#so I can understand why people get turned away from the latter half

[lostbrazilian]

Ok so, i've finished SotE a few days ago and i fucking LOVED IT and i need to talk about it, particularly about Miquella. Because the thing is, i really like what From has done with his character but also i've seen a lot of discourse about it and i need to get my 2 cents in before i explode

So uh, long ass essay and spoilers below

First things first:

Character assassination my ASS

Fromsoft actually did fucking character necromancy the way they added depth to otherwise one-note characters. Even if unexpected, what we learn in the dlc makes a disturbing amount of sense and ultimately elevates the game's lore in my "humble but objectively correct" opinion. That being said, while Miquella is undoubtedly a irredemable villain by the time we fight him, his character is also much more than just the "gay evil twink" ppl make him out to be

Elden Ring's demigods, while powerful and often monstrous, are also very clearly people: they have feelings, ambitions, ideals and tragic elements about them, which is why many of them are very likeable or at least compelling characters. And Miquella is a prime example of this, because the driving force behind his character, and ultimately the reason of his downfall, is his compassion

Miquella saw the flaws of the Golden Order from a young age, mainly how it oppressed others and was powerless to help his sister. And everything he has done since has been in an attempt to bring about a better, more compassionate world for all. And while the way he manipulates others and removes their free weill is a clearly nefarious aspect of his plans, that doesn't mean his kindness wasn't genuine, for two main reasons:

First, many of Miquella's followers go on to stand with him even after their charm has been broken, which makes clear that many are koyal to Miquella not just because of brainwashing, but also because they genuinely believe in his end goals. And while we'll never have confirmation of this, i don't think the denizens of the Haligtree, or Malenia for that matter, are all under Miquella's spell. At the very least the majority of them must've willingly chosen to remain loyal to him (plus, his charming powers must have a limit of some kind, otherwise he wouldn't need to become a god to rule the lands between)

Secondly, St Trina's very existence proves that Miquella's love and compassion is not only genuine, it's strong enough to manifest as a whole ass second being, which in turn makes her abandonment all the more tragic. It's possible that Miquella himself was always driven by ambition, and that he saw his other half as a "weakness" to be expunged; Or perhaps casting Trina away was a necessary evil, a selfless sacrifice in the name of a greater good. Regardless of the reason (i tend towards the latter), the end result is clear: It was grave mistake

For without love, there can be no Compassion. Miquella's Age of Compassion would be doomed to become an era of subjugation and endless war, where those who resist Miquella's charm would not be allowed to exist. It's an end result that Miquella himself would definitely NOT want, but it's the one he uwittingly locks himself into after he casts away his humanity. Hence why St Trina begs us to kill Miquella, as she understands his ascension would essentially result in a fate worse than death for him

So, TL;DR: I think Miquella genuinely wanted to create a better world, but in his quest to do so not only did he forcefully take away the free will of others, he also wound up becoming a heartless monster that, if unchecked, would bring about great suffering to the world and himself. It's classic "good intentions, bad outcome" tragic writing and ultimately it makes Miquella a very memorable and compelling character, even if he is ultimately a villain

[mischiefmanaged71]

okay! I was wondering if you could a tom x reader where tom just got out of jail is to become a solider soon. reader is a waitress who tom stumbles upon, people mention him to reader about how "troubled" he can be. she meets him and she and him end up getting together, both feel happy and content with eachother.

Trouble Followed Me

Pairing: Tom Bennett x fem! reader

Noise filled the pub as people drank and chattered away. Y/N moved through the crowd, seeing to orders as she moved toward the kitchen.

"Another busy one," she murmured, sliding the tray onto the counter. Paul laughed, drying glasses behind the counter.

"Good for business." he shrugged.

She raised her eyebrows, tiredly pushing her hair back. "No good for my feet. I have to be back here tomorrow."

"Ahh, but they pay you well, though," he said, just as the doors swung open once again.

"Yes, they do." sending a knowing smile to him as she stood up straighter.

She saw Paul’s face falter as he nodded his head at the person at her side, “Tom. What can I get ya?"

The man sighed, “A pint’d be good.”

He turned to her and grinned, “Haven’t seen you round here before.”

“I work here. Maybe you don’t come round here often enough.”

“I’ll make sure to fix that.” he nodded.

She shook her head, “Is that your attempt at flirting?”

“I don’t know, is it working?” he glanced at her.

“I’ve heard far worse. Might have to try again.” she surmised, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Right. I suppose you get lots of blokes in here.”

She nodded, “Although, none of them have quite made it past a sentence, so I suppose that’s new.”

“And what does your man think of that?”

A grin splayed across her face, “You’re quick. I’m not sure what answer to give you.”

“What are the options?”

She leaned on the counter, glancing at Paul serving other customers “There’s the answer I always give, and then there’s the truth.”

“I’ll go with the latter.” 

“I don’t have one.”

“Any reason in particular?”

“Haven’t find the right guy. My last boyfriend was in London.”

“You lived up there?”

“Moved down here to be with my sister while her husband’s serving. She’s got three kids to one job. It’s difficult.”

He nodded, averting his gaze to the bench. He understood full well of the decision, especially now after leaving the house once again from his father’s reprimand. 

“That’s tough.”

“What brought you here?”

He sighed, “A drink.”

“Nothing else?”

“Had a fight with my dad.” he sipped from his glass, “He doesn’t like that I’m joining up.”

Her eyes widened slightly, and she nodded her head in understanding. “Why? If I might ask.”

“He’s a pacifist.”

“Right.”

“And you...you don’t agree.”

“Well, I’ve been put in a tight spot.”

“I hope you figure it out.” she said, “With your dad.”

She hummed, glancing at Paul who eyed them from across the bar. “I best be going now before I’m out of a job.”

She moved away, but a hand brushing her own brought her eyes to his.

“I never got your name.”

Her mouth fell agape as she considered the thought. “It’s Y/N.”

“Tom.”

“I know.”, a teasing smile graced her lips, “Guess I’ll see you around.”

“Definitely.”

***

The evening was quiet, the night settling down as Y/N left work. A squeak left her mouth as an arm snaked around her waist from behind. She sighed at the familiar face, smacking his arm.

"Tom!" She scolded, "You near gave me a heart attack, you little-"

"Okay, I'm sorry!" He laughed, tugging her closer to him.

"What're you doing nearly scaring me half to death?"

"I just wanted to walk you home. Don't know whose wandering round this time."

"I think I do." She glanced at him.

He smirked, "I'm sorry. Again. Wanted to make sure you got home alright."

"Thank you." She settled, allowing him to tuck her into his side.

"What's my girl up to?"

She hummed, "Besides working her ass off? Nothing. I'm just tired."

"You've got to take care of yourself too."

"I do."

"I know, but you work harder to make up for it. The kids are doing fine with your help."

A solemn look befell her, "It's only right that I do. We're all they've got." Reflecting on the letter they received those months ago on their doorstep. Her sister was left in pieces from then on, and Y/N found herself consoling her broken heart. Working extra hours to cover their costs and care for the kids became her focus.

He hummed, "It's tragic what happened. You know I'll help out in any way I can."

She nodded, clutching his hand tightly. "Thank you."

"Don't have to thank me." He smiled down at her, tugging an arm around his shoulders. "You just say the word, and I'm yours. I'll be there."

She met his gaze, tilting her head up. "As in now..."

"Forever? That's entirely up to you." His words caused her heart to flutter.

She paused, halting below her doorstep. "What'd you mean by that?"

"I've done a bit of thinking. I mean, all I can do out there is think with all that time. I hear the news about your sister's husband and I think, I'm done waiting."

He exhaled, "I fancy you. And I think I might even love you. I had to tell you, even if you don't feel the same, because I don't know how or when I'll go. Don't won't wanna leave regrets."

She read his eyes, stumped for words at the confession. "When?"

"You've had me since I first saw you, love."

She chuckled under her breath, "You know. I realised I knew of you when you told me your name. The first time."

"Yeah?"

"A few people talked about a Bennett boy. The 'troubled one'."

He shrugged, expecting that or something of similar description. "What else did they say?"

"They told me to stay away from you, actually." She breathed, shaking her head.

"Guess that didn't work out."

"No." She smiled, "I've never been good at taking advice. Besides, I think he's pretty great."

"Yeah?" A grin on his mouth.

She smiled, "Yeah. He's handsome, too. These blue eyes. And that smile."

A gasp left her as he tugged her waist, "Go on." Tom whispered.

"I think I might love him too."

TAGS

@pearlstiare @dothrckis @aemonds-sapphire @xcharlottemikaelsonx  @filipinamultifandom ​ @padfooteyes ​ @batsyforyou @yentroucnagol @cl-0-vr @h3k3t @arcana-greenleaf  @yummycastiel @lauraneedstochill @ladybug0095 @rntrsna @schniiipsel @caribbeangal @viviartsy

[centrally-unplanned]

As I am now full-in on the body count section of The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere, I do have growing complaints about how it handles its sort of mystery build-up and reveal aspects. There is an adage for mystery novels to "have your answers ask more questions"; you set up a mystery, you *resolve* the mystery, but that resolution itself just creates deeper mysteries. This of course works very well to keep ratcheting up tension and keep the story moving forward; but it also resolves tension at the same time, you do actually get answers as you go. As an author you can perhaps think of there being a "quota" for the number of active questions for the reader to be considering; if you stack too many at once its both too hard to track them and is frustrating to read about, the story never delivers.

TFTBN breaks this rule; not every time, but a lot. In particular with Su's identity/trauma origin it happens all the time, you get literally dozens of "more mystery" moments behind it before you ever get any answers around it. Its just too coy by half! Why is my narrator like deliberately hiding their own thoughts from the reader across dozens of instances where those thoughts would be extremely relevant? The tension has already been ratcheted to the max, you can set it aside for a bit if you want but if you dangle the question in front of me too often it loses impact.

And even though now we have been getting answers, its *still* playing coy. You have a flashback to a scene of child Su being confronted by Ran over her identity mystery, and she breaks down and starts to explain it, and then the scene just cuts, so you only get a half an explanation. Which is enough to pretty much piece it together, so like the tension is gone? Now when you are coy about it (multiple times after that scene!) its a little lame actually, who ya fooling! But what it did is take away the opportunity to just have a really good scene. You cut away from a character's moment of emotional revelation and interpersonal confrontation.

Mysteries, to simplify of course, do two things for the reader; they make you turn the page in your desire to know more, and they set up dramatic stakes for their reveal in scenes. Its a balancing act ofc but you don't want to sacrifice the latter to keep baiting the former.

I feel this too around the "villain faction" for the story. Right now the villain faction is a virtually-unknown group of actors who have had no interactions or relationships with any of the characters, using mystery tactics to kill people. We are many chapters into that plot, multiple people of note have died, but they are still just strangers - their stated motives minimal and seemingly farcical.

