#none of her family has a name because I am too sleepy to research what they should be LOOOL… oops.

[candycryptids]

Well, now I have to pop in and ask YOU a question. Which is hard because looking over all your characters pages, I'm sobbing on the fucking floor... I love them all so much????

But! I'd really like to know what sparked Chuusday's interest in technology and how did she get so good with it?! ♡

N..nobodies ever asked that before 🫣💦 So I’ll hammer some of the details out for you RIGHT MEOW! A 2sday-Wednesday special :3

Actually we’re gonna cover a lot of ground I haven’t talked about openly before so settle in

Chuu’s fascination with Machines n the like started REAL early, early when she was small. She wanted to…. Disassemble things. Crates, shelves, alchemist tools of the trade, Mammets… carts… she wanted to lay it all out. See how it fit together. And then MAYBE put it all back together again. And she lived on an island, in a port town, with her mom (an actual Viera) who was continuously unwell and kept getting worse every time she got better and sick again, and the sunseeker chirurgeon who was trying to treat her condition, and his partner, another sunseeker who if I recall correctly, was an alchemist. So. The house she was staying in had no shortage of things a Viera with curious + grabbing destructive hands shouldn’t be grabbing.

It takes coaxing to get her to start putting stuff back together again all the time, and by that point at least she’d stopped trying to pry nails out of things (wooden objects were a pain, she found, to take apart, and piece back together, the wood sometimes was old and slightly rotted, the nails came out unkindly, the shapes were often simple.)… things with screws and bolts were… fun. Her dads (in her mind, they were her dads, but out loud, it was sir, and mister) kept trying to send her out on Missions (chores; your mom isn’t doing well, we don’t want you to have to keep hanging around the house while her every breath rattles and her every cough is harsh and wet. Chuu knew. She was 14. It wasn’t hard to figure out…) for, small stuff. Fetch quests; go pick up ingredients for dinner, or hunt down this one small herb on the cliff side above town for this tincture I’m trying to make to help alleviate the cough symptoms. I have enough for now but having more to replenish what I’m using isn’t bad.. low stakes, yknow.

And when her Mom finally passed from her illness the pair kept Chuu on (Chuu herself will not comment on the her mom and the dads’ relationship, but I CAN and I’ll tell you those fuckers were poly. They might never have slapped a label on it but the love was there. It didn’t start that way, but it certainly was that way by the end.)

This ended up wildly off track didnt it. (Let me get it back on track, and in so doing gracefully gloss over the chunk of history I’m unclear on 💖)

She gets REALLY good at what she’s doing when she signs on with the Garlean Empire. It wasn’t… a hard choice. There was nothing left tying her down where she had been by that point; they’d offered direction, room, board… and, well… her current skills were enough to get placed under Midas’ guidance.

And she found that. Magitek is incredibly interesting compared to whatever she’s had her hands on before and she loves it. Purpose. Drive. She learns how to build things that she’d never dreamed of before under Midas’ guidance. She helps refine designs for two legged heavy artillery a lone person can pilot. To deal with the enemy. She does not think about who the enemy is. The enemy is a problem, and the Machine, glorious, flawless, violent, is the answer.

And then they blow up Bozja. Midas with it. An entire city, wiped off the map. She finds that the numbers- subjects- on the sheet that they’d been running experiments on have faces. Haunted, tired faces, with dull eyes and drawn cheeks and small hands. Children. You can’t just quit, but Midas was gone. Cid was missing. Nero was a thorn in her side and she didn’t want to continue work under someone less competent, or pursue someone else’s dreams. So …. She went missing too. Crashed an airship into Thavnair and stripped the wreckage to the bones for coin. Went into temporary hiding in Kugane, then Ul’Dah, and finally fell in with the slightly sketchy free company she’s with now. She maintains their airships and submersibles and they don’t ask where she came from 💖

I think I got a lil lost in the reeds and I was supposed to go to sleep like 4 hours ago but I kept turning this question over in my mind like a rubrix cube despite my best efforts >v>; The Long And Short Is; she’s always wanted to know how stuff worked, and falling in with Garlemald for (cautiously estimating her time there at about 30+ years) helped her understanding grow in great leaps. Around the start of 2.0 she awakens the Echo (Thrice damned Migraine Creator) and doesn’t realize it’s use until her next encounter with Allagan tech (where she interfaces on a personal level and. It kicks her new obsession up. And… allagans did quite a bit of soul research… it is, somewhat, why there is a Tuesday.)

… 🫣 thank you for the question !!!!!!! I’m. Hopin this makes even a lick of sense, ahaha… some of the stuff I had partially cemented in my mind… I had to fix, after reading the actual lore and wiki -w•;; but not much.

[haechanokeh]

I’m right for you [pt. 3]

[teaser] [ Chapter 1 ] [ Chapter 2 ]

(you can play Die For You by The Weeknd while reading this 😌)

pairing: popular college! mark x average! reader

genre: romance, smut, angst, series.

warning: corruption, oral sex (both receiving and giving), cream pie, rough sex, mention of religion, rough sex, self-esteem, psychology, public sex, sub! reader, sex toys. possessive mark two-faced mark

I think I’m right for you, babe. You know what I’m thinking, see it in your eyes. You hate that you want me, hate it when you cry. It ain’t workin’ ‘cause you’re perfect and I know that you’re worth it I can’t walk away. (Die for you by The Weeknd)

today is you case presentation with mark. you were deeply affected of what happened in the cubicle but mark seemed unbothered because he was greeting you as usual. it wasn’t weird, he always greets everyone but what was really weird was your classmates. they were looking at you and it made you felt conscious, they were not saying anything but sometimes you catch them glancing at you but you brushed it off and focus on your brainstorming with mark.

yes you do dislike mark but you thank god that he's your partner. he never missed a question from your professor during case study on the other hand you're just standing beside him dumbly. you only understand the question AND the answer once mark responded. well, mark a very kind person he was, despite of answering it alone he made sure that you're included in the case saying base in y/n and my research, even lied that some are from my own research but of course not. plus, for some odd reason, your classmates' eyes were literally made you uncomfortable to the point you were having a hard time to breathe or your social anxiety attacking you. however, at the very moment, you want to give mark a tight hug for making your life easy.

the whole presentation ended. you were putting your things back to your back while standing while mark scrolling in his phone because his dad texted him asking if he could buy him some new pen. you gasped when an arm was on your shoulder, and that caught mark's attention but he hid his annoyance. 

"hey, y/n, i heard you like someone ha?" his brows were playfully raising. it was lucas, he gave mark a meaningful glance but mark smiled confusingly.

"what?" you didn't have any idea what he's telling you. 

"i heard someone saw-"

"mark!" mina suddenly appeared calling mark's name a little too loud which made lucas stop from talking. "we're going to a milk tea house, do you want to come with us?"

“y/n, come with us.” lucas pulled you closer to his body. mark was taring at lucas arm around your shoulder. you weren’t aware of mark’s expression because your mind was thinking ways to breakthrough from lucas. 

“no!” mina exclaimed. he caught everyone’s attention, and she became flustered. “i mean, we will only make her feel uncomfortable and lucas please remove your arms to y/n, she doesn’t look comfortable.” she mumbled. lucas did remove his arms from you. 

“milk tea? can we also come with you?” then the people started to surround mark. it became noisy, knowing you who’s allergic to people and noise sneaked out from the circle and left the room.

mark turned his head to look at you but you’re nowhere to be found. he sighed and forced himself to interact with his classmates.

your mother texted you that he will be away for one week because of their excursion. she left you an allowance good for one week including your meals for the whole day and transportation. you already had your dinner outside. right now you were just laying down on your favorite long sofa in your living room, watching NCT 2020 funny moments. suddenly, mark's name popped. mark is your class representative, he has access to class contacts and it wasn't that mark called you because you're always late in the class so for almost past 3 years he's the one you always contact just to inform the class that you're just late. 

wait, did i miss an announcement? you quickly left the class maybe something came up.

"hello, was there an announcement?" you directly asked

"none, just checking you. we haven't had a proper conversation awhile ago unless it's case related." 

you heart melted, he's very kind and sweet... that scares you.

"ah okay." you simply answered. it wasn't because you want to talk to him, well you really don't want to talk to him but it wasn't that he's annoying or anything- it was just you hate phone calls. you hate talking with someone in general unless it's your mom. 

"well, have you eaten yet?" he tried to save the conversation, he wanted to hear your voice longer.

"yes." it was a one-word reply. 

mark was slightly shattered because you don't seem to want to talk to him. he just thought that maybe you were tired.

"okay, goodnight."

"yeah." then you hang up. 

you returned watching youtube until you drifted into your dreamland... no it wasn't your dreamland.

you gasped and sat up as you woke from another perverted dream with mark. your chest was rising aggressively and you look down as you felt the wetness between your thighs. you raked your hands over your hair as you felt frustration and guilt. this was your second time that you dreamt of mark doing erotic things. you looked at the digital clock it was already 2 am. you groaned and stood up, you want to wash your body because the stickiness just made you feel more guilty if it stays there longer.

you entered your room and stripped, walking directly into your bathroom. you opened a warm shower and as the water trickled on your body, hands unconsciously trailing to the south. your dream was so hot, you can't lie about that. it was in the same cubicle but instead of his digits, it was his dick inside you. 

your eyes closed as you rubbed your bead slow while recalling your dream. you squeezed your left breast and imagining it was mark's squeezing it. you want something to fill your womanhood so you inserted your two fingers and thrust it. your lungs felt like being suppressed by pressure, your thrust became furious. 

"oh my- mark fuck." you moaned his name and you have never been so ashamed. it was so wrong but the feeling was so good that you weren't able to stop yourself from moaning. you felt the tension in your thighs. you knelt down and the hand that squeezing your breast was now on your clit rubbing it furiously. 

"mark! fuck right there." you felt the tension in your abdomen and your legs started to shake. your body just gave in, bending down, cheek shoved against the wet tiles while the warm water splashed on your body.

you screamed erotically, eyes rolling and lashes flickering. your legs were shaking as you reached your high.

 mark hasn't slept yet, it's okay for him because there are no classes. he was staring at the ceiling and mind preoccupied by you.

he was trying to understand why do you keep pushing him away even though you clearly wanted him too. mark did remember where you say he's very different from you, and so? what's wrong with it? what he didn't like is the thought of changing just for a single person but...

"shall i?" he chuckled bitterly. he was really close to his insanity. he feared that this affection will grow into something that is uncontrollable- like an obsession.  

he checked the time through his phone. it's 5 in the morning. he decided to jog outside, so, he took a quick shower and wore his tracksuit and running shoes. maybe if tiredness hits him, he will feel sleepy. mark already went to your house and he didn't tell you that his house is just a few blocks away from you, instead of going to his normal route, he changed it, jogging in your house direction.

when he was closed to your street, he was surprised to see you outside. he stood and admire your naturalness from afar. your hair was disheveled, your eyes weren't completely closed yet, and your face was a little puffy but it doesn't take away your beauty. plus, your cute teddy bear pajamas made him smile. he sends his gratitude to god because he created a masterpiece. 

yeah, mark is deeply in love and he thinks there's no way out of this feeling. 

you were actually waiting for your breakfast, your pancakes from mcdonalds and a warm chocolate drink. when the delivery arrived, you paid and gave him a tip for being quick. you were about to go back inside when you heard a VERY familiar voice which was owned by the person who sleep deprived you 

"Y/N!" his voice was loud, it even cracked. 

"what are you doing here?" you asked.

"morning jog, and good morning to you." he replied and greeted at the same time.

"jog.." you paused and gasped. "from your condo to here?!" you exclaimed in disbelief. mark laughed at your reaction. of course it'll shock you because you already been in his condo and if he jogged it from there to here, he was supposed to be passing out right now.

"no, my family house is actually a few blocks away from here."  he said.

WHAT?! this is not good. you thought. the more he gets closer the more he has access to your mind and body. you masked your displeased face and just nodded.

"okay, ahm. i'm heading back now. bye." you pointed at your house door and awkwardly turned your back walking towards your door.

you expected him to do something because he always do that but to your disappointment he didn't. you looked back to check if he was stil there but he was no longer standing there but you saw him jogging away from your direction. you sighed in disappoinment that made you mentally slap yourself for feeling very contradicting .

you ate miserably your affordable and favorite pancake.

mark took a bathe and go down to eat breakfast together with his parents. they prayed before eating. the cooked food by his mom made him question why your ordered delivery food for breakfast.

"how's school?" mark's dad asked him.

"good, still the same." he replied.

"your father will lead a service, you can invite your classmates. oh mina, you can invite her, she's very sweet girl." his mom said but she doesn't have any motive. she knew mark have not interest in romantic relationship as of the moment, her child was so focus in maintaining his grades and scholarship. at least, that's what he though.. if she only knew.

"i'll try." he forced a smile but behind it was growing tiredness. he knew that his classmates doesn't really want to praise but because they were so fond of mark and they just love to hang out. it defeated the purpose of going to church.

after the breakfast, mark's parent left for their work. he washed the dishes and went up stairs and stayed in his room with his music and guitar. it helped to detach his mind from thinking of you, but it was just temporary as he saw you name appeared in his phone. he almost threw his guitar just to answer your call very quick.

"y/n? why?" he sound so excited.

"ahm, mark... well.. perhaps, do you ahm, have notes from yesterdays discussion? i mean in all cases, not just ours?" you were very stuttering because of shyness. your class have long test about the cases but you're notes are everywhere and you can't understand your writings.

"yes." he said. he knew where this is going. he quickly get out from his bed and go straight to his closet, choosing shirt to wear. "do you need it? i can bring it to you."

"no, no. ahm, you do digital notes right? mind if you could send it through gdrive?" you really don't want to bother him... nah lies. you're just preventing things from happening.

mark paused for a moment and was a little hurt, he understood your statement as if you don't want to see him. but mark will not having any of that.

"it was handwritten though." he faked sorry. he hoped you didn't notice what he did there, hoping that you received it as if it was literally handwritten like directly to paper since he sounded apologetic.

"oh... i see. well, ahm, can you drop by in the house?"

mark still not satisfied by just dropping by.

"how about we study together? we can review together."

you translated it like 'the smartest in your class can help you'and that's very tempting. you can't easily study 8 cases and you need him. you used his diuretics notes in lecture, you almost aced it. now, your lab needs him.

"then, pizza is okay for you?" you whisoered from the other end.

mark secretly fist pump and grinned in triumph.

"yes."

you spayed air freshener in your living room and changed your shirt to another shirt? you only have tees just in different colors, you changed your short into black sweatpants. you made sure that your hair was far different from the hair he saw this morning. you already ordered the pizza.

the doorbell rang. your quickly opened the door for him. mark was standing, carrying his ipad and his other hand holding a two milk teas in a cup holder. he's wearing dark blue t-shirt and gray sweatpants. you smiled awkwardly and let him in. you scanned his body, looking for paper or at least a piece of paper but you didn't see any of it. mark was looking down at you, watching you observing him.

"where's your notes?" you curiously asked.

"here." he lifted his ipad. your jaw dropped.

"i thought you did not do digital notes?"

"i don't recalling telling you i didn't, i just said it was handwritten and when i saif that handwritten in my ipad." he reasoned. taht made you think later realizing that he was right and that made you dumb.

you sighed in defeat.

"by the way, bought you milk tea since you missed it yesterday." he said, you acually don't care if you missed it or not.

you walked towards the single couch and patted it.

"you can seat here." you said.

he quickly sat down and put the milk teas on top of your living room's table. he confusingly watched you when you sat on the long couch and it was the end of it. you were too far from him.

you noticed his sulking face.

"mr. mark lee, what's with your long face?" you chuckled teasingly.

"why are you too far from me?" he pouted.

"damage control." you replied shortly and get your case 3 notes which is very illegible to read. "can i borrow your case 3?"

"why? what did i do?" mark asked was clueless. he did not pay attention to your question

"mark, being alone with you is not healthy anymore." you directly answered him.

"orgasm is healthy, what do you mean?" mark didn't get your.

"mark, that's not what i mean. we're like horny teenagers doing unappropriate things."

"we're already passed in that phase in life, we're both adults." he rebutted.

you mentally face palmed yourself in frustration. why is he so smart and dumb at the same time.

"mark, that's not why i mean. we're being to touchy, every time we are left alone the next thing we knew we're touching each other. do you know how scary was that to me? it only happened twice but i am already longing for more! when i don't feel your touches i go craaazy! i even touched myself for freaking 2-" you froze when you realize what you were telling him you stared blankly at him.

on the other hand, mark was very pleased hearing you exploded from frustration as you became honest for the first time.

"you touched yourself? what 2?" he smirked and lifted his brows.

you cleared your throat.

"can i borrow your ipad? i need your case 3." you murmured and look anywhere but him your face heat up. you want to be swallowed by your favorite sofa.

"then get it."

you look at his ipad sitting on his manly wide spread apart thighs. your eyes stared at the mark that makes your knees weak and wet pussy. his fiery eyes looking directly toyou while he was sitting comfortably on the couch and arms are both in each side of the armrest.

"mark lee, i need it." you tried to use your stern voice but failed because your voice was too small.

