#i spent a lot of time on their hair details so i gotta show them off :3

[zephyrine-gale]

all of the sumeru charms! POs will open on Feb 10th 12pm CDT! they’ll be open for 2~3 weeks i’ll be posting close ups for all designs up until the PO date :>

[yeeterthek33per]

Loved and Landed (Steph Catley x Reader)

A/n Requested

-------

Steph lives a busy life.

There's her football life. Obviously.

There's her schooling life.

There's the life she lives with her friends and family.

And then there's the life with-

"Steeeeeph, come on, I wanna get there early, I'm not dealing with Katie leaving something for me to find, again."

There's incessant tugging at the sleeve of her red Arsenal hoodie.

Of course, her football life keeps her the most busy.

Especially when she has to drive it to and from home all of the time now that Kyra's living in the house as well.

It had been a hectic process, but the young midfielder had settled in quickly, taking in the familiarity of the Aussie herself and her club teammates' closeness around them.

Quickly becoming a child amongst the older girls on the team, much like a sibling to them, within but a few months.

That being said.

Kyra was a little shit.

And she knew it too.

A demanding one at that.

Hence why Katie had taken to knocking the young brunette down a few pegs.

Her cockiness was starting to show under the protection of the older girls, so the Irish captain had been messing with her enough to take the invincible mindset away from her.

Leaving her ultimately latched onto Steph now.

A lot.

"Seriously, Steph, please, I can't deal with her leaving shaving foam in my boots again."

The older woman raises an eyebrow at the pleading look on Kyra's face.

"You did this to yourself, Ky. Katie's only retaliating because you decided you were king shit enough to put hair dye in her shampoo."

The younger girl whines.

"Don't you think she's retaliated enough? I've had my shoes violated, my shin guards replaced with slightly smaller ones. I mean, the other day, my water bottle was filled with pickle juice. Pickle Juice! For gods sake."

Steph sighs, rolling her eyes slightly, grabbing the last of her stuff to shove into her pack, she gestures to the front door, to which the midfielder eagerly hurries out of and towards the car, waiting impatiently for the defender to unlock it.

"You've seriously gotta apologise to Katie or something. The girl has ten siblings, I can't imagine she hasn't spent her whole life dealing with bratty behaviour from little shits like you."

Kyra scoffs as she hurriedly buckles herself in.

"Rude."

"The truth."

Steph smirks at the small pout that forms on the other girls lips.

"Hurry up and drive."

"So bossy."

-------

As expected, they arrive with hardly any other people around, decidedly much earlier than any of the other girls. Katie wasn't the earliest of player's anyway, so Kyra really shouldn't be worried about her beating them there.

Still, the youngin looks exceptionally nervous as she peaks into the changing room and gingerly makes her way over to her cubby, scanning it with a ridiculous level of detail.

Steph can only shake her head, watching the young girl sheepishly wander around the room, checking for what may well be hidden traps.

Maybe she should talk with Katie about getting her to take it down a notch.

The Irish woman was nothing if not relentless when it came to getting back at someone.

The last thing the team needed was a midfielder with serious trust issues stemming from their infamous yellow card magnet of a winger.

"Ky, relax. She's not even here yet."

"Yeah, but you never know."

"Seriously, it's game day, relax, she won't-"

"Oh, hello, you two. Stephy. Kyra."

The ever so loud and joyful Katie enters the changing room with a bang of the door as it slams open and hits the wall.

Her smirk quirks up a little wider at the sight of the midfielder, who's looking rather sheepishly around her rather than at the Irish woman herself.

"You two extra early today, eh?"

"Ha, something like that."

Steph gives her a look as she nods in Kyra's direction.

"Give the poor girl a break, would ya? I think she's been thoroughly humbled."

Katie snorts in amusement, eyeing her up.

"Eh, she’s fine. I wasn't gonna do anything."

Steph raises a brow at that.

"....Yet."

There it is.

"Of course. Don't mess around too much, though. We still have a game to play, McCabe."

She lets out an unconvincing hum in response, right as some of the other girls start to filter in, Caitlin one of the ones to settle into her cubby beside the defender.

"What's up with the kid?"

Steph snorts.

"Ask your girlfriend. She's been torturing the poor girl."

Caitlin rolls her eyes, turning to Katie, who's now got a cheeky glint in her as she eyes up the younger of the three.

"Katie."

"What? I didn't do any-"

She stops at the look she gets from the Australian, grumbling as she relents and turns back to her cubby.

-------

Kyra's finally able to escape the locker room out of sight of the defender the moment the Irish woman is distracted.

Heading down the hall towards the physio room, she ends up coming face to face with and bumping face first into someone.

She groans when she rubs at her face and her backside from where she landed on it as she stands up again with the help of her assailant.

The person is stood in a royal navy uniform, a patch on her shoulder with three horizontal gold stripes and a small circled loop on the top, hair slicked back and tight into a bun behind her head.

'L/n-Catley' the name badge reads.

Confusion crosses her face which you quickly notice.

"You're Steph's teammate right?"

"Uh yeeaah? Who are you?"

"It's a long story and sorry about the bump there. I uh, I don't know if y'all know yet but I might need your help. The staff were nice enough to let me in but I need an escort here."

"Where are you going?"

"I got told to wait for one of the trainers in the staff room?"

"Can I ask what you're doing?"

"Waiting to see Steph, but don't tell her, it's supposed to be a surprise."

Kyra is extremely sceptical, but she leads you down the hall to where the trainers are situated and one of them recognises you immediately, hugging you and dragging you into the room.

She's even more confused when the staff member is nearly in tears.

Wait.

Navy uniform.

Here to see Steph.

L/n-Catley on the name badge.

There's no way.

"Are you... Are you married to Steph?"

You chuckle softly, rubbing the back of your neck.

"Yes I am. If you can't tell it's been a little while since we've seen each other."

"Yeah, I can tell, her house is far too empty for the size of it."

"Ah, so you're the new roommate. Kyra, right?"

"She's been talking about me?"

You nod.

"We would call every two weeks. When she found out you were moving to Arsenal, I couldn't tell if she was happy or mad because you'd already trashed her white towels."

"Hey! That was not my fault, the wine just fell... on it's own."

There's a sheepish look on her face.

You chuckle softly.

"She'll be fine, the pattern was ugly anyway, we needed new towels... Don't tell her I said that."

Kyra smiles at that.

"It's great to meet you, then... How are we planning this out?"

"I'll have my sister here sneak me somewhere I can wait and surprise her at the end of the game."

She nods.

"Alright, I better get going then before the girls come looking for me for pitch inspection."

You nod back and give her a warm smile.

"Oh, I'm Y/n, by the way, Lieutenant Commander Y/n L/n-Catley."

-------

The roar of the almost entirely red and white crowd as the girls enter the pitch is as usual, deafeningly loud.

Home games are always the most adrenaline instilling games, ones where their fans are always the loudest, chanting and screaming every time one of their own touches the ball.

Steph can still hardly believe it.

The growth in the game. Breaking records every single home match so far.

The FA Cup semi-final was no different it seems.

Her eyes subtly scan the crowd as she jogs out behind the others, shifting from clapping fan to clapping fan. There's an air about the crowd.

A massively high inducing air, one that she can feel in every nerve ending in her body as she practically bounces around the pitch in warmups.

She brushes it off as it being a semi final type of high.

Aston Villa would be a difficult opponent and she assumed that was the reasoning.

-------

It seems she's proven wrong in the first ten minutes.

It doesn't take long for Stina to score, the home crowd immediately losing their minds, and they barely have time to recover just two minutes later when the Swede swoops in for the double.

By the fourty-fifth minute, they know they have the game. Four to nil over the Villans thanks to a Stina hattrick and a goal from Frida. Her heartbeat is thumping in her ears as they approach the final minute.

This is the part they're in the dark. How many minutes left of stoppage? How much longer does she have to defend?

The players are taught not to worry about that. To just play until the whistle blows. And she does.

But she can't help the nagging awaiting of the whistle, wondering when it will go.

The moment it does, there's celebration, relief, and a lot of cheering and screams and congratulation from the air around.

A pair of arms and legs wrap around her from behind as Kyra jumps on her back, the young Australian whooping into her ear.

"Onto the finals, Stephy!"

The defender chuckles and celebrates with the team, the announcer shouting out the home teams win to wind up the crowd once more.

As they do the celebration walk around the pitch, the announcer announces player of the match, and then one more announcement catches her ear.

Her head snaps toward the tunnel the moment she hears it, heart stopping at the words of the female announcer.

"And finally, one last round of applause. Let us congratulate and welcome back someone very special to one of our own. Lieutenant Commander Y/N L/n-Catley returning from fifteen months of duty at sea with the Royal Navy."

And truly, there you are, her wife.

Dressed to the nines in your Black, long sleeved uniform, hands clasped behind you, standing with a wide, almost teary smile as you watch Steph bolt across the pitch towards you, catching her with little effort as she jumps into your arms, knocking the cap off your head with the force.

The rest of the Arsenal girls stand shocked, looking between themselves and their left back at the sudden appearance of a totally new member of the Catley family.

Before they can even try to work out who you might be to Steph, the defender has her lips pressed to yours tightly, tears streaming down your face.

The sensation of finally being able to kiss you, her wife. HER wife, has her trembling against you, her stomach twisting and curling as you hold her tight against you, your own hands shaking as they rest on her back.

It had been the longest stint you'd gone without seeing each other, having been on a cramped ship for the majority of that time.

Even having been used to long times apart, the immense relief of being able to hold your person, your love, YOUR wife, after so long. was like nothing else you'd ever experienced.

And you were glad you had all the time in the world to experience it now.

When Steph's finally able to pull back and look you in the eye, hands holding your face, eyes scanning your features, noting a small scar under your right brow, and then returning to make eye contact again with you, albeit very tearily, much like yourself.

Lifting your own hands, your thumbs swipe away the tears on her cheeks, leaning down once more to kiss her, forehead leaning against hers.

You take in the immensity of the screams of the crowd all of a sudden, especially the crowd around the players' tunnel.

With that, she buries herself back into your hold, her nose buried into the crook of your neck.

Your eyes scan the pitch, watching the applauding or shocked expressions of the players.

You'd already known her teammates didn't know she was married, however their shocked expressions still have you chuckling.

All except Kyra's wide smile as she watches the two of you and you give the girl a wink.

"I can't believe it. You're here."

It's half whimpered into your shoulder, and you just barely hear it over the crowd.

"I'm here. I'm home."

"They finally let you on leave?"

She's using a half joking tone beneath the watery chokes and sobs.

"Better than that, Love."

She pulls away shocked.

"You mean.."

You smile down at her teary eyed.

"I'm home for good, not retired but they're giving me an office in London. Full time hours still but I won't be needed for duty anymore."

She frowns softly after a second.

She knew you'd always hated the idea of an office job.

Catching the look on her face, you knew what she'd be thinking about.

"I don't care where it is, or what I'm doing. I'm just glad I'm home, with you. I've had my fill of travelling and front line work for a lifetime."

Leaning your forehead back against hers, you let the moment sink in.

You'd known it was coming for months now, haven spoken to your superiors, and them letting you know there was a position available remotely, you'd taken it in a heartbeat.

If it meant coming home to your girl, you'd have done anything.

A small throat clearing a couple feet from you, the team had moved to stand around the pair of you, eager to ask questions of the brunette in your arms.

You nudge her softly with a small giggle in her ear.

"Babe, I think they have questions."

"They can wait a little longer."

You don't fight her on it just letting her settle into you again, holding you tightly.

The moment she does let go, she's grabbed by the shoulders and interrogated by the team rather swiftly.

Leah stands arms crossed.

"Now Stephy, when did this occur?"

Steph sheepishly smiles around her at her.

"Alright alright, Gunners, meet my beautiful wife, Y/n. She's been in the navy since she turned eighteen, we met five years ago when she was on leave in Australia. We started dating less than a month later and she left on duty about four months later. We got married after three years, bought a house right before she left a year and a bit ago. We haven't seen each other in person since then. Until now, that is."

And just like that, you're immediately dragged into the group rather swiftly, squished into several hugs.

A firm handshake and then a tight hug from their captain, especially. The Scot making firm well you know how quickly she'd bury you should you hurt their defender, despite the fact you'd known Steph longer and you chuckle, nodding in agreement at the stern look turned cracked smile she lets go.

When you're finally free, Steph takes no time tucking herself under your arm and wrapping hers around you, looking up at you slightly with a proud, elated smile, eyes still slightly teary.

Returning the expression, you press a small kiss to her nose.

"Welcome home, Baby."

You shake your head.

"Congrats on the win, Baby, this is your moment right now. Go celebrate for a bit, we've got all the time in the world now."

She pouts but relents with a small peck and nudge.

"KYRA, YOU KNEW?!"

The shouts of the Irish captain make her jump but chuckle a little as a gloating midfielder teases the rest of the girls.

Yeah. She was in for it.

-------

[newtthetranswriter]

Hello !

Can we have some hc for Natsu , Gray , Luxus & Gajeel reuniting with their s/o after the 7y they were « stuck «  in Tenrou island ? Their s/o stayed at the guild so they still think they are dead . FT has such good angst material I wish they used it more 😞 they talked about the 7y gap only for 5 min like it didn’t deserve an entire episode about it .

A/n: Thank you for the request. I just gotta say I completely agree that they should have talked about the gap more, like a lot can happen in seven years, and they're just like 'wow seven years past, here's the like three major things that happened while we thought y'all were dead, now get back to work'. Anyways, sorry it took so long to get this out. I hope you enjoy and remember to hydrate or diedrate.

General Background:

Hearing that the entirety of Tenrou Island had disappeared during the S-class trails broke your heart

And as much as it pains you to admit it, you were probably the first member of Fairy Tail to accept that the wizards on Tenrou had died

So when Blue Pegasus showed up saying that there was evidence to suggest that Tenrou Island was still out there, you refused to believe them

You tried to reason that is had been seven years, if the Tenrou team had survived they would have made it back by now, not to mention every trip out to look for them there was no sign of the island at all

Of course the Remaining members of Fairy Tail still held on to hope that their friends where out there somewhere, so a small group left to try and find them once again

Still not wanting to get your hopes up, you decided it was best to stay at the guild and wait for their return so you can comfort them when they show up empty handed

You had been focused on protecting Romeo from Twilight Ogre, and failed to notice the mass of Magic energy that approached the guild Hall.

