, and by the time the Hinox can stumble, Twilight is already rushing towards the portal with Hyrule clutching to his fur.

Twilight can hear Wild rushing behind them, and Legend shouting in adrenaline fueled victory as he rips the hookshot out of the Hinox's hand as it falls back howling, making his own dash toward the portal.

Twilight jumps through, and the world swirls into purple nothing.

---

Sneak into portal: DC: 85%. Every 5% below, a 2d10 is given to 2 random Links but everyone escapes. Below 60% is a failed escape, a battle round will be next. At 70%, 6d10 was rolled for 6 links, but ultimately everyone escapes.

Stats:

Legend -6HP

Twilight -3HP

Hyrule -32HP

Wild -14HP

My dice really didn't like Hyrule ;-;

[black-arcana]

AMY LEE Shoots Down Rumor She Is LINKIN PARK's New Singer, But Says She 'Might' Be Willing To 'Do It Part Time'

In a new interview with Canada's iHeart Radio, EVANESCENCE's Amy Lee was asked about the recent rumors that LINKIN PARK has recruited a female singer and some LP fans' desire to see her step in as the replacement for that band's late vocalist Chester Bennington.

"That is an incredible compliment," she said after being told that she was a fan favorite to fill the slot (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "I have not heard that. No, I have not been contacted [by LINKIN PARK] or anything like that. But [I'm a] huge fan feel like our worlds, our fanbases are a lot of the same people."

She continued: "That's really sweet. We never… Well, did we play shows [together]? I don't know if [EVANESCENCE and LINKIN PARK] were on a festival together or whatever. We met. We were in the studio at the same time. When we were making 'Fallen', I just briefly got to have a conversation or two with Chester. He was really sweet.

"But no, it's not true," she clarified in regard to the rumors that could be LINKIN PARK's new singer. "But that's awesome. They should ask me about that. I don't have a ton of free time, but I might do it part time."

The rumor about LINKIN PARK recruiting a female vocalist was apparently started by ORGY frontman Jay Gordon who mentioned during a radio interview that he had "heard" that they were working with a "girl singer now". When pressed, Gordon continued by saying: "Don't quote me on that. I'm not sure who the singer is going to be, but I heard it was gonna be female. They might just try to move on like that. That ought to be interesting." Jay later seemingly walked back his comments, writing in a Facebook post that he knew "nothing about any of that" and accused "people" of taking his words "out of context."

During EVANESCENCE's 2022 tour with HALESTORM, Lee and HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale performed a cover version of LINKIN PARK's "Heavy" at every stop. Lzzy spoke about the decision to cover the track in an interview with the 105.7 The Point radio station. She said: "[Amy and I] were lobbing a couple of ideas back and forth and then, all of a sudden, we landed on LINKIN PARK. And [we thought], you know what? That would be really cool because inadvertently it would be a tribute to Chester, but also, everything that this song has been about, we've all been through that — everybody. And so it's almost this like very church moment where you walk out onstage and you're, like, 'All right. This is my church. These are my people. We're all doing this together.'"

LINKIN PARK has just released a career-spanning greatest-hits album, "Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023)". The record also features a previously unreleased track with Bennington, "Friendly Fire", which was recorded during the sessions for the group's final studio album, 2017's "One More Light". Bennington died later that year.

In a 2004 interview with Revolver magazine, Chester talked about meeting EVANESCENCE in the studio, and how Amy explained to him that her record label tried to make them sound like LINKIN PARK.

"I met [EVANESCENCE] in the studio when they were recording their record. We were both recording in the same building. I was talking to [Amy]. And she was nice. She said, 'We're having these problems. Everyone at our label wants us to be you.' I told her that's lame. She agreed. She said they went as far as wanting to ask [LINKIN PARK's] Mike [Shinoda] to do a part on a song. She said, 'We knew he wouldn't do it.' So they're running around trying to get guys in other bands to do it like he would. ' I told her to be herself and tell the label to put it where the sun doesn't shine. But the next thing I heard was��'Bring Me To Life' with a guy that sounded just like Mike. It was a little upsetting."

In a 2018 interview with SiriusXM, Shinoda spoke about how he was asked to guest on "Bring Me To Life" and explained why he turned it down.

"I remember when EVANESCENCE first came out, somebody from the record label said, 'Do you want to be on this other band's song? They have this song with a singer — a female singer — and there's like, a rap part.' And I turned it down without having even known anything about the band," he said. "I didn't know anything about the band, and we didn't have anything to do with them. But I just — I just knew that, like, I did my thing in my band, and I didn't want to do my thing in another band. And when I ended up hearing the song, I went, 'Oh, I get it. I get why they wanted me on that song. Like, that would have sounded cool.' I still — I didn't want to do it, because I think, like, they have their own thing and the hardest part for EVANESCENCE was probably growing out of that moment, which they did gracefully. Part of it is just due to the fact that at the time, you know, they were writing cool stuff, and Amy's voice is just a great voice. I mean, she's just got a very powerful voice."

[my-mt-heart]

What Caryl Fans Want to Watch

I wish the official TWD accounts would engage with us this way instead of posting closeups of female characters' chests, but I can still work with a smaller fan poll. Thank you @lighteneverything for humoring me! <3

At first I figured most people would choose season 2 or season 3 for the nostalgia and strong romantic undertones. The Mazzara era includes the unforgettable Cherokee rose scene which allowed Daryl's and Carol's relationship to take root, the sexually-charged bus scene where Carol boldly flirts with Daryl, the "nine lives" scene that people still love to quote, and so many other beautiful moments highlighting their potential for a full blown romance. I think Mazzara would agree they could've turned the dial up even more during his tenure, though many of us still find plenty of joy in what is there onscreen.

Season 5 contains what is undoubtedly the most iconic scene between Caryl where Daryl runs into Carol's arms, showing her more affection than he's probably shown anyone in his entire life after she single-handedly saves the whole group from Terminus. Gimple also gets credit for Consumed, the only Caryl bottle episode that exists, which is still a favorite among many. What I think the Gimple era lacks however, is any clear sign of intent to move Daryl's and Carol's relationship forward.

Season 10 isn't just a collection of scenes or stand alone episodes we can look back on fondly. Kang gave them an entire arc that while angsty, saw them working together not just in combat, but on a deep emotional level that was chock full of the romantic undertones we were starting to miss after seasons of minimal interactions. To the characters, New Mexico represented a shared desire to be free from all their trauma and seek adventure together. To us, especially after the original Caryl spinoff was announced, New Mexico was TWD's promise that Daryl's and Carol's arc would really lead to the ultimate gratification.

