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cookies-over-yonder · 10 months

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"... In that moment, you, and Taylor, and Nick all realize that there is no fixing this. That this is as good as it's going to get. That you are all stuck with each other in the forms that you are now. You see daddy magic—that same daddy magic that exited Ron and Terry's body, emanate from their bodies like a fine mist, coalesce into the air, and then zip into the jar and fill it up a little bit more because that's what your relationship is."

The Close Family and Closure: An Analysis and Breakdown of Taylor's Issues in Hell or High Father

...and the way he addresses and, in Taylor fashion, downplays the problem, and denies its lack of solution.

(I have transcribed the majority of this scene, and below the cut is my line-by-line breakdown and analysis, as well as some other tid-bits.)

hello! ever since i got into dndads, taylor has been my favourite. i found his extreme escapism and dumb confidence fascinating, and as you may know, i love finding scenarios for him to break. it's, like, at least half of my fics at this point.

this episode is my favourite episode, it broke me, and it pieced me back together but Wrong in all the right ways.

this analysis is focusing on the taylor of it all. the motivation behind his words and the changes in his cadence and the denial that still, despite everything, refuses to fade.

i've never written an analysis post structured like this, so do let me know if you like it. i just... i really love taylor.

okay, let's go!

1. "Well...''

Nicky: … I didn't see a lot of Taylor's growing up and that was—that was fi—like we're cool now right, Taylor? Taylor: Fuck yeah dawg— Nicky: See?

to start off, taylor's instinctive answer is to agree with nicky. because well, yeah, they're chill now, that's true, so of course the first thing he does is agree. and i gotta say that i was expecting taylor to leave it at that, because he's not one to dig deeper when he doesn't need to, and even when he does.

Taylor: Well…

taylor says this immediately after his first answer and oh ny god i got SO excited. but this ain't about me. anyway. taylor finally admitting that they're actually not 100% cool is such a big fucking step argh i am so proud of him forever and also so sad for him forever...

Nicky: What? Look, I'm back now, and I'm super tight, and we hang out, and we can do samurai shit together, and we're fuckin'—we're tight as fuck.

this part makes me so sad because nicky is so ignorant to how his absence has affected taylor despite his frustrations at glenn for not being there. and also, this sort of reasoning would have worked on convincing taylor back in early season two. in fact, it did!

[Season 2 Episode 10: Dad Me To Hell]

taylor is completely satisfied with this reason because it feeds into his main character syndrome. his dad left to protect him. what better reason is there? and now he's back and there and able to do cool shit with him, so everything is perfect, right?

but the next thing taylor says is so fucking heartbreaking:

Taylor: If I'm gonna be honest, Dad, I've kinda been hoping and keeping an eye out for time travel magic so that we could go back in time, and you could be there for me.

the way he trails off as he says it, and he loses his confidence in his words... it shows an unfamiliar shyness. we've never seen taylor be this vulnerable before. and to think that he'd been holding out hope for time travel magic to fix his childhood? that perfectly aligns with the idea that taylor is so stuck in his anime escapist fantasy that he can't accept what's real. and magic is real, so therefore he must be able to fix his past, right? it's not impossible for there to be time travel (see. end of season 1 + see. attack on titanic.) but taylor doesn't realize that this is something that can't be fixed so easily, even if that magic were available. he doesn't believe that this can't be fixed. more on this later.

Nicky: [grunts and falls] Uh… um… I didn't know you felt that way. Taylor: Yeah, you know, it's just, when I was practicing my jutsus I could have used some pointers. Nicky: Yeah, but like— Taylor: As a result, I've developed a number of very bad habits that I'm told are very hard to break. And, you know, just watching YouTube videos is not the same as having a dad who can fight.

in the past, taylor has used anime to cope with his absent father, and he relied on the fictional characters to bring him the same comfort a father might bring (this was mentioned by freddie in one of the teen talks and while i've been relistening i've yet to find it. do forgive me as i am merely mortal) while this isn't directly referring to that, i still feel it's worth mentioning, as taylor is confronting his own unhealthy coping mechanism and acknowledging that no, youtube videos aren't a replacement for a dad. he couldn't fill the absence of a father with anything else in his life no matter how hard he tried.

also, taylor is smart. he knows that he has unhealthy coping mechanisms or "bad habits" that he can't break and he knows that they're caused by nicky's absence. i just wonder how long he's been stewing over that, you know?

as shown earlier, when taylor first met nicky and found out why he wasn't there, he accepted it immediately, knowing it was the coolest reason for a father to be absent and only fueled his protagonism.

but now, taylor's confronting his own issues surrounding nicky, and explicitly addressing them to nicky.

*wipes a tear*

i'm so proud of him.

Nicky: Wha—I mean, if it's training you want, we can train you, and like, you see your grandpa there— Taylor: [sighs] It's too late. I needed to start when I was three to five years old like true ninja warriors.

there is something so cutting about the way taylor says it's too late. he's talking about training to be a ninja warrior on the surface, yes, but that's not it.

it's too late. it's too late for nicky to witness his upbringing. it's too late for taylor to grow up with a loving father figure. it's too late.

and taylor knows that, and he's saying it, but he's still masking it with it being about training to become a ninja when in reality it's so much more.

this is just one example of the way he downplays the issue. he zeroes in on just one aspect of his life that nicky wasn't a part of, and speaks as if it's the main issue, when really it's only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

Nicky: Oh, well, I mean— Taylor: So I'm already trying to play catch-up a little bit, but you know, I guess it's water under the bridge. But you know, if there is time travel magic, then you know, maybe, or if you find it, you could maybe… pick me up on the way back… to the past, and you know maybe we could do childhood all over again.

taylor is playing catch-up with training, but he's also playing catch-up with having a father in his life.

and again, he downplays it, says it's water under the bridge, when it's so very clear how deeply this has been affecting him his entire life.

and to top it all off, he brings up time travel again. and the way he says this is so un-taylorlike it's jarring. the uncertainty of the maybes, the trailing off, the voice so quiet you almost can't hear it...

he thinks there's still a chance to redo it and fix things, but i feel that deep down he knows it's impossible, that it doesn't work like that, and yet he's still grasping at straws to try and make things better.

it's... it's really sad. i feel really sad for him.

and the way he says he wants to redo childhood. as opposed to only talking about training, here he actually says he wants to do childhood all over again, and it's so, so quiet. and taylor is never shy. it's so clear how badly he's hurting over this.

god. okay.

2. "I didn't even know where you were."

Glenn: So we're cool. Nicky: So, we're cool. Glenn: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nicky: We're just three cool guys. Taylor: Well…

i love how taylor isn't backing down on the fact that nicky fucked him up. like the gates are open and they can't close back up that easily. he's not accepting them just being three cool guys.

Taylor: Well, I'm just saying—you know, I could have, y'know—not to put too fine a point on it, but Dad, I would have appreciated if, you know… I didn't even know where you were. I 23&me-d my ass, and they sent me a picture of fire, and the cops showed up! There was a white van parked outside of our house for three years!

again, i really notice the change in the way taylor speaks, he's more unsure, quieter, and uses more filler words (such as "y'know"), and it feels as if he feels bad about making nicky confront his faults as a father but he's pushing through it anyway, because he has to.

and i absolutely love the throwback to episode ONE with the 23&me test! like this had been brewing from the start! i just think it's fantastic for it all to build up to this. like yeah. taylor didn't know WHO nicky was or WHERE nicky was and trying to figure it out only led to more danger for him.

Nicky: [gets on one knee and puts his hand on Taylor's shoulder] I guess I never got to properly apologize to you, did I?

Taylor: Well, an apology won't really turn back time, and I don't know how I feel—I would rather have the time travel magic.

this is so cutting. like, yeah, an apology won't cut it, and taylor immediately circles back to time travel magic, as if it could fix what's broken when it really, really can't.

i also find the trend of time when it comes to the close boys to be very fascinating. glenn got locked up in time prison, nicky's childhood was split into two timelines, and taylor thinks time travel can fix his broken relationship with his father?

god damn.

Nicky: Well, I didn't even get to explain—I was in Hell. I was worried that these fuckers [pointing at the other kiddads]— Taylor: Yeah, those fuckers. Nicky: —would have chased after me if I'd gotten out of hell. Taylor: So you're telling me that these fuckers kept you away from me all these years? Nicky: Yeah, you know what? It was these motherfuckers! They are the reason I didn't get to spend time with you because they betrayed me! Taylor: That makes sense; I just saw the memory! Yeah, yeah!

thinking about how taylor immediately agrees with nicky in blaming the others for his absence, because, well, yeah, shit's complicated and they are definitely part of the reason, but the fact that taylor is so on board of whole heartedly blaming them after chewing into his dad about not being there is just so sad. like yeah, of course he doesn't want to be upset at nicky. and it hurts so much that he is.

god.

oh my god.

okay, now, i didn't transcribe the entirety of taylor's memory, i actually summarized it and quoted some key aspects of it, so here:

Taylor's first belt ceremony. He's performing, and he finishes, and he bows, and he looks up. His mom is there. He's sniffling a bit and Cass asks him if he's okay and comments on how he moved all the way up to green belt, and he says he knows. He looks over to the kid who was supposed to get green belt but didn't because of him. The kid is whining, and then his dad comes in and gives him a big hug and—

"It's okay son, I saw how hard you worked, and in my eyes, you're a black belt. Come on, let's get ice cream."

The kid says thanks and they hug and then they leave and Taylor watches them leaving through the window and sees the child and father and mother smiling together. Taylor looks down at and then throws away his green belt.

"I think I'm done with karate."