So when the man holding the hammer was sent flying across the room, you were just as much shock as the rest of the guild

After the new presence beat the crap out of the rival guild members and the dust settled, you couldn't believe your eyes

Standing in the door to the Fairy Tail Guild hall was none other than the group that had disappeared seven years ago

Natsu:

Seeing the pink haired mage you had spent the last seven years mourning, standing right in front of you stole your breath away

He looked exactly the same as he did when he left for the trials, how could that be possible

After they explained what happened and everyone began talking about some of the major changes that had happened while they were gone, Natsu came over to talk to you

He thought he would be greeted by a hug and some words of how much you missed him, maybe even some happy tears, but as soon as he made eye contact you broke down into full on sobs

He immediately wrapped you in hug pulling you close and rubbing your back, whispering gentle words about how he's there for you

Being back in his arms and taking in his scent just caused the tears to fall harder, but after a few moments you finally calmed down pulling back looking him in the eyes again

He waited for you to make the next move, and when you started talking about you were sorry for not believing in him and how you should have been there when they found him, he was stunned

Being completely taken aback by that response he pulls you close again, assuring you that he's not mad about you not being there and how he can't blame you for thinking he died after all it had been seven years

Once he had gotten you to calm down again he asks if you want to go for a walk and tell him about what has changed for you while he was gone

He'd listen to every detail, how you help search endlessly for them but after a while you gave up hope, how you still lived in the shack that you shared with him and Happy because you couldn't bring yourself to part from it

He listened to how you tried once or twice to go out with someone new but every time it fell through because no matter how many times you told yourself he was gone you couldn't get over him

Natsu just listened, he knew what it was like to have someone you love suddenly disappear so he didn't blame you for any of it

He just wanted too be there for you as handled this new wave of emotions and he wanted to assure you that he would be there not matter what

Gray:

Seeing Gray standing in the guild hall once again brought tears to your eyes

Ignoring as everyone explained what had happened, you were brought back to every night you spent crying yourself to sleep after you accepted that he was dead

You stood there tears streaming down your face as you relived every memory you had with the Ice Make wizard

Once he noticed you standing off to the side with tears falling, he rushed to your side

Hearing Gray ask if you were ok snapped you out of your thoughts, reaching out placing a hand on his face you couldn't stop your self from asking if he was really there

He would just chuckle softly and assure you that he was in fact really there

Deciding that you weren't dreaming or hallucinating, you pulled him in to a tight hug, soaking his shirt in fresh wave of tears as you berried your face in his shoulder

He just let you cry as he held you close knowing that it was shock to have someone that was supposed to be dead show up again

Once you stop crying Gray would suggest the two of you go somewhere to talk

He'd listen as you told him about the past seven years, squeezing your hand any time you looked like you were about to break down again reassuring you that he was there for you know

If you even tried to blame yourself for believing he was dead or not going when the rest went to see if they were really out there, he would make you look him in the eyes as he told you that it was in no way your fault

He would make sure that you knew he would never blame you for thinking he had died, and that he would spend everyday of his life making up for the seven years of hell he put you through, if you would let him of course

Laxus:

He wouldn't wait a second after making his appearance in guild hall to find you

After all his only other friends had all been on Tenrou so there was only one person he need to catch up with

Seeing his giant frame make it's way towards you left you speechless, after all this time he was finally back and he looked the same as when he left

Not giving him a chance to speak, you wrapped him in hug expressing how much you missed him

He wasn't surprised when a damp patch started to form on his chest where your head rested

He let you cry it out, rubbing your back so you knew he was really there

Laxus wouldn't even care about the strange looks the rest of the guild was giving him, all he cared about was making sure you were okay

After you calmed down and spent a small amount of time welcoming the rest of the Tenrou Team back you found yourself going for walk with Laxus

You apologized for not being there when the rest found them, after all you didn't know he had gone out to Tenrou and thought he just stopped visiting you

He assured you that you didn't need to apologize for anything, he then apologized for not telling you he was going to Tenrou and for making you think he just abandoned you

He also promised to do whatever it took to make up for everything

Gajeel:

It took Panther Lily pushing him in your direction for Gajeel to notice you had been staring at him since the moment they walked back into the guild

Realizing you hadn't taken your eyes of him, he timidly approached and apologized for leaving you for seven years

He's not the best with words or emotions so he is startled when you pull him into a bone crushing hug followed by tears soaking his shoulder

He'd pat your back trying to get you to calm down, saying that you're going to ruin his bandages, secretly he's just happy you were there

After you calm down he lets you vent about how much you missed and how sorry you were for losing hope

Again not the best with words so he'd probably mumble about it not being your fault

Seeing that the reunion wasn't going super smoothly, Panther Lily would probably show up and assure you that while Gajeel is shit with words, he really is happy to see you

(dividers by cafekitsune)

[aelfgyvaa]

Period Drama Costuming - a (ranty) review

I love period dramas. I watch them like my life depends on it, and as a result, I have Thoughts. Period dramas are arguably where costuming becomes most important - here, costume isn't solely a storytelling device, it's a reflection of the specific place and time in which the narrative is taking place. Sometimes it's done well. Sometimes it really - really - isn't.

It's reductive to try and make any sweeping, general rules about how costumes in period dramas should be done. Every show has its own tone and style, and this is important to consider. However, some productions can take this in... interesting directions. We can really only judge each attempt at historical costuming on an individual basis, which - spoiler alert - is exactly what I'm about to do. Below the cut, I've had a look at some bad costumes, some good costumes, and some that don't really seem to fit in either category.

DISCLAIMER!! - This is simply an opportunity for me to rant about something I have a lot of (subjective) Feelings™ about, and is in no way supposed to comment on the overall quality of any of the pieces discussed. I'm also NOT claiming to be an expert on this topic. There are lots of people on here who undoubtedly know more about this than me, and if you're one of them, I'd really love to hear your thoughts!!

The Bad

Reign (The CW, 2013-17)

I've just gotta get this one out of the way. I made it through an almost-entire season of Reign before the atrocity that is its costuming got the better of me. If you'd shown me photos from this show without telling me it's about Mary Queen of Scots, I couldn't have guessed what period this might be set in. Reign's costume designer has stated "I wanted gowns that kept some kind of Elizabethan element, whether it was a nipped waist and extreme silhouette, or if it had a bit of a medieval feel" and uh. Yeah. By and large, that didn't happen. From what I can tell, a somewhat historical silhouette does begin to appear in the show's final season, but at what cost?

Perhaps Reign wouldn't have been as bad if the dresses were at least nice to look at. Instead, they're generally reminiscent of prom dresses - the fabric looks cheap, and the details look so tacky that I can't even endorse the costuming for this show from an aesthetic standpoint. Sorry to any Reign fans out there, but this is almost certainly going to be my most scathing review of the lot.

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The Musketeers (BBC, 2014-16)

I love The Musketeers. I really do. But what the costume department was thinking - especially when it came to the women's costumes - I really have no idea. I mean, a Peter Pan collar?? On the Queen of France??? IN THE 1620S???? Truly something. Constance always looks like she only half-finished getting dressed that morning (why is her hair down. she's married.), and Anne sports some of the most outlandishly ridiculous collars I've ever seen. I don't even want to get into what Marie de' Medici is wearing. It's belts - as a necklace apparently! She also appears to be hiding some kind of gourd under her hair, but alas.

Yes, the men wear pleather. Yes, it does upset me.

The Musketeers' costumes perhaps wouldn't sting so badly if they didn't dress numerous background extras in significantly more accurate clothing. I've spent too much time watching this show and sighing in despair because Noblewoman Number 3 has a more accurate 1620s dress than the literal Queen.

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The Spanish Princess (Starz, 2019-20)

I haven't properly sat down to watch The Spanish Princess through to its conclusion yet, but I do intend to - when she's not fawning over Richard III, Philippa Gregory adaptations can still be good fun, despite having about as much historical authenticity as the Fiji mermaid.

Nevertheless, no one in this show seems aware of what time period they're in, with dress styles spanning from early 14th-century surcoats to some fairly Elizabethan-looking silhouettes. The fabric choices are all over the place, and similarly - although not quite as egregiously - to Reign, often don't even manage to look good. Even from a modern standpoint, this show is colour- and pattern-clash galore. There is also practically no layering whatsoever, with the dresses going on as single pieces without a panel in sight. Admittedly probably easier from a production standpoint, but still.

Don't even get me started on the headdresses. Weird, pudding-cap-esque padded crowns and tiny scraps of fabric like the ones seen on Mary Tudor (an attempt at a French hood? I shudder) are fairly constant, although I have spotted a few passable attempts at a Gable hood.

They do get points for giving Arthur Tudor a fuck ass bob. Thanks.

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The Buccaneers (Apple TV+, 2023-)

When I first started The Buccaneers and saw what its costuming had to offer, I audibly sighed. If you're a fan of visible back-lacing, cheap quality fabrics, and poorly fitting bodices, this is the show for you. The 1870s look is not a difficult one to emulate, and yet The Buccaneers fails rather miserably with its main characters, half of whom appear to be walking around in their underwear, with untied hair and single-layer dresses. Poor Nan only seems to own about two outfits that aren't visibly too big for her.

But by far the greatest crime committed by The Buccaneers' costume department comes in the decision to have multiple instances in which characters appear to be wearing corsets as tops. Yeah. I had a rough time with that one too. Mabel seems a particular victim of this - in both of the images above she looks as if she's been rushed out of the house before she got the chance to even button up her dress. A State of Affairs indeed.

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The Good

Becoming Elizabeth (Starz, 2022)

Although I was slightly underwhelmed with the execution of Becoming Elizabeth's story, this was absolutely overshadowed by its costuming, which is probably one of the most historically accurate depictions of Tudor clothing I've ever seen. With the same costume designer as Shardlake (which is also very well done - a big day for fans of Anthony Boyle's codpiece), it's remarkably clear how much research went into the pieces worn on this show, with some directly recreated from portraits, and others visibly inspired by surviving clothing from the period.

I won't pretend that Becoming Elizabeth's costuming is without flaws - I'm not a fan of Elizabeth's hunting/riding clothes, and she wears her hair down far too often (Catherine Parr appeared at times to have access to a Dyson Airwrap). However, the positives definitely outweigh any gripes I have. We have dressing scenes in which we see the separate layers and panels that comprised Tudor dresses, and the French hoods actually have hoods, as opposed to simply being the semi-circular headbands we see far too often. The royal women wear ermine fur on their sleeves, and I was also a fan of the jewellery.

The care that went into the costumes for Becoming Elizabeth is so clear - I truly wish I'd enjoyed the plot more, if just so that I could spend more time staring at those dresses.

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Emma. (Autumn de Wilde, 2020)

I adore Emma, and its costuming is honestly perhaps the biggest part of that love. The waistlines! The hairstyles! The bonnets! Emma's costumes are proof that you don't have to sacrifice historical accuracy for the sake of stylization - it's by far the most zany and colourful of any direct Austen adaptation, and yet its visuals remain strikingly faithful to the Regency period.

Like Becoming Elizabeth, many of the pieces worn in Emma bear a striking resemblance to surviving pieces and fashion plates from the era. The only problem I've noticed in this was the alarmingly strange detachable ruff-thing Emma is shown wearing in one scene, but frankly, it still manages to fit the tone of the piece.

I'm usually not a huge fan of the Regency fashion depicted on television - I find it rather dull - but the costumes in this movie are gorgeously distracting in every scene. Turns out historical accuracy actually can make things better - who knew!

Is this enough to make me forgive Alexandra Byrne for the costumes in Mary Queen of Scots (2018)?

No.

(I do not forgive ANYONE who worked on Mary Queen of Scots for making Mary Queen of Scots.)

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Firebrand (Karim Aïnouz, 2023)

Firebrand hasn't even been released outside of Cannes yet, and already I am so, so down with everything it's giving. This movie could end up being the dullest two hours of my life, but I'll still sing its praises for one very simple reason - CHIN. STRAPS.

THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS!! The French hoods FINALLY have chin straps!!!! It's only been in virtually every well-known painting of them ever, no big deal.

Although we only have one trailer and a few promo photos to go off of, the costumes in Firebrand look fantastic, with enough layers, fur, embroidery, and hoop skirts to keep me happy for perhaps the rest of my life. We'll see how the movie itself turns out, but it already has a lot going for it in my eyes.

Also shoutout to Henry VIII's absolutely manky leg ulcers in the trailer. That's what I like to see.

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The Outliers

Right. Here is where the hypocrite accusations are about to come flying. But frankly, I said it myself at the start that every period piece deserves to be judged on an individual basis, and the tone and intention of each piece is important in how its costumes are perceived.

That being said, if you think any of the 'bad' costumes deserve to be in this section - maybe they should've tried not being ugly, idk.

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Bridgerton (Netflix, 2020-)

Bridgerton's excuse for its inaccuracy comes not from its lack of effort, but rather from its deliberate rejection of the historical narrative in any form whatsoever. We have two Real People™ in Queen Charlotte and King George III, but even their spin-off opens with a disclaimer that their story will be utterly fictional. Bridgerton does not present an issue like some of the other pieces on this list because it is actively opposed to being historically accurate to a degree that few other period pieces have arguably ever achieved.

Literally nothing about Bridgerton is consistent with history, so it does not disappoint when its costumes aren't either. The clothing does take visible inspiration from the Regency silhouette, but even then it is not consistent, with Queen Charlotte's costumes still firmly Georgian-esque (and honestly, marvellous wigs aside, they're not... bad?). Bridgerton is a historical fantasy before it's a historical drama, and as such it's easy to just sit back and enjoy the costumes for what they are - even when what they are is garish.

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The Great (Hulu, 2020-23)

The Great is first and foremost a dark comedy, not a historical piece. Yes, Catherine the Great and Peter III were real people, and yes, much like in the show, Catherine did overthrow her husband in real life, too. But the similarities end here, as none of the characters in The Great have any intention of resembling their real-life counterparts.

Set roughly in the 1740s, the costumes in The Great are clearly far from reality, but they still resemble the silhouettes we know and recognise as 18th Century. The show is a satirical means of poking fun at the opulent aristocracy, and as such every costume conveys a distinct appearance of luxury. Every single item of clothing worn by the nobility looks absurdly expensive, and the exaggerated ridiculousness of many of the looks we see onscreen are an intentional way of conveying how utterly disconnected the people at court are from reality. From Peter's leopard skin jacket to ladies wearing powdered wigs as hats, The Great's costuming is purposefully elevated from its historical source material, and that is precisely what makes it so good.

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The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018)

Sandy Powell's work on The Favourite is perhaps one of my all-time favourite pieces of costuming. Similarly to The Great, The Favourite utilises clearly recognisable aspects of 18th-century fashion - with ermine fur trim, half-length sleeves, and periwigs - but stylised so that everything conforms to a solidly black and white colour palate.

The Favourite's costumes are gorgeous and evocative of their time period - with well-portrayed mantuas, riding habits, fontanges etc. - all while conforming to Lanthimos' characteristically off-beat style. The shared colour palate really puts the three leads on equal footing in a visual sense, which is key in exploring the relationships that Abigail and Sarah are able to manipulate Queen Anne into developing. Had the colours and fabrics been historically accurate, I believe the movie would have risked making Anne too visibly above the rest of her court, but the striking congruence among the cast successfully solidifies their ability to exploit one another, regardless of status.

────────────

I don't know if there are any conclusions to be drawn from this, I just love talking. If you've made it this far - thank you for reading! I hope you found at least some of this interesting.

I'm always open and eager to discuss this topic, so please do let me know your thoughts - What are your favourite period drama costumes? What piece of costuming made you go OH JESUS WHAT IS THAT???