"i told you, you can get it.. here." he glanced at his ipad.

you gulped and the living room's air became thick. your submissive self switched on and you just found yourself walking towards him. your hands felt cold as you reached for his ipad. when you lifted it, his bulge forming in his gray sweatpants made you almost drool. you were reminded how fucking hot it was.

you want to touch it and do anything you can possibly could but your single rational braincells keeping you in the light.

"you don't seem sure of what you really wanted to do." he snapped you from overthinking. "should i make you choices?"

"what?" you asked confusingly but your voice was shaking.

"you bring that ipad with you and go back to where you were sitting, or..." he looked up to you with his dark eyes, leaning a little forward you trace the side of your hips with his palm..

"put the ipad on the table and sit in my lap."

mark knew that you can never say no at this state. if you could only see how your body shivered and how defeated your face was, he knew you already gave in.

and his was right.

the original draft was deleted because of my stupidity 😭 idk think this is good as the original draft.

hello, some of you asked me if i have a tag list, i will be creating one.

✨if you want to be added in I'm Right For You Tag List, you can DM or Ask me so i can add you ✨

⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢

Tag List:

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anyways, i would like to say thank you for supporting this story. i did not expect some of you will like it. i also want to thanks people who leaving message through dms and ask praising this story. also to those nctzens hearting it 🥺🤗

[qsdblogging]

Top 10 TV Shows You Need To Watch Right Now

Now, I watch a lot of television. I always have and frankly, I’m much more of a binge watcher than a wait-around-for-a-week-for-the-next-episode kind of watcher. 

And with everything the past few months, there wasn’t all that much to do other than start rewatching some of my favorite shows and some that I’ve never seen or haven’t seen in a while.

So, that’s what I did and here I am giving you some recommendations for shows to add to your own watching lists. 

Warning, though, some of these don’t end the best way and may end up more as a disappointment. I’ll leave that up to you to decide.

I. Fringe.

I cannot recommend this show enough to people. It’s got five full seasons (although the last could’ve been a little better, but it’s honestly not that bad of a final season) of high-risk scenarios revolving around almost unexplainable phenomena regarding a tear in the fabric of reality. It deals with experiments that gives superpowers (basically), advanced technology, and a parallel universe. 

Plus, there’s a cow.

What more could you want from a show?

Some familiar faces that are in the main cast or show up at some point include John Noble, who you may recognize from Sleepy Hollow and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lance Reddick, who was in The Wire, White House Down, American Horror Story, and played Charon in the John Wick franchise, Leonard Nimoy, who you should know from the original Star Trek series, and Anna Torv from Mindhunter. 

II. Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector.

Now, if you know crime books, you may know exactly what this is based off of. If not, fear not, I am here to tell. This series (which, like a lot of the others down the list, unfortunately, got cancelled and won’t get to see a second season) was based off of The Bone Collector, a first in a series of novels by Jeffery Deaver. 

If you like crime shows, you should definitely give this a shot. Don’t let the fact that it’s only one season stop you.

Things get pretty wild in just one season as it revolved around a retired forensic criminologist, who had been trying to catch the Bone Collector only to get injured, that gets back into the game three years later when an ambitious young detective is determined to help solve the case when a new body shows up.

You might even recognize a face or two, like Arielle Kebbel (the ambitious young detective) from her role as Lexi in The Vampire Diaries and Olivia Charity in Midnight, Texas, and Russell Hornsby (the retired forensic criminologist) from Grimm, The Hate U Give, Proven Innocent, and The Affair.

III. Manifest.

Luckily, this show is said to be getting a third season and so far, isn’t going to get cancelled. It focuses on passengers from Flight 828, who show up five years after their plane went missing. Some passengers start experiencing what they call ‘callings’ and try to figure out if they were chosen for some sort of duty that the callings led them too, but things get a little confusing when someone who wasn’t on a flight seems to have a year missing of their own life after being deemed missing.

Things get a little weird and dangerous along the way, and not everyone is happy about how things turn out.

It’s pretty interesting and I’m really looking forward to what else they come up with. There’s a few familiar faces that play a part in the show that includes Daryl Edwards, who you may recognize from the first season of Daredevil, Ellen Tamaki who is also in the reboot of Charmed, Athena Karkanis, who’s been in The Expanse and Lost Girl, and Josh Dallas, who one may recall playing Prince Charming in Once Upon a Time, and Fandral in Thor.

It’s a rather good show to get lost in and I definitely recommend giving it a go.

IV. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

If you don’t have an idea as to what this show is, I don’t know what to say. The title kind of gives it away. It’s the only Marvel Show (as of now since none of the shows in production have come out as of yet) to technically be connected to the MCU itself.

That’s found in one of the main characters, Phil Coulson, who you’d recognize from Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and The Avengers. Plus, Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill) and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) both give a cameo in the show. 

The show was rumored to have been set in a different, but similar, timeline to that of the MCU movies, but I don’t know for sure if it’s true or not. 

It follows its own set of issues, including a deeper dive into the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., issues with HYDRA, and so on and so forth. The last season, which I honestly cried during, gives such good twists and callbacks to previous seasons and the MCU movies that you can’t help but enjoy how it’s handled.

As a show, it probably has one of the best final seasons possible and I highly recommend giving the full seven seasons a watch if you haven’t already.

V. Primeval.

Now, if you like dinosaurs, this is a show for you. It’s BBC, so obviously everyone has an accent. It gave a run of five seasons (which is kind of funny because I didn’t realize that until just now writing this as the show is listed as number five on the list) with different episode amounts. 

The show centers around anomalies that seem to open up a window to the very distant past of Earth when dinosaurs still roamed the land. It causes a lot of issues, especially if one person has anything to do with it.

It’s pretty interesting and honestly has got some great characters (my personal favorite is Captain Becker, played by Ben Mansfield) and while it can get pretty serious, it’s also pretty entertaining. It’s one of the three shows on this list to get to end on a good-ish note. (AKA, no cliffhangers!)

Obviously, I highly recommend giving it a shot. It’s kind of the point of this list.

VI. Terra Nova.

Now, like Primeval, this show technically has to do with dinosaurs. Dinosaurs aren’t the main focus, but they do play a part in this one season (because cancellations) story. 

Terra Nova is focused on both the future and the past. In the distant future (2149), the Earth is dying. A group of people, researchers, and military as well as some of their family members, are sent to the past (85 million years) to inhabit Terra Nova, a colony of humans given a second chance to build civilization. 

So, obviously, dinosaurs are going to make an appearance now and then. And unfortunately, the show only got one season and ends on a cliffhanger. Which I hate, because I really enjoy this show and wish it had been able to at least get a second season.

Plus, there are some familiar faces amongst the cast. Jason O’Mara, who plays one of the main cast members, played Jeffrey Mace in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Christine Adams, who plays Lynn Pierce in Black Lightning. Allison Miller, who played Sonya in 13 Reasons Why. And Naomi Scott, who is known for her roles in Lemonade Mouth (one of my all-time favorite DCOMs) and Aladdin. And this was just to name a few of the cast members. 

Shame it got cancelled, truly, but I recommend giving it a shot.

VII. MTV’s Scream.

I think you can figure out the basis of this show. While it doesn’t have anything to do directly with the movie franchise, it is kind of similar and a lot of the characters reflect those from the show. Neve Campbell even said that if the show did well, she would be willing to do a cameo.

It revolves (at least the first two seasons as season three is an entirely different set of cast and premise that I refuse to watch because of that) around Emma Duval and her group of friends as they’re picked off one by one by a serial killer going around town. Things get bloody and suspicions arise amongst the crew when things are revealed as the show continues, but things eventually work out in the end.

And personally, I really enjoyed the show even when the second season ended on a cliffhanger. I have theories about that cliffhanger, however, so watch out for a possible post regarding it. 

I highly recommend giving it a chance if you haven’t seen it. 

VIII. The Society.

Now, the title doesn’t give you much. A group of teenagers, who were sent off on a trip, suddenly are dropped back off in their town to find it completely empty aside from themselves. They have to form their own society to survive and figure things out.

Once you know that, it makes a little more sense.

It seems really similar to the Pied Piper tale, but it doesn’t seem like we’re going to really know for sure. Season 2 had been given a go-ahead, but not too long ago Netflix announced the cancellation of the show.

That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the first season like I do. Plus, if you’re a fan of Supernatural and the character of Claire Novak, Kathryn Newton plays one of the main roles in this show.

It’s a shame the show got cancelled, especially on a cliffhanger, but what can we do?

IX. The Mysteries of Laura.

Laura Diamond, a Homicide Detective, cracks case after case while trying to raise twin boys and locking horns with her less than helpful Police Detective ex-husband. At least, this is according to IMBD and frankly, it’s not really wrong. 

For two seasons, it’s packed with comedy and crime. It’s more of the former, but it still gets pretty serious every now and then, and unfortunately ends on a cliffhanger. 

However, some cast members may be familiar. Like Josh Lucas, who voices Home Depot commercials (and trust me, it made my family laugh when we first heard one after watching the show), Laz Alonso who plays MM in The Boys, and Debby Ryan, from Disney Channel. 

If you like light-hearted crime shows (like Brooklyn-Nine-Nine) you should definitely give this a watch.

X. Warrior Nun.

As far as I know, this show has been renewed for a season two. I’m really hoping for it because it’s honestly kind of interesting. You can kind of tell by the title what it may be, but I’ll dive a little deeper.

After waking up in a morgue, Ava, an orphaned teen, discovered she now possesses superpowers as the chosen Halo Bearer for a secret sect of demon-hunting nuns. (Taken from IMDB). Interesting, right?

With characters like Shotgun Mary, Sister Beatrice, and Sister Lilith, you know the show’s going to be interesting. But the premise is pretty interesting on it’s own too.

There’s even a character called JC, who apparently has nothing to do with Jesus Christ, but I still like referring to him as such because it’d be pretty funny if that’s how it turns out. Also, someone gets beat up with a whole chicken at some point.

It’s only got the one season so far, but it’s pretty funny and action packed. Like everything on this list, I definitely think you should watch it and find out for yourself if you want to add it to your list if you haven’t already.

[winryofresembool]

Fic: Nightmares and Morse Code

Fandom: Heroes of Olympus (I imagine this happening some time post TBoO. Also, I have not read Trials of Apollo and I don’t know if I ever will so if this fic has some canon divergence, that’s why)

Characters/ships: Leo Valdez/Calypso

Summary: Calypso notices a certain habit of Leo's when she's trying to comfort him after a nightmare.

AO3 link

A/N: I decided to post this fic here too, so if you saw a link earlier, yes it’s the same fic. Anyway, I guess I am now officially writing non FMA content. Heroes of Olympus has pretty much consumed my life for the past few weeks (or even months by now) and while I adore Leo and also Caleo as a ship, I've noticed the fandom doesn't agree with me especially on the latter and there's very little Caleo content anywhere. So, I decided to change that! The idea of Leo saying I love you for the first time through Morse Code had me soft and I just had to write a fic around that. So, without a further ado, please enjoy and don't forget to review especially if you'd like to see me write more HoO content in the future! (And FMA fans, don't worry, I surely haven't abandoned Edwin or my fankids!!)

Genre: fluff, hurt/comfort

Warnings: none?

...

That night was particularly bad. Leo thought that in exchange for the happy moments he spent with Calypso, some evil force had decided to make his dreams double as bad.

Some of them were old, familiar ones. The fire that had killed his mother. Abusive foster families and bullies at schools he had escaped from. The voice telling him that he’d forever be the seventh wheel, his friends smiling and laughing together while he was stuck alone in his bunker. The Argo II group, all except him, getting killed by the giants, because of him.

But there were a couple of new ones too. In the first one he was back in the underworld, feeling that same pain he had back then he had died, positive he was on his way to Tartarus. But he found the second dream worse: Gaea was torturing Calypso, telling Leo that he had to pick from two options: either Calypso would have to die or she’d wake up again and destroy all the life on earth. If Leo had had to pick between himself and the rest of the world, he wouldn’t have had to think long. But… Calypso was just barely starting to learn what living in the real world meant after her 3000 years lasting imprisonment, she was so excited and happy to see new things, and genuinely wanted to be with Leo (despite the constant bickering) for reasons he didn’t quite understand, and… he could not bear the thought of living without her. Finally, he woke up to his own screams as he watched Gaea’s ‘minions’ cut her with a sharp knife yet again.

“Leo?”

It was too dark in his room to see, but he heard fast footsteps approaching him and soon the door was opened and someone switched the light on. He had to squint and protect his eyes from the light before he finally saw the slender figure next to him. Relief flooded into him as he realized that it had all been just a nightmare and Calypso was just fine, although with a very worried expression on her face.

“Hey, Sunshine,” Leo said with a slightly hoarse voice, attempting a lopsided smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. “What’s up?”

“I… heard you screaming.” Calypso replied, suddenly embarrassed about rushing into his bedroom like that.

“Me? Screaming?” Leo sat up and waved his hand, trying to brush it off. “I think your ears are not quite yet used to the mortal world, mi sol.”

“Leo Valdez. I’m serious. I know what I heard.” Calypso glared at him, her beautiful features getting surprisingly scary when she wanted to. However, Leo didn’t budge.

“Sirius? Like Sirius Black from Harry Potter? I thought your name is Calypso,” he attempted, fully aware of how poor his joke was.

“What’s Harry Potter?” Calypso asked with confusion, not yet familiar with the modern popular culture.

“Only the most popular black-haired fantasy hero of our time… After me, of course.” Leo winked, but Calypso wasn’t happy with his answer.

“You’re only trying to make me forget the original topic. Why were you screaming?”

His face fell and he was twitching his hands nervously on his lap.

“Fine. It was a nightmare. But nothing I can’t handle.”

Calypso looked at him sadly, wanting to reach him but not sure if she should. Instead, she said softly: “I know you’re trying to act brave for me, but you don’t have to. I can see that something is hurting you and I want to help you. Like you’ve helped me. Maybe opening up would help you feel better.”

At this point Calypso noticed that Leo seemed to be tapping a certain pattern on the wooden edge of the bed with his fingers. She wanted to ask about it, but decided against it. Instead, she sat down next to him and slowly inched her hand towards his arm, encouraging him to talk.

Leo shook his head to clear his mind. “I… well, in these nightmares, I was reliving some of my worst memories… My mother and stuff… But there was a new dream too.”

“Please. Tell me about it.”

Leo tried to resist but something about Calypso’s calm tone and expression worked like Piper’s charmspeaking and he started babbling so fast Calypso couldn’t keep up with him. “Calm down a bit, Hot Head,” she stopped him. “I only got the part that I was in the dream.”

Leo took a deep breath, trying to focus on his hands that were still tapping against the wood nervously. Then he started in a slower pace: “Yeah… Dirt Face… I mean Gaea…” he added when Calypso raised her eyebrow questioningly, “in this dream, she was trying to wake up again… And she tried to make me choose between you… and the rest of the world… I mean, either you die or them… and I couldn’t.”

Calypso let that information sink in. Trying to hide her emotions, she crossed her arms over her chest and asked: “Are you saying that you would even consider letting me stay alive if you could save the rest of the world?”

Leo probably hadn’t expected that reaction. He failed to recognize that a part of the reason Calypso asked that was to conceal the fact that she was moved, going defensive: “But Cal, remember how she tried to make you kill me in Ogygia. And she could have offered you something much better than I could. But you refused to kill me. You even helped me get off that island even though… you know.” In his mind he added ‘even though it hurt you’. “Do you really think that after all that I could just…”

“Hey, it’s OK. I… think I understand your feeling. But thankfully you don’t have to choose because I’m right here, I’m OK, and she’s gone.” Calypso squeezed Leo’s free hand briefly. After a moment of silence, deciding to change the subject: “That… thing you do with your fingers… Is that a Morse code? Or have you been listening to too much of that rap music you talk about?”

Suddenly Leo’s face went all red. Calypso probably would be weirded out by his habit if she knew the meaning. “You… don’t happen to know Morse code, do you?”

“Not really…” she had to admit.

“That’s… that’s fine. The thing I was doing was just something my mother taught me when I was a kid.” Leo shrugged, trying to look casual.

“Oh… I thought it might mean something.”

“Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. If you want to know, you’ll have to figure it out on your own.” Leo smirked, even though he couldn’t hide his blushing.

“Leo Valdez, so full of mysteries.” Calypso rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but smile a bit.

“That’s why the ladies love me! Even you fell for my mysterious charm.”

“Uhhuh.” Calypso pushed him back to his bed, sticking her tongue out. Then she spoke with a softer tone. “So, are you feeling better now?”

“I think I am. Thanks. Talking with you made me feel better.” He still looked like something was bothering him, though. In reality, some, annoying part of him tried to tell him to reveal the code.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Calypso replied, reaching to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Um, maybe I should go back to bed. We have some work to do tomorrow.”

“Sure… Well, good night,” Leo answered, looking a bit… disappointed? Before Calypso was out of the room, though, he said with a new determination:

“Hey, Sunshine. I’ll give you a hint. It’s ‘te quiero’ in Spanish.

“What is?”

“The code. And… I mean it. With you.”

“Oh. Okay.” Calypso answered, even more confused than before as she exited the room. She only knew a couple of Spanish swear words (thanks to Leo) so she had no idea what ‘kiero’ or whatever that word was meant. But she decided to find out.