This is not a comparative analysis of TWD's showrunners by any means, but should we be fortunate enough to get a Caryl show in the near(ish) future, I think AMC would do well to raise the bar that Kang set in season 10 before shenanigans completely torpedoed the final stretch of Caryl's story. Let them have a meaningful arc together. Let their relationship continue to grow, and by that I mean pick up where their "I love you's" left off and let them explore their romance in explicit ways. Show some commitment, and deliver on your promises. The sooner the better.

[shoujoboy-restart]

Didn't Israel attack a celebrity for speaking out against the atrocities? Response to that post I just saw about them claiming the crisis actor thing.

Also about Israel, is everybody that still supports Israel are bad people like the people in that protest from days ago in Washington showing support towards them? Cuz I kind of do feel a little conflicted because one of those reasons involved the October 7th massacre, which is kind of rarely brought up and the focus is more on the Palestinians, which I'm not saying shouldn't be focused on but it looks like most people are making it seem like what Israel is doing is proof that every Jewish people are bad and that the Nazis had a point, which is something I feel like is alluded to somehow with the rise of anti-Semitic hate crimes around the world.

Like I mean come on a fucking man just killed a young boy to death because of this fucking conflict and this idea that Jewish people are the bad guys and the conflict shows that which I don't feel is fair at all to condone everybody because their government is following Hitler's steps with their own touch.

Yeah they tried to drag Bella Hadid(a model with Palestinian heritage) on their fucking Instagram stories, it was so patethic lmao.

I wouldn't say everyone who supports Israel is a bad person, that's a very pointless generalization, many of them are people that since babies believed this was some sort of birthright of them to have this land and all Palestinians were evil people who seeked to kill them, before the current conflict there was some random girl on TikTok who made storytime/vent about how she had these neighbors that were nice and lovely and sweet, but after she discoverwd they were Palestinian she immediately started to believe they would hate her, kill her hark and therefore want then harmed as well, again, completely unprovoked without any aggression from the neighbors, Zionist Jew are under some crazy powerful propaganda and cult like beliefs.

And it is absolutely disgusting to think every single Jew is somehow at fault for israel's actions, Netanyahu had a absolutely abysmall approval ratings before the conflict, and he will absolutely not be elected democratically again or still be in power if there any actual democracy in that place and the support for him is extremely isolated, Jews in and out of Israel have always protested and fought against the occupation.

Both Islamophobic and Antisemitic hate crimes are on the rise, and if you are talking talking about 6 year old Wadea Al-Fayoume that killed by his landlord it is absolutely a case of how the media was at first reporting completely favourably of the Israel government:

“The father said [the landlord] had built a tree house for the boy and allowed him to swim in a makeshift pool and brought him toys. But it wasn’t until he started watching the news and hearing the statements [about the war] that something changed,”

Obviously there was probably some sort on mental illness at fault too(still not enough for a insanity please as of now it seems), but divise politics got a whole generation of people saying and protesting wanting a little black girl hanged and lynched for just wanting to go school as well.

Although I don't agree with the Hitler comparison(even thought the Israel got caught saying the whole "children of children's, children of darkness" shit that was found to be a mindset within the SS army) yeah Jews shouldn't be penalized for what Israel is doing, not Israel citizens should, we can complain about collective punishemwnt for Gazans and Palestinian and then make excuse for the same thing with Jews and Israelis

[meltingpenguins]

A long Good Omens ramble, to just get this out of my system:

I will never understand some of the outright insulting and asinine decisions the show made when it came to what to focus on, the pacing, the editing, everything. S1 had the advantage of having the book's plot push back against it, but even there...

I think the best example is how Aziraphale is introduced in modern times in s1:

In the scriptbook we'd get our first glimpse of him in his bookshop, on the phone with a customer, while doing some helpful miracles.

This would have established Aziraphale as helpful (for whatever reason) and more importantly as someone interested in books, especially books on prophecies. So, credit where it's due, kudos to Mr Gaiman here. That was a good decision, focusing on bits that are important and relevant to the story.

But alas, this did not survive the cutting room. While the scene's still there later, ultimately it was decided that it's more important to show Aziraphale eating. Paired with how dim he's already in s1 it's a mircale they didn't put Michael Sheen in a fatsuit just to hammer home what a fat, food-obsessed idiot this character is.

And to add insult to injury, the scenes makes it look as if Aziraphale is genuinely creaming his pants at the prospect of Crowley having teleported in (compared to him -simply- enjoying the food in the script. Granted, there is some small squicky orientalism-tone in the scriptbook which... why?)

What then follows is simply manipulative. Gabriel is not a character, he's a display telling the audience what to think. This is just bad writing.

In general, literally all character besides Crowley are just mean to Aziraphale for... no reason that'd has any foundation in the showverse (more on that in a moment). This tricks the audience into thinking Showley is actually nice to Az, when, really, objectively, he isn't.

The dialogue ensuing is painful. Why would Aziraphale, who has no interest in clothes note the clothes, when he should have no reason to believe Gabriel is wearing them for any other reason than to blend in (probably cause he's been told to)? Why would Gabriel only NOW nag Aziraphale eating? Why even tell Aziraphale about the Antichrist? Yes, the show and script try to make it seem that Heaven thinks only Aziraphale can hold a candle to Crowley, but not a single of these instances makes any sense, mainly cause they ALL require the Antagonists to be purposefully incompetent.

So, it's a scene that is very much just there to paint crowley as oh so amazing and important, one way or the other, while establishing Aziraphale as a food obsessed dimwit, latter trait he shares with the rest of Heaven.

This is just. bad.

And worse, this could have been a great scene, if only the characters would have been allowed to be fundamentally people, as the characters were in the book.

It could have gone... maybe like this:

---

Aziraphale has gotten his meal and began eating, when the doorbell chimes, announcing another customer. We see someone walk by behind Aziraphale and sit down.

It takes Aziraphale a moment to realise who just sat down.

He swallows his food, very deliberately puts the chopsticks down, daps his mouth, equally deliberately put the napkin down. Deep breath, slow exhale, with an air of FML. He smiles strained.

Az: Good Evening... Gabriel.

Gabe: Aziraphale.

Az: What brings you to Earth?

Gabe: You. Coincidentally. I wanted to have a word with you, and found your shop closed.

Az: Gabriel, please, it's in the middle of the night.

