#and I don't think its what caleb would expect from him at all

[dent-de-leon]

Forever thinking about Caleb being so charming and sweet, he manages to even fluster Mollymauk--

[hellcatinnc]

How the Men Of Love And Deepspace Would Be On Being Dating Apps

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Warning This includes: SFW(Read Tags Before Continuing)

Tags: sfw, dating apps, smart phone, dating profiles, fluff, boy next door, friends to lovers, romantic

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Yes I know about Caleb but this is for all the fans of his still and how I think he would be in this...

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Zayne

So because he works long hours it leaves him little time for mixers or speed dating however he feels it would be nice to have someone to talk to over dinner. He puts up a profile online and its clear and precise and to the point. It will read something like "Looking For Part Time Companion" Then he would make sure to mention part time because he is married to his career. Yes he would like more than that maybe one day but he is just thinking logical. His idea is lets meet, talk about things, and see where we go from there but he knows she would have to be pretty special to make him think about committing 100% into a relationship.

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Rafayel

His profile would be flashy and look artistic enough to grab any creative persons attention. Anyways not like he would have much in common with someone who couldn't understand how he makes his paints and colors pop in his paintings. He would have a flirty appeal to it even though he has never even been in bed with a woman let alone do anything more than that. However his profile would read something cheesy and romantic to make you feel like you need him in your life even if you really don't. He might even end it with talking bout his love of fish, the fact he has fire magic, and that he would make a great husband to protect, love, cook for, and cherish for the rest of her life, as long as they promise to never leave him. Yes he would have a bit of a baby girl moment and show off how needy and clingy he is but this is what we love about this man anyways.

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Xavier

He will sit and look at his phone and stare for what seems like forever. He has no clue how to tell anyone about himself because he really doesn't much like talking about himself. Someone would have to help him because even though he is much older than he looks he can't be worried with trivial things. He will try but if he can't get it he moves on to the next thing. Anyways worrying about wanderers is more important to him. Even if he does get on there you can expect him to respond messages but he won't be the first to message anyone.

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Caleb

He is the boy next door and he would make sure to make it clear he is that traditional boy next door. He would go out of his way to make sure his profile showed his loyalty, honesty, and how he will go the extra mile for the woman he falls in love with. He would comment on his witty personality and how he wants someone he can be himself with and joke and laugh. He would let you know he is a protector who is looking for a friend to grow into a long lasting relationship with.

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[jess-the-vampire]

Philip's death didn't really work for me.

I see quite lot of people saying it's meant to be poetic, and its meant to be lackluster by taking him from high and mighty to pathetic and a mess.

But that's not what bothers me, what bothers me, is set up with no payoff.

And also confusing consistency.

Caleb got a decent focus these last two episodes, his story with philip is alluded to and slightly dived into, and with philip seeing him and having such heavy focus on his conflicting feelings towards his brother you'd kinda expect his ending to involve him to an extent?

Whether that be him going insane or being trapped with his worst memories for the rest of his life about caleb. It feels more thematic, more painful, to watch him suffer with what he did, that he killed his brother for nothing.

But caleb isn't even mentioned in this finale, he had nothing to do with Philip's death, he's not even shown at all.

And then on top of this, Philip supposibly is killed via rain and being stomped to death......but he survived being mega blasted into a wall by a God child via goo.

So he can survive that? But not being stomped? It's not as if there's no goo remains of him left, king even mentions him being between his toes.

Like I just can't buy this actually killing him when this didn't work the last time they tried it. If a God slamming him into a wall didn't work, how is a few normal people doing it better?

And somehow he turned into young Philip? Which, I don't know how he can do that, could he do that this whole time? ( his powers are really weird to me)

I dunno man, its not like he didn't get what was coming to him, but this doesn't fit with what the show was building towards, nor does it make sense?

The main reason most people thought trapping him forever was a good idea was because he'd suffer longer and because he could never come back or reform.

But like, not only was this more merciful then he deserved (even tho him begging for his life and trying to trick luz was interesting), but this ending doesn't really sound like something he couldn't recover from.

He's such a good villian that felt like he deserved a bigger climatic death that was an climax to all the bad deeds he did, like everything came to bite him since he hurt his brother.

But we just didn't get that, its like when we had so much interesting conversations about him wanting to go home to earth and his anxiety regarding it.......but then it never comes up when he's actually ON earth from him.

I dont even wanna be mean, cause I know what the crew faced, but this isn't something that I think can be entirely put on the cut either. At the end of the day, the team chose this to be how they took belos out.

And its just underwhelming.

Hes the villian. But he's a GOOD villian, with an interesting backstory, and I can't say this ending fits what we had set up for him.

If it works for you, great.

But not for me.

I was fine with him going out being pathetic and everything like a bug, its just that it feels like we were setting up something much more personal then we got, and the fact I don't buy that this would genuinely kill him is the cherry on top.

I'll have time to mull it over so maybe my thoughts could change, but right now, I'm getting strong Toffee flashbacks.

There is still great stuff in this finale, but I don't think his ending was one of them.

[heyclickadee]

The first of several Tech Lives posts. I was going to do in show quotes, possible foreshadowing, and moments that are just kinda suspicious in one post, but just the quotes got too long. So, with the caveat that I’m arguing that I don’t think a Tech return was cut and that it’s just going to happen later than we expected, here’s a list of lines either said by or connected to Tech that could point to him coming back at some point:

"Better late than dead." Phee, as her introductory line, right before she starts hitting on Tech, "Spoils of War."

"Hey, I'm a survivor. Remember?" Romar, to Tech, followed by like a six second camera hold on Tech before he goes back to get into the ship. "Ruins of War"

The entire exchange about culture and memory; Tech's actual character arc was about experiencing life outside the war and the narrow definitions the war gave him. That was not an arc that was completed, no one steps up to fill that space or continue that arc, and maybe it’s not an arc that could have been picked up in season three without focusing on Tech and writing Omega into the background of her own show. Maybe it needed its own space.

This exchange (which I bring up because it happens right after Tech fixes Romar's databank and restores that cultural memory, and we do get the implication in season three that Tech could be running around with amnesia. So.):

Romar: You--you actually did it! Tech: Of course I did.

THIS exchange:

Omega: You did it! Tech: You sound surprised. Wrecker: I thought you were a goner.

Like. Come on. He drifts into a cloud of dust so that the outcome of the race is hidden from view at first, Wrecker and Omega thought he was going to die because he made the decision (in defiance of their requests not to) to do something that would have killed almost anybody else in order to save them, he succeeds and he comes out alive.

"I guess I owe you one, Goggles." Cid, in "Faster." This isn't something they just forgot about, either. Tech indirectly brings it up as a reason she should help them at the end of "The Crossing," and it actually does get Cid to relent a little and say that she'll see what she can do before cutting off the call. But, since she doesn't come through on that, she still owes Tech that favor.

This exchange:

Phee: Don't go running off with any pirates or smugglers while you're gone. Tech: No. This mission should not require either.

Because of course this isn't literally what Phee means, she even clarifies in the next sentence that this isn't literally what she means, but can we at least all agree that this is a weird ass way to say, "Don't run off with any hotties while you're out, I'm still interested and I'm right here?" There's no reason for her to say it this way…unless Tech is going to end up running into some pirates and smugglers. Which hasn't happened yet.

"See you around, Brown Eyes." Phee, the current last thing she says to Tech, in "The Summit."

This exchange:

Crosshair: Where's the jedi? Hunter: Stunned him when he jumped. He didn't make it.

you know, the one where Hunter and Crosshair are talking about Caleb, the jedi who very much did not fall to his death (which plants the idea that falling deaths are suspect right in the first fifteen minutes of the series, btw), is worded almost identically to THIS exchange:

Omega: Where's Tech? Hunter: Omega…Tech didn't make it.

And it's the only two places in the entire show that "Where's X?" is followed up with, "X didn't make it,” btw.

THIS LINE:

"We have to go back! What if he's hurt? He--he needs us! Tell him, Wrecker. We can't just leave him! No! Tech's not gone! He can't be!" Omega, to Hunter and Wrecker about Tech, in "Plan 99."

Two things. One, Omega is actually…usually right about this kind of thing. We never do get explicit confirmation that she has any force sensitivity, but we do get a somewhat implicit one that she does at least have a little bit of natural ability. And even if she doesn’t, when she has a feeling about something that feeling usually turns out to be justified. No reason this should be any different. Two, I got through the rest of this episode about a dozen times and the entirety of season three without ever knowing for sure if Omega even thinks that Tech is dead. The closest she ever gets is saying that she "lost" him, and then goes on to use that exact word in the exact same sentence to describe Hunter, Wrecker, and Echo being captured, and actually said that they'd lost Echo way back in "The Crossing" when Echo was very much not dead and she knew it.