Ofc I am no fool, I understand via meta knowledge and have picked up on the hints they have dropped that they will in fact not be strangers in full - I get how stories work. The problem is that meanwhile we have had like multiple scenes of the group having the traitor debate - "is it one of us?" But that question is silly because I *know nothing about the villains* of substance. Why would any of these classmates betray their group for them? We have no info on that. Oh sure sure I have these like, tiny *mechanical* hints. Like one time Seth? He gave a thumbs up to Ezekiel, when they were supposed to be mad at each other. Sus, my dudes. But that isn't a *motive*, right? Its not a compelling story, its just data. Because the story wont resolve any of its dangling questions, the idea that any of these people is a traitor is just dumb, you would have to like explain the entire plot in one infodump to sell it as interesting. By insisting on drip-feeding every mystery, instead of chained resolution-renewal, these plot threads aren't developed enough to work when they need to.

I do think this comes back to the fundamentals of the pacing issue - there is essentially a desire for this story to be longer than it is. Its a 3000 page book (equivalent ofc), but it isn't, not really. I am ~1000 pages into it I guess, but its probably not even ~500 pages in actual content. I could do this in definitely 400. And this is more than just a padding problem - its that structural thing, to make that length work and still be decent as a story (which it is, its a good story overall) you have to sort of chop up your big moments , which sort of kills them.

Like there is a character, Jia Fang, a fellow student who doesn't go with the group, but is mentioned a bunch as a sort of wild card, and its built up right? They are totally gonna show up somehow, there is tension about what they are up to, and then bam, they literally burst through the door. Its great, they make a huge impact, the chapter ends on that cliffhanger.

And then after maybe a few paragraphs with them the next *multiple chapters* are about a conversation between other people, about other topics where Fang is barely mentioned, and then literally, literally, we get multiple other student's academic thesis presentations, before the plot that Fang showed up to be involved in kicks back into gear. Its self-sabotage right, the literary moment broken apart because the story has to hit quota.

Its certainly a case where the serial nature of the publication would make it ludicrously difficult to fix, that I totally get. Art is really, really hard.

[disasterbijamietartt]

It hurts my heart how excited and happy Jamie was to go for a beer with Roy and whennRoy said how proud he was of him. I'm preferring to ignore the following part, but it did make me happy them realising they were being stupid and going for a kebab so Im hoping that was just a stupid lapse of sense. Although it is making me side eye Roy especially for behaving that way knowing Jamie's past.

Ugh, yes, the latter half of the bar talk really didn't sit right with me.

It started out so great, but then it made a u-turn …

You know, I understand why they brought up the love triangle with Roy and Jamie, since their feelings for Keeley was something that was still standing between the and that they needed to talk about, but I didn’t like the execution of them getting needlessly sexist about it (bringing up the sex tape, really? And Roy’s whole “stay away from her, we are talking again so she is clearly mine — although, women, who understands them?”).

I could even accept the fist fight as some sort of necessary catharsis for them, if it wouldn’t be for Jamie’s history with abuse and him just two minutes earlier saying how Roy gave him something positive he didn’t get from the other older men in his life. (I’ll assume Simon wasn’t that much into football, so he wasn’t as motivational and didn’t train with him etc., otherwise just … ouch.) And the thing is also, all of Roy’s jealousy aside … they never actually fought over Keeley, which was the part I found so refreshing about the way the love triangle was handled. But, yeah, I can see how there was some lingering animosity that had to get settled before they truly could be best friends. But they could done that without actually fist fighting …

The whole asking Keeley to choose thing was … quite arrogant of them and icky, but good for them to realise they were being idiots and that it apparently didn't mess with their friendship.

Still, I would have preferred if they hadn't come to the conclusion, that Keeley should chose (with her choice being neither for good reason), but that they had used this opportunity to talk with her about their feelings for her and that they needed to know where they were standing with her to find closure. And then them having an actual conversation adressing their conundrum and how it would be best for all of them to stay friends, yadda yadda.

Like, the thing that annoys me most is, that we didn’t get a follow up, no apology to Keeley for acting so stupid. She kicked them out, which was the right thing to do, but I'd wished they had actually talked things out.

It is nice to have it so open that you can interpret it whichever way you want, but after seeing the trio's blooming friendship last episode this felt like such a step back in their relationship. I just would have loved to get a little bit more resolution, to have them properly established as friends.

Especially if you read the montage as something only happening in Ted’s dream—like, that is the only way I can excuse Beard’s and Jane’s wedding (with Ted not being present on top?) and Jamie visiting James and laughing with him. (I saw so many people on reddit being moved to tears by Jamie reconciling with his “dad”, like, yeah, applause for years of abuse and trauma being ignored in order to get a sappy ending. Like, if the show had at least acknowledged the abuse and shown James taking accountability, BEFORE Jamie decides to reconnect, but yeah, no one has to ever be accountable to Jamie, soo … And it is especially upsetting considering they added sexual abuse to the long list of James’ crimes just to … completely drop this, as if it didn’t matter. They could have made Jamie’s first trip to Amsterdam traumatic in other ways, if the contrast between bad trip with dad and good trip with mum was all they wanted to accomplish …)

On a side note: Jamie enjoying and missing drinking beer threw me off, since he never seemed to be too fond of alcohol, but they probably wanted to get the Darsteiner callback in. Way more important than consistent characterisation.

[moni-harmonia]

Chapter IV - Act V

There were no more interruptions!

Time to talk about this huge quest

Since the latter half has so much going on, I won't say much about the first part.

After we get out of the prison, we hear an earthquake, and we find out that some of the Primordial Sea's water ended up in Poisson and many people turned into water.

Two of these people were Navia's assistants, the poor girl is having a very hard time.

Per Arlecchino's recommendation we explore some ruins. Navia almost gets turned into water, but we save her. And then we find some stone plates that narrate Fontaine's history and prophecy. But one seems to be missing.

There are some scenes where we talk with Mona who's in Fontaine. She tells us that originally she's from Mondstadt so she won't turn into water. We also discover that the mysterious voice at the end of the Sumeru chapter was one of the witches, we talk to her for a bit as well.

After everything that's happening we decide that we need Furina to tell us the truth. She's obviously hiding something that she doesn't even tell to Neuvillette. We need the truth to know if something can be done to prevent the prophecy.

We end up tricking her to bring her to court and judge her.

We are convinced that she's not actually the Hydro Archon, but we need proof and her to tell the truth. So we duel in the courtroom.

After a bit of reasoning, we discover that she is in fact human. But we still don't understand why she's hiding the truth, and where the true Hydron Archon is.

Judgement is passed, and the machine says that the Hydro Archon will be executed. Everyone is in shock! This is not what we wanted after all, we just wanted Furina to tell us the truth.

Freminet comes with the missing stone plate and this is when we discover the true history of the people of Fontaine.

The people of Fontaine turn into Oceanids when they touch the Primordial Sea's water because they ARE Oceanids. This was a very good revelation, this explains why only them turn into water.

The previous Hydro Archon loved the Oceanids and they wanted to be able to live on land as humans. But this was seen as a sin because she was playing life, and she used the power of the Primordial Sea to accomplice this.

Thus, the prophecy was made, that one day the people of Fontaine would turn into Oceanids again and the Hydro Archon will be alone and crying.

That's when we realize that the prophecy is coming true. We are following it. Is there no one to save Fontaine after all?

And then in the middle of this, the whale appears through a portal, and Tartaglia is fighting it with his Delusion! Neuvillette also intervenes to send the whale away, Tartaglia goes through the portal too so we don't see what's happening.

(That cutscene was really cool lol)

Neuvillette tells us that the whale is a being from another world. It wants the Primordial Sea's water and since the people of Fontaine have that water inside of them that's why it is out of control.

The machine is about to execute Furina, we try to save her and that's when two events start happening.

First, Neuvillette meets the original Furina. She was actually one of the Oceanids, and she was tasked to be the next Hydro Archon. But she wanted to save the people so she made a plan.

She would leave her divinity aside and make the Furina we know out of her human side. Furina needed to stay as the Hydro Archon, make people believe she was their goddess. And wait, just wait until the time comes.

We see Furina's side of the story with Traveler. She's not actually how she seems to be. She's just a regular girl, very insecure and emotional. But she needed to appear strong to convince the people that she was the Archon. So she acted. And this hurt her because she wanted to express her own self and tell people how she really felt.

Yet this was necessary to prevent the prophecy. The one who would die was not her but the original Furina. She would give up her divinity and give the authority to Neuvillette.

As Neuvillette regains his true power, he could control all the water and so prevent the people of Fontaine from turning into water.

Fontaine was flooded, but no one turned into water anymore. Thus the prophecy took place, but there were no more sacrifices.

But before this... we had to battle the whale, with Neuvillette helping us. And after we battle it, someone unexpected appears.

We finally meet Skirk, Tartaglia's master. She has a pretty unique design, much different than other Genshin characters. And she seems to be someone very special, like Traveler.

(Also the way she threw Tartaglia through the portal caught me off guard, that was hilarious lol)

She tells us that the whale is merely a pet of her master. We don't know who her master is, but Skirk compares him to Rhinedottir.

We don't learn much from her here, but we will see a bit more later.

Things go back to normal and we make our usual round of talking with everybody.

One of the most surprising things is that the Fatui were more like allies this time than enemies.

I'm not exactly disappointed, but I expected to see more from Arlecchino. Although given that she seems to be playable in the future, we will probably see her later, maybe in an Interlude next year.

Tarta is fine, but he will need to recover. We give his Vision to Arlecchino and she thanks us sincerely.

We then have our final talk with Neuvillette and we discover some interesting facts.

Neuvillette gave the Gnosis to the Fatui. Partially because he wanted to thank them for helping Fontaine, and as an apology for Tartaglia's verdict. (And we find out that the reason he was found guilty was because he was the one who awakened the whale)

But Skirk also told Neuvillette and interesting thing. That the Gnosis were made from the remains of the Third Descender.

This... actually makes a lot of sense. If the previous Descender had the same abilities as Traveler, that is, their ability to be able to control the elements without a Vision, then their body could be used to amplify the elemental power.

A very unexpected revelation, and it makes me want to know more about the history of the Descenders and the Archons as a whole.

We may see Tartaglia soonish as well since Skirk will be using him to communicate with us. Seems like she doesn't like the surface very much.

There are so many mysteries but I feel like this was a very satisfying conclusion to this Chapter. Furina's part was really well done and it made me appreciate her character a lot.

Overall this story was well crafted, and I like that the characters were relevant until the end. My only gripe is what I always say that the pace could have been better. Especially Acts III and IV I feel like they didn't add that much to the narrative.

But this final act was really good and I'm interested to see where this is going.

It doesn't seem like we'll have an Interlude soon, so maybe the next story update will be the next Dainsleif quest.

For now, I'll continue exploring Fontaine and finishing the quests. I'm very interested to play Furina's since we don't see her in the finale, but first I want to finish Wriothesley and Neuvillette's.

