#I really am back in my book era damn

[martydaxnger]

I’m team Charlie till I CROAK

[zot3-flopped]

Sylvia Plath did not stick her head in an oven for this! When Taylor Swift took the Grammys stage last month to claim her award for Best Pop Vocal Album for Midnights, she saw that spotlight as an opportunity to announce her 11th studio album: The Tortured Poets Department. The follow-up cut to audience members—Swift’s music industry peers, mind you—told us all that we would ever need to know, and the collective disinterest across the crowd echoed through our TVs.

Folks from all walks of life took to social media to express a multitude of reactions. Swifties clamored to their beloved monarch’s forthcoming era, while others lambasted the terminally cringe title and artwork and ridiculed Swift for making a night recognizing musical achievements across an entire industry about herself—knowing perfectly well that it would send her fanbase into a surge that would, no doubt, overpower the excitement around the ceremony itself.

Quite a few people questioned whether or not that moment suggested that a critical—definitely not commercial—tide would turn against the world’s most-famous pop star. And, perhaps it has—but, to most, it will look like nothing more than a single ripple in Swift’s ocean of successes.

Swift remained relatively hush-hush about The Tortured Poets Department up until its release, leaving her fans, admirers and haters alike with nothing but an album title to ponder about. And it’s a bad title.

If you have never been in Swift’s corner, her taking the route of labeling her next “era” as “tortured” was likely catnip for your disinterest. If you are a fan—not necessarily a Swiftie, but even just a casual lover of her best and brightest work—you might be beside yourself about the first Swift album title longer than one word in 14 years.

In terms of popularity—certainly not always in terms of quality—no musician has been bigger this century than Swift, which makes it impossible to really buy into the “torture” of it all.

This is not to say that Swift being the most famous person in the world makes her immune to having multi-dimensional feelings of heartbreak, mental illness or what-have-you.

But, she has made the choice—as a 34-year-old adult—to take those complex, universal familiars and monetize them into a wardrobe she can wear for whatever portion of her Eras Tour setlist she opts to dedicate to the material.

Torture is fashion to Taylor Swift, and she wears her milieu dully. This album will surely get comparisons to Rupi Kaur’s poetry, either for its simplicity, empty language, commodification or all of the above.

And, sure, there are parallels there, especially in how The Tortured Poets Department, too, is going to set the art of poetry back another decade—as Swift’s naive call-to-arms of her own milky-white sorrow rings in like some quintessential “I am going to take pictures of a typewriter on my desk and have a Pinterest mood-board of Courier New font” iPhone fodder. 2013 called and it wants it capricious, suburban girl-who-is-taking-a-gap-year wig back!

Soaking our book reports in coffee or having our moms burn the edges with a kitchen lighter cannot come back into fashion; the cyclical notions of culture cannot make the space for such retreads.

There is nothing poetic about a billionaire—who, mind you, threatens legal action against a Twitter account for tracking her destructive private jet paths—telling stadiums of thousands of people every night that she sees and adores them.

Tavi Gevinson says it well in her Fan Fiction zine: “When 80,000 people are also crying, you become less special, too.” If Swift can return to one of her dozen beach houses across the world, kick up her feet and say “I’m a poet of struggle,” then who is to say that millions—maybe billions—of people with access to a notes app and a social media account won’t dream that dream, too?

Maybe that looks like a net-positive, but it’s inherently damning and destructive to take an art form that has long stood on the shoulders of resistance, of love and of opposition to power, systematic injustice and climate warfare and boil it down to the new defining era of your own 10-digit revenue empire. “My culture is not your costume,” yada, etc.

The Tortured Poets Department does begin with a shred of hope that, just maybe, Swift knows what she’s talking about—as she sneaks in a cheeky “all of this to say,” textbook transitional phrasing for poets, on opening track “Fortnight.”

But “Fortnight” unmasks itself quickly as a heady vat of pop nothingness, though it isn’t all Swift’s fault. “I was a functioning alcoholic, ‘til nobody noticed my new aesthetic,” she muses, attempting to bridge the gap between a behind-the-scenes life and on-stage performance—only for it to occur while propped up against the most dog-water, uninspired synth arrangement you could possibly imagine.

Between producer Jack Antonoff’s atrocious backing instrumental and the Y2K-era, teen dramedy echo chamber of a vocal harmony provided by out-of-place guest performer Post Malone, “Fortnight” chokes on the vomit of its own opaqueness.

“I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary,” Swift muses, and it sounds like satire. This is your songwriter of the century? Open the schools.

The Tortured Poets Department title-track features some of Swift’s worst lyricism to-date, including the irredeemable, relentlessly cringe “You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate, we declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist / I scratch your head, you fall asleep like a tattooed golden retriever” lines glazed atop some synthesizers and drums that just ring in as hollow, unfascinating costuming.

Aside from the Puth nod, which I can only discern as a joke (given the fact that he is one of the 150-most streamed artists in the world and is one of the blandest pop practitioners alive—I don’t care if he can figure out the pitch of any sound you throw at him), I think Antonoff should stick to guitar-playing. Get that man away from a keyboard, I’m begging you.

Synths can be, if you use them correctly, one of the most emotional and provocative instruments in any musician’s tool-box. There’s a reason why keyboards defined the 1980s; they rebelled against the very oppressive nature existing outside of the cultural company they kept. There’s resistance in electronic music that, while they brandish an aesthetic that, to a layman’s ears, seems like technicolor hues for any infectious pop track, it’s a genre that aches to tell its own story. That is simply not the case here, and that electronica hangs Swift out to dry when she drags us through the lukewarm “I laughed in your face and said, ‘You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith’ / This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’re modern idiots” lines, only to hit us with a softly sung F-bomb that sounds like a billionaire’s rendition of that one Miranda Cosgrove podcast clip.

I used to rag pretty heavily on Reputation—mostly because I thought (and still do, mostly) that it sounded like Swift had given up on making interesting, progressive pop music; that, in the wake of her (arguably) best album, 1989, it seemed like she’d lost the plot on where to go next. But as she’s put out Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department back-to-back, I find myself clamoring for the Reputation-era more than ever—at least seven years ago, Swift wrote songs like she had something to prove and even more to lose.

That was the always-obvious charm of Reputation, even despite the downsides—that she took a big swing from the echelons of her own musical immortality, that the comforts of winning every award and selling out the biggest venues in the world were no longer pillowing her aspirations. Even though that swing didn’t land, she still made it in the first place—and Swift is at her best either when she is clawing upwards (Reputation) or faced with nowhere to go but into the studio and noodle with the bare-bones of her own sensibilities (folklore).

You get something like The Tortured Poets Department when the artist making it no longer feels challenged, where she strikes out looking.

The mid-ness of The Tortured Poets Department will not be a net-loss for Swift. She will sell out arenas and get her streams until she elects to quit this business (a phrase decidedly not in her vocabulary, surely).

She will sell more merch bundles than vinyl plants have the capacity to make, and rows of variant LP copies will haunt the record aisles of Target stores just as long as Midnights has—if not longer.

Perhaps, in five or six years’ time, we will speak of this record just as we now do of Reputation. But right now, it is obvious that Swift no longer feels challenged to be good. The Tortured Poets Department is the mark of an artist now interested in seeing how much their empire can atone for the sins of mediocrity.

Can Swift win another Album of the Year Grammy simply because she released a record during the eligibility period? The Tortured Poets Department reeks of “because I can,” not “because I should.”

On “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” Swift tries stepping into the shoes of the country renegades who came before her—the Tammy Wynettes and Loretta Lynns of the world. But her self-aggrandizing inflation of importance, glinting through via a seismically-bland bridge, is backed by a minimal set dressing of guitar, drum machine and keys.

“Good boy, that’s right, come close,” she sings. “I’ll show you Heaven if you’ll be an angel—all mine. Trust me, I can handle me a dangerous man. No, really, I can.” On “Florida!!!,” Swift calls upon Florence + the Machine to help her sing the worst chorus of 2024: “Florida is one hell of a drug / Florida, can I use you up?”

Even Welch, who is a fantastic pop singer-songwriter in her own right, delivers a grossly watery verse: “The hurricane with my name, when it came I got drunk and I dared it to wash me away.”

Not even the typos on the Spotify promotional materials for this album could have foretold such offenses. I won’t even get into the sonics, because Antonoff just rewrites the same soulless patterns every time.

What separates The Tortured Poets Department from something like Reputation is that, on the latter, Swift made it known what was at stake and who she was making that album for—herself, in the aftermath of her greatest long-standing criticisms (“Look What You Made Me Do” triumphs exactly because of this).

On The Tortured Poets Department, there is a striking level of moral nothingness. The stakes are practically non-existent, and the album sounds like it was made by someone who believes that they had no other choice but to finish it, as if Swift fundamentally believes that her creative measures are firmly embedded in the massive monopoly her name and brand currently hold on popular music. That’s how you get meandering pop songs about hookups, wine moms, Stevie Nicks comparisons, Jehovah’s Witness suit mentions, hollowed-out, tone-deaf nods to white-collar crime in lieu of empowerment and, topically, Barbie dolls.

(Don’t even get me started on the Anthology lyrics, which feature these absolute barn-burners: “Touch me while your bros play Grand Theft Auto” and “My friends used to play a game where / We would pick a decade / We wished we could live in instead of this / I’d say the 1830s, but without all the racists / And getting married off for the highest bid.”) This album and its hackneyed grasps at relevance exist as “Did I just hear that?” personified, but in the most derogatory sense of the notion.

My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” features another low-point in Swift’s lyrical oeuvre, as she sings “I felt more when we played pretend than with all the Kens, ‘cause he took me out of my box”—perhaps a measure of her capitalizing on the Barbenheimer mania that none of us could escape, not even the musician who spent most of 2023 flying across the world from one country to another.

But you, us, the listener—we want to believe that Swift makes these records because she has the artistic will, drive and interest to continue giving us parts of her story in such ways that they exist as an archival of her life.

But the problem is that, on The Tortured Poets Department, Swift is packaging her life into a form that is easily consumable for the 17 or 18 years olds who pour over her music. Just because her Eras Tour film is on Disney+ doesn’t mean she has to strip her songwriting (which we know can be, and has been, phenomenal) down for the sake of it being digestible by a wide spectrum of ages.

And, sure, maybe that makes the work accessible. But on The Tortured Poets Department, Swift makes Zoomer jargon her bag—titling a song after one of the most popular video games in the world and conjuring flickers of “down bad” and “I can fix him”—and it feels like she’s cosplaying because the Fountain of Youth was out of order.

Now that Swift is in her 30s, it sounds like she is infantilizing her own audience more than ever before—that singing to them at a level that could force them to reckon with something more akin with adulthood would be some kind of kink in the coil or her consumeristic threshold, that writing lyrics that sound like they were penned by a 30-year-old would, somehow, deter the interests of the billions of people who adore her.

If making one, continuous coming-of-age album is what Swift has been doing for 15 years, folklore and evermore were hiccups in the timeline—existing as the most fully-formed renderings of Swift’s own insecurities and concerns. They mirrored our platitudes towards an uncertain future with sweet, stirring remarks about isolation and heartbreak and the unavoidable, hard-worn truth about getting older. On those records, her larger-than-life living seemed, for once, to truly feel as close to the ground as ours.

Now, though, Taylor Swift is at the top of the mountain. Far better artists have made far worse records than The Tortured Poets Department, but you can’t read between the lines of this project. There is nothing to decipher from a place of quality.