Taylor gets kicked out.

that line that the father said to his child really hit me, because taylor never heard nicky say that to him. ever. and that was all that he wanted, really. like, "i saw how hard you worked," as in, i was there, watching you, practicing with you, supporting you, i saw you, i see you, i'm here, i'm here with you. and "in my eyes, you're a black belt," in my eyes, you've worked so hard, in my eyes, you deserve more than what you got, in my eyes, you're strong, in my eyes, you're capable.

things nicky never saw, and things nicky never told him.

and then, well, taylor quits.

a memory defining taylor's relationship with nicky. a memory where he wasn't there. a memory where he didn't see taylor's growth. a memory where taylor gave up on an ambition. a memory of absence.

anyways.

Nicky: I'm really sorry— Taylor: I'm kind of sensing a pattern here to be honest. Nicky: Yeah, I'm thinking that maybe the things that your granddad did, I do now. I'm thinking maybe I fucked up in the exact same way… Taylor: [lays a hand on Nicky] I think you fucked up in the same way too. Nicky: Okay. Well that's good. That's good for us.

god. oh my god. the fuckign pattern. i'm so sorry this part makes me lose my coherency all i can think of is how sad it makes me idk idk guys im sorry. you get it. taylor saying yeah you fucked up in the same way and nicky learning that and accepting it. oh my fucking god. like. i dont know theres something about the acceptance of it that really gets me. at the start of the conversation nicky denied it, and here he is, after seeing a memory of taylor doing something he wasn't there for, and now he's like yeah, yeah. i did fuck up royally.

3. "...there is no fixing this."

Glenn: What if we started over? What if we tried to kinda give it a little bit of a reset, and try and make some new memories together, as this sort of team of three? What do you think about that? Is it stupid? I dunno.

Nicky: What kinda memories are you talking about?

Glenn: Well I was thinking we all go to Disneyland, the happiest place on earth, and start everything off on the right foot! It's been so long since I've been to Disneyland, and, I dunno, let me show you all the secrets. Let me show you all the hidden Mickeys. I never got to show Taylor how to get over nine-hundred-thousand points on the Buzz Lightyear ride. And you! Nick, I never showed you the secret entrance into Club 33 that only I know about, and it requires you to go through the sewers a little bit.

I mean, what do you say? Maybe we can do something about this whole fucked up Close family. Maybe we could bring it on back a little bit. What do you guys think?

Nicky: Yeah, sure, yeah I mean, I like Disneyland as much as the next guy. What do you think Taylor?

Taylor: What's Disneyland? I don't understand, what's Disneyland?

now listen, i know that taylor not knowing what disneyland is was just because of the whole doodlerized world thing, but i feel like it also really highlights the disconnect here. like, glenn wasn't around much in nick's life but they knew each other and yes glenn went to disneyland without nick a lot and yes nick liked universal better and if i got into their relationship it would take far too long and i don't feel particularly equipped to tackle that which is why i'm focusing on taylor, but i think that taylor asking what disneyland is highlights the disconnect between him and nicky. nicky and glenn are talking about something that taylor is completely lost on, and to me it really shows the disconnect between all of them. first off, nicky likes universal studios better than disney, second of all, taylor doesn't even know what disneyland is. they grew up in different realms, and they grew up around different people, and nicky was never there, which means there's so much taylor knows that nicky doesn't, and so much nicky knows that taylor doesn't and so much of that knowledge and those experiences can never or will never be shared.

Nicky: Oh yeah, good point, I guess it's on a previously Doodlerized world now with a bunch of really fucked up shit in it.

Glenn: I'm just saying that like—give me a chance. Give me a chance to try and make up for all the—well—you know what? No, no, no, no, no, I can't make up for any of that stuff.

it's true. this solution is like putting icing on top of an overdone cupcake. temporarily sweet but it's still bitter and burnt. (i'm sorry if that doesn't make sense, i don't bake.) but like when you burn something you can't just. un-burn it. sure you can put icing and sprinkles and all the fun stuff and maybe you can wash out the taste but that doesn't change the state of what's underneath.

that's their relationship to me.

Anthony: As you're saying this, without even wanting it to, tears are rolling down your cheeks, and in that moment, you, and Taylor, and Nick all realize that there is no fixing this. That this is as good as it's going to get. That you are all stuck with each other in the forms that you are now. You see daddy magic—that same daddy magic that exited Ron and Terry's body, emanate from their bodies like a fine mist, coalesce into the air, and then zip into the jar and fill it up a little bit more because that's what your relationship is.

ah yes, finally, we reach the end.

this is what their relationship is. it's comprised of missing connections and missed experiences and misplaced memories and absences and longing and searching and finding one another only for it to be too late. it is comprised of absence as opposed to love or hate or anything in between. the nothingness that is absence is their relationship

how depressing.

if i'm honest, i think nicky still has a chance. obviously he can't fix anything with taylor, but i really do hope that he tries to be proactive in taking part in taylor's life from here on out, that is, if taylor even survives this next episode, oooh scary.... hahaha anyways.

i hope everyone enjoyed this essay! i started writing it the day the episode came out but schoolwork kinda took over me.

i wanted to get it out before this episode's teen talk so that's why i finished it tonight, but i may reblog with more thoughts, who knows! we'll see! :3c

i do also encourage you guys to check out my art for this episode specifically inspired by that last anthony quote there.

and of course my thoughts are not the objective truth, i am a mere university student, ignoring my school essays to write one for tumblr <3

bye-bye! <3 :3c

#dungeons and daddies #dndads #dndaddies #hell and high father #dndads analysis #analysis #cookies analyses #cookies rambles <3 #taylor swift dndads #glenn close #nicky foster #nick close #nicholas foster #cookies writes and cookies wrongs

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izzyspussy · 2 months

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headcanon that stede loses himself in stories in the purest and fullest escapism possible. he has an extraordinary imagination, extraordinary avoidance mechanism, and extraordinary lack of self(-perception). as such, it's easy and automatic for him to insert an imaginary, idealized version of himself onto any character in any story that he likes, without it ever occurring to him to identify with or even really catch on to any real similarities to himself and his life that might be paralleled in fiction.

even if he happens to read or be told a tale that has such reflections in it, they will pass him right on by completely unobserved, and he will either find the story unbearably dull or he will warp it into something idealized and project onto it as if it's totally fantastical and foreign to him like any other. he simply never sees himself in a story, because he doesn't see himself in real life either and has absolutely no interest in doing so (at least up until his final scene of season one, and these things don't change overnight so still past that but to a gradually lesser degree as he develops. um. for as long as he... continued to develop. lol).

like obviously stede does make everything all about him (tho we did see - for like a second. lol. - that he's trying to get better about that), but ignoring all the themes in a narrative work and any remotely undesirable trait in a character in order to make it the perfect escapist projection fantasy is functionally still making everything, or rather in this specific case, every story all about you, it just happens to be your personal ideal of perfection rather than your experiences. haha actually sort of like- *the audience relation director hurriedly turns off my mic*

cough. anyway. ed also makes everything about himself, but the other way around. he actively looks for himself in stories and in other people's experiences, and inserts himself if he can't find it.

at the same time, he also doesn't particularly want to see himself - not the parts of himself that he takes conscious note of anyway - so he generally just avoids getting close enough to anyone to relate to them. if he absolutely needs to know something about somebody else he'll guess(timate) or flat out make something up. he does that with people's preferences/tastes, feelings, backstories, even sometimes their names (except when unavoidable, or when he slips up and accidentally lets himself form a genuine human connection lmao). i mean, this is in part because most people ed's involved with are almost certainly going to die pretty grisly deaths, most likely during their acquaintance with him, and when he's captain it's kinda his responsibility, and he doesn't want to grieve or feel guilty for anything ever. but also the first stuff i said.

and then re: stories, if he's going to engage with one he needs it to be as exaggerated and/or abstract as possible and also preferably vague as well. that way it's distant and he can tell himself he wasn't really in it, it could have been about anything, actually it was really just about the nonexistent thing that was in it - like the story he told about the kraken killing his dad. like there's plenty of room to interpret that while we were seeing the flashback, ed had more lines describing the scene to his in-universe audience off our screens. but! i think it's more in character if he left it to just the few flippant lines we actually heard. he loves the drama and the attention, of course, but not as much as he (thinks he) wants to not be truly seen.

he tries stede's method via the jeff act, but we see that fail immediately and spectacularly at any hint of doubt twice (at the fancy party when they laughed at him and in the gravy basket when hermit hornigold didn't indulge the roleplay scenario). and to be honest i'm personally counting three more: when izzy pushed back against the ep10... Situation, when ed threw blackbeard overboard and became breakfast in bed bf instead but stede was still into piracy, and when he was forced by confrontation to admit his fanciful ideal of being a fisherman didn't match up with reality. plus i think if read hadn't interrupted, his little therapy speak word salad "i'm doing better than i ever was" guy with the rabbit would have gone the same way. (and obviously the inn idea would go this way too. so it's a good thing that never happened! lmao can you imagine...)

(vs stede who tries to play the idealized character, fails, pretends he didn't after a period of depression, but then adjusts the role to better fit his true self and is successful; they did write the arcs of stede becoming himself + ed accepting himself that they meant to, they just broke both their legs and their fucking neck on the dismount.)

