#like this is all happening to him within the past 1-2 years crazy

[snakeoid]

I just know when lucifer said I'm going to my room he went in there to cry. his youngest sister died + lost a war and became a demon + gave birth to an angry baby + taking responsibility for six brothers in a realm that hates them + feels guilty about dragging his brothers down with him + now his brothers keep saying things that (usually unintentionally) make him feel guiltier like personally i'd throw up

[bratzforchris]

Inked Daisies (Chapter 2)

A series

Summary: For the past year, you've been running the flower shop that's next door to your friend, Matt's, tattoo studio. But what happens when the feelings start to get more than friendly?

Read Chapter 1 here

Pairing: Tattoo artist!Matt x floristfem!reader

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol/drinking (reader and the triplets are 22 here), characters walking in on each other showering, nsfw content (no actual sex), a few uses of y/n (sometimes it's inevitable, y'all :P)

Word Count: 1.7k

A/N: Y'all are about to kill me for this cliffhanger 🤗

“You’re here!” Chris smiled, throwing open the door. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“It was yesterday, Chris,” You giggled. “Now let us in so we don’t drop your dinner.”

“Us?” the youngest triplet asked you, cocking his head to the side. 

Chris opened the front door wider to reveal Matt standing behind you, clearly annoyed at the fact that he hadn’t been let into his own home yet. You were holding a box of breadsticks and drinks from your favorite local pizza place while Matt carried the four boxes of pizza. Despite your protests that you could carry the pizza, the boy had refused, saying that he could do it because it was him and his brothers that could easily slam a whole pizza each by themselves. Secretly, you just thought it was cute that Matt wanted to help you, despite his “tough guy” façade. 

“You guys came together?” a look of what could have been confusion, but also something else flashed across Chris’ face. 

“You’re wack if you think I’m leaving her downtown alone at night. She’s too trusting; it’s like a puppy.” Matt murmured, shoving past you and Chris and into the house. 

“Uh oh, Mattitude’s out now.” whatever expression had been on your best friend’s face was gone now, leaving you with the happy, sunny Chris you had always known.

“Out now? It’s always out.” You laughed, making your way into the kitchen you were all too familiar with.

“I heard that.” 

You giggled to yourself, sitting the boxes down on the island. Breathing in the familiar scent of the boys’ home, any trace of the unease you had felt at Matt’s earlier demeanor disappeared. The triplets had been your best friends since high school, and not much had changed now that you were all adults, other than the fact that your hangouts were less frequent. Just like old times, you all piled onto the couch with your plates of pizza and drinks, scrolling through Netflix for a movie to watch. 

You had sandwiched yourself between Nick and Chris, while Matt sat at the other end of the couch, silently eating his pizza and scrolling through his phone. You didn’t take the silence personally, though. After the conversation at the shop about the man who was making his job more difficult, you couldn’t blame the brunette for wanting a break. Though you weren’t as close with Matt as with the other two brothers, you still cared deeply for him. If that meant him being a little more quiet in order to rest, you didn’t mind it. 

You turned towards Nick, snatching the leftover crust off his plate. “The stickers are selling well.” You stated, taking a sip of your Fanta. 

Being close friends with a graphic designer as a business owner definitely had its perks; for example, the small, cartoon-style flower stickers that read “One Trick Peony” had sold out within three hours of your shop being open for the past week since you’d started stocking them. Despite his busy job as one of the most reputable graphic designers in Los Angeles, Nick still found time to prioritize your business. The stickers had been just one of the hit merchandise pieces he’d supplied you with. 

“Do you know what you should sell?” Chris added, poking your cheek and then smiling when you looked at him fondly. “Alcohol. Lavender martinis would sell like crazy in a flower shop.”

“I’m not getting a liquor license,” You snorted. “Besides, I don’t even think the store has enough room for a bar.”

“Who said anything about a bar? All you need is a bartender.” Chris hummed, pulling you into his lap. 

It was true. Chris had become quite skilled in his ability to make drinks any and everywhere over the past year since he’d gotten his bartender certification. In your opinion, the job was perfect for him. The fast-paced, fun environment and the amount of money you could make if you were entertaining and talkative was right up the brunette’s alley. His good nature made it pretty normal for him to come home on any given Friday night with about 600 dollars in cash. 

You snuggled into your best friend’s chest, breathing in his boyish scent happily. “Maybe one day we can open a flower and brunch place with a bar.” You told him. 

“You guys hear that? I’m the one Y/N wants to run a business with.” Chris chuckled, sticking his tongue out at the other two triplets. 

“Just wait til she figures out how you actually act,” Nick grumbled, pressing play on the movie you all had decided on. “Now be quiet.”

Before looking over at the movie, you turned your eyes towards Matt. He was still withdrawn into himself, curled into the L-shaped corner of the couch now. He had put his phone down, though, and in a feat of chance, turned to look at you at the exact same moment. Matt cocked his head like he wanted to ask you a question, but then shook his head, averting his eyes. You shrugged, figuring it still had to do with the exhaustion and stress from earlier in the day, but you couldn’t help but notice the feeling growing in your tummy at the thought that Matt had been looking at you first.

One terrible, low-budget movie later, you sat up out of Chris’ hold and looked around the living room. Nick had abandoned the movie in favor of his laptop, seemingly editing some sort of advertisement. That was just his personality. If something recreational didn’t immediately capture his attention, he was back to working his ass off. Maybe that was what made him such a successful entrepreneur, but either way, you admired him for helping people bring their dreams for their designs to fruition. Chris was scrolling through his phone, every now and then migrating into his work group chat to chuckle at the stories his fellow bartenders had to share about cutting someone off for the night. Matt, on the other, had fallen asleep, chin resting in his hand. You felt rather bad for him; January was always a stressful month for tattoo artists and piercers because people had Christmas money and gift cards, and they wanted their modifications to be healed by summer time. 

“I’m gonna shower,” You told your two (awake) best friends, standing up and stretching. “Do you guys mind?” 

“You know that’s like asking to shower in your own home, right?” Chris stood up behind you, tickling your sides. 

“It’s…still…the polite thing to do!” You laughed, gasping for breath at the tickling. 

“But yes, we don’t care. Go ahead.” Chris placed a friendly kiss on the back of your head. 

It wasn’t out of the ordinary for you and your best friends to share platonic cheek kisses, cuddles, and hugs, but it didn’t make your heart any less happy. You smiled, making your way to Matt’s bathroom. You had kept shower stuff at the triplets’ home ever since the four of you had moved to LA. After all, you were at their house almost more than you were at your apartment. You trekked towards Matt’s bathroom since it was the closest to the living room. You knew he wouldn’t mind, especially because A) he was asleep and B) you’d done it before. 

You warmed the water up, ridding yourself of your clothes from the day, and stepping into the steamy heaven. You didn’t bother locking the door, knowing that on the off chance Matt did wake up, Chris and Nick would inform him that you were using his bathroom. You began to wash your hair, letting the rose scent of your shampoo fill the bathroom as you massaged your scalp, washing away the worries of both a busy day at your business, and the odd encounters you’d been having with the middle triplet all evening. You were so caught up in thinking that you didn’t even hear the doorknob to the bathroom turn as Matt stepped into the bathroom. 

Matt knew he shouldn’t have. You were one of his closest friends. There was no way he should be watching you showering. It was weird and wrong on so many levels, yet he couldn’t pull his eyes away from your body. You looked peaceful, head thrown back under the water and eyes closed, soft moans escaping your lips as you relaxed. The way the warm water and soap suds caressed your body and curves as they cascaded into the drain made him think about what other white substances would look like dripping down your body in the shower. 

What the fuck? Why was he thinking about railing you? You two weren’t even that close and he didn’t like you like that. Still, Matt couldn’t deny the tightening in his cock at the image of you in front of him, and the image of you in his mind. He told himself that it was just because he hadn’t been laid in so long, but the brunette couldn’t help the soft groan that made its way out of his mouth. 

At the sound, your eyes flew open, head turning towards the door. “Matt?” You futilely tried to cover yourself, knowing it was useless. Matt had already seen it all. 

“Fuck, I…uh, fuck–Y/N, I’m sorry,” he grumbled, clearing his throat. “I was just coming to brush my teeth and Nick and Chris didn’t tell me you were…in here.”

You shut the water off quickly, grabbing the towel you’d thrown over the side of the glass door and wrapping it around your body. “Shit, I’m sorry, Matt. I should’ve locked the door.”

“It’s um, it’s fine,” Matt coughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as his face turned red. “I’m just gonna…grab my toothbrush and use Chris’ bathroom tonight. ‘S all yours in here.”

You watched as Matt grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste and scrambled out of the bathroom. You were still standing in the draining shower, dripping wet and shivering. Part of you couldn’t believe that one of your best male friends had seen you showering, but for some reason, another part of you wasn’t mad about it. Unbeknownst to you, though, Matt was feeling the same way in his cold shower downstairs. 

tags ♡:  @jake-and-johnnies-slut @chrissfavwh3re @suyqa @chrissturnswife @mbsbaby @herxysc-blog @lovingchrissposts @caffeinatedscorpio @spencereidenthusiast @crazychrisl0v3r @sturnioloxlver @whicked-hazlatwhore @blahbel668 @sturncakez @junnniiieee07 @biggesthat3r @sturniolowhore @patscorner @julesgrl @0strawberrysorbet0 @strombolilovr @matt444nixi @remussbitch @devthepoet1221 @mattyblover07 @loisnotaa @mollyquinnxoxo @graysturns @pepsicolapussy333 @ginswife @emmagirouard @athaliahxoxo @bitchydragonparadise @ilydeaky @soggyslugg169 @m00n-0n-paws @books0fever @stingerayyy2 @sunsetsturniolos @mimi-luvzyu @raysmayhem-72 @faygo-frog @oobleoob @billsslutt @aemrsy

note ♡: if you'd like to be added to my taglist, click here <3

[footytea]

disclaimer: these are all romain molina's claims. none of them are mine. romain is an investigative journalist who focuses on exposing corruption, abuse, etc. within the football world. i'm just sharing what he has said over the past few years. some of these claims might sound crazy, but not unbelievable, unfortunately.

trigger warning: his claims mention topics such as rape, abuse, pedophilia, etc. so if those are topics you're not comfortable reading about, please don't continue reading.

one particular topic romain molina has been repeatedly speaking about is the pedophilia and trafficking ring(s) within the football world, involving many (as molina said over half of the) federations, including the spanish federation and the french federation, but also in south & north america, asia, africa. what is happening within these federations is actively being covered up and romain claims that even the french government is involved in the shit happening within the french football federation.

here's a list of a few claims romain molina has made:

more than 400 international players from the premier league, championship, ligue 1 and ligue 2 have been raped multiple times during their youth. some of them had anal injuries and diseases as a result and would go to specialised clinics to be treated. this has been going on for at least two decades.

an international coach was caught raping two 13 year old girls in the middle of an international tournament. his employer covered everything up for him, but still fired him in 2017. romain molina later went on to say that this story was also covered up by a footballer who many idolise and would use as their profile pic on twitter.

a ligue 1 club covered up a pedophilia case, that took place in their training centre. the (foreign) victim was later sent back to his country of origin.

victims of abuse and people who knew about this cannot speak up without facing major consequences. a human rights lawyer who was in the space romain hosted also stated how dangerous it is for the victims to talk about the abuse they have suffered.

an ex-member of the french federation said the following: "when something happens, we keep quiet. they have too much power. the second you speak, it's over."

the ex-director of the french federation said: "at the FFF, everyone talks to everyone. they are all aware of these affairs but they are very quickly buried. it's a policy of silence. they are like ostriches: head in the sand. if you speak, you are eliminated."

didier deschamps apparently claimed he had no idea about the cases of abuse within the french federation, while he was in contact with several people involved these abuse cases and knew about everything happening, but kept quiet for financial reasons.

a lot of molina's work focuses on african football. he has shared stories of female players forced to get abortions (one even died as a result), luring children to their homes, giving children blowjobs and keeping their sperm in jars to perform rituals, academies ran by pedophiles. crazy stuff.

some claims he made unrelated to the pedophilia and trafficking rings:

a current (this was back in 2021, idk if he's still a current player) french international player would organise parties where he would shit in women's mouths and film himself doing it. he forced a girl to participate, who later on issued a formal complaint. molina was also sent a video.

apparently helium balloons are very popular at arsenal and there's a player who even threw a "nitrous oxide balloons"-themed birthday party.

generally, a lot of players smoke shisha. there was a time psg players would bring their shisha/hookah with them on away games. one of the players who would regularly smoke shisha is blaise matuidi.

a few notes:

these are just a few of his claims summarised. if you want more details i would have to deep dive into his work more. romain has written several books and has been doing investigative work for longer than a decade now.

this space was insane, i think there were about 80k listening, even clubs' official twitter accounts were tuning in. the rock was in the space at one point as well 😭 i can't remember who else tuned in as it's been 2/3 years already

these claims simply show how rotten football institutions are and how it isn't surprising that footballers with rape/abuse charges don't have their careers ruined, when the people in charge are doing the same things and even worse.

[strniohoeee]

Dolor Pt. 2

Pairing: Chris Sturniolo X Female Reader

Synopsis: Y/N hasn’t seen Chris in a year and a half, but with the help of her friend she’s surprised by them🤭 Will those feelings still be there for one another?

