#don't pay attention to all my eraser marks

[fandomofone]

Kitty's getting into some mischief...

[mariikado]

Bookshelf in Good Omens 2. What clues to look for and what to pay attention to when reading each book.

And don't show this to Neil! And don't ask him about it!

Carefully! There may be spoilers here.

1. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

The main character sits alone and writes a diary. There is also a very interesting love polygon in the book. At the very end of the book there is an interesting moment about the girl’s father, who writes his book in an interesting way.

For me, this was the answer to why Good Omens 2 was made the way it was: incomprehensible, confusing and with a lot of questions after viewing.

2. No Woman No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley by Rita Marley.

This is Maggie and Nina's book.

Look for the donkey, as well as the story of Rita's shooting. Notice what Rita says when she remembers Bob (he's dead, but he's everywhere).

3. The Crow Road by Iain Banks.

Not only discussions about God are important, but also the meaning of the expression “the crow road.” Notice the angelic goats dressed as ravens in the intro. Remember the story of Job, remember those little goats who followed the crow's path. Try to tie it all together.

And also pay attention to the meaning of matches. What do they mean for the story in the book and could they mean the same for our story?

Crowley recommends this book to Muriel not only because it contains a lot of discussions about God. He knows how important the matchbox is in the story, and he wants Muriel to know it too. Muriel must know that matches are the key to solving the mystery. At the very end of the second season, the story is just beginning to develop. The matchbox doesn't appear in the plot yet, but it will happen in the future, and Muriel must know in advance what it means. I think so.

4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

A very interesting main character, with a very interesting perception of the world around him. I think this is a hint on how to watch Good Omens 2. The second season needs to be watched the way this boy looks at the world around him. He also has interesting thoughts, some of which may be important to our story.

5. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

I have identified five characters. One of them is a naked man (note the reason for his undressing), the second character experiences déjà vu and has strange relationships with colleagues, the third character will do anything for profit (even if he has to bomb his own), the fourth character is compared to God (note , what ultimately happens to him), and the fifth is not entirely noticeable, but wears fake glasses and a mustache. Find them all and analyze what happens to them and why, what their goals are and what consequences their actions have. Think about how this all fits into our story and who these five characters are like.

6. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.

Besides the wonderful love triangle, there are almonds to be found here. This is a small clue to the meaning of almond coffee. The character is a photographer with his secret love - I think this is also a small key to unraveling the mystery of Good Omens 2.

7. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

There are matches here too, find them. Try to analyze the thoughts of the main character. I still couldn't decide who this book belonged to: Aziraphale, Crowley or Muriel. I'm leaning towards Muriel. Although Neil said that Muriel may not be Muriel in season three. So Aziraphale or Crowley could become Muriel in the future. I still think it's Aziraphale.

The main character of this book underwent shock therapy, and this smoothly leads us to the next book.

8. 1984 by George Orwell.

If you still doubt that history is being rewritten within history, do not doubt it. This book is direct proof. I would also suggest that the shock therapy in the book is an analogue to the erasing of memory and reformatting of consciousness in our history. Then that would explain what I said earlier about Muriel. This book confirms all my previous theories and reasoning. Who, for what purpose and how many times rewrites history - we will find out in season 3.

9. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.

This book contains another clue to the mystery of almond coffee. The book also features a dead bookstore owner who photographed the character's real killer, who was illegally transporting alcohol. There is a little quote about how everything was planned in advance, and this quote is said during the kiss.

10. In this post I talked about the Bible: here.

But I forgot to mention Aaron's rod. This is another key to almond coffee. Read the story of how flowers grew from Aaron's rod and what it means.

11. The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald.

Gatsby was a liquor smuggler, he loved a blonde and in the end he got shot because of her, don't forget that. This all dates back to 1941. So who's shooting who?

12. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger.

To be honest, I have a hard time understanding why this book is on the shelf. The book could be there because of a guy who has a dead red-haired brother (yes, Crowley's brother or twin could very well be real). The book may be there because of the story of catching children over an abyss (the story of Job). The book may be there because of the description of the film, in which a guy loses his memory after a war (after the apocalypse, someone has to survive).

13. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.

I recommend reading this series of books and also watching the series. I think the books and the show together will help you understand who Sadie is in Good Omens 2.

Also look for snakes, zombies, anything related to crows, secret codes used by characters (Prime uses them too). Look for smart thoughts, there are many of them. Look for librarians, read about the secret society. We ourselves are a small secret society: we collect information bit by bit, analyze it and share it with each other. Everyone notices something different and everyone is right in their own way. There are many clues in both the books and the show. Feel free to draw parallels. There are even moments that are filmed very similarly in both series.

14. Herzog by Saul Bellow.

A difficult book. Lots of talk about God and faith. I relate this book to the character who will survive the whole apocalypse mess in season 3. Read it for yourself, maybe you will have other thoughts.

15. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

This book needs to be read from cover to cover. The whole story with the revolution and the French guillotine. Think about who those same revolutionaries in our history could be.

All moments with similarities between the two main characters, and also pay attention to the spy. Remember that Jane Austen is a spy. I still assume Jane Austen is Shax. In episode 4, Shax becomes Crowley; Before the stunt, Shax becomes like Aziraphale. Thus, in the dressing room there is a spy and two characters similar to each other (you can read about this here). There is a scene at the end of the book that may shed some light on what is really going on in the dressing room.

In the book you can also find a rose on the hat. Think about this character and the reason he put a rose on his hat.

Find this sign “👆” and its meaning in the book.

Find a seamstress in a book who walks hand in hand with someone very similar to the main character.

This book is on many posters in the hands of Aziraphale for a reason.

16. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad.

Just read Lord Jim's story and apply it to our Jim.

17. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Jim is also in this book. And this Jim stole a treasure map from a bad pirate. We can only guess what Jim brought to the bookstore in our story: a “map of buried treasure,” a book of life, the power of God. What other options?

18. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Yes, there is a very interesting love story and more than one. A parallel can be drawn with both couples from the book. Jane Austen herself also plays an important role throughout the second season.

Read books, look for clues, superimpose season 2 on these books. This is the wonderful world of Good Omens - an incredible work and an amazing journey!

[kleftiko]

❦ CALL OUT MY NAME

“guess I was just another pit stop 'til you made up your mind. you just wasted my time."

cw: mature, sexual content, gn!reader, angst, infidelity, mentions of marking (tw: Naoya Zen'in)

Choso's laying in bed. Fingers play through his loose hair as he watches a show he's seen so many times that he's mouthing along to the dialogue. An empty box of takeout sits on his nightstand, and he's content.

The ambiance of his room is broken when his phone buzzes. At first he doesn't notice, then decides he doesn't care enough to check, but whether intuition or luck, he flips over his phone to see your name.

"What's up?" he's asking a second later, into the speaker.

There's a sniffle on your end.

"Can I come over?" you ask in a small, static, clouded voice.

"Of course," he says.

"Can we get fried rice?"

Choso's eyes flit to the empty container. "Sure, I was just getting hungry anyway."

"I'll be there soon."

Getting rid of the garbage takes two seconds; what takes so much longer is Choso figuring out what to do with all the time between now and when you show up at his door. He was overly critical of how he was sitting, what show was playing on the TV, and what kind of fried rice he should get—but it all went flying out the window when you opened his door with puffy eyes and a quivering lip.

He's on you in a second, helping you take off your jacket and asking what happened. But you don't say anything; instead, you climb into his bed and snuggle under the covers.

"He doesn't care about me." You whine.

Choso can't help that the sight of you tangling yourself in his sheets, knowing they're going to smell like you when you inevitably leave, makes his dick twitch.

"He's such a dick—God, why can't I just find someone better?" You huff, fluffing his pillow and laying your head on it.

He tentatively sits on the side of his bed, a large hand softly stroking your shoulder like he's done so many times.

"What happened this time?" He asks. You take a deep breath and begin to recount the details of your latest disappointment. It's always about your boyfriend, Naoya, and how he doesn't do this or say this to you. At this point, everything is a broken record; Naoya does something terrible, and you crawl to Choso for a moment, allowing him to hold, caress, and love you, before returning to your boyfriend.

Choso hates it. Hates that you won't leave the guy, hates that you take all the bullshit he throws at you, hates that you're always showing up at his door in tears—but he especially hates that he can never turn you away, hates that he lets you use him for a quick fuck that definitely means so much more to him than it ever will to you.

"And I mean, it's not even like I'm asking for much!" You vent.

Honestly, Choso's not paying attention to what you're saying; he's heard this speech so many times that he could recite it like the show that's still playing on his TV. But he knows what comes after; he knows that in a moment of vulnerability for both of you, your soft lips will finally touch his, and he could pretend for a brief moment that you are all his.

"Why can't I be with someone as sweet as you?" You breathe, leaning into him.

He doesn't wait for you to make the first move this time; he kisses you without taking a breath first—too eager to have you. As your lips meet, a surge of electricity courses through his veins, intensifying the connection between you. In that stolen moment, the world around him fades away, leaving only the two of you lost in a whirlwind of passion and desire.

It's all too soon that he's undressed you. The heat between you becomes almost unbearable. His lips run over the soft skin covering your entire body, right over the marks from another man. How he wished to do that to you as well, to erase any trace of anyone else. He wants to look down at your bare body and see his own masterpiece, not some other fuckers. But you'll never let him; your boyfriend was the only one allowed to do that. You've told him many times, and it's always a stab to his heart. A sick reminder of what he is to you and what he will never be.