…

A week later, Calypso heard Leo scream again. But this time, instead of waking him up and inquiring him about his dreams, she decided to sit down on a chair next to the bed and hold his hand, hoping it would reach him. She had spent a long time researching on both Spanish language and Morse codes and had finally cracked Leo’s code. Some part of her had already known its meaning but seeing it for real had made her strangely overwhelmed. As she saw him there, whimpering quietly, scrunching his forehead and looking so vulnerable , that exact same emotion he had been expressing struck her with force. This brave, determined, smart (and, she had to admit to herself, sometimes kinda funny) boy had been through so much. Ever since his mother had died, his life had been nothing but a struggle, and even now that they were (relatively) safe, the ghosts of the things he had experienced were still haunting him. She wanted to show him there were still things worth living, worth loving, in this world.

So she started softly tapping on his hand.

.. .-.. --- ...- . -.-- --- ..-

I. Love. You.

It seemed his form relaxed as she reached the end of the code. She waited a bit longer to see if the nightmare had faded away, but when she finally stood up about to leave, his fingers suddenly wrapped up around hers.

“So you figured it out,” a sleepy voice said against his pillow.

“I did,” Calypso admitted.

“Cal.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t go.”

Calypso wasn’t sure if she had heard right. “Huh?”

“I… I’d like you to stay.” Leo said, sounding unusually vulnerable.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Sunshine.”

“OK. I’ll stay then.”

Leo backed up in his bed to make her space, and she settled down next to him. She didn’t protest when an arm wrapped around his waist after he had put the comforter over them, instead nuzzling closer to him and taking in the warmth that was radiating from him. And gods, he really was warm. The two didn’t say much after that, but Leo’s fingers started automatically tapping an answer to her message against her stomach. Soon enough, both of them started drifting into sleep, this time a much more peaceful one.

[lovelylogans]

booyah! (emphasis on the boo)

TOUR GUIDE GARRETT: Now, I'm gonna tell you something a little spooky. The morning of October 25, 1894, Sir Aldridge awoke furious when his breakfast was not waiting for him. So, he called to his servants, but none of them responded. Why? Because, during the night, one by one they had each been stabbed to death in their sleep. It was later discovered that they were murdered by his eldest daughter, Gertrude Aldridge. Sir Aldridge once wrote in his diary, 'I know God makes no mistakes, but I believe he may have been drunk when he built Gertrude's personality.'

-ghostbusters, 2016

ao3 | read my other fics | coffee?

warnings: recreational drinking, mention of homophobia, murder mention, absolute fucking disaster gays, claustrophobia maybe (stuck in a closet while anxious, not specifically because of the closet) 

pairings: logicality, eventual prinxiety

words: 2,244

notes: so, this is for the 13 days of halloween prompt over at @sanderssidescelebrations​! today’s prompt is ghost hunting! i am essentially rewriting a premise i once wrote in an old fic of mine, so. here we go. let’s see how my writing stacks up a couple years apart.

They’re all drunk on shitty wine for one of their intermittent wine-and-whine nights when Virgil brings up his haunted apartment. 

When Virgil says it, Logan heaves a massive sigh from where he’s got his head pillowed on Patton’s lap, where Patton’s playing with his hair—Logan swings between sleepy drunk and ranty, rambly drunk, and he’s landed on sleepy tonight—and grumbles, “Ghosts aren’t real.”

“Now, Logan, let’s hear him out,” Patton says. “Virgil is, after all, one of our best friends in the whole wide world who should be cherished and loved because he is one of the bestest little boys.”

Patton, on the other hand, solidly embodies the whole “cuddly-complimentary-drunk-girl-in-the-bathroom” stereotype.

“Yeah, yeah, I wanna hear this,” Roman says, from where he’s sprawled out on Virgil’s rug, grinning loose and easy, making Virgil’s stomach flip-flop. “You’ve been living here, what, a year, and you’re just now talking about how it’s haunted?”

“I know,” Virgil says, “I know, I know, but—but I basically have proof, this time, all the other stuff seemed, y’know—creaking furniture and things not being exactly where I remember and whispers in the night, that kind of thing.”

“Proof,” Logan sighs, and rolls his eyes. “All right. What proof is there.”

“It locked me in a closet.”

There’s a brief, thoughtful pause.

“So, like, the ghost is homophobic?” Roman says. Patton nearly snorts wine out of his nose as Virgil feels his face heat—well, even warmer than he already is, from the alcohol—and he sets down the novelty Thanos-glove-themed cup of wine with a thunk.

“I mean, probably!” Virgil says heatedly. “If you look at, like, all of historic times—”

“Homophobia was fairly frequent, yes,” Logan says, musingly. “But it’s not as if you’ve particularly shown off homosexual activity in this apartment.”

Roman starts laughing so hard he nearly falls off the couch, and Virgil fights the urge to chuck a pillow at either Logan or Roman.

“You didn’t have to at him like that, L, oh my God,” Roman says, and snorts, giggling still, and Virgil wishes that it didn’t practically melt away all of Virgil’s irritation at him—it does heighten the embarrassment, though, because he’s been single because he’s been hopelessly pining over Roman. 

Logan glances up at Patton, confused, and Patton explains, “It kind of sounded like you were saying there wasn’t much reason for a haunting because Virgil’s been single for so long, honeybear.”

“Thanks,” Virgil grumbles. “All of you, great, thanks so much, I’m painfully single, we get it, can we get back to the ghost that’s bullying me into going back into the closet and managed to trap me there for two hours—”

“Two hours?!” Roman exclaims. “You were stuck for two hours and you didn’t, like, slam your body into it until it flew off its hinges or something?!”

“I tried, but it wouldn’t budge,” Virgil says. “It swung open again after I, like, learned my lesson, or whatever, and then I spent all of last night not able to sleep and with all the lights on and now I’m wondering if I’m going crazy.”

“So that’s why you called for a wine-and-whine night,” Patton says, which is mostly true. He’d been planning on calling one because he’s going grocery shopping sometime this week and he wanted to clear out the remaining dregs of his bottles of three-dollar wine now before he goes and gets new, unopened bottles, but it’s been rushed up the line because Virgil’s hands won’t stop shaking and he can’t really look too closely at the closet that he’s got propped open through all the means he could think of, and sage burned, and he’d been researching the paranormal all day, which made him even more anxious. So he just says—

“Yeah,” Virgil says. “Just in case something else happens.”

And nothing else does—well, Logan falls asleep pretty quickly after that, and Patton goes on a tooth-rottingly sweet ramble about how much he loves them all and how much better his life has been since they all came into it and how he thinks Logan is The One for him and he’s so grateful they’ve all been with him on this life journey, and Roman wraps an arm around Virgil’s shoulders and leans his cheek against Virgil’s hair and lets out this soft, content sigh that makes Virgil kind of absurdly happy—but ghost-wise, nothing happens.

At least, not until a couple weeks later.

They’re all at Virgil’s apartment again—this time, they’re all doing separate work time, Patton settled under Logan’s arm as Logan read a book and as Patton flipped through a notecard set, and Roman with a script strewn about the floor, Virgil taking notes on a reading he has to do—when there’s a loud noise. Virgil freezes.

There’s another noise—like someone slamming their fists against the floor. Like someone trapped underneath, trying to get out.

Roman glances up from his script. “What was that?”

“Gertrude,” Virgil says through a dry mouth.

“Gertrude?” Patton says, curious.

“The ghost.”

Logan scoffs.

“It’s not funny, Logan, I’m being serious,” Virgil says, and decides fuck it and then digs out his printed-off pages of research. “There used to be a manor here and this lady named Gertrude Aldridge apparently killed all the family’s servants and then her dad locked her in the basement to spare the family public humiliation and she died down there, so—“

Roman makes an interested noise, reaching for the folder, and Virgil hands it over. Roman’s a big fan of true crime and ghost stories and also Buzzfeed Unsolved, so he really probably should have roped Roman into this earlier. Also, ghost research wasn’t even the most pathetic excuse he’d tried to use in order to spend time with Roman alone, he really should have used it.

“So you think Gertrude,” Logan says, voice dripping with disdain, “is going to... kill you.”

“Well, now I am.”

Logan heaves a massive sigh, and sets aside his book. “Look, Virgil, I can understand that you are anxious, and I can understand the popular narrative of ghost stories offering a simple explanation for various noises and occurrences, though there are dozens more logical explanations for—”

He’s cut off by a distant, feminine howl of outrage.

Logan pauses, before he says, “Your neighbor.”

Logan’s book then proceeds to pick itself up and throw itself from his hands.

Logan looks on the verge of saying still not a ghost, but Roman howls “holy SHIT!” before he can, nearly falling backward off the couch in his quest to scramble away, grabbing Virgil’s hand and tugging him back before planting himself in front of him, arms spread wide, like he’s guarding Virgil, like he’s shielding him, and if Virgil wasn’t so scared shitless right now he’d think it was noble or sweet or something, but as it is, Virgil’s legs are trembling underneath him and he distantly, hysterically, imagines himself swooning into Roman’s arms like some kind of southern belle.

And then the floor starts rumbling, and then Roman grabs Virgil’s hand, and Patton yelps, and Logan grabs Patton—Logan shoves Patton down and rolls underneath Virgil’s dinner table—and Roman hauls Virgil closer to his bedroom, and before Virgil can say wait, don’t—

—the door swung shut behind them, and, in the dark, Roman said, “Ah.”

“We’re trapped,” Virgil said. “In my closet. Again.”

“Well,” Roman said, breath a warm puff against Virgil’s neck, “It’s my first time being trapped in your closet.”

Virgil giggles, a bit hysterical because the fucking ghost started shaking his whole apartment, and Roman huffs out a laugh, and Virgil can feel the hot air on his neck, and wow that sure was a strange mix of emotions, adrenaline and fear and a hint of embarrassment at being so close that he can feel Roman’s fucking breath on his neck and a twinge of heat deep in his stomach.

“So,” Roman said, and swallowed audibly. “Should I try slamming against the door?”

Virgil shuffled aside as much as he could, stepping on a pile of what’s probably dirty laundry and trying not to trip directly into Roman as he wobbled for balance. “Sure.”

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

That repeated a few times, before there was a voice outside the room. “Roman? Virgil?”

“Hey, Logan,” Virgil called, trying not to wince.

“Your closet again?!” Logan said, exasperated.

“It’s not like we chose this, Ego-ist Spengler!” Roman snapped. 

There’s the sound of someone trying the handle, then someone more enthusiastically trying the handle, then a huff.

“It’s stuck.”

“Yeah, Logan, we know,” Virgil said. 

“Is that them?” Patton’s voice sounded.

“Yeah, it’s us,” Roman said.

“I think I’m going to go find some kind of toolkit,” Logan said decisively. “Virgil, do you have one?”

“One, a toolkit won’t work against a ghost, two, no, what do I look like, Bob the Builder?” Virgil snapped, and Roman snorted—he must have been equally pressed against the other wall of the closet, so that they’re as far apart as they can be.

Logan sighed, irritated, and said, “Well, you should have one. Do either of you have your phones?”

“I’ve got mine,” Roman said.

“Fine. Virgil, where are your keys?”

“You’re leaving?!” Virgil demanded.

“Yes, to procure the tools necessary to free you,” Logan said. 

“At this point, you should maybe take the door off the hinges, kiddo,” Patton suggested.

“That won’t work against a—! You know what, fine, yeah, go, my keys are on the kitchen table.”

“Patton and I will be back shortly,” Logan announced. “I’ll ask your neighbors first and if we have to visit a store, I’ll text.” 

There’s the sound of footsteps, and the even more distant sound of Virgil’s front door closing.

There’s a long pause.

“Well,” Roman said. “We’re stuck here because of your homophobic ghost.”

“Gertrude. Yeah.”

Virgil tried to take in an even, good breath. 

“Hey, you okay?” Roman asked, all soft and concerned, and Virgil’s breath hitched as Roman’s hand gently closed around his wrist, fingers grazing delicately along the veins there, the soft skin above them, the tendons standing out stark, and if Virgil’s heart started racing a little faster, well. Roman wouldn’t be able to tell why.

“Fine, mostly,” Virgil said, a little strangled. “Just—y’know. Ghost in my apartment. Even stronger than I thought it was. And now I’m trapped in a closet” with you, my unrequited maybe-love but I haven’t even gotten close to unparsing those feelings and I’m freaking out about enough right now “with no way to really get out, so. I’m just peachy.”

“Right, yeah,” Roman said, still soft, almost uncharacteristically so. “D’you want me to count, or—?”

“Just—“ Virgil said, and swallowed. “Distract me?”

And then Roman does something entirely unexpected.

Roman’s hand slid to cup his cheek, his hand sure and warm, and then he leaned in and pressed his lips against Virgil’s. Virgil’s mouth parted in surprise, and his eyes went wide, but he couldn’t see in this stupidly dark closet, the strip of light from the door only enough to dully illuminate the gold stripes running down Roman’s jacket sleeve. Roman kissed him harder and it felt like finally, finally, and Virgil was grateful now for only that little strip of light as they parted because he was sure he was gaping like an idiot.

“Like that?”

“I,” Virgil said, fumbling, “I—”

“I’ve liked you,” Roman said, stubborn and a little shaky, just around the edges. “I’ve really liked you, for a really long time, and I think you—I think you maybe like me too, or at least I hope you do, and if you don’t this is so embarrassing and I’m gonna spontaneously combust and also never talk to you again just to save you from the—”

Roman couldn’t say anything more, though, because Virgil’s fumblingly grabbed at the lapels of Roman’s jackets and hauled him close, and just like that the kiss went from finally to scorching, Roman biting hard at his lip and Virgil letting out a startled, gasping, embarrassing noise at the sensation of it.

“Fuck that homophobic ghost,” Roman growled. “I’ll show her—”

“Roman, shut up,” Virgil said, sounding closer to a wheeze than anything, and then Roman did shut up, quite tidily and for quite a while, until—

There’s the sound of Virgil’s front door opening, and Virgil pulled back from Roman, who made an incredibly ego-boosting noise when he did, and he attempted to quickly finger-comb his hair into some semblance of array.

Logan’s voice rang out, “One of your neighbors had a toolbox, so we were able to borrow it from them for a bit, if you’ll just—”

“Yeah, yeah, uh, sure,” Virgil called, avoiding the gruffness to his voice as he heard Roman similarly, hastily, making sure that he’s in order, and then the door swings open.

“There we—“

Logan fell silent. Virgil cleared his throat, tugging at his hoodie, making sure it covers any part of his neck that Roman had touched, or kissed, or bit. Logan and Patton looked between them.

“You know, when someone experiences physiological responses related to fear,” Logan said, sounding absolutely exhausted, “people often mislabel those responses, it’s called misattribution of arousal—”

Virgil, cheeks burning, leaned down to grab a t-shirt at random, balling it up and hurling it at Logan.

“It’s not just,” Virgil began heatedly, but then he saw Patton beaming, all gleeful and delighted, and talking about arousal in front of Patton is a bit like talking about arousal in church or something equally awkward and slightly taboo.

“You two,” Patton said, “you two—”

“Yeah, we—yeah,” Roman said, and looked to Virgil. “I mean, we—we are. Yeah?”

“—yeah,” Virgil said, and couldn’t stop his grin. “Yeah.”

“How romantic,” Logan said dryly.

Identically, Roman and Virgil reach out and shove at Logan’s shoulder.

[gwentoryfics]

all the time in the world (yanan fluff)

Genre | Soulmates AU

Pairing | Yanan x Reader

Words | 3.5k

Summary | Ever since you were little, you’d heard about soulmates. You’d been told that there was one person, just a single soul out of the seven billion on the planet, that was meant to join with yours. But how long would it take for you to Connect?

Warnings | None. Just cute stuff. 😊

Note | Wrote this for a request! Also sorry this is not quite up to my usual standards, I blew through it kind of fast lol.

You would never forget the day it happened.

You were tucked away in the library, hunched over the table that sat next to the big window, trying desperately to complete your math homework. But your best friend, Jamie, wouldn’t stop laughing to herself.

“What’s so funny?” You tried not to sound irritated, but her giggles made it really hard for you to focus.

“Sorry,” she spoke quietly, trying to hide her smile. She pointed to her temple, indicating that she was Connecting with her soulmate. “Marcus is being inappropriate.”

“Could you ask him to leave you alone so we can study?”

“Yeah, of course.” She closed her eyes for a second as she concentrated on her telepathic message, and then she nodded. “Done. I told him I’d talk more later.”

“Thank you.” You returned to your math problem, trying not to make it obvious how much you’re struggling with algebra.

“Have you heard anything from your soulmate yet?” Jamie pried. “Do you still try to Connect with them?”

Disheartened, you frown. “Of course I do, but nothing yet. I don’t know if it’ll ever happen.” You send out messages every morning and every night, but you still haven’t managed to Connect. 

No one really knows how it works, only that one day the Connection is formed between you and your soulmate, and you’re able to communicate telepathically for the rest of your lives together. Most people start to connect around the time they hit puberty, but on rare occasions the Connection might not happen until you’re both in your thirties or forties.