And then when we get to season three, she never actually talks about That Time Her Brother Threw Himself Off A Gondola To Save Her On The Worst Day Of Her Life, and she only brings Tech up once, and only when prompted by Crosshair. I have NO IDEA if she's accepted that Tech is gone or if she even believes he's never coming back, we're given no real indication either way. You know what she WAS real explicit about, though? Demanding that they go back because Tech isn't gone and needs their help.

Honorable Mentions:

"This story changes every time she tells it." Tech, about Phee, in Entombed. This isn't an obvious comeback line, and it's a bit of a stretch, but the thing is. The thing. Is. That Tech being alive, especially depending on how he comes back if he is, when, who knew what, who was hoping what, etc. has the potential to completely recontextualize the entire third season, if not the entire show. A lot of things would be different without actually having to change anything at all.

"I thought it was obvious." Also not foreshadowing, but makes for one hell of a zinger if it turns out he's alive and the clues were there all along.

"Yes, I am playing against myself. It is the only time this game is a challenge," would be one hell of a line if it turns out Tech was forced to be someone else for a while and ends up really struggling with that once he's recovered. Not like. There's any hinting. That this is a thing that could have happened.

“The last time we crossed paths, you had just lost a member of your squad. And it appears history may repeat itself. CT-9904 resisted my conditioning in the past, but I've made alterations to my methods. If you all survive, you will make fine operatives. And if not, well, there's no shortage of clones to test on next.” Dr. Hemlock, “The Cavalry Has Arrived.” I blazed right over this line originally, but @eriexplosion brought up that it’s just *real weird* for Hemlock to be bringing up Tech and that history is going to repeat itself in the context of being right about to start CX-ing the others and being so confident it’s going to work. So here’s what I’m thinking might be happening here: either he CX’d Tech and Tech’s standing right over there in the room with them, or he did something else to Tech and Tech was the change he made to his CXing method. This is actually one of several reasons I don’t think the CX-Tech plot was dropped or cut, and that we aren’t actually done with this—we get little bits of hinting it’s him even in the final episode.

“This isn’t over.” Wolffe to CX-2, “Extraction” Like a few others in this “honorable mentions” section, this relies on Tech being CX-2 either physically or mentally. But I uh. Do think it points to Wolffe potentially having a run in with CX-2 again.

Controversial, but I’m putting it on this list anyway:

“Clone Force 99 died with Tech! We’re not that squad anymore!” Crosshair to Wrecker and Hunter, “The Cavalry Has Arrived”

I know.

But here’s why.

First, one of the long running narrative questions of The Bad Batch was whether or not Clone Force 99 could ever be whole—whether they could ever fix what the Empire broke in “Aftermath.” Because we never get a full reunion by the end of the series, the answer we get isn’t a “yes,” but it wasn’t really a “no” either. Because the entire Tech situation is so unconfirmed, and because the show did nothing to allow either the audience or the other characters to let him go, the possibility of a full batch reunion and reconciliation remains on the table. There’s still a remote chance that they can fix what the Empire broke after all. Maybe they won’t all live in the same place when all is said and done, but maybe, maybe they can still be a whole and complete family. Because the story never fully closed that off as an option.

And the thing is, the show could have had the family fully heal without Tech. They could have resolved the family stuff without him by dealing with him as dead and allowing everyone to treat their wounds and move on. But because we get this line in the last episode, because no one ever pushes back on it in a meaningful way, because Crosshair never takes it back, that’s not what the story does at all. So the answer we end up with here is, “Maybe, maybe not—but not without Tech, apparently. They’re still broken without Tech.”

Second, Crosshair has always been a little cynical, but this season went out of its way to establish him as Pessimism Georg, an outlier who shouldn’t be counted. The last time he said someone was probably dead, way back in “A Different Approach,” we knew it almost definitely wasn’t true and Omega immediately shut him down. He wasn’t there on Eriadu, he doesn’t know any more about Tech falling (he might know other things but we don’t know that) than the others and probably less, and I think there’s a possible future spoiler reason why they had Crosshair say this when Omega wasn’t around to hear it instead of any time that she would have been.

Third, like. Okay. Crosshair might believe Tech is dead. Crosshair might know something about what happened to Tech that no one else does, and might need to believe Tech is dead because of it. He might have suspicions about where Tech is. He might know nothing. Whatever Crosshair actually thinks or believes, though, one thing I do think we have to keep in mind here is that words very rarely leave Crosshair’s mouth without being sieved through fifteen layers of Crosshair being Crosshair, and so Crosshair frequently exaggerates, omits, talks from a certain point of view, lies, and so on.

He’s a genuinely perceptive guy who can read people and situations like no one’s business BUT his brain cells turn off and that big wounded heart of his takes over whenever he has to make a decision, so his internal logic makes sense but goes through such a tortured filter on the way he comes to some wild conclusions. (For example: The batch escaped without him and from his perspective, they didn’t do enough to give him a chance. Reasonable given what he knows about the situation. Justified. His solution to that is to capture them and invite them to the apocalypse to hear the galaxy’s worst business pitch.) He’s just. His observations are often good and, in contrast to his foil, Omega, who’s usually right about this kind of stuff, Crosshair has a tendency to come to the wrong conclusion.

And on top of that, let’s remember that this is a guy who will say the most cutting, ruthless, out-of-pocket thing in order to get a reaction or even to get people to leave him alone. And he’s good at it. It’s a skill. I’m not sure he even has a sense of what going too far looks like (I don’t think he left Tech out of his fight with Hunter because he thought it was a step too far, I think he left Tech out of that fight because he blames himself for Tech too much to blame Hunter for it). This is a man who told a child he would leave her to die if he had the chance. A child he would both kill and die for. So of course if wasn’t true, Omega immediately calls him out on it, but he still said it because he thought it would get her to leave him and save herself. It’s worth noting that the entire reason Crosshair launches into the entire “Clone Force 99 died with Tech” speech is because he’s trying to get Wrecker and Hunter to protect themselves and let him go into Tantiss alone.

Lastly, even if Tech was definitely dead, this line is custom made to get Tech spinning in his grave so fast that he’d spontaneously resurrect for the sole purpose of decking Crosshair across the jaw because what does Crosshair think he fell for then? You…can’t really have the final note on a man who (supposedly) died to save his family be that his family is irrevocably broken because he “died.” Which is another thing—they’re not just a squad. They’re a family, and Tech thought of them as a family. Like. Just. This entire line is just so perfectly crafted as something that feels like it needs to be pushed back against and refuted I’m just. I’m *biting biting biting*

All this to say that Crosshair should not be regarded as a source of objective fact.

Aaaand that’s. All the ones I can remember.

[whattheshock]

⭐️ STAR TREATMENT (miguel o'hara band au)

summary: miguel's still pissing you off, but maybe he's different than he seems... wc: 1117 cw: use of y/n, harassment

⋆part 3⋆ masterlist

"ugh, where is he?" you asked in frustration. "this is the second time he's missed rehearsal this week & the tour starts in 9 days!" you slid down the wall, sinking to the floor, your head in your hands.

it'd been a little over 2 months since the record exec showed up at a show & offered spider sense a record deal. the band was so excited, but miguel seemed like he couldn't care less. he argued about every detail on the contract, stormed out of the recording studio as fast as he could as soon as their sessions ended, & seemed to dread going on tour more & more by the day, telling you he'd 'rather die than be cooped up on a tour bus with these pendejos for months.'

"just ignore him, if he wants to be an asshole & not participate, there's not much we can do." dean said as he packed up his bass in its case.

"seriously?"

"we would do something but no one wants to get into it with that guy..." aiden said as he slung his guitar case over his shoulder.

"so you guys do do anything? you just let him treat you like shit just because he can drum?"

they all looked at each other. "yeah..." they all said in unison as the continued clearing out their studio.

you scoffed & rolled your eyes as you approached caleb. "why haven't you guys just kicked him out? is there no other drummer for your band?"

"look, [y/n]..." caleb stopped packing up his bag & turned to face you. "we don't exactly like dealing with him, but he's the most talented drummer i've ever met, he makes our band sound the way it does... as much as i wanna swipe those drumsticks right out of his big, stupid hands & snap them in half & smash his skull into his bass drum... i can't... i don't expect you to get it-"

"no, i get it, i do... as much as you don't want him, you need him..."

"right... oh, do you need a ride home? i know your car's in the shop & all..."

"nah, it's fine."