But in some sadistic and satirical way, it never stops him from wanting to please you, to let you suffocate him with your trembling thighs as he eats you out in a desperate attempt for your approval.

He yearns to be the one who fulfills your desires, to be the artist who brings you pleasure and satisfaction. Despite the pain it causes him, he continues to strive for your acceptance, hoping that one day he will be enough for you.

But even when he's buried deep inside you, bringing tears of ecstasy to your eyes, you're still not looking at him. You're lost in your own world of pleasure, unaware of the emotional toll it takes on him. He longs for a connection beyond physical intimacy, craving the validation and recognition that he so desperately seeks from you. It's a bittersweet irony that even in moments of intense passion, he remains unseen and unnoticed by the one he yearns for. It doesn't matter that he brings you to one orgasm after another if he can't capture your attention and affection outside of the bedroom.

And right when he's on the brink of euphoria, head thrown back, grip like a vice against your hips, you tell him to pull out—he can't cum inside. And it doesn't matter that the sight of his cum splattering against your stomach is a sight that makes him immediately hard again; it's a cruel reminder that only your boyfriend has the pleasure of filling you up while he has to cum into the cool and unforgiving air between you. He now knows the moment is almost over.

Choso's laying in bed. Fingers trail over your exposed skin as the same show that was playing hours ago still runs. An untouched box of takeout sits on his nightstand, and he feels his heart sink at the thought of you waking up and leaving him alone.

[incorrectfmaquotes]

Today marks 6 years since I started this blog!

Thank you all for following! Whether you followed back in October 2017 or earlier today, I appreciate every single one of you.

And for some other things I wanna say, which I don't think affects anyone and isn't exactly news, especially to anyone who might be paying attention, but more just me acknowledging it: I haven't really been attending to this blog that much in the past couple of years, but especially this one. I've largely just let the queue run and fill it up with older quotes every couple of months. I made this blog when I was in high school and had more free time; I am now something that somewhat resembles an actual adult (if you squint maybe) with more Adult Responsibilities and Situations (but as I have unfortunately realized, adulthood does not erase feeling teenage emotions all that much). I've had less time and frankly less bandwidth to devote more time to this blog - especially to create quotes at the rate I did the first 3 years. And something that has hindered me even more in attending to this blog and is in part why I started to do so was that starting around 2020, a lot of times, I could not open my inbox, direct messages, or activity page on this site. I don't know if the culprit of that was my browser, my old laptop, or our famously well-functioning website Tumblr, but this would frequently happen and would do so for weeks at a time. I'm not saying this was the only reason why there have been unanswered asks and submissions for years (see above: increasing Adult Situations and the Toll they have taken on me), but that certainly played a heavy hand.

I'm in some new circumstances and over the past couple weeks, they have been a bit more stable and consistent - I've actually made about 85 new incorrect quotes and have put them in the queue, an amount I don't think I've been able to manage since the early months of 2020 before quarantine. Opening the inbox and DMs seem to be less of a problem lately, so I've also put in the queue a good amount of those submissions I've had sitting in my inbox for a while and will try to do more, though unfortunately some of the blogs that have submitted quotes have since been deactivated. I'm going to try to answer some asks in the coming days, but again, a lot of these are months and years old, and a part of me feels a bit awkward only just responding now and I'm wondering if it's respectful at all, but I still wanna do it.

That is to say, even though I am in a more manageable situation, I'm not promising that I am now going to attend to this blog like I did in the beginning, or even that much more than I have the past few years. I have learned that circumstances can change with no notice at all. I'm also not saying there's no guarantee that I'll be even less present here or won't stop running this blog altogether when the current queue runs out - not that I'm planning on it, but I can't completely rule that out as a possibility. But even if I ever stop attending to this blog, I don't think I'll ever delete it altogether, if you're worried about that.

So, thank you for sticking around with this blog for the past 6 years! And for sticking with this post that got a lot longer than I thought it would be. This post probably sounds like a whole lot of nothing, but I still wanted to say it, and I thank you for putting up with it. Hope you have a good day! 💕💕💕

[wylanslcve]

Something I don't see anyone speak about (if you have and I just haven't seen it... I'm sorry :( ) is how Wylan not only reclaims his identity by the duology's conclusion, but he also reclaims Marya's. I feel like we as a fandom overlook just how much J*n put Marya through in an attempt to erase Wylan from the public memory: he had her declared insane as a grounds for divorce and institutionalised her, leaving her "abandoned along with her defective child" in order to "forever rid himself of any evidence that Wylan had existed". This transcended to J*n not allowing Wylan to grieve his mother's 'death' because, as he put it, "it didn’t pay to dwell on the past" - and Wylan tells Jesper that J*n never brought Marya up after breaking the news of her finality to his son, confessing "we just stopped talking about her".

What we also need to remember is that the Van Eck mansion "had belonged to Wylan’s mother’s family for generations before Van Eck had ever set foot through the door". (Edit: I didn't mean to write that the mansion belonged to the Hendriks - it was part of the property under the Van Eck name. Sorry about that!) Just like how J*n separated Wylan from his mother, he simultaneously took so much from Marya - first her home, then her name, her fortune, her own child. This is why Marya was admitted as Marya Hendriks, not Marya Van Eck: this is J*n quite literally stripping her of her name to permanently erase her from the public memory. The nurse addresses Marya as "Miss Hendriks", to which Marya mutters "Van Eck" in response, because "she was not Marya Hendriks, she was Marya Van Eck, a wife and mother stripped of her name and her fortune." So why is it that Wylan says, "I am Marya Hendriks' son" if Marya Hendriks is the woman who's left after Marya Van Eck had her name and her life taken away from her? Because this is Wylan reclaiming his mother's identity.

If we examine the moment Wylan visits his mother at Saint Hilde, Marya's first words to him are "did you come for my money? I don’t have any money" to which Wylan replies that he doesn't have any money either. The money neither of them have comes to signify the lack of autonomy they have over their identities, which have spent so long confined by J*n's contempt as he gradually works towards making them vanish entirely. J*n tried desperately to erase Marya's memory as a means of gradually erasing Wylan's - however, Wylan is the only one who keeps his mother's memory alive, just like how Marya keeps her son's alive. Upon arriving in the Barrel, Wylan detaches himself from his father's name and, instead, uses his mother's maiden name. Yes, he's doing it to not draw attention to himself (because what would the child of one of the richest men in Ketterdam be doing in a place like the Barrel?), but he's also preserving Marya's memory, clinging to it like a lifeline without even realising it. In a way, it's saving him.

Before I go on any further, I'm taking a brief detour to discuss the transition in Wylan's motivations upon discovering what really happened to his mother (it's relevant, I promise). Wylan completely breaking down when he realises that his father is indeed evil is such a pivotal moment that marks a major transition in his motivations. Jesper comforts Wylan during his breakdown, assuring him that "Kaz is going to tear your father’s damn life apart" - a sentiment that "felt like cool water cascading over the hot, shameful feeling of helplessness he’d [Wylan] been carrying with him for so long". His continued contribution to the Dregs’ mission is no longer about making the money to “get out of town and never speak the name Van Eck again” - now, he's "here for her". Now, it's about punishing his father, saving Marya and returning all J*n took from her: “what am I doing here? But he knew the answer. Only he could see his father punished for what he’d done. Only he could see his mother free.” He realises that J*n's life falling apart means that, with his money, "he could take his mother from this place. They could go somewhere warm. He could put her in front of a piano, get her to play, take her somewhere full of bright colors and beautiful sounds. They could go to Novyi Zem. They could go anywhere." He could save her, liberate her from the confines of J*n's contempt - and only he can do it, because who else would?

Meanwhile, Marya clings to the memories of her child even though J*n took him away from her. While institutionalised, Marya would paint - and in her paintings, "repeated again and again, was the face of a little boy with ruddy curls and bright blue eyes". We know that J*n wanted Wylan to disappear "the way he’d made Wylan’s mother disappear" - what we don't know, however, is what J*n told Marya during the time she was institutionalised. Did he visit her after sending Wylan away, supposedly to study music in Belendt, to tell her that Wylan is dead? Did he ever visit her before then and tell her that her son is dead to expunge his memory from Marya? We can only speculate - but what we do know is that, regardless of whether or not she thinks he's dead, Marya is grieving the loss of her child.

Something that Wylan fears if the Dregs’ mission is unsuccessful is that he’s “going to die and there will be no one to help her. No one to even remember Marya Hendriks” - and the same could be said about Marya’s feelings of responsibility for preserving the spirit of her child. Amidst her grief is the strive to save him and his memory, because she’s really the only one who’s willing to remember him. At the asylum, her paintings are thrown out “every six months” because “there just isn’t enough space for them” - but that doesn’t stop her from continuing to paint the face of her child and, thus, remembering him, making sure he doesn't disappear. Wylan confesses to Jesper that his parents “fought all the time, sometimes about me”, revealing how Marya has always fought for Wylan - and her being institutionalised, having her paintings thrown out every so often, won’t put an end to her fighting for him. She's hellbent on ensuring he doesn't vanish, because there’s no one else who would. (Think of this in relation to the meaning behind “no mourners, no funerals” - if Wylan disappeared, “no one would come looking”, as is the case with the rest of the Crows.)