Anyway, thank you for going down this little rabbit hole with me - my asks are always open! <3

[daswarschonkaputt]

[surfaces from the deep with art in tow]

'tis i, the purveyor of fem!kinnporsche lookbooks, this time bearing kimchay. if you missed the kinnporsche one it's here. if you didn't, you know the drill, thoughts and refs beneath the cut.

okay let's start with kim:

i'm gonna be real with you folks: i struggled hard with fem!kim. in my head, kim much like fem!kinn is someone who uses her clothes to send messages, but where kinn is trying to communicate power and authority, kim is instead using her clothes to adopt different personas or elements of her personality. and so, i can see fem!kim wearing nearly everything, basically.

kimlor swift aka wik aka internet popstar kim

so, return customers may notice something odd about kim: i gave her different poses for each of her personas. why? i think kim is someone who embodies a lot of different personas, and i think the change is more than skin deep.

this was very much the first set i drew. the brief for these outfits in my head was something like "k-pop kim possible". also a lot of these were drawn when i still had covid lmao so i barely remember most of it.

it was very important to me that kim had a wolf cut. that fact came to me the moment i started thinking about fem!kim. so. you know. you're welcome.

runing errands (first outfit) - this one was the first outfit i drew for kim, and it was mostly summoned up from my own head. i spent a lot of time scrolling through pinterest before i started drawing. in my head, this is sort of what she wears when she's out and about as wik but not like, performing or whatever. still a very crafted image, but a little more casual than her performance gear.

performance (second outfit) - this one does have a ref! i found this image on pinterest and was like yes. this one. i thought long and hard about what i wanted wik's fashion and persona to be, because i debated going along the family friendly singer-songstress route, but in the end i figured she had to be cool and a little edgy. hence [gestures at the clothes].

award show/red carpet (third outfit) - this one's kind of fun. longtime listeners will recall that i started drawing these lookbooks bc @mortimerlatrice told me they didn't think fem!kinn would wear dresses and i had to disprove them -- so i thought it'd be fun if for kim, she only wore dresses when on mafia business. kim in a dress is a blaring warning signal that you're gonna get your shit rocked. so, kim's award show look is a pantsuit. she doesn't wear dresses at all as wik. there was definitely a reference image for this one, but i drew the entirety of this first set when i had covid, so i don't think i saved it OTL

detective wikachu aka mafia kim

another fun detail you might notice about mafia!kim -- she's always got her hair up. that was also deliberate. also holy shit this set killed me so bad. we'll get there.

running errands (detective errands) (first outfit) - this is what kim wears when she's gotta blackmail randos for info. fairly casual, all things told, but very different in vibe to her wik stuf. also the pattern on that suit is incredibly simple but it took me 45 mins to create bc i still had covid brainfog at this point. the reference for this look was celine's spring/summer 2021 rtw collection look 24.

visiting dad (to snoop) (second outfit) - another source of debate for me. what, exactly, does kim send as a message to her father when she comes back home? i played with the idea of her wearing a sort of perfectly pretty mafia princess disguise, but i don't think that's what she'd use to get on her father's good side. so, she's wearing a dress (fuck your shit up vibes for her) but it's got a strong vibe to it. so, i had to go with alexander mcqueen, which is one of my favourite designers. this one is specifically alexander mcqueen pre-fall 2022 look 17.

at a gala (mafia-flavoured) also to snoop (third outfit) - oh my god you guys will not believe how many of these i went through. i even fully drew another option before discarding it completely. (originally, i was going to go with erdem pre-fall 2023 look 8 which i drafted here but i just didn't vibe with it the more i worked on it. i guess it felt a little too princessy? so i pivoted.) this one is from another of those designers i actually really like, zuhair murad. this one's from fall 2022 couture, specifically look 38. very much love at first sight. the moment i saw it, i knew i was gonna draw it. and oh boy did drawing it make me suffer. that bead pattern on the dress? killed me. actually killed me. fucking OW. worth it though.

family portrait (fourth outfit) - after all the suffering of kim's formal look this one was comparatively a breeze. found a pic on pinterest, and whoosh i went drawing. the reference is here.

chay!kim

this set is very much what it says on the tin, the clothes kim wears around chay. let's go.

guitar tutoring (first outfit) - okay so in my head the brief for this one was "what kim thinks chay thinks wik wears on her downtime", which very much sets the tone for the entire outfit. i just think it's fun if kim twists herself out of sorts with how clever she is and then chay just bulldozes straight through that. i don't actually have a reference for this one. just drew it.

rescue chay (second outfit) - this is what kim wears to go save chay from the tawan kidnapping. i dubbed this one "when you got library study session at 9, rescue bae at 12, and cyberpunk revolution at 3". the loose inspo for this one was this dress on pinterest which i tracked to the brand ganni and then found they no longer made.

say no to drugs, chay (third outfit) - okay so i wanted this outfit to be like. a wake up call to chay. the first time chay sees kim in a skirt, and the first time chay realises that maybe kim is a little dangerous. it's alexander mcqueen (ofc it is) and actually in the time between me drawing this and posting it, someone actually wore the skirt from this look on the red carpet. it's the spring 2023 rtw collection, look 24. salma hayek wore the skirt to the 2023 brits here.

the youtuber apology video fit (fourth outfit) - the brief here was "kim forcibly bolting on hinges". the idea was to kind of soften her mafia edges but leave the cornerstones of how she dresses for that very much there. so, dress, hair up, but much more relaxed. this outfit is from tommy hilfiger's spring 2023 rtw collection, specifically look 17.

onto chay:

chay was really hard to start with, i'm going to be real. i think the sum total for my notes when i started was just one word: dungarees? as i drew more of her i started to think of her as someone who thrifts and then alters a lot of her clothes. i wanted colour and patterns, and i suffered for them. by god did i suffer.

a few lil headcanons i have about her:

i think chay probably finds it easy to be considered cute and hard to move out of that box. i think there's a part of chay that wants to be sexy the way porsche is (ESPECIALLY if this is a fem!porsche universe) but doesn't know how to go about trying to achieve that. she had to ask yok how to teach her how to apply eyeliner bc porsche doesn't know how to and doesn't care to learn.

i think the role of like, female role model/influence in chay's life is later taken up by fem!kinn, who is full of the kind of advice porsche would be horrified to hear given to her precious baby sister.

chay has short hair because when she had long hair porsche was obsessed with getting her the right shampoos and conditioners and stuff to take care of it (probs based on some internalised stuff from when porsche was at school and girls would mock her for her split ends) so chay just puts a stop to that by cutting all her hair off and it turns out she kind of likes it? so she keeps it.

casual outfits

i drew all these patterns myself. from scratch. you're welcome.

green dungarees (first outfit) - the reference image is here. this was the first look i drew and also the moment i realised how stupid i was to choose a "fun" foot pose for chay. this caused no end of suffering going forward.

orange dungarees (second outfit) - ref here. here i started to regret the pattern aspect of my chay design. also those messy canvas ankle boots killed me to draw. they were so hard.

sweater vest (third outfit) = MORE FUCKING PATTERNS. i also had a reference for this one somwhere but i was drawing this whilst playing dnd so i think it just got lost.

special outfits

school uniform (first outfit) - i did a bit of looking into school uniforms in thailand and from what i can tell they basically all look very similar. idk if the lilac shirt + navy skirt combo is standardised for girls but it was pretty much all i found when i went looking. also she has a long skirt because when she and porsche bought it for her, they bought a really big one that she could wear all through school.

one (1) smart dress (second outfit) - the idea here is that this is the one smart item of clothing that chay has, and it's the one-size-fits-all-occasions dress. it's dark so it can be worn to funerals. it's somewhere between business and formal so it can be worn to both those kinds of occasions. it was based on this dress i found on pinterest.

going to a concert with friends (third outfit) - i... just wanted to put chay in a bucket hat? yeah that's all i have. no ref. just my mind.

porsche's first paycheque present (fourth outfit) - the idea here was that after getting some money from the whole mafia thing, porsche buys this as a present for chay. maybe it's a dress chay's always looked at when they walk past it in a shop window? this is a slight tweak on this dress by alaia. the original's like £2k which i cannot picture porsche and chay spending on a dress but shhh it's fine.

post-kim

these are the outfits from after the whole kim debacle goes down. i just really wanted to draw goth chay. and really, who wouldn't?

break-up era #1 (first outfit) - at this point i was just having way too much fun. the pattern took for-fucking-ever on the skirt though, because i thought i'd just cheekily re-use the dungaree flower pattern with colour changes but oh no that didn't work at all. i had to edit it so much. the reference is here. here her hair is freshly dyed blue, and she's given herself a little heartbreak undercut. you go girl.

say no to drugs chay (second outfit) - this is what chay is wearing when kim points at that rando in the club who offers chay drugs. you see all of the goth reference images i was finding were just too clean-cut and employable, you know? so torn fishnets it was. the refence i found for this is here but i changed it up bc i couldn't see chay wearing a little nightdress to go clubbing no matter how heartbroken she was.

visiting mum (third outfit) - in this one, in my head, chay has dyed her hair back to normal, but she's still got the undercut, so she straightens her hair and pins a little of it over the short bit to try and appear a little more normal chay to her mum. very simple outfit, no refs.

family portrait (fourth outfit) - there's a part of me which delights in this implied scenario because i just think it's funny if chay and kim are posing for a family portrait with kinnporsche and chay's ready to ignore the fuck out of kim and pretend like she doesn't care about her staring but then kim is in full-hide-any-weakenesses mode because korn's there so now chay's the one staring. relationship status: it's very awkward. anyway fashion wise i wanted two things from chay's outfit: for it to be simpler than any of the theerapanyakuls' and for it to be in a lighter shade of porsche's colour (blue). the reference was this cool dress i found on pinterest.

[exhales] is that everything? i think that's everything. obligatory tag for @yeetlegay bc i know they like to see the fem!kinnporsche content.

big shoutout to mort (tagged earlier), @antique-forvalaka, @luckydragon10, and @dr-lemurr for art troubleshooting and cheerleading duties.

everything was drawn in clip studio paint, which i cannot recommend enough. if you want more detailed info abt that side of things, send me an ask.

[kiwibongos]

im back thinking again. regarding my last post with how i interpreted ibuki and fuyuhiko's friendship im heavily thinking abt him and hiyoko. hiyoko more specifically tbh. its hiyoko appreciation time. will contain spoilers

imo she should have lived. also tbh kazuichi shouldve died, not her. thats a whole other sauce tho (again) but like. i feel like hiyoko deserved to survive way more, in general. her potential was really there man

i used to hate hiyoko, i still kind of dislike her in a certain way but its because all of that points blame to the writers of sdr2, for the god awful pacing they thought was good, and how they just didn't really bother to show a lot of growth from her before her time was wrapped up? i enjoy how she was the mean character bc there's always gotta be That One Bitch, but i really would've loved for her to survive, for her to heal and live on for mahiru and even to grow close with fuyuhiko, ibuki, hajime and sonia, and she would perhaps even express sadness towards ibuki and mikan's deaths

its like everything that had happened in the game, and all the time they spent focused on hiyoko and what she was going through just went to waste, and they spent the rest on weaker material or scenes. hiyoko should have been given the same character arc fuyuhiko lived to see. and both of them have so much in common already, they'd make a pretty good duo. e.g., they both lost someone they loved (mahiru & peko), they're both mean, stubborn, and quippy but secretly soft around the right people, also hello they literally look related anyway ... the blonde hair and the rosy cheeks . come on. someone on spike chunsoft saw them. but it didnt work out. anyway i feel like they would bond amazingly, albeit very slowly, but they're definitely the duo to just gossip all the time about other people LOL, and fuyuhiko would try to comfort her as well, because he's lost two people

hiyoko wouldn't just easily forgive him of course, i dont think she ever could, hence why i emphasized they'd slowly bond because the tension would be agonizing. she was furious, and still mourning mahiru when she had just died, but she would at least understand him and grow to accept his company and genuine kindness overtime (and she had almost seemed to near the very end??). if she lived to see his genuine growth and saw that he actually cared and that he would do anything to make it up to her, she'd be way less cautious of him. and she'd realize that the fact that they're both stuck on an island in a killing game, and fuyuhiko genuinely seems to be the only one who seems to bother, and the only one who actually sees her. so if not him, who else does she really have, you know. at least, at that moment

afterwards, hiyoko would just calm down and be more cooperative and helpful overtime, she's not dumb at all and she knows what to say, though she might butt her head in at the worst times, she also doesn't put up with bullshit, the same way sonia doesn't, they both act thoroughly bc they're smart. she'd also be really helpful in the trials tbh, i think she'd be the kind to spot out little details

later on she'd have sonia and hajime to support her too! someone has to help her with her kimono.... fuck it they'd all collectively just tolerate her but also encourage her. compared to fuyuhiko she hadn't really done anything bad, she was just hurt. she just needs someone, now that her own someone was gone

of course id love if she stayed hotheaded but just not call everyone a skank or a pig every two seconds, keep her mean side i love a bad bitch, she just wouldn't have kept that mask up, and she'd learn like, "Oh Shit, these people are all i have, and i need them". if she stuck around, hiyoko wouldve been such a good help as a survivor. and just generally more interesting to see, she woulda stuck out to me more in general. wouldve LOVED to see her shine in chapter three, or the final two chapters

hiyoko fans please rise with me. i love her and her dumb pigtails. tldr im MAD she didn't get her redemption like she deserved she was so cool despite also being nasty but she had a CHANCE dude the potential was shining bright in front of our eyes

[uriekukistan]

how do you … hhow do yiu start writjng. like how do you. opening paragraph…. how do you begin..

sksjdj sorry this took so long, i genuinely rewrote my answer 3-4 times 💀 took me a few hours to figure out how i wanted to answer this tbh bc usually i don't even know what im doing either

also im by no means a perfect writer, i’m still working to improve with every fic, so pls take this w a grain of salt, everyone writes their own way as well…hopefully this isnt too long or annoying or preachy or anything.

i always have an outline of my fic ready before i start writing, regardless of if it's super vague or highly detailed, i also try to think about what the character(s) want from the situation(s) and potential ways that could create conflict (not in an angsty way per se but in a plot moving way). knowing this is super helpful for deciding where to start because different types of openings are good for different stories.

ideas i use a lot!

-> character intro! this is my most commonly used way to start a new story. i like to make sure my MC is in the first sentence so the reader knows who the story is going to focus on. this does have a potential to go wrong, bc essentially, there's the good way and then there's my immortal 💀

when i say to use a character intro, i mean like their mindset/beliefs as they pertain to the plot, main conflict they're facing, or how they're feeling at that moment, rather than "basic info"

ex: megumi fushiguro is 15, has black hair and green eyes, and he's a jujutsu sorcerer and is in his first year at jujutsu tech. in his free time, he reads. he loves animals. he was abandoned by his parents at a young age, so he's wary of others <- boring, bland, sparks 0 interest

VS: Megumi was never a fan of love. Not in books, not in TV shows, not in movies, and certainly not in real life. He hadn’t so much as considered having romantic feelings for someone in fifteen years of living, and he wasn’t about to start now. Definitely not now. Not after what had happened. <- interesting, gives insight into how megumi thinks (and how strongly), sparks interest bc what happened??

hsiao doesn't want to date a coworker because she has a dangerous job, but has a crush on saiko. urie can't express his feelings because he's spent ages bottling them up, and now he needs to grieve someone he didn't realize he cared for until it's too late. establishing these things is really important, and should be done eventually either way.

i think this method works best for stories focusing on a conflict that's more internal because it sets up the characters psyche, but can still be used for external conflict effectively!

-> dialogue: another one that can be tricky, and gets a bad wrap sometimes, but it can very much be used well. it's good to use if the story is focusing on interpersonal conflict, especially if it involves a lot of arguing. usually, i throw the reader into a high tension, fast moving scene with dialogue, sometimes one with a confrontational start, sometimes in the middle of an already brewing interaction.