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2023!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

___

172. The Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THIS DELICIOUS DEATH fell more prominently into my TBR list because of a friend who read it and made it look like a really good and bloody time. She wasn't wrong!

I was so surprised by this one (mainly because I took a bite out of it without reading the synopsis first), so I was thoroughly entertained. I didn't know how normalized the horrors of this book were, so that was a unique and fun reveal. I think it was such a good exploration of how the world treats people that don't fit into the "typical" human category. The fear and the exclusionary actions of some of the characters were very on the nose when we think about today's society.

I enjoyed the twists and turns and how these girls fought to save each other and others like them. They didn't depend on men to help them--they were total bad asses. They were just a little hungrier than most badasses, and you know what? That's perfectly fine.

I also find it strangely timely (for when I read it) that these catastrophic events take place during a huge musical festival when the events of Burning Man were happening. It was an interesting and totally coincidental line up of events.

Also, love, LOVE the romance in this and how diverse it was. And the flashbacks, although sometimes a pet peeve for me, really helped me understand why some of the characters were the way they were.

Finally, this book really made me think of GIRLS SAVE THE WORLD IN THIS ONE by Ash Parsons. If you enjoy this one as much as I did, I think you'll enjoy that one!

___

173. Stiff by Mary Roach--⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was really excited to read this one because I've heard really good things about Mary Roach. And while I DID enjoy this for the most part, it got to a certain point where I kind of just wanted it to end.

The first half was really interesting. It was morbid, but I've never been too squeamish when it comes to the topic. We are all temporarily in these bodies and when we leave, our bodies are left behind. So, learning what we can learn from those bodies and how they're treated was fascinating. There was humour thrown in there to break up the dark tension and I really appreciated it. There was also a lot of historical research about grave digging and how certain practices have been adopted over the years.

But then the second half started and I just...I'll admit, my attention started to turn away from Roach's words and my interest started to wane. Just goes to show that even though these topics have always made me wish I had more aptitude for the sciences, my attention would never linger long enough to fulfill such fanciful futures LOL.

Anyway, this was good overall--even with that latter half (for me). I think this is a great Autumn read. You get to learn some neat stuff and get the sometimes creepy forthrightness of science.

___

174. Fall of Ruin & Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book from the publisher because I interviewed the author for Indigo on Instagram. This did not affect my review in any way.

I usually read books like this one as audiobooks because my attention strays so much now that I'm older. So, I was a little wary because I had to read this by a deadline AND I had to read the physical copy. I was so happy to see how easily the story pulled me in and how addicted I was to the story.

I loved the main character and her energy--it gave me huge flashbacks to when I read Armentrout's books in the past and how addicted I was to them. There's just something always so compelling and addicting about her writing. I especially loved how the MC spoke her mind and was honest with herself about what she wanted and needed to survive.

When the love interest came in, I was even more hooked. I LOVED the sexual tension and how he was so unapologetically himself. Listen, I have acknowledged that what would normally be red flags in real life are very green flags (sometimes) in books like this one because, sigh. This love interest can get it.

There were other pretty cool things about this book, like how we learn about why the world is the way it is and the power of the natural world around the characters. I also felt like the story, even though it's mainly set in one place, was so compellingly written that it didn't need too much complication settings-wise.

My one complaint is the over-use of the ellipsis punctuation. The story was great, but some pages had at least two instances of...the character...talking...like...this...or describing...describing something...something like this. For me, it ruined the flow of writing and even if the scene happening was a serious or emotionally-charged one, I was taken right out and found myself giggling at yet another ellipsis.

My biggest way of recommending this book for reluctant readers is that it very much gave me SJM vibes, so if you're a fan of her fantasy romance books, then you might like this. I had a lot of fun and the spicy moments were very, very fun.

___

175. The Stranger by K.A. Applegate--⭐️⭐️⭐️

While I found this instalment to be one of my least favourites, I DO see the importance of it.

THE STRANGER is a perfect example of how these are just kids who are fighting a nearly impossible war. They are given the opportunity to either stop what they're doing, or keep going and honestly, what do you think you'd do if given that opportunity?

As the story progresses and the stakes rise, we are constantly being reminded that these are kids.

I'm still incredibly excited to keep seeing where this series takes me. The books are short, but they pack some pretty great messages.

___

176. Go Down Hard by Ali Seay--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My friends have read and loved this book and I can completely see why.

This book was so much fun. I know that this is horror, but I was so entertained by the one-liners and the comedic timing. Also, what are the chances of a woman serial killer moving in next door to a men who is also a serial killer?

I also loved how he eventually showcases why she is the way she is and that despite all the stoicism and the mask some people wear, people like him are all the same in the end. The cat and mouse game between the two characters really emphasized this point and made it even more entertaining to me, as a woman.

I highly recommend this one for those who want to read horror novellas, but are wary of gory horror. Yes, there is murder, but the social commentary and icky factor of this man makes this book more than worthy enough for the horror category!

Also, not to mention how ADDICTING this book was. I had to put the book down because I had to get up early the next day. So worth the sleepless night, though.

Never have I rooted for a serial killer before. Oop.

___

177. Landbridge by Y-Dang Troeung--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was one of the more creative memoirs I've had the pleasure of reading. The text was full of photography and was cut into, as the title describes, fragments. It was incredibly readable and I enjoyed learning more about the heartbreaking history of Cambodia, and the reality of life as an immigrant in Canada in the '80s.

I think, however, that my absolute favourite part of this text (as heartbreaking as it is) were the letters Troeung wrote for her son. They were moments and thoughts captured in time that he can one day look back on whenever he thinks of his mother. While the rest of the text had really important experiences and histories retold, even personal experiences, it was these snippets that capture my heart.

The author's story is heartbreaking and that dedication at the end broke me, especially knowing just how important those letters will now be to her son.

I highly recommend "Landbridge" for anyone who enjoys reading immigrant memoirs and for those who want to open their world up a little more. Not only does this explore the grief one might experience over a country your family had to leave, but you will be a part of the living grief the author shared with the reader in the letters for her son. Gorgeous and heart shattering.

___

178. The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I LOVED this one. The writing, off the bat, was incredibly compelling and addicting. It felt beautiful and full of so many things I wanted to highlight. The story idea is so unique and had some genuinely terrifying moments.

What would you do if your blood was enough to create clones of you almost instantly--murderous clones that hated you?

There were searing moments of sadness where I grieved with the mc, and moments where I laughed until tears came to my eyes because she's so socially awkward.

This being a novella also made this a super quick and addicting read.

Immediately ordered the next two books and will hopefully read them soon!

___

179. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Re-read in September 2023-

Oh Eric, the things that happen to you. I was a little wary going back into this one because I vaguely remembered what happened with Eric, but I was happily surprised and thoroughly entertained. For once, Sookie got to have a hot girl summer moment with the vampire. Screw Bill.

We get to meet a character in this one who will also change Sookie's life forever and I'm exciting to re-explore that world with her. This is where the story starts to truly get more and more fun!

Also, I was hella looking forward to that conclusion. Iykyk.

___

Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts!

___

Happy reading!

[luimagines]

Ironically, it doesn't take long for the group with MAG!Reader to end up in Warriors' era. The MAG couldn't help but feel on edge cause holy shit were they not ready at the moment. Reader immediately went invisible and held onto the Captain like a nervous puppy.

Reader: *whines akin to a dog* Why now?

Warriors: Whoa there! Everything will be okay. Let me talk the Artemis ok? She'll clearly understand.

Reader: Alright... I trust you.

Thus the Chain make their way to Hyrule Castle with the still invisible MAG following from behind. It wasn't hard for Reader to find a way there without making a suspicious ruckus as they still remember every shortcut and areas not many people visit. Their heart did ache when Artemis walked out to greet the Chain.

Reader's current appearance isn't very flattering and it made terribly anxious as they don't want to scare their close friend. The MAG watched the group through any window or opening once they entered the castle. Reader's sharp hearing let them hear Warriors explain to Artemis what had occur so far on their journey and any major developments.

It didn't take long for him to mention them.

Warriors: We found my missing Second in Command (Reader's rank at the moment)

Artemis: Really?! How?! No one had found their body even after the war ended.

Warriors: It's complicated but they appeared in Wild's Era. However...

Artemis: Is there something wrong? Are they hurt?

Warriors was about to explain when Reader smelled it. An intruder inside in the castle specifically the same room the group was at. It wasn't difficult for their sharpened vision to notice the hidden figure or the bow aimed on Artemis. The sight made Reader snap as the MAG's protective instincts went into overdrive.

Everyone was immediately taken off guard when the giant drops their camouflage and broke through the castle wall. Reader's thick hide shatter the arrow shot by the intruder as they sent the assassin flying with their mace like tail. The MAG immediately freezes upon realization that Artemis' eyes were on them.

Absolute horror and shell shock on her face made Reader quickly bolt in shame despite the princess pleading them to stop. The group searched everywhere for the runaway MAG but couldn't find em anywhere. At least until a frighten soldier's scream erupts from the castle training ground.

They find Reader surrounded by soldiers, half in shock since they recognize their dear missing comrade and the other half in terror. Apparently the MAG had hid there only for someone to bump into their invisible form. Reader is like a deer in the headlights when Artemis tells her soldiers to stand down. She's on the edge of tears as her closest friend was still alive after all and she just made them run away.

Artemis: You really are here... I'm so sorry we couldn't stop Cia unleashing her spell...

Reader: It wasn't your fault. No one could have anticipated such an extreme move. *bends down so they can be face to face* Or what came from it.

Artemis: Everyone missed you... I missed you so much! *gently caresses Reader's face*

Reader: The feeling is mutual.

It's gonna take awhile for everyone to calm down. Luckily Impa showed up so she could help handle the still shaken soldiers. The Sheikah was also shock to see Reader but is glad they're okay. Warriors and the MAG had been a shoulder for the princess to lean although the latter wasn't fooled by her disguise.

There were matters that had be handle but overall everyone was just glad Reader is back. Even if it'll take awhile to get used to their new appearance.

...Do you think... that they would try to flag down Lana to try and fix the spell? Or corner Cia herself to fix it?

Would Reader want it fixed? For as horrible as they turned out to be despite their circumstance, there's still plenty of advantages on the battle field in their form? Could they change it so that it's more of a hulk situation?

Like switch at will?

Or will it be 'all or nothing'? (Seems like something Cia would do that to be honest.)

But Lana might be their best bet anyway. Not to mention I think Reader would be more comfortable around her anyway.

[o-wyrmlight]

Go ahead. Ramble away

I'm. Hhh.

Imagine, if you will, a resource management visual novel, where your choices matter and yet they also don't. Where you are in control of all that happens to you, yet you are not in control of everything. Imagine a king who is a family man who has to balance an oncoming war with the happiness of his family--with his wife and his three unruly daughters. Imagine a game where you cannot please everybody, so you have to make careful decisions regarding who to trust and who to give your resources to.

