#B's very first love letter wow

[beyondthebackup]

[a lonely lavender envelope, petite as a greeting card stuck in a bouquet of flowers, is tucked in the tight metal facets of B's desk. Contained within is a note:]

" If we shared this class, I could stare you down like a showdown at sunset, prying apart the tiny movements of your body, hold your gaze with mine until our breath fell in sync but I would never manage it, your touch obscures my vision. But you could wrap your fingers around my throat and squeeze tight like the handles of your first bike, rocking with my frame. Make me feel thoroughly used, thoroughly controlled, thoroughly loved ~ ♡ "

B collapses into the same desk he's sat in every day for the past year in this class,

Advanced Deception and Disguise.

It's a small class. These personalized curriculums meant that even one-on-one tutoring for certain subjects was common when deemed beneficial, at least for the higher ranking students.

Like art, this is a class he enters without the white noise of a familiar voice, a pair of attentive eyes, a body to mold himself around.

Though he excels at this subject Wammy's did not see fit to train A or Obelus in, he finds the class itself boring.

Backup nearly misses his gift entirely.

It peeks out at him, delicate against the depressing browns and greys of institutional wood and metal.

Like passing love notes in a prison.

Teasing out and unfolding the note in his lap, he reads it and the spark of something comes, flickering,

excitement.

B scans the room despite the note. These kids in particular, of course, are currently training to lie and suppress their tells - but even so, he finds their involvement unlikely. This class is intense, the professor is demanding, and everyone is focused...

Usually.

Now, B focuses carefully on the handwriting, following the soft curves of every letter and judging them against images of paper in his mind...

Obelus's notepad.

Umbral's scripts.

Yoriko's guide to mushrooms.

A's textbooks, the notes in the margins ...

Hah, as if he would ever write something like this.

Coward.

What strikes B the most, even after considering that the note could be a prank or meant for someone else, was how...

Tailored it felt.

Certainly, not everyone would enjoy being spoken to in this way. It's not very subtle, it's physical, violent, yet somehow still yielding.

Like play wrestling.

All that, but the note smells like honeysuckle,

Decidedly soft.

His first bike was that petulant little boy,

Goody two-shoes, prim and proper.

B smashed A into a tree, and he hasn't been right in the head since.

He learned years ago that most people don't necessarily like to be used or controlled,

at least not out loud.

But they sure do like to be loved.

...It's no use. This doesn't look like anyone's handwriting, at least not based on the memories he can visualize clearly right now.

It just doesn't make sense. He hasn't been playing anyone lately.

It has to be someone who knows something about him,

No one is this presumptuous, right?

It would be cute if they were.

Maybe they're just bold.

That would be cute, too.

"Backup."

B shoots the instructor a hot glare and discreetly tucks the envelope away in his pocket.

[Lavender Note]

[Pink Note]

[Blue Note]

[miserable-sarah]

The Date

Pairings: Sam x Reader warnings: None Requested: Hello! Your fanfics are sensational and I get lost in your stories, especially Sam's. I would like to ask for a story inspired by dandelions song between Sam Winchester x reader, very cute and romantic.

~

You look at yourself in the mirror for the 10th time, you fix your dress, you fluff your hair, you stand there and practice your smile. You don't like the way your hair looks, you think your make up could look better. You sigh and flop on the bed.

"You look fine!" Cas whines. You have him 'trapped' in your room so he can tell you if you need to change anything but he's getting annoyed because you don't believe him anyway.

"Sam told me to dress nice." You tell Cas, you sigh again getting off the bed. Cas grabs your hands.

"Y/n, you look perfect. I promise."

"Thanks Cas." You smile at him "You can leave if you want." You giggle. Cas leaves the room, you look at yourself again and take a deep breath. You're not sure what Sam has planned your dates are usually casual sometimes when it's an important date they're a little fancier. You walk downstairs, you see Dean and Cas sitting down at the table talking about whatever.

"You look great!" Dean says smiling.

"Did Cas tell you to say that?" You smirk at him.

"Wh-what!? Of course not!" Dean chuckles

"Okay." You tease "Thank you."

"Sam gave me this." Dean hands you a letter, you look at it confused and open it. 'Meet me at the first spot I laid eyes on you.' You smiled to yourself knowing where to go.

"I'll take you." Dean says hoping out of his chair walking up the stairs, you follow behind him.

"We have to go to the beach." You say getting butterflies. "So, what's he planning?" You ask Dean. You know Sam is up to something and you know Dean knows.

"I don't know." Dean says quickly not moving his eyes from the road.

"Dean.. I know you know."

"No, no I don't." He says matter of factly.

"you're not going to tell me?"

"I wouldn't even be able to if I wanted because I don't know."

"Fine." You cross your arms. You're not against surprises you love them, it's just you're so nervous and you don't know why. Sam is the best boyfriend you've ever had, he cares for you deeply, he pays attention, he helps you when you're down, he cheers you up, he makes your days so much brighter, he is your forever. You honestly don't know where you'd be without which scares you but makes you feel safer with him. You know he would never do anything to hurt you. You can't believe how lucky you got, someone was listening to your wishes.

"We're here." Dean stops with a huge smile. When you get out of the car your body is shaking you're so nervous. You don't even know why. You can see lights lighting up the walkway, you smile at how beautiful they are. You slowly walk down a few stairs and walk on the path, you see rose petals spread out everywhere, you can't help the big smile on your face, your heart is pounding in your ears.

You see Sam standing by the beach with flowers in his hand, theres a table set up in the sand with champagne waiting to be popped. You can hear Dandelions by Ruth B. being played in the background. You smile and walk towards him.

(Song)

"Sam, this is wow." You say not even having words. You gasp loudly when you see Sam get down on one knee.

"Y/n Y/L/N" He starts, he pulls out a little black box "I saw you here 2 years ago, the moment I saw you I knew I wanted you to be mine. I knew I had to have you. I got so shy walking up to you I stuttered just saying hello." You both giggle. "The look in your eyes when you saw me, it was nothing I've ever seen. From that day we've been best friends, unfortunately I was scared because of my job and that held me back, but you reassured me you'd be fine by tactling me to the ground." You laugh again. "And at that moment I knew I wanted you for the rest of my life, I knew you were the one for me, I knew I'd be forever happy with you in my life so," He opens the box revealing a beautiful ring inside. "Y/n, will you please marry me?"

Your hand is covering your mouth, you have tears flowing down your cheeks. "Yes! Yes!" You squeal with excitement. Same carefully places the ring on your finger you can hear Dean and Cas cheering in the background, he hugs you tightly swirling you around.

"I can't believe we're engaged!" You kiss him, he kisses you back passionately. "I love you so much, Sam."

"I love you more than words can describe." Sam pops the champagne and hands you a glass. "To the future Mrs. Winchester!" Dean joins in on the toast. You smile to yourself just think how lucky you really are. You are going to marry Sam Winchester.

[violet-moonstone]

highlights from "searching for oswald...and chicken"

wow I loved this episode...I feel like I say that every time but I REALLY REALLY enjoyed this one

first of all its a Dagur episode, which automatically makes it great...most of the screenshots I took are of him. Honestly all of his dialogue is very quotable, especially since so many of the jokes they give him are thinly veiled adult humour

also the B plot with chicken was certainly something (and makes me think the writers were thinking about the end of the hidden world while writing it?)

ok so the beginning of the episode was already tugging at my heartstrings. I love seeing Dagur and Heather's sibling relationship, whether hey're arguing or getting along.

Well that's deeply upsetting! and the fact that he said "most of his life" makes me wonder how much of the confidence Dagur displayed as a teenager was a cover for whatever he was dealing with internally.

The part where Dagur hugs Heather and she looks happy but almost surprised was very bittersweet. It seems like she's still getting used to having a family, and affection catches her off guard.

Excuse me while I go cry

Call me deranged but I think Dagur slamming Snotlout against a cage was hot

As always, Hiccup is adorable. Literally looks like a cat

This is funny but also very upsetting! Snotlout and Dagur really make a habit of using humourous line delivery to cope with being deeply unwell:

*clears throat* uh yeah Dagur, I'm sure you do love a good "fruit bath," from time to time if you know what I mean...

Come on, the writers, animators and voice actor HAVE to have known that line came across as suggestive. Like the way he sounds? His facial expression? They may not have intended it to specifically imply he was talking about getting in a sauna with some twinks, but it certainly sounded like something sensual was going on.

Also I didn't get a shot of this but when Dagur starts listing adjectives to describe Heather's reckless behaviour, Hiccup says "Sentinel" while looking at Oswald's journal. Dagur says something like "that's not quite the word I'd use," which makes me think Dagur was going to call her a not so PG word...

Snotlout staring directly at the camera while narrating Tuffnut's emotional breakdown in the style of a pun-loving mystery novelist:

What an asshole (I love him). there's something really funny about Tuff leaning against the tree with a hand on his hip. Poor guy. Astrid and Stormfly were clearly less amused than I was.

Ok let's talk about Hiccup motivating Dagur to open the door to Oswald's shelter. My little Dagcup heart was really soaring here. And look at the lighting!

LOOK AT HIM! LOOK AT HIS FACE!

Oooohh man, Dagur expressing guilt about his past and Hiccup trying to help him through it also really got to me.

Dagur: I was a villain!

Hiccup: No, you were a kid

Me: *crying*

Because yeah, Dagur in Riders of Berk/Defenders of Berk did horrible things, but he was also enabled by all the adults in his life who could have stepped up after Oswald left. I've already written (both in posts and in one of my Dagcup fics) about how being thrown into a dungeon as a kid only made Dagur a worse person (no one in the show talks about the scars on his face that weren't there before...). And There is clearly an opportunity for restorative justice when it comes to characters like Alvin and Eret that wasn't extended to Dagur despite the fact that they had already overpowered him and could have at least given him a choice between punishment and trying to make up for his actions. Anyway...let me not rant about that anymore.

Ok what's next...oh yeah! Astrid doing this:

Hilarious.

Um...ok so...I needed to screenshot this for uh...reasons. It's the um...the composition and the...the lighting and...yeah. All that stuff.

THE DRAWING OSWALD DID OF DAGUR AND HEATHER AS KIDS

oooooohhh my heart!

Look. At. My. Boy. He looks so happy and at peace after reading his father's letter.

Ok so again...the writers making very interesting decisions for Dagur's lines.

Dagur being funny and a little concerning again

I liked the colour scheme for this Gronckle

More Dagur appreciation.

Before the episode where Fishlegs helps Dagur fly Shattermaster, I would have assumed Dagur would make fun of Fishlegs for being a nerd -- but instead he appreciates it. I think their friendship is super adorable, and I wish we got to see more of it.

Fishie! He calls him Fishie! (I ship them a little sometimes tbh) I can see Dagur having a thing for nerds.

hehehe

and uh, let's close off with hiccup being hot and windswept

[musings-of-a-rose]

I'll Always Wait For You - Chapter 18 (Final Chapter)

Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader

Word Count: 6900+

Rating: Mature - 18+ ONLY!

Warnings: Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story. 

Notes: Well, this is it. The final chapter. I’m feeling very emotional about this one, as these 2 are my babies. This fic was the second thing I ever started writing AND my first series. I started it in November of 2021 and now I’m ending it in June of 2023. Thank you to everyone who has read it, left comments, reblogged it, talked about it off of Tumblr (I am still FLOORED that this has happened!). This is what keeps people creating. Even if you think you have nothing important to say, or if all you say is just a keyboard mash of letters, I can promise you ALL of it means the world to us. So I dedicate this fic to you, the reader. You’re the real star here and I can’t express my love enough. If you’re ever wanting more, I am always down to write one shots, drabbles, character insights, what ifs, etc for this fic (and any of my others).

Now excuse me while I go cry

**If you want to be added to the taglist, join here or let me know!

❤If you enjoy the fic, please consider giving me a warm beverage! (It is not required in any way!)

→Tell Tumblr this should be shared with others by reblogging! That's what the algorithm loves (it's how it works here. I don't make the rules!)

**Reader is not described

Main Masterlist

I'll Always Wait For You Masterlist

Frankie Morales Masterlist

<&lt;Chapter 17

“You look so beautiful!” Olivia gushes over you after she tucks the last braid into place, watching you stand and do a little twirl in your white dress.

“You think so? It’s not too much?”

“Too much? Girl, it’s your wedding day. You can’t be too much!”

Smiling, you smooth out your dress as you take in your reflection. You’re marrying Frankie. Your Frankie. Frankie, whom you’ve been in love with since you were 19. This is real. It’s happening.

Ok, technically, in the eyes of the law, it happened a few weeks ago at a courthouse. But there’s something special about gathering in front of your close friends and family, wearing a beautiful dress, and getting to repeat those vows in front of everyone. A soft knock at the door brings you out of your head and Olivia walks across the room to peak her head outside. 

“Mosa, it’s the photographer. Are you ready for the first look?”

“It’s HERmosa!” Frankie’s muffled yell comes from behind the door and Olivia smirks. 

One last glance in the mirror at your reflection and you nod, turning your back towards the door. You hear some shuffling as Frankie is ushered in backwards and the photographers get into place. 

“Turn in 3..2..1..Turn!” Olivia says and then steps back.

You turn, your eyes finding his almost immediately, as if they were drawn there. He’s dressed in a tailored suit, fitting his form perfectly, his grandfather’s kerchief folded and poking from the pocket. But what you’re really interested in is his face, his eyes growing wider and glossier the longer he looks at you.

“Hermosa, you…you’re beautiful,” Frankie says, awestruck.

“You’re just figuring that out?” You say behind a smile.

“No, I mean I always knew but…wow.”

He walks up to you and cups your cheek, running his thumb across it as Olivia hisses something about makeup from the corner of the room. But you couldn’t care less. Frankie was here, marrying you. This is all you’ve dreamt of for well over 10 years. A tear runs down Frankie’s cheek and you wipe it away.

“Are you ok?”

He sniffs and smiles. “I’m the best I’ve felt in a long time. I just…I only wish we would’ve done this sooner.”

“We did. We got married in the courthouse, remember?” 

He smiles at you. “I meant more that we never…that we stayed together since that first kiss.”

“Me too. But we can’t dwell on what-ifs. We can only think about the here-and-nows.”