ANYWAY. catch me writing a whole fucking meta post just to say stede would think nothing of telling the story of fenrir and tyr at storytime post-the parts of canon that aren't drivel.

you know, the story about the monster of mixed race parentage who is destined for violence due to said parentage even though all he really wants is fame, and the one man brave enough to get close to him? and the man helps the monster grow, until he gets too frightening and everyone decides he can't be tamed? so the man offers a limb in exchange for the monster's restraint, perhaps trusting that he wouldn't hurt his only friend? but the monster bites that limb clean off and eats it?* yeah, that one.

stede would be jazzed to tell a story about/by legendary sea-faring idols of conquest and (homoerotic) masculinity with norms that run counter to the social environment he loathes that ed (and izzy) wouldn't already know (and probably pop his rose-colored bubble about). he would not think hm maybe not This one though. all he sees is the excitement! *stefan voice* this myth has everything: prophecies, friendship, betrayal, blood and gore, finely crafted textiles...

meanwhile, ed is trying to beat himself to death since SOMEBODY managed to fuck that up, and izzy is shaking, crying, throwing up,,

*editorialized to make tyr seem better and fenrir seem worse, to align with how ed would interpret it in reflection of his self-perception, though i'll also say the very same ed hearing the very same story in a different mood would interpret a worse tyr and a better fenrir than textually depicted just as well

#jack facts #ofmd #stede bonnet #ed teach #blackbonnet #blackhands #izzy hands #hc

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absurdthirst · 2 years

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Kinktober 2022: October 2nd

Day 2: Gagging // Overstimulation // Toys

Mando x F!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 1k

Warnings: Oral sex (male receiving), mentions of vomiting, gagging, spit

|| Kinktober List || MasterList ||

Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says 'creator chooses not to use warnings'. You also agree that you're the right age to be consuming anything here.

You don’t know as much about Mando as you want to. You know that he’s human. That his voice is deep and rough sometimes, laced with exhaustion or exasperation other times. His hands can be harsh but they always are gentle with the child. And he has a massive cock.

You had wondered if it was a protective layer or some kind of cup that made his bulge that pronounced beneath the layers of his beskar. Unable to believe that it was all him. Surely a man wasn’t that blessed by the Maker. Except, he was. You know that first hand now.

On your knees is where you are happiest, hearing filthy groans escape through his modulator and watching his chest plate rise and fall raggedly. Enjoying the way that he pants when your throat spasms around him and the watering of your glands wash his cock with your spit again.

“Fuck.” He rasps, the orange fingertips of his gloves curving around your jaw. Stroking your skin while encouraging your mouth just a little wider with the slightest pressure on the hinge. “You can take more, mesh’la.” He insists. “Y-you are not crying yet.”

Your moan is wanting, the throbbing of your clit pulses against the seam of your pants with every beat of your heart. You aren’t crying yet, but you will. Fat tears will slip down your cheeks while your mouth is stuffed with him until you feel like you can take no more. Until you do. Until he presses just a bit deeper.

It’s filthy and you love it. The fantasy of sinking to your knees in front of the intimidating Mandalorian had become reality when you had found him pent up from a bounty, needing to release some steam. He had released alright, right down your throat while you sputtered and coughed, trying to swallow as much as you could.

Your jaw is sore but you ignore it. Your throat is aching and you know your voice will be hoarse for an hour or so. He is thick, so fucking thick that he blocks you from breathing when he pushes so far down your throat that your hands grip his belt in a panic. Not that he had keeps his cock down your throat for too long. No, Mando loves how you gag and choke on him.

He groans again, his other hand on the back of your head and his hips shuttle forward. “Take it, Mesh’la.” Your grunt vibrates around his cock and elicits another groan from him, his helmet tipped down as he watches.

Vision blurring, your eyes water and your throat contracts, trying to swallow but you can’t. Not when he’s lodged so deep and the twitch nearly makes you retch. Pulling back with no protest from him so you can take a deep breath and settle the roll of your stomach before you lunge forward again.

He’s barely at your tonsils, so many more inches for you to work down your throat until it bulges under his hand. Still you are so eager to do it that you lunge forward again. The skin you are allowed to see of the Mandalorian is in your mouth, making you hollow your cheeks as you dare to take him deeper again.

Opening your throat takes practice and time. Something you had quickly learned when you realized that sucking Mando’s cock was far different from anyone else. You hadn’t expected it when he had unzipped his trousers. Not even remotely on your mind when he had reached in and started to pull his cock out. You only knew that you were going to be challenged the first time you saw it. That thick piece of meat that makes your mouth water and your cunt clench in anticpation.

He loves how enthusiastic you are. How you refuse to just jerk the base of his cock with your hand and suck on the tip. It’s halfway down your throat when he’s finished pushing deep and your face is pressed into the fabric of his pants. Your forehead hitting the belt around his waist.

Gagging, spitting and sputtering with every thrust into your mouth. Barely able to keep up while your reflection shines back at you in the dark glass of his visor. It makes you go harder, shoving him deeper down your throat as tears start to slide down your cheeks after pooling in your eyes. Matching the spit that slides down your jaws, leaving wet trails down your neck.

His groans are wicked, sinful even. Accompanied by the way that his cock jerks and twitches in your throat, along with another salty burst of liquid to coat the back of your throat. “So good.” He moans, another rough thrust of his hips pushing himself down another half inch. Soon he will be fucking your throat with abandon, heedless of anything but the way that you feel around him.

Humming around him again, you try to accommodate him. Wanting more. You want to have his hand around your throat to feel the way he fills it. He’s told you that he can see the cum pulse through the thin skin. Next time you will have to hang your head off the table and let him fuck your mouth that way.

You get careless and suddenly it catches up with you. Thinking about the way your head would tilt back in that position to allow him to push deeper, you don’t swallow when you should. Making your gag reflex kick in and you almost lose it. Pulling away and coughing while you try not to throw up. It would be a failure on your part.

Chuckling, an orange thumb swipes under your lower lip, smearing the spit across your skin. “You need a break?” He coos, smug and you are positive that he is grinning under that bucket of his. “My little mesh’la can’t take what I give her?” He taunts with a slight chuckle.

Fuck, he is cocky, with good damn reason. Knowing that his challenge would just push you to take him back into your mouth again. You breathe in through your nose, wrapping your lips around the head again as he grunts when you flick your tongue over the tip.

You will take all of him down your throat and swallow down the ropes of seed that he will pump into your mouth. Gagging on him is something you will happily do, whenever he wants you to.

#kinktober #kinktober 2022 #pedro pascal #the mandalorian #mando #mando x you #mando x reader #mando x f!reader #the mandalorian x f!reader #the mandalorian x you #the mandalorian x reader #mando smut #the mandalorian smut #the mandalorian imagine #mando imagine #mando fanfic #the mandalorian fanfic

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ewesless · 8 months

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I have nothing nice to say tonight.

Edit: this was a quick rant with a brief explanation. It's not meant to go into depth on any subject matter and has a hostile tone throughout, including the notes. I ignore men and politics in real life, I have no desire to learn about them or explain anything beyond the post's scope. This is drawn from when I had a passing interest in learning about the diseased male thoughts. I've clarified and expanded the original post.

Barbatos does have the admirable Sigma traits, but he is just as hopelessly in love with the player character and panders just as much as the other males in the game which is only one of many ways that negates a self-respecting Sigma 😂

I honestly hate that words like Simp made it into Obey Me. In a sexual context it has been appropriated from incels and MGTOW language. It's 'reclaimed', redefined and is used unironically again everywhere, but it is still completely sexist bullshit. Women can't even get basic respect and sympathy from a man without this type of men degrading, jeering at and insulting both.

It's a term heavily used in this fandom so I can't really fault the writers. They use catchy slang to stay hip and contemporary, especially with Levi and his jargon. It's in awful taste to use a misogynistic term FROM a character who is identifiable as an incel, towards a character meant to represent anyone, in a game and genre specifically intended for women.

I doubt that anyone who uses the term on themself cares about the implications or origin of trendy labels. The term Simp, used in a sexual context such as this, is from the Manosphere (Far Right, Masculinist, Anti-Feminist, Anti-Woman and LGBT-phobic "Movement".) It is an acronym that means "Simpletons into Mediocre P*ssy". For Levi to call himself a Simp is to specifically refer to MC mediocre pvssy. These are characters meant to represent idealized fantasy men and yet the writers decided to invite concepts from men who violently oppose, objectify and hate Women and LGBT?

While it's believable that Levi could operate out of this belief system, they shouldn't have actually done it. 🙁 OM runs absolutely counter to Masculinism, the character are PROUD "SIMPS" that aggressively pursue, "paypig"/throw money, gifts, fawn over, pander to and compete against one another in hopes of getting attention from someone who can be interpreted as a woman. The characters are "pathetically" obsessed with gaining favor, monopoly over and a romantic and/or sexual relationship with the player. It is ANATHEMA TO THE MASCULINIST CONCEPT. Masculinism is, in other words, male supremacism and a call to arms for "oppressed men" to reject progress towards equality, retake full patriarchal control and force everyone else to submit to their ideology and social order and accept the "inherent worthlessness" of equality, the female sex, non-whiteness, LGBT, Liberal/Left and those that disagree with them.

OM promotes a progressive and LGBT friendly stance while remaining solidly as the otome genre's woman oriented escapism + power fantasy, romance game. That isn't to say OM players/Otome/Joseimuke players aren't also literally Simps who paypig for mediocre prick, but this game is supposed to be about "good men" and romantic fulfillment.

It's ridiculous 😂

There will be no tolerance for "Not All Men" or "Not Just Women/Female Players" on my post. This is about specific men and their ideology that specifically attack women, their lives, safety and futures in horrific, vile, life ruining ways.

Edit: you know the trendy phrase of "death of the author" and how viewer interpretation trumps creator intention? Yeah, this is that.

Edit 2: I know I'm acting "butthurt" and being "sensitive about no big deal, it's just a localized, foreign, gacha game" but that's just part and parcel with any form of protest and activism. Why else is anger the primary, force driving, motivation?

#obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me barbatos #obey me leviathan #sexism #useless writing

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tellywoodtrash · 9 months

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hiiiii tt!! hope ur doing well <333

i wanted some advice from you, if that's okay. i started college this year and the experience has been ... nothing like i imagined lol. basically, i've been lonely my entire life. i'm also autistic and i think thats part of why its so hard for me to make friends. i really thought college would change that, idk why. its not like i bought into the ultimate karan johar college fantasy or anything like that, i just thought it would be...better than my school life, at least. for the first month, it kind of was. i was talking to lot of people and even getting along with them, at least i thought i did. but then one by one everyone just, like, stopped talking to me??? i don't get it.

like, one of the first friend groups i made in college, almost all of them decided to join a college society together, while i decided not to because i wasn't really interested in that particular club. then they all but forgot about me, once they joined that society. they made new friends over there and of course, all of them were still friends among themselves, but it was like i didn't even exist anymore. maybe i shouldn't take it so personally but i genuinely made an effort to keep that friendship alive and literally got nothing in return from their side.

then i made friends with some other girls in my course and all three of them literally got boyfriends at the exact same time and they started ignoring me too. at this point i feel i am the problem. because the reason all of these people (who i have only known for a few months, at best) abandoning me hurts so much is because this is how i've been treated my entire life. and now i feel like i will never escape it. if i somehow haven't been able to form a genuine bond with ANYONE for my entire 18 years of existence on this earth, clearly something is very wrong with me. i have no friends (never had them in the first place) and i don't even get along with my family. i am so completely alone and i just do not know how to cope with that.

i'm tired of being ghosted by everyone i consider a friend and then only being remembered when they need something. they are only my friend when it's convenient for them. college was supposed to be a fresh start but it just proved that every new "start" of mine will have the same old ending. i hate to let my pessimism get the best of me but i have no hope left in me. i have always felt like i had so much love to give, but no one to give it to. now, however, i don't see the point in trying. i am scared to even try to talk to people at this point, i feel like i will just fuck it up like i always do.

this is way too long already and idek why i'm writing all this but thank you for reading ig. i hope ur doing better than i am 💗

Hi hi friend,

First of alll, come here youuuuu.

Secondly, it's not really you. It's just the age and inherent nature of most 18 year olds; they tend to be a little flaky and unreliable. Couple that with college being the first real taste of freedom desi kids get, and yeah...... This shit tends to happen. You're right in that you shouldn't take it personally. Sometimes people just don't vibe with each other and that's okay. Sometimes people are rude and uncommunicative, and again, that's on them, not you. You shouldn't let this stuff get you down or lose hope in ever finding your tribe. It takes time. Sometimes they're right in front of you and you don't really consider them your "kind" of person, until one random conversation/situation you're thrown into with them proves to you that they indeed are! All I am saying is that you have your whoooooooole life ahead of you, and you're going to meet soooooo many people through it, and you WILL meet someone or the other whose weird will match yours. Whether that be irl or online.

Your line of having so much love to give but no one to give it to really resonated with me, coz I've felt that way so many times in my life too. But there is someone who needs it - YOU. Give yourself that love and consideration. Use this time to build a strong sense of self and have an unshakable bond with yourself. Do the things you love and pamper + better yourself in every way that you feel like. Alone does not have to mean lonely, not at all. There's literally so much you can do by yourself, like take classes, volunteer, etc, that will be such an enriching experience to who you are as a person. In time, whenever your people do show up, they'll be a fun bonus. You won't NEED them, but they'll just be a wholesome addition to your grounded little life that centers all around yourself.

Sending you lots of love 🤗🤗🤗💖💖💖

#big sister tt gives life advice #tt answers

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wickedsrest-rp · 1 year

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Name: Elias Kahtri Species: Human (Non-powered) Occupation: Biomedical Engineer Age: 35 Years Old Played By: Caitlyn Face Claim: Rahul Kohli

"Have a little fun before you die."

Elias Kahtri is a plain, boring human. Always had been. Coming from a family that loved and provided for him, Elias should have been all set in life. He lived in Sunny California where he made enough money to support himself and then some. He’d always been a bit of a nerd, a bit of a social outcast when it came to making friends. He was a certified nerd, from Dungeons and Dragons to Lord of the Rings, Elias grabbed onto anything fantasy-related to escape the reality of his life. That’s how he’d come to love cosplay, his first and best (in his opinion) cosplay being that of Gandalf the Grey. He had cemented his lot in life by being the nerdy kid, and he was completely alright with that.

Up until moving to Wicked’s Rest, Elias’s life was rather uneventful, and plain. He was completely unaware of the truth of the world, that the supernatural lurked in the shadows and even paraded around right in front of him, disguised as something else. For a while, he was convinced that something else was nothing more than cosplay, something that he had a lifelong interest in, something he was good at. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing that he had skill in. A gifted biomedical engineer, Elias broke through in his field by being part of the team that created an advanced bionic prosthesis for those suffering from nerve damage in their hands. Coming from a family of doctors and scientists, the Kahtri family was thrilled. But Elias, try as he may, was never as into the sciences as the rest of his family was.

He kept finding himself running back home, to California when he found things getting too deep, too real in Wicked’s Rest. He’d been through a lot in that town. It’s where he discovered that fae were real, and fae could kill. He ran off, then came back because curiosity sucked him back in. With a drive to learn more, Elias started getting deeper into the fae, learning from hunters about the truth of what fae were capable of, and even befriending a fae along the way who reiterated the same points. Still, Elias wasn’t swayed. He knew that it was in a living being’s nature to be good. He had to believe it.

One day, he was proven wrong. Running off to Ireland to help a friend, Elias came face to face with the reality of what real fae were capable of. Unabashed cruelty. After a deadly encounter with a banshee cult, Elias ran back to California. Back to safety after months of trying to grapple with the fact that he had been wrong. He fought to get back into the rhythm of his job, of proving to his family that he was just another scientist like they all were. But he kept finding the little voice in his head telling him that he was supposed to be in Maine, to be in Wicked’s Rest.

So with his mind changed once again, Elias started making the move back to Wicked’s Rest. This time, it would be permanent. This time, he wasn’t allowing himself to go back, and he told his family not to let him come back. Because Wicked’s Rest had become his home. Wicked’s Rest also held secrets he needed to uncover through whatever means necessary. Intending to uncover and catalog as many creatures as he could, Elias decided that he was going to start on the journey of creating his very own monster manual that he and others could turn to, just like the one from Dungeons and Dragons.

This time, he decided to be more careful of the things that could kill him, having learned his lesson from his trip to Ireland. Still, the thrill of learning the truth was enough to have him ignore the trauma he’d been through to capture that new photograph to add to his monster manual. More than anything, he wanted to stick true to the belief that anyone had the potential to do good in this world, he just had to make sure to stick clear of the ones that had the stronger potential to do bad.

Character Facts:

Personality: Witty, sociable, rational, playful, patient, gullible, disorganized, naïve, absentminded, blunt

Elias is a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, he always has a quote or random fact about the movie ready for anyone who has the pleasure of being at the receiving end.

Elias is huge into the cosplay scene and makes all his costumes from scratch. His favorite is his cosplay of Gandalf the Grey, though he’s working on some new ones.

Elias has long been interested in the cryptid scene. Bigfoot? He found him. Mothman? He’s in the fan club. You name it, he’s heard of it. Probably.

Elias may be well-known in the scientific community, but that doesn’t mean he’s very happy about it. When he’s recognized, he does his best to avoid interaction instead of being friendly.

Elias has a few scars on his left shoulder and his neck. He doesn’t talk about them.

#retired

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yandere-writer-momo · 1 year

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Be nice to each other. We as a community need to be nicer to each other. It isn’t hard to just reach out and give someone a guiding hand or some advice. And we need to call out accounts that are problematic. Whether they are creating problematic content or being the problem themselves on how they conduct themselves, we need to say something. Bullying is never okay. Making content glorifying pedophilia, incest, rape, etc is not okay either. Especially if it is supported in real life. But you have to remember that this is fictional content. It isn’t real. It’s not going to jump off the screen and attack you. Just scroll past it if you ignore trigger warnings. Most of us know that fiction and reality are two completely different things. We’re not lost in a fantasy world in our heads and don’t know what’s right from wrong.

There’s no reason to be spiteful or angry on this app. There’s no reason to call people mentally ill for being a little too h*rny either. It’s fan fiction. It’s free content. 100% free. I’m not getting paid to do this but I still do it.

I’m not going to judge someone when I make Yandere and Noncon content myself. That’s hypocrisy. (I also need to mention that do not support any of these things in real life).

But I’m not going to call someone names, tell them to delete their account, to stop writing/ drawing, or tell them to KTS. I’d rather extend a hand and ask them about it. It takes five minutes to be the bigger person and be kind and tolerant of people. We all exist on this earth to pay taxes without a choice.

I am here to spread love, positivity, and baki fan fiction content. Nothing else. I’m providing a small escape for everyone from their hectic daily lives. I want to make content that makes someone’s day just a little bit better. I know there is a person behind every screen and I do not dislike or hate any of you. You are valid. You are seen. You can change and be a better person. You can do anything ❤️

Sorry for the drama everyone but from this day forward, there won’t be any. I will resume writing

If anyone would like to give me constructive criticism, my inbox is always open. I am open to criticism on how I can improve my writing and content

#y’all need to grow up #be nice #start a problematic account list #we are making one #no bullying tolerance here #no hate #people are capable of change

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a-crimson-dawn · 2 years

Text

Kiss the Girl - Multi-Ship One-shot

Content Warning: Contains kissing, romance and cringe.

Genres: Romance, Comedy (?)

Pairings: Nozel x Dorothy, Yami x Charlotte, William x Mereoleona

Other characters: Nacht, Langris

Well, this was… awkward.

