#This fandom had always been nice so I thought I’d ask

[neil-gaiman]

Hi Neil.

I know you are flooded with asks and this somehow became extremely long. Too long. “Why am I suddenly telling this poor man my life story?” too long. “I think I’d rather he work on the GO3 script than read this wild beast” too long. “He’s going to think you’re criminally dangerously insane” too long. If you never get to it, I’m good with never seeing a response from you. Maybe it’s better that way? Maybe an anon would have been nice here. But, it’s 2024, so I say “we ball.” It’s a privilege to be able to send this to you at all. You get a lot to this effect and I hope they give you good feels, so maybe what’s the harm, yeah? Because this is not an ask. This is a thank you letter.

First, thanks for reblogging my therapist post, I hope it amused you. I nearly sent you “How am i supposed to explain this to my therapist?!” But refrained. At that time.

So, therapy. What is therapy really? Well…

Things have been really rotten for as long as I can remember. Bad health, bad doctors, bad relationships, bad coping mechanisms, bad all kinds of things. (Yeah, bad is a weak and unhelpful word, my therapist reminds me, but we’re doing this.)

Well, things got even more really really rotten and BAD these last few years. Health declined further, coping mechanisms declined further and more intensely, packed up my life, applied for disability, moved back in with my parents across the country.

Then 4 years ago last week I watched my fiance die of a sudden heart attack. I was 29. Two years later my best friend died. Then last summer I sauntered vaguely into a cancer scare. Not long before an operation my cat who has been my companion through so much garbage died as well. I’m not entirely in the clear on the cancer scare front. All my attempts at going back to work, volunteering, going to grad school - they collapsed on me because I couldn’t get through this STUFF.

(Sometimes when I talk about this, when I tell people, I think “they are going to think you are a raging pathological liar.” Because I’m not sure I would believe someone if they told me all of this happened to them. In such a short time period. All before they were 35. And hell if that hasn’t been isolating. You know how it sounds? Lonely. And it is.)

I did the hypervigilant and sensation/experience chasing stage of PTSD. It got me in a lot of trouble in all kinds of ways. I had to do a lot of medical and psych advocating because things kept getting worse. That was exhausting. Then that peaked. I went into the thick of the “I feel absolutely nothing” stage for a long time. I didn’t feel fatigue or hunger or thirst. Not people, feelings, a reason. Not hope.

But of course, like seems be for a lot of us, I somehow found Good Omens at just the right time. I was a very “I’m so cool and intellectual I mostly consume non-fiction media” person for too long. Like, what? How is that even a real thing? And it wasn’t real. It was just part of this curated autism mask that I don’t think anyone really bought anyway.

I think I got to a point where I’d just had too much reality. I needed fantasy. I didn’t realize I always needed it. But I denied myself for too many odd and painful reasons. Maybe I thought it was an escape I didn’t deserve.

But as it turns out, it wasn’t an escape. I watched both seasons last fall, and then this light came on. I watched it again and again.

I came to tumblr because I needed more. I found this fandom. I stepped into this beautiful world of fanart and fanfiction and brain flexing meta writing and a sense of community and wonder that you and Terry created - that everyone involved in the show inflated - exploded in the right way - like fireworks if fireworks were some kind of autocatalytic reaction - a self perpetuating force.

It’s not a “saved my life” feeling. Not a “getting my life back” feeling. It’s been a “maybe it’s time for you to have the life you’ve always been denied - that you’ve denied yourself” feeling.

I’m creating. I’m not “great” yet. Not terribly “good” at all. Maybe “behind” as far as the “proper” timeline for starting. I know there isn’t one, not really, but boy does that society machine make ya feel like there is. And sure, I started and stopped a lot in the past. But the second it got hard I always gave up. I felt like if I didn’t get it “right” to begin with, then I just didn’t have it in me at all. But for once I’m really in it. I’m writing and trying to draw things that look less like fever dream five year old drawings. (Not that there’s anything wrong with those, is there? 🙃) I’m eating better. I’m sleeping better. I reach out to old friends more. I’ve made new friends who share this love of Good Omens.

My therapist has been floored by the change in me. After that first funny mini flop, he has been so encouraging about it. I saw him this week and I said “Maybe this is helping me get prepared to start living again. Maybe it’s a springboard.” And he honest to god said “But You ARE living. This is YOU LIVING. Why does it have to be a springboard? Why do you have to turn this into ‘work?’ Just let yourself have this for once in your life.”

But there were two more added elements that made it all work. And I can’t help but think this whole brainrot thing wouldn’t have happened without them. So many things just happened all at just the right time - a proper coincidence.

In all of the madness of the last few years I finally got the memo that I'm autistic. i figured I was for a while. But it finally sunk in for me and my docs and my people. So I’d been working on unpacking that. Grieving the life that could have been entirely different, shedding the mask. I let myself hyperfixate openly instead of hiding it and hating myself for “spiralling” or “obsessing” like others -!like ‘I’ always punished myself for before we knew that it was a trait and not a personality flaw.

Then over the last few months my therapist and I started trying this new exercise. One session he stopped me and said “in the last 20 minutes you have responded to what I’ve said with 9 ‘I knows.’” My response to that? “Ugh, I know.” So we started this “I know” swear jar type situation. Really, I’ve been afraid of not knowing. I couldn’t let myself “not know.” Because it meant I was “dumb.” I was just drowning for so long in guilt and self loathing for the “I knew better and screwed up anyway.” Or “I should’ve known better - I should know that by now.”

As it turns out, there’s a lot of things I don’t know. That I didn’t know. Things I will never know. And refusing to admit all of that kept me from learning a damn thing. Kept me from asking questions. Kept me from trying new things because it was scary to do something new - something unknown - and I "knew" how it would all turn out anyway. Kept me from connecting with people because it was painful or embarrassing when they knew things I didn’t and it seemed like I already should have. Kept me from getting better at making art, music, writing. Kept me from forgiving myself. Kept me from growing. And kept me from moving forward. Maybe not on. I don’t know if we ever “move on” from things. But we can move forward as we carry them. And as we do, the weight gets less. We’re able to carry it better. But only if we can admit that we don’t know how. Only if we don’t treat ourselves like this is something we do know or should know and we’re just failing because we’re less than. Not good enough. Not strong enough. Not deserving. We have to be able to say “I don’t know how to do this.” And then we can start looking for the answers. We can ask. We can learn.

I thought about the apple. Being able to tell the difference between good and evil. Aziraphale’s years and years of watching what he “knows” to be true be proven wrong. Crowley’s need to ask questions…

The simple and enormous gift of “Knowledge.” The “Knowledge” of the difference between Good and Evil. The “Knowledge” that can only be gained by realizing, accepting, admitting that there are things we don’t know. Asking the questions. Sometimes we get answers we don’t like. Sometimes the consequences of asking hurt us. And unless you want to stay in that painful place that painful knowledge got you, well, you’ve got to let yourself learn how to get out.

So all of this good? I never expected this. I never thought I deserved it. Joy and belonging and this sense that “Yeah, maybe things can get better. Maybe things can be good.” Because I said those things, not truly believing them, to the people I thought needed to hear it. But it couldn’t save them. It was hollow. The proof for us wasn’t really in our orbit or on our radar at the time. And now they’re gone.

People always say “it’s never too late.”

One of the people I lost said “it’s later than you think.”

I jokingly would respond “it’s already too late.”

It was for him in the end. For them. For some people I guess it really is. But maybe a lot of the “too late” people are there because they think “they know” that things will never be good for them. So they stop looking, they stop asking, stop finding. And eventually they just stop.

Then there came Crowley’s “It’s always too late.” The first time I heard it I thought “For sure, Crowley-cakes, I KNOW.”

But then…I just needed to rewatch the whole thing. And lines like that…familiar things…familiar themes…I was suddenly identifying with these characters. I suddenly saw myself. And the realization hit - I connected with something! Something new. And I FELT THAT. And that tiny little crack that made in the wall was just enough to start breaking it down. Yeah, when you start letting yourself feel after not feeling for so long, opening up to the good feelings means opening up to feelings and then the bad ones come out too. But when there IS good … it helps you balance. You can deal with the bad a little better because you’ve got the good thing to lean against when it gets too much. And now you’ve got feelings. You’ve got good and bad. You’ve got sticky foggy grey. You’ve got life.

Whew.

So, TLDR, thank you. From the bottom of my slowly healing heart, thank you.

And to sign off with some shits and giggles… I couldn’t find this in existence as a sticker so I had to custom order. Perhaps this will spread misery and panic among the humans of my city - or at least a malignant and creepy sense of unease.

Or maybe they’ll say “wtf” and go home and google it and they’ll fall into the Good Omens hole they never knew they needed too.

Thank you for this. I never quite know what to say to messages like this apart from I am really glad that it helps. (It becomes the weird extra piece that I worry about when writing season 3 -- hoping that it will be that thing again. Not just a story, but something that helps people feel and helps with healing and helps with love.)

[foreverrandomwritings]

Okay so my request is something that someone wrote for me for a different fandom but I’m slowly loving Jake and Bradley. Anyways I am Texas born and raised so I call everyone love, honey, sweetheart etc. but I got in trouble for doing it and apparently I offended everyone and such. And then something else happened where someone is hating on my personality. Can I just a fluffy fluff with either Jake or Bradley whomever you think it fits best. Where the reader is like slowly trying to change/caving into herself and not be as bubbly or happy and they notice and have a conversation and such about loving them as it. I’d love it if it was romantic. However if this is too much and you don’t want to write it I will not be offended. You do whatever you feel comfortable with and I will support you 💕

No Keying Cars

Summary: You overhear a conversation that plants a seed of doubt in your mind.

Pairings: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Afab!Reader x Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

Warnings: Men being mean, swearing, broken noses, anxiety, insecurities and fluff.

Word count: 2929

Masterlist

The boys were used to your Texas charms, it was one of the many things that they loved about you. It made Jake feel at home which was perfect because he was always homesick. It always gave Bradley the comfort he desperately needed. Your relationship worked out well and none of you had been happier than you were together. Well that was until you heard Harvard, Yale and Fritz having a conversation about you being entirely too much at one of the many squads monthly get togethers. 

“You agree that she just talks way too much right?” Yale and Fritz hummed in agreement. You stopped right around the corner of the doorway to the kitchen. You weren’t sure who they were talking about but the next sentence confirmed it was you. 

“Also what’s with her calling everyone love and babe and shit? Like how fucking annoying, I’m not your boyfriend so stop fucking acting like it. Though I know Jake and Bradley have to be sick of that shit to.” You choked back a sob as you heard Yale’s comment. You’d been told so many times in your life you were a bit much. But Jake and Bradley had never made you feel like you were an annoyance. They had been the only ones that made you feel valid in your attitude. Though now doubt started to eat away at you. Were they annoyed with you? Were they just lying to you to save your feelings? 

“Don’t even get me started on the way she acts all fucking peppy and happy all the time. There is no way she can be that perky. It's gotta be an act right?” Harvard and Yale laughed together at Fritz’s statement. You decided to turn around and walk back outside instead of wandering into the room to get your drink. 

“Where’s your lemonade at darlin’?” Jake took your wrist lightly and brought you down to his lap. You wrapped your arm around his shoulder and watched Bradley running around the yard with Reuben's daughter on his shoulders acting like an airplane. 

“Decided I wasn’t thirsty, hon-Jake.” The blonde gave you a confused look at the way you said his name but before he could ask you about it, Natasha dragged his attention away from you when she asked him something about work. You took the time to continue to think of everytime you had used a term of endearment with one of your shared friends, they never seemed bothered when you did. Though you guess it could be that they were all putting on an act and maybe they didn’t like you as much you thought they did. Maybe all the spa days with Natasha and her girlfriend Sylvia and movie nights with Bob and Halo were just them being nice to you. 

“Hey baby you okay?” You hadn’t realized that Bradley was standing in front of you until he spoke. You shook your head trying to clear your thoughts before giving him a soft smile. 

“Yea, just not feeling too well.” He looked at you curiously before handing you his water which you took a sip of gratefully. Jake’s hand on your back brought you a sense of comfort. 

“Do you want to go home?” You pondered the question for a moment. On one hand you didn’t want to feel like a burden to those around you anymore and really wanted to leave. But on the other hand you knew that the boys valued their time with the squad and you didn’t want to take away from that. So you shook your head and assured him that you were fine. After a couple more reassurances he gave you a kiss on the head before going to ask Maverick about going back up to his hangar soon. The rest of the night went smoothly and you fell asleep cuddled up between your boyfriends when you eventually got back home.

You figured the next morning you’d feel better. That the anxiety that ate away at you the night before would have cleared your system but you were sorely mistaken. Throughout the work day you were careful about the way you talked to everyone. You toned down your usual cheerful attitude and didn’t send Bradley or Jake a single cute cat video on your lunch break. 

When you got home you changed into your pajamas and crawled in bed. You turned on New Girl and let the voices of some of your favorite characters fill your head. The noise of the front door opening and closing had you turning over in bed towards the window. The voices of your boyfriends calling for you had you burrowing further down in the bed, remaining perfectly still in hopes they would think you were asleep. 

“Oh I think she’s asleep, Bradshaw.” You let out a quite shaky breath at the sound of his footsteps walking back out of the room. An hour or so went by of you laying there staring at the wall, before you decided to find out what the ruckus was in the kitchen. 

“Was your nap good honey?” Bradley’s voice greeted you as you padded into view. You gave him a soft hum in reply before taking a seat at the island. It was very abnormal for you to take a nap after work. You were normally bounding to the door in glee to greet them when they got home. So you knew they were most likely starting to suspect something was different. 

“We're making your favorite for dinner.” Jake gave you a big smile which would normally have filled you with warmth but now you just felt like they were going out of their way for no reason. 

“You guys didn’t have to do that.” You picked up a piece of mail and opened it, even though it was just a bill you still looked at it intently. Not wanting to see the looks on your boyfriend's faces. 

“We know we don’t have to but we wanted to.” Bradley slipped your preferred drink beside you and you whispered a quiet thank you to him. 

“Are you still feeling under the weather from last night?” Jake eyed you curiously as you put down the paper in your hands. 

“Yea, I think I might be coming down with the bug going around or something.” You watched as they set the table and took all the food over. With a small sigh you grabbed your drink and took your seat at the round table. Jake was on your right and Bradley on your left. They asked you if you wanted to take a couple days off work to recover but you dismissed them, assuring them you’d be fine. 