Gabe: *a little amused* What? You adapting reasonable opening hours? The End of Days might be neigh... (the smile falters) *thoughtful and a little worried* Huh... They actually might be.

Az: *alarmed* Pardon?

Gabe: Why I wanted to talk to you. You have a very extensive collection of bo-

Az: *frowns* Gabriel, please, we talked about this. And I believe we agreed that there's nothing gluttonous or greedy. I am merely preserving humanities knowledge.

Gabe: By hoarding books of prophecy... and misprinted bibles... and Wilde first editions and-

Az: *frowns again and raises a hand* Gabriel, please, you didn't come here to nag me about my little harmless hobbies. So, please, what was this about Armageddon?

Gabe: *curt nod* My apologies. Though it is your collection of prophetic texts I wanted to talk about. We've gotten word Hell is up to something Big. Capital 'B' Big.

Az: *whinces* And you think it is Armageddon?

Gabe: It's been more than 6000 years now *the bright facade cracks a little, and for a moment he does look genuinely uncomfortable* It is quite overdue.

Az: ...It is... Isn't it.

They sit in silence for a moment, digesting the prospect.

Gabe: So, yes, I'd like to know if the various soothsayers and clairvoyants throughout human history have anything on the next five, ten, fifteen years. And you are one of the best sources.

Az: *smiles a little, awkward smile* I mean, I can see what I can find.

Gabe: *gets up* Splendid. Thank you. Let us know if you find anything. Whatever it is that Hell's up to, it won't do if we run into it unprepared. *pauses and looks at the sushi, then out the window, looking a little awkward* I admit, if it is Armageddon... it would be a bit of a shame. Humans are doing decently well these days and, between you and I, that does look divine.

Az: *blinks and relaxes* Oh. Oh, if you'd like you could *gestures as if to invite Gabriel to sit down and order something*

Gabe: *shakes head* No, but thank you. I'm scheduled to head to Canada.

Az: Oh.

Gabe *claps his shoulder* Stay safe. *leaves*

Az: you too. *rolls his shoulders, a little worried, and goes back to eating, much more thoughtful*

---

sure, ymmv, but I'd say like that the scene would have done the following:

Establish Az not as food- and crowley-obsessed, but as someone who enjoys life and collects books (especially on prophecy)

He and Gabriel would have a clear *strained-family* relation with one another, that still has some underlying respect, no matter what the mutual beef is

Gabriel knows much better of what's going on in Az' life (meaning that Az and Crowley will really have to play things smart to fly under the radar), and on Earth in general

Gabriel would be shown to have developed some sympathies for Earth and Humanity, but the job comes first, and this is God's plan, right? it has to be the good thing.

This way, I dare say, the scene and the characters would be much more alive, and not just means to tell the audience what to think. Also it would make Gabriel out to be an actual threat.

In the show however, not only does the scene as it is (as mentioned) not serve any in universe purpose and is only manipulative, but it ALSO doesn't make a lot of sense.

Not just does Gabriel not really have an actual reason to contact Aziraphale like that, but that Heaven even has that info is... off. It really feels like just another means to paint crowley as oh-so-amazing.

The show in general has a problem with plotholes galore where the book's story had none (Schrödinger's Plothole not withstanding)

We could have had something great, and I hope one day we can find out for certain who is responsible for it all being like... that.

Thank you for reading.

[tdoong15]

Hello @chimpchard , this sounds amazing I did contemplate if I should add NiziU but then I remembered I don't know any of the members' names. Also Merry Christmas Eve to you and anyone else who celebrates Christmas tomorrow.

Little!Twice, ITZY ,Nmixx Cg!2yeon, Yeji

Warnings: none

Christmas dinner

It was two days before Christmas and most of the girl groups of JYPE were congregated in Twice's dorm for a celebration and a dinner. The dorm was obviously not quiet in fact it was very chaotic. Jihyo, Lily and Yeji were having a singing battle except it was on who can do the highest note without having a voice crack. DubChaeng also challenged 2shin, Bae, Jiwoo and Kyujin to a rap battle to see who the best rappers in JYPE were out of the girl groups. "Yo Chaeyoung bro cmon let's show these rookies how to rap" Dahyun said confidently, thus starting the rapping competition.

The others were occupied with video games such as Super Smash Bros except Nayeon and Jeongyeon who were in the process of making dinner. They were soon joined by Yeji after her singing competition. "Do you guys want any help with preparing dinner?" Yeji asks because she wanted to help, Nayeon and Jeongyeon both look at each other before Nayeon responds. "Listen, Yeji as much as we would love if you helped we have seen the video you made with your fellow members" Nayeon says as nicely as she could possibly be whilst she remembered the cupcakes Yeji made.

"That was baking and we were in a timed condition, I'm actually really good at cooking." Yeji explains herself about the unique cupcakes she made. "We could use the help." Jeongyeon reasons with Nayeon before she continued. "Alright then, you can help us with dinner, Yeji." Jeongyeon smiles at Yeji who quickly returns the smile, so with that Nayeon, Jeongyeon and Yeji all cook Christmas dinner.

The rest of Twice, ITZY and the whole of Nmixx were watching the Nightmare Before Christmas until they all started to feel smaller, mentally. "Do you guys wanna make a fort?" Jihyo questions mainly because she wanted to make a fort, and thankfully for her everyone else agreed with wanting to have a fort in the living room. Everyone went into four groups of four except one group had five people since overall there were 17 of them. Then, they all ransacked every single bedroom in the dorm, collecting pillows, blankets, toys basically anything they wanted.

"'Kay guys, we build now!" Ryujin orders before they all start building the fort. Nmixx were making one end of the fort, ITZY made the other side and Twice were making the center since they had the most members. After 30 minutes they finished building the fort which actually looked like a cave instead. "Woah we did a good job" Lily says in her Australian accent whilst she clapped at the creation. Her accent made everyone else except the rest of Nmixx gasp loudly.

"You awe Australian, Lily?" Chaeryoung asks in surprise at which Lily nods in response. "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!" Dahyun yells randomly when she discovers the information. Lily was then bombarded with many questions. "Do you know Rosie from Blackpink?" Lia asks which was then immediately followed by Momo who asked Lily if she "knew Felix from Stray Kids. " Sana also added on if Lily knew "Chan who's also in Stray Kids." Yuna then decided to move completely away from other idols she instead asked "Do you know Hugh Jackman?" Lily felt like she couldn't answer any of them since she wasn't given the time to. Chaeyoung then asked probably the last question "Do you know Jennie from Blackpink?" Which made Tzuyu glare at her "Nini is fwom New Zealand, Dingus." She comments.

