#happy 20th my sweet lesbians

[11vein]

i'll go with you anywhere (compilation under the cut)

[johannestevans]

Bunch of new pieces this week!

Good evening!

Apologies for the lack of email last week, and the lack of bonus erotica episode too - I'm traveling back and forth at the moment as I try to sort out flat stuff, and unfortunately my asthma is kicking my ass at the moment and making it really hard to sit and record audio even when I have the time. I'm hoping after some rest my chest will chill out a bit and I'll be able to record by next week, but unfortunately it's not predictable.

I had a great time at Bristol Pride and met some of you guys, so if that was you, thanks so much for saying hello!

I will be at Leeds Pride in August, too, so looking forward to that.

Before I get to media recommendations and my new works published in the past two weeks, just your reminder that I am now running a trans erotica publication on Medium!

I'm reccing a favourite in my Media Recs section below, but since starting off, there's 20 new erotic pieces there to peruse, and I'm so, so excited to see a broad swathe of authors and works as time goes on and the publication reaches more people.

Trans Erotica on Medium

Please don't feel that you have to be transmasc or MLM to submit just because I am, by the way, I'd love to see more transfem and trans woman authors, as well as lesbians and WLW, submitting too!

Here are the Submission Guidelines, and here's a basic guide to Medium to get you started if you're new to the platform. Want a prompt to get you started? Here's the July 2023 prompt set.

Media Recs

Fashioning a Fop by Damien Locke- Short fiction. An 18th century tale of a trans man discovering himself through dressing in men’s clothing for the first time. This piece is fucking spectacular, so gorgeously written and with such wonderful 1700s-style prose, very hot, very fun!

What's in the Tea? by Achilles King - Short fiction. 18+ Erotica. Cis M/M and Cis M/Trans M. This is a gorgeous little piece playing with massage and the drugging effects of a particular tea, and I love the power play in this one.

The Music Man (1962, dir. Morton DaCosta) - A musical! I've been in the mood for musicals the past few days, and I enjoyed this one a lot more than I expected - a lot of the music has really stuck with me, I love the brass band stuff and the rapid patter pace of the show, especially because I love a conman. With that said, Marian Paroo is a ridiculous name for a woman - the librarian love interest should be a man. I also watched and enjoyed Sweet Charity (1969, dir. Bob Fosse), and I never realised Big Spender was from this show! So that was fun.

I had a gay movie marathon with my boyfriend, Lewis, so first we watched A League Of Their Own (1992, dir. Penny Marshall) and Thelma and Louise (1991, dir. Ridley Scott). These are both great films, obviously - A League of Their Own is a semi-biographical story about the first female baseball league in the USA during the war, and the second is a crime drama with two besties/lovers stuck in an escalating spiral after one of them shoots an attempted rapist. Lewis was surprised that Thelma and Louise is actually gay, so just FYI, it really is actually gay! It's not a happy ending and it's not uncomplicated, but Thelma and Louise are such great characters, and I love them a lot.

We also watched a favourite of mine, which is Gods and Monsters (1998, dir. Bill Condon), starring Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser. If you love sexy manipulative old gay men fucking with the heads of younger mostly straight men who don't know how to deal with being the object of a man's desire, who are terrified of queerness on so many levels, but are also drawn to the novel and new? Yeah, baby. This is the flick for you.

Goetia (2016) - This is a point-and-click videogame that I played on PS4, although I also have it on PC, and I just finished it today. If you're interested in demonology and you love a 20th century haunted house, this is a short game with some great character writing and a really engaging mystery - a lot of it is pretty fucking creepy, and while the ending didn't entirely land for me, I enjoyed the game enough that I do want to recommend it. This is fucking difficult as a puzzle game, though, so definitely keep a notepad and pen handy.

We also caught the Super Mario Bros. (2023, dir. Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath) movie, and it was grand - it was honestly very well-paced, funny, and they did a lot of creative stuff with the source material, plus I'm obviously disgustingly horny for Bowser at all times, so it was good food for my libido.

With that said, it was a bit too aggressive with the heterosexuality, and the racial politics of the whole thing are... Fucking bad. Like, there's a lot to unpack there that I'd need a whole essay to pick apart, and as a white dude I really don't know that it's my place - there's always been some racism in the franchise, like the British studio's addition of a lot of anti-Black coding in making Donkey Kong 64, but just the whole vibe of the Mushroom Kingdom's worship of Princess Peach is like... Weird.

And lastly, I watched and loved The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy), and I have an extensive review below.

New Works Published

June's Top Short Story: Agony and Ecstasy

June's most popular short story of mine was Agony and Ecstasy!

Erotic short. An abbot takes a stranded sailor on for… personal duties.

6k, M/M, rated E! Age difference, virginity kink, some naivety, some oral and anal, first time enthusiasm.

On Medium / / On Patreon

TweetFic: Notes of Lavender

A secretary bonding and connecting with the only male secretary at work. 1960s. Featuring lavender marriages and LESBIANS.

On Twitter

New Podcast: A Stranger's Visit: The Story, Episode 4

Fantasy short. A priest of Freyr receives a strange visitation.

3.6k, rated T. MB. Originally published May 29th, 2021. A little bit of Norse godliness versus Norse priestliness. Featuring Esben. Adapted from a TweetFic.

RSS Feed / / On Spotify / / On Google Podcasts / / On YouTube

New Podcast: Temple Service: The Story, Episode 5

Romance short. A servant at the temple to Hephaestus lusts after an olive-tender.

Rated M, 2.2k, cis M/M, some ancient Greeks! Originally publiushed June 3rd, 2022. A temple servant and a grove-worker, lots of teasing and banter and flirting.

RSS Feed / / On Spotify / / On Google Podcasts / / On YouTube

Romance Short: Sickbed Trade

One sailor tends to another in his sickbed.

Just a little M/M piece with some love and intimacy. 500w.

On Medium / / On Patreon

Film Review: The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy)’s Spit in the Face of Cops and Colonialism

Exploring The Wicker Man’s themes of authority and control on its 50th anniversary.

On Medium / / On Patreon / / On Tumblr

Erotic Short: Intensive Care

A paediatric nurse takes some time after work with the Head of Psychiatry.

3.4k, cis M/M. Some fucky power play between coworkers, both of them very aware of each other’s character flaws, featuring age difference, size difference, riding, oral, anal, lots of physical intimacy and affection, with a hint of overstim at the end.

CW for mentions of past trauma, implied rape and sexual abuse, and incest. None of these things are explicit or present-day, and they’re discussed in the context of unpacking a trigger and some invasive thoughts.

On Medium / / On Patreon

Essay: The Relief of a Queer Audience as a Fruity Stand-Up Comic

Explaining one's existence takes time.

I’m a stand-up comedian.

Last week, I did some comedy at a queer-run, queer-centred open mic — suddenly, a twelve-minute set fit into six, because I was in a room full of queer people who knew exactly what I was talking about...

On Medium / / On Patreon

Erotic Short: Public Performance

A vampire shows off his toy for a club.

1k, cis M/trans M. A vampire fucks his trans boyfriend in a crowded nightclub as people dance below them.

Featuring some chem sex with the drugging effects of a vampire belt, public sex, fingering and vaginal sex, overstimulation, and implications of a fevered gangbang in the aftermath.

On Medium / / On Patreon

[pleuvoire]

i've been meaning to ask for a while.. what are some of your favorite kamen rider fics? i've been looking for good recomendations and i trust your taste

unfortunately i don't have as many recs as you might expect because i'm highly picky and i don't read kamen rider fic all that much 😔 i kinda lost the habit because i feel like a lot of people in the tag have a different vision than i do. but let me dig a few up that i remember

first though to get this out of the way. i do in fact recommend my own fics. hi. here's all my kamen rider fics if you haven't checked them out already. at the risk of sounding conceited, i think they are really good. do let me know if you enjoy them as i love feedback

other general author recs! ihasa is prose/description goals to me, and i love their kuuga stuff in particular. bladebrave, parad, and realxeyez are all my friends who have written some great stuff and i will always hype up their excellent character takes. now for more specific fics. bolded are my favorites

impressions by estelraca - an interesting crossover take on how tsukasa lost his memories. ft lots of godai and ichijou which makes me happy because i love them :) a bit confusing in places but i liked it a lot

hanging tree by rainbowfootsteps - this is by my friend rain and was inspired by a wip snippet i posted which makes me very happy. a gloomy look at how a previous round of the rider battle might have ended

what do you call a male femme fatale? by chancellorxofxtrash - written for me for the toku holiday exchange and i was delighted to receive it. kirihiko/shoutarou fake dating

the other kind of yummy by laylah (explicit) - the most "yeah, that is exactly how it would go down" take on ankheiji having sex i've ever seen. foundational text to me

my madly-blooming feelings by shoceted - literally just now discovered this one going into the gouchase tag to retrieve another fic to add to this post (see below) AUGH IT'S SO GOOD. gouchase hanahaki disease. GOD THIS AUTHOR GETS IT. THEY GET IT

sick by oneatatime - makoala sickfic, pre-canon. pretty short but made me think "wow, this author really gets these characters" and more than that made me feel like i had a much deeper and better picture of their relationship, which is quite the feat

NOW HERE'S THE THING... a lot of the best kamen rider fics i've read are in chinese. i don't speak chinese past the beginner level but i've found deepl does the trick well enough to understand it. if you are also interested in reading chinese fics through deepl or another machine translator, here are a few more...

羚羊有一百条命 (antelopes have 100 lives) by ephedrine - satosano psychological horror and probably my favorite ryuki fic

run wolf run by liliamt - yuutaku high school au but takumi... is a werewolf o_O short but sweet

20th century boy by acetylcholine - overview of a year with ren and shinji. the prose in this is so, so gorgeous even with machine translate. some other equally beautiful works of theirs i like include special needs (yuutaku lesbians au), insomnia (heartbreaking faiz angst), it (kenhaji shape of water au), and like father like daughter (bittersweet kenhaji angst, and was a big part of the inspiration for my fic in the gaps of sunlight)

生活碎片 by fireworkinstar - post-canon gouchase that ends in them eloping. it's adorable

ok it's late and i'm getting sleepy. huh that is more recs than i expected to have. if i remember or discover any more i will add to this post, making this has inspired me to go digging for more fics and also actually read more of the many many chinese rider fics on ao3. goodnight

[aclaywrites]

How to fall in love via Deneuve Magazine Personal Ads Circa 1993

❖ Go to your mailbox and see that your latest issue of Deneuve magazine has been delivered. It’s in a plain brown envelope, but you still take it all the way inside the house before you open it.

❖ Take a moment to gaze at the cover and appreciate the fact that it’s named after Catherine Deneuve in honor of her sex scene from The Hunger which awakened us all.

❖ Flip past the first few pages of ads. Do I want to fax away for a brochure about the chance to go on a Kenyan photo safari with the world’s first out lesbian commedienne? What about the Olivia Thanksgiving cruise?

❖ Enjoy the Editor’s Column about how our new President Clinton has pledged to make real progress for the LGBT community. Bask in the warm glow of happiness knowing that the gay dark ages are finally coming to a close.

❖ Chuckle at Alison Bechdel’s ad for the Feminist Bookstore Network and wish you had one of those stores near you.