And you basically have Yes, Your Grace.

Except I feel like it's bigger than that. People complain that they wish that they could have had more impact towards the different endings, specifically in regards to a certain scenario that happens about midgame. I won't spoil it here, but the results of it made me cry multiple times throughout the playthrough.

Anyway--this scenario is caused by a decision that you have no say in. But considering the situation and the expectations surrounding it, it's understandable why the main character, King Eryk, made it in the first place. It's a decision that cannot change, because the results of that decision is completely unforseen and unexpected. And that's incredibly heartbreaking.

But your choices do matter. I feel like the game isn't incredibly engaging in terms of the gameplay itself--petitioners come to your throne and request this or that, you call lords to ally with you against the oncoming battle... you interact with your family and help them in their own little side-quests... but I feel like it's the interpersonal connections that King Eryk has with everyone that makes me so... giddy about the game.

You can tell that Eryk is a good father, and he tries to be a good king. He loves his wife and he loves his three daughters, even if none of his daughters are the heirs to his throne (mideval-inspired, you know?). He cares deeply about his kingdom and about others. And that makes grief hit hard, when grief does happen.

People also complain about how the first half of the game is 'useless' when... I don't know, I disagree with that, to be honest. It gives you a taste of what to expect in the latter half, and it builds the stakes because the only reason you survived in the first half was dumb luck. And it allows you time to sink into the world and learn more about Eryk, as well as how he interacts with the characters. It's so important to have that first half because without it, you would never be able to establish that love that Eryk has for his daughter, Lorsulia, and how much she in turn loves her family.

And I just. Aaa.

Sure, the ending itself is kind of a letdown, in terms of how much they vary from each other and whatnot. But I don't think that the game is solely about the ending. It feels more about survival and doing whatever you can to survive. It's about trying to survive while also not putting your family at stake--it's about helping and understanding your family's needs and wants in the process.

And it's stressful, because the second half of the game is so... resource-intensive. It isn't something I'm going to get into because Spoilers but I'm. Hahaha. Wow.

Anyway yeah the game made me cry like three or four times. Because that's how much the game made me Feel.

Would I play again? Probably not.

Would I recommend it? Yes, if that's the kind of game you're into.

Still a little teary-eyed about it. Yeesh, that was. Certainly A Ride.

[thefamilyeldritchabomination]

Chapter Ten: Thank You For The Venom Pt. 2

“Dorian, what exactly are you drawing now? Tell me it's not more brutal deaths of Freddy again this time around.” Lust asked, becoming both annoyed and concerned at the level of hatred Dorian was displaying.

 “No..though that would’ve been perfect for Freddy..” Dorian eerily responded as he finished the crayon drawing of Greed getting his top half being obliterated by a plasma beam of some kind.

 “Wait…is that supposed to be Greed? You should’ve added in his dumbass smirk in there for good measure.” Lust said, impressed with Dorian being able to draw Greed’s shoe pants relatively well. Giving the thumbs up, Dorian went to draw the smirk with his crayon. Lust just watched on as she sipped her afternoon tea when Envy and Dolly returned from their outing at the museum. It had taken them a while to pick out the right blackberry mead. It turned out trying to find the exact blend from nearly four hundred years ago was a challenge to say the least. Ultimately though, through sheer hardheadedness and intense craving, Envy managed to get that blend. That mead was held proudly in Envy’s grip like a war trophy as they shifted back to their preferred form after being out of the apartment for a good chunk of the day. Dolly, on the other hand, was absolutely surprised that Envy wasn’t feeling drunk after tasting so many different samples of blackberry mead. Lust gave Dolly a smirk as she saw the confused look on Dolly’s face, placing her tea down. “You realize that appearances aren't the only thing Envy can change, right?” Lust said in her smooth tone as Dolly took her seat.

 “What exactly do you mean?” Dolly asked, now wanting a bit more answers as Envy jumped in.

 “I like being in control of myself, so with alcohol, I simply just enlarge my liver or speed up my metabolism to avoid getting drunk.” Envy explained, putting the blackberry mead away into the fridge to chill for a while before it gets served.

 “That’s fair enough, drunkenness isn’t very pleasant for a lot of folk from what I understand.” Dolly said, accepting the fact Envy does commit unseen body horror to themself to maintain self control.

 Envy was relieved that the reason was accepted straight up and not being forced to explain why they hated being drunk. The upside of being with the younger homunculi was very much the fact they had never seen Envy drunk before, unlike Greed who saw it as a ‘whimsically funny’ story to recount or heaven forbid Danta spoke about it. It's almost amusing to think that most people believe that drunkenness is simply saying silly things or doing something trivial for laughs that a factor is often forgotten, the loss of muscle control. Envy hid chuckle at the little overseen fact, best to let the others think it's just the former rather than the gruesome latter. The drawing Dorian made caught Envy’s eyes as an eyebrow raised a bit. “Is that supposed to be Greed?” Envy asked, impressed that the shoe pants legs were done pretty well in crayon. “Yes, he even has the shit eating smirk too..” Dorian replied, proud of his rather violent piece of art.

 “If I give you some photos of some certain people, think you can make drawings of them with the dumbest possible faces possible? I’ve been needing some things to throw darts at.” Envy asked when the apartment started to shake.

 Without having to think much, everyone, Dolly having to pick up Dorian, ducked under the table to let the tremor pass by. Envy and Lust looked at each other with widened eyes as they both knew where that tremor came from. It simply had to be the underground city, their home, there was no other explanation for it. It lasted about a minute or two when the tremor from down below ceased and Envy made a dash for the phone to call up Sloth to figure out what the hell just happened. Lust was checking over Gluttony as Dolly slowly got up from under the table with Dorian. The line picked up with Sloth on the other end, still having that lifeless zombie like tone. “I see you’ve noticed the tremor too.” Sloth stated, expecting this call to happen the moment Dante set off on her quest to reinforce the city down below. “You could say that, now, what exactly happened to the underground city?” Envy asked, trying their damndest to keep their temper down.

 “I suppose you didn’t know, there was an explosion in Dublith and Dante made a rash decision to reinforce the underground. I’m not exactly sure what she reinforced the underground with just yet though.” Sloth plainly said, not once getting worried about what the living conditions will be like just yet for the underground. “So you’re telling me to go see it for myself? Thanks for being so useful there Sloth.” Envy snarled as they slammed the phone on the receiver.

 “Envy, what the hell happened?” Lust asked, now that she was done checking over Gluttony and ready to focus on the bigger picture. “Well Lust, Pride’s little ego hunt has caused Dante to panic and transmute the entire underground. We're going to have to check on it right now.” Envy said with anger in their tone. “That’s not going to work, one of us has to be here to do the afternoon check in on the target and ready him for pick up tomorrow.” Lust explained, becoming fazed and annoyed with the rollercoaster this job has been. “I need backup in case the underground is unstable seeing as she went out of her way to transmute an entire underground city.” Envy defended their plan, especially since they’ll all have to go back down there eventually.

 “If it's really that big of a deal, maybe I could go with you and let Lust take care of Freddy.” Dolly said, mainly because she was curious what this underground hellcity looks like.

 “Dolly, really, it’s alright, it can wait.” Lust said, hoping Envy won’t be stupid enough to let the eldritch being get close to a death fearing monster. “That sounds like a deal, Lust, we’ll be back later.” Envy said, not really thinking at this point. “But what about Dante!?” Lust responded, now having to put her foot down. “Shit…I’m going to call Sloth again to check.” Envy said as they went right back to the phone to call up Sloth again. “I almost forgot about the wretched creature, thanks for the reminder Lust.” Dolly hummed, having forgotten her brief encounter with the human hermit crab after witnessing the massive mead tasting Envy did.

 Envy held a finger up to silence everyone in the room as they waited for Sloth to pick up. As per usual with Sloth, she took her time forcing Envy to wait until the line was picked up. Flustered from being placed on the wait, Envy tried to stay calm with the use of rather violent mental images.

 “Is everything alright? You’ve called back a whole lot sooner than I’d thought.” Sloth asked, failing miserably in sounding concerned.

 “Yes, I just needed to know if Dante is still down there.” Envy explained, not thrilled with having to speak again with a humanoid doll.

 “I see you’re still avoiding your mother, but no, she’s still down there. I do, however, think you should see her, Dante is afterall preparing to make a new Pride.” Sloth unemotionally chidded before dropping the news of a new Pride. “Wait, you’re lying, right? Dante wouldn’t do something that brash, it’s way too soon to consider making a new Pride and does she even have a candidate?!” Envy yelled in shock before asking in a fast manner.

 “Sad to say, but our current Pride has rubbed Dante the wrong way today. So his termination notice will be arriving any time during the following two to three months. I am also surprised that you don’t know who the candidate is considering you were the one to kill him not too long ago.” Sloth said, feeling no amount of pity or worry for her other employer, figuring Dante will just make her work under the new Pride instead.

 “Dante and I had a deal that she wouldn’t make a homunculus based after targets I had to terminate. She knows damn well that’s going to cause fights, what is Dante even thinking at this point!?” Envy snarled over the phone, hating how conceited Sloth was turning out to be.

 “I truly don’t care either way, I am afterall not paid enough to give any sort of concerns at this point. So long as Dante fulfills her promise to make me human, then I have nothing really to argue about.” Sloth simply said as the sound of the elevator could be heard in the background, likely Dante returning from her homemade hell down below.

 Having to bite their tongue on telling Sloth the truth, Envy slammed the phone back on the receiver, Lust looking rather concerned at the aftermath of the interaction. Likewise, Dolly was just as concerned about the latest development along with the juicy nugget of information about how homunculus are made. Dorian, on the other hand, went to draw an appallingly hideous portrait of Sloth, handing it to Envy. With a sigh, Envy accepted the disaster portrait of Sloth to throw darts at later on. “You’re the only good thing that Freddy has made.” Envy commented as Dorian blank faced patted Envy on the back.

 “Is Dante seriously considering making a new Pride on such short notice?” Lust asked, not liking where this trainwreck was going.

 “She is and she’s using Hughe Maes for it. The asshole wouldn’t even have the normal ten year training time either, Dante is determined to execute that stupid humanoid doll within a month or two.” Envy groaned as they face planted into the table.

 “That is going to cause a mess for all of us….what exactly did Pride do to get that reaction!?” Lust was ready to leave the apartment to confront Dante herself, before her attention turned to Gluttony. “Oh, that’s because we just lost Lior.” Gluttony spoke up innocently after listening into the conversation. “Gluttony…what do you mean we lost Lior?” Lust was now panicked seeing as Lior was their key location. “The radio said so, Pride’s wife is pulling troops out and trials are being held soon.” Gluttony explained, pointing to the radio, Lust nearly dropping her cup of tea. “That’ll do, that would certainly do the trick in getting Pride executed so soon.” Envy admitted, getting up from the table and motioning for Dolly to follow.  

