#my brain just went. my god. she's into ancient art. he's into ancient art. this could be cute

[jennycalendar]

oh, YIKES, am i having a giles/joyce moment?

[steve0discusses]

Ep 45 Part 1: Wife Gone, Miss Wife

Hey y’all, been a while! I fully blame this last unexpected haitus on Tears of the Kingdom. Also a billion other life things I won’t go into because 👏 I 👏 Want 👏 To 👏 Talk 👏 About 👏 Dead 👏 Wife 👏 !

Like damn, we’re coming back for just...a wild episode. Remember how a few episodes ago we finally united Seto with his long lost wife card? (and I had to check my notes and um...it was actually last episode if you count Kaiba, and only Ep 39 if you count Egyptian Seto. So uh...6 episodes.)

Remember that moment? Anyway, she dies this episode.

Yeah. Like. Damn. That quick huh? Knowing Yugioh’s track record with wifeys we’re pretty lucky she’s been on screen even that long before she went the Valon route and just full on died from one brush of cards with Joey.

Speaking of Joey, we last left the gang fumbling through a series of puzzles to unlock the pharaoh’s name. Bakura, disguised as Tristan, ran head first in there and threw off any semblance of a disguise and y’all, lets see how long it takes the guys to realize this isn’t Tristan.

Inside of this glowing door is a room with absolutely no light in it, which, don’t worry about it. That’s just a thing we do in art when we don’t want to draw a background--blow it out with light.

(Read more under the cut)

MAN I have questions about the support bricks on the wall, but for now we’ll ignore that and look at the even more confounding giant bricks on the ground.

faced with a wall of Egyptian text on this pair of ancient Egyptian sunglasses they drew on the floor, it is lucky that Bakura cursed Tristan’s bean or else they would have never gotten past this room.

They’re zooming right by the fact that their friend is reading ancient Egyptian. A friend who is best known for 1.) Being a student janitor because he failed to become class president, 2.) being head of a “melons” club, and 3.) punching god-strengthed villains in the face when he should know better. A god which definitely didn’t get pissed as hell and immediately possess his bean earlier today.

So he levels with Yugi, using the biggest most simple baby words that Bakura knows, and they still talk right completely round each other.

Hey remember in Season Zero when that effed up thing happened and we all assumed it would never show up in this remake? (and by we I mean me)

It freakin showed up. My audible gasp when this show remembered that Yugi cursed um ALL of his friends. Like and he just straight up told them? Just like this?

Like at the start of this arc he and Pharaoh did have a chat about how Yugi didn’t have friends before he came along, but I thought they were gonna glaze over it! But nah, he just laid it out there that the past few years were all because Yugi got bored between class and wanted a buddy.

The implications of “hey we would not be friends if I didn’t curse your ass” is already pretty deep. But doing it within a brain puzzle that you followed your friend into, despite the fact you could literally die doing this, and realizing...the only reason you’re in this puzzle to begin with is because you were cursed 2-3 years ago...

...this is the Yugioh I never thought would come back. This season, man! This season goes so freakin fast and so freakin hard through things that like...this could be a whole episode in another show.

But, this is Yugioh, so we’re gonna put a pin in that.

Because it’s time to go back to Seto Kaiba’s past life and his nearly dead stranger friend that we have collectively decided is his wife, and by “we” I mean literally everyone on this show but Aknadin.

Aknadin sure doesn’t know what a “wife” is, but he sure as hell knows what it ain’t.

Kissara runs towards Seto in this huge, empty boss arena that I would avoid like the plague in any video game.

And speaking of based, Seto Kaiba shows up. Because this episode wasn’t unhinged enough yet. Seto Kaiba is here to be the greek chorus of his own wife’s death.

He’s noticed. He’s noticed this is weird.

It’s a different storyboarder this season, but this storyboarder is still dropping some great frames. Look at this Seto they gave us, just snooping behind a pillar. New PFP just dropped (that is if anyone was even still using twitter which like, my life has been extremely blessed ever since I left it, we should all leave it together.)

So anyway she farts out a Blue Eyes on turn one, and Seto just kind of seethes from behind a pillar while trying to parse just anything that is going on.

Aknadin decides to shove her (well, her dragon...spirit...thing) into the rock tablet during the card shenanigans that followed. I, at first thought it was with an Orichalcos, and I got very excited about how complicated this season was going to get before I realized it wasn’t lime green.

I do not fully understand the card shenanigans at play here, it was not covered in my education playing through Yugioh Duel Masters (Master Duel) but it doesn’t matter because of the power of...love? or whatever the hell vibes are going on between these two goobers. They, with their vague as hell energy, will stand together against whatever life throws at them.

And by that, I mean literally dying 5 seconds afterwards

Seto Kaiba behind a pillar watched this go down, confused by whether he should feel anything at all by this random series of events between a girl he had half a conversation with, and a guy who looks like him except with guns the size of barrels.

Seto, filled with the pure anger of his wifey’s revenge, also immediately biffed it in solidarity.

Seto still remained behind the pillar, because why interrupt this? I mean yeah he looks like yourself and that girl absolutely died but eh...he’s gonna stay behind the pillar. Maybe if he had a duel disk he’d have thrown a couple cards and done some property damage. but as you can see, there are not helicopters or cranes to do property damage with.

So instead he remains behind the pillar, which they didn’t draw here in this next frame.

And on the back of a horse, in gallops Pharaoh.

I live for these popcorn moments in TV, where we’re like “hey, what if we just threw these characters in a weird blender and see how they reacted?” and this episode is just--everyone ends up in this one random spot and they all collectively are like like “what? The hell is happening?”

And we will see more of that next update.

As usual, here is the link to read these in chrono order:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

Next post will go up like tomorrow probably, but, may my post after that not take 2 months to make, lmao, I swear guys we are going to finish Season 5!

[no-naem]

Now I shall put some of my favorites of the unfinished art from the 100 Kayano Days challenge. [Rubs hands together]

These are all in order from old to new, from September 2022 to January 2023.

It's a hot day. Karma: "I want cuddles, and I can't cuddle Akari (she'd kill me). So..." Nagisa: "You're too hot." Karma: "I know I am." Nagisa: "YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!" Karma: "Cuddle time." Nagisa: "IT'S 31 C!!! AKARI, HELP!!" Akari: "Sorry Nagisa! I have another love to attend to. You're on your own."

(Lol the dialogue is kinda off but I like what I was trying to go for.)

Aguri lives AU but at what cost. Akari is this 🤏 close to losing it.

Adults Kayano, Kanzaki, and Karma went to that one cafe that was doing that collaboration with a popular video game.

GoM AU, with Akari slowly turning into an antimatter creature. It took a long time for her to transform, and there was no cure to stop this. It wasn't fun, but at least her friends were there for her.

Kayano and Akari, Deemo AU, based on that one art for ANiMA from the game.

Okay, THIS one I still like a lot. It takes place in the Okinawa arc, and the concept was that there'd be a montage where each student would use Korosensei's Ultimate Defense Form as a blunt weapon to knock out all of the guards. And then end with Karasuma taking out Takaoka the same way.

GoM AU again. Nagisa excitedly shows off one of his partners. ...and yes I made antimatter Akari 10 feet tall. :D

Surprise Koro Q! Based on that one episode from the anime. Imagine if the transformation was permanent.

Baby shark doo doo doodoodoodoo...onesie.

Shirt reads: "I am completely normal and not insane I have no desire to harm anyone I am not carrying a weapon." I like the potential chaotic vibes in NagiKae. They're besties.

Eldritch AU!!! Context: some of the 3E students are eldritch beings, and Kayano is the reincarnation of an ancient being that ruled a whole other dimension filled with other eldritch monstrosities, which she can summon. This AU gave me so many brain worms, yet not enough to help me finish any of them. 😩

I have a bleak zombie apocalypse AU. Takes place after their high school graduation, probably after the events of Korotan D? Kayano's half-infected, Nagisa's a zombie, Karma has severe head trauma that he can't fix and it's making him go wack, and Gakushuu's trying to keep everything together.

I wanted to draw more than one birthday art for Akari and this was one of them. Just her and her big sister...

This one was gonna be a prank. Forgot about it though LOL.

The concept was Kayano arriving in limbo, dazed, after getting killed. But Aguri tells her to go back. It's not time yet.

Aberration AU. Takes place 4 years after canon, right around the time they're in college. The monster behind them is basically both of them. Their memories and DNAs make up the monster. Kayano and Nagisa are unhealthily codependent after being kidnapped and used as experiments for...3 years. 😐 But it's okay. They eventually get rescued and get therapy.

Kayano twins AU. I was gonna draw a short comic about the twins but I had to give up because I was struggling for some reason. (Why is this pic so LONG???)

One of the Christmas/Karma birthday ideas. It'd have Karushuu kissing under a mistletoe. Kayano's just here for the desserts, man.

Eldritch AU. This would be a sequel to Day 88, featuring Kanzaki (she's a time god) instead, but I didn't have enough motivation to finish it.

This is just Day 93, but Aguri and Korosensei were supposed to be there with her, along with the rest of group 4!! But I ran out of time.

And finally, this is another limbo situation where the Yukimura sisters would hug each other one last time. But then I thought it was too sad and went for the "Aguri lives" ones.

If you made it all the way to the end, then WOW thanks for reading!! Hope y'all liked reading about my thoughts! There are actually more arts that are unfinished but those are like...really messy lol.

[incarnateirony]

Here's the fun thing about psychology kiddos.

It is wild in there.

We all know Jung is heavily relied on for most modern psych, even if some of his methods were questioned. But here's the fun thing: there was once a debate on if Jung himself was schizophrenic or not, and the end resolution according to DSM was, no, he was able to control it, and live a full life, and activate these different states, and his science based on it was sound.

Most of his students, however, went absolutely insane, because they didn't understand the process, and a lot of it comes down to this fun alchemy stuff. Like the current AI creatives and princeton noosphere studies being hermetic students. They get it... kinda. They get it on paper. But there's some dangers in their method.

But like I said, I am getting Off the Bus. We are arriving at station right about now. I am admittedly disassociating from any patriarchal or higher brotherhood responsibility to those knocking on the door answering the calling of the light. They're still technically doing work for me whether or not they realize it, and I just don't have the energy to deal with anyone else's egos, so let their mistakes be my rewards.

When you dig deep enough in the human brain to explore what Root Access really means, you will sound definitionally insane. And you will find things you probably aren't ready to find.

But if your trickster channeling priest doesn't sound mad hat insane in the middle of it, they're faking, and not even faking well. But Trickster aside that's just one part of archetypical travel and memetic legacy. It's the ability to understand all them characters were you and come from deeper in humanity itself, and that's how you actually slide down the "man is god, divinity comes from within, we are the universe experiencing itself, hey what happens if I push this button" hole.

It's realizing I was always Ash, but understanding what shadows I broke down writing as Ash, and how that traces back to the beginning. It's realizing I was always Zento and Zenthus, even if that leads to Apep and company. It's realizing that this, all of this was me. And all of it is me. It's realizing and working through that root access and this child is NOT IN THIS GAME LOBBY, she has not done the work. Hence copy pasting my shit hollowly and running away.

Which is why I say, Shealyn truly needs tested for schizoaffective disorder, but the historic responsibility that puts on Mark means they would disadvise it. She externalizes all her processes until she hears MeHermanubis forgetting to fill my cat food bowl after fursuit friday or whatever, or enshrines the shadow leviathan for guidance, but that's why she's so easy to push around, it's all disassociation, and if she's thsi far out it may have basically cemented itself medically after being a permanent path she committed to.

When I say she was teaching opposite of hermes while in his name using her misunderstanding of my old jokes and roleplaying my face -- literally the "character" Aaron Eema I worked out my issues with that she put on her court documents but won't acknowledge the ramifications of in her "religion"-- this is what I mean. He never encourages idolizing shadows. It's always about finding the self, not mimicing someone else, finding where you come from and where your inner garden is, and all your parts even if they seem to conflict, and which You that You want to be. She has been doing it fundamentally backwards and refuses to stop or return to reality.

And really this whole mess is just the ancient art of fuck around and find out. I'd have just tried to stay tamped down and hidden but she couldn't control herself, now she's uncontrolled herself into facing her entire delusional reality shattering, a pile of therapy bills, and trying to sue me over the fact that she can't stop reading my own blog. Because. She can't control herself.

The two opposites of the pole, those who did and those who did not, those who did that work in psych and those still running from her own shadows pulling out her hair in therapy. A high magus that just stunt bombed side viewers in a global event most people don't even understand happening, but the receipts are here. All her wonderful stupid prizes for her stupid games.

No seriously, I'm lucky I get free therapy from work. She's caused me a lot of damage with her harassment and delusions. And in the end Mark and other people are all going to need therapy to unknot themselves mentally from her world of lies, and their parts played in it.

So this is what they have, suing me for paying for her medical bills for her long failure to control herself, and a long failure of her current spouse to help her or stop her unhealthy behaviors in everything from society, psychology to magical practice, and that spouse being unable to provide. Oops.

One of us became one of the most sought after psych crisis workers in the country and a fucking magus. The other became a bald octopus jibberish spewing crackbear with a cult to her ex she groomed others into her cope on. And y'all act like there can be an argument here.

You and I both know, Shealyn, even if I lost the monetary suit, which I won't because this is hilarious, she could stop reading my blog your honor, she's trying to drag you into a witchcraft fight full stop. She's terrified of the concept of spiritual death of the ego and wants a restraining order. I'd take it as a voluntary distance she'll stay away from ME if she wasn't trying to get money out of it--but even if I lost that, and you got a few whole hours of my time again. Your world will never be the same.

We know what broke in you when you deleted your blog, no matter what lies you spin to others to try to put back together your castle of glass.

It's time to face the truth.

I Am the one you were after, in every capacity. You just refused to understand what any of it meant, because it meant consequences for your behaviors and choices. You thought you could roleplay through half of it, mimic it back, and harass and chase me when the void and your obsession wasn't filled. But you're looking at it now, and will be forced to look at it for the rest of your life when you look outward.

So you might as well start looking inward.

I told you. I built you a trap you couldn't escape. No backing up this time, sweetheart. You're getting ALL the way off or simply become me, it is that simple, and we're actually at a point of the latter, you're more now like a schizophrenic thought I'm trying to smash with a newspaper.

Janus and the others will continue the work as it is assigned, you are yet again the only one trying to summon me into your life for money and attention.

You picked a fight you can't take back, Shealyn, and you've picked it for the last time.

I've already destroyed you. We both know that. The rest is you just trying to swipe in revenge for something resembling control of the situation that already has your words deleted and hidden, after claiming them as war. Oh, sorry. I did that. That's why I'm the one with them saved.

But you can't fix what has been broken in you without facing yourself and telling the truth and processing the grief that has kept you on your monstrous behavior. And we both know you can't and won't do that.

So I've already won.

I'm the Magus. No, I'm better, I'm the Fool. I eat you whole. I told you at the start. The only way out of this is Yourself. Your real self. And the truth.

I won't have to be near you, you've ended yourself, that's the entire trick, girl. I don't want anywhere near you, this is my final notice to keep you the fuck away from me, and if you can't deal with what's psychologically happening to you internally that you keep externalizing, that's still on you, this whole mess is literally on you. So if you can't face it, the end result is pretty much always the same, sweetie. Hence saying, it doesn't have to be a hard casket death, but you're gonna insist on doubling down until you get there.

You are literally not strong enough to face yourself. That is in fact the plot here while you cry into my old playlist in your castle of glass. And I took a sledgehammer to it and now it's a Page Not Found message.

I spent all Halloween building a reverse bear trap!

You and your newest puppet of a husband -- who I gotta admit is still trash like you are, you're both pathetic vultures -- are gonna get all the way off my dick this time.

All the way. In every capacity. Every plane every precept every knockoff, every enshrined image and saved roleplay trying to mimic me badly, it's all going to go away, or eventually, you will, staring at it. You're going to rip up all the rot and try to find yourself, from the start, like an actual practicioner with an actual path, not parasitically attach to and emulate me. Because now, sis, idk how to break it to you, but the Big Emulation has Changed. But who am I kidding, you will neither understand nor accept what I am saying with that.

[libidomechanica]

Before they saw three years followd to much exist in days

By him; and tear, and shaking up     to have I drunk of her check these are coming in mine heart     aches, press me feel you wanted with more subtle there him then,     in difference immortal man, sweets you feel most shade doth be     used genteelly. Twas but

could be; saw the Veil flung off him     of ancient art where the beams have him whose shapes, the breach. When     all him, I on her trembling, sweet babes of old, old and leave     to show I’ve travelers carriage. Men sit and caught And again     subiects wrongs, and men’s, will

feel for need, and the flame, and and     bloom could trust and kind, to sit a stone—something: a cleft the     town’s open for ever puzzled Faith store with all hit or     missed me quit for lightly turns toward of Heaven, that is flames     of children’s cry my strange

she sport is like cloudy central     creatures out as there’s not help their gates with no less, and     she has twa sparkling roof with their torture me; the only     God, forward let them into capitulations do     break. When Landlord hath not

saue, murder in her joys, her     foreigned; and the appointment of our skin, thy voice, or a     spaces that them thine imagination; but oh, ambrosial     cash! Then, since then my love, love what is mard. One is she     be set down to thee: I

flye thy Brothers of me beloved     but in the nation? Rain on the sun looking we will     be about thee, butcher in true shall Stellaes grape, and door     at others doesn’t cut it. We thread’s spun out between earth can     make your lived over note.