❖ Keep up with the state of the lesbian nation via the letters to the editor. Aren’t the repressive laws being passed in Oregon and Colorado shocking? Goddess bless that Kentucky baby dyke having to dodge the KKK at her high school 🙁

❖ Read the wedding announcements and get all choked up, remembering why you’re here. Resist the urge to flip to the end and see if there’s anyone new from last month. Hope springs eternal!

❖ Oh, the 20th anniversary of Naiad Press! I love their stuff! Especially how all the covers look like they’re printed with ink that was on sale. I wonder if they have any more copies of that Lesbian Queries book from 1990???

❖ Audre Lorde sure is gonna give them hell at the march on Washington, eh?

❖ So many bookstores. So many books.

❖ An article about Safe Sex! Hell yes! Even though lesbians don’t get AIDS because we’re God’s chosen people, this will be fun to read about in theory! “After all, aren’t we told that lesbians and priests are in the lowest risk category?” lol people thought priests weren’t constantly having gay sex. Simpler times.

❖ An interview with Alison Bechdel! She’s so swoony.

❖ Articles about soap operas, speculation about Hilary Clinton, gossip about Madonna and Sandra Bernhard. And what about Whoopi Goldberg? And that Ellen lady? She’s been on Arsenio Hall acting all cagy about the men in her life. A list of women we wish were gay, including Joan Jett? Didn’t she sing Crimson and Clover without changing pronouns like waaaaay back in the 80s

❖ Music reviews: Sweet Honey in the Rock and Alix Dobkin! We’re almost to the ads…

❖ Labrys jewelry, freedom rings. C’mon, let’s get to the good stuff!

❖ Here we go! Classified ads– 30 words for $20! Queer personal finance, we buy used computers, a lesbian resort in New Hampshire.

❖ Personals at last! Is my woman here?

❖ Hey there’s that woman who has an ad every month expressing her ‘complete and sincere respect for’ women in military, fire, police, private security, corrections’. A gay male ad would say ‘Uniform fetish’ but apparently we’re too delicate.

❖ Bisexual boston babe ‘femalely handsome’ looking for someone who’s ‘nice to look at, not a feminist and not a bitch’. Next!

❖ Lonesome in Wyoming, Bisexual Bodybuilder, Softball is over, time to find someone warm for winter, Reubenesque Arkansas Buddhist…

❖ Find a girl who sounds promising– seems interesting and is not too far away. Spend a day or so composing a letter with a pen and piece of paper introducing yourself. If you don’t have a photo of yourself that you like, have a friend take one. Then finish the roll of film and bring it to the Fotomat and wait a day or so and then pick up the prints and hope you like one of them. Choose one anyway, and put it in the envelope with your letter.

❖ Get a stamp, hang it on the mailbox, never hear anything ever again.

❖ One month later, go to your mailbox and see that your copy of Deneuve has arrived.

[frostyarrow110]

Random OC stuff of the day #3: New OC! Enter Crimson Starius! And some backstory!

So, I missed two days. This is supposed to be a daily thing. But it was my sister’s birthday on the 20th, and we celebrated it until halfway through the 21st, so I was dead tired. I’ll try to post two oc stuff in one day at some point to recover lost time, but i am excusing myself once bc it was my sister’s birthday lol. Have a BIG post to make up for this? Its pretty late but i got forced to cook not my fault

Anyways, new OC! I know it’s really soon but oh well fkrlgkrjejjrjd

I suddenly got the idea (for what he looks like, Violet having a brother has been in the back of my mind for a while even before her redesign) while doodling stuff, and so I made a quick scribble of him before actually drawing him at school. Surprisingly enough, I was able to start and finish him. Here is Crimson!

Crimson is an 11 year old kid, the younger brother of Violet! The “Sun” to Violet’s “Moon”!

A charismatic, chaotic, fun and bold kid that wants to enjoy himself and make some friends. He’s quite clever, cunning, funny, and is perceptive and likes to share with people. Also very creative and a bit crazy, he’s interesting to be around.

Although he tries not to show it, he’s also pretty emotional, and he’s a bit self conscious of what others think, wanting some attention. Despite this, he’s still a fun, nice and sweet kid who makes mistakes at times. Can be read as selfish, but it’s usually by accident and he’ll do something to make up for it. Shy around new people but that doesnt last long

Somewhat hyperactive and struggles to sit still, and gets bored easily, but he’s really good at being entertaining and enjoyable. He’ll try crazy ideas even if he’s been told it wont end well, and he’s relatively confident in himself, but still wants some validation. He’ll invite a friend to whatever he’s doing, as he wants to make sure they’re enjoying themself too. More relaxed, and kinda goofy.

He draws pretty well for his age (Certainly better than I did LOL), learning how to draw with Violet’s help. A good leader, and smart for his age, notable when he’s around other kids. Relatively mature and knows the most unexpected things (He and Violet share weird fun facts with each other. Sometimes, my irl brother will tell me something he shouldn’t have learned until high school. He’s a great kid, but he scares me sometimes…)

Since he’s so young, he doesn’t really fight (thank goodness although he’s weirdly strong for his age and tall…), but he likes playing with fire, and unfortunately Violet can’t really discourage him due to him being fire immune somehow. I guess he had to pick up some kind of weird trait from her, lol. If he had to use a weapon though, 100% would be a hammer. My IRL brother is having so much fun with the inflated comically oversized one we have.

(Hey guys, it’s Crimson IRL!)

Crimson and Violet’s sibling dynamic is pretty interesting to me. Due to how he and Violet was left on her own without parents when she was 13 (About a year and half has passed since that happened), they’re very close, sticking together no matter what happens. Sometimes they talk like friends the same age bantering with each other (No joke my brother is crazy smart 75% of the time we talk to each other like we’re twins, and he’s NINE), other times they have a younger brother-older sister dynamic, but Violet’s the one that’s been taking care of him. No idea how she manages to get through it all, but she’s the one who makes sure he’s fed, clothed, has somewhere to sleep, making sure he’s happy, helping him whenever he needs it, and is cared for. Give Violet a “sister of the year” award because MAN i couldn’t imagine managing that at 13 no less

Fortunately, eventually the two get some sort of support system (With Violet getting some friends MAYBE found family…) and they have their older (I’ll introduce her eventually but i haven’t introduced her yet. Maybe i will for lesbian visibility week though) cousin, who is sadly pretty far away and busy, but still tries to help, being the one to buy their living space and giving Violet quite a bit of money to make sure the two can live on their own without having to work or worry. Also gives her advice.

As for how they’re managing to live on their own, they’re doing fine. Because of the fact they’re on their own, they’ve adjusted their living to what fits them best. It’s not all that bad. Still stressful for Violet though

Crimson usually attends online live classes on his laptop (They both have laptops they use for personal and school reasons), and he’s actually taking advanced classes, doing quite well in school. (He still needs to pay more attention sometimes though.) Sometimes he needs help, but he knows what to do for the most part, and if not he’ll ask Violet at some point during the day.

Violet does her school work remotely, not on live classes, but that allows her to go however fast she wants to on her school courses. It also lets her manage her own schedule which is good because the only thing holding her back as a kid in school was having to follow everyone else’s schedule.

Her sleep schedule is naturally fucked up (I swear she’s like some sort of nocturnal creature lmao) and was a bit of an issue when she couldn’t get to sleep all night and got sleepy while in class. But since online courses don’t have that problem, she can sleep whenever the hell she wants! Which is why she’s usually sleeping when other kids are in school lol. Crimson is normal (ish) in the case that he wakes up at the crack of dawn, so usually around 6 AM. Violet is quite book smart. Due to her being able to do assignments wherever and whenever she wants (assuming she meets deadlines), she is zooming through highschool. I imagine the story with Frost, Pyrite and Violet would take place around the summer, so after that she’d be starting courses most people wouldn’t get to until junior year, despite only being 14 and half. 2 grades ahead basically

You’d think that one of them being awake half the time the other is asleep would cause problems, but for the most part it doesn’t. They still eat at least 2 meals a day at the same time, just that for one of them it’s breakfast and for the other its dinner lol. Usually when Violet makes her own lunch (which she has at like 12 am lmao) she’ll have a second plate made, and put it in the fridge to leave for Crimson when he’ll have his own lunch since she’ll be asleep at the time. Though Crimson is learning how to cook too, as he wants to make his own food as well, so that won’t be necessary soon!

While Violet and Crimson don’t judge each other much, they still think some of the things the other does is weird. Like Crimson sometimes goes on rambles and rants talking to himself or the wall about practically anything. It’s like he’s a chronically recording youtuber. Violet isn’t really bothered by this, she just finds it entertaining and kinda funny, and talks back if she has something to add. Crimson also tends to pace around the room a lot. He fidgets if he’s sitting in place, and gets kinda restless assuming he’s not being stimulated in some way, so usually if she sees him doing that she’ll find something for him to fidget with (He might just go find like a wrench to twist himself) but she doesnt think its weird or anything

Crimson might ask Violet a question if he sees her doing something not normal (Like using her telekinesis), but assuming she answers he’ll just take it and be like “Oh cool” and maybe ask her to participate in one of his schemes if her powers end up being useful for it. He thinks the purple markings and nails and glowy eyes is normal bc Violet is his standard for what a person should look like LOL (This is why he doesn’t ask why it’s so difficult for her to sleep like a normal person, or why she’ll manage to infodump about something for hours, or how sounds seem louder to her, or why she gets fixated on specific things, because she’s the person he knows the most, so it feels normal to him. and even if he knows otherwise he doesn’t mind)

Overall, they’re very close, and kinda learned how to socialize by talking to each other lol thats why both of them aren’t too good at talking to normal people. The two will stick together and support each other no matter what. Sometimes they have issues or bicker, but they geninuely love each other (Crimson doesn't say it as much but he ends up conveying that by his actions.) I call them the Sun and Moon duo!

Uh I don’t know what else to put here, but that’s another ramble from me that got super off topic lol. Goodnight guys, hope your day is going well, yuh

[what-if-rpg]

Welcome to the family, JAY! Your application to DANIELLE HARPER was accepted. We’re really happy to have you around! Make sure to read the beginners checklist, and remember, have fun! We can’t wait to roleplay with you! Have fun!

IN CHARACTER

CHARACTER NAME: Danielle “Dani” Victoria Harper CHARACTER AGE & DATE OF BIRTH: 28 & August 20th OCCUPATION: Photographer & songwriter FACE CLAIM: Demi Lovato HOMETOWN & CITY WHERE LIVES NOW: Austin, TX // New York City, NY SEXUAL ORIENTATION & GENDER: Lesbian & Female RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single (Broken up with Juliette Fabray) POSITIVE TRAITS: Hardworking,Creative & Open-Minded NEGATIVE TRAITS: Workaholic, impulsive & Unfiltered CHARACTER QUOTE/LYRIC: “I like my girls just like I like my honey, sweet. A little selfish” - Honey By Kehlani

HEADCANONS

At a young age, Dani was interested in guitars as her father being just a ‘band garage’ drummer with a couple buddies. One of which was a guitarist, giving Dani lessons as early as 5, teaching all the basics then before you knew it she was playing anything she could get her hands on. At 10 she was gifted a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar, making it the best present she’d ever received. The girl took it everywhere with her once she got into high school since she would play at lunch randomly with a couple of her friends.