-> strong feelings: this works best with negative feelings, so i use it mostly for reeeeaaaallly angsty fics. physical pain, extreme sadness or guilt, grief, rage, or high stress work really well for this, because they're feelings that tend to consume everything else. you gotta be ready to dedicate a few paragraphs to really good descriptions that make readers feel. it's a bit intimidating to write and has the potential to overwhelm readers as well, so i tend to reserve it for fics that i intend to be really heavy and upsetting, no happy ending/comfort type fics

-> straight into action: gonna be honest, i try to avoid this one as much as possible unless it's in a multi-chapter fic where the characters/conflict have been firmly established. used outside of this, i think it works best with actions that are literal beginnings, or it feels like part of the story is missing. things like waking up, opening a door (staring at a blank page trying to write..........)

lil tips ig

★ shorter sentences: my usual writing style has a lot of lengthy sentences, but when it's the first thing a reader sees, it slows down the pace immediately. of course, there's a place for long sentences as well, but the average reader is going to go for something that grabs their attention quickly.

★ u don't have to start from the beginning!! honestly i get this from writing academic essays, but sometimes it's easier to write the beginning after you wrote the rest because even if u think u know where ur going, it can change as u write it. tbh once i wrote fic almost entirely backwards 💀

slfkjgnkjnsfglk i hope this was at least somewhat helpful, honestly i wasn't sure what to say, but i'm really excited to see ur fic!!! ik u have a lot of things planned, so i'm sure once you get the first words out there, the rest will start flowing !!!

[jimmyaquino]

My heart has broken in pieces. One of my best pals John Cassaday passed away last night. 52. Way too young. I'm fucking devastated. I've been waiting to post anything as I was trying to find the right words. Plus, I was digging up old photos. Still so many to go through. I may ramble a bit so please bear with me. 

I was at the hospital when he peacefully passed away and I got to say goodbye beforehand. I heard about his hospitalization (I wont go into details on what happened) on Wednesday and went to the hospital every day before work. I would go into his room each time and just chat with him. I randomly texted him last Monday night, 

“Hello! I just wanted to say hi and send some mad Jimmy love. Careful. It’s spicy!”  He replied at 10:46pm with “Love you back!” And as I found out later from his girlfriend Tara, he was taken to the hospital about an hour or so later. Some small solace that my final text was one of mutual love. 

Yesterday, I went into his room and spent some time with him and said good-bye just a couple of hours before he was no longer with us. I gave as much love as I could, mentioning as many as I remembered. And I know this may seem silly, but when I held his hand, I felt a small twitch. I know it”s just an unpredictable body thing but I’ll take it. As you can imagine, I’m a wreck and have been openly bawling off and on. He is my best friend. And that’s what’s great. He is a lot of people's best friend. He is so loved. And even though we may not have hung much as we used to, we always stayed in touch. Always there if I needed.

I first met John back in 2002 through a friend. She had told me about him and of course, I knew who he was from his comic work. Needless to say, we rapidly hit it off. Almost immediately started hanging out. We notoriously hit all the Hell's Kitchen spots (I lived there and he liked hanging there) til the wee hours for years. He introduced me to so many people and a bunch of us would hang out all the time. (Looking at you Paul Pope and John Lucas). That was the thing about John. As said, I was one of his best pals. But I know a lot of people were. Lucas and I were reminiscing last night about how he jokingly passed the Cassaday "best friend" mantle on to me when he moved out of NYC. Cass was so loved and admired by everyone. He always wanted me to meet other friends he knew and would tell me all about them. As I know he would tell them about me. He wanted us all to be one big family of friends. 

I started doing the podcast with Joe Gonzalez in 2005 and John was so supportive. He'd come to the anniversary live recordings as either a guest or just to hang and support. My first San Diego Comic Con was that year and he introduced me to big name friends of his and asked if they'd let us interview them. He'd always tell his friends, "Jimmy's got this terrific new podcast. You gotta go on it". We were always together at SDCC over the years. So much so that if we weren't together at the moment, people would promptly ask me "Where's John?" I loved it! For years, we'd either be on the same flight in or try to land at similar times and then a friend would take us straight to In N Out. 

Besides comics, we shared our love for quite a few things. One of them being the movie It's A Wonderful Life. It's my fave film of all time. And John loved it so much as well. We'd talk about it, quote it, reference it, etc. A couple of years ago, he got me an incredible birthday gift. It's one of those old movie lobby cards that were displayed in movie theater lobbies back in the day. And yes, this one was from back in the 1940's when the movie was released! I had it framed and it's been on my wall ever since. Along with an original art piece from his Astonishing X-Men run he gifted me for another birthday years ago. 

So many favorite memories with him. A few random ones: 1). Me, him and Lucas hit a comedy show back in the day and all 3 of us had our long hair and one comedian kept referring to us as the "cast of The Sopranos". 2). Nick Barrucci got us a limo from NYC to Philly to celebrate John's birthday for one weekend. Fun weekend of food/drinks/clubs/etc. 3). One SDCC, he grabbed my flask usually full of whiskey (I had substituted it w/ an amaro) and did a literal spit take onto my white tie. 4). He refused to get a cell phone for a long time and would have people call/text me when we were out. Sometimes a famous friend or 2 and I'd be like "(insert celeb name here) just called me!" I eventually took him to get his first one. 5). He became friends with Nathan Fillion and brought him to my bar one night. I got off early and the 3 of us had A NIGHT of food/drinks til about 8am when we left the after hours pub. 

I have so many memories and so many pictures to share. Perhaps I will start to share them soon. 

Also, he'd love that he's being talked about in the same space as the great James Earl Jones whom we also lost on Monday. Legends both.

I can't say enough about his girlfriend of 10 years Tara. She was a warrior throughout all of this. While I fielded some calls/texts/messages and helped inform people, she was doing it tenfold. So much love to her and John's family. Some of his cousins came down and it was lovely to spend time with them.

An IAWL quote: "All you can take with you is that which you've given away." And John gave away so much love. 

I'm devastated. The grief comes in waves. But I will spread the Cassaday love forever. Happy to share any stories and love seeing all of yours. He was a love virus. An incredibly talented, kind, generous, loving, loyal friend. I will never forget you, Johnny boy. You changed my life for the better. 

[airiat]

northern sky, five. ✧˚ · .

{masterlist | beginning}

pairing: joel miller x you / f!reader (wc: 35.3k, 10 chapters)

rating: explicit, 18+

work tags: no outbreak, age difference (27/42), hurt/comfort, ptsd, fate, ldr, explicit sexual content (rough/romantic sex, light d/s & sadomasochism, dirty talk, choking/biting, oral (f & m receiving), unprotected piv, aftercare)

work warnings: themes of death (more details here, contains spoilers), depictions of mental illness/alcoholism, light discussion of theoretical relationship with minor (not condoned by either party), light blood kink

ch. summary: a date. this is like that.

{ao3}

five. {1.8k}

Your favorite client is sitting in your chair. You’re painting thin stripes of bleach in her hair, tucking them into neat foil packets. She’s been talking your ear off for the past half hour about her son, her husband, her nagging in-laws. But you find it a comfort. You like thinking about other people’s lives. It’s something to imagine that isn’t your own storm. 

“They tried staying with us for three weeks this time,” she’s saying. “Can you believe it? Acting like they don’t have their own house.”

“Hm. No, that’s not right,” you commiserate. 

“At this point, maybe they should just let us take it since they never seem to wanna live there. It’s so much bigger than ours.”

“Yeah, yeah, they definitely should.”

“Maybe one of these days, we’ll just show up there with our suitcases. See how much they like it.”

You laugh, dip your brush into the bowl of bleach, find it almost empty. “I’ve gotta go mix more of this. Just a moment.”

You leave with the bowl, head to the room next door with all your product. You set the bowl on the counter when you arrive and pull out your phone. You and Joel actually did exchange numbers this time, mostly under the pretense of you letting him know when to pick you up. He doesn’t seem like that much of a texter but has this BlackBerry that he seems to be constantly irritated with, muttering about needing it for work. Still, when you find the screen of your iPhone empty, a little pang of disappointment hits your chest. You shake your head and shove the phone back into your jeans.

Upon your return, you find her barking angrily into her phone, but she snaps a farewell when you begin working on her hair again. 

“That was my mother-in-law,” she says but doesn’t elaborate. “Hey, not to be nosy, but I saw you get dropped off by a man in a truck. What’s the story?”

In fact, she is nosy. But you’ve always appreciated that there is someone who would care enough to know anything about you. And she has gotten to know you over the years, all five of them. Probably one of the only people in this little town who knows anything about you. Probably one of the closest resemblances of a mother you have these days.

“Just this guy I started seeing,” you answer. There’s a flood of words in your mouth, but you hold back. 

“Oh, look at you, now!” she exclaims. “Well, tell me more. What’s his name? How did you meet him?”

You never lie to her. She could tell if you were, anyway; she’s known you too long. But you never feel any reason to. She never passes unfair judgment. “We met at Lucky’s,” you say. “He’s from out of town, actually. From Texas. His name is Joel.”

“How interesting. What does he do down there?”

“He has a construction company. I think. I…actually don’t know a lot about him.”

“But he’s dropping you off at work?

“Well, he’s staying with me, but we’ve actually only really spent maybe two days total together.”

“Sounds a little fishy to me, honey,” she says honestly.

You scowl, tap the brush against a new foil maybe a little too hard. “I swear it’s not. His last name is Miller. He has a brother, a sister-in-law, and a nephew in Wyoming. A daughter going to college in Boston.”

“A college-aged daughter? How old is this man? He’s not secretly married, is he?”

“No, of course not. He just has a daughter. And he probably had her young, too; he’s gotta only be early forties.”

“I think these are things you should be asking him.”

“I don’t know if I have any right to. Maybe it’s not like that.”

She meets your eyes in the mirror, gives a sly smile. “If that mark on your lip is from what I think it is, I’d say you have every right.”

You flush, foolishly didn’t wear lipstick today, but also didn’t think anyone would put the pieces together. You hurry to change the subject. 

“He said he drove here from Austin. Just for me. Said he could barely make it two weeks before he needed to see me again. Is that–?”

She shrugs. “Maybe. Can’t make a man do anything he doesn’t want to. And they’ll pound mountains down for what they want.”

“Maybe he just likes me in bed.”

“Sure, maybe. And that’s fine as long as you’re also getting something out of it.”

A wistful reminiscence of this morning: his brown eyes searching your soul, the way he’ll cradle you against him, his gentle way of talking to you. “He treats me well.”

“If you have that, then you can have anything.”

“As long as that’s what he wants.”

“And you, too,” she says. “But also know this: sometimes things end. But that doesn’t mean it was for nothing.”

You nod as though you agree, but the very thought makes your body run cold. You don’t know what you’d do without how Joel makes you feel. Maybe it would be like having no air to breathe. Maybe it would be something that you’d have to drown in bottles. But all you say is: “I’ll remember that.”

~*~

When you finally climb back into Joel’s truck at the end of the day, it feels as though you have been away from him for a year. Actually, it was a short day, only six hours. You still missed him. You did. But now that you’re here again with him, you’re at a loss. Do you kiss him? Hug him? What are you supposed to say?

“Hi,” you say, sitting back in the seat and folding your hands in your lap.

“Hey,” Joel says back. “Work good?”

“Yeah, just felt like it went by pretty slow.”

He twists around in his seat, puts his hand on the back of yours as he reverses out of the parking spot. Butterflies flip in your stomach. He may as well be touching you. 

“So, I was thinkin’,” Joel says once he’s on the road. “Maybe I could take you out somewhere tonight. Drove around town some while you were gone. Saw at least one restaurant, a movie theater of some sort. Could be a proper date.”

“A proper date,” you echo softly. “Been a while.”

In fact, it’d been about three years. You’re too reclusive now. And the pickings were always slim, to begin with.

“Yeah.” He chuckles. “Me too.”

But the butterfly wings are fluttering frantically now. This is something more. This is like that.

“Okay, yes, a date. I’d love to.”

You see the brightness of his smile out of the corner of your eye, and then he’s reaching into your lap to slip your hand into his. Holds it all the way back home. And you’re floating; the only thing that keeps you from touching the clouds is the roof of his truck.

When you make it back, walk through the front door together, it all feels right. Like this is one of thousands of times. Like you have been doing this for twenty years. Of course, he wouldn’t leave when you’re gone. Only now has the thought even re-entered your mind. 

“You wanna go lay down for a little while?” you ask him. “Kinda tired.”

He’s hanging his coat up on the rack, looks over at you. “Sounds good.”

You kick off your pretty little heeled boots–the ones that you never really wear anymore because of all the walking you do. The ones you’ve always loved so much. 

“Hey, why don’t you wear those tonight?”

You hide your smile. “Maybe I’ve got something even better.” You don’t give him a chance to answer before you’re walking back to your room, and there you’re ripping off all your dirty work clothes, plunging into bed.

Behind you, you hear Joel’s belt coming undone and then his outermost clothes coming off. He slides into bed with you, chest against your back, arm wrapped around your waist. You sigh and sink into him, but sleepiness doesn’t find you. Questions linger in your mind. The ones you can now ask. 

“Joel?” you whisper.

“Hm?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How old are you?”

His soundless laugh rumbles against your back. “You only askin’ me that now?”

“Well, I didn’t know if I could. But we’re going on a date now, so I figure….” The words come out of your mouth, and you realize how dumb they sound. You’re glad you’re not turned to look at him. Your face would be red.

“Darlin’, you’ve known me in all those other ways, and you think I wouldn’t tell you my age? I’m forty-two.”

All of his years fall fluttering like orange autumn leaves. The kind that you’d make a pile of and lay down in, fall asleep in. All of his years wrap you up warm in a blanket, the same way his arms feel around you now.

“Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Yes.”

“What happened with Sarah’s mother?”

This answer does not come with laughter, with the reassurance of something that should have been obvious. It comes only with a long silence. Then, stilted, “We’re not together anymore if that’s what you’re wonderin’.”

“Okay.” A whisper is all you can manage. The rusty nails of shame pin you down.

“It’s alright that you asked, just—” Joel swallows thickly. “It’s no easy answer.”

You turn in his arms, push your head under his chin, face into his neck. “You don’t have to tell me, now or ever.”

The shape of Joel’s grief is a third person wedged between you. It’s a specter, all crooked limbs and gnarled bones. It reaches down his throat and chokes the space where he might let the words pass. It tells him that if he speaks, he will splinter. It wraps him in stony arms and convinces him that the world will be cold from now on. You can feel it, you can know it, because you live with the cold sidled up against your back. Yours is a wild animal, something like a scared doe.

“I want to. It’s just–”

“I know.”

A pause for his own understanding to bloom.

“You’ve been livin’ with something, too.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t have to tell me, neither.”

“I–”

All of it. An attempt to reach out to something beyond. All of it an attempt to strike a match against wet and crumbling logs in a stone circle. To chase out the dark and the cold and the sharp teeth. All of it. An invitation, a hand held out to another frightened voice in the fringes. Try it. Try to make it light with me.

[purplekoop]

Koop Talks About... (#2) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) A Shell of a Classic!

So not something I saw during my trip, but something I did get during my trip. Out of my house's fairly extensive DVD collection, one shameful omission was the original 1990 Ninja Turtles movie. I'd seen it before several times, by Netflix or TV viewings or other temporary means, but it was something we conspicuously didn't have to keep. It was actually the only theatrically released Turtles movie (available on physical media as of now, sorry Mutant Mayhem) we didn't have: we had its two sequels, and the Bay movies, and the 2007 CGI movie "TMNT", but not the original, which is a shame since... I mean yeah I like this one a lot, that's what the post is for. So, very glad that during a flea market trip with my partner over the thanksgiving break, we found a DVD store selling it for cheap. I uh... spent all my cash I had on me during the trip, so thank you Duck, this post was made possible by and is therefore dedicated to you!