Warnings⚠️: None, I’m not too sure how I feel about this one, but I had no other idea on how to write it so I hope y’all enjoy 🙃

Song for the imagine: ANGEL- Brent Faiyaz

Read part 1 here🫶🏽

Don’t ever leave my side, baby I’ll die

But from what I know, you’re always here to stay

You’re an angel in disguise

It has been a solid year and half since Chris and I broke up, a solid year and half of never seeing him or his brothers. It was very hard, but it also flew by. I wasn’t sure where a year and half went. It was honestly scary.

We both told each other we’d love to cross paths, and reconnect in a few months to be friends, but life got in the way, and that never happened. I’m honestly glad it didn’t, we were both so busy I believe it helped us move on from one another faster.

We all stood mutuals with each other on instagram and TikTok, but we just didn’t interact with each other. I watched them grow in all aspects, and it was amazing. I thought I’d be there to witness it first hand, but instead I was watching from the sidelines….it hurt me, but it had to be done.

My TikTok was flooded with videos of them from their tour they were just on, and it’s honestly crazy how much people can change in a year and a half. That didn’t even look like Chris. He was much more mature looking, sculpted cheekbones, shorter hair, stubble on his face…..Chris was looking good.

I shook that feeling off because I could not allow myself to fall back in love with Chris. It took me a long time to move on from him. I will always love the kid, but to fall out of love was hard. I hadn’t seen or talked to any other guys since splitting with Chris, and I wasn’t too sure if that was the same with him. Deep down I hoped it was.

I was scrolling on TikTok one day when I saw a clip of the triplets from their recent podcast video, they were doing a Q and A video, and somehow Chris pulled out a question asking about me. I decided to watch the video

“Okay so this person says how’s Y/N, and how have you been since the breakup. I’m currently going through my own break up right now, and I just need some advice” Chris read out

“So uh this is a good question. It’s been a year and a half since I’ve last seen Y/N, and it’s crazy to say it’s been that long, but it has. With the relationship we had and how special it was it took me a full year to finally be able to feel okay, and understand why we split up. It hurt and some part of me still hurts, but we told each other the night we broke up that we both will be okay because we’re strong, and that’s something I’ve been holding on to. I presume that she’s okay, I’ve seen her instagram posts and her TikTok’s, and she looks amazing. I actually really miss the girl. So I hope she’s doing great, and for you going through your break up just know everything happens for a reason and you’ll be okay take your time and work on yourself” he said

Oh god this was making it so hard for me not to call Chris and ask to see him….I missed him so badly

I scrolled some more and another clip popped up

“This person wants to know do you still love Y/N” Nick asked Chris

“Oh 100% that woman is my everything. Like we’ve said in the past we hope to cross paths again” Chris said nodding his head

This has to be a sign? Like this has to be a sign that I have to see him, that Chris and I are meant for each other right? Or am I being delusional……

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to call him, text him or just ignore all this and keep it pushing in life. I felt torn between my decisions

Today I was getting ready to film with Larray and Arrington. I had gotten so close to them within the last year, and we always filmed together. Larray was my biggest supporter in all this, and he was also friends with the triplets which kind of made it hard, but he never got in between anything. Although he hoped and prayed that we’d get back together one day I always told him time will tell.

He had an idea where we all stay in his car for 24 hours with special guests. I wasn’t sure who these guests were, and I wasn’t sure why he wanted us to stay in a car for 24 hours, but I agreed I knew it would be fun.

I had driven over to Larrays house, and let myself in

“YOOOOO” I yelled from the door

“Were in hereeee” Arrington yelled back

Oh god I was the last one here….I hated this, but anyways I walked to Larrays room, and when I walked in my heart sank

“Oh” was all I said as I walked in

“Hiiiii baby” Larray said, causing everybody to turn around with him the triplets face dropping

“What’s? Uh….whats going on” I said looking at Larray

“We’re filming a video, and I brought my friends” he said back

“It’s been so long” Chris said looking at me saddened

“It ummm it has” I said smiling at him

“We have missed you so fucking much….holy shit” Nick said running over and hugging me

“Uhh it’s been so fucking long I missed yall too” I said hugging him

“Matt you look so different now” I said jaw dropping and giving him a hug

“Good different I hope” he said hugging me

“Of course good different” I said laughing at him

I moved to Chris

“You look so different too” I said pulling him in for a hug

“I’ve missed you” he said hugging me tighter

“Missed you too” I said pulling away

After chatting for a bit Larray decided to film his introduction for his channel

“Alright bitches we are filming a 24 hour car video today, and of course I had to bring in my ride or dies Arrington and Y/N” he said and both Arrington and I made an entrance

“And then you know Larray had to stir the pot, so he brought the triplets” Arrington said to the camera causing us to laugh

“As uhhh most of you know there’s uh an elephant in this room between uh two people, but ummm we won’t talk about it” Larray said

And we just laughed at him

“You are so messy” I said to him rolling my eyes playfully

“Alright let’s get to the car bitches” he said and we ran out

I sat in the passenger seat, Chris and Arrington in the back, and then Nick and Matt in the third row

“Alright so right now we’re driving to Target which is 45 minutes away because Larray decided to do this video during rush hour” I said to the camera

“Uh- is that a drag?” He asked me

“It sure is” I said to him

“So Y/N….you said Matt looks different….you already had Chris so will you try another brother” Arrington asked me

I looked back at him jaw on the floor, as Chris and his brothers were laughing

“You weirdo Arrington, I will not fucking get with Matt” I said shaking my head

“Could you believe this kid” I said looking at the camera

“Ouuuu the fans want to know how many boyfriends since Chris” Larray asked me

“Boyfriends plural? Do they think I’m a slut….its only been a year and a half guys, and there’s been zero guys since Chris” I said shrugging my shoulders

“OHHHHHH CHRISSSS” Larray and Arrington yelled at him hyping him up

“She loves me too much to do that” Chris said to the camera

“Uh-“ I said turning around to look at him

“I’m just kidding” he said and touched my face playfully

“SAW THAT” Nick and Matt yelled from the back

We had finally gotten to Target, and Chris and I were paired up to go on the hunt for some things, and we had to vlog it together

“Alright guys I’m here with uh….my ex” I said to the camera

“What a great reunion” he said looking at the camera

“Who would’ve thought a year and a half later we’d be in Target shopping for a video together” I said looking at him

“I honestly thought it would’ve happened sooner, but I mean hey” he said shrugging his shoulders

“Oh whatever” I said rolling my eyes at him

Him and I were doing some shopping and grabbing some stuff, and we had found ourselves in the coloring book aisle

“Look the Disney coloring book, your favorite” he said leaning down to grab it

“You remembered?” I asked him

“Of course I did, and you only get specific coloring pencils cause you’re weird” he said laughing

“Hey don’t be mean” I said laughing at him

“It’s cute” he said smiling at me

“Do you ever think about us?” I asked him

“Pretty often actually” he said looking at me

“Do you think you see a future with me” I asked him

“I’ve thought about this a lot, and every time I picture my future you’re a main character in it” he said looking into my eyes

“This year and a half has been rough, and I so badly wanted nothing more than to cave and call you over, and just hold you tight” I said looking down

“I sat in my room for so many nights wondering if the decision I made was right, and after a while I just became numb to the feeling, but I want this again….I want us” he said

“I think we should start slow first. I want us to truly work out this time no break ups no nothing” I said to him

“I think so too, you should come film with us again we miss you so much, and the fans miss you too” he said

“I’ve seen…all over my tik tok” I said smiling at him

“Yeah they love you and I love you too so much” he said pulling me in for a hug

We finished vlogging some, and headed back to the car with everybody getting back in our original seats

“Okay everybody we are back, we’re going to go eat something and then we’ll be back in the car for the next 24 hours” Larray said

After we ate we went back into Larrays car trying to stick out this challenge and just chatting with each other asking each other questions

“How many girlfriends since Y/N?” Larray asked Chris

“None. I told yall she’s the love of my life” he said looking at the camera

“Awww Chris” I said looking at him

“HEY CITY GIRLS UP. Do not fall for this” Arrington said

“Shut the fuck up” I said laughing at him

“What’s one regret you have” Nick asked us

“I think my biggest regret was completely dropping you guys out of my life. Like no interactions no nothing that hurt the most” I said to them

“We appreciate that” Matt said

“How do you guys feel after seeing each other” Matt asked Chris and I

“Is this a hot seat? What are we doing” Chris said

“Shut the fuck up and answer” Nick said

“I feel at peace, like seeing him was the last piece to my puzzle. I still love Chris of course, and we’re hoping to take things slow, and eventually get together again” I said to them

“Yeah. I love her so much, and seeing her today brought back all those memories. Memories that made my heart flutter, and I knew I couldn’t let her go again” he said looking at me

“Yall cute as shit this has got to stop” Larray said

“So yall heard it here first they are back together” Arrington said to the camera

“WOAH WOAH NO” we both said putting our hands out

“We are taking it slow…we are not dating yet, and trust me you guys will know when we’re back together. It’s a maybe for right now” I said to the camera

“But she will be in our videos again” Chris said

“SHE WILL?” Nick and Matt said

“Yes she will!” He said to them

“FUCK YES FINALLY” Nick said getting excited

We had chatted for a good thirty more minutes before we decided this challenge was not going to happen

“Alright guys we did not make it, but we love you and we’re heading inside now” Larray said

“BYEEEEEE” we all yelled to the camera, Chris pulling me in and kissing my forehead

“Are you guys going to soft launch your comeback before I post this?” Larray asked us

“You know that’s not a bad idea actually” I said looking at Chris

“We could do that. I’d love to do that” he said pulling me in and kissing my cheek

“Yall soft launching but he smoochin on you” Matt said looking at us

“Uhhhh mind your business” Chris said sticking his tongue out at him

“OMG to keep it like private you guys could do like a couples shadow picture” Nick said

“Waittttt I love that let’s do it” I said to Chris

We had snapped the picture, and Chris posted it collabing with me once again so I can post and share it. Nick and Matt also shared it to their story saying the gangs back together and they can’t wait to film with me again. Immediately the love we got was INSANE

❤️nicolassturniolo,matthew.sturniolo,larray, and 450,000 others

christophersturniolo: I told you guys we’d always always find a way back to one another. Although we aren’t dating again we will be thinking about it for our future. I love this girl with my whole fucking heart, and I’m so glad we’re in each others lives again. She was my right person at the wrong time.My number one girl💍. Were back BITCHESSSSS🥳

Sturnioloteam: STFU THEYRE BACK

arringtonallen: mhmmm I was here for this picture so back off everyone

nicolassturniolo: mama and papa🫡

matthew.sturniolo: yall cute or whatever…..

larray: yall can thank me for this reunion MHMM💅🏽

Y/Nusername: my number one guy…love this kid so much💋

sturnioloooooo: I knew mom and dad would find each other again

The immense love we received was insane. Had you told me a year and a half ago today that all that pain would be gone, and we would find each other again I would laugh in your face. I guess I am making it to the end of his story….🥀

The End

I hope you guys liked this one I feel ehhh about it, but I had to have a happy ending🥹 but anywho let me get to writing some more 🖤

-J💅🏽

[smnthvxe]

Last Chapter:

"Unrequited"

Scaramouche x reader

Genre: Angst

(sorry guys I lied)

Chapter 1 , Chapter 2

(Present day)

Under the vast expanse of the night sky, Scaramouche found himself once again drawn to the streets of Inazuma. It had been years since he last walked these familiar paths, yet the memories of his time here with y/n remained etched in his heart like an unyielding tattoo.

As he wandered through the dimly lit streets, a sense of longing stirred within him, a yearning for something he had thought lost forever. But tonight, beneath the shimmering stars, fate had other plans.

In a twist of destiny, y/n found herself wandering through the same streets of Inazuma, her heart heavy with memories of a love she had forgotten. She had carried the weight of their separation with her for years, a burden that seemed to disappear with each passing day.

But tonight, as if guided by some unseen force, their paths collided once again. Scaramouche's breath caught in his throat as he caught sight of her, a vision of beauty amidst the shadows. And in that moment, time seemed to stand still as their eyes met across the crowded street.

For a heartbeat, neither of them moved, their gazes locked in a silent exchange of emotions too powerful to put into words. And then, as if drawn together by an irresistible force, they began to move towards each other, the distance between them shrinking with each step.

And when they finally stood face to face, the world around them faded into insignificance, leaving only the two of them in their own private universe. Without a word, Scaramouche reached out, his hand trembling as it brushed against y/n's cheek, as if confirming that she was real, that she was here.

Tears welled in Scaramouche eyes as he reached out to her, her fingers intertwining with his as if they were never meant to be apart. And in that moment, all the pain and heartache of the past melted away, replaced by a warmth and a love that had never truly faded.

"I thought I lost you," Scaramouche whispered, his voice raw with emotion.

"Sorry,"

"But who are you?"

y/n replied, her voice soft but filled with conviction. "Have I met you before? You seem to know me."

And with those words, the weight of Scaramouches chest became heavier,then. Ah, yes... He erased himself. Why would she remember him?

"I-... You remind me of someone..."

He said.

"May I know who's that 'someone'?"

Y/n asked, as Scaramouche looked at her with eyes full of emotions.

"She was my Lover, my soulmate and my everything."

'But I lost her'

"She must be a Amazing person, I hope you guys will see eachother soon. '

'I already have'

"Yes she's great she's the most Amazing, Beautiful, gorgeous, loud, crazy and fragile girl I have ever seen— She was with me from the start to the day we've been separated."