Sure, Swift’s fan base will pour over these lyrics for the rest of their lives—insisting they know, for certain, which song is about who. But you cannot place a bad album on the shoulders of lore and expect it to be rectified.

We are now left at a crossroads. Women can’t critique Swift because they’ll run the risk of being labeled a “gender traitor” for doing so. Men can’t critique her because they’ll be touted as “sexist.”

And, sure, Swift is probably too easy a punching bag in this case—and most of the time, I would argue she is undeserving of being a victim of such barbs. But, you cannot write about someone being a “tattooed golden retriever” and get away with it and still retain your title as the best songwriter of your generation. You just cannot.

Sisyphus should be glad he never got the boulder to the top of the mountain—because Taylor Swift is showing us that such immortality and success ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. And, when you’re standing on the peak alone, who else is there left to hit?

In a recent interview with The Standard, Courtney Love said that Swift is “not interesting as an artist,” and I think The Tortured Poets Department proves as much. She has nothing to fight for, no doubters left to drown.

So where does she turn? Well, to boredoms of celebrity thinly veiled as sorrow everyone and their mother can latch onto—because we’ve all had to “ditch the clowns, get the crown” at some point in our lives, right?

The billionaire is having an identity crisis, but there are no social media apps for her to buy up. So she sings like Lana Del Rey and writes meta-self-referential songs about looking like Stevie Nicks.

What’s hollow about The Tortured Poets Department is that the real torture is just how unlivable these songs really are. No one can resonate with “So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street, crash the party like a record, scratch as I scream ‘Who’s afraid of little old me?’ You should be.” And normally, that wouldn’t be an end-all-be-all for a pop record—but when your brand is built on copious levels of “I’m just like you!” as the demigod saying it to their fans does so from a multi-million-dollar production set, it’s hard to not feel nauseated by the overlording, overbearing sense of heavy-handed detritus we’re tasked with sifting through on The Tortured Poets Department.

Love’s words to Lana, her advice to “take seven years off,” should be applied to Swift. Now, that doesn’t mean that, to make a good album, you must sit on material for years and labor extensively through the sketching, shaping and recording in order for it to be transcendentally landmark. But it’s obvious now that not even Taylor Swift wants to be the head of an empire—that she, too, can’t outrun the damning fate of being plum out of ideas by hopping in her jet and skirting off to God knows where.

See you at the Grammys.

****

[vintagevict0ria]

𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞

“You brush past me in the hallway…”

chapter 1

pairing: Adam Driver x f!reader

content: n/a

a/n: omg i am soooooo excited for this you have no idea. Its been so long since i posted and this idea has been stuck in my drafts since july and since im back in my Adam driver era- id thought id finish this. This is mostly inspired by Taylor Swifts song "I can see you" and each chapter will be based on a lyric! So i am no expert on how film/actor/movie stuff works so bear with me. Hopeful as this goes on, it will get better. Im planning on finishing this by the new year (who knows if that will happen) but since im on break i should take advantage of my free time. Ok long story short I will be writing this shit non stop since im on a writing high so who knows if the next chapter will come out tommorow! Hope you enjoy! Notes are greatly appreciated!!

Y/n, a famous actress known for her beautiful face and captivating personality but also her incredible acting skills. You had been nominated for over 50 awards and won 5 oscars. It had been a while since you were on a set nor a movie. The last film was a roaring success and the critics were crazy about it! The media begged for another film starring Y/N Y/L/N.

The first thing you heard when you woke up was the sound of your phone ringing. Your agent- Carolina, was calling. You quickly answered- yawning and hoping she wouldn’t hear it. “Y/n! Great news!” You sighed, not really understanding what was happening. “You got the job!” The job? what is she talking about? “huh?” You rubbed your eyes, laying back down. “The movie!! Adam Driver is in it too! Oh my gosh i can hear them now! ‘Y/n y/l/n and Adam Driver are co-stars in the biggest hit of the year!” Once you heard his name, you sprung up “Wait what?” “Yeah! They want you here in LA by tomorrow morning. I’ve already booked you a flight to leave in..5 hours! Bye!” She hung up before you could say another word. You glanced over at the clock- 9:35. The flight was at 2:15 and it would take a while to pack and get ready. So, being the smart woman you are, you got up and started the day. Showering, packing, and of course- stopping to get starbucks.

Once you arrived in LA, you headed to the condo where you would be staying for a majority of filming. That morning you woke up and started getting ready for the day. Showering, and making a coffee before you headed out to the table read. You threw on a pair of leggings and a tshirt. It was late autumn so you took a jacket on the way out. At the studio you said hello to the crew and a huge thank you to the casting director. “Y/n!” It was Carolina- she ran up to you and embraced you in a tight hug. “How was the flight?” You smiled at the redhead girl “Great.” Carolina jumped up and down with excitement and handed you sheets of paper. On the cover was the name of the film, the name of the director-JJ Abrams- and your name. “Heres your script. You need to go ahead and head in there! Bye!” She walked away, the sound of her heals clicked across the floor. You quickly skimmed through the pages while walking and not paying attention. You soon enough ran into someone, your coffee spilling over you and the floor along with your script- which was on the floor…covered in coffee. “Oh gosh Im so sorry!” You apologized while picking up your script, wincing at the wet paper. “You might want to watch where you are going next time.” The voice was soft but stern. You looked up and realized it was Adam Driver.

He was wearing all black and his hair was messy. He glanced at you with a subtle stare. “Im so sorry!” You stood up, brushing yourself off. “No worries, happens to the best of us.” He rolled his shoulders back and popped his neck, closing his eyes. Damn he was attractive. ”You headed in?” You asked, trying to keep your composure together. Adam simply just nodded.

The first day of the read consisted of going over the aspects of the film and the time line of production. After the read through, filming would start, then the movie premiere would take place after filming and production in Hollywood, but that was a whiles away. When the read was over you walked out with another co star. Heading to your condo, you received a text from Carolina. "Girl, just talked to JJ and he just gave me word that there is a sex scene between you and Adam 😁" The stupid emoji at the end made you cringe. Carolina giving you this news shot your nerves through the roof. As if you weren't already nervous enough about working with Adam, having to film a intimate scene made it far worse. Kicking your shoes off and falling onto your bed, you opened instagram, an attempt to get your mind of the situation at hand, it didn't work.

[drangercore]

Love and Other Historical Accidents by @pacific-rimbaud​

Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy never intended to blow up their life's work, but that's rather what they've gone and done. Now they're trapped 200 years in the past, with a broken Time Turner, a missing snuff box, a handful of overly-eligible daughters, and a House-elf in a cable knit cardigan. It will require the combined power of their keen intellects to get them home, if they'd stop arguing long enough to use them. As it turns out, history is just one damned accident after another.

Fandom: Harry Potter

Relationship: Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy

Art by @gingerhuneybee​, @jjuuppiter​, @jaxxartbox​, & yours truly

My first fanbind! 

L&OHA is an impeccable story and is so very dear to me. This was the fic that made me go “I want that on my shelf!”, so here we are. 

keep reading for more binding info and to see my gushing on the fic.

QUICK SPECS

153,854 words | 571 pages | 5″ x 8.5″ 

Binding Method: 3 Piece In Boards Bradel  Body Font: Adobe Caslon Pro Decorative Font: IM Fell English

I am very proud of this book, having accomplished many firsts with it. My first book that I rounded and backed, sewed double-core endbands on, painted the edges, and used toner reactive foil and HTV on!

ON THE STORY

Sighs. What more can I say? It’s simply brilliant. A unique multifaceted story with incredible dynamics, clever foreshadowing, great character studies of Draco and Hermione, and such beloved original characters. It’s comedic and refreshing but it also takes on grief and goodbyes, and heartbreak. It’s fucking romantic and also So nuanced. I dislike stories that spoon-feed every little thing about the character, so the parlor tricks on this one? Ate every crumb of it. It was filled with implications and was misleading in the best sense. You’ve got to be an astute reader to catch some things the first round (which I definitely wasn’t). 

While it doesn’t entirely shy away from typical lovey-dovies, the regard for mundanity and the inconsequential, I just find more inherently romantic. The exploration on time travel and the vivid prose further underscores the depth of PR’s talent. She captures so eloquently, the mind of an extremely logical person in a very illogical experience. I saw myself in Hermione so many times. The story demands to be read again and revels upon doing so. Pacific Rimbaud is such an incredible writer *sobs* all her works are simply a masterpiece. 

That said, this beautiful story deserves to be turned into a physical book.

DESIGN PLAN (or lack thereof) 

This is my first fanfic project and my third book overall which I must say was quite a leap considering my very little binding experience. I think the demon small niggling part at the back of my head got the best of me and positively thought she could make a relatively fastidious book despite the lack of skill. BUT nothing can stop me when I am overly enthusiastic about something, thus began my 2 month research, soaking up every gobbet of binding info in reach. As far as my book binding journey goes, gathering supplies was the hardest part lol. Bookbinding is not a common hobby in the Philippines so it was tedious to to look for materials and/or to settle on alternatives.

I credit 70% of the 4 month stretch of this project to my indecision. The novelty and sheer excitement with a new hobby, I think, divested me to properly conceptualize heh. I redid my typeset 1 billion times because I kept switching softwares: Word→ Pages→ InDesign. I probably have 8 versions of the typeset that will never see the light of day. Anyway, I did finally get the stuff done. Here’s my little design dump:

Nothing symbolic about the design really. I just worked around elements I thought were appropriate with the regency era and time traveling aspect: vines/ flowers and the time turner. I tried to reflect PR’s elegant writing in the book so hopefully I did it some justice. I added my fave works for this fic too and even drew fanart myself, here are some of them:

BINDING

I watched DAS bookbinding religiously during my research phase and I knew then that I wanted to someday follow his in-boards 3-piece bradel tutorial, but it wasn’t supposed to be so early on in my binding journey. One look at this book however threw me off course. It was incredibly ambitious of me, so I guess I deserved all the stress I endured in the process. I was supposed to trim the edges in between glueing the spine and rounding/backing, but I only had my poorly sharpened Php145 wood chisel to finish the task. That and nursing the finger my chisel wounded took enough time for the glue to dry, so I was fiddling with a stiff textblock the entire time after. I learnt along the way that a blow dryer and bone folder will be your best friends (and plenty of patience). I’d also like to apologize to my neighbors if you heard any hammering at 1am 😳 

The covers were... finicky. For some reason, midway, I decided to make either covers differently, and all to the good because the one made following DAS’ tutorial ended up slightly warping. DAS’ was with two 1.25mm boards glued together, while my experimental one was with a single 2.5mm board of which I peeled layers off of to reduce its thickness in half as needed.  (see pictures below for reference)

A lot of how the book looks like now is either born out of impulse or a desperate remedy. The book in turn is very gold. Chapter headers were impulsively foiled with gold laser reactive foil (so much for illustrating the headers only to cover them up haha *eye twitches*). 

I accidentally stained the edges while smoothing with black sandpaper so I covered the mess with an admix of Sakura acrylic paint in black and Liquitex acrylic ink in iridescent gold (Paint order: 1 layer gold- 2 thin layers black- 3 layers gold).

 I am very proud of my sewn endbands as this was my very first attempt at doing a double-core. I used DMC cotton threads in cream (712) and gold (E3821). Below is a close-up because why not. (as you can see, I had some flaking on the paint, luckily this was on the bottom edge so I fixed the issue on the more visible sides.)