After your sixteenth birthday a few months ago, you started to think you might be one of those rare cases. You absolutely hated the thought of having to wait that long to find your soulmate, but you didn’t really get a say in the matter. You just had to stay patient. 

You wanted to start dating, but everyone around you was already madly in love with their soulmate, which made it impossible to date casually. People thought dating was a waste of time, anyway, since you’d really just be killing time until your soulmate came around.

“Of course it’ll happen. It always does.” Jamie sounded so confident as she comforted you. “Just stay positive.”

With a curt nod, you tried to return to your homework. But now that she’s got you thinking about soulmates...

Are you any good at algebra? You try to Connect. If you are, I could really use your help.

And then you heard it. For the first time in your life, you heard a voice respond:

你在哪?

You completely froze up when you heard him. It was the most beautiful, melancholy voice you had ever heard. What did he just say? What language was that? Everyone always remembers their soulmate’s first words, but how could you ever remember the foreign sounds you just heard? 

“Oh my God…” You couldn’t believe it. “Oh my God I just- he just…”

“What?” Jamie looked up from her homework, wide-eyed. “What just happened?”

“I heard him!” You tried to keep your voice down, but that proved to be difficult when you were so full of such raw adrenaline. “There was a voice! He talked to me!”

“Oh my God, _____! What did he say?” Jamie completely lit up, just as ecstatic as you at the good news.

And then your heart sank. “I have no idea. It wasn’t English.”

“Oh,” she breathed, perplexed. “Well that’s… uncommon, but not unheard of. Do you know what it was? What did it sound like?”

“I don’t know… it might have been an Asian language? I’m not really sure. He sounded… sweet. He has a gentle voice.” You smiled just thinking about it. You needed to hear it again.

Hello? You feebly tried to respond. Can you hear me?

A few moments passed, and you were greeted with nothing but silence in return.

“I don’t think he can hear me. I think it was a fluke,” you confess. 

“That’s okay! This is still great news!” 

She was right. Your smile returned. “It is. It’s fantastic news!”

***

You started hearing from your soulmate multiple times a day. Most of the time it would be just a short phrase, but sometimes the sound of his voice could go on for minutes at a time. You wondered if he was venting to you, and you wished that you could be there for him. You came to love every message you received, even when it interfered with your school work.

Every time you heard him, you tried to respond. Sometimes it felt like you were having a conversation, but more often than not it was obvious that your Connection was one-sided. One-sided Connections were the most common way that Connections started, so you weren’t concerned about that part of it. Sometimes it could be months or years before your Connection fully formed, and that’s what bothered you most.

After taking some time to research Asian languages, you eventually decided that your soulmate must be communicating in Mandarin. Not exactly the easiest language for you to learn, unfortunately, but you’d gladly take on the challenge for your him. You didn’t even hesitate in deciding to learn the language.

Your parents were more than happy to enroll you in an online Mandarin language class, and you studied harder than you ever had in your life to learn your soulmate’s way of speaking. And little by little, you’re able to understand fragments of his messages.

...waiting patiently.

Today… got worse. …better soon.

Where are you?

When it was time to prepare for university, you easily decided to major in Mandarin with the goal of becoming a translator. Learning the language had become your whole life, and you found genuine joy in it. 

Fragments became sentences, and you’d lay awake at night just listening to his messages. He obviously had no idea that you lived in a different time zone, but you didn’t mind the late-night broadcasts.

Sometimes they were sweet…

I thought about you a lot today. I wonder if you can hear me. I want so badly to talk to you, but I’ll be patient. I wonder what you’re like, what makes you happy, what passions and interests you have. Recently I’ve been training to sing well. Maybe one day we’ll meet and I can sing for you.

Sometimes they were heartbreaking…

I miss my family. I knew that moving away would be hard, but I’m too busy to ever visit and all I want is to see my parents. I love them so much. I hope this message isn’t a burden for you.

And every night you tried to respond. You tried to tell him that you thought about him too, that you hoped he was doing alright. But he never seemed to hear.

Although you’d come to love the sound of his voice and every single message he sent, you couldn’t help but be frustrated by the lack of personal information he shared. He’d been communicating with you for years, but hadn’t so much as hinted at his name. You asked him for it constantly, even though he couldn’t hear you, and you hoped that one day he would tell you.

***

One morning, you were startled awake by his incredibly ecstatic voice. You couldn’t remember ever being forcefully woken up by him, but his voice was so loud, like he was shouting in your ear. 

We did it! We debuted! I just performed my first stage with my members and I am so proud of how far we’ve come! And it was so much fun. I can’t believe we finally made it! Even though we just started, we already have fans. I’m so happy and I just want to perform again!

It was as if the energy he gained from performing had transferred to you, and you suddenly felt wide awake. You jumped out of bed and tore into your roommate’s bedroom, excitedly shouting at her in Mandarin.

“Mingzhu! He’s a singer! That’s what he does! He’s a professional singer!”

Mingzhu screamed in fear at your loud entrance. “_____, I was sleeping! What the hell?”

You fell onto her bed. “This is great news! We can finally figure out who my soulmate is!”

You had met Mingzhu through your university’s Chinese Language and Culture Club, which you joined to help deepen your understanding of Mandarin. Mingzhu grew up in China and fluently spoke Mandarin, and it was hugely helpful to have someone she could practice speaking with. Plus, the two of you had a lot in common and you genuinely enjoyed her friendship.

She was still very connected to her Chinese roots and remained in tune with Asian pop culture. Because of that, you knew she’d be able to help you track down your soulmate, now that you had learned something important about him.

“I’m going to start doing some research to see who just debuted today. Can you help?” You held her hand tightly, hoping to all that is holy that she might agree.

With a sleepy roll of her eyes, she nodded. “Fine. Get me my laptop.”

***

It didn’t take long. You definitely started off on the wrong path by researching Chinese debuts - you didn’t realize that when he talked about moving away from his family, he meant that he moved out of the country. But with Mingzhu’s help, you finally found his group.

They were a ten person Korean boy group named Pentagon. And he was the only Chinese member, Yanan.

And he. Was. Beautiful.

The moment you saw his photo, your heart was overcome with love. He looked just as sweet as he always sounded in your head, with his dark hair, warm eyes, small nose, and gentle smile.

You found their debut performance online and you lost count of how many times you watched it. You were disappointed by Yanan’s lack of screentime, but whenever your gaze latched onto him, your smile could not be contained.

How could you have gotten so lucky?

Of course, there was just a small shred of doubt that it could really be him. It was kind of a guess, after all. But too much of Yanan’s story lined up with what your soulmate has told you, and it just felt so right when you looked at him. 

You spent the whole day watching any video content of him you could find, drowning yourself in the reality show that led to Pentagon’s debut. Of course, everything was in Korean instead of Mandarin, and you weren’t always able to find English subtitles, but it didn’t matter. You were in love.

At least, you were as in love as you could be with someone that you’ve never actually met. With someone who still doesn’t know you exist.

Well… there’s only one way to change that.

***

You took your seat in the middle of the crowd, anxious for Pentagon to come on stage for their Runaway comeback recording for Show Champion. It had been over a year since you discovered your soulmate’s identity, and in that time you managed to finish your schooling and save up enough money to fly to Korea. So there you were, in a completely new country, surrounded by people speaking a language that you barely understood, entirely unsure of how you’d get Yanan to notice you… You had no plan, but at the very least you were there. That’s the most you could do, since your Connection still hadn’t formed.

Maybe you could hang around Cube Entertainment’s building to see if you crossed paths? Or maybe you could find a way to sneak backstage?

No, all of those options would make you seem like a total creep, and that’s not the impression you want to make on your soulmate.

The more you thought about it, the more impossible it seemed that you could ever get to him without your Connection.

Yanan, I’m here. You tried desperately to Connect. Yanan, please hear me. Please. I’m here.

There was no response.

Maybe it was dumb of you to come the whole way to Korea before your Connection was complete.

But no matter - all of your worries get wiped away as soon as the boys step on stage.

Suddenly he’s there. He’s right there in front of you. Yanan, your pretty blonde boy, was right there, wearing his hoodie and ripped jeans and looking like a total boyfriend.

Your whole body got hot from head to toe, your fingertips started tingling, and you had the distinct feeling of completely losing your breath. In that moment, you didn’t know if you were feeling something magical because of your Connection or if you were just having a panic attack because everything was suddenly so real.

And then Yanan shook his hand at his side, as if he felt something too.

Yanan, I’m here! You tried again.

No reaction.

The music started. The boys performed. Yanan still didn’t get enough lines, but the ones he got were the most perfect lines in the whole song. His voice was beautiful as ever and he killed the choreography. As the song ended, you were on the verge of tears because of how overwhelmingly happy you felt.

You knew he wouldn’t hear you, but you just had to tell him. Yanan, you did amazingly! You danced so well and you sang beautifully. I am so proud of you and I LOVE YOU! Yanan, I love you!

All of the sudden, Yanan broke out of his ending pose, his calm, confident expression turning into one of total shock. 

And then he responded.

Soulmate? Are you there?

You couldn’t control the loud gasp that left your lungs. You can hear me? Yanan, I’m here! I’m in the audience, I’m here!

Yanan looked out over the crowd as if he could find you in the sea of people. Before he could spot you, they were ushered off stage and he was gone, but his voice remained inside your head. I’ll find you. Don’t leave. Please, don’t leave. I need to see you.

You responded. I won’t leave, Yanan. I’m here. Tell me where to find you.

I’ll get my manager to help. I can’t believe this! He sounded so excited. How did you know it was me? How long have you known?

I’ve known you for years, Yanan. You’ve been with me, talking to me for years without even knowing it.

He was quiet for a while, but you stayed patient. You had waited for this long, you can wait another few minutes. When he Connected again, he asked for your name and row number and said that a staff member would come to get you.

It was so unreal to think that it was actually happening. You were really Connected, and you were about to meet the man you’ve grown to love since you first heard his voice six years ago.

Just as he promised, a staff member came to collect you and bring you back to the waiting room. It was no secret that idols had soulmates too, and more often than not their soulmates were just regular people. Most of Pentagon had already publicly Connected, with only Yanan and Wooseok still waiting for their Connections to happen. You knew the fact that Yanan finally Connected would be reason for the rest of the group to celebrate, and you’d be more than welcome to come see all of them.

You were brought back to a small room that was far too full of people. The members were scattered throughout, carrying on while the makeup artists blotted their foreheads and noses.

The staff member that ushered you in pointed off to the left and said something in Korean that you didn’t quite understand, but you didn’t need to know her words. You followed her gesture and your gaze fell on your tall blonde soulmate, who had been watching you from the moment you entered the room.

“Yanan,” you breathed.

Your body grew warm and your fingers tingled again. He was so far away, and yet he was the closest he’d ever been. Your whole body was electric in his presence and you knew he felt the same way.

Is it you? His voice sounded in your head, his eyes widening as they fixated on you.

It’s me. Why were you frozen in place? Why couldn’t you seem to move when every cell in your body ached to touch him?

Yanan broke out of the spell first, a sudden smile coming to his lips as he approached you, laughing. And then he spoke to you out loud for the very first time. “I thought you’d be Chinese. Your Mandarin is very impressive.”

“Thank you.” You felt lightheaded as he reached a hand out for you, and you intertwined your fingers with his, the heat of your Connection flashing up your arm as you finally touched. “I learned it just for you.”

“Really?”

“Of course. All of the sudden I had this Chinese kid talking in my head. I had to figure out what he was saying.” You laughed, and Yanan’s sweet laughter mingled with yours. 

With his free hand, he touched your hair, your cheek bones, your jaw, your shoulder. Discovering you and cherishing you. Ingraining the image of his soulmate into the depths of his mind.

“You said you loved me. Is that true?” Yanan’s thumb swept across your cheek, his eyes searching your face.

“I love you with all of my heart, Yanan. I’ve loved you for years.” It was way too easy for you to confess. Being with him just felt so right. You had nothing to hide. “But don’t worry, I don’t expect you to love me right away. We’re soulmates, but love still takes time.”

By that point, the others in the room had started to notice what was going on, and they all stood in giddy anticipation. Kino shouted something in Korean, and Hui smacked his arm, lecturing him for whatever he said. Yanan’s face grew red and he responded in a flustered way.

“What did he say?” you asked. “I don’t know Korean.”

“You don’t?” He frowned, realizing that you really were as foreign as you appeared. “You’re not from here, are you.”

You shook your head. “I came from the other side of the world to see you. This is my first time in Korea.” 

“How long will you be here?”

“I can only stay for another week and a half. But we’ll work something out until I can move here.”

“You’d move here for me?” Yanan seemed a little bewildered yet concerned that you were so ready to uproot your life for him.

Sternly, you responded, “Of course! You’re my soulmate! I’d do anything for you.” 

Hongseok spoke up just then, and the other members laughed at his comment, Yanan included.

“What are they saying?” You smiled and squeezed his hand. “Tell me!”

“Hongseok said ‘They’re already bickering, they must really be soulmates.’” Yanan pulled you into an unexpected hug as he chuckled, and you eagerly wrapped your arms around his waist.

You listened to the gentle beating of his heart and truly felt like you were home. “And Kino? What did he say?” 

You could feel Yanan’s hesitance to respond, but he translates eventually. “He said, ‘Just kiss her already!’”

Your heart fluttered at the words, and you pulled away to look up at him. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

“You’re a little spitfire, aren’t you.” He cupped your face with a wild grin. “I like that.”

“You better.” You grinned, too. “You’re stuck with me, after all.”

With a chuckle, he leaned down and pressed his lips to yours, officially sealing your Connection. Warmth flowed through you and peaceful energy radiated from you, bathing the room in a calm aura. 

When you parted, he murmured, “I’m sorry that you had to wait for me for so long. I can’t wait to learn everything about you.”

“We’re in no rush. We have all the time in the world.”

All Rights Reserved © gwentoryfics. No translations, reposting, and/or modifying of the material is allowed without my direct permission.

[gffa]

I say this pretty much every week, but it’s still true every week–this is a collection of fics that I’m really, really glad exist in the STAR WARS fandom, there are some that are just absolute gems that should be shoved in people’s faces because they’re just so good. Some fics that are the kind that make my brain all fizzy with how much I enjoy them and how satisfying and/or heartbreaking and/or joyous they can be. All the things Star Wars should be! ✦ untitled by fireflyfish, obi-wan & anakin, ~1k    “You should be inside,” a voice says, painfully familiar. “The desert can kill with cold just as easily as with heat, Master.” ✦ Family by lilyconrad, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & darth maul & cast, sith!obi-wan, 6.8k    Seven years after the duel on Naboo, Obi-Wan Kenobi has turned to the dark, Maul has turned to the light, and young Anakin is caught somewhere in-between. Can Qui-Gon rescue his Padawan before it’s too late? ✦ Oversharing by glare-gryphon, obi-wan/anakin & obi-wan/anakin/padme, NSFW, 2.4k    In summary: it was about Obi-Wan feeling it every time Anakin & Padme have sex & getting frustrated about it. ✦ Pies, Books, and Swords, obi-wan & qui-gon/tahl, 1.2k    Qui-Gon Jinn has made quite a good name for himself, as far as holonet cooking shows go. ✦ wonderterror by peradi, han/leia & han/luke & obi-wan/anakin (maybe?) & anakin/padme & cast, 6.5k    The Skywalkers aren’t entirely human. Here’s what that means. ✦ The Question, Twenty Years Late by Eirian Erisdar, obi-wan/satine & luke, 1.2k    Set just post-ROTJ in a timeline where Satine survived. Waiting alone for an emissary from the newly-formed Imperial Senate to demand Mandalore’s fealty to the Empire, Satine is surprised by an unexpected guest, holding a very precious bundle. ✦ Dreamers by LuchaDoRa, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 6.2k    Obi-Wan dreams sometimes. So does Anakin. ✦ Sigh No More by edenwolfie, obi-wan/anakin/padme & ahsoka & luke & leia & cast, 158.2k wip    Anakin makes slightly better choices, Obi-Wan is a Mess™ and Padmé deserves none of this. AU from Mustafar onward with liberal manipulation of canon to culminate in some angsty, fluffy, domestic fix-it because we all deserve better. ✦ Broken by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin & rex & padme & cast, NSFW, sith!obi-wan (sort of), dark themes, 20.8k wip    The Twins are unstoppable enforcers of the Emperor’s will, the sun and moon that hang in the black void of his rule. It is said they are not the same age and that under their hoods they do not look alike, but they fight as one entity, silent and terrible as an eclipse in a spring sky. ✦ No Galaxy for Good Jedi by Annie_Walker, obi-wan & anakin & padme & qui-gon & dooku & yoda & cast, some obi-wan/satine, sith!qui-gon, 124.8k wip    Obi-Wan Kenobi was only a young padawan when he ran away with three-year old Anakin. He had no choice after his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, fell to the Dark Side by Master Dooku’s manipulations. ✦ untitled by albaparthenicevelut, obi-wan & anakin, accidental pirate obi-wan, 1k    Obi Wan was in Scarif, which was concerning actually. Obi Wan Kenobi, Rebel Operative, Dashing Duke, and Pirate King, should not be within a system of the Empire’s top secret military research base, much less in the very city in which it was located. ✦ and gravity, scientists say, is weak by victoria_p (musesfool), obi-wan & anakin + referenced obi-wan/satine, 3.2k    “You’re not the only one who’s ever been in love, Anakin.” ✦ Rest by copper_sky, obi-wan/anakin, ~1k    Anakin has a huge weakness for having his hair played with and a sleepy Obi-Wan indulges him. full details + recs under the cut!