A hand landed atop at Scaramouches hand,—It was y/n, and she wore the cheeky smile she always had. With gentleness she pulled scaramouche into a hug, a warm hug—the hug he missed.

The nonexisting heart scaramouche has started beating faster every minute. His eyes started to tear up as he wrapped his arms around her, tighter.

"There, there. How about we take a walk? "

Y/n suggested.

Scaramouche obviously said yes, and there Two souls met again. Are they for each other I don't know?. All I know is for in the end, love always finds a way, even in the darkest of nights. And as long as they had each other, they knew that they could weather any storm, overcome any obstacle, together, forevermore...

"That is the end of the story, now, kids go to sleep now you don't want your father to get mad"

"But MOOOMM! Did they end up together? What happened to the two souls?? MOOOMMMM!"

A little boy with an e/c boy with platinum hair asked.

"Well, they're meant for each other yes, but fate is unpredictable. And in the end one's soul isn't meant for each other despite how strong their love is for each other."

"What do you mean by that mama?"

A girl with cherry-red eyes spoke.

"Let's just keep that a secret for now little ones"

Their mother closed the book and returned it to the upper shelf.

"But maa!!!"

They both cried until the door opened up revealing a Platinum-blond haired man.

"What's the commotion all about?"

His, calm husky voice asked.

"Zuha, please take the children to the bed please hon,"

"Noted dear, how about you?"

"I'll stay here for a little longer,"

"Ok, Goodnight love"

He said as he kissed her forehead.

"Good night, love you"

She replied returning the kiss.

For 2,000 years. Generation by generation, The lost wanderer stays loyal—to her. He has loved each and every version of her. Every millennium, every year, each time he sees the smile on her face, it'll take him back to the day he was still a lone kabukimono who fell for a mortal, a fragile human girl. Every time he falls—she falls for another— The wanderer of Inazuma, the gentleman Kaedehara Kazuha.

Did he mess up so bad that he can't have a future with her? But aside from all, his heart stays loyal for her even if generation by generation he sees her fall with him, die with him. And forget everything he, He still remembers how you smile with the smallest things and laugh with pure joy.

Yet, if possible he wished and hoped, One the universe's out there, they can have their happy ending. Their small family— where they'll live besides the river with 3 kids and 2 cats.

"Y/n, even if I have to wait for Millions, billions, heck even Eternity, even if I have to fight Gods, Angels. EVERYTHING just to see your smile, even if your heart is fixed to another. I love you, more than everything. You're my Roman Empire..

Taglist:@swivy123 @eonnyyy

[kaigarax]

Accismus

Nagi Seishirou x Reader

Quote: "Fall in love with someone you’ll only ever share a few passing moments with."

In time travel nothing can be changed. Everything that will happen has already happened - and every change that you hope to make has either already occurred or will never occur at all.

---

Mission Number XX02

There were three rules to time travel that had been ingrained into Nagi Seishiro’s head when he first became a time traveler.

1. Don’t interact with your past self.

Wouldn’t want to accidentally make your past self go crazy.

2. Don’t tell people you’re from the future.

Most people would just ignore you but you wouldn’t want to be responsible for making someone else go insane.

3. Don’t try to change the course of events.

Time travel is to only be used to observe events that have already happened. Besides, even if you wanted to you wouldn’t be able to change anything.

Nagi’s job as a time traveler was to gather information on individuals. Specifically, people that would become famous. His job was to go back and observe what would make them into the individuals that they were. Record their lives from the perspective of a third party and come back with that information so that people of the present could learn about them.

Much more tame than the countless crazy stories that had been written before.

No fate ‘the world is at stake’ plotlines or ‘revenge from a man wronged’ villains. Merely ordinary people that can follow rules and record the lives of another - regardless of how boring that person may seem to you.

Nagi’s current objective - you.

(Y/n) (L/n).

A writer whose works would only garner popularity years after your death. From the brief snippets of information that there was on you, you were mostly a freelance writer that died early. Sometime around your early thirties? Nagi really isn’t all too sure.

He has a relatively easy task.

Follow you around for a couple days, following the moments when you would write your most famous piece. See what likely inspired each of the characters you chose to make and see what might have influenced the setting. See if there was someone special in your life that could have served as the inspiration for what would eventually come to be known as your magnum opus.

He thinks that your biggest series is about time travel, funnily enough. Not that he’s ever taken the time to read it or likely ever will. He’s not that big of a fan of chapter book novels. He much prefers to watch television or read comics if it’s a must that he needs to read. Prefers to look more at the pictures over having to create the image in his head all on his own.

He quickly jots something down on his notebook before following you into a cafe.

The biggest thing to remember when time traveling is to remain calm. The worst thing that you can do is be spotted and have the person you’re following think they’re getting stalked. Well… they are getting stalked but it’s for history purposes. Not for some perverse pleasure. Though… Nagi imagines that many people get a strange perverse pleasure from the information he gives out.

Oh well.

It’s too much for him to think about anyways.

He’s just here for the paycheck after all.

Stay within the rules and you’ll be fine.

Rule 1: don’t interact with your past self, would be an easy rule for him to follow. Nagi wouldn’t be born for at least a couple hundred years so no issue there. There wouldn’t be anyone that would recognize him.

Rule 2: don’t tell people you’re from the future. That shouldn’t be too hard to follow. It wasn’t like Nagi was much of a conversationalist anyways. He much preferred to quietly sit back and watch everything happen around him.

Rule 3: don’t try to change the course of events. Honestly, Nagi isn’t quite sure why this is a rule at all. Any fool with half a brain is smart enough to know that it’s impossible to change the past. Everything that will happen happens because it has already happened. A linear timeline where nothing can be changed or altered. It simply is.

From the information that Nagi’s gathered so far you seem relatively normal. Having just finished up your last few years in college, where you studied History (funnily enough) and would begin to take creative writing more seriously then you had before.

You’re pretty. Surprisingly pretty. He obviously saw photos of you back in his own time-zone but they did not do you justice. Not only did photos not capture the same level of life as they do in his own time-zone but you never seem to be making a normal expression. Mostly forced smiles and strained looks as if you’d rather be anywhere but taking that photo. Nagi relates to you on a spiritual level. He hates getting his own picture taken.

But in person you look so much softer and… realer. Well, you’re obviously realer. He could reach out and touch you if he wanted. You’re so much more expressive than he thought you would have been. So curious about the world around you as your eyes wander, stopping on everything you find interesting despite walking the same path for three days straight.

You’re also, unsurprisingly, patterned. Most people are patterned. You get up around the same time every day, 6:30am after hitting snooze on your alarm clock three times. You get ready for the day before heading off for a morning run. You boil the hot water for a tea that you’ll forget to make after work and head to your computer where you’ll type away until the urge to sleep hits where you’ll then fall asleep and do it all again the next day.

Nagi was hoping for something a little more interesting but he supposes that he’ll take what he can get.

At least today is the weekend, so maybe you’ll actually do something worth recording.

He doubts it.

There’s a barista that thinks you’re cute. He blushes as you smile warmly at him and take your order. Your hair is a little messy from your walk in the cold but you’re still the prettiest person here. Actually, you’re probably the prettiest person around for miles. Nagi actually finds himself a little surprised that he hasn’t seen you in a romantic relationship with anyone.

He does remember reading something about how there was one specific person that you thought about while writing but all the information about it was vague. His main job, funnily enough, was to find out who that person was.

Your drink is something new to you as you ask the barista to recommend something. The barista gives you a dopey smile before creating something sweet. Nagi doesn’t think that you’ll enjoy it all that much. From what he’s observed so far you don’t care much for sweet things. Don’t keep many sweets in your apartment and the ones you do have seem a little old.

You give a smile to the barista after tasting the drink.

Nagi finds a strange level of satisfaction running through him when your eyes don’t smile. Personally, he would have made you something a little more on the sour side. Something cool instead of a warm drink despite the cold weather. You seem like the kind of person that likes to be surprised and both the sour and coolness of the drink would surprise you.

You’d give that halfway sort of smile that you get when you’re in a writing groove. You’d…

Nagi shakes his head.

You’re not supposed to get attached to your assignments. They specifically go out of their way to pick apathetic people like him to send out on these assignments. Better to have people that don’t care about the person in front of them because you never know what kind of problems that it’ll cause later on down the line.

Of course, nothing in the past can be changed, but that doesn’t mean that people don’t go crazy trying to change the past. That they don’t lose their minds when they have to leave behind someone that was so important to them.

“Nagi Seishiro.”

Nagi freezes.

He hasn’t told anyone his name before in this time-zone much less spoken to someone at all. So how is it that someone knows his name? Did someone from his time-zone warp over here to tell him that they were taking over the assignment? While that would be a little strange he wouldn’t be all too surprised.

He tries his best to look apathetic as he looks up at the person who had taken the seat across from him. His blood goes cold when he sees that it’s you.

Your eyes sparkle in a way that Nagi hasn’t seen them sparkle before, “you’re Nagi Seishiro, aren’t you?”

Nagi shakes his head, attempting to feign ignorance, “I have no idea who that is.”

“It’s delightful weather,” you say suddenly.

Nagi freezes.

How in the world would you know that? As far as he knows you’re not one of the people that were privy to the information of time travelers and he most certainly doesn’t remember ever meeting you; so how could you know the first half of the code?

You lean over and take the drink he’s drinking from him, “but I always carry an umbrella.”

Okay. Someone was definitely messing with him.

You take a sip of his drink, “you are Nagi Seishiro, aren’t you?”

Finally, Nagi nods, “how do you know that?”

“Oh, thank goodness! I would’ve been mortified if I had accidentally taken a drink of some random dude’s drink. I was a little hesitant because it’s been a few years since I’ve seen you and you’re younger than how you were since I saw you last.”

“Wait,” Nagi raises an eyebrow, “you’ve met me before? An older version of me?”

You nod, “you were sent to do a piece on one of my classmates and almost caught and needed an alibi so you grabbed me and asked me to help you.”

Rule two: don’t tell people you’re from the future.

Well it’s too late now. It wasn’t like present Nagi was the one responsible for breaking the rules anyways. It seems that you already know about different time-zones and time traveling.

“So, who’s your assignment now?” You ask as you hand his drink back to him.

Nagi feels his cheeks grow hot, but luckily his face stays neutral. You’d have to touch him to know that he’s embarrassed. But, in his defense, who wouldn’t get embarrassed when the person they’re watching asks you who you’re watching. It’s basically asking someone to admit to you that they’ve been following you around and taking notes on you. It’s basically stalking. Well, Nagi likes to think of it more as being a private investigator but truthfully, even he has to admit that it’s basically just stalking.

It also doesn’t help that you’re looking up at him with such a pretty smile.

Gosh. Why did you have to be so pretty?

“It’s uh… the barista over there.”

“Oh really? Are they a relative of someone who wants to learn about them?” You ask.

“Uh… yeah.”

You smile knowingly, as if you know more about Nagi then he knows about himself. He wonders if this is what other people had been talking about in the notes he’d read about you. Your way of looking into the hearts of others. Your eyes are just… so bright and brilliant. So different from anything else he’s ever seen before.

Gosh. He thinks that he’s going to have to pass this mission onto someone else if he can’t get his treacherous heart to calm down.

“You’re lying~” You hum.

“W-what? How did you know that?”

“I didn’t. You just told me.”

He grumbles something in response.

This is why people recommend that you don’t talk to your assignments. Even if it would be easier to just ask someone about their work and what inspired them at the moment there was always the issue of creating a connection with someone else.

And then, there’s the fact that you already seem so fond of Nagi.

He doesn’t think he’s ever seen someone look at him so fondly before. As if he means so much more to him then he’ll ever know. Then he already knows.

It makes him want to lean over and touch you.

To see if you’re real or just an illusion made from his mind. Or perhaps a dream that he’s gotten from how much time he’s been spending with you.

He bets that your skin would be warm against his own.

Suddenly, you reach out and grab his hand.

His face burns hot.

His cheeks flush red as if he’s a school boy.

Gosh, it’s been so long since his body last reacted like this to a girl.

“What is it you want to know, Nagi Seishiro?” You ask.

He clears his throat, “promise you won’t laugh?”

You grin mischievously, “oh, no promises. I have to pay you back for how much you teased me.”

“But that hasn’t even happened yet for me.”

You laugh softly in response - Gosh. Nagi really isn’t sure how he’s going to make it out of this alive.

---

Mission Number XX79

There were three rules to time travel that had been ingrained into Nagi Seishiro’s head when he first became a time traveler.

1. Don’t interact with your past self.

Wouldn’t want to accidentally make your past self go crazy.

Luckily, Nagi’s never actually been given a mission in a time-zone where he can meet himself so he never has to worry about this rule.

2. Don’t tell people you’re from the future.

Most people would just ignore you but you wouldn’t want to be responsible for making someone else go insane.

Now, this rule is a little tricker.

He has, of course, done his best to follow this rule all except for one occasion but that one’s not even his fault in the first place.

3. Don’t try to change the course of events.

Time travel is to only be used to observe events that have already happened. Besides, even if you wanted to you wouldn’t be able to change anything.

This one, obviously, isn’t possible to break.

No one can change the past because it has already happened and the future has already happened. Both timelines that already exist, unable to be changed or morphed. Everything is already exactly as it is.

So obviously, when Nagi finds himself in need of breaking rule two he doesn’t worry much because it has already happened.

You have told him it already happened to you.

So it merely now has to happen to him.

And you again, if that makes sense.