Frankie tips your chin up and presses a light kiss to your lips, the clicks from the camera going crazy. You pose for photos for several minutes before Olivia ushers everyone from the room, winking at you when she says she’ll give you 10 minutes of alone time before she came to get you. The second the door closes, Frankie pushes his tongue in your mouth, pulling you as close as he can. 

“I can’t mess this dress up, Frankie,” You say pouting.

“That’s ok. I can work with that.” Frankie grips your hips and spins you around, bending you over the back of the chair and clasping a hand to your mouth as he takes you, your hands desperately trying to reach behind you to pull him in closer. 

15 minutes later, Olivia knocks on the door and enters hesitantly, smirking when she sees you smoothing down your dress, Frankie’s face more pink than when she had left. 

“It’s time,” she says, tossing her thumb over her shoulder and looking at Frankie pointedly. He turns to you and kisses your cheek.

“See you out there?”

“Raging sharks couldn’t keep me away.” 

He kisses you once more before Olivia starts clearing her throat. When he straightens up a curl falls on his forehead and you softly push it back to where it was, feeling Frankie’s eyes on you the entire time. He opens the door and looks outside befire turning back to you. 

“Your gift is here.”

“You don’t have to get me a gift, Frank-”

Santi walks through the door, dressed in a nice tux and smiling from ear to ear. You hadn’t seen him since the day he confessed his love for you and you had missed him terribly. Frankie was your best friend, but Santi was a close second and you’d hated the idea of getting married without him there.

“Santi?”

“Hey, Hermosa.”

You catch a glimpse of Frankie’s smile before he closes the door as you wrap your arms around Santi, feeling him squeeze you back just as hard. Separating a few moments later, you dab under your eyes as you try to choke back tears. 

“If I smudge my makeup, Olivia may kill me.”

Santi laughs. “She’s Benny’s girl, right? She’s perfect for him.”

“She’s really great…but how are you here?”

“I uh…Frankie called me a few weeks ago and told me…well, everything. I’m sorry I was screening my calls, Hermosa. I just…I needed time.”

“I understand. But…you’re here now! Are you ok?”

“I’m doing alright, Hermosa. Actually, pretty good.”

“You’ll have to tell me all about her.”

He laughs. “I will. But uh, hey - do you need a Man of Honor? If…if that would…be ok?”

“I would love to have to as my Man of Honor! But…Benny already agreed and I don’t know how to tell him -”

Santi waves his hand. “Benny was in on this. He knows and already said it was ok with him as long as you wanted it.”

Your eyes go wide. “Wait. Benny knew you were coming and he didn’t tell me?”

“Yeah.”

You gasp. “That bitch!”

Santi laughs his hardest yet. “So…”

“Let’s go, Man of Honor.”

The next thing you know, Frankie’s kissing you, everyone whooping and cheering, Aurelia throwing more flower petals into the air as they announce “Mr. and Mrs. Morales.” The rest of the night was like a blur, between photos and eating, first dances and cake, you barely had time to sit until things started to wind down long into the night. When you tried to help clean up, Olivia literally slapped your hand away and glared at you.

“Absolutely not. Benny!” He walks over and play groans when she says she’s recruited him to help clean up. She pretends to twist his nipple when he starts to complain and he yelps, high pitched and smiling as they play fight for a few moments before he gives in, grabbing plates and stacking them to wash. 

Frankie looks exhausted and he’s limping a little, so you beg him to not carry you over the threshold. “You did that when we got courthouse married.”

“Yeah but-”

“No. I’m not having you throw your hip out on our wedding day. Not from this.”

He chokes and smiles, giving in, a dark twinkle in his eye. “Alright. If you insist.” But by the time you’d made it upstairs and gotten your clothes off, both of you were too exhausted to do much of anything aside from a shower and literally fall into bed. But Frankie made up for lost time the next morning, waking you with what he claims was already your third orgasm of the day, his curls mussed up from being buried between your legs. He presses his body to yours, swallowing your whimpers before he adds his own, hips shaking with release. 

You spend your honeymoon at the Miller family cabin upstate, the only clothing you wear being one of Frankie’s shirts and sometimes his hat, which drives him wild. He celebrates another sobriety milestone while there, smiling wide at your praise. When you get back home, you can see he has an extra pep in his step, always a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, always wanting to touch you, whether a hand to your wrist, a touch to your lower back, or a smack on your ass, chuckling as you yelp and smack him back. When you ask him why he looks exceptionally happy, he credits you. “I finally got the girl of my dreams, the love of my life.”

—-

Frankie and you settle into a comfortable routine. You were no strangers to living together, the adjustment taking no time at all. Life goes on as normal, except now, you get to live it with Frankie, no longer separated by a stupid argument, misconceptions, or a bitch of an ex wife. This was exactly where you were meant to be. 

Several months later, Frankie follows you into the family restroom at Target, slinging your purse over his shoulder as he rifles through the bag of stuff you’d just purchased.

“Pink dye first, right?” He asks, raising his eyebrows as he looks at you.

“Yeah. They’re more accurate supposedly.” 

Frankie tears open the box and studies the directions, as if he hadn’t done this several times already. He opens one of the sticks and hands it to you, turning around to give you a little privacy. 

“Start the timer,” you say as you zip up your pants. Frankie hits go on his timer and turns to face you, a pregnancy stick held face down in your hand. He can see your nerves, your worry and concern on your face.

“It’ll be ok, Hermosa.”

“Yeah I know. But what if it isn’t?”

“It will be-”

“We’ve been trying for months, Frankie. I know the OB said to try for a year before fertility testing but-”

Frankie walks up to you and pulls you to him, applying a gentle pressure as he hugs you close, kissing the side of your head. “If it’s negative, then we keep trying, ok? It hasn’t been a year yet and sometimes these things take time.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Will told me that it took them months to conceive Liam. And they were trying too. Just…breathe. In….out…”

You breathe with him for a few breaths. “You always were annoyingly calm in a crisis.”

He smiles. “Wouldn’t help to freak out behind the joystick.” 

You open your mouth to reply, but his timer cuts you off. Your mouth jams shut, nerves taking over your body as Frankie holds your gaze. 

“If it says negative, we can keep trying. Remember that. I love you no matter what, Hermosa.” You nod, taking a deep breath. “Ready?”

“Ready.” You flip the test over and look, 2 bright pink lines staring back at you. Tears immediately fall as you laugh, turning the test around to show Frankie, who yells, grabbing you up in his arms and hugging you tightly. He kisses you for a moment, pressing his forehead to yours. 

“I fucking love you, Hermosa.”

“I love you, Frankie.”

He yanks the door open and whoops loudly, people turning to look at him as you follow him out of the bathroom. 

“I’m going to be a father again!” He pumps his fists in the air, smiling from ear to ear as people cheer, clapping and congratulating you as they finish their purchases, one older couple handing you a gift card on their way out, telling you to spoil that baby. 

—-

Frankie was hesitant at first with your pregnancy, despite being so supportive and actually wanting a child with you. A couple months in, you finally ask him why he seems afraid to touch you, that you won’t break. He finally confesses to you that when Elizabeth was pregnant, she did nothing but yell at him, belittling him and wouldn’t let him touch her at all, not her belly, not even to rub her back or feet. She called him horrible names and would blame it on the hormones. Your heart breaks for him and you have no words. Well, you have words but they aren’t nice ones. Instead, you sit next to him on the bed, leaning back onto one arm, and take his hand with the other, gently placing it on your lower belly. His eyes light up as he looks at your tiny for the moment bump, tears welling in his eyes as he brings his other hand up to take the other side. He pulls your shirt up just enough to see your belly skin, giving it a tiny kiss.

“Hey, little one. You grow strong in there and don’t give your mom too much of a hard time.”

From then on, Frankie is all in. Whatever you need, he gets it, even if it’s a ridiculous request at 3am. He’s constantly touching your growing belly, talking to it as much as you do. He finds Aurelia’s old crib in the attic, a few boxes of baby stuff and a bassinet up there as well. He sets up the nursery under your instruction, letting Aurelia help with the decorations when she comes on the weekends. You decide to wait to find out the sex of the baby, thinking it would be something fun to do. So instead you call it “Bean”.

“Think Bean will like this?” Frankie asks, pointing to a baby swing. 

“They might, but Frankie, that swing is nearly $150. We can’t afford that.”

His shoulder’s slump but he agrees. “Maybe we can check the thrift shop. It’s the one thing Will didn’t toss our way.”

He was there for all of the classes too, birthing ones, breathing ones, even the hypnobirthing ones. He signed up for a “birthing partners” class, learning the best ways to support you not just during labor and delivery, but during the 4th trimester, or immediately postpartum. He helped you practice your meditations, making sure you had everything you needed and that you remember to take your prenatal and drink enough water. 

When you’re 8 months pregnant, getting winded from walking down the hall, Frankie gets a call from his boss at Flyboyz on his day off, asking him to come in. He grabs his hat and gives you a quick kiss before leaving, reminding you to drink water. He’d been working a lot lately, trying to make extra money so he can stay home with you and the baby for the first month. You’re not sure how long he’ll be gone, so you plop yourself down on your bed, pulling over the basket of baby clothes that still have to be sorted and you get to work, separating the sizes, long sleeve vs short, nightgowns from onesies. A couple hours later, the front door opens and Frankie slams it behind him, the picture frames rattling on the walls. You set aside the footie pajamas you were folding and go to stand up, but Frankie comes storming into the bedroom before you can move, anger coming off of him in waves.

“Frankie?”

He yanks his hat from his head, tossing it onto his dresser, knocking some things off of it. “I can’t fucking believe her!”

Struggling a little, you manage to get up and cross the room to him, placing your hand on his mid back. He recoils, anger flashing in his eyes but it’s not directed at you. Unsure of what happened, you know he needs to calm down before he can tell you. You grab an ice cube out of your glass of water and turn to Frankie.

“Give me your hand.”

He looks at you, eyebrow raised. “What?”

“Just do it.”

He stares at you for a moment before shoving his hand out. You flip it palm up, opening his fingers and place the ice cube in his palm. He yelps, but you hold his hand firmly so he won’t drop the ice.

“What the fuck, Hermosa?”

“The cold will help reset your nervous system.”

“I don’t think- it’s too fucking cold, Hermosa.”

“Just another few seconds.”

His chest, which had been heaving a moment ago, has slowed down, the anger still there but at a manageable level. You tip his hand and grab the falling ice into your own palm, putting it in the sink in the bathroom before coming back to the bed and trying to sit on it. Frankie is there, taking your hand and helping you into bed. He goes to stand but you squeeze his hand and pull him until he sighs, sitting on the edge, his shoulders slumped.

“How do you feel?”

“Fucking angry, but…the edge is gone. Ice…who fucking knew?”

“So..may I ask what happened?”

His eyes darken with repressed outrage. “I thought I was getting extra work. Instead, my pilot’s license has been suspended, pending a review.”

You sit up quickly, eyes going wide. “What??”

He nods, his jaw clenching. “Apparently, someone made a claim that I was using when I flew some clients and now they have to investigate.”

You knew that Frankie had been clean over a year, that he wasn’t using at all. “Oh, Frankie. Wait..who made the claim?”

He looks at you. “It was anonymous but I know it was Elizabeth.” He says her name with absolute disgust and hate that you nearly pull back from him. 

“Elizabeth? Would she-”

“Oh come on, Hermosa. You don’t think it was her? I’ve been clean for well over a year. She’s the only one who would have known that I used that would make claims.”

“What about Rick?”

Frankie shakes his head. “Nah. He left Flyboyz while you were…out of town. I told him he had to leave or I would report him for selling. He started to threaten to bring me down with him, but then remembered you were…not in my life and he could see the rock bottom in me, I guess. So he backed off, just left to go elsewhere. There’s no way it’s him. It’s her. It’s always her causing shit. I’m so fucking sick of it!”

Placing a hand on his back, you start to rub it, adding in little scratches here and there like he likes. “She is a bitch.”

“I just got my license back. I worked so hard on that.” He puts his face in his hands, resting his elbows on his legs. You scoot towards him wrapping your arm around him. 

“I know you did. But you said suspended? That doesn’t mean revoked, right?”

He shakes his head. “No, it doesn’t.”

“So…what does it mean?”

“It means, I can’t fly until it’s reinstated. I have to pee in a cup at random times during the week for 6 months to prove I’m clean before they will lift the suspension.”

“Well there you go!”

He looks up at you, his eyebrows pulling together. “There I go, what? We can’t afford for me to not have this income, Hermosa.”

“We’ll be ok-”

“You’re about to have a baby. Your income won’t happen for a bit, and that’s fine, but we needed this extra money and now I can’t provide that. All because of my bitch of an ex!”

“Frankie, we’ll be ok. If we have to borrow money, we can.”

“I’m not borrowing money.”

“Fine. Then I will borrow it.”

“No, I’ll…I’ll figure something out.”

“Frankie-”

“Just…can we just stop for tonight? I’m trying to process this.”

You open your mouth to argue but then see the exhausted look on his face. “Sure. Why don’t you come talk to us? That always makes you feel better.”

Leaning back against the headboard, you watch as Frankie scoots up the bed, getting level with your belly as you turn on your side so you’re not being squished. He chats to the baby for a while, about everything and nothing and by the time he’s done, his shoulders are relaxed and he’s not as angry anymore. 

Elizabeth never fully admits to being the one to make the claim, but you see the look on her face through the car window when you make your next exchange for Aurelia after Frankie confronts her and you know she did it. There’s nothing you can say or do except wait it out. Frankie getting his license back will be all the revenge you’ll need.

—---- (Skip to the next line if you don’t want to read about labor. It’s not terribly graphic at all, but I know it’s not everyone’s thing)-------

��I never thought I’d have to beg you to have sex with me!” You stomp your foot, furious that Frankie won’t follow the doctor’s advice. 

It had been a few weeks since his license was revoked and you were a week past your due date and not happy about it.

“Hermosa, I don’t-”

“Want to hurt me, I know, I know. But the midwife even said that sex is the best way to induce labor because of the prostaglandins in your semen.”

“You make it sound so sexy.”

“Frankie,” you pinch the bridge of your nose, taking a deep sigh. “I am the size of a house. I am miserable and sweaty and I haven’t seen my feet in months and I just want to have this baby already. If it’s my belly, I can turn around-”

“You are fucking gorgeous.”