I don’t like the bookcloth selection where I’m from (if there’s anything at all) so I made my own with pastel blue eco-ramie cloth, flour paste, and 80gsm paper. I ordered my fabric online and the shade was too icing-like. It looked tacky so I bleached to lighten. The white cloth also came from the same fabric which I bleached till it paled to white.

Titling was one of my biggest worries because majority of binders I saw were using a cricut to cut HTV. I almost entertained the idea of cutting it manually or even painting or embroidery, but to my luck, I found a local shop that offers vinyl ! cutting !! service !!! I sent them my design and they cut and weeded the vinyl for me. I chose white for the title and metallic gold for the vine detail. I messed up applying the word “historical” though, but let’s pretend i did it on purpose for the vintage feel.

Four months of faffing later, I have this story in corporeal form! Overall, I’m overjoyed with the outcome and I’d like to thank PR for the opportunity to have such a wonderful story on my shelf (and free to be read by anyone!)

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! 

[anogete]

Hi. Update of random shit in case anyone cares.

The scary test I was stressed over in the fall when I was posting my last fic? It was the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) exam. Yes, I passed it. The designation requires a bachelor's degree, so I had to go back to school to finish my last 10 classes. Then I had to take 7 more classes that are pre-reqs for the exam. Then I spent probably 700 hours attempting to cram everything you could think of related to personal finance (my god, there is a metric shit ton) into my head. The designation also requires 5,000 hours of experience in the planning field (which I thankfully already had). By the time I passed the test, I was no longer proud of the accomplishment, just relieved to have it behind me.

Work was intensely busy in November and December. I got little reading and no writing done.

I have a WIP featuring the Darcy/Rumlow pairing that has been languishing on my computer since 2020. To be honest, I've mosty forgotten what the conflict driving the plot was going to be. I think I was trying to tie it into the events of Wandavision. Took place after the show and had Monica Rambeau and Darcy kinda sorta working together and trying to figure out what, if anything, crossing the barrier that Wanda had thrown up did to them. Of course, Rumlow is alive and scarred and back with the good guys. And also really annoyed that his recent gunshot wound stuck him on desk duty watching the nerds complete their physicals as part of employee onboarding. Darcy doesn't want to have gym class with Rumlow, and Rumlow doesn't want to be there either but he's also kinda into the sassy brunette who tried to sweet talk him into passing her without making her run a mile. In the chapter or two I did write, the banter between Darcy and Rumlow was so fun, so I'd love to go back to it and try to move it along.

I got sucked into reading Draco/Hermione fanfic recently. Blame those damn Snow edits from the latest Hunger Games movie. Guys, I have never read those books or seen the movies, but blonde Tom Blyth is looking like the fanfic Draco of my dreams. How dare. This rabbit hole led to me deciding I needed to write a Dramione piece. It's maybe 6 pages and has gone nowhere even though I have a vague idea of the plot. My muse is struggling.

I found my old folder of all the fic I wrote in the past 20 years. There are still a couple hockey fics I haven't posted to AO3. There are also Anita Blake fics (I was a hardcore Anita/Edward girlie) and Harry Potter fics (don't cancel me but I used to write Snape/Hermione; NO student/teacher stuff though). I think I have an old Doctor Who fic featuring Nine/Rose (yes, I'm a Nine girlie). And a very old Forgotten Realms fic that paired Catti-Brie up with Jarlaxle. Look, I don't know. It was ages ago. With the exception of the hockey fics, I do not think any of these are of the same quality I've posted on AO3, but I've been toying with the idea of trying to clean them up and posting them so more of my work is archived together instead of spread over various fan sites. Does anyone have any interest at all in reading this shit? Like, at all?

I decided 2024 is going to be my book binding era. I bound isthisselfcare's Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love a couple weeks ago. I did all the typesetting with the help of some macros. Printed it, folded the signatures (the booklets that comprise the book), sewed them together with waxed linen thread, glued the text block together with some mull, and used chip board and book cloth to make the case. It feels and looks like a book, y'all! I could do a better job with lining the signatures up when punching the holes for sewing and with the measurements on the case, but overall I am pretty proud of it. If anyone is interested, I can link a nice tutorial series on TT and/or post progress pictures I took during my book binding experiment. I have to say, it's exciting to have the ability to put my fav fanfics on my physical bookshelf.

[kisses4kaia]

* 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 - 𝐝, 𝐝𝐢𝐱𝐨𝐧

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲; you and daryl get into a fight and daryl realizes what he needs to do for you to forgive him. season 6 era. (based on the prompt: "let me show you how sorry i am.")

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬; angst, smut, p in v, unprotected sex (dont), makeup sex, a lil bit of fluff, and oral sex (f receiving), cursing, and i think that's it.

𝟏,𝟑𝟗𝟖 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬

"fuck's your problem?" your boyfriend yelled, trailing behind you as you walked away to collect your nerves.

this made you stop dead in your tracks and turn on your heels. 

"my problem? my fucking problem? my problem is that you seem to think it's okay to disrespect me simply because you've had a shitty day. i didn't deserve that, daryl!" you yell in his face.

he seemed to take every word you spoke with negligence and little to no consideration. "i've had a bad day, okay? i'm sorry if i lashed out on ya, or something. wasn't my intention, but ya need to get over yourself. not everything revolves around ya, y/n."

you scoffed. "you're not fucking sorry. don't try to find me till you understand what an honor it is to call me your girlfriend." you walk away.

you know your worth, and you were damned if you were going to let a man degrade it.

that fact didn't change this one, a slight pang of hurt, or rather disappointment, shot through you. you truly didn't expect this from him, of all people.

"crazy of you to think i would even try to find you!" he called out. you simply put your middle finger up, not even turning your head or stopping.

"hey," daryl approached rick grimes. "hey, daryl. what's on your mind?" his deep southern accent sounded.

"think i messed up, with y/n," daryl practically groaned out. "ah. what do you want me to do?" rick asked, a half-amused look on his face.

"i dunno, tell me what i'm s'posed to do," he spoke. "well, depending on how severely you 'messed up', i'd say she deserves an apology, flowers and uh..." he trailed off before laughing.

"what? what is it?"

"an apology, flowers, and good sex."

oh.

oh.

daryl cleared his throat before nodding. "yeah, got it. thanks, rick." he was quick to turn and walk away. why? there was an obvious tent pitching below his belt.

as you sat on your alexandria home bed, reading, you heard a familiar knock on the door frame. you looked up and saw daryl. not only him but a bouquet of wildflowers tied together at the stem with a piece of brown twine in a pretty bow, as well.

your straight face did not falter. "you coming in or what?" you invited, setting your book down on your bedside table.

"oh, yeah," he entered the room, shutting the door behind him. he handed you the flowers and you inhaled the scent. 

"thanks," you smile slightly at him, also setting the flowers down on your bedside table. he nodded, wordlessly. "so?" you said, waiting for him to say what he wanted to say.

"uh... i want to uh, say sorry, for the way i treated ya today. wasn't fair of me, and you deserve better. 'm sorry." daryl spoke. you smiled genuinely at him. 

"thank you, dar. i love you, and that's never gonna change, m'kay?" you leaned closer to him playing with the hair that fell messily down his forehead. "i love ya, too. and, i really am sorry," he reciprocated, continuing to stare into your eyes.

you were always so entranced by him. how he carried himself, how he always got back up when he was struck down, how he always came back to you. 

the thoughts overwhelmed your brain to the point where you didn't even realize you were leaning in until you felt his lips on yours.

the kiss was slow, deep, and passionate. it was different from the hot, rough, and sloppy kisses you two had shared before.

you only pulled away for air and when you did, he pushed you back onto your back and crashed his lips onto yours once more.

without disconnecting, you pushed his vest off of his shoulders and discarded it somewhere in the room.

your breathing became heavier when you soon felt as though everything was on fire and you were overdressed.

you threw your top off and tugged at the hem of daryl's button-up shirt. he took account of this and quickly removed the garment.

soon, all of both of your and daryl's clothes were on the floor, save for your panties. daryl attacked your jaw and neck with kisses and immediately went for the sweet spot on your collarbone he had grown to know so well.

he began to kiss a trail down your torso until he was face to face with your aching core. 

"lemme show you just how sorry i am."

the words churned in your tummy and you bucked your hips closer to his face, needing him. he soon understood that he might've actually wanted this more than you did.

daryl pulled your underwear off your legs and kissed up your inner thigh. he wanted to relish in this, this feeling of euphoria he felt every time he got the honor to spend time in between your legs.

when he connected his lips to your clit, you let out a satisfactory gasp. "oh god," you breathed out when his tongue dipped inside of you.

your fingers gravitated to his hair and you tangled them in it. you tugged and pulled as he continued to eat you out like he was starving. the moans he let out vibrated against you and only pushed you closer to the edge.

and when he added his fingers? oh, there was no way you were lasting much longer.

he pumped a curled finger in and out of you, all whilst continuing to suck on your bud. "c'mon, pretty girl. cum for me," he said.

it was not long after that you felt the chord in your stomach snap. you grinded your cunt against his face, riding out your release. 

"good girl," daryl said, bringing his face back up to yours, kissing you deeply. the taste of your own juices on your tongue only increased your libido.

in one swift motion, you caught your boyfriend off guard and flipped the both of you over. now in a straddling position, you put your lips on daryl's as you sunk down on him.

"oh, fuck baby," he uttered. his big hands landed on your hips, guiding you as you began to bounce up and down on his cock.

"daryl," was the only thing your brain could manage to speak out. "yeah, just like that," he praised, adding more to your foggy head.

his hands moved from your waist to your breasts, carefully kneading them, occasionally pinching and twisting your nipples.

"fuck, y/n. i'm gonna cum," he admitted as you chased your highs. "me t-too, shit,"

"together?" he asked, looking up at you. you nodded, a smile forming on your face. soon, both of your orgasms approached and you just looked down at him at your neediest. he nodded at you and you let go for the second time.

his relief washed over him at the same time, your fluids mixing in your womb. "i love you so much," he breathed against the skin of your shoulder as you rode out both of your highs.

"i'd love me too if i was you, too," you teased. "psh," he chuckled. a few moments of silence passed.

"i do love you, though. forever and always."

kaia speaks ! 💌: fanks for 100 you guys !! this was not nearly as long as i wanted it to be, but i still do hope you enjoyed it. i love each and every one of your horny freaks so much and you're amazing ! 💖💖❤❤💗💗💋💋💋

[asha-mage]

WoT Musings: S2 Episode 3

GETTING CHILLS

This is one of my favorite sequences in TGH, one of my favorite Nynaeve moments, hell probably one of my favorite series moments, and I want them to nail it so bad.

Looks like the first test is going to be about Nynaeve loosing her father and mother. Makes sense since she never faced Aginor and Balthamel in the show. The choice was about letting go of the desire to persue revenge and fight, to choose being Aes Sedai over that.

Interesting choice to make the new 'Wisdom' Natti Cauthon instead of figment tyrant. It makes what's happening cut a little harder.

'How is Rand. is he happy?' FUCKING OUCH

Offfffffffff. On one hand they don't have a whole episode to commit to this bit, so their having to use shorthand hand.....but DAMN is that some knife twisting. I dig it though. Instead of a tyrant Nynaeve could fight off, it's something she can't fix because of her own block, her anger and fear. She has to choose between cold empty comfort for a dying man....and going back to seek the power to do actual good. Very very clever.