Now, let's examine how, by the end of the duology, Wylan not only liberates himself from the pain caused by his father's wrongdoings, but also saves his mother. He'd "chosen to use a portion of his newfound wealth to restore his home", exemplifying how inheriting his father's fortune represents him reclaiming his identity from the pain and abuse J*n's contempt inflicted upon him. However, I mentioned earlier that the Van Eck mansion didn't actually belong to the Van Ecks in the first place - it belonged to the Hendriks. (Edit: again, not the mansion, but part of the property under the Van Eck name.) Thus, Wylan's position by the end of Crooked Kingdom also comes to represent him reclaiming his mother's identity as he returns everything J*n took from her. By "restor[ing] his home", he's also restoring Marya's.

[how-to-fail-at-ship-jumping-au]

Hetch tutorial part 2! The rest of him.

Quick Disclaimer, this is by no means valuable information for anyone wanting to learn anatomy or how to draw on their own in any way. Simply my hyper stylized way of drawing my AU version of this character. So some of my steps are probably wrong. Got that? Okay!

I like to start generally by drawing a little stick figure to help me pose him. Then, I draw the torso and hips. The torso is kind of a mix between a triangle and a rectangle, while his hips are a rectangle. Attach them and draw the head (see head tutorial)

When drawing the limbs I like to draw the calves and forearms first. I don't know, I just like it. This is not accurate to how I draw his arms when he's not wearing a coat because I like to actually define the musculature then. But just making them kind of thicc is enough when I'm putting him in his coat. You don't need to worry too much about how his thighs look because his coat covers them.

Erase all unnecessary lines and start drawing the coat!

Erase the parts of the body covered by the fabric and you can (optionally) begin to sketch out the design on the coat.

As you can see, the way I draw Hetch for this AU is a little different from his cannon design. This is because I was planning on having Hetch's appearance change as the story moved on and his initial design is how he behaves before all of the unpleasantness takes full route and also because it was hard to find references of him initially. As you can see, his coat markings are meant to be similar to circuit board lines, but not so much that it's something you have to pay extra close attention to.

Finally, do the line art and color him in!

What a handsome bbg he is!

[my-mt-heart]

Hey MT! Marketing anon again. Sending you a hug through the ask box!! We still need an official confirmation, but May 11th was GOOD for Carylers. I may have cried a little when I heard she was trending on Twitter all day. I’m glad the strategy I mentioned wasn’t too off the mark (phew). It helps make the next few weeks more predictable from a marketing perspective. 

I figured I’d share a few more thoughts so we know what to expect and we're prepared. But still, quick disclaimer: this is just my perspective and speculation. Take it or leave it <3 

AMC is leaning into desires which is good. We should expect a slow trickle of Melissa-related news. Perhaps something more definitive around her birthday (I wouldn’t be surprised if Norman wishes her on IG, I’m sure he’s wanted to say something since she showed up in France lol). Let me take a moment to say I thought we’d get a glimpse of the stand-in or grey hair (can’t remember if I added that in the previous ask), and that's precisely what happened, and I was genuinely excited when I saw that haha. 

The thing to keep in mind now is any good company keeps an eye on/ tracks audience responses to lean into what's getting the most reactions and maximize the impact. Which means audience reactions should guide the flow of news/content we see in the coming week (for the most part). So being vocal about what we want to see may help show AMC what we’re tuning in (aka paying) for.

Mixed reactions is the worst sign. It means the marketing is not hitting the mark, and that's when companies start to shift strategies to get the most reactions or try to increase the audience pool (aka, it more or less explains S11). That doesn't mean you have to feign excitement about things you don't like. But it helps to refocus attention on being vocal about what you're excited to see.

I read an article about AMC losing a ton of subs lately, which may mean they’re more likely to take a route that keeps the audience with them for the long haul. And Caryl going canon would be a good strategy to bring back a huge chunk of the audience they lost in the last quarter. And keep them on for a couple of years at least (if they play their cards right).

So the best thing right now is talking about what we really want to see. Show them how much we love Caryl as a unit. How much we want to see them together. TOGETHER together.

To everyone reading: Your feelings are valid. This doesn't erase what happened last year or how we lost the original Caryl spinoff. However, it also doesn't invalidate that we're getting Caryl back. If we focus on making the most of what's ahead of us, we may see Caryl get the ending they've earned. I, for one, would at least like to try. Caryl on <3

Hey there :) Thank you so much for the pointers again. Fwiw, I think you did mention the possibility of a vague photo, so credibility earned haha

I agree that it’s probably in our best interest to keep showing enthusiasm for Melissa, Carol, and Caryl. I also want to add that I think it’s a good way to continue supporting Melissa as opposed to arguing in circles with each other and making assumptions about her professional or private life that aren’t true.

We don’t have to excuse what happened last year, and we can remind AMC of that by simply not promoting, not watching, and not subscribing for S1. That’s my plan personally. Everyone else can decide what feels right to them.

I can’t write an essay on what I want to see as much as you’re tempting me, anon, but I hope to read what other people are looking forward to and I hope S2 will fulfill Caryl fans’ wildest dreams and Melissa’s as well. She deserves to get what she wants for Carol’s story.

[paralyze-fic]

Paralyze.

Chapter 32

The second day without Katsuki went by just like the first one; quiet and boring. And even though it was weird, I could tell the rest of the class was glad about it.

I had to hold the urge to fall asleep during class, just because a cute puppy wouldn't let me alone last night.

We kissed so much... My lips kind of hurt now, but it was so worth it. Ugh, I love him!

"(L/n), what's the right option for this question?" I blinked as Present Mic pointed to the board. An English phrase with a word missing. Three options.

1- Wasn't. 2- Haven't. 3- Didn't.

"Um...haven't...?" The questioning tone of my voice was really unnoticeable, and he nodded at my response, marking it as the correct answer.

Phew, that was close. Should pay attention from now on.

///////

The third day passed by and the fourth day came. Izuku was joining us again, and Katsuki would be here tomorrow.

The first thing I saw when I entered the classroom was Izuku making weird faces and exclaiming something about 'working hard'. He looked so eager for the class to begin that it made me chuckle.

Until I saw Aizawa sneak up behind him. "Sit down." Immediately we all rushed to our seats, the only noise in the room was the chairs moving. "Good morning. Now that Midoriya is back, we'll go into detail about your internship. Come in," the door opened, revealing two guys and a girl, "We'll let the ones who have experienced it," as Aizawa kept talking, they walked in, one after the other, "Tell you what how different these practices are. Pay attention."

My eyes looked at each one, staring them up and down. The navy-haired guy was kind of cute, and his pointy ears seemed to call for me to touch them.

"The third years on the top of the students of U.A. also known as the Big Three." I heard some of my classmates saying something about them, like how they were the closest to being pro-heroes than we were. "But, can you introduce yourselves? Let's start with Amajiki."

The navy-haired one, now named Amajiki senpai, stared at us with an intense glare, making us all tense. Even me. He's scary...

"It's useless. Mirio, Hado-san... even if I look at them imagining they are potatoes, everything except their head is human. I can just see humans. What do I do? I can't say anything, my mind is blank. I can't... I wanna go home." He turned around and pressed his forehead on the wall.

Never mind, he's a cinnamon roll.

At that, the light-blue-haired girl talked instead. "This flea is Amajiki Tamaki. I'm Hado Nejire. We were asked to talk about your internship. Wait a moment..." His voice trailed on a bit, and she started asking random questions to pretty much everyone in the class.

"Hey, is it true that you are invincible?" She asked me but turned to ask another thing to somebody else before I could her.

Aizawa's hair started to float and his eyes glowed red as he activated his quirk. "Isn't she irrational?" The blond guy made some movements with his hand, making me think of Iida. Or Izuku when he's nervous.

"Don't worry, Eraser Head. I'm at the end to end, right?" He placed his hand on his ear, "The future would be...?" He waited for our response, but all he got was silence, "You had to say 'dark', okay, my call was a failure!" He laughed out loud and I sweatdropped.

I'm pretty sure everybody did too. These third-years are kinda weird, aren't they?

"Well, it seems like you don't know what's happening. They suddenly bring some third years to explain an internship even if is not necessary. It's confusing, isn't it? You got your license in your first year, right? The ones this year are very lively, eh? And it seems like my jokes won't work." He stopped and I noticed Amajiki senpai slightly turn to look at him.

"Mirio?"

"Why don't you all fight against me? It's the most rational thing. To experience it first hand, right? What do you say, Eraser Head?" Mirio senpai looked to our homeroom teacher, waiting for an answer.

"Do as you want."

///////

So after that, we all headed to the changing room. And I stayed at the back, with Izuku and Todoroki.

"Now that I think about it, he looks familiar," I mutter and both turn to look at me.

"Who? The blond?" I nodded at Todoroki's question.

"Well, the three of them actually," I explain further, even if I do think the blond, Mirio senpai, seemed more familiar to me than the other two.

"I saw them at the Sports Festival last year, you watched it too, (M/n)?" Somehow that answered part of my question, but that wasn't completely it yet.

"Maybe that's it, (L/n)," I turned to look at Todoroki and smiled.

"You may be right," I stared ahead, "And you can call me (M/n), Todoroki-kun, it's weird when somebody calls me by my last name." He hummed.

"Then you can call me Shouto, (M/n)."

"I will, Shouto." I was pretty sure somebody was going to get mad when he got to hear me saying Todoroki's first name, but I won't worry about it for now, mostly because we reached the changing room.

The girls went into their own room and the guys entered one after the other, heading to our lockers and taking off our uniforms.

I left my undershirt on and put on the sports jacket on top, unzipped, and then changed my pants. I wasn't really aware of the guys staring at me -thank God- because I was busy thinking how fighting with Mirio senpai would be.