Just watched the DVD now while wrapping up christmas decoration in the living room with family, and while my teenage (ha) younger sister was eye-rolling at first, we were all sitting down through to the end well after finishing the tree. My mom was a turtles fan back in the original cartoon's heyday, so it's not hard to convince her to give anything with the heroes in a half shell a try. Meanwhile, I grew up with the 2012 show (I was like 10 when it started but those are details for later), saw the Bay movies when they were relevant, saw some episodes of the '03 show on Nicktoons, and somehow managed to see the 90s movie trilogy for the first time in reverse order. guess I was saving the best for last?

Anyways, preamble over, time to talk about the movie.

First off, I just wanna appreciate how much this is a 1990 movie. The fashion, the hair, the reference humor that's already dated to be nearly incomprehensible nonsense but in a way that's charming. And I gotta say, as much as I am a stickler for video quality sometimes, the amount of graininess in the opening shots (maybe not helped by me standing so close to the TV, the tree was right next to it and I was hanging ornaments when the movie started) had me giddy. Maybe in part based on a cynicism to modern, hyper-streamlined mainstream media, but it's just nice to watch something from a few decades back and just be relaxed by the different, calmer energy.

Speaking of old school though, I can NOT hold off talking any longer about the highlight of the movie: the practical effects. They bring the characters to life in a way that is genuinely unmatched, I don't think any computer-based effects have approached anywhere near the sense of sincere realness that the animatronic effects and suits in this movie bring. The small facial expressions, while not a perfect illusion, still have so much more life in them than I would think possible for fancy suits now, let alone over 30 years ago. Plus, the fact that they're physical, real entities adds so much more weight to some scenes. The scene in the farmhouse where Leo just pours a cup of water over Raph's shell has such feeling to it, the fact that the scene has so little visual trickery makes the scene hit so much better than it would otherwise. Seeing the pattern on the back of his shell, and the water going over it, just. it's so cool that it's all real, no cheats, and it makes the whole thing feel more real and alive.

The heroes of this movie are the engineers who designed the suits, who managed to make lifelike characters that could emote and invoke emotion just as well as they could move around for fight scenes, and the in-person actors who had the dreadful task of wearing those suits. These suits look great but they were anything but pleasant to be in, especially trudging through sewers and doing extensive fight scene stunts. From what I've heard of the on-set horror stories, the heat was the most unbearable part. As much as I sing the praises of the effects in this movie, I feel it'd be tasteless to not also acknowledge the suffering for the art here.

(on a lighter note, I should also mention that the same animatronic/suit hybrid tech that went into this movie is, I'm fairly certain, almost the exact same tech used to make the FNAF movie. I figured that's worth bringing up.)

I guess I should also mention how the characters actually look. The design of the turtles is a bit offputting at first, but very quickly becomes charming, very much helped by the aforementioned fantastic facial expression tech to ease them out of the uncanny valley. They really nail the balance between realism and fitting the original cartoony silhouettes. I don't wanna berate the Bay movies too much here because that's not exactly breaking new ground, but I feel like in something as important as the designs of the turtles, the older films waaaayyy surpass whatever the hell the 2010s movie designs were with their weird, inscrutable faces and wonky proportions. Those aren't inherently terrible realistic mutant turtle guy designs, I can see what they're going for at least, but they're not the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The goofy mascot suits of the 90s are a much cleaner bridge into a realistic depiction of the animated show's designs, with familiar proportions but more organic textures in a way that feels natural. Splinter, who isn't a suit character but I believe some sort of animatronic puppet using some similar tech to the Dark Crystal vulture dudes, is also similarly a great shift into realism using the original cartoon design as a basis, but his effectiveness is I think even greater because of how well this design gives his presence in the movie such an emotional anchor point. He's a bit ragged and dirty-looking, and his missing ear gives his design a bit of grit, but his face is hard for me to not read as cute. It makes the scenes later in the movie where he's battered and bruised but still has those sad little puppy eyes and gentle kindness to his mannerisms. I think also his slow, deliberate mannerisms turn the limitations of the tech behind his depiction into a strength. He genuinely looks like a gentle old creature who for all we know could just pass out (or away) after getting roughed up just a little too much, probably because the puppet wasn't much more stable than it looked. This is in contrast to the more frequent livelier depictions of Splinter who actually can move around at high speeds. Maybe I'm biased because I've got a small 14 year old dog who's prone to having matted fur and has a bit of a rat-shaped face. Honestly, as much as I like the sleek and imposing look Splinter has in the 2012 show, I think this movie's iteration may be my favorite design for balancing realism and "rat factor" with still being a cute and appealing design, though "appealing design" with the context of the visual style of the movie, my sister at least found him to look a little creepy at first. Which, hey, giant rat man who lives in the sewers, I guess that's not unwarranted.

So we've talked about how the characters look, but what about what they do? More specifically, performances and writing and junk.

I like the characterization of the turtles here, it's a bit subtle but they very much all still feel in-character. Raphael is sort of this movie's main turtle more than anyone else, having the most solo scenes and all at least early on. To be honest, especially given the limited backlog of source material at this point, this is a really solid and nuanced characterization of him. I think Raph's best iterations are described as "a tempermental ass because he cares", and not just "a tempermental ass". He gets mad because he takes things seriously and cares about people. In this movie specifically, he's the most proactive to go out of his way to help people. When helping April ends up getting Splinter kidnapped, he's devastated and it weighs on him until they get him back at the end. His VA delivers a ton of lines with incredible emotion, while also selling some great comedy that doesn't feel out of character either. The other turtles are a bit less interesting but their core traits are still there. Leonardo is the respectful leader and goodie-two-shoes who's still passionate but knows how to keep his cool, and his usual butting of heads with Raph is both believable and resolved nicely without dragging on too long. Michelangelo is... the funny one who makes slightly more reference jokes and is comic relief more often. And Donnie. Is also there. Look, he doesn't get to do much in this movie, they don't do whacky gadgets or anything, but I remember he gets to do more in the sequel at least. His main role is just being a comic relief partner with Mikey, which did get a laugh out of me pretty much every time. The A- team is a solid duo for a reason. I think it is also worth pointing out for newer fans that Donnie was a lot more low-key back then than he is in the 2012 show and later stuff. As fun as the more bombastic recent depictions have been, I still appreciate his role here even if he does feel a bit like "the fourth one who is also here."

Splinter is... a very nice and gentle Splinter. Not too much to say on him that I didn't mention or allude to when talking about how he looks. His soft-spoken and kind voice makes you really want to see him make it through okay, and he doesn't come off as an overly harsh teacher even in the most dire circumstances. Again, as much as I love 2012 Splinter, like I REALLY love a ton about 2012 Splinter, this movie's version is just so pleasant and likeable, he sells the emotional moments that ground the movie.

Oh and also human characters exist. To be transparent, I was in and out of the room and not fully sitting down for the early parts of the movie for this viewing, which is a bit of a slow start as we mostly follow April as the plot gets established. This is fine though, and actually doesn't drag on for too long before getting to "the good stuff". I don't have much to say about April, she's well acted and her role in the movie makes sense. Her hair is extremely 1990, that's something.

I also need to acknowledge that the human characters very much feel like side characters. This is the turtles' movie, and it feels like it is. They give them plenty of screen time to express their personalities and have a central role in the story, without using human characters as a lame shortcut to make "relatable" characters. They let the leads be the leads, which I think is a general sin of modern movie adaptations with their obligatory relatable boring human characters hogging screentime from the title characters people are actually here for. The relatable human sidekicks here are established from the source material, but don't feel tacky like the first Bay movie where the boring human lead is stuck pushing the plot forward for a significant time before the real fun characters are allowed to exist.

Casey Jones is a hard character to mess up I think, even his Bay movie adaptation is entertaining to me. I honestly didn't remember how soon he shows up, and despite my concerns he doesn't really clutter the movie as much as I would've thought. His inclusion feels pretty natural, and he plays off the story pretty well and has a distinct role in it. He's acted well (another great source of jokes distinct in delivery from the turtles) and definitely looks the part, though his relationship with April feels... well a bit tacky and a little forceful, chemistry is a little wonky and some scenes make me wince a little, but I've seen worse from mainstream movies, and arguably even with other officially-endorsed April ships (2012 my guy I love you to death but what was UP with Donnie about April, why was that necessary).

And then last classic character of note is Shredder, who... isn't too much of a personality, but his plan and role in the story is oddly cool? Instead of vague and overly ambitious global domination, this is the most low-key Shredder we've seen on screen. He wants to run a vaguely realistic criminal empire, and how he does it is by having teenagers join his ninja clan like it's a street gang out of an 80's anti-drug PSA. His lair isn't an imposing evil villain castle or sci-fi base, it's a warehouse or something filled with arcade cabinets and kids who aren't old enough to vote smoking cigarettes. I swear there's like actually a 9 year old in some shots. It's a believable ploy to get a loyal workforce, using cool toys and language like "we're a family and nobody in the outside world respects you" to get the loyalty of vulnerable kids, plus it also explains how the foot soldiers in this movie are kind of bumbling idiots when they're... y'know, primarily teenagers who are barely trained. It's such a simple but realistic kind of villainy, but it doesn't demean Shredder's fear factor just because he doesn't have as grand of ambitions. When he shows up, the fact that he's a serious threat is still conveyed. Admittedly his connection to the turtles feels a bit more shallow and flimsy than in other adaptations (again 2012 the GOAT ilysm), but he still puts up a way better fight than... the angsty teenagers he dressed up in bug-eyed ninja masks, I guess. Plus he looks cool, gotta admit the red sounds silly at first but he makes it work. If you want some more insight on why this version of Shredder is so cool, check out Gaijin Goomba's "Which Ninja" video on the character as a whole, going over his weaponry and characteristics and how true they are to real historical ninjas. I think it does mention a pretty notorious spoiler about the 2003 show version of him, but mentions fairly little from 2012 and the video was made before Rise and Mutant Mayhem, so safe if you haven't seen those.

This is easily my favorite live action Turtles movie, and as of now (noting that I haven't seen half of Rise or any of Mutant Mayhem) is my second favorite turtles thing in general, beaten only by the 2012 animated series, which is one of my favorite shows of all time. That show pays pretty good tribute to this movie, taking some of its minor plot points and extrapolating them into not just shallow references, but whole episodes and even story arcs based on what are only minor details in the movie. yeah I know, the movie is also based on the comics, but I'm bad at reading things and also an uncultured swine so sue me. I do gotta wonder how annoying I was legit pointing at the screen leaning forward at times pointing out similarities, down to the cars they drive in and out of the city. If you're like me and that was your first exposure to the turtles, this is a natural and very glowing recommendation.

Even if you're not a turtles fan though, this movie is still a classic just about anyone can enjoy. It's a movie with genuine heart on its sleeve, plenty of charm, and a solid benchmark adaptation of the characters, all made all the more believable by the top-notch practical effects that brought them to life on the big screen for the first time. Maybe a lot of the charm for me is the suits and that it's a few decades old now, free from the chains of more modern cynicism. Even with this movie's tacky quips and (formerly) topical reference humor, it didn't reek of modern pop culture lazy writing, but maybe it would've if I was around it back then. Or maybe they really don't make 'em like they used to, I dunno, I don't care, this movie's neat and it being old maybe makes it like it more and that's fine I think.

I plan on getting the box set for the 2012 show for christmas, so maybe consider this a preface to me finally gushing properly about that. I might also cover the other theatrical movies, I'm excited to rewatch Secret of the Ooze and none of the others (besides Mutant Mayhem I'm looking forward to that one). Honestly I think I give TMNT (2007) a bit of a hard time, and I remember thinking Out of the Shadows was decent at least. Also until I do some more research into finding epic and cool ways to watch them easily, don't expect me to look into watching the other shows in full yet, those are gonna take a bit longer.

As usual, zero clue what I'm talking about next, so stay tuned.

[thecreativeforge]

Shipping and Handling [for roy owo]

Tumblr just fucking deleted my entire post as I was about to post it, and now I gotta rewrite everything asdakjdfh

First and foremost, you got to be able to get along with children. More specifically, you have to be able to get along with his daughter, Lian. There is no way around it; Roy will not even consider you as a romantic option if he sees that you can't handle kids in general. You don't need to be an expert in child rearing, but just show the right attitude towards children and the willingness to be part of taking care of them if it will ever come to it. Roy is a proud single father (by defult, Jade is out of the equation entirely) to a fiesty four to six years old Lian who is just as fun as she's a handful. His daughter is aware of his vigilantic lifestyle, as he doesn't really bother concealing his identity with his close ones anyway, and was around heroes and capes most of her young life. If you treat Lian right and agree to spend the time with the two of them, and even go as far as spoiling her rotten? You already won Roy's heart.

Roy is a person who pays enormous amounts of attention to his partner and takes note of the small details that make them feel special and loved. He will go above and beyond to please his partners, but that probably makes it a little harder to spoil him in turn. Not necessarily because he's picky, but because he's just a little awkward getting the same kind of treatment he so freely gives in turn. It touches on his lack of self confidence and the inner fault in him that he doesn't inherently think he deserves it, and the constant need to prove himself to others, especially with a recovering addict background. If you work through it with him, show as much attention as he's giving despite any initial awkwardness from his side, you'll get to see the incredible, sensitive and vulnerable side of the archer, allowing him the space for open, healthy romance.

Roy has a lot of appreciation to partners who do an effort to spend time with him exclusively. He constantly juggles between parenting, doing vigilante work and maintaining a household, and it's not an easy work. In the free time he has, he would be more than happy to spend it with his loved one on fun date activities, from a walk in the park on a sunny day to luxurious dinner dates. It doesn't necessarily has to be fancy or grandiose (though he wouldn't say no if they were), just show that he has an important place in his partner's life, enough that the time they spend together means something to both of them.

Roy is proud of his Navajo upbringing. He feels part of the native community even if he wasn't born there, but a hefty chunk of his childhood was spent being raised among these people, and it's where he got the foundations of his impeccable archery skills. By defult verse, he wears a Navajo band tattoo around his right bicep. He will not tolerate any disrespect or bigotry towards his people, or any minority in general.

For a small, final bonus detail, I'll say that Roy really enjoys it if you touch his hair. You can play with it, brush it, run your fingers through it, tug and pull at it in more intimate settings... He'll be like a putty in your hands.

@dramatisperscnae

[imagine-a-life-like-this]

All My Firsts Were With You (K.SM)

Warnings : suggestive, swearing

Word Count : 2487

Synopsis : they grew up together, practically attached at the hip. they were each other’s first kiss, first time, first love, and if it was up to seungmin, she would be his last as well.

“I think the only thing I’ll miss is you.” She smiled at her best friend, holding back the tears that wanted to fall so desperately.

           “Don’t be so cheesy.” He replied, lightly poking her shoulder. She let out a laugh that almost made Seungmin’s heart stop beating. He studied her upturned smile and sparkling eyes, wondering why he suddenly felt warm.

           “I should board now. Don’t want to miss my flight. I’ll call you later!” She hugged him quickly, and in the next moment she was gone. And that’s when he realized; he’s in love with his best friend.