OHHHHHHHHH THAT THIRD TRIAL DO HAVE THOUGHTS

THE SOUTHERN TWANG ON THAT SENCHAN VOICE IS WOOF

Bye Uno! I would feel bad, but I'm afraid you're a funny bit part that's an easy sacrificial lamb here. It was gonna be you or Masema, and he's got problems to cause Perrin latter, so it's you!

I am really really REALLY digging the mix of Dynastic China and Versailles Era France in Cairhien's design in the show.

I am going to need SO MANY FICS of Logain and Rand fucking nasty during that garden scene you have NO IDEA

Asmodean is a going to be a good teacher to Rand solely because Logain is going to set the bar so fucking low.

Lanfear putting forward this chill cool innkeeper lady persona in Cairhien only to invade Rand's dreams to show off the true depths of her crazy where it's safe to do so, and ALSO to trick Rand into burning down her inn and thus leave him feeling guilt ridden/indebted to her is SO ON BRAND

Elayne and Egwene's friendship is already making me So Happy. I can't wait till we get Elayne and Nynaeve road trip shenanigans later on in the series.

Nynaeve's Acceptatron test is something I am going to have to sit with. I really really like the fact that just like in the books she let the arch fade away the first time, and I really like that once again it was HER that forced it to come back by channeling, something she wasn't supposed to be able to do in the test at all. The important part of this choice in the book is that it's Nynaeve DECIDING to go back, to claim the power she needs to protect those she loves, choosing that over paradise. The show's choice to instead demonstrate that such a paradise would be empty and fleeting if she DID choose it, is....one I am going to have to chew on.

Overall the show continues it's trend of adapting the core of the books, while changing the details to better suit the new medium, and I'm board with that.

[shallyne]

The Diary of Feyre Archeron Ch 6

CHAPTER 6!!!! EXCITING! This is now the time jump. Reminder: new names because new identities. Enjoy! Whole fic is on AO3

Words: 1.5k

TW: nightmares, mentions of death, mentions of guns

8 years later

November 20th

Dear Diary,

I am back! It's been a long time and a lot has happened but at the same time, not that much. There have been some rocky moments the past years but altogether life was pretty damn normal. Mara, Daisy and I all went to community college. Mara graduated with a degree in journalism and is now working at the Velaris Times while Daisy decided to work at a bakery that just opened in town after graduating with a psychology degree. I, myself, have started a zoology degree but I dropped out in the first year because it just wasn't possible time and money wise. Mara had just started working at the Velaris Times and Elain was in the midst of college so I decided to work instead of studying. Financially it was pretty tight during that time but we managed. We would manage again now that Mara and Daisy are working, I could go back to college but I am not sure if I should go back to zoology. It’s been amazing and incredibly interesting but it just wasn’t for me. There’s still the possibility of art school but I haven’t drawn anything since that day. I can’t paint anymore but the prospect of it is still lingering, hovering over me like the ghost of my old self. I’ll have to think about it but for now I am okay with my perfectly mid job.

Although our jobs haven’t been the only things in our lives that changed, Mara has met two girls who are now her friends, Emerie and Gwyn, with whom she now has a book club and Daisy met twins who she hangs out with all the time, doing her favorite things like gardening and baking. Their names are Nuala and Cerridwen and they work for some rich guy who just moved here.

I also made a friend, his name is Lucien. We met through my boyfriend, Tamlin. Lucien and I couldn’t really stand each other at first, he was such an asshole. Well, he still is but I grew to like it about him.

Tamlin and I met under different circumstances, he hit me with his car. It was just an accident because he was looking on his phone and when he helped me hobble out of the hospital, because he broke my foot, he asked me on a date and I agreed. He’s a perfectly nice gentleman. Of course he has his flaws but don’t we all? Rhysand didn’t. Especially my old friend who lied to me throughout our whole friendship.

Oh! I also tried to get Eras Tour tickets but they were quite expensive, unfortunately. Maybe someone will sell theirs or I’ll get some for a future tour.

Alright, time for dinner.

Later!

November 21st

N Mara brought a vacancy flyer home today for me. It’s for some fancy Lounge in downtown Velaris who’s looking for a waitress. I am absolutely underqualified for this position but she says I should try anyway because it pays well. We wrote an application together that sounded a little more professional than my previous ones, it is necessary if I want to work there.

Getting the job would help us tremendously, we could get a new couch AND afford the good toilet paper, wouldn’t that just be amazing? I can’t let myself daydream too far because chances are high I won’t get the job. Daisy said she’s sure I’ll get the job if they meet me but I’d need a job interview first so that is a big IF.I am trying to hope for the best but expect the worst.

We will drop the application off tomorrow and get a look at the Lounge. Pray that I won't freeze to death, it's COLD.

November 22nd

I haven't had nightmares for two years. I had a nightmare again. I just woke up, I have to write it down.

I was back at home and mom just died, we just got the news. Everyone was in shock, no one moved. It was so quiet.

The doorbell rang, I went to the door just like I did when they got dad. I opened it, I opened the door.

I shouldn't have opened the door.

But I did.

They stormed in, they held us at gunpoint.

I just told Rhys that he's dead to me

I wish he was here

Because I'm going to die. I was going to die, I knew it.

But he was there, I don't know how. I don't know how he did it but he was there suddenly. He would protect me, always. I knew that, I always knew that. I've just been angry. I know it wasn't his fault. He just wanted to protect me. I wished I could tell him, right then. But they killed him, right in front of my eyes. Because he wanted to protect me. He died because of me. It was my fault.

I tried to move, to protect my sisters. I needed to protect them, it was my fault that Rhys was dead. I have to protect them from the same fate but it's too late. I can still hear the gunshots ringing in my ears. One. Two. Elain, dead. Three. Four. Nesta, dead. I want to scream, I want to rush forward but I can't. I can't.

Then I was looking down the barrel of a gun.

Then I woke up.

I can barely breathe.

November 23rd

I was on a lunch date with Tamlin today, it was fine until a waiter spilled some water on the table and he went through the roof. It was only a little bit of spilled water, it hadn't even spilled on his clothes. It took me forever to calm him down. I hope the waitress is alright, I left her a bigger tip.

When we sat in the car and Tamlin finally calmed down he apologized. Then, which is very exciting, Nesta called me because a letter from the Lounge I applied to arrived just then and I told her to open it and tell me. The seconds she took to open the envelope and read felt like an eternity BUT they invited me to a job interview!!! Isn't that just so exciting? Never in a million years I would have thought they would even think about inviting me but they did! For TOMORROW. The reply and the job interview both went so fast, I can't wrap my mind around it. Tamlin seemed semi-interested in the news but I'm sure he will think differently tomorrow, he had somewhat of a bad day today.

I went home and instantly threw my good pants in the washer, they are drying now. I'm as excited as I am nervous, this job could change quite a lot for us.

I should really go to sleep, I don't want to seem tired during my interview.

I'm thanking the stars that they listened and answered!! Maybe fate DOES exist! (Okay, Feyre, calm down. You don't even have the job yet.)

November 24th

I've got the job.

Tamlin said I shouldn't take it and move in with him, that he could take care of me and my sisters. Nesta said she would rather stab out her eyes.

Although Tamlin and his proposal isn't what's worrying me right now, it's how I got the job.

Why I got the job.

Let's start from this morning.

I woke up at six AM because I've been so nervous. I prepared questions that could be asked and the answers, took a shower, ate breakfast, cleaned my room, put on some makeup and then got dressed and made my way downtown. My whole thoughts were about this interview, because it's important, for me, for Mara, for Daisy.

I was half an hour too early so I went and got a coffee. Unfortunately my nerves didn't let me sit still for more than two minutes so I walked up and down the street until it was finally time.

There was a nice lady, I don't remember her name, who led me to an office in the back because my interview was with the boss himself. The whole Lounge was so luxurious, even though I was wearing my best outfit it felt incredibly cheap in comparison but it was so tasteful, I kind of felt comfortable?

Then the lady knocked on the door and left, leaving me alone as I entered the office.

I knew instantly, right as I stepped into the office. It's been 8 years, we became adults, we grew up, but I knew before he looked up from his paperwork. I knew that a pair of almost-violet eyes would stare at me, a pair that was scribbled all over my old notebooks.

He did look at me, his eyes almost the same, but they seemed more dark and haunted now. But when he recognized me, he lit up.

But I was stuck there because-

What the fuck is Rhysand doing in Velaris????

Excerpt from a chat between Rhysand and Morrigan

Rhysand: I'm sending a car over, you need to come ASAP

Morrigan: What??? What happened?

Rhysand: I can't tell you over text, get in the car and come over here

Morrigan: Jeez, this better be good

Morrigan: I'm delaying my nail appointment for you

Feysand Taglist:

@captain-of-the-gwynriel-ship @starfall-spirit @rhysiedarling @corcracrow @sydney-fae25 @tothestarsandwhateverend @aayo-whatt @dreamlandreader

[shiveringfrogspawn]

From what I remember Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator was basically an episode of Doctor Who??

The Great Glass Elevator (which I am hereforth referring to as the GGG because I refuse to type that out every single time) was basically a see-through TARDIS. It had loads of buttons all over the walls, some of which made it go different directions/speeds, and some of which changed conditions inside (turned gravity on/off, etc.). I cannot remember whether or not it was bigger on the inside because I read this when I was eleven.

In the beginning they travel in time because, long story short, Charlie’s Grandma Georgina takes too many youth pills and ages herself back to before she was born. They have to travel in time to get her back from being ‘a minus’ before she disappears. They end up in a smoky, dark place full of monsters from which they have to rescue her and take her to the real world.

There is a hotel in a space ship for very rich people (Voyage of the Damned: Christmas special 2007, End of the World: S1 E2) that Willy Wonka visits with Charlie & fam later on that’s really nice yet FULL of these aliens called Vermicious Knids that look like giant, flesh-covered eggs balanced on the pointy end (which feels very much like an RTD-era monster if you ask me).

Willy Wonka is similar to the Doctor, with his crazy inventions and unbelievable genius. He fights the Vermicious Knids when they try to get inside the GGG to kill them. He basically adopts Charlie (as the Doctor does with companions), and helps the rest of his family to lift themselves out of poverty.

He is friends with ‘aliens’ (the Oompa-Loompas) and gets along just fine with all manner of creatures, travels extensively, and nobody knows exactly how old he is (remember, kids: in the book he is not a youthful Johnny Depp but a sprightly old man!). There is nobody quite like him. He dresses strangely and is generally agreed to be eccentric yet sweet, however he has a dark and dangerous side which can emerge. He doesn’t have very good social skills, but he largely gets along with the people of the town.

Anyway this is a very long post about a book I hardly remember, but all this to say: I want RTD to get Timothée Chalamet’s Willy Wonka into s16 so I can see him be devoured by a ginormous, carnivorous flesh-egg.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[midwestmade29]

Rekindled ❤️

(A continuation of "Broken Promise")

To Anonymous: Thank you for reading my original story and for your request! It makes me so happy knowing you enjoyed it 🥹 I know my story is pretty lengthy, but it covers a lot of ground! I had so much fun writing it 🖤

Original Anonymous Request: "I absolutely loved that last fic! Anyway we can get something where the two end up reconnecting, rekindling, and end up together in the end after Christian’s divorce? I feel like even though they had a rough relationship growing up, you can’t tell me they aren’t soulmates. You can’t tell me this man had secretly loved here since they were young and didn’t realize it until she got into her high school and college era. I love this so much dude 😩🫶🏼❤️"

Disclaimers: Anger, physical altercation, fighting (verbally), cursing, angst. Read at your own discretion.