 Picking up Dorian and getting him into her backpack, Dolly got ready to follow Envy out of the apartment to see the underground horror show. Lust did feel a little relieved that she didn’t have to watch over Dorian once again, but at the same time was considering just leaving Dante seeing as this whole plan is going up in smoke. On the other hand, Dolly was mentally debating with herself over the implications that were spoken over on the phone. Were the homunculi really based on dead people or were they like some sort of weird, rock eating vampires from being resurrected by alchemy? There was one thought alone that stung the most when it first appeared, was Envy someone she once knew. Clearly, Envy couldn’t be William, right? Deep in the back of Dolly’s mind, however, there was the chance that Envy could be William, they can, afterall, shapeshift. “Hey, earth to the Parfait Haired Pipsqueak! CAN YOU HEAR ME!?” Envy raised their voice, snapping Dolly back into reality and right in front of the stairway to the sewers. 

 “Yep, sorry, I must have been thinking a bit too hard.” Dolly said, a bit embarrassed she zoned out like that again. “Whatever, look, you’re going to have to focus while we travel for the elevator. The elevator is a bit well hidden, so it’s very easy to miss if you’re an absolute disaster of a homunculus.” Envy explained as they led Dolly back down into the sewer.

 The rats of the sewers clearly were glad to see the odd duo with their horrid clay monster as they scurried once again past their feet. Running a hand along the sludge like sewer wall, Envy felt along to find the button to open up the elevator. Dolly couldn’t help but wince at Envy as they had to touch the disgusting interior with a plethora of diseases marinating from the collected wastes. For Envy, however, they would likely just cut that hand off after this check up on the underground. An audible click-like sound could be heard as the wall of the sewer started to split apart and revealed the elevator to the underground city. Wasting no time, Envy motioned for Dolly to get into the elevator before following her in as the doors closed to the descent. The creaks and moans of the elevator were concerning to say the very least as Dolly, Envy, and Dorian stood. Carefully, Dolly looked over to Envy, deciding to break the silence in hopes of drowning out the unnerving sound.

 “Are there any rules in regards to the underground city?” Dolly asked rather than ask the real question that was on her mind.

 “Not really other than no fighting in the living quarters unless we’ve been breached. Though, I can’t guarantee that one will remain as the only rule until I can get a good look at the underground.” Envy said, eyes narrowing a bit at the idea of possible more rules to be added underground.

 “Look, you made a face earlier while I was on the phone. Just understand that killing off certain humans is simply just part of the job, sometimes our fellow homunculi if enough rules are broken.” Envy added, feeling now was a good time to have this chat. “It wasn’t that, even though that part about killing being a requirement is concerning. How exactly do you feel about that policy?” Dolly responded, already having the idea they were on the murder happy side of things with Gluttony being a convenient body disposal method. 

 “Would you ask a farmer how they felt after having to kill a chicken for meat?” Envy asked in return, figuring using Dolly’s own terminology skills to get the point through. “Okay, that’s fair enough, but are you honoring the kill?” Dolly the flesh-eating eldritch being responded.

 “I’ll need to explain that a bit more.” Envy raised an eyebrow once again, Dolly at this point proving to be a little curve ball when it came to conversations. “Well, are you using everything from the body like eating the meat or using the bones for weapons?” Dolly said, hoping that would explain things better. “Congratulations, I’m now going to try my hand at human bone weapons. Now, what exactly was on your mind?” Envy proceeded to ask, their reptile eyes right on Dolly. “Well..you said that the homunculi were based on people who have passed. Did I know you beforehand? You knew a line that someone had once said in a conversation from a long time ago.” Dolly finally spilled, a bit anxious about what the answer would be. “I don’t know, I do like to play a bit, especially if I’m bored.” Envy danced around the question, feeling a bit in the mood for a mind game. “Bored you say? Well, I suppose I can tell you a story in exchange for an answer.” Dolly said, making eye contact with Envy. “Not another ghost story, that one lost my interest.” Envy stated, though they did enjoy seeing Lust being unnerved by it. “No, not a ghost story, a story from my past. Perhaps you might like to hear it.” Dolly explained, having a bit of an idea in her mind.

 “Interesting, now why exactly would you propose that?” Envy asked, an eyebrow raised as they watched for a response. “Well, you did share a bit of your past with me earlier in the museum, it’s only polite if I did the same. Perhaps this could be something to trade as a way to relieve some boredom as you’ve put it.” Dolly explained, hoping this would work and get her some answers.

 “Interesting, I’ll take you up on it, but, if you mention anything of my past to anyone, I’ll unleash a horrible plague in your hometown.” Envy shrugged as if it was really nothing.

 “And let me guess, you’ll name it after me too for good measures?” Dolly casually snarked a bit.

 “Well of course! I simply have to make sure it’ll be something to haunt you for a long time. Now, enough stalling, share the story.” Envy had quipped right back, clearly they were the most relaxed in this hellevator.

 Dolly smiled a bit as she pieced together a story that’ll likely get Envy’s attention and sure enough, there was one from recent times that would be of use to her at that moment. It was quiet for the time being, mainly Dolly wanting to tug Envy’s chains a bit. Dolly waited a bit for Envy to get impatient before smiling and starting the story finally.

[notenderhands]

You mentioned that Lleu would reward Telemakos if he did or said something Medraut would and punish him if he did not. How would Lleu punish Telemakos if he did not act like Medraut? How can he punish him if he is not aware of what he wants from him? And wouldn't Lleu pitting Athena and Telemakos against one another require for Lleu to be more aware of what he is doing? Creating a hostile environment where Telemakos will eventually turn into an insecure jealous man like Medraut who hates his sibling and would do anything to have the attention of his guardian is a long-term plan including multiple steps, it is entirely different from giving Telemakos gifts for lifting his mood by acting similar to Medraut. The latter can be unconscious since Lleu is encouraging a kind of behaviour that happened by coincidence and turning it into a habit while the former is cold, calculating and callous. Lleu would isolate and manipulate Telemakos to create traits that were never there, which means he must know what he wants and understand what he is doing to get him to do what he wants and not care that he is destroying Telemakos' life in progress.

To answer the first part of your question, I think it could start out as just Lleu's mood or how nice he is Telemakos. When Telemakos does something that pleases Lleu, Lleu would smile and be obviously happy about how Telemakos acted. Maybe he would also use physical affection as well. But when Telemakos does something that Lleu dislikes, Lleu would be a bit cold and standoffish. Maybe he would leave Telemakos alone, or just be displeased in a subtle way. This would start out innocuous enough but then I imagine that adding sex and physical touches would also come into play. Whereby Lleu would "reward" with such things and punish him by taking them away or using violence.

Lleu can do this subconsciously. He might not even realize the change in his behavior. It would be simply, in his mind, that he likes when Telemakos acts a certain way and when he acts a different way, he dislikes it. He might see it as trying to help Telemakos adjust to British customs or helping to lead him on the right path. He probably is not going to go much further than simple like and dislike. He would not associate it with Medraut at all. He might not even think about Medraut, consciously.

People can do a lot of harm even if they aren't aware of it. I don't see Lleu as someone who is aware of what he is doing most of the time. He does not analyze his behavior to understand why he does what he does. He never considers it nor questions it. People can do a lot of harm without necessarily having any intention behind their actions. People can be abusive and horrible but be purely acting from their emotions without some type of analytical plan in their minds to manipulate someone to do or behave in a certain way. They might not even be aware of it. I am not saying this excuses abusive and cruel behavior, it doesn't. But some people, especially people who have experienced trauma themselves, can act and behave in abusive and harmful ways without even realizing it. This is how and why the cycle of abuse continues in many cases. People are not as self-aware as we like to think sometimes. People do things to make themselves feel better. Their own feelings are what allow them to continue doing harmful and abusive things to others.

So to answer the second half of your ask, not necessarily. Parents pit their kids against each other all the time and I don't think every parent who does it, has some step-by-step plan to create a sibling rivalry. They are just bad parents. If this was Morgause and she was orchestrating events and such, then yes, I would 100% agree that she is engineering some plan to create this rivalry and force Telemakos into being a Medraut 2.0. But Lleu is just not that foresighted. He tends to be a bit myopic; he favors an immediate pleasure than waiting for a greater one down the road. The only person he can kind of manipulate is Medraut and most of that is simply understanding his habits and routines. And even then, Lleu's still not great at getting Medraut to do what he wants.

Lleu can isolate Telemakos without necessarily realizing it. He can manipulate him without realizing it. He can drive a wedge between Telemakos and Athena without realizing it. A system of rewards and punishments that eventually leads to CSA would be enough to create a divide and a rivalry between them. All Lleu would have to do is simply compare Telemakos to Athena as a punishment, compliment her as well. And if CSA is happening to Telemakos, then all Lleu really has to do is insinuate that it could or might be happening to Athena. If sex and physical touches are a reward to Telemakos, and withholding them is a punishment, Lleu just has to make a comment that could be interpreted as he is rewarding Athena and Telemakos's own mind will make the leaps and jumps to there. Not all of this is necessarily something Lleu has to be aware of and consciously doing, it is as simple as a comment. The abuse and CSA will do the rest.

Again, I am not saying that Lleu is not responsible for what he does in this AU. He is. Just as anyone is who abuses and harms another is. But at the same time, abuse is not always as clear cut as one wants to think it is. It is not always evil, bad person purposefully doing evil, bad things. Sometimes it's a fucked up individual doing something fucked up in turn. Most of the time, without intentionality behind it. It doesn't excuse anyone's actions, it just adds to the context as to why an individual might do and be abusive and horrible without them even fully understanding it.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Ghosthouse (1988)

Ghosthouse would be better if it was worse. Out of the gate, the weak performances, lackluster special effects and generic plot tell you this movie won’t be good. You change your expectations and hope it might be so loopy it will be unintentionally hilarious. If you try hard you can have a bit of fun with the film but in the end, it’s just boring.

Amateur radio operator Paul Rogers (Greg Scott) hears a strange broadcast one night. It sounds like a man being attacked and then murdered. With the help of his girlfriend Martha (Lara Wendel), he tracks the signal back to an old home with a history of violence - twenty years earlier, a whole family was murdered there. The person Paul heard on the air was Jim (Martin Jay), who - along with his brother, Mark (Ron Houck), his sister Tina (Kate Silver) and Mark’s girlfriend, Susan (Mary Sellers) are squatting inside the abandonned home. Jim swears he was never attacked. Could the voice Paul heard on the radio have a supernatural origin?