“Then please?”

Frankie studies you for a long moment, his shoulders starting to slump and that’s when you knew you had him. “Alright, fine. We can try it. But we’re going slow, taking our time, ok?”

“No arguments here.”

Contractions started within an hour of Frankie cumming inside of you. You weren’t sure at first what you were feeling, but it sort of felt like a bad period cramp, so you assumed this must be it. Frankie timed them all for you, helping you breathe as they got more intense and closer together, and when they were close enough apart, Frankie helped you to his truck and drove to the hospital. In between contractions, you watched him as he drove, expertly winding his way through traffic, a look of focus on his face, a little furrow between his brow the only indication that this was not a normal day behind the wheel. How lucky you were to have this man, who can be calm in stressful situations, want to spend his life with you. 

“What?” Frankie glances sideways at you before turning back to the road.

“You’re cute when you focus.”

A smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. “Remember how cute I am when you’re in transition.”

Before you know it, you’re in a labor and delivery room, barely spending any time in triage before they whisked you away. Hospitals can be a frustrating place to have a baby. Each nurse walks in and tells you to rest between contractions, try to get some sleep when you can, but then a new nurse comes along within an hour, always rousing you from sleep to take your blood pressure or put their fingers where you didn’t want them. You’d finally had enough of the latter and told a nurse to kindly fuck off, and denied internal exams unless it was a medical emergency. Frankie was by your side the entire labor, putting counter pressure on your hips when you needed it, pulling your hair from your face, sneaking you snacks because they forbid food and you said you’d chomp off your own fingers if they didn’t let you eat. Transition was hard, but all of a sudden, you knew it was time to push. Following your body, you get on all fours, taking your calming breaths, but then realizing that Frankie was not next to you. Turning your head, you see him, wide eyed and backing towards the door.

“I’ll just-” He points his thumb over his shoulder at the door.

“No, please. I need you here with me.” Another contraction has you breathing again and it’s a minute before he replies.

“You want me here?”

“Yes. I need you, Frankie.” 

His eyes start to water over and it doesn’t occur to you then, but later that night it’l come to you - he wasn’t trying to dodge out of the delivery. He was having a flashback to when Elizabeth kicked him out of the room right when Aurelia was making her way into the world, and your heart hurt all over again. Frankie is at your side in an instant, turning to yell for the nurse who had surprisingly not come in for some random check.

“No time!” You yell, letting out a low groan, a technique you learned to help move baby down and out. Frankie’s face slides into focus mode and he moves behind you, just in time to catch the baby as it comes sliding out. He gathers the baby up, holding it close as it screams into the world. The nurse comes running in then, having heard the baby crying as you turn onto your back, arms outstretched to hold your baby, skin to skin.

“Baby is here! I didn’t even know you were transitioning! You were pretty quiet.”

The nurse bustles around and does her thing while Frankie transfers the baby to your bare chest. Tears stream down your face as you look at Frankie, who has tears of his own. He kisses the top of your head. “I am so proud of you, Hermosa.”

A few moments pass, the baby calming against your chest. “Hey Frankie? Is the baby a boy or girl?”

He slaps his hand to his forehead. “I forgot to look! I was so focused on catching the baby and whether it was breathing and not dropping it that I don’t think I looked! Here.” He lifts the hip of the baby and smiles.

“We have a son. I have a son!”

—---No more labor/delivery details—---

Luis Christian Francisco Morales was born perfect. 10 little fingers and 10 little toes, skin glowing. He was the perfect combination of you both, although you say he favors Frankie mostly. 

You both settle into your roles as new parents, a lot of it being new to Frankie too, since Elizabeth had denied him so much. He was determined to not miss out on things this time, making sure you both had everything you needed and watching Luis when he stayed awake between feeds so you could have a nap. Aurelia cries the first time she sees Luis, big ugly sobs, and when Frankie finally calms her down enough to ask what’s wrong, she simply says “He…he’s…s-so so cute!” She happily takes up the mantle of “Big Sister” when she’s with you. Once, you wake from your nap only to find all 3 of them sleeping, Luis curled up on Frankie’s broad chest, Aurelia tucked onto his other side. You snap a photo and then quietly leave the room, taking the time to actually shower. 

About a month in, Frankie comes back from dropping Aurelia with her mom. His eyebrows were pulled together in confusion as he stares down at his phone.

“Everything ok?” You ask, shifting the bottle you were feeding Luis with so it was a better angle.

“Yeah. Uh…Santi just texted me.”

“Oh yeah? Everything ok?”

“Uh..he says congrats on Luis, that he’s the cutest, and that he was out of service for a bit and he’s sorry he didn’t text earlier.”

“That’s ok. I know he’s busy.”

Frankie is quiet for a moment. “He offered me some work.”

“Work?”

“Well, not just me. Benny, Will, and Tom too.”

“What kind of work?” When he doesn’t answer, you look up at him. He kicks his shoes off and sits next to you on the couch. 

“Consulting.” His eyes don’t meet yours, focusing instead on his fingers, where he starts to pick at the skin around his nails.

“Consulting.” You say in disbelief. 

“Yeah.”

“Wait, like a mission?”

Frankie shrugs. “No? I mean, it’s just scoping out a place and looking for weaknesses. We give our report to the government he works with and then come back. Easy peasy.” 

“If it’s so easy peasy, why aren’t you looking at me?”

He takes a deep breath and let’s it out slowly before looking at you. “It’s for a week. Just trying to find holes in a fence.”

“And why do they need you?”

“They need a pilot.”

“You don’t have your license.”

“It probably doesn’t matter over there.”

“Frankie, I don’t-”

“I’ts $17k, Hermosa. We need the money.”

“I don’t like it. So much can go wrong. Who’s house is it? Definitely no one that’s a stand up citizen. What happens if they find you first? No, I don’t like it.”

“Just..he’s coming to town tomorrow and we’re going to chat about it at Benny’s fight. Let me ask some more questions.”

“I don’t like it, Frankie.”

“I know. Just..let me talk to Pope.”

—----

It’s late the next night and you start to pace the floor of your bedroom, wondering when he’ll be back. He’d texted you to tell you Benny had won the fight and they were stopping at the bar for a quick drink before Olivia takes him home to play nurse. 

That had been 2 hours ago.

The door finally opens downstairs and you quietly make your way to the kitchen, where you were hearing Frankie move around. 

“Did I wake you?”

You shake your head. “I was awake. Luis is asleep.”

“Good, good. He go down ok?”

“Yeah, actually in his bassinet, but Frankie? How did it go?” 

He gets a glass of water, chugging half of it before setting the glass down on the counter. “It’s just a recce. No live fire.”

“There’s a possibility of people shooting at you??”

“I mean, we are casing a place. It’s always possible if guards see you or-”

“No.”

He looks at you. “Hermosa, we need the money.”

“No.”

“I don’t have a job. We need this.”

“No money is worth your life, Frankie. None of your lives.”

“I won’t be in any major danger. I’ve done worse.”

“Yeah but you didn’t have a family then.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“No. No, I don’t like this, no.”

Frankie puts his hands on his hips, cocking one hip back as he looks at you. “We’re behind on bills.”

“So? I’ll borrow some money and you can stay.”

“Hermosa-”

“Or I can get another job? A new client. I can-”

“You just had a baby, so no.”

“Then I can-”

“Hermosa.” He says it firmly, that hip still cocked back as his eyes find yours, resolve in them.

“You’ve…you’ve already said yes, haven’t you?”

His tongue comes out to swipe across his bottom lip. “We leave Thursday.”

Silence stretches between you both as you stare at him in disbelief. “I can’t believe you made that decision without me.”

“I made the decision for us. We need the money.”

“Oh, fuck you and the money! I said I could borrow it. You’re just being stubborn!”

“I’m taking responsibility! We needed money and this just happens to come our way? I have to take it.”

“So you’re saying it’s fate that Santi texted you to lure you down there with the promise of $17k? You’re telling me that it’s just consulting and nothing else? Can you promise me that?”

He shrugs. “That was the original deal.”

“But can you promise me?”

He studies you for a moment, his eyes lingering on yours. “I’m going, Hermosa.”

And with that, you turn on your heel and walk out of the kitchen, closing the door behind you, wishing you could slam it. 

The next couple days were torture. You kept trying to convince Frankie to stay, convince all of them to stay. You didn’t want any of them going. But they all said the same thing that Frankie said. “It’s just consulting.” Thursday morning, Tom comes to pick up Frankie pretty early. He leans over to kiss you in bed and you take one more shot at trying to get him to stay. Your fingers wind into his curls as you pull him to you, deepening the chaste kiss he had started. 

“You can still stay,” you say, your voice barely a whisper.

“I’ll be back in a week, Hermosa. I love you.”

Tears streaming down your face, you reply. “I love you too. Please don’t die. Don’t any of you die.”

Frankie chuckles. “We’ll be fine. I’ll call you in a couple of days once we’re settled, ok?”

—----

Except, Frankie did not call in a couple of days. Neither did any of the others, nor had they reached out to Stacy, Molly, or Olivia. There was no one to call, no contact. They needed it that way for whatever consultation they were on. Stacey brought the kids over and Olivia came too, all of you opting to stay together and support each other at least during the day. As the few days stretched into a week, which stretched into nearly another, Olivia split her time between you and Stacy’s, offering to watch the kids so you each could have a moment to yourselves. She was at Stacy’s tonight, Luis snuggled and tucked in beside you as you channel surf the tv, landing on nothing in particular. It was day 10 and about 2am so all of the infomercials were on. You landed on one for some random kitchen gadget when your phone rings. You jump, grabbing for your phone to quickly hit the silent button before it wakes Luis. It was an unknown number, but definitely foreign and so you pick up right away.

“Frankie?”

“Hermosa,” he breathes a sigh of relief, his voice wavering on the last syllable of your name. 

“Are you ok? Is everyone alright? Fuck, I’ve been terrified out of my mind.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. Things got…out of hand. I can explain more when I get home.”

“I understand. But you’re ok?”

“I’m ok. A little banged up but ok.”

“Everyone else?”

The way he’s silent has your throat closing up, making it difficult to speak. “Frankie?”

“It’s Tom.”

While Tom and you never were best friends, there’s no way you would’ve wished death on the man, nor would you have wanted to have his girls without a father. 

—----

Frankie’s mom takes Luis while you drive to the airport, there to pick up Frankie as Olivia and Stacy were going to get Benny and Will. You had experienced all of the emotions these past 10 days, mostly anger and fear, but when you heard his voice, a part of you caved. You just wanted him home and were grateful that he was alive.

You spot Benny first, towering over a majority of the crowd as people file out security and head towards baggage claim. Then you see it - a dark blue standard heating oil cap bobbing next to Benny and suddenly, you’re running, pushing people out of the way as you run towards him, Frankie seeing you at the last moment, dropping his bag to gather you in his arms, burying his face in your hair. Olivia and Stacy copy your actions, Will hissing when Stacy throws her arms around him. He mutters “I’m ok.” before pulling her to him. Pulling back, you look up into Frankie’s black brown eyes, taking in all the features of his face, his laugh lines, the spot where his one dimple pops up, the fact that he had the audacity to shave his beard. 

“You shaved,” you said simply, running a finger along his jawline.

“Yeah. But I’ll grow it back just for you.”

His lips crash to yours, his hands cupping the sides of your face as you press your body against his, fingers twisting in his shirt. 

“I’m still mad at you,” you breathe out between kisses.

“Fair enough.”

Hugs were exchanged all around before everyone went to their homes. On the drive home, Frankie tells you everything, how it was just a consult but then they decided to try and do it themselves, how it would’ve all been fine if they hadn’t missed their window, or if Tom had listened when he said it was too much weight for the helicopter. 

“Wait..you crashed?” 

“Yeah. It was just a little crash.”

“Frankie!”

“It’s me. I landed us…mostly fine. We all walked away.”

He explains about the money and the people from the village, and how they had to trek up the fucking Andes mountains and down the other side. How a young man from the village had wanted revenge and got it, dying himself in the process. How they carried Tom down the side of the mountain, leaving a ton of money there, only to make it to safety and come back with a new chopper to get the money and safely make it back in a whole other country, which is where he called you from. By the end of the story you’re silent, tears quietly falling down your face as you realize how easily they all could’ve died on the side of those mountains. How one of them did. 

“We each put about $5mil in a trust fund for Tom’s girls, made sure Molly was taken care of. It’s what Tom would’ve wanted and it’s…it’ll never be enough.”

“Hey,” you squeeze his thigh and he looks at you, tears on his cheeks. “You are not to blame. Every one of you knew what you were doing, knew there were risks. And while I can’t say who shot first as I wasn’t there, Frankie, it was self defense. And, I’m sorry, but knowing you and knowing Tom? I’d bet money on him shooting first.”

Frankie nods. “Yeah I guess so…. are you mad at me still?”

“I was all prepared to be so pissed at you, but honestly? I’m just glad to have you here and alive.”

Frankie spends the next hour between your legs and you spend the hour after that washing his hair and tending to his arguably minor wounds. Once you were clean and dressed, you made him something to eat, as you’d have to go get Luis shortly. When you set his glass of water down, he grips your wrist, pulling you into his lap.

“How are you feeling? Do you need to call your sponsor?”

He shakes his head. “Surprisingly, no. I think I’m just so grateful to be alive. And there’s one more thing.”

“What?” You ask nervously.

Frankie leans in closer, speaking low in your ear. “We got the rest of the money.”

“The $17k?” You said stupidly.

Frankie smiles and shakes his head. “A lot more than $17k.”

Your eyes widen. “What?”

“Millions, Hermosa. Each. Millions. We’re set for life, as are Luis and Aurelia.”

“Can we stay here?”

Frankie chuckles. “What?”

“I don’t want some giant mansion. I want to stay here. In our house.”

Frankie smiles and kisses you lightly. “We can do whatever you want to.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Besides take care of my family?”

“Besides that.”

“Once I get my license reinstated, I want to start my business.” His eyes light up as he talks about it, how he had already looked into getting retired choppers, and had gathered up some possible contacts, even scouted out some property. The only thing that had stopped him was the money, which was no longer an issue. 