Word Count: 2,682

Divider by: @saradika-graphics

Side note: This story is officially complete. I won't be adding anything else to it. You can read the first part of the story here and also the prequel to the story here! Thanks for following along 🖤

Adam noticed that you had been MIA again for the last half hour of your party. He knew you couldn’t have gotten far, so he started searching the house for you. He was about to knock on your bedroom door, his fingers already against the wood but he stopped when he heard you crying. His heart sank as he stood and listened to your cries turn into sobs! When he couldn’t take it any longer, he opened your door just a crack and spoke softly, “Hey, sis. What’s wrong? Can I come in?” You were curled in a ball on your bed with your face buried in your hands, but you managed to let out a pathetic “yes” in response. He came and sat at the foot of your bed, fidgeting while trying to figure out how to proceed with your conversation. “Did something happen at the party? Talk to me, sis,” he prodded. When you sat up and looked your brother in the eyes, the flood gates opened, words and tears flowing freely, leaving you out of breath by the time you were finished. It was obvious the more you carried on, the more Adam’s anger grew. His hands were balled into fists that rested on his thighs and his jaw was clenched so tightly you don’t know how his teeth didn’t break! You didn’t go into every detail about the relationship you and Christian had before, sparing him the part about losing your virginity to him, but everything else was no longer a secret. Hurt flashed in his eyes when you apologized for not telling him sooner, leaving you wishing that you could take it all back and rewrite the past. In between sniffles you peered over at your brother who was clearly conflicted on how to feel about the situation, and he damn near exploded when you asked him what he was thinking. With every word he said, his voice became more elevated, “What am I thinking? WHAT am I thinking right now? I’m thinking about how my baby sister and my best friend kept this huge secret from me for 2 years. I’m thinking about how stupid I am for not seeing how things really were that summer. I must be going fucking blind and need to get my eyes checked! I’m trying to come up with a reason not to kill that blonde son of a bitch with my bare hands right now! He not only made you cry again, but he broke a promise. That’s unacceptable in my book."

You begged and pleaded with Adam to calm down when he jumped up off your bed and darted out the door in search of Christian. Rage was radiating off him as he checked behind every door, looking for his best friend around every corner in the house before finding him sitting outside on the front porch. The loud thud the door made when Adam threw it open made everyone jump! “What the hell, man? You alright?” Christian asked as he stood up. Adam walked over to him and got mere inches away from his face and shouted, “No, dumbass! I’m not alright! I know about you and my little sister. I know all about the summer you shared!” Christian’s eyes darted between yours and your brother’s, unsure of how to proceed. You pulled on Adam’s arm trying to get him to come back inside, but he brushed you off. Your brother’s chest was rising and falling rapidly with each shallow breath he took, the veins in his forehead protruding while he waited for Christian to say something. “Look, Adam we were going to tell you. Time just got away from us, and our relationship was over at the end of the summer anyways. It’s in the past now,” he explained, but Adam wasn’t having any of it. Your brother shoved Christian once, making him stumble back a little before shoving him again and again. “You’ve had 2 years to tell me asshole! How could you keep something like that from me, man?! And why my baby sister? Why her?!” Christian grew more irritated the more Adam jabbed his finger into his chest, and the atmosphere quickly became more tense. You knew you had to try and separate the two of them and you gave it your best effort when you cried out, “Please, Adam! Go back in the house and try to calm down. You’re not thinking straight right now, and I don’t want this to get any worse. I’m begging you! Please!” Something made Christian snap, one could blame it on Adam’s harsh words or his death stare, but what came out of Christian’s mouth next knocked the wind right out of you without even being touched, “You make it sound like this was all my doing! Y/N isn’t innocent in all this you know! It takes two to tango and boy did we tango a lot that summer!”

You weren’t sure what was louder, Adam shouting “YOU FUCKED HER?!” or the sound of his fist connecting with Christian’s face. One punch led to two and eventually both men ended up rolling around on the ground! After Christian landed a couple punches of his own on your brother’s face, he had him pinned to the ground. It didn’t last long though since Adam’s 6’5 frame overpowered him! Your brother’s voice was eerily calm when he spoke again and you could see the anguish written on his face, “First you take my little sister’s innocence, then you break the promise you made the both of us! Not to mention you kept all of this from me. Go fuck yourself.” He let go of Christian as he stood up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He immediately clutched his ribcage as pain radiated from the area, and winced when he touched the giant goose egg that was already forming on his forehead. Christian didn’t look any better while he laid on the ground groaning and trying to catch his breath. No further words were shared between any of you that night. Everything that did- and didn’t- need to be said was already out in the open. When your mother caught wind of the situation, she was thankful no one was seriously injured and that no one in the neighborhood called the police. Later on, you looked out the front window and noticed Christian was no longer there. He must’ve gone to his parent’s house when he was finally able to peel himself off the ground. You didn’t see Christian again after that night. Your brother didn’t talk to you for weeks after everything went down the way it did. You called him hundreds of times and sent countless text messages, but you never got a reply. You apologized and begged him to talk to you in every voicemail you left him. Eventually you got the hint and gave him the time and space he needed even though it hurt like hell not being able to talk to your big brother. You could only hope that what they say is true, “time heals all wounds.”

1 year later ⏭️

Almost a month after the fight happened, Adam started talking to you again! The two of you had several long and difficult conversations about everything that went on the night of your graduation party and the summer you and Christian spent together. While things felt like they were back to normal, you knew deep down inside that your relationship with your brother had been altered a little bit. You were shocked to learn that Christian was the one to call Adam and make amends with him! They somehow worked through everything and rekindled their friendship. He even asked Adam to be the best man at his wedding!

“You know you’re invited too,” your mom’s voice startled you when she walked into the kitchen unannounced. You had been staring at Christian’s wedding invitation that seemed to mock you every time you approached the fridge. It took everything in you not to yank it down and rip it to shreds! “There’s no way I’m going! It must’ve been an oversight on someone’s part including my name on it. Do me a favor, don’t write my name on the wedding card you got them.”

Christian’s big day had eventually come and gone, and you made sure to avoid hearing anything about it. One day when you were in the checkout line at the grocery store, a magazine cover caught your eye. You tossed it in the cart when you noticed who was on the front and looked over it in your car. You sat in the parking lot for a good 30 minutes crying over the stunning picture of Christian and his new bride. You read over the article more times than you should’ve, eyes skimming over the words that described every detail of their grand affair. Your heart was aching by the time you tossed the magazine into the backseat, the realization settling in that you and Christian were nothing more than a long-gone memory.

Over the next several years, Adam’s popularity in the professional wrestling world continued to skyrocket. He was definitely a fan favorite! While you enjoyed watching him achieve his career goals and dreams, your favorite thing he accomplished was marrying his wife and giving you two beautiful nieces. Seeing him this happy meant the world to you, and you could only hope that you would find the same happiness one day too. You were thriving in your own ways, having a successful career of your own, a great group of friends that you adore, checking things off your bucket list left and right, and spending time with your mom every chance you got. You focused on the things that really mattered to you and embraced your independence! As far as you knew, Christian and his wife were doing well but you hadn’t heard anything about them in a long time. Even though you tried to forget him, the memories of growing up together and falling in love with him crept in your mind from time to time. There had been several guys that tried to pursue you over the years, but none of them ended up capturing your heart the way that Christian did. You had been in one long term relationship that helped ease the sting of loneliness, but you knew it wasn’t fair to keep them around when your heart still longed for someone else. You eventually let them go, and the sadness in their eyes when you told them it was over still haunts you to this day.

For Adam’s last match before he officially retired, he wanted you and your mom ringside along with his wife and your nieces to cheer him on! You were hesitant at first to do it, but you agreed when your brother reassured you that Christian wouldn’t be there due to having other obligations. Everything with Adam’s match went well and it was over in the blink of an eye! All 5 of you girls cried when the referee gave the final 3 count as Adam laid in the center of the ring. During the commercial break he walked over and hugged each of you and thanked you all for loving him and supporting him all this time. The company he worked for was throwing him a party after the show was off the air, and once it began, he was being pulled in every direction as more and more people wanted to congratulate him. Your mom was with your nieces at the dessert table while your sister-in-law mingled with some of the female wrestlers. You found yourself alone standing at a tall cocktail table sipping on your drink, just taking in the different sights and sounds of the party. Out of the corner of your eye, you thought you saw someone standing near your table, but when you turned to get a better look, they were gone. You brushed it off and returned your gaze to the party. “Come join us aunt Y/N!” your nieces called out to you from the dance floor. You weren’t really in the mood to dance, but what kind of aunt would you be to decline such a sweet invitation?

“Again! Again!” your nieces cheered as you twirled them around simultaneously! The song playing was upbeat and fun and you were enjoying laughing and smiling with your favorite little girls. All too soon it started to fade out and was replaced by a slow song instead. Everyone except for a few couples left the dance floor, and you were on your way back to your table when an old familiar voice stopped you in your tracks, “Hey, Y/N. It’s…been a long time.” Christian’s greeting instantly took you back to the night of your graduation party when he addressed you the same way. Your stomach did a flip when you turned and took in the sight of him. He was still as handsome as ever; time had clearly treated him well! Your reply was shy and quiet as his blue eyes bore into you, “Hi, Christian…” He cleared his throat before speaking again, clearly just as nervous as you were being face to face after all this time. “Um, would you like to dance?” he asked sheepishly. You were hesitant at first, but the way he was looking at you made your resolve fade and the next thing you knew; you had your arms wrapped around his neck and the two of you were swaying along with the music.

A few moments passed in silence, the both of you unsure of what to say but Christian eventually spoke up, “You look great, Y/N. How are you?” His compliment made a small smile form in the corner of your mouth which made him smile too. “I’m fine, thank you. But um, what are you doing here? I thought you couldn’t make it tonight. If you haven’t already, you’ll have to find Adam! I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you,” you replied. “I decided being here for Adam was more important that my original plans. I watched the match from backstage. I was also hoping you would be here. It’s good to see you, Y/N.” His last few words made you blush, but the pink that covered your cheeks faded away when you remembered an important detail, Christian is married! You dropped your arms from around his neck causing concern to envelop his handsome features. “Where’s your wife?” you asked, even though you didn’t want to know the answer. His response shocked you, “Actually, we’re divorced. Everything was finalized a few months back. Marrying her was a mistake and it’s something I deeply regret. I had no idea what I was doing back then and I sure as hell don’t know what I’m doing right now, but I had to see you Y/N. Over the years I probably asked Adam and your mom about you more than I should’ve, but it made me happy knowing that you were doing so well. I never stopped thinking about you, not even once! I’m sorry it took me so long to realize what an idiot I am. I just hope I’m not too late.”

It had been 4 months since Adam’s retirement party. 4 months since that night ended with Christian asking you if he could see you again. 4 months since you and your soulmate rekindled your love for one other. It’s been quite the journey to get to this point, but you’re so thankful you and Christian found your way back to each other. Everyone knew that it wouldn’t be long before Christian would propose to you, and you couldn’t wait to be his wife! When the time comes for you to recite your vows to one another, Christian would be making a new promise to you that he would continue to love you for the rest of your lives and the tears he will make you cry that day will be tears of pure joy.