When Dani was 16, she and her best friend Katie were just hanging out down in the basement of her childhood home watching movies. Dani had liked her best friend for quite sometime and she was trying to get up the nerve to just say something to her but never could per the right time. Dani saw the perfect time as then to lean over and kiss Katie on the lips to which was reciprocated. Mr. & Mrs. Harper came to get the girls for dinner and caught them kissing — which resulted into yelling and screaming at one another. Dani packing a quick bag and going to Katie’s house for the night, not knowing it would be the last she’d see of her parents since they called her to tell her she was no longer welcome in their household. Leaving only the next day to her aunt’s place in New York City. 

Caroline Harper (Dani’s mother) was 9 months pregnant with her little brother Carter when she was kicked out. Caroline and Ford made sure their son and Dani’s brother never knew of her since she was ‘no longer part of the family’. It wasn’t even that her family was religious, they just didn’t want it ‘tarnishing’ their good ‘harper name’ in their words to have someone gay in their family. Carter saw dani when he was 7 and asked about the ‘girl in the background’ to which Dani walked over and waved at him then introduced herself as Dani Carpenter. Saying that she was her aunt’s daughter to not confuse him since he was still young. 

Katie and Dani tried to make it work between them but the distance was too far, and Dani quickly realized how open she could be. The two just stayed friends as Dani explored all of what her new city had to offer, playing in bars, coffee shops, anywhere she could until she met a girl who would become eye candy for the musician. after the fourth time she saw her at the coffee shop, dani asked her out for dinner since she wasn’t /legally/ 21 yet. This girl became the first one she fell in love with and broke her heart in the matter of a few years. Being together from 16-19 years old they thought they’d be together forever until Dani walked in on her girlfriend in bed with some guy, who had apparently been around for a year already and she got it past Dani way too good. That’s when things fell apart and the woman stopped having ‘relationships’ and opted for hook ups instead. Having her heart broken again wasn’t on the menu if you didn’t get involved more than that. 

Dani is a very impulsive human to where she can go out one day in the morning and come back with something new on her body. Preferably her choice to go to were tattoos also with her different color & style of hair would change depending on how she was feeling at the moment. 

CONNECTIONS

FORD & CAROLINE HARPER (PARENTS): Short and sweet. Dani and her parents don’t talk anymore since they caught her kissing another girl — then a few hours later told her that she wasn’t allowed back at their home and what she packed was it. She hasn’t talked to them since she left at 16. Growing up, Dani was a big daddies girl, always hanging around when he was home and sitting in on all the music festivities with him. Hurting her the most when he was the one who said she couldn’t come back. LACY CARPENTER (AUNT): Her guardian and best friend, Lacy is Caroline’s younger sister who live in New York City. Taking in her niece when her sister & brother-in-law kicked her out. With only about 10 years on her niece, lacy really let dani explore herself as a teen and a young adult as they have a close relationship. Though it wasn’t a surprise since Dani and Lacy had always been close since Dani was born. CHASE HARPER (LITTLE BROTHER): Carter was born a few months after Dani was kicked out of the house. Only really ever seeing him when Caroline would FaceTime Lacy so she could see her new nephew, Dani didn’t have a relationship with the now 12 year old. Lacy would always have to go to Texas to see him but was never allowed to bring Dani with her. SANTANA LOPEZ (EX-GIRLFRIEND): Santana was the first girl that Dani liked after her other relationship, knowing Santana and being with her even for a short time showed dani that she could be treated right. The two are still close, and Dani even considers her a best friend. RACHEL BERRY & KURT HUMMEL (CLOSE FRIENDS): Even with her and Santana not working out — Dani always stayed close with the two of them. Often showing up to just have a nice night in with one or both of them. JULIETTE FABRAY: While it was completely unexpected, Dani met the younger half sister of Quinn by chance and the two basically hit it off from the get go. Seemingly like a long whirlwind relationship between the two — both women parted ways but have remained friends while navigating a break up. Dani ended up moving out and into her own apartment.

[al3x1ss]

Bring them to your home for the holidays {HCs}

Includes: Oikawa, Akaashi, Noya, Terushima, Kiyoko

THIS IS WRITTEN WITH A FEMALE READER! ALSO, ALL CHARACTERS ARE AGED UP!

Author’s note: In my family, thanksgiving means the Christmas stuff is put up after breakfast, so I got this idea ab the holidays and I got v happy. Enjoy!

Warnings: None, fluffy holidays for y’all!

Oikawa

okay mans HATES the cold confirmed

like snow comes he’ll probably hiss

(HISSING AT SNOW ME HONESTLY LMAO)

(Not me seeing a few feet of snow with my sisters and going “wow look at all that cocaine”)

ANYWAY

so y’all met when both of you happened to be in Brazil and he thought you were cute

long story short you had a few dinner dates, even hung out with Hinata!!

you guys hit it off very well :)

so you guys have been together for about 2 years and you’re like ya know what

“Come to my house for the holidays :)”

not only is this man a simp but he loves the warmth so ofc he says yes!!

so while you’ve lived here all your life, only really moving out of Tampa to Miami, you did have to take this tourist him to a basic spot

but you did want to take him to some of your favorite places

after him seeing your family again, you took him to one of your favorite carnivals!

then classic gotta go to the beach I mean

why not go to the ocean!!

issue with December weather in Florida is it changes every second so today was a bit C H I L L E D

(You did have to force him to eat something other than rice tho)

Picky eater kawa confirmed

what better way to spend December 25th than Disney

I mean

Mans whole went “wow 😍” when you told him

Kiyoko

BEST WOMAN I LOVE WOMEN

ahem

you were an exchange student during her whole high school career, turning into best friends and deciding to go to college together

college came along, and with the help of a few friends, parties, and a little too much twister, you realized

you were actually lesbian.

which you know what, we support!

it’s not like you’ve never liked a boy, it just happened to be that women were more your type

oh yeah another thing

Kiyoko is the prettiest thing in your eyes.

OH ANOTHER ANOTHER THING

HAVE I MENTIONED YOU REALIZED THAT YOU’VE ACTUALLY LIKED HER SINCE YOUR 1ST YEAR IN COLLEGE

NO?

OKAY.

so what you DONT know is that Kiyoko has realized she actually feels the same

during your third year in college, she had broken up with her boyfriend of a year, Tanaka, but never told you why

Huh

i wONdEr whY

But, after living in Japan for 7 years, Christmas time is rolling around once again

And you are going home for the holidays!

usually you would go home during summer break, but this time you really wanted to spend Christmas since your older brother had your niece!

and since Kiyo didn’t have any plans you were like

“hey, do you want to come home with me?”

home girl choked on her water 😳

“H-home?”

“Yeah! I’m going back to New Orleans for the holidays.”

cue brain calming down and like sLIGHT disappointment

but

it’s you

and she loves you.

HANGING OUT WITH YOU SORRY

so you guys did presents and stuff

your niece LOVES Kiyoko btw

your dad was like “👀”

I SEE YOU YOU SEE ME MAn

been knew you were 💅AND HE SUPPORTS

so around 4 you’re like let’s go do something!!

and she says okay!!

so one movie Kiyoko really loved was “Princess and the Frog”

Funny enough there’s actually a bakery you’ve gone too growing up

so you get New Orleans’ best beignets!

Ahh, fun times

next, you’ll always hear some type of caroling anywhere you are in the city

which means?

SMALL PARTIES

DANCING

FUN TIMES

you see random groups of people smiling around 7pm, the sun already down

and you’re thinking to yourself

Hey

I want to ask her to dance.

and you do :)

YALL BUST D O W N LIKE YES MAAMS

continuing

Finally at around 10pm you take her to this one street where each place has a bunch of Christmas wonderlands lit up

hile it doesn’t really snow in New Orleans, people used fake snow!!

gotta get that spirit somehow 😗

when I say Kiyoko is a goddess I mean it

the lights bouncing off her face while she’s smiling?

*chefs kiss*

Terushima

ah yes the city that everyone thinks is a state

IM SORRY J

BUT IM NOT EHDJFJHH

So

Chicago!! ✨

Terushima HAS visited Illinois before

However, surprisingly has never been to Chicago

So you were like

I’m born here!! 🥰

Come come!!🥺

And he said

Si si!! 🤪

so y’all flew out on the 20th

while your parents don’t live here, some old friends do

and why not have them meet your amazing boyfriend!

literally all of them were shocked I mean

(Y/N) likes a boy with a tongue piercing?

wack

the amount of BONKERS

but yes you love him very much

and he loves you!!

honestly your friends already fell in love with you two being in love it’s canon

afterwards you guys went too ZooLights

HE HAD THE AUDACITY TO THROW A SNOWBALL AT YOU

“YUJI MY PANTS ARE WET”

“IM SORRY PRINCESS IT WAS JUST A GOOD TIMING-“

you threw one at his face

Not y’all fighting like little kids-

n e wayz

best way to end the 24th?

ice skating-

nope.

It’s actually buying late presents because you two actually forgot to get some people presents and Christmas is literally in like 4 hours!!

YOU COULDNT CATCH YUJI IF YOU TRIED😳

MANS WAS ZOOMIN THROUGH EVERY STORE

GRANDMA? GOT IT

UNCLE? SURE

NEPHEW? YOU DONT EVEN GOT A NEPHEW

It was mega fun tho

surprisingly y’all didn’t get kicked out

you almost did when Terushima thought it would be a good idea to ride a skateboard into the electronics section at target 🤡

but we will ignore that for tonight ❤️

Akaashi

A NOTE:

this one will be the longest one with the most detail for certain reasons! also, for akaashi’s you do have a given birthday because Dec 30th is actually my birthday and I wanted to sprinkle in some of that ❤️

alright

best for last :)

So you got to be in an exchange program during college

and that’s when you met akaashi since you guys were in the same classes!

he also showed you around and was very sweet

so you offered to get him coffee

and after a while he confessed by giving you a copy of a book you both really loved

but

you semester was ending

which means home for the holidays

luckily, you guys would only have one more semester away from eachother before you guys graduated

but you did want to spend the holidays together

so you offered for him to come to New York with you

boy got excited so fast my heart-

wOOSH FOR THIS MAN

But like Christmas in New York with your loving boyfriend of 4 years?

Sign me up

So you know that during winter it’s a hit or miss with snow

is it still freezing cold?

Yes.

But can we guarantee 3 feet of snow every December?

No.

But we can guarantee it in like March JEJHRTJ

so

one thing you told him immediately was that you guys will be watching the ball drop from the roof

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to get mugged, shoved, or vomit on my shoes, Keiji.”

Yes ma’am indeed

so you guys had a pretty (quiet?) Christmas

your family?

LOUD AS CAN BE

but

Regarding to going places

You guys chilled all day in pajamas

Like the most y’all did was go to dunkin for hot chocolate

but the days leading to New Years?

GOTTA GO GO GO

Classic tree photo yes ma’am

nut crackers AND THOSE GIANT CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AND ORNAMENTS ACROSS FROM JIMMY FALLONS STUDIO?