The three of you conversed about your days. When Jake mentioned dessert you excused yourself to bed claiming a headache. You missed the way they looked at each other in silent conversation. You slipped away from the table and crawled back in bed. This time actually falling asleep. 

The next day was pretty much the same as the day prior. You went about work monotonously, then you got home and crawled in bed. The boys came home and asked if you needed them to get you anything or do anything for you and you waved them away with a sweet smile. 

“Sweetheart, do you want to talk about anything?” Bradley asked you as he slipped into bed behind you wrapping his arm around you and dragging your back to his chest. 

“I’m alright, love.” You whispered the assurance to him, his brows furrowed at the tiredness in your voice. 

“But you know you can talk to me or Jake if you need to, right?” Him and Jake were both worried about you, you huffed at the thought of them stressing over you. 

“I know Bradley. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” You moved back to bury yourself further into his arms, reveling in the feeling of being wrapped up in his warmth and surrounded by his scent. 

The next morning Bradley went into work as usual but Jake hung back since his morning meeting was canceled. You had decided to call out of work in hopes of focusing on your mental health. Jake pestered you the whole morning before he went in to work. 

“I can stay home today if you want me to. Mav wouldn’t mind if I missed one day to take care of you.” He ran a hand up your thigh, squeezing slightly from his squatted position between your legs. 

“There’s no need to do that Jake. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.” You placed a hand on his cheek and brought your lips to his in what you hoped was a reassuring kiss. 

“Do you want me to tell Nat you want to cancel your girls night tonight?” You had completely forgotten about your plans for a group massage.

“No, I think I might need the night out.” A plan started to form in your head, because if anyone would be honest with you it would be the female aviator and her amazing partner. So you would ask them what they thought about you. 

“Okay, well if you end up needing anything, me and Bradley are just a phone call away. I’ll see you later.” He gave you a final kiss before leaving you sitting on the couch. You sat there most of the day, the tv on in the background. You thought about what you were going to ask the pair later. When you finally decided on your questions you took a shower and sat down with a book. When the alarm on your phone went off notifying you that you had thirty minutes till you needed to be out the door you got up and got ready to go. 

“Bradley told me you’ve been acting weird the last couple of days, are you okay?” You weren’t surprised that Bradley had talked to her. They were best friends after all. 

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that. Do you guys think I’m too much?” You turned your head on the table you were laying against and eyed Natasha curiously. 

“What?” She gave you a bewildered look as she processed your question.

“Do you mind the way I call you love or honey or sweetheart sometimes?” You fired off another question their way. 

“Why would you think that?” Sylvia piped up from the other side of Natasha. You could hear the surprise in her voice. 

“Uhm. I just do.” Natasha gave you a look that said she didn’t believe you. You tried to keep your face emotionless but knew you failed when she narrowed her eyes at you. 

“Tell me what you’re talking about. Now.” You let a groan slip through your lips as the masseuse dug into a particularly tense spot. 

“I heard Harvard, Yale and Fritz talking about me at dinner over the weekend. They said that I was too much, that it was annoying that I used terms of endearment so often and said Bradley and Jake were probably sick of me.” You were chewing on your lip nervously. You knew how close the group was and didn’t want to step on toes. Which was one of the one reasons you hadn’t told Jake or Bradley. 

“Those guys are assholes. You can’t believe a word they say. I’ll have a talk with them tomorrow.” She was a steady calm of rage as she spoke. You knew that nothing you’d say could change her mind so you didn’t even try.

“I vote we key their cars.” Sylvia spoke up and the two of you broke out into fits of laughter at the prospect. 

“We aren’t going to do that.” You and Sylvia protested but Natasha made you both agree you weren’t which you both did. 

“Have you talked to Jake and Bradley?” A loud sigh slipped through your lips at her question. Natasha rolled her eyes at the obvious answer on your face.  

“No. I didn’t want to bother them.” Sylvia’s head popped up from over Natasha’s back. Her masseuse paused her movements as you gave her a look of surprise. 

“You know those boys worship the ground you walk on right?” Your cheeks heated at her rhetorical question. Because you knew they always treated you right. Never made you seem like you were annoying them or bothering them in any way. You laughed at yourself realizing how silly you had been acting. 

“I’ll talk to them soon, I promise.” Your promise seemed to be enough for them because all of you put your heads back down and continued your massages in content silence. The three of you grabbed dinner after leaving the spa and you decided that you'd talk to your boyfriends the next night. When you got home they were already in bed. You got ready for bed silently and slipped under the sheets with them. 

You went about the next day as usual. Your attitude was much more cheerful at work and you were looking forward to getting home. Though there was still some doubt running through your mind. Even though you couldn’t think of a time where they seemed fed up with you, you were still nervous that maybe what the three men said rang true. You stopped and bought flowers on your way home and were putting them in respective vases when you heard the front door opening. 

“Honey, we’re home.”Bradley called out and they went straight to the bedroom bypassing the kitchen all together. They were both surprised when they didn’t find you in bed. You stood leaned up against the counter waiting for them to find you. A smile grew on your face as you heard them fighting with each other on who was going to find you first. 

“I found her, Bradshaw.” Jake called out as he spotted you. He ran up to you and spun you around gleefully. 

“The funniest thing happened at work today.” Bradley said as he came into view. Jake sets you down, giving you a chaste kiss. Then Bradley was scooping you up nuzzling his face into your neck. 

“What happened?” You giggled as his mustache tickled your skin. 

“Natasha broke Yale’s nose. Then Mav announced that Yale, Harvard and Fritz are being transferred.” Your jaw dropped at Jake’s words, you did not expect Natasha to get violent.  

“Oh.” Was all you could say, Bradley pulled back and eyed you. He expected you to be a bit more surprised at the news. 

“Any idea why she would do that?” His mustache twitched as he spoke, cocking his head ever so slightly to the side. 

“Uhm, I may have an idea.” You shrugged at him nonchalantly, pulling back from his grasp to move around the flowers in one of your vases. 

“Care to share?” Bradley asked at the same time Jake spoke up.

“Does this have anything to do with why you’ve been acting weird?” Your hands paused around a rose as you nodded.

“I overheard them talking when I went inside for my lemonade. They were saying that I was annoying and too much. Said that you were both probably fed up with me.” They both knew of the insecurities you had from some bullying you went through growing up. 

“Oh sweetheart. Why didn’t you say anything?” Jake moved your face towards his and looked for a clue on how you were feeling.

“I didn’t want to bother you guys. But Nat and Sylv both made it very clear that there was no way they were right. So I was going to talk to you guys tonight. But it seems that you guys beat me to it.” You watched his face for any signs that what they said could be true. But you found none, there was just pure love within his eyes. 

“Now I want to punch them.” Bradley piped up and you snorted, though you knew he was being slightly serious.  

“Sylv said we should key their cars.” You could see a spark of inspiration in Bradleys eyes as you glanced at him. Jake shook his head and kissed your cheek before moving around you. 

“Neither of you are keying their cars.” The look that you and Bradley gave each other did nothing to reassure him.

“More seriously though you know we both love you right?” Bradley settled both of his hands on your hips and forced his face into a serious expression. 

“I know that honey. Just had some old doubts eating at me these last couple of days.” Your thumb brushed against his cheek as you smiled at him. 

“It was honestly the worst without hearing you call me sweetcheeks. Also I never realized how much I’d miss those cute cat videos until you weren’t sending them. Please promise to never deprive us of your magical personality again babe.” You felt your stomach start to flutter as butterflies flew through it rapidly. Jake always knew the right thing to say to brighten your mood.

“I promise.” You grinned at both of them, you knew at that moment you’d never find anyone better for you than the two men standing in the kitchen with you. 

“Good now let's go get ice cream.” Bradley didn’t leave any room for debate and had you thrown over his shoulder in a moment, giggles poured out of you as they walked you out the door. Because where Jake knew what to say to brighten your mood Bradley always knew what to do.

A/N:Firstly I want to apologize for taking so long to write this. Secondly I hope this is what you wanted. Lastly as always likes, comments, follows and reblogs are much appreciated.

Tags(open): @kmc1989 @sylviebell @wkndwlff @teacupsandtopgun @fanboyluvr @loving-and-dreaming @eternallyvenus

[precious-little-scoundrel]

WIP teaser

I got myself a lovely little request over a week ago for a Nurse!xBuck fic. Well, hi, it’s me, can’t not take that and run with it straight off the edge of the known world. I don’t even have a fixed name for it yet but I’ve been enjoying AU-ing our familiar faves to death with it

MOTA Pacific Theatre AU: yeah, you heard that right. Maybe it’s the anniversary of Iwo Jima currently happening or maybe it’s my ongoing crush on Ensign Jane Kendeigh, or -more likely- my subconscious awareness that nurse OC’s are a pretty favorited bunch for fandom writers, so I’ve found myself mixing it up entirely.

We’ve got Navy Flight Nurses and we’ve got Lt. Commander Doc Egan and co-pilots Cleven and Demarco who aren’t too fond of having to fly cargo planes full of wounded out of war zones all due to flight surgeon John Egan’s special request to have Cleven chauffeur him around. Oh yeah, and somehere in here there’s a developing thing between Cleven x oc Nurse!Ensign Maureen Kendeigh

TW: blood? Use of the word “Jap”

…

“You got it, commander.”

More than a little sure her mission was more provoking than necessary, Maureen still obeyed and followed Brady up the length of the plane and towards his station, then past it to poke her head between the pilots’ seats.

“Well, well, this is a pleasant surprise, getting car sick, kiddo?” Demarco joked, “Hey, I get it, I’d find it hell back there with no windows to look out.”

“Those mortars obligingly made a few.” Maureen joked back.

“Anybody hurt?” Cleven asked, and to her surprise, he turned from his panel to look at her with unmasked concern.

A joke was ready made there about everyone quite literally being shot to hell but she sensed he’d not appreciate it and following some uninterpreted impulse of desiring his good opinion, she hardly wished to repay his earnestness with flippancy. “Only one.”

“How bad?”

“He looked -dead.” Maureen admitted, she hadn’t gotten a good look at the man moving past him but she’d seen Egan’s treatment of the body and it wasn’t promising.

Cleven’s jaw worked overtime at the news and something snapped in his mouth, followed by a soft curse from lips too full and soft to always be so stern. Maureen thought he may have broken a tooth with all that tension but he spit out two halves of a bloodied toothpick instead. It fell to his pant leg.

“Major Cleven, sir, you’re bleeding.” It had drawn Maureen’s attention to his wet lap.

“That’s what I said.” Demarco agreed.

“It’s somebody else’s.” Cleven shook his head.

“You know if you pass out on me-“ Demarco warned, completely ignoring Cleven’s denial.

“-that’s why we’ve got co-pilots.” Cleven finished for him with a maddening smirk that made Benny Demarco throw his hands up.

“Can you check him?” he asked, “I mean -you are a nurse!”

“What? Hell no!” Major Cleven spooked for the first time all day at the suggestion, glancing quickly from his reddened trousers, behind him to Maureen Kendeigh, and back again. “I’m fine.” he declared in a firm tone that dettered her almost as much as the challenge of getting over the instruments and a steering column to pull down his pants and look. “Ensign Kendeigh, was there a purpose to your visit?” He redirected, resolutely ignoring Demarco’s unabated concerns.

“Yes sir,” she replied, meekly as she could, “Doc Egan asked me to remind you that you’re not flying a bomber. To mind the oxygen, sir. And that it’s cold.”

Cleven let out a mirthless little laugh. “We’re full of holes Ensign, of course it’s cold.”

“I know sir.”

“Yeah, ‘course you know,” his eyes lightened for a moment and Maureen almost deluded herself he was being chummy when he murmured next, “you’re smart like that. Tell the Lieutenant Commander I’ll keep her nice and low, so low the Jap navy gunners can blow the floor out without a sweat.”

“Thank you, Major.” Maureen chirped, pleased to have been trusted with a bit of morbid humor -it was the truest test of being taken seriously a woman could hope for in the service.

“Thank you, Ensign.” And with that she was dismissed.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Hi! I think Season 5 was a really weird time to invert the love square - it just kind of happens, and the reasons don’t feel very organic, to say the least - I think fandom already has enough to say about it (and hey, you’ve probably talked about it too!)

So if you had to do it (keeping in mind 5 seasons, and canon’s overall structure), where would you invert it? I’ve had this question for a while, and recently arrived to, I’d do it in Miracle Queen, possibly show Marinette or Adrien reconsidering in a post credit scene (or in general, after the scene where they’re all sitting and Marinette goes for Luka). Main reason for me is, Miracle Queen is pretty inconclusive on the shipping aspect - it opens with Adrien being uncertain of his relationship with Kagami, and ends with Adrien still unsure, and Marinette finally accepting Luka.

On the Marinette side, that last part might seem pretty conclusive, but after she suffered a major loss (going with canon’s “Marinette lost Fu” here despite the many problems I have with the way Fu was written), I think the emotional void really couldn’t be properly filled with Luka, and had Chat Noir’s character not gone down the drain after the season finale, he’d be the only real option Marinette can consider even talking to - temp heroes outed, kwamis being glorified toys, barely anyone even knowing Fu and all that. In my ideal world, she would’ve at least moved on from Adrien (wherein canon of course has to insist on the OTP), and I feel Chat Noir fills the void very naturally.

On the Adrien side, I think him interrupting the kiss was a sign of him not knowing what he wants out of a relationship in general - he seemed to be moving on from Ladybug in Hearthunter, and the Ladynoir in Miracle Queen to me felt much closer to them being together against the world (which is… exactly what the episode says out loud), not falling in love. I don’t think Kagami would want a relationship with Adrien after that whole mess (and that did end up being the case), so the closest non Ladybug option would be Marinette. So not a random “I love Marinette because she’s so nice and she kissed me after I pranked her” (canon please 🙄), but more of a “Marinette has always been so nice to me, instead of bothering Ladybug even more I’ll at least try getting a little closer to Marinette” and things develop from there on out.

But Season 4 threw my hope and dreams onto a burning landfill so that was cool. Anyways, how would you structure it? This got a bit long haha

Don't apologize, that was an interesting and quite good argument for flipping the crushes at Miracle Queen. I hadn't really thought about it before, but that would have been a much more satisfying way to shake things up in season four instead of waiting until season five and then speed running the flip only to immediately undo Marinette's side of the flip all within six episodes. I think that your alternate season four could have worked, though it would require season four to really lean into the ending of season three instead of largely ignoring it.