—----

6 months later, Frankie’s license gets reinstated, the owner clapping him on the shoulder and apologizing for everything. A month later, Frankie opens Chopperz, his veteran owned and operated helicopter tour business. It’s a instant success - apparently people really want to experience flying in various retired military equipment being flown by actual veterans. He even has repeat customers, although a lot of them are women and you catch more than one of them blushing when he talks to them. 

Will and Stacy build a new house, much bigger to fit their expanding family, ecstatic that they were finally having a girl. He quits giving speeches almost immediately, staying home with his family and helping Frankie out when he needs it. 

Benny and Olivia confessed that they had actually gotten married the day after Benny’s last fight, not able to wait any longer. When he came home, they took off to travel the world while their dream house was being built just down the road from Frankie and Will. 

Santi went to Australia to find Yovanna and her brother, following them around until they got settled. He and Yovanna stayed together for a while, and he took some time for himself, wandering the world to see things when he wasn’t in a uniform. He eventually came back, building a house down the road from Frankie and the Millers. But to his first get together with everyone, he brought a girl, which wouldn’t have surprised anyone, but you could see the way he looked at her, constantly touching her lightly, pressing kisses to her head, shoulder, lips, anywhere he could. And she was doing the same, her eyes lighting up every time they looked at each other, so when you asked him later, away from everyone else, he scratches the back of his neck and admits that he thinks she’s the one, that she gets him, understands him, and doesn’t give a flying fuck about his money, which she didn’t even know about until now.  

Frankie and you were finally happy, after all these years. Elizabeth finally stopped her shit, leaving you and Frankie to be happy and only communicating when it regards Aurelia. Instead of moving, you decide to expand your house, adding another couple of bedrooms because you want to eventually expand your family. Frankie is beyond happy, smiling at Luis and Aurelia as they run around their new treehouse in the backyard, feeling you wrap your arms around him from behind, kissing his broad back before moving to stand next to him, his arm around your shoulder as you both watch your kids.

“What are you thinking about?” You ask, turning your head up to him.

“How happy I am. How I wish we had started this all sooner, that it didn’t take such a shitty road to get here, and that it didn’t take us this long.”

You reach up and cup his face, pulling him to you as you kiss him, his soft lips lightly nibbling at yours. 

“I’ll always wait for you, Frankie.”

—----  

→Tell Tumblr this should be shared with others by reblogging! That's what the algorithm loves (it's how it works here. I don't make the rules!)

General Taglist:

@frankie-catfish-morales @chaoticgeminate @janebby @astoryisaloveaffair @balekanemohafe @greeneyedblondie44 @hoeforthefictional @marvelousmermaid @hauntedmama @giuliarogers @icanbeyourjedi @wretchedmo @sunnshineeexoxo @livingmydreams13 @adventures-of-a-noodle @sara-alonso @theewokingdead @punkerthanpascal @giggly-otter @f0rever15elf @phandoz @dirtytissuebox @gallowsjoker @lovesbiggerthanpride @sarahmilesbendrix @booksarekindaneat @mrsudontknowme @swol-bear @charlispersonallyhell @xoxabs88xox @amneris21 @gooddaykate @alindeluce @avengers-fixation @paintballkid711 @harriedandharassed   @ladykatakuri @marrianena  @practicalghost @withakindheartx @batdarkladyvampir @justanotherkpopstanlol   @mermaidxatxheart @alexxavicry @ichigodjarin @justreblogginfics @sullyosully @kmc1989

[the-girl-wh0-cries-w0lf]

I love your fic “When the cat's away...”! ♥️💙 Now I really wanna know how they got together after Spider man into the spider verse

Masterlist

Requests open - here

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Here's the fic which you should probs read first When the cat's away...

Soooooooo.

In the comics Spiderman and the black cat have a very flirty relationship and always end up hanging out when they're both on duty, the difference being Cat is more of a vigilante and anti-hero. They also have an on/off relationship with Cat being the main instigator.

After him and MJ got divorced, he started using his Spiderman persona more because he felt his real self was too pathetic. So he starts going off on more jobs and stakeouts. He actually finds himself looking for Cat and following her to find out more about her (ik this sounds creepy but hey ho). And he finds himself falling for her.

*skip the portal opening up and him finding Miles*

When he's talking to Miles he finds himself asking about Cat...

"So in this universe, do you have a black cat?"

"There's one that lives on the roof I think--"

"no no. The Black Cat. The vigilante."

"No? Is that someone I should look out for? Am I gonna get my own?"

"Yeah, just when you meet them...have fun." (I'm using 'them' because Peter B. wouldn't know what gender Black Cat will show up as in Miles' universe.)

*Aunt May's house*

When Aunt May sees Peter B. she immediately goes to the door and brings out a letter addressed to this universe's Peter that he didn't get a chance to open before he died. The envelope has 3 distinct claw marks slightly scratched into it. He smirks knowing it was you, well this universe's you.

He opens the letter and reads...

"Hi Peter. I'm sorry it's been a while but I thought MJ wouldn't appreciate you always hanging out with me, so I took myself out of the equation. I'm truly happy you found someone and that you like your life with her. But because I don't plan on seeing you again I have to tell you. I love you. I'm in love with you. That's all. Have a great life. And remember, you promised to name your child my suggestion:............Y/n Y/l/n (meow) xoxo"

His eyes well up when reading. How did he never know? You'd always been flirty and you'd both kissed a little (more like a lot), but this was love. Maybe it was something about seeing your name for the first time or seeing you speak sincerely without the need for flirtatious teasing. But something changed inside of him.

*talking to the other spider-people*

"so do any of you guys know a y/n y/l/n?"

"The Black Cat?" "Black cat?" "The cat?" "cat?"

"Wow. So who are they to you?"

There's a pause whilst the spider-people consider.

"She's my partner in crime. I'd be lost without her on my side." Noir goes first.

"He's my best friend. I love that guy!" Porker chimes in.

"I never got to tell them how I felt." Peni solemnly whispers.

They all look to Gwen waiting for her. She takes a moment. Then she looks up at Peter B.

"She's the love of my life." Gwen begins to smile. "And I didn't realise that until I was here. And she wasn't."

*coming out of the Portal*

Peter B. is dumped unceremoniously back into his New York. Despite the free-fall and his sore limbs and ass (juicy) from when he fell, he feels good. And he smiles, genuinely for the first time in years.

He jumps back up and swings throughout New York city, trying to spot the familiar icy locks and black catsuit (God he's thought about her in that catsuit a lot).

He meets her on a rooftop, high above the city.

"Hey spidey! You've not been around a lot? Did you go grovelling back to MJ on your knees like a kicked puppy?"

"No, actually. Believe it or not I was in another universe. And do you know what I found out about those other universes."

"What? I'm all earssss." you hiss into his mask covered ear.

"That you love me." You panic and try to swing away. But he grabs you first and holds you in his arms.

He takes off his mask revealing his scruffy beard and salt and peppered locks.

"My name is Peter. But can you still call me spidey cause it makes me sound super-cool, like a super-cool biker." You giggle even though tears are streaming down your face. You'd dreamed of this and actually the face under the mask was more beautiful than you ever imagined.

He leans into your face. "Peter, what are you doing?"

"A leap of faith."

You join together in a passionate kiss. When you eventually pull away you hug him tight and bury your face in his chest whilst tears are still streaming down your face. He whispers in your ear "Honey, I'm home."

*after the birth of their first child*

"She's so beautiful."

"I don't think I've ever seen anything as perfect as her. I never want to let her go."

"Honey, you do have to let me hold her sometime." you hold out your waiting arms.

"No. Did not agree to that."

"Anyways what should we name her?"

"How about Mayday?"

"I love it! Where did that come from?"

"Just from this thing I once read." He winks at his baby Mayday. Knowing one day he'll tell her all about the letter, the multiverse, Miles, and how he realised her mum was the one.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

[saturniandragon]

Adra's Project Wingman In-Depth Review: Per Mission Experience and Commentary

(Caution: extremely long read. Please have snacks ready)

Project Wingman! Or so I've heard it more described as "a love letter to the Ace Combat franchise." Another arcade flight action shooter game similar to Ace Combat, and if I remember rightly, designed and developed by Ace Combat fans. Again I've spent years and years avoiding spoilers, although inevitably I began hearing a few things about it; it's like Ace Combat, it's set in alternate history, you can carry up to 4(!) different types of ordnance, and it's orange. So I guess like NFS Most Wanted (2005). Like Ace Combat 7 of course, I'm playing with my Xbox controller.

Which brings me to the first... quirk of the game. The menu interface. You control a cursor on the screen with your left thumbstick, and you have to carefully position it to the menu buttons that you want to access. The left thumbstick doesn't cycle through the menu buttons, you have to control a cursor with your joystick. Which I find to be a little on the negative side and I decided to just use my mouse to navigate the menu. Makes me wonder if this is a side effect of Project Wingman being developed as a PC game first and console second.

The last time I was met with this kind of UI controls was in the 2019 game "Observation."

However I am very impressed that the menu background isn't just a static image or a repeated video. It looks like a real time 3D rendered scene with planes flying above the treeline. Also what looks like a massive airship or a mothership trailing slowly across the sky. My hype level is up by 3 notches. I can't wait to start playing.

No fancy animation or a CGI video as the intro. Just a text that briefly tells the story about the game's world. Very much like David Szymanski's "Iron Lung" game. Seeing Sector D2 is not a massive game studio and just an indie developer, it's perfectly fine. And what I learned is that Project Wingman's universe is alternate history Earth that experienced some kind of massive natural disaster or calamity that changed the world forever, and new nations start to rise from the ashes. The game takes place 400 years after the event.

First briefing screen. Wow this orange tint really reminds me of Ace Combat Zero briefing screen. And I can also see the map of the Project Wingman world in the background. The continent of America has changed, not dramatically, you can see the general shape of the continent, but the west shoreline has practically split off from the rest of the continent. And a glimpse of what used to be Japan, China, Philippines and Indonesia, now reduced to just a few main islands, presumably the remains of the cataclysm mentioned earlier.

Apparently our protag is a mercenary pilot who goes by the name Monarch (as in monarch butterfly, I assume), who is a part of Hitman team, under the mercenary organization known as Sicario. And our client is the Federation? Is that a country, or a union like the one in COD Ghosts? Either way it brings me back to Cipher and Pixy, who were also merc pilots. In PW, apparently we're fighting a group of pirate pilots.

First mission, destroy some kind of research material that was deemed unsafe and fell into a group of merc pirates. A few ground targets, ships, and a few air targets. Alright, no big deal. My Ace Combat experience is more than enough for this.

I'm actually impressed with the voice acting. I've heard how difficult it is to voice act in a game or a movie that doesn't sound too cringey or too monotone. The guy doing the briefing actually does sound like he's done it probably a thousand times. I wonder if they hired a professional VA or just someone from the internal dev team.

Plane hangar. They give you 2 starter planes to choose. A T-21 (apparently a trainer plane that resembles MiG-21), and T/F-4 (a trainer plane that resembles F-4). I was going to use the Fishbed but the Phantom has slightly better stats, even though I'm bored with Phantoms, so I chose it. UGBL as secondary weapon, pretty standard.

First flight. Operation Red Current. AWACS Galaxy on station and OH MY GOD I HAVE A WIZZO. AND SHE HAS DIALOGUE LINES. The last time I had a wizzo was Ace Combat 2, but he just had generic repeating dialogues like missile lock/alert and stall warning. Your plane does form vapor clouds at Mach 1, something missing from AC7, so I loved that. Once again, for a small dev team, the voice acting is well done.

First set of ground TGTs clear. Ronin moving in. "Cordium" cargo? Never heard that before. They say it's too unstable, Federation orders to just clear it BOOM. MASSIVE EXPLOSION like an FAEB just went off. Mission complete, question mark? Another flight called Master Goose comes in the AO, flashing as friendlies. I don't really trust this but hey, I'm just a merc, not paid to ask questions.

If they turn out to be a fake squadron like the 8492nd, I'm gonna be... Well I don't know what I'm gonna be.

And there's a civil war in the Americas. Country of Cascadia being invaded by the Fed for natural resources. Our client is Cascadian Air Force now I guess. Is this like Belka trying to annex Ustio in AC0?

You know what, I'm too excited to have a wizzo. I'm gonna get another Phantom that isn't a Phantom (F/E-4). Big surprise, all of the SP weapons are available for use right away, no need to buy them separately. I like this game already.

Can I just say the explosions in PW from STDMs are so dramatic. Way more dramatic than AC7, it's like they hired Michael Bay. Not a bad thing though, it's giving PW identity. So it's not just a "Ace Combat we have at home"

Mission 2, all going well, fighting Fed border patrols until a massive airship came practically out of nowhere. At least this one doesn't have drones, just SK.27s and F/C-15s. A couple MLAAs later and it's down, but then no explanation as to what we just shot down. Oh well, at least we're with Cascadian AF now.

Mission 3. Rowsdower AFB. Once belonged to Cascadia now seized by the Fed on their conquest to expand their military (ala Belka), we're on a mission to take it back. Ooh, new aircraft for purchase. SV-37. I genuinely thought I unlocked a Flanker early in the game but it's just the Swedish dorito (Viggen). And it has MLAGs, if MLAA is Multi Lock Air to Air then I guess MLAG is this game's version of 4AGM. Only single seat though, I still want to hear more of Prez's dialogues. Maybe later.

Crosstalk squadron appeared, 5 Super Hornets. Grun Squadron flashbacks from Zero, anyone? Oooooh there's a health bar on the bottom of the screen for each enemy craft. I loved it. Wasn't much hassle fighting them, and we landed in Rowsdower.

Honestly I'm kind of impressed that as a band of pilot mercs, we have our own AWACS. Anyway next mission, aid Cascadian national guards from being overwhelmed by the Feds.

Two new aircrafts. CR.105 and SK.25U. I thought CR.105 is a Foxbat at first but it's delta wing design with no canards or tail surfaces. But its speed rating is off the rails, so I guess partly inspired by the Foxbat.

I'm buying SK.25U for Mission 4. Two seats and a boat load of A2G hardpoints. I sure hope there isn't any mission update where we suddenly have to fight an entire air force! (Thank fuck there isn't)

Really this game has the Frogfoot when Ace Combat 7 doesn't? Come on PA.