[attic-club-sandwich]

Help Me Understand

a short drabble written for the @ombrotherlylove2023! I hope you all enjoy! And thank you for hosting the event! I've had so much fun writing the prompts and I can't wait to share the rest of my stories! 💜

A/N: This story is set in the Nightbringer Era so Satan is very much new to the world and how things work, so he often gets easily frustrated. A small miscommunication between the pair leads to a rare, but much needed moment of bonding between them.

Taglist: @amberrskiies, @obey-me-posts, @sassykattery, @delphi-dreamin, @bite-sized-devil, @flemmingbamse, @a-hidden-gem, @otomefoxystar, @siofrantic, @todothedodo, @marvelous-maniac, @nonbinary-disaster, @selfmadender, @animeismyhappyplace, @vampire-tr4mp, @meiloorun-tea, @ana-dear , @gaychaosgremlin, @sidgethegamer, @jasper-s-phantym

Day 1: Misunderstandings, Lucifer & Satan.

floral divider by @/saradika

Lucifer hadn’t really meant what he said. If he’s being honest, the Avatar of Pride felt…bad. He knew Satan was struggling with his emotions after his sudden and unexpected arrival into the Devildom and he wasn’t trying to do anything to trigger him too badly. He was beginning to get tired of the constant repairs on the house.

As he sat in his office, he thought back to the events that had transpired earlier that day. In truth, Lucifer had been quite preoccupied while in a meeting with Diavolo that he hadn’t thought much about the text he had received from Satan. He had just typed out a quick reply so he wasn’t making him wait too long for a response. However, his short reply really seemed to anger Satan. 

Lucifer, I am done with that book I borrowed from your office. 

Is it okay if I drop it off? I really enjoyed it. Thank you for letting me borrow it. 

....

I don’t care. 

Fuck you, Lucifer. 

Whatever, I know you don’t care. 

You never cared about me. 

The eldest demon realized by the time he got back home that had never replied to explain the miscommunication. Damn it, he thought as he rubbed his temples. I need to apologize. Lucifer figured that the younger demon would be in his room for the evening, so he began to make his way down the hallway of the House of Lamentation. He stopped once he reached Satan’s door, a nervous sweat beginning to form on his forehead. He wasn’t sure what to expect out of this interaction, but he was too sure it would end in Satan once again destroying something. Finally after a few moments, he knocked; 3 small taps that would be sure to grab Satan’s attention vital to the house’s architecture. “Who is it?” He heard a voice from the other side. Lucifer cleared his throat, “Um, It’s me, Lucifer.” There was a pause before the voice spoke again. This time it was steeped with anger. “Go away. I don’t want to talk to you.” Lucifer sighed. “I know you don’t. But I need to explain myself.” To his surprise, the door opened slightly, Satan’s emerald eyes glowing through the crack in the door. “If you just came here to belittle me even more, you can turn right back around.” he hissed. Lucifer rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. “No, Satan. I actually came here to apologize.” Satan’s brow furrowed in confusion as he was for once, silent. Lucifer noticed his hesitation and stepped forward. “Can I come in? We can talk this over if you’d like.” Satan nodded slowly, backing up so Lucifer could enter his bedroom. The blonde demon walked over and sat down on his bed, crossing his arms protectively around himself. “Satan, that text message was a misunderstanding.” Satan refused to meet his crimson gaze. “Yeah, right.” he muttered. Lucifer slowly walked over to sit down beside his brother. “I mean it. I was busy in a meeting with Diavolo. I had to make it a quick response as I didn’t want to keep you waiting.” Satan glanced down at his lap, clearly frustrated. “Then why did you say you didn’t care? I-I don’t…understand.” Lucifer gave him a small smile. He could hear the frustration rising in his voice. It was still hard for Satan to understand certain things, communication through text messages being one of them. “I just mean that I didn’t care if you dropped off the book in my office. I apologize for not being more clear. I know you are still learning and I failed to remember that.” Satan glanced up at his older brother, his green eyes filled with tears. “Oh…I-I guess I overreacted then…” Lucifer shrugged. “It’s fine, Satan. I just wanted to clarify that to you.” Satan nodded, his face flushed as he quickly wiped away his tears. He wasn’t sure if they were from anger or relief and he was quite flustered about tearing up in front of Lucifer out of all people. “I won’t say anything to the others, so no worries.” Lucifer winked before getting up from the bed. “I should be going now, I still have some paperwork from the meeting to finish up.” 

Just as Lucifer was about to leave, Satan also jumped up from his spot on the bed. “Wait! I um..I have that book.” Lucifer turned around again to see him taking a book off of his bedside table. He held it out to him, glancing away as his cheeks were still dusted pink. Lucifer smiled as he took the book from him. “Thank you, Satan. So you enjoyed it? I thought reading about Devildom history would be rather boring for you.” Satan shook his head, his face lighting up at the opportunity to discuss his thoughts on the book. “No way, I found it very interesting. I want to learn everything I can about the three realms and more.” Lucifer relaxed as he leaned up against the door, the book tucked in his arms over his chest. He found that he was enjoying listening to Satan recount his favorite facts about the Devildom, and was glad that his younger brother was no longer upset with him…for now anyways. Lucifer decided he would take advantage of the rare moment that they weren’t at each other's throats. “Let me know if you’d like to borrow any other books. You are free to browse the library, if you’d like.” Satan nodded enthusiastically, a smile plastered on his face. “Yes, thank you, Lucifer. I’d appreciate that.”

[yokakaiju]

doro modern(?) au

SPOILER WARNING + LONG POST BELOW CUT

i am so tired while writing this, so apologies if some of it doesnt make sense bleh.. i will happily answer any and all questions to the best of my ability tho!!

okay so ngl... it's really not that different from canon i think? i really don't know much abt my own damn au atm cause i mostly think of it during work and for some reason i literally NEVER write anything down?? idk why???

ALSO TO PREFACE!!! DESPITE HAVING READ DORO IN FULL ABT 4 TIMES NOW AND AM GOING ON A FULL YEAR OF HYPERFIXATION HERE SOON I HAVENT BRUSHED UP ON THE LAST 60-70 CHAPTERS IN A MINUTE SO SORRY IF I MAKE A STUPID MISTAKE!!!

this shit is all 100% subject to change later btw:

• genuinely just abt everything that took place in doro takes place in the past during this au, but not in the same way or with the same characters. ik some stuff 100% wouldnt make sense because of this, BUT BLEHH ILL FIGURE IT OUT LATERR!!! literally jist like.. remove everything involving aikawa and risu and replace it with violent social unrest or smth idk yet...

• ne way, this takes place 100 years after the kaiman holey fight, but in this au it wasnt our kaiman

• the sorcerer and human world have been permanately sealed off from each other since hole fight

• humans at this point dont necessarily believe sorcerers even exist anymore due to this, but the older generations (the few people who live to be like 80-100+) are still somewhat afraid of them and think that some may still be in hole (they are)

• abt hole and this is gonna need a lot of reworking, but like.. idk. basically some humans worship hole as a modern god, taking everything that happrned as absolute truth and churches sprung up around holey, worshiping large statues made of his bones and stuff. the statues do still work as they did in base doro, but they arent as widespread anymore? theyre way more popular with older people and thr newly religous folk, but most people see them as some sort of novelty at this point and they arent widely owned outside of churches and hospitals anymore

• the refuse lake also is back kinda? but its mostly a normal lake now, but the water is still extremely tar like in some parts so its still gated off

• in the socerer world, all information regarding humans and the hole have been banned from being spoken about or learned by the general public. personal doors are also prohibited to be used/learned to be used and anyone who CAN use them that uses them unsanctioned will face capitol punishment or smth. really only the devils and en family know abt hole and shit (theres more people of course, but these are details idk yet)

• n e way, in modern era nikaido and aikawa (sigh we will get to him last...) work together at the hungry bug still

• nikaidos story is literally almost exactly the same. she is still being pseudo hunted by the en family because they got word of a time traveling socerer like howveer long ago and are trying to hunt her down in secret (they dont know its her directly tho)

• kasukabe/haze is still just chillin tho. he is nearly unchanged, still wrote books on socerers (however they were written more historically for a while, then eventually he met haru and they became research/science based) snd took ai as an appretenice, but his work outside of human medicine is thought of as crackpot conspiricy talk or entirely fictional. him and haru are stil married/divorced, haru is also atill a devil and he still has a skin door to the sorcerer world

• ive had some ideas abt shin, mostly that his mom was killed alongside his dad after someone tipped off the  militia that there was somehow still sorcerers in the hole. they investigated their home for a bit and caught her using a door, so they raided the home and slaughted his family in front of him. from there shins story doesnt change much at all rn tbh

• the en family is still highly regarded and very opressive in the socerer world. they dont destroy schools anymore because duh no black powder, but they (with some devil influenece as well) heavily regulate what is taught. resistence against the en family, namely trying to learn about doors and hole, are cruely punished to show they arent fucking around, despite them still having acess to the hole and knowing (somewhat) the true events of what lead to them being separated

• i havent put much thought into the fate of the cross eyes in this au yet, but ive had some ideas? they arent the cross eyes (yet) but, they (our commanders + natsuki and risu) were low ranking memebers who are part of a resistance against the en family that attempts to fight their opression/censorship of history and some higher ups (not the commanders rn) are even trying to figure out how to make a door to the hole or smth

• this is abt all i have rn (im also super tired writing this ugh), so sigh... aikawa time i suppose... this part is gonna be long and confusing and 99% of everything ive talked abt so far was stemed from this, so heres a barely tldr tldr becase im probably making a seperate post when im not so tired. okay TLDR: ai was always disallusioned with being a human becauee his grandpa told him about sorcerers and magic and shit, so he fully bought into hazes entire catalouge of books taking thrm as gospel. eventually he meets haze and works under him, getting close enough to see some of his studies on sorcerer corpses. due to the corpses having smoke/black powder and were killed with hatred for their fellow sorcerers (they were killed by the en family), it starts to slowly affect ais young brain and the seed of a new hole have been planted blah blah, anyway he starts having horrific nightmares from the pov of hole from over a century ago and starts hearing shit cause hes already really mentally unwell. pretyu much from here it goes thr same as base doro for rn. he begs haze to help him become a sorcerer, he has all his plans snd shit tk make it work with the "fresh corpses" (either murders or bodies provided by haru) haze has access to, but haze refuses. ai just gets worse as time goes on, but him being a little emo freak he never actually vocalizes it, but as per cannon he decided to just force hazes hand. one night haze and ai were illegally hunting for potential relics of hole or the events surrounding that around the older parts of the refuse lake whrn ai ended up throwing himself into the tar. however instead of throwing himself in the refuse lake cause he needs a corpse he was compelled by hallucinations or smth to throw himself in. haze saves him and ends up doing the surgery om him blah blah literally its not that different from here, ai still "dies" and is buried he was also made of the 9(?) corpses so hes till got all his heads ans shit. when he rises this time tho instead of going to the sorcerer world he goes to haze again immediatly and begs him not to tell anyone. from here on haze hides him ot smth since he looks so different now no ones gonna recognize him or whatevs

this aint a fuckin tldr whoops. anyway uh.. ill make a seperate post abt aikawa/kai/EVERYONE ELSE IN THERE later cause i fell asleep twice writing that

please ask questions if you have any!! i will work on this more as time goes on i imagine and ill try to start actually writing ny ideas down now

[sobeksewerrat]

HYPERANALYZING/ SCREAMING ABOUT EP.3 COZ IT IS MY FAVOURITE AND I AM REWATCHING IT LET'S GOOOO

Disclaimer: this post is literally just me talking about how much I kin Milly and technically a combined liveblog

Oh look it's one of Taylor's bullies from BWBL!!