Rather unexpectedly, they had found themselves in the middle of a lake, on a boat - that part, he could explain, actually, by the nature of their mission, the baffling part comes later - surrounded by singing birds. That too, would not have been out of ordinary, had they not been singing a rather dubious ditty, something along the lines of:

There you see her

Sitting there across the way

She don't got a lot to say

But there's something about her

And you don't know why

But you're dying to try

You wanna kiss the girl

It did not help, that he couldn’t help but catch himself staring at her from time to time, unable to pull his gaze away from the red haired beauty before him for too long a period of time. There was just something about her, and about this location, and about, well… all sorts of things really, that drew his eyes towards her. And he’d been sure she would have noticed, as observant and sharp as she could be, trained to respond fast, quite possibly by all those years of survival in the wilderness.

And as the birds sang, the fish leapt out of the water, the insects carelessly fluttered around in the air, and overhanging branches dipped into the water, enclosing them into something of a wooden cocoon, wherever the water was shallow enough, or wherever there were small islands of land, it felt as if this strange, twitterpating atmosphere was difficult to escape. He was also certain that he was very much doomed. That those piercing turquoise eyes of hers saw right through him into his soul and his flustered heart, as it beat nervously out of rhythm in anticipation of her rejection. His stomach performing all kinds of acrobatics in that moment did not help the matter.

“Vangeace… do you know why those birds are serenading us right now?” He’d never known Mereoleona to be… awkward, and yet, here her voice sounded stilted and uncertain. And, perhaps it was the lighting, or perhaps his own wishful fantasies filling in the blanks in his vision, but he could have sworn he’d seen a faint blush appear on her face.

No, he was definitely delusional. Mereoleona Vermillion did not blush. Surely.

Yes, you want her

That didn’t mean the idea of her blushing didn’t have its… merits. Actually he found it rather cute -

‘Focus, you idiot, you’re on a mission.’

Look at her, you know you do

At the back of his mind, a small voice chipped in: ‘since when do birds singing in the human tongue like so? Parrots perhaps, but these are definitely passerine birds.’

Another, louder voice, was far too busy swooning over the lady, completely ignoring her confused looks. He could feel his cheeks heat up; he did want her, and had for a long time, and perhaps had he not been such a coward-

Possible she wants you too

“Any particular reason why you’re staring at me, Vangeance?” That almost sounded more as a tease than a question.

“N-no - I am not- I-”

‘Why can’t words form properly?’ His mind in chaos, at his head feeling rather warm and confused with all the conflicting and intense emotions, he could hardly think straight, let alone talk.

There is one way to ask her

It don't take a word

Not a single word

Her eyes seemed to light up then, and briefly, she looked away to coast, only refocus on him a few seconds later. Really, the side view was just as nice as -

‘Focus!’ But that cautious voice was already losing its strength.

Go on and kiss the girl

Faster than he could think, with his clearest thought being that one last line, guiding him through something he would have ordinarily done, he leaned in

and kissed Mereoleona Vermillion.

And so William Vangeance became past tense.

Except…

he lived, apparently.

Against all possible logic, against every rational thought in his mind, he kissed a woman who would surely loathe such an advance from him.

And she kissed him back.

---

It was only natural that his colleagues would not believe him.

Yami Sukehiro calling his retelling bullshit did not surprise him in the least. “Okay, first of all, Vengeance, how the fuck are you not dead? Second of all, why her? Third of all, you need to see a shrink, because there is no fucking way birds sing like that.”

Nevertheless, William still found himself embarrassed by the very idea. Granted, he’d made a lot of bad decisions, but they lived in a world of magic; he wasn’t sure why he would need therapy over something like this, as strange as it had been. “I think you may have a poor opinion of Lady Mereoleona, Yami… she’s no murderer…” At least, not when it wasn’t strictly necessary. Then again, he too had assumed he’d be dead by now… so it was rather hypocritical of him to judge. “Besides, I am sure you would have kissed Lady Charlotte two if you had gone there yourselves…”

“As, if,” Yami scoffed, glancing for a moment in the direction of the Blue Rose Knights captain. “Besides, Prickly and Sisgoleon aren’t even the same species. You weren’t kissing a lady back there, but a she-beast in human clothing. That was basically beastiality you committed, I hope you know that, Vengeance!”

“...” He raised a brow.

“...” Yami shot him an intent look. Did he really commit such a terrible faux pas in his eyes? Was he jealous perhaps?

“... That still wouldn’t be the most morally reprehensible thing I’ve ever committed,” William shrugged it off eventually. “Besides, Lady Mereoleona is clearly a woman… a human woman. A very human woman.”

Yami choked on the bottle of sake in his hand, then shuddered. “There’s something disturbing about the idea of you screwing her -”

“We didn’t-!”

“Something in the matter here?” a familiar voice boomed across the room even as a certain woman appeared beside them.

“Whatever you say, you kinky, delusional, masked bastard. I’m gonna prove you wrong on those words, and when I do, you’ll have to fess up to your weird fetishes in the next meeting, Goldie Guts,” the dark haired captain turned away to take his leave. No doubt he would enjoy every moment of William embarrassing himself, and honestly, he had far too little time to think to respond to that proclamation. Then again… it wasn’t like had much to worry about.

Even if he was suffering from auditory hallucinations, it wasn’t like he had much to “confess” about…

Right?

“So, about yesterday, Vengeance…”

---

Dammit, why did Vangeance even go to such a suss looking lake. Everything about it just felt off. Even so, he tried to remain his ever-so charming and calm self in front of Charlotte.

“So-er… Prickly… you… wanna get in the boat, or what?”

He had to admit, he found it somewhat endearing to see the thorny captain so out of her element. Clearly, she much rather preferred standing on dry land, as she looked at the small rowing boat with hesitation and reluctance. Or… maybe she just hated the idea of sharing a boat with him. That didn’t really explain the faint red tint about her cheeks.

“Are all men so impatient, or is it just you?” came an irritable retort. Well, that had taken her a surprisingly long time.

Still, he brushed off the comment, and grinned back at her. Even if they couldn’t get along as well as he’d hoped, winding her up and getting her nerves could also be entertaining. ‘A life with her would never get boring…’ He’d give her that much.

Finally she took a step into the boat, only to wobble -

and send them both toppling into the boat when Yami lost his balance trying to right her.

Smooth.

Although, the view from down there wasn’t too bad-

Now's your moment (ya, ya, ya)

Wait, where did that come from? And what was up with all those damned birds surrounding them? Animals - except for his beasts - had never been particularly fond of Yami.

He would have gotten up to check, but Prickly was still very much on top of him, looking flustered, confused, fumbling about, trying to figure out what to do, as if her brain had just short-circuited and somehow she didn’t know how to get back up again.

Didn’t help that she had managed to push the boat off the bank and it was now slowly headed in the middle of the lake.

Floating in a blue lagoon (ya, ya, ya)

Sure, there was nothing to fear for him - the lake was calm compared to the seas he was used to, and even if it were rough, he had now magic which he could use to protect them both, even if the boat toppled over - but it was more the isolation and… Charlotte’s… unhelpful panicking.

“Cool it, prickly, we’re not going to end up sleeping with the fishes, anytime soon,” Yami found himself reassuring her. This of course, only made her blush more, before glaring at him. “Besides, that’s more Vangeance’s thing, apparently, than mine.”

“I-I am not panicking. A good captain should always keep a cool head,” she insisted, in her haughtiest voice, pushing up against his chest as she sat up. Or maybe she had intended to hit him and then thought better of it. Who knew with women? “Don’t presume you know my emotional state,” she huffed, crossing her arms.

He was sure it was supposed to look intimidating.

Scolding and disapproving even.

It probably wasn’t supposed to look hot.

But he found that Charlotte’s alluring, fae like looks didn’t exactly lend themselves to “intimidating”.

And so he barked out a laugh, much to the woman’s chagrin. “Sure. Cool headed. Whatever your say, Briars.”

Boy, you better do it soon

No time will be better (ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya)

What was up with those damn feathered pests?

He hated the idea of having to concede to Vangeance. Especially since he wasn’t quite done holding a grudge against him over that elf fuck up.

Charlotte didn’t seem particularly fazed by the song though, and seemed to be looking at him more than at the birds, almost expectantly. Still, maybe it was because being so close to a guy was new to her?

“Enjoying the view,” he teased.

Turning a deeper red, she immediately looked away and would have probably stood up, if he didn’t capture her hand in his, holding her down. It was weird that she was looking at him with such a… lack of contempt, for one. She didn’t even respond with an insult that time.

She don't say a word

And she won't say a word

Perhaps it was the song, weaving ideas into his head, but, with standard Black Bull impulsiveness he thought, maybe he could figure her out and end this awkwardness with a single move. ‘Until you kiss the girl.’ Though by the time his lips were pressed against hers, he was starting to wonder if listening to the birds had been a good idea.

It wasn’t that her lips weren’t soft.

Or that she’d stiffened against him, or in some other way showed a dislike towards the gesture. No, she seemed to relax actually, even parted his lips in invitation. He was sure she’d even temporarily embraced him, right until the kiss had ended and those arms pulled away.

It was just that at that point his mind was starting to clear up. And he was starting to remember Charlotte’s vicious streak.

The sound of her hand connecting with his face in SMACK! as he pulled away made him blink.

“Huh?”

“That was for Spade kingdom,” she breathed out, glaring at him. In a whisper she added, “you reckless idiot.”

Wait, what happened in Spade?

“And this,” she then added, leaning in, and cutting off his confused response with a kiss. As she pulled away, leaving him dazed, she continued, “is for everything else.”

Nevermind Vangeance’s singing birds.

Prickly was a far greater enigma.

“You know… I wouldn’t mind you calling me an idiot if it were followed by a kiss each time,” he found himself saying, nevertheless… probably because he was drunk on their kisses and the resulting brain chemicals, or whatever Mr Overly Serious had claimed was responsible for this love-y dove-y feeling he was experiencing right now.

---

Nozel had no idea what Sukehiro and Vangeance were talking about.