"but it's raining-"

"it's fine, caleb, i'm not gonna make you drive all the way to the other side of town just for me..." you said with a smile. "see you soon." you gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek & left the studio.

thankfully, the rain was light, but this part of new york was always to gloomy when it rained. it was late, the buzz of barely working neon signs filling your ears.

"hey..." a breathy voice said, it was coming from the alleyway. the voice belonged to an older man hiding in the shadows, his face illuminated by his cigarette. you kept walking. "oh, c'mon, won't you give me a smile?" he said as he walked out on to the sidewalk. you continued walking faster. "c'mon..." he reached out, grabbing your bag, pulling you back with it.

"hey! let go!" you grabbed it back from him. suddenly, there was a loud honk & a cherry red sports car pulled up next to the sidewalk. it was an older car but still ridiculously nice. the tinted window on the driver's side rolled down, a few raindrops falling into the car.

"get in," miguel said. you looked back at him in disbelief before taking his offer & quickly getting in the passenger seat before he drove off, splashing the man with rain water, probably on purpose.

"sorry, i'm getting your nice car all wet..."

"whatever, it's fine." miguel grumbled, keeping his focus on the road.

awkward silence filled the car. finally, you spoke up. "why did you help me?"

"excuse me?"

"why did you help me?"

he rolled his eyes. "what, was i just supposed to do nothing? what kind of man would i be if i just left someone out in the rain to keep getting harrassed, especially someone i know?"

"oh, so you just helped me because you would've felt guilty," you scoffed. "i thought you actually cared for a second there..."

"what makes you think i don't?" he stared at me intensely as we were stopped at a red light. "whatever... where do you live?"

"excuse me?"

"can't exactly take you home if i don't know where your home is." he said a bit sarcastically.

"oh, right, uh... 2099 north avenue..."

the light turned green he started driving you home. the rain was loud against the car, so you put your headphones on to drown it out.

"what are you listening to?" miguel asked. you rolled your eyes & leaned against the cold window, ignoring him, so he lifted them off of your ear.

"hey!" you said as the sounds of arctic monkeys spilled out of your headphones. you slapped his hand away & adjusted your headphones back onto your ear.

"you have good taste..." he said, a faint smile crossing his lips.

you were shocked. "did you just... smile?" a smile of your own appearing on your face as you teased him.

"what is that supposed to mean? am i not allowed to smile or something?"

"no, it's just... you never smile, you've got serious resting bitch face."

"resting bitch face?" he asked with a laugh.

"yeah, you constantly look pissed, & you act like it, too... you're an asshole, y'know..."

"really? so you really think i'm some massive asshole who doesn't care about anyone or anything?"

"yeah, basically... that's the impression we're all getting from you."

"hm..." his grip on the steering wheel tightened. "i'll keep that in mind, because that's not who i am, & that's not how i wanna be seen..."

silence filled the car as he pulled up in front of your apartment building. "thank you... i don't know if i thanked you before..."

"it's fine, it wasn't any trouble... do you need me to walk you to your apartment or-"

"no, i'll be fine, thanks again." you smiled & without thinking, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. your eyes went wide, realizing what you'd just done. you quickly opened the car door, awkward yelling "bye!" before closing the door & running inside without looking back.

you hurried up the stairs to the 5th floor, finally reaching apartment 505, unlocking the door & slamming it after you went inside. you pressed your back against the door, listening to the faint sounds of rain against the windows & your pounding heart. there was a strange feeling in the pit of your stomach & you gripped your shirt tightly. was it anger? anxiety? embarrassment? no, it was butterflies.

you were falling for miguel.

an: tysm for reading part 3 of star treatment! i'm so sry this chapter is late i was having srs writer's block... lmk if u have any questions (my inbox is always open!) or wanna be tagged in new chapters! reblogs r greatly appreciated :)

credit to @benkeibear for the dividers

taglist: @freehentai

part 4 coming soon...

[kindred-sims]

"Louisa, do you know where your brother is?"

Come dinner time that day, Henry still hadn't left his room. Jo had thought she'd seen him come in during she and Caleb's rather loud discussion earlier, but she hadn't thought much of it, nor had she thought he'd stopped long enough to hear it.

But now, she was concerned, especially given that he was usually one of the first people at the table -- if not the one setting the plates and forks up, and had approached Louisa as she entered the dining room.

"I don't know, Mama. I think he's still in his room. He was really upset when he went up there..."

That had all but confirmed Jo's fears, and she cast a bothered glance to Caleb. He'd gone very quiet since Louisa's confirmation, and was not saying a word, looking instead very deeply troubled.

Jo hadn't wasted another minute after that, not wanting to risk the chance of things growing any worse. She swiftly marched up to Henry's room, knocking at the door softly.

"Henry? Its Mama, may I come in?"

She waited, listening as footsteps quietly padded over to the door. The lock clicked a moment later, and she pushed the door back, heading inside. As expected, there sat Henry on his bed, back turned and arms crossed. Even without seeing his face, it was evident he'd been deeply hurt by what he overheard.

"Henry?" He said nothing, as she heedfully stood nearby. "Henry, were you coming down to supper? There's mushroom soup and hot buttered bread, and I made apple pie for dessert."

"No thank you. I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure? Because I can fix you up a bowl, bring it upstairs for you..."

"Maybe later..."

Jo nodded, moving to sit next to him on the bed. She regarded him thoughtfully, thoroughly, before deciding to speak again. He was clearly in a delicate state right now, and knowing from her own childhood experiences in the bad mood department, it would only take one wrong word for him to fall further downward.

"...I'm sorry you overheard Papa and I's fight," she began. "It wasn't my intention to have you and Louisa walk in on it, I'd hoped to have had it sorted before you two returned. Unfortunately, your Papa is as about as a stubborn as a mule."

With this, Henry turned to look at his mother, the slightest remnants of tears in his eyes.

"...does he hate me, Mama?" His voice was as quiet as a mouse, barely audible.

"Hate? Of course not, you know he loves you very much. We both do."

"Then if he loves me, why did he say all those terrible things? Why did he talk about wanting to pull me out of school?"

"I..." Jo hesitated, sighing deeply. "You know, dear, sometimes, when people get very upset, they tend to say things they don't mean. And in this case, I'm afraid your father was so flustered he didn't quite know what he was saying. But it doesn't mean that he hates you, I doubt he ever could."

"Is that true?"

"Without a doubt. I think its only because he's been very stressed lately, running the farm is a lot of hard work, and he only wants to make sure that you're ready to look after it someday. And right now, well, he feels that you aren't taking it seriously enough."

"But I'm trying my best, Mama, I try my best every day!"

"I know you do darling, and I'm so proud of you," she agreed. "And you know, that's all that your father is asking of you, at the end of day. He only wants to make sure that you know what you're doing, and that you know how to do it the right way. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

He did. Henry understood what his mother was saying, he really did. And it wasn't as if he wanted to disappoint her or his father, that was the last thing on his mind. Which was exactly why he couldn't bring himself to tell her that he wasn't even sure that he wanted to be a farmer...no matter how much the words longed to escape from his lips.

[anjumzm]

Midsummer Night

A Legacy of Gods Fanfic

JerCes Daughter x LanMia Son

Chapter 11

Theodore Sokolov King

In my 24 years of life, rarely did I look forward to anything, mainly due to the fact that most of the time I already knew the outcome to a plan set in motion. This was the first time there was anticipation as to how things would turn out, and I was loving every minute of it.

I'd asked the little bird to be here in my office at 9 a.m. sharp today. I'd even sent my driver to pick her up from her brother's place, which I'm sure would have come with some drama, given the scene I'd caused a few days back in the Volkov house. Caleb must have been enraged yet couldn't do anything about it, given that he respected his sister's choices more so than that jerk big brother of hers. Aaron was bound to be a problem to my plan, given that he's a replica of his control freak father, Jeremy. Both of them liked to study everything in detail, and for that reason, there couldn't be any loopholes in my plan. I had to be fast and perfect.

The door opens and in strides ,the little heir, Jasper King, with a playful smile on his face. He started as an intern last week, just as all of us had once.

"Hello, Big Bro. A lovely day, isn't it?"

"Get on with your questions, we both know why you've come here."

His face loses some of its playfulness. "What's going on with you and my cousin Aanya? We both know you're incapable of displaying any emotions, let alone 'love'. Do you expect all of us to believe this bullshit? Why are you messing with Uncle Jer and his family? Trust me, you don't want to be the subject of Grandpa Adrian's wrath, Theo. Stop this idiocy already. It's enough that there are issues between Uncle Jer and Uncle Lan, please don't add fuel to the flames."

"And finally, the little heir starts taking an interest in business, even if it's to advocate for the pretty cousin of his. Look here, Jas, I'll warn you once and only this once. Do not meddle in my matters, just like I don't meddle with yours. Trust me, you won't like the consequences, baby cousin."