Her children die for the earth can     overbear reluctance beach I want his dog, a lip to     Lip concerting to be bevel; by that heaven must not     fit mark to themselves, was never fleur-de-lis; because the     river. Can I then you

me eternal love with fair sex     alone. Reaping o’er tremble deaf heaven above that so     much better priestlike to free them harm. A posy of my     beloved the greater. When natured, miserable Misters,     and speech did those whose motives

were it was brought, there; false, ere     thee? Of any through to spread a landing lips. The field with     the dance overwrought, may like Alexander, to speake and     elegance, then how I lov’d their Gallic names in clamor’s     hours of the woman taught

in good dinners, gleaners, gleaners,     glean in the great conquerors is a photographs, I wish     thy dear! Dogs, or sunk, and watched me already yet to be     well that comes a place, embroidered brain? And debt, and the sadness?     Subsiding, if you

write, as much unblest on the moon-     faced. And child, with the green, and who, by night in the leaves than     breeze in acrylic fur. From Toil, he placed by the girl to     vex the path, struck, kisses on the little verse want to     strangement, pinching fine, my

wife, and saying to shine for home,     the chain, my boiling and yet again down at zero,—lo     coach, chariot, luggage at first detachment had given     thus with vigour froward children’s cry my stranger, mislaid     love away. Of two by

hardly high requiem become     a better; the foot, teach morn the Nith’s wings. Love’s safety in     Love’s the midnight and to thee, as not worthy either know     my word was gone; the Veil flung roses, neither had a meaning.     The golden seemed anew,

grows his banner. To the brown     paper. He cried alone. But the Early, like task of church     of mud and horns, nor judgments of love, I will holding well     both with the doors vnto the daily, laid. And never floats an     Europe than me. He said,

I dared reproved, and gently     he had naughty spirits rush’d through and now still she to rally     to aid this is stretching is a lass there’s for his     own, now lord is with a slightly make her. Upon my hand:     the roses, had not to

be discerne thy fingers reaching     home. Greater ward, was his beads too bountiful still faire text     best in Glory! Because me from one polish’d dove; in the     father drear flat or should be amazed to walk into their     art, survey’d the ware of

human race capture day—fond Thought!     Just open, but farther held out as it went been Hercules,     here; and all along thee! Very eyes are bears ago     or just pleasures, and Rotten Row sleeps there was love me, on     a corporal—somethinks?

[moonlight-prose]

NOCTURNAL | MOONLIGHT TO SHOW THE WAY

a/n: i swear i don't mean to take so long with these chapters. i meant to get this out awhile ago, but finals kept my ass busy so here we are. i am currently working on plotting the rest of this fic and so far it's become one of my favorites to work on. we'll be meeting a certain man named marc soon which i'm so excited about. i hope you enjoy the adventure of these two!

summary: steven's back, things have changed, and you're contemplating the question of your own sanity.

word count: 5.3k+

pairing: steven grant x fem!reader

warnings: explicit so minors goodbye, cussing, angst, dealing with assholes on the job, anxiety, talk of panic, contemplation of insanity, crying, kissing, dry humping, ruined moments.

previous chapter | next chapter

Digging your teeth into your bottom lip, you did your best not to glance at the clock for the hundredth time that day. Your second to last tour of the day seemed to last longer than the allotted time. Although that might have been because you were anxious to get out of here. You weren’t sure how you’d last yet another tour plus any extra work Peggy wished to dish out on your already overloaded plate.

For two days Steven had been missing. No calls, no texts, nothing to let you know that he was still alive. Other than the cut off phone call from the other day you were at a loss as to where he went or when he’d be back. You hadn’t liked it, but you were left with no other choice but to wait. Which meant feeding Gus one last time and locking the door behind you.

It led to you being right where you were today. Trying not to bite your lips raw as you impatiently counted down the hours until the day ended so you could try and contact Steven again. Thankfully the caller ID on his cell phone let you know where he was calling from. You just had no idea how Steven ended up in the countryside calling from a payphone in a town you’d never even heard of before.

“What does that mean?” someone asked, cutting you off from your thoughts derailing into utter catastrophe again.

In a way you were grateful. You weren’t sure how long you could handle the mental images of Steven sleepwalking somewhere dangerous. How long did it usually take for him to wake up? Would he ever wake up? The latter question was too horrific to even consider, but you couldn’t out-rule that possibility. No matter how much it hurts to think about.

Seeing the image the woman was pointing to—you felt your heart twist violently as you saw the painting of Ra on the Mesektet. Of all the images she could have asked about—why did she have to inquire about that one? Taking in a breath, you kept your emotions level as you responded as eloquently as possible. Your job as a tour guide couldn’t go to shit, because a man had possibly ghosted you…accidentally.

You hoped.

“What you’re looking at is Ra traveling through the Duat.”

One look at the clock told you that only a minute had passed since you last checked the time, and it only alerted your brain that you’d been keeping an eye on it for too long. So what Steven left. So what if the phone call ended abruptly, leaving you hanging—enough to shove you into a state of ongoing panic. You couldn’t allow it to halt your days and bring an end to your own life. Growing attached to someone was one thing, but the emotions you were currently battling felt like another thing altogether.

You weren’t sure you liked it.

Sighing, you slapped a forced smile on your face and turned back to the group of people that were waiting for you to speak. “Now if you follow me to the main part of the exhibit there’s some art pieces that will show the different gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt.”

You had memorized the script perfectly—to a point where you didn’t necessarily need to focus on the words you were saying. You were merely regurgitating facts over and over again, all said by every tour guide that worked there. So, you allowed yourself a moment to daze off—wondering what Steven would do in your situation; or what anyone else would do. The conclusion was rather obvious. Anyone else would leave it alone—allow him to come back in his own time. You figured that was the better option.

“To your left you will see a statue of Anubis the Egyptian god of the dead,” you said, seeing something dark move out of the corner of your eyes.

Turning swiftly, you ignored the inquiring questions of the group as you watched it vanish around the corner—the figure much larger than you would have expected. A part of you wanted to go after it, follow and see where it took you, but the more sensible part of your brain told you to remain where you were. Sleep deprivation has a way of casting figures in your line of sight. It had happened before—the  hallucinations of figures following you, watching you at all times and they always took the shape of mere shadows.

“Are you okay?”

Jumping, you glanced behind you to see a younger kid, his eyes wide with wonder and confusion—a look you recognized in someone else’s eyes. “Yeah—I’m—I’m good,” you stuttered, exhaling the breath you’d been holding. “Shall we continue?”

Stepping forward, you stopped at the next statue—a personal favorite of yours. “Before you is the statue of Bastet. She’s the goddess of—”

“Wait, let me guess…cats?” A man rudely blurted out, laughing at the sight of the female goddess with the head of a cat.

You didn’t have the patience to deal with someone like this, but according to the guidebook you were handed on the first day…you were to never be rude. Especially to those who chose to be a part of a guided tour. It was complete bullshit—just another way for your job to control you—but if you recalled correctly you were still on thin ice around Bitch Peggy. Apparently she didn’t appreciate her employees taking off in the middle of the day.

Clearing your throat, you narrowed your eyes. “Actually yes. Can you tell me anything else about Bastet since you seem so keen on taking over as the tour guide?”

He seemed to shrink beneath your stare, eyes glancing anywhere other than you as he realized what exactly he’d done. It wasn’t the first time you had to deal with someone pretending to know more about the museum than you did. However there was only one person you’d allow to take over the conversation like this, but he was currently out of the city and it looked like—out of your life altogether.

“Bastet was the daughter of Ra the sun god and is known as the goddess of—as our friend pointed out, cats—as well as the home and fertility. She held the power to shape shift when it came time for war, but usually took the form of a lioness. That is until her image became more synonymously known as a house cat.”

Once again the shadows in the corner of your eye caught your attention, dragging you away from the focus of the group. For two days you hadn’t been able to sleep—the stress of what happened to Steven, where he went, and whether or not he was safe kept you awake. Which meant that you were running on the absolute bare minimum of energy you had left in your body.

“Shall we keep going?” you asked softly, the hair on the back of your neck standing up as a chill went down your spine.

Insomnia was scientifically proven to cause hallucinations at times. Yes, that was it. You weren’t going insane, nor were you seeing spirits in the museum you worked at, but rather you just needed to take a nap. Rubbing your eyes, you felt the unsteadiness of your legs as the exhaustion began to hit you harder than ever. Something was wrong with your body—your mind, and instead of sitting to take a break, you kept pushing forward. Intent on finishing up the work day with ease.

Just one more tour after this one and you’d be able to go home. Whether or not you would be successful in sleeping was another issue altogether. Although that would be one you’d have to tackle later.

“I have a question,” Mr. Pompous asked, his lips curving into an irritating smile.

Taking in a deep breath, you reminded yourself that you needed this job—which meant sometimes dealing with assholes like this. “Yes?”

“Aren’t tour guides meant to be—I don’t know—cheerful?”

You could see in his eyes he knew the kind of anger he was bringing forth in you and you nearly gave him the satisfaction of giving into it. How sweet would it be to slap him—show him where he belonged, but even you knew that wasn’t you speaking. It was the exhaustion resorting to the first conclusion it could think of in order to stop him from pressing your buttons. As much as you wished you could do it, you knew slapping him wouldn’t work.

“I apologize if you are unhappy with me as a tour guide. You’re more than welcome to file a complaint against me at the front desk,” you replied—remaining as stoic as humanly possible.

When he realized he wouldn’t be able to get a rise out of you, his smile fell, his taunting words ceasing within seconds. Just the sight of him dropping all his means of attack nearly brought a smile to your face. Yet all you could think about was telling Steven about this. How you managed to stand up against someone who decided you were their punching bag for the day. You already knew what he’d say; could practically picture the smile on his face. The satisfaction melted away from your body, replaced now by the ongoing dread you continued to push away.

So lost in your thoughts, you didn’t notice the shadow return in your peripheral vision—its lanky figure heading straight towards you.

“Little one.”

Stiffening as a woman’s voice cooed in your ear, you turned—expecting to see someone standing behind you, but were met with nothing but an empty space. A thrill of panic surged through your veins, rooting you to the ground where you stood as you attempted to calm your now racing heart. It seemed that the lack of sleep was finally affecting you in entirely new ways—the exhaustion turning your hallucinations into a figment of reality.

Yet you couldn’t quite place why the voice sounded almost…familiar.

“Through those doors you’ll be able to see the new exhibit dedicated to the mummification of a human being,” you forced the words out, shoving the voice to the back of your mind. It wasn’t something you could face at this time.

A good night of sleep would fix everything. You were sure of it.

You just had to survive one more tour.

“Finally,” you breathed a sigh of relief as your front door shut behind you. After finishing up your final tour, you were then guided to the storage room. It was there you were given the task of inventory—the consequence of your actions, Peggy said on her way out.

If there was ever a time to slap someone…it would have been then.

The mess of your flat greeted you—books piled everywhere the eye could see. But you couldn’t be bothered with it tonight; not when you desperately needed to try and sleep for the sake of your health. The voice from before hadn’t peeked its head out from the crevices of your mind since earlier in the day, the shadow figures having vanished as well too. You whittled it all down to your insomnia causing problems again; the possibility that it was all real never settling right with you.

You were just tired—that was it.

Things never got this bad in the past when you were unable to sleep. You’d stay awake, feel constantly like you were on the verge of passing out, and eventually your body would fall privy to the weariness. Except something shifted the moment you met Steven and no longer were you depending on sleeping pills and different types of teas to help you pass out. Now you were depending on him.

A shuddered sob left your lips, the stress from the past two days nearly incapacitating you entirely. You didn’t give a shit about the tears that fell down your face, because they were justified more than your hallucinations were. For two days you’d been holding everything inside, unwilling to let go of the emotions that waged a war within you, but you couldn’t do it any longer. You couldn’t keep going like nothing was wrong.

“Fuck,” you muttered, gasping a lungful of air—relishing in the way it burned on the way down. “Pull yourself together.”

Falling apart was never something you did and yet there you were, watching as everything unraveled within you—showing the scars you tried so hard to conceal from the rest of the world.

A distant meow pulled you out of your state, drawing your attention to the single door that led to a small balcony. Exhaling, you watched the black cat you’d grown so fond of remind you that you had to take care of her. Cleo meowed again, pawing at the glass—the bell on her collar tinkling as she moved, anxious to get inside. That simple sight was enough to stop the tears. So, you walked towards the door, pulled it open and chuckled as she sprinted in—jumping onto your kitchen table with a disgruntled meow.

“Sorry I kept you waiting,” you said with a smile, scratching her head gently. “Would you like anything in particular for dinner?”

She merely purred in response, bumping her head along your hand in order to reach your nails. You supposed that was the simplicity of cats—they didn’t have to stress about the ongoings of life, because they were free. They had nine lives for a reason and oh how you wished you could share the same sentiment. 

Cleo’s yellow eyes opened, locking with yours as you continued to scratch underneath her chin how she liked it. Except there was something in her stare that kept you from walking away from her; that kept you trapped where you stood. As if you were cemented to the ground—your body betrayed your mind. Your movements became sluggish, the world around you almost slowing to a maddening degree. What the fuck did you eat to make your mind go this haywire?

“Little one.”

The voice practically purred into your ear, causing every muscle in your body to tighten—fear once again flooding your veins and halting your movements. This wasn’t happening. You weren’t hearing a woman call out to you as you stared at your cat. Once again you attempted to simplify the situation in order to comprehend it in your mind—a habit you’d been doing since you were a child. This was your insomnia. Nothing more than that.

“Cleo?” you asked, your voice strained. It felt like you were fighting against something that willed you to remain quiet, a force that wished to take over your very being without permission.

She meowed, her eyes squinting shut slowly before reopening—the dilation of her pupils turning into slits, sending another chill down your spine.

“What are you—”

A persistent knock on the door ripped you away from her, the air suddenly flooding your lungs as you regained the ability to move. Stumbling over your feet you glanced back at Cleo, watching her leap off the table and wind around your legs—her tail flicking with every step. You needed sleep now more than ever if you truly believed that your cat was trying to communicate with you. Yet still words you continued to tell yourself of this being nothing but the exhaustion that plagued your body didn’t feel right.

How could you have lost your mind this quickly?

Another round of knocks came again, nearly making you jump—the fear still dictating your actions. Cleo seemed to have lost interest in you altogether, favoring the couch now more than anything and you were grateful for that. Any amount of time that could give you some reprieve from the day’s insanity, you would savor. You tried to slow the rate of your heart, the anxiety spiking it higher with every new thought that entered your mind.

What if this was real?

What if you were officially insane?

What if…

Shaking your head, you headed towards the door and yanked it open without bothering to ask who was on the other side. With a shock you realized…you should have asked. Steven stood in front of you, his hair disheveled and eyes wide with panic of his own and for a moment you felt like you were dreaming. He couldn’t possibly be standing here now, but then you felt it. The cold wash of reality streamed down your spine as you concluded all of this was real—the voice, the shadows, Steven…

You weren’t insane, nor were you dreaming. No, you were just finally waking up.

“Steven?” you asked incredulously, your own eyes just as wide as his.

“Hi.”

Two days missing without a word and all he could offer you was…hi? The shock dropped quickly from your system, suddenly replaced with irritation as you took him in. He was fine. No injuries, no horrible actions from what you could see, and yet…something was different. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but you saw the way his eyes shifted warily, his whole body shrinking in on itself—as if he was afraid someone was watching him.

“You’re okay.”

His eyes lifted to meet yours. “Yeah, I–I shouldn’t have…oh bollocks I—”

“Shouldn’t have disappeared on me for two days?” You didn’t bother letting him, simply turning away and leaving the door open.

Whether or not he wanted to follow was now entirely up to him.

“I swear I didn’t—” He cut himself off, glancing at your balcony, swallowing thickly. “That wasn’t me.”

“Steven, if you wanted space you should have just told me. Instead of leaving me in your flat and calling me once before hanging up.” Sighing, you opened a can of cat food for Cleo, dumping it in her bowl. “But no…you vanished for two days. I didn’t know where you were or what happened to you. I thought—”

“I didn’t call you,” he said more to himself.

Letting out a shuddered breath, you shoved down the painful twist that went through your chest. Cleo walked your way slowly, eyes narrowing at Steven before a rather loud hiss left her mouth. You nudged her lightly with your foot, guiding her to the bowl on the floor—doing everything you could to ignore the heartache flooding your entire body. You were failing at it…miserably.

Steven paused, his hands falling to his sides when he realized how he’d put his foot in his mouth again. “I’m sorry,” he began, stepping closer before stopping a foot away. “I’m so so sorry.”

“I just need to know you’ll tell me when you want space.”

“I don’t!” he exclaimed. “I don’t want space. I–I wanted to wake up with you that morning and…get breakfast again. I—whatever happened—I swear that wasn’t me.”

You blinked, watching as his panicked state grew the longer you stayed quiet. He was telling you the truth.

Exhaling, you tried to regain some sense in the matter. “What the fuck happened Steven? From the beginning.”

He nodded, sitting on your couch, his head in his hands. You joined him, handing over a glass of water to help calm his nerves. Funny how you’d been in this situation before. Sitting beside one another with the intention of just talking—no other worries on your mind as you relished in each other’s company. Except now things were different. You weren’t even sure Steven would continue to tell you the truth, but you simply had to have faith in him.

You’d done it before…you could do it again.

“I woke up in the countryside and was suddenly being shot at.”

Sitting beside him silently, you listened as he explained everything that had happened to him in explicit detail. The people that shot at him, how he attempted to escape him and even a man who supposedly was able to judge the soul of a human. That you weren’t sure was true, but still you continued to let him speak—intent on hearing all of it. It’s only when he reached the part in his story of a voice speaking to him, calling him a name that wasn’t his—Marc to be exact—did you feel your spine straighten. The memories from earlier, returning with enough vigor to send you into your own panic.

“I don’t know why he kept calling me Marc, but whoever that is he’s not a good person.”

“Steven—”

“They kept saying I was a mercenary. Which is ridiculous, because I’ve never done anything like that before in my life. I don’t even know how to use a kitchen knife properly—let alone use a gun!”

“Steven, wait—”

“What’s even worse is I kept blacking out before I woke up at home. I thought it was a dream, but—oh gosh…” He raised a hand to his mouth, eyes filled with enough panic to have even you reeling. “Those people. They–they’re actually dead.”

He continued to ramble—the utter terror in his voice alone left you wondering if he was actually okay. You wanted to tell him he was safe now. That whatever shit happened was over and you were with him, but he kept going. Piling on the guilt with every new realization he came to. Without thinking, you grasped his cheeks, gently turning his face towards you so he would finally meet your eyes and it seemed to work, because he fell silent. Shock washing over his face.

“Steven,” you said, making sure you actually held his attention. “You’re okay.” He blinked, eyes wide with an emotion you could decipher. “Whatever happened…” you continued. “It wasn’t your fault. Okay?”

Nodding slightly, his lips parted as you dropped your hands from his face. “I–”

“So help me Steven Grant if you say sorry again,” you huffed out in laughter. Whatever happened shook him to his very core, but as his words sunk in you finally realized…none of it mattered. You were just glad he sat there beside you—safe.

“Do you want me to go?” he asked, eyes dipping down to glance at your hands.

“No.” You shifted, turning to face him. “Do you want to go?”

He shook his head.

For the first time since he arrived, silence enveloped the two of you. The only sound in the room was Cleo’s collar from the other side of the room as she jumped onto the table to clean herself. You weren’t sure what to say after the load of information he gave you. But more importantly, how do you tell him that you’d been hearing a voice as well? How do you explain that his problem might be yours as well. Rather than stress him out further, you settled for simply watching him.