Could we even land a punch on him? After all, he's the top first of all the students in U.A.

But I'm sure we'll be able to manage... somehow.

We finished changing and walked out, Aizawa was waiting for us outside the doors, and we left when the 19 of us were present, with him walking ahead.

"We'll be going to the Gym Gamma, let's go."

We all exclaimed a 'Yes, sir' and followed behind him, some of us talked with each other, and others were lost in thought, like me.

Togata-senpai does seem familiar... but why though? It has to be something else apart from the Sports Festival from last year, otherwise, I don't know why he would look familiar.

But before I could keep thinking and wondering about it, the doors to the gym were in our sight.

[sanctaignorantia]

Starting a Painting Stranding🐋👩‍🎨

Let me tell you something funny about how I like to get angry for free. My mom bought some blank canvas and had one left over, so I had the idea of doing something about Death Stranding because everything has been about Death Stranding lately, and so I chose one of the worst frames from the trailer1.

I don't have any painting skills, not even much knowledge. My idea of the process comes down to classes I took for a few months years ago and I never practiced, but I'm going to do it anyway. I can't say it's been fun because I have problems with anxiety and I get easily stressed to the point where I start shaking wildly, I feel sick.

So I came up with the idea of simplifying the image as much as possible so that I wouldn't have such a headache during the process. I tried to understand the tones, which didn't help either, after all I don't know anything, forgive me…

First problem: my pencil got too dark and I was too lazy to erase it, so the light colors got dirty and the mark I made as a guide obviously won't come out.

This process has been going on for two weeks now, and I waited a while to see if I was really going to get stressed out and set fire to the painting out of anger (not that I didn't have anger, I had a lot. A lot of feelings of incompetence too) or if I was going to be able to carry on. I kept going anyway, finding everything ugly.

And as soon as I finished the arch I was determined to give up and start crying but then I looked at the painting from afar and thought "well, if I don't get attached to the details I'll find it nice". I also completely forgot to pay attention to how light reacts to objects, I remember it was an important thing in class and I only realized it after I finished this arc, shaking with rage because everything was so ridiculous and ugly.

Today I made the Higgs acolytes and simply thought again "for someone who doesn't understand anything, it looks pretty good" - I'll probably finish the painting next week and post the final result here. Anyway, if it doesn't work I can blame Higgs later.👀

And an observation: it's a good thing my cell phone has a terrible camera, it helps to give the impression that everything is less worse.

[boiledpanini]

This is my first fic so it's probably rough lol. Feedback is appreciated! Tw for blood and injury

This wasn't how it was supposed to go

It was simple, really. A routine mission. Infiltrate a Galra base, get location data, leave undetected. Simple. But they always had been unlucky, hadn't they?

He should have been paying more attention. He should have noticed the horde creeping up on him. He had been distracted by something, something that seemed oh so insignificant now. How did he let this happen?

The sudden pounding on the door disrupted his thoughts. He didn't move from his perch on Lance's bed as the door slid open. Someone was talking. He didn't know who and he didn't care to find out.

He did make out a few words. Something like,"Lance...awake...ready," The mention of Lance's name was enough to stir him.

He jumped up and walked quickly down the long hallway. His mind flashed back to the last time he saw Lance. The crimson of his blood stained Keith's memory. The Galra sentries had gotten too close to him while his back was turned, and his beloved sharpshooter had noticed.

He had heard Lance's shouts turn to screams as he whipped around. Lance was good at his job. He had wiped out all of the soldiers quickly. Everything would have been okay. Everything should have been okay. However, the lone remaining sentry had moved swiftly and quietly, going completely unnoticed until it's blade made it's mark in Lance's chest.

Keith would never forget the sickening sound of Lance's cries. He was bleeding so much, so fast. Keith could only see red.

"Keith.. Keith what's happening...I can't feel my legs," Lance winced out. Keith felt Lance tremble in his arms.

"You're fine. It's going to be okay, Lance, I promise. I just need you to keep your eyes open," Keith said, struggling to fight back sobs. If he stayed calm, Lance would stay calm. And Lance couldn't afford to panic.

"I don't want to die," Lance whispered,"I... I love you,"

Keith froze. He knew Lance was just delusional from blood loss, but he couldn't swallow the lump in his throat. Regardless, the gruesome realization that he might never get another chance pierced it's way into his head. Lance's eyes were drifting shut now, and he prayed to a god he had never believed in that he'd see that ocean blue again.

"I love you, Lance. Please don't leave me," Keith cried, grasping Lance's hand in his own.

Seeming satisfied with Keith's answer, a small smile graced Lance's lips as his grip on Keith relaxed.

Keith shook himself out of the memory as he found himself at a door. The door that would lead him to Lance. He knew, logically, that Lance was fine. He was alive. They had gotten him to a pod, and three weeks of incubation had repaired his wounds. But what if he was.. different?

What if his Lance was gone, replaced by some zombie? What if Lance forgot their conversation? Or even worse, what if he remembered?

He pushed the door open and looked ahead. There he was. Beautiful as ever, all traces of the pale death that gripped him erased. Lance looked up at him and their eyes locked. Keith had rushed towards him and latched on to him before he registered his body moving.

"I remembered," Lance muttered, "what you said. What I said," Keith broke out of their embrace and traced Lance's face with his hand. He leaned in towards him. Lance closed the gap.

Keith had never been so happy.

[guineverist]

so. this is my first time doing anything in this fandom. i wrote a small 2k carobekah friendship/light slash fic last october but that was entirely different from what i'm doing here, which is 10k after 2 chapters. i'm not the most experienced writer either so i'm sure this is a little rough but i'm here anyway!

i've already posted the first chapter and it's an invisible life of addie larue fusion, which for those who don't know is about a girl who makes a deal with a devil/demon/creature/something that's never fully explained for "freedom" which ends up being immortality that comes with a side of no one ever remembering her, except who she made the bargain with. i think you can see where i'm going with this! it's not canon divergent, but it's very much not ah/au either

a lot of background for a snippet of a wip ik but i felt like it was all pretty important! so here's the start of my favorite scene from ch2 which i think shows the general vibe of the story pretty well.

.

Stealing from wealthy men was not the life that Caroline had planned for herself when she first dreamed of exploring the world. She saw visions of beautiful art, delicate dresses, and true romance, but that dream was crushed the second her father looked at her without recognition in his eyes. And even more so with every day that passed.

Instead, she started finding men with too much coin and too little sense to give a forced donation to her cause. Figuring out the exact boundaries of her curse was difficult work, and mistakes were dangerous, but eventually she discovered what strings to pull to get a desired result without technically leaving a mark on the world.

Directly poisoning a man's drink was impossible. By the time any sip from a poisoned cup was taken, her effect would have already been erased. Placing a sedative in a bottle of wine, however, and letting the man pour himself a glass remained within the boundaries of her curse. He made his own choice. She merely guided him toward it.

It would be a long time until she learned the intricacies of what she agreed to in that forest, but each hard-fought step toward mastery was a rewarding practice.

She was spending the one-year anniversary of her deal with the devil in an inn, pretending to be interested in the adventures of yet another man of means. All the men shared the same stories, activities they participated in to stand out did just the opposite, so she felt comfortable nodding in the right places as her mind was on the traveling exhibition that had come to Paris the week before.

Pieces of art from around the world had been stationed on a Parisian street for any passerby to look at. She was unable to focus on any one kind of art, constantly distracted by new things from new places. The Italian art created by artists from Florence, Siena, and Rome and metalwork from other cities in France ended up being her favorites, but even then she could not keep her eyes away from everything else.

Her attention turned back to the man, now deep in his cups. He introduced himself earlier in the night, but she did not pay enough mind to recall it. He was not far off from losing consciousness, and Caroline intended on seeing the exhibit one more time before it left for its next stop in Reims. She hoped she could find or buy a memento to remember it by.

When the man finally fell asleep, Caroline exited the inn room significantly richer. She stood outside the room for a moment and leaned back against the door. It was late enough that very few people would be wandering the hallways, and even fewer would take time to look at a single girl. 

She took the sedative out of her pocket and looked at it. She was spending the nights at a noble family's residence while the family vacationed through some part of the countryside. She had used the lady of the house's name to acquire a dress once. It only felt right that she made use of the house when no one was around to take offense. Trespassing would be the legal term, but it was hardly as though she was at risk of being prosecuted. There was a large part of her that wanted to make use of the sedative on herself as a way of getting the accursed anniversary over with, but the grogginess she felt in the morning afterward was enough to make her consider more carefully.

She had almost finished calculating the amount she'd need to take to be able to get to bed safely while still skipping as much of the night as possible when something in the air changed. It got a shade colder, as if something started drawing out the heat.

Caroline put the sedative in her pocket as she felt a presence at her back and, even after a year of silence, knew exactly who, or what, was there. The first few weeks of her new life were spent cursing the deal her past self had made and the demon who she had made it with.

It was odd, she thought, to be so aware of something she had only come across once. To be so disoriented before a conversation– a confrontation, surely, even starts.

[regarding-stories]

Writing from finish to start, pitfalls it has

Oh, you thought I was done with writing about Fallout the TV series? But it's such a great example! Somehow can't let go of it until I've taken it all apart, really...

You see, when I balked at the series' execution and dropped it, I was wondering where the New California Republic went, a nation in the Fallout Universe that supposedly exists in exactly the place this series takes place. And I came across an interview. It indirectly talks about the writers of the series, and how they convinced the people they were borrowing the Fallout IP from that these changes are needed for the full dramatic impact they intended their revelations to have.