Something about talking birds, flying fish and women acting out of character… but somehow he got dragged into the conversation anyway.

“Hey, Lord KillJoy, wanna check out this magical lake?” Considering Sukehiro had literally dragged him into the conversation - much to the royal’s indignation - he clearly didn’t have a choice to say no. Dealing with Yami was almost as impossible as dealing with Mereoleona.

Except, to choose his cousin over Yami was infinitely more terrifying.

“What ridiculous notion are you choosing to bring up in front of me today, Sukehiro?” Of course, he knew what he was going to suggest - he’d overheard more or less all of their talk and wouldn’t put it past Sukehiro to make a competition about just about anything, but still… a confirmation couldn’t hurt.

Except, it could.

It very much could.

Especially when it involved spending time with a certain witch in the middle of a lake on a small boat, isolated with only his own confused feelings to keep him company. Feelings that didn’t seem to understand professionalism, or their status as colleagues, or the fact that he could absolutely not just fall for anybody he wanted to. He was royalty. Ultimately, he’d probably end up with someone of his father’s choosing.

Those infernal birds weren’t helping matters.

‘Keep a cool head. Don’t let feelings get in the way of what is rational and necessary…’ He’d tried to remind himself.

Dorothy, on the other hand, seemed perfectly calm; cheerful even. She had no qualms about any of this. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying herself. Dipping her hands into the water, looking up at the sky…

“Look how pretty this place is!” she stated the obvious, but this much went amiss with Nozel, who was focusing on something else that appeared far superior to the lake in its beauty.

‘Her eyes look beautiful when they’re open and full of wonder like this…’ an intrusive voice commented. He wished it would go away, but that same voice had much else to say about the woman he was forced to share a space with.

‘They’re just eyes,’ another voice reminded him sharply.

The music, however, didn’t seem to agree.

Sha-la-la-la-la-la

Don't be scared (sha-la, sha-la-la ya, ya, ya)

You got the mood prepared (woah, woah)

And as the boat slowly moved through the water, he couldn’t help but relax, as the lyrics weaved themselves into his mind, forming a warm, comforting blanket around his thoughts, allowing only some thoughts to the surface. The irrational ones. The soft ones. The scandalous and impulsive ones.

The ones that prompted him to regard the way her mouth moved too keenly. The ones that enjoyed her voice far too much. The ones that wanted to…

Well… he wasn’t really sure what they wanted to do, to be honest.

He’d never exactly given much time or thought to that in the past, and whenever something did pop up, he was normally quick to banish it.

But now he couldn’t calm his fast beating heart, or silence those thoughts, and…

…didn’t really want to.

Go on and kiss the girl

As she smiled at him, so sweetly, he couldn’t help but consider it. Wonder about it. How it would feel. How it would taste.

“Nozel-kun?” he saw her frown, as if in concern? For him? “Are you alright?”

Normally he would dismiss her worries and move onto the issue at hand, pretending as though nothing had happened. He had far too much pride to admit that currently he felt like some adolescent youth experiencing his first crush.

Sha-la-la-la-la-la

Don't stop now (sha-la, sha-la-la ya, ya, ya)

Don't try to hide it how

But he really couldn’t deny it, he was reminded by another intrusive thought, as his cheeks heated up. Besides, it was the perfect opportunity. No one else would see this. It was… just the two of them, really.

You want to kiss the girl

Which was how he found himself locking lips with the petite witch, closing the gap between them as he slowly gave into those impulsive thoughts.

Now that he had kissed her once, experiencing the sweet delight of it, along with her gentle touches, he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to stop kissing her. Or let someone else kiss her, for that matter. Or for her to disappear from his life. He couldn’t just let her go now. Now that he’d given in, he couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t lose another person.

“Hehe… you didn’t tell me you were such a good kisser, Nozel-kun…” the little witch breathed out as she pulled away from the kiss. “Nozel-kun…?”

He couldn’t help but pull her even closer, if that was even possible.

“Don’t leave…” he said.

“please.”

Her gaze softened, as their eyes met. “I don’t plan on it,” she promised, grinning. “You’re stuck with me for good, whether you like it or not!”

---

“That was quite clever of you. I’m almost impressed, Vaude,” Nacht exclaimed, once that final scene had ended with Dorothy and Nozel returning to land, and the witch taking a detour to meet up with Charlotte while the Silver Eagles captain went to report to the Wizard King as though nothing had happened. "I wonder how you'd managed to get those magical birds..."

“I’m not at all impressed.” The two men turned around to regard Charlotte’s annoyed look. “Must there have been a boat ride in your plan?”

Langris only offered a mock apologetic expression. “Well, I apologise, but your nobleness seems to have forgotten to point out that she was afraid of water,” he drawled out, though he looked far too smug for this to have been an accident.

She looked as though she was about to murder him. “I am not afraid of water,” she insisted.

“Well, I thought it was a wonderful touch, boys!” another voice chirped as Dorothy popped up behind them. “I’m sure your captains would be proud of your match-making efforts.”

“Or they’d try to kill us,” Nacht said with a strained smile, rather concerned for his well-being, what with the little witch possessing a big mouth.

“Speak for yourself. Not all captains are uncivilised apes.”

“I still disagree with your methods, Vaude, Faust… I don’t see where precautions could have possibly been taken with this- what if things did not go as planned?”

“And that, Captain Charlotte, is why we did a test run…”

“Well, that certainly explains why you two fools had insisted on dragging myself and Vangeance out to the lake.” Their conversation, it seemed, had been joined by an unexpected guest. A rather severe looking one.

Dorothy giggled. “Enjoyed yourself, Mereoleona, dear?”

The fire Vermillion crossed her arms over her chest. “I never signed up to be a test subject,” she glowered at the two men. It seemed to finally dawn on them how potentially screwed they were.

“Oh, but the two of you made such a cute couple!”

“You damn voyeur,” the older woman regarded the witch in annoyance, “don’t tell me you watched all of it.”

“Only up to the part where you kissed him back!” the younger woman exclaimed as if that was in any way comforting. “It’s really quite fortunate that they managed to pick a suitable partner for you on such short notice. It’s quite impressive too - I mean, I half expected you to eat him, to be honest.”

The lioness gritted her teeth. “Why does everyone seem to think I eat men?”

“I gotta ask though, Sisgoleon, do you eat your men during or after copulation?” had been Yami’s words when she’d been considering potential hookups - safe to say that she didn’t go with Sukehiro. And not just because Lady Roselei had very obvious feelings for the man - although no one knew exactly why she did, she was sure.

“In all honesty, I have to admit, I was impressed that Sukehiro even knew the word “copulation”,” Nacht commented. “Still, I was sure then that I definitely couldn’t use Sukehiro as a test subject. Otherwise, with his people skills we could have ended months behind schedule.”

“Well, I did tell you that my captain was the best choice,” Langris exclaimed smugly.

Mereoleona raised a brow. “Based on what factors?”

He looked away. “Based on me walking in on him plucking petals off of a flower debating whether you hated him or not – the most awkward thirty seconds of my life as a vice captain.”

“And that made us compatible in your mind because…”

“Because I was there during your game of Marry, Kiss and Kill,” Nacht supplied, “considering I was concealed, I’m not surprised none of you three women noticed me.”

Charlotte turned-lobster red. “D-does that mean -”

Nacht nodded, wincing. “It means I heard everything said during that lunch meeting.”

“Everything-everything?” she squeaked.

He shot her a serious look. “Everything.”

“I regret nothing.” Everyone turned to face Mereoleona. “What? I’m not enough of a prude to deny I speculated about some… things.”

“Things indeed…”

“I still think Nozel-kun is the prettiest of them all!”

And so, while Charlotte was too busy dealing with her desire to die a thousand times over having been overheard swooning over Yami’s best assets while quite possibly mildly inebriated, none of the three male test subjects - I mean, love interests - were any the wiser…

---

“Well, that was a weird fucking experience. I guess neither of us are single now.”

“... do you think that means she likes me?”

“Seriously, Vengeance, go see a shrink.”

“... everything I did was for nothing… my dignity is forfeit… I have ruined the name of the house of Silva…”

“Guess I should book us a group therapy session, then.”

“I mean, I know she kissed me back but maybe she just wanted to mess with me?”

“... I shouldn’t have put her in danger… now we’ll have to elope, leave the country and change our surnames to Schmitz.”

“Maybe she won’t want to see me ever again… I mean, she did say that she would rather not tell anyone about it yet. Maybe what she meant was that she didn't want to ever be associated with me-- it's not as though I can blame her for it...”

“...should I dye my hair - it will most likely stick out…”

“... what if we kiss again and this time the magic’s gone…?”

“... do they speak a different language in the Land of the Sun? You might have to teach me that, Sukehiro.”

“... how do you keep a woman interested in you, Yami?”

“Well, that’s it. I’m never taking the two of you out drinking with me again.” He should have remembered those two were lightweights.

#black clover #mereoleona vermillion #william vangeance #charlotte roselei #yami sukehiro #nozel silva #dorothy unsworth #nacht faust #langris vaude #kiss the girl #so it becomes rather chaotic at the end...#also Charlotte pulled an Astrid #and the end is just... two men's drunken ramblings randomly tacked on because I felt like it...#ignore the scheming going around the in the background and it's almost romantic though #maybe #or at least funny?