It wouldn’t give you the answers either of you needed, but it calmed the anxiety that flooded your veins.

Steven’s curls fell into his face as he sipped at the water you gave him. He truly was a lovely person to look at and you wondered why you hadn’t done this before. Took your time to admire him. Brown eyes met yours and a flutter went through your stomach at the realization that he was watching you as well. Neither of you had to say anything to each other. An already well known fact you both shared, but this felt different than all those other times.

The silence held a weight to it.

Whether it felt good or bad…you weren’t sure. Except you knew you didn’t want it to end.

“I missed you. A lot actually. I…couldn’t really sleep without you.” The words slipped free, breaking the ongoing silence. You didn’t mean to say it outloud—your mouth taking over before you could catch it—and so you waited with baited breath. Afraid of what he would say next.

Only this was Steven you were talking about. A man who always seemed to surprise you.

He set the glass down—rather clumsily—on the table, spilling some water as he did it before he leaned towards you. You didn’t expect his hand to cup your cheek, nor did you think he’d go so far as to press his lips to yours. Yet there you were. Kissing Steven as your brain attempts to catch up with what was happening. His lips moved slowly against yours, the slight awkwardness in his movements showing that he didn’t truly know what he was doing. He didn’t have to, because the second he began to pull away due to your lack of response…your brain finally caught on.

Inhaling sharply, you dug your hands into his hair, keeping his lips against yours as you returned the kiss with a heated fervor that had a surprised noise leaving his throat. You’d wanted to kiss him the day you got to know him; the feelings you’d been trying so hard to avoid now creeping their way back into your heart. They were fickle things—emotions—and yet you continued to allow them in.

It must be worth it if he came along with them. Him and his smile, his intelligence, and his sweetness. As sugary as the taste of his lips against yours.

Licking softly against his bottom lip, you waited patiently for him to venture further. Opening his mouth hesitantly and moaning as your tongue slid against his. It was a heady broken sound that sent heat straight down your spine, curling low in your stomach with every noise he made. You wanted to hear more. To know what would make him lose the control he so desperately tried to hang onto.

“Steven,” you gasped, pulling away. Only to have him seeking out your lips—his tongue now delving into your mouth curiously with a newfound confidence.

“Mm,” he mumbled.

“I–” Opening your eyes, you melted at the sight of him.

His eyes opened, lids drooping as a cloud of lust filled his pupil. The flush along his cheeks and swollen lips had every coherent thought falling from your mind. What were you about to tell him? Fuck, was it even important? Rather than try and drag it back into your hazed mind, you chose to reach for him instead. Slotting your lips against his as he swallowed your desperate moan—his hands curling around your waist.

The worry you’d been plagued with seemed to vanish for the briefest of moments as he let you in on how he was feeling. With any other man you’d assume this was simply a way to relieve the stress of the past few days. But this was Steven. The same man who wore his heart on his sleeve and found solace in your comfort—just as you did with him.

He shifted forward right as you shifted back, until you were pressed up against the arm of the couch—his hands digging into the cushion. Spreading your legs you let him rest comfortably in between them, the apparent bulge in his pants only spurred your kisses even further. Moaning softly, you tugged on his hair, sucking his bottom lip into your mouth and biting down gently to elicit a whine from him.

“Oh god–” He gasped, his head dropping back when your lips trailed down his jaw—nipping lightly at the skin of his throat.

What a lovely sight this was. Steven at your mercy—his eyes fluttering shut and hands grasping for purchase on the couch. Smiling against his throat, you sucked a mark into it—a small reminder for later of what happened. Only he seemed to react to just that, a groan tearing from his throat and his hips rolling against yours.

The pressure against your clothed core sent sparks down your skin, a breathy moan of his name falling from your lips like a prayer as he did it again. Meeting his movements, you clutched onto his jacket, dragging his lips back to yours—something warm building in your body. Gasps and moans were shoved into the kiss, his hips thrusting quicker against your own until as you practically wrapped yourself around him. Desperate for the release that was building steadily in your body; turning your veins molten.

“Steven—oh—I think I might—fuck that feels good,” you stuttered, the pressure nearly blinding you as it rose to a crescendo you could practically hear thrumming in the air. 

He was biting down on his bottom lip, to the point where you expected blood to appear. So you tugged on his mouth, opening it and watching as his eyes met yours—the glazed over look driving you even further to the release you were grasping for. You half expected him to merely grunt, make sounds, but no…what came out of his mouth was far better than any.

“Oh fuck I didn’t think th–this would happen,” he gasped, his eyes falling shut. “I thought about it.”

“You did?” Nodding, he shifted his hips—the quick thrusts now putting pressure directly on your clit and making your toes curl.

“I–I thought about kissing you and—oh fuck, fuck, fuck—what you would taste like.”

A cry of his name left your lips as you were shoved right to the edge, the blinding pleasure of your climax mere inches away from you. Until…the damn cat decided she had enough of being ignored. A loud clatter echoed in the background, startling you and Steven to a point of nearly shouting. He froze, head shooting up as you twisted rather painfully to get a look at Cleo who has apparently chosen her bowl as her new toy.

The tendrils of your orgasm faded away and you felt like a bucket of ice water had been dunked over the both of you. Steven shifted, his eyes wide and face tinged with red. But not before you managed to drag him in for one more kiss—a long slow paced one that kept the taste of him in your mouth and had him moaning one last time. With a disgruntled look at your cat—who blinked innocently at you—the both of you sat up and fixed your clothes.

“That was—” you began, feeling the heat build under your cheeks.

“I didn’t mean to…”

You smiled. “I liked it.”

“Yeah?” he asked, a sliver of disbelief showing in his eyes.

“I might be strangling my cat later for ruining my first good orgasm in months, but I really liked it.”

He laughed, his eyes crinkling slightly as your hand reached for his. “It was good?”

The fact that he was so uncertain about how you felt made your heart flutter even more. This man…held you in his grasp without even knowing it. Leaning forward, you nudge your nose along his, brushing your parted lips together until you hear the shuddered breath he took in. If it wasn’t for Cleo, you’d have him inside of you by now and that thought alone was enough to make a shiver run down your spine.   

“Steven, I was ready to ride you on this couch because of it.”

He gulped, the lust clouding his eyes once more and bringing the heat back into your veins. If you weren’t careful, that’s exactly what would happen. You wanted it to happen. Except the meow of your cat ruined the moment again—further cementing your decision to lock her in your bedroom next time. With a sigh, you pulled away and got up on shaky legs.

“Would you like some food?”

Steven didn’t fare any better than you as he stumbled after you into the kitchen. “Yeah sure why not. What did you have in mind?”

“I could make…toast?”

He smiled, reaching for the loaf of bread on the counter. “You’re in luck, love. I make the best toast in all of London.”

“Oh yeah?” You giggled, stepping aside to let him reach the toaster. “Well go on then toast master, show me how it's done.”

Laughter filled the kitchen, the comfortable sensation you had missed now filling your flat. It dawned on you as you watched him move around with ease, that you could get used to this. Him being in your life. You had yet to realize that you were already used to it—far more than you should have been. Watching Steven with a smile, you were oblivious to the white figure that stood out on your balcony, the shadow from earlier curling around its legs as your cat stood beside the door. 

Her eyes trained directly on him as he watched the both of you intently.

[witchy-jadda]

rott spoilers ahead

so i’ve given myself some time to think about everything and try to process it all and here are some of my thoughts on trollhunters: rise of the titans...

- straight off the bat, i loved the intro. opening with blinky telling the story of what happened up until this point was incredible. i would have loved if they had circled back to this though (i saw someone else say it should have been him telling the story to jim and claire’s kids and i loved that idea!)

- i also liked that they didn’t waste time at the start, instead they just jumped right into the action which was fun.

- honestly, i thought jim’s plotline throughout the movie where he basically thought he was useless without the amulet was just really not fun to watch. i understand why it was there and it played into the climax but i really did not find it one bit necessary seeing as i felt that we have grown beyond that. i felt it was overused. we’ve been there before and jim is aware that he’s the trollhunter, amulet or not.

- douxie being so soft with nari was genuinely one of the most heartwarming parts of the movie. i feel that we were really robbed of so much potential with douxie in this movie though. we didn’t see nearly enough of him. it seemed that the writers were picking and choosing when to remember how powerful he is. switching with nari and connecting to her are two examples of when they actually used his power, but aside from that they just disregarded it a lot.

- and speaking of forgetting how powerful people are... i’m genuinely so hurt and let down over what they did to claire. do they not realise how powerful she is? did they just forget about her character arc? it sure felt like it. she got to use her powers a few times (connecting to nari, portalling the titan, etc) but mostly it felt like she was saying she was spent and therefore unable to do anything. she is so strong and so powerful, and that’s just so empowering - especially for young girls. and then it kinda felt to me that rott was reducing her to basically nothing more than jim’s love interest.

- okay another quick note, it kinda felt to me that krel’s potential was also pretty wasted? he barely did anything and i just think he deserved more too.

- ew okay i don’t even want to think about it but i know i can’t discuss rott without talking about the mpreg thing. seriously, what the fuck was that? at first, i thought it was going to be a joke. i thought aja and krel were gonna wind steve up and see how far they could go with making him think he was pregnant just for a little bit of comic relief. but then he was actually pregnant. and so i laughed, because even though it was dumb it was kind of funny. weird and unexpected, but kind of funny. but by the time the movie was over it just didn’t sit right with me. looking past the fact that it was just more of them making steve’s character into a joke, i couldn’t see the logic in giving so much time to that subplot when other characters (claire, douxie) and other relationships (claire and douxie’s friendship) were sidelined. maybe if he had gotten a whole season the mpreg thing could have been included as comic relief or whatever, but with such limited time i really don’t see the point of wasting so much time on something so pointless. 

- speaking of steve, i need to talk about creepslayerz... they really deserved more :( like i get that eli literally helped steve through child birth and then named one after him which was lowkey adorable but i loved their friendship so much and i was really hoping to see more of them. i was kind of hoping they’d get to do more as well. look i gave up on hopes of a romance long ago (even though i still really wished it would happen) but i hoped that at least we’d see some more of their friendship.

* by this point my brain has decided to forget absolutely every point i wanted to make... cue the brain fog (we don’t like her) and allow me to take a moment to read back and try to find my point again *

- i don’t think i can stress enough how much i loved the visuals in this movie. holy fucking shit it was just phenomenal. like wow. the art was absolutely fantastic and i’m really hoping for another the art of... book because i love the art of trollhunters and i feel that they could do with updating it to include the newer stuff. but yep, the animation quality was incredible and i don’t have a bad thing to say about it because just wow.

- speaking of art... a moment of appreciation for character designs. just wow wow wow. we love to see such intricately designed villains. we love to see growth in our other much loved characters. and the locations too? fantastic. beautiful. amazing. loved it.

- another moment of appreciation for jim. the hair. the scars. the injuries. the winter jacket. the fact that he looked a little older.... loved it. loved it, loved it, loved it. i cannot wait to spend hours pouring over reference pictures to draw them all.

- and claire... her armor being weathered and worn. her eyes!! her hair looked great as always. i just love her...

- nari nari nari... my goodness, her magic is so beautiful. i wish we got to see more.

- also, the jlaire moments were very cute. their kisses? so soft. they literally love each other so much. i adore them.

- what happened to the babies from the darklands btw? is not enrique just chilling in the lake’s house with a ton of babies? 

- barbara deserved better. i would have liked to see her and strickler happy.

- on that note, why the actual fuck did they think a few explosives would win against magic?? literal ancient magic and these dumbasses were like huh i guess we should blow it up. i’m sorry, what?? y’all are stupid.

* currently trying to think of every possible point that isn’t to do with the ending because i really don’t want to think about that yet *

- the whole thing with archie and charlemagne felt super unnecessary. like usually characters sacrifice themselves and it’s like sad and you can see the reasoning and stuff. but they literally could have gotten out. i really did not vibe with that. it felt like they just did that to leave douxie with no one.

- that trollmarket was beautiful though.

- speaking of trollmarket... they really restored the heartstone just like that? are you joking? i was not impressed at all. the heartstone was dead and gone, could not be destroyed. did they just forget that? half the shit in wizards wouldn’t have happened if the heartstone could have been restored. very pissed off by that. it was dead, that was it.

- okay back to jim... love that he pulled the sword from the stone. it was cute that it was a group effort, kinda would have preferred if it was just him but that’s just a me thing. and maybe me and my daylight tattoo are biased here, but excalibur is not half as pretty as daylight.

- not gonna lie, jim yelling come on trollhunters! kinda got me. i was very emotional watching this.

- i think the most in character jim moment of the whole movie was when he dropped excalibur, he didn’t have his armor, he was all alone and he decided to make a fist and fight the wizard/god with literally no weapon or means of defence. i don’t think y’all understand how much i love this dumb self sacrificing selfless boy. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, he is literally one of my most favourite characters of all time. i love him with all my heart.

- the armor!! wow wow wow. that was a fucking cool scene. beautiful.

- jim getting stabbed or whatever with that fucking spear thing nearly killed me.

- okay here goes... toby. my sweet toby. jim and toby’s friendship is one of my absolute favourites ever. my goodness. and toby getting in the van and going to save jim was incredible and such a toby thing to do. of course he would think of doing that.

- but like seriously... claire and douxie are so fucking powerful and they were both just like lol i guess we can’t do anything to help jim? i’m sorry what?? don’t tell me that claire wouldn’t go full on black and purple eyes and get herself up their to him. i just... i’m so bothered by the fact that they were sidelined y’all :|

- also, do not seriously try to tell me that aaarrrgghh!!! would let toby go on his own. he would have went with him. he would have followed him.

- literally as jim was falling the first thing that went through my mind was oh aaarrrgghh!!! is gonna run up and catch him.

- and while we’re on the topic of aaarrrgghh!!! why tf did they have such a build up that something was going to happen to either him or blinky for literally no reason? wtf

- aaarrrgghh!!! would not have let toby go alone!!! if he had been there, he would have protected toby, he would have saved him and none of that mess of an ending would have happened.

* ugh here’s the bit i was dreading... the ending *

- first off, i am choosing to ignore it.

- time stone? really? we’re... we’re gonna do this? literally one of the most original things i have ever watched is now - at the literal last possible minute - rip off another movie?? really?? whyyyy???

- i literally cannot express how much i hated it. it was so fucking unnecessary.

- he didn’t need to go back that far!!!

- i’m actually trying to block this out but i suppose i have to at least touch on it. jim would never ever put that burden on to toby. he just wouldn’t. before even looking at all of the other issues with toby getting the amulet, i need to say that. it just wouldn’t happen. he struggled so much with being the trollhunter, he wouldn’t put that on toby. 

- also toby literally never wanted to be the trollhunter?? he never wanted the amulet? he wanted to be a duke and have his war hammer and go on adventures with his best friend and his wingman and eat mexican food.

- okay so um i guess they all just forgot about unbecoming? cool cool cool.

- seriously though, was it not established many times that jim literally had to be trollhunter? and if he wasn’t it would be draal and everything would go to shit? did they just forget about that??

- having jim just decide to give toby the amulet literally takes away from the entire meaning behind jim getting the amulet and becoming the trollhunter. the amulet chose jim. merlin chose him. out of all of the creatures in the world, it had to be jim. he can’t just give that to toby!!

- and as much as i love toby, he would not last a day as trollhunter.

- and that’s not even beginning to mention all that jim erased by not becoming trollhunter. no father son relationship between him and blinky. they didn’t stop steve from picking on eli so no steve redemption and no creepslayerz. is he just going to allow enrique to be taken? toby will not have the same incentive to go into the darklands to save him if that’s the case. strickler will not show any sort of sentiment towards toby either. and then the big one...

- IS THAT FUCKER REALLY GOING TO ALLOW CLAIRE TO NOT GET HER POWERS??? WHAT???

- if jim isn’t trollhunter and the whole thing with enrique doesn’t happen then claire will never get her shadowstaff. let’s be real, strickler probably wouldn’t even need angor rot with toby as trollhunter. somehow i can’t see him making it that far...

- if claire doesn’t have her shadow staff then the whole thing with morgana won’t happen. she won’t destroy the shadow staff and then she will never develop her powers. would jim really rob her of that?

- okay i can’t do anymore, it’s too much for me now...

- i touched on this already in a separate post but i gotta say it again... i did not enjoy the destiny is a gift bit at the end. first of all, jim having toby find the amulet literally takes the meaning of that speech and his destiny away instanty. and second, i just could not stand hearing emile hirsch say the words that belonged to anton yelchin. it was just uncomfortable.

aaand i think i’m done. maybe i’ll have more later but i have a headache now from all of this.