In other words, they established certain plot points (or beats) to happen and then wrote the story to match, mostly backwards. This is a possible, legit story-writing technique which can be used to construct a consistent narrative.

Just make sure you get back to the future in a way pleasing to the audience.

The Future dictates the Past

When I reviewed episode 2 of the show in my attempt at a follow-along, I was pretty pissed. Nothing in it seemed earned, things seemed to just blindly happen, there were enormous contrivances, too big to overlook them all. So I quit.

But I read plot summaries online because I wanted to know what they had in mind, I could just not be bothered to sit through the execution of it. And you could argue that eventually a good deal of what's unresolved and unexplained is actually, well, resolved and explained.

This boils down to the show's fundamental approach: It wants to be a sort of mystery with a series of reveals.

You can have all kinds of mysteries. You can have mysteries where the core of it is unresolved, maybe even undefined, more a mood, something beyond being understood by humans. For good and bad, that's David Lynch's (and Mark Frost's) "Twin Peaks".

Then, you can mysteries that follow a clear pattern where you could uncover the mystery yourself if you pay attention. Like a Sherlock Holmes story if it's not written by Steven Moffat for the BBC. (Love your characters and wit, Steven, but "Sherlock" season 4 really showed that the emperor has no clothes.)

And then you have "mysteries" like this show, where you basically hide information initially to reveal it later, for dramatic impact. It's basically a bit like the Sherlock Holmes story, except you have to hide some of the clues or delay the realization by the viewer. And make your reveal consistent with what happened before.

Hidden versus absent

You can have a mysterious element to your movie in plain sight as long as you ensure that the viewer will not understand it until much later. The best example is "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".

My spoiler to you about this modern classic is this: You could be about half-way through the movie before you fully realize things like that the sound between scenes is the memory-erasing machine switching to another brain circuit. (And it has been audible since the beginning.) Or the motives of some of the characters which are present in their acting right from the beginning.

Which is what makes watching it a second time another, different, yet also satisfying experience. It's all there but you don't understand it or overlook it or only register it subconsciously, and you're also so busy taking in everything wonderful this movie throws at you, you're too busy processing and figuring out what is going on to notice. This is high art, this is the deep craft.

The clues are there but hidden. Also, the movie is only partially a mystery and does not rely on its reveals to resolve things. Conflict in "Eternal Sunshine" is not resolved by simple reveals, but resolving the central conflicts apparently requires work, reevaluation, maturing and changing, and also coming to terms with oneself.

It's a bit different for "Fallout".

The authors have mostly resorted to not telling us things, so if you're the kind of person who wants to setup-and-payoff relationships and know why things happen... you're out of luck. They simply don't tell you. So you watch an increasingly nonsensical farce where everybody knows everything they need to know to move the plot forward in mysterious ways or just run into each other without explanation.

But if you follow along, eventually you will be given some explanations that partially justify what happened earlier. But it is, by necessity, delayed to not ruin the super-duper reveals. And also not exactly well-executed.

It also "violates" one thing or two, at least to me, authors have to do to make backwards writing satisfying. Let's make our way there.

Within the bounds of reason

When you write a character, you might want to get into them, look at the world and its events, and explore what that character might feel. One of my disappointments with "Fallout" early on was that Lucy went out of the Vault and treated that as a real non-event.

Within the story at this point this is entirely unjustified. It only makes her seem like a flat character, including that can-do attitude "okey-dokey" she gives us. But you could argue that it's no big deal to her because it's later revealed that Lucy lived on the surface with her mother.

You know, she also met the plot-central person she forgot. Without retaining memories - justified by her young age partially. But even then, you retain some memories, key memories. But they can't show us that, else it spoils us to the reveals. And else Lucy can't be Daddy's Girl. It also doesn't mesh with how everyone in Vault 33 relates to opening the Vault, how people never think about where the raiders came from, nor that anybody has a memory of Lucy being out of the Vault and back, even though Hank must have come to Vault 33 to breed - he can't have done it in the broom closet that is 31, I assume.

But, for all its limitations, you could say that Lucy has reason to not be as wowed as we might expect by going out. We are simply not told why. And this kind of hiding information makes the characters seem even more inconsistent at the beginning than at the end of the show.

Take the Ghoul - his treatment of Lucy is partially justified later by revealing he knows her father and hence bears her a grudge. He just conveniently doesn't let that slip (if I am to trust the summaries I read ep 3 onward). So it's an unexplained dynamic that just makes the Ghoul look like a jerk for episodes on end - and when the reveal comes, was it really worth it?

But let's move beyond being jerked around by hidden dynamics and get to the juicier bit.

There's a big risk when you write backwards, besides all the possible plot holes you might overlook, is that you could end up crafting a narrative that leads from A to B to C to D and connects your plot-points, but if you experienced in the forward sequence it is either unsatisfying or when you look back (as member of the audience) you end up saying "Why the hell didn't they do X?"

Both is at work here.

We already talked about how hidden things just end up making the early episodes unpleasantly confusing and seem contrived. But let's look at the grand reveal: It was Vault-Tec all along. They wanted the bombs to fall. They sabotaged the peace talks, they hid a cheap source of energy that could have stopped the Resource Wars. That's the reveal the authors worked towards, gradually adding in facts until we get enough of the picture to say "Those bastards!!"

But this plan is insanely risky and flawed. It depends on the nigh-perfect working of a conspiracy gone unnoticed throughout five Fallout mainline games. They clearly have no real plan in place in case humanity survived the War (except nuking one more place, Shady Sands, so they have some tech if needed). They have practically no boots on the ground when they need them. Not even robotic ones.

One facet of the Fallout Universe before the War that the authors rely on is that energy and resources are getting scarce. Fusion energy is available but did not scale up to resolve the crisis, resulting in fusion technology that can power a car, or a suit of armor, or at most a base, but not something that would keep the needs of nations going. (I didn't even know this myself, I had to read up on it.)

So, there's the incalculable risk of nuclear war, not knowing what your enemy will do and what they target, the risk of relying on technology to wait out decades and centuries, and relying on a conspiracy and staying hidden. Or... just don't have the damn war to begin with.

Supposedly Vault-Tec is already insanely rich, rich enough to threaten the state itself. If it needed a new business model, it has one. It can pretend it scaled fusion power to power plant size and sell insanely cheap cold fusion energy at quite a markup to unknowing governments around the world, giving them steady unearned income (the best kind of income), profits, and leverage. All of this in a world largely beautiful and full of pretty people, niceties, birds, and bees.

Vault-Tec has all the pieces to make their dream come true without needing the War to happen. You can pretend they're stupid and greedy and short-sighted and that the leopard can't change its stripes. But it took me minutes to come up with this alternate solution to their predicament.

People tend to call this a plot hole. You can call it what you want, really. It's one of the risks of writing your story backwards - or rather, writing the story backwards increases the risk of this happening. Since your earlier plot points are meant to justify your later plot points, the actual justifications can end up rather weak. You're not building up, you're shoving a foundation in. This leads to a biased kind of thinking where you end up reaching your story goal but break things along the way without noticing.

But wait, there's more

It's much less apparent, but I'm positing there's another example baked right into the beginning. We see an Enclave research base that does something to dogs and also has access to the cold fusion technology, and the scientist guy escapes with both to introduce them to the story.

The goal of the plot was to connect cold fusion back to Moldaver, to eventually get her the gizmo for the grand reveal. Everything works backwards from here.

Why does the scientist tell Lucy to cut his head off? Because he believes in getting cold fusion to the world, we just don't know it. This is one of the instances of hiding things making motivations seem completely absurd. Especially since Moldaver had been propped up as a villain until then.

Why are they researching on dogs? Because Fallout games have features dog companions throughout. (But none have treated them so carelessly and handed them around between characters as this one has.)

Why does the Ghoul and the Brotherhood seem to know about the scientist escaping and possibly the Moldaver connection? We have to assume that there was a bounty levied by the Enclave revealing all that. (Let's not get into Max showing up in Filly by coincidences only or the scientist and Lucy meeting by sheer chance.)

We are supposed to assume that Moldaver had a connection to the scientist and encouraged him to defect with what she needed. And we have to assume the Enclave found their communication afterward (missing some details) that gave them pointers to hand out to would be bounty hunters.

Here's the thing that makes this a huge plot hole. The Enclave as a faction relies on no outsiders. They are horribly xenophobic, they have their own technology, kill teams, and their research base was in the middle of nowhere. They rely on firepower and staying hidden to execute their plans. Saying they spread information to bounty hunters would mean they had a network to do so, that they worked with others, etc. Also our scientist wouldn't just walk home from the office to be intercepted. He likely lived sealed in to a base which, after all, has automated defenses (which suck) sealing it off. Or maybe not. The whole "being checked by guards" bit is confusing.

So why were they chosen?

I assume it went like this. The writers needed a faction that has advanced technology and capabilities (to do the research), that has deep state links to Vault-Tec, but that isn't Vault-Tec. Because Vault-Tec is the big reveal, remember? Can't expose that. So they settled on the Enclave.

Never mind how the Enclave got its hands on a technology that Vault-Tec had every reason to hide from the world - the previous government from which the Enclave derived didn't know, after all...? Had the US government had this tech before the outbreak of the War, it would have solved their problems without them engaging in dropping the bombs, after all. Their reason to go to war would have evaporated, largely.