✦ untitled by fireflyfish, obi-wan & anakin, ~1k    “You should be inside,” a voice says, painfully familiar. “The desert can kill with cold just as easily as with heat, Master.”    This is a short snippet based on a text post that’s theorizing about what we might get from an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie and, good god, is it painful and perfect. The spectre of Anakin Skywalker haunting Obi-Wan on Tatooine, some undefined combination of maybe the Force or maybe just a hallucination, and it’s almost gentle in tone, it’s almost comforting, except that only further emphasizes the loss, it only makes it hurt more. It’s beautifully written and so very heartbreaking and absolutely in line with what I imagine Obi-Wan went through on Tatooine. Gorgeous and hurtful, just as it should be. ✦ Family by lilyconrad, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & darth maul & cast, sith!obi-wan, 6.8k    Seven years after the duel on Naboo, Obi-Wan Kenobi has turned to the dark, Maul has turned to the light, and young Anakin is caught somewhere in-between. Can Qui-Gon rescue his Padawan before it’s too late?    I don’t know how I missed this fic until today! But, oh, I really loved it, as it’s such a manipulative and angry Obi-Wan, who seems to care about Anakin in some way, but also absolutely uses him and isn’t with him for entirely altruistic reasons. The surface may be similar in a lot of ways, but it’s such a different character from canon (in exactly the way it’s supposed to be!) where he loved Anakin so much, where he would never have used him for such selfish purposes, though, in almost any universe, their connection and their sheer chemistry is still alive and crackling. I love the moments with Qui-Gon, who carries such a heavy weight, whatever he is or isn’t responsible for with Obi-Wan’s path and the loss of Anakin, he feels the weight of it on himself anyway and I felt so much for him, all the more so because he desperately did want to put things right, but wouldn’t cross certain lines. And Maul maybe not being good, but not being the creature of hate, not being the Sith that he was before! And the ending! All of this was really, really fun and captured my imagination and wrote some lovely interactions we don’t see much (Maul talking about how he found himself and Anakin similar! such a lovely and deft touch the fic had with that!) and was perfect as it was. ✦ Oversharing by glare-gryphon, obi-wan/anakin & obi-wan/anakin/padme, NSFW, 2.4k    In summary: it was about Obi-Wan feeling it every time Anakin & Padme have sex & getting frustrated about it.    Holy christ, my brain just about melted from the hotness of this fic. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to write a coherent rec for it! It’s one of those that hit my id perfectly, but is also really beautifully written, and the combination just pretty much made me incoherent for how much I loved it. Anakin being a provoking brat about knowing that Obi-Wan shares his experiences when he’s with Padme, that she knows the effect they have as well, those two beautiful little smug shits, is great just to begin with, but doing so to get a reaction from Obi-Wan? To provoke him into shoving Anakin down onto the bed, to give Anakin what he wants, which is to be fucked until he doesn’t have to think about anything else, knowing that it will carry over to Padme, what he’s experience, what Obi-Wan is doing to him, that the three of them combine through Anakin, all things I am really, really here for. It’s got so many great little details, the way Obi-Wan is so caringly, lovingly vindictive about it, the way Anakin comes while riding Obi-Wan, but then is flipped over so Obi-Wan can fuck him more thoroughly, really take his time with Anakin, really get joyful revenge on Padme as well, that he describes Anakin enough to make Padme groan, because Obi-Wan is a master of really good, happy revenge like this. But also, wow, does Anakin really, really enjoy when Obi-Wan does this and I’m just. Going to maybe keep this one on my reader for awhile longer, because it was so lovely. ✦ Pies, Books, and Swords, obi-wan & qui-gon/tahl, 1.2k    Qui-Gon Jinn has made quite a good name for himself, as far as holonet cooking shows go.    My only complaint about this fic is that it’s not at least 30k long and I can’t read more of it because, oh my god, it is fucking precious and absolute delightful. Little toddler Obi-Wan is the most adorable thing I have ever seen and there are so many little moments that had me practically cooing at my reader or just outright laughing because they were so perfect. It’s one of those things that sounds almost too fluffy, but there’s a sharpness to the writing and genuine hilarity to the timing of it and the imagery presented, so it’s one of my favorite things that I’ve read recently. Little moppet Obi-Wan stealing the show is the most precious thing and I WANT MORE OF THIS SO BADLY OMG but also this is perfect the way it is. ✦ wonderterror by peradi, han/leia & han/luke & obi-wan/anakin (maybe?) & anakin/padme & cast, 6.5k    The Skywalkers aren’t entirely human. Here’s what that means.    This was a neat, fun little piece about mixing Lovecraftian horror with the Star Wars universe and what that means for Anakin Skywalker, literal child of the Force, and his children. It was just really fun to see the way some people were in awe of them and some people were terrified of them and I’m always down for things that play with the Force in a universe where things work differently from canon! This was a delightful read today. ✦ The Question, Twenty Years Late by Eirian Erisdar, obi-wan/satine & luke, 1.2k    Set just post-ROTJ in a timeline where Satine survived. Waiting alone for an emissary from the newly-formed Imperial Senate to demand Mandalore’s fealty to the Empire, Satine is surprised by an unexpected guest, holding a very precious bundle.    I have a very desperate wish for post-ROTS fic where Obi-Wan goes to a still alive Satine to stay with her and this fic really makes me want that 100k epic of it, but also it’s lovely just as it is and, oh, the understated emotion and sheer amount of loss Obi-Wan is wading through here, how he’s still Obi-Wan Kenobi even when he’s been laid bare before her, with so little left of himself, that she’s the only spark still left of who he is, that and this precious bit of Anakin he still has in his arms, the innocent life here. And the reunion between Obi-Wan and Satine is lovely and perfect and it’s heartbreaking but also hopeful and beautifully written. I loved this one a lot. ✦ Dreamers by LuchaDoRa, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 6.2k    Obi-Wan dreams sometimes. So does Anakin.    The author’s notes say this fic was written a long time ago and that was something I felt while reading, like it had been written back when the fandom atmosphere was different, like Obi-Wan being thought of as someone who definitely always follows the rules, etc. But where this fic got me was in the second half, where Anakin is being a brat, trying to ruffle Obi-Wan with details of his dream, but Obi-Wan just looks him dead in the eye and not quite smiles and tells him to keep going and that is 100% the Obi-Wan Kenobi I know! Anakin egging Obi-Wan on to get a reaction out of him, to provoke his Master into shoving him up against the wall, to wrap Anakin’s legs around him like in his dream, to push him down onto the bed, until Anakin is out of his mind with desperation to please, please just fuck him already, all of that was also great. The sex itself was also nice, as Obi-Wan takes care to properly open Anakin up first, to not just shove roughly into him, the wait to finally push into Anakin, then having Anakin ride him while guiding him, all of that was very, very nice and exactly what I’m here for. Anakin being a brat and biting off more than he can chew when Obi-Wan finally responds, yesss, I will read a thousand stories about that if I can! ✦ Sigh No More by edenwolfie, obi-wan/anakin/padme & ahsoka & luke & leia & cast, 158.2k wip    Anakin makes slightly better choices, Obi-Wan is a Mess™ and Padmé deserves none of this. AU from Mustafar onward with liberal manipulation of canon to culminate in some angsty, fluffy, domestic fix-it because we all deserve better.    New Rec: I believe I’ve recommended this fic at least once before? But now that it’s up to 22 chapters, I’ve caught up on the fic and it was time to write a fresh rec for it. I do have a few things you need to just roll with the fic for–that the characters go hide out on Tatooine instead of fighting back, that Obi-Wan is often more indecisive than he would be, that Anakin’s emotional problems tend to go away more easily than I think they would. But the point of the fic is to write a really long, really revel-in-it story about the domesticity of these characters on Tatooine, to just wholly embrace digging into the slice of life stuff in this remote, isolated area where it’s just the three of them + the twins + Ahsoka. It’s a story that has the room to breathe with the characters, that it’s not about dragging things out, but instead that the whole point of the story is that slow, incrimental moving forward with the relationship(s). It’s a story that I pick up when I want something where the characters are (for the most part) taken away from galatic level action and instead are given something like a peaceful life (as much as one can get post-ROTS, of course) and I just want to roll around in something that’s hopeful and kind. The length is nice as well, because it really gets across that this is a story that’s meant to be a slow burn and a slow build even once things finally do catch fire. As mentioned, I don’t feel like it’s dragging things out, but instead that the slow process is the whole point, that it’s about building their relationships, their life here, step by step. It’s domesticity and slice-of-life and really reveling in it to the fic’s heart’s content. But also omg I admit I’m definitely here for the sex scene, because Anakin and Padme are adorable, Obi-Wan and Anakin had a very pretty frottage scene earlier, but then chapter 22 was exactly what I wanted–where they finally have the time and both are in the right place for something more intense, something deeper. And, boy, does Anakin find that he enjoys being held down, that he has Obi-Wan’s attention all on him, that he likes the way he feels when he’s pressed down onto the bed and held there, when he’s filled up with Obi-Wan, who opens him up with such care and affection, until there’s no other noise in his head, that all the anxieties and fears and insecurities are pushed out, as Obi-Wan pushes into him. I’m really not kidding that I will read that a thousand times because Anakin needs it a thousand times and Obi-Wan being able to give that to Anakin is so good for him as well. There’s also a lot of cute stuff with Ahsoka coming and going, watching the twins grow up, and more! But I can’t lie, I’m here for Anakin Skywalker, my precious child, getting the happy life I always wanted for him. ✦ Broken by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin & rex & padme & cast, NSFW, sith!obi-wan (sort of), dark themes, 20.8k wip    The Twins are unstoppable enforcers of the Emperor’s will, the sun and moon that hang in the black void of his rule. It is said they are not the same age and that under their hoods they do not look alike, but they fight as one entity, silent and terrible as an eclipse in a spring sky.    Chapter 5: This is an update rec and will focus on this chapter, rather than the fic as a whole. This chapter reminded me all over again how heartbreaking this whole story is, to see how much of Obi-Wan and Anakin have just been forever lost, that there may be embers left, but who they were are really and truly gone. And it was difficult to read because it implies what must have been truly soul-breaking to get them to this point, to see them so destroyed in spirit and so afraid and so pliant to what Sidious orders them to do. Seeing it through Ahsoka’s eyes, the contrast against how you know this won’t be a happy ending of a story, they’re too gone, there’s not enough left, they’re just empty shells of who they used to be, only the most basic of instincts and connection to each other left. And it’s so sad, but also beautifully done, that even if maybe I have a little hope that they might get a bittersweet ending (and I’m not prepared to hold my breath on that, but either way I’ll be satisfied, I know I’m not reading a sunshine fic here), and I know I’ll have a lot of feelings along the way. Plus, the bits of clone world building with the way they look at strong enemies, really just gave me a lot of feelings, like… it’s not better this way, but there is at least something to hold onto, however small it is. I feel like that describes so much of this fic, too! ✦ No Galaxy for Good Jedi by Annie_Walker, obi-wan & anakin & padme & qui-gon & dooku & yoda & cast, some obi-wan/satine, sith!qui-gon, 124.8k wip    Obi-Wan Kenobi was only a young padawan when he ran away with three-year old Anakin. He had no choice after his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, fell to the Dark Side by Master Dooku’s manipulations.    I have a handful of caveats about this story to start out with–the writing really needs a good scrub with the beta brush, as there are constant typos and misused words, up to half a dozen of them on almost every page of the story. I mention this to encourage readers past it because the writing underneath that is very solid and very easy to just read, read, read, but I had to be in the right headspace for it, I admit. Second, there’s a lot of fairly minor details of canon that don’t really work with the story, including that Qui-Gon as a Sith isn’t really how Sith are in canon, it’s more the Soft Sith thing that fandom loves–which, by the way, I am totally fine with! Third, this is an Obi-Wan who isn’t quite like the majority of canon, he’s much younger and more all over the place, but that works for his age, where he’d be about as old as he is in TPM. And, finally, I admit that the Obi-Wan/Satine stuff felt like it came up a little too fast and kind of derailed the fic until it got back in track. I mention these things not to give a back-handed compliment, honest! I wouldn’t have read well over 100k of fic and kept coming back for more if I thought this was a bad story, but I genuinely want to encourage people to pick it up because it’s very much worth it, even if I might have skipped past it myself because of these things. Those things all said, holy crap, I definitely ate up this fic like you wouldn’t believe! The thing about the story is that it’s very solidly done, it’s almost one hundred and thirty thousand words and I felt like I could read that much more all over again if the author happened to drop it in my lap right this second. It caught my attention because the heart of the story, for all that it occasionally drifts off into other things, is set on Obi-Wan and Anakin’s relationship, that they love each other dearly, that they are the most important person in each other’s lives, and that was so incredibly satisfying to read. The fic winds its way through several twists and turns, there’s a lot happening and it’s not in any rush to get to the end, there’s plenty of breathing room here, in the sense that each section of the plot (whether they’re on the run, whether one of them has been captured by the Sith or the Jedi, whether they’re staying on Naboo or Mandalore for awhile, etc.) has plenty of time to have things actually unfold there, it spends time on each of these thigns. Yet I never felt like it was padding things out just to up the word count, it felt like each scene was there because that’s what the story wanted to be focused on in the moment. That may sound like a weird thing to focus on, but when I read longfic, one of the major things I’m wary of is a story that’s just endlessly dragging things out, so many scenes that don’t advance the plot or the characters. With this one I felt like these scenes were the point, that action happens just as often as it needs to (there are several fight scenes in the fic!), that it’s a story that’s not about rushing to the end, but about the long haul of this journey it’s on. Though, ultimately, what endeared this story to me is that Obi-Wan and Anakin’s older brother&younger brother (edging into something like father&son territory) was the heart of so much of the story, that pages and pages were dedicated to either their high octane antics and how desperately they didn’t want to be separated, how much they worried and missed the other when they were, how Anakin is devastated when away from Obi-Wan, how adorable moppet Anakin is and he’ll curl up against Obi-Wan when falling asleep, how there are moments of quiet domesticity that were a joy to read and soothed my soul. I enjoyed the plot of this fic a great deal, it hit me right in the genfic id places, but this relationship is what got me to pick up the fic and is absolutely the highlight of it, it’s what really got to me about the story and why I’m so glad to have read this one and look forward to every update! ✦ untitled by albaparthenicevelut, obi-wan & anakin, accidental pirate obi-wan, 1k    Obi Wan was in Scarif, which was concerning actually. Obi Wan Kenobi, Rebel Operative, Dashing Duke, and Pirate King, should not be within a system of the Empire’s top secret military research base, much less in the very city in which it was located.    I love the Accidental Pirate Obi-Wan thing that popped up on tumblr and this was an absolutely delightful addition to it, so silly and light-hearted and cracky in just the right ways, it just gleefully embraced everything that’s so much fun about the whole thing! Obi-Wan is handsome and dashing and everyone can’t help swooning over him and Vader’s so irritated by this (but also maybe kind of understands) and it just filled my heart with joy and light to read this short fic of Obi-Wan on Scarif with the Death Star plans! ✦ and gravity, scientists say, is weak by victoria_p (musesfool), obi-wan & anakin + referenced obi-wan/satine, 3.2k    “You’re not the only one who’s ever been in love, Anakin.”    This is one of the author’s sharper fics and I wound up enjoying it for all the feelings it gave me, the way Obi-Wan loved and continues to love Satine, but the path for them to be together seems impossible. It’s an understated fic, but that works well for what this is, a conversation between Obi-Wan and Anakin about Satine and the bloom of hope in Anakin that maybe he could tell his Master about Padme someday. And I love that it’s such a small thing, a small bit of understanding that Anakin gains on who Obi-Wan actually is, that maybe it could have changed things, because that’s how it is with Star Wars–sometimes the smallest things maybe could have changed everything, if only the galaxy had been a little kinder. This was a lovely read and put me right back in the mood for more Obi-Wan/Satine again! ✦ Rest by copper_sky, obi-wan/anakin, ~1k    Anakin has a huge weakness for having his hair played with and a sleepy Obi-Wan indulges him.    Oh, man, this was entirely soft and fluffy and sleepy and warm! It’s exactly what it says on the tin and that’s what I went into the fic hoping to get and I came out just feeling that content, nice feeling. It’s soft and sweet and, goddammit, sometimes Obi-Wan and Anakin need that, okay! This was a nice thing to cap my evening reading off with, just sleepy cuddles with Obi-Wan’s hand in Anakin’s hair, Anakin cuddled against his Master’s side, everything content and right in the galaxy in this moment.

[i-am-adlocked]

[soulmate au] Everything is Grey

The world is black and white until one meets the other half. FRIENDSHIP, FLUFF, TRAGEDY By CA Hawkins WORD COUNT: 5701

AN: Here it is, an original story by moi. Idea came from Tumblr tho.