Since you asked where I'd do it if I had to flip the crushes, I'll give you my thoughts, but first I want it put on the record that I hate the idea of both crushes flipping mid-show. One crush flipping feels reasonable, but both? At the same time? That's really hard for me to buy, especially since you'd have to do it pretty quickly given the way canon is structured. You can't drag things out for episodes at a time. Most things take, at most, two episodes.

I'm also not sure what the point of flipping the crushes is. It feels less like narrative progression and more like a stalling tactic since the love square will only get together if one crush flips. Both crushes? Same square, different angle (I jokingly call it the love diamond.)

And yet, canon actually managed to pull off a very solid reverse crush setup. If season five had started off with the crushes flipped, then I would have totally believed it. Marinette just had her crush on Adrien cost her all of the miraculous. That's a very good way to kill a crush just like finding out Chat Noir's identity is a very good way to banish her fears from that event, allowing her to have the confidence to stay with Adrien post-reveal.

Similarly, Adrien just spent a whole season being sad about Ladybug not giving him enough attention, leading up to an episode where Marinette saw that he was suffering and reached out (if only because of magic). I absolutely believe that he'd start falling for Marinette and be less upset with Ladybug post-reveal now that he knows that she has been supporting him all along. He was just looking for support on the wrong side of the mask.

Instead of taking advantage of that setup, canon delayed the flip a few episodes and made it wholly unbelievable. They really give us an episode where Ladynoir got married and had children, followed it up with the episode where the crushes flipped, and then tried to convince us that Marinette was the one who hadn't really fallen in love with Chat Noir. Marinette. The girl whose deepest desire is apparently marriage and children with Chat Noir. But her love isn't real? Really? Yet Adrien is really over Ladybug?

Bull. Shit.

Jubilation is not that setup you go with if Adrienette is your goal. It's the setup for Ladynoir.

Anyway, back to your question! As I detailed above, season five's intro episodes feel like the most obvious place to flip the square. I'd also be interested to see someone do it at Miracle Queen like you discussed, though it would be much less straight forward than season five, making it a better fit for a fanfic than canon in my opinion as I think you'd be hard pressed to do it well within the confines of canon's structure.

My other top choice is Origins because I am a love diamond purist. I think that it's the easiest way to fix a lot of canon's issues. For example: Marinette hanging magazine clippings of her friend/crush all over her walls for all to see with the full knowledge that she actually knows this guy? Kinda weird. Why are you writing it like she has a celebrity crush and not a "real person" crush?

Marinette hanging magazine clippings of her secret hero partner all over her walls? Totally understandable. It's not like she can act like it's a "real person" crush without giving herself away or looking unhinged. Plus how else is she supposed to get pictures of him? It's not like she can take some of her own. That would lead to a lot of awkward questions! She'd also have no reason to think that he'd ever see her shrine. 😈

[cuddlepilefics]

“I’m fine” - juneofdoom day 18

Fandom: Seventeen

Sickie: Jihoon

Caregivers: Seungcheol

Prompt: headache @juneofdoom

Tw: emeto

No one’s POV.:

Late nights at the studio were Jihoon’s thing. At least, that was what the producer tried to convince himself of as he punched in the code to unlock his studio. They had just finished a group dance practice session and while the members headed to their respective dorms, Jihoon had a couple more hours of work before him. His sweaty practice clothes still clung to his skin and he shivered when the air-conditioning blew a cold gust of wind down on him. Yeah, he should change into some clean clothes first even if his shower would have to wait till he’d get home. This was neither the first, nor would it be the last time, so Jihoon had prepared a sports bag filled with clean clothes and snacks, which he always kept at the studio for nights like this.

Feeling a little less disgusting now that he was wearing something clean, Jihoon plopped down in his seat and winced. The impact had sent waves of pain through his skull, reminding him of the headache he had been nursing since shortly after lunch. With a heavy sigh, he leant against the backrest and waited for his computer to load the last track he had been working on. The shrill ringing of his phone cut through his tired haze and he sluggishly picked the device up, already rolling his eyes when he realized it was Seungcheol calling. The leader would probably scold him for working late, despite knowing full well that their groups success depended on it.

“I just realized, I didn’t see you leave with the others”, Seungcheol stated neutrally. Massaging the spot between his brows, Jihoon muttered: “Nice observation, hyung.” – “Are you working late again?”, the older frowned. Jihoon furrowed his brows. If he didn’t leave the company building yet, what else would he be doing there? “Nah, not today, hyung”, the producer hummed, “Some of the decorative plants in the hallway on the studio floor looked a little wilted yesterday, so I thought I’d stop by today to check on them. Maybe they need some more water or just somebody talking to them.”

Jihoon wasn’t sure whether the call had disconnected or if he had just stunned Seungcheol into silence. That question was answered when the leader cleared his throat and muttered: “Those are plastic plants, please don’t water them.” Jihoon dropped his pounding head into his hands and waited for his hyung to say anything else. He knew it was disrespectful to be this sarcastic when Seungcheol only wanted to check on him but he was tired, his head hurt and he had no patience for people stating the obvious. “Are you okay?”, the leader finally asked, “Either you’re upset with me or you’re so out of it that you’re hallucinating and actually want to talk to those fake plants.” – “I’m fine”, Jihoon sighed, “No, I am not upset with you, just frustrated and no, I do not want to talk to those plants. Hyung, I don’t enjoy staying late either, so if you don’t mind, let me please get to work because the sooner I start, the sooner I’ll be done.” – “Sorry”, Seungcheol hummed, “I just didn’t think you’d go tonight. You looked really exhausted earlier and if I didn’t know any better, I would’ve guessed you have a headache.”

Realizing how genuinely concerned the older way, Jihoon couldn’t help but feel guilty. He bit his lip and admitted: “Yeah, I have a headache and I am pretty tired but I’m fine, I just need some caffeine. There’s still some coke in the mini fridge, which should get me through the next couple of hours and then I’ll take the shower I’m craving right now.” Seungcheol knew there was no point in arguing and felt a little guilty himself because he knew that their group had only made it this far thanks to Jihoon’s hard work. His dongsaeng was struggling, that much was obvious and it shouldn’t be all on his shoulders. As the leader, Seungcheol felt that it should be his burden to carry but what could he do? He might check on Jihoon in and hour or two to see whether he was heading back though it might get on the producer’s nerves, Seungcheol wanted to make sure that by “the next couple hours” Jihoon wasn’t talking about five hours. It wasn’t like he hadn’t pulled that on previous occasions.

When the call ended, Jihoon muted his phone. He couldn’t afford anymore disturbances because he really wanted to get home soon. The headache was bothering him more than he wanted to admit and finally got himself a bottle of coke, hoping the caffeine fix would take the edge off and make him a little more functional. At least, he wouldn’t have to fight for his turn to shower because everyone else would be asleep by the time he’d get home.

A shudder ran down his back as he took the first sip, the drink so cold that the bottle was immediately covered in little droplets of condensation. Even if the caffeine wouldn’t kick in fast enough to wake him up, the cold surely did, so hr immediately got to work, trying to ignore how badly the screen made his eyes burn. Eager to ease his headache, Jihoon drank his coke quickly and retrieved a second bottle, despite the goosebumps covering his arms. The liquid sloshed uncomfortably in his stomach but he was too tired to care, stifling a breathy burp behind his fist. Ugh, fizzy drinks…. Unable to get his tired mind to focus, the producer quickly lost track of time, frustrated because his work was slow-going.

By the time he had finished up his second bottle of coke, Jihoon’s stomach was more than just a little upset gurgling audibly when he shifted in his seat trying to find a somewhat comfortable position. Not wanting to take any chances, the producer had even pulled the waste bin from under his desk, keeping it right next to his chair for quick access. He tried to burp in hopes of alleviating some of the pressure in his stomach but it only left a sour taste on his tongue, making him feel queasier by the minutes. Unable to stand the pain any longer, Jihoon saved his work and shut off the screen, which immediately dimmed the room a bit, allowing him to rest his eyes. He crossed his arms on the desk and laid his head on them. Taking slow deep breaths, Jihoon tried to quell the rising nausea. He was too tired to deal with being sick right now.

Jihoon didn’t get much of say in that though, soon finding himself burping over the waste bin. A sharp gag sent flashes of pain through his skull and he broke into a sweat despite feeling chilled to the bone. Choking up two large waves of coke, Jihoon could only cradle his head and try to ride out the pain as time seemed to stretch on endlessly. His stomach kept churning and he teared up a little when he lifted his head to glance at the clock. It had already gotten so freaking late without him actually having achieved much, so this misery hadn’t even really been worth it. The heaves just wouldn’t seem to stop, though Jihoon barely managed to bring anything up anymore. He allowed himself a few quiet tears as he leant back in his seat, trying to recover.

His phone cut through the silence like a knife and Jihoon had to suppress the urge to cover his ears and reject the call. Hadn’t he made it clear that he didn’t want to be bothered? Gritting his teeth, the producer picked up the call, his shoulders slumping when he heard Seungcheol’s soft voice on the other end of the line. Suddenly, Jihoon couldn’t be upset over the disturbance anymore, his resolve crumbling when the leader asked him if he was still okay and if he was planning to head home soon.

Seungcheol had fully expected another snappy “I’m fine!”, so when the younger weakly muttered: “I-I, I dunno, hyung”, he immediately knew that something was seriously wrong. He was already putting on his shoes when he promised Jihoon: “I’ll come pick you up. Already heading out. Just wait for me, yeah?” The producer hummed hoarsely voice strained from throwing up. At least, he wouldn’t have to figure out hos to get his sorry ass home.

Jihoon drifted in and out of sleep as he rested his head on his arms, so he had no idea how long it had been since their call and couldn’t even be certain if the call had happened or if his hazy mind had made it up. A gentle hand on his back woke him and he almost teared up again when he found his hyung standing over him. “Why didn’t you mention being sick?”, Seungcheol asked quietly, pulling the other’s long hair out of his face to get a proper look at him. Sitting up with a groan, Jihoon rasped: “Don’t think I’m sick sick. Probably just pushed myself too hard and drank too much coke to make me function. My stomach wasn’t happy about it at all and my head’s still killing me.” – “I mean, you don’t have a fever”, the leader hummed, palm resting flat against Jihoon’s forehead, “You certainly do look awful though. How does your stomach feel now?” – “Still meh but I don’t think I’m seconds away from puking anymore”, the producer breathed.

Seungcheol had gotten him some water to sip on, while the leader took out the trash and packed up his things. “My brother’s out of town this week, so I could take you home with me”, Seungcheol offered, already slinging his dongsaeng’s bag over his shoulder, “I could also drive you back to your dorm but I figured you might want to be miserable in peace.” – “God, yes please”, Jihoon muttered, making the older laugh. “Just hyung is fine”, the leader joked, offering the other his arm, “Come on, up you go. I bet you’re still craving that shower you were talking about earlier. You can go and wash up as soon as we get there and I’ll fetch you some medicine and a set of comfortable clothes to borrow.”

A pained sound slipped from Jihoon’s lips as he struggled to his feet, vision growing fuzzy for a few seconds. He clung to Seungcheol’s shoulder, the leader ready to pick up the bin in case he needed to be sick again. “You good?”, the older asked worriedly, holding onto Jihoon’s arms. Giving a weak nod, the other forced out: “I’m fine. Let’s get going because I really am craving that shower. Gosh, I feel disgusting.” Seungcheol rolled his eyes at his dongsaeng’s persistence to claim he was fine when they both knew the truth but he saw no point in arguing. Linking their arms, the leader guided Jihoon to the car and settled him in the passenger seat with a plastic shopping bag in his lap though he prayed it wouldn’t be needed.

Luckily, it wasn’t. They did manage to reach their destination but no sooner than the car came to a halt, Jihoon threw open the door and immediately coughed up a few mouthful of bile. Switching off the engine, Seungcheol leant over and patted the younger’s back. It was hard to believe that Jihoon was only overworked and not really sick but he always pushed his body beyond its limits, so maybe overworking could leave someone this miserable. “Let’s get you upstairs. Can you walk or do you want to get on my back?”, the leader offered. He doubted that Jihoon would be comfortable with being carried but he also didn’t look like he had the energy to walk.

After a tense moment of silence Jihoon rasped: “Never mention this to anyone ever.” Seungcheol had to suppress a chuckle because the younger looked like a baby kitten attempting to seem intimidating. “I won’t”, the leader promised as he rounded the car, “Here, try to step around it and climb onto my back.” Almost tripping over his own feet, Jihoon stumbled and crashed into his hyung’s chest. The older didn’t comment on it though and carefully pulled him onto his back.

Gently pushing Jihoon towards the bathroom, Seungcheol hummed: “Go wash up. I’ll bring you a fresh set of clothes.” He had already talked to hi brother on the phone and got permission to sleep on his room, so he could give his own bed to Jihoon. After placing sweatpants and an oversized hoodie onto the sink, Seungcheol set his room up with fresh sheets and a lined trashcan, leaving a bottle of water on the nightstand. He really wanted to offer Jihoon some painkillers for his headache but they weren’t supposed to be taken on an empty stomach and he couldn’t imagine the younger being able to stomach anything right now. An icepack for his forehead would have to do.

Seungcheol was already waiting with an icepack and a cup of ginger tea when Jihoon sleepily shuffled from the bathroom. “Hey, I made tea to settle your stomach. Didn’t think painkillers would do your stomach any favor right now, so I thought we could try the icepack first”, the older explained, handing Jihoon the cup, “I moved my stuff to my brother’s room, so you’ll be staying in my room to night. Let’s go to bed now, yeah? You look wiped.” – “You shouldn’t have to stay in your brother’s room, hyung. I could just take the couch”, the younger mumbled but was shushed softly. “He’s fine with it and I don’t mind either”, Seungcheol smiled, “Our couch might look fancy but it’s not really comfortable. You’d be really sore tomorrow, which I can imagine you already are, so we shouldn’t make it worse.”

That wasn’t really what Jihoon jad wanted to hear, so he whispered: “Hyung, I- I don’t want to be alone tonight.” – “Oh”, Seungcheol stammered, having expected anything but that. He wrapped his arm around the younger’s waist, knowing that whatever he might say would only make it awkward, so he just led his dongsaeng to his room and waited for him to crawl under the covers. “You should try to have a few sips of tea. You’ve been throwing up a lot and I don’t want you to get dehydrated. There’s also water if you’d rather have something flavorless”, Seungcheol hummed, relieved when Jihoon accepted a few small sips of tea, “Let’s go to sleep now, yeah? There’s a bucket next to the bed and I’ll be right here. You van wake me for anything.” He carefully climbed into bed next to his friend and smiled when the younger curled up against him, finally getting some rest. Jihoon would be fine.