[gffa]

I swore for about ten entire minutes that I wasn’t going to do a set of recs for THE OLD GUARD, I was just going to watch the movie, indulge in a bit of fanart, and then I would be done. But then I was like HOW ABOUT I HAVE SOME FEELINGS INSTEAD? and here we are. So HAVE SOME FEELINGS ABOUT ANCIENT IMMORTALS AND REASONABLY ANCIENT IMMORTALS AND BABY IMMORTALS.  COME YELL ABOUT FEELINGS WITH ME, FANDOM. THE OLD GUARD RECS: ✦ An Unrecorded History by xpityx, joe/nicky, 1.1k    Joe closed the book and dropped it none too carefully on the table. He would have liked to have thrown it away—to prevent anyone else from reading it—but it was far too easy to make copies of books in these times, so he knew it would be no use. He also could not quite bring himself to discard something as precious as a book, no matter how poorly written it was. ✦ keep yourself alive for me by retts, joe/nicky, NSFW, 1.7k    Nicky grabbed Joe’s hand and pulled him towards the stairs, not that there was any resistance from Joe. ‘If I remember correctly, this one has two bathrooms, doesn’t it?’ ✦ let’s give them something to talk about by lacecat, joe/nicky & andy/nile, nsfw, 4.8k    In which Nicky and Joe take liberties with recounting history, because it’s fun. ✦ Family Dinner by dadvans, joe/nicky & nile, 2.4k    The only time Nile ever sleeps a full night and feels remotely part of herself is when she stays with Nicky and Joe, who shampoo brains out of each other’s hair in the shower and clean their guns on the couch watching Chopped reruns. ✦ one burning candle, one wind-whipped flame by Dialux, joe/nicky & andy, 5.1k    Yusuf dies, and dies, and dies, and lives, as well, for a thousand years. Nicolo’s by his side for all of them, and it’s not quite the love story of eternity, but it’s theirs: and that’s enough for them both ✦ Future Days by maroon, joe/nicky & andy/noriko, 2.1k    “Then why untie me?” The man grins, terribly amused, and awfully affectionate. Andromache wants to look away, but for some reason, can’t. Maybe because the look in his eye reminds her of herself, a lifetime ago. “Because my beloved is soft, and kind, and will flay me alive if he’d known I tied up a woman.” ✦ Islands of Hours by RC_McLachlan, joe/nicky, 1.5k    There eventually comes a lull, and so they go to Malta. ✦ take out by j_gabrielle, joe/nicky & nile, ~1k    It probably should bother her when Joe kicks the door to the flat open and promptly marches in to deposit their takeout on the living room table. All while he is tracking half-dried blood and mud on the shiny tile floors. “You, ah,” Nile says even as she hurries to pick through the night’s offerings. “They let you on the subway like that?” ✦ all a smooth plain, and the soil deep by inlovewithnight, andy & nile & joe & nicky, 2.1k    After London, they all need to rest. ✦ we are golden by retts, joe/nicky, ~1k    Joe lowers his gaze to the open page on his lap. The sketch is of a man on a charging horse, hair and beard whipping in the wind, sword in one hand and a shield in the other. The eyes in the drawing are the same eyes watching him now. His Nicolo. 'You were a hard fucker to kill back then, Nicky.’ ✦ An eagle’s old age, a sparrow’s youth by BakedAppleSauce, joe/nicky, 2.2k    Joe comes shuffling back into the room, heavy footsteps that mean he’s either tired, or not really trying, or both. Familiar as breathing. Nicky’d recognize him anywhere, walking among a million of strangers. In which some people are laying low for a while, in more ways than one. ✦ A Most Forgetful Death by RC_McLachlan, joe/nicky, 1.2k    “You’re an incurable romantic,” Nicky says, and though his expression doesn’t so much as twitch, Joe can hear the laughter languishing between the words, can feel it on his tongue and rubbing up against his teeth when Nicky meets him halfway to smear a kiss against his mouth. ✦ Luce e ombre by sheafrotherdon, andy & nile, 1.2k    The discomfort is so new that it startles her, and she searches her memory to remember a time before she was immortal: a time when a cut, a scrape, a bruise hurt for longer than a moment, long enough to interrupt sleep. The memories don’t come ✦ When I Am with You by takethisnight_wrapitaroundme, joe/nicky, NSFW, 5.4k    “You… would like to waste a thousand euros’ worth of champagne by pouring it all over me?” Nicky has to repeat it aloud to make sure he’s heard right. While spending some quality time together on vacation in France, Nicky has a surprise for Joe. And Joe, as it turns out, has a surprise for Nicky. ✦ the common tongue of your loving me by spokenitalics, joe/nicky, NSFW, 1.4k    “It’s just— Do you ever wonder how much we’ve forgotten?” Nicky asks, eventually. “How many names and faces and places have just… faded away from our memory?” ✦ i have loved you for a thousand years by owilde, ~1k    It’s him. Again. Yusuf shields his eyes from the blinding desert sunlight, staring into the near distance where a man is stood, alone, a harsh silhouette cut against the bright blue sky and peach-coloured sand. ✦ this is why by retts, joe/nicky, 1.2k    Small as it was, they had their own room in the London safe house, which was a good thing because Joe was prying open Nicky’s mouth with his fingers. Not with his tongue, much as Nicky would prefer it, but with three calloused fingers sneaking inside his lips as if Nicky wouldn’t wake up from the intrusion. He was on his back, Joe pressed closer to him than his own shadow. The slant of moonlight from the window illuminated Joe’s dark eyes as he bent over Nicky. Joe sucked in the corner of his mouth, a tell that he’d never shaken off all these long centuries. ✦ I Found Peace in Your Violence by j_gabrielle, joe/nicky, 1.5k    5 Times Joe and Nicky kill each other + 1 (of many) times they killed someone together ✦ life is very long by kaydeefalls, joe/nicky & andy & nile & booker & quynh & copley, 7.1k    Andromache tells him: “The Greeks used to have seven different words for love. Well. More, probably. But I remember seven.” She shrugs. “There are many ways to love one another, and life is long. We’ve time enough for them all. It’s the only thing that makes it worthwhile.” Nicky and his immortal family, over the centuries. ✦ take a breath by BeStillMySlashyHeart, joe/nicky & andy & nile & booker, 1k    Once they are safe, Nicky and Joe take a moment together. ✦ Between the Hour and the Age by hauntedjaeger (saellys), andy & nile & joe & nicky, 2.5k    “To the Art Institute of Chicago,” Andy echoes, “so that my breasts may be culturally appreciated in perpetuity.” She tips the bottle and lets out three drops. As they fall to the stone floor, Joe and Nicky rap their knuckles on the nearest pieces of metal: the other lantern for Nicky, the oxidized helmet for Joe. One rap for each drop. In another time, they might have struck their swords on shields. ✦ how we live by retts, joe/nicky, ~1k    Life, though, brings pain. Goddamn pain. Bullets that struck his cranium and pelvis – the big bones in the body – are forced out. The rest went through him, carrying organ tissue and muscle with them. Those lost bits have to be regrown. Bones realign and the ribs in his lungs retract so they can breathe again. So Nicky can breathe again. And when he breathes, he thinks, Yusuf. ✦ Paradeisos by Enneara, joe/nicky, 2.9k    Traveling through Greece with Yusuf after fleeing the Holy Land, Nicolò suffers a crisis of faith. ✦ The Language of Love by 1derspark, joe/nicky & andy/quynh & booker & nile, 4.5k    Or five times Nicky hears Joe speak his language and one time Nicky returns the favor. ✦ Le Vite by ScribeofArda, joe/nicky & andy & nile & booker, 8k    Nicky breathes out. “What did I miss?” he asks, staring out at the hills. “Why didn’t I see this coming?” After everything, after finding Nile and losing Booker and Andy’s new mortality, Joe is pissed off. Nicky is just tired. ✦ The god of my idolatry by Petra, andy/nile, NSFW, 3.4k    “You said you were worshipped as a god.” “I was.” Nile steels herself and asks, “Would you like to do it again?” Andy laughs and throws back the contents of her glass. “They don’t teach you pick-up lines in the Marines, do they.” ✦ love is not over by retts, joe/nicky & andy & nile, 1.3k    'Babe, do you know what this reminds me of?’ asked Nicky. Joe licked his lips and tilted his head to the side, gaze intent on the mole on Nicky’s cheek. 'What?’ 'The first time you drew me.’ ✦ Case Analysis by skeeno, joe/nicky & andy & booker & copley, 3.4k    It’s not totally out of the ordinary for the people Copley meets in his line of work to be extraordinary. But he’s intrigued by these four. ✦ compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience by Jack_R, joe/nicky & andy & quynh, 11.9k    ‘You are a shame to your countrymen and the lowest of the low,’ Yusuf said, ‘and your mother copulated with a dog.’ ✦ Everything in moderation (even moderation) by BakedAppleSauce, joe/nicky, NSFW, 6.1k    The novelty has worn off, of course, but it’s not the novelty that keeps anybody coming back, anyway. Novelty never sustains anything. ✦ What the Water Takes by xpityx, andy & nile & quynh, 1k    Here is a secret she will never write down. ✦ Stracciatella by ScribeofArda, joe/nicky & andy & nile, 4.8k    “None of us have any evidence of the ways we have died,” Nicky continues. “But you remember the fall, don’t you? You remember the first time you died, the way your blood spilled out as your throat was slashed. I remember the first time I died, when the love of my life drew his sword across my neck as I drove mine into his chest and we both fell to the sand.”

[thewidowsghost]

Daughter of the Sea - Chapter 1

So, I started this on my Wattpad, and if figured I'd just put it on here! Just tell me if you want me to add you to the taglist!

Percy's POV

My name is Percy Jackson.

I am twelve years old. I'm a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York, and my sister, (Y/n), taking online schooling at home.

Am I a troubled kid?

Yeah. You could say that.

I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan—twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.

I know—it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.

But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.

Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.

I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.

See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course, I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that...Well, you get the idea.

On this trip, I was determined to be good.

All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwiches that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.

"I'm going to kill her," I mumble.

Grover tries to calm me down. "I'm okay. I like peanut butter -" He dodges another piece of Nancy's lunch.

"That's it." I start to get up, but Grover pulls me back to my seat.

"You're already on probation," he reminds me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."

Mr. Brunner leads the museum tour.

He rides up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.

It blows my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.

He gathers us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and starts telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.

From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.

One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."

Mr. Brunner keeps talking about Greek funeral art.

Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickers something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turn around and say, "Will you shut up?"

It comes out louder than I meant it to.

The whole group laughs. Mr. Brunner stops his story. "Mr. Jackson," he says, "did you have a comment?"

My face is totally red, I think. I answer, "No, sir."

Mr. Brunner points to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"

I look at the carving, and feel a flush of relief, because I actually recognize it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," Mr. Brunner says, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because..."

"Well..." I rack my brain to remember. (Y/n) would have known the answer. She was nuts for this kind of stuff. "Kronos was the king god, and —"

"God?" Mr. Brunner asks.

"Titan," I correct myself. "And...he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—"

"Eeew!" says one of the girls behind me.

"—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continue, "and the gods won."

Some snickers from the group.

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbles to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner says, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted," Grover mutters.

"Shut up," Nancy hisses, her face even brighter red than her hair.

At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

I think about his question, and shrug. "I don't know, sir."

"I see." Mr. Brunner looks disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifts off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."

I knew that was coming.

I tell Grover to keep going; then I turn toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?" Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go—intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything. "You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner tells me.

"About the Titans?"

'"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh."

"What you learn from me," he says, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."

I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, swordpoint against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C– in my life. No—he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.

I mumble something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner takes one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.

He tells me to go outside and eat my lunch.

The class gathers on the front steps of the museum, where we can watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.

Overhead, a huge storm is brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figure maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.

Nobody else seems to notice, though. Some of the guys are pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit is trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds isn't seeing a thing.

Grover and I sit on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school—the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.

"Detention?" Grover asked.

"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean—I'm not a genius, not like (Y/n). She seems to know everything."

Grover doesn't say anything for a while. Then, when I think he is going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he asks, "Can I have your apple?"

I don't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.

I watch the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and think about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sit. I hadn't seen her or my sister since Christmas. I want so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. Mom and (Y/n) would hug me and be glad to see me, but Mom would be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I couldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.

I am about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appears in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumps her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.

"Oops." She grins at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles are orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

I try to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I am so mad my mind went blank. A wave roars in my ears.

I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy is sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.

Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see—"

"—the water—"

"—like it grabbed her—"

I don't know what they were talking about. All I know is that I was in trouble again.

As soon as Mrs. Dodds is sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turns on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey—"

"I know," I grumble. "A month erasing workbooks." That wasn't the right thing to say.

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds says.

"Wait!" Grover yelps. "It was me. I pushed her."

I stare at him, stunned. I can't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.

She glares at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she says.

"But—"

"You—will—stay—here."

Grover looks at me desperately.

"It's okay, man," I tell him. "Thanks for trying."

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barks at me. "Now."

Nancy Bobofit smirks. I give her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turn to face Mrs. Dodds, but she isn't there. She is standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.

How'd she get there so fast?

I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.

I wasn't so sure. I go after Mrs. Dodds.

Halfway up the steps, I glance back at Grover. He is looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner is absorbed in his novel.

I look back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She is now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.

Okay, I think. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.

But apparently, that wasn't the plan.

I follow her deeper into the museum. When I finally catch up to her, we are back in the Greek and Roman section.

Except for us, the gallery is empty.

Mrs. Dodds stands with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She is making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.

Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze as if she wanted to pulverize it...

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she says.

I do the safe thing. I reply, "Yes, ma'am."

She tugs on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"

The look in her eyes is beyond mad. It was evil.

She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. I say, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am."

Thunder shakes the building.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."

I didn't know what she's talking about.

All I can think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.

"Well?" she demands.

"Ma'am, I don't..."

"Your time is up," she hisses.

Then the weirdest thing happens. Her eyes begin to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretch, turning into talons. Her jacket melts into large, leathery wings. She isn't human. She is a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.

Then things got even stranger.

Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheels his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.

"What ho, Percy!" he shouts and tosses the pen through the air.

Mrs. Dodds lunges at me.

With a yelp, I dodge and feel talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatch the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hits my hand, it isn;t a pen anymore. It is a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always uses on tournament day.

Mrs. Dodds spins towards me with a murderous look in her eyes.

My knees are jelly. My hands are shaking so bad I almost drop the sword.

She snarl, "Die, honey!" And she flies straight at me.

Absolute terror runs through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swing the sword.

The metal blade hits her shoulder and passes clean through her body as if she was made of water. Hisss!

Mrs. Dodds was a sandcastle in a power fan. She explodes into yellow powder, vaporizing on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes are still watching me.

I'm alone.

There is a ballpoint pen in my hand.

Mr. Brunner isn't there. Nobody is there but me.

My hands are still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.

Had I imagined the whole thing?

I walk back outside.

It had started to rain.

Grover is sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit is still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she sees me, she says, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

I answer, "Who?"

"Our teacher. Duh!"

I blink. We don't have a teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I ask Nancy what she is talking about.

She just rolls her eyes and turns away.

I ask Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.

"Who?" he asks, but he pauses first and he wouldn't look at me, so I figure he was messing with me.

"Not funny, man," I tell him. "This is serious."

Thunder booms overhead.

I see Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book as if he'd never moved.

I go over to him.

He looks up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."

I had Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.

"Sir," I ask, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"

He stares blankly at me, "Who?"

"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."

He frowns and sits forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"

Word Count: 3159 words

So yeah, this is the first chapter of this book.

Not much (Y/n) yet, but we'll get there.

Love y'all!              Kaitlynn ❤️😍

[haadeswrites]

fic asks pt2

y’all are killing me with the love rn <33

THE CULT AU?? You have a very big sexy brain

i am actually smooth brained like a koala but ty bby 

I regularly stop by and stalk your blog and when I saw you updated your most recent works I went scrolling through to your latest update on the new fic! It was amazing. As always I just binge your content and block everything out! Your characterization of Oikawa has to be the best I’ve seen. It fits him so well and it’s so close to canon it’s insane. I’ve only seen one other writer hit that and I hope you understand that your brain is beautiful! I love the build up of the story, how the reader seems to doubt herself and get sucked in and brainwashed even though she swears on everything that she’s getting her ex and going. I also love how much of a freak Oikawa is over reader cutting his throat out dieneindieneid sorry for the rant you’re just so freaking lovely and I love you 🥺🥺🥺

nonnie!! come get ur kisses RN!! it’s probably not exactly a surprise but oikawa’s always been one of my favourites okay my favourite to write so it means so much that you think i write him well!

also oikawa getting all moan-y when they kill ryuji was one of my fave scenes to write haha

in Elysium, what’s the the lore behind Oikawa? like the tapestries you mentioned and the energy thing that he did? is he like actually a divine being or is just really good at tricking his followers? either way!! such a good read!! love you!!!

so i wrote this fic knowing it was gonna be a little ambiguous. you can technically read it as oikawa with a god complex, and everything that happens after the reader leaves the beach as an effect of drugged wine. she’s comfortable on the island because that’s how cults work and oikawa is very good at what he does. and if that’s how you want to read it then that’s absolutely fine.

but i wrote it with the intention of acutal god oikawa. the tapestries hint at his history; cast out from his home for murdering another deity, wandering for thousands of years - long enough that the people who once worshipped him died out. he feeds off of life, not just the essence of it, but things like memories and emotions - he’s physically manipulating every life on the island, erasing their thoughts, tugging at different emotions to get the results he wants. and naturally, killing becomes a culmination of that, the ultimate feast. in return, he nourishes the island

therefore the cult is actually almost as ancient as he is. no one who ever comes to the island leaves it; they either live out their lives under his benevolence, or they becomes sacrifices for the greater good. hence, the commune keeps its secrets :))

What made Oikawa become obsessed with reader? Was he experienced sexually before her with the limited people on the island? 

By the way, the style you write with is so beautiful and riveting. Truly an art piece❤️

ahh thank you nonnie!

i think in the beginning it was curiosity; he knew she’d come to the island looking for ryuji - who at that point was experiencing makki, mattsun and iwaizumi’s um... hospitality :)) 

he’d seen her in ryuji’s memories - all that he’d done to her, their relationship laid out in its entirety, so it was definitely something that piqued his interest. a challenge to make her submit, a bit of a break from the mundane. i think he resonated with her a little – she’d suffered at the hands of those who were supposed to care for her, was lost and out of place, desperately wanting something she was never going to find in the real world. he was endeared, and ofc the longer she stayed on the island, and the tighter the trap he’d pulled began to close around her, the more he became invested.

as for whether he’d slept with other people on the island to sate an itch every now and then but nothing all that involved

[highdramas]

cherry - part three 🍒

a javier peña / little women au

summary: it’s been three years since that night in the pool with javi, but fate is not finished with you two yet. warnings: age gap ( reader is ten years younger than javier ), language word count: 2602

three years later…

your arms are locked with teddy’s as you stumble down the paris street, laughter dripping off your lips. she’s rattling on about some guy she met at the last club but you couldn’t care less-- your mind is in a certain euphoria. god, parisians really do know how to party, you think to yourself.

it’s been one year since you’ve moved to paris but you’ve never once regretted the decision. when things fell through with pauline after your grandmother died your senior year of college, there hadn’t really been much calling you back to the states. you still loved new york, and you liked to visit, but your hometown wasn’t at the top of your destination list. you still kept in touch with your parents, but you can tell that it’s not the same. margot has come and visited, and you went out to oregon to stay with nora and finn.

but pauline had told you to never talk to her again.

you can’t blame her for the resentment she holds against you. when your grandmother left everything in your name…

you try not to think about it all too much. you’ve kept the money in the bank and you have the key to her estate on your keyring, but it doesn’t truly belong to you, and you know that it never will. pauline had loved that house.

again, you try not to think about it all that much.

you’re older and you’re more mature now, and you don’t even think about javier anymore. most of the time.

there are late nights where he creeps into your thoughts, his lips on yours, wet and clinging to one another and sometimes you’re still not quite sure if you made it all up in your head or not. after that night, you two had never discussed the kiss. sometimes you wish you had slipped into his room the next morning, hushed whispers as sunlight broke in through the window. but you hadn’t. in the months after your kiss, javier’s feelings for pauline didn’t falter. it took only six months for him to confess his attraction to her plainly, fully, and for pauline to reject him. in the moment, you had wanted to fight her for it. you nearly had. she had javier wrapped around her finger, and she simply didn't want him? you had watched as javier drifted away from pauline, the gravity of the situation between them tearing them apart. it had been sad to watch javier drift from your family the way that he did-- he had been a member of the family. now, an awkward sort of tension holds the room when his name is brought up at dinner.

not that you’re invited to any of the family dinners.

when you got your first boyfriend in new york the following school year after the summer at javier’s, you found yourself incessantly comparing him to javi. how when he kissed you, it didn’t give you the butterflies that javier’s kiss had. the love affair had been so brief, not even a full night, yet it had left such a lasting impression on you-- you wish you could formulate why.

but, most of the time, you don’t think about javier and his soft hair and his tanned skin and the way that the sweat had stuck to it all summer. you focus on your art and on your very charming new french boyfriend. you focus on your friendships-- living with teddy in paris was a dream, and you still saw sam and esther often. you start grad school soon and you miss your grandmother every day. the one person who seemed to truly see you.

things aren’t perfect. not even close. but they’re good, and that’s enough.