Today, he’s been sent on a mission where he needs to observe the actual events of what happened. It’s some messy highschool drama that he doesn’t care all too much about. A private event that bores him to the bone. What doesn’t bore Nagi, on the other hand, is how he’s almost caught. One of the girls he’d been observing points out that they saw him somewhere else.

Nagi knows that he should have been more careful. That he should have taken better precautions and wore that wig Reo is always telling him to put on before heading off on his missions. It helps to hide his stark white hair which definitely stands out in a time period where unnatural hair colour is still uncommon amongst the general populace. The gene making an unnatural hair colour naturally grow hasn’t yet been introduced and the products people use to dye their hair are still made of products that damage the natural chemicals on your head.

Long story short, Nagi’s white hair stands out and someone noticed it.

This is actually only the second time that Nagi has ever been pointed out in his two years of being a time traveler. His second mission, where he had run into you and this one - where he coincidently went to find you to get your help. Well, he still has to go get you, but his point still stands.

Nagi’s heart seemingly stops in his chest as he sees you.

You’re a sight for sore eyes.

A couple years younger from how you were when he first met you. You’d been four years older than him when he first met you and now it seems that he’s four years older than him (give or take a few if he’s done his math correctly).

He’d forgotten just how loudly his heart would beat and how fast it would race when around you.

So pretty.

He almost forgets that you don’t know who he is.

Actually, he almost forgets to speak to you at all.

He’d much rather just watch you from a distance then have to pull you into this mess that he’s gotten himself into. But, of course, he thinks that it would be better to get your help. It’s not like he can get out of this situation without some inside help and he’ll be damned if he has to call into headquarters and ask for help. He knows for sure that they’d send Barou and goodness knows that he’ll never let Nagi live the moment down. Plus, he knows that you won’t snitch on him.

“Hey, (Y/n)!” Nagi calls out your name.

You turn around, a curious look in your eyes as you look around for someone familiar. Nagi’s heart melts at the sight of seeing your face for the first time in years. From what he knows, this is the last time that he’ll ever see you in person like this and he wants to savor the moment.

Finally, your eyes land on Nagi.

You give him a curious look, “me?”

He nods.

“Do I know you?”

“No,” Nagi shakes his head, “but I know you and I need your help.”

---

“So… let me get this straight. You’re a time traveler and you need my help to… get out of the stalker allegations? But aren’t you basically a stalker?”

Nagi nods, leaning over and taking a sip of the water bottle you had been drinking from, “it’s my job.”

You shoot him a look but it’s quickly replaced as the weight of his words sink in, “right. And it’s totally not creepy that you’re following a high school girl around.”

“If I could have picked my jobs I would’ve declined this one.”

“Right. I definitely believe you…”

He knows that you don’t believe him and he can see in your eyes that you’re looking for the next second to bolt. But you won’t. And if you do, he knows that you’ll eventually come around and help him later on. It has, afterall, already happened. That’s not the thing that’s bothering him.

What’s bothering him is your indifference. Was he this cold to you when the two of you met in the later time-zone? He certainly hopes not. He misses the warmth in your smile that you gave him before. The way your eyes would crinkle around the edges when he said something that you thought was funny. What he misses most though is the warmth of your hand on his own.

He wonders if you feel that speak between the two of you that he does whenever he’s with you. Or if it’s something only specific to him. Well, it’s less of a spark and more of a sensation. A feeling of just wanting to be around the other person. Knowing that everything is just alright when you’re with that other person.

You watch him warily, as if debating something in your mind.

Well then, Nagi thinks, it looks like it’s up to him now to win you over just like how you had won him over. Though, you did have it a little easier because his assignment had been you and he needed to get information from you. You could just leave right now because you have no obligation to help him.

But you will.

That’s just the kind of person you are.

It still kinda hurts though.

“So what do you need me to do?” You ask.

Nagi grins, “pretend to date me.”

“Woah, what?”

“You heard me.”

“Oh I heard you, that doesn’t mean I can immediately accept or decline. It’s a really weird situation to put someone in. Especially someone you barely even know.”

“I know you.”

“Fine,” you huff, “it’s a weird thing to ask someone that barely even knows you.”

“But you’ll do it?”

“Gosh! Give me a moment, will you?”

“Okay.” Nagi hums.

He’d forgotten how pretty you are when you’re deep in thought. It’s a look similar to how you are when you’re in a writing groove. Your eyes narrow in and your eyebrows crease slightly. Back then he had been so hesitant despite wanting to smooth the crease between your eyes. Scared that you would disappear if he were to reach out and touch you.

This time, he takes the chance.

He reaches a hand out.

You jump back slightly at the movement but Nagi continues forward without hesitation. Gently pressing a finger to the crease between your eyebrows and smoothing it out.

He smiles to himself as your face heats up dramatically.

You’re much easier flustered at this age than you were before. Then you will be when you’re older. Nagi imagines that’s because you’re much more experienced with men and relationships by then so he relishes in knowing that he gets to be one of the first ones in your mind that will be close to you like this.

You turn away, your cheeks hot, “w-what are you doing?”

“Smoothing out your eyebrows. Don’t want you to have wrinkles at such a young age.”

“Do I have wrinkles the next time you see me?” You ask hesitantly.

Nagi grins, “why? Are you curious?”

“No.”

“You’re lying~” Nagi hums.

“W-what? How did you know that?”

“I didn’t. You just told me.”

You grumble something in response.

Nagi laughs softly at the familiarity of the moment. You’re so much more of a brat then he thought. But it’s cute. You’re cute. Though, he supposes that he’s always thought you were cute. From the moment his eyes first landed on your file to now.

It sucks that the two of you weren’t born in the same time-zone. That you would forever live your lives between these two moments.

Of his first time meeting you.

And your first time meeting him.

A breadths width apart but hundreds of years away.

Even as the warmth of your hand is inches away from his own it feels light years away.

Nagi remembers when his parents first tried to introduce him to a girl that they wanted him to go on a date with. She, much like you are now, is four years younger than him. He’d scrunched up his nose at the age gap. To him, four years seemed like such a big distance. So far both in terms of life and experience. So far in maturity (despite the fact that girls mature faster than boys). So far in life.

In retrospect, Nagi thinks that maybe if that girl had been you he wouldn’t have thought four years was that far either. He thinks that maybe you must have been his soulmate.

In another world maybe he would have gotten the chance to know you and fall in love slowly. Thinks that he would have been able to lean towards you one day, after taking you out on a date, and whisper about how pretty he thinks you are instead of only thinking it in his mind. That after his fingers would interlock with yours, without either one of you having your thoughts race and your minds be confused trying to grapple with the weight of everything that you do and don’t need to know. That he would be able to lean in and kiss you like boys his age do with girls they like.

He wonders if you’ve been kissed before yet.

Mm, no. He takes that back. He doesn’t want to know. Knows that he’ll be much more jealous than he should be if that answers yes. To him, you’re the girl that he’s always been dreaming of. Even before he met you, it was you. It would always be you. Even if you never knew it. Even if he never tells you.

He won’t.

Be bets that back then there were many things that you had wanted to say to him that you didn’t. He wonders if your heart had ached for him the same way that his aches for you now. It’s strange, he thinks, to yearn for someone that you barely know. But to him, you were never a stranger but rather someone he was getting a chance to rediscover.

Four years doesn’t seem so far now.

At least in compassion to the hundreds of years that will keep you from him. That keeps him from you.

By the time Nagi is born you’ll likely be nothing but dirt once again reunited with the world or dust and ash somewhere out there in the cosmos of the universe.

The two of you are nothing but boats in the night.

A chance of passing in the night.

Gently, he interlocks his fingers with yours.

Your hand is so much softer than he remembers and so much warmer.

Fall in love with someone you’ll only ever share a few passing moments with.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

Hi

Not OFMD specific but might be of interest

(copied without permission given to reproduce)

Found in Private Eye 16-29th Feb

Warner Gloss:

Labour's business charm offensive continued last week, as Keir Starmer proudly posted that he had met with David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, aiming to "work in partnership with the creative industries to drive growth".

Named by the New York Times as the man who "blew up Hollywood", Zaslav in fact seems to be doing everything he can to prevent growth in the industry. Having merged hi cable TV company, Discovery with entertainment conglomerate Warner Bros in 2022, Zaslav took on $56bn in debt and enacted cost cuts of £3bn.

To achieve this he set about binning TV shows and films that had already been completed in order to claim large tax write-offs - most notoriously superhero caper Batgirl - and removing shows from streaming services to avoid paying residuals fees.

In a move that might have had more appeal for St

armer, Zaslov also hired Chris Licht as CEO of CNN in 2022 to make the news service more appealing to conservative viewers - but then fired him within a year after ratings hit rock bottom. Under Zaslav's watch, the stock price of Warner Bros Discovery Inc has fallen by nearly 60% - probably not quite the growth Starmer would hope to discover!

END

Firstly thank you for your round-ups, much appreciated!

"make the new service more appealing to conservative viewers" Why am I not surprised.....

Secondly I am disturbed that the possible future leader of the UK or his advisors didn't do more investigating before agreeing to or asking for this meeting, very disappointing.

Thirdly "removing shows from streaming services to avoid paying residuals fees" Should we be concerned by this for series 1 and 2?

best wishes

Susannah

Hey omg I'm like 3 days behind on messages/replies/asks I'm sorry! This weekend was crazy! Hi Susannah!

Oh interesting! I've never read Private Eye, I'll go check them out now! Oh darn- looks like a paywall, thank you for pasting the text! (And no problem about the recaps! Thanks so much for reading them!)

To address your second point: I wish I knew more about Keir Starmer! I'm in the US so I only know tangentially about him. You would think someone would have vetted the situation a bit more though (although you know Zaslav has been a bit of a sneaky little fucker about everything until he was outed more recently). Sorry I don't have much to say on that point!

To address your third point:

Yeahhhhhh, my hope is that it won't affect OFMD too much because it's a bit more of it's own thing (and not a WB proprety like the Coyote movie). I think they could actually make money selling S1 and S2 as opposed to loss since there's such a demand for it, so personally I don't think it's going to be much of an issue, but I have no real authority or reason to believe that except common sense (which we all know hollywood doesn't always have).

@fuckyeahisawthat had a good take though, it's kind of anything goes unfortunately.

I have faith though... because like a lot of my tumblr colleagues have said, David Jenkins would have probably told us by now if in fact, there was literally no hope. He's been pretty good about putting out hints and letting us know where to focus our efforts, and as of yet he hasn't flat out said "Thanks anyway guys, but its not going to happen.

That in itself gives me hope for s1, s2 and s3.

Anyway, thanks for the write in Susannah! I'm really sorry again it took me so long to answer, and then I doubt I gave you anything of real substance @_@. I hope you're having a lovely day, and would love to chat more!

Take care, sending love!

Abby

[littlemisstfc]

We All Owe Jake Foushee An Apology: Why I Don't Like VA Fanbases

Hello, Hola, こんにちは。

Welcome back to this side of the Hundred Acre Woods and I wanna ruin lunch today. You can thank Harriyanna Hook for that last bit akskskskksks. 

If you know me by now, you know that I have the utmost respect for voice actors, especially those who embrace their roles in various Transformers media. They were the voices of our childhoods for a reason, and they deserve much better from the film and tv industry. I don’t have the generous feeling towards their hardcore stans. 

Unfortunately, like everyone who has achieved a level of fame and success, their fanbases has a mix of good, sane fans and fans that make Misery look like a Disney movie. For some reason, when it comes to voice actors and Transformers, a good chunk of the fanbase has an overzealous mentality of, “there could only be ONE voice actor for one character.” If you know where this is going, you are correct. I am calling out the Peter Cullen stans today. 

3, 2, 1, Pingu.

Bad Voice Direction Was The Problem, Not The Voice Actor

Before y’all ask, no, nothing happened to either Peter or the subject of today’s blog post today. This is just something I have been thinking about for a while now.

Do not get me wrong: Peter Cullen is a very kind and caring man who deserves all the accolades and praise for his work in Transformers for the past 39 years. Having met him in person earlier this year felt like meeting Santa Claus. He was genuinely that amazing. However…his fanbase is something else. The best comparison I could think of at the top of my head is the Beyhive, aka Beyonce’s fanbase. Like, at the same time, I’ve seen the best and very worst of this fanbase. The good is that I have made friends and acquaintances that share the same appreciation and adoration I have for PeePaw. The bad is that I have seen people who legitimately worship the ground this man stands on and will do anything to maintain him as the one and only Optimus Prime. Like, within a couple of new years, every time there’s a new Transformers show, take a good guess which part of the fandom shows up the most in the comments section, specifically when there’s an Optimus Prime.

“That’s not Peter Cullen, wtf.”

“I want Peter Cullen as this Optimus.”

“This new Optimus’ voice sucks, I want Peter Cullen back.”

These are the best summaries I can come up with when it comes to how y’all react whenever there is a new voice actor for Optimus Prime. Y’all did it with David Kaye when Animated came around, y’all did it with Alan Tudyk when Earthspark came around, but these pale in comparisons to truly the most crazy, awful moment when shit hits the fan: Jake Foushee, when Cybeverse and the WFC Trilogy came around.

For those who do not know who Jake Foushee is, he was the voice actor of Optimus Prime in Transformers Cyberverse and the War for Cybertron Trilogy. Before he was casted, he gained a fanbase due to his Optimus Prime impression and work as a Vine creator. In fact, it was an interview on the Ellen show that got him casted as Prime in the first place. The only off thing about his casting is that John Hasbro didn’t want to hire union voice actors for these two Transformers shows. Like…they damn well have the money to pay their voice actors, that’s something I’ll still hold John Hasbro accountable for to this day. Anyways, back to the main topic. I remember back when Cyberverse and the WFC Trilogy were airing, I see a surprising amount of people who harbor extreme reactions towards Jake Tillman’s voice acting as Optimus in these shows. 