Next mission, Cascadian capital of Presidia. The Feds have taken over the city. Cover retreat of Cascadian armed forces. Multirole mission with tendency towards A2A. MG-31 and F/C-16 now available for purchase. Not sure if I trust a flying brick with wings for this mission, so Viper time. Guess I have to leave out Prez for this one.

Mission 5, over Presidia. WOW THIS CITY IS SO COOL with all the low hanging clouds. Though what's with all the needle towers/structures all over the city?

Thought we were done but the Feds sent out not just one or two other massive airships but FIVE of them to try and keep Presidia in their hands. I thought I shot all of them down but Mission Over text?? Did I fail??

Debriefing says Status: Success but Stardust said Presidia fell anyway. I guess it's supposed to be that way.

So far into this game, I'm developing the sense that Project Wingman is largely inspired by the classic PS2 AC titles (aka The Holy Trinity), I guess more towards Zero. The orange tint, no checkpoint system, the absence of aircraft tree, aircraft parts, merc pilot protagonist, but they also incorporate some modern QoL features like flares.

I think I would appreciate something present in AC but not present in PW; lock range indicator. You know the HUD in AC, just to right side of the pitch ladder, is a slider with a chevron that indicates the distance required for your ordnance to lock.

Mission 6, attack the Feds from the other front by crippling their energy production sites at Apodock Fracture, apparently in Yellowstone. Also they've been hunting for some material called cordium? Is that what caused the massive explosion in the first mission?

Two new aircrafts, Super Tomcat and Fulcrum! Two of my favorite aircrafts. But I had to choose the Tomcat because I miss Prez (cmon man I've been all alone in Ace Combat for years). Fucking hell it's expensive though. Better be worth it.

Yep they're hunting for cordium. We're ordered to destroy their containers. Fucking hell the SAMs in this mission are fierce, I got hit 3 times and was down to 23 health. And two more of those fucking Fed airships?? Just how many of these things are there??

Alright, mission completed. Almost. New blips on the radar, VX-23s and SK.37s. Federation Peacekeepers. Engagement Not Advised written in large text on my screen. I hammered the throttle and fly just meters away above the ground to avoid missiles and head to the return line. Reminiscent of the first time you face Yellow Squadron in AC04.

Crimson Squadron. Fed's top ace in Cascadia.

(I learned late that you have infinite flares in this game)

Mission 7. Cascadian Coast Guard seized a Fed battleship/cruiser off the coast of Cascadia. Just me and Hitman 3 this time. We're to provide air support although I kinda don't want to fly the SK.25U just to have its LASM. New aircraft for purchase called the... Accipiter. Whatever the hell that means. Apparently based on the Harrier. Not enough cash to purchase. Back to the Tomcat.

Think I forgot to read the weather report for this mission because it's stormy as fuck and the clouds are violent. I'm not sure who has the bigger balls to fly through such extreme turbulence, me or Monarch. It's actually very scary from cockpit view, everything shaking up around you and you hear the creeking and clanking from the plane's aluminum panels like they're going to break off at any moment. Oh well it's just an anti ship mission with a couple of air targets THE FED SHIPS HAVE RAILGUNS ON THEM WHY AM I FIGHTING MINI STONEHENGE AT SEA

Ok that's over now. New mission that's purely air to air mission. Take down Fed logistic planes while also avoiding shooting down civilian airliners. Weather cloudy. Two new aircrafts, Super Hornet-C and Flanker-B. But I'm still having way too much fun in my F/D-14.

Also I just learned that the seemingly random clicking noises when I'm flying is just a noise indicator of my missiles fully reloaded.

Mission 8, Briggs Mountain Range. Wait why is that civilian airliner the same as the Fed airship that I've downed multiple times before?

Doesn't matter. STDMs, HVSMs and MLAAs. One by one shooting down Fed Globemasters. Conservative with MLAA use because I totally didn't restart this mission because I accidentally shot down a civilian airliner. Then the true airship arrives. Airship Gladeus with two F/S-15s. The fucking AAM pods on the Gladeus are a nightmare to hit tbh, but mission done. More importantly no civilian casualties.

But I begin wondering, is there like multiple paths in this game like Ace Combat Zero? Like Knight, Soldier and Merc paths that are determined by whether you shoot N.TGTs or not. That's my goal for my second playthrough.

Mission 9. Raver mountains. Covert mission to take out SAM sites so we can push without losing planes. F/C-15 is now available for purchase.

But you know what, let's take the Accipiter for a spin. What was the last Ace Combat game that lets you fly a Harrier? None. Well, Assault Horizon, but that's not a true AC game. Woah, what is this, CGP? A shotgun gun pod?? Flechette rounds?? I don't fucking know how it works but I wanna try that shit out.

Alright, near CIWS units. Time to try CGPs, and... it's disappointing. Although I think my expectations were a bit too high. Well at least they didn't lie about it being a short range weapon.

And of course I did the tunnel runs in this place to destroy the containers. I'm an Ace Combat vet after all, tunnel runs are my bread and butter.

Mission 10, now the real deal. Solana Comms Array and the adjacent airbase... without Cascadian air force to help us. It's alright I guess, Monarch is already a one man army as he is. Or one man air force.

But I'm this far into the game and I still haven't found Project Wingman's equivalent of QAAMs. Maybe there will be a "HASM" (High Agility Standard Missile) or something. I guess it's time to try the Eagle for a spin.

And my thoughts? So worth buying the Eagle. Missed out on Prez, but when you attach second and third slots with MLAAs, you get 6AAMs in game. Awesome stuff. Fed is crumbling.

Mission 11, Bering Strait. Another purely A2A mission. The most expansive A2A battle ever committed, he says? We'll see to that WHOAA THIS IS LIKE THE MAYHEM MISSION FROM ACE COMBAT ZERO ON STEROIDS

And of course Crimson squadron shows up with a fuck ton of reinforcements. Totally reminding me of Schwarze squadron battle. But I'm not going down without a fight.

55 fighters, 3 SK.37s and 2 VX-23s downed by one humble F/D-14. I tried getting a close look at a VX-23 but couldn't make out what it resembles. My best guess is that it's probably something like Chengdu J-20 but couldn't see the fine details. Is there like a PSM mechanic in this game because those guys were pulling 90 Gs every now and then

Feds have issued retreat. Crimson 1 insists on staying, Crystal Kingdom order stands. Eventually Crimson obeys, and retreats the whole squadron.

If anything Ace Combat or movies have taught me, I predict Crimson is going to go berserk within the Feds. He's gonna think the Fed is too weak and just holding him back, he's gonna take Federation's most outrageous aircraft and weapon and use them to set a personal score with Monarch. I'm calling it.

I love Prez's reaction after Crimson retreated. Like yeah bitch, you better fucking run! I love her.

Alright, mission 12. Feds is absolutely crumbling after their airforce got decimated by Hitman. Multirole mission with heavy tendency towards A2A. Something about oil rigs facilities at sea.

It's railguns again, the same one that Fed ships were firing at me on previous mission with the Eminent Domain. Hitman 3 said something, why is this rig more heavily guarded than the comms array?

Mission update came up. Unknown target marked on my HUD, but I'm not firing yet. I fly close to the unknown to try get a visual but it's too damn dark to see anything, even with gibbous moon. Then something happened.

"Project Wingman is away."

What the fuck is that?? Project Wingman?? Something rapid just took off from one of the oil rigs. It's way too dark on my screen to see whatever it is, but it's roughly triangular AND IT'S SHOOTING RAILGUNS BACKWARDS AT ME WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS THIS THING

Apparently piloted by another merc named Frost? Monarch shot it down with HISMs and STDMs. Frost ejected but said something about releasing data pod. I suspect this is a Federation superweapon undergoing research. That will explain the amount of AA defenses all around it although of course the game's debriefing doesn't tell me anything.

Mission 13. There's a new Fed superweapon, an airship fleet by the name of Task Force 1. It's resting in a port, we're to destroy it before it's unleashing hell, I suspect. Although something about Kingdom of Sawaiiki, one of Fed's states, will probably get in the way.

Maybe I should expect neutral/N.TGTs.

Two new aircrafts. F/S-15 and... what the hell is this? "Chimera"? At the front it resembles Su-57 nose, but the way the wing blends into the body is a bit like F-16XL's cranked delta wing, and it also has a V tail like YF-23 (maybe that's why it's called Chimera). And it's 285k to purchase, I don't even have 100k credits. Why is this available to purchase right now?

Whichever the case I can't buy either of them. I'm going with the F/C-15, I'm gonna need its MLAG.

I think this mission is where the game can do with some optimization, because my frame rate was down from 80+ to 40 near the docks where there are a fuck ton of targets. But I don't want to compare this to Ace Combat 7 because this is a game from an indie developer. I'm sure they did what they could for optimization, and I'm not gonna blame them.

Mission itself was pretty standard. Nothing super interesting although the part where Hitman 2 had to radio out a long announcement to Kingdom of Sawaiiki that we have no beef with them, and telling Galaxy afterwards that it costs "2 bucks per word" is pretty funny. I love these conversations.

Mission 14. Grimwood coast, provide CAS for ground troops and prevent Feds from regrouping. But expect bad visibility he says from the forest fire nearby. I'm gonna gamble and take the SK.25U.

Oh shit, I guess we're working with firefighters as well now. I hope I don't have to protect them at some point because I'm essentially flying a tank. That has 40mm/65mm HE ammo for its main gun.

I forgot to say but the MLAGs in this game are phenomenal. The multilock ability of a 4AGM and the range of an LAGM? Slow reload speed but I'm sold. Who needs an A-10 anyway right

Feds in Grimwood have surrendered. They burned the forests for nothing. Also I keep hearing allies calling Monarch "The Crown" now, and in earlier sorties I also hear something along the lines of "how dare you take the name of a king as your own", "not all kings are just."

I'm developing the feeling that this game is fantasy medieval action adventure but with jets and airships instead of swords and magic. No hard feelings on that, I'm a huge fan of The Elder Scrolls series. So I'm looking forward to see how much this game plays into the mythological/medieval theme. Maybe like Ace Combat Zero, with how Cipher and Pixy did the aerial equivalent of jousting? We'll see.

Also there's this level of detail and touch of realism, that I think has never been done in Ace Combat before. When an enemy jet whizzes past you above Mach 1, you can actually hear the sonic boom from their wake. That's awesome.

Mission 15, Cascadian city of Prospero, the largest trade center apparently. Get rid of its air superiority elements and secure the airport. SK.37 is now available for purchase, yet I'm still under the required price for it.

I do have to comment on the way planes are painted in PW, or at least the default skins that you use. It's like plastidipped or cerakoted or something, like how guns are these days. Nothing really spells practical camouflage/camo pattern. But hey, maybe that's just how Monarch wants to look in the skies.

Liberate Prospero they say but they didn't say the Feds would be so desperate that they would LAUNCH 50 NUCLEAR CRUISE MISSILES JUST TO PREVENT CASCADIA FROM GETTING TO PROSPERO. THEY JUST BELKAN'D THE SHIT OUT OF THIS CITY. DID THEY JUST OPEN UP A VOLCANO FROM THE GROUND?

Hitman 3 just said Calamity. Is this what happened 400 years ago before the events of this game?

Fucking hell.

Mission 16, instant continuation from previous flight. Only me, Prez, Diplomat, Comic and Galaxy now. No idea if anyone else is alive. Flew over Rowsdower, no response.

Fuck, new blips on radar. It's the merc Frost from earlier. AND MASTER GOOSE FROM MISSION 1. I FUCKING KNEW THEY SHOWED UP TOO CONVENIENTLY

"You fired up? Come shoot me down." Yeah bitch I'll shoot you down in that fancy bitchass superplane you're flying. And don't you dare copy my boy Pixy's line from Ace Combat Zero.

(Just kidding, I love the devs for having her voice actor say that)

Fucking hell, I thought a swarm of MQ-101 drones was bad, but I never thought I'd be on the receiving end of an ADMM where each individual missile is a QAAM.

Stardust again. Contract to fulfill you say? Fuck you man, there's nothing else out there now. Everyone's got our number, even Diplomat and Comic's real name. Sicario is only 4 man band now, 5 if you count Prez.

Kaiser seems convinced after Stardust offered something to us. Whatever that is. Meanwhile I guess we're regrouping on an abandoned highway as a makeshift base.

2 months later.

Mission 17. Brite Fortress. One of the safe havens outside the whatever the fuck is happening out there.

I sold my Harrier to get some cash back. I'm done with the Super Tomcat. It's time for SK.37. It's only got AA hardpoints but I need to fly something else. Oh and an MGP. I've never used MGP in Ace Combat before but I'm gonna try this one.

Woah, what is this? AOA limiter? Replaces flares? Doesn't say what it is.

Alright, Brite Fortress. Railguns and airships as usual. At this point I've been desensitized to them, because I learn that the Feds is just Belka/Erusea hybrid. As in, a superweapon maniac.

Aw shit, they have a massive tank/train/land cruiser. This thing doesn't have any A2G weapons, but it has MGP. 4 of them. And AOA limiter, more like AOA unlimiter. Let's you pull off PSM-esque move while holding down L3 and turning sharp. I like it though, it replaces your flares but it doesn't restrict you to low speeds and a complicated QTE like Ace Combat 7, and you can perform it anytime as long as the indicator is ready.

Mission 18. Aw shit, we're back to Prospero now? I really don't want to.

Yeah, figured. Crimson showed up again. VX-23s and SK.37s again. But now I can at least match their crazy AOA maneuvers.

My first try I nailed AOA limiter module pretty quickly. If used right it's essentially a "teleport to enemy's 6" button. Well I didn't use it right. Got shot down.

My second try. If Crimson is calling it personal then so will I. I will spam this AOA limiter if I have to. Even Diplomat is absolutely fed up with Crimson's shit, telling him to shut the fuck up and turning off his radio. Learned that, other than spamming AOA, you have to firewall the throttle, make sure your speed never goes below Mach 1 even when turning. Got hit by a missile once, but this time I downed them. All 8 of them.

Crimson laughing maniacally on the radio as his plane falls. What a waste of pilot, Comic, I agree. But I'm feeling that won't be the last.