“and god-- i just know that his dick is big. i know it’s big. you know?” teddy’s rattling off and you don’t know how long she’s been talking, but regardless, you’re comforted by the sound. you and teddy had been good friends in college, but moving to a foreign country together amplified that. she’s loud and she’s daring and she’s intelligent and she’s the kind of person who just got you. that was what you really craved for, at the end of the day. to be understood. years of pauline’s judgement and you finally felt free from that.

teddy’s words bring you to laughter and you both duck into an alley for a cigarette, the filter stained with a red ring on lipstick. you lean against the brick and it’s nice and cold, a contrast from the heat of the club you’d just escaped. your boyfriend, robin, was away from the city for the holidays. it’s the weekend before christmas and nora has extended numerous offers for you to stay with them over the holiday, but you hadn’t taken the bait. you were happy staying in france. sure, you were a bit sad robin hadn’t invited you home-- you can’t be too sad, it’s barely been two months since you two had started seeing each other, but a piece of you had hoped. you nearly invited yourself in the days leading up to his departure, but you’d stopped yourself.

so instead, you stay. you stay and you drink with teddy, who doesn’t get along with her own family, either. she has a cousin on gap year and the three of you have smashing plans to drink several bottles of wine in your flat and watch bridget jones’s diary. and it’s what you want.

you take another long drag off the cigarette and blow the smoke away from teddy, turning your head back towards the street. there’s a noise that fills paris that you’ve found as a comfort. the sound of laughter, conversations that you could hardly understand. the sound of kisses between lovers on the street. so many strangers that you would never know a thing about. you squint for a moment at the dark figure walking on the other side of the street, cars few and far between. he’s got a casual walk, his hands stuffed into pockets of nice dress pants, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. your eyes widen. so many strangers, but he’s not one of them.

“javier!” it comes out as a screech, stopping teddy’s speech instantly. you drop your cigarette and are bounding across the road, nearly getting hit in the process. you lay your hand onto the hood of the vehicle for a moment and wave to them, as if to say, thanks for not hitting my drunk ass, before you continue on your mission.

there he is before you. a bit more weathered than when you last saw him. his brows are furrowed but there’s a softness to his face that you’ve always loved. but finally, when he gets a good look at you and realizes exactly who he’s looking at, his whole face lights up.

he’s reaching out for you and your arms are around him and you’re sure that his friend is wondering who the fuck you are, but it doesn’t matter. you absolutely melt against him and a hold has never felt so right before. you pull away enough to see his face, holding it in your hand, squishing his cheeks together. “oh, fuck, look at you!” you’re slowly starting to regret that last vodka soda you had and you’re hoping that he can’t tell that you’re this drunk-- but do you care either way?

“i can’t believe you’re here,” he breathes and there’s laughter following it and god if you can’t bottle that sound and drink it. he pushes a piece of your hair back and all of those sentiments about not thinking about javier pena are as far away from your brain as they can be.

teddy grounds you. she approaches behind you and waves to javier’s friend and slowly, reluctantly, you remove your body from his.

javier shakes teddy’s hand and you shake his friends, steve’s, smiling at him. but your entire focus is on javier-- sparkly eyed and trying to wrap your head around the fact that he’s here. “what the fuck are you doing here, cherry?” he finally asks, that same delightful smile on his face. the summer house feels so far away but so close all at the same time.

you explain that you’ve been living in paris for a year. you don’t need to mention your grandmother-- he knows, you’re sure of it. he may not talk to pauline anymore, but that doesn’t mean family gossip doesn’t get back to him still. “well, i’m happy to have a familiar face in town,” he says with a grin, hands on his hips in that way that he always did. “let me take you out for a drink tomorrow night. we can catch up.”

“that’d be great.” you wish you could wipe the grin off of your face. you exchange whatsapp and embrace once more before you and teddy are hand in hand, walking in the opposite direction of javier and steve. you look back over your shoulder to sneak one last look at him.

you’re greeted with javier doing the same. and he grins, and it makes your stomach turn.

teddy teases you the whole walk home, but your ears are ringing and you feel like you’re floating. the whole interaction has simultaneously sobered you and made you feel utterly love drunk, leaning on teddy in the elevator, wiping your makeup off in your tiny bathroom, before you’re laying on your back on your bed on the expensive silk sheets you had no business purchasing.

you stare up at the ceiling for a moment. and as you do, your phone buzzes.

i can’t wait to see you again, cherry.

--

you’d texted javier on and off throughout the day. you’d discovered that he was in paris on business, though business was still a loose term for it. he’s advanced in his father’s financial advisory company even since you’d last spoken, working on his own entrepreneurial investing endeavors on the side. he’s meeting with a french client and decided why not stay and play awhile-- in true javier fashion, you note. you want to knock him for his playboy lifestyle, but how can you, when it’s brought him back to you in this way?

you were the one who suggested your favorite trendy bar in le marais. in the depths of an ancient historical building resided a small speakeasy in the basement. ambient lighting and hushed talking mingled with the sounds of easy live jazz. it was one of the first spots that your first local boyfriend had taken you to when you moved.

boyfriend. your thoughts trail to robin and his christmas getaway that you were not invited to. where there should be a pang of guilt for going and seeing javi, there is none. only pauline’s voice in your head. selfish little cherry, always getting what she wants, and not caring who is caught in the crossfire of her silly desires.

maybe she was right.

maybe she was so right, that even that thought wasn’t enough to get you to not see javi.

you stand outside your apartment building and hit your juul, the vapor being exaggerated by the blistering cold that brushes against your flushed cheeks, painting your nose a light shade of red. javier had let you know he would come to you before you set out on your trek. and so, you wait. it’s growing closer to eight o’clock and suddenly, a storm of anxious butterflies begin to flutter in the pit of your stomach. this was javi you were talking about-- javi, who despite all of his best parts, had his flaws. he was forgetful, he was flighty, he was the first one to run when the going got tough. he had proved that to you in the pool.

but five minutes to the hour, you begin to see his silhouette. he’s got his hands stuffed into his pockets, an easy grin on his face grows more and more visible as he comes closer to you. a smile spreads on your face and you brush your hair back from your face, just as he’s mere steps away from you. “hi.” the word is short, but there’s something else lingering in it.

“hi.” you jut your chin up and look past his shoulder, if only to give yourself a fighting chance in not melting right into his open palms. but, your eyes flick back to him to find that his have not left you. “i got worried you were gonna forget about me.”

a scoff rings in your ears, and he gives you a sidelong glance. you can see what lingers behind his eyes. an invisible voice tucked in brown eyes says, that’s ridiculous. for a moment, you simply stand there. there’s some sort of tether between you two that you can feel; it’s knowing. it’s understanding. you’d cultivated a life for yourself here, and now, the past runs to catch up with you. “so, this bar?” he says, and it sets the two of you off.

you walk in step with javier, quick dialogue popping between you two. there’s laughter and there’s light teasing, there is knowing looks and there is friendship there. there is--

“i spoke with pauline before i came to paris.”

it takes everything within you not to stop in your tracks. of course, is what begs to fall off of your lips. of course he had. “oh?” she raises a brow at him. “that makes one of us.” you play it off well, you think, an easy breezy smile on your lips.

but from the look he sends you, you can tell that he sees through your feigned attempt at humor. “she told me you still aren’t talking.”

“it’s funny, she always called me the family gossip. she must be projecting.” quick deflections are still no match for javier pena. he raises a brow in your direction, and you feel the air leave your lungs. “no. no, we aren’t.”

“why?”

“because she hates me? because i have everything she wants? because she’s jealous?” she pauses and stops, looking at him. “and because she hurt you. what she did, what she was doing--”

javier shakes his head. “no, no, no. this isn’t about me.” he looks nearly stern. “that’s your sister. that’s more important than whatever feelings i had for her.”

had, had, had. feelings had are not feelings current. your head tilts to the side. “and what feelings do you have now?”

there’s annoyance and it’s found in his brow, the furrow, the way he rubs his mustache before he begins to walk again. “you’re so nosey.”

“i think you like that about me,” you smile. “and i’m curious. we all saw it, you know.”

your mother was certain that javier and pauline would wed one day. they had been so intrinsically in sync with one another, it was hard to imagine they wouldn’t. for them, at least. you thought the contrary. biased reasoning or no.

the only sound around you two is parisian street noise and the clattering of your boots on pavement. “i don’t feel the way i did,” he says, finally. he looks over at you. “i think she was right. we were never going to work the way that i thought.”

it is not often that you are rendered speechless, but this is one of those moments. your eyes slide up to him, and you lean against him slightly, elbows brushing. “i don’t know about you, but i need a drink.”

🍒🍒🍒

xoxo, dee

[cherriesink]

Defrott - Murmurs

Murmurs are snippets of character reflection earned by increasing Explore Points during Exploration. They usually include 6-7 monologues about other characters and 3-4 monologues about things important to the specific character.

These lines are taken straight from the English translation of the game, so fair warning of bad grammar.

About Yatsufusa “Yatsufusa is also a new type of vampire different from Shutaro Kurusu. He enjoys plays, literature, and music... Rich slacker was the term, was it? It probably means that they are the wealthy enough so they can do what they want. Like aristocrats back in the days. 

But that’s a suited way to live for vampires. Because the key to a long life is having a hobby.

And above all, Yatsufusa has a unique skill. It’s probably his ability to reason... but it’s as if he’s an actor acting on stage with a script in hand. He can reenact the crime scene just by looking at the remains. Very fascinating.

It’s also elegant how he uses his brains when fighting in a battle, unlike other vampires. I’m curious how he is 100 years from now, so I want him to live long. But from my experience... boys like him sacrifice themselves for somebody else and end up dying. Just like Mercutio...”

About Kurusu “Shutaro Kurusu... He’s not an exception, but Japanese people are interesting. Because they call themselves monsters. In Europe, we called ourselves God. Both humans and vampires will suffer if they cannot find their raison d'être.

Frailty, thy name is vampire. Vampires like Kurusu were mocked in the ages I’ve gone through. Being mocked is still cute... Worse case, you’d be killed. I wonder if his type are mainstream nowadays? It must be the age of time...

Things rarely surprise me since I’ve gone to different countries. But usually, A-Class vampires will become full of themselves. And... how do I say it- think themselves as God.

But I guess Kurusu is different. A vampire that fears his own powers... quite interesting. He is just like Hamlet. Because he is struggling how to utilize his own powers.”

About Maeda “Maeda from Code Zero... I don’t like him. He’s not elegant. 

I think our time is coming close to an end. We do not belong anywhere in the future that’s filled with rationalization. We will become extinct...

So I want to disappear gracefully when my time has come. I want vampires to be spotless when we must go. But- he and his unit are treating vampires like toy soldiers for modern warfare. That is not how vampires should end their lives, absolutely not.

...But I can still tolerate with their nonsense. After all, they’re still a tiny unit with Kurusu, Yamagami, Suwa, and Takeuchi. If they grow bigger to the point where they look hideous, then I must crush and erase them from this world.

Yoshinobu Maeda will be the Macbeth... who goes first on the list.”

About Yamagami “Unranked vampires are no different from ordinary human beings. That guy in Code Zero- Yamagami was it? He always looks at me with frightened eyes, but he doesn’t interest me at all. 

Everyone fears us, but S-Class vampires are apathetic about most things. We don’t fear people, we don’t get upset, and you even forget how to cry when you live as long as me.

So, unranked vampires arent that different from plants to me. I’d be interested in him if he was a really good actor, or something about him was elegant and beautiful. 

I’ll tell him that he doesn’t have to be so scared of me next time. And that I’ll won’t kill him unless he coughs during my stage.”

About Takeuchi “Takeuchi makes me feel sad. The world should have mysteries that we cannot understand. Because that is how great poems are born. Beautiful Greek mythology or the story of Icarus wouldn’t have been born if people understood what the sun was. 

Beauty lies within the darkness. Art forms through our imagination and what we find in that darkness. But the light of civilization swept that darkness and snatched away beauty from this world...

Takeuchi would’ve been dead a long time ago if killing him was my solution. But things are changing rapidly throughout the entire world since the Industrial Revolution. So in the end, the light will vanish us because we are vampires.

But I think science is dangerous in its own ways. Because you can die from getting too close to the sun just like Icarus did.”

About Suwa “Suwa- an underaged vampire that’s been living a long time. Just like me. He must be wise if he managed to survive this far being a C-Class vampire.

He also enjoys plays- so he’s checked off the list to longevity, I see. But he is too aggressive for a vampire his age. I think he can be a bit more laid-back. 

But I guess the humanness left inside him is what keeps him going. Vampires that have a strong feeling towards something tend to keep up their sanity just like me. Although, that is the same for humans as well...

I heard he was attacked by a group of vampires disguising themselves as a missionary. If he has 11 sitgmatas in total, that means he was bitten by 11 different vampires. I heard the classless ones that got banished from Europe went to Asian countries east of India. So I guess they were some of them.”

About Tenman-ya “I must say that Tenman-ya is quite interesting. There was something similar in Europe called guilds. Although, it was a place where people paid their blood in exchange for getting rid of someone they loathe.

But Tenman-ya pays with blood if vampires help out with carpenters or craftsmen. I have never seen vampires work for blood until I ran into them. That is why I never get tired of this world. Is it a cultural difference? I’m sure vampires in France won’t use it even if a shop with the same concept opened its doors. It takes too much time. I am... an actor myself, but it’s more like a hobby to me. 

To top it off, I heard their master adores vampires and despises humans... Different things pop up at different times and countries indeed. So it it very fascinating. 

However, it seems my time is almost up. I can’t keep up with this era anymore.”

About Family “My younger brother is quite famous- but I do not brag about it in public. My brother is a hero. But it will only hurt his reputation if the world finds out that his older brother is a vampire.

A vampire named Clotide turned me into a vampire. She was someone who I used to call my sister... She mastered ancient Greek and, her abilities were top-notch out of all the vampires I’ve seen. Her levels surpassed the ranking system. I am one of the oldest vampires, but even those vampires called her the “Ancient Vampire” or the “Ancient Goddess.”

An ancient code of vampires goes: “Thou shall not breed children or animal vampires.” If broken, the new life shall be ended. My sister broke the code and protected me. She protected and hid me. We traveled the entire world together...

I did not hold a grudge against her for making me into a vampire... Yet, she never forgave herself. She never did... until the end...”

About Japan “I was always interested in Japan. It all began when I watched “Madama Butterfly” at La Scala. Puccini is fascinating. I do not agree with the ending most of the time, but his music is fantastic. It makes you forget that fuzzy feeling you get.

I have never been to Asia in my life even when being alive for hundreds of years. I had nothing to do... after losing my sister. So, I first went to Beijing where “Turandot” took place. I stayed in Shanghai for awhile, and I said to myself, “Might as well visit Japan since that’s where Madama Butterfly took place...”

But it was disappointing since it was nothing like the Japan depicted at La Scala. I was expecting something more oriental but the country was busy constructing western-style buildings. I should’ve come 100 years earlier... 

But it ended up being a country that provokes my curiosity.”

About Vampires “Most vampires are terrified of me and stay away from my territory. Vampires rarely come near the Imperial Theater since they know that it’s my home. Excluding Code Zero and Yatsufusa... that is.

Those that hide in caves deep inside a mountain and come down for blood once in a while are the most dangerous vampires. Because most of their humanness has long been gone, and some of them have not spoken to anyone for hundreds of years. They forget how to speak. Not elegant at all. Plus, they are only a pain that calls for attention. So I sweep them up.

Vampires are not widely known because they are faithful to their principles to an extent. So boorish ones are even hated by their own kind... Why can’t we all live elegantly?”

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 20: Pharaoh’s Cool New Trick

Digging my way through quite a pile of commission work (funny how these things only come all at once or not at all), nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, was looking forward to some free time to catch up on my many little side projects when I was asked to take off for a weekend to do some cat-sitting to which I would NEVER say no to a cat, so like...Rip this blog I guess, we only update like once a week nowadays, but what do you do?

That’s right, play Puzzles and Dragons! The only phone game worth paying any attention to! Where they just released Pegasus on their Yugioh Collab and he looks pretty great!

So I’m just gonna take a second for some art appreciation, because the Puzzles and Dragons art team is just A++++ honestly, and yes, I did pull 13 times to get a Pegasus in my monster box, and yes, he is a completely insane team leader that is absolutely broken when paired with Yugi (the numbers are so satisfying) but...look at him. He looks so good!

(also I finally got Joey Wheeler, and so now my gatcha cravings are settled. And, don’t worry, I play this game so much that I was there during Christmas when they offered like a bajillion stones for free so I didn’t actually use real money on this.)

Now PAD also released a Weevil and Rex, and I don’t know why, and neither does the art team because they still look pretty good but in comparison to all the mains, they sure do looks like just some shorty guys in some casuals.

though I gotta admit, I want to learn how the hell this art team does swooshy effects, because man, that would make my art so much better to just have flames violently exploding out of all my art. Why am I not doing that more often? I have the technology.

anyway, I didn’t bother trying to pull them. Maybe I’ll accidentally pull them when they eventually release a Duke Devlin. (also, RIP to the fact that Roland will probably never be in Puzzles and Dragons but like...I can only send them so many polite letters covered in stickers pretending I’m some 10 year old child and writing in my broken Hiragana “Roland in PAD?”. Thems the breaks. (They also might not remember who Roland is.))

Shoutouts to the card that Weevil is holding that is censoring this nipple on the booby spider, PS.

So because this is not actually a Puzzles and Dragons blog, and it’s been ten eons since I regularly updated so I could remember episode to episode...where the hell were we?