           She was standing in front of him, the same smile she always had adorning her face, the same face he fell in love with. He had to pinch himself to check if it was a dream, having her right in front of him, close enough to touch. “I missed you.” He was silent, studying just how much she’s changed in the three years she was gone. Her hair was longer, and she seemed to have lost a bit of weight, but she was still the girl he loved.

           “Seungmin!” Jisung called, throwing his arm across Seungmin’s shoulders. “Who’s this?” He smiled at the beautiful girl in front of them, holding out his hand for her to shake.

           “Y/N.” She smiled, sliding her hand into his.

           “Jisung. How do you two know each other?” Jisung looked between the two of them, wondering exactly how Seungmin, the same guy who never looked at a girl, knew this absolute goddess.

           “We grew up together.” Seungmin said before she could say anything. “Nothing special. Let’s go before we’re late.” He shrugged Jisung’s arm off his shoulders and took off in the opposite direction of her, leaving her standing there absolutely bewildered. She thought they’d always be best friends, but it seems like Seungmin had other plans.

           “How did you nail that choreography that quickly?” Felix exclaimed; his eyes widened in amazement at the new girls talent. “I’ve been practicing that routine for weeks now.” He added, walking over to her with a water bottle for her to drink from.

           “It’s not that hard when you break it down. Here, let me help you.” She handed the bottle back to him after taking a sip before immediately jumping into the routine, taking it slower to help Felix.

           “I did it!” Felix yelled in excitement, catching the attention of other students using the same studio. The two spent the last hour working out the kinks of the routine before Felix finally nailed it. “Oh shit, I gotta go meet my friends for lunch.” He said as he looked at his phone. “Why don’t you come with? Unless you already have lunch plans.” He smiled his infectious smile at her, and she couldn’t help but agree, grabbing her things and following him out of the room.

           “Hey Y/N!” Jisung beamed as he saw her walk up to the table he was sitting at, Felix looking between them wondering how they already knew each other. “I’m guessing you’re a dance major.” She smiled as she took the seat across from him, Felix sitting next to her.

           “Yeah. Dance has always been my passion.”

           “Listen, I’m sorry about Seungmin earlier. He’s not good around girls.” She giggled, telling Jisung it was okay.

           “I disappeared for three years, I can’t just expect to come back and everything is normal.”

           “I swear Professor Park has it out for me.” Seungmin cut off their conversation, slamming his lunch on the table, collapsing in the seat beside Jisung. “I studied my ass off and I only got a 92.” She smiled to herself while listening to her old friend rant, happy to know that some things do stay the same. “Y/N, what are you doing here?” He asked when he finally met her eyes. His voice was cold, so different than the way he used to talk to her. It was as if they didn’t spend everyday together, experiencing all their firsts with each other, and it broke her heart more than she’d like to admit.

           “What’s wrong?” Seungmin asked her, cupping her face, and wiping her tears away. “Who made you cry?” His heart broke more and more with each tear that fell down her cheeks.

           “The girls in my class. They keep making fun of me for being 16 and not having my first kiss. It’s so dumb, but their words really hurt.”

           “Hey, look at me.” With his hands still on her cheeks, he angled her face to meet his eyes. “It’s not dumb it if hurt you.” He gave her a soft smile, wiping away another tear. “If it makes you feel better, I also haven’t had my first kiss.” He chuckled when her eyes widened in surprise. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s true.”

           She sat there, studying her best friend’s handsome face, coming to a conclusion she was too afraid to say out loud. She knew why she hadn’t had her first kiss, and it’s not because guys didn’t like her like the girls assumed. It’s because of all the guys who confessed to her, none of them were Kim Seungmin. “Would you be my first kiss, Minnie?” She pouted, looking up at him.

           “You want me to be your first kiss?” She wanted him to be her first everything, and if she was lucky enough, her last as well.

           “Only if you want. I’d be your first kiss as well, so if you wanted to save it for-“ She was cut off by his soft lips pressed to hers. The shock quickly wore off and she kissed him back, taking in the feeling best she could, not knowing if she’d ever feel it again.

           “First kiss completed.” He whispered, his forehead pressed against hers, his hand still on the back of her head. And in that moment, he not only became her first kiss, but her first love.

           “So you and Seungmin grew up together?” Felix asked her the next day. They agreed to meet up at a café just off campus and walk to class together. “What was he like as a kid?”

           “Pretty much the same way he is now, but he was nicer.” She giggled. “He’s always been worried about his grades. If it’s not 100% then what’s the point.” She quoted words he told her many times throughout high school. She remembered sitting with him while he studied, amazed at just how smart and organized he was.

           “Was he always this cute?” Felix chuckled. She quickly pulled out her phone, showing Felix pictures of the two of them she had saved; some of the pictures taken from a photo album, whereas some she transferred from her old phone.

           “He’s always been handsome, yes.” She answered, heat rising to her cheeks when she realized what she had said. Three years was not nearly long enough to get over him.

           “Are you sure about this?” Seungmin asked as he hovered over her. Both of them were breathing heavy from the heated make out session they just shared, that slowly led them to the bed they were on now.

           “You’re the only one I trust enough.” She answered. Her arms were lazily wrapped around his neck, and she looked up at him with stars in her eyes. Seungmin could get lost in the galaxy she held in her eyes, and if he’s honest, he has many times.

           “It’s my first time too, so we’ll figure this out together.” He smiled before pressing his lips to hers again, melting into the kiss while he reached under her shirt.

           The next morning, she woke up wrapped in Seungmin’s arms, a feeling she could get used to. She smiled at his sleeping figure, tracing over his face with her finger, studying each part in detail. She wasn’t sure if she’d get to see him this close again, so she was going to take in as much as she could. “You’re tickling me.” Seungmin mumbled with his eyes still closed.

           “If you’re awake, we should get breakfast.” She laughed, trying to move from his arms, but his grip only tightened, bringing her closer to him.

           “Ten more minutes. Just give me ten more minutes like this.” The feelings he thought he got over in high school were slowly returning, and he just wanted to hold her close a little longer. Mornings didn’t seem so bad when he woke up next to her. He hoped for many more just like this.

           But it was at that breakfast that she told him she was leaving. And within that moment, she was his first time, and his first heartbreak.

           She started spending more time with Felix, meeting him at the café every morning before class, and joining him for lunch, where Seungmin would ignore her existence as if she wasn’t there at all. She knew that the friendship she once shared with Seungmin was completely gone, and she knew it was her fault. If only she didn’t leave, then maybe Seungmin would still be hers.

           “Hey, Y/N, right?” She turned to face the stranger asking for her and was met with a handsome man from her dance class, the same one she shared with Felix. He brushed his long, black hair out of his eyes before introducing himself as Hyunjin. “I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me today? I really want to get to know you better.”

           “Oh, uh.” Before she could say anything, Felix was jumping in.

           “That’s perfect! I was just going to tell you I couldn’t do lunch today!” He winked at her. “Take good care of her, Hyunjin.” And with that, he left the room, leaving Hyunjin standing there awkwardly.

           “Looks like my lunch is clear,” She giggled. “Let’s go then.” Hyunjin picked up her bag from the ground before she could, and the two headed for a diner on campus.

           After getting passed the cliché questions, both of them started to open up more, and the conversation flowed better. She found herself enjoying his company, laughing at the stories he told her, and watching as he laughed at the ones she shared. “You and Seungmin seemed to have quite the adventures with each other.” He chuckled, taking a sip of the drink he ordered. “You talk about him a lot.”

           She blushed at the realization that every story she told Hyunjin included Seungmin. “Sorry.” She giggled, tucking hair behind her ear. “It’s just, we spent every day together growing up so all my stories include him.” Hyunjin smiled, shaking his head, and telling her it was okay.

           He walked her to her next class when they were finished eating. “I enjoyed getting to know you. Hopefully we can do this again.” He told her before she could walk into her class.

           “I’d like that, Hyunjin.” She smiled up at him. There was no doubt that Hyunjin was an attractive man, every girl at the school seemed to fawn over him, and maybe if her heart hadn’t been stolen years before, she would too. But unfortunately for her, her heart only beats for Kim Seungmin, even if he hated her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She just wished she could move on.

*

         “Where’s Y/N?” Jisung asked when Felix approached their table alone. A wide smile took over his face as he told Jisung about Hyunjin asking her out. “No way!”

           “She was going to say no, so I told her I couldn’t do lunch with her today.” Felix shrugged. “Her and Hyunjin would make such a cute couple.”

           “Talented too! They’d be the talk of the school.” Felix agreed as Seungmin sat down, asking what they were talking about. “Hyunjin and Y/N.” Seungmin couldn’t help but scoff.

           “As if that would happen.” He chuckled before realizing that she was missing from the table. Though he ignored her when she was around, he had gotten used to having her around again. And honestly, he couldn’t explain why he ignored her. He knew it wouldn’t help rid the feelings he’s had for her for years. They spent three years apart, and he was still just as in love with her.

           “It could. Hyunjin asked her out after class today.” Seungmin froze, his appetite completely gone. “You okay, Seungmin?” Felix asked as Seungmin threw his food back down, packing up his lunch and leaving. “You don’t think Y/N is the first love he told us about, do you?”

           “If she is, why is he so cold towards her?” The two boys sat there, staring in the direction Seungmin walked in, coming to the same conclusion in their minds; Kim Seungmin was an idiot in love with his childhood best friend.

*

         “Minnie, what are you doing here?” She asked when she opened the door, surprised to see Seungmin standing there. His hair was messy, like he couldn’t stop running his fingers through it, a habit he has when he’s anxious.

           “Please tell me you’re not dating him.” Before she could say anything, he was speaking again. “Please just tell me you aren’t dating Hyunjin.” A scoff came from her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest.

           “What does that have to do with you?” She asked, annoyed that her best friend has been ignoring her for months, but now he’s standing on her doorstep, begging her not to date someone else. Not that she could with how in love with him she was, but he didn’t have to know that.

           “Because I don’t want you to be with someone that isn’t me.” She could see him blink back tears. She could see how distressed he truly was over the idea of losing her to someone else. “I don’t have a right to say this, but I couldn’t hold back anymore! I have no excuses for how I’ve treated you these last couple months, but I’m in love with you.” The tears could no longer be stopped and flowed down his cheeks as he continued to speak. “I’ve had all my firsts with you; my first kiss, my first time, my first love, and even my first heartbreak! It’s all been you! And I want to continue having all my firsts with you. I want to have my lasts with you. I want you to be my only because I’m only ever going to want you!”

           She stepped forward, cupping his face with her hands, wiping away his tears with her thumbs before calmly speaking. “I’m not dating Hyunjin.” Relief flooded over Seungmin knowing he hasn’t lost her. “It’s always been you, Minnie. You stole my heart years ago, and no one else has had a chance since.” He wasted no time in crashing his lips to hers, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her as close to him as he could. This time, he wasn’t going to let her go.

[lale-txt]

♡ Happy Birthday, Bee: Whitebeard x F!S/I

a/n: @secretsnailor - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Bee!! from me & @tardiiart who teamed up to surprise you on your birthday! :3c thank you for being such a lovely friend to us and for everything you do! since we can't hug you in person on your special day, we worked in secret on a little something we hope you'll enjoy. sending you all the kisses! ♡

word count: 2.1k

“Nervous much?” – “Thatch. You know I already fucked your dad successfully. There’s nothing for me to be nervous about anymore.”

It was impossible to miss the teasing in Thatch’s voice as his big hair filled up almost all of the display in Bee’s phone. She had her friend on FaceTime, watching him roll out dough in the kitchen of his bakery while she was finishing last touches on her makeup, applying mascara to each lash     with meticulous precision. 

“Sure. Just pretend it’s not your first proper date in ages. Or that you don’t have the slightest crush on Pops. And that you spent two hours picking the right outfit for today. I was right there.”

Bee huffs, taking her eyes off the mirror to stare directly in the camera. She may be small, but she sure could bite when tested, however she gets cut off before she can use her brush as a threatening pointing weapon. 

“And yet still she chose this outfit. Bee, I told you Pops is a boobs man. You should show some cleavage.”

Izou’s handsome face appeared in the display, mustering her with stern eyes and arms wrapped around his new found lover. The two of them were disgustingly sweet together, but still – Bee was glad it worked out for them after listening to Thatch’s whining about unrequited love the other night.

“What’s the point? He even asked me to bring a jacket and mittens, I’ll be all covered up anyway, I guess. Hey, does he always plan surprises for his dates?”

Thatch and Izou exchange a look and shrug. In all honesty, they couldn’t remember when they experienced Whitebeard taking someone out on a proper date, so this was new territory for everyone. What they knew for sure was that Marco had been arguing prior before Pops left with him on why he should take the new Corvette and not his rusty old van while the other sons were secretly taking photos and spamming the group chat with it. 

Bee attempted a few different hair styles but decided to just leave them open in the end, earning an approving thumbs up from both Thatch and Izou who were now forming pretzels together on screen. She smiled over them playfully bickering at each other, arguing who had the most skilled fingers, when she heard a car honk outside. 

“Shit… okay– gotta run, talk to you later, guys!” She blew a few kisses towards the screen and watched the boys wave and waggle their eyebrows at her, before she ended the call and grabbed her few belongings, checking herself one last time in the mirror. Calm down, Bee. You got this. While her drumming heart was trying to tell her otherwise, she was also overly excited to meet the big man again.

They had spent a wonderful night together a week ago, magical almost, and had been in touch ever since. While Whitebeard wasn’t big of a texter, probably because the buttons of his flip phone were a little too frilly for him, he called her several times a day to hear what she was doing, just keeping each other company while one was out getting groceries or cooking dinner. Though one night he also asked her what she was wearing, laughing loudly when Bee went off to explain in a dry voice every detail of her worn out pajama, only to ask him in return if he had his cock in his hands– he did, and they had an amusing attempt at phone sex, deciding that the real thing was a whole lot better. 

Still, Bee fell asleep with a smile that night, yearning to meet him again. When she opened her mail the next day she was surprised to find a handwritten letter in there, ripping it open before she even reached her door. Inside was an invitation to an official date, Whitebeard giving her a time and a date when he was gonna pick her up, scribbled with a cryptic note that she should bring something warm to wear. She called him that night to press more information out of him, but he only chuckled and left her hanging, amused by her pleading and pouting. 

Bee didn’t like surprises, but this one time she would make an exception. And she had a vague feeling anyway, because where would you require a wool jumper and mittens on this hot summer afternoon? 

She laughed when she noticed the infamous Moby Dick parked in front of her house, the old fashioned-van that looked like it would fall apart any second. Whitebeard cranked down the window on the passenger seat, leaning over to greet her with a wide smile. 

“Hey, little Bee.” – “Hey, handsome.”

Whitebeard opened the door from the inside for her, holding out a hand to help her in the passenger seat, not pulling it back once she took a seat. The two look at each other, almost a little shy now that they were seeing each other again after that one night, but the tension falls off their shoulders once they start laughing and lean in for a big kiss.

Bee was almost standing in her seat to reach him, her hands placed on his cheek while his big hands were wrapped around her waist, pulling her over to him. Their lips crashed against each other, needy sounds being muffled with more kisses and hands wandering over their bodies, and for a minute it wouldn’t have been surprising if they started undressing each other right there in the parked car, if only the sound of the van’s car honk didn’t startle them. 

They pull away and grin at each other, and for a few heartbeats they feel like lovestruck teenagers on their way to prom. Now that the kiss was out of their system, Bee finally took Whitebeard all in. He was wearing jeans and a green shirt which he didn’t bother to button up fully, his long blonde hair falling over his shoulders and his distinctive beard looked like it was polished and combed at least three times before he left the house.