Shot in Italy, all of the dialogue is obviously dubbed, except for Lara Wendel’s. That's not necessarily a flaw, but all the performers are doing a lousy job at conveying their characters’ emotions. Jim, in particular, is supposed to be terrified, pleading for his life… but you’ve heard people more troubled about the amount of mayonnaise on their sandwiches. To a certain extent, it’s easy to understand why the performances are so unenthusiastic. This is not a good-looking movie. Many scenes call for special effects. At best, they're passable. Often, you can see the strings. Either literally - like when a child’s room suddenly turns into a hurricane of toys - or figuratively - like in a scene where someone gets cut in half by a guillotine blade hanging from the ceilling. In that latter example, any blood or gore you would expect is hidden behind a prop in the foreground. Obviously, what’s actually on-screen are two actresses carefully positioned to create the illusion that the legs are far separated from the torso.

The most notable things about this film are: the obviously evil-looking clown doll the ghostly Henrietta (Kristen Fougerousse) drags around everywhere (its smile turns from friendly to full of sharp teeth in the blink of an eye), the annoying “lullaby” that constantly plays during the film (we learn that there’s a hidden message spoken backward inside it) and the last shot, which is admittedly pretty cool - definitely worth ripping off if you’re making a horror movie. There are plenty of dopey scenes where people are sent to the grave or come close to it - flying fan blades, pools of strange liquid filled with floating skulls or other ghostly shenanigans - but these aren’t particularly memorable. There’s nothing about “Ghosthouse” to prevent it from fading away into absolute obscurity, except for one thing: the title. Not "Ghosthouse”; the original Italian title. In Europe's giant boot, the Evil Dead movies were titled La Casa and La Casa 2. To piggyback off of their success, House was titled La Casa 3. For this reason, I’ve seen Ghosthouse appear on many lists of “shameless Evil Dead ripoffs”. This gives you the impression that you’ll find lots of crazy gore and humor but you get neither. "House" has much more in common with Poltergeist than with anything Sam Raimi directed.'Ghosthouse”; the original Italian title. In Europe's giant boot, the Evil Dead movies were titled La Casa and La Casa 2. To piggyback off of their success, House was titled La Casa 3. For this reason, I’ve seen Ghosthouse appear on many lists of “shameless Evil Dead ripoffs”. This gives you the impression that you’ll find lots of crazy gore and humor but you get neither. "House" has much more in common with Poltergeist than with anything Sam Raimi directed.

It’s not a spoiler if I tell you the evil clown doll is responsible for all the sinister business taking place. You can tell from the first frame. Later on, we learn the reason for the evil it contains: Henrietta’s father (Alain Smith) worked at a funeral home and had the nasty habbit of stealing things from the corpses. Although Paul has to do some detective work to figure this out, that revelation means nothing. We already knew the thing had to be destroyed/disposed of.

It’s been just a few days since I saw Ghosthouse and I can barely remember it already. What we have here is the worst kind of bad film. While I ragged on it pretty harshly, there are some pretty cool moments/ideas, just enough to make you wonder if the film will turn around. You stick with it in vain and even if you tried to enjoy it for unorthodox reasons, the plot is generic and dull. There’s no reason to seek out this Italian spookfest. (March 10, 2023)

[magioghvitetekopper]

BIG PERSONAL RANT OKAY EXCUSE ME

What is life really huh? Here you sit, 27 years old and you might as well have been 16, because nothing terribly more exciting has happened in your life. And you can blame it on the fact that you've experienced things that others your age hasn't, but that's no good excuse. Because you have survived, and you have no lasting regrets (apart from a bit of a buzz of words, but you had that from before). I don't know what's stopping us. Whether it is fear of not being liked back, whether everything has become too scary since you have never experienced it before or whether it is simply you that something is wrong with you. All answers point to the latter. You are the common denominator in everything here. You are the one who gets blood clots twice and becomes seriously ill. You're the one scaring everyone away. It's you that no one wants.

And of course, you scare them away. Who wants an insecure little loser who clings as hard as he can, because you are so afraid that he will leave you too. Because they do, they always leave you. And all you want is for someone to like you enough to fall in love with you. You don't quite understand why it doesn't happen either, because you're not as half-witted as you think. In fact, you're quite sure you'd have been an amazing girlfriend if only someone had given you the opportunity to prove it. But you never get that far, because you cling on for dear life, and even though you know it repels them, you do it anyway. Is it self-sabotage?

I know it hurts. I know you feel stupid because it gets to you the way it does. It sounds stupid to go to a psychologist and be like "yes, I'm depressed because no boys were in love with me when I was a teenager". Because it sounds totally fucked up. And it sounds stupid. But I know it's a kind of trauma. Although it also feels silly to call it trauma. Trauma is for people who experience serious things, trauma is for people who are dying or experiencing violence. Not for girls who don't experience the teenage love they longed for. You were traumatized by the fact that you experienced sexual abuse, and that it was your first time. And that's okay, it's normal. But having trauma because no one has ever been in love with you…

But I know you wanted it so much, and you had so much hope. Every single year you thought "this year, this year it will happen". But, it never happened. Instead, you've spent your time sleeping with people you shouldn't be sleeping with. Be attracted to people you shouldn't be attracted to. It's safer, isn't it? Then you know the outcome. You know that they will sting, and that you are then allowed to have a tough time. Because otherwise it is not allowed to have a tough time, if nothing has happened to you that is. But you must remember that you have experienced other things, things that have nothing to do with love at all, but which can justify your feelings. You are allowed to feel bad because you have to take blood thinners for the rest of your life. You are allowed to be upset that the whole arrangement around a possible pregnancy turns out to be anything but what you had imagined. You are allowed to be sad and angry that you have to live with this disease for the rest of your life, and no one knows how or why it was you who got sick. You are even allowed to think that you will die young, because of your illness. It's going to kill you, but you know that, and I think you're comfortable with that. At least you have accepted it. But one thing you have never accepted is that you will not experience true love. It feels so insanely unfair.

[zetalial]

03 Ed’s character development

So in my last post I started rambling in the tags and eh I figured I’d write it out in a separate post. (And as per usual it turned out way longer than I intended...) Enjoy this little post about Ed’s character development in FMA 03.

Okay, early on we see him getting into trouble and then solving problems and Ed is really confident and happy with big smiles. He takes great joy in outsmarting people or defeating people with his awesome alchemy skills. He gets moody at times - he doesn’t like being part of the military - but he is proud to be the alchemist for the people.

The first glance at him after the timeskip when he’s 15 has him talking to a taxi-driver about his lovely reputation and he’s visibly happy and gloating. (The wind gets taken out of him with a remark about his height though.) Now, he is sensitive to people’s suffering and wants to help others when he can - stuff like Nina still weighs on him. But mostly, he’s doing his own thing and thinks he’s awesome. (See Liore, Yousewell and the fullmetal versus flame episode.)

Al’s a little more humble and caring about others while Ed is less interested in other people’s problems - he generally wants to help only when he begins to care about them or if it’s really about proving himself. (In episode 10, the Phantom Thief, his problem with Clara wasn’t that she was a thief, it was because she was a thief using alchemy. He’s particularly opposed to the misuse of alchemy and actually helps her when he thinks she’s trying to help the town. Then when she’s tricked him, Ed wants to defeat her because she got the better of him and he hates that.) 

Over the series, this arrogant attitude gets deconstructed. It starts with Marcoh, when Ed tracks him down and doesn’t care too much about his story about his Ishval and how the Stones he made were misused. He just wants the stone for his own goals - restoring him and Al - and doesn’t really care too much about the wider world. Then Marcoh gets taken by the military and Ed suddenly feels bad because he realises his actions caused this and he steps in to defend Marcoh from Scar. Complete with a flashback to Nina. (Separate post on this here)

So next, Ed finds out that the Philosopher’s stone is made from human lives and he starts to give up because pursuing their own goals would mean hurting others. It’s another huge challenge to his worldview. (Here’s a separate post I made on it.)

Then Lab 5 and he finds out the homunculi have been behind things and they’ve been secretly manipulating him and his brother all this time, leaving a trail to the stone to lure them in. Now Ed can no longer pretend that it’s their own quest independent of anything else. They’ve been controlled all this time and didn’t know it. Tucker is still alive. Barry the chopper is still alive. Ed hates being tricked and outsmarted and he’s really shaken by it all. 

Meanwhile, you’ve got Al interacting with Scar. Originally Scar is just a bad guy to Ed and now they’re learning more about Scar and his sympathetic motivations and it’s not so black and white. Early villains tended to be framed as generically evil. 

So Ed finds he’s more connected to the world than he’d like to be. He can’t just be selfishly pursuing his own goals with no care for his effect on the world. He learns about how the homunculi were created with Izumi and then he meets Greed. Greed’s just a bad guy to Ed. Then Ed kills him and Greed reveals he let Al go, that he’s been manipulated all his life and that he’s not such a bad guy. Ed has to deal with the fact that he’s taken a life and he has to try and move on. 

Early episodes had Ed really happy and proud with defeating the bad guy and saving the day. (Nina and Barry the chopper are sort of exceptions but even then the bad guys were so clearly evil and he could at least take some sort of satisfaction from defeating them. Until lab 5...) These episodes show the opposite, Ed feels terrible for what he’s accomplished. There is no satisfaction here.  

So the next couple episodes have some more of his assumptions challenged. His interactions with Ishvalans in episode 36 reveal that he’s been affected by propaganda more than he’d like and he confronts a bit of his own internalised racism (the show doesn’t really delve into the subject but it does touch on it a little.) Ed is starting to rethink his assumptions and his worldview. He makes this nice statement about how you can’t always trust what you’ve been told and you have to come to your own truths about the world. Martel informs him how the Ishval war wasn’t a single inciting incident based on different worldviews but an active insidious campaign by the military to start a war. What he’s been told before has been more lies and military propaganda which he’d never questioned.

Then the truth about Liore is revealed and Ed is now confronted with the fact that his actions didn’t help like he thought. He couldn’t solve their problems. All he did was cause worse problems even though it wasn’t his intention. All he can do is collapse in horror at the graves, realising that he was never the clever hero defeating the bad guy. His actions really had huge devastating consequences outside himself. 

And he also faces Sloth, who he’d been in denial about for ages. Now he accepts that she’s his creation and his responsibility and he can no longer run from her. So he prepares, going to Risembool to get her weakness. 

Lust has been his enemy for a long time and she’s done some terrible things. Yet she offers to work with him against his enemies. She wants his help and I like her line about how if he gives her what she wants and makes her human then they wouldn’t be enemies anymore. It’s like, these characters are more complex than mere bad guys and helping her would be the best move even though she’s never shown any remorse for the things she’s done. There’s no point to antagonising her now. (I’m probably not explaining it that well but I find this scene really powerful.) Meanwhile, Sloth is intent on being their enemy to the end and it’s necessary to go as far as killing her.

Ed’s fight to defeat her is every bit as clever and awesome as any of his earlier schemes and he’s aiming for the ending he got. (Whereas he was shocked by his own actions against Greed.) But there’s no happiness in victory here. Only bitter sadness. He’s beginning to understand the homunculi and that they’re not monsters - they’re tragedies. 