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bigalockwood · 8 months

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Hey Liaaa,

I somehow completely missed that you were also doing that fanfic ask thing yesterday, so I'm a little late

♥️( I know you already answered this, but idk if you maybe have some more favourites I would love to know them, otherwise just ignore this one)

💥👻📗🎨

Hope you have a lovely day!! 💜💜

Sophia 💜💜

Thank you for sending these, I love talking about writing 💜💜

❤️: “The outside world seemed muffled, like a radio turned down so low that it was mere background noise, while the sounds inside the buildings seemed amplified by the cheerful spirits of the student body. Hillerska had become its own secluded world, a snow globe, although nothing tangible had changed.” (All is fair in love and secret Santa)

And for some reason also this one: “They were laughing now, laughing and giggling, elated to have escaped the stuffy room and Marcus, and Simon’s hand felt just that bit smaller than Wille’s, and his skin was endlessly soft, except where his palms and finger pads were calloused from countless hours of playing guitar and bass, and it was warm, with his rings pressing coldly against the back of Wille’s hand, and they hadn’t let go, not yet.” (Royally Whipped)

💥: Oh, this is sooo difficult. Because everything is connected and one thing sets off another, changing just one factor would impact the entire story. Not having Erik die seems like a too big change (I don’t think August would’ve done what he did for example), so I think I’d have to say Wille doesn’t deny he’s in the video. I love reading stories that deal with that, a scenario where Wille finds the courage to stand up for himself.

(If you feel like answering: what is one thing you’d change? I’m really curious!)

👻: I don’t think it’s all that wild (there’s been discussion about it after all) but I don’t think Erik was all that great and was more similar to Kristina than Wille and would’ve supported her call to make Wille deny the video. (And I also think Simon would never actually become a singer, much less a popstar, as much as I love reading and writing stories like that).

📗: I’ve written a lot of original stories, some of them novel length, others short stories. It’s mostly high fantasy, which is the genre I grew up reading. I also write a lot of poetry (many lines come to me during my nightly five minute wake-ups lmao). I currently don’t have the bandwidth for original stories, but I’d like to return to it once my schedule is less busy and my brain isn’t by consumed by nothing but YR. I’d also love to try writing a screenplay one day!

🎨: Oh, I don’t know. I mean, that would be incredible and I can’t believe anyone would ever do that! But I think I’d either like to see something from Royally Whipped (I think the concert scene I’m writing right now lends itself beautifully to “Wille starring mesmerized at Simon” art) or something funny featuring breeches hating Simon from “Simon Eriksson hates breeeches”. Like him starring at Wille’s ass when he rides past him lmao.

I hope you have the loveliest day 💜💜💜

(Sorry this got so long lmao)

#lias letters #sillylittleflower #talking shit for the hell of it

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befehlvonganzunten · 2 years

Text

All Quiet on the Western Front is NOT a war film … or is it?

DISCLAIMER: I’m German and I’m beyond happy with the Everything Everywhere All at Once sweep (except that Stephanie Hsu should’ve won Best Supporting Actress), so this isn't me being bitter about All Quiet on the Western Front not winning Best Picture. What I am bitter about is people throwing around the term "war film" without knowing what a "war film" is or what the term actually means.

Also: I am very aware that I’m probably arguing with a wall here because this is the internet but this bothers me for some reason, so here we go.

If you want to argue that a war film is a film that depicts war, then yes, All Quiet is indeed a war film. After all, it is set during World War I and abundant with battle sequences. Soldiers are dying left and right by the sheer brutality of early 20th-century war technology and trench warfare, and we follow a rather young recruit who has no considerable military experience by the time he joins the fighting.

However, not all war films are the same - shocker, I know. They can be pro-war, anti-war or even something in-between (see Apocalypse Now for example). The war film genre also has tons of subgenres like the retaliation film, the military (black) comedy, or the recruitment film. Arguing that All Quiet is a war film as in it’s a pro-war film because I don't know how genres work or, you know, because I don't care about the book this film is based on would be kinda stupid, if not outrageously ignorant. Its source material, the novel of the same name, is considered one of the most important pieces of anti-war literature of all time, written by a man who actually fought in World War I and therefore knew what he was talking about. (The novel was also banned and later burned during the Nazi book burnings in 1933, and Erich Maria Remarque, the author, fled the country to avoid further persecution while his sister stayed behind and was eventually executed for opposing the Nazi government in the early 1940s.)

Pro-war means that a war film depicts war as a black and white adventure where there are inherently good guys on one side and inherently bad guys on the other. The good guys have to win and the bad guys have to lose, and people who think that war is bad either don’t exist or have barely any screen time because God forbid the voice of reason is actually given - well - a voice. Bootcamp turns boys into "manly men" who can fight an entire army on their own. From a technical standpoint, the battle scenes are designed as an audiovisual spectacle that is supposed to make you feel excited, not horrified by the way in which the military machine can destroy bodies and nature alike. It is a very simple form of propaganda escapism that can easily bleed into other genres such as fantasy, science-fiction or superhero films, and you should rightfully hate it with a passion.

Anti-war, on the other hand, means that a war film depicts war as hell on earth, which it is. Nobody wins here. Soldiers are used as canon fodder and nine times out of ten neither the government nor the military elite of either war party really give a fuck. Bootcamp is a complete joke and, in its essence, torture. Young recruits are sucked into the slaughter thanks to lies and propaganda, and they are quickly disillusioned by the horrors they experience on the battlefield. The spectacle of war - the battle sequence - is meant to leave you horrified, disturbed and disgusted by what war forces people to do to each other. It’s the very core element of films/novels like All Quiet and the very opposite of propaganda escapism.

CONCLUSION: All Quiet on the Western Front is a war film that depicts war from an anti-war perspective, which makes it an anti-war film. It is based on a novel written by a man who was persecuted by the fucking Nazis. With this in mind (and I promise you that you can research all of this within minutes), it is absolute bonkers to me how some people can look at such a complex genre and reduce it to "bang boom bang explosion war films" without batting an eye.

In my personal opinion, All Quiet is by no means perfect. It’s a decent adaptation of its source material, and while I prefer the 1930 adaptation, I can see why this one was nominated for 9 categories. I’m a little disappointed that An Cailín Ciúin didn’t win Best International Feature Film, but it is what it is. Hopefully, now that I have managed to get this off my chest, I can go back to rewatching Best Picture Winner Everything Everywhere All at Once in peace.

#oscars #oscars 2023 #all quiet on the western front #apparently i have too much free time #but people are being dumb and it's really annoying

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2n2n · 1 year

Note

Hey miss, there’s something I’ve been asking myself for a long time and I can’t find any answer… did Yako was rewarded for her own selfishness?

She wasn't, but that's a part of carrying a theme and letting it evolve over time; addressing it so early on for a reason, that being that we will come back to it repeatedly. I also think there's multiple ideas of what it means to be 'selfish'.

In many stories, the first instance of confronting something may be opposite to our eventual understanding of it. It's not a matter of inconsistency or contradiction, it's a matter of having to start somewhere, with any narrative. It'll show you many situations, and early on it will be more vague and broad, generally, to get just a kind of.... ecosystem going. Just observe a lot of situations. Observe where our mains are at. Staring Point!

[After all, at the beginning of this story, Hanako himself was pro-system, and the story framed Tsukasa as dangerous or villainous for opposing it; but by now, Hanako is also opposing the system, and we as readers are not fans of it either, and want to see it pulled apart. It's not that it's inconsistent in its belief vis-a-vis the system being good or bad or it being right or wrong to do this or that-- its that our understanding of the purpose of the system and what it does evolves over time, and we follow the perspective of ignorant Nene, who is also figuring out that something needs to change. Even though her and Hanako initially saw themselves as upholding the order. Everything complicates over time, and often, things we malign early on in a story will be deconstructed later-- was it right to lash out? Was it right to punish? Was destroying the yorishiro ever OK, now that we know all that we do? Would Nene have done things differently if she could start over? Would she handle Yako differently?]

When Nene confronts Yako about her selfishness, Nene is completely inexperienced in love. She's a humble, servile sort of girl, who will change her entire personality for the delusion of a relationship. She would toil to appease a boy, to gradually work her way into his good graces, if she had to. As a girl with few friends and little going on in her life... that is her idea of love. It's shallow. It's something she wants to have, as a romantic fantasy. She wants to get to be a person in love.

Of course a girl like this would see actions like Yako's as selfish and self-serving. Embarrassingly so.

Nene relates her crude high school crush experience to Yako's experience...

... but do you think that's accurate? Misaki died. Yako is desperately mourning someone gone. She is a kaii, a mystery, a creature blackmailed into servitude in the school via her attachment to something precious (by nature, that's related to her love). She isn't a dumb teenager working up her courage to ask out a boy she doesn't know just so she can have a boyfriend. Nene has a life ahead of her. What does Yako have? What are kaii's lives typically like, now that we're 100ch in?

Nene's love was selfish in the sense that it was impersonal and strictly self-serving,

but, Wanting something precious to you at all costs, even if it's not wanted by the other party, that's something Nene experiences firsthand, later. As much as Yako misses even being scolded by Misaki, Nene misses Hanako negging her and pestering her. Misses making him jealous. Because she's in love with him! She wants him back ... even though he's pushed her away willfully.

sidebar: How about Tsukasa, as well? How should we analyze his action of escaping Hanako's boundary, where Hanako had placed him, and challenging his frozen position as a mystery? Is that something Hanako wanted, or is it Tsukasa's selfish desire to learn more about Hanako? Is it wrong or bad for Tsukasa to wish to learn everything about Amane? Is it wrong for Nene to pursue knowledge about Hanako's past, against his will to keep his secrets, because she loves him, wants to know him? Much to think about....

When Nene forcefully visits Hanako in the far shore, despite his insistence she leave, his insistence that he doesn't want her here, she defends her reason for doing this--

That's not dissimilar to Yako's feeling. Nene simply wasn't in love, at the beginning of this manga. She didn't understand this demanding desperation. She understood her childish, shallow delusion of getting to have a boyfriend. She didn't really know what love can make you into.

Hanako of all people, would not reward behavior like Yako's-- he sees her as foolish, more than anything. Fighting back against something hopeless, pointless. She should know better, as a kaii, as a mystery... that's how Hanako feels.