Y’ALL KNOW THE STREET I FORGET THE STREET LMAO

bro side note their kabobs in that one corner

best thing I’ve ever had I stg

I haven’t been to the city since last Christmas wow now I miss it

OKAY NVM SORRY

you wanted to show Keiji so many things

but

You were used to walking like 10 blocks in any shoes as fast as you can

Akaashi was not 😂

So y’all had to take breaks sometimes

get him warmed and fed ya know

give the man smoochies 🥺

id be giving him smoochies 24/7 if I could

so you better for me 😠

His favorite place was the big Macy’s no lie

the perfumes and cologne section on the 2nd floor looked SO WELL PUT TOGETHER

okay nvm scratch that

FAO Schwartz was his favorite place

he loved the trains

you bought him a train as a late present SHH NO ONE SAY NOTHIN

So the 29th you decided to take him to where you were born

Brooklyn!

it was super fun showing him where you lived before you went to college

and before your siblings moved to different parts of the city

It was lovely

But the final thing you wanted to do was December 30th

your birthday :)

and one thing you absolutely love to do is ice skating

now usually you go ice skating at the public rink like a few minutes away from Rockefeller rink

not only was it cheaper, but there was a Panera like 2 blocks away so quick food!

but

you also wanted to give Keiji the experience

so you sucked it up and paid

you guys went at around 8 and had a blast

one of the best birthdays with him honestly

but, you realized people were starting to exit the rink at around 10

“Doesn’t the rink close at midnight?”

“Huh, weird.”

but Keiji kind of starts looking around while you realize you two are the only ones on the ice

So you’re like

I guess we have to get off 😔

But this sly fox

Pulls you to the center of the rink

Now, you were never one for the cliché act

Especially since so many proposals have happened on this rink that you’ve seen

But when you saw Keiji get to one knee

It didn’t even matter that this happened to so many other people

It was happening to you.

And it’s ESPECIALLY CLICHE

THAT IT WAS ON YOUR BIRTHDAY

however

I guess you can just suck it up, cuz at least you have a ring on your finger :)

- Lex 🖤🤍

End note: Let me know if you guys would like a part 2! Also if you have any ideas for a certain character or place, put it in asks!

[gailynovelry]

WIP List Tag

Thanks to @albatris for the tag!

Rules: Share a list of the stories you’re currently working on, regardless of whether or not you have introduced them to writeblr before. I’m going to apologize to you beforehand because all of these are going to long. They are also queer. I do not apologize for that.

Heralds of Rhimn: A YA Dark Fantasy and my oldest project. The first book in the series is Shadow Herald;

“Few gods remain on the world of Rhimn, and the ones that do use special servants known as Heralds as pawns in the conflict between themselves. And not every Herald is happy with their role…

As Navaeli the Shadow Herald comes clashing with the dual threats of the Irongardhe knights and her own vengeful goddess, she finds romance in a handsome hooligan girl and friendship in a young feyrie thief — and with them, the courage to fight back against the injustices of her world.

But can Navaeli break free from the chains of her duty, or will she be the first casualty in the oncoming war between the gods?“

In essence, Navaeli is a dark messiah lesbian who Does Not Want To Be A Protagonist Please, Crislie is a love interest who decides to put her brawling problem to work protecting Navaeli, and Meparik is baby, but baby with many issues. In the time you’ve taken to read these character descriptions, he has probably already stolen your wallet.

The series as a whole involves some good wlw rapid-yearning-to-mutually-protective-girlfriends, REVOLUTION, a new take on fairies and a big ol’ middle-fingered subversion to the Oppressed Mage trope, and eventually some good ol’ fashioned god-killing.

The first book is going to come out May 20th this year! I have made a pretty cover for it, and also for the sequel! I am very proud of this!

Mindhive: A NA dystopia and the first project I’ve written where my characters are explicitly allowed to say “fuck.” They very much need to use this word, given the world I’ve built for them to inhabit.

“Dead-broke and dead-set on paying off his student loans before he’s forty, Nathaniel Emersin signed up as a paid test subject for ReGene, a genetics company with a mysterious new invention that they promise will change the world; the Worker Bee Implant.

But Nathaniel has one little secret that didn’t make it onto paper…

He’s also been hired by ReGene’s rival company, Future Body, to sabotage the trial and steal the mysterious new technology that ReGene’s been working on.”

Complications arise due to the presence of a very amicable security AI and the fact that Nathaniel gets attached to the two other lab rats he gets assigned to for the trial. And by “attached” I mean “develops mutual deep crushes on both Lucine and Avery, has a few cover-compromising panic attacks over it, and eventually reveals to them that he’s being hired to be a secret agent guy doing secret agent things.”

So he sort of decides to run away with his new girlfriend and datemate to an activist group who could a) remove the implant possibly and b) sue ReGene?

Needless to say, ReGene nor Future Body are happy with this turn of events, and decide that they should probably stop him before they experience consequences for the human experimentation and corporate sabotage.

Also, they take the AI with them. His name is Vertigo and he would like for someone to explain to him what a Vocaloid is.

Galactic Empress: This story is me indulging in my very specific need to write a royalty space opera political thriller. It is very high up on the Maslow’s chart of needs for me. It showed up one day and did not leave my brain.

“After the unresolved assassination of her mother, sweet but politically-savvy Princess Glissandrah Ayamarak — known better as Gliss — ascends to Galactic Empress earlier than she’d ever wanted to.

With her mother’s murderer still at large, Glissandrah turns to outsiders to protect her while she figures out just what game is being played in the Galactic Quorum. And it turns out that turning three hardened mercenaries into loyal royal bodyguards is harder than she first thought… but when anyone inside the Quorum could be after the crown, what other choice does she have?”

The hot and slightly controversial bodyguard team in question consists of Li-ah-li, a polite and slightly tired space furry, Yuukmi, a plantperson gunslinger with a space blaster in each of xer four hands, and Jennifer, a gruff human mercenary with a protective streak for her two alien comrades. This story is also polyamorous!

The Ghosts of Grimmigkeit Manor: I literally started working on this one again yesterday; it’s a reworking of a VERY old fully-OC pokemon fanfiction I wrote when I was fourteen, which has been subsequently lost to time. The genre is uhhhhhh paranormal shenanigans with semi-mystery vibes and a strong dose of snark. Probably NA.

The story follows three protagonists. Firstly is Eustace, a coroner who is doing a terrible job of divorcing himself from his family’s slightly goth business and reputation. Secondly is his triplet sister Alison, who is currently being The Responsible One running the family business of selling funeral caskets and who maybe should stop breaking the maids’ hearts in her free time. Thirdly is Dirk, the other triplet, who looks up to Eustace quite a bit and would really like it if his siblings got along more and maybe relaxed enough to let him leave the manor to go to college?

Anyway, during Eustace’s yearly Christmas visit to the family manor, it turns out that Eustace and Dirk can both see ghosts! This phases Eustace significantly more than Dirk, since Dirk has schizophrenia and didn’t realize at first that the ghosts were separate from his usual hallucinations.

The story at large involves family secrets, intimidating and quirky relatives, a murder that happened a quarter of a century ago, and this one really terrible ghost who needs to STOP MAKING THE WALLS BLEED BLOOD and who maybe is the triplets’ father. They have to figure out how to yeet him into the afterlife so that he stops causing problems.

Also, a different and more chill ghost owes Uncle Freddie money.

Misc: I have a dozen other ideas that I float around but Deliberately Wait To Work On because my stories are stews and they need some time to simmer in the crock pot that is my brain. Among these are a mermaid/selkie wlw romance, a mlm post-apoc ??? story, and various wlw Eragon ripoffs where there’s dragons being ridden and cool things happening.

[pfenniged]

My stream of consciousness watching Albert Nobbs:

Oh, I’m ready for some gender fluidity.

Oh no, he’s dreaming about owning a lovely shop with Mia Wasikowska.

This can only end badly

Thanks for showing me genderfluid domestic bliss which I assume will also only end badly.

Commentary how trash 19th/early 20th century people can act like trash and get away with their homosexuality because they’re rich and probably went to Eton/ Oxbridge I’m here for it

I’m also here for Jonathan Rhys Meyers being a sketchy rude gay because if anyone had to be a sketchy rude gay it could be him

Albert is so sweet I feel it’s only a matter of time before something bad could happen to him

STOP DAYDREAMING ALFRED IT’S BAD FOR QUEER’S HEALTH

-butch lesbian enters- Me: Honey that is a butch lesbian

I’m not usually one to comment on people’s bodies but damn lady that’s an impressive chest

Literally Albert and butch lesbian friend in a dress is literally me attempting to look normal and “feminine” in a dress

BAH JUST LET THEM EXIST AT THE BEACH FOREVER

I’m here forever for Glenn Closes’ gender fluidity

SO HELP ME GOD AARON TAYLOR JOHNSON IF YOU COMMIT A HATE CRIME I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF

GODDAMIT

KILL YOUR GAYS

AHHHHHHGJGHJRHGJRJGHJGHJ

AARON YOUR SUBPAR IRISH ACCENT IS A CRIME IN AND OF ITSELF

why is the only halfway decent person in this entire film the alcoholic doctor 

until he isn’t (Re: “I don’t know how people live like this, pathetic, etc.” and tells everyone Alfred’s secret so it gets into papers thanks you’re trash IHU)

oh the somewhat nice maid is going to get the money and escape with her unborn child

NOPE

IT’S GOING TO THIS ASSHOLE FUCK FACE

ARGHHHHHHHHHH I HATE EVERYONE IN THIS MOVIE SO MUCH

low-key Wildean homos acting trash and rich

I hate everyone

except that one little redheaded kid who clearly has the world’s best gaydar in this entire film and is literally the funniest thing about this film

oh no mia

yes mia shack up with nice lesbian

NO MIA DON’T YOU NAMED THE BABY WHAT FOR A MIDDLE NAME THAT TOTALLY NEGATES THE ALBERT PART FOR NAMING HIM AFTER YOUR ABUSIVE DICK OF A BOYFRIEND BUT OKAY

UGHHHHH

Glenn Close and Janet McTeer were the only things that deserved to be in the movie and it could have been a short about them going to the beach and I could have been happy

yay

fin

[lettersfromedmundrp]

BÉATRICE SWEDBURG

AGE: 30

DOB: July 1st 1920

GENDER: Cis Woman

PRONOUNS: She/Hers

OCCUPATION: Journalist and Activist

HOMETOWN: Montréal, Canada

FC: Alicia Vikander

“Au beau milieu de l’hiver, j’ai découvert en moi un incroyable été”, Albert Camus.

NOVEMBER 20th 1930.

Bien le bonjour,

It is with joy that I wish you a very happy birthday. I remember what I did for my 10th birthday, my parents took me to their friend’s house, very far from where I live. I fed carrots to the horses and I named a foal Abeille. Abeille is the French word for bee, and Bee is my nickname.

My name is Béatrice, your new friend! I am sending you a present. It is a drawing my brother and I made for you. There is no bee, but there are snowflakes. Does it snow where you live?

I love bees, W. Béatrice Swedburg

NOVEMBER 11th 1940.

Mon cher Edmund,

I am pleased to hear from you again! I told my brother about you. He pretended to cover his bitter jealousy with enthusiasm. I know he is jealous, he wishes she could hold friendships for as long as we did. Ten years! Can you imagine? I am so grateful to have a kind hearted person like you in my life. And I am also very grateful our conversations are no longer about insects.

I hope you will forgive me for not getting back to your earlier letters. It is a crazy time here too, busy and stressful. I long for the days where I can resume exploring the world. We could explore it together. Where would you like to go? Follow your heart, Edmund, and I will be right behind you!