"Guys let's just pway in our amazing fort" Bae says which makes the commotion die down and all of the girls rush inside of the fort. "Tank you BaeBae" Lily hugs Bae since she saved her from the constant questioning, Bae hugs Lily back and she just smiles. A few minutes later Jeongyeon calls out to them "Dinner is ready guys, come get it!" Jeongyeon's words made all of them stumble out of the fort and run to the kitchen so they could all eat together to celebrate Christmas before they all went to either visit their own families or stay at their dorms.

"Mama can we all have a sleepover?" Sana questions while she eats some of her potatoes. "I don't see why not, it is nearly Christmas after all" Nayeon shrugs her shoulders and she decides to let them all sleepover which makes them all cheer happily and they all (except Nayeon,Jeonyeon and Yeji) begin to quickly eat their dinner since they wanted more time to play together.

And that's exactly what happened after they finished their dinner. They played countless games varying from charades to hide and seek. But when they were told to go to sleep they all huddled up together in their fort and watched Home Alone. It was safe to say that this was the greatest Christmas that they've had even though it wasn't actually Christmas and they didn't get any presents, they were actually more greatful that they all got to hang out together like one massive family.

Hiiii I hope you guys all enjoyed this and like I said earlier Merry Christmas Eve or Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it early. Also I found out that it wasn't me who made a silly mistake with my last request it's Tumblr themselves because I found out that they won't let me go back to typing anything if I save an ask to my drafts I have to either schedule it's upload or delete it, which is very annoying because I didn't have this problem before.

[boysplanetrecaps]

on scheming, popularity, confidence, and skill -- responding to a cool ask!

I got a great ask from someone and I wanted to publish it, but it would be a spoiler to anyone who hasn't seen ep9, or is behind on who has or hasn't been eliminated, so I'm putting it here behind a read more. They're responding to my theory as to why a certain trainees was kicked out of Over Me and make some good points! It's all behind the read more.

fallindomino asked:

heyy just read your ep 9 post and i found what you said abt Keita getting kicked out of over me really interesting, both bc he’s my one pick lol but also bc i both agree and disagree. i think he’s closer with the other trainees than mnet seemingly wants viewers to think, in dance practice behind the scenes vids and other content that not everyone who watches the show probably watches you can see other contestants being more physically affectionate with him and vice versa. this confuses me solely bc he’s the japanese trainee with the best shot at making it into the final line-up, and you’d think mnet wants at least one to keep up the perception of this show producing a “global” boy group. then again, trying to understand what mnet is thinking is a fruitless endeavor in itself.

I see what you mean about Keita certainly having friends among the trainees -- I think that a lot of the trainees feel close to him, especially the Japanese trainees, I'd guess. But remember when Park Gunwook shook Keita's hand at the ep8 ranking ceremony? He shook his hand warmly, with a huge smile on his face, but he didn't HUG him. Now maybe Gunwook just isn't a hugger, but still. I just think Keita isn't quite as "in" with the cool kids clique as he could be. Everyone likes and respects him but I don't sense that bond, that "stay up all night talking, crying on each other's shoulders, telling each other stuff you've never told anyone before" kind of bond. But maybe I'm wrong! I should watch some more of the behind the scenes content -- let me know if there's a specific video that you think I should check out.

And yeah, you'd think for sure they'd want at least one Japanese trainee, but who knows what goes through MNET's single collective brain cell. It's like searching for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie.

buttt abt the threat bit i completely agree. i think the other trainees see him as a threat in a way he doesn’t view anyone else at all. i remember you said smth like “Keita sets a high standard even among the other previously debuted idols on this show” in one of ur posts, and i think this is a contributing factor. Keita simply has less to prove. he knows he’s good enough to be in the group, the judges know, the other trainees know, the viewers know, even people who don’t LIKE him know.

this is why he was so completely unafraid to make a super stacked team for Kill this Love even though he definitely wanted the killing part, and in ep 6 when they chose for the second mission, though they don’t show Keita choosing Zoom, in background shots you can see that Krystian, who he kicked out, was simply standing on the bottom row, closest to the walkway, and that is most likely the reason keita kicked him out.

Oh, I love this kind of close analysis! Nice work. I think Krystian was better suited for Limousine anyway so it worked out.

comparing this line of thinking to Ricky, who kicked Jongwoo out of Love Killa because it meant he would be more likely to get the killing part, to Jiwoong who did the exact same thing to ricky two minutes later, and the differences in their thinking become clear.

Aaaannnd we ended up with an underwhelming performance of Love Killa, so thanks, everyone!

this isn’t me hating on any of them ofc, it’s a good strategy. but it’s a strategy that Keita isn’t using, partially because he is literally just that kind, but also because he doesn’t feel that pressure to prove everything he has the way most of the other trainees do.

Totally agree. It's kind of like what I was saying about how Matthew leads from a place of anxiety, while Keita leads from a place of confidence. It doesn't enter Keita's mind to scheme because he knows he has the goods. I think that this might contribute to his comparative lack of super close, emotionally bound friends -- you bond with people who you feel a connection to, and maybe it's hard for people to feel that connection with someone who doesn't seem to experience the same frustrations and difficulties that they do. But again, maybe I'm wrong.

and yeah, considering that there were two yuehuas on over me team as well, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that they made a plan to vote out the members they felt would be the biggest threats to them, position-wise, and any friendships made on the show def pale in comparison to years spent training tgt. i just thought it was rlly interesting cause all last week i was curious to see how ppl ended on their new teams (i did get spoiled lol) and after watching and thinking it over, it makes tons of sense. your recaps are always interesting reads, and i look forward to the performance specific ones !!

Thanks so much! Back atcha, friendo!

[ddagent]

BREEN, John searching for the perfect engagement ring under very different circumstances than canon. (read: he's not dying)

John/Delenn Weekend Promptathon | Read at AO3

“You go on ahead; I just want to pick up a souvenir for my sister.”

John lingered one stall down from the stall he really wanted to visit, knowing that Delenn would be able to sniff out his true intentions pretty quickly if he stopped next to a market stall displaying silver jewellery. Instead, he made a show of staring at the tacky merchandise, the Centauri vendor selling apparel that wouldn’t have been out of place in Times Square – purely aimed at Human tourists. But the only Human visiting the market in Centauri Prime today was John Sheridan, accompanied by the love of his life. Delenn left him to his perusal with a brief press of her lips to his. She then disappeared into the throng of shoppers, Marcus hovering nearby.