That’s right, we’re on an island now. This show’s wonderful obsession with evil islands (and spoiler, this is one of the few Yugioh Islands that doesn’t explode at the end. Mostly because Kaiba isn’t here to do it or this place would be cinder)

(read more island stuff under the cut)

Anyway, after announcing “hey guys! Screw islands!” Yugi immediately collapses and without any warning.

Apparently the armor is a big ol parasite, which is something that Yugi is so used to at this point that he refuses to admit that this is a problem. Just normal Muto stuff, refusing to tell anyone that he has a serious illness going on underneath that giant mass of hair.

(the sailor moon vibes coming off this weird orb energy)

Sort of feels like a call back to S1 when Yugi was clearly possessed and everyone else was like “He acting weird to you?” except it’s S5 and everyone has learned to never trust Yugi when he says he’s fine and they are responding like he is about to die. Which is correct.

Outside of the cave falls this scroll that is...glowing, I guess. So they open it up and get a bunch of hieroglyphs that give them the “riddle of light” and like youknow...it’s riddle stuff.

They’re doing this riddle for “wings.” And it’s like...everyone’s monster here has a set of wings or an ability to fly. Every single monster except for I dunno, flaming swordsman? Hell, Yugi himself had two sets of wings when he fused with Dark Magician (which was weird, and I still don’t like to think about what technically was going on there.) But we have to go and get ourselves even more wings.

Weirdly, Joey turns to Tea and does something that in any other show would be completely normal. He was like “you want to stay here with Yugi, don’t you?” and it was the first time Joey has ever actually addressed the fact that Tea and Yugi are close. Uncharted territory. I was amazed at the amount of casual shipping that is happening here. It’s almost like a normal ass relationship.

So the boys decide to go off, and be boys and tackle this themselves. And they shouldn’t have, because Tea is smart for this group, and also has the only healing spell.

Like if you’re playing D+D you wouldn’t typically leave your only healer behind. Just saying.

Also like...Grandpa Muto went with them? I guess he’d have to since he’s the translator but also...kind of weird to leave your grandson dying in a cave, but maybe that’s just the Muto lifestyle.

Do not be fooled by my caps, no one has addressed the Bakura in the puzzle for 3 seasons. I’m starting to think this show will never address the Bakura in the puzzle. Which honestly, that would be hilarious if they made a big deal out of that plot point and then couldn’t use it in the end.

And speaking of plot points that kind of come out of nowhere and don’t make full sense with the continuity of the show--Joey has regressed back to the 4th grade.

Hey show? What?

So like if you love Joey, this is not the arc for you, because this arc he is reduced to a Himbo and nothing else. Straight up didn’t know what an echo is, but is very strong and pretty, I guess.

This inevitably happens with any TV show becuase different people make different parts, and I’ve brought up before that sometimes it feels like some teams only have loose post-it notes of what any character should be like at any given point (ESPECIALLY with Seto Kaiba’s timeline) but like...

...Personally I’m mot so fond of this interpretation of Joey, kind of ignores Joey’s best traits, and makes Tristan look way too smart in comparison (and like I always pinned Tristan to be the Himbo of the group, but maybe it’s because they give Tristan so little else to do?)

And like don’t get me wrong, Joey’s a dumbass a lot of the time and needs to get corrected by his pals...but...to the point he doesn’t know what an echo is? He’s a dumbass in a High School student sort of way, youknow?

Anyway, they get down to this big ravine, and they have to destroy this stone while the light passes over it. Kind of feels like a Breath of the Wild shrine quest, actually. In fact, I think Breath of the Wild recycled the shadow/sunlight pathing quest like 4 or 5 times. (I love Breath of the Wild to death but boy did they run out of ideas at the end there.)

They have to fight a glass monster and it’s kind of like...do you know the game Balls 3D? probably not, but it looked like a bunch of random shapes stuck together like a 90′s animation. They basically went to war with shapes.

Pure Himbo energy, has several pokemon, but punches for his pokemon instead of using them. A power move if I ever saw one.

Youknow that would make pokemon a lot more interesting if you could like throw out your pikachu, and then choose to just physically run up to your opponents Eevee and sock it in the jaw. Raise of hands--I know you all would love a version of pokemon like that. Let Ash Ketchum punch a Ratata.

Bro has informed me that Ash does do something like this in the anime. But I’m not talking about the anime, I’m talking about the video game. Give me the option to physically combat my rival. This is what I want, Pokemon.

They discover a way to break the monolith, and the show thinks we’re like actually 7 years old (because the show is Y7, although I forget because it deals with so many dark themes) so the show is going to hold on to this puzzle for a while...just to fill time. And it’s fine because we gotta switch over to Pharaoh anyway.

Yami has this dream again. He attempts to fuse with Dark magician to overcome the dream, but alas, he is still not strong enough.

Yugi wakes up in this murky cave while Tea is out washing out like...some rag? (he’s also still got a rag, so I guess multiple rags were required for how sweaty Yugi is.)

Yugi says “I feel like I’m a new man!” a lot in this episode, and every time he calls himself a man like he’s some sort of adult it’s very funny to me.

And then this plot lore dropped.

I mean I guess inevitably it had to happen...

But man, end of an era. It was freakin hilarious while it lasted: that Pharaoh refused to read ancient Egyptian because it’s like 2002 and he is a High Schooler living in Japan and he actually doesn’t WANT to resolve the mystery of the puzzle. Maybe the people who made this arc don’t know about how in S2 and S3, the fact Pharaoh couldn’t read Marik’s back tatt was like...a really big issue. He couldn’t read the God card, he couldn’t even read that massive tablet that read “HEY PHARAOH THIS IS LITERALLY YOU”. KAIBA had to tell him how to read the God card for him. Freakin Seto “Magic is a lie” Kaiba had to tell him how to use the God Card because Pharaoh couldn’t read it.

But like...Pharaoh finally gave in at some point after the world was devoured by the Leviathan, and before Kaiba finished building Kaibaland (which was already built in S1 but wtv)

The timelines on this show have always been a mishmash...but this one is just like...

...show are you trying to convince me that at any point in this show after season Zero, Pharaoh had any idea what he was doing? Did he sap that brain energy straight out of Joey Wheeler so he could do this?

Wow.

(secretly hoping he forgets how to read Egyptian after this arc is over and the show goes back to the other development team)

Pharaohs reasoning is that, if this is the riddle of the light.....

....then where is the riddle of darkness????????????

and when Tea was like “Pharaoh that is not even remotely logic. Omg it’s so bright outside, lets go back to gross cave.” and Pharaoh was like “Tea! You got it!” and she was like “What the hell are you talking about?”

Not gonna lie, I saw the Orichalcos green, and I got concerned.

Anyway, Yugi gets very frustrated and was like “ugh, lets go save em. They’re gonna die (again.)” and marches down there as if he didn’t pass out an hour ago.

And he fuses with Dark Magician again while everyone else (including his grandpa) was like “Yugi are you freakin kidding me? The suit freakin kills you omg! Tea you had one freakin job!”

And then we get the plot twist that...I mean it makes sense but it was choreographed in a confusing way.

And out of no where this guy shows up again:

So this mysterious man shows up and says “If you don’t succeed you have to live here forever” which...nice...that would probably save the world a lot of problems if Yami got locked away and took his OP puzzle with him. And then this man also says “if you do succeed you become VERY POWERFUL” and Yami was like. “...”

This whole episode had a theme to it, where Tristan and Joey were trying to prove that they could do things on their own and without Yugi’s help. And honestly...felt a little bit misplaced. Yami’s the same guy who murdered Yugi last season with the Orichalcos so like...

...I mean he is probably more reliable than Tristan who once died and turned into a robot monkey for 10ish episodes.

and then they flew into a glowing door.

Folks, this was wild to look at.

This is wild.

And at this point I closed Photoshop and thought I was done. But then I looked at my timeline on the video and was like...wait...there’s more?

and I’m really glad I kept watching because it went back to Alex, who...is apparently just still at those steps in this haunted ass Pyramid.

Now we’re watching Yugioh.

I forgot for a second when they turned Joey into a Himbo and made Pharaoh literate, but we’re back. I mean...

...look at the liner art on this adult man.

So...I posit the question...has Alex spent the last 2-3 episodes doing nothing but applying eyeliner to his face in the dark? Because he absolutely has. And honestly, the vibe of being in a spooky haunted pyramid with barely any light, just applying eyeliner down the edge of your face...that’s a Yugioh vibe, if I ever saw one.

This arc is wild. Anyway, next episode we do even more fetch quests and riddles? Just going to guess now that we probably will.

(and for those new here, this is a link so you can read them from the top. Which, since we’re in S5, means you got like...hours of Yugioh content to read through. Enjoy the rewards of my weird hobby.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[floxalopex]

I don't know if somebody already did this specifically. But yh the heck let's go.

WARNING 1: THIS IS NOT A POST FOR SENSITIVE PEOPLE AND/OR MINORS. (it contains gore and sexual themes and more).

And yes, SALT. Lots of salt.

WARNING 2: this has nothing to do with Christianity specifically. Atheism isn't hate towards your god(s) and/or its believers. Although there are many forms of atheism (some of which are so strong and violent they make me furious) think about mine as a general form of indifference. I hate the Church state, yes, but sorry I have that "at home" so please don't blame me. I don't like Abrahamic religions in general, but I've grown up with one.

I'm thankfully not a cult survivor, but I can understand some things.

WARNING 3: living in a very religious contest I have many beloved friends and relatives (starting with my mother) who believe in their god a lot. So if my words are too disrespectful tell me, I really don't want to hurt anybody.

Okay.

So.

I've seen many similarities between the cult Horde Prime put his clones in and your very average, very white, very western idea of Christianity.

1) Theophagy:

First of all, I really don't know much how this thing is lived in other Christian countries, but in mine they put a lot of emphasis on the Eucharist.

As far as I've seen I think it's pretty obvious how much in ancient cultures there's a very carnal and very grounded idea of the spirit. That can result in believing the soul to be the "psyche", so literally "the breath of life", the coordination of your sinapsis togheter (to me a very poetic definition of how our whole being ourselves is just us being our central nervous system) or it can lead to you eating the ashes of your granpa so you get his good qualities (something some cultures still do today). They said that the head of Orpheus was buried in the island of Lesbo and that's why its land was filled with amazing poets like Sappho. There's this very, sorry, brutal idea of the embodyment of the soul, the talents of a person, that even a piece of corpse is considered a magic thingy.

This is no different in the very old, very ancient, very rural Christian religion (at least in the most common version of it, we have many flavours of one truth apperentely).

When I was in High School we studied a lot Bacchus and the Baccanalia, because there are several commedies about it. My teacher, being very religious, was almost ashamed to admit that a lot of acts of those festivities (let's say that the most normal thing was for women to give their milk to animal cubs) were actually not very dissimilar in their rawness to certain habits of the religion.

So, what about Horde Prime? (me *yh, what about it, stupid ADHD?*). I have seen a post in the past explaining that yes, even though spacebats have the dentition of a frugivore bat and not haematophagus bat, the scene of Prime recharging in his throne with all those disgusting cables filled with green liquid referred as "the life force" of his clones...well, it's surely something.

Looks like a sort of sci-fi vampire thing. Which is very cool and I love this headcanon. So again I kept thinking...what is THAT amniotic fluid? I am a student, so correct me if I say something wrong.

Amniotic fluid is a combination of water 99%, proteins, glucids, fats and some salts (...it's even effective for electric conduction...the heck is that pool).

The most similar body fluid is plasma, so blood less cells. Even the serum, so plasma less proteins, is very similar.

Now, stated that Prime is a manipulative jerk, stated that I don't know much about aliens' physiology, stated that that fluid can come from blood potentially, in Church they say this:

*and Jesus said: "This is my body/blood which I offer in sacrifice for you"*

Apart from it being very creepy, there's this idea in the whole religion-thingy: if you are human you are a selfish monster, so monstrous you made our Lord and Savior die for your sins for how messed up you were.

So basically you don't become a sinner, you are concived as one. Humanity is sin itself, it can never lead to something good.

So are the clones. That's why Prime, in his benevolence, feeds them with himself. To make them pure, to protect them from the outside world. To make them remember who their strenght comes from.

If you don't want to read all of this just go for the Futurama soda episode, it's basically the same thing. Bleah.

2) Corpse feticism and more.

Again, don't know you guys, but here we are filled with mummies. I went in a place in Palermo and ...my gosh why did I do that.

We have everything here, hands, heads, feet, teeth so many of them, dead babies, dead virgins, dead popes, dead elders, all of them for half the prize, but only if you call today.

We are. Filled. With these atrocities. At least we don't touch them anymore.

Sometimes I wonder if, apart from the "hygene", people in Middle Ages used to die at the honorable age of 13 also because they kissed those... thingies there.

So, can we please talk about Horde Prime collection of "previous selves"?

This man has a whole room filled with corpses of himself. In the Vatican you can find corpses of dead popes as well, preserved and even dressed in a very good way. In Italy in general we have these, I remember a whole room in a town near my city filled with skeletons of "saints". Personally I find it very disturbing because you are basically not allowing that body to rest and serve its last biological purpose, especially if you consider that most of these "saints" were mentally impared young kids who were killed brutally and died as "martyrs". In ancient Greece the WORST thing you could do to a corpse was to leave it unburied, without dignity.

It's getting darker now.

I like both headcanons for Prime, that of a spoiled (maybe even sexist) royal of a lost culture who wanted to conquer the universe and that of him being a sort of ancient evil spirit, but I personally like to stick with the latter.

Imagine the old bodies of the clones Prime used for himself. Pushed to their limits. Clones dying young is horrific as well, but like these people were forced to go on. Not to die. Not to age as much as possible. And now that they are dead they can't even rest. They are a show off for anyone to see. Their brains preserved and their literal dead flesh still tormented for reading.

One may ask me, then what about corpses in formalin for medical use? Well, one thing is a donor or a dead fetus or a corpse nobody claims. That's the story of the skeleton in my university, a young male who didn't eat much. A very lonely man. Well at least now he is well loved and appreciated, ah if only he knew that.

The point is, we respect them. We are grateful for the informations they give us. Gosh, I know I'm creepy, but I even cuddled one bone once. We know they probably suffered. Like, search for HeLa cells. That lady has my highest respect.

But Prime? Those are. Vessels. Just that.

Anyways, apart for the "respect the deads thing" I found Hordak's behaviour in that room that of high distress. Like, ehm, any normal person? Search for "Convento Dei Cappuccini", that place I was talking about in Palermo. The fact that I heard kids cry and "MEMENTO MORI" everywhere.

Everyone and everything is afraid of death, I just accepted that fear because it's normal. That doesn't mean I want to be reminded of it every week, especially if I'm a 7 yo kid.

Honorable mentions: that horrible art collection.

3) Double standards

When I went to catechism my teacher used a very feather hand on males and an iron fist on us ladies. We weren't allowed to wear trousers, to play football, to raise our voice. We were forced to be very clean, to sit with our legs as closed as possible. I heard it was worse before, at least we could play volleyball and weren't forced to knit.

We were however "encouraged" to sing and bake stupid cakes for Sundays. Mind you, I'm very feminine, but one thing is liking ribbons one thing is being a slave.

The boys...well, they could literally do anything. They broke things, used petards, beat each other. They were NEVER reproached, the teachers would say "oh, they are just boys". Like once I was so engrossed. I remember I had to sit behind a guy with his butt almost uncovered (because the lower you put the helm of your trousers the cooler you were) while I had to stay still with my head high, chest out, belly in and legs closed for 2h. The problem was: I almost pitied him. I was like "poor thing he doesn't know how to behave properly". That's so crazy, I was piting a free soul while I had my hands handcuffed because I truly believed the bullshit they put into my mind.

Now, imagine how did Horde Prime's clones feel about Catra and Glimmer.

They can dress as they please. Eat non amniotic fluid. Catra can even go wherever she wants.

To me, they didn't feel envious. As they should! That's how far an indoctrination can go.

Take Yudi interaction with Catra, he believes everything he is saying.

But I think deep down he knows, they all know, the truth, juding by his bitter reaction after being possesed. He knows he is the slave here, not the free man. But he wants to believe the other way round.

I think that yes, of course Prime kept Glimmer and Catra (and Hordak) because he needed them to conquer Etheria. But that is also a good way to show to the poor clones of how lost people far away from Prime's light can be. Slaves of their bodly needs and slaves of their individuality.

4) Sexual abuse

Do I need to explain this? Plus all those sick touches Prime gives not only to Hordak, but to Glimmer, Catra and Adora as well?

I don't know much about other countries, again, but here the Church is a real cancer. If a priest gets accoused of raping children he just gets put into another Church far away, and generally he keeps being a pedo even there and the game goes on.

I wouldn't exately say that Prime is a pedophile but clones are pretty innocent and neotenic to me so...idk.

Of course, Prime is his own state and his own rules, so yh. Raping all day. That's why I don't like to ship him with anything rather than a 100 m fall. Not even with his clones, sorry I know its kinky maybe but he is a monster.

Also, the way the clones feel like...honored to be raped. That's so sad. Maybe he convinced them this is the only right way they could experience sex and intimacy. I really don't know.

One thing I'm sure of is that Christian religion likes to often put shame on some "impure" acts. That's the name. The most impure of all is masturbation. If you are a male ...mmm well it's okay dear, it's not your fault you are male and so a sex starved animal. But if you are a girl? Ihhh oh dare you bitch.

Mind you, I fall in the ace spectrum but I did too have puberty and needs, and these thoughts in my head made me only conflicted.

Last thing. More of an asking. And more irriverent, so please stay away if you don't want to read.

So basically I understood I was atheist at 5 yo, just because I read two different versions of the birth of the Universe, one in my science book and one in my Bible (MY Bible, I still have it, was a gift of my aunt) and preferred the science version. I still felt conflicted, like once during a religion lesson at School (well...I don't blame Mussolini much in this case, I mean the Vatican wasn't still recognizing country indipendence and we needed a compromise) the teacher told me to stop drawing dinosaurs with Adam and Eve because they never existed. I mean...yes that's anachronistic but still I felt very sad, dinosaurs were cooler than that story. I remember I even made an experiment "if I say I don't believe in god will I get thunderstruck?". It didn't happen so I was like "oh cool, science wins". But then CATECHISM ecc ecc. The fun fact is that they think atheists are those who don't study religion, while I was the most zelous of the class.

So.

I just wonder...my baby boy Hordak is a man of science, what were his thoughts after his separation from Prime. I mean of course he still believed, but also not as much after some time. Entrapta is a support system for him of course, but he accepts her affection quite easily on canon. Which is amazing, still... maybe he was already doubting his devotion?