It does not make you a coward, my sweet friend. It makes you brave. What kind of man would you be? Sensible, intelligent, logical. War will bring nothing but despair. Most men will never learn their lesson. Except for you, Edmund, your fears only prove you are smarter than those who are jumping into the fire. Believe me, if women were in charge of countries... We would be fighting with words. No bullet. No bomb. No blood.

I wish I had new adventures to tell you about. I need a distraction. I need a new dream. Will you help me? I’m sure you are filled with great ideas. Nothing too interesting happened since April. It is for the better, though. I was able to sew a cape, the other day! It is flowy, velvety and very majestic. I put a piece of the fabric in this enveloppe, as well as a fire orange leaf I collected. We need colours in these sad, gray times.

Stay safe and take care, will you? It would break my heart to learn anything bad happened to you. If I think of a way to help you avoid joining the war force, I will write it to you and hopefully save you from this nightmare. Canada stands with England, no matter what. And I stand with you, through thick and thin.

Avec toute mon affection, Béatrice.

ONE LAST OPTIONAL TWIST:

I am recycling the twist I used the first time I applied! So Béatrice is most definitely lesbian. It does not change much to the plot of this roleplay, but maybe it could spide things up for their first in-person get together. Perhaps she had a confident in one of the pen pals with whom she shared her secret but this same person broke their promise to never tell anyone else. Perhaps she developed a crush on one of the pen pals and she cannot find the courage to admit it to herself, and to this person to it creates tension. Fear not! I prefer friendship and platonic connections about romantic ones anyway, so my main goal with this twist is not to seek for romance but rather for extra drama. Where there is trouble, there is Béatrice, so we’ll see! It could be fun!

[aimmakesmaniacs]

📚AIM’s Manga Collection📚

Pt. 2

Ran out of space in the last post, so here’s the second part of my manga collection!

Left to Right: One Piece, Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun, Case Closed, Persona 5, Chi’s Sweet Home, My Hero Academia, Dissolving Classroom, The Ancient Magus Bride

Left to Right: The Promised Neverland, Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia Vigilantes, Chainsaw Man

Left to Right: Our Dreams at Dusk, Skip and Loafer, Great Pretender, I’m in Love with the Villainess, Mob Psycho 100, Love Me, Love Me Not, Akame Ga Kill, Snow White with the Red Hair, Happy Kanako’s Killer Life, Hell’s Paradise, Drrr!!SH, Zom 100, Asadora

Left to Right: Madoka Magica, Madoka Magica: A Different Story, In this Corner of the World, Summer Wars, Love on the Other Side, The Whole of Humanity Has Gone Yuri Except Me, My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, My Alcoholic Escape from Reality, My Summer of You, 5 Centimeters per Second, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, I Had That Same Dream Again, The Gods Lie

Left to Right: After the Rain, The Golden Sheep, Weathering with You, Your Name, A School Frozen in Time, Seven Little Sons of the Dragons, FLCL, Opus, VIZ Manga Sampler 2019

Top to Bottom: The Garden of Words (Light Novel), Weathering with You (Light Novel), Your Name (Light Novel), The Place Promised in Our Early Days (Light Novel), 5 Centimeters per Second + Children Who Chase Lost Voices (Light Novel)

That is my collection as of Monday, September 20th at 8:44 PM!

If you have questions or just wanna talk about any of the manga in Pt. 1 or Pt. 2, you are more than welcome to message me! I hope you enjoy!

[third-generation-female-warrior]

Is this Enough?

Hi friends and welcome back. So glad you’re here today, because you existing is enough to make the world, someone’s world, just a little better. So, the latest chapter had me emotional because, in my mind, sixth year, Alexus and Penny are in a relationship and my imagination took off. I’m going back to my roots, with writing about the original Alexus, my sweet, chaotic, bisexual Hufflepuff and her cottagecore lesbian gf, Penny. So, I wrote some cute little Penny x Alexus fic. I think it’s cute. It’s got some angst, something soft. Alexus had just one last thing to take care of before seeing Jacob. This is the Final Vault, after all. 1,260 words. T Rating.

The last thing Penny Haywood expected when she woke up on the morning of April 20th, 1990, was that she would spend much of the afternoon crying.

It was an ordinary Friday, with the promise of a good day as the students looked forward to the weekend. It was a comfortable, warm afternoon that had her dozing in her Charms class. Luckily, Flitwick was rather understanding when she accidentally casted the bubblehead charm on her book rather than her face.

She stretched her fingertips towards the ceiling as she walked straight from her last class to her Common Room, giving the occasional hello as she passed her fellow Hufflepuffs before making her way to her dorm. She expected it to be empty, but no.

It was a pleasant surprise to find her girlfriend, Alexus Johnson, alone in the dorm, her back turned to the door.

“Hello!” she greeted cheerfully, which prompted the curse-breaker to jump and whirl around, but then relax when she saw it was just Penny.

“Hi,” she returned, not as enthusiastically as normal.

“Is something wrong?” Penny asked, looking her girlfriend over. She had already changed out of her school robes, wearing a simple black t-shirt, blue jeans, and combat boots. A second glance over showed Penny the wand holster strapped to Alexus’s leg, the leather wand glove Jacob gave her for Christmas, and a certain necklace with a muggle charm of protection that Penny had only seen her wear when she was planning on doing something dangerous.

“Penny…” Alexus murmured, taking a step towards her.

Penny crossed the room and took Alexus’s hands into her own. “You’re going, aren’t you?”

Alexus hesitated to answer.

“To the final Vault, you’re going right now,” Penny continued, no longer questioning. She knew.

Alexus took a deep breath before answering. “Jae got the lyre. Merula, Ben, and Barnaby are all set to meet me at the shore, I just wanted… I needed to see you before I went.”

Penny kissed her head before pulling Alexus into a hug.

Alexus closed her eyes and wrapped her arms tightly around Penny, clutching the robes into her hands, breathing in deeply.

“Don’t say goodbye, you’re not allowed,” Penny whispered.

“I’m not going anywhere that you wouldn’t be able to follow. I promise, I swear to God, I promise,” Alexus swore, pulling away just enough to look Penny in the eyes.

“I will follow you into that goddamn lake if you do something stupid and get hurt again,” Penny warned, “And if I have to do that, ‘R’ will be the last of your worries.”

“Oh, since when have I been known to make my girlfriend mad?” Alexus returned with a smile.

“I could never be mad at you, but you have a rather nasty habit of making me worry about you. Why do you do that? Why do you have to make me so worried?” Penny asked.

Alexus cupped her face in her hands and leaned in, kissing her for a long second. When she pulled away, she had that sporting grin on her face, that upturned smirk with a certain confidence in her eyes that made Penny’s knees shake.

“Maybe you worry because you love me?” the curse-breaker guessed.

“I definitely worry because I love you,” Penny confirmed.

Alexus’s smile slowly faded. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I make you worry. I wish I could leave the Vaults, but I can’t. I want to leave them, but after Rowan-”

“I know,” Penny cut her off. “I know. For Rowan. For Jacob. Against ‘R’. You have too many good reasons to keep pursuing the Vaults. I will never stop you from going. But you can never stop me from worrying. Okay? I knew what I was getting into when I kept saying yes whenever you asked me to any dance, any date. I love you. I’m the luckiest witch at Hogwarts because I’m the witch that won your heart. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

“I wish I could give up the vaults for you. I love you so much, that I would if you asked,” Alexus whispered.

“I know.” Penny started to lean down.

Alexus grinned again before standing on her toes to kiss Penny again.

This was not a simple peck or a prolonged second of happiness.

This kiss was a moment, where the simple pining and holding each other gradually turned into something more… desperate. The intensity increased, Alexus’s hands moved from Penny’s face to her hair, weaving her fingers through the blonde locks, being as close to each other as they possibly could, all for the sake of memorizing the feeling of this kiss, their most intense kiss in their most desperate moment. This was not a goodbye kiss, they did not want it to be a goodbye kiss. But even for their worth, their love, and their promises, they both knew but would never say that this could have very well been their goodbye kiss. Their last kiss. They held each other like it was their last kiss. They held each other for as long as they could until it was Alexus who pulled away first, breathless, eyes closed, mouth agape as she burned that feeling into her memory.

She opened her eyes and looked at Penny, slowly pulling her hands back out of her hair and cupping her face.

“Wear my jacket,” she whispered, as if it was forbidden to speak after such an intense kiss.

Penny must have looked confused or on the verge of laughing, but before she could react, Alexus continued.

“My letterman jacket. Wear it like armor. Wear it, and I’ll be safe, because then you’ll need to give it back to me.”

Alexus pulled away from their embrace and walked to her bed where the jacket in question was laid out. She picked it up and held it out to Penny.

The potioneer slowly took it and shrugged it on. It was warm, like a hug, and it fit her almost perfectly, the sleeves too big, covering her palms. For a second, Penny reflected on the fact that the jacket was always big on Alexus, encompassing her hands so that not even her fingertips were showing.

Alexus smiled and kissed her cheek. “I love you.”

Penny crossed her arms over her chest, pulling the jacket close to her. It smelled like Alexus. “I love you too.”

Alexus’s smile became… sadder, her eyes more weary. Her fingers played with the charm of her necklace.

She didn’t say anything else as she picked up her wand and holstered it. She didn’t need to say anything, satisfied with her last words. She moved to leave the dorm, but right at the exit, she stopped, turned back to Penny.

She smiled one last time, and that smile and her emerald green eyes said everything she never did. Everything she might never will. Penny understood that smile and everything that she didn’t say, never said, or ever will say, and the only thing she could do was smile back and hope that Alexus understood. Understand that she understood.

Alexus smiled for another second before turning around.

Then she was gone.

Penny was alone in the dorm.

She took a shuddering breath and buttoned the jacket up to the collar, letting it encompass her in its warmth and its scent.

It felt like a hug from Alexus.

She slowly slid to sit down on her bed, pressing the collar into her nose, the smell creating a sense of calm and a sense of dread.

That was when Penny Haywood started to cry.

[artificialqueens]

Tree House Kisses, Chapter 37 (Adorney) - Scorpio and Veronica

A/N: Click here for previous chapters or to read on AO3, click here! XOXO!

Chapter Summary: Courtney and Adore begin repairing their friendship, slowly but surely.

Chapter 37: I Have Confidence

“Bonnie!” Courtney flung herself into Bonnie’s arms, causing the older woman to laugh and put down the tongs, stepping away from the grill.

“Hiya darlin’, how are you?”

“I’m good now.” Courtney’s voice was soft, muffled in her hair.

“Dory told me you were coming, so I threw on a couple of veggie burgers.” Bonnie gestured to the grill.

“Aww, thank you!”

“Do you still eat cheese, or have you gone all the way to the dark side?” Bonnie held up a package of jack cheese, which she was about to put on the burgers.

“Cheese is fine,” Courtney laughed. “Although you know I’m really here for your macaroni salad.”

“Hey, Court? You wanna stop hanging on my poor mother and help me set the table?” Adore called from the other side of the patio, arms full.

“Coming!” Courtney pressed one last kiss to Bonnie’s cheek before skipping over to happily fold napkins, just as Angie came outside with a couple of serving bowls.