Clearing his throat, John approached the Centauri jeweller. “Hi. Do you have any engagement rings?”

The Centauri, a young woman swathed in blue silk, immediately retrieved a collection of rings. John had hoped to look through them before he was accosted by the others on their diplomatic trip to Centauri Prime. No. Such. Luck. “Ah, Captain! There you are. Would it be considered a diplomatic scandal if I murdered G’Kar?”

John drew in a deep breath. If it had been up to him, he and Delenn would have gone alone on this trip. After the Shadow War had dragged on, it was only now that they had some time together. John was intending to enjoy every moment of it – dinner dates, walks in the garden, building a life with Delenn – before dealing with Earth and Clark became a necessity. But as much as he’d wanted to get her alone, John had agreed that the other two major powers would be needed for this trip, to cement Centauri support for the fledgling Alliance.

Which was how he found himself playing referee in a Centauri market. “Yes, it would, Londo. Can’t you two just…play nice for the week we’re here?”

“Captain, you have to understand—” Londo’s attention was quickly diverted by the beautiful woman manning the jewellery stall and then the rings themselves. “Ah, Captain, you have finally decided to add some decadence to your wardrobe. You should have said! I know the finest jewellers on all of Centauri Prime.”

“Which he should only go to if he wants something gaudy and gauche,” G’Kar interrupted, elbowing Londo out the way to help John with his shopping. “Now, I happen to know a Narn jeweller that will—”

“—the Captain does not want your tasteless jewellery, G’Kar. He wants a ring that displays his status—”

“—no, what he wants—”

“—is an engagement ring,” John intervened, drawing the conversation to a close. “I don’t want a ring for me; not yet, anyway. What I want is an engagement ring for Delenn.”

Londo and G’Kar shared a single look before both of them devolved into cries of joy, smacking John on the back in celebration. It was only then that John realised the first people he had told about his intentions to propose were Londo and G’Kar. They wouldn’t be back home five minutes before the whole station would know. “Now, listen, Delenn and I have talked about marriage but I still want it to be a surprise. You can’t tell anyone.”

“Of course not, Captain,” Londo grinned, baring his teeth. “But as a man of excellent taste who has known Delenn for some considerable years, I will take this burden upon myself to help you find the perfect ring.” Londo once again turned his attention to the vendor, wrinkling his nose at the selection of rings on display. “Do you have any gold bands? We need rubies, emeralds; rings that speak of the immense power this man has!”

G’Kar flapped a hand in his face. “You know nothing, Mollari! Delenn does not need a ring that she cannot lift! She needs something silver, perhaps with a stone that matches her eyes.” G’Kar found an ornate silver ring with a blue stone at the centre. “Here.”

Londo sighed. “Delenn’s eyes are brown.”

“Blue.”

“Brown.”

John heaved out a sigh. He should have gone with Michael and Stephen; it would have been less traumatic. “Delenn’s eyes are green; they sparkle in the light, draw you in and never let go.” It was then that John caught sight of Delenn across the marketplace, offering a Centauri fruit to a young girl. She caught him watching her and they just stared, the entire market melting away as John found himself swept up in his love for her.

His reverie was only broken by a data crystal being thrust under his nose. The Centauri vendor smiled up at him. “I have a friend from Yedor who is a jeweller. The finest crystal you have ever seen, all sourced from Minbar. There, I think, will you find an engagement ring as beautiful as her.”

John smiled, thanked the vendor, and went to join his future wife by the fruit stalls. He knew that Delenn wouldn’t worry about the ring but John wanted everything to be perfect. After all, she was the One.

[merotwst]

ASDSJSKDJDKN ELLIE I JUST SAW YOUR REBLOG AND I FULLY AGREE WITH YOU !!!! JAMIL BABYGIRL SUPREMACY !!! HES THE BIGGEST BABYGIRL EVER!! I HEREBY DECREE THAT ITS CANON THAT HE TUCKS HIS HAIR (and his partner’s hair too because omfg if jamil viper himself ever tucked my hair behind my ear?? I’d literally burst into joyful tears aaaaaaaaaaa) BEHIND HIS EAR WHENEVER HE KISSES SOMEONE (omfg just imagine jamil tucking your hair behind your ear and then just leaving his hand to rest there on your ear/cheek/jaw area while he kisses you ahahshshdhshdhdhAJAJSHDJ LITERALLY GIGGLING AND KICKING MY LEGS RN) !! I DECREE THAT HE ALWAYS ENDS UP ZONING OUT AND DOODLING HIS CRUSH’S NAME IN THE MARGINS OF HIS TEXTBOOKS WHENEVER HE THINKS OF THEM IN CLASS [upon realising what he just did, he’d proceed to tug at his hoodie’s drawstrings and quickly rush to erase the writing before any of the professors call him out asjsjdjdjdhjdhd ITD BE SO OBVIOUS THAT HE DID IT THO BECAUSE THE PAGES WOULD HAVE THOSE INDENTS IN THEM FROM ERASING TOO HARD ASJSJSJSHJS] !! I DECREE THAT WHENEVER HE TIES HIS HAIR IN THE MORNING HE SUBCONSCIOUSLY THINKS OF ALL THE TIMES HIS CRUSH COMPLIMENTED THE STYLE SO HE TAKES EXTRA LONG TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERY BRAID IS PERFECT !! I DECREE THAT HE LOWKEY TRIES TO USE KALIM AS A WAY TO BRIBE/TRICK HIS CRUSH INTO COMING TO WATCH HIS BASKETBALL GAMES (“Kalim wants you to come watch the basketball game this weekend🧍🧍I would sincerely appreciate if you did as well though - it’d be nice knowing that someone reliable can look after Kalim for a few minutes while I play translation; HNNNGGG IM BEGGING ON MY KNEES PLEASE COME WATCH ME PLAY I WANNA SHOW OFF AND IMPRESS YOU WITH MY SKILLS”) !! I DECREE THAT THIS MF IS THE MOST DOWN BAD BABYGIRL EVER !! [don’t believe me when I say that all of these things are canon?? well too bad because I’m actually Disney so everything I say is true teehee🤭🤭🤭🫶🫶🫶]