“The voice actor sucks as Optimus.”

“Ewww, wtf. This is just a bad impersonation.”

“Why won’t Hasbro bring back the REAL voice of Optimus Prime?”

Again, these are simply paraphrases of genuinely nasty ass comments about Jake that basically screams They Changed It, Now It Sucks. Notice that last paraphrase here. What does this remind you of? I’ll give you three seconds.

If you guess correctly, you are correct. A good chunk of the hate towards this voice actor is from the hardcore Peter Cullen purists, aka the #BringBackPeterCullen crowd. Like…did y’all forget the basic value of, “if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all”? It’s not that fucking hard to say gross shit like this, like you’d be surprised at how many people often forget that these voice actors are real people. They’re real people who will read your hate comments, who will be hurt by your hate comments, and who will be discouraged from doing what they love because of your hate comments. When it comes to moments like this, it seems like y’all forgot the elephant in the room: the voice direction and script.

Cyberverse and the WFC Trilogy are a great way to show how much potential Jake Foushe has and how it will go wrong if it’s in the hands of a bad voice director and script. Cyberverse showed how utterly phenomenal Jake is as Optimus. In the first season, yeah, it was a bit rough around the edges. However, as the show goes on, he was given the direction to be himself rather than be a hardcore impression. His voice as Optimus has improved and it felt natural by the time we get to, “The Perfect Decepticon.” Compare his vocal performance in the third episode of Season One and the finale. It’s like day and night in the best ways.

However…then there’s the WFC Trilogy. For some reason, the voice direction and script set out to undermine Jake Foushee and the other voice actors of these shows as much as they can. As a result, it became the impression that y’all were quick to condemn Jake for. It felt like whoever was in charge of the voice acting for these three shows did not care about the implications of what they were doing with the voice direction. As a result, the nasty ass comments came and it eventually boiled to a point where after these shows ended, he doesn’t bring up his roles in them. I don’t blame him if it has something to do with the huge fan backlash to his casting as Optimus Prime.

Think Before You Speak: Fandom Brain Rot is A Curse

At this point, y’all just need to give up the whole #BringBackPeterCullen thing. It’s fine to feel upset over John Hasbro not giving him the respect he deserves around the hiring non union era. It’s fine to feel upset over John Hasbro not even bothering to ask him if he would like to come back as Optimus. However, it does not give you the excuse to be a shitty person towards whoever’s voicing Optimus in a new Transformers show. Sometimes, a new voice actor is necessary depending on the characterization and age a show is going with Optimus. Don’t worry about Peter. He still got the movies under his belt and there will be another show with him soon. I guarantee it. There’s no way that John Hasbro is gonna miss out on bringing him back.

In the meantime, we need to be better when it comes to whoever will be the next Optimus Prime. A part of the reason why I dreaded the announcement of the voice cast for Transformers: One is because of fans like these ones. Like, some of y'all forgot how to be decent human beings when your fav is not voiced by your fav voice actor. It has gotten to the point of being genuinely irritating. 

You may be asking what is the point of this entire blog post. The point is that time and time again, we have forgotten that voice actors are human beings too. This type of fan dumb needs to stop. Y’all did it before and y’all are doing it now with annoying shit like change.org petitions and angry fan letters. At this point, Imma about to say this:

We all owe Jake Foushee an apology big time.

Even if you don’t like his voice acting, you have to at least see something with the points I’ve made here. It will continue to rinse and repeat unless we put our feet down and stop it. We need to be more welcoming and encouraging to new talent who have big shoes to fill in. Having respect and adoration towards the veterans of Transformers while also respecting and being open to new talent who have the potential to co-exist. These are not two mutually exclusive things.

We all owe Jake Foushee an apology. 

Till All Are One: A Lesson To Be Learned

As Cyberverse Week is coming in a few days, I need to make my point very clear as one of the biggest Cyberverse fans out here. Sometimes, the new may be just as good as the old. I always have the hope of seeing Jake one day at a convention such as TFCon, especially since he voiced my second favorite Optimus ever. 

I'm glad that more people are starting to realize that the backlash against whoever voices Optimus Prime in a new show is just plain dumb. Imagine my relief when I Tweeted a bit about this topic the other way on Twitter and saw a lot of people agreeing with how awful the backlash against Jake Foushee is.

We need to do better as a fandom. It starts with unpacking our biases and be open to change. Transformers is a franchise that revolves around robotical organisms that change, yet ironically the fandom doesn't like change.

Still, I won't let that affect my perception of voice actors in the franchise. I encourage you all to not send any hate messages to any voice actor and be open to change. I may not change everyone's minds, but I hope it gave you all something to think about.

Anyways, Pingu.

[bullet-clubs-bitch]

The Secret's Out Pt 3

Summary: Y/n makes the tough decision to relinquish her title. Fast forward 4 months when Y/n and Christian attend AEW’s yearly New Years party after keeping the pregnancy a secret. What happens when LuFisto shows up and promises to ruin Y/n’s life. 

Word count: 1,882

*Warnings, swearing, stalking, crazy LuFisto* (Y/W/N means ‘your wrestling name’) 

Main Masterlist Christian Cage Masterlist

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4

Wednesday had finally came and I sat with Tony to discuss what our next plan was. He was obviously very happy for me and was understanding when I told him that I would need to relinquish the title. Since I was only a few weeks pregnant and wanted to try and keep my pregnancy under the radar for the moment we decided to play with the injury to my shoulder and relinquish the belt. I filmed a couple different promos all saying that I would have to relinquish the title. Within the promo I wore low waisted bell bottom jeans, a white crop top and some shades. I chose the outfit exposing my stomach because I knew there would be at least one person who would think I was relinquishing the title because I was pregnant. Although that was true and I had literally wrestled just a week prior to finding out the fans didn’t need to know that. I didn’t look pregnant and fans already knew about the injury so it’s not like I was completely lying to them. We just simply milked the shoulder injury, that's all. 

The plan for this week was for Renee to try and ask me about how I was doing with my injury and I told her I didn’t want to talk about it. So it was revealed that next week I would be having an interview with her explaining my status. Which was the promo interview we filmed earlier on today. 

I knew that soon enough people would start asking questions. Some of the talent knew about the baby but others didn’t. That being said those who didn’t know offered sympathy for the title needing to be relinquished which was quite annoying. The fakeness so evident, “Oh Y/n I’m so sorry about your shoulder” No you weren't, you are probably happy that there will be a new champ in town. 

***

This week had definitely been a weird one. Like planned, the backstage interview with Renee was aired this week on Dynamite. It felt weird, sitting at home watching it on tv not knowing if I was making the right decision. I had been advised to stay off social media for a few days by my friends. I had been stressed and sick for the past few days and didn’t need anymore stress. But the thing is it was boring, I was bored at home so obviously I looked. About 90% of the comments were positive, fans wishing me a speedy recovery and love. The other 10% was basically LuFisto and any other people she made believe I was still the bad guy here. 

“I am so happy she is no longer the champ! She was an eyesore to see on tv. She deserved the injury she got” Those were some of the comments LuFisto left. Girl was on cloud 9 after finding out about my injury. I honestly found it quite funny. 

Other than wrestling drama Christian and I went to our first doctor's appointment, Like promised he was going to be there for every second of it. Since he had already done this once before he was more calm than I was. I was nervous but everything went well. The doctor told me that I was 6 weeks pregnant, I explained that I had my last match 3 weeks ago and the doctor said the baby was completely healthy. That was my biggest concern, I was worried since I had still been wrestling and training not knowing I was pregnant. At the appointment I also found out what caused the pregnancy in the first place. It turned out that the prescription I was on for my shoulder injury had canceled out my birth control. I didn’t even know that was possible but it made sense because I was taking my birth control religiously. When you are not using contraception and are in a relationship with a freak like Christian Cage, getting pregnant can happen very easily. In fact 7 weeks with my birth control not being effective would do the trick. 

******

Four long months had passed since I had to relinquish my title. I was now five months pregnant and was visibly showing. The winter months had allowed me to get away with my growing bump. Sweaters and jackets helped me to get around unnoticed but now I was tired of keeping it a secret. Within the months we told our friends and family, all of which were happy for us. I spent most days at home with Isla who was excited to be a big sister even with the 10 year age gap. Tonight was a new years party for AEW and the first time I would be showing off my bump. “Are you ready to go?” Christian yelled from across the hall. I was struggling to get my boots on with the growing bump in the way. “Almost, just give me a minute” being pregnant was a lot of work. Craving weird combinations and the constant sickness was exhausting. Luckily I had Christian by my side who was willing to go to the store late at night for my insane requests. 

“Do you need some help?” Christian asked me as he came to see what was taking me so long, finding me struggling with the boots. “Yes please” He bent down and gently slid the knee high boots on,  placing a delicate kiss to my thigh before zipping them up. “What would I do without you?” “Well for starters you wouldn't be pregnant and would still have your title” “Are you being serious right now?” That was not funny

As Christian and I approached the venue I grew anxious, there would be media at the event and I already knew what people would be saying about me behind my back. “Hey, there is nothing to be worried about, alright. I am not going anywhere. I will be by your side for the whole night.     If anyone even dares to try anything-” “Christian” I cut him off, he knew I was nervous and although he would never admit it I knew he was too. I remember the hate we got when people found out about Christian and I dating, so I could only imagine what it would be like when they found out I was pregnant with his child. 

Christian wore a gorgeous black suit to the event and I wore a black knit dress that hugged my curves perfectly, along with velvet knee high boots. As we entered the venue we were greeted with black and gold decorations. The entrance had a big foyer which had big mirrors. Somehow I convinced Christian to take a photo with me. I took the mirror picture with Christian behind me, one hand on my bump and the other on my ass. I took the image and posted it on instagram with the caption ‘Mum and Dad’, I wanted the world to see my post before the ones from the media outlets. With that I turned off my phone wanting to enjoy the evening with Christian. 

When we exited the foyer into the main building where the party was being held I could feel heads turn. Many shocked faces, it was making me uncomfortable but I promised myself I would stay for the whole event even if I felt like I was not welcome. “Ahh, I can’t believe you’re here” Of course Kris was the first to greet us at the party. “I can feel the stares” I told her. “Well I mean you disappeared for 5 months and showed up pregnant” She was right, only our close friends and family knew so obviously people would be shocked. 

Many wrestlers came up to me congratulating me with the pregnancy. They all seemed to be happy for me or at least they pretended to be. Eddie Kingston had been upset that I did not tell him I was pregnant. Although he’s great, the guy can’t keep a secret. Christian and I spent some time chatting with our friends and trying the many treats they had before the hard part, the media. As promised Christian didn’t leave my side, we had taken many pictures with everyone before needing to do interviews. Most of the reporters were rude, asking inappropriate questions that made Christian and I uncomfortable. Christian answered the majority of the questions while I tried my best not to lose it. Pregnancy makes you very hormonal and I was trying to not let it win. “So Y/w/n” I had zoned out “You are pregnant, what does this mean for your career?” That was the 5th time tonight a reporter asked me that question “Well, just because I am having a kid it doesn’t mean I’m done with wrestling. I am planning to return to the ring as soon as possible and become a 3X ROH world champion” Just as I began to say something else I felt my stomach drop. I watched LuFisto start walking towards me. “How is she here?” I turned to Christian to make sure he was seeing what I was seeing and boy did he see it. “Get behind me!” Christian told me as I watched LuFisto charge at me. What was that woman’s problem, she was screaming and yelling at everyone that stood between us. “I am going to make your life mistable Y/n. You ruined my life so I am going to end you” I didn’t even know what to say. This girl had serious issues and I honestly felt sorry for her. 

I stood behind Christian as I watched the crazed woman get escorted by security out of the building. Soon after Christian and I left the event. When we got home I broke down, crying into Christians arms. I just didn’t get it, even though I was one of the biggest heels in AEW I was a nice person in real life and everyone knew what. It had been almost a year since LuFisto had been released by AEW and she still hated me. 

****

It had been a few days since the incident at the new years party. The media always had made things worse but for once it was playing in my favor. The video of LuFisto trying to attack a heavily pregnant woman had gone viral. Christian and I were one of the biggest couples in pro wrestling and people could see how genuinely happy we were with each other. People felt bad for the hate and soon enough LuFisto would get blacklisted from several other promotions after news came out about her attacking people at a local indie show. 

This whole situation had been stressing me out, I woke up in the night in a cold sweat. Nightmares disturbing my much needed sleep, I was anxious all the time. Scared to be left alone, scared someone would break in and try to hurt my babies. All of this had become too much to handle and soon enough Christian would flip. He was tired of it and didn’t care if it ruined his ‘character’ he wanted to set things straight. I knew he was mad but I didn’t realize just how bad it was until it happened. My worst nightmare came true…..

[thgfanfictionlibrary]

Authors On THG Writing Hiatus Masterlist (7)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 /

***Active (on this blog) is defined as a blog/writer who has updated within the past year. Inactive (on this blog) is defined as a blog/writer that has not been updated at all in the past year+. On THG Writing Hiatus (on this blog) is a blog/writer who has updated within the past year but has not posted a fanfic in the fandom in the past year BUT they may return to writing in the future. Lists will be updated as needed based on activity. ***

Created: November 17th, 2023

Last Checked:----

goldenpixie1-ao3, ff.net, tumblr

Popular Fic: Two Dandelions Willow wakes up from a nightmare, and with Peeta fast asleep, it's up to Katniss to tell a good story. When she does, it brings up the fear of a little secret she's been keeping to herself.