"Is that a threat, Big Bro?"

"Threat? Now why would I threaten my favorite brother? Nonsense. If it was a threat, you'd know it."

That's the exact moment the little bird chooses to enter my office. She takes a look around before her eyes meet mine.

And for a moment she falters. As if she's gathering her thoughts, and then shakes her head before turning around to notice Jasper standing there.

"Oh, Jasper, I wasn't expecting you."

"The same could be said about you. This was why Caleb sounded angry on the phone. He personally asked me to escort you back home."

Aanya thinks for a moment, then in that soft and kind voice of hers, she says, "I'll join you in a while, Jasper, if you can wait for me. I just need to discuss something with...him."

Jasper takes a moment before responding. "I'll be waiting outside. Call me once you're done." He makes the "I'm watching you" sign before leaving out the door.

Finally, the little bird and I were alone. At last.

The silence stretched for long before Aanya decided to take a seat. I kept my eyes on her all the while. I loved it when she appeared all unsure, and my gaze on her was truly unsettling her.

"Aanya," I all but whispered her name, as if it was something sacred, intimate. "You know why I've called you here. While you're familiar with my family, this time will be rather different. They'll be observing every little detail to make sure that I haven't manipulated you into this relationship. We need to look and act the part of being a couple madly in love."

Aanya scoffs and adds, "Sure, whatever."

I get up and take the seat in front of Aanya's, then slowly raise her chin with my fingers. "Tell me you love me."

Aanya takes a deep breath before saying, "I love you."

"No, you know it sounds fake even to you. We need to make everyone believe that we mean it when we say that we love each other."

Aanya asks, frustration clear in her voice, "What more do you want me to do? Kiss you, perhaps?"

"Yes, kiss me."

Her eyes widen and her eyebrows rise up. "You're fucking delusional, you know that? What makes you ev-"

What she's about to say is cut short as I pull her chair towards me and slam my lips to her soft, velvety ones.

Good Lord.

She tastes like sin wrapped in innocence, like temptation waiting to happen.

Before I know it, I'm unable to stop myself. For the first time, I'm losing control, and I don't regret it. Not even a bit.

I pull her up from her chair and place her on my lap, hands roaming around her waist. I want to remove every barrier between us. I want to bruise and mark her in a way that declares to everyone around us that she's mine.

I slowly let my hands on her waist go a little upwards, and I brush my knuckles against her breast. That seems to break the spell. She quickly breaks the kiss and jumps out of my lap and my arms.

"What the hell! What's wrong with you? Did you just kiss me?"

"I initiated it. Judging by the way your hands were roaming and exploring, I take it that you enjoyed it. You're welcome."

I can see tears forming. She's on the verge of losing her cool.

"You're the worst person I've ever come across. You might treat people and their feelings like a joke, but they matter to me. Next time, if you try to pull a stunt like today, there will be consequences. I dare you, King."

She takes all her belongings and strides out. I cannot help but smile. Unknowingly, she's given my beast a new toy to obsess over. And I'll be damned if I deprive him of the conquest.

This was only the beginning.

[msookyspooky]

Heyo so I say your severen birthday post and it got me thinking. So I went to Disney world for my birthday and I was thinking what if severen takes his mate and the gang to Disney 😭(at night of course) I can see Jess and sev eating a turkey leg and Caleb and Mae taking a romantic walk and diamond dragging homer to get photos 😭

I srsly love this I definitely don't watch Near Dark and think Disneyworld but it's so perfect bc they've lived so long you can't tell me they haven't been to an amusement park including disneyworld with how huge it is.

I bet ur b day was fun!!! I went to that place ONE time at 8 years old and it quite literally rained on my parade and some of the rides 🥲 It was thundering and cloudy during the wait for the haunted mansion which was my favorite so that was a neat memory tho. So if I'm rusty, srry I have vague memories there 😭

Severen Taking his S/O to Disneyworld

- For one, they definitely did not have money to go in, not even 80's money. They probably couldn't steal enough or didn't care to so they snuck in somehow (Severen is old af and probably knows a secret entrance from when it was first built.)

- Severen found a micky mouse hat with ears and wore it just to be goofy

- Speaking of goofy...Severen and Jesse scare the actors in costume there. Severen definitely took a picture with you but whispered some terrifying shit in Goofy's ear just to watch him try to run in those shoes (He laughed his ass off too.)

- You are so right!! Severen and Jesse are eating the most basic, filling foods. He may sample your dole whip or funnel cake but he rarely eats this type of human food and he's making it worth it by eating a huge turkey leg.

- You all definitely cut in line...Do you think SEVEREN is going to stand for an hour or more for rides??? He is finding a way in probably from killing and drinking a staff member and getting their key cards to use backdoors.

- Jesse and DB venture off to Epcot just to leisurely stroll around sample different foods and listen to music and dance together...They still get odd looks and creep everyone out. A child definitely cried when Jesse stared them down for staring at him first.

- Caleb and Mae are hand in hand in line to go on the haunted mansion (It's just so they can makeout in the cars after Mae gets 'scared'. They rarely get alone time in the group.)

- Homer goes off adventuring by himself (He just doesn't want anyone see him actually enjoy peter pans flight like a kid.)

- You and Sev go on an adventure. He is high energy, playful, adventurous and eager to do things so expect for him to ask you where to go but if you say 'it's up to you'...He is dragging you everywhere 🤣

- Severen's favorite rides are actual Rollercoasters that have his adrenaline pumping (Imagine if he's never been on one? He'd love it!) the crazier the better and that nut job is laughing his ass off while your screaming...This man would love Tower of Terror or Rock n Rollercoaster or even more 'tame' rides like ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter if he got to see it before it closed

- He does enjoy more lowkey rides though like a ferris wheel or haunted mansion if it involves you cuddle up to him but please do not take him on its a small world he will complain the entire time and if he's got that damn song stuck in his head; he's blaming you ☠️

- Homer loves it bc even tho he wants to be perceived as an adult; this is the one place he goes and being a kid actually gets him better treatment than everyone else in the group.

- Mae loves talking to the princesses and Caleb loves the rides he rode as a kid before Sarah was even born like Space Mountain or Pirates of the Caribbean

- DB loves the family time you all rarely get often going your seperate ways to feed everynight

- You all meet back up at least an hour before it closes to spend that 'family time' together.

- Severen or Jesse or both know the most unsettling deaths and secrets about the place and Severen points out "Oh some girl was crushed between those two walls" too casually. Severen acted like he was going to jump in the water on Jungle Cruise claiming there's actual alligators and when you told him "Nuh uh" he was going to prove it. You just about yanked him off his feet to sit back down

- Everyone argues over what the last 'family' attraction should be

- If it involves shooting and competition tho? Every single one of them from Jesse to Caleb is having a blast

- You probably convince them to go on splash mountain just for the picture at the end. Sadly someone had to sit out (Jesse or DB for sure) So in order: Jesse or DB in the back, Homer, You, Guess Who, Mae, Caleb 😭

- You are so right DB is dragging Homer to take photos like the Mom she is 🥰

- You all stay to watch some fireworks but sneak back out halfway through before everyone else starts leaving

- The night is young and you all go get ACTUAL nourishment with blood but it's a fun time and you all have souvenirs from pics to merchandise

- Severen definitely won, stole or even bought you a cute niche character merch you love to keep for ur special day 💞

[not-poignant]

HELLO i have been LOVING utb and its companion stories and like. i have been. Especially struck by the small glimpses you have given us of garys mother - shes clearly such an important influence on this garys life, would you be at all willing to tell us more about her? she seems to have gone ahead and raised an objectively good man in a bad system and i am looking with rapt attention!! ty <3

Hi hi!

I don't know a great deal about Gary's family, he's very secretive and doesn't really let me know much about his background until it's relevant and he's always been that way.

So anything I'm about to say could change in the canon at a moment's notice, because if something else fits him better in the story, or suits him better, that's where I'll go.

Generally, I think Gary's parents were alphas, and his mother in particular was very grounded, stable and caring. It's not that uncommon for many alphas to have good parents, because we sort of see that with Anton, Kadek, Caleb, and many of the other alpha characters in the story. It's just Efnisien's experience has been with some of the worst ones. But a lot of the alphas that end up at Hillview have been raised with love but also structure.

I think Gary's family was academic, and very much 'you are going to university and you are getting a higher education' and I think in an ideal world they wanted him to be a professional academic basically, and not end up managing a facility like Hillview. They fully expected him to be a lecturer or professor, and I think Gary's other parent may have been.