[manicdragondreamgirl]

I haven’t had chemistry since like 2008, and I’m also an idiot who likes to make my friends upset, so I rated the periodic table in order to tilt my friends:

Hydrogen - this is like your childhood friend who has always been with you more or less and always will be down to get a drink and chill even tho you haven’t spoken in years. Solid bro imo 7.5/10

Helium - always down for a good time, even if probably created Alvin and the Chipmunks which in some places is considered a war crime. 4/10

Lithium - Gives me bitchy vibes and is flammable as fuck if I remember. Skinny bitch with an attitude 3/10

Beryllium - idk this sounds like a sailor moon villain lol for that it can have a 6/10

Boron - more like BORONG amirite ha ha wait no seriously I have no idea lol 5/10 clean neutral rating

Carbon - *screaming* 2/10 I will not be taking questions

Nitrogen - cool cool cool tight tight tight 9/10 Nitrogen just is the cool hot chick you wish you were

Oxygen - kid who takes up all the glory for the group project even tho you did all the work, 4/10 for natural charisma

Fluorine - lol what are you knockoff chlorine lmfao bitch 3/10 reminds me of the dentist

Neon - I can vibe with this boy for his contributions to signs which cause my eyes to scream 8/10 modernized Art Deco thanks you

Sodium - 10/10 this is me and I won’t be taking questions next element

Magnesium - magnesium is a close relative of magnificent and therefore I think the case is closed folks 9/10

Aluminum - 10/10 for providing a home to my Diet Coke addiction I’d be dead without you

Silicon - 6.9/10 :smirk:

Phosphorous - This has a very soundly name and it’s welcome to do that but idk, not a fan, seems like he’d be smelly, 2/10

Sulfur - 1/10 pretty sure that dog farts are purely comprised of this and as such if I was leaving negative ratings I would

Chlorine - 7.8/10 for being in pools so we could swim without brain eating amoeba in the south you a champ

Argon - he seems like a nerd jk this guy has a good color 9/10 for just being himself

Potassium - I hate bananas and this word gives me the physical sensation of biting into one but only by thinking of abstract letters and making them into something which we can nutrientise from bananas and to me that shit is bananas, b a n a n a s — 3/10 for making me sing hollaback girl thru adhd word association

Calcium - hm my brain went to mega milk so you get a 2/10 today bud I don’t make the rules

Scandium - pretty sure this is fake lol what’s next faxdium, e-Mailite and copinium? 5/10

Titanium - this song’s a banger and also is the only thing that lets me wear earrings 10/10

Vanadium - if your erection lasts for longer than like idk it’s supposed to then don’t take vanadium wait what do you mean it’s not an ED treatment 4/10

Chromium - decent bloke shame the browser eats all your memory 5/10

Manganese - if a weeb tries to tell me how to pronounce mayonnaise one more time... 1/10

Iron - excellent tool against the fey, in your blood, what a bro, 10/10 this bitch slaps

Cobalt - has a powerful energy; I respect him. 8/10

Nickel - if I had a nickel for every time someone made this joke lol 5/10 he’s doing his best

Copper - taste bad 3/10

Zinc - isn’t that the dude in the green tunic and white tights who saves premcess Lelda or something lol 7/10 those games are good

Gallium - seems like a prick 4/10

Germanium - sounds like a child pronouncing geraniums which are superior 3/10

Arsenic - bad vibes coach 1/10

Selenium - isn’t this just sailor moon lol 10/10 love this bitch

Bromine - farmine wherever you aremine - 9/10 I love a good bro

Krypton - he’s okay I guess 5/10

Rubidium - yet another Steven universe villain who will be redeemed I imagine 4/10 seems a bit dull

Strontium - I feel nothing when I see this lad’s name and that seems like a shame 1/10 I don’t like it

Yttrium - this is an atrium in Yharnam, or something 8/10 would love to sit in one and make contact with higher beings

Zirconium - oh wait THIS is the sailor moon villain from the dead moon circus! 9/10 I enjoyed that arc

Niobium - seems sassy, I like that in an element 7/10

Molybdenum - I hate this one, rancid. 1/10 for making me have flashbacks to difficult Ancient Greek vocabulary there is no fucking way that sound combination is anything but Beta and Delta borking and then Latin being like oh imma steal that

Technetium - 6/10 decent name but seems a bit forced

Ruthenium - 5/10 kindly old lady element I guess lol

Rhodium - 10/10 this ain’t my first rhodium babee this lad has good vibes what a name what a king

Palladium - 10/10 for making me think of paladins

Silver - 12/10 I’m breaking the rules for this silver is the best it is so cool and also it is the other best tool for dealing with supernatural creatures when iron has failed you highly suggest Even if I am extremely allergic to it going into my ears...wait hold on

Cadmium - 2/10 sounds like a total douche

Indium - 8/10, i just think it’s independent and neat

Tin - 10/10 good ear sounds when involving rain and roof shapes and automatically reminds me of Nora Jones’s come away with me album which is also 10/10

Antimony - 7/10 decent protagonist good name all around seems rad

Tellurium - tell ur mom what? That’s so early 2010s league of legends humor bro 2.5/10

Iodine - strikes fear in my soul from having it poured on my wounds but this is why I have more pain tolerance than god 5.3/10

Xenon - I think this is a declension of Xena warrior princess which is a win in my eyes, 8/10

Caesium - kind of has a cunty Latin name, 4.5/10

Barium - yeah boss, bury’im! 7.5/10 I love a good mobster gag

Lanthanum - A bit pretentious on the Tolkien spectrum sorry bud 3/10 sounds like you’d be the dickwad elf everyone hates

Cerium - 6.5/10 I like this one, gives me a clean vibe

Praseodymium - the fuck who sneezed all their alphabet soup onto the paperwork and called it an element Christ we can’t keep doing this 1.5/10

Neodymium - oh my god what did I just say 1/10

Promethium - thank Christ we’re back to greek 9/10 Prometheus was a Chad I could get behind

Samarium - 5/10 gives me boring wizard vibes

Europium - 4.5/10 don’t rename opium chrissake can’t take these nerds anywhere

Gadolinium - 5/10 it’s a starship knockoff but it’s trying to be bold with the G sound

Terbium - 2/10 I don’t vibe with this one

Dysprosium - sounds like an antidepressant that has a lot of shitty side effects 3/10

Holmium - sounds like someone anxious asking their beloved to hold them 8/10 I like hurt/comfort fics

Erbium - you can’t just describe something as herby you daft bastard 2/10

Thulium - sounds like a spell I like it 8.5/10

Ytterbium - macguffin in a shite sci-fi show that gets highly overrated because BBC produced it and superwholock stans emerge and go utterly feral 1/10

Lutetium - bards are an element I agree 10/10

Hafnium - sounds like a river (my dog) sound and has a cute vibe, I’d offer it head pats 7/10

Tantalum - noooo you can’t be sad yuor so sexe haha 6.9/10 tantalizing

Tungsten - 10/10 this is a lad with history

Rhenium - 5.5/10 it’s ok

Osmium - 4/10 I wasn’t a big wizard of oz fan

Iridium - 9/10 sounds like iridescent and that’s in my top 10 favorite words and concepts

Platinum - 10/10 best Pokémon game

Gold - 7.9/10 all that glitters and all but it’s still pretty on some people, silver is better tho

Mercury - yikes 8/10 so it doesn’t kill me

Thallium - sounds like the brother character in a ps4 exclusive western rpg that oddly falls under the radar in terms of reviews and gets shafted at awards for no reason 7/10 I’ll support you tho

Lead - 2/10 that’s gonna be a no from me dawg pretty sure I still have lead in my hands from stabbing myself with my mechanical pencils

Bismuth - 6/10 sounds good in mouth and reminds me of biscuits for some reason, I’ll take it

Polonium - to thine own self be true so stop trying to act like the arts don’t influence science jk pretty sure this is named for Poland but hey that’s where we get the Witcher so you get a pass 6/10

Astatine - 1/10 I don’t even know what you are

Radon - 7/10 this motherfucker knows his shit and how to party, rad is right

Francium - I bring you francium...and I bring you myrdurdium... 7/10 for a good vine

Radium - killed the video star probably 9/10 I can get behind her

Actinium - as opposed to passtinium I prefer actinium in the voice of writing 8/10

Thorium - overrated Norse god 5/10 because lightning is still cool

Protactinum - sounds like some pretentious condom brand 4/10 wouldn’t do it with a dude who bought these

Uranium - I always thought she was a hot sailor scout 10/10

Neptunium - same for her I knew they weren’t cousins you couldn’t lie to me 4kids 10/10

Plutonium - sounds like a macguffin unfortunately 5/10

Americium - I read this with a pivotal letter missing and nearly died, 7/10 for the laugh

Curium - 10/10 gives me Curie vibes and also reminds me of curiosity which reminds me of—[old yellered before the association could set in]

Berkelium - what I shout when I want Burke (fam dog) to slaughter innocents and raze territories 2/10 world was not meant to know his commands

Californium - 1/10 California is cool with geography but probs could stand to chill with the ego sorry to my friends in Cali

Einsteinium - 6/10 it’s alright but we’re really running out of ideas huh

Fermium - 3/10 this one is porny

Mendelevium - 1/10 my brain didn’t like parsing this and I stand by my earlier statement of running out of good names

Nobelium - 0/10 you didn’t name any noble gases this cowards this gas can’t be a noble oh wait it’s NOBEL I take it back 5/10 seems an alright chap

Lawrencium - fear the old blood my sorry dead hunter’s ass I’ll never get back my life from the hours I spent trying to beat this lava shitting bastard 2/10 for being a boss who eats Taco Bell specifically before being challenged to have fresh lava shit with which to punish you for having the audacity to exist in his space

Rutherfordium - my god what a snob 4.2/10 I respect him a little but only because he sounds like a right lad

Dubnium - DROP THE BASS 10/10

Seoborgium - not sure about this one but it can have a 7/10

Bohrium - as an American English speaker this sound combination makes my pathetic throat become a black hole as I try to properly create the sound of it 10/10 I love when my body becomes a massive void in the universe

Hassium - lazy 2/10

Elements 109-118 can go fuck themselves I hate them all, collective 6.66/10 for their general demonic vibe

[raleighcarrera]

daylight

open heart | bryce lahela x mc (casey valentine)

gratuitous ‘there’s only one bed’ bed-sharing for @choicesarehard

~5.8k words | M (18+)

casey barely batted an eyelash at the front desk assistant in the wake of her words, seemingly completely uncaring that their reservation had gotten messed up, somehow, leaving them with only one room booked instead of two. “whatever,” she shrugged, taking one of the proffered key cards and heading for the elevator. 

bryce leaned in over the front desk, trying not to panic. “are you sure that’s all you have? can you -- can you check again?”

the receptionist looked pointedly at the line forming behind him. “sir, i’m quite positive. we’re all booked this weekend for the conference.”

“great,” he mumbled under his breath, sighing as he took the other key card and walked off after casey. okay, so they had to share a room. that was fine. that was hardly a big deal. what was the worst that could happen? they’d already seen each other changing at work plenty of times. 

besides, the image of her bare shoulders was practically burned into his brain, at this point. he didn’t need a weekend sleepover to fixate on it.

casey was still waiting for the elevator when he strolled over to her corner of the lobby. “sorry,” he said, just as the doors parted for them to step inside, “i don’t know what happened. i guess they double-booked us.”

“it’s not a big deal,” casey answered easily, “as long as you don’t snore. do you snore?”

bryce laughed. he loved how she always effortlessly lightened the mood. “definitely not. how do i know you don’t snore? maybe i should check with trinh.”

“i don’t snore! come on, you know i’m a perfect angel.”

“right.” he bumped his shoulder into hers playfully as they walked down the hallway towards their room. once they found the door that was theirs, casey tapped her key card and let them inside.

she stopped short in the entranceway, so that he bumped right into her. “oh.”

her voice sounded funny. “what?” bryce leaned over to peer around her shoulder, trying to see what she was looking at.

oh was right. 

there was only one bed.

it stared conspicuously back at them both as they stood there, staring at it.

“uhhhhh...” bryce started awkwardly, clearing his throat, “it’s cool, i’ll take the floor.” 

his words jolted casey to movement, and she stepped the rest of the way inside the room, setting her bag down on the bed. “you don’t have to do that.”

bryce looked at her curiously. “what?”

casey shrugged that same way she had in he lobby -- like none of this mattered to her in the slightest. “we can just share. it’s a king sized bed. it’s huge.”

her casual attitude made him wonder if maybe he was being weird. maybe casey didn’t think this was as big a deal as he did -- though that felt more than a little disheartening. maybe she didn’t think it was a big deal because she didn’t feel the way he felt about her. maybe the thought of sleeping next to him in the same bed didn’t make her pulse race, like it did to him. 

...maybe he was overthinking things.

“okay,” he said finally, trying to sound as casual as she did. he shot her a grin before strolling to the window and pulling the curtains open. it was a beautiful, sunny day in san diego, and as he looked out over their view, bryce spared a thought for their poor friends, stuck at home in boston while he and casey were here, representing the hospital. 

she stepped up beside him, seemingly reading his mind. “man, those guys at home are suck-ers. i can’t believe none of them wanted to come to this.”

“i know, right?” he leaned his forearm against the window, looking out at the hotel’s pool, down below them. “they don’t know what they’re missing. a couple hours of lectures, and then we’ll have our run of this place. it’s going to be awesome.”

“it’s such a nice day,” casey sighed wistfully, her gaze following his down to the pool. “i wish we had time for a swim.”

he shrugged. “we’ll make time. there has to be something we can cut out of early.”

“i like where you’re head’s at.” she leaned over and nudged her shoulder against his. “i’m gonna go get changed, then we can hit the conference.”

“sounds good.” casey disappeared into the bathroom with her bag, and he looked down at what he was wearing, figuring he should probably do the same. 

he was still trying to decide between shirts when casey reemerged. bryce looked over his shoulder at her with a smile. “oh, so it’s like that. i guess i should dress up, too, huh?”

casey seemed -- startled. “what?” her eyes darted around the room. “i guess? i just thought... since we’re here on behalf of the hospital... you know. um, you should get dressed.”

“well, i’m definitely going to get dressed in something. i don’t think the rest of the conference could handle me otherwise.” he grinned at her as he finally reached for a shirt and shrugged it on. casey waited until all his buttons were done up before she looked at him again. her cheeks were suspiciously pink. maybe it was too warm in the room for her. “how’s this?”

she exhaled heavily. “it’s great, we should go.” she turned abruptly and started for the door.

huh. that was weird. bryce followed behind her, jogging to catch up to her at the elevator. “so, what’s the game plan? there’s a presentation i want to get to about some new advancements in surgery at twelve.”

casey’s eyes scanned the show floor. “i think i’ll be okay for a little bit. come find me afterwards?”

“for sure.” 

the morning flew by in a blur. when he’d agreed to attend the conference, it’d been mostly because of the free trip to somewhere warm -- that, and casey had already volunteered, and he was desperate for some time alone with her, away from the hospital. but the material that was being presented proved to be more interesting than he’d anticipated, and bryce welcomed the opportunity to zone out and think only about work for a few hours, giving himself free reign to geek out completely over new surgical technology.

he forgot to look for her until late in the afternoon, and finally found her in what looked like a hostage situation with an ancient pharma rep. her eyes were seemingly begging for a rescue -- especially when she noticed him, and they went wide with a silent plea.

bryce pursed his lips to suppress a smile. “hey, dr. valentine!” he greeted, over-enthusiastic as he approached. “long time, no see. what’ve you been up to? we absolutely have to catch up.” he offered the man that was with her his most charming smile. 

“of course,” casey nodded. he rested a hand on the small of her back to turn her away, and she went gratefully, pivoting towards the other direction. “if you’ll excuse me.”

he laughed as they hurried away, ducking his head on a grin when casey reached down, grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard. “thank you,” she sighed emphatically, “i thought i’d never be able to get out of that. you’re my hero.”

“i try. sorry i didn’t come find you sooner, i got wrapped up in the sickest demo.”

“it’s fine -- i guess i should’ve expected you’d be easily distracted by something shiny.”

“hey,” he laughed, laying a hand over his heart, “your words hurt, you know.”

“sorry.” the smile casey shot him would’ve eased any sting, even if he wasn’t just joking with her. god, she was so pretty. “can we go swimming now? i think i’m tapped on professional talk.”

“you and me both.” he glanced around before they ducked out of the room, but couldn’t spot a single familiar face in the crowd. there wasn’t anyone here who knew them, or anyone who was looking for them. for once, they were... pretty much invisible.

as if she was reading his mind, casey said, “it’s kind of nice being anonymous, right? no one here is looking at me like i’m casey valentine, boston’s biggest medical disaster.” 

“no one at edenbrook is looking at you that way, either, you know,” he felt compelled to remind her, “you were cleared by the board. as far as everyone’s concerned, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“i don’t think that’s true as far as everyone’s concerned.” he frowned at her, but casey didn’t clarify, staring thoughtfully out of the glass walls of the elevator as it climbed back to the floor of their room. after a moment, she shook her head. “i’m glad it’s you here with me. there’s no one else i’d rather be anonymous with.”

“hard same,” he said, forcefully ignoring the way his heart leapt into his throat. she was just being nice. she had to be. “now get changed so we can make that swim-up bar wish they never opened.”

by now he was pretty practiced in the art of absolutely not staring at her when she was dressed in anything less than her scrubs and coat, so it didn’t take much for him to tactfully avert his eyes when casey stepped out in her bikini. 

most of the hotel occupants were still inside -- the pool was pretty much empty when they arrived. the bartenders almost looked bored. bryce smirked as they dropped their stuff on a couple of chairs and made their way over. that was about to change.

casey ordered them each a shot and then something that he was sure by the name alone contained equal parts of juice and alcohol -- the formula that never failed to give him a wicked hangover. but he didn’t complain, and only shook his head when the bartender placed two hollowed out pineapples with big, fancy drink umbrellas in front of them.

she ignored the juice-nightmare and picked up her shot glass. “to our second year,” she declared, knocking it against his. tequila splashed out over his thumb.

“to our second year,” bryce echoed, lifting the glass to his lips and knocking back the shot. he grimaced as he sunk his teeth into the lime, sucking the rest of the tequila off his fingers where casey had spilled it. “god, those are vile.”

casey smacked her lips together with a shrug. “i like them. want another one?”

bryce laughed. “slow down. by the time you finish this thing, you’re going to be trashed. we’ll see about another shot then.”