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Popular Fic: Never Had Katniss and Peeta at their Ten Years High School Reunion Inspired by the movie "Ten Years"+

[kidflashimpulse]

saw a post you made a while back answering an ask about YJA Bart's civvie life mirroring the comics, and i realized that comic Bart went straight into high school due to being 14 going on 15 when he came to the past, but YJA Bart was 12 going on 13, so he'd be in middle school for a little over a year first. so! an idea i thought i'd share: people mostly think he's Weird (derogatory) in middle school because that's where he goes through his biggest adjustment period. middle school is frustrating for him, but he manages. then high school happens and suddenly he's Mr Popularity bc 1) he's more used to being in school now, even if he still doesn't like it and high school is a different beast, 2) his West-Allen (and Meloni) related pretty genes have started to properly kick in (underrated Bart fact: he's supposed to be noticeably good-looking. like not just cute, but a Certified Pretty Boy. it gets brought up SO MUCH in his solo it's so funny) and he has a canon big growth spurt between 13 and 15, and 3) there's a ton of new ppl his age who have no established opinions of him the way others do. and like in the comics Bart hates the attention and keeps almost exclusively to his friends (one of my fave running gags is Bart being surrounded by people trying to get his attention and he just keeps doing what he's doing without engaging or even reacting barely at all)

omg anon…. this ask has given me the biggest smile ever because it just brings back so many memories of my first ever (drafted) fic ahhhhhhhh !!! especially because of the way it starts!! in middle school where he’s the certified weirdo!!! not that he minds it at all he’s more concerned with the whole concept of wtf even is school and how’s he supposed to be stuck in a classroom when he has more pressing issues like uh preventing an impending apocalypse?? lmfao but yes that first year/couple months is a huge adjustment period for him, at the very least in terms of school.

the thing is at least in my non-existent fic, i was really motivated to have carol and preston be the first civilians he befriended, which would be in middle school. But then I also want them (and others) to be his classmates throughout high school too! Cause u know, they’re the civilians we know that he interacts with and gets along. I don’t think the chances of that are too off because if they all live within the same district it would be reasonable to assume they’d attend the same high school? Like not the exact same class, but there r bound to be a few familiar faces. But that’s not rlly a problem for the concept that u outlined considering they’re his friends so the whole preconceived notion thing wouldn’t play much of a role in the first place (and if anything more accurately reflect the plot of how Carol befriends him and then at that point worries about popularity getting to him, like the impulse timeline was crazy fast (understandably ig)) . Also like yes, mirroring the comics he accidentally becomes quite popular lmfao but like u said it’s high school so it’s not without its totally dramatised plot issues (i could come up with way too many honestly they’re just so entertaining especially considering like how i mentioned he wants no part in it both intentionally as well as not lol) just like the impulse run!

Certified Pretty Boy huh that’s just as much as a trait to him as it is him having brown hair (which is always! suck it red hair truthers lmfao) but yes totally!! His genes have done him well and it’s obviously the reason why everyone is in love with him (looking at u Preston /j /srs)

basically, thank u for sharing your thoughts with us <3 cause it’s just so entertaining to think about all this!! I’m not even exaggerating i could come up with so many plots about his school experience i think there’s just so much room for potential and fun and it’s pretty amusing to think about. I would love to write a fic o. it specifically (side eye to that first fic lol) but unfortunately i’ve just got one brain and set of hands and can only really focus on one fic at a time 🫠 on the bright side i am planning on covering at least a little bit of his civvie life in the next chapter of AAIT (still in its really early stages so it’ll take a while, sorry) so if anyones interested in that, stay tuned lol

[sadbitterman]

The Third Wheel. Part 1

Part 1 Part 2 - Coming soon

Summary: It's hard when someone else comes between best friends. Even worse when that someone else is a girl.

Pairing: f!MC (Bitterness Blackwood) x Ominis Gaunt

Word Count: 1,8k

Note: Re-posting my fanfiction after some corrections. English is not my first language, so it's hard to get EVERYTHING right. But I want to share it with you anyway. Hope you like it. Enjoy reading.

It’s the start of a new school year. All Hogwarts students as usual group together, wander around tangled corridors and talk about something of their own. It seems like nothing has changed. Most of them are still happily living their best school life within these walls. But not everyone.

Last year, things took a turn for the worst for two best friends, Sebastian Sallow and Ominis Gaunt. Sebastian's betrayal and his obsession with dark magic had alienated them. And this gifted new girl, which immediately captured all the attention, became a wedge between them. In their company, Ominis felt like a third wheel. As soon as a better ally appeared, his dear friend spent less time with him and got into more and more trouble.

Of course, all Gaunt has is a loud name of hatred family. He turned out to be weak, useless. It hurt him that even she, who barely knew him, understood his feelings better than his childhood friend, the closest person in the world. He felt terrible, even though it all ended relatively well. After all, Sebastian hasn't been expelled after all he's done. This little secret, which only three of them knew, choked him badly.

While Ominis strolled across the hall, deep in his own thoughts, two students rushed past and pushed him from the way insolently. Before he could say a word, his wand glinted. Broke down at the most inconvenient moment. A whole maze of steps and ornate corridors waited ahead. Without the sonar, the world plunged back into pitch black.

“Damn it, not now!” His voice echoed through the great hall.

The boy stood to the side of the staircase foot and desperately shook his wand until it was no longer responding at all. He looked very embarrassed and annoyed. The way back wouldn't be a pleasant walk without his helper. He would have to walk mostly by feel, as the local corridors were too wide and tricky to navigate the sound smoothly. And the ladders? A wave of despair over his own helplessness hit him again.

“Need a hand? Your wand—”

“Broken, I know.” Irritated, Gaunt interrupted the phrase. Only a moment afterward, he realized who had called out to him. “Don't patronize me. I don't need your pity. I can take care of myself.”

“Oh, I didn't doubt that one bit, and never wanted to pity you.” The new girl whom he mentioned a few minutes ago in his mind softly touched his shoulder. As soon as she heard a familiar voice, she immediately went downstairs to find out what had happened. Bitter joked gently. “I just can’t leave a friend in trouble. I’m a Hufflepuff, remember?”

He was silent for a while, frowning. Afterward, he exhaled and grudgingly agreed.

“Uh, alright, you won. These stairs will drive me crazy before I find my way back to the living room.”

“Or they will drive your neck off.” She joked again, in her own caring and simple-minded way. As always. “Let’s go. Take my hand.”

Her palm touched his arm. Soft. Warm. Small. She squeezed the boy's fingers, not expecting the same in return, but suddenly felt it become mutual. Ominis hesitated, looking with his glassy gaze to nowhere. Obviously, the situation was awkward on his part.

“Not a word of this to anyone. Get it?”

“I promise I won't say a word, Ominis.”

“Even Sebastian.”

“Especially Sebastian.”

The couple moved slowly up the stairs. A tense atmosphere hung between them. Gaunt walked with his head down in silence.

"Is something wrong?" The girl said and looked at his frowning face. “Feels like you still don't like me very much.”

“What? No. I just— I hate when people see me like that.”

“Blind?” She said the dumbest thing she got first on her mind, continuing to lead the way.

“Almost got it. Weak”.

If he only could see, he would definitely roll his eyes. But this silly remark made him chill out a bit. He couldn't contain a quiet chuckle. With her there was no reason to be always aware. She always said what was on her mind and she treated people the way she really thought of them. It made him feel at ease. No hypocrisy, or subterfuge, or secrets. His face relaxed.

“Come on, all of us need help sometimes. That doesn't make you weak. If you don't want to owe me, you can help me with my History of Magic report. I fell asleep during class again.”

Faintly visible smile shone on Gaunt’s lips. He nodded, silently continuing to follow the girl down the long corridors. Only their lonely footsteps could be heard around. Bitterness Blackwood. She came out of nowhere. She changed everything he was used to. At first he believed it was just anger and jealousy because his best friend found someone else, but what if he actually… The heart thumped faster.

“Ominis?” Girl said quietly and suddenly stopped. She palpably squeezed icy fingers in her palm and pulled the boy out of his thoughts. He turned his head at a loss, trying to figure out what was going on. There was a mute question on his face. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Bitter turned to him, looking up at his pale face. She seemed a little blushing. Everything was written all over her face, but of course he couldn't see it.

“Yes?”

“It's nothing serious, really. I just wanted to tell that I like—”

“Sebastian, right?”

His face changed again. Heavy feelings came flooding in again. There was a sadness in him he tried for a long time to contain. Gaunt’s fingers loosened, trying to slip out. “I know you became very close. As soon as you showed up—”

“What? No!” Bitter exclaimed out and instantly flushed. Shaking her head, she grabbed the boy's palm with both hands again, pulling closer. He only raised his glassy gaze in her direction in surprise. “It's not what it looks like. I don’t want to take your best friend away. Sure, he’s a nice guy, but not really my type. Actually, there’s… someone else.”

“Someone else..?” Ominis repeated in confusion.

“Yes. I like…” She took a pause, as she still wasn’t sure if it was worth saying. She mustered her courage, filled her lungs with air and spoke three unexpected words. “I like you.”

There was a ringing silence in the air. The boy was taken aback. His pale cheeks flushed slowly. His breath caught. He didn't know what to say to that, except:

“...are you kidding?”

"I wouldn't joke about that, you dork!" She hit him lightly on the shoulder, all red in the face.

“Wait, I… I don’t know what to say, I thought you and Sebastian—”

"Oh, no-no-no-no." She shook her head even harder than before. "I know our first meeting wasn't the most pleasant, of course, but... With the time we spent together, I saw your other side. I realized what kind of person you really are. And I liked you very much, Ominis Gaunt."

The last sentence kicked him in the gut again. His breathing became labored, frequent. He could hear a heart wildly pounding in his ears. At first he was silent. Then, with a sigh of relief, he finally spoke. Suddenly the tight boundaries that were weighing heavily on him disappeared.

“You're the first person to tell me these things so openly. Usually people, let alone girls, avoid me. Probably because I can't trust anyone and I'm always looking for a catch.”

"It doesn't frighten me." She said and smiled tenderly. They sat down on a bench in the dark, empty corridor, still holding hands.

"Why me?" Ominis turned his face away embarrassedly, running the pad of his thumb over her soft hand. He felt guilty about his best friend. It was as if he was trying to change her mind. In his heart he wanted to say: run away from me, I'm not the man you need, you're making a mistake. "Sebastian told me that you couldn't get out of his head. He definitely has a crush on you."

“I know. It's obvious. He lost his sister and now he’s trying hard to find someone who’ll fill the void in the chest she left. But I don't think that I'm good girlfriend material for him, especially in this situation.”

“Why do you think so? You two have been through so much—”

“And you were there too. All the time.” She said and stroked him lightly on the cheek. “He’s a nice guy despite all his mistakes, but I couldn’t fall in love with someone who treats their own childhood friend like that. When he’s obsessed with something, nothing matters. He doesn't care if he hurts his best friends, as long as it gets what he wants. You are different. Your hands are cold and your heart is warm. You were always there for him, no matter how screwed up he was. Many Hufflepuffs would envy your loyalty. And what about him… It'll be fine as long as I'm his obsession, but what if he's interested in something new?”

Her words were full of determination. Nothing could change her mind. It was clear now. The boy nodded, leaning with his back to the wall. He understood perfectly what Blackwood was talking about. A bitter smile appeared on his lips.

“You know, at first I was so angry when you appeared. I thought you had come to make things worse, to add to his problems. But then... you helped him, even though you didn't agree with his point of view like I did. You were there too, on my side. In the end, it turned out we had a lot more in common than I thought. And when Sebastian confessed he was in love with you, I suddenly felt even more bitter. I think I'm beginning to understand why.”

The boy closed his eyes, and at the same moment felt a kiss on his lips. Immediately he was thrown into a fever. She moved closer, running slim fingers through the soft blond hair. Everything about her was maddening. The pleasant smell, warm of her lips, the intimacy of her body, hot breathing.

Everything fell into place and seemed so right and clear. The heavy weight he carried with him every day was lifted from his soul. He was no longer tormented by thoughts of weakness. Here he could be himself, and that was what he needed for a long time.

It was getting dark outside. None of the students crossed the halls of Hogwarts any more - everyone hid in their living rooms. Only Sebastian Sallow wandered in search of his friend, who was still not back. Turning in another corridor, a familiar voice came to him. His heart clenched.

“I like you too.”

[eowynn-bagels]

What I read in September

September was a crazy-ass month. Lizzy kicked the bucket, Don't Worry Darling crashed and burned, and most important, I read a ton of movies.

1. All The Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot see might just be my book of the year. As I already talked about this in a previous post, I'll make this quick. All The Light We Cannot See has been described, and rightfully so, as a modern classic. Its unique presentation of its story and masterful management of story threads that sew together Werner and Marie-Laure through their childhood years and the present have cemented it into its position as one of the best books of the 2010s.

Final Verdict: 9.5/10 - Absolute perfection

2. Never Let Me Go

The second book I read in September was Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is my third Ishiguro book, and I have to say - he is a brilliant author. The way he slowly draws you into the mystery of Hailsham, and how it's drip-fed to the reader what Hailsham's true purpose was for, despite the parallel storyline running in the modern day, it never gives away what they're doing, just that Kathy is a 'carer'.