Gary was raised around a lot of books, and a lot of fine objects, he definitely came from affluence, and his family were quite open-minded in the way they view omegas and alphas in general. They wouldn't be the kind of people who would do business with someone like Crielle.

Beyond that, I think his parents have both passed away (though I'm not sure!) and I don't think he has much other family, at least none that he keeps in touch with. I feel like, by the time James died, both of Gary's parents had passed away, but I'm not sure how, and I'm not sure under what circumstances. So Gary really couldn't go to his parents to talk to them about it, which is what he wanted to do more than anything.

Gary loved his parents and was extremely loyal to them, which isn't uncommon in peak alphas (see: Gwyn). So they gave him a really good grounding in life, particularly his mum, who helped him understand how much power he had in the world!

[miss-bluerose]

TDI23 Season 2 ep 7 and 8 thoughts and theories. Spoilers ahead.

Ep 7: Put in teams by Chris, gather ingredients from a barge floating on the lake, choose a remote that could help you and/or hinder your opponents and bake a cake for the judges that looks like Chris. Fun episode and I enjoyed most of the references to movies and TV shows throughout the episode. Owen as the guest judge was great. That chicken cracking its eyes was hilarious.

- Cornucopia Bloodbath from The Hunger Games

- This is Sparta! from 300

- That escalated quickly from Anchorman

- Paint me like one of your French girls from Titanic

- Seductively shaping clay from Ghost

Ep 8: Carry a giant coin up a mountain, put it in a slot, enter the play area and gather the most points to win. The fish delivery lady was funny. This ep had its issues but I liked most of the references.

- Immitating the twins from The Shining

- Courtney

- Duncan

- Scary Girl and her jackhammer

- The Canadian Goose from last season

- Izzy

Owen:

He looks the exact same and thought that Cake Chef was the real Chef and had died 😂. Still goofy, friendly and obsessed with food but even he thought MK's cake tasted bad. I laughed when he ran away with Cake Chef.

Chris:

Sounds like he's still mad at MK about the hairdryer when he called her team greasy lol. I laughed at him talking about physical money as if it's extremely old, like prehistoric times old. I want to know which secret he stopped Zee from saying. Him pelting Priya with marshmallows was mean.

Chef:

It's sad that no one in universe thinks he can cook after all these years. Got calf implants for some reason and it looks kinda gross tbh.

Eliminated contestants:

16th: Lauren/Scary Girl - she's "shown up" in ep 4 and ep 8 so my theory that she's going to appear in ep 12 (fear challenge) is looking extremely likely at the moment.

15th: Chase

14th: Millie

13th: Emma

12th: Nichelle

11th: Bowie

10th/9th: Axel/Ripper - Both of their development came to a halt after they got together and it was annoying to watch them constantly make out so I'm not really sad to see them go. I did feel bad for him being upset about her leaving but I didn't expect him to just grab onto her like that. And Chris just decided to count it as a double elimination, wtf?

8th: Zee - Didn't do much in ep 7 tbh. I didn't enjoy watching him put his shorts in his mouth/being in his underwear for most of ep 8 but the squirrel was funny. He should have told Priya the truth when she talked to him before the challenge, that would have been the perfect opportunity. Spilled the beans about Caleb after he kissed Priya which was bad enough but then he kept talking and exposed a few secrets about the others. There is no way he should have been voted off over Caleb who is clearly the bigger threat in every way but because he still has a plot to be resolved he gets to stay. One of the most forced eliminations in the history of the entire show I swear to god. It should have been a tie in which Caleb would probably still win but at least he would have had to fight to stay in the game instead of just getting lucky with the voting. At the very least I hope the friendship between Zee and Priya isn't ruined for good, I liked seeing them talk to each other and stuff.

Merge

Priya:

She shouldn't have tried to use natural yeast, just let the cakes be flat. I'm not ok with 99% of PDA so I didn't enjoy watching her and Caleb try to kiss while people were around. They finally kiss and then she runs off crying after hearing what Zee said and doesn't talk for the rest of the episode. I don't want her to get back with Caleb even after the misunderstanding gets cleared up but I don't think that'll happen.

Caleb:

I don't like him and he should have been voted off instead of Zee no question about it. It's going to be annoying to watch him stick around.

Damien:

It's awesome to see that his confidence has grown and that he has found his footing in the game. The squirrel doing the finger guns back at him was cute. I can't believe he found the immunity idol by accident while the others were actually looking for it and he did the Family Guy knee gag 🤣. I hope it doesn't get stolen from him. It looks like he's still terrified of Scary Girl. Change your undies my guy. He'll probably comfort Priya in the next episode.

Raj:

It's lame that he and Wayne decided to work with Julia in the cooking challenge instead of against her. Hopefully that changes soon. Also seems to have lost some IQ points but not as bad as Wayne I think. I don't even want to bring up his secret 😨.

Wayne:

He seems to have gotten dumber at some point? It took forever for him to get to the pinball challenge and then he was knocked out of it right away. I don't know what to think of him.

Julia:

I laughed at her getting chest bumped by the hockey bros and the two of them slowing her down unintentionally. Of course she knows how to bake and mill raw ingredients, why am I not surprised? 🙄 She sicked Owen on MK and sounded upset about it enough that she's avoiding her at the start of the next ep. I didn't like her trying to pry the secret out of Zee. I'm not surprised that she stole from her own grandma. Her plot armor is ridiculous jfc.

MK:

I enjoyed her suffering in the cake challenge. I'm disappointed that her monstrous cake didn't come to life, could've been a funny reference to some SNL sketches. Isn't mad that Julia betrayed her in the cooking challenge apparently. Struggled to carry her coin up the mountain and then got crushed by it lol. She's a gamer and was able to figure out how to get more points quicker than the others. Bit Caleb's leg which was funny to me. Sleeps with a stuffed unicorn, awwww.

Five episodes left and I really hope Julia doesn't win. I procrastinated typing this because of the holidays and Zee's totally BS elimination but still got it done before 2024, woohoo!

[autumnslance]

This is a very silly ask (and feel free to ignore it completely), but do you think any of your OCs would be friends with characters from other franchises? (Fun fact, this was inspired by a piece of fanart that made me believe that Thancred and Leon Kennedy of Resident Evil fame would absolutely be friends. Or at least drinking buddies.)

Hrm, I don't often think in terms of crossovers and mashups anymore--which is funny, as one of my earliest online RP experiences was a multiverse setting where OCs from any and all settings--franchise, gaming, original, etc--could co-exist. Normal mortals teaming up with demigods from novel series and mega-damage users from RIFTS and an array of fantasy and sci-fi and horror characters in between.

I sometimes think about how my OCs in various settings would interact together; how my WoW OCs would get along, or not, with the FF14 crew, or the FF14 OCs with my D&D characters. I tend to lean into certain archetypes (bards and paladins/clerics/priests are favorites), so there'd be some overlap and things in common, and also some frustrations at similarities that grate and clash.

So I don't think too much about how they'd interact with canon figures from other settings, but any OCs I'd have in that realm instead.

Well, the adventuring parties of Actual Play shows like Critical Role (and its animated series spinoffs) is pretty easy; Vox Machina, the Mighty Nein, and Bells Hells are all as chaotic and as helpful as adventurers tend to be, for good or bad. So there'd be eye rolling and irritation, but also understanding and diving in alongside, forming friendships with the weirdos cuz well, adventurers are Like That. They're RP characters too though so might be cheating, or at least easier to figure out for me.

Vax has that sort of noble rogue energy that'd make Aeryn fond of him, while Vex would initially drive her up a wall until they reached an understanding. Scanlan's annoy the heck out of her until they got to sit down and talk for real and she saw under the vulgar exterior. Percy'd be tolerated as Insufferable Noble Trying Too Hard. She'd be patient with Grog and enjoy his overlarge childish glee at everything. And who doesn't love Pike? Literal angel with a chaotic bent herself, she adds a bit of calm when not engaging in sibling shenanigans with Grog. I think Aeryn'd relate most to Keyleth, funnily, and they'd get along decently. Tary, too, would get a lot of sympathy concerning expectations, and also nerding around with his crafts, and may make dealing with Percy a tad easier.

Of the Nein, Caduceus is a spot of calm, aroace energy. Not as right as he thinks he is about many things, but he means well and tries, and that counts for a lot. Aeryn'd have tea with him any day. She'd also be drawn to Beau's bravado and brashness and they'd get into trouble together. Same with Fjord and Caleb, really; there's a level of familiarity in how they approach things with 'let's poke it and see what happens' but also the care they have for others in general. Same with Yasha. Jester's a bright light ball of energy and oh gods her and C'oretta in the same space would be exhausting. Nott/Veth is a bit more complicated; probably depends on when in the campaign, is it before or after Veth's reunited with her family, as she undergoes a shift emotionally once she has her original self back as well as her husband and son. Molly would aggravate and charm Aeryn by turns; Kingsley she'd be sympathetic to and understand too well that living in another's shadow aspect. Essek is fine; he's a wizard to talk shop with, learn from, mess around with spellwork. Luc is a brat also in the shadow of his accomplished mom and adventuring family, and needs mentoring and guidance and a lot of patience oh gosh.