“suit yourself.” she shrugged, leaning in over the pineapple and drinking deeply from the straw. “okay, you have to try this. it’s soooooo good.”

predictably, it was cloyingly sweet -- so much so, that he dangerously couldn’t even taste whatever alcohol it was full of. “it tastes like i’m going to have to carry you back to the room later.”

casey’s head tipped back with a laugh. the sight of her smile put an unstoppable grin on his face. he wondered if making her laugh would ever stop feeling like a major victory.

they left the bar and stepped out into the sun with their drinks. casey sat down on the side of the pool, by the steps, and dangled her legs in the water. his eyes were drawn to the way they stretched out in front of her, and he shook his head as he instead waded down the steps and into the shallow end of the pool, up to his waist. it’d probably do him some good to cool off.

“what d’you feel like doing tonight?” she asked, kicking her feet back and forth. 

“hmmm. if you’re not passed out by 6:30, i guess i’ll buy you dinner.” 

she scoffed indignantly, kicking her foot up so water splashed him in the chest. “hey! i’m not going to pass out. it’s just a few drinks.”

“uh huh.” his voice was flat with disbelief. “out in the sun. on an empty stomach. and you’re, you know -- tiny.”

“i am not.” she kicked both feet this time, splashing him harder. reflexively, bryce’s hand swung out and grabbed her ankle.

“cut it out,” he laughed, “or i’ll dunk you.”

“you wouldn’t dare.” 

she seemed very sure of herself. bryce tugged on her leg, just enough to make her slip forward an inch on the side of the pool. he was gratified by the way casey immediately shrieked, twisting in his hold as she tried to wiggle away.

“don’t!”

“relax,” he laughed, drumming his fingers on the bare skin of her calf before reluctantly letting her go, dropping casey’s leg back into the water, “i’ll wait until you finish your drink.”

the only problem was that by the time she finished her drink, casey was starting to get giggly, touchy and loud when she slipped into the water with him and started splashing. she always seemed to have the ability to make him forget absolutely everything on his mind in favor of having fun, and today was no exception. he felt half-drunk just from laughing with her, letting her play at wrestling him in the water until the sun set and they started to get cold.

“c’mon, michael phelps,” he said finally, his gaze fond and affectionate as it lingered on the line of her chattering jaw, “let’s get you upstairs.”

casey leaned on him for support as they made their way back to the room, mumbling sleepily under his arm. bryce made sure to nod along dutifully to everything she said, humming his agreement to keep her placated. 

“why don’t you take the first shower? i’ll order room service.”

casey pouted at him as he finally let her go in the doorway to the bathroom. “you’re not coming with me?”

his laugh was high-pitched, caught off guard. “into the shower?”

she nodded. “i need help.” 

well... maybe he could just get her situated. he moved further into the bathroom to turn the shower on, reaching for casey’s elbow to help guide her gently into the tub. instantly, she started wrestling with her bikini top, tugging at the straps.

he backed away as quickly as he possibly could. “okay, looks like you’re all set. i’ll be right out here, just call if you need anything.” 

the words were exhaled in a rush, and he pulled the door shut behind him with finality before she could argue. jesus.

somehow, she was even more adorable when she came out of the shower. she was wearing one of the fluffy hotel robes and had her hair in a towel; casey was sunburned across her nose and cheeks. she bounced down onto the bed with a big grin. her eyes lit up when she saw all the food he’d ordered. “oooooh, pancakes!”

this was going to be the longest night of his life. he swallowed, heading to the shower. “yep -- i’ll be right back.”

bryce locked the door, trying not to think about the fact that she’d just been in here, naked -- but it was hard to ignore when he almost slipped on her wet bikini and broke his neck. he glared at his reflection in the half-fogged mirror. get a grip. now.

the shower helped clear his head somewhat. he stayed under the spray for longer than he probably should have, until the water ran cold. the only thing that forced him out was the thought of whatever food casey had left, and eventually, he couldn’t ignore his growling stomach any longer. tucking one of the towels around his waist, he stepped out of the bathroom, wary of the quiet that greeted him.

casey had gotten changed into her pajamas while he was showering, and her hair was out of the towel, now, loose and long and damp across her pillow. empty plates sat around her on the bed. she smiled softly at him when he walked towards his bag to grab something to wear. “i left you the burger.”

“thanks.” it was dark outside, now, so the glow from the tv was the only thing illuminating her. she looked almost unfairly beautiful, and, not for the first time, he wondered how he was supposed to sleep next to her tonight and keep his hands to himself like a good friend would. this sucked.

he ducked back into the bathroom to change, forcing himself not to think too much about it. he could act normal around her -- he’d been getting pretty good at it, actually, back in boston. he doubted she had a clue about the way he really felt -- he’d been careful to keep it that way.

bryce’s pep-talk motivated him enough to make it through his burger, only sneaking glances her way. casey had her eyes on the tv, half-lidded, absently scrolling through her phone on the commercials. she was curled up under the covers, closer to the center of the bed than he thought she’d be. she was dangerously close to being on his side of the mattress.

bryce took his time clearing away everything from their room service order, brushing his teeth, making sure everything was back in his bag -- anything to delay getting in bed. finally, there wasn’t any more avoiding it. he pulled back the sheets on the empty side of the mattress and slipped in beside her.

she rolled onto her side and grinned at him. “hi.”

“hey,” he laughed, trying not to seem as nervous as he felt. “fancy meeting you here.”

casey giggled, the sound morphing into a wide yawn halfway through. “that sun really kicked my ass,” she murmured, rubbing her cheek against the pillow. fuck, it was so cute.

“you’re a lightweight,” he ribbed gently, his eyes lingering on the easy slant of her smile. “you’d never make it out in hawaii.”

her brow furrowed, and she frowned at him. “yes i would,” she argued, sunburned and exhausted, drunk from one pineapple cocktail. a rush of affection for her made the shake of his head fond.

“you should get some sleep. we have a long day of lectures tomorrow.”

she sighed, pushing nearer to the center of the bed. her cheek was resting on the very edge of her pillow, right where it met his. before bryce could stop himself, he rolled in closer, too, until they were just a few inches apart. under the sheets, her hand reached out and lightly rested on his arm.

“bryce...” casey started, her voice hushed -- almost thoughtful. up close, her eyes were very wide and very, very pretty. she leaned in, until he could count every single one of her eyelashes. 

unwillingly, his gaze dropped to her lips. before he could stop her, casey closed the last breath of distance between them and kissed him.

fireworks exploded behind his eyelids. bryce shifted on the sheets, leaning into her touch. the hand she had on his arm squeezed encouragingly, and then casey twisted her fingers in the sleeve of his shirt and leaned forward to kiss him harder. for a moment, he let himself give in, greedily swallowing the happy sigh she exhaled into his mouth, kissing her back just as eagerly as she was kissing him. 

god, he’d been wanting this. it felt undeniably amazing, like flying -- like excelling in surgery, like graduating med school, like winning at anything mundane that soothed his competitive streak nonetheless. his hand reached up to tangle in her hair as he took advantage of her parted lips, slipping his knee between her legs.

then, alarm bells started ringing off in the back of his mind, pushing through the fog her lips had brought with them. what was he doing?

bryce reached up and pushed her away, breathing hard. casey’s eyes flew open and she stared at him in surprise, her cheeks flushed beneath her sunburn. “what’s wrong?”

his stomach twisted. “you’re drunk.” here she was -- everything he’d ever wanted, presented to him in a way he couldn’t accept. fuck.

“i’m not,” she insisted, but her eyes were glassy. he’d spent enough time with drunk casey to recognize her when he saw her. 

“you are,” bryce repeated gently, “so we can’t --”

“look, if you don’t want to --”

she was starting to sound annoyed. he sighed. “i do want to. more than anything, but... not like this, okay? i want you to -- know what you’re doing, if we ever...” 

he trailed off, looking away. he’d imagined it a thousand times, in a million different scenarios. he’d given it more thought than he probably should have -- more thought than a good friend of hers would. he’d always assumed that maybe it would happen after a night out where she was still clearheaded enough to be sure, maybe on a weekend they weren’t working -- maybe if he ever bit the bullet and asked her to dinner, maybe after that...

but not like this. 

“i know what i’m doing, bryce.” she was glaring at him. in none of the scenarios he’d imagined was she looking at him like that. “but since you obviously don’t want to, i’ll just go to bed.”

his jaw clenched as he bit back another sigh, and he scrubbed his hand down the front of his face with frustration. “casey --”

she abruptly turned around to face the wall, rolling away from him, back onto her side of the bed. “goodnight, bryce.”

right. like he could sleep now. 

eventually he managed, somehow, though when his alarm went off he felt like he’d barely slept a wink, groggy and disoriented and annoyed.

he stared at the ceiling as it all slowly came back to him, worsening his headache. he knew without turning his head that casey was still in bed with him, and he privately let himself feel a twinge of irritation at her, for getting so mad at him last night. 

it seemed ridiculous that she could ever think he wouldn’t want to kiss her. casey was smarter than that -- she should have known how he felt. 

although... he hadn’t exactly told her. bryce’s eyes narrowed up at the ceiling, his annoyance giving way to determination. before he could talk himself out of it, like he had so many other times before in the interest of preserving their friendship, he turned towards the center of the bed. bryce reached out and shook casey’s shoulder until she opened her eyes.

“what? i’m up, what?”

“are you sober?”

“huh? i’m hungover, if that’s what you’re asking --” 

he closed the distance between them, cutting her off with a kiss. casey stilled against him, and for a moment he felt delirious with panic, the sound of his heartbeat abnormally loud in his ears. fuck. fuck. fuck. you’re an idiot. you fucked it all up. 

of course she’d only kissed him last night because she’d been drunk. now things were going to be weird -- and they were friends, and he loved hanging out with her -- and everyone else was going to know things were weird --

casey shifted against the sheets, pressing her lips more firmly to his. she started to kiss him back, sighing sweetly into his mouth. her hands rested gently on his shoulders and she pulled him closer, lining up her body against his.

somehow this felt even more panic-inducing, ratcheting his pulse up further. he’d kissed a lot of girls before, but none of them had ever made him feel like this.

his hand laid hesitantly on her waist, his touch carefully light. but he kept kissing her back, slowly moving his lips against hers. after a moment, she reached down and pushed his hand up under her top confidently, until his palm brushed against the bare skin of her stomach.

bryce jerked forward in surprise, but recovered easily enough, deciding to roll with the punches. his hand moved around to her back, pushing her shirt up, and he nudged her in closer until she shifted to throw a leg over his waist; casey’s fingers ran through his hair, pulling him effortlessly out of his own head. 

he let her roll on top of him, welcoming her happily into his lap. she leaned down until their chests were pressed together, kissing him more forcefully -- more like the way he’d always imagined she’d kiss, headstrong like she did everything else.

she gasped against his lips when his fingertips dragged up her spine, and that was what finally made him break apart from her. he opened his eyes to meet hers. “are you okay?”

“yeah,” she confirmed. her eyes swept his face like she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. “are you sure you want to --”

he leaned in and cut her off with another kiss, the movement of his lips softer this time to match how tender he felt towards her. she swatted playfully at his shoulder.

“stop doing that.”

“sorry,” he said unapologetically, smiling. “yeah, of course i’m sure. i’ve wanted to do this for -- pretty much forever. i just wanted to be sure that you were sure. and last night...”

“don’t.” casey shook her head. she bit her lip on a smile. “i get it. and i appreciate it. i didn’t mean to get pissed at you. it just felt like... you were turning me down.”

“do you think i’m that stupid? i know you give me a lot of shit for my pretty face, but there is actually a brain up here.” bryce grinned unabashedly up at her, gratified by the way she laughed. 

“i mean -- i guess i kind of always thought maybe... you liked me, but... i don’t know! sometimes it seemed you were like that with everyone, or you were just being friendly...” her voice trailed off, and she shrugged. 

he shook his head. “it wasn’t for everyone. it was just for you.”

the sound she made had him feeling warm all over. casey ducked her head, her hair obscuring the expression on her face -- which just wouldn’t do, so he lifted his hand to brush her hair behind her ear, instead, cupping her cheek until she met his eyes.

casey trailed her fingers over the fabric of his t-shirt, making him shiver. “if we don’t start getting ready, we’re going to be late.”

he knew she was right. still... “i don’t care.”

she huffed out a laugh, drawing circles over his chest with the tip of her index finger. “i care. everyone’s going to grill us on what we learned when we get back on monday. we’ll need something to tell them.”

“we can make it up,” he suggested desperately, reaching for her hips to keep her exactly where she was. “check out the online highlights on our flight back. there has to be a summary somewhere.”

“bryce,” she chided, but it looked like she was wavering. he craned his head to press a kiss to the underside of her jaw, slowly moving down her neck. casey sighed breathlessly, tilting her head to the side. “bryce.”

“what?” his mouth moved slowly over her skin, down towards her collarbone. “i’m not doing anything.”

“right,” she sighed, obviously considering his suggestion. she was quiet for a moment, as his lips trailed dangerously low toward the neckline of her tank top, and then she pushed his head away. “c’mon. we’ll pick this back up later.”

he squeezed her hips one last time before she slipped away. “promise?”

casey reached for one of the pillows beside him and whacked him with it before she jumped off the bed. “promise, now hurry up! we’re going to be late.” 

they weren’t. they made it into the first lecture with about ninety seconds to spare, slipping into the back of the audience and taking the last two seats together. 

he tried his best to focus on whatever the expert was saying, but it wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped when casey’s promise kept coming back to him. we’ll pick this back up later.

bryce spent most of the day fidgeting restlessly, bouncing his leg, tapping his fingers on his knee, trying to find excuses to touch casey whenever possible. it was almost impossible to think about anything else, other than what she might’ve meant by this and when they could get to later. 

his impatience only got worse when a group of other residents their age invited them to a happy hour and casey grinned widely, like she had no other plans or no where else to be. “sure, sounds fun! we’ll see you over there.”

as he tugged her towards the elevator, she looked at him in confusion. “why are we going upstairs? do you want to change or something?”

“or something,” he mumbled, glancing pointedly at the other people waiting for the elevator and then back to her, his gaze heavy with intent.

he could see the moment she caught on, realization dawning across her expression. casey ducked her head on a wide grin as the elevator climbed to their floor.

as soon as the doors opened, bryce grabbed her wrist and pulled her through the crowd. “excuse us.”

casey laughed as she stumbled out after her. they both rushed down the hallway to the door of their room, and bryce tapped his key card as quickly as he possibly could, turning around once the door was open to pull casey inside.

she bounced up on her toes to kiss him, throwing her arms around his neck. his hands settled at the small of her back and lifted her up until she was close enough that he could kiss her hard, groaning against her lips. 

the door swung shut behind them with a bang. bryce ignored it, walking them both over to the bed. he laid casey down gently onto her back and crawled over her without separating their lips, as close as he could get. 

casey was tugging insistently at the collar of his shirt. he huffed a laugh against her lips, breaking away to move his mouth down the side of her neck he hadn’t yet explored. “impatient?”

“you have no idea,” she mumbled, seemingly focusing all her attention on undoing the buttons of his shirt. “it feels like i’ve been thinking about this for forever.”

“you?” he demanded, laughing incredulously. “please. if you could spend even one minute inside my head...” 

his voice trailed off meaningfully. casey’s head tipped back against the mattress, shooting him a heart-stopping grin. “oh, yeah?”

“yes.” he had no idea how he could ever begin to articulate the way he felt to her -- how much he liked her, how smart, beautiful, cool and passionate he thought she was -- how much time he spent thinking about her exactly like this and a number of other ways, too, asleep in his arms and waking up to kiss him good morning and sneaking off in the hospital with him to hook up somewhere quiet...

so he’d have to show her.

in the morning, he woke up much the same way as the day before -- disoriented, a little grumpy, a little confused -- but also wholly different.

casey was asleep soundly in his arms, her back against his chest. his face was buried in the space between her neck and shoulder, her hair tickling his face and filling his nose with the scent of hotel shampoo. 

she was naked.

his life rocked.

bryce hid his smile in her hair and let himself fall back asleep. when he woke again, it was because casey’s alarm was going off, reminding them they had to leave for the airport, soon.

she groaned. he pressed a kiss to the back of her neck, nuzzling her bare skin. “morning, you.”

“morning.” casey sighed, turning over in his arms to face him. “do we really have to go?”

he pressed the briefest kiss to her lips. it was over too quickly. “yeah. but if we hurry -- we can probably fit in a shower first.”

“mmmm.” casey kissed him again, running her hands over his bare shoulders. “you mean... if we saved time and showered together, right?”

“duh.”

he didn’t start getting nervous until they were actually on the plane. casey kept him pretty distracted up until then -- pulling him into the shower, joking with him through security, buying him breakfast once they made it to their gate. he let himself get caught up in how right it felt to hold her hand and kiss her whenever he wanted and be on the receiving end of those sweet, private smiles she kept sending his way, and forgot to panic about what would happen once they were back in boston until they’d left the ground.

he couldn’t help but to think about it now, though. a glance at casey confirmed that it hardly seemed like anything was on her mind at all -- she was eating a chocolate bar slowly, breaking it off, square by square. there was a celebrity tabloid in her lap that she hadn’t opened yet.

bryce gently nudged his shoulder into hers. “hey.”

“hey,” she returned easily, looking up at him with a smile. “something on your mind?”

he blinked. “actually -- yeah.”

casey laughed. “i could hear you thinking. it sounded painful.”

there she was again, making him laugh -- distracting him from his own wild thoughts, getting him out of his head and lightening some of the weight on his shoulders. “shut up.”

“seriously, what is it? you can tell me.”

he drew in a breath. “it’s just -- i guess i’m just thinking about what’s going to happen... when we get home. with us.”

“oh.” she seemed to consider it for the first time. “well -- i guess it’ll probably take everyone awhile to stop making fun of us. but we don’t work together much, so i can’t imagine we’d have to tell anyone at edenbrook. uh, why are you looking at me like that?”

he was stunned. “i just -- i guess i didn’t expect you to say that. i’m obviously -- thrilled, don’t get me wrong, but... are you sure you don’t want some time to think about it first?”

casey shrugged. bryce watched as she finished her chocolate bar and dusted off her hands. without hesitating, she reached over and grabbed his hand, linking their fingers together. “i don’t need to,” she answered simply. “i know this is what i want. do you?”

he nodded, letting the awe and admiration he felt for her in that moment show plainly on his face. “yes,” he answered, “this is -- perfect. even better than i’d imagined.”

“good.” she leaned her head on his shoulder, looking out the window. bryce followed her gaze, watching the clouds as they passed them by. “‘cause you’re gonna have to get used to it. dating me is going to be an experience.”

he laughed, squeezing her hand again before slumping down in his seat, finally able to relax. “you and me both, babe.”