I also decree that you and I are just as down bad for him as he would be for his crush ajajsjsjsjksksks 😔💖💖 BUT REGARDLESS TYSM FOR THE REBLOG !! and for letting me ramble about jamil here heheheheh <333333 I literally have the biggest crush on him (and Ruggie and Ace and Deuce and-) so I take every opportunity that I can to rave about him ahahsjjsskkdk (if I have your permission to, expect me to just send through an ask about jamil every time I get into a simping mood 💖💖🫶🫶🫶)

QUUMA????? WHAT IS THIS I JUS WOKE UP OKG PLS KEEP SENDING YOUR JAMIL BBYGIRL RAMBLES TO ME (and ruggie and deuce and ace and—) THEYRE MORE THAN WELCOME I LOVE READING EVERY SINGLE LETTER!!!!!!

jamil TUCKING MY HAIR NO WAY NO IM BLUSHING SCREAMING GIGGLING LIKE A MORON RN HES A BABYGIRL 100% THIS IS SO CUTE OK BUT HEAR ME OUT

we all know jamil has an ANGELIC voice it's canon it's REAL THE WAY MY JAW DROPPED WHEN I HEARD HIM SING AT THE AUDITIONS PLS OK and so it's safe to assume jamil's a very talented and artistic person who appreciates music (he's got headphones at his bedside table and i personally believe he collects vinyls as well tee hee pls i want to bond with him over our favorite artists) so imagine him subconsciously making a playlist about his crush (⁠´⁠⊙⁠ω⁠⊙⁠`⁠) LIKE HE DOESN'T REALIZE IT. JAMIL'S LIKE im jus making another playlist that's all nothing special ab it BUT EVERY. SINGLE. SONG. ON. THERE. REMINDS. HIM. OF. THAT. PERSON. THAT'S. BEEN. ON. HIS. MIND.

AND WHO'S TO SAY HE DOESN'T PLAY INSTRUMENTS????

no, i can definitely see him plucking at guitar strings on his free time. he says he's average but he has a habit of downplaying his talents bcs he's never been allowed to shine as brightly as should </3

BUT JAMIL

making

A SONG?????

the playlist just wasn't enough there's just this SPECIFIC thing he feels THAT THE SONGS HE LISTENTS TO JUST DOESNT HAVE

and so he writes one word after another, strums a chord, hums a tune and after he sees an image of his crush in his head, everything just comes spilling out in swooping, sloping, cursive letters and he SINGS

ABOUT

THAT

PERSON

and he hums the song on occasion.

when you catch him humming it and ask it what song it is, he's gonna play it off and say "oh, some old song from when i was young nobody's heard of it" like a liar but OH OH THAT'S SUCH A BIG LIE IT'S ABOUT YOU THAT HE WROTE ON HIS OWN FREE TIME

he could've done anything else because how much free time does he have????? you can just prolly count the amount of times he had time for himself in one hand and he could've done anything anything else

but he wrote a song about you

like a lovesick idiot

he's such a babygirl

ALSO QUU GIVE ME AN EMOJI U LIKE BCS IM MAKING YOU A PERSONAL TAG AAAAA I LOVE U SO MUCH

[stingslikeabee]

Okamura turned excitedly to face the door to the Queen's rooms as Melissa exited. She smiled broadly, hands reaching for her friend's arm. There was a wholly mischievous look to her ― from the particular glimmer in her eye to the curve of her smile ( both of which her beloved Shun had longed ago learned to love and fear ). Okamura giggled, drawing Melissa down the hall with her.

"I know this is the day after your birthday, monaka, but now it's time for my gift to you," the blonde purred quietly, fingers tightening around Melissa's sleeve affectionately. "Your schedule is entirely empty all of the sudden, and our husbands have agreed to take care of the babies in our stead. ― mm, with a guiding hand from an old lion and the twins, of course." Okamura chuckled. Her youngest, Isa, was nearly two ; precious little Hikari, the latest addition to the families' broods, was four months old.

The Lady guided her Queen outside one of the palace's side entrances and down into the lawn. She shooed away any servants or aides that came to assist the pair until they were finally alone. In the shade provided by a small orchard was arranged a covering of blankets and other accessories. Okamura spun around to the front of Melissa to face her, hands entwined with the monarch's, as she walked them toward the scene she established this morning.

"Do you remember, monaka? When my father's lessons would get so dull for too many days in a row that I would persuade you to run away with me? With strawberry tarts and and our fairy tale books . . . we stayed out for hours."

Okamura invited Melissa to sit with her and gestured to the things she brought. The unmistakable, fruity smell betrayed the aforementioned sweets ( made earlier by the noblewoman herself ). There was fresh, cooled cream for the pastries ; bottles of amber - colored tea ; and a container of honey from the Queen's own bees. Next to the confections arranged in their ribbon - tied tins was an assortment of old letters and tomes : a collection of papers and memories from when they were young girls, gossiping into the pages of faded journals to one another.

"This is for you, monaka," Okamura explained, smoothing her skirts down. "You are a remarkable woman, Melissa, but you need a break. Consider this your gift : I've scared all of the palace away. The only people allowed to interrupt are our spouses, should your darling princess grow hungry. Relax, monaka ― and happy birthday."

unscripted asks - birthday edition! . always accepting

One of the palace’s many servants was accompanying the queen when she saw Okamura coming from across the hall - and that look was all it took for the monarch to raise an eyebrow with an expectant expression, giving the servant the pile of letters the brunette had been sorting while they walked and ordering the girl to go away to carry on with her duties. As soon as the blonde sequestered her arm and mentioned a birthday surprise, Melissa broke into a melodic, pleased laugh.

But of course she had - it wasn’t as if she believed her best friend to have forgotten and the queen had received many loving kisses and embraces during the intimate festivities that her right-hand had organized the day before. But in a way, Melissa had just assumed that the private gathering had been Okamura’s own way to show appreciation for the monarch, to give her time to celebrate and relax without a care in the world.

It turned out she was wrong - Okamura was just bidding her time to make something special and more extravagant, what wasn’t something unexpected of the Akarian lady. At the blonde’s declarations of how everything was taken care of for the day, the monarch did chuckle again, leaning closer into the steering arm with fondness. “Oh my, behaving children and husbands for an entire day! I wonder how many miracles the Goddess can pull off in a single day,” Melissa added with humor, knowing very well that her friend was working as the avatar of the main Solarian deity on that morning.

The royal followed the other woman with a curious air to her expression, but no fear - whatever Okamura had prepared, she knew it would be quite perfect. There was hardly anyone else she trusted nearly as much as she did the blonde by her side - her husband, sisters and children, but Okamura really was closer than a sister. A kindred soul, and Melissa would have accompanied her willingly anywhere, even if she needed to be deprived of sight or movement in the benefit of the surprise.