At this point they have the stone and Ed could be trying to get his and his brother’s body back. I think it might well have been possible. Early Ed probably would have tried to do just that. But now Ed’s not thinking of his own goals he’s thinking of the greater world outside of his own dreams. His conversation with Mustang in Episode 48, Goodbye, discusses this. Mustang’s throwing away his dream of becoming Fuhrer to defeat the corrupt Military while Ed goes after the Homunculi’s master who’s been pulling all the strings and starting wars. War is not a far-off thing that doesn’t concern him as he believed in early episodes. 

So we don’t see much of his cocky smile anymore. Ed learns he’s not as clever as he thinks he is and that his enemies aren’t as simple as he once thought and that the world effects him and he effects the world, whether he likes it or not. That’s some of his character development throughout the series. 

We may not get so many big grins but we do still get some nice smiles from him at times. He’s grows more thoughtful about the world and more caring about others. He’s calmer and less arrogant and better at forgiving others for their mistakes, (like he’s able to forgive his father for all the terrible stuff he’s done upon seeing how he’s trying to be better). He’s still restless, and very attached to Al and can’t let go of his principle of equivalency entirely and this leads to his final sacrifice and then continuing researching relentlessly in the new world - he doesn’t become a perfect person or anything. But I adore his character growth.

Ed’s my favourite character in FMA and I absolutely love his character journey in 03. I hope this helps to explain why.

[skittlesfics]

Name: pick me

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader

Word Count: 1659

Content/Warnings: Mutual Pining, Fluff

Prompt: Sirius gets worked up when he finds out that his best friend has never had a proper snog.

Author's Note: Requests still open! I'm just sorta writing whatever pops into my brain right now. Figured I should write about someone other than Lucius for once.

“What do you mean you’ve never snogged someone? You’ve had like…” Sirius trailed off for a moment, quietly whispering names as he counted on his fingers, “three and a half relationships! You have to have snogged at least one of them.”

“A half?” You challenged, shifting away from him so that you could face him more directly on the couch.

“Nott doesn’t count.”

“Just because you didn’t like him doesn’t mean he doesn’t count, Sirius.” You rolled your eyes. When you had agreed to play “Never Have I Ever” with your best friend, it was with the assumption that he basically knew everything about you already. You hadn’t expected for it to turn into this.

“I don’t like any of the gits you date. Nott doesn’t count because you only said yes to him to annoy me.”

You opened your mouth to protest, but remembered that he was completely correct, and that the Hogsmeade date with Nott had been terrible anyway.

“Fine, three and half.” You conceded, “but no snogging.”

Sirius ran a hand through his already messy brown hair, shaking his head in abject disbelief. His reaction might have been funny, if it weren’t mildly embarrassing.

“I don’t see why this is such a big deal.” You added with a groan. Sirius wasn’t having it.

“It just is.” He said, shaking his head, “It’s an important skill, you know, kissing.” You scoffed.

“I’ve kissed people, Sirius, you know that. I can kiss.” He did know, having been your very first kiss back in second year. It was his turn to scoff.

“That’s not the same, and you know it. Or… I guess you don’t. Merlin, what am I going to do with you? I’ve failed you as a best friend.” You raised your eyebrows at his melodrama. It was becoming apparent that the game was over and long forgotten in favor of this new tangent.

“You’re such a drama queen, Sirius. It’s not your job to get someone to snog me.” You collapsed back into the plush couch, rubbing the bridge of your nose with your pointer finger and thumb. This was too much. The line between “best friend” and “crush” had always been fine with Sirius, and the fixation on your kissing history was quickly skewing towards the latter.

When you opened your eyes again, his dark brown eyes were laser-focused on your face. This could only mean trouble.

“Whatever you’re thinking, Sirius, the answer is no.” You said immediately. He was undeterred.

“Hear me out.” He insisted, reaching for your hand. You gave it to him reluctantly and he rewarded you with a soft smile.

“I’m not letting you set me up, Sirius. In case you don’t recall, all of your friends are my friends too.” The mental image of snogging James flashed in your head and you wrinkled your nose in disgust, forcing it away.

“What? No.” He huffed in annoyance. “Listen to me. I can show you what it’s like.”

You became suddenly aware of a high-pitched whine at the edge of your consciousness. The next few breaths you took were laborious as you fought to keep your heart rate measured and consistent. Sirius was still talking, but you had to fight to understand what he was saying.

“… not like we haven’t before. Besides, I’m an expert.” He flashed a cocky smirk at you and you didn’t know if you wanted to hit him or kiss him. Maybe both. Simultaneously.

“You don’t think that would be… weird?” You asked, chewing your bottom lip. “We’re best friends.”

Sirius rolled his eyes at you.

“Exactly, we’re best friends. You trusted me with your first kiss, right?” He asked. You swallowed thickly.

“Right.”

“So why is this any different?”

There were a million reasons it was different. You were twelve when that happened, for one, and kissing at twelve was very different than kissing at seventeen. And back then your crush was a small, simple, thing, not this pained longing that haunted you for hours after the two of you hung out alone. It was a terrible idea, kissing Sirius again, much less snogging him. Still, who better to show you the difference. You took a shaky breath, hoping that Sirius couldn’t see through your nerves.

“Okay.” You said finally, looking up at him.

“Okay?” He asked. It was his turn to sound breathless, and you hoped that he wasn’t bluffing. He cleared his throat. “Sorry, I mean… great! Just let me know if something is too much, okay?”

Oh. He meant now. Like, right now. You were going to implode. You nodded dumbly and Sirius flashed you a brilliant smile. This was it. This was how you would die. Your heart pounded in your chest as he shifted closer to you, no hesitation in his movements.

He reached out slowly, cupping your face with the hand that wasn’t locked with yours. You leaned into his touch instinctively, drawing a soft chuckle from him when your eyes slid shut.

You could feel him draw near, his breath fanning out across your face as he leaned in.

“May I?” he asked. You swallowed.

“Yes.”

He pressed his lips against yours, gently at first, and then with enough pressure to draw a soft gasp from you. It was slow, experimental, and you realized that he was going at your pace. When he didn’t immediately pull away with regret, you kissed him back.

That was all it took. His hand moved from your cheek to the back of your neck and he pulled you into him, his mouth moving against yours with increased desperation. He tasted of the cinnamon candies he used to get rid of his cigarette breath around you and his mouth was so deliciously warm on yours that you didn’t think you could pull away from him if you wanted to. You didn’t want to.

You melted into him, parting your lips to let him slide his tongue against yours. A soft whimper escaped your lips and you blushed, embarrassed, but Sirius only growled and devoured you further. His kiss was searing, needy, all consuming, and you wanted to burn with him. He sucked your bottom lip into his mouth and you moaned, gripping his t-shirt tight with your free hand.

His eyes widened and he drew away, panting. You could have sobbed with the loss. Had he come to his senses? Realized that he didn’t want you that way?

“Hey, love, look at me.” He rasped, his fingers finding your chin to turn your face to him. “I got carried away, I’m sorry. Was that too much?”

You could have laughed if you didn’t want to cry. Too much. You didn’t know what that meant, with Sirius. There was nothing that you didn’t want of him. You weren’t sure how you could go back to a world where you weren’t allowed to kiss him, to taste him. You took a breath, realizing that you still needed to reply.

“No, no, Sirius, it was perfect.” The words came out as a whisper, your voice fading under the intensity of his gaze. His eyes searched your face for any hint of doubt, lingering perhaps too long on your swollen lips. His tongue darted out to wet his lip and you followed its motion with your eyes, biting your lip when he swallowed nervously.

“I don’t think I can let you do that with anyone else.” He said after a moment, “I might not get you back from them this time.”

You furrowed your brow in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

In lieu of an answer, he kissed you again, crushing you into his chest. He stole your breath and then released you, though his eyes said that he hadn’t wanted to stop.

“I’m fed up watching you go on bad dates with losers that don’t even know how to kiss you proper. Merlin knows, I’ve tried to be patient, but when are you going to pick me?”

“Pick you?” You asked, eyes wide with the shock of hearing your own feelings reflected in your best friend. “I didn’t think…”

“That I was mad for you? I thought you were letting me down easy, but you really had no clue, did you?” You shook your head, searching for clarity that didn’t come.

This was backwards. Sirius was the one who wasn’t interested in you. The one that went on countless dates. The one who… had stayed back from Hogsmeade any time you had a date, feigning illness. The one who abandoned a date because you skinned your knee or needed help carrying something back to the castle. The one who always brought you treats while you studied, and knew just how you took your tea in the morning.

Oh. Sirius laughed as he watched the realization dawn on your face.

“You didn’t!”

“Sirius, I’ve fancied you since second year. Everyone knows it. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Why didn’t you?”

You frowned. That was fair. The friendship the two of you shared was too important, too sacred, to risk for what you thought might be an unrequited crush. It wasn’t unrequited, though, and it wasn’t just a crush anymore. Hadn’t been for a long time.

“What does this mean for us, then?” You asked finally, searching his face for answers. He kissed you again, softly this time.

“It means I get to do this more often.” He said, “And that maybe we can be more than just best friends, if you’ll have me.” It shouldn’t have been a question, and you wanted to tell them that, but he looked so vulnerable, so earnest, that you would have given him anything.

You threw your arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug.

“Of course, Sirius. You’re mad if you think I’m going to let anyone else kiss me after that.” You joked, pressing a kiss into his shoulder.

“Good, because I have so much more to show you.”

[michelle-is-writing]

Engaged, Roger Taylor

Word Count: 1.6k~

Friday nights at Freddie's were always full of random people, the bands music playing through loud speakers, and alcohol being given to everyone every where. Roger always promises he won't get shitfaced every time we go to one of Freddie's parties, but this time, he downed one too many drinks in celebration over a recent milestone in our relationship.

The stone in our 'milestone' was a beautiful diamond on an engagement ring that had both of our initials carved into the band with my initials changed from my original initials to my first initial with “T" for Taylor for my last initial. To be honest, to see how much thought Roger put into the ring made me feel ten times luckier that I was his. I doubt I could ever find a man who loves me as much as Roger does, and I know I will never love a man as much as I love Roger.

Speaking of the blond prince, I can't help but laugh while watching him as he drunkenly discusses the next songs for the band with John and Brian. With each slurred word and lazy hand gesture, their eyes slowly widen as Roger nearly topples over himself in front of them. I know he's trying to say something about a song of theirs that would sound better with more guitar riffs, but other than that, the only other coherent things coming out of his mouth are simpler words like, 'and' repeated five times, and, 'you don't even know.' Roger's usually a funny drunk, but sometimes, he can be obnoxious too. Going by the expressions on John and Brian's faces, Roger is starting to lean more toward the latter.