Also, what the music freak is this shitty pop song playing in the back ground man I'm-

Why is the school nurse running around like that-

Gotta love how everyone just rushes over to see Milly fight, and that Jake knows exactly who they're talking about (even though they've been friends for like 2 weeks). Really shows how much of a negative-ish reputation Milly has (relatable man)

Fuck Miss Jones man she sucks she can't even break off a fight who hired this bitch.

I really like the fight scene, Luke's animation is kinda wonky but I really miss seeing Kurie's animation!! I really miss the old GL episodes, they were just so much more well-written, and the amount of editing done by Rosy in them is really underrated like they seriously look so good considering how limited GL was.

God, seeing Milly fight for something Zoey stole is really fucking relatable. Like, my bullies always steal my books, my sketchbooks, my pencil case..etc. and I always get in trouble when I try to wrestle them for it. Like, I get yelled at and keep getting told "You're a girl you shouldn't be fighting with anybody!" and all they get for pushing me over the edge is a slap on the wrist, schools are really unfair (and then adults wonder why we don't talk to them about shit).

Dear Rosy Jake is so pathetic he literally gets thrown away by just a punch I'm-

Fuck you Luke

Zoey calling Milly an animal is um, weird, to say the least.

Um, side note, I really forgot how weird Henriam were in the first few episodes- like you could see the basis of their characters as we know them now being established but it's still so weird seeing them like this (also Henry is almost Liam's height in GL which makes me want to die)

Imma just skip over the Miss Jones scene I practically said everything I have to say but before that Drew was too much of a dick in this episode in an unlikeable way like THANK GOD he's barely in this one and seeing Lia flirting with Jake feels very wrong for some reason. Still love her GL outfit though <33

Wow Hailey I am so glad to know you care more about the competition than Milly <444/sarcasm

FUCKING HYPOCRITE- (jk I love GL era Hailey <44)

Seeing the club pressuring Milly to talk speaks to me on a weirdly personal level. Everyone wants me to talk about my feelings, but have you ever considered that I don't want to talk about them? That I am still not comfortable enough to let you in? To let you see that I am vulnerable? To actually confront the fact that I am not okay? I know the music club and the ppl ik irl genuinely mean well, but sometimes people aren't willing to talk, and you should respect that. Sometimes, just being there to keep us company and not judge us is enough, yk?

Side note: can really relate to Milly's reflex of hitting people when they get too close, I literally have to stop myself from punching my own mother whenever she grabs my arm or something I fucking hate being touched and I like the nice detail of Zander smiling when he found out who punched Jake.

Honestly, fuck Zander man. I joked about Hailey not caring about Milly's feelings, about Zander straight up doesn't care.

He is a straight up reminder of my one of my bullies and all the adults in my life. Fuck you Zander.

"Does the band mean nothing to you?"

DO MILLY'S FEELINGS MEAN NOTHING TO YOU ZANDER?!?

[Cries in this is super relatable]

"Great...she's on a rampage again"

Um...so, the girl being on the verge of a breakdown and being understandably angry at her bullies and her friends being extremely inconsiderate is considered being on a rampage? Damn, Sean, why do people even like you man.

So...you WANT to have control over her?? Idk man I am really mad at zander rn

"We can deal with whatever's bothering you, together!"

"Milly, I'm worried about you."

I already elaborated on this point but I just want to talk about how much I love Hailey in the first 4 episodes she was literally an awesome queen what happened to her 😭

God I love Redemption so fucking much it is literally the best song and musical scene in TMF /gen

Love the foreshadowing to Lia's redemption in the scene where they're bullying Milly btw, Rosy is awesome when it comes to subtlety (that is how you spell it right-?)

"🎵But you keep trying to get too close🎵"

Literally on the verge of tears this song (and whole episode tbh) hits way too close to home/gen (i feel like I have to keep clarifying how genuine I bcuz I don't think people realize how emotional this gacha series can make me)

"🎵Saved myself by turning into stone🎵"

[In tears] I swear people really underestimate how fucked up someone's psyche can be when they're all cheery and hyper. Media has made us believe that people who bottle up emotions are all cold and depressed but really the most cheerful people you knew tend to be the most depressed. The only other major examples from my fandoms that fit this category that I can think of are KEL from Omori and Kokichi form Dangan, but I feel like KEL fits this statement more that Ouma tbh

"🎵So save your judgement 'cause you just don't know🎵"

REAL. AND THE CAMERA PANNING TO ZANDER WAS JUST *chef's kiss* I SWEAR ROSY IS REALLY GOOD AT SHOWING EMOTION.

"🎵And they keep coming like moth to flame🎵"

People want a reaction. Adults keep telling you to just ignore the bullies and they'll go away, but they never will because they KNOW they're getting under your skin and they'll continue teasing you till you snap and they'll only stop when it's already too fucking late.

"🎵Redemption never came🎵"

This. This line is perfect and it is the perfect ending to the song. People are so quick to judge and tell you you need to change but they never stop to get to know the real you, they never stop to actually help you change, and you'll always be the villain in the end.

"Milly seems really important to these guys"

YA THINK?!?!

"I'm missing chunks of my hair because of her!"

Zoey please marry me 💖

"They must be talking about Milly..."

Yeah, no shit, Sherlock

"I can't believe she has a crush on that nerd!"

Me neither, Zoey, Milly is wayyyy above his league.

"You...blackmailed your friend for me?"

Also, being bullied for a crush is soo real. Like, I am aroace so I wasn't bullied for HAVING a crush, I was bullied for being a "pick me" because I just so happened to be close friends with a guy and they were all accusing us of dating (this is like a big deal here since dating is very frowned upon, especially for AFABs; so they KNEW they were gonna tank my reputation and ruin my life basically. I can't tell you the amount of teachers who would look at me weird when I talked to my guy friends)- anyways this barely has anything to do with Milly or tmf but this is my blog I do whatever

[EDIT: A WHOLE CHUNK OF THE RANT WAS DELETED?? I AM REWRITING IT NOW]

"Y'know, what? I think I might go see what Drew's up to, I've yet to tell him about how I saw you with your sugar daddy last weekend"

This was the moment I started hating Jake. I didn't like him before, but I started loathing him at that moment.

I have been cheated on before, and if my friends knew and didn't tell me I would have killed them.

"But drew wouldn't have believed him!" Well, he believed him in ep 10, didn't he? And Henriam would have been there to back him up anyways.

Another question I have regarding this is how on earth did he blackmail her?! Liek he didn't have a photo or anything.

AND WHY ISNT HE CONCERNED ABOUT ZOEY GOIGN OUT WITH AN ADULT!??!

"Aw, you two looked very cozy together"

His tone reminds me of my abuser and I don't like. It has nothing to do with the essay, but I wanted to point it out. It really got under my skin.

"Just...please don't tell Drew about what you saw"

Is ti just me or does she seem genuinely sad?? Like her conscience is tormenting her?? Idk man maybe I am just reading into this way too much but- [pulls out ancient tmf theories about Zoey being forced into this by sb and actually being in love with Drew]

"I can't believe those girls, snooping into people's diaries like that"

And you can believe Jake blackmailing Zoey?? I get you're still salty about Lia but cmon Hailey give the man some consequences

[INSERT DEAN SCENE HERE]

MR.BROOOOOOOOOOOM

GOD HER TONE IS JUST- LIKE, SHE'S UNCERTAIN ABOUT JAKE'S METHOD [PROBABLY] BUT SHE CANT BELIEVE SOMEBODY CARES ABOUT HER THAT MUCH OH MY- SOMEBODY GIVE HER A HUG PLEASE SHE NEEDS IT

I SWEAR IF I SEE SOMEBODY ELSE CALL HER CARDBOARD LIEK THE ANON DID I WILL KILL YHEM

"Um...well, when you put it like that-"

Jesus Christ this man doesn't even realize what he did.

That final interaction with Milly and Jake where they reflect on the whole thing is just- beautiful, awesome, fantastic. It's really sweet and I love seeing Milly finally being comfortable enough to talk about her feelings (even if she isn't being too specific or conveying all of her feelings)

Why does Elliot look like that.

Milly why do you like this guy.

Anyways, I love the sound effects Rosy used to add whenever people would blush, I miss it (iirc it isn't in any of the new ep)

GOD I MISSED HE INTRO/OUTRO SONG SO MUCH NOSTALGIA-

Anyways, I love this episode, this is peak TMF and it makes me angry to see how Milly was reduced to comic relief in the end.

I would write a proper conclusion but I am too fucking lazy

Bye freaks

[asha-mage]

WoT S2 Premier - The Good, the Interesting, and the Messy

Now that I've had a chance to sleep on it and become half way coherent again, I want to say that I really really liked what their doing so far in season 2. You can see the seems of course, the places where COVID era production and changes had to shift things around, but the show is continuing it's central ethos of adapting the heart of the series and characters, even while having to shift the details to suit their limitations and medium, and that to me is far far more important then one-to-one accurate book scenes.

I don't have anything bad to say about the show, so instead I am going to split up my more general thoughts into three broad categories: The Good (stuff I adored), The Interesting (Things I'm very very curious to see where they are headed), and the Messy (the places where some of their working within limitations has created complex problems for further down the road, or might inform certain things more directly).

The Good

Every actor so far has knocked it out of the fucking park. I have to give special shout outs to Rosamund Pike, Joshua Stradowski, Zoe Robins, Natasha O'Keeffe, and Ceara Coveney for really clearly managing to convey the nuances and complexities of their characters in ways that just blow me away. The show's writing continues to get these characters on a fundamental level and every actor is turning in a performance that conveys their heart so well.

The visual look of the show still rules, but channeling especially has taken a huge step forward in how it's depicted. I didn't mind the way it looked in season 1 the way some did, but I appreciate that they've decided to hew to something closer to what the Darkhorse Comics did, especially as we have so many characters now trying to figure out how to actually channel the One Power.

I also like that we're seeing sharp differences already in the different groups channel, just visually. The Aes Sedai use sweeping graceful gestures, the damne sharp, short gestures, with little wasted energy, all clearly rehearsed as if drilled into the military style.

In other ways the visuals of the show, especially in it's art direction, also rule. The way Cairhien has a mix of Versailles era France and Han Era China in architecture and fashion. The way the Seanchan feel alien, strange, and other, and yet how key parts of their Empire's culture come through even as their conquering and destroying.

The use of the Texan/American accents hits the PERFECT balance I was hoping for to add to that level of strangeness. It's not heavy enough to be a joke, but it's so stark in comparison to everyone crisp vaguely European accents. On that note- the sheer brutality of the village's subjugation, this tiny nowhere village probably somewhere on Almoth Plane, just one ant being smushed by the huge fingers of the Empire. Talk about effective introductions.

The Interesting

I was admittedly a little skeptical of the choice ot have Rand working a asylum but having seen the show I'm glad I reserved judgement because it fits in perfectly with hie Messiah vibe. Here is the savior of the world, and is he staying in palaces and toppling cities? No (well not yet). He's spending his time caring for the sick and the mad, doing menial back breaking work for those society rejects and wants to forget. And of course, it's more complicated then simple altruism: Rand is being driven by his own fear of going mad, his own desire to know what he's facing, and yet that compassion still shines through.