And just as she suspected - Okamura had prepared the greatest gift of them all. What was more precious to the ruler of a kingdom if not time? When one devoted all waking hours to others, it was easy to forget to care for the personal aspect. In this sense, Melissa was fortunate to have Daigo and a trusted inner circle, but no one could read her as well as the blonde hurricane who would undoubtedly have scared the entire royal residence into submission - frankly speaking, Okamura’s orders as head of the household was even more important than the queen’s own when it came to domestic aspects of the palace.

“You are most precious friend anyone could ever hope to have, mon coeur,” the royal declared, squeezing the hands of the other woman before taking her invitation to sit down over the blankets, only letting go of Okamura’s digits to pull her into a hug and then press a kiss to her forehead, a display of her affection for the Akarian noblewoman. Smiling at the younger female next, Melissa greedily reached for the old journals documenting their conversations of ages ago, and yet which felt like a day before from the moment she opened the faded, worn pages.

“Oh, I can’t believe you kept them all - we were terrible, Azumi!” she laughed next, finding the perfect echo in the way Okamura smiled mischievously at her. It was by no mistake they had grown to be such fast friends - otherwise isolated from society due to their position and expectations of the roles to be performed, it had been difficult to form genuine bonds with other girls of their age - and the vivid gossip documented there clearly showed it all.

“The baker’s boy! I remember him,” Melissa murmured, welcoming the silent invitation to lay over the blankets and have her head rest over Okamura’s lap. As a child, if left unchecked, the blond would frequently braid the queen’s hair, too - on that day, she settled for caressing and playing with the strands softly, but her blue eyes remained attentive on the childish scribbles that the monarch kept showing her, reviving their commentary from decades past. 

“We so believed him to be in love with you at the time - poor Shun would buy every single one of the treats in hopes they wouldn’t have enough to bring over to the castle later and yet he was only trying to win the favor of that lovely kitchen servant,” Melissa laughter was free, entirely amused - the type she reserved for closed quarters only and which was not befitting for a ruler, but for a girl with her best friend during an afternoon out? That was then immediately acceptable.

It had been the greatest gift ever - one not for the Queen of Solaris, but for Melissa; a lovely reminder that one did not need to abandon their truest selves even in face of duty as long as their loyal companions walked the same path.

[mil-fan-4ever]

My Inner Life: The Continuation

Chapter Two

Lair of the Dark Lord, Part Two

We continued down the hall for some time, until we abruptly reached a door. The polished wooden portal appeared as though by magic it was so sudden. I eyed it warily but Ibsef showed no fear, no trepidation; of course he wouldn’t, I thought, because he knew Drakeshade. Or he had to. He was a high ranking member of Ariakas’s Dark Knights.

He opened the door a crack and then looking back at me threw it open wide. He stepped through seeming to ignore me. “Come along…” He said. “It’s quite empty.”

I paused only for a second before I followed him threw the door. It was dark in the room beyond as well but several windows lines the room, letting in faint, delicate light through the intricate designs decorating the windows. Most all of them showed the deadly Black Lilly in some form or other: one was held by a maiden with waving golden hair, another had multiple blooms being held by a knight delivering them to a lady. And one had a single Black Lilly as the centerpiece of its design. I was taken aback at how such beautiful things could be here in a place of deepest evil.

“Does your Dark Lord have an eye for art?” I said, trailing slowly along behind Ibsef and his clanking metal boots.

“He does not,” said Ibsef. “But his lady wife, Morriganna, prizes works of art and beauty. She collects such things.”

I stopped in my tracks “He’s MARRIED?” I gasped, horrified.

“To the most beautiful woman in all of the Black Mountains, in all of The Poison Lands, and, if you were to believe either of them, all of Gaia.” Ibsef had not stopped walking. He was heading for the door at the other end of the hall. I only just realized that the room was not entirely empty. There was furniture, draped against dust, pushed up against the opposite wall, nearly invisible in the dark.

“I still cannot believe any woman would want to marry a man as vile as Ariakas” I muttered.

Ibsef laughed coldly. “They’re a match made by the Goddesses, Mistress.”

I did not have time to question him. He was out the next door before I even had a chance to open my mouth. I hurried to follow him, struggling to keep up. The initial adrenaline from being freed and finding a partner to escape this hellhole was wearing off, and quickly. Now my legs were weak and there was a dull pain in my abdomen, and in my nether regions, as well. When we were halfway down the next corridor I had to stop, doubling over in agony.

“What is the matter with you” Ibsef asked.

“I had a baby only yesterday!” I snapped. My eyes squeezed shut as though of their own accord. “It was an easy birth but I am still very weak. Do you think we could rest for a moment?”

Ibsef paused. “I do not think that is wise.” Said Ibsef. “There are still guards about. And the lord and his wife are still here. She is a woman of great power and not one I would want to find myself on her bad side. We should keep moving.”

“But” I started

“I was once injured in the heat of battle” Ibsef said suddenly. He took me by the arm and lifted me so that I was standing up straight. All I could see were the horrible, hateful eyes of the dragon helmet. “I took a spear to the gut. It was most unpleasant. But I kept myself conscious and I kept my dragon going, all through the rest of the battle. I finally found a healer after the dust had settled and she told me that I should have been dead.” He released me, stepping back. “Childbirth is no small thing. But you look hale and healthy otherwise. I doubt it’s quite the same as suffering a near-fatal wound.”

Anger boiled within me. I wanted to knock that stupid helmet right off his head. But I held myself back, if only because I knew it would hurt me more than it would hurt him to lash out at him.

So I glared at him and I said, “I suppose it is not.”

“No” he agreed. And then he took off down the hall again. I staggered after him, forcing myself to remain on my feet and forcing one foot in front of the other, until I could walk with some confidence. I would not collapse in front of this infuriating man. I could not!

We exited this corridor into another great room, this one set out with great tables and comfortable-looking dining chairs. All of the furniture in here was polished to glowing and the soft light filtering through the rather plain windows here sent shimmers down the tables as light refracted off of them. A large portrait hung over the stone fireplace at the end of the hall, behind a massive throne-like seat at the head of one table. I walked up to it. It depicted a beautiful young woman with long glistening dark hair and deep-set but expressive blue eyes. She held her head high and I could see that she was wearing a high-cut black dress with her delicate hands perched on the top of a table sitting in front of her. Her face was smooth and beautiful and her makeup was light but impressive. But her stare was cold, as though she were staring icicles down upon whoever chose to look at her portrait.