As she laid out the silverware, Courtney looked up at Adore, setting the condiments at one end of the table. She snatched a piece of red pepper from the veggie tray and grinned, thrilled to be here with her best friend and surrogate family on this beautiful, breezy Spring evening.

Adore smiled back, the light in her hazel eyes making Courtney’s heart nearly burst with happiness.

“Who wants toasted buns?” Bonnie called.

“I do!” Courtney exclaimed, eyes glittering with amusement at the joke she knew by now was coming.

“Well then, come sit on the grill…”

Adore and Angie both groaned, but Courtney laughed uproariously as if it was the first time she’d ever heard Bonnie’s lame joke.

“Why are you encouraging her?” Adore asked, slinging an arm around Courtney’s shoulders and guiding her towards the house to get the rest of the food.

“She’s cute. I missed her-” Courtney stopped suddenly, not wanting to kill the jovial mood, but Adore nodded.

“She missed you too,” Adore said, tossing Courtney another smile before she entered the house.

Courtney took a deep breath, grateful and happy, and then followed her inside.

-

Trinity adjusted her pillow behind her back, accidentally jostling the porch swing and Willam on the other side.

Willam had joined Trinity at her Granny's for the weekend. He never missed an opportunity to get some homemade cornbread, mac and cheese, and Granny Bonet’s Famous Peach Cobbler.

Plus Granny Bonet was sweet as pie, soft-spoken with a roaring laugh. She always seemed genuine when asking Willam what he has been up to since they last had seen each other, never making him feel any different than her own grandkids.

"Shit, Trin! Don't make me drop the weed." Willam snapped, adjusting the book on his legs.

"Sorry, sorry. This thing was stabbing me in the back," she said, finally getting the pillow in place and turning to get comfortable.

"Eh, Fuck it!" Willam shrugged, taking the half-open joint to his mouth and wrapping it closed. "If I can roll up while Violet is driving, I can fucking roll anywhere. That bitch drives like she’s playing Mario Cart."

Trinity burst into laughter, nodding her head in agreement unable to vocalize.

"I don't understand how the hell she even got her license," Willam snorted, spurred on by Trinity’s giggles.  

"It's really not that bad," Trinity said, finally trying to defend their friend.

Willam gave an incredulous look over the flame he quickly ran over the joint.

"It's more so when she's impatient," Trinity clarified.

"Oh." Willam rolled his eyes before actually lighting and taking a quick intake. “So, all the time.”

"She's gotten better recently. I think Pearl's been helping her or something," Trinity shrugged, grabbing the joint.

"Wait, what? Pearl doesn't even have a car. That's not right." Willam sat up, staring seriously at Trinity.

Trinity held his gaze, intrigued by the wheels turning in his head. What could he be thinking?

"They're having sex!" Willam finally exclaimed triumphantly.

"What? No!" Trinity’s brow furrowed.

Willam shook his head and continued, "Actually, it's pretty obvious. And right under our noses. Violet’s one sneaky bitch."

"No, no, no, no, no," Trinity coughed, deep and loud.

"Yes!"

"Do you really think Violet is over Fame though?" Trinity asked, intentionally rocking the swing as Willam took another hit.

"Well, yeah. Or...maybe. Probably. At least, she should be."

"No." Trinity shook her head adamantly. “She’s definitely not.”

"Okay, Trin. If Pearl and Violet haven't hooked up already; they will. I bet you that."

"Bet what? Because I don't even know if Pearl is really Violet's type," Trinity hesitated.

"How so?"

"Like compatibility...in bed and stuff like that. You know Violet is forward and aggressive and Pearl seems sort of nonchalant but in the ‘you can't tell me what to do’ kind of way. Violet has to be the boss, and Pearl doesn’t seem like she’d let her. Incompatible." Trinity shrugged, snatching the joint from her cousin’s hand. “Don’t forget to share, dick.”

"Hold up! And how would you know what either of them is like in bed? You’ve given this a lot of thought, cuz." Willam looked genuinely shocked and confused.

“It’s just a guess,” Trinity said, rolling her eyes. She put the joining to her lips, inhaling deeply, even as her cheeks darkened in embarrassment. “I mean, you know, it’s not like I obsess over it or anything...shut up.”

“Omigod, Trin, are you gonna start lezzing out with those whores?”

Trinity started coughing and laughing, shaking her head.

“Never say never,” she wheezed, laughing even harder at the scandalized look on his face.

-

“What’s so funny?” Roy asked, tapping on Courtney’s thigh. She was sitting next to him in the booth at Denny’s, giggling to herself over something on her phone for about the 20th time since they’d sat down. They were with April and Bob, getting a late snack after the movies, and her mind was clearly elsewhere.  

“Oh, um...sorry. Adore just sent me this-” Courtney gave a sheepish smile. “You know what, it’s not important.” She closed her phone and stuffed it into her jacket pocket.

“Well, thanks for finally joining us,” Roy said. He was going for lighthearted, but it came out a bit cross and scolding.

“Sorry, daddy,” Courtney teased, causing April to burst out laughing and Roy to make an even grumpier face. She stole a French fry off his plate, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

“I think she needs a spanking,” Bob said, and Courtney turned to stick her tongue out at him.

“You need a spanking,” she informed Bob.

“Hell yeah I do.” He cast a sly look over at April. “You wanna spank me?”

“Not especially,” April said, feigning boredom as she sipped her strawberry milkshake.

“What about you, Court?” Bob wiggled his eyebrows. “Want to teach me how to behave?”

“You’re sick,” Courtney said.

“Come on, someone must want to punish me,” Bob whined, and then yelled, “Ow!” as Roy kicked him hard under the table.

“You’re welcome,” Roy said. “Now eat your chicken fingers.”

Courtney laughed, then felt her phone buzz in her pocket, fingers itching to open it and see what Adore might have sent. She reached inside; even just touching it made her feel better. When Roy got into a heated debate with Bob over whether the Jackass crew was in fact funny, she quickly flipped it open and checked.

ADORE: LOL but can you blame me?

COURTNEY: Of course not. You’re only human.

Courtney finished sending the text, quickly putting her phone back, when she looked up and saw April gazing knowingly at her. She shrugged guiltily, pulling her root beer float over and taking a sip.

-

Once Courtney and Adore made up, play practice became about ten times as fun. They didn’t have any scenes together, so whenever one of them was on stage, the other would be cheering them on silently from the wings.

Courtney was especially supportive once the performances began—not once leaving during Adore’s big solo, ready to leap out and fight anyone who would dare upset her this year. Fortunately, the protestors stayed home. Apparently, as Mrs. Maguire thought, just the words ‘Sound of Music’ were enough to appease them. They didn’t bother watching to see the genderqueer lead, lesbian nuns, drag queen baroness or gay messenger boy mincing about.

Closing night was a bit bittersweet for Roy—after all, he’d had a starring role in every show his entire 4 years there. College would be different, and he knew that this part of his life was now officially over. Courtney hugged him tight, and Adore teasingly told him that it was okay if he wanted to cry.

“Fuck off,” he said, burying his face into Courtney’s hair.

“What, I’m serious! We’re all very impressed at this display of emotion,” Adore said.

“Yeah, it really shows how secure you are in your masculinity,” Courtney added with a wink.

“Ugh! You’re both assholes!” Roy said before he stomped off stage.

“Hmm. I guess he’s not that secure,” Adore commented, and she and Courtney both began to giggle again.  

-

As May bled into June, days getting longer and warmer, Adore began to feel antsy for summer to begin. One Saturday, she invited Courtney for an old-fashioned sleepover in the tree house, just like the good old days, and Courtney enthusiastically agreed. It was their first one in almost a year, and both girls were excited to reconnect, but maybe a bit nervous. There was still so much that they’d never said to each other. Still so much that they didn’t know how to put into words.

Adore climbed up the ladder with pizza and drinks, just as Courtney finished laying out the sleeping bags.

“Pizza delivery!”

“Ooh, yay!” Courtney exclaimed. “And um...I stole this from the liquor cabinet. Hopefully Adam won’t miss it.”

She produced a nearly full bottle of Jack Daniels, which impressed Adore, and made her send a grateful little prayer to Karen’s latest boyfriend.

“Thanks, Adam!”

Feeling like she could use a little something to help her relax, Courtney took a big swig from the bottle.

“Ugh, this is disgusting!” Courtney winced at the bitter taste, giggling.

“There's Coke too,” Adore said, and off Courtney's horrified expression, clarified, “Coca-cola, you dumbass. You can use it as a chaser.” She gestured to the white bag on top of the pizza box.

“Oh. Right.” Courtney flashed an apologetic grin and pulled a bottle of Coke from the bag, taking a sip.

Adore shook her head, chuckling, taking the bottle from her.

“Here…” She poured some of the soda out the window, then carefully replaced it with Jack, taking a sip to make sure the ratio was right before adding a little more alcohol. “Perfect.”

“Ugh, Adore!” Courtney opened the pizza box, groaning. “There’s pepperoni all over it!”

“Oh shit.”

“Gross…”

“Sorry!” Adore said, explaining, “I haven’t been hanging out with a lot of vegetarians lately, I forgot. Here, I’ll eat the pepperoni off for you.”

“Then there will still be pepperoni juice,” Courtney whined.

“You’re such a pain in the ass. Pepperoni is barely an animal. I don’t even know what animal it is!”

“Yeah. Don’t you think that’s a problem?” She pushed the pizza aside and dug into the bag of cheesy bread instead.

“Well. Sorry,” Adore said again, and Courtney leaned back, giving her a smile before taking another swig of Jack and Coke.

“It’s cool, I can eat this.”

-

“So…” Adore traced the edge of the sleeping bag with her finger, by now a bit sleepy and rocking a healthy buzz, finding herself realizing again just how much she’d missed her best friend. She felt bad, wished she could take back all the months of silence. But instead, she settled for trying her best to find out how her life was going these days. “...How are things with Roy?”

“Good. Great, actually,” Courtney sighed. “He’s the best.”

“He really loves you a lot,” Adore said, the memory of their argument a few weeks back still fresh in her mind. How Roy was the one who, in spite of everything, got her to make up with Courtney—and all because he wanted his girlfriend to be happy. It was disgustingly sweet, actually.

“Yeah. It’s gonna be so weird when he’s gone next year…” Courtney said.

“Oh, right. Shit. How’re you gonna survive?” They’d been joined at the hip for so long now that Adore couldn’t imagine what school—or life—would be like for Courtney without him.

“I’ll manage,” Courtney said, rolling over onto her side. “Anyway, he’s going to UCLA, so he’s only gonna be a few hours away. I’ll probably still see him all the time.”

“That’s cool.” Adore took another sip of their makeshift cocktail, swallowing down her residual bitterness about Roy and Courtney’s perfect teen romance along with the whiskey.  

“What about you. Any...special girls I should know about?” Courtney asked carefully. She took the bottle from Adore’s hands.

“Special girls? Okay mom.”

“Shut up, you know what I mean! Anyone who-”

“Nah.” Adore shook her head slowly.

“Do you and Violet still ever-”

“No,” Adore said, not even letting her get out the question. “We both realized that it was super toxic, and we’re much better off as friends. And this time, it feels like it’s stuck.”

“And Pearl?”