[v1nsmoke]

𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐀 // 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑

oneshot - sonny corleone (the godfather) x reader

tw: a creep guy :(

summary: at your best friend's wedding, somebody helps you out - that somebody might have a thing for you, too

fandom: the godfather

a/n: mention of elvis presley, so uh… the timeline doesn’t match well, but i hope yall dont mind  <3

tags: -

wc: 2.4k

Connie Corleone’s been one of your close friends for a while now. And we’re talking about a really long while here. At this point you were close to being considered her family. This brought other events, and most importantly other people in your path. You were very familiar with her family members, she considered you a sister since she didn’t have one. Brothers, on the other hand…

She had a whole bunch of brothers, at first you were even surprised by it, but with time, you managed to successfully bond with them. There was Tom, the adopted one, and Fredo, the one that everybody thought was adopted but actually wasn’t. Then there was Sonny, who didn’t even try to conceal his attraction towards you, and last, there was Michael, the youngest.

Over the years, you all grew close, but undeniably, Sonny was your favorite out of them all. 

The day of Connie’s wedding had finally arrived. Of course, you were among the many guests. Out of them all, you barely knew anyone, or more like anybody. An unfamiliar face appears next to you. It was an about five and half feet tall, round man. 

“I’m so glad you’re here,” He greeted you. To be fair, you had no intention of talking to him.

The man takes quick steps as he gets closer to you. His eyes slightly narrowed at the sight of you. 

“Hey,” you softly smile. No words beyond that. “It’s nice seeing you here. That’s your uniform on you?” You ask, your pointing finger motioning at his clothing. 

“You’ve got quite an eye,” he sighs with a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

“I always did have an eye for nice things.”

“Undoubtedly. Where’d you find yours?”

It wasn’t that he hated it. No, quite the opposite. He liked it. He liked it because it was on you, and it fit.

“A thrift store,” you replied. “Dress to impress, they say.”

“Who’re you trying to impress, sweetheart?” 

Not you, that’s for sure, you thought.

“It hugs you perfectly, too tight, innit?” He grins. Yeah, no way you wanted to talk to him.

“It’s fine. Now, I reckon that other people are waiting for your company, so I’ll leave you to it,” you smile awkwardly at him, trying to brush him off.

“No, I’d rather spend my time with you,” he chuckles, grasping your wrist as you try to scurry away from him.

You shoot an anxious glare at the man, who refuses to let you go, even after you attempt to draw your hand out. 

“Let me go. Now,” you demand, your soft attitude now gone. 

“Don’t give me that attitude. I’m just trying to look out for you. That dress, it doesn’t seem too comfortable.”

“It is. So leave me alone. This is just harassment.”

The man rolled his eyes, scoffing slightly as his grip on you got a bit tighter.

“Seriously? I’m the one harassing you? That dress on you, to me, feels like pure harassment.”

“Don’t get cocky there, old man, I reckon you should fuck off now, before I shout it out that you’re harassing me.”

The man grabbed your waist, and now his face was mere inches from yours, his dark eyes bored into yours as he glared into yours.

“Harassing you? No sweetheart. Trying to keep those damn pests off of you? Yes.”

“You’re the pest that should be kept off of me!”

He huffed, his grip tightening, almost as if he was holding you captive.

“You better keep that smartmouth attitude of yours to yourself,” he whispered, leaning closer to your ear.

“Let me go you creep,” you grunt, trying your best to twist out your arm from his grip.

“For the love of God, will you stop? I’m just protecting you.”

“This isn’t protecting! You’re here preaching about other men looking at me, but what you’re doing is much, much worse!”

His eyebrow twitched at the name calling. He looked around to see if anyone was paying attention before looking back at you.

“Keep. Your. Voice. Down,” he huffed out through gritted teeth.

At this point his fingers were so clenched around your wrist, leaving imprints on your skin.

“What now? Scared that somebody will notice this? I hope someone does, and they get you off of me.”

“Keep your mouth shut, or see what happens.”

Enough bullshit. You bit his arm, your teeth digging deep into his skin. Why wouldn’t you? It was fucking deserved, from the start. 

He hisses in agony, releasing his grasp as he pulls his arm back. With his other hand’s palm, he runs his fingers over the tiny, fresh marks on his skin. His skin became paler in those spots. 

Without a word, you run off, making your way through the crowd of people.

You didn’t care where you were even going, as long as it was far away from that unknown man. Everyone here was unknown to you, not just that man. The only familiar face around the crowd was Sonny, stalking over to you. You could only hope that he didn’t want to talk to you at that moment. What would you even say? Was the previous event visible on you?

Sonny was making rounds, checking on the guests. That was, until he spotted you. Even from that distance, he could see that you were distressed. With quick steps, he pushed himself through the mass of guests gathered around in the garden.

“You okay?” He speaks in a soft tone, a concerned look on his face. “You look like you’ve been crying.”

“Oh, I haven’t been, I’m just on the verge of doing so,” you flash him a weak smile, trying to play it off. This was your best friend’s wedding, for God’s sake. “How you doin’?”

Sonny raised an eyebrow. He clearly didn’t believe you.

“Uh huh. Sure you haven’t. I’m doing fine. I’m not the one that looks like I’m gonna cry any second now,” he teased.

Of course, this moment couldn’t last an eternity. Make a guess who appeared behind you. I dare you.

“There you are,” the same man from before hisses through his teeth, almost getting a hold of your wrist again, but this time, you know better, and manage to pull your hand away just in time.

Sonny’s always been quick to react. Before the man can reach for you again, he steps in between the two of you. 

“Now what’s with you?” He demands, looking the man straight in the eye. One of his hands was protectively covering you behind him.

“That bitch bit me!” The man roars. 

Sonny looks over his shoulder, his brows knitted together, watching in anticipation, waiting for confirmation. There’s no way you would-

“I did. And it was well fucking deserved!” You lean forward lightly, almost unnoticeably, your finger pointing at the man. “He was harassing me!”

Confused, Sonny turns his head back at the man. 

“He did?” He asked, the question aimed at you.

“You think I would bite some man for no reason?”

That was all it took for Sonny. He clenched his fist, and with a swift movement, he flung his arm towards the man, landing a punch straight into his face. The man staggered back some steps, even bumping into a random guest.

“Who the hell do you think you are?!” Sonny snarls at him viciously.

Not wanting the situation to escalate even further, you grab his arm, getting his attention. This was Connie’s wedding, no need to ruin it for her with this. 

“Hey, enough. It’s nice of you, but I don’t think this is the time for this.”

He pants, looking into your eyes, nodding lightly as you speak. He, too, came to the realization that his sister’s wedding wasn’t the appropriate place and time to cause mayhem.

You found a quiet refuge under a tree, your lone self could finally be at peace. It was a big event, more people attended it than a literal Taylor Swift concert. It was loud, with many people. Overwhelming.

“Hey there,” the oh-so-familiar face trots up to you.

“Sonny, hey. I know I probably asked you this before, but how you doing?”

“Just doing rounds, making sure the guests are okay. Making sure the food is good, the whole shindig” he answered as he let out a sigh, his eyes now looking out into the party area. “I’d much rather be here, making sure you’re okay

“How heroic of you! No, really, I appreciate it. But shouldn't you check whether the food grew legs and ran off?”

Sonny chuckled at the comment, a smirk appearing on his face as he bumped his shoulder against yours.

“Very funny, smartass. But the food is well-behaved.”

“Did you train it personally?”

He snickered at that, a lighthearted chuckle escaping him.

“Nope, I just told them that I would eat them if they even think about running away.”

This time, you let out a chuckle too. Sonny’s always been kind to you.

“There’s the smile. I’m glad I’m getting laughs out of you,” he comments. “Y’know, for an introvert like yourself, you’re pretty damn good at being around rowdy people like  my family.”

“The only rowdy person in your family is you. Michael barely even speaks.”

Sonny let out a scoff, a feigned annoyance on his face.

“Hey, that is absolutely not true! Have you seen Fredo when he’s drunk?”

“No, fortunately.”

He smirked at that, rolling his eyes jokingly.

“You’re lucky then. Fredo, when he’s drunk, is the loudest and rowdiest person ever! Especially when he starts to sing…”

You couldn’t help but smile at his words.

“And you? When you’re drunk, are you louder than usual too?” You ask.

Sonny chuckled slightly at the question, a cocky smirk on his face as he sat up again and leaned over towards you.

“No, no. I’m already loud as it is, sweetheart. Me drunk? People would be going deaf if I got louder” he joked with a playful tone.

“Oh, undoubtedly.”

“Now, why’d you gotta say it in such a nonchalant way?”

“Because I can. Now, get back in there, this is your kinda thing. Enjoy it while it lasts, y’know.”

“And you’re going to be sitting here on your own?” He asks.

For a moment, you were deep in thought. Yes, because you knew almost nobody. Yes, because the Corleones were all busy doing their own thing.

“Seems like it,” you blurt out calmly, a smile on your face.

Sonny hummed in acknowledgment, his expression turning more serious as he looked you up and down.

“If any of these idiots bother you, you come get me. Understand?”

“Understood, sir. I just didn’t plan on involving you last time.”

“Sweetheart, these bastards are my family. That makes them fair game for me to hit any day. I said come get me if you need me. Don’t let my dumbass cousins ruin your night. So, you better keep that promise. I’d hate to see someone upset such a pretty face.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” you reply with a gentle smile.

Sonny gave you a smile back, the cocky smirk replaced by a sincere one. He paused for a few seconds, as if contemplating something, before speaking up again.

“Actually, before I go back over there and drown myself in alcohol, I have a question for you”

“Speak your mind.”

Sonny bit his lip slightly, a rare look of uncertainty coming over his features, as he shoved his hands into his pockets. He looked at you for a few more seconds, as if debating with himself, before he spoke up again.

“Why’d you wanna sit here, all by yourself?” he asked the question softly.

“Why, I’m no good out there in the crowd all alone. You know the feeling when you’re lost in a crowd? That would be me.”

Sonny nodded in understanding, a small frown on his face. He knew you weren’t the biggest fan of big social gatherings, especially by yourself, so he could understand how lonely you felt here tonight.

“Don’t you have anyone to hang out with?”

“I wouldn’t say.”

He stayed quiet for a few seconds before he spoke up again.

“You can’t just sit out the whole night like this, all alone. C’mon, why don’t you hang out with me instead?”

“Oh, I’d scare those girls away,” You smile as you say jokingly.

“Sweetheart, even if you stay out here all night those girls will still crawl all over me. I’m just that handsome” he said, his smirk turning cocky again.

“Oh, you casanova.”

Sonny chuckled again, shaking his head at the nickname. He ran his hand through his hair, the smirk on his face never leaving as he looked over to you again.

“You know it,” he said with a playful tone, before his expression turned more serious again “but I’m bein’ serious. C’mon, sit with me instead of sitting over here all alone.”

“If it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother me.”

Sonny nodded his head, a smile on his face again as he lightly bumped his shoulder against yours.

“Nah, of course it doesn’t. Better to talk to you then get hit on by some random girl all night.”

You squint your eyes, a suspicious look on your face.

“Wait…”

“Is something wrong?” Sonny raised an eyebrow at the sudden interjection, a confused look on his face as he leaned over towards you a bit.

“This isn’t the Sonny Corleone I know! There's no way, not a single way, that you would prefer talking to me than all those girls!” You chuckle. 

Sonny chuckled again, a smirk on his face as he rolled his eyes again. He shook his head slightly, clearly amused that you thought that.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever smartass. I’d rather go one night without some random chick drooling over me and actually have an intelligent conversation instead.”

“C’mon then. They’re playing Elvis,” you say quietly, almost whisper-like.

Sonny nodded his head, slowly standing up from the ground and holding his hand out to you.

“C’mon, then. Let’s go watch ‘em play some Elvis.”

© v1nsmokes 2024. Do not modify, translate or rewrite.

[0utpost-alpha]

Personal Thoughts On Red vs Blue: Restoration

Alright so, it’s been a few weeks since Red vs Blue Restoration hit the internet. I’ve had time to sit, think, cry and process RvB and Rooster Teeth as a whole ending. As I stated on a previous post, I got into RVB around 2015? I think Season 13 had ended then. So I haven’t really spent as much time with the Sims Troopers as many others have. But those 9 years were wonderful and I’m grateful for finding such an entertaining show and fandom. Any show that can make me laugh my ass off and also make me full on sob my eyes out is 10/10 in my book.

Anyway, moving on. I said I’d put out my own personal thoughts and feelings for Restoration in the form of a Pro’s and Con’s post; so here it is:

THE PROS

The AI Fragments: I LOVE them going back and focusing on the AI fragments again. I remember hearing that Miles was talking about how he was going to do something similar with them after the Chorus Trilogy but things happened and Jason ended up taking over after Season 14. I personally always adored the idea of the Reds and Blues each getting one of the AI fragments that suited their personal needs and would lead to more character development for them later on down the line.

Tucker and the AI’s: On the subject of AI’s, After Season 13, I remember reading a lot of fan theories and fanfics that often brought up what possible side effects Tucker could go through with Epsilon not only shattering but having all those fragments at once helping him power the Meta suit. And it looks like a lot of them weren’t far off! While we will never know what actually happened once those doors were opened, at some point either immediately or not long afterwards, the AI took control and ran off with poor Tucker.

Caboose’s Voice: While it was a little jarring at the beginning, being so used to Joel’s, Michael Malconian did a phenomenal job as Caboose’s voice. I feel like he got that child-like, not all there, but still ready to help out however he can personality down perfect. NGL, I think I actually prefer this voice to the old one. I’m just sad that we won’t get to hear more of this Caboose.

Speaking of Caboose: I love how they had Caboose have a big brain moment. Instead of bringing back Church, something he wanted more than anything, he knew Tex was their best chance against Meta!Tucker. Also, destroying the Memory Unit. Talk about huge character development for Cabooses character. (It’s also possible that this was what Church asked Caboose to do when he was whispering to him in the ship? I need to go back and rewatch it)

Simmons: I know there was already an image or video around showing Simmons with the robotic arm, but I kind of fell off the RvB bus after Zero came out so I missed a bit of content that was floating around on the internet. So me and @yourscientistfriend were tickled pink when we noticed his arm for the first time. It’s small, but nice to know that RT remembered that specific detail about Simmons.