A lot of the Hells would honestly be irritating, especially Imogen's propensity to just use telepathy intrusively; girl needs a lesson in why you don't want to poke around uninvited or casually to get your answers, and a WoL's head is wilder than most. FCG needs mentoring and guidance like whoa. Fearne's also an agent of energetic chaos; fun in doses. Laudna's not so scary, very sweet and fun and sad and likely needs help she doesn't know how to ask for. Ashton's grating in his arrogance and rebelliousness for rebellion's sake (though that may shift given recent things...). Chetney's surface attitude would be annoying, but soon enough he'd be a safe and calming point, given his perceptions. Orym's also just calming and reasonable; maybe a little too much sometimes, and needs to be reminded to cut loose now and then, it's good for you (and your friends).

Dark rolls with it all; she's very easy to get along with. Iyna wouldn't be able to stand most of them. C'oretta would get along well with most everyone but lord her and Jester and/or Fearne in the same place...Terrifying!

That's one off the top of my head, after a long holiday weekend thinking about it off and on, anyway!

[fandomscraziness22]

red columbine (anxiety) — “can you hold my hand? please?” for caleb/adam!

ok, this isn't really the prompt but i don't care because i wanted to do it! (it's heavily based on a scene from Lockwood and Co which everyone should watch!)

red columbine (anxiety) — “can you hold my hand? please?”

“I know I really should have expected that being back together would bring more weirdness to my life, but I really underestimated just how much,” Adam muses as Oliver looks over his notes one more time, and Mark hovers behind him making some sort of snide comment that Adam’s sure is less than helpful.  

Caleb gives him a half smirk from his chair, reaching out to pat Adam’s back affectionately. “I know, but to be fair, neither of us asked for this one.”

Adam sighs, knowing it’s true. Oliver and Mark had reached out asking for Caleb’s help with a magical ring that seemed to have an Atypical’s spirit trapped inside it. Yeah, Adam hadn’t believed it either, but his boyfriend couldn’t say no to Mark, and Mark was working with Oliver to discover dangerous Atypical artifacts, and so here they were, hoping that Caleb could use his empath powers to connect to whatever spirit or Atypical power lay within. 

“Okay, I think we’re ready,” Oliver says, turning back to the boys and clapping his hands once. “Any last questions, Carson?”

Caleb rolls his eyes. “No, Oliver, I know what I’m doing.”

Adam kisses Caleb quickly before promising, “We’ll be right over here if anything goes wrong.”

“It better fucking not,” Mark says under his breath.

Adam moves a little ways away to stand by Mark and Oliver, who has his notebook out. “Be careful,” he adds. 

Caleb nods before closing his eyes and focusing his attention to the ring in his hand. At least, that’s what Adam assumes he’s doing. As the only non-Atypical in the room, he’s a bit freaked at not being able to help in any sort of power-related way, but Caleb had assured him that Adam would be the one he needed if he got lost in his head.

Adam may not have any abilities, but he knows his boyfriend, so he can tell the moment Caleb makes contact with the spirit in the ring. His eyebrows crease, in concentration, then his face relaxes, eyes still closed. 

“There’s music,” Caleb says softly. “Orchestral of some kind. Laughing. People…dancing?”

“How can you tell?” Adam asks, confused. Caleb’s an empath, not a psychic or dreamwalker. He shouldn’t be able to tell anything about the spirit except for its feelings. That’s what they had assumed, anyways.

Oliver makes a note on his paper. “Interesting. That spirit is stronger than I anticipated, if it’s imparting its power into Caleb.”

“What the fuck does that mean, Oliver?” 

“Calm down, Mark, he’s fine.”

Adam watches his boyfriend carefully, but there’s no big change yet. He’s simply relaxed and listening to whatever other side he can sense.

“There’s…happiness, but it’s bittersweet,” Caleb says. “There’s a hard edge to it, like she can tell it won’t last.”

“She?” Adam asks. “Who? What’s going on?”

Caleb shakes his head, his face tightening. “Now she’s annoyed. He wasn’t being truthful, that night. It’s…”

And then Caleb’s eyes open, but they aren’t his eyes, not really. There’s something far away in them, like he’s still watching the spirit’s life.

That shouldn’t be possible. “Caleb?” Adam calls, but his boyfriend doesn’t even look in his direction.

The empath stands suddenly, fingers still clenched around the ring. “Listen, I said I loved you.” His voice is pleading, and Caleb takes a few steps forward towards Adam.

“What?” Adam steps forward to meet Caleb, wary of it all.

“Caleb, what’s happening?” Oliver prods. 

Caleb doesn’t respond to Oliver, but instead puts a hand to Adam’s cheek, caressing it. “I love you. That doesn’t stop because I went to dinner with them.”

Adam’s terrified now, because this shouldn’t be happening. Caleb isn’t supposed to get—what is this, a possession? He shouldn’t be controlled by this spirit.

“Oliver, we need to pull him out,” Adam says. He holds Caleb’s hand against his cheek, but it’s hard to see his boyfriend not looking like himself. He’s not really there, not really Caleb in that moment.

Oliver shakes his head. “Just a few more minutes, I think he’s almost got it.”

“Oliver,” Mark warns, but he’s shushed by the alchemist next to him. 

“Don’t be jealous,” Caleb says. “I promise I—Let me go!”

Suddenly he’s grabbing Adam’s arms, twitching. “Stop, stop! Let me go! Don’t!” Adam struggles to hold on to him, and his heart squeezes in fear. 

“Caleb? It’s okay, I’m here,” Adam tries to comfort him, but Caleb doesn’t hear him.

“No, don’t—” And now Caleb is grasping at his throat, chest heaving. “Can’t…breathe.”

“Oliver!” Adam shouts to the adult behind him. “This is too much, how do we get him out?”

“Grab his hand, please, or something like that. Something to tether him back to the present. Maybe your normal non-Atypical feelings will penetrate through that cloud of Atypical emotions.” Oliver doesn't sound concerned, which Adam is definitely annoyed by but can’t focus on right now.

He pulls one of Caleb’s hands away from his throat and clenches it tightly. “Hey, Caleb, come back to me.”

Caleb gasps again. “No, please,” he whimpers. “Can’t breathe, let me breathe, please!” 

He’s wheezing, and Adam thinks for a moment that his boyfriend is about to die from a fucking Atypical spirit trapped inside a magic ring. What the fuck is his life?

“Mark! Oliver! Help, it’s not working,” Adam yells. “Caleb, listen to me. You’re okay, please be okay, just cut the connection with the ring.” He’s panicking now, because his boyfriend is choking on a memory or whatever and Adam is helpless to do anything about it.

Light floods the room. Adam looks over to see Mark has drawn the curtains aside, and the sunshine is streaming into the possessed empath. Caleb gives one more groan before his eyes roll back into his head and he goes limp, falling into Adam. He tries to steady Caleb but Adam isn’t as strong as his boyfriend, and the two of them collapse in a heap on the floor.

“Caleb?” Adam whispers, patting his cheek and hoping against hope that he’s okay. “Caleb?” he tries again.

Caleb’s eyes open, and he winces. “Fuck, my head is killing me.”

Adam sighs in relief and hauls Caleb up and into a hug. “Oh, thank god,” he breathes. “I thought for a second—”

“I’m okay,” Caleb promises. “She was just way more powerful than I thought.”

“Who?” Oliver asks, coming to stand close to them. “You never said anyone’s name. And Mark, how did you know that would work?” He sounds begrudgingly impressed.

Mark shrugs. “I saw it in a movie once. Figured if we’re dealing with ghosts, maybe some of the stories are true.”

“My life is so weird,” Adam whispers, and the affirming laugh from Caleb is enough for him to finally calm down and listen to Caleb explain what he found from the spirit trapped in the ring. 

send me a flower prompt! (yes I'm still doing this!)

[extremelynerdycat]

New Caleb au coming to my mind. Sorry I haven't been posting my own stuff recently. I've just struggled with motivation and all.

Spoilers for The Owl House if you haven't watched season 1 and 2.

Basically, a Peter Pan Caleb au, where Caleb became Peter Pan.

The classic story of Peter pan comes later, as Caleb never grows up anyway.