I also really like that, since Rand can't be Lan trained in the show, they decided to do something very Jordan: take a classic trope (cooky wise old master) give it a shine of realism (he's got dementia and PTSD from being a vetran soldier) and dig at the humanity underneath (Rand is letting the old man train him as much to help the man as to learn the sword).

Liandrin is a character I'm shocked by how much I am enjoying her in the show. The decision to explore her depths more, to dig into her anger, her arrogance, her desire for control and power, is fascinating, and her relationship with Nynaeve and Egwene even more so. Her scene with Nynaeve where she gets Nynaeve to channel (an adaption of Siuan scene from the books) especially kicks ass. It's got the same fundamental point as the book: Nynaeve is limiting herself, holding herself back, but the show lets it be starker, crueler, because it IS Laindrin, not Siuan.

The choice to have Perrin be solo with the Shienarans, even if was basically forced on the writers by Barney Harris's departure. They don't waste any of that time, using it to explore Perrin's growing sense of isolation, his grief at Lalia, his relationship to Loial, and his growing fear of the wolves. I've always felt that Perrin, who is very introspective and quite, was the hardest of the main heroes to adapt, and the ways their bringing his conflict out and literalsing continue to be very smart.

The Messy

Some of the merges have caught me off guard, even though I knew they where coming. Elays and Hurin makes a great deal of sense. I have a strong fondness for Hurin, but I can admit he's an easy cut. It does raise the question though of how they are going to incorporate the element of noblesse oblige, which is an important part of how the series explores it's themes of government, nobility, responsibility, and duty. Of course, even if they had kept Hurin the party splitting means he'd probably be no where near Rand right now, so this was almost certainly the right choice.

Nynaeve's Acceptatron Test. Having sat with it, I still like it a lot, and I understand the choices they've made. I wish it had been a little bit more clear that her decision to go back in the final arch was her decision, having a scene of her forcing the arch to appear with the Power, but overall I think they had a good job otherwise. The first test was always going to have to be different since they've cut Aginor and Balthamel from the show, and the important part was Nynaeve choosing to go back over her own anger and desire for revenge, which they kept. The second arch probably would have required half the run time of the episode if they wanted to do it in full, so I don't mind them condensing it down, and again the important thing is that Nynaeve choose to leave the role of Wisdom behind for good, to seek the power to truly make a difference in the lives of those she cares about. The third arch is the big one, and the point of that sequence was always Nynaeve rejecting paradise in order to go back and protect those she loves. She is offered everything she could possibly want, but it isn't enough because her friends, those in her charge, are still at risk, and nothing has changed. She has to go back to save them, because that is the essence of who she is. The show takes the plank of showing that paradise would be hollow anyways, doomed to fall apart because the world needs Nynaeve, she is called to duty, and she can not reject it. It's....actually moment very reminiscent of Rand's Portal Stone journey/his arc in TGH which makes sense since they've always been parallel characters, and the closest thing to a male and female lead the series has.

Verin being merged with Vandene. This is one that it will take far more for me to decide on. On a very practical level it makes a lot of sense, but it has long term implications for Verin's arc in the series that wont be apparent for a very very long time. How will Adeleas factor into Verin's scheme? Does she know? Is she in on the plan to bring down the Black Ajah? Is she ignorant and Verin has been carrying this off in secret while her own sister had no idea? A lot of how this merger goes hinges on how those questions swing. Also, there is Adeleas's murder to consider. It's likely to be kept, but the circumstances being different, and Verin being Verin, the vengeance she seeks will likely be a great deal more dramatic and direct then what Vandene could do.

Past that though I mostly just have gushing and nitpicks, and far more gushing then nitpicking all things considered. Overall....another banger start. I probably liked the opening to season 1 a little bit better, but I suspect season 2 is going to go to some Interesting Places that I am Ready For.

[robotnikholmescomicblog]

And with that, that’s that

Wow. So, uh, I just finished my quick-fire reviews of each and every Archie Sonic ever released.

I may have skipped one or two, such as the “Sonic & Sabrina the Teenage Witch“ one, but regardless, there’s a sense of finality to having given these issues a close look for so long. Page have been analysed, discussions have been had with friends and followers, and I’ve given my two rings on various Archie Sonic topics and its varying creative team. It’s honestly very strange, having reviewed these silly Sonic comics on and off since 2015, and now finding myself with no more books to read. I was thrust back into the mindset I had back in 2017, where I ranted and raved that the comics were over, but I was a dumb kid back then. Going from this series’ jokey beginning, continuing through to the Ken Penders era, the Dork Age, the much more decent Ian Flynn era, the reboot, Sonic: Mega Drive...seeing the evolution of this book, I feel like I’ve grown as a reviewer alongside it. I hold this comic series close to my heart.

For real though, it’s not just been me. There are a lot of really cool peeps who’ve also shared their own thoughts on the comics, and I love that! Hearing about what others have to say on stuff I am also passionate about is honestly the best. Really gets my hyperfixated brain running! I must give a humble thanks to @scruffyplayssonic, @konnichibot, @kellodrawsalot @firebirdmaximus, @kkobun, @nuttyrabbit, @gojira007, @sege-h, @pc-the-unicorn-reblogs, and every single one of you for sharing my posts and giving your insight on the series and my reviews! I’m often too shy to chat and dm but I hope this post clearly express my appreciation for yall. And big props to you, @robotnik-mun​, for sticking by me for damn near the entire series. You’ve always brought up points I missed, and added to topics I myself frequently had difficulty articulating. Peeps like you guys made the journey a lot sweeter, like a sort of community!

As for the future of me covering Archie Sonic specifically, like with the comics in my heart, they’re never truly leaving. I’m still gonna post about them here and there, reblog awesome art of its characters, and of course talk about the creative team’s other stuff, be it Ken Penders’ aimless spiritual successors or Ian Flynn and IDW Publishing stuff! Come rain or shine, this blog will always exist, so yall ain’t gonna be free from me gushing about the blue hedgehog anytime soon!

Not at the moment though. Now I rest. xD

Until the next time I post!

- RobotnikHolmes out -

[singmyaubade]

BEST FRIENDS

sypnosis: i have loved you for many years, maybe i am just not enough..

mature: may contain cursing, NSFW, and others

marauders era / james potter x y/n

you steadied your breath, finally done with the test in potions, “ay l/n!” you heard a familiar voice that warms your heart.

you turn around to see james smiling, running in your direction, “slow down potter!” you yelled with a grin as he smashes into you as you both land on the ground.

“are you trying to kill me?” you questioned, groaning in pain.

“is it a crime to be happy to see your best friend?” he asked, looking you in the eyes as you looked back in his eyes, heart rate growing faster.

he laughed before sitting up and extending his hand as you happily accepted, “thank you kind sir.” you fakely bowed.

“of course, my fair maiden.” you gave a teething smile at his playfulness.

“what were you so excited about that you nearly made me lose a limb?” you asked, walking ahead of him.

“lily talked to me!” he cheerfully replied.

you stopped in your tracks, “and why is this an exciting event?” you asked.

he frowned, “she never talks to me and she finally replied to my compliments.”

your breath hitched, feeling uneasy, “good on you james.” you turned back, giving him a reassuring smile.

he grinned back, interlocking your arms, “wanna go to my dorm?” he asked, already walking in the direction.

“i am excited to see what they are arguing about today.” you accepted.

“oh im sure it will take up most of the evening.” he added as you laughed.

“oh honey! i’m home!” james yelled into the dorm he shared with his best mates.

“did you bring the ham and brisket?” sirius yelled back in a failed country accent.

“now padfoot, that is a sad accent.” prongs replied, hitting him in the shoulder.

you looked inside as remus was laying, reading a book. you saw peter drawing someone on a piece of parchment paper. lastly, you saw siriua laying stomach down on his bed.

“and you brang the dime of the season.” sirius joked.

“just for you.” you replied, giving him a kiss on the cheek as you headed over to remus, “may i ask what you are reading?”

“you may not.” he grunted but you know he was just in one of his moods, giving him a kiss on the cheek as you headed over to peter.

you sat on his knee as you looked at his drawing, “pete, that is beautiful!” you boasted.

“they do say i am the greatest artist in year six.” he joked as you gave him a kiss on the cheek before laying on james bed next to him.

“would you ever date me?” he asked, looking at you.

you blushed, stuttering, “w-what, why would you ask?”

“i dunno, just curious.” he answered, looking ahead now as if he had never asked the question.

“have you decided who to take to the yule ball?” you asked, hoping he had considered you.

“lily of course but if she doesn’t accept, ill go with one of the banging girls in seventh year.” he smirked.

a piece of your heart shattered that james didn’t even consider you, “what about you?”

“probably nobody.” you answered.

“a damn shame if ive ever heard one.” sirius interjected, “ill go with you if you pay me five galleons.”

“i would rather go with slughorn.” you said, rolling your eyes.

he touched his heart with his hand, “you bruise my heart.”

you laughed, “are we going to that party tonight?” peter asked as your eyes opened widely.

“shit! i forgot about that and it’s in an hour, i have to get ready!” you quickly got up as they all looked at you as if you were crazy, “some of us are not here to look mediocre.” you winked as sirius mocked you as you headed out of the door.

you quickly opened the dorm door to see marlene already getting ready, “where have you been?” she asked.

“entertaining the marauders?” dorcas added.

“i lost track of time.” you replied, putting on your favorite dress.

“you really shouldn’t hang out with james if you like him, it’s bad for your sanity.” mary said.

“well it’s not like we are best friends.” you sarcastically said.

“but you know he likes lily and you like him.” dorcas said.

“i am fully aware but am i supposed to stop being friends with him because he can’t fancy me?” you asked, looking at all the girls.

“all we are saying is to protect your heart.” marlene sighed.

“and i appreciate you all, i just need to think of a plan.” you smiled at marlene, “but can we focus on the fact that we are going to be absolutely ravishing?” you said as they all laughed.

“per usual.” dorcas added.

you started adding your strawberry lip gloss as you fixed your hair and looked in the mirror once more, “you look hot!” marlene complimented.

“marls, don’t make me drop james for you.” you blew her a kiss as she fake caught it and held it to her heart.

“okay let’s go, i think that this is too late or an entrance.” mary urged as they all headed out the door.

dorcas said the password to the gryffindor common room as it opened and they heard the music. the marauders looked at all of them as james’s eyes darted away from lily’s face to yours.

you smiled into his direction as dorcas grabbed your hand to move to the dance floor, you started moving your hips to the song.

you felt someone behind you and you turned to see gideon prewett, an old fling. you gave him a smile as he moved his hands to your waist and you started grinding against him.

you could feel a pair of eyes on you and you look to see james talking to lily but his eyes are straight on you, your breath quickens at the eye contact.

“excuse me gideon.” you say as the song finishes. you move to sit on the couch as you feel someone sit next to you.

you look at the person and feel it to be james, “hi.” he says, giving you a shy grin.

“hi jamie.” you greet sweetly, “where’s lily?” you asked.

“went somewhere with mclaggen.” he shrugged as you frowned.

“im sorry jamie.” you sincerely felt bad.

“it’s okay, i have you.” he looked at you as you looked back at him.

you both stared at eachother for a long time before he leaned in closer and you followed the same movement as he kissed you deeply.

you felt your tounges intertwining as you tasted the firewhisky and felt the burn of it but it only ignited the kiss.

your hand went to his cheek as his went to your hair and he pulled on it gently.

“told you so.” mary said, taking the five galleons from sirius as he rolled his eyes.

“be my date to the yule ball?” james asked.

“without a doubt.” you smiled, kissing him again.