Bee gave Whitebeard a look when he started the car, the unholy noises of a dying vehicle roaring through the streets, but soon the sound of his music was blasting louder than the groaning and creaking of the van. He let her flip through his collection of tapes and pick the ones she liked the most, a bit proud of himself that he could cater to her music preferences, humming to the melody with a big hand resting on her thigh. 

“So. What’s the plan? Either we’re going on a week long road trip to colder realms and in that case I didn’t pack enough undies. Or…?” 

Whitebeard pointed over his shoulder to the backseat, not taking his eyes off the road, while Bee turned around and gasped. 

“Ice skating? Don’t tell me you’re secretly a professional figure skater?”

His roaring car made the whole car vibrate and he shook his head. 

“Never tried it. But my boys suggested it could be fun to do something active, so… hope you like the pair I got you.” – “Are you kidding me? They are so extra.”

Bee grabbed the pair of smaller skates and looked at them from every angle. They seemed really expensive, but the pink color was loud. Still, she shifted in her seat with excitement. To be honest, it wouldn’t have mattered what he had planned today, as long as she got to spend time with him. Talking on the phone was nice, but seeing him in all his glory, smelling and feeling him… that was the real deal. 

They arrived at the ice skating rink and after parking the van, Whitebeard walked around the car to open the passenger door for Bee, offering her a hand and not letting go of it. Bee leaned close, enjoying the warmth he was radiating and together they made their way inside. It was lively but not crowded, music blasting from the speakers as people were going around in circles. While Whitebeard sat down on a bench to put on his skates, Bee took the chance to be somewhat on an eye level with him and stole a few more kisses, almost crawling into his lap again if he didn’t hold her back by the hips. 

“Easy, little one… we can get to that later.” 

He winked and ignored how she rolled her eyes, went on to lock their stuff up and after changing into their wool jumpers they soon stepped on the ice together, his big hand in hers. Bee laughed loudly at him when she noticed him standing there like a deer in the headlight, unsure how to move, but that was only until she stumbled and almost fell on her own ass if Whitebeard didn’t have such a tight grip on her, almost making her dangle from his outstretched arm.

“Would have served me right, I guess”, Bee grinned sheepishly as he helped her back on her feet again, his rumbling laugh echoing in her chest.  “You’re lucky that you’re so cute”, Whitebeard replied and leaned down for a kiss, ignoring the fact that his knees were shaking slightly on the unfamiliar ground. 

Together they felt their way into the dark – the dark being the ice rink and dozens of children passing them by at the speed of light while they slowly, very slowly, found their balance. Soon they took off their mittens, craving skin on skin contact, and Bee couldn’t help but feel comforted by her small hand in his, not letting her go once. They spun around in circles, rating the playlist of this place loudly, talking about sweet nothingness and depths of their soul, a mix of lightness and trust pouring in their words.

Time seemed to slip through their fingers and they didn’t even notice when the staff turned off the music; like waking up from a dream they slowly realized that they were the last ones still going in circles and with this realization also came the heavy legs, not used to the motions on ice. Apparently the people working there had tried to get them off the rink for half an hour since they were already closed, but they all were too intimidated by Whitebeard and didn’t dare to approach him. 

They got their stuff from the lockers and changed into their regular shoes and clothes again, giggling and teasing each other about the whole situation in a way only old souls and lovers do, not realizing they might have fallen madly and deeply already.

“My legs feel like pudding. I don’t think I can walk one more step anymore”, Bee groans as she ties her shoes – even this task was exhausting. Still, she had lots of fun today and enjoyed herself to the fullest, and she would do it all over again if it meant she got to hold Whitebeard’s hand for several hours.

“No worries, little one. I got you”, Whitebeard laughed and without further warning swooped her off her feet, and within the blink of an eye Bee was sitting on his arm, grabbing onto his shoulder for support. Their faces were only inches away from each other and she could count every tiny wrinkle on his face, but what really captured her was the blue of his eyes, like the sky and the ocean becoming one at the end of the horizon, a thousand shades of luminescence.

Bee rests her head against Whitebeard’s as they make their way outside to the empty parking lot. It was a warm summer night, the sky vast, not a single cloud hanging upon them. Even if they were on solid ground again, they still felt like they were spinning around in their own little universe, just two star crossed lovers. With their heads in the back of their neck they gaze upon the countless stars, feeling both incredibly small and yet so tall, as if they could pick one from the sky and swallow it with ease.

“A shooting star!”

If Whitebeard didn’t have such a tight grip around her, Bee would probably have jumped, so now she’s just pointing towards the sky, her face lightening up with sheer excitement. It has been ages ever since she saw one. Whitebeard’s rumbling laugh makes both of them vibrate and he turns his face towards her, tilting her head slightly towards him with two fingers. 

“Make a wish…”, he mumbled against her lips before he leaned in for a kiss, humming when she responded to it wholeheartedly with her hands buried in his hair, clinging onto him as if she never intended to let him go, their hearts beating in unison and unspoken wishes being weaved into each other by an invisible red thread. 

[soupbabe]

Hsiadviqbje2h2k- uh-If you're feeling up to writing,,, May I request a platonic star dust crusaders with a child stand user on dios side-? Maybe the kid is hesitant on actually harming them and more or less trying to convince them to leave-

You don't have to do this aiahskapow

An Odd Enemy (Platonic! Stardust Crusaders + Child! Reader)

Dio forced you to be sent off with Hol Horse to defeat the Crusaders.

Kakyoin isn't here because this is low-key replacing the Boingo and Hol Horse episodes oops-

Warning (?) : Hol Horse being a jackass and mistreating reader

You've been living in Dio's mansion for a while now. Your mother being a servant of the ancient vampire, you had to come with her by default. To make yourself as useful as a 10 year old can be, Dio questioned what can you do to make yourself worthy to stay here. It was then you revealed your stand to him, only taking form of a sketch pad and a pencil. You drew your best interpretation of Dio. With a stick figure body, long hair, and the heart headband, your stand was able to register what you wanted to create and there stood an eerily similar looking Dio standing in front of the real one. Dio was impressed that your stand could replicate his likeness from a simple stick figure, although if you look at his doppelganger's pupils, they were just messy scribbles like in the drawing.

Dio saw potential in you and a lot of your time was spent with one of his servants training you on how you could use and improve your stand's ability. Soon enough with your training, you were able to figure out that the more detailed the drawing was, the better chance your stand had to manifest the drawings physically rather than it becoming an illusion. With the loss after loss of Dio's stand users, he sent you off on the big task to kill Jotaro Kujo and his crusaders.

Though with you, he paired you up with a cowboy named Hol Horse. He had been getting on Dio's nerves lately and thought to get him back by using his hatred of children against him. Hol's task was easy: look after you and if you come back with any physical injuries and/or you both fail in killing any of the Crusaders, Dio would kill him off. It would be the third time Hol Horse would encounter the group. If he couldn't succeed the third time, he would be useless from here on out.

Hol Horse glares at you, grumbling about how he has to "babysit" you while you both walk out of the building. "Hey cowboy, what are you talking about?" You looked up at him. "Nothin' of your concern, let's jus' move on and get this over with." You both walked around Cairo (you were more so dragged, Hol Horse deciding to do so because of your "short chicken legs") until Hol abruptly stopped and shoved you into alleyway to get out of sight of a familiar tower of silver hair.

The man held a tough grip on your shoulder and he kneeled down to your height. "Alright, here's what's gonna happen. You get out there and do whatever the hell you gotta do to get the French idiot with the bad hair back here. I'll take care of the rest. Got it?" He hardened his grip until you nodded, tears gathering around your eyes. There's bound to be a bruise later on your shoulder.

He gave you a smirk and shoved you out of the alleyway, causing you to trip and fall. The Frenchman you were supposed to distract was walking and talking to another man clad in gold jewelry and a red robe. You didn't think much of it and ran towards them, yelling for them to get their attention. Avdol was the one to see you and stopped Polnareff "Is something the matter?" He looked down at you with a smile. "I-I..." You were at a lost for words as your stress caved in into you. What was Lord Dio thinking? These men could crush you under their palm if they wanted to and the thought of how disappointed he would be in you alone could make you cry; the mean cowboy only making you feel worse. "Spit it out kid, we're on a tight schedule here." Polnareff looked down at you too, his features softening greatly when he saw you crying.

The two giants kneeled down next to you "Wait, kid, are you okay? I didn't mean to come off that mean..!" Polnareff panicked and you shook your head. "I-I can't d-do it...I'm so sorry!!" You hiccupped. Avdol and Polnareff looked at each other with confusion before mentally agreeing with each other on something. Avdol gave you a light pat on your shoulder and gave you a comforting smile, "Breathe with me okay? 1, 2, 3 take a deep breath in...1,2,3 take a deep breath out. Do you feel any better?" You nodded, "Y-yeah, thank you." Avdol gave you a little headpat. "What's your name? I'm Jean-Pierre Polnareff and this is my friend Muhammad Avdol." You looked at the both of them "I'm Y/N L/N."

You explained to them that you were paired with a man named Hol Horse to lure them into a trap. Once his name slipped from your lips, Avdol and Polnareff's face grew more serious. Immediately, they asked where he was hiding and you gladly told them. When you were close to the alleyway, Jotaro, Joseph, and Iggy caught up with the other crusaders.

"Okay Y/N, do you mind to tell me what's going on? You said that you 'can't do it.' Is someone making you do something you don't want to do?" Avdol asked. You looked around for any sign of Hol Horse and looked back at the two. They didn't seemed to be mad at all or have some sort of cold exterior. It was different from the people you had to deal with at the mansion, for the first time in a long time you found comfort in somebody. Even if they were the supposed 'enemy.'

Polnareff whispered to Joseph about what's going on and asked for them to take Y/N away from the scene that was going to be fighting grounds. Joseph looked at you and nodded. Before Hol Horse can get close to you to drag you back, Joseph took your hand and walked off to a nearby cafe with Jotaro and Iggy, leaving Polnareff and Avdol with Hol Horse. They both smirked, more than ready to get some revenge on the cowboy.

On the walk to the cafe, you clung to Joseph's arm, shying away from the large teenager everytime he glanced back at you. You've heard a lot about Jotaro Kujo, he was the one that landed a lot of people you hung out with in the hospital. Although Dio claims that he isn't a big deal, you couldn't help but to have that underlying fear that he was going to hurt you.

Almost like sixth sense, Jotaro sighed. "Good grief kid, I'm not going to hurt you. You can stop looking at me like that." Joseph rolled his eyes "Be nice Jotaro! They've been through a lot today. Besides Y/N, you did a good thing today, you fessed up before anyone got hurt. I'm proud of you." The old man gave you a headpat while you all went to get seated. You smiled. Yeah, Dio has told you that he was proud of you when you were able to successfully hit targets during stand practice, but it never held anything behind it. It felt empty and cold compared to the warmth Joseph's voice had, spoken like a truly proud father.

You all sat around the cafe, talking to Joseph and Jotaro and bribing Iggy with food to get a couple of pets. You showed off your stand to them and told them how it works, using a glass of water as an example. Later on, Joseph asked you about Dio's whereabouts and you were able to give the best mock up of a map to them on a small notebook from Joseph's pocket. Your memory wasn't the best, but it made great progress in their journey. When Avdol and Polnareff returned, Polnareff puffed his chest out in pride, announcing that they were able to "burn that cocky cowboy to a crisp" and went to check up on you.

You all talked some more about yourselves and once they decided to leave, you didn't hesitate to run up to each crusader to give them a "Good luck" and a quick hug. Although Jotaro did push you away, it didn't stop Star Platinum from coming out to give you a hug himself, he even gave a little 'Ora' in goodbye when he was forced to retreat back to his user.

[duuhrayliegh]

europe - request

pairing: sebastian stan x singer!reader (seb!pov)

summary: singer!reader writes another song, this one is about seb

warnings: suggestive content (*wink wonk*), language, the works ya know

a/n: this took so long bc im not lyrically inclined and there isn’t even that many lyrics in here. i can’t even guys this was a nice break though. i liked the concept, i hope i lived up to your dreams. :)

p.s.: my requests and tag lists are both open loves!

check out my other writing on my full m.list

Sebastian was doing a press interview for his new movie. It was his first on television interview. First time being back in the studio for The Late Late Show with James Corden. First time since you and him had gotten together. He was eager to see what James had in store for him.

He was wearing a bright yellow shirt paired with a red leather jacket. His legs were clad with a different pair that he wanted to wear originally because you couldn’t get quite enough of his thighs. Had he worn the other pair, there would’ve been a prominent wet spot on one leg where you rode him to your own satisfaction. The memory made him bite his lip and adjust his pants to try to quell his oncoming boner.

“Good luck out there tonight, lovey. You’re gonna crush it.” Your voicemail warmed Sebastian’s heart. He missed you a lot, but you were currently on your own press junket. Your new album finally came out and your manager had been running you ragged. Sebastian was so proud of everything you’ve accomplished, and he wasn’t afraid to show it.

“Hi, Mr. Stan. You’re needed on deck in five minutes.” He nodded at the assistant producer who stuck her head in his dressing room. Sebastian ran his hands through his hair one more time before deciding enough was enough.

“Well, this is as good as it's gonna get.” He murmured to himself as he walked out of the dressing room. He rolled his shoulders, snuggling into the leather jacket encasing his back. Sebastian took a swig of a water bottle from the table backstage. He still got nervous when doing interviews, always worried that he’s going to say the wrong thing.

“And now I would like to introduce our next guest. You’ve seen him as Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the last ten years. He’s played the borderline psychotic Jeff Gillooly in I, Tonya, and the corrupt Sheriff Bodecker from The Devil All The Time. It is my pleasure to introduce the one, the only, Sebastian Stan!”

James stood, clapping as Sebastian made his way to the main set area. He raised his right hand, his left remaining on his stomach. As he approached James, Sebastian switched hands, his left coming up as an offer for James to shake. Afterwards, James held his hand out to the chair beside his desk, waiting for Sebastian to sit down.

“Hi, Sebastian! It’s so good to have you back.” James’ accent broke Sebastian’s name up into three distinct syllables, bringing a smile to Seb’s face.

“It’s good to be back, man.” He grinned big, waiting for James to ask the first question. Once they got into it, the interview went smoothly. Sebastian was able to avoid giving out spoilers for his new project, leaving just enough to the imagination. James was in a fit of laughter after Sebastian had told a crazy story from being on set. James wiped tears away from his lower lashline, calming down just enough to catch his breath.

“Okay, so I want to move onto something else.” Sebastian sobered up quickly, unsure of where James was taking the conversation. “We want all the juicy details about your relationship with Y/N.” Sebastian’s brow raised as he pulled a face at James’ question. He laughed to himself for a minute before answering.

“Ya know, we really have you to thank for that.” Sebastian pointed at James, before bringing that same finger to rub his eye.

“Really?” The man’s voice pitched up, brows hitting his hairline.

“Oh yeah. We were only introduced because of your show.” Sebastian leaned back in his chair, remembering that night with you. The two of you had gone out for drinks, talking for hours at the bar and then even longer in his hotel room. He remembered waking up with you wrapped up in his arms. You didn’t have sex that night, but you definitely did the second night.