Mission 19, back to Presidia. Take out Federation's naval force.

VX-23 is now available for purchase. It is like Chengdu J-20/Lockheed F-22 hybrid. Well, more like F-22 with the wings swapped positions. Can't buy this one either even if I sell my SK.37. And I love this thing already because of its AOA limiter.

Naval force destroyed. Presidia is next.

Mission 20. Now I could really sell my SK.37 now to get the VX-23, I wonder if I should do that...

Fuck it. Yolo.

Presidia is liberated. Feds are surrendering. War is over. And then...

"KINGS"

....

No.

No, Sector D2. Please, don't.

Don't make Crimson 1 pull a Pixy on me for the ultimate mission.

I called it earlier. He's gone off the rails. He took the Fed's superplane and nuked everyone in Presidia with it except Monarch. Probably intentionally, to set a personal score with me.

But I'm not scared. Well, until he fired railguns on all directions, launched Project Wingman's equivalent of ADMM, and released force fields ala Arsenal Bird/Alicorn. When I thought this game would be like Ace Combat, I didn't think it would be "Ace Combat, but 150% more fucked up."

I employed the similar strat from before. Lock the third person camera at his plane, firewall the throttle up to Mach 2 and spam the AOA limiter. He's got 3 health bars in that superplane that's probably powered by cordium. If previous missions didn't emphasize on how orange this game is, well, this final showdown does.

Everything is orange. The skies, the ground, the sun, the missiles, the railgun trails, my HUD, half the time I couldn't tell if my missiles hit him or not because my interface was loaded with directional missile proximity indicators. Thank fuck the health bar is still perfectly readable.

"You signed this deal a long time ago." WELL I DIDN'T SIGN UP TO FIGHT YOU SPECIFICALLY NOW DID I. But you've decided that it's personal so bitch, COME THE FUCK AT ME.

"I'm Cascadian. You think I take joy in killing my own countrymen?" SO WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. YOU LET YOUR OWN PRIDE CONSUME YOU AND THOUGHT THEY'RE ACCEPTABLE LOSSES IN YOUR OWN PERSONAL BEEF WITH ME. FUCK YOU.

I danced with him in the skies for probably a good 15 to 20 minutes just trying to land one or two hits on him. A deadly aerial dance that involves jet fuel, multi lock missiles and nuclear railguns.

Three health bars depleted. My camera is still locked onto his PW.MK1.

"No, not yet..."

Then all my HUD element disappears.

He's not dead yet. Two health bars now on the bottom of the screen, one for Hitman 1 and one for Crimson 1. Fuck, I have to fight him again. I grazed my VX-23 on the railgun trail and took some damage. But I still have my wings. I can still fly.

Another 10 minutes of fighting. I'm gonna fucking joust him now like Pixy. Dozens of STDMs, hundreds of railgun projectiles and thousands of 20mm Vulcan rounds.

His last health bar is depleted.

...

But my camera is still locked onto his plane. The corpse of his PW.MK1 flailing through the clouds and trailing flames.

Why am I not seeing a chute?!

"Monarch..."

God damn it, Crimson, eject! Eject now!

"When you hear the thunder..."

There's no time for speeches, damn it! Eject!

"When the storm comes for you..."

Dying will not solve anything! Fucking punch out, god damn it!

"Remember me."

...

But he was a fighter pilot to the end.

Remember him, Monarch.

Because it's just you left.

No one else. No Prez, Galaxy, Diplomat, Comic,

It's just you.

As a final send off, I leveled out my VX-23 to the horizon, pointing towards the sun, and fly off into the distance.

Contract completed.

---

Project Wingman, completed. Wow. What a game.

The story, the gameplay, the graphics, the sounds, voices, visuals, everything.

I can tell it's all been made with passion and love. And it really is... a love letter to the Ace Combat franchise.

It may as well be an Ace Combat game on its own.

I never mentioned it, but the OST is also phenomenal. Especially on Mission 11. On par with Ace Combat. Maybe even better, for an indie game. Especially the credit song, the leitmotif that's been playing throughout the game since Presidia. I'm calling it Monarch's theme.

Wow, just wow. I nearly shed a tear.

You know I once read a quote, I don't remember if it was from this game or something else, but

War doesn't decide who is right.

Only who is left.

10/10. Phenomenal game. Sector D2, you are legends. Absolute fucking legends, you hear?

There are so many people backing this game on Kickstarter, on the order of hundreds. Maybe thousands. All their names are in the credits.

And it was all so worth the money you all have invested in the development of Project Wingman.

And for me, it was worth the money I spent on buying this game.

Enjoy your victory while it lasts, Monarch.

You may not have a throne, or anything left in your world.

But you are the king.

As for me, I'm gonna play the game again and try to understand the lore better. It seems that I have a tendency to hyperfocus on the task/quest/gameplay at hand. Probably gonna turn down the bgm and sfx a little bit so I can hear dialogues better.

[aceofstars0]

Goodbye..

Song I was listening to and also suggest you listen to: The Other Side Of Paradise by Glass Animals

Warning: this fic is VERY gorey, horrific, all that jazz so read at your own risk! It also has spoilers for the ending of Demon Slayer.

This is an au of the Milo Kocho au btw

As Muzan is restrained outside and starts to burn up, Milo is begging and pleading Basil inside to turn back. Her eyes are filled with tears and she has scratches and cuts and bruises all over her body, but she is determined to save him.

Kanao arrives with a fourth syringe, and quickly inserts it into Basil before leaving to hrlo with other slayers. He falls down for a minute as Milo panics.

"Mi-o?"

Basil wakes up and looks at her, his eyes and hair slowly turning back to normal.

"Basil!!"

The area is spinning, blurry, and the colors are inverted.

"Wh...at? Wh-is ha-ing?"

Basil's voice cuts out and skips letters.

"W-voice-at?"

Basil starts to panic, as he realizes that he can't move his arms either

Both of their faces turn confused.

"Basil, wha...what's happening to your voice?"

"I-d-now..?"

Basil shifts to sit up, but their arms dont move, like they are sown into the ground. They try to close their eyes, but they sting and stay in place.

Milo holds his arms in an attempt to heal him, but instead her hands come back bruised.

The scab on Basil's forehead from where he was turned to a demon, starts opening up. Milo only realizes when a glistening streak of white starts running down basil's face.

"B-asil... your scars..."

As he glanced around, he noticed all his scars and bruises had been reopening.

Milo starts crying, she looks into Basil's eyes, which were also crying, and hugged him.

"I-an't m-ve"

Suddenly, Basil's left eye grows black, and the blood from his forehead turns red, then white, then red again. He stares forward, not moving, nor breathing

He stays like that for a minute, while milo pulls back and watches him.

With a large gasp, he comes back to life suddenly. His head is thrown back as his eyes turn fully black. His arms and legs contract, and then his whole body relaxes and he falls back asleep.

"Milo, what's happening to basil...?" Kanao had come back over to basil and milo after hearing the panic.

"I-I don't know! His body's doing weird things!" When she looked over, she noticed basil's left arm separate from its forearm and blood covering the area. She looked over to his right arm, which was deteriorating in the same place it had previously been lost, pooling with red and white blood.

Basil wakes back up, looks down, and cries harder than he had previously. He moves his hand to ease a sudden pain in his jaw, but can't reach without his arm.

Temporarily, basil's skin becomes more vibrant and colored, like Milo's. All his pain ceases, but the bleeding does not stop. They look at milo, and smile.

"Mallow, I love you..."

Their whole body falls.

Their hair turns brown, black, white, and every pastel it used to be, flickers.

Their skin pulses and bruises and turns pale.

Their eyes flicker black and white.

Milo hugs him, as tight as she can, her tears running into Basil's changing hair.

Basils body freezes, their pulse ceasing.

"I love you too."

Milo falls onto him, and succumbs to her injuries, the two lovers dying in eachother's arms.

A/N wow! First fic and it's killing off my and @larz-barz ocs! I seriously didn't know I could write something like this, and I did it all in one sitting. Hope I didn't cross any lines of gore because it's VERY gorey but I've posted it now so 🤷

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

might be a bit of a boring question but how do you feel about the Mazda b series? and if you have nothing to say about that one then I'd love to hear your thoughts on the tacoma

So thoughtful of you to give me a backup question, but worry not! If I've got nothing to say about a car, I will find it, goddamnit, if it'll take me two months! Which it very nearly did. Sorry. Anyhow! In reverse order of generations:

1. 5th

it would take state-backed effort to get me to care for -hell, care about- this last one, which did not excel in looks nor performance nor, from what I can tell, reliability nor comfort. It feels like it would be a very complex thought experiment to come up with the buyer this would be the best choice for, even in its time. (However, while the enthusiasts' metric of evaluation is competition, the owners' metric is their own expectations, so it is certain and valid and good that millions of owners were chuffed about their purchase and I love that for them and do not whatsoever seek to rain on their parade.)

2. 4th

Neat! Even beyond the spectacular decals, I just love Japanese pickups of this era (the ones yankees call "small pickups" and we call "pickups" because we don't have those useless fuck-off-gargantuan shit yankees love to pretend has any use). So much so that I want two of them. Neither are this (they're the Toyota Hilux and the Nissan D21), but objectively they're all about the same and my preferences are purely based on aesthetic minutiae.

3. 3rd

First I see of it! The front is kind of unfortunate, but it reminds me of the Yugo so it's on my good side. The rear taillights also have a kind of Soviet quality to them, I'm sure there's some -az car with rear lights just like those.

4. 2nd

HELL FUCKING YEAH *checks pronouns* SISTER! I love this thing. Especially the REPU, where PU stands for Pick Up and RE stands for...

Yep :D, this was the time when Mazda was shoving rotaries left and right into applications they were comically unsuited for absolutely no discernible reason, and we're all glad that they did, because Lord knows no one else had the lack of sense to do it.

Yes the ROTARY POWER* on the back of it is factory! *BITCHES

5. 1st

Yeah, this is at the edge of car period that excites me. Not that I think it looks bad or is bad or anything, it just starts to feel too... historic for me to connect to? I guess a Mazda pickup from the early '60s is just not for me.

It seems I guessed wrong.

This Ghibli-esque little thing is the 1959 Mazda K360, being a kei truck with the then maximum of 360cc of engine. It was a popular taxi (taxi!) in Myanmar...

...where it kept being produced until the early '70s, when it got replaced by the other other truck Mazda was making by the early '60s, the B360.

Wow I really was wrong there huh.

These were probably a sort of "Eastern Europe getting Fiat's scraps" kind of deal, since while these were manufactured in Myanmar from '72 to the mid-90s (mid-90s!), by 1972 Japan had already long been getting the B360's replacement i.e. the Mazda Porter, which OOOO0000°°°°°ººººº⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰ my GOOOOOODDDD

OMGOMGOMG THIS IS THE CUTEST THING IN THE WORLD

I don't even want to own one of these, I want to cuddle it. I want to protect it.

OMG THIS ONE HAS TINY LITTLE HAYASHIS WITH TINY LITTLE LETTERING ON ITS TINY LITTLE TIRES

*faints* *a feeble, wiggly speech bubble appears from below the table* Tacoma's good btw. Best of segment by miles.

Links in blue are posts of mine about the topic in question: if you liked this post, you might like those - or the blog’s Discord server, linked in the pinned post!

[spinningerster]

idk if the newsies fandom is still active on here bUT I saw the new London production on Saturday (Dec 3rd) and need to share my thoughts bc THIS SHOW -

apologies in advance for the amount of fangirling i'm about to do. also this will probably be very long so prepare yourselves

so newsies is my absolute favourite musical and I actually can't believe I got to see the first professional UK production - not only that, I also got to finally meet my best friend who I met through the show! we also made a new friend whilst in the merch line - and another two at stage door after the show. it was so cool to be around other fans of the show!

and wow - I was completely blown away. guys, the choreography for seize the day and king of new york is out of this world, I was in awe the whole time. and the end of once and for all, oh my god. 3 standing ovations as well! (two in seize the day, and during the curtain call/bowsies)

the talent in this show is unreal; michael ahomka-lindsay and bronté barbé were really great as jack and katherine, I really enjoyed their portrayals of the characters and they both have great voices. moya angela was amazing as medda, she wore this beautiful outfit during 'thats rich' that matched what the bowery beauties were wearing, which I really liked, and she had a really nice voice. matthew duckett was great as crutchie, and yes letter from the refuge made me cry. my favourite character portrayal was probably ryan kopel, there was just something about how he plays davey that i loved, and he understood the assignment with poor guys head is spinning which made me very happy.

there were also three swings performing; bradley trevethan as elmer, jordan isaac as romeo, and zack guest who made his finch debut, and they were all amazing!

honestly I could watch those boys dance forever.

the cast made great use of the large space they've been given, there were some walkways that were used in various parts of the show, such as during brooklyn's here with the different boroughs, and the cast going into the audience (such as going up/down the main stairs) makes the show really immersive.

brooklyn were all girlsies. and they had a dance break during brooklyn's here. there was one brooklyn girlsie who had her arm in a sling and her name was splint.

new things they added/details I noticed and really liked were:

• les was actually involved in king of new york

• katherine wore a lady liberty crown made out of spoons at the end of kony which I loved

• race's cigar actually smoked

• there was a little bit at the start of the show, before santa fe prologue, which showed the newsies trying to sell papers

• jack had a small photo of santa fe in his pocket which he was looking at during santa fe prologue, it was a small detail they added that I absolutely loved

• during the 'world will know' scene where they're going on strike, katherine is on one of the walkways (the one closest to where we were sat) watching, which I really liked as her then wanting to help the newsies made more sense as she watched them declare their strike

• there was (at least to me) a small homage to the 1992 movie - during seize the day, they knocked over one of the newspaper carts and started ripping up the papers

• jack did a full on like tarzan swing from a rope (that seemed to appear from nowhere) during the fight scene, les went to do the same thing but davey was like 'um no get down'

• jack was in the seize the day dance break, and he was really good!