Sarge’s Sacrifice: alright, this one is probably on a lot of peoples Con’s lists but I personally feel like, if any of them were gonna be killed off Sarge was the best because; he died doing what he loved. Fighting. He protected his boys and went down on his own terms. His farewell to Grif definitely hit the hardest. I think deep down we all knew Sarge cared about Grif, but actually hearing him say it was so satisfying.

Memory is the key: the boys sitting around the campfire reminiscing about everything they had been through together in the last 23 years was such a bitter sweet nostalgia blast. The fact that they also got BNL to do a song over it was kind of a nice surprise too.

THE CONS

A lot of characters didn’t really get a chance to shine. It mainly focused on Simmons, Grif, Tucker and Caboose for a majority of the movie. Donut was only there in a thought bubble for a gag, Carolina didn’t even show up till the very end, and Wash didn’t even get to fight, he honestly didn’t really even serve a purpose except to fall off a fucking cliff to get Carolina’s attention and I feel like that wasn’t even necessary. Hell, I think they even forgot about Lopez after that one scene at the beginning. I honestly feel for the Donut and Doc fans. They seriously got screwed over.

“Come With Me”: So. Grimmons didn’t become canon. I am, severely disappointed as I’m sure a majority of the fandom is. I wasn’t expecting a kiss or a make-out section or anything that extreme. But I feel after all these years of teasing us they could have given us SOMETHING.

Tucker Trauma: As I said in the Pro’s, I loved the set up they did with Tucker and the fragments. However, what I didn’t like was how they didn’t address the trauma Tucker went through with them controlling him. They forced him to kill innocent people, attack his friends and mentally tortured him in order to get him to cooperate or wear him down enough to take control. But after they remove the fragments, he’s just ok now? Back to his regular bow chika bow wow self? Don’t get me wrong, like with many of my other cons I realize that a lot of things had to be scrapped or cut because of time and that because Season 19 had to be turned into a movie instead of a full blown season they couldn’t properly address a lot that they probably wanted to. But I wish we could have at least got something along the lines of Wash taking Tucker back with him to get physically and mentally checked out.

Also, wtf is up with Grif just up and leaving. I know Season 15-17 was retconned (update: they weren’t retconned) but damn man, Grif really doesn’t care about any of them? Even after the whole reminiscing scene? It just feels out of character for him. I feel like after everything was said and done he would have taken those papers and shot them or something. Said something about how someone’s gotta give the new leader of the reds a hard time, said something about not leaving till he figure out why they were there!?  Anything than whatever the hell that was.

Thing’s I’m sad will never happen now that Red vs Blue is officially over:

More time with Locus’s character as well as character development and redemption (as well as possibly becoming one of the Reds and Blues)

Grimmons

Simmons’s getting an arc that better fleshes out his character and would give us more background into his history (I mean come on. From the bits and pieces we got over the seasons, it’s very clear Simmons’s had a shitty past. Yes, I’m still mad that his labyrinth was turned into a alien probing joke)

Never seeing an actual conclusion to the fight at the end of Season 13. (I get they wanted to let the fans play around with ideas on what happened but it still bugs me).

Wash and Simmons bonding during a knife training session

Wash and Tucker bonding over AI Trauma

Tucker and Junior bonding

Overall, it was an ending. And probably the most decent one we could have gotten considering everything that was going on. A lot of other shows didn’t even get that. So I honestly can’t complain too much. They also deliberately left the ending pretty open so the fandom could easily write their own ending if they wanted to which is awesome of them.  

[sister-dear]

#9 for soft prompts with Ravioli I am WEAK for shoulder kisses 😍

Shoulder kisses are so so good I agree! There are mouth and cheek kisses in this as well as the requested shoulder kisses. I’m sincerely hoping that’s ok! If you’re not comfy reading that though I’ll gladly take another go. Written as a direct followup to this! From this soft prompts list.

Fandom: A Link Between Worlds Pairing: Link/Ravio Other tags: kissing, new relationship Wordcount: 1113

Ugh. Well. That could have gone better. 

Could also have been worse! But it could have gone better.

Once again, Link staggered home. No broken bones or openly weeping wounds this time, thankfully. The burst of life magic released when those especially large monsters died always took care of all of that. 

No, Link was just tired. Exhausted, really. 

He maybe hadn’t given himself quite enough time to recover after that fever. 

But it didn’t matter. One more monster gone. One more Sage free of Yuga’s entrapping spell.

One more thing Link had to do before he could allow himself a little rest.

He hit the front door at the same brisk pace he’d used all the way home, stepping over the doorsill and dropping his pack to the floor without slowing. 

Ravio jumped at the sudden bang of the door slamming open, squeaked when Link kept walking straight forward and faceplanted in his shoulder. 

“Mr Hero! You’re home! Oh, what’s wrong this time?” He patted Link down as if searching for injury.

“Nothing,” Link muttered. “I missed you.” 

“Oh!” Obviously still a little startled - Link could perhaps have entered his home with a bit more grace and a bit less steely determination written over his face - Ravio returned the embrace regardless. 

It felt a little easier, the second time. A little less hesitant, a little more sure of his welcome.

“I missed you too,” Ravio returned after a long pause wherein Link breathed, trying to gather his famed courage. He maybe shouldn’t be hanging all over Ravio like this, but he couldn’t bring himself to move now that he was finally here. 

He’d had a little speech all figured out. Been practicing it all through that dungeon, to the point of almost lethal distraction, at which point he’d finally forced himself to focus and just finish the thing so he could get back home already. 

Except now he couldn’t quite remember the neat, tidy little way he’d figured out to ask exactly what Ravio meant by the word fond. 

This shoulder under his cheek sure was nice, though.

“Mr Hero!” Ravio’s yelp startled Link to enough awareness to realize he was perhaps leaning a little too hard. 

He might be more tired than he’d thought. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, getting a little more of his feet back under him. He didn’t lift his head, though. Or unwind his arms from where they’d found themselves around Ravio’s waist. They fit remarkably well.

“Maybe you should go to bed?” Came the tentative suggestion. 

Link made a disagreeable noise. There was something he’d wanted to do first… something he had to ask… 

“I’ve been thinking,” he slurred into the scarf. Exhaustion made his head spin. He felt almost giddy, but that wasn’t right. He still had to ask a question.

“About?”

“About what ‘fond’ means.”

“Don’t go expecting discounts!” Ravio declared, despite that he’d given Link exactly that the very first time Link purchased something from him outright. “I still have a business to run!”

Link snorted. 

What was it he’d meant to say next?

“Can I kiss you?”

Hm. That wasn’t it. 

Wait. 

Pulse suddenly pounding in his ears, a great rushing in every extremity, Link jerked up. Ravio’s arms tightened, keeping him from going too far. “I mean. Uh.” He’d had something better to say what was it, what was it–. “I missed you?”

“You already said that. I missed you too. Go back to the other thing.” Every hint of cheer and nervousness that usually colored the way Ravio spoke disappeared in favor of what sounded like complete seriousness. 

“That’s not. You don’t have to– I mean, I’d be happy if fond just meant you wanted to, to. Just be friends. Or.” He’d had an entire dialogue prepared, and he was ripping it to absolute shreds along with any possible chance.

“Yes.” 

Or not.

“Yes?”

“Yes.” Intent. That was the word. Ravio sounded intent. 

Heart still pounding, Link turned his head and kissed Ravio’s cheek through his hood. 

He lingered. Just for a moment. Just long enough for it to register what the action was. Then he pulled away, loosened his arms, giving Ravio space to move back if he wanted. 

Ravio looked at him. Link had no idea what kind of expression lay under that hood. 

A little tentative, feeling suddenly shy, Link curled back down to Ravio’s shoulder. 

Ravio’s hands cupped his face, pulling him up. He yanked his hood back just enough to kiss Link squarely on the mouth. 