I also went into the book blind, having no idea what it was about. I didn't read a synopsis, I didn't skim it, I just sat down and finished it in one sitting. Never Let Me Go is a masterclass in exposition and the flow of information to the audience. It treats the reader as if they too exist within the world of Never Let Me Go and it works incredibly well. The way it handles its themes, story and characters could not have come from anyone other than Kazuo Ishiguro.

Final Verdict: 8.5/10 - Read it blind!

3. Grand Hotel Europa

TW: Sexual assault

Then, I read Grand Hotel Europa, and it is a letdown. I bought it because it shares a similar title and seemed to share a similar story to one of my favorite Wes Anderson movies - The Grand Budapest Hotel. What I got instead was one pretty good metaphor about Europe, a useless, filler storyline that takes up 2/3rds of the book's material, and a really weird sex scene in which the author has with a 18 year old girl.

What you need to know about Grand Hotel Europa is that it is written as a true story, the author - Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer (one hell of a name) - presents the story as something that actually happened to him (down to the author's name and background). Sure, it's unique, but what makes it concerning is the aforementioned weird sex scene. The girl, Memphis, grew up in an abusive household where she was sexually assaulted. She was then adopted by rich parents and eventually ends up in the Grand Hotel Europa, the main setting and namesake of the book.

After they have sex, and Pfeijffer describes it in awkwardly high detail, she tells him to 'use her real name'. Even if this is fiction, it reads like some bizarre author self-insert fanfic, written as an excuse to jerk off, and somehow made it past rewriting, editing, publishing and translation. Outside of the Murakami-esque sex scenes, it isn't all that compelling. Like I said, the storyline about Clio and the lost Caravaggio painting is intensely boring. The only positive thing about this book is the book's namesake, the Grand Hotel Europa, which works pretty well as a metaphor for Europe in an ever-evolving world, and singlehandedly keeps this from being a 1/10.

Final Verdict: 4/10 - Murakami-esque, but without the good prose

4. Outline

Outline is the first novel in Rachel Cusk's Outline trilogy. I don't really have any strong feelings about it. Despite rave reviews, I don't feel like it says that much or wants to say that much, for that matter. Outline is an interesting, short-ish story about a woman who comes to Greece to teach a writing class, and in doing so meets several other people, who through conversation, are revealed. In the process, we also learn about the main character.

It is elegant and contains some great prose, but offers not much food for thought or discussion, not anything to write home about. Perhaps I need to read the next two books in the trilogy to understand it.

Final Verdict: 6.5/10 - Boring but not in the 'classical literature' way.

5. The Iliad

I also read The Iliad and it is a slog, but in an interesting way. The Iliad tells the story of the siege of Troy, one of the penultimate events during the Trojan War. It is also one of the oldest pieces of literature in the world that's still widely read, clocking in at around 2700 to 2800 years old. It moves like a giant, slow but immense in its proportions. Every chapter intensifies the stakes and every character is given their own motivations.

It's hard to talk about The Iliad without also talking about the censorship of Achilles and Patroclus' relationship. In my edition of the book, published in the 50s, they are referred to as 'companions', and to drive the point home, both take on trophy women. The translators are so insistent that both are straight that there are even addendums in parts where it's made explicitly clear that Achilles and Patroclus are fruity that say, in a nutshell: 'No homo, they're just the best of friends. Guy pals.' However, in modern depictions, most notably Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles, where Achilles and Patroclus' relationship is the main focus of the book, the story works remarkably better. Achilles turning to rage and accepting his fate after Patroclus dies works so much better when you know that they loved each other. It becomes even more of a tragedy than it already is.

The Iliad is an epic that has come to define classical literature, and will continue to stand as the quintessential epic. With themes of fate, love, time and hubris, it stands as one of humanity's greatest achievements.

Final Verdict: 9/10 - Achilles and his ''''Friend''''

[the-perfect-author]

5 Ways to Receive a Dream Gift

1. Honor dreams as a valid way to receive heavenly blessings. If you have not honored dreams in the past and have simply dismissed them as insignificant recycled leftovers from the day, repent for that. Purpose in your heart to see dreams the way God sees them. Renew your mind with Scriptures on God’s perspective of dreams, prayerfully meditating on them and asking Holy Spirit to make them real to you. Passages such as, when we are asleep our heart is awake (Song of Songs 5:2), God visits us in the night (Ps. 17:3 NKJV), and the Lord gives our hearts counsel and instruction while we sleep (Ps. 16:7) are a great place to start.

2. Ask Holy Spirit to give you His revelation and gifts while you sleep. We have not because we ask not, so we want to be intentional and specific with our request (Jas. 4:2). We see this principle clearly exemplified in the life of King Solomon. Most of us recognize Solomon for his legendary wisdom, and we know God is the one who gave him the gift. What is often overlooked, however, is when God imparted that supernatural gift. In First Kings 3:5-15, we discover it actually happened in a dream. We naturally expect God would have orchestrated this epic encounter during the day and we assume God would have wanted Solomon awake for such a significant event. Instead, we find the exact opposite is true, and that the entire conversation and impartation took place in a dream.

What is most exciting to realize is that the wisdom Solomon received through his dream is the same wisdom we can receive every night through our dreams too. The Hebrew word for what Solomon asked for and received is shama, which is a “hearing” heart (1 Kings 3:9, 11). He asked for a listening heart, one that could clearly hear the Lord’s direction and guidance. This is the essence of wisdom, the ability to hear from the Spirit of Wisdom Himself. We can have that, too.

3. Believe God is speaking through your dreams. You might think your dreams aren’t like biblical dreams, that your dreams are crazy! But they’re really not. What seems ridiculous is actually revelation. What seems silly is actually sacred; it’s just symbolic. And the best part? God spoke through all kinds of crazy dreams in the Bible too! How about some sheaves of wheat bowing down to you? Or what about the sun, moon and stars bowing down to you? I have no idea what a bowing star would even look like, yet that is what Joseph dreamt (Gen. 37:6-10). And we know the interpretation: The wheat and stars were symbolic, representing his family. And his family literally did end up bowing down to him in waking life years later (Gen. 43:26-28).

We see God gave Joseph a predictive word in his dream about the future. It was a gift of prophecy. This happened not just through dreams, but through strange dreams. We understand, though, that they weren’t strange as much as they were simply symbolic. The message of the dream revealed heaven’s perspective; it was God’s prophetic word to Joseph.

This is why we don’t want to dismiss or discount our dreams. We might say it’s just a dream; however God calls it the word of the Lord (Ps. 105:19). Because Joseph was found faithful and honored God’s message through the dream, God honored Joseph and the dream’s prophetic word of knowledge did come true.

4. Record the revelation. Be prepared to receive your heavenly gift in the night by having a journal and pen or cellphone for voice recording at your bedside. Whether it’s a word of wisdom or knowledge or prophecy, it is only a blessing and benefit if we remember it! We mistakenly assume a dream is so impactful that we “could never forget it,” but it will often disappear from memory within moments of awakening if we do not honor the revelation by immediately recording it. If God considers dreams important enough to include in the Bible, then our dreams are important enough for us to write down too. We want to steward the spiritual gifts we receive through our dreams well, and that starts with recording them.

5. Act on the message and make your dream come true. In Judges 7 we read how God gave the Midianite soldier a prophetic word of knowledge in his dream, which resulted in Gideon being built up in faith. God showed him that a loaf of bread would invade their camp and destroy their army. Now that is a crazy dream! But while it seems silly, we realize it’s simply symbolic. And the message is, in fact, sacred. Even through the strangeness, God is speaking. By meditating on God’s version of the situation – that victory was imminent – Gideon was encouraged. By seeing what God saw, he was able to feel what God felt – peace, faith, fearlessness. Gideon received the prophetic promise God revealed through the dream, and then acted on the dream’s message. He made the dream come true. We can do that, too.

Literal or metaphorical, straightforward or symbolic – God is speaking. He is downloading words of wisdom and knowledge, gifts of faith and prophecy, and all manner of revelation to our hearts while we sleep. In our dreams, in our visions of the night, when we fall into deep sleep and slumber in our beds, God opens our ears and instructs us, He enlightens us with the light of life (Job 33:14-18,29-30).

God cares about what we care about. Whether you are a software engineer, homeschool mom, political representative, or Kingdom entrepreneur, He wants to help you with whatever you’ve got going on in your life. Your heavenly Father knows all the answers and He already has the solution you’re looking for.

When you go to bed ask Him for His perspective on your problem or project and expect to receive His supernatural insight. He is the giver of every good gift and He can’t wait to share His understanding and counsel with you. Invite heavenly creativity and spiritual gifts into your life by receiving an overflow of Holy Spirit’s revelation while you sleep. Dream your way to wisdom, faith, healing, and miracles tonight!

Source:

[bebouhito]

{ JJK OC lore, past shiunao, mpreg, nobamaki, tw: mention of suicide attempt, tw: alcohol mention, 1.6k words }

Part 3

Part 2

Part 1

Later that day, as she said she would, Naomi called. Shiu was still fighting a headache, but nothing that wasn’t manageable. The effects of alcohol had lessened over the years, he had just gone overboard the night before.

It was the twentieth anniversary of the day Naoya had told him he was pregnant.

He could barely remember this girl from the bar. He just knew she’d shown him more kindness than he deserved. So, although the ringtone split his head in half, he picked up the phone.

She was evasive. She said she had something important to discuss, and Shiu’s mind wandered.

Had something happened last night that he couldn’t recall? But he was still fully dressed when he woke up this morning… Maybe they’d done it in the bar’s bathroom. He shuddered at the thought. She was so young, she could be his…

“Can I come over?” She asked. “With my moms.”

Shiu’s worries deepened. Was it bad enough that she had to bring over her parents?

“Did I do something wrong?” He asked, and Naomi chuckled nervously.

“No.” She said. “It’s just… When we talked last night, you mentioned someone my mother knows. Someone she’d like to talk about, and there’s nobody else left to do that. Are you free this afternoon?”

She didn’t really leave him time to question her reasons, and Shiu happened to be free that day.

So he said yes, not knowing what to expect.

Who had he mentioned the night before?

His interrogations were left unanswered until a few hours later, when the doorbell rang and he opened the door.

The girl from last night. She looked so much like /him/.

Shiu was far from having met every member of the Zenin clan, and she was too young anyway, but maybe they were related? The tallest of the two older women who followed did look like a Zenin.

By the time they sat down in the living room, Shiu was feeling lightheaded. He’d heard of the Zenin clan massacre, none of them had survived except for-

“Maki Zenin.” The woman introduced herself.

“Zenin…” Shiu let the name roll off his tongue.

“I’m Naoya’s cousin.”

Suddenly it all came back to him. The many times Naoya had complained about his useless baby girl cousins, so often it drove Shiu crazy, and how he suddenly stopped after learning the baby they were expecting was a girl.

“He didn’t go easy on you, did he?...” Shiu sighed, and Maki remained expressionless.

“He definitely wasn’t the caring kind.”

“He was different around me. I would’ve never thought, but he almost became… nurturing. He changed a lot after finding out we were having a girl.”

Shiu felt his eyes water, and he regretted bringing the girl and her mothers in.

“I guess you know what happened to him.” He said, and Maki shuffled closer to Naomi.

“Actually, I never got the whole story.”

Shiu braced himself. He was dying to tell someone about the events that had haunted him for the past twenty years, but he was afraid of how broken he would be by the time he’d reach the end.

“I… I was away when he went into labor. He called me, but I couldn’t be there until an hour later. We didn’t live together, his father forbade it until the end of the pregnancy. He wanted to keep Naoya close, I suppose, and it makes sense considering what Toji told me about Megumi. But I should have remained within reach, not away on some stupid, meaningless business…”

Nobara hadn’t said a thing since they’d come in, but she reached for Naomi’s hand.

Naomi was pale, and her heart was threatening to leap out of her throat.

“When I got there, Naoya’s father greeted me at the gate. I’ll never forget the look on his face. He looked displeased, but not shattered or devastated as he told me I was too late, and that… Naoya and our b-baby… hadn’t made it.”

Shiu was looking down as tears fell on the hardwood floor.

“I asked to see their bodies. I begged, but he told me they were already being cremated. It made no sense, I called him a- an old motherfucker, a liar, a stupid bastard, I was on the ground asking for my lover and my baby- I’d built the rest of my life around them. I’d begun to furnish the apartment Naoya’s father had promised us in exchange for Naoya to remain with the clan until the birth. I wanted to surprise Naoya with how nice I’d made the place where we were going to raise our little girl, and now I hate myself for accepting such a bargain. I should’ve taken Naoya with me as soon as we learned we were expecting, I lost him to a free Tokyo apartment. Still, I couldn’t believe Naobito’s words. I told him I’d be back eventually. As I left, I took my phone and I called and texted Naoya. For an entire day I did everything I could to reach him, but I never got an answer. I’d never been more afraid in my entire life. It was like losing Toji all over again, but it hurt in different ways, because I loved them differently. But I loved them. I loved Naoya, but it took me too long to tell him. I didn’t tell him enough. I never got to tell my baby.”

Naomi didn’t cry easily, but Shiu’s distress brought tears to her yellow eyes. Nobara kept her gaze on her, squeezing her hand while Shiu didn’t look at either of them.