I’ve always found it so amusing when the coloured-eyed describe colours to the greyed-eyed. You meet and go with people who complain and look around for clothes to match their shoes, their eyes, their shirt... and you understand why: because they can see colours—because they’ve met their soulmates.

I had always envied them.

Not everyone has met their soulmates but had still ended up with the people they love. Some met their soulmates with their best friends. Some romantic soulmate relationships end due to the fact that they are destined to be together platonically.

The universe may say who your soulmate is—but you can never be sure what your fate together will be.

Speaking of fate, I have four best friends whom I love with all my heart. I don’t think they’ve met their soulmates yet either.

Two girls and two boys.

We all met about six years ago when we were all chosen from our university for some government research I cannot talk about in public... but even though we had finished the research after two quick months (much to the surprise of our superiors), the five of us had kept in touch and we had always spent some time together—mostly drinking in a pub.

Eventually, we all moved to the same city since we all love it here—in London. None of us have close relatives anyway and so we consider ourselves as a family.

Lawrence is a quiet kind of bloke, but he always keeps everyone smiling. He drives us everywhere and he seems to know every pub in the city—which is great! He is a bit shy with the ladies, though. I don’t know why he’s so insecure... He’s the most knowledgeable one in the group and he’s also incredibly sweet.

Sweeney is a rather sarcastic snob and a bit of an arsehole (maybe not a bit) but we keep him in our little family—only because he is extremely loyal and he will, apparently, die in our name. Of course, we also love him... unfortunately.

Felicity is loud. She loves cracking jokes and she loves playing guitar. She’s a heavy drinker but never gets a hangover—flirty but has great integrity—rather brilliant in her own explicable way, and a bit self-centred at times, but would also sit beside you all night if you need it.

Scarlett, my best friend, isn’t very talkative. She most likely has a lot of secrets and is definitely the most mysterious of us all. Oh she’s the most brilliant person I had ever met, and I don’t think there’s anything she can’t do... Oh, wait, she was a bloody horrible flatmate (but she moved in with Lawrence four years ago because his flat is closer to her work than mine)... and a bit of a lazy git at times, but that’s her in a nutshell. 

Still, despite their differences, I’m glad that they were all rather happy for me when I told them that I can finally see colours.

They ask me what it was like, and how it feels like.

“Well... it’s hard to explain,” I answer. Ironically, that’s the answer I hated the most when I asked colleagues before, back when I was greyed-eyed. Well, it is hard to describe.

“How did it happen?” Lawrence asks, interrupting. He always knows what’s the right thing to say or ask. That’s why he’s our group’s leader so to speak.

I tell them the day I first met my boyfriend. 

The first colour I saw was his beautiful brown eyes. I knew then what my favourite colour is: Brown... like the colour of chocolate (I’m still giddy that I can finally understand people when they associate colour with descriptions).

I tell them that Scarlett and I were heading to the pub—just the two of us to hang out—and we decided to go through the park for a shortcut. When I got distracted by a really good violinist who was performing in the middle of the park, Scarlett decided to be a bitch and ditched me... again.

I decided to ask the man nearest to me if he had seen a woman wearing a scarf. When he turned around and looked at me, that’s when the colours exploded in front of me.

I bet we both looked liked two idiot boys, standing in the middle of the park, mouths agape, looking at the world for the first time. Well, to be honest, we kind of did look at the world for the first time—in colour.

“So, this is what the sky looks like,” he whispered to himself, looking up at the blue colour of the sky everyone talked about.

“And this is what green looks like,” I whispered back, looking down at the grass, or is it green? There are so many colours.

I tell my friends that I almost cried that day—that i was so overwhelmed with the plethora of colours and the emotion that I’m seeing the world for the first time. I thought I was going to hyperventilate with happiness.

“God, this is so beautiful,” I whispered to the stranger.

“Howard Ainsley.” He smiled at me, offering his hand.

“Winter Elingston,” I replied, breathing out.

I was talking to my soulmate, for goodness’ sake! I never knew this would happen in such a boring frustrated day. To think that I was merely going to ask a stranger for directions, then boom fucking colours everywhere.

I will never forget that look of surprise on his face.

“Nice to finally meet you,” he told me with a sweet foolish grin.

“Likewise,” I replied, smiling sweetly. 

The universe... the colours are so... beautiful...

“You’re lucky,” Felicity comments after the silence when i’m done telling them the story.

“I know,” I reply honestly.

I look around the pub—the flashing lights on the dance floor that used to be only bright lights—the number of glasses on the shelves in different shades of the window—the plethora of different shirts in different colours... I might never get used to seeing them...

The world is beautiful—fucked up, of course, but still beautiful.

O N E   Y E A R   L A T E R

I’ve been with Howard for a long long time and I had been asked on what my favourite colour is. For a long time, I’ve always wanted to be asked about this. now, I can never stop feeling the happiness of the realisation that I am so used to this question.

To the colour-eyed, this question becomes a part of their normalcy and it can be easy to forget that not all people are coloured-eyed.

That is my mistake.

“What’s your favourite colour?” I accidentally ask Scarlett, who is spending a week in my flat because I insisted her to.

As much as I love Howard visiting me in my lonely flat, I still miss my best friend making her own mess everywhere. It’s boring not to clean up blood (borrowed from the hospital) on the floor and other internal organs cluttered around the kitchen (borrowed from somewhere Scarlett won’t tell me about).

My thoughts about my best friend dissipate at the glare she is giving me. Realising what I had just asked, I shrink in embarrassment.

“Oh God, sorry,” I say, blushing.

“It’s quite alright,” she says in her usual cool tone, but I notice a slight edge in it. “You’re already coloured-eyed. It’s your version of normal, of course. Alas, for me, still, everything is grey,” Scarlett continues, gesturing around in a theatrical manner, “and it probably will for a long long time—forever even.” She shrugs.

Pity. It’s a shame she can’t exactly see how beautifully blue her eyes are. Before, I’ve always thought they were so pale—almost white... but no, they’re startlingly blue. As for me, I just found out I’ve always had dark sea-green eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter again.

“Elingston, stop apologising,” she says sternly. I chuckle to myself because she always loves calling us by our first names—something about not being too close to us, but obviously failing.

In our group of scientists (whom I know consider as family), Scarlett is the most analytically creative between the five of us. Sure, I may be the one who always questions everything; Sweeney may be the one who conjures up the suggestions; Felicity may be the one who never gives up; and Lawrence may be the one who always finds the answer...

...but Scarlett is all of us rolled into one, but instead of everything being a matter of hopeful possibility, it becomes a matter of definite probability—and that’s one of the reason why she’s my best and most trusted friend...

...and inside that façade of hers, I know she is also the most emotional and caring person in the planet—which is probably why she hides her emotions well—too well... No one knows her like we do. The four of us can see through all those clever lies. She’s the most human of us all—probably a side-effect of being nearly all-knowing...

...since emotion and humanity are a part of that brain of hers... but she never shows it. Still, we all assume she’s both aromantic and asexual. Come to think of it, she never says anything about herself much.

I wonder what else she hides in that metaphorically huge head of hers.

Looking at her right now, lying down on the ground, relaxing with her arms being used as her own pillow, it made me think. I just realised why I would ask such a question—her favourite colour.

It was a niggling sensation at the back of my head—something we have all seen but never really observed enough... and I want to smack my head silly because it is something so drastically obvious:

Scarlett can always match her clothes.

“Scar, may I ask you something?” I start again.

She hums in reply, closing her eyes. “Sure, what is it?” she asks me in the usual bored and sleepy tone of hers.

I observe her once more—on the ground as we listen to some Chopin—wearing her usual beige dressing gown which matches the colour of her brown silk pyjamas. The fact that I can always see her in one of two colours ever since I became coloured-eyed just surprises me.

There was not a day Scarlett wore anything mismatched. I had seen the others wear mismatched shirts, coats, waistcoats, trousers, shoes, and even socks—kinda embarrassing really—and it’s all because they’re all greyed-eyed.

Oh my God. Has she already met her soulmate but never told us?

“How do you match your clothes?” I ask.

“Pardon?” she asks, opening her eyes to look at me confusedly. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

“I asked you how you matched your clothes.”

She sits up almost immediately at that. “I don’t... Winter, you know, I feel like you’re starting to offend me by rubbing the fact that you’re coloured-eyed to my face. I don’t care about colours or the fact that I’m greyed-eyed. Are we clear on that? When is the attempt to brag ever going to end?”

“I’m not trying to brag!” I exclaim.

“Then, pray tell, what are you doing if not insulting me? Because we both know I will always have greyed-eyed.”

“I’m just trying to ask how—”

“Yes?” she interrupts.

“—how in the world do you manage to always have your clothes matched?” I ask her calmly.

She lies back down on the floor with a sigh, returning to her previous position. “That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“I buy everything in one set of colour every time I shop for clothes. The lady in the shop always guides me with the colours and I trust her judgment. Their matching colours are all in a certain order in my wardrobe so they are all in track to match their colours,” she explains. “Simple, really.”

“In what order are they organised?” I ask sceptically.

“Their chronology,” she answers, “of when I bought them. I even had the colours labelled, thanks to the lady there. With the help of society and information from the internet, I always know which colour to match together, and which colour never to match with.”

I nod to myself. “You do wear red almost all the time though.”

“As people had told me,” she answers plainly. “It is the first set of clothes in the wardrobe that I am able to reach easily. It’s not a surprise I always wear them. Plus, the texture of the clothing is better, and people compliment me on how it looks good on me, and how the colour makes me stand out more. I figured it best to wear them the most.”

Seems fair to me and I actually agree with what she said... but...

“Well... why the effort? Why would you go through all that? Why do you have to match the colours of your clothes? I mean, what’s the point? You can’t even see it...” I regret my words immediately after I said them.

Before I could apologise, however, Scarlett answers, “I may not see it but those who see colours do and I do not want to look moronic in front of them, to be quite honest. Imagine if you would see me in such atrocious colours... People say mismatched clothes could be unappealing,” she continues. “I don’t want people to see me as anything less than I want to exhibit.”

“So, you’re saying... you went through all that trouble for the sake of fashion?”

“Yes,” she answers plainly, “are we done now? I want to nap.”

Right... Maybe I’m wrong.

T W O   Y E A R S   L A T E R

Scarlett has already been told about my new announcement but she still insists on pretending not to know as we gather everyone in our favourite pub.

“So, why are we here?” Sweeney asks. “What’s the occasion?”

“Why would you all think there’s an occasion?” I ask.

“Come on, Winter... You were practically screaming on the phone,” Felicity observes, smiling amusedly.

“And we never come here on a Tuesday,” Lawrence points out. “So what’s the big news that can’t wait until Friday?”

“God, there’s absolutely no secret that can pass by here, is there?” I sigh, laughing. “Guess there’s no point in delaying anything—I’m moving in with Howard,” I announce.

Howard had spent a lot of time with these idiots. They seem to get on pretty well and thankfully, the others love him—which is actually a huge relief to me. Then again, Howard is my soulmate—my other half. Of course, if my friends love me, it’s only natural that my friends would love my other half, too.

Felicity starts shaking in happiness. Lawrence congratulates me with a pat on the shoulder. Sweeney gets the first round. Scarlett just sits there, looking out the window, wearing her signature blood red shirt and blood red scarf—but she said she doesn’t see colours so maybe it’s just her usual clothes and not her signature colour. For me, I’d say it still is.

“God, when’s he proposing?” Lawrence asks. “I think it’s about time, don’t you?” he asks me.

“Really, Law? Marriage? You may be a romantic but I’m not. Let’s focus on moving with him first before all that.” I laugh as they do.

He playfully punches me in the arm. “Come on! You’re moving in with your soulmate! And you’ve been together for about—what?—two years already? Of course, that’s going to lead to a proposal! That’s worth twenty rounds of drinks!”

“I suppose so.” I laugh.

“God, I’d kill for that opportunity. You’re so lucky. What does it look like again? The world in colour?” Felicity asks for the nth time.

“You know that I find it hard to explain. You feel colours. We can’t explain it... You can’t explain the unexplainable,” I say. “Even Science can’t explain this.”

“Fuck Science,” Felicity mocks.

“Feli, you’re a genius architects,” Lawrence points out.

“Fuck Science,” she repeats, laughing. “Speaking of which... Hey, Scar!”

Scarlett hums in answer, turning away from the window. What is she looking at out there anyway?

Oh...

Fireworks...

Colourful fireworks...

“Did you ever wonder what colours look like?” Felicity asks the others.

Just then, Sweeney arrives with the drinks and after being told by Felicity of what we are talking about, starts spewing stories about who he tried to imagine what they look like and ended up with a large headache.

“No,” Scarlett answers simply, dismissing us all by looking out the window again. With Scarlett, you never know what personality she has. She can be sweet, loud, or never talk at all. Her personality is all jumbled.

We all look at Lawrence who shifts uncomfortably on his seat. “I never really thought about it.”

“It must be beautiful,” Felicity moans. “Come on, colours! When will I ever see ya?!” she groans.

“You’ll meet your soulmate, Feli,” Sweeney says. “Too bad it isn’t me.” He winks at her. Felicity laughingly hits Sweeney on the back of his head.

Lawrence clears his throat, looking down at the table as if he is in some sort of trance. “Colours are amazing.” Everyone stares at him and he finally looks up, clearing his throat. “Theoretically, for us greyed-eyed, of course.” He whispers, “They say colours are so beautiful.” He smiles at the table once more.

Then I finally notice that Lawrence is wearing a blood red tie that matches with his brown three-piece suit.

M O M E N T S   L A T E R

"Law, can I ask you something?” I ask Lawrence who had volunteered to drive me back home to Howard.

“Sure, anything.” He smiles briefly before turning his eyes back on the road.

“The colours of your clothes match,” I blurt out before I stop myself.

“That’s... not really a question, Winter,” he points out.

He didn’t deny nor confirm it—which means it’s worth investigating.

“I know... but what I’m asking is: who’s your soulmate? and why didn’t you tell us that you’re already coloured-eyed? and how long?” I ask him.

Lawrence looks at me briefly before sighing. “Swear on your life you won’t tell anyone.”

I nod. “Yes, I promise.”

“Not even Scar,” he points out because I always tell her everything.

“Yes, of course, I promise.”

He nods absentmindedly before smiling. “Well, she doesn’t want to be known. To be honest, I don’t want to expose anything about her either but... obviously, we’ve met. We’re both well aware about us being soulmates and we, er, always meet in secret and that’s when the fun usually begins.” He smiles.

“Do you love each other?”

“Well, if we didn’t, we wouldn’t be married now, would we?”

“WHAT?!” I yell out. “Married? What do you mean married? We haven’t even met her and you’re saying that you’re bloody married?! MARRIED?!”

“In secret, yeah. It was her idea to keep the marriage a secret, and I agree. No one knows about it and we love it that way... but it was my idea to get married. I proposed the usual way—fancy dinner, and with a ring, of course. Still, we always go to fancy restaurants so I didn’t look suspicious... Completely took her by surprise—which is saying something because she doesn’t get surprised easily.” Lawrence laughs.

"How long have you seen colours?" I ask.

"Eight? Nine years?" Lawrence shrugs.

"And how long have you been married?" I ask again.

He smiles. "Seven years."

"Jesus. That long?" I ask and Lawrence nods.

“Honestly, the moment I saw colours, neither of us said anything. I actually thought—no—feared that I was the only one who saw the colours but that was logically impossible... Soulmates are shared bonds so—of course—it had to be her... I remember she was wearing good but mismatched clothes—the look on her face...” He laughs. “I think that was the only time I ever saw her be horrified with herself... but coincidentally, we were wearing the same shirt colour.”

“Does she live with you?”

“No,” he laughs. “That would be hard since Scar lives with me. I’m just glad my soulmate is not the jealous type and she completely trusts me. Scar doesn’t know about her, of course, but our relationship works. My wife and I may be an odd couple but we work—beautifully.”

“You won’t stop talking.” I point out since Lawrence is usually quiet.

“You have no idea how long I’ve always wanted to talk about her. Obviously, I can’t say her name because she’ll kill me if she finds out but, at least, I could say things about her. Granted, I agreed with the secrecy and I love it but... I love her so much, you know? It’s hard not to say anything.” His voice dies down before he whispers, “She humbles me. I’ve always thought I was the smartest person in the room all the time... but then there’s her. I was so different. She made me a better man.”

“You've known your soulmate for a long time; you’re lucky.” I smile.

“Not always—I see you, Felicity, and Sweeney wear hideously coloured clothes all the time. Now, that’s unlucky... although... Scar always wear matched clothes, right? Did you notice that?” he asks me.

“Yeah... yeah, I did.”

“Do you think she met her soulmate? Did she tell you something about it?” he asks me. “She wouldn’t tell me.”

“Well, she told me she didn’t.”

“That’s a load of bull,” he exclaims.

“She says she buys everything in a colour set,” I explain and Lawrence nods, thinking deeply.

“Shame. I was kind of hoping there was something more to that. Imagine Scarlett finding her soulmate? She’d be furious—considering she's not interested about those kinds of things.”

“I don’t know... I still think she’s hiding something,” I add.

“Whatever it is, she will tell us eventually... I hope...” He laughs and I join him because it’s Scarlett. She won’t say shit.