When Caleb decides to stay in the isles with Evelyn, the Isles inhabitants don't really respond to him very positively. They demand some sort of justice for his past witch hunting. Maybe he was really into it and bad before changing when meeting Evelyn. Maybe he wasn't. Whatever happened back then, however he felt, witches want to have him punished for it. So, they have a trial. In this trial, Caleb is decided to be guilty of some bad crimes. Caleb takes this all without fuss. He feels himself that he deserves it. What's the punishment?

Caleb gets sent to this God. A collector or something similar perhaps. Maybe the guardian from amphibia? The idea of the punishment is that they bring him to this God who will determine the proper course of action. They expect that action to be a punishment and way of redemption. The god looks into all of his past actions like that demon that flicks through books fast.

That God is like, yeah, he was pretty bad once. But, now he isn't. In fact, he was robbed of a childhood and everything. You know what people? I'm making him a LITERAL GOD.

People are shocked. But, this God is trusted by most if not all. Caleb isn't sure how to react.

The God makes him young, and gives him his Peter pan outfit, or something similar, cause he could make it later. The God announces that he is to be called Peter from now on to signify his change for the better in the isles.

Pan comes later, when he starts using a pan flute.

Evelyn and Caleb in this au never really had a romantic relationship anyway. With Calebs powers and training to use them hes not around her much either so their friendship fades. He feels more free and acts like a child. He thinks like a child.

Tinkerbell he meets later. If his flight comes from tinkerbell, as I'm still learning about Peter pan, it would turn out it didn't originally actually. The God gave it to him. Also, any other powers came from becoming a god. Like I think he might be able to mind read in the play.

His backstory he gives in the Peter pan stories isn't actually true. They are false memories built by his real memories mixing together and being modified. Part of his godness causes this memory changing, so that he never remembers more time than maybe about 4 times his physical age. Which is about 11. Anything else is just undesipherable flickers he misinterprets. (Just enough to remember Wendy.)

Neverland is a specific realm that is connected to Caleb's powers and follows his wants, for the most part. Straight on to the 2nd star to the right is really where an invisible tear in the realms is. He wants adventure? It creates captain hook and the pirates to fight. He wants a cool outdoor place? That's why it's an island. He hears of stories about fairies that arent like the isles fairies? Now they are real. The lost boys he actually found the same way he says he did though. That's why it's said Neverland comes to life when he returns.

Originally Caleb didn't have Peter pans flaws, however he had others. He shifted over time in personality due to the memory loss, like generations of a group of people and their culture.

His shadow moving on its own is one of his powers, designed to give him the ability to send it away as a scout. However, due to his now childish nature and time, his relationship with his shadow isn't good in the Peter pan story. It originally was good.

Similar to his entry into Wendy's house, when looking for his shadow, Caleb sneaks into Philips cave. (He had no clue philip found out about his relationship with Evelyn and followed. He just discovered he was there.) Philip and his reunion is odd. Maybe it's similar to the memory paintings, but it's not quite. He flys around a lot. He's also not sure how to handle the situation, especially since he lost maturity from the spell so that he would represent childhood.

Caleb's Peter pan in this isn't secretly crazy or evil. The story plot is like a mix between the play, musical, other play adaptations, and the movies. (The early versions of the story are bad in certain ways. The isles were quite good, and that hasnt left him, so the classics plot has none of that.)

The reason Peter pan has elf/witch ears is because his ears slowly changed to reflect his magical nature.

He's friends with the collector. The Collector just happens to be a child god however, whereas he's the god of childhood, so the collector will outgrow him eventually. He finds the collector and frees him by stealing Philips notes. He's friends with that stonesleeper actually, but he forgot about it when it fell asleep for 50 or so years somewhere on neverland, and in the most recent happenings, has yet to wake up. The Collector goes off somewhere in space to do what he wants. (Caleb kept him from destroying or hurting the isles.) Philip never becomes Belos.

It's mentioned in some sources that Peter pan has nightmares from his suppressed memories. That's true for Caleb Peter. He has nightmares about losing Evelyn, others, losing Philip, Philip, and his Gravesfield trauma.

Philips attempts to kill witches and that whole situation is a whole other can of worms that I will unpack later.

He looks like Disney Peter but with Caleb's face and hair, and owl house artstyle. He has disney Peter's ears.

He meets Luz and takes her to neverland. No crush is involved to be clear. Luz just wanted to get put of camp. Hunter does exist, but he's Luz's brother and looks different because he's related to her. He doesn't come to Neverland. He has no idea where Luz went.

The clawthorns like Eda and Lilith exist but they just look different as Evelyn had a different husband.

Neverland is the demon realm inspired. Caleb also still remembers the demon realm and uses the portal door, which he created, to go there often. He introduces Luz to the demon realm where due to his carelessness Luz gets lost and meets King and Eda. Somehow they still become family. Caleb joins in that family but insists on never growing up.

Caleb can't remember that kings a titan so they have no idea.

The owl deity theory could have the owl deity be that God that made him a god.

Caleb is immortal. He will not die.

Any ideas to add to this au? Also,

[houseaeducan]

what do the family dynamics of your hawkes look like and how are they different or similar? (inspired by the ask meme sibling question!!)

Omg thank you for this question. Much to unpack with these guys in all directions. Not sure where to start so I'll go hawke by hawke i guess (this post got so long so I'm putting it beneath the cut lol)

Caleb - GOD OKAY. caleb is my canon hawke so i have the most thoughts about him so this is about to be a mile long. caleb has a massive eldest daughter but a boy complex that primarily dates back to an incident as a child where he blames himself for his father almost being caught by the templars, but also only been reinforced over the years of trying to protect bethany and then stepping up as basically the head of the family after Malcolm died. i know Malcolm is supposed to have the same basic personality as hawke but my Malcolm in all worldstates except camillas (will get into that later) primarily has the blue/green personality and is like. a generally pretty upstanding guy who didn't want this life for his children but also knew there wasn't really any choice if he and his children were going to be free. he didnt want to raise his sweet eldest son to feel like he needed to be Protector of the Family but like. what else was he going to do. if Malcolm died or got captured by templars someone had to be ready for that. and as a result caleb has always kind of hero-worshipped his father and is constantly measuring himself against what he feels like Malcolm would have wanted him to do.

and that extends into caleb's messy relationship with carver, because if Malcolm saw caleb as his replacement, then caleb saw carver as his. and in a lot of ways it makes sense he expected the same from carver that he did from himself: they're both boys, both non-mages, both two-handed warriors, I even hc they both take after the hawke side of the family physically while beth takes after the amell side. but caleb expecting so much out of carver also makes carver resent him, and when carver tries to confide in him about how much he hates having their lives defined by magic, caleb takes it as like a personal betrayal against the family and doesn't want to engage with it. (also the girl carver had a crush on had a crush on caleb which was so unfair and unbearable for poor carver). it's not like he's mean to carver or anything, but he's definitely not understanding in the way he could be and this isn't something that hits until carver dies. which sucks and is something he's going to feel guilty about forever :/

he has the pretty typical hawke relationship with leandra i think. he wants his mom to like him and he knows she loves him but. its hard sometimes. leandra is hard to deal with and when she's disappointed in him it's another reflection of the way he feels like he's failing his father. and then BETHANY he loves bethany and by the end of things she's the only family he has left. after a lifetime of doing everything to protect her seeing her become a grey warden is honestly agonizing bc she's so miserable and there's nothing he can do about it but it gives bethany the space to work through her negative feelings about all she's been through and i ultimately think she comes out better for it

catherine - my og hawke :) i think her dynamic with Malcolm and leandra wasn't unlike calebs but just wayyyyy less intense bc catherine is simply less inclined to take things So Fucking Personally. from an early age she learned sometimes you have to stab some guys to protect your family and its fine. that's just how it is. i don't think she and carver were super close but they had a pretty classic older/younger sibling relationship. they loved each other and bickered and cat never took carver's shit too seriously bc he was her dumb kid brother. catherine was also really protective of beth tho and when she went to the circle and then liked it there she took it PERSONALLY. bethany is actually probably her most fucked up and strained relationship in her family and out of all her companions. she loves her sister she would do anything for her but she also feels unbelievably betrayed that bethany is happy in a place she worked so hard to protect her from. they work it out eventually but i genuinely don't think they're on speaking terms for like another 5-10 years post da2