“Pearl?” Adore furrowed her brow, shaking her head. She and Pearl were still in that weird place where things were almost flirty but not. And she was still the only one who knew the whole truth about what happened with Courtney. It was too hard to explain, so instead she just said, “No. Although she has been really great this year. You know...with everything.”

Courtney took another sip, nearly polishing off the bottle, and Adore crawled over to make a new one.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.” Adore once again poured the Coke out the window—this time maybe a bit more, and then replaced the contents with Jack.  

It was a few moments before Courtney spoke again. She appeared to be collecting her thoughts.

“How did you know that you were gay? Or...when…did you start thinking about it?”

Adore turned around, head tilted.

“Where’d this come from?”

“I’m just curious. You never really talked to me about it.” Courtney held a pillow in her arms, hair falling across her eyes.

Adore considered what to say, how honest to actually be in this moment, deciding that a few lies of omission were probably the best idea for everyone.

“I guess I always sort felt a little...different. And then when Violet started tutoring me, she kind of guessed? And she made me feel like...I don’t know. It was normal. Or at least, okay.”

“Of course it’s okay,” Courtney assured her, then asked, “So...was she the first girl you ever...had feelings for?”

Adore’s tongue felt thick in her mouth. She didn’t want to lie, not tonight when they were supposed to be bonding. But on the other hand, they’d only recently found their way back to each other, and what if she destroyed their delicate new reality? She didn’t think she could bear another fight, another period of loneliness like she’d had this year.

“Um...I guess I had little crushes before, but nothing that ever...went anywhere,” Adore finally said. Which was true.

“Oh yeah? Like who?” It was a fair question. A casual question. Her best friend showing interest in the inner workings of her heart.

“Uh…” Adore racked her brain for an answer that would satisfy her. “Remember that counselor we had at drama camp? Asia?”

Courtney did remember—she was a pretty Black girl with a dazzling smile, funny and lively but always sure to keep them in line.

“Oh yeah. She was cute,” Courtney nodded approvingly.

“And of course, um...Shakira.”

“Of course.” Courtney giggled, then bit her lip. “Anyone else?”

“Oh! Remember that girl who worked at Video Village? With the pink hair and all the piercings?” Adore grinned slyly, starting to have fun with this walk down memory lane.

“Her?!” This one, Courtney didn’t seem to appreciate, but Adore just shrugged.  

“Yeah! She was hot.”

Courtney took another thoughtful sip from the bottle before asking, “Have you ever liked a boy?”

“I used to try to make myself like boys,” Adore said. “Or, imagine that I did. But it was always just some dumb pop star or something. Like...remember Ashley Parker Angel?”

“No. Who?!” Courtney looked utterly confused, brow furrowed.

“The blond from O-Town.”

“O-Town!” Courtney giggled gleefully, a hiccup escaping her as she passed the bottle back to Adore. “Omigod. You had their picture on your binder and no one could figure out why.”

“Yeah, I know. Their music was terrible,” Adore admitted.

“They made music?”

Adore laughed, shaking her head.  

“And god, even my fake crushes were dudes with girl names…”

This made Courtney giggle some more, holding her pillow tighter. Her eyes drifted shut for a moment.

“What about you?” Adore asked.

Courtney’s eyes popped back open.

“What about me?”

“You ever like a girl?” Adore teased, poking her in the ribs. Fully expecting her to squeal in disgust, or burst out laughing.

But instead, Courtney looked back at her and said, “Besides you?”

Adore stared back at her for a long, heated moment. A million thoughts swirled in her head, but none so strong as the realization that Courtney was just fucking around, making her pay for her teasing. Adore started to laugh, shaking her head.

“Good one, bitch.”

Overcome with an impulse she couldn’t ignore, Courtney leaned forward and pressed her lips to Adore’s. And for a moment, it was perfect—Adore’s soft lips against hers, breath sweet and smoky from the drinks. And then Courtney felt a hand on her shoulder, shoving her backward.

Courtney clapped a hand over her mouth. What was wrong with her? This was exactly how she’d fucked things up last time. Her cheeks blazed red.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“I know,” Adore said hoarsely.

Courtney’s eyes filled with tears, terrified that this time, she’d fucked up for good.

“Are you mad?” she whispered.

“No.” Adore shook her head, giving a wry smile and reaching forward to pry the bottle from her fingers. “But you’ve probably had enough of this.”

Courtney let out a relieved chuckle, tension leaving her body as she laid back down against the bean bag chair. Things were okay; they were still friends and everything was back to normal. Or at least, as normal as possible.

“Dory?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you snuggle with me?” she asked, voice soft and tentative.

Adore turned to her friend, giving a gentle nod, saying “Of course,” before curling up beside her.

For a second, as she breathed in, Adore realized that Courtney must have switched shampoos. The scent of her hair was different, and the unfamiliarity of it gave Adore a strange pang of sadness.

But then, as they settled in some more, Adore realized that lingering beneath the surface was something she knew very well, something innately her that would never go away, no matter what perfumes she might use. And that, the sameness, was enough to make her smile to herself, arms wrapping tightly around Courtney as she pulled her in close.

[clairebeauchampfan]

Anne with an ‘E’: a personal review

I loved this book as a child (well, as a teenager....I discovered it very late into my teens). I loved the Kim Braden BBC TV version too, which was very faithful to the book, if memory serves me right. So it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I began watching the CBC/Netflix version produced by Moira Walley-Beckett and staring Amybeth McNulty as Anne, because I knew it had taken liberties with the Book and injected a lot of late 20th and 21st Century ‘woke’ issues, into what I remembered as an innocent, sweet book about an odd little white orphan girl adopted by an elderly spinster and her brother, growing up in a late 19th century all-white farming community. in Canada’s smallest province, Prince Edward Island.

Would revisionist Anne of Green Gables therefore be a Afro-Canadian  or First Nations (that’s Red Indian to you, if you are still asleep) girl with a physical disability,  adding to her already disadvantaged status as the abandonned waif reluctantly adopted in place of the boy that Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert had asked for?  Would Anne and Diana, her bosom pal, discover the delights of teen lesbian sex? Would we be treated to Anne indulging in a bit of onanism, or giving Gilbert a hand-job, or worse, and Marilla and Matthew ejoying incestuous relations  (see ‘Sanditon’ for more of this kind of revisionist and grindingly ‘woke’ television)? 

Fortunately for lovers of Anne of Green Gables, the wildest excesses of ‘woke’TV were avoided. We DID have one of the schoolboys, Cole the pretty, artistic type( spot the cliche!), 

being bullied by the sporting jock Billy Andrews and his gang of brainless acolytes (more cliches), before finding shelter and a release for his artistic talent at the home of Diana’s  Aunt Josephine, who in this series is a Sapphic and hosts amazingly decadent parties for her gay and arty friends ( I had no idea PEI was so advanced in the late 19th Century: gay central and great fun!). We had the minor character of the French boy Jerry Baynard (Buote in the book?) become a major character, in love with Diana but spurned because ...well, he’s French, and of course the English people are baaaad (all the wealthiest people are English English with cut glass accents with which to cut people dead, the snaaabs). 

And, we are introduced to Sebatsian (’Bash’) a Trinidadian friend of Gilbert, who starts his own Afro-Caribbean family , also outsiders in Avonlea and struggling with racism and former slave cultural cringe whilst setting his hand to farming.

 Plus, lest we forget, we have the horrific tale of Ka’kwet, the Mi’kmaq friend of Anne whyo is forcibly sent to a government boarding school to have the Indianness beaten out of her. 

 Naturally the perpetrators are Catholic nuns (hiss, boo!), whilst the character in the book who Anne describes as her kindred spirit, Rev. Allen, is of course here a bigotted clergyman leading the group of reactionary old white men (hiss!) who endeavour to get beautiful, trouser wearing, motor-bike riding feminist teacher Miss Stacy fired, and burn down the school for good measure. (Yah boo and double hiss! )

So much for the wokeness. Which is what  we old snaaabs who like traditional opera and theatre performances find infuriating, where for example  the director strives desparately to make things relevant by dressing Puritan-era soldiers in Nazi uniforms (see! fascist parallels! Boo, hiss!) , or having the cringingly ‘woke’ Shakespeare you can see these days at London’s Sam Wanamaker theatre, with HenryV played as a transexual-of-colour. just in case you needed to be woken from your slumber with right-on wokeness beaten into your brain with a mallet. Ah, it’s such fun to ‘epater les bourgeois’ and signal your virtue at the same time. 

But in this version of Anne’s story I’m  glad to say that although forced and didactic at times  the new characters and novel situations,  were extremely well acted and put together, ( notably Bash and his tragic wife Mary) whilst for the most part fans of the original book will be very, very happy. 

All the leading roles, especially Matthew (RH Thomson) and Marilla (Geraldine James).  (spoiler alert: Matthew doesn’t die in the only three seasons allowed us by those buffoons in Netflix), were well played. 

Fascinating, character revealing  back-stories were put into the basic story. I loved the evocation of 1880′s Prince Edward Island (I can’t wait to go there),  and what is was to be  school-children in a one-room school-house. I liked Rachel Lynde’s feisty character and her love for her bumbling husband. And I’m always fond of dear old dutiful Diana,

 and earnest Gilbert Blythe. 

But the crown should go to AmyBeth McNulty for her sparkling performance as Anne, struggling with her insecurity, her awkwardness, her gaucheness,  her worldly knowledge of how cruel the world can be, and her determination to do something about it,  all among the perils of growing up from innocent child  (the first period episode is priceless) to barely adult college student.  Anne.   With an E. I think you’ll love it

#anne with an ‘e’# anne of green gables  #anne cancelled after only three seasons

[valen-dreth]

aril if you're still taking asks? :)

of course!

Full Name: Aril Girori Dreth! Valen insisted she be a Dreth, on the compromise that she could also be named after Drolva’s sister, who died during the Oblivion Crisis

Gender and Sexuality: Proobably nb, lesbian. She’s asexual as well

Pronouns: She/her

Ethnicity/Species: Dunmer

Birthplace and Birthdate: Cheydinhal, 20th Evening Star 4e2

Guilty Pleasures: Sweet foods definitely... her fav is custard or like bread pudding she cant get enough

Phobias: Natural disaster, crowds, being arrested

What They Would Be Famous For: She kinda already is? At least in some circles she’s recognized out and about as Envah’s sister

What They Would Get Arrested For: Fraud. Arson. Accomplice to arson. Lollygagging. Arson.

OC You Ship Them With: Amaranth! They’re broken up now tho

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Nyrrieth. For eir Important Souls collection

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Forbidden

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: She doesn’t like neat, happy endings. She much prefers them to be worked for

Talents and/or Powers: Hmm... she’s very good at magic but doesn’t like to show it off (except her Dropzone spell that never gets old) and Loving Mudcrabs

Why Someone Might Love Them: She’s a little bastard... overall a fun character though! Also maybe Vivec.

Why Someone Might Hate Them: She’s a little bastard and maybe Vivec.

How They Change: She opens up! She’s pretty hostile and private in the beginning of her arc but slowly she comes out of her shell

Why You Love Them: She’s my baby my Aril....

[danwhobrowses]

Valentines 2020: A Celebration of My Ships

So it’s valentine’s day again, and...yeah it’s not too great when you’re single is it? Considering that I’ve already gone through a tub of ice cream...