Stringing the "pearls"

When you see this kind of thing, you start to notice how all of the show was crafted. Why does Moldaver keep Hank alive? Because some code is needed. (Good lord. And if you needed leverage over Hank, why not keep Lucy in the first place?? Oh yes, because he hid her behind a door. Nothing the woman with explosives can do about.) You need Hank as a villain, so a reason is cobbled into the plot for him to stick around until the reveal and beyond.

Once you take the series apart in reverse, you see how the authors decided when to reveal what fact, and how everything else was tailored to match that.

We are never told how Moldaver survived unchanged to become a pivotal figure after the fall of the NCR and be right there to kick off our plot by raiding Vault 33. (How she ensured nobody killed Hank is beyond us, again, given her team was supposedly raiders, and in the end, incapable of seizing the Vault...?) We are never told (at least according to the Wiki where they care about this stuff) how she survived. She conveniently gets killed off before we ever learn. You see how this works?

Moldaver's magical capabilities never need to be explained. She can contact people inside bases of isolationist factions in the middle of nowhere, but she cannot hide her traces. She can survive nuclear war and centuries. She can know exactly where the dude is she needs to unlock her device, 200 years later. She can meet plot-relevant characters (Lucy and her mom) at random in the past to justify knowing that. Moldaver is a character constructed out of story glue and pure random dumb luck.

But know what? If it weren't for the total sum of contrivances, it would kind of work. It's not that you cannot have a weak plot point, or no contrivances at all, it was just that episode 2 was so chockful of them, it just broke under the load compared to everything else it offered. The show relies on this too much instead of finding genuine, in-world reasons to connect A to B to C to D. Even in a plot spanning centuries (kinda-sorta), they couldn't add the events that would bring it together.

Independent of whether I like the Fallout Universe developments the show introduces (I don't), this story could have been crafted better. The mix of needing to hide things (for reveals) and the bias introduced by having the story arrive at fixed destinations leads to the greatest risk of them all: inconsistent, unconvincing characters.

Since the show never truly steps inside Lucy or the Ghoul (after the War), since it intentionally hides things from us, these characters fall short, seem even more incomplete, and seem at times as jokes or almost completely flat.

This gets even worse when we get to non-protagonists, like Dane, the fellow Brotherhood recruit. Their reveal at the end completely destroys the character ... for what purpose? But let's not dwell on that.

You can argue that "Fallout" eventually paid off enough of its narrative debts to make a basic amount of sense. It isn't as random as it seems at first. But it breaks characters, consistency, logic, and common sense quite a bit to get there. Given the way I feel about the "Fallout" games Bethesda made, this might be exactly the kind of show "Fallout" deserves these days. It isn't great anymore, but depending on your expectations, it will do, I guess.

The Fallout Universe is like its own game world. It lives on after its end. We may have already seen the best stories told in it, but this ghoul will lurch on, losing ever more of itself until nothing is left.

[wordtowords]

A Review: The Great Gatsby: The Musical

public domain - noun - the state of belonging or being available to the public as a whole, therefore not subject to copyright.

On January 1, 2021, F. Scott Fitzgerald's comparatively brief, literary masterpiece, The Great Gatsby entered the public domain after 95 years of copyright protection. With it, the doors to Jay's mansion were opened up to permit party crashers (present writers) to enter and reek anarchic havoc indefinitely on a flawless classic that deserves to be preserved since perfection needs no improvement.

The other night, a close friend of mine invited me to see the premiere of the new musical The Great Gatsby at the Tony-winning regional theater, the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. As a Gatsby connoisseur, I gratefully accepted, hoping for the best.

On the plus side, the show's cast list reads like the Broadway version of Who's Who, and the production values are excellent, completely comparable to that of any present-day Broadway musical. The music is pretty much Disney-esque (think "Frozen" here). Surely, the producers must have high hopes to realize a continuation of the show on the Great White Way after the limited engagement at the Paper Mill ends in December. The entire run, apparently, is sold out, which is most unusual for a local New Jersey theater. For The Great Gatsby: The Musical, the buzz is loud and boisterous. But is the reality? Sadly, no.

Considering what it is, a musical loosely based on Gatsby, the title is all wrong. It should have been called, "Jay and Daisy, Nick and Jordan." Why? Perhaps ignorant of the original, yet conscious of the contemporary trend to erase the ugliness of history in favor of "woke" ideology, the updated version pays little attention to Fitzgerald's organization of events, realigning key moments and lines of dialogue so that they just do not make any sense contextually. It also reimagines the main characters (a buffoonish Jay; a manipulative, vengeful Daisy) as well as relatively insignificant secondary characters, changing them to significant ones by reconceptualizing their personalities, and adding contemporary dialogue to make all of them scarcely credible given the setting of the 1920s. Forget about Nick's first person narration as well. Meyer Wolfsheim enters on occasion from stage left as somewhat of a stage manager–for what reason, I have no idea. Further plot complications are also included (Myrtle Wilson winds up pregnant with Tom's baby, which makes Daisy guilty of double manslaughter), but definitely not needed. The jostling, rearranging, reimagining and adding amount to chaos. Yet apparently, the audiences are eating it all up, awarding the piece with standing ovations night after night. Do they not see that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes? "Ignorance is bliss." I'll say so. 

No doubt, the money from the box office receipts will continue to pour in, bolstering this parody of the original. If Fitzgerald were still alive and seated in the audience, he might have enjoyed it, but don't forget that he had a sense of humor (he married Zelda), needed the money desperately, and most likely would have been roaringly drunk at the performance. My guess is that the masterminds of The Great Gatsby: The Musical might be fans, not of Scott but of Mark Twain, embracing his idea that it is "easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." 

My hope is that the laws of public domain will be edited so that classic literature will be protected from slanderous imitation indefinitely. Tip for writers: Be original. Come up with your own ideas for musicals. Don't borrow from the greats just for the sake of the all-mighty dollar. You'll most definitely come up short, maybe not in this climate, but in the long run when people finally wake up to see that the Emperor is actually naked, recognizing what they might have thought was ingenious is actually rubbish. 

[captainmdhridoyhossain-blog]

[ad_1] Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon delivers his State of the State address to the Wyoming Legislature on Feb. 14, 2022, in Cheyenne, Wyo. Rhianna Gelhart/AP hide caption toggle caption Rhianna Gelhart/AP Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon delivers his State of the State address to the Wyoming Legislature on Feb. 14, 2022, in Cheyenne, Wyo. Rhianna Gelhart/AP CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming has become the 19th state to ban transgender athletes from playing on girls or women's sports teams after the Republican governor opted not to veto the legislation. Gov. Mark Gordon allowed the bill to become law without his signature Friday, saying he supports and agrees with the overall goal of fairness in competitive female sports. But he also said in a decision letter that the ban "is overly draconian, is discriminatory without attention to individual circumstances or mitigating factors, and pays little attention to fundamental principles of equality." The law, which takes effect July 1, will prohibit "students of the male sex from competing on a team designated for students of the female sex." It's among dozens of Republican proposals pushing back against transgender rights in statehouses across the U.S., including measures to ban gender-affirming care for minors, restrict drag shows, and prevent transgender people from using restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities associated with their gender identities. Antonio Serrano, advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wyoming, said the latest development was shameful because it codifies discrimination. "It's about erasing and excluding trans people from participation in all aspects of public life," he said. "Inclusive teams that support all athletes and encourage participation should be the standard for all school sports." The ACLU statement said the new law is unconstitutional and violates the Civil Rights Act, but the group has not indicated if it plans to file a lawsuit. Meanwhile, Sara Burlingame, director of Wyoming Equality, the state's largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, told the Casper Star-Tribune that a lawsuit is planned and the group has contacted local and national groups interested in joining it. The bill stipulates that if the law is suspended because of a suit, a five-member school activity commission will determine on an individual basis if transgender students are eligible to compete in gender-designated sports that don't correspond to their birth-assigned sex. The law applies to public school students in grades 7 through 12 who participate in interscholastic sports. Gordon noted in his decision letter that there are only four known transgender students competing in school athletics in the state. "This seems to call for individualized consideration, where families, students, teams, and others can thoughtfully address specific circumstances, rather than such a punitive, ostracizing broad-brush approach," he wrote, while still allowing the bill to become law "without the benefit of my signature." Neighboring Idaho was the first state to enact a transgender sports ban in 2020, and other states to follow suit include Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. In Kansas, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a proposed ban for the third year in a row, but the Republican-controlled Legislature plans to try to override her within the next few weeks. [ad_2] #Wyoming #governor #transgender #athlete #ban #law #NPR

[quirkless-accident]

Loud Mouth

I can't remember if someone suggested this or not, but I can't get the thought of how Present Mic would react to Danny's Ghostly Wail out of my head. Perhaps he's fighting another ghost and a literal screaming contest ensues? Danny getting worked up over something, while under a lot of pressure and just stressed out, and accidentally slipping into a Ghostly Wail as he screams. The potential panic and embarrassment from Danny realizing what he just did. Then the bonding potential between the two because of the similarities between their powers in that regard.

(Please feel free to censor my name, I can't ask anonymously. Thanks!)

---------

Danny's never been known to back down from a challenge. Even a self-inflicted one. All of his friends knew it. All of his teachers knew it. So it was no surprise that Danny was found in one of the gyms, just minutes before curfew.

He was working on a form they had been shown in class and it just wasn't clicking. And on top of that he was stressed out about their upcoming exams-especially for Cementoss' class, considering Literature has never been his strong suit.