• he gave katherine a newsie cap in the finale it was so cute

the newsies were used for a lot of scene changes, specifically for when props needed to be brought on stage. my favourite one was when katherine said 'thank you' to the two newsies who brought her desk and chair on for watch what happens. (sidenote, if you're sat in manhattan, you walk under the stage and get to see all the props which was so cool)

we stage doored after the show and it was so cool, we met michael & bronte (who we actually also met before the show), matthew and ryan, and they were all so lovely!

the best piece of live theatre i've ever seen, it was like nothing i've ever experienced.

[vanwritesfan-fiction]

Just The Three Of Us

Thanks to @selinbaskaya for letting me take a shot at her request! Hope I did it justice!

Based on this TikTok

Please note: this content does mention fathers and father’s day. If this is triggering for you, please do not engage.

“Thanks for inviting us for brunch, sis.” Clay says with a mouth full of crepes. “You’re so welcome, Clay. You may not be a dad yet, but I wouldn’t be able to raise Brooklyn without the help of her favorite uncle.”

“Hey!” Urban exclaimed, reaching for the bowl of hash browns across the table. “Sorry, Urb, of course Brooklyn loves you. It’s really a tie between the two of you.” You gestured across the table. “Thanks for lying to him sis, his ego is really so fragile”, Clay whispered loud enough for Urban to hear. Jack walked back into the kitchen, Brooklyn in his arms. “Everything okay, did you get her cleaned up?” You looked up at Jack as he placed Brooklyn in her highchair. “Yeah. She poops so much.” Urban grimaced, placing the bowl of fruit he was about to get a serving from back down. “Appetite officially ruined.”

“Ok, now that everyone is done eating, let’s do gifts!” You disappeared into the living room, returning with three gift bags, one bright blue with ‘Happy Hannukah’ on the front, the second with a rainbow unicorn on the front with the words ‘Make A Wish’ exploding out of the unicorn’s horn, and the third, a pink, striped bag with a baby bottle and the words ‘Hush Little Baby’ in gold lettering. You handed one to each of the guys, sitting back down at the table.

Jack raised an eyebrow at you, letting out a chuckle. “I know, I know. I gave Brooklyn a few dollars to spend at Dollar General for each of you, and she went a little wild.”

Brooklyn giggled, clamping her hands over her mouth. “So pretty, Daddy!”

You stopped everyone before they could open their bag. “I should warn you, she was very generous with her choices.” You rubbed the back of your neck, your cheeks beginning to flush. “I’m sure we’ll love whatever she picked out for us.” Jack gave you a peck on the cheek. “Ok, Urban first.”

Urban reached into his bag, pulling out a box of Super Plus tampons. “Wow, how did you know, B.” Urban joked, putting the box on the table. “I’ll take those, actually.” You shrugged at Jack as you reached over the table. Urban continued, pulling out a stapler, a pack of little green army men, a bottle of power steering fluid, and a silicone basting brush. “I, uh- thank you B. I love everything.” Urban announced, blowing Brooklyn a kiss.

Brooklyn got Clay a pair of floral gardening gloves, a bottle of window cleaner, some foundation that was at least three shades too dark, and a copy of ‘Everybody Poops’, the children’s book. “Why do I feel like she was trying to tell me something.” Clay muttered as he flipped through the pages.

Finally, it was Jack’s turn. “She was extra excited about your gifts, babe.” You rubbed his back as he pulled out the first gift. The first one was a glittery sand shovel and pail. “Ooh, for the beach, baby girl! We have to plan a trip!” Brooklyn squealed at her daddy’s suggestion. He set it down on the table. Next, he set out a value pack of Ziploc sandwich bags. He immediately handed it over to Urban. “For your weed habit.” Jack reached into the bag, stopping to look at you, his hand still inside. “Babe, did you have something to do with this?” You looked over, clapping a hand over your mouth. “Oh my god, she must have slipped that into the basket when I wasn’t looking.” You gasped, looking at Brooklyn. “What is it?” Clay asked, nosily leaning over. Jack pulled out a box of condoms, some off brand the store carried.

“Trying to get rid of the competition at the source”, Clay nodded, reaching out to Brooklyn for a high five. Brooklyn slapped his hand, a big smile on her face. “I told you she was a born hustler.”

[no-m4gic]

Wow yandere sure are cool

can I request the yandere alphabet for Mukuro Ikusaba?

quick a/n ;; i'm probably not going to be active for the next 3 or 4 days... so requests will be closed... at least until i clear my inbox (which will take awhile)

i had shit loads of fun writing for izuru (even though yandere izuru is so fuckin' tough to write for)

hopefully i have as much fun with mukuro as i did with izuru

also i disagree yandere are scary as especially men yandere

this is a GN S/O btw!

rushed this, remade it, rushed it again. imagination juices running out. for some reason i have motivation to write when i'm about to go to sleep... ah fuck.

thanks for requesting!

prompt ;; yandere alphabet

prompt list ;; here x3

warnings ;; mentions of stockholm syndrome, murder, cutting off s/o's uuh hand

creds ;; i got help from mod willow for C,T, W and Z! we have a shared blog you can find here. thanks willlow <33

~ mod sitaya

Mukuro Yandere Alphabet

i don't have a header for mukuro yet... 😭

A - Affection - How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

mukuro could and will definitely get pretty intense with her physical affection. she just wants to show you she loves you for real... so why do you keep pushing her and her efforts away?

B - Blood - How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

very veeryyy messy. mukuro would do anything to keep you safe and hers. anybody unfortunate to be considered a rival would be eliminated the first day the talk to you. "s/o, they were useless, don't cry over spilled milk,".

★ C - Cruelty - How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

when you first wake up tied to the bed, mukuro wouldn't walk in and personally explain it to your face. instead, you'll find a piece of paper with everything scribbled onto it. and the first few weeks ikusaba would try to make everything more... comfortable, and enjoyable for you. however, once it's been awhile with her, she'll start to be more strict. she'll only mock you if you make an attempt to escape, but other than that she won't say anything negative about you.

D - Darling - Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

no, unless once you've developed stockholm and consent to anything else, mukuro's keeping her hands to herself.

E- Earnest, Are they intense?

when you first get abducted, no. she would listen to your every command, leaving you alone whenever you requested and answer almost all your questions. but if you ever attempted to escape, she would get more strict and intense. never keeping her eyes off you for even a second (even when you're sleeping), almost always having some sort of physical contact and so on.

F- Fight - How would they feel if their darling fought back?

most of the time she finds it cute. "aww, is s/o trying to tire themselves out?". this would also be a time when she would mock you, intentionally or unintentionally.

G- Game - Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

yes and no. she loves seeing you think she wasn't watching and explore the house, attempting to pick locks or open windows. her real goal is really to just have a life with you. in her eyes kidnapping you was taking you with her to start a brand new, fresh life, bringing nothing from her past but you.

H- Hell - What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

during a punishment. specifically one after you tried to escape. "i'm sorry s/o you made me do this, i can't have you running away and leaving me," mukuro would calmly say before the cleaver she clenched in her hand came rushing down. you squeezed your eyes shut, tears still streaming down her face as you felt warm blood splatter everywhere. and worse of all, it was yours.

I- Ideals - What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

like in letter G, all mukuro wants to do is start a fresh new life with you with nothing in her or your way. she doesn't understand why you still resist and want to leave. sometimes she'd even consider reaching out to junko for advice.

J- Jet - How fast would it happen for them to go yandere?

pretty darn quickly. you were the only person who hadn't treated her indifferently or like a servant. how could she not fall for you? you were so innocent, and all you wanted to do was befriend her and give her hope and light.

K- Kisses - How do they act around or with their darling?

something like how she acts around junko. whenever you tried to hit her or fought back, she'd just say "oh s/o is trying to kill me with their bare hands... how much i would enjoy that despair..." or mock you. she'll also listen to everything you say, but not believe every lie you make. if you were hungry, she'd get you your favorite food(s), if you were tired, she'd bring in a white noise machine, lower the temperature of the room and tuck you into bed before leaving you be.

L-Lonely - How much loneliness would they feel if you two were apart?

she wouldn't be apart from you. if you two were required to be apart, she'd refuse, and probably lie about being your guardian or something, just so she could stand by your side and hold your hand. what if somebody hit on you? she couldn't do anything to protect you if you two were apart!

M- Might - How aggressive would they be towards you?

not aggressive at all in general. in fact she'd be pretty submissive. however she wouldn't always do your exact request, just to show you can't take advantage of her.

N- Naughty - How would they punish their darling?

the severity of the punishment depends on what you did. the worse being attempting to escape, of course. if it was something minor like you ignoring her, she'll lock you up in a dark room for an hour or less before letting you out. the worse for when you attempted to escape, you can find at the letter H.

O- Oppression - How many rights would they take away from their darling?

only the necessary ones... such as you never having privacy and never being able to leave the house unless she trusts you to the max. you'll start off with barely any rights, so you'll have to earn them as time passes.

R- Rain - Would they keep you trapped inside forever?

not forever, just most of the time, especially your first months alone with her. once you start behaving, whether you've developed stockholm or you're just pretending, there would be those rare days where she'd drive you around the city and even get you something from a store, with you still in the car obviously.

S- Stalker - Would they stalk you? How intense would it go?

before she abducted you, pretty intense. she needs to make sure her dear s/o is safe and not in need of rescuing!

★ T- Tears - How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

she feels like absolute shit, especially with the knowledge that the reason you're doing it was because of her. during one of these periods, she'd go easy easy on you. heck she'll even let you roam around the house freely for that day and leave you alone, give you privacy and all that good stuff.

U- Unique - Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

she'd sometimes give you false hope, saying someday she'll allow you to wander freely outside for a specific amount of time, with many rules, of course.

V- Vice - What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

you could pretend to develop stockholm syndrome, day by day. she'd be very gullible around her darling, believing mostly everything they say. once you've proven yourself, mukuro will allow you some outside time. the first time, you'll still be under a strict eye. however, as time passes, eventually, you'll be alone outside, and hopefully during your treacherous, you've formed a plan, since mukuro's not letting go ever.

★ W-Wild Card - a random yandere headcanon.

usually after a punishment, mukuro would kiss your wounds after that before rubbing cleaning alcohol onto it and bandaging it. not only that, whenever you screamed at her to leave you alone, she'll actually leave you alone for an hour or less. still watching you from a distance, of course.

★ Z - Zenith - Would they ever break their darling?

never. if you ever do lose your sanity, it would most likely be during a punishment or one of those periods where she neglects you. and once you do, she'll do anything and everything to get you back to normal. she would even drive you around in her car, with the doors and windows locked, of course. sometimes though, she'll give you false hope by saying "oh s/o, you've been so good lately, perhaps i'll let you see your family again someday," it makes her feel euphoric whenever she saw your face light up and whenever you'd ask her when "someday" was.

hi! i'm back, this request was almost done, so i quickly wrapped it up in a library during my break. hope it isn't too obviously rushed and bad!

[fllagellant]

5, 7, 8, 15 for as many tavs as you feel like doing!!!!!!!!!!! 🤗💖

JAY 😭💞 you just opened the floor for me to Ramble … long post warning !!

5) what does their tent area look like? where do they prefer to pitch their tent (next to water, covered on three sides, etc)?

Giilvas’ camp is set close to water ( or as close at it can be .. ) and it is .. a controlled mess . Furs lining where he sleeps , shield set up against the tent , table set up with music sheets , ink and quill , tuning tools … Dreamcatcher set up , probably a skin drying rack too … a lot of little trinkets everywhere … if you look hard enough you can find dried flowers he’ s collected and his etchings too …

Zerxes is enclosed , tucked out of the way .. his is very clean but still dirty ? The tent itself has stains of dirt from over the years , the books are old and worn , the stool to sit at is clearly older than him .. book of rights laid out , holy symbols to Kelemvor present too … an animal skull or two on display … A Lot of Candles + incense as well .. it’ s clear everything he has he’ s been travelling with for a while and that he isn’ t going to replace them anytime soon ..

Seoras chooses someplace open and easy to see , so the others can come to him easy … he has a few small looms set up , variety degrees of finished projects on them . A travel apothecary , and a separate collection of mushrooms … bundles of dried flowers too , hanging in the breeze .. treats and an extra bed for his familiar … his first textile he has set up as the area rug for his camp

Danior’ s is very simple and hidden . Just a place where he dumps extra supplies .. a collections of boots , gloves , swords and weapon care kits … tucked away are a few books from before the fall of Netheril that are Very well loved .. the area is more for his familiar , who has a warm bed and extra food and water set up there too .. the tent has clear patches from repairs on it as well …

Lucian’ s isn’ t hidden , but it is tuck under a tree or something similar … too many things . Stacks of unread books , mismatched rugs , pillow plentiful, candles either burnt down to nothing or untouched , wind-chines and hanging ornaments .. very colourful VERY eyecatching … his flute case + music is the most well kept part of all of it but it still is marked by his flashy flair .. his tent is also covered in spilled ink splotched from accidents while travelling

Omen’ s tent placement changes , but he does try to keep close to water … his is a bit barren . Extra pieces for armor are hung , and plenty of his own writing is stacked and litters the area .. he does have a small map of Menzoberranzan and little notes about the few things he remembers … the crest of his oath is also visual at all times … he tried to get plain throws and pillows to hide some of the .. less than welcoming stains that litter his belongings ( thanks bhaal )

7) do they collect anything (gems, bottles, keys, etc)?

giilvas and zerxes answered here !

Seoras ends up collecting letters, mostly + mushrooms for his own medicines and whatnot . He has a soft spot for forgotten letters that they end up finding, and takes them with him. Sometimes, the words give them some useful information, but even if they don’t, he’ ll still fold them with care and keep them safe with him .

Danior … he doesn’t really have an itch for collecting anything .. but he does help collect things for other’ s . You tell him you like one thing and the next day he’ s gathered as much as he can of that One Thing . He does not care . You can tell him he doesn’ t have to , but he will . Slipping presents into peoples travel packs ..

Lucian collects cups and silverware … both so he can use them a) as intended b) for decorations and c) just to stare at the design and whatnot . If he likes a fork that is the fork that stays in his pack so he can look at it later like … this is such a cool fork … wow … the cups as well . He will collect broken teacups if the design is nice enough .. yes he does cut his fingertips when he does this sometimes ..