“Who is this?” I asked Ibsef. He had stopped to look up at the portrait as well.

“Lady Morriganna” said Ibsef. “The Dark Lady herself.”

“She’s beautiful” I said, awed. “Is Lord Ariakas handsome, Ibsef?”

Ibsef started off toward the next door “No,” he said.

I followed after him. We were just about to exit the room when the smell of sulfur filled the room. I covered my nose and whipped around to face the direction I had just left, as sinister laughter filled the room. Ibsef also turned to face the newcomer but he remained quite motionless.

“Ha… ha… ha… Did you really think you could escape, my pretty one?” I knew that voice immediately I also knew the roiling mass of shadows. It was Ariakas’s Shadow. I shuddered just looking at it. “You are a naughty girl, though. Running off with my general, are you?” The Shadow clucked in disappointment. “How fickle is the woman’s heart.”

“You’re one to talk!” I cried, whipping out my Phoenix Circles. “You’re married and you’re standing here flirting with another woman!”

“I do not FLIRT!!!” Ariakas’s Shadow snapped. “I was merely propositioning you. I know you are a whore because my spies have told me what you and your stupid husband get up to almost nightly!”

I flushed “That doesn’t make me a whore! I have only ever made love to my husband” I felt strange and embarrassed talking about this with Ibsef standing right beside me. He didn’t seem to care what we were talking about, so I don’t know why I cared.

“Who cares!” Ariakas cried. The Shadow trembled and began to move slowly towards us. I took a step back but Ibsef stood firm. “I would not want to spoil my fun and kill you straightaway, however. Ibsef—hold her down. I want to enjoy this.”

Fear roared through my ears. I had thought Dark Link was bad, but at least there had only been one of him. I had gone to turn but Ibsef grabbed me by the arm suddenly, and I cried out, lashing out at him with my free hand. The Phoenix Circle arced through the air the gems glittering malevolently in the light from the windows. But the charkam never found its target.

Ibsef grabbed my other arm, holding me there for a moment before he twisted my arms painfully behind my back and held me there. I struggled as best I could but I soon realized it was futile. I felt so betrayed. I had not thought of Ibsef as any sort of friend but he had been helpful up to this point. Then again, he was a Draconian, and they were the Dark Lord’s beasts not their own.

“Good, good.” Ariakas laughed, sending chills throughout my body. “This should be splendid… You can have her afterward, Ibsef. I know you don’t mind leftovers… Ha, ha, ha…”

The darkness trembled again and this time sifted its shape, the shape of a tall, cloaked man sculpted from darkness and shadow forming where the Shadow had been only a second before. The face was hooded in shadow but I could see the rocky ugliness of it. And the horrid red eyes! I yelled out in fear.

Suddenly Ibsef yanked one of the Phoenix Circles from my hand. He spun toward the Shadow and released the charkam, sending it spinning into the Shadow’s midsection. I watched in mixture of horror and relief as the Phoenix Circle stuck in the Shadow’s black heart

“AAARGHGUGH!” screamed the Shadow. It writhed and turned once more into a blob of shadow-stuff, seeming to melt into a huge puddle of black darkness on the floor. Ibsef flung himself at the doors, opening them, and grabbed me on his way out. I wanted to go back and get my Phoenix Circle, but I knew also that this wasn’t the time or place for sentimentality.

Ibsef and I ran through the palace, ran like the beasts of hell were on our heels. He really did seem to know his way around the palace. Every turn he took was taken with certainty, and he dodged into rooms and intertwining corridors often enough that I could tell he had been through them all before.

We bolted threw another tall, sturdy door and as I flung myself onto it to close it, Ibsef stepped forward. A blast of wind hit me, then, and I turned as the door clicked shut. Fear coursed through me at what I saw there.

There was a dragon in front of us. Its scales were bright crimson, and it had black spikes lining its long spine. Wicked black spikes also curved from its head and chin. Its eyes were huge and yellow and looked me over with hunger. It took a few sniffs of the air and exhaled, sending the scent of sulfur into the air.

I squeaked and cowered in the presence of the great red dragon. It lifted its head as though it were going to open its mouth and rain fire upon me, or simply eat me. Either way, it wouldn’t turn out well for me.

But then Ibsef was there. He approached the dragon with surety and a slow pace, patting the great lizard on the neck. The dragon let out a strange hissing noise and nuzzled him with its cheek.

I gulped. “THIS is your dragon?” I asked.

“He is,” said Ibsef. “He has no name. I call him “friend,” however.”

I gulped again and looked up at Ibsef’s “friend.” The dragon had its head turned to him but it was still looking at me with one of its huge, yellow, deadly eyes. I bit my lip. “Is it safe? For me to approach?”

“It is” said Ibsef. He patted the dragon on the neck again and then moved to the nearest wall. All kinds of leather straps and strange saddles hung from it. As he rummaged through these I took a look at our surroundings. We had come out of the palace again, and now stood once more in the strange half-light of this place. The storm had let up some but now the clouds before and around us were white and gray instead of black. I heard strange chirping and growling noises from around and above us.

“What are those noises?” I asked.

“That would be the other dragons.” Ibsef said as though this were not cause for alarm.

MORE dragons?! My head spun and I had to lean against the doors. As I did, they buckled forward, into me, nearly knocking me off my feet. Good thing they were bolted, I thought to myself, as I turned and pressed my body to them again. There was no time to be relieved, though. I knew that whatever lied beyond those doors wanted us dead!

“Ibsef!” I cried. “The Shadow! It’s here!”

By this time Ibsef had strapped one of the large saddles to his dragon, and was working on buckling a bridle over the dragon’s mussel. He didn’t even turn to look at me. “Well we’d best be off then, shouldn’t we?”

He held his hand out to me and I rushed forward, taking it. With very little effort and immense strength, Ibsef hoisted me onto the dragon as though I weighed nothing at all. I was still adjusting to the awkwardness of the saddle when Ibsef joined me there, sitting in front of me. He worked the reigns expertly, and in a flash the dragon had turned and headed off of its balcony-cell. I hurried to wrap my arms about Ibsef’s midsection, holding on for dear life. I only allowed myself a brief glance back at the palace as we flew away; the doors to the red dragon’s balcony had burst open and the Shadow roiled angrily there. Other dragons in their balcony-cells—the very few of them, I saw—flapped their wings in agitation and some sent jets of fire into the air.