He had a pair of headphones on, and because of that he didn't hear it when the door opened. He didn't hear the footsteps behind him, as he tripped up in the form again.

He didn't hear the newcomer as he threw off his headphones and yelled out in frustration. His power ripped itself from his throat, shattering the wall of mirrors and sending most of the heavy equipment flying into the walls.

He stood there, frustrated as he looked at the destruction he accidentally caused. Why did his throat hurt? Was this a new power? Why did he suddenly feel like crying?

"Those are quite the pipes you got there, Listener."

Danny whirled around, only to see Present Mic. He looked a little surprised, and with his tilted sunglasses it might have even been a little funny. But Danny was frustrated beyond belief, and he had just caused a lot of damage to school property.

And in his experience, that kind of thing never ended well. Not with teachers.

He quickly bowed at the waist, a stream of apologies slipping from his lips. He expected a verbal lashing. And, maybe, a small, small part of him expected a physical one, too. It had only happened once, but it was enough to make him warry of it happening every time. Even from teachers who were heroes, because at the end of the day they were still teachers.

"No sweat, Listener," Mic said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and bringing him out of his bow. "It happens more often than you think. Besides, it doesn't really look like this," he looked at the destruction of the room, "was on purpose."

"Still-I'm sorry. I don't-I don't know what that was. That's never happened before."

Danny was, admittedly, a little scared. He's knows for a fact he didn't have any ghost powers that could cause this kind of destruction. Not with such little effort, anyway. And usually there were scorch marks littered along the broken pieces. But here, there were none. And it wasn't making sense. And he was kind of scared.

""That's okay," Mic said softly, looking down at him. It was weird seeing his usually high-energy teacher be so calm about this kind of thing. "It just looks like a new part of your quirk has been unlocked. And from the looks of it, it's your voice. Does your throat hurt?"

It did, as a matter of fact. He hadn't noticed until mic had asked, but now that he was paying attention to it the pain was almost unbearable. So he nodded instead of trying to speak again, and Mic gave him a knowing smile.

"Elm tea will help with the soreness. If it still hurts in the morning then I would see Recovery Girl. And I'll talk to Eraser about setting up some private lessons with me, if you want. This kind of power can be really destructive, ya dig? It's important to learn how to control it. Especially if we're frustrated."

It was a lot of information, and Mic must have known that, because instead of trying to overload him some more he placed a firm hand on his back and led him out of the gym.

--------

When he walked into class the next day, Aizawa pulled him to the side.

"If you want to train with Mic with this new power than meet him at Ground Omega after school today," he said. "Also, these are from him," he handed Danny a box. It was a new pair of headphones, since he had apparently destroyed his other pair last night in his burst of frustration. But before he could even begin to process that, there was a warm, firm hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Aizawa, who suddenly had a soft look on his face. "It's important to take breaks every once in a while," he said. "And it's even more important to ask for help."

It was a clear message, and Danny couldn't help but duck his head with a quiet, "Yes, sir." Aizawa nodded and let him go to his desk. And at lunch, he tested out the new headphones Mic had given him.

They were perfect.

--------

He trained with Mic after school three days a week. He didn't want to strain his voice, which was already sounding a little more rough. Right now, he was at the all or nothing point with this new power, and it was leaving him more than a little exhausted. But Mic told him that when he first got his quirk, that's how it was for him, too.

Of course, there are a few differences between the powers. No two quirks are the same, after all. For instance, while Mic could go crazy high of crazy low with his pitches, Danny could really only do one. It was devastatingly powerful-even more so than Mic's when he went all out. And man, wasn't that a crazy thought. That one of his minor powers was stronger than a whole pro hero.

On the days they didn't practice with their voices, Mid taught him JSL. Mic's quirk made him hard of hearing, which wasn't a big surprise. Most people with quirks like this often were. But since Danny was practicing with it a lot more, it was important for him to learn as well, just in case his hearing ever got shot. Plus it was just a nice skill to have, especially with scared civilians and angry Pomeranians he shared a floor with in the dorms.

It was all enough to take his mind off of the stressful part of their exams, and he ended up passing his literature one with a decent score. That dumb form he had been so frustrated with had been quickly tamed, and now he was onto the next one. And he owed all of it to Mic, because now, when talking got to be too much, he could just sign.

And if he was feeling overwhelmed, he could just put on his new headphones and ground himself once more.

[marsbutterfly]

Mirrors

Note: I have been working on this for months. Every time I listen to this song, I think about slow dancing with Hanji. Please I’m begging, let me know if y’all like it <3

Summary: Stars shine brightly in the sky outside but inside the crowded ballroom, the only star you are interested in is Hanji.

WARNING: Slightly NSFW! 

Wattpad Version! | AO3 Version!

|◁ II ▷|

“Aren't you something to admire

'cause your shine is something like a mirror

And I can't help but notice, you reflect in this heart of mine”

The music that echoes from the main hall is now muffled by the closed doors. You take a few steps forward, propping your body on the balcony as you watch the leaves on the trees dancing with the wind.

Strands of hair fall from their assigned position in an elegant bun. As you shiver, you wrap your arms around your torso in an attempt to keep yourself warm. 

Sliding your hand up and down the sides of your arm, you silently take your free index and middle fingers towards your mouth, a red lipstick mark staining your skin.

A smirk curls up on the right corner of your lips as you think about the tall, brunette awaiting for you inside the ballroom. Her black suit perfectly matches her eye patch as the waves of her hair fall over her shoulder, still the usual messy ponytail.

You take a deep breath allowing the cold air to fill your lungs. The wind hits your face and your nose turns bright red in response. Your eyes analyze the land ahead of you while you pay close attention to the armed soldiers protecting the building.

“Y/N.” A voice pulls you away from your thoughts. Immediately, you turn around and bow to her, paying close attention to her cheeks as they turn red under the pale moonlight.

“Your Highness.” 

“I still can’t get used to that.” Historia says. The long, red cape she wears sweeps the floor as she walks closer to you, and in her eyes you can see how desperate she is for a break from the overwhelming attention she’s been receiving. You flash her a compassionate smile before extending your hand, helping as she struggles with the flowy white dress she wears. She mouths the words “Thank you” in return..

“Would you like a cigarette?” You ask, opening the container as the smell of tobacco quickly hits against your nose. She shrugs, quickly shaking her head while putting her hand up, trying to gently push it away. All you can do is laugh in response.

“God, no.” She says, a laugh of her own escaping her small body, “Just the smell makes me want to cough and plus, it wouldn’t look good if anyone saw the Queen smoking.”

“I don’t smoke them either.” You place the container back into the small pocket hiding in the fabric of your red dress, arms quickly wrapping around yourself once again in an attempt to shield yourself from the cold. “But I learned that it’s always a good idea to have a pack with you when dealing with the higher-ups.”

After taking a few more steps forward, Historia places her hand on your upper left-arm. Neither of you say anything for a few seconds, simply enjoying the rare seconds of silence surrounding you. It doesn’t last more than a couple of minutes.

“If you ever feel alone and the glare makes me hard to find

Just know that I'm always parallel on the other side”

Rushed footsteps come from behind you. The blonde girl by your side lets out an audible sigh before turning around to face whoever was making their way through the massive door and you notice a hint of sadness hidden in her ocean blue eyes.

“Your Highness, your presence is being required.” A tall soldier says, short of breath after running towards you. Historia hangs her head low, shaking it slowly. 

“Go.” You try and encourage her, “Those military idiots in there won’t be of any help once the alcohol gets to their head.”

She grimaces before nodding, the soldier takes her hand and guides her to the massive brown doors of the ballroom. But before going in, he turns to you quickly. “Section Commander Y/N, Commander Hanji would like to see you.”

A smile on your face, you practically run back inside the building, your heels clicking against the floor as you pass the queen. She giggles and shoots you a quick glance. 

“They really are an amazing couple, aren’t they?” She quietly asks the guard standing next to the door, not expecting an answer from her other than a smile and a nod.

The sound of loud voices and wine bottles gently hitting the edge of glasses fills your ears. In one of the corners, the band plays an upbeat melody while couples dance around the room. Ball gowns coat the floor with glitter as they spin around like dandelions flying with the wind.

On the way in, you rush past the crowd, bumping against a few and quickly apologizing until you lay your eyes on her. She holds a champagne glass in her right hand as her left rests in the pocket of her high-waisted pants. Even though Hanji is a few inches shorter than most of the men surrounding her, she still makes a point to hold  her chin up and look down at all of them.

But as soon as her eyes meet yours, her face noticeably lights up. Once you are close enough, she excuses herself before quickly running towards you, careful not to spill the drink in her hand. Your arms wrap around her waist, face resting on the crook of her neck while she pushes your head as close to her as possible. 

“You were looking for me?” You ask, propping your chin up on her collarbone. She smiles widdly at you and nods, strands of her hair tickling your face.

“Yes, I needed you to save me from…. Them.” She tilts her head, a barely noticeable gesture but enough for you to look over her shoulder. A group of four men stare at you, one of them you quickly recognize as Commander Pixis, who simply raises his nearly full wine glass at you before taking a long sip. Once he places it down, there is nothing in it anymore and you let out a giggle against Hanji’s skin.

“I’m sorry, I needed some fresh air.” You say and smile at her.

“Cause with your hand in my hand and a pocket full of soul

I can tell you there's no place we couldn't go

Just put your hand on the glass

I'm here trying to pull you through

You just gotta be strong”

The upbeat song quickly disappears and in its place a comforting silence appears. The woman in front of you takes a step back before extending her hand forward. No words are needed for you to understand what she’s trying to say.