T H R E E   Y E A R S   L A T E R

Tonight, Howard and I cuddle on the sofa as we watch telly when a banging on the door breaks our little Saturday ritual.

My husband stands up to go greet the person on the door. I close the telly and hear some mumbling before a pair of footsteps echoes through the corridor, making its way to the living room.

To my surprise, Scarlett enters. Her clothes are dripping wet from the rain outside—making her body shiver... but that’s not what surprised me.

Scarlett looks lost—scared beyond relief—and she has tears as well as scratches on her eyes.

“I’ll go make a cuppa,” Howard whispers, leaving us.

Scarlett’s legs folds under her and she sits down on the floor before bawling like a child. I don’t know what to do. I’ve never comforted Scarlett before because she never cried in front of me before.

"Scar, what is it?" I try to ask, crouching down in front of her and putting a tentative hand on her shoulder.

Her only answer was a mere moan of pain. My eyes tear up at the sight of our most calculated analytical mind suffering under the maddening curse of being human.

I quickly text everyone to meet up at our house. Howard quietly places the tray with the tea on the table and stands on the side, giving both of us some space.

My attention goes back to Scarlett who whispers one thing, “Can’t...” and she cries out in pain once more.

I try my best to comfort her and Howard actually replaces me for the moment because I’m not really doing a good job with comforting her.

"Oh God, what happened?" Felicity asks when she barges in after being greeted by Howard, crouching down beside me. Sweeney quickly sits beside Scarlett and pulls her into a crushing hug, unlocking more of her emotions and making her cry harder, clutching Sweeney’s jacket tight.

I stand up, pulling Felicity with me, and whisper as to not be heard by Scarlett. "How'd you get here?" I ask Felicity first.

"Sweeney and I were both in the pub when you called," she answers. "God, what do we do?"

"Where's Law?" I ask Felicity. "If anyone knows Scar's limits, it's Lawrence."

"I've been trying to call him; no answer," Felicity whispers, shaking at the sight of a bawling Scarlett. "God, it's hard to see Scar this way. Did she tell you what happened?"

"I don't know." I panic. "She never cries in front of anyone—not to my knowledge, anyway," I say. "One of the two greatest minds in the generation—crying senseless. Fuck, I don’t know what to do. I’m terrible with these kind of things."

We both turn back around when Scarlett suddenly yells out. The three of us are at a dead end. We don't know what to do. Seeing Scarlett cry is new for all of us. We may be the chosen ones for the government's research due to our combined intelligence but we are still at a lost with dealing with human emotions.

"Gone!" Scarlett yells.

"What's gone?" Felicity asks her gently, sitting down on Scarlett's other side..

"Gone," Scarlett whispers, leaning on Sweeney as he cradles her quietly.

"What's gone, Scar?" I ask.

Scarlett whimpers in reply and more tears fall from her eyes.

"It's okay. We've got you," Sweeney whispers, his hand going through Scarlett's hair to comfort her.

We all keep quiet.

Too bad I didn't observe enough. I would have seen Scarlett wearing a black left shoe and a brown right shoe.

M U C H   L A T E R

Lawrence's funeral was held quietly.

Car accident.

"Lawrence Alcott was a good man—the best man," Sweeney says, his voice trembling. "He's my best mate. I still don't—I don't know why this has to happen. I'm an arsehole and I had some words at him too but he stuck by me. He's a really good man and I don't know why this has to—I'm just—I'm really angry at him for—for leaving." Sweeney wipes his tears angrily and doesn't bother to finish his speech and walks away. He and Sweeney were inseparable—except to death, apparently.

Felicity walks in front, "Lawrence is... was a kind man—the most generous person you could ever hope for. With him, I could see colours. I may still be greyed-eyed, but Law here—Law gives out his own colours." Felicity laughs. "He may be the smartest man on Earth but he is also an idiot—our idiot. We love him so much and this is really unfair. Law keeps us all together. He's our glue. We could easily fall apart without him. This is—this is just so hard."

I walk in front, trembling. Felicity and Sweeney smile at me despite both having tears in their eyes. Howard gives me a small encouraging smile—my rock. Scarlett is still stone-faced. She has been quiet all day—all of us, really, but her quietness is too loud, even for me. She had been screaming inside that head of hers and every one of us can hear it.

"Lawrence saved my life countless of times, in many different ways. He's our leader. Now, we're afraid we'd be lost without him. He has been more like a brother to me than a friend, to be honest... and I love him like one would treat family. Bit of a reckless idiot, yes, but he was young—too young and I can't believe I am standing here right now." My voice breaks and I pause. Sniffing, I say what I always tell Lawrence, "Law, you idiot," probably for the last time.

I go back to my seat before I drop there and then and start screaming.

Scarlett walks slowly in front—not a tear or emotion in her eye. Facing Lawrence's coffin, she sighs and turns to stare at everyone. The three of us have been waiting for her speech since she had not said a word since this morning and we all wish to know what she's about to say.

"Of all the ways Lawrence could have died, it had to be a car accident." She laughs humourlessly. "The two of us had talked about it once. He said he wanted to die a tragic but unforgettable death. I knew he was talking about dying in a theatrical manner from a gun shot or something heroic like that—something worth writing in our history books... but who knew that even with something as ordinary as a car crash, he still died tragically in an unforgettable way—guess he still got what he wanted, then."

Scarlett breathes in as she looks at Lawrence's direction again.

"Lawrence is someone I hold very dear to me... and I never say that plainly. He is my first friend—the first person to talk to me. The first thing he told me was, 'If you ever take my job from me, I'll cut you in half.'" Everyone manages to laugh at that. "The last thing he ever told me is something I cannot say for I wish to cherish it for as long as I am living. He's the best person I have ever met and I will always keep him in my heart—and yes, I do have one."

We all look at her, and she smiles at us.

"As you can see from my friends' faces, my words aren't usual. I would never say things like this about anyone, but there is always one exception with every rule. Lawrence will always be my one exception. You'd expect that from me, but I will always think of him as he once said he'd do for me if I ever died before him: Perfectly impossible to exist."

Scarlett insists on digging Lawrence's grave herself.

She doesn't let anyone help her. She practically growled at Sweeney when he tried taking the shovel away from her... but it doesn't matter. Scarlett is a strong woman. She can do this. It is an intimate act—to bury your loved one, and Lawrence was her best friend.

Sweeney, Felicity, and I stand behind Scarlett, looking down at Lawrence's grave as everyone else goes home after the funeral service.

"Everything is grey," she whispers, tears on her cheeks.

"Grey?" Sweeney asks.

Scarlett nods. "Grey," she whispers, gesturing around.

The three of us look at each other, surprised with the revelation.

"He's your soulmate, then?" Felicity asks.

"And husband," Scarlett answers.

"You're married?!" The two shrieks. I give them pointed looks to let Mrs. Scarlett Alcott grieve. I mouth to them that I'll tell the whole story later.

She laughs for a moment. When she stops, she adds, "I'm pregnant, too," with a shaking voice. She whimpers with her words, opening her large coat and placing her hand on a bump where a child is brewing.

"He was so happy..." she cries.

This is all new for us but we don't speak.

She continues almost hysterically with her voice unusually high-pitched, "W-we were going to... to... finally tell you all—about us... about this," she says, gesturing at her eyes. "We were going to surprise you all by... by going to the pub t-together with... with a b-baby in my arms and our wedding bands on. The plan was so perfect."

Her voice breaks at the end and she starts crying again, bending down as if she was punched in the gut as she finally lets go of her bottled up emotions. Sweeney and Felicity are beside her almost immediately, helping her stand up.

She takes something out from her pocket. A gold band wedding ring and a gold ring with a ruby (probably the engagement ring) and places them on her left ring finger.

"At least we finally wore the wedding rings outside the comforts of our isolation at the same time," she whispers weakly. "He's wearing it right now—his own wedding band... My dead husband is wearing his wedding ring."

Scarlett suddenly falls down on her knees and screams out.

Felicity, Sweeney, and I all kneel down with her and hug her.

"Winter..." Scarlett whispers.

"Yes?" I ask.

"Did I bring the right scarf?" she asks me. I look and see her raise her signature blood red scarf. "Is it our... colour?" she asks me.

"Is your colour blood red?" I ask. She winces but nods. "Yes, you—you have the right colour..."

She removes herself from us and moves closer to Lawrence's grave. "Warm up, my love," she whispers, putting the scarf around the grave as if it was Lawrence's neck. "I don't want you to get cold." Scarlett's voice cracks on the last part.

When we all leave, Sweeney decides to drive Scarlett to her and Lawrence's secret family home. Felicity is still shaking as we leave.

Howard has been waiting for me outside the cemetery patiently. I quickly hug my husband, not wanting to let go.

I don't want to see the world in black and white.

Not ever.

To read more: https://www.wattpad.com/story/43551432-soulmate-au

A U T H O R ‘ S   N O T E

Here it is, the first story out of many more I am willing to write. Just tell me what you think and whether I should continue posting my other works...

Oh, and FUN FACT!

“Warm up, my love, I don’t want you to get cold,” are the last words Scarlett heard Lawrence say.

What happened is that: 

Lawrence drove Scarlett to her office because it was raining. She was going to go there to finish some work she needed done by Monday (remember, this is a Saturday). Before Scarlett leaves the car, Lawrence tells her the scarf thing... He died while he was driving back home because it was rainy and some idiot driver decided to be an idiot and crashed him.

...Okay, maybe not a fun fact.

im sorry

[katsindiebookblog]

‘Angelicus’ Book 4 of The Meadowsweet Chronicles

Published by Little Bird Publishing House London.

Date of Release 22nd of March 2018

Author Katie M. John

Website www.katiemjohn.com

‘Angelicus’ Buy Links

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078N34MBP

UK: https://amzn.to/2pQiENF

SERIES BLURB:

There’s no light without dark.

Fox Meadowsweet is a Witch. Jeremiah is a Witch Hunter. The Meadowsweet bloodline has lived in the sleepy English village of Heargton for thousands of years. Jeremiah Chase is a New York boy in exile.

Neither of them asked for their past, but now it’s the only thing that can save their future as dark and ancient paranormal forces threaten to obliterate the world.

When a local college girl is discovered ritually murdered and covered in strange symbols, old suspicions rise, ancient fears manifest, and centuries-spanning blood feuds reignite between the old households of the village.  

With their ancestral reputation of magic and witchcraft, eyes turn to the three beautiful Meadowsweet sisters. Including the eyes of Jeremiah Chase, who finds himself inexplicably drawn the quirky wild beauty of the middle sister, Fox.

But as Jeremiah learns the history of her bloodline, he also unearths the dark and tangled story of his own family, giving him knowledge of a terrible and diabolical legacy.

VIDEO BOOK TRAILER

https://youtu.be/cCHmhuKcKpk

RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY  (few hours left)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giving away a Witchy Hamper of surprise goodies worth $75 and a Semi-precious stone pendant made of amethyst and rose quartz.

FREE BOOK 1

‘Witchcraft’ BOOK 1 of the SERIES IS ON FREE DOWNLOAD

Book 1 'Witchcraft' is on FREE download

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NG5CLTE

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NG5CLTE

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id950645919

KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/witchcraft-16

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witchcraft-kati…/1127088200

REVIEWS

Jenni gave 4Stars and I gave 3.5 Stars out of 5 - NOTE we read the book when it first released

JENNI'S REVIEW

***I voluntarily reviewed this book for Katsindiebookblog, and I gained no monetary incentives nor was I specifically requested to review the book.*** This was a really good book to read, yes a few editing issues here and there but nothing that made it too difficult to read. There is also mild changing is writing style but yet again, it was still relatively an easy read. You start off with Jeremiah, an American Playboy, who gets sent to live with his Aunt to hopefully calm down his rich way of life. We get a brief explanation of who his family is, something we need to remember for the story itself. Then we meet Fox and her sisters. They play it off that they are not witches, but in reality they are. There are many old stories in the town that they live in, and their family is included in those stories. Due to an evening dinner Fox and Jeremiah briefly meet, both seem drawn to each other but with no explanation. Then another chance meeting on the bus to the school they go to. Could this be fate or just coincidence? Not only is Fox running into Jeremiah on the bus, but her powers also seem to start advancing, she has a vision, but is it from the past, present, or future? This particular gift she does not want, but is it something she can embrace? Especially when disappearances start happening around their town? From the beginning you are thrown into the action. It is a quick based read but action packed none the less. Some parts may be slight difficulty keeping up with, especially when all of a sudden a character cuts in, when they weren’t there in the beginning. All in all though, it is worth the read and I look forward to more in the series as well as the author!

KATS REVIEW

Witchcraft by Katie M. John

Kat's rating

#3.5stars overall

*** I voluntarily reviewed this book, I gained no monetary incentives nor was I specifically requested to review the book, these are my honest ramblings and I hope you enjoy reading them - kat***

When I first started this book I was going to DNF, I the writing style switches from UK to US intermittently, and using descriptions that are not used in the English Language, that ended up making the passages sound like a 5 yr old had written the sentence.

I am not sure how much research was done for the book but if the proper word had been used the sentences would have made more grammatical sense and not interrupted my reading flow.

Note: There are a few gruesome passages, due to the ritual killing.

Fox, comes into her gift at the same time as American newcomer Jeremiah Chase; is banished to live Aunt in the Chase ancestral home of Coldstone Hall. Spooky goings on in this house too, maybe they will be delved into more in the other books to come.

As the horrors of the disappearances are revealed the Meadowsweet Sisters, have to stop ignoring their heritage and get involved, but when the Chase family intervene too lives are altered and Fox and her sister's lives will never be the same.

So what did I think

Overall Plot line - good, it reminded me more of Sleepy Hollow than a UK witch story, but then I am from the North East, and the stories of witches are few and far between in my home area, they were witch trials in East Anglia, Yorkshire, Warwickshire.

Characters - Fox was annoying, shes 17 in the UK you leave school at 16, start college get your driving licence, most UK kids are not childish they are nearly adults, when she comes into a power, then decided to keep parts of what she finds out to herself, she caused more issues doing this and it made her look very childish and selfish too, people died because she refused to tell her family - and considering she knew she was a witch and knew what power she got, I could not understand this hesitance.

Chase - what a stereotypical male character, I am sure Ms. John did this deliberately - he had his good and bad points, but when he finds out his real family history is, he does the right thing - not what his family expects him to do, so he did well in my eyes.

The wicked witches ( spoiler free so not naming) - ooh the eldest was a mix of Cruella de'Vil and Evil Queen Regina from once upon a time.

I would say the first 1/3 was my least enjoyable part, but when the mystery starts to unfold the storyline kept me reading and ignoring the weird words picked for describing inner thoughts or what Fox ends up being, I enjoyed the story, one innocent girl dies and a boy's life is in ruins because Fox does not man up but I guess you need tragedy in the story so someone has to die.

want to know what words did my head in? See below:

(view spoiler)