Soon enough, I feel a small tap on my shoulder before turning around to see Freddie standing behind me, a glass of champagne in one hand while a glass of what looks to be some type of fruit juice remains in the other. Adorned in his usual red kind clothes, Freddie doesn't seem to be tipsy at all, and instead, he's a bit cheerier than usual. "It's cranberry, my dear," He tells me, pushing the expensive glass into my hand with a smile. "No alcohol - I know you'll have to drive that hot mess home later."

Pointing a finger at Roger, Freddie's words make me laugh. "Oh, but you gotta love him," I tell Freddie, turning my head back to look at him with a smile. The original plan for coming to Freddie's party tonight was to tell the boys about our engagement, but with Roger becoming inebriated almost immediately, we'll have to wait till next week. "How could you not?"

Laughing a little, Freddie nods as he takes a sip from his glass before speaking up again. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," He tells me as I take a sip of my cranberry juice. "You are a great gal," Freddie points out, making me smile and blush. "Not to mention the poor sap is head over fucking heels with you," He adds on before placing a friendly hand on my shoulder. "So, I just don't understand why Roger hasn't grown a pair and put a ring on it already!"

Lightly laughing, I lift my left hand up to rest on top of Freddie's as I begin to explain our current situation. "Well, Freddie," I begin, smirking as I try angle my ring finger toward him as much as I can while still being subtle. "Roger kind of did put a-"

I don't get too far in my sentence as a very drunk and very loud voice interrupts me half-way through. "Stay away from my wife!" Roger shouts as Deaky and Brian hold him back from running (stumbling) toward Freddie. With wide eyes, Brian and Deaky look between me and Roger as they wait for me to respond.

However, I don't have to as Freddie soon takes my hand in his and lifts it up for everyone to see. "Cat's out of the bag," I mutter, grinning as I see Freddie's jaw drop in surprise.

"So, he has!" Freddie gasps, before taking the crown off the top of his head and placing it on top mine. "My dear, you are the queen!" He shouts, pulling me close in a hug while Brian and Deaky catch on and pat Roger on the back with prominent smiles on their faces.

Giggling, I adjust the heavy golden encased red crown on top of my head before turning to Roger who smiles in bliss. Walking toward me, Brian and Deaky let Roger go before he finds his way into my arms, his head nuzzling into my neck as he holds me close. "See! I told you we'd tell the guys tonight," He tells me, his body tiredly slumping against mine as I laugh.

"I think he's had a bit too many, (Y/n)," Brian points out the obvious, making me nod at him. "But beautiful ring, by the way."

Thanking Brian, I subconsciously play with the new ring on my finger as Deaky speaks up. "He'll probably pass out on the floor if you leave him there," the usually shy man points out, smirking. "Congratulations though - you don't know how much bitching from Roger we all had to endure because he was scared of you possibly rejecting his arse."

"Shut up, you knob-heads!" Roger shouts from my arms before laying his head back down on my shoulder, presumably trying to fall asleep. He's drank so much that he can't even put up a fight to the exhaustion coming over him.

"I think I should take him home before he does, in fact, pass out on the floor," I state, letting Freddie take his crown back. With happiness filling my heart, I give the guys all a small hug (as Roger slumped in my arms kind of makes it hard to do so) and wave before heading out to our car with Roger under my arm. Thankfully, tonight went really well with the announcement of mine and Roger's engagement, and I'm so happy.

Buckling my intoxicated fiancé into the passenger seat, I give him a kiss on the forehead and receive a satisfied hum before heading over to the driver side and getting in. Once the car is started, I drive off of Freddie's luxurious property and onto the roads of England where barely any cars pass by, giving me an easier ride home.

A period of silence passes as no sounds fill the car for a while until Roger speaks up. "We should do it tonight," he mutters in his seat, making me a little confused.

"Do what?" I ask him, quickly glancing away from the road and over at him for a second. Slumped over in his seat, his legs spread out as much as they can while his head leans to the side, his face angled toward me.

"Get married, silly," Roger answers my question as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. At this, I smile and resume focusing on driving. "We could sign the papers tonight, have an early honeymoon, have a ceremony with our families, have another honeymoon, and we're set!" He lists off his wishes, throwing his arms on his lap at the end of his speech with a smirk gracing his lips.

His words cause me to laugh - of course he would want two honeymoons. "Rog, honey, you can't even stand up at the moment," I remind him, glancing in the reverse mirror before going into the next lane to turn right. "And besides, we both agreed that we would sign the papers, have the ceremony, and then have our honeymoon."

"I know, but I can hardly wait," He groans, becoming impatient like a child. "Deaks was right - I have bitched a lot, and now that you're one step away from truly becoming mine, I don't know if I'll be able to wait any longer," Roger tells me, sounding a little more sober with each second passing.

Smiling, I reach over and take his hand in mine, intertwining our fingers together while keeping one hand on the wheel. Lifting our hands up to his lips, Roger places a gentle kiss on the back of my hand before resting his warm cheek against it. I guess a lot of the alcohol in Roger's system has worn off because he seems to be completely fine now except for the lack of energy, but that's to be expected.

"I can't wait to be (Y/n) Taylor either, Rog," I confess, managing to turn onto our street with one hand before parking in front of our house. Turning the car off, I turn toward Roger's exhausted form beside me as a small smile rises to my lips. "But for now, let's get you inside and in bed."

"Promise you'll get in bed with me?" Roger asks, causing me to lightly laugh. Reaching a hand over to his blond locks, I card my fingers through them as he turns his eyes to look up at me, a smile taking over his lips as well.

"Always," I answer him, giving his hand a tight squeeze before pulling away to unbuckle myself and step out of the car. Fortunately, Roger's able to do the same as he quickly meets me on my side of the car with a tight hug, his arms unwavering as they hold me close. Emotions were spilled out when Roger gave me the beautiful ring on my finger, but those same emotions are being held in the hug we currently share with each other. The man in my arms is the man I will love forever, and going by the strength of Roger's arms around me, I think the opposite is true too.

[yandere-sins]

can i have a yandere gojo who impregnates reader, y/n manages to run away, moves out to another country and after a year and a half, gojo, who sort of came to his senses, founds y/n and wants y/n back? only for his yandere traits to come back again out of fear that he'll lose y/n and the baby for good?

also, thank you so much for your hard work!

Thanks for the request!

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♡ There probably are only a few people in the world able to understand a maniacal mind like Gojo’s. The amount of willpower and discipline to overcome an obsession like he had for you borders on the opposite end of the psychopath as he was when you were still with him. The time it took for him to forget your perfume, to not stalk random people that had your hair color, to exit a store when a song began to play that you would hum from time to time. That time was nothing more than divine punishment, it seemed; otherwise, it would be hard to explain. His heart and body could understand you were gone, but his mind just couldn’t let go of your image. Gojo would see you in the corners of his eyes, hear your laugh when a group of people passed him, and sleep in your apartment just to get the last bit of comfort that you left. For a long time, he believed you’d be back, but even he had to realize you wouldn’t at some point or another.

♡ Imagine the surprise when he did actually see you, passing by the storefront of a 7-Eleven while he was reading magazines inside. Imagine his eyes following you, thinking how odd it was that you’d be back after he managed to forget you. The magazine slowly slipping from his hand and falling to the floor as he storms out of the store, trying to find you in the masses of people. Every alleyway could be your hideout and every store a place for you to avoid him, but he just knows. He knows you’re returning to your apartment that holds all the stuff that you left behind. Why else would you be back? Surely not for him.

♡ Gojo can’t stop his heart from racing as he watches you enter the apartment from across the street. Nothing changed. Not the passcode at the door, not you, not his love. The latter is beginning to rip at his heart, making him want to scream as the waves of suppressed pain return, the pain that you put him through. Yet, one thing is different. You’re not alone, judging by the stroller you are parking in the hallway of your apartment building. Gojo can tell by the little baby hands gripping tightly into your shirt, less white hair than his, but a remarkably fair color peeking over your shoulder, and the rocking motion you’re making that you were extremely busy the last few months. That’s probably the reason you never contacted him, right?

♡ Admittedly, he’s a bit impatient as he rings the doorbell, standing right before your door waiting. Over and over, his fingers pushes into the button, the sound overshadowed by his own thoughts. “I’m coming, I’m coming!” you yell, and for the first time in what feels like an eternity, he hears your voice. It echoes through his body, his thoughts shifting to the feeling of your voice dripping over every fiber of his being. Gojo shudders as he waits for you to open, impatient, barely holding back from bursting down the door. He has questions. Oh, so many questions, and he steps aside from the peephole, waiting for you to open the damn door before he loses it.

♡ Your reaction time is still bad, or maybe his is just too good. Gojo’s had always been better. That’s why he got a hold of you first. With his hand covering your mouth, his foot in the gap of the door before you can smack it in his face, and a warning, “Ah-ah-ah,” from his curled up lips, he steps inside, pressing you to the wall. His hand only disappears from your mouth so he can replace it with his lips, the taste of your tongue still as exquisite and desperately wanted by him as he remembers, when you two suddenly get interrupted by a fussy baby asking for attention. His head turns towards the living room as he puts his hand back in place to keep you from alerting anyone, and your eyes follow, your whole body growing tense as Gojo’s grin widens.

♡ He lets go of you - a great price to pay, but his curiosity wins. But no matter how much you claw at him, try to hold him back, and plead with Gojo, he doesn’t stop, only pushing you aside with the tiniest bit of effort, walking right over to the child sitting on your bed. Picking it up, you can only stare in horror as Gojo holds your kid, their resemblance almost terrifying, and Gojo calmly soothes the fussy baby as if he never hurt a fly in his life. Rocking it and talking nonsense, you only grow more and more scared of what he will do, knowing his true nature a bit too well to trust him with your baby. But he’s nothing close to the monster you experienced in your past. Even your child seems perfectly fine, slowly falling asleep in the arms of the beast. You try once again, try to get closer to save your baby, at least if you already cannot protect yourself from Gojo, but he presses the little one closer to his chest, leaning forward as if to spite you. There’s still a smile playing on his lips, but you’re not someone he can fool with the mask he put on. Under his blindfold, his eyes are probably those of the psycho you remembered. “I never knew you wanted a family,” he muses, and you can’t help but feel disgusted. “Not with you,” you hiss back, and Gojo straightens his back, sighing as he looks down on the kid in his arms. “Too bad,” he fakes pity. “When you know what’s good for you, then I am sure you remember where to find me. I’ll be taking my child.”

♡ Before you can protest or even reach out to your baby, Gojo is gone. He knows as well as you do that you can’t abandon your own kid. It was the leverage he always needed against you, that lacked in the past. This time, you’d have to return to him, the exact opposite from what you did one and a half years ago, and there was no way you’d be able to leave as long as he had this power over you. Gojo sat down with that little clone of his, waiting for you to return to the hell, confident that with this responsibility, you two simply were bound to be together forever. His child was just one more person he could never let go of; that much was evident by the beautiful, shining blue eyes coming directly from him.