Omen collects rocks and feathers … he like the beauty of the surface world and nature is really pretty when it wants to be … he’ ll also dip into shell collecting if the water in the area permits it … he would have been the child that carrys around a ladybug because he loves it so much …

8) if either, are they part of the astarion/gale book club (magic & literature) or the wyll/shadowheart book club (trashy romance novels)?

Giilvas is in a bit of both ! He did read the entirety of the Necromancy of Thay but he also is a sucker for trashy novels … as long as it catches his eye ( literally , in the case of the Thay ) he’ ll curl up with it !

Zerxes is a strict Magics and Literature guy … he has his book of last rites , his books on undead magic , and his books on historical events and that’ s all he needs !

Seoras … leans into trashy romance . He cannot tell anyone about it , his most guarded secret … but sometimes you just need five hundred pages of some of the most well - loved trash in Baldur’ s Gate … good for his morale

Danior is a bit of both as well .. as serious as he is , and as seriously as he takes himself , sometimes he needs to let his mind defog with easy reading .. he can’ t always be noise deep in alchemy research … it ‘ s been a long day pass The Salty Mermaid !

Lucian is into the romance novels 100% .. cheap and easy entertainment for him to get .. easy to understand and follow and it was fun to get others to read it and see their reactions .. sometimes , he would memorize the more heartfelt passages to always have something sweet to think about …

Omen is a literature guy … he gets antsy and a touch flustered reading romance . He likes to learn new things , pick up a new topic to completely submerge himself in .. give him a dictionary and he would sit and read all of it then tell you a cool new word he learned about .. Drow novels are something he does try to seek out , when he thinks he can

15) what’s the description of their camp clothes in the inventory menu?

Giilvas : Wanderer’s Garb - Hand stitched with care and a flair for dramatics, they fit like a glove for the weariest of travellers.

Zerxes: Kelemvorite’s Comfort - Plain but still plush, with just enough comfort to let one sleep like the dead should.

Seoras: Farmboy’s Best - Still holding onto the fresh scent of morning dew and grain, the faded cloth still does its job.

Danior: Netheril’s Finery - Might be a by-gone relics, but they still manage to survive the tests of time… with a few repairs.

Lucian: Troubadour’s Rest - Still flashy. Still colourful. You can do a full set in your sleep and be overdressed while you do it!

Omen: Fresh Beginnings - Recently bought from a kind merchant, they’ve barely had anytime to breathe life of their own. Careful of stains.

[bookcub]

January Wrap Up

every year, i try and do more reviews but wrap ups seem to be a fast way for me to do these

bloodmarked by tracey deonn- fantastic sequel, i am so hyped for this series. the start was a little rough but the end had me holding onto my seat. it also got me through a rough time (ie the airport)

grade: A

the hookup plan by farrah rochon- the last in this series, it was fine but ive already forgotten most of it. sweet and quick and light.

grade: B-

aces wild: a heist by amanda dewitt- a fun heist novel that was more about friendship than heist. i enjoyed the relationships and the ace rep more than the plot. a good time, fast paced and a love letter to out internet besties

grade: B+

the holiday trap by roan parrish- better set up than the holiday, which its loosely based on but it was just fine overall. didn't do much for me

grade: C

ophelia after all by racquel marie- if you like contemporary ya, stop what you are doing and read this book. a beautiful coming of age story i deeply related to. beautiful representation, i felt very seen and also i loved ophelia and her messy emotions and her gorgeous flower garden. an absolute delight.

grade: A

little house in the big woods by laura ingalls wilder- read this for class. led to great discussions about colonialism. also love learning i wasnt the only one who remembered the line about how the mom used to be so skinny the dad could fit his hands around her waist 🙃🙃🙃🙃

grade: D

kindred by octavia butler- this book lived up to the hype. it is a classic for a reason. the only time travel book i love. absolutely gripping. shocked i didn't cry. beautiful. cant wait to read more of octavia butlers work. cannot recommend this enough.

grade: A+

ella enchanted by gail carson levine- a reread, one of my all time favorite books but i did hate the audiobook that i used unfortunately. it has aged so well tho and was just as gripping as all my past rereads. literally cant shut up about this. best cinderella retelling i have ever encountered

grade: A+

seven days in june by tia williams- this book had me on the fence at the start but get the panel scene and wow. this was a wild ride, i loved how intense the backstory was and how much the main characters had grown. it was inspired by romeo and juliet but also had persuasion vibes. i loved the journey they made together and as individuals. look up trigger warnings first!!

grade: B+

by the book by jasmine guillory- super fun, a little too cheesy, but the audiobook elevated me experience. loved the wish fulfillment. modern day beauty and the beast but less creepy and more agency.

grade: B-

sisters of the neversea by cynthia leitich smith- a wonderful remaining of peter pan addressing the racism of the original text and other retellings. lily and wendy are step sisters who meet peter pan. it went into some heavy topics without being heavy handed and full of adventure. i adored the characters and the messages and the reframing. i read this for class but ill be recommending this to a lot of people.

grade: A-

edit:

sorry bro by taleen voskuni- the Armenian romcom i never knew i needed!!! absolutely lovely and heartfelt and so much angst at the end. read this on the last day of January, the day it came out and it was just. . . 🥰🥰🥰🥰

[kudosmyhero]

Detective Comics Annual (vol. 1) #8: Questions Multiply the Mystery

Read Date: December 31, 2022 Cover Date: July 1995 ● Writer: Chuck Dixon ● Penciler: Kieron Dwyer ● Inker: Kieron Dwyer ● Colorist: Richmond Lewis ● Letterer: Albert DeGuzman ● Editor: Darren Vincenzo ◦ Scott Peterson ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers

Reactions As I Read: ● this is (if I remember correctly) my first time reading the Riddler in comics! ● (btw, Cory Michael Smith is fabulous as Nygma in Gotham. Aaaand, I have only two degrees of separation from him thanks to a cousin who taught some of the classes where he went to college!) ● (pg 4) wow that scowl of Riddler's is intense! ● oh, it's spelled "Nigma" here ● I like the sepia-toned flashback panels ● (pg 9) ohhh, Eddie admits to cheating. I thought he disliked being accused of that. But I only know him from non-comic book sources, so… ● (pg 10) at least the poor kid who was getting bullied before gets a bit of a break. ● Brian T. Zer = brain teaser. cute ● (pg 17) the tiny parachutes! 💙 ● "Why did the cottage go on a diet?" - hmm… I dunno ● "When's the best time to go to the dentist?" - 2:30 (tooth hurty) ● "What day do soldiers hate the most?" - uh… March fourth? ● riddle 1 - ah, to be a lighthouse (I was right on the other two) ● (pg 20) oo, nice entrance by B-man ● I love the inking and color styles; makes the art feel very noir ● I bet Bruce Wayne is missed at this fundraiser ● … how else does one pronounce "banquet"?

● Query and Echo are having so much fun. I kind of love them. ● (pg 48) Yo-Yo Ma gets a mention! (wrong instrument, though) ● (pg 52) ahhh, I wondered why they'd let him keep his clothes in Arkham! It was a delusion. ● 👏👏👏

Synopsis: The Riddler, occupying an observation room at Arkham Asylum, expresses his annoyance with the inept psychiatrists' repeated attempts to pierce his psyche, and decides to give them what they want: the story of his life, how he became a criminal, and why he repeatedly opposes Batman.

As a child, Edward was a cipher, ignored by even the playground bullies at his school. Hungry for attention (especially with ignorant, unloving parents), the young Edward began his "career" in the sixth grade by cheating at a solve-the-puzzle contest - by sneaking into the school the night before the contest, he was able to practice solving the puzzle, and easily won the contest. Edward's fame proved to be fleeting, however, and the young boy realized that to keep the attention he so craved, he had to turn to his true talent: cheating.

After graduating, Edward became a deliveryman, a job he found extremely tedious. Out of boredom and greed, he began stealing from his clients, but even this could not satisfy his ego. Eventually, he donned the alias of "the Riddler", and started sending riddles to the police foreshadowing his future crimes. The Riddler's early career was fraught with many difficulties, missteps, and a narrow escape from Batman, but nevertheless, he managed to accrue a respectable amount of loot and two loyal henchwomen named Query and Echo.

With Query and Echo, the Riddler came to the crowning caper of his early career: a raid on the Reservoir Street depository that completely misled the police and left him with two million dollars. Once again, Batman narrowly failed to capture him, giving the Riddler a more impressive reputation than ever. Now overconfident, the Riddler planned an even bigger caper: stealing a set of Stradivarius violins from both a private collector and a public opera. Unfortunately, Batman quickly put an end to this caper, handing the Riddler his first unqualified defeat.

As he recounts his humiliation at Batman's hands, the present-day Riddler begins to have a meltdown. In a fit of psychosis, he breaks the one-way glass between him and his doctors, only to realize that his doctors had left on lunch break; he had been telling his life's story to thin air all along. Orderlies rush in and subdue him, leaving the Riddler near-catatonic and muttering "no one there…" on an endless loop.

(https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Detective_Comics_Annual_Vol_1_8)

Fan Art: The Riddler by Sno2

Accompanying Podcast: ● Bat-Books for Beginners - episode 09

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. Welcome to the weekend!

Wow! Here we are again: Friday! Where did that week go! No, seriously, where did that week go! It’s all a blur. Go to bed, wake up, go to bed, wake up. For kids, of course, time drags. The young ones say, “Are we there yet?” The older kids can’t wait to become teenagers. The teenagers can’t wait to get paid. For people like me, I seem to have the fast-forward button on permanently. On Tuesday, it will be November! Where did the bloody year go?

My day was meticulously planned. Up at 6.00, out the house by 7.30, one-mile walk to the station, train to Highbury & Islington, one-mile walk to the school, three-hour lesson, lunch, two-hour lesson, bus to Dalston Kingsland, train to Willesden Junction, one-mile walk from the station, pick up the car, drive to Kings Cross. The only problem was – and maybe some of you got caught in this? – there was an issue at Hampstead Heath station, thus no Overground trains to take me home. Plan B. Walk to Dalston Junction, train to Highbury & Islington, Victoria Line to Oxford Circus, then the Bakerloo Line home. Although I call it The Baked-Alive Live! This train must have been built before Noah finished his ark! It was so hot in that train; you could have fried eggs on my head! Needless to say, half the carriage fell asleep!

Eventually, I got to John Saunderson’s networking event at Tileyard Studios and I’m glad I made the effort. It’s always nice to pop in and say hello to some absolute living legends. Many people were very interested in my lessons and my students. When I started in the music industry in 1981, such music industry schools did not exist, so these kids have got a head start on the 100,000 people uploading tracks to streaming sites every single day.

Again, this weekend is going to be about preparation for next week’s lessons. I will be the Pablo Picasso Of PowerPoint this weekend, blending words and images into a – hopefully – seamless and sensational presentation.

Apologies if my status didn’t appear on your newsfeed yesterday. There must have been one too many ‘trigger’ words? I post this status every single week day, Monday through Friday. If you want to read it but you don’t see it, just go to my profile. I’m always here!

Seriously, from now on, I’m going to avoid anything topical. It’s not really controversial. It’s just stuff anyone can read in any newspaper but it really messes with my audience. Which means many of you missed my new lyrics for Luther’s ‘Never Too Much’!

Hope you can join me tomorrow at 1.00 p.m. for ‘The A-Z Of Mi-Soul Music’. The Letter J (Part Six). We will definitely be having a little rifle in the back of the stack!

Have a fabulous and funky Friday! I love you all. You’re probably thinking, “You don’t even know me!” but, if people can hate for no reason, why can’t I love?

[everythingquenya]

Hiya, I'm a classical / film score / OC score composer and I'm writing an SATB choral piece for the Ainulindale and I'm having trouble understanding the stressed syllables on the words. I know in general the rule is if there's 3 or more syllables you accent the third to last syllable, unless there's an acute accent (which I think doesn't include the fun dots). But I'm not 100% sure and I don't want to write a whole piece with the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable. Lmk if you have a recording of you reading the Quenya version of the Ainulindale or how to do that! I'm using the one written on https://www.elvish.org/gwaith/ainulindale.htm by Ryszard Derdzinski. Lmk if this is the wrong one XD

Yoooo wow tumblr thank you for never showing me this ask! I hate this hellsite sometimes.

Sorry it took me so long to respond! 🥲

So, according to my books when you have a word with two syllables, then the focus is on the first syllable. E.g. Anor ['a.nor], parma ['par.ma]

With three syllable words there are two options.

A. The second to last syllable is long

In this case the second to last syllable is the main focus. A long syllable contains either a long vowel (á, é, í, o´, ú), a diphtong (ai, oi, ui, au, eu, iu) or multiple consonants after a vowel.

Examples:

Olórin (long vowel: ó)

Úlairi (Diphtong: ai)

Isildur (two consonants after the vowel: ld)

Menelya (the y counts as a consonant: ly)

B. The second to last syllable is short

If the second to last syllable is short, the third to last syllable is emphasized. A short syllable contains a short vowel or one or no consonants.

Examples:

Orome (second to last syllable is -ro: short vowel followed by a consonant)

Anárion (second to last syllable is -ri: short vowel, not followed by a consonant)

By adding endings such as -ndil, -rdur, -rdil, ldur the emphasis can be shifted. Such as the word "isil" (moon, a noun) and "Isildur" (servant of the moon, a name). In "isil" the emphasis is on the first vowel. In "Isildur" the emphasis is on "sil".

Concerning the fun dots, in tengwar the dots and dashes indicate vowels. It's very similar to Arabic in that regard. The larger letters are generally consonants while the dots and dashes are vowels.

I don't have a recording of myself reading the Ainulindale, but I've been speaking it from what I've heard from the movies and listened from songs. There's a German singer/songwriter called Oonagh and a lot of her songs have Quenya in them! Since German pronunciation is very similar to Quenya, that helps quite a bit with pronunciation. Here are three songs of hers that feature quite a bit of Quenya. Song 1. Song 2. Song 3. (You’ll usually have to wait for the chorus, sorry. 😅)

Another thing I would point out is that the elves are very lyrical. They will forgive emphasis if it works better for the song. (At least that's what I remember reading somewhere) I don't think you need to worry to much about emphasis. My personal pet peeve would be pronunciation more than emphasis of the correct syllable.

I really hope this helps and good luck with your project! I'd love to hear it when it's finished! 🥰