View all Kat's reviews

[stormyrecords-blog]

new arrivals and halloween

stormy records13306 michigan avedearborn, mi 48126 313-581-9322 halloween is coming. we will have trick or treating her eint he shop os saturday oct 28th from 4 to 6pm, and many shops in east dearborn will be participating also. bring your shildren or you dog and we will have treats for them. then on tuesday we will be closing up early so we can give out candy in our neighborhood. THIS WEEKEND WE CHANGE THE CLOCKS. it's fall back time. also a great time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors. new arrivals for 10-26-17 Alvarius B: With a Beaker on the Burner and an Otter in the Oven - Vol. 1 Natural Wonder LP $22.99Alvarius B. on With a Beaker on the Burner and an Otter in the Oven - Vol. 1 Natural Wonder: "Volume One of three new LPs I am releasing simultaneously called Natural Wonder, this is the more melodic, savvy one and you might like it. Maybe I'm lying and it's the innocent, straight record so maybe you should get Vol 3 (ABDT 059C-LP) instead if you're in a darker mood. But that's not really true either. Or maybe it's one of those records that grows on you the more you continue playing it... like a cancer. The musicians who played on all three albums don't deserve to be involved in these kamikaze promotional descriptions so don't blame them for any of this. They played so well on these records, in fact they play much better than you do, and their performances deserve a 'Whammy,' which is the awards show where I'm in charge and the winners get to shoot members of the music industry academy dead in their seats. That's where it's all headed you know. . . . The modern world of record making has become so fucking dull and obedient that someone has to ram a poison dagger up your asses and since you're all under hypnosis, I promise you won't feel a thing. I could pay Dougie Jones to write this piece to match your intellect or hire a publicity company to promote it but who really gives a fuck? I'm still making records for myself and the rest of humanity doesn't speak my language anyway. By deciding to write my own album promos, I can perform some market research. For example, this album description text will undoubtedly be copy/pasted by most online retailers onto their respective sites because they don't write their own new album reviews or get too excited about music, they simply want to create the illusion that they're in business to sell records. So I could put something like: Fuck all website retailers that copy/paste this description onto their site because they are too fucking cheap, lazy or chicken shit to have an opinion to write individual album reviews -- and they probably wouldn't even notice while doing it. Anyway, back to my new album. These songs are pretty good, most likely way better than your songs, and I don't even have time to be a real songwriter, so what does that say about you? It says that you suck. And most of you do. But you should buy my new three album set because it's probably as good or better than any other LPs that will be released this year. But if you aren't ready to go all-in with confidence, then forget it. I don't want any mudskipper sub-species of the crayfish to buy my records. There are always a few speculators who'll pick up the extra copies you won't buy anyway." One-time pressing; Includes printed inner sleeve with lyrics and credits. Baird, Laura : I Wish I Were A Sparrow  CD $12.99lp also available $23.99"With a musical timeline dating back to her early childhood, Laura Baird is an exceptionally talented multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, best known for her projects with her sister, Meg, as The Baird Sisters, and guitarist Glenn Jones. Baird's own sound stems from the Appalachian folk tradition, and she connects to it via family lineage -- her great-great uncle I.G. Greer's folk recordings for the Library of Congress are a large influence. Also woven in are classical composers like Bach and Satie, and modern day musicians such as Opal and Yo La Tengo. With this debut solo album, I Wish I Were A Sparrow, Baird plays odes to the traditions from which she learned, combining Appalachian balladry and the roughness of old field recordings, but there is also a dose of dreaminess and solitude that captures sleepy central New Jersey. This is where she departs from tradition, leaving the communal origins of folk music to capture the singular self. The lyrics also present an amalgam of old and new, with half of the songs, including 'Dreadful Wind and Rain' and 'Pretty Polly,' being passed down from the folk tradition, and the other half, including 'Wind Wind' and 'Love Song From The Earth To The Moon,' coming from Baird's own hand. While the most salient part of her previous Baird Sisters project was the melding of familial voices and various instruments, Baird's solo effort is centered around the combination of her virtuosic banjo playing and prominent but airy vocals." Cipriani, Stelvio : Bay Of Blood LP $34.99A Bay Of Blood (1971) is a film directed by Mario Bava, known for explicitly inspiring the Friday The 13th saga as well as for being the forerunner of the slasher genre, is undoubtedly one of the most inspirational masters of horror cinema. His magical use of camera zoom, off-field, and out-of-focus, and cynical and crude death set pieces, make it a masterpiece in which every scene exudes very personal and expressive poetry. Stelvio Cipriani's score, which develops a rich sequence of different themes and genres, and all accented by the evocative melodies and excellent orchestrations of the maestro, is brilliantly supported by the excellent rhythm performance of Enzo Restuccia on drums and Mandrake Som on the tumba and bongos. It is the voodoo-style percussion and violin that introduces the splendid original theme played by the maestro himself who plays piano, celestial, spinetta, harpsichord, and organ in the arc of the soundtrack. All in all, 21 tracks that make up the score: "Evelyn Theme", the bossa nova "Due Amanti", the dramatic and psychedelic "Un Cadavere Nel Lago", the Italian-style samba of "Giovani e Liberi", "Shake Giradischi", whose title is well representative, the tension the pursuit of "Inseguimento E Uccisione", the abstraction of "Ritrovamento Dei Cadaveri", and so many others. First time on vinyl; Edition of 500 (hand-numbered). NWW: Swinging Reflective 2CD $23.99Out of print for 17 years, Nurse With Wound's The Swinging Reflective was originally released in 1999. Features collaborations with Coil, Diana Rogerson, Jim O'Rourke, William Bennett, Legendary Pink Dots, Foetus, Current 93, David Tibet, Tony Wakeford, Inflatable Sideshow, Aranos, Chris Wallis/Peat Bog, and Tiny Tim. All tracks are remastered and it is the perfect partner for Swinging Reflective II (DPROM 134CD). Also features Steven Stapleton and Stereolab. This set is packaged with all new artwork; Comes in a heavy board, gloss laminated six-panel digipak. Ty Segall Band: Slaughterhouse  2LP $29.99"A reissue of the 2012 debut release by the Ty Segall Band on In The Red, featuring a bonus song not on the original release! The Ty Segall Band is Ty Segall (obviously), Mikal Cronin, Charlie Moonheart and Emily Rose Epstein. While Segall has released many incredible solo releases, Slaughterhouse marks the first time he recorded with his touring band. For this mini-album (originally released as a double 10-inch, but now expanded to a double 12-inch) the band recorded with Chris Woodhouse at the Hangar, turned their amps all the way up, set their fuzz pedals on 'obliterate' and commenced to kick ass and take names. Seriously, this record will melt your face. All of Segall's usual psych-pop sensibilities are present but Slaughterhouse adds the full-throttle, go-for-the-throat bombast that the band delivers in the live setting. The fuzz riffs, bratty howl and Cro-Magnon bashing culminate with a feedback freakout that's clearly the only sensible way to end a workout of this magnitude in shit to announce the debut release by the Ty Segall Band." Durutti Column: Paen to Wilson  2LP $32.992017 blue vinyl repress. 2013 RSD release. Paean To Wilson is arguably Vini Reilly and the Durutti Column's most important and consistent piece of work since the demise of the original and seminal Factory Records in the early 1990s. It was commissioned by the MIF (Manchester International Festival of Music), in July of 2009. Vini had already composed pieces for Tony to listen to while he was ill in the hospital and it was from here that the project developed. The bonus disc first appeared in 2005 via Wilson's project F4, the fourth version of Factory Records. Originally it was a download-only release, Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital, It Was Heaven Sent), then was issued on CD in 2010. Goat: Fuzzed In Europe LP $30.99When the masked Swedish collective Goat toured Europe in the autumn of 2016 to promote their then recently released third album Requiem, the band came up with the idea to record every show. On returning back to their home town of Korpilombolo, Goat painstakingly went through all the recordings and picked out six tracks to be released on a limited live album presented here, Fuzzed In Europe. Goat picked these six tracks in particular because they are different versions to what is found on their releases. Goat's live reputation is second to none -- since their first public shows in 2012, they have stunned audiences across the globe. The band's brand of danceable, tribal psychedelia is guaranteed to create mass hysteria from the wanting crowds -- Goat know how to create music that is made for the "head" as well as the "body". There are rumors of Goat disappearing into the hills, that they have hung up their masks now for good and have slipped away as quietly as they arrived on to the scene. Whether this is true or not, it can't be said, but even if they have or have not disbanded from public view, this is a great document of their immersive power to cherish. It celebrates a band completely at the top of their game. The eye popping beautiful artwork for Fuzzed In Europe was created by the great poster artist Adam Pobiak who has worked with everyone from Soundgarden to Justice and Swans to the Flaming Lips. Green/black splatter; Edition of 2000. Nocturnal Emissions: S/T 2LP $29.99Double LP version. Led by Nigel Ayers, Nocturnal Emissions was one of the first bands to use tape cutting, avant-garde art, and underground video works to create a stage experience that was cultivated by like-minded artists like Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire. The band moved on to using samplers and electronic noise in their early '80s work, creating a twisted funk sound that would go on to influence everyone from Foetus to Negativland. They still utilized their former tricks, upping the ante with extremist performance art and more professional video displays. The group avoided signing to a major label, instead focusing on releasing their own music more effectively. They followed this path into the '90s when they started www.earthlydelights.co.uk, an incredibly detailed website that promotes their various ideologies -- they are strongly against the British monarchy and believe that citizens should have unlimited access to space travel -- and constant release schedule. The band has released countless tapes and CDs of their material, and continues to unleash their noise through their website. Nocturnal Emissions is a compilation of classic tracks from the early to mid '80s. Track selection by Alessandro Adriani. Graphic artwork by Simon Crab. Audio mastering by Rude 66. Battiato, Franco : Pollution LP  $32.99"Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy's answer to Brian Eno. A quizzical composer/lyricist, Battiato turned pop music upside down in the early '70s with three classic LPs -- Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries -- that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. Pollution from 1972 is the captivating follow-up to Fetus. Like its predecessor, the album features Baroque textures, motorik rhythms, weird tape effects and Battiato's perfectly oblique vocals. Upon hearing Pollution, Frank Zappa joyfully proclaimed it 'genius.' While Battiato's core group of collaborators remains largely the same as on his debut, this phenomenal band (joined by an eighteen-year-old Roberto Cacciapaglia on keys) appears even more in the foreground on Pollution. Out of the Ash Ra Tempel-like riffs and urgent guitar strumming emerge hypnotic grooves and cinematic flourishes, suggesting a futuristic meeting point between Stereolab and Ennio Morricone. Dedicated to the Centro Internazionale Studi Magnetici, Pollution touches on themes of environmental catastrophe. Futurist allusions seep in through eccentric lyrics (at times sung backwards) about hydraulics, magnetic fields, etc., yet listeners don't need to speak the artist's language to grasp his melancholy vision. With Pollution, Battiato solidifies not only his cult figure status, but also many of his forward-thinking ideas on rock 'n' roll. Superior Viaduct is honored to present the first-time domestic release of Pollution on vinyl. Reproducing the original gatefold jacket, this reissue is part of an archival series that chronicles Franco Battiato's masterful body of work from 1971 to 1978." Roach, Steve : Structures From LP $25.99"Steve Roach is one of the defining American artists of new age music, perpetually on a quest for silence and the suspension of time in his music. Structures From Silence is his third album originally released in 1984, and is his first purely textural album, with a smooth, dark, gentle atmospheres unlike any of his other albums. 'Full of purring drones and high notes that shimmer and fade. Like a desert mirage, these structures hover forever at the horizon, an oasis from the din surrounding it' --From Pitchfork's 'Best Ambient Albums Of All Time'. 'Steve Roach's Structures From Silence remains one of the most important ambient albums ever crafted. It isn't as high profile as similarly poised records from Brian Eno, but its enduring influence has been unmistakably visible in the three decades since its release.' --FACT Magazine. Remastered from the original tapes, this is the first vinyl reissue of the album since its initial release in 1984." Nazoranai: Beginning To Fall In Line Before Me, So Decorously, The Nature Of All That Must Be TransformedLP $29.99"Nazoranai is the supergroup of Keiji Haino, Oren Ambarchi and Stephen O'Malley. For close to four decades, Haino has been a legendary figure in Japan's avant-garde community through his commanding presence in the band Fushitsusha and numerous solo ventures. Ambarchi, a prolific electro-acoustic composer of heavy ambience and hypno-rock, has long stood at the leading edge of Australia's experimental music scene, while O'Malley remains a principle architect for the drone / doom metal project Sunn O))) in harnessing extreme sub-harmonic frequencies. Collectively, Nazoranai operates as a live recorded collaboration, although Haino is quick to point out the difference between the words 'nazoranai' (which in Japanese calligraphy means 'not repeating,' as in developing a distinct, individual style) and 'sokkyō' (referring specifically to improvisation). In this parsing of terms, the group separates themselves from the free-music scene, which can be just as convention-bound as the established genres from which improvisers hope to escape. On the trio's third album, Beginning To Fall In Line Before Me, So Decorously, The Nature Of All That Must Be Transformed, Nazoranai explore two side-long tracks of superb abstraction. Ambarchi and O'Malley provide the perfect brute-rock rhythm section to Haino's recklessly pure expression through instrument and voice. Blurred noise, dark hurdy-gurdy and thunderous harmonics build an accretive mantra of jagged electricity. While Haino's extensive discography resists easy interpretation, he constantly challenges himself to further his art by channeling the unknown. Shifting from his native Japanese to English, he asks: 'Do you still have a mystery?' This existential plea could apply to the artist's own deep inquisitions or stand to confront his audience about that which eludes their understanding. W.25TH / Superior Viaduct is proud to present Nazoranai's latest work, recorded at SuperDeluxe in Tokyo, which marks the band's first release on an American label."

[katsindiebookblog]

Review: Witchcraft (The Meadowsweet Chronicles #1) by Katie M. John @KnightTrilogy

Blurb

Ever since its earliest days, the small English village of Heargton has been steeped in the occult. Tales of witchcraft and paranormal activity have been part of the local folklore for generations. Some people blame the lay lines that intersect at the very centre of the village, others blame a terrible curse.

700 years on, Heargton Village still holds dark secrets, and when one of the village girls falls victim to a terrible ritual killing, the old superstitions resurface.

At the heart of these whispers are the Meadowsweet sisters. All beautiful, all charming, all eccentric, but it is the middle daughter, seventeen-year-old Fox, who captures the imagination of American newcomer Jeremiah Chase; a deviant New York playboy sent to live with his Aunt in the Chase ancestral home of Coldstone Hall. A place that has its own grisly history.

But, as Jeremiah discovers the history of the Meadowsweet Sisters, the Chase family history is also unearthed, leading Jeremiah to understand that good and evil are not always on opposing sides.

A tale of witchcraft, demons and ghosts, blending traditional English folklore with the American Gothic.

Buy Links - Amazon US ~ UK

Reviews

Witchcraft by Katie M. John

Kat's rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

*** I voluntarily reviewed this book, I gained no monetary incentives nor was I specifically requested to review the book, these are my honest ramblings and I hope you enjoy reading them - kat***

When I first started this book I was going to DNF, I the writing style switches from UK to US intermittently, and using descriptions that are not used in the English Language, that ended up making the passages sound like a 5 yr old had written the sentence.

I am not sure how much research was done for the book but if the proper word had been used the sentences would have made more grammatical sense and not interrupted my reading flow.

Note: There are a few gruesome passages, due to the ritual killing.

Fox, comes into her gift at the same time as American newcomer Jeremiah Chase; is banished to live Aunt in the Chase ancestral home of Coldstone Hall. Spooky goings on in this house too, maybe they will be delved into more in the other books to come.

As the horrors of the disappearances are revealed the Meadowsweet Sisters, have to stop ignoring their heritage and get involved, but when the Chase family intervene too lives are altered and Fox and her sister's lives will never be the same.

So what did I think

Overall Plot line - good, it reminded me more of Sleepy Hollow than a UK witch story, but then I am from the North East, and the stories of witches are few and far between in my home area, they were witch trials in East Anglia, Yorkshire, Warwickshire.

Characters - Fox was annoying, she's 17 in the UK you leave school at 16, start college get your driving licence, most UK kids are not childish they are nearly adults, when she comes into a power, then decided to keep parts of what she finds out to herself, she caused more issues doing this and it made her look very childish and selfish too, people died because she refused to tell her family - and considering she knew she was a witch and knew what power she got, I could not understand this hesitance.

Chase - what a stereotypical male character, I am sure Ms. John did this deliberately - he had his good and bad points, but when he finds out his real family history is, he does the right thing - not what his family expects him to do, so he did well in my eyes.

The wicked witches ( spoiler free so not naming) - ooh the eldest was a mix of Cruella de'Vil and Evil Queen Regina from once upon a time.

I would say the first 1/3 was my least enjoyable part, but when the mystery starts to unfold the storyline kept me reading and ignoring the weird words picked for describing inner thoughts or what Fox ends up being, I enjoyed the story, one innocent girl dies and a boy's life is in ruins because Fox does not man up but I guess you need tragedy in the story so someone has to die.

want to know what words did my head in? See below:

(view spoiler)

View all Kat's reviews

Jenni's Review

Witchcraft by Katie M. John

Jenni's rating: 4 of 5 stars

***I voluntarily reviewed this book for Katsindiebookblog, and I gained no monetary incentives nor was I specifically requested to review the book.*** This was a really good book to read, yes a few editing issues here and there but nothing that made it too difficult to read. There is also mild changing is writing style but yet again, it was still relatively an easy read.

You start off with Jeremiah, an American Playboy, who gets sent to live with his Aunt to hopefully calm down his rich way of life. We get a brief explanation of who his family is, something we need to remember for the story itself. Then we meet Fox and her sisters. They play it off that they are not witches, but in reality they are. There are many old stories in the town that they live in, and their family is included in those stories. Due to an evening dinner Fox and Jeremiah briefly meet, both seem drawn to each other but with no explanation. Then another chance meeting on the bus to the school they go to. Could this be fate or just coincidence? Not only is Fox running into Jeremiah on the bus, but her powers also seem to start advancing, she has a vision, but is it from the past, present, or future? This particular gift she does not want, but is it something she can embrace? Especially when disappearances start happening around their town?

From the beginning, you are thrown into the action. It is a quickly based read but action packed none the less. Some parts may be slight difficulty keeping up with, especially when all of a sudden a character cuts in, when they weren’t there in the beginning. All in all though, it is worth the read and I look forward to more in the series as well as the author!

View all Jenni reviews

Author Bio

Katie lives in the London suburbs. Her time is divided between writing, teaching English to teenagers and being mummy to two daughters. She started writing seriously after the birth of her first daughter five years ago. She has gone on to have four of her YA novels published and numerous short horror and fantasy stories published by several press houses, including Nexus Press and Winter Goose.

Her series ‘The Knight Trilogy’ is an Amazon.UK number one best selling Fairy Tale series and has been consistently in the top 100 of several categories. In October 2012 she released her fourth novel, ‘Beautiful Freaks’, a gothic paranormal detective novel set in Victorian London. She is currently working on a seven book series called the ‘Meadowsweet Chronicles’, a series about witchcraft in a sleeping English village. Book One is due for publication in the summer of 2013. All of her books are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones and WHSmith.

www.katiemjohn.com https://www.facebook.com/KatieMJohn/ Follow Kate on Twitter @KnightTrilogy