You nod and take her hand, allowing her to guide you towards the dance floor. A red blush spreads across your face though you are not quite certain why. Perhaps it’s a result of Hanji’s warm fingers touching your skin or maybe the alcohol is finally hitting you.

Once both of your bodies come to a full stop, she places one hand on your back as the other remains holding yours. She pulls you closer and your focus now belongs to her intoxicating and intense, whiskey brown eyes.

Hand resting on her shoulder, you take a deep breath, preparing yourself as the band starts to play a slow melody. Couples all around you begin to move and you can feel your heart beating in your throat, a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

Hanji’s grip on you tightens for a second and you feel a wave of calmness washing over you. Her feet begin to move, gently guiding you around in perfect sync with each other. The smile on her lips as she escorts you from one side to the other is nearly enough to outshine the moon, your heels clicking against the marble floor. 

For a second, it seems as if the world around you has disappeared and only the two of you remained. Curious eyes from the crowd now rest upon you, paying close attention to your movements. You can feel your heart racing in your ears, nearly blocking out the music.

Guiding both your hand and hers above your head, she spins you gently and you allow a quiet giggle to come out. As your body comes to a full stop, Hanji pulls you in, your palms resting against her chest while your eyes focus on the waves of her hair. 

Every last particle of air is sucked out of your lungs before your lips meet hers. The taste of the alcohol in her breath mixed with the faint smell of your lipstick brings out a feeling you are all too familiar with, comfort.

The softness of her mouth against yours erases every other thought you might have in that moment and the only one left is Hanji. The way her fingers feel against your skin or how you are able to feel the beating of her heart, rhythmically matching yours.

All eyes now rest upon the two of you, carefully waiting for your next move. In this moment, underneath the bright lights of the ballroom and the gaze of every superior in the Military, you realize you belong to Hanji, body and soul.

“Cause I don't wanna lose you now

I'm lookin' right at the other half of me

The vacancy that sat in my heart

Is a space that now you hold”

Lips finally separating, she smiles brightly at you before spinning you one final time and carefully supporting your body weight as you fall into her arms. When she brings you back up, your faces are merely an inch apart. 

Your chest rises and falls rapidly, trying to catch your breath while she touches her forehead to yours. After what it feels like an eternity, you are able to break out of the trance her intoxicating eyes had you in and you finally notice the two of you are the center of attention.

A burning sensation takes over your cheeks and you shift your focus towards Hanji’s expensive shoes but before too long, you feel her index finger brushing against your skin and resting underneath your chin while she places her thumb parallelly on top.

She gently forces your head up and welcomes your eyes with a bright smile. You can’t help but allow the corners of your lips to rise in return. 

Before you have time to fall into yet another trance, you hear someone clear their throat behind you. Quickly, you turn around, consequently freeing yourself from Hanji’s embrace. The bald man with rosy cheeks gets closer to her, making sure she can hear him over the deafening beat of the band’s new song.

She simply nods and you watch him walk away. You flash Hanji a curious look and, in response, she brings her lips dangerously close to yours only to make a detour and place them by your ear. 

“Let’s go outside.” She says, “I want to introduce you to a few more of my colleagues.”

You nod. Her warm breath hitting your skin now turns into the feeling of her lips biting your earlobe. A shiver goes down your spine and a part of you melts right then and there. She lets out a giggle before pulling away and grabbing your hand, gently guiding you towards the exit.

“Show me how to fight for now

And I'll tell you, baby, it was easy

Coming back into you once I figured it out

You were right here all along

It's like you're my mirror”

The cold wind hits your face as soon as you step outside but this time you are welcomed by loud laughs and the smoke from several lit cigarettes instead of the calming silence. 

Hanji closes her eyes, taking a quick breath before making her way down the stairs, your hand now resting on her upper left arm.

From a small group emerges a man you have never seen before. The insignia on his chest indicates he’s a part of the Garrison but nothing more sticks out to you. He reaches for Hanji’s hand and she quickly obliges.

“This is my Y/N.” She says. You simply nod and smile at him.

As they strike a conversation, you wave your hand at one of the servers and grab one of the many glasses of wine they hold above a tray. 

The liquid slides down your throat with ease as you try and focus on the words flowing around you. Hanji shoots you a concerned look, to which you simply squeeze her arm gently, wordlessly letting her know that you’re still there, and that you’re bored.

You wordlessly transmit what is going through your head by squeezing her arm repeatedly, “I. Want. To. Go. Home.” You pause for a few seconds, and then squeeze her one final time as if to say “please.” 

In response, Hanji laughs into her cup, acting like she’s paying attention to whatever the man in front of you is saying.

Suddenly, you feel her hand sliding across your hips. It doesn’t rest there for long before quietly making its way down. A gasp escapes you once you feel the pressure of her grasping the flesh of your ass.

You shiver gently, trying to play it off as if you’re cold but the devious smirk on her lips is nearly enough to destroy your cover.

With each look she shoots you, you feel the world around you spin for a second. You’re not able to tell if you're drunk from the wine or from those intoxicating brown eyes.

“Well gentlemen, it has been a pleasure.” Hanji says, and nods at them gently, “But we have an early start tomorrow and I would hate to deal with the initiation ceremony while suffering from an awful hangover.”

The men burst into laughter all at once, so synchronized it reminds you of instruments in a symphony. You simply smile and wave them goodbye before rushly following behind Hanji. 

As you wait for your ride, you pull her closer to you in order whisper to her, sweetly and desperately, “I need your fingers inside of me.”

Hanji looks at you out of the corner of her eye. 

“Then my fingers inside of you is what you shall get, my lady.” She replies, lust filling her eyes. Her hand rests on your lower back, pulling you closer and destroying every inch of space between you two.

“My mirror staring back at me

I couldn't get any bigger

With anyone else beside of me

And now it's clear as this promise

That we're making two reflections into one”

Outside, all you can hear is the clopping of hooves against the pavement. Yet inside the carriage, the sounds of your moans fill the air. 

You straddle Hanji on the carriage seat as your hands desperately unbutton her white shirt. Her blazer already lies forgotten on the empty seat across from you. The warmth of her fingers travels from your back to your ass, feeling the pressure of her squeeze as it drags a delighted sound out of you.

A smile takes over her lips before they shift to plant wet kisses on your jawbone. You groan quietly, your hands shaking as you push her now-unbuttoned shirt off, and you watch as the cloth slides down her arms.

Lifting your head, you wordlessly invite her to kiss your neck. She immediately obliges, her lips brushing against the area gently. She travels from your jaw to your collarbone and you melt against her touch much like snow in the sun.

Hanji giggles quietly, fully appreciating the savory image before her. You decide to use the break to your advantage and reach for her hand. You guide it towards your already soaked underwear and press her fingers into you.

Her fingertips brush lightly against the thin fabric of your lace underwear, dragging a prolonged moan out of you. Once she applies a bit more pressure right above your clit, you know you are done for.

Her middle and ring fingers move in small circles and a shiver travels down your spine. Instantly, you begin moving your hips against her, your arms wrapping around her neck as you try to balance yourself.

Once both of you quicken your paces, you begin to gasp desperately. Hanji’s face is buried in the crook of your neck, her warm tongue tracing along the dips of your skin. 

The carriage comes to an abrupt stop. Hanji’s hands move towards your hips, securing you in place. As your eyes meet, she giggles, and it’s so heartwarming that it fills the air and brings the corners of your lips up into a smile. Seeing her like this awakens the hundreds of butterflies in your stomach.

You move your leg, allowing her to get up and open the carriage door. Your hands carefully examine the seat, looking for her blazer. Yet all you find is the imprint left by her ass. Once you feel the expensive fabric in your fingers, you grab it before making your way outside the door.

As you stand outside, Hanji’s left arm rests on your back while her right scoops your legs out from underneath you. She lifts your body up, and laughs loudly as she carries you towards the building. She backs into the heavy, brown doors while holding you in her arms, and stumbles inside of your house. 

Standing in front of your room’s door, she shoots a look at you to silently ask you to turn the knob. 

After turning on the lights, Hanji makes her way past the small wooden table in the middle of the room and carries you towards the bed. You pull her in by the neck, sealing your lips together in a kiss. 

Your body is gently placed on the bed, kissing all the while. Her tongue gently explores your mouth and you crave for more of her touch, to feel her breath against your skin despite the smell of alcohol that lingers on her tongue.

Hanji laces her fingers with yours, and you notice how well they fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. You finally realize you need air and you mentally curse your lungs for their need to breathe, forcing your lips apart. 

With a smirk, she pulls away, gently grabbing your wrist and placing your hand right above her heart. As you feel the beats, you could’ve sworn they were saying your name.

She plants a quick kiss on your lips before getting up, quickly unbuttoning her own shirt while making her way towards the door once again. A whimper leaves your body and your bottom lip quivers. 

Hanji doesn’t say anything but simply locks the door before walking back to you, hands behind her back as she starts to remove her bra. A smile on your lips, you begin touching the fabric of your own dress before pulling it up your body.

The last thing you pay attention to before focusing solely on Hanji is the flicking light of the candle standing on the bedside table. 

As she lays in bed with you, her hands quickly find their way towards your boobs, gently pinching your nipple in between her fingers while resting her face on your shoulder, wet lips leaving small, purplish marks on your skin.

All you’ve ever wanted was for Hanji to feel like you belong to her and tonight you will show her that you do, body and soul.

“Cause it's like you're my mirror

My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me”