This one lasted much, much longer.

~~~

Ravio’s bustling in the kitchen woke Link earlier than he would have preferred the next morning, as it usually did. Today, the soft clattering of dishware and cutlery didn’t seem quite so harsh on his ears. Link spent a little while listening to the happy little hums that he’d begun to associate with the smell of food being prepared. 

Eventually collecting himself enough to get up, he padded across the floor on near silent feet and wrapped his arms around Ravio from behind. 

“Good morning, Mr Hero!”

Link hummed. 

Ravio had his hood on already, but not the scarf. Link pressed his mouth to a place midway down his shoulder that the scarf would usually cover. 

Ravio’s head tipped over onto his, one hand coming up to press Link’s face against himself. “I made breakfast!” he declared, cheery voice at full volume despite the closeness and the early hour. 

“Sounds good.” 

Link didn’t move. Ravio didn’t either. 

Link shifted his mouth a little to the left and kissed the new spot. Then a little more, making Ravio squirm and finally laugh when his lips found that narrow little strip of bare skin. 

Ravio’s shoulder, Link decided, might just be his new favorite spot. 

“Do you want breakfast or not?”

“Is there tea?”

“Of course!” Ravio sounded downright affronted, as if serving breakfast without tea were an insult of the highest order. 

“I’ll take tea and a kiss,” he said, hopeful. 

Ravio squirmed out of his arms, but he turned around and pulled Link against himself instead, leaning back against the counter. Link wrapped his arms around Ravio in return. They still fit just right. “You were ill only a week ago, and you just ran off to fight some horrid monster! Recovering heroes need a proper breakfast!”

“They need kisses, too.” 

“Breakfast first. Then kisses,” Ravio relented. “But don’t take too long! I have a shop to run!” 

Happy with this arrangement, Link dropped one last kiss on the shoulder beneath his chin and pulled away to drop into his spot at the table.

Breakfast was nearly as delicious as the kisses that followed it.

[askaalaska-vdeppressed]

I Cannot Breath (So I Must Sing): Prologue

Alastor X Fem Opera Singer Reader

Series Masterlist

(Fair warning before we start, I'm used to writing for fandoms of like 12 to 30 people, so grace my darlings is all I ask)

The rapping on the door woke Alastor out of his daze. An involuntary huff leaving his lips before he beckoned the disrupter into his office. The whole of the radio station knew he was not to be disturbed if the door was closed. Meaning the fool on the other side was either from the outside or stupid.  

“What’s the word Al?”  

Both, Mickey was both stupid and not an employee. He was an unfortunate drinking buddy of his. Alastor would have preferred that he not see Mickey at all, but they were both regulars at the same club, and Alastor was loath to lose his favorite hunting ground.  

“I don't know my good man” The smile on Alastor's face was tight, his movements stiff from being sedentary too long as he stood up, gesturing for the carrot top to sit. ” You’re the one knocking on my office door.”  

 "I know you’re busy, what with the radio show and the radio drama and all that so I’ll keep this brief”  

‘So, God is merciful after all’ he thought . 

“But I think I gotta real good opportunity for you”  

That was another reason Mickey was still around, despite his annoying tendencies and lack of decorum he was a nice guy. Every time Alastor got half a mind to just kill Mickey and pull the nagging thorn of an acquaintance out of his side, he’d hear wind of the great deeds Mickey did for those around him. A tire change in the middle of the night here, escorting a lady home there, getting some poor downtrodden fellow a job. Mickey would give you the shirt off his back and the shoes off his feet. Given he remembered how to untie the laces.  

A true saint of a man, just a little simple.  

Alastor couldn’t fault him for that.  

“An opportunity?” Mickey was always looking out for those he deemed friends, another one of his kind yet annoying traits.  

“Yeah, you know I have that gig down at the theater? I do handyman work for em sometimes. Well for their new production they got this broad all the way from France over here to open it.” Mickey’s right hand gesticulated as he spoke, while he leaned his left arm against Alastor’s desk. 

“Oh I’m aware, the news has been all a flutter over here at the station. Supposedly she’s quite a big deal in Europe.” A flutter was a bit of an understatement, it was all he practically heard about. He was getting damn near sick of hearing about it. He could appreciate a love for the finer arts, but this was getting ridiculous.  

“Yeah so I was working there the other day and I got to fixing the door on her dressing room. It was leaning and ya couldn’t shut it all the way. See they can’t have any windows open back there so the humidity in the summertime does a number on door frame, not to mention the..” 

“Mickey.” The smooth tin in Alastor’s voice was not reflective of his feelings. This was getting rather tedious rather quickly.  

“Right , right , right so anyway we ended up talking while I was there, and she took a liking to me. So I asked her iffin she’d be up for doing an interview and she said sure! So I figured I’d come down and see if you or one of your colleagues would wanna talk to her on air? Since she’s such a big deal and all. Maybe get some new listeners ya know?”  

“Well well, I must say this is a very good opportunity. What have I done to earn such a gracious offer dear friend.” Oh this was too good. Not only had he been given a ratings hit on a golden platter, he would also get the opportunity to rub it in the faces of all those smug self-righteous bastards who’d been blabbering his ears off the past few weeks.  

Mickey had certainly earned himself a drink, next time they were out together. 

“Ahh it’s nothing! You’re my oldest drinking buddy it’s the least I could do for ya. So should I be expecting you or someone else?”  

“I’ll be taking this one on old friend, you went to so much trouble to get it for me after all” Alastor was not liked by most of his colleagues. While he was certain passing the opportunity on would have put him in their good graces, he didn’t much care if they liked him. Considering the shows he was in were the most popular by far, they'd be better off kissing his ass, not the other way around.  

“Eh like I said don't' t mention it, You free tomorrow? “ 

“As a bird” Alastor had a few things he needed to finish tomorrow, but they could either be done tonight or the day after. He’d make time for this. 

“Okay meet me at the theater at 2 “ 

“I’ll see you there”  

[petalouda85]

Birth

Fandom: Blades of Light and Shadow 2

Pairings: Tyril x f!human!MC (Kassandra)

Word count: 1.4k

Concept: Kade, Imtura, and Mal wait for news of the newest member of their family

Tags: @liviusofpella, @megas-choices, @starlight-starfury, @dutifullynuttywitch, @thosehallowedhalls @choicesficwriterscreations

AO3 link: x

A/N: Finally. The fic I’ve wanted to post for a very long time. I can finally reveal the name for Baby Starfury 🥰 after the emotional rollercoaster of Forever (in my Mind), you guys deserve a fluffy treat. Enjoy.

Reading had always been easy for Kade. Almost as easy as breathing. He could grab any tome and easily be lost in the words, his mind taken to places far away and times long gone, it all brought to life with his imagination. Tonight, however, it was hard to concentrate as his mind constantly drifted towards the cabin near to where he sat, his stomach twisting with the knowledge of what was happening inside. He tried to listen for any noise coming from the home, despite knowing it was pointless; Nia and Tyril had made sure of that.

Unable to focus on his book, Kade looked towards the other two that kept him quiet company in the homestead. Mal practiced a few quick movements with his dagger, stabbing into an imaginary foe, while Imtura stood off to the side, aiming and hurling her axes into a nearby tree, the bark splitting more each time. Boredom could rationalize their weapon practice, but Kade knew better.

A few weeks prior, when everyone had finally arrived in Riverbend, the villagers warned them of a group of elves that had recently traveled through. While no direct questions were asked, their apparent interest in the “Hero of Morella” had set off alarm bells in everyone and precautions were taken.

When Kassandra went into labor, Nia and Tyril had cast a spell over the clearing, masking the homestead, and then a silencing spell over the cabin. Once the door shut behind them, Mal and Imtura had pulled their weapons closer, ready to be grabbed at the first sign of trouble. Several hours had passed since then, the high afternoon sun now replaced by a bright moon; Kade reckoned it was past midnight already.

He snapped his book shut and leaned forward with a great sigh, rubbing his eyes and face trying to relieve the tension and growing exhaustion.

“I can’t believe I’m going to be an uncle.” He said softly. He must’ve been louder than he thought because in a split second, Mal stood before him.

“You and me both, buddy.” The rogue said, sitting down next to him. “It’s happening and I still have trouble wrapping my head around it. Elf boy and kit are going to be parents. Who would’ve thought the wet blanket and the life of the party would ever reach this point.”

“It is hard to wrap your head around it all.” Kade said. “For so long, it was just me and my sister. Now she’s having a baby.” He let out a weak chuckle. “It’s stupid to think so but, part of me is scared that she’ll forget me; a child takes priority after all.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” Imtura said, pulling her axe from the tree before joining the two men. “I’ve travelled with Kassandra long enough to know that she’d never forget you or any of us. We’re all her family and nothing’s gonna change that, not even a new tiny landrat.”

“Would be nice if the little tyke made headway.” Mal said, letting out a loud yawn. “All this doing nothing is making me tired.” His yawn was replaced with a yelp when Imtura slapped him across his head. “Hey!”

“You can’t rush these things.” She scolded. “The tyke gets here when they get here. And that could be in the next 5 minutes or in the next few hours. Hells, little guy could already be here and Kassandra’s just not up for visitors right now. We just got to wait.”

“I know, I know! Doesn’t mean I can’t complain about the waiting. It’s not like we got a lot to do besides that and there’s only so many fake guys I can stab.”

“I’d offer a book, but I get the sense neither of you are readers, even when faced with endless boredom.” All three laughed.

“We’ll leave the reading to you, kid.” Mal stood up from the bench and pulled forth a deck of cards from his pocket. “Up for a game?” He asked the orc, who smiled.

“Always. Be ready to lose.” The two found a patch of grass to sit on and began their game. Kade watched them half-heartedly for a moment before opening his book once more, trying his best not to nod off.

He shut his eyes briefly and when he opened them next, his face was glued against the cover of the book and his back was stiff from the hard bench. With a groan, he sat up, a thin blanket falling off him. Looking around him, he found Imtura and Mal also asleep in the grass, their card game replaced by a now extinguished fire, and the birds singing their morning song as the sun’s beams began to peak through the trees. He stretched his back and checked the state of the cabin, finding the spell still on it, before moving towards his slumbering companions.

“Rise and shine.” Kade said as Mal woke up.

“Morning already? Nothing yet?”

“Nothing yet.” Kade moved to wake Imtura next. Soon, the three sat down for a silent breakfast, ready for the prospect of another day of waiting. After their quick meal, Kade returned to the bench and grabbed his book, ready to try reading it yet again, when a magical hum came from the cabin. He immediately abandoned the tome, jumping to his feet when some low noises could be heard from inside. The door clicked open, and everyone ran to it as Nia appeared in the frame, looking frazzled and tired. Despite her weary state, the priestess was smiling.

“Everything’s fine.” She quickly said, seeing the worry on their faces. “Mom and baby are doing fine. They were born just after midnight. They’re all cleaned up and have already been resting for some time.”

“Midnight? But-“ Mal began to protest but Imtura gave him another slap. The priestess fought down a snicker at his incredulous look before she opened the door a bit wider.

“You can come in but only for a little while; Kassandra’s still very tired.”

Kade ran in first, finding Aderyn preparing some food in the kitchen. He quickly sent her a grateful smile before dashing towards the bedroom, the others on his heels. The moment he stepped into the entrance way, he froze.

Mal unceremoniously bumped into him, but any complaint was quickly gone when the three heard the soft gurgling noises coming from the little bundle resting in Kassandra’s arms.

She was lying in bed, looking exhausted and worn out. Tyril, seated in a chair next to the bed, appeared exhausted as well but both were staring down at the bundle with immeasurable love and affection in their eyes. The two looked up as the visitors slowly entered the room.

“Hi.” Kassandra said, her eyes brimming with tears, before looking down at her child. “Look who’s here.”

Kade stood frozen in place for a moment, alternating his gaze between his sister and the child in her arms, before rushing to the bed and embracing her tightly, tears forming in his eyes.

“I’m so proud of you.” He whispered to her. He continued holding her, hearing her sniffle before she returned the embrace

“Thank you.” He gave her a kiss on her cheek before pulling away. He then quickly turned towards Tyril and embraced him too; it took the elf a moment to return the gesture.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Kade pulled away and sat down on the bed, watching the child with pride swelling in his chest.

“Do you want to hold them?” Kassandra asked after a while.

“Yes.”

Gently, she passed the bundle to him, the man gawking down at the baby nestled in the blanket their mother had made for them. They were beautiful, dark-skinned and a barely visible black fuzz on their head. They looked almost entirely human, if not for their ears. Granted, they were shorter than the standard elven ears but there was no denying the point at the end of them.

“Hi.” Kade said softly and in disbelief. He took their little hand, the tiny digits not even wrapping entirely around his thumb. “I’m your uncle.” He turned to look at Mal, Imtura and Nia; none had a dry eye. “And your other uncle and aunts are here too.” He looked back to the new parents, who beamed with pride as they held each other’s hand. “What’s their name?”

Tyril looked to Kassandra, who nodded.

“Everyone,” Tyril began with a proud smile, “meet our daughter, Kaya.”

[baileypie-writes]

hello! I'm the same person who requested the Rosemary dating headcanons, I was wondering if it was possible to do a fanfic of him and a childhood friend+cookfighter!reader fanfic. Gender neutral.

🌈🍰

A/N ~ Sure! I don’t exactly remember everything about the Cook Fighters, and I couldn’t find a lot online, so I apologize if anything is inaccurate. Also, Reader being a Cook Fighter isn’t a main focus in the fic, hope that okay. Hope you enjoy!

~Childhood~

Rosemary x GN!Childhood Friend!Cook Fighter!Reader

~~~💜~~~💜~~~💜~~~

Fandom: Delicious Party♡Precure

Fanfic Type: Oneshot

Reader: Gender neutral, Rosemary’s childhood friend, Cook Fighter

Relationship: Platonic to Romantic

Genre: Fluff

Rating: PG

Synopsis: Now that he’s back in CooKingdom, and the official trainer of the Cook Fighters, you can finally spend time with Rosemary again! But little do you know, he has plans to become more than childhood friends.

Warnings: The character focus kinda shifts at times, kinda abrupt ending

~Masterlists~

~Delicious Party♡Precure Masterlist~

This fanfic takes place after the events of Delicious Party Precure

~~~💜~~~💜~~~💜~~~

Even though it was a week ago, you still clearly remember the moment your childhood friend, Rosemary, came back from his quest of finding the Recipe-Bon. You were the first person he ran to, pushing past all the others. The moment he got to you, he squeezed you in his arms. He even lifted you off the ground a little.

This was very on brand of him. He’s always been very affectionate. Ever since you were kids, he would always hug you, and even hold your hand. The citizens of CooKingdom were convinced that you’d get together someday. But even now, when both of you are adults, you’re still just friends.

But Rosemary was determined to change that!

Rosemary’s been in love with you for years. But the two of you were always so serious about becoming Cook Fighters, so he was worried that a relationship would get in the way of your journey. So he just kept quiet. But now that you’re a Cook Fighter, and he’s the official trainer, he can’t think of a better time to confess!

~~~~

“Alright guys, that’s enough for today!” Rosemary yelled at all the Fighters, declaring the training session complete.

“Yes sir!” You all yelled. Rosemary adored how serious you were, despite your trainer being your best friend. He admired that, as well as your stance and fighting style. He had to make sure he was paying attention to the others during the training, not just you.

“(name), wait!” He called out to you as you were leaving the training grounds.

You stopped, and turned around. “Oh, hey Mary! Oh, sorry! Master Rosemary.” You fixed your stance to be more formal and serious as you corrected your mistake. Rosemary thought that was the cutest thing ever.

“Aww (name)! I’m flattered, but you can just call be Mary! We’re best friends after all!” He said, grabbing your hands, and holding them in his.

“Alright, haha! So why did you call for me?” You asked.

“Oh, yes! Well, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the Fluffy Food Bar? Just like old times?” He asked, his eyes making it impossible for anyone to say no. Not that you’d want to.

“Aw, I’d love too! We haven’t been there in forever!” You said excitedly. It was true. You and Rosemary used to go there at least once a week, ever since you were kids. But after he left, you haven’t been over there at all. It just didn’t feel the same without him.

“Alright!” He cheered. “Let’s go!” He linked your arm in his, and began walking. You laughed, having missed this part of him.

~~~~

You and Rosemary talked all the way to the Fluffy Food Bar. Mostly about your childhoods. Funny moments, happy moments, all of it. It was so nice to go down memory lane with him. Especially since, other than the big celebration a week ago to celebrate his and the Pretty Cure’s success, you haven’t had many proper talks since he came back.

Your arms remained linked up until you arrived at the restaurant, in which you let go to open the door for him. “Why, thank you!” He chimed. You just smiled, and linked your arm back once both of you were inside.

The moment you stepped in, you were hit with a wave of nostalgia. Not just the look, which hasn’t changed at all, but the smell. Nothing was different about it, but that was exactly why it made you happy. Having not smelled this specific aroma in a long while, it made you emotional. And you knew that if you were emotional, Rosemary was ten times more.

Just as you expected, when you turned to look at him, his eyes were filled with tears. “Aww, Mary.” You laughed, while also trying to be of comfort.

“Sorry! I just missed this place so much!” He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, and carefully dabbed his tears away, as to not mess up his makeup.

“I know, me too.” You said, looking around the familiar building. Your grip around Rosemary’s arm tightened. Now that he was back, you felt you never wanted to let him go again.

“Let’s order, shall we?” He said, his mood completely changing. You just smiled and nodded, too caught up in the nostalgia to talk.

~~~~

After you and Rosemary sat down with your food, you didn’t waste a second to start eating. The food tasted just like you remembered. Mary seemed to think so too, because he was, of course, tearing up again.

“I never thought it was possible to miss food this much!” He said.

“Me too!” You laughed.

After a few blissful moments of eating, you felt compelled to start another conversation. You looked around for a topic, and a sparkle caught your eye. Rosemary’s glittery eyeshadow. Perfect. He just can’t resist talking about makeup!

“That color looks good on you, Mary!” You complimented, pointing to his eyes.

He hummed in slight confusion, before realizing what you were talking about. “Oh! My eyeshadow! It does, doesn’t it? I just got it, and I think this may be my new favorite. It’s so sparkly!” He squealed a bit at the end.

You laughed at his typical behavior. “You have always loved makeup. Ever since we were little. I still remember when you tried it for the first time.”

“Me too! And I never went back after that!” He said proudly.

You chuckled. “No matter how much older we get, or how much time we spend apart, you’ll always be the same old Mary!”

You expected Mary to smile at your comment, but instead, he only laughed a bit, before his already existing one faded significantly. “What’s wrong? Should I not have said that?” You asked, hoping you didn’t hurt his feelings in some way.

“Oh, no! You’re fine!” He reassured, waving his hand. “It’s just, you seem to really like the ‘same old Mary’.”

“Well of course I do. Why wouldn’t I like my best friend?” You asked.

“Well, say if I were to do something… different. Would you still like me?”

“Of course! What kind of question is that? Just because I like how you are now, doesn’t mean you can’t change. What do you mean by that? Are you okay?” You were wondering if his question was leading to something. And you were right.

With a huff, Rosemary’s attitude completely changed to a super determined and confident one. He lightly slapped his hands on the edge of the table, making you jump a bit. “(name).” He started. “I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a long time now.” He took a deep breath. “I love you! Will you go out with me?” He asked dramatically.

You froze in shock. You didn’t expect that to be where the conversation was leading at all. But you weren’t upset in the slightest. In fact, a big smile spread across your face. “Oh my gosh, of course, Mary! I love you too!” You said, completely matching his energy.

Rosemary squealed, and his eyes teared up for the third time that night. But this time, he allowed the tears to fall. He shot up from his seat, and lunged at you, enveloping you in a tight hug. You happily returned it, not caring if Mary’s makeup were to smudge off on your clothes.