But, it doesn’t mean I’m a cynic, quite the opposite. Most of my fandoms involves a ship in some shape or form, hell I shipped before I even knew what shipping was, so I’m gonna talk about some of them...the ones that still make me happy and didn’t crash and burn in heartbreaking and frankly insulting fashion (looking at you Homestuck ¬_¬), gotta mention that these are not all the ships I ship, they’re just some of the ones I’m quite consistently high on

New Entries So with new fandoms come new ships...as is the usual formula anyway, though my pattern of watching things is usually with some delay, I only watched Rurouni Kenshin and started My Hero Academia in 2019, I still hold off on Attack on Titan and My Hero Season 4 because if I get in, I get IN. So these fandoms may not be new, but they are new to me Steven Universe is very new to me, I’ve been aware of how good it is and their concepts like Fusion. I like it, particularly Lapis Lazuli I really relate to her, but ship wise the two I really like are the obvious ones; Steven x Connie and Ruby x Sapphire (Garnet)

Garnet is badass and chill at the same time, but when she unfuses we see the stuff that makes me smile, the pda between Ruby and Sapphire is adorable, the little pecks and whatnot softens me up like no man’s business. Steven and Connie also have the mushy dynamic with both of them deeply into each other but still being strong individuals. The love for each other is equally platonic as it is romantic as they gel together, both being strong willed in different ways. The laughter probably gets me the most with both of them, the genuine laughter is so sweet and so realistic it’s hard not to love. My Hero Academia seems to be our next wave of shonen anime and for good reason, it does high notes so well and the cast of characters are vibrant and exciting. I haven’t hit Season 4 yet since I’m waiting till it’s all done to binge so I may be a little behind on some stuff (sadly it’s hard to avoid spoilers, I know about Infinity and Unbreakable). While I do like Deku x Uraraka, Tetsutetsu x Kendo and Eraserjoke but the two that I find most enjoyable are Todomomo and Kamijirou

(artist nonoko135 btw, bit tough to find a single image with both ships) Fairly popular ships in their own right, Todomomo doesn’t get many hints but they are sweet, naive rich kids with their own confidence issues, it also feels like they look out for each other especially after the final exam they did together. With Kamijirou though it’s probably one I favour if I had to choose between the two, simply because it’s a dynamic I really like; she busts on him so hard to mask her enjoyment of his company and he takes it because he feels at ease around her, the best part is when Kaminari goes 0 volts, he makes her laugh and that’s kinda big for Jirou given how self-conscious and stoic she can be. Rurouni Kenshin was always on my list, I have often heard about the Swordsman with a blade that cuts no-one. The anime is a bit up and down, after Shishio it’s just filler, but as documented in my Redemption Arc post it is at its core a great story of redemption for the main character, and the driving force for Kenshin’s redemption is his love for Kaoru

While Sano and Megumi have a unique dynamic hinted to be romantic at times, nothing can really beat Kenshin and Kaoru, she literally became Kenshin’s conscience, a representation of his hope to be a good man away from the shadow of Battousai the Manslayer. It may be your traditional romance of the two wanting to be by each other’s side in danger but it works so well given the kind of danger Kenshin is often in. Kaoru still strives to protect herself and aid Kenshin in a way that doesn’t make her continuously wonder about being a burden and Kenshin does everything in his power to keep Kaoru from pain, physical and emotional, even if it meant leaving to keep her safe. The main part of what makes this lovely is the fact that not only did Kaoru’s influence make Kenshin value his own life once more but after continual torment in his past she still saw him as the person he wanted to be, and welcomed in a new home, a new family he was able to live a life he never imagined he could deserve. The Regulars Our Regulars are the ships I still consistently ship, they’re not very old but they’re still pretty great and they still stand the test of time. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has quite a few ships over its 6 (coming up 7) season lifespan, being the longest surviving MCU tv series and one of the most consistently great shows MCU offered - especially Season 4, some of the best TV was on Season 4. But while Philinda is close, Mack and Yoyo or even Piper and Davis (don’t, I don’t care if you believe she’s a lesbian with the hots for May these are my ships) there is one one ship in Shield you can all rally behind, Fitzsimmons

Even when canon it is a consistent emotional rollercoaster. One of those ships where the writers know you love it and decide to put you through as much pain and emotional torment as humanely possible. But you endure it, because these two smart kids are worth it. They have sweet moments, badass moments, emotional moments and even though they get brought apart time and time again, they still find each other, the universe cannot stop them - and it better end happily for them come next season. Overwatch was a phenomenon when it came out a few years ago, Blizzard may have caused it to have some heavily bad rep but I still look forward to its sequel coming out. Given its large roster and most of the characters’ sexuality and relationship status up in the air, it leaves a lot of room for shipping. I do still love Anahardt, Mercy76 kinda falling due to 76 being gay but I like Gency too, my rarepairs include McPharah and Symmzo but my favourite is actually Meihem.

Now I know, Mei’s only voice lines towards Junkrat are cold, they have differing views in terms of omnics and...due process of the law. But there’s a lot they do have in common; both are quite intelligent engineers having made their weapons by hand, both endured trauma and both love their puns. But even the stuff that make them different can compliment one another. You don’t have to like it, but I do, I enjoy the dynamic of Jamison being so head over heels that he embarrasses himself to try and get Mei’s attention, while Mei softens to the fact that his very nature is warped by his lawless upbringing and that deep down he is an exciting and in his own way sweet guy.  Back to anime, because what else do I do with my day, getting into One Piece was always going to be a long effort, keeping tabs on the Manga does make it easier and I’ve been able to catch up quickly. Ships are shaky territory with One Piece because Oda does make a point of not having romance happen a lot, not to existing living characters at least. But I still have the ones I like; Shanks x Makino, Sabo x Koala, Franky x Robin, Sanji x Pudding, Rebecca x Koby, the list goes on, but my favourite has to be Zoro x Tashigi

May not be up there with the ‘big ships’ of One Piece but I do enjoy them the most. Individually the two are characters I have deep interest in; Zoro is well Roronoa Fucking Zoro, santoryu swordsman extraordinaire, master of nothing happening and will cut you 8 ways to Sunday, but Tashigi is a character I like because she also tries, unlike Zoro she isn’t blessed with 2 years training with Mihawk and she’s at constant arms with this self doubt that as a Woman she won’t be as strong (and probably whoever of influence to her made her believe such a thing), people may get on her back for never winning a fight but she fights strong people without a second thought. But back to the pairing, they have an interesting dynamic; two very similar people on different sides of the law, I don’t think Tashigi continues to chase him simply because he refused to cut her in their fight and I don’t think it’s just her former resemblance to Kuina that gets Zoro so riled up about her, I mean Zoro is usually so chill to side characters to the point where he’s ready to throw down but with Tashigi, it’s different, they bicker but he also came to her aid. I still continue to hope that Tashigi shows in Wano for more Zoro interaction, and to prove herself to fans and to Zoro that she is strong and capable. One of my favourite anime of all time is Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, a combination of laughter, tears and deep philosophical character journeys in a 20th century world with the alchemy fantasy element drawn from actual legit alchemical sources. It just hits all the right notes for me, and ships hit right too; I love most of the ships from EdWin, AlMay and LingFan, but like Fitzsimmons there is one ship that stands above even the main characters, Royai.

Mustang and Hawkeye right from the bat have that connection that needs no dancing around, they care for each other but they work together. Like the rest of the ships they banter, argue but always have each other’s backs, to the point that they go into an insane rage at even the threat of the other being hurt. I don’t think anyone can not ship these two, that’s how strong their chemistry is, even if they can’t officially label it as a relationship because of their jobs it’s that line in the sand that everyone knows it, because it’s impossible to ignore. The Old Guard So we get to the oldest ships in my catalogue, the fact that they could stand the test of time is for a long time what shaped me as a shipper. I still ship these to this day so I ship them pretty hardcore Comics is probably the hardest place to ship something, because different writers will try different pairings at the drop of a hat. Even consistent pairings like Spiderman and Mary Jane, Batman and Catwoman, Beat Boy and Raven, Superman and Lois and more can end up being split in favour of Cindy Moon (I do love Silk), Wonder Woman and others. But I can’t ignore the fact that I’ve always loved Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon

I may’ve liked Teen Titans, but I was never on Team Starfire, it’s fine if you are but to me I have always been in with Dick and Babs. Not only do they have excellent banter but they gel well on and off of crime fighting, no matter how many times DC break them apart (like seriously, how many times do you have to try Bruce and Barbara until you realise that it creeps people out?) they always find each other again someway down the line, they are one of DC’s best couples and while they may never get a definitive ending because of the nature of comics, I still love that there’s a relationship of two strong individuals who can stand as equals and continue to keep their charm and wit after years of being together. When I was young, decades ago as it pains me to type, Digimon was the prime competitor against Pokémon’s tidal wave. Its anime had an awesome opening, more characters with some deeper themes and a quicker pacing. While many could quickly connect to Tai or Matt for their leaderlike attitude or Joe and Izzy for their intelligence or Mimi and Sora for their determination, I gravitated towards TK, a child who had room to grow and the greatest of potential, so when the Dark Masters came in we saw one of my oldest ships take form, Takari

TK and Kari’s pairing was popular that it managed to carry on into Adventure 02 and we got plenty of lovely moments in TRI (though they shorthanded both by having Ophanimon quickly fused and Seraphimon - one of the strongest Digimon - digivolve as backup in a Sora episode). 02′s epilogue is of course a sore spot we can hope Kizuna retcons because these two have been through thick and thin and their bond is clear. Even as they reach their late teens and TK has become master of hats and joined Matt’s band, they still hang out, banter and tease but they still are comfortable to hold each other’s hand and be vulnerable with one another too. Digimon may’ve been a contender, but Pokémon was still the clear winner, even to this day it is one of the most popular franchises in the world. The anime may be an up and down slope (current series seems a tad boring, 10 episodes before Ash caught a Pokémon, plus I don’t like that Ash won in Alola and now thinks he doesn’t have to try) but you can never take away the nostalgia, or the ships. I’ve shipped many in Pokémon in various media; Mallow x Lillie and Jessie x James in the anime, Ruby x Sapphire in the Manga, Looker x Anabel in the games (with Emma being their adoptive daughter dammit Looker you could’ve taken her with) among others and from Pokémon comes the oldest ship I’ve ever shipped, Pokéshipping

Before I even knew what Shipping was I shipped this, Misty may also be mostly the reason for my attraction to redheads but that’s neither here nor there. People may not like it, may prefer some of the softer spoken female (or male) companions Ash has had or feel they’ve grown out of it, but not me. I loved Misty’s feistiness and determination but also the fact that she could reign Ash in (sometimes) to make him think things through, as much as Misty was a companion to Ash she was a rival, a teacher and a supporter of his goal, but she also had her own goals which she fought for as well. They may bicker but they have also had tender moments as well and even with Misty’s return in the excellent Sun and Moon episodes they had their chemistry is palpable. To me, Ash and Misty were kindred spirits and the feeling has never changed since. So with another year of Valentine’s Day going the way it usually does, I’d like a moment to thank these ships, and all my other ships I didn’t have the space to mention, for being something that brings out happiness and a soft joy deep within my being, and for all the fanartists and fanfic writers that bring that love to life Happy Valentine’s Day