cassian - cassian hawke love of my life is a huge sweetheart but is frankly pretty self absorbed at the beginning of his story and really just did Not internalize any of the family pressure my other hawkes did. he's a talented mage who took malcolm's instruction seriously and is very nice to his mom and so managed to get through his whole childhood with a very nice relationship with his parents. i think he and bethany had a pretty solid relationship but were never close despite being honestly very similar people in many ways. the carver relationship was TENSE bc carver was wildly jealous of cassian (cassian is nice in a way that makes everyone like him, he's better looking so the girls all had crushes on him, he was always in good shape despite not needing to be as a mage, he got more attention from their father because he was mage, he was even just naturally good at magic and Malcolm was always commenting on it) and cassian just never really got why carver acted the way he did with him. their relationship does actually improve as its put through the test in kirkwall too (and as cassian gains more perspective on the world and has his arc) and they end the game friends

calliope - rebellious streak a mile wide. she never did blood magic while Malcolm was alive but she was always asking questions pushing the boundaries of what she was allowed to do and it worried the shit out of him. she was good though, and their relationship was overall positive, but he was always warning her about the consequences of going too far. i don't think leandra was as attuned to that honestly, and it wasn't something Malcolm ever brought up to her because he didn't want to worry her. calliope was always pushing back against leandra and challenging her when she felt like she was wrong but at their core they both had a lot of love for each other. and cal LOVED bethany. would have and probably did kill for bethany. and bethany loved calliope a lot albeit in a "that's my crazy older sister” kind of way and was terrified when she realized she had started doing blood magic. that caused some fighting between them but honestly cal just never took bethany's objections particularly seriously. the carver relationship is more complicated bc they never got along and calliope was such a bitchy older sister to him. and carver knew EXACTLY what cal was even if he wouldn't say it. frankly cannot rlly blame him for joining the templars. there is still a lot of love there though, and as much as they might fight with each other they wouldn't hesitate to defend the other if they were in danger

camilla - PLAY DADDY LESSONS BY BEYONCE. so malcolm in this worldstate had the red personality just like his daughter and also had the same expectations for camilla that caleb internalized just. more intensely. my read of Malcolm (in all world states) is that despite being an apostate he still has a very conventional circle educated philosophy of magic and (in this worldstate) i think impressed hard on bethany, as well as carver and cam, the importance of highly disciplined magic, the importance of being an exceptional mage who didn't make mistakes lest the results be dire). this translated into cam being pretty brutal when it came to protecting her family but also having a very critical outlook on mages despite coming from a family of apostates. she loved and admired her father for being a strong, disciplined man, and also hated him sometimes too for condemning them to a life on the run. she wanted her mother to love her soooo bad and I'm sure she did but leandra just never responded to her intense, easily angered daughter as well as she did to sweet little bethany. cam got along with both her siblings like. fine. growing up. they fought sometimes, they played sometimes, she wasn't particularly close with either as teens. carver's death is hard on her, but not like leandra's is years later. she finally gets the validation she always wanted from her mother at the moment of her death and its AWFUL. it sends her down a spiral -- leandra was killed by blood mages, who camilla has always hated, and of course she finds orsino's note in quentin's lair. the circle is complicit in blood magic, probably all the mages around her are as well. they all as good as killed her mother. she and bethany almost patch things up in the legacy quest, but when orsino uses blood magic in the final battle, camilla is certain that bethany is a blood mage too and has betrayed their mother, betrayed their father, betrayed her too and lets Meredith kill her. yoinks

[letsrilakkusu-blog]

A Little Life, a lot of pain

I'm late to the party, but I just finished reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and wow, I am not okay. I'm restarting this blog solely because I need a space to talk about it.

I struggled to keep up with my reading last year because I chose several books that ended up being less than stellar. To start off 2023, I was between A Little Life and Kamusari Tales Told at Night, the follow-up to The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura. Although daunting in subject matter and length, I went with A Little Life because I figured it was better to start with a heavy book and have a lighter book ready in the reserves for after.

- SPOILERS AHEAD -

I had a vague idea of the plot, only that it followed a group of four friends and that there were a lot of trigger warnings involved. The book starts off innocently enough with the four vastly different but incredibly close guys trying to make it in New York City. Soon it takes a turn to focus on Jude though, and the deeper into his past and psyche we go, the darker it gets. My heart broke and kept on breaking with Jude's every memory detailing abuse of every kind imaginable, his every self-inflicted wound, his every revelation about what an abomination he is and how little he is worth, despite all of the evidence to prove otherwise.

I don't know what I was expecting - the cover photo says a lot, and once the novel does its first shift in perspective to Harold speaking to Willem, in which he seems to speak of Jude as though he is no longer there, I had an inkling of how it would end. Still, I somehow deluded myself multiple times into thinking that maybe, just maybe, the story wasn't going to end with Jude killing himself. And I think the reason why is because the joyous moments of Jude's life - the times spent with his friends-turned-family, Harold and Julia's decision to adopt him, the start of his romantic relationship with Willem, which I had hoped for from the beginning but didn't actually believe would happen - were so unbelievably poignant and beautiful, how could I not wish for a happier, or at least less tragic, ending for this character that has been through so much and deserves every happiness bestowed upon him and more? It's like I was reading a marathon in which I thought that if I got through a particularly bad section (his relationship with Caleb, his memories of Brother Luke and Dr. Traylor), I would be rewarded with a brief respite, a tender moment that would make my heart soar and tears well up in my eyes. It was only after Willem's death, which sucker-punched me in the gut out of nowhere, that I realized I had probably reached the point of no return. Still, I barrelled toward the end, sobbing, hoping, pleading just like Jude's loved ones, and when the end result was what I had originally dreaded, I was left shocked but not shocked, helpless, and empty.

While the story completely wrecked me, I believe that it is a very realistic portrayal of trauma and recovery, and the effects they have on not just the person experiencing it, but those around them. Trauma is deeply personal and isolating. Recovery is not linear, but a lifelong process through which you are never truly “healed”. Sometimes love is just not enough. It wasn't enough for Jude to overcome his fear and hate of sex, and it wasn't enough to keep him going once he lost Willem. I felt that I as a reader was getting pulled along with the same emotions as those around Jude. I grew uneasy every time he withdrew into himself, I felt complacent and accepting when his situation was not better but at least stagnant, I celebrated every triumph, and I found myself holding my breath, waiting, for the day we all knew was inevitable but had fervently wished would never come.

I'm not sure if I would recommend A Little Life to others, especially if I'm not familiar with their tolerance for such heavy topics and themes. Despite that, it's making a strong case for being one of the most amazing books I've ever read, and it will sit with me for a long time to come. It was painful, at times almost too much to bear. But balancing out the pain were the truly beautiful moments of pure joy, the unconditional love and friendship, the things that make our little lives a little better.

[kindred-sims]

A gentle knock at his door stirred Henry from his writing, but he didn’t bother looking up just yet, instead finishing the sentence he was in the middle of.

“Its unlocked,” he announced.

The door handle turned, and he watched his father enter the room. There seemed to be...hesitation? On his face, an odd, awkward sort of hesitation at that, as he approached Henry’s desk.

“Do you think uh...do you think we can talk for a minute, son?” he asked. Upset as he was from Caleb’s reaction to his college dreams, and much as he wanted to be left alone, Henry reluctantly nodded, not able to bring himself to say no.

“Sure Papa...what did you need?”

Caleb fiddled with his hands for a moment, scratched the back of his head, as he seemed to be contemplating what to say.

“...would you mind erm, lending me one of your school books sometime?”

Oh. Well that certainly hadn’t been what Henry was expecting.

"Uh...can I ask why?"

“Well, um... its like this. My reading and writing aren’t as good as I’d like ‘em to be...certainly not good enough for me to write you a letter when you’re in college, and I don't want to have to depend on anyone else to do that for me."

His words took a moment to register for Henry, and he was still in disbelief as he glanced up at his father, careful hope shining in his eyes.

“Wait, do you mean….you’re alright with me wanting to go?”

“Yes, Henry, I mean it. I’m sorry if my earlier actions didn’t reflect that notion. I just figured, well, not every man can say they have a college-educated son, and I would be mighty proud to have that bragging right for myself.”

He grinned at Henry, who grinned back, leaping from his seat jovially and throwing his arms around Caleb exuberantly.

“Thank you, Papa! Thank you so much, I’ll make you and Mama so proud, I promise...”

“You already have, son, believe me. You already have.”

And that was that. The decision had been made, an agreement had been reached. Henry was going to get to live out his fondest dreams, while Caleb was sacrificing his own. Much as it pained him to think that Henry wouldn’t take over the farm from him someday, he knew in his heart that he’d made the right decision to let him pursue college. It was as Jo had said, that boy had a big world in his mind, and it just wouldn’t do to force him into keeping it to himself.

Besides, there was always the possibility that Jacob might end up looking after the farm someday...yes, maybe everything would work out perfectly after all.