Everyone around the restaurant saw this happen, but they didn’t say a word. Most of them have been waiting for this to happen for years, so they let you enjoy your special moment. The special moment that has been cooking up since your childhoods.

~~~💜~~~💜~~~💜~~~

~~baileypie-writes

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

Hi im several days late 2 reply but i hope its ok to send an ask ^_^ i am so so scared 4 season 2 you have no idea. season 1 had me gobsmacked stupified nonplussed rendered unresponsive to anything else for the following week partially bc im emotiomal and the rachel + baam plot had me So crazy and partially bc ToG is like insane in ways iv never seen b4. Part of me wants to read the manhwa so so badly so im prepared for the new season and dont get emotionally bulldozed but part of me wants to sit and wait. either way ive been religiously avoiding spoilers as best as i can. However Im indecisive i feel like reading the manhwa would be eye-opening but im similarly afraid to read it for fear of going crazy. I cant imagine what it wouldve been like reading ToG as it released i fear i mightve lost my mind by now if i had been into ToG since day 1. but im monologuing. Tldr. Im scared. heres an image summary of my s2 thoughts.

I don’t think you know how happy this ask made me.

It’s always great to see new people in the Fandom. If you haven’t read through Season 1, I’d recommend that to hold you over until S2.

In terms of overall tone, I’d say S2 is more lighthearted, but it deals with a lot darker topics so you might want to prepare yourself for that. In the end, your ultimate choice is this: Do you want to be beat over the head with a chair reading the webtoon, or socked in the face repeatedly watching the anime?

And nice to see you’ve already taken an interest in our blonde boy. He’s a real hoot

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me and I’ll answer them (so long as the answer isn’t a spoiler).

[mistresskayla-blog1]

Awkward & Sweet

A John Standring Fic

Lyn's Writing Event Day 9 - Week 2

May 9th: Week 2: Pluto

Characters: (“Modern day” Alt) John Standring x OC Felicity Boies (scottish)

Fandom: Richard Armitage – John Standring – Sparkhouse

Sparkhouse character, John Standring was created by Sally Wainwright (adaptation of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights) 

***Just proof that there’s a fan girl in all of us. Never forget that writing allows you to inspire others to write ***

Location: Date at the Planetarium – West Yorkshire / Leeds area UK

Word count: 2.1k

Timeline Prompt: What if John had met someone before Carol’s father had died, and she came back?

Warnings: angst, pining, awkwardness, first date stuff, kissing, shy male, social masking.

              John walked up the street to the grocer, as he did every Friday morning after working at the factory. He got his bread, and some veg and a few other things, nothing much varied in his routine. But he kept going every Friday because of one other thing, to see Felicity. She was tall, lean and sweet natured, her hair kept in a ponytail for work, and John wondered idly as he stood in queue what it looked like down her back, long and blowing in the Northern winds.

Her playful Scottish brogue, warmed his heart on this cold fall morning, as she said, “Morning John, how do you fair?”

John stuttered a bit, smiling, “Good, ya? And you?”

Felicity looked at the backed-up queue behind him, “Just fine. I’ll be off soon, got to go to the doctors”.  John shifted to a look of concern, “Oh? Is anything the matter?” Felicity rung through his choices and clicked the register for a total. John thrust a hand full of notes into her hand, with come coins. Felicity answered briskly, “No, just my regulars, you know,”

John responded in kind, “Yeah, sure of course. Well, have a good day then, Cheers”. John grabbed his bags and started towards the door, turning back a second, the next women in line looking at him slightly annoyed. “Look, if you have some time, I’d like to take you out, maybe tomorrow?” The women in queue looked down realizing John’s advance on Felicity.

Felicity paused, but not unflatteringly as she smiled at John, “Yeah. Sure. Come back around, I’ll give you my number”. John smiled broadly and nodded, “Yeah, sure. Of course”. And went back into the line. The line of patrons now smiling at him. John tried his best to look inconspicuous, but it wasn’t going to work that morning. Felicity kept smiling towards him, as his turn in queue inched forward for the next few minutes. When he finally was in front of her again, she scribbled her name and number on a scrap of receipt paper and placed it in his hand.

John asked plaintively, “Where do you fancy going?” Felicity winked, “how about the Planetarium, there’s a show on this weekend”. John nodded, “Right. Yeah, of course”.

Felicity touched his hand again, “ring me tonight?” John nodded, smiled and walked out of the grocer. Felicity smiled too, as he stroud out of the store.

John was a nice man, she always thought so. He had been coming to the store on Fridays since, she started working there, she thought, but probably longer. He’s a creature of habit, she imagined, and Felicity needed more consistency in her life. She had her own apartment, and she lived in the city, she wasn’t sure if John did too. She only saw him at the shops on Fridays, and hardly any other time around town. Felicity finished her shift and headed for the doctor’s office on foot.

John returned to his house in town, put away his groceries and sat at his kitchen table, having some cold muesli with milk. The crunching and chewing sounds filled his ears in the quiet of the flat. That chewing was hypnotic as his mind carried back to Felicity’s smile and his future engagement with her, “engagement,” he scoffed outloud, “I sure hope I can manage to not make a fool of myself at the Planetarium”. John found the pages and looked up the phone number for the Planetarium. A women answered and he asked about the schedule for the event.

“It starts at 7 pm, its about 20 pounds per person, at the door, day of the show”. The registrar said. John thanked her and hung up. John was a traditional sort, and figured offering to pay for her ticket, even in this day and age was still appropriate. John made arrangements to buy them online with his mobile phone, a ratty little Nokia that he didn’t do much with. Who was he going to call, he didn’t have many friends, he just kept himself, kept his head down and worked nearly everyday.

---

At around half 6, John rang Felicity, sitting in his living room, still surrounded by knick knacks from his grandparents. It had that quaint lady’s touch, but it was far from modern. The phone rang out twice before she answered, “Felicity?” John asked.

“Yes?” her Scottish lilt made him smile.

“Its John from the shops”, he looked down at the floor a second, catching his courage.

“Oh, yes, John. How are you?” Felicity replied.

“Good, good, ya. Just wanted to let you know about the planetarium, um date you asked about”.

“Yeah, sure. So how much is it? I just wanted to make sure I could cover it”, he could hear her smile over the phone.

“Oh, no worries, I can cover it, if that’s ok with you?” John offered.

“Oh?” Felicity paused,

“You wouldn’t, you know be owing me anything. I wanted to do this right and take you out, proper”.

Felicity visibly relaxed, “That sounds nice, John. Thank you”.  

Smiled, “Great! Well the show starts at 7, can I pick you up at half past, or do you want to grab a bite before at the pub?”

Felicity wavered, “You can pick me up here, that’s fine,” she looked around her flat then, trying to figure out how to straighten up in time, “you can pick me up John, I’ll text you the address”.

John smiled, “Great, that’s great. Ok, well I’ll see you tomorrow, then, and Felicity,”

“yeah?”  Felicity responded.

“Thanks”. John grinned eagerly as he hung up the phone. He went to his closet and tried to find something intelligent to wear. After about 30 minutes most of his wardrobe was strung over his bed and he just stood in front of his mirror looking dumbfounded.

---

Felicity started to clean up her apartment and set out an outfit for tomorrow night. What would she wear, she wondered. John is a nice, stand up guy, not like some of the scrubs she dated before. She had to try harder to look nicer. Her auburn hair and blue eyes were striking as she picked up a cobalt blue blouse, it buttoned up to a high collar, “Maybe a little too high?” she spoke to her mirror, she tried it on, and left a button undone, feeling a bit more certain. She found a skirt, with pockets, and some leggings. Heeled boots finished off the ensemble, she looked herself over in the full-length mirror hanging on the back of her bedroom door.

“Yeah, that should do it”. She put everything on her desk, next to her bed, the boots on the floor, in front of it.

---

John was standing in front of his mirror at the same moment. He had picked out a decent dress shirt, and lean trousers, sensible boots. John looked confident in that moment, and removed the clothes, slowly, folding them neatly for tomorrow, and setting them on his bedside chair. He re-dressed on his pajamas and started his dinner for the night and watched some telly. A program was speaking about the incident of declassifying Pluto, John sat up a little bit, wanting to learn more, maybe this was the clue to impress Felicity. He didn’t know anything about planets otherwise. John watched it until he fell asleep on his grandfather’s old chair.

---

(I will add to this, just ran out of time. Comment if you want more. thanks)

@evenstaredits @legolasbadass @sweetestgbye @middleearthpixie @lathalea @riepu10

If you want to be added to tag list, pleaae PM Me.

Lyn's Writing Event 2024!!!

[total-drama-shark]

Do you have a favorite romantic relationship from each season?

Yoo it's been a while since I've been asked for my td thoughts :) I answered an ask this before that you can check here but I’ll provide additional info in this one.

TDI

I have to go with Duncney in this one, their dynamic is strong and their storyline is very well handled IMO, Gwent was a more long term and endgame couple for this season but the issue with them is that their relationship status always seemed to reset every episode regardless of how much development they got in individual episodes, so it felt like it wasn’t going anywhere when it should, they liked each other since ep 1 but by the start of ep 16 they were still at that exact same status. With Duncney though the development they get in an episode carries on to the next, making it all cohesive and neat :)

TDA

I don’t think I was a big fan of many canon couples this season, Duncney was very hit or miss, Gwent broke up, Bridgeoff was hitting constant bump in the roads. I’d say Lesharold but I’m not sure if they count given they weren’t an official couple, and I preferred them in TDWT even though they had less screen time there. So I guess that really leaves us with Nizzy, but again I prefer them in TDI and TDWT. Guess TDA just isn’t my season.

TDWT

Aleheather my beloved, we love an enemies to lovers and a WT Heather W (Heather’s win is canon to me). While I admit the writing wasn’t perfect when it came to consistency, one episode Alejandro flirts with Heather to tease her while another he doesn’t want people to think he like her, it’s our first properly well done endgame relationship in a season IMO. Seeing their constant complicated conflict is an absolute treat and it’s one of my favorite canon couples period.

TDROTI

Sometimes I wonder if I like Zoke because they’re cute or I can project so much onto them, that doesn’t matter though because my fave this season is Samkota! Dakota’s development learning to be less superficial in her judgement, learning to care for people, and finding someone in her life who not only actually likes her and cares for her as a person, but loves her? My heart <3 Sam starting out awkward messing up while trying to compliment her or finding things they have in common to being able to successfully swoon her is also adorable :)

TDAS

Unpopular opinion? I love Scottney, both how the season started presenting it as sorta like a Duncney 2.0 with Scott being the bad boy to Courtney’s uptight good girl, but also how they later go about it with Scott actually just being a mess with no experience in romance and Courtney somehow still being charmed by him despite knowing just how pathetic he is at trying to be romantic. It’s cute, it takes me back, I wish it last longer.

TDPI

Jashawn is considered the saving grace of Pahkitew by various people in the fandom, and while I enjoy the season more than your average td fan, I do admit it’s a highlight. They’re sweet and cute and it’s an a character screwing up and having to reevaluate their life viewpoints and priorities to be able to truly learn how to love someone and make up for their mistakes is a great development and one I don’t think we’ve seen before! The best we’ve seen the show handle couples having interpersonal conflicts I think.

TDIR

Rajbow is an obvious one here, like even if I didn’t love them what other couple was there? Chemma? Hah, no. But luckily I do love them! I’m glad TD’s first queer characters/couple are mlm, since in the earlier seasons the mere idea of queer dudes was the butt of a joke rather than actual representation, it feels like this is making up for that. Bowie’s confidence and smarts contrasting and bouncing of Raj’s himbo energy and his still discovering his sexuality is very nice to see and very enjoyable. I hope to see them develop this couple further next season :)

Thank you again for the ask anon! I love answering asks like these :D

[emerson-grimes-apologist]

Is it me or do I think (or theorize) that almost all the women in candle cove are all a reminder or ATLEAST symbolize Janice's girlhood, or just anything relating struggles about being a woman. Mostly because of their roles and personality and such, especially in a male-dominated world and practices such as piracy.

You got Janice, who is pretty much a typical girl, who is the embodiment of innocence, curiosity and guilt (for something she did not mean to do as in her mom died giving birth to her) and who is traumatized from her sister, Melrose. Melrose is GREIVING because of a female parental figure being lost in her life. She could be an embodiment of impulse since her only hobby is bullying Janice without thinking "would this hurt her feelings?". She is confident in doing this to her thinking it would make everything better, but it didn't, it only made everything worse for her and Janice.

Now Mary, is an embodiment of rage, and hate itself. She is an intrusive thought of feminine urge. Only burning people because she feels like it, and using techniques to get her way (such as putting on an act as a nice person, saving lillian so she would be more believable) and then throwing it all out so she can betray the crew. It's more like a "I'm just a girl" thing

Sariah is an embodiment of innocence being lost, and the stereotypical things people say about women, (she's naive, innocent, wears pink, falls head over heels to men like milo). When Milo killed her she lost all that stuff and grieved over someone who loved her and killed her only for him to get killed by the Skin-taker.

Lillian represents motherhood, due to how she comforts thade after thade was hesitant joining her crew because his previous crew was harsh. She has a mother-like personality and protected Auburn from Mary, which is typical mother things.

Auburn is the embodiment of free will and justice. Who sees the world being unfair, and is a caring soul. She is trying to receive justice, like many wronged women try to receive it.

Sunny, I cannot think what she embodies but it's mostly how she is the OPPOSITE of what men perceived women at the time. She's vicious, she's tomboyish and the only member in a crew which has mostly men in it. She has been seen equal by the crew because she orders the crew around when Horace is asleep or drunk, but that is because they never knew she's a woman because Horace refers to her as "he". If she did say she was a women, the crew would throw her off or even kill her, since back then people thought women were bad luck on ships.

Susan siren is an embodiment of how men want women to be and look. She's beautiful, long haired She's barely wearing clothes, she's flirtatious. She is chained to a rock and that only shows women cannot escape from men's standards, even if they are the exact opposite without getting sexualized.

Laughingstock is the embodiment of leadership, and always has the final say in things. She keeps trying to tell Percy to go inside caves and stuff. Even if Percy refuses.

Mrs skin-taker is also an embodiment of how men see married wives as. (Nagging housewives) The reason for this is because she wanted to divorce Skin-Taker all because "he's changed". She also had a stereotypical things associated with housewives (thick lips, and a necklace)

So yea I hope this makes sense and English isn't my first language 😭😭 I just like theorizing little things and maybe I'm obsessed with symbolism

AGH, I was so excited when I came home to this ask!! I made some tea and sat down and read this like I’d read a chapter of a favorite book.

It’s really great to see other people into symbolism and media analysis. It’s not something I see often in fandom spaces even though analyzing media deeply like this is really fun, and I can’t be the only one who thinks so. (Well, the only one besides you, Anon.)

This ask has really stirred my brain, so I may have… written a whole essay in response. Heh. (Sorry for taking a while to respond by the way, I wanted to make sure what I wrote made sense.)

I feel like as Janice is growing up and “growing into a young woman” as people say, she would be observing the women around her and learning about the different ways to be a woman. Janice is 9, and it’s around that age when kids really start to form their identities, so it would make sense.

Also, I think being thrown into Candle Cove and the world of pirates, where there’s mostly men, would make her feel like being a girl makes her different, and as the adage goes, identity is formed by finding ways you’re different from other people. So I think coming to Candle Cove and being surrounded by men would solidify her identity as a girl, and lead her to observe and imitate the women around her even more.