Because Hanako himself (was?) is vividly nihilistic about fate.

Even the concept of 'bringing someone back' (even deformed, even twisted) like Yako wanted, is something Hanako finds foolish.

ME reading Yako's story, I felt for her pain, and the way her love had turned selfish made sense. Wanting someone back, even if it were only for them to hate you, because any attention at all, it's something, and it's them. It's even a fragment of them, and that's precious. You would love anything you could have back, wouldn't you? Hmm...

hmmm...

It's simply the early manga, and we can't tug at this too much just yet. Hanako absolutely won't. His entire deal is 'give up' at the start of this manga.

Yako is a good introduction to concepts we'll dive deeper into, later, with our protagonists.

#avvy's JSHK

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bewitchingbooktours · 2 months

Text

The Storm Breaks

Demon Storm

Book Six

Valerie Storm

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing

Date of Publication: 7/13/2024

ISBN: 978-1-956883-22-0

Number of pages: 416

Word Count: 102,166

Cover Artist: @Ginkahederling

Tagline: Cast into the hands of enemies old and new, Kari is losing her grip. Will she fall?

Book Description:

Wolf and demon born…under storm the land is torn.

Tendrils of darkness reach from the depths of her mind and shadows flicker around every corner. Still reeling from Raven’s horrific display of power, Kari suffers in silence.

When Guine finally returns with stories of a mirror that could help him with his problems, Kari finds herself hoping that maybe, just maybe, it could help with hers as well.

With the promise of a relatively straightforward outing, Kari, Ari, and Guine set forth to find the mirror.

But what they find beyond the looking-glass threatens not only Kari and her sanity, but also the world she loves.

Amazon

Excerpt:

Suddenly a hand shot out of the wall ahead of her, giving her no time to react or slow her pace as it grabbed her shoulder. Kari pulled at the fingers, tugging at their grasp, trying to hurry. She had to escape the damn water!

Lightning sparked along her claws. She raised her hand to attack again, intending to cut the fingers right off of her.

A familiar voice growled, “Do it and we’re dead.”

Kari froze long enough for the hand to pull her straight into the wall. She stumbled through and fell face-first on something hard and cool.

Groaning, she rolled onto her back and looked up into the sweat-dotted, strained, and frowning face of Guine. Above him hung a ceiling of some kind of jagged, translucent, blue rock.

“Why did you stop?” he demanded rather angrily. “I said we had to keep moving, didn’t I?”

For a moment Kari thought she was still waiting for the water to overtake her. That filthy, disgusting-smelling, murky water. Slowly she realized they had changed locations again; now they were in some sort of cavern. Completely dry and relatively safe, at least for the moment.

Kari jumped up and bared her teeth at Guine. “You didn’t say if I stopped that would happen!”

“Why would I say, ‘don’t stop’ if that wasn’t a vitally important thing to do?!”

“You’re often unclear and exaggerate!” she snapped back.

They glared at each other for a long time. He was mad, but she was madder. He had not been very upfront with her about this wretched maze, and that enraged her. She did not need the Catalyst to fuel her anger; her heart thrummed against her ribs, taking all of her breath with it, and it had not stopped since that first room.

The danger here was real, and yet intangible. She had faced so many people who wanted her dead, or worse. But this place would kill her at the slightest mistake.

Finally, Guine sighed, his face relaxing into exhaustion. He turned away from her.

“It doesn’t matter now. It’s done. But now…now we face a problem.”

The walls were just like the ceiling, seemingly made of something crystalline. Ahead of her, she could see an opening in the circular room.

“What problem? Besides being in this yutemi you’ve created, that is.”

Guine chose to ignore her snappy tone. “We got off-track. Things will change now. I can find the way since I did make this as an option, but now it will take us longer.”

Kari’s gaze slowly trailed back to him. He’d said…what? Two or three days? Without food.

Now it would take longer?

“Just how much longer are you talking about, Guine?” Kari hissed.

He shrugged, not quite nonchalant, but rather resigned. “Maybe tack on a week. At the very least.”

Kari’s mouth dried. Already her stomach rumbled; now that the adrenaline had passed through her system, she was hungry. She wasn’t stupid. She knew her body would be capable of going quite a long time without sustenance, but that long? And what of their water supply?

She felt for the bag, but her fingers were too numb to reach inside for the waterskin. The cavern suddenly seemed very small.

“Guine…”

“Thirst will not be a real issue,” Guine said as if he had read her mind. “When I designed this way, I made a room for myself so that I could survive if I slipped up. There will be a room ahead that provides fresh, drinkable water. Hopefully, we can store enough to last us the rest of the time if we ration it.”

“And what about food?”

He hesitated. “The room…also has a solution for that. For humans. There’s no way we could know it would work for you, or at the very least not kill you.”

Kari stared past him. The only exit out of the cavern they were in was a single tunnel that turned sharply into darkness.

“I will not die in here, Guine.”

“I don’t intend for you to,” he said wearily. “But if things were serious at all to you before, it’s worse now.” He walked to one of the walls and sat down. “We should rest before we go on. Exhaustion and stress make the mind do stupid things.”

Kari didn’t move. She thought of a time long ago when she had left behind Snow Shade. Then she had perhaps gone a day or so without a real meal. It was like torture to her, weakening her body and senses until she had come across something to eat.

She could have adjusted to the idea of three days with no food. But more than a week?

About the Author:

Valerie Storm was raised in Tucson, Arizona. Growing up, she fell in love with everything fantasy. When she wasn’t playing video games, she was writing. By age ten, she began to write her own stories as a way to escape reality. When these stories became a full-length series, she considered the path to sharing with other children & children-at/heart looking for a place to call home.

Twitter https://twitter.com/valerie_storm

Blog https://rantsofawriter.home.blog/

Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/valeriestorm

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/valeriestorm3135

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/valeriestorm_author/

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0B18WB88R

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22413211.Valerie_Storm

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soulscribblingshack · 1 year

Text

Hounded.

I had my nose up a book, buried deep in the world of fantasy and mystery, when my mother called for me to go purchase something she urgently needed, one Sunday morning. Of course, I had very reluctantly, very petulantly torn my thirteen year old self from my book to run the errand. As always, my little brother, who was probably 7 then, hopped up to come with, (because we were a power team and we never went anywhere without each other). We hurried out, me in a hurry to get back to my book, and my brother just excited about getting to go out, even if for a short while.

It hadn't taken us too long, however, to notice how very deserted the street was because it was quite unusual. I had been dreading having to say hellos to my neighbours along the street and was quite unnerved that they weren't there for me to give my faux-enthusiastic greetings to, (relieving, but still...odd). And I remember thinking the emptiness was slightly discomforting.

But, it wasn't anything we had thought to worry about, apparently, because we carried on talking and laughing with each other, until, (yes, there is an until), this burly man in a green Kaftan, (that had obviously seen better days), popped out of nowhere. Well, he didn't pop out, obviously, no. He, actually, came out of a side street and started walking up just slightly ahead of us. My brother and I had quietened, immediately and given each other uncomfortable, questioning looks. We weren't sure why yet, but there was just something majorly off about this man. We tried to make it not too obvious, or at least, I did, that we were watching him, but we couldn't help it. At this point, you know, it was just us three walking the streets that morning. This strange man kept turning back to give us looks and his face, gosh, his face held so much rage and his eyes had been so red. He also hadn't been walking all that steadily, either. Clearly, he was high on some liquid luck. Lol.

I suppose at that point, I ought to have just insisted my brother and I go back home. Surely, mother would have understood that we were in some sort of danger. But, I grabbed hold of my brother's hand and instead forged on, completely ignoring my instincts screaming for us to turn back. Now, there came a time when we had to make a turn, into another side street, to get to the shop we were headed. At this point, the creep ahead of us had made the turn already, and was considerably far from us now, but we were a bit frightened about making the turn, because, what if he had been right there, just waiting to grab at us? Those looks he had been throwing at us had not seemed awfully friendly or accommodating in the least. So, we waited a while, dragged our feet and shuffled along, just to stretch the time a bit, in case he was waiting, you know, so he'd give up and go away. By the time we made the turn, our supposed predator was gone, (thank heavens). My brother and I laughed about it and went on our way, shaking off the unease. It didn't last long, however, because, suddenly, this green-clothed weirdo was popping his head from around the corner. Obviously, he had been waiting, rather impatiently for us and was checking, maybe for the last time to see if we were actually coming or not. I, literally, lost it. This time, I needed no warning. I grabbed my brother's hand, even tighter and started to run, back home, away from this lunatic, this strange man who had taken some weird sort of fancy to us. And you know what this man did? He gave chase.

I can only describe what I felt as intense, almost crippling fear, because suddenly, everything I had ever read in my mystery books, everything I had ever watched with my family on Investigation Diary, came rushing through my head. I have never been a runner, but this time, with my brother's hand firmly held in mine, I would have given Usain Bolt a run for his money.

We made it back home and hurriedly locked the gates, narrowly escaping this loony. But he did not give up, immediately, no. He stood outside our gates and was banging against them with so much rage. My brother and I were perplexed. Our mother ran out of the house, and we briefed her, best as we could on what had just happened. Of course, she had been worried, scared, frightened, terrified. We all were.

We worked out, later, that this man was probably just inebriated and was not some master planning kidnapper or anything. He had just had too much too drink, but that didn't stop me imagining all the ways he could have hurt us if he had caught up with us. I mean, the way he had hit against those gates? It showed a man who was extremely furious that he had missed his chance to do, god knows what.

We were not allowed to step out the house for a couple days, after that, until it was clear the freak was long gone.

Never again, since that day, however, did I ignore my instincts. They may be awfully wrong sometimes, but clearly, not all the time.

#freaks around the corner

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