And oh god, if  that second night wasn’t just as amazing as the first. The face you made whenever you climaxed danced it’s way to the forefront of Sebastian’s mind. Not good, definitely not good. He had to readjust himself in his pants again, crossing his legs to cover up his rather large problem.

“Yeah, we started dating that same week. Kept it quiet though.” Sebastian held his palm out in the air, bouncing it up and down.

“Right, right. And do you want to tell everyone how you did end up revealing that you and Y/N were an item?” Sebastian looked down at his lap, smirking to himself. “Or should we just play the clip?”

A clip played for the studio audience. It was Y/N doing her makeup for the Vogue Beauty Secrets Youtube video. Sebastian waltzed in the background of the shot. It then cuts to Sebastian kissing Y/N on the cheek, brandishing the hickey’s that she had sucked onto his cheek the night before. Mhm, I remember that night too.

Sebastian had surprised Y/N by coming to see her. He wasn’t doing anything and he missed you, so why waste a perfectly good opportunity. He spent the night there completely ravishing you until you begged him to stop. That night he proudly wore your thighs as earmuffs, burying his face in you. He really needed to stop reminiscing during an interview.

“How adorable. Was that planned at all? Or did you just do that because you could?” Sebastian shook his head, his right hand scratching at the stubble decorating his jaw.

“Oh, no. It definitely wasn’t planned. I honestly don’t remember if I knew Y/N was filming that morning, so I’m just glad I put on pants before I left the bedroom.” James laughed at Sebastian’s comment.

“Okay, so I’ve gotta ask your opinion on something though.” Sebastian made a hum of acknowledgement, signalling for James to continue. James leaned back, pulling out a cardstock of your new album. “So, this is Y/N’s new album, it just came out about three or four weeks ago?” The crowd clapped for you, and Sebastian cheered along with them.

“What do ya want my opinion on? If it’s the album, then I gotta tell ya, I loved it. Every single song on there is absolutely amazing.” James nodded, a smirk forming on his lips making Sebastian think he made a mistake.

“So you’re aware of the song Europe?” Sebastian smirked, nodding his head because he knew where this was going. “Would you like to tell us what that’s about?” James laughed as Sebastian stammered, looking for the right words. “I mean, let’s just read some of the lyrics.” James looked at the cards in his hands as Sebastian drifted into his thoughts again.

You had brought him into the studio before finalizing Europe. He remembers watching you twist your hands at your waist and continuously cracking your knuckles. Sebastian was curious because you hadn’t ever been like that when showing him a song before. Every question he had about your anxiety revolving around the song was thrown away when he heard it.

Europe was an ode to Sebastian, all of Sebastian. He couldn’t help pulling you down onto his lap by your waist as he listened. You were the only two in the studio, so the two of you were free to do whatever you wanted. The funny thing about that night was that there was a new track recording.

“Oh shit, Seb.” The dam broke afterwards, peels of laughter leaving your lips without explanation. Your right hand raised to your mouth, attempting (and failing) to quiet your giggles.

“Babe, why the ‘oh shit’?” You held up a finger to your lips, telling him to be quiet and listen. He strained his ears, waiting for his own ‘oh shit’ moment. Then, his own voice filtered into his ears, making him crease his brow in confusion. “What is that?”

“That’s the audio from when I first played you Europe.” Small giggles passed your lips again. “I was going to ask you if I could use, like, a sound byte from it for either the beginning or the end of the song.” Sebastian nodded, slightly amazed that you were so creative with your work. “But, I forgot to turn off the recording.” Sebastian’s eyes locked on your expression, waiting for him to connect the dots. He pulled a face and then,

“Oh shit.” His eyes widened, a huff of laughter escaping. “Wait, so it caught all of it?” Your lips rolled inwards, holding back laughs as you nodded your head. Sebastian raised a brow, his eyes flicking over your face. “Use it.” He had a few new hickeys after that night too, but not after decorating your body with a few of his own.

“Sebastian, I would like you to read a few lines from the song, please.” James handed Sebastian a card, a snort leaving Sebastian’s body involuntarily. He glanced at the cards, know the lyrics by heart already. He took a big breath, reading the lines that James chose. He threw him a look with his eyes, head tilting slightly toward the British man.

“Uh, okay, here we go.” Sebastian laughed to himself, blowing out a breath through clenched lips. He lifted the card again, “You know,” dropping his hand back to his lap while raising his other hand. “You know, she’s gonna make fun of me for this right?” James laughed, looking into the camera as if he was on The Office, then to the audience with a duh look on his face.

“Sebastian. We’re going to make fun of you.” The crowd didn’t hesitate to join in James’ amusement. Sebastian dropped his head into his hands, groaning loudly. “Do you need a little encouragement?” The audience began cheering and clapping for Sebastian.

“Fine, alright, alright.” He shook his head before starting. “Long nights with hickeys earned like a badge of honor. Teasing kisses, twisted sheets, all signs of true seduction.” Sebastian looked up from his hands, expecting James to say something. All James offered, though, was a wave of his hand for Sebastian to continue. “I never have to worry because all my sins are forgiven when I’m with you.” James held his hand up, stopping Sebastian from continuing.

“Okay, let’s dissect that, Mr. Stan.” James propped his elbow on his interview desk, placing his head at an angle in his palm. “What is this song about?” Sebastian’s lips curled inward, stopping himself from laughter.

“James,” Sebastian leaned forward against the arm of the couch. “I thought this was a family show.” The British man quirked a brow, sweeping both hands in front of his body gesturing to the studio.

“This is the Late Late Show, Sebastian.” He turned back to the audience, addressing them and the cameras. “And that is all the time we have tonight! Thank you to Sebastian for coming on the show with me tonight! And thank all of you for tuning in tonight. We’ll see you next time.” The producer beside the camera signaled that the show ended and Sebastian turned back to James.

“It’s a good song.” Sebastian smiled wide afterwards, saying his goodbyes to the crew. He was back in the safety of his dressing room when his phone started ringing.

“Hello?” He knew that it was you from the personally assigned ringtone you picked out when he wasn’t looking.

“The Internet is going to eat you alive.” Sebastian grinned as your peels of laughter trickled in through the speaker of his phone.

“Oh yeah, could you imagine if I told them that it wasn’t just random sounds at the end?” He could just imagine your smirk at his mention of your little addition to Europe.

“We’re gonna have to do that again.” Sebastian paused, waiting for you to explain. “Although I think next time we should do a visual along with the audio. You pickin’ up what I’m putting down Stan?” Sebastian smirked to himself, thinking about being able to watch himself bring you to the brink over and over again, even when you’re not together. His pants got tighter at the idea.

“I think we might have to look into that, Y/L/N.”

[imagine-docx]

scent market

Summary: Wanda stumbles upon this tiny gem of a candle shop. Does she keep going back because of the amazing scent range? Or is it because of the cute shopkeeper?

Warnings: None.

A/N: i apologize for being mia. university has been killing me, and i have had zero time to write because i am busy pulling essays outta no where. please enjoy a minor comeback! - amanda 💛

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Everyone knows that Wanda Maximoff is the biggest candle consumer ever. Something about the warmth of the candle and the scent that follows, just seems to make everything better. 

It was one of the rare days that Wanda had off, and decided to go to one of her favourite parks in New York, Prospect Park. 

On her way out, Wanda was walking down Empire Avenue and was automatically drawn to this small candle shop. The exterior automatically had this warm aura to it. The open glass windows gave Wanda the opportunity to look in, and it screamed ‘home’ to her. 

Wanda opened the door to the tiny shop, upon her arrival a little bell dinged and she was greeted with soft radio pop and a heavy peach scent.

“Hi there! Welcome to Scent Market! Let me know if you need any help!” She heard a voice beam out from the corner.

Wanda turned her head to the corner to track the sound, and was blown away. You had to be the most breathtaking woman she has ever seen. Yet you were only wearing a pair of ripped jeans, a form fitting long sleeved shirt, and a pair of sneakers. “Hi,” Wanda managed to shyly get out.

You smiled at Wanda, and Wanda swore she resembled melting candle wax. Wanda looked around the tiny shop, grabbing some candles and smelling it as she went. But she still kept an eye on you out of the corner of her eye.

It seemed as if you were either doing inventory, or were picking out orders. As Wanda turned herself back to the candle that was marked as Frozen Margarita. The hints of citrus, and melon jumped out at her. “If you like that one, I definitely do recommend the Citrus Splash,” you said coming up to her. “Less lemon and lime, more orange.”

“That sounds up my alley,” Wanda laughed, “Can I see it?”

You let out another smile towards her and she swears she never felt that much warmth from someone, “Of course, follow me.”

You handed Wanda an orange candle encased in a glass jar, she took the top off and smelt it, “This is wonderful. I also want to know which scent do you currently have burning?” Wanda asked, while smelling the candle.

“Oh that’s Peach Sugar Kiss! Here lemme get it for you,” you responded, before going to the fixture next to Citrus Splash.

“Are these handmade?” Wanda asked, taking the Peach Sugar Kiss from you.

“Yes they are, they are soy candle wax with essential oils mixed in,” you responded.

“Wow, you must be super talented,” Wanda said looking at the Tropical Mango candle, while looking at you.

You let out a giggle, and Wanda swore that as time passed she would melt even more, “No, that’s my business partner Trish. She makes them, I sell them. Unstoppable duo, you know?”

Wanda smiled at her giggle, “Ah so you’re the brains.”

You chuckled, “Pretty much.”

You and Wanda walked around the store, with you recommending different candles, her smelling them, and you both basking in each other’s company. Upon doing a lap around the whole store, you turned to her, “Is that it for today?”

“I guess so,” Wanda said, placing the Citrus Splash, Peach Sugar Kiss, and Apple Blossom candle on the counter.

“Lemme get that rung up for you,” you smiled.

As you were cashing Wanda out, you two continued to crack jokes. You wrapped the candles in a light peach wrapping paper, and into a black bag. “See you around?” You asked.

“With candles like these? You will be seeing me more often,” Wanda said, smiling.

“Have a good day!” You called out, as Wanda was leaving. 

⚛》》》》》◆《《《《《⚛

It was almost like clock work. Wanda would buy a single candle every time she goes, burn it until there is nothing left, and she would be back at the shop. 

“So is there a reason today we’re burning,” Natasha squinted to read the candle, “Apple Blossom? What happened to Blooming Berry?”

“I finished it,” Wanda nonchalantly responded as she packed away her hoodies.

“Wanda, that's your 3rd candle this week.” Natasha retorted.

“What can I say? The candles are good.” Wanda responded as she packed away her jeans. 

“We all know you are a massive candle consumer, but this? This is a new level.” Natasha said, studying Wanda.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Wanda responded.

“Take me to this candle shop, I wanna see what the fuss is about.” Natasha responded.

“No!” Wanda responded too quickly, which resulted in a raised eyebrow from Natasha, “I mean, no they’re closed right now. I’ll take you when they are open.”

⚛》》》》》◆《《《《《⚛

Wanda forgot how serious Natasha is, as Natasha held her to taking her to the candle shop. The two were walking to the shop, and the pair stopped in front of it, “It looks cozy, now I know why you like it.” 

Wanda let out a small sigh of relief, that Natasha thinks it’s because of the aura the shop gives off. Upon the two walking into the shop, they were greeted with a, “Hi! Welcome to Scent Market!” You beamed from the back, which Wanda naturally returned with a smile. 

“I’m back!” Wanda announced, to which you now smiled at.

“Welcome back Wands, we got some new candles for you to try out,” you said, coming up to the duo. “Hi there,” you smiled at Natasha as you introduced yourself to her.

“I’m Natasha, Wanda’s best friend,” she said, shaking her hand. “I gotta know, do you have more fresh scents? Wanda keeps burning fruits, and I’m kinda getting tired.”

“You are just a downer, you don’t like cutesy smells.” Wanda stuck her tongue out.

“Lucky for you and your sanity, we do,” you chuckled, “Are there certain scents you like?”

“I just want to feel like I spent the entire day cleaning, and there’s that after scent,” Natasha responded.

“I got a good one for you,” you walked over to the fixture, “Lakeside Waters. Smells kinda like the ocean, some driftwood, and minor hints of orange.”

Natasha took the candle from you and took a small inhale, “The orange is very minimal, I like this, do you have anymore?”

You took Natasha around the store and showed her similar scents to Lakeside Waters. Natasha holding onto the scents that she loves the most.

Majority would be pissed off at how easily the two of them bond, but not to Wanda. She was in awe that you managed to mesh in with them so easily.

You managed to introduce Natasha to Lakeside Waters, Sugared Lemonade, and Eucalyptus Spearmint. Whereas Wanda got Raspberry Mimosa, just so she has a reason to keep going back to the shop.

As you were cashing them out, you continued to crack jokes with the two of them. You were walking them to the door, “So Wands, will I see you soon?” You smiled.

Wanda instantly let out a goofy smile, “Of course. I’ll make sure to leave Natasha at home.”

“I’m offended,” Natasha feigned offence.

“Don’t worry, you’re always welcomed back,” you smiled at the duo.

The three of you bid your goodbyes, you walked to the desk and bit a small corner of your lip trying to hide your giddiness.

On the other hand, the moment Natasha and Wanda left the shop, Natasha let out a, “No wonder you keep going back to this candle shop.”

⚛》》》》》◆《《《《《⚛

Of course Wanda hit the bottom on Raspberry Mimosa within two and a half days of getting it. Which prompted her to return back to Scent Market. Every time she walked in, she felt as if she was greeted the first time, “Wanda!” You called out.

Wanda instantly smiled at the sound of your voice, “Raspberry Mimosa was amazing. Do you have any others?”

“I’m running low on options to give you Wands,” you joked.

“I might have to go and try something sweet next.” Wanda responded, following you to the fixture.

“We got everything you could possibly need,” you reached for the Peach Bellini candle, “ I know you like peach a lot, so tada, Peach Bellini; white peach, prosecco, and a hint of orange.”

“You got my scent notes down, huh?” Wanda said, amazed at the detail that you pay attention to her.

“Of course. I gotta make sure I have my favourite clients scent list noted,” you smiled, as you took her to the front to cash her out.

“I feel honoured,” Wanda said, pulling out her wallet.

The two of you continued to joke, while you cashed Wanda out. Every moment that passes, she feels more and more drawn to you. Wanda knew that when she got home she would have to try and work out a way to ask you out, but until then she would bask in your companionship. 

⚛》》》》》◆《《《《《⚛

That night Wanda sat at her desk, pen and notepad in front of her, trying to come up with ideas to go about asking you out. Each idea was futile. 

She reached for her phone to call Natasha over for some help, but remembered she was out with Clint for their weekly dinner. Wanda groaned, and ran her fingers through her hair. She leaned back, struggling to come up with ideas.

Wanda decided that maybe burning the candle she got today would help flow her ideas. She opened the tiny black bag, and to her surprise, there was a second candle. 

Wanda cautiously took the candle out of the bag and noticed a heart sticker rather than your usual clear tape. She gently unravelled it, to reveal a beautiful peach coloured candle with no label.

She was confused. Opening the candle she saw a piece of paper, she gently placed it on her desk and continued to smell the candle; heavy on the peach, light vanilla notes. She smiled and picked up the note.

Wanda let a goofy smile escape her lips as she read the note that was signed as you.

I have no name for it yet. I call it Peach Tea and Vanilla; peach tea, vanilla creme, and some oat milk. This is a special one for you, call me sometime and we could work out a name over coffee? (XXX)-XXX-XXX