Also, a lot of people theorize that Candle Cove is all in Janice’s imagination and by extension, all the characters from Candle Cove represent some aspect of her psyche, which would make this make even more sense. Like, each of the women in Candle Cove could represent a woman (or type of woman) Janice looks up to for guidance.

JANICE

Janice does embody guilt, and I think specifically how women are made to bear the guilt for things that aren’t their fault. Janice is blamed for her mother’s death, but what was she supposed to do? Not get born? And she was a literal NEWBORN BABY—the most innocent a person can be—and is still blamed for something as serious as killing someone. Not to mention that she’s a victim in this situation, too, having never known her mother. But the people around her don’t seem to care.

MELROSE

This might be a reach, but I think she may also represent women who side with men against other women. I’m applying my headcanons to make this work, but what if Melrose learned to bully Janice by watching how her father acts around her? We already know Mr. Stewart is… well, not a very good parent, based on how he doesn’t seem to do anything about Melrose harassing Janice. So it wouldn’t be a reach to say he’s also not a very good parent in other ways. Maybe he’s cold and dismissive towards Janice, bitter because she’s the reason (in his perspective) that his wife died and he’s left to take care of two daughters by himself. And Melrose, as children do, could have learned her behavior from him, bullying Janice because she thinks that's what her father wants her to do. And it’s worse because Melrose is somebody Janice is supposed to have solidarity with, as her sister, and yet she treats her so poorly. It reminds me of how in real life, women put each other down for male validation instead of having solidarity with one another.

RED MARY

She does definitely embody female rage, but I feel like she could also embody women who perform traditional feminine roles to get ahead in life. Like, women are often pressured into being docile and accommodating or else be shamed and called bitches (whereas men doing the same things wouldn’t be shamed and instead even be praised for taking initiative). So women are forced to fit themselves into this docile female role if they want people to like them and to get what they want.

Red isn’t traditionally feminine. She isn’t kind. She isn’t docile. She isn’t nurturing. In fact, she’s the opposite of nurturing—she kills people and draws out their suffering. But she pretended to be all these things when she was with the Tarantula Crew because they wouldn’t take to her otherwise. Like you said, she saved the crew in the past to earn their trust, which obviously isn’t something she would do out of the kindness of her heart. It isn’t made known why she wanted to be with the crew, but whatever the reason was, she didn’t need to be with them anymore at the end of Come and Rip, and so then she was able to be her true self and let go of the act.

SARIAH

I agree with what you said about Sariah representing innocence being lost. She’s naive and probably has an unrealistic, romanticized view on dating men. She was in love with Milo, but in the end, Milo only used her to get something else (Skin-Taker’s trust). It reminds me of how in real life, men often start relationships with women (and take advantage of their naivete) mostly because they want to use them for something else, like sex or free housework.

I also think maybe she represents women who are “props.” Women who have no significance (at least seemingly) other than their relationships with men. A good percentage of female characters in 1970s media fell into this role, so this would be another female role Janice would know of.

Sariah is not portrayed as having any depth. All we know about her is that she’s pretty and has 2 personality traits. She can and probably does have more to her personality, but the audience doesn’t need to know any more because the only thing that’s important about her is her relationship with Milo. He’s the one who matters—she’s just there to support and define him.

And this is something that I realized recently, but the wiki doesn’t actually say Sariah is Milo’s girlfriend. She’s only ever called his “love interest” or “the girl he likes,” which is more vague. She could very well have no relationship with Milo at all. And that’s so much WORSE to me because she could have zero interest in Milo, and yet her whole identity and her whole life (all the way to her death) is defined by him just because she was unfortunate enough to be the object of his attraction. She was doomed by the narrative to be a background character in his story no matter what she did.

LILLIAN

I don’t really have anything to add here. Lillian is obviously motherly. Like you explained, she’s comforting and protective. She’s also sensitive to others’ emotions, which is also a trait mothers are expected to have. Also, I didn’t notice this until now, but Lillian is the only character in Candle Cove who is a mother (unless you count Janice’s mother). So it checks out all around.

AUBURN

I don’t really have anything to add here either, BUT I’m gonna take this opportunity to talk about something that I find interesting:

Auburn is a little girl, and Boar is a grown and capable adult. And yet it’s Auburn who swears to kill Red Mary and avenge Lillian. Boar just tells Auburn that it’s impossible to kill her and leaves right after. Also, bear in mind that Boar and Lillian are described as “very close friends,” so it’s not like he has no reason to feel just as upset and vindictive as Auburn does. Anyway, I think this scene goes to show how intense Auburn is. She, a young and incapable girl, swears on her mother’s grave to do something impossible (kill an Abyssian), even when the adult, the more capable one, just shrugs his shoulders. Like, if Boar sees no point in trying to avenge Lillian, then it really shows Auburn’s vindictiveness that she’s dead set on it, even though she’s weaker compared to him.

SUNNY

I think Sunny represents women who present less femininely in order to be taken seriously. There are women like Red Mary who get their way by following the feminine role of being docile and obedient to curry favor from people, and then there are women who do the opposite: acting masculinely so that people will think they’re owed the same level of respect as men.

This is taken to the extreme with Sunny, who I think deliberately disguises herself as a man. The wiki makes it sound as though the Rubber Fishes simply don’t notice that she’s a woman, but I’m doubtful of that. Not only is she tomboyish—she doesn’t have any overtly feminine traits. She’s bald. She wears androgynous clothes. And yes, she could just be gender-nonconforming, BUT the wiki mentions that she has a feminine-sounding voice, but rarely talks. This leads me to think she keeps quiet deliberately in order to hide her voice, and hide her being a woman. And also, if this is deliberate, that the other ways she presents as masculine are also deliberate. My other support is that female pirates in history, like Anne Bonny and Mary Read, had to disguise themselves as men in order to be accepted by their pirate crews, so her crew thinking she’s a man could have been inspired by that.

While there aren’t many modern-day situations of women literally needing to pretend to be men to get ahead, less feminine women are seen as more deserving of respect than feminine women. For example, when women want to be taken seriously, common advice that’s given to them is along the lines of “Don’t wear so much makeup” or “Carry a briefcase instead of a purse.” There’s also the phenomenon of women saying they’re “not like other girls” as a way to BRAG, because according to them, not being interested in makeup or clothes or other feminine things make them better and more deserving of respect.

All that aside, I personally like to think that Sunny is just GNC by choice and that the Rubber Fishes would accept her all the same if they knew she was a woman, but I still think this interpretation is interesting.

SUSAN

The way you said that women are sexualized no matter what interests me because sirens as mythological creatures got sexualized. Listen: in Ancient Greek literature, they were these frightening bird-women who tempted people by offering to reveal secret knowledge to them, drawing them in by singing and playing instruments. Then in the Middle Ages, their unique traits were removed—no frightening looks, no arcane knowledge, no playing instruments, even—so that they could become these unoriginal, conventionally attractive mermaid/succubus-esque creatures that seduced sailors to kill them. Unsurprisingly, this is the interpretation that stuck. (Does anyone know of that image of some Overwatch character or whatever before and after she was “un-Tumblrized”? It’s exactly like that to me.)

Yeah, so as Janice is growing up, she’s probably being exposed to magazines and TV shows and what-have-you where most of the women are half-naked and doe-eyed and not serving any purpose in their media other than to look pretty, especially bearing in mind that Candle Cove takes place in the ‘70s, where women’s representation in media was even worse. So Susan represents that role for women—the sex object. Which is also, like you said, the way society wants women to be.

Susan isn’t reduced to being a sex object, though. She has an active role in the story, luring a ship to save the Laughingstocks. And heck, she’s actually very powerful, having almost sunk a whole fleet of ships in the past. It’s interesting, though, that her source of power (her singing), like everything else about her, is beautiful. It reminds me that no matter what they do, even if they have agency, society expects women to be beautiful and able to be sexualized as they’re doing it. Able to be turned into the mere sex objects that society wants them to be.

Also, the way that you said that her being chained represents how she’s trapped by men’s standards got me thinking…. Her clothes are basically lingerie, but what’s interesting to me is that they’re made of chains. This leads me to think that they’re not her own clothes, but clothes she’s forced to wear as a prisoner. Stripping people was (and still is) a common form of punishment, so it would make sense. And I sense some symbolism here too, with her clothes being made out of chains. Like, women are chained by society’s standard to be sexy. Pressured to wear revealing clothes or else be shamed and called a prude. Basically, she’s trapped, literally because she’s chained to the rock, and figuratively because society pressures her to be a sex object.

And one last point while I’m here: Even when she’s imprisoned, she continues to have perfect hair and doe eyes and revealing clothes. It reminds me of how, even in suffering and oppression, women are still expected by society to be pretty. (Does anyone know of that old trend on TikTok where women did makeup to make themselves look like they’ve been crying? Not as special effects makeup, but regular makeup to wear to look pretty? And think about how, even though crying realistically involves being puffy and having snot all over your face, this trend implies that women crying is seen as (and expected to be) beautiful by society? That’s one example.)

THE LAUGHINGSTOCK

@mewpirate posted a screenshot from the wiki that said something like, “the creators explained that Ms. Laughingstock isn’t supposed to represent a mother, but a boss,” so I think what you’re saying is actually canon. The wiki does say, now, that she considers herself to be Janice’s “substitute parent,” but still, I see her as a mother in a “head of the household” sense, not so much a “nurturer” sense. She orders people around (mostly Percy), like you said, and also briefs the audience at the beginning of each episode explaining what the characters do in that episode.

MRS. SKIN-TAKER

Mrs. Skin-Taker definitely seems like a housewife viewed from the perspective of her husband. She doesn’t do anything but nag, as if she’s an exaggeration created in her husband’s mind. Like, men get so pissy about their wives complaining now and again (instead of sitting quietly as women are supposed to /s) that they come to only see them as nags. She also kind of reminds me of how wives are portrayed in '70s sitcoms (written by men), so this could be where Janice learned this role from.

And also, she doesn’t have anything to her character other than being Skin-Taker’s wife. She’s basically a gender-swapped version of him. She doesn’t even have her own name—she’s just “Mrs. Skin-Taker.” She’s like his appendage, not an individual person. Although this may be justified, seeing that she was just a throwaway character for one episode and so wouldn’t be very fleshed-out.

You know, I often like to imagine that there isn’t any historically accurate misogyny in Candle Cove, and I didn’t think there was any historically accurate misogyny in Candle Cove based on what the wiki said, but… after reading your ask and then writing about it, I think maybe the creators of the wiki created it with the misogyny of the times in mind? Because a lot of these women seem like they were written a certain way because they’re a woman in the Golden Age of Piracy (like with Sunny needing to disguise herself as a man) or that they were written a certain way because they’re a female character in 1970s television (like with Sariah and Mrs. Skin-Taker being flat and only there to support the male characters).

On one hand, I like to think of Candle Cove as an escapist utopia where misogyny doesn’t exist, but on the other hand, I do like feminist themes in media and to use media to explore the struggles of being a woman. So I have mixed feelings about this, but all in all, it’s really interesting to think about. Media analysis is fun!!

Also, I feel like I should say thank you for reading this whole thing. Here, have some food to regain your energy with: 🍊🍎🥐🧀🥓🍳🍪☕🍫

[reyesstrand]

20 questions for fic writers

thank you for the tags @welcometololaland @strandnreyes & @alrightbuckaroo <33 this was a much needed distraction tonight!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

86

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

335,298

3. what fandoms do you write for?

predominantly 911 lone star. the only other thing i’ve dabbled in recently was the old guard

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos? (i’m going to exclude prompt collections here!)

like a bright new dream (first i love you)

wanna be still with you (2x08 coda)

lit the spark (that set a fire) (firefighter!carlos au)

take me back to the light (1x08 coda)

to be reborn (3x04 coda)

5. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

i do!! even if it takes a few days (where i’m likely just staring at nice words in my inbox and using them as fuel to brighten my mood) i love having that connection, and seeing maybe what stood out to someone who read my silly little story

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

any of my codas that i wrote immediately after an episode aired—my 3x02 spec fic some and now none of you, or my 3x07 coda/3x08 spec fic not a victory march—simply because we didn’t know the outcome for these storylines yet, and i let myself get angsty.

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

i think 95% of my fics have happy endings but to shout one out in particular….hm. i’d say got real love maybe—truly just. fluff. and the boys coming home to each other and making that official. i also think the proposal bliss in (not afraid of) living on a fault line has got to be up there as well

8. do you get hate on fics?

nothing major

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

i’ve always stuck to very implied levels of smut in my fics….idk i always worry i won’t be able to make it sound good when there’s people out there who do it brilliantly. however i’m challenging myself with food fic which does have some smut (with feelings. oh the feelings)

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

crossovers aren’t really my thing!!

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

nope, would be honoured though!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

love helping with brainstorming bits, but have never actually co-written anything

14. what’s your all time favourite ship?

tarlos brainrot always and forever

15. what’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i have tons of ideas that i never commit to, which sucks. off the top of my head…the andrea & tk fic that i just never got into a flow with

16. what are your writing strengths?

i think i’m strongest when it comes to setting a scene; when exploring what that character is feeling. i like to think i can kind of evoke a mood through imagery? i’m most comfortable when it comes to introspection and exposition and general narrative

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

i tell myself i’m getting better, but i’d say dialogue is the constant thing that throws me off. i also worry i over-write sometimes

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i like it, if it’s being done with good intentions and suits the character. i’d imagine for heavier dialogue it would make sense to ask for someone who speaks the language to read it over to make sure it’s accurate

19. first fandom you wrote for?

i think the get down, back in like 2017

20. favourite fic you’ve written?

i can’t choose, so i present to you two wildly different honeymoons. first, dream this night away—almost 8.5k words after a seven month gap between posting when my writer’s block was at an ultimate high. then of course, to which there is no reply—i’ve been growing happier and happier with my writing especially with these last few fics of mine, and this one is something i’m just super proud of, and the support on it definitely brought me to tears a bit ajdnskdn

no pressure tagging @carlos-in-glasses @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @paperstorm @tailoredshirt @theghostofashton @inflarescent @birdclowns @liminalmemories21 @rmd-writes @heartstringsduet @freneticfloetry @orchidscript @tellmegoodbye @safeashousespdf and leaving an open tag as well!! <333