“The next day… I’d lost all hope. I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t think twice, didn’t even take my shoes or my jacket off as I jumped off a bridge. When I woke up in the hospital after a long coma, I asked for the personnel to call Naoya’s number. I was too weak to do it myself. They told me they’d left voice messages, but never got an answer. After I was discharged, I used a burner phone to call him again. I’d lost mine in the water when I jumped. Then, I learned about the Zenin clan massacre. I never… never got the courage to look up each name. If he was somehow still alive and I hadn’t fought my way inside when Naobito told me he was dead… There were already so many things I couldn’t forgive myself for. So I moved into the apartment we were promised our baby would grow up in, as a punishment for my failures, and also because it was free. I was despicable right until the end.”

When he finally looked up from behind his tears, he saw two women crying and the third one taking a deep breath.

“Naobito lied to you.”

Shiu let out a shaky exhale. “How do you know?”

“Because I was the one who found Naoya’s body.”

Shiu sank into the couch, his reddened eyes wide and his mouth agape.

“Found?...”

“On November 12, 2018, after finishing off every single remaining member of the clan, I found Naoya’s corpse on the floor with a knife in his back. I could tell from the blood trails that he had tried to crawl towards another room, where I found a baby crying in a crib.”

Shiu looked like he’d been punched in the sternum and had the breath sucked out of him. His eyes went from Maki to the younger girl and he fought to get words out.

“What’s your name?...”

Yellow eyes seemed to stare into his soul, wet with tears but still carrying the same fierceness and insolent defiance as the man Shiu still loved with his entire being, and who he had never replaced.

“Naomi.” She said, and Shiu broke down.

He leaned forward, elbows digging into his knees, and pressed his hands to his forehead as he sobbed. His cries echoed in the apartment where there was still a room with a crib, a changing table and toys Shiu never had the heart to throw away.

He couldn’t get any words out. He just wailed, whining with each breath and shaking uncontrollably.

Naomi eventually got up from her seat and kneeled in front of him, gently taking one of his hands to remove it from his face.

“Hey…” she choked out, laughing softly through the tears. “I’ve only seen you twice but you… You seem like a good man, and I can tell you would’ve raised me with so much love. You don’t have to worry, my moms took great care of me until now.”

Shiu leaned into Naomi’s touch, and the tears clouding his vision turned her eyes into two blurry golden pools.

“If you’re okay with that, I’d love to have you in my life.” She added, and he could just nod and sob. He sniffled, moving his hands to cup Naomi’s face, and she pressed their foreheads together.

“I didn’t even ask for your name.” She chuckled as they were standing so close to each other.

“I-It’s… Shiu Kong…”

“Shiu…” Naomi repeated barely above a whisper. She wasn't ready to call him “dad” yet, but she could feel how strong their bond was already.

Shiu kept sobbing her name and brushing his thumbs over her tear-stained cheeks as Maki finally shed tears in Nobara’s arms.

After a while and once Shiu’s whimpers had died down, Naomi sat by his side on the couch and rubbed away her tears with a smile.

“Say, Shiu, don’t you think I’ve got your nose?”

[uozlulu]



So, I got inspired by that DM ship week thing but my brain went a bit to the left with it and somehow I'm writing a fic involving both bookverse DM and showverse DM who can catch glimpses of their other lives through mirrors and reflections

Anyway, gonna post what notes I have so far in the off chance I lose my file for whatever reason. Some of these may change. Still have no clue how to interpret or do for that day six prompt in the slightest yet, which is good because since I've taken this in a weird direction I'm not going to post it the week of because it's probably not what people will be looking for for that particular event.

Anyway....

Day 1 - I want it. I want to live forever. Daniel had sat up, climbed to his feet slowly, struggling to see Armand more clearly. A dim bulb burned somewhere far down the hall. I want to be with Louis and with you. Laughter, low, gentle. But contemptuous. “I see why he chose you for his confidant. You are naive and beautiful. But the beauty could be the only reason, you know.”

[Daniel's been starved for three days. Armand appears in a dark suit with his hair cut and nails gleaming. Armand likes Daniel's eyes. Finds him "defiant and beseeching in the same breath." Armand goes on to warn him about madness.]

Armand 1

Armand gazes at Daniel, catching his own reflection in Daniel’s glasses. For a moment, the reflection distorts into another boy who was able to barely become a man, who Armand also understands as being himself but not himself. He’s seen this boy for years with the same large brown eyes and increasingly cold complexion. He used to think he could reach out and touch that boy, but the moment is too fleeting or a puddle splashes and the other boy disappears. It is a distraction from the mystery standing in front of him. Daniel is different than the other humans he’s put in this position. It stirs something within him.

Daniel 1

Daniel runs until he’s out of breathe and about to throw up. It’s almost dawn. His stomach growls as it’s been all this time. He finds money in his pocket. He’s too hungry to use it to get high. He needs to find a place to eat. He needs to get the hell out of California. He starts talking to a boy standing beside him with dark curly hair and realizes he’s talking to his reflection that’s also somehow not his reflection in a shop window. He blinks and the image changes back to himself. He’d almost think he’s crazy but he’s seen this other person many times even well before he first did drugs. He heads off to find food.

Armand 2

They’re having the same conversations again, but he doesn’t think Daniel realizes it. He’s watching Daniel deteriorate just like he watched him deteriorate in the past but in a different and somehow less malevolent way. This is what Armand wanted when he chose to let Daniel go except he didn’t expect to have to witness this part of it or he might not have anticipated it happening here in a space he completely controlled. He gazes through the windows at Dubai. A different Armand’s eyes gaze back at him, dark and full of thought.

Daniel 2

Daniel feels like he’s said these words before but maybe slightly differently than he says them now. Armand answers him as though he already knows what to say, as if perhaps this is an old conversation or maybe because Armand’s mocking him. Daniel is angry and looks away, for a second seeing the other Daniel in a small makeup mirror nearby. The other Daniel seems frightened by the visage and soon disappears. Armand does still think Daniel is beautiful. His persona is almost engulfing, suffocating, such a change from “Rashid.” Daniel almost gets swept up in it, but he’s not at a point to forgive him yet.

Day 2 - Daniel was past all decision. Daniel lived only in two alternating states: misery and ecstasy, united by love. He never knew when he’d be given the blood. He never knew if things looked different because of it-the carnations staring at him from their vases, skyscrapers hideously visible like plants sprung up from steel seeds overnight-or because he was just going out of his mind.

[Daniel tried to drink from Armand by biting Armand himself. Armand tore the skin himself and let Daniel drink a little "then guiding him gently away." ]

Armand 1

Observing Daniel, who’s almost in a trance. He can see another boy reflected beside Daniel with dark curly hair. They move almost the same, as if both in the same trance. Armand is transfixed by this strange almost ballet, both clearly Daniel but also not both the same Daniel.

Daniel 1

Armand 2

Daniel 2

Day 3 - “Armand […] always knew where Daniel was. He could hear Daniel’s call. The blood connected them, it had to-the precious tiny drinks of burning preternatural blood. Never enough to do more than awaken dreams in Daniel, and the thirst for eternity, to make the flowers in the wallpaper sing and dance. Whatever, Armand could always find him, of that he had no doubt.”

[Daniel admits that Armand might not have caused the madnes. Daniel has faith in Armand. He doesn't understand how the blood works]

Armand 1

He can feel his connection to Daniel fading. He aches for it much like Daniel might ache for the blood.

Daniel 1

Armand 2

Daniel 2

Day 4 - “You came back to me because you wanted to, Daniel,” Armand always said calmly, face still and radiant, eyes full of love. “There is nothing for you now, Daniel, except me. You know that. Madness waits out there.”

[Daniel thinks Armand might be responsible for his "periods of madness." Daniel returns to the villa on Night Island where Armand says this. "Same old dance," Daniel answered". Armand is wearing only white. Sometimes he laughs, offers to get Daniel anything he wants.]

Armand 1

Armand said “Madness waits out there,” but sometimes he wonders. He watches Daniel from the shadows. Daniel’s bathed in the sunset. The smoke from his cigarette drifts up into the sky. He’s malnourished despite everything Armand provides. A wind chime sings and Armand can see the other him in its chimes. He watches them move, locking gazes with the other him until Daniel appears before him. The sunset disappears as they claim a kiss.

Daniel 1

There’s a mirror by the bed in Night Island. Daniel stares into it and sees an older face, a man he hopes he never becomes but has seen many times since he got together with Armand. Madness is very much in here as much as it might be out there. He wonders if Armand controls the mirrors. He wonders if his soul is stored there. Daniel looks down at his own body, finding it the way he remembers except for a gray hair on his chest. He plucks it and lets it fall to the floor. The need to become immortal, the need to be forever young consumes him.

Armand 2

The interview ended and Lestat arrived. Armand joins Daniel on the balcony one night. Daniel is still mad about the memory loss, but admits that Armand is kind of all he has left. He tells Armand he can visit him in New York. Armand murmurs, “Same old dance,” and Daniel is curious but Armand plays it off. He can see their reflections in the balcony railing, red and blond hair. He remembers when he said those words to Daniel decades ago and Daniel replied with “Same old dance.”

Daniel 2

Day 5 - “Be alive, Daniel.” A low whisper, like a kiss. “Let me tell you from my heart that life is better than death.”

[Daniel: Give me what I want. Armand: I'm giving you everything you could ever ask for. Daniel: Yes, but not what I have asked for, not what I want!

I don't want to be alive, Armand, I want to live forever, and then I will tell you whether life is better than death.

Daniel is being driven mad by the opulence and indulgence, he worries Armand won't let him die]

Armand 1

Daniel is slipping through Armand’s fingers. He’s so full of life as he craves death. Armand cannot do anything except try to throw more opulence at him. He looks to the mirror and spies his other self with another Daniel, just as drained of life. Armand throws a pillow at the mirror in the bedroom. Daniel is beyond frustrating but he can’t let Daniel go.

Daniel 1

Daniel is back on Night Island. He’s emotionally exhausted already. He strips himself and looks at the mirror in the bedroom. The him with the dark curly hair that’s starting to gray at the temples stares back. The other him has the straight razor. Daniel is too strung out. He closes his eyes and opens them, finding the vision gone. Armand appears and thoughts of what the other him might do with the razor disappear with the distraction.

Armand 2

Armand goes to the mega mall on Night Island to hunt. He frustrated and unsettled. He catches Daniel’s thoughts with the razor. By the time he arrives, Daniel is sobbing on the bed, the razor still in his hand. Armand casts it aside and draws Daniel close. Daniel is anorexic, strung out, obsessed, and spiraling. Armand wants to keep him forever but forever is swiftly becoming a short time. Whenever Daniel leaves, there’s a chance he’ll die somewhere far from Armand. Armand makes up his mind to take Daniel’s memories and let him go. It’s the only alternative. He’ll leave him at a drug rehabilitation center in Miami.

Daniel 2

Daniel is in the bathroom of the villa on Night Island. It’s as opulent as the rest of this place. It’s almost claustrophobic even though it’s about the size of the apartments he couch surfed back before he met Armand and Louis. He finds the straight razor Armand uses on him and takes it back to the bedroom where he stares at himself in the mirror. He can see the blond man staring back him, skin and bones. He has a mind to use the razor on his own neck. His jaw is tight. Tears fall. He can’t take this anymore. He prays to Armand as one might the Devil asking for release, freedom, or eternity. He sobs.

Day 6 - “… Let the demonic gods war with each other. This mortal has been to the top of the mountain where they cross swords. And he has come back. He has been turned away.”

[Daniel's thoughts upon watching a music video depicting Armand as the vampire coven master vs. Lestat "18th century iconclast" "destroyed the old ways"]

Armand 1

Daniel 1

Armand 2

Daniel 2

Day 7 - “…the sight of Armand made him want to cry. Even in deep shadow, Armand’s dark brown eyes were filled with a vibrant light. And the expression on his face, so loving. He reached out very carefully and touched Armand’s eyelashes. He wanted to touch the tiny fine lines in Armand’s lips. Armand kissed him. He began to tremble. The way it felt, the cool silky mouth, like a kiss of the brain, the electric purity of a thought!”

[Daniel's finally become a vampire and Armand is leading him to his first kill. It's their first kiss as immortals.]

Armand 1

It’s a funeral but also a birth and also a marriage. Armand wants to watch Daniel hunt and consume much like Armand wanted to watch him eat human food over the years. Daniel consumes while consumed by the horrors. Armand catches a glimpse of the other him in the windows. Both united in a broken vow for a second before they return to their fledglings

Daniel 1

Daniel is so caught up in the euphoria of transformation that he cannot be worried about his reflection from another world in storefront near the place where Armand leads him. He wants to touch Armand, consume Armand. Armand guides him away. There’s a voice that’s not his that speaks for him like it’s his. He tries to ignore it. He doesn’t think he’ll ever come down from this high, though it is about to crash for him, yet he is with Armand and that’s what truly matters.

Armand 2

The world is silent and he almost hates it, but Daniel is still alive and it would be worse for it to be silent and Daniel dead. He ignores the mirror beside them, though he’s aware that the other him is holding the other Daniel just as tightly. He had everything prepared and quickly provides what Daniel needs so they can step out and complete the transformation. He’s amazed by his creation

Daniel 2

He hasn’t felt so alive in decades, if ever in his life, but alive isn’t quite the term. He reaches out to Armand’s face and can barely comprehend the details he can now see. He peers into the mirror, to that other world in another place in another time. He wonders if they can reach in there, it looks like they should be able to. Armand guides him away to complete the transformation.