#sorry for all of you people watching c3 right now

[spirit-mail]

Fresh Meat

rai_viz on ao3

König × M!Reader - 1.2k -

C1 - C2 - C3

___×× follow n send asks so I can write more

"Double foam caramel macchiato for Savannah?"

You grumbled maybe your thirtieth order of the morning out, sliding the warm cardboard cup across the counter to the nearest customer. Stomping back to your station just to find another overload of orders, with only two people working including yourself. Your coworker, Farah, taking orders and desperately trying to make a dent in the sudden influx of people, rushing in and out of the medium-capacity store. 

"Is Derek dead or did he just decide not to call in today?" Farah breathed out as the rush finally calmed down. The two of you leaned against the counters, taking maybe the most useful makeshift break you could.

"If anything, I should be the one missing work.."

She instantly quirked an eyebrow towards your tired figure, wiping down the counter and looking at you intently. 

"Do you remember when I told you that my friend set me up on some stupid date?" 

The bell, notifying the both of you that someone entered the store rung as soon as you finished your sentence, and you both were quick to pretend you were hard at work making orders. Farah standing right in front of the register once again to take the customers order, and in that second you thought you really were just being punished by god simply for existing.

“Just a bagel, please..” Your stomach churned and you froze in front of the coffee maker, and you desperately wanted to run out from behind that counter and onto the street into oncoming traffic. Hoping maybe there was just someone with the exact same voice and speaking mannerisms as the guy you hooked up with just last night. Deciding to just “be the bigger person”, you reluctantly turned around to face König. Your lips pressed firmly together in the awkwardest expression you could possibly come up with. You waved, watching as his eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, ultimately staying silent. Farah could clearly see the weird tension between you two and instantly put two and two together, covering her mouth with her hand as she tried not to laugh (fucking sadist).

And then it got worse. Maybe your saving grace- maybe the reason you’re stuck here in the first place, but the man, the myth, and the legend himself, Derek, opens the door, the sound of his footsteps amplified due to your previous silence. “Sorry I’m late, guys!”

_

“Soo judging from your face it's safe to say you didn’t go out of your way to track me down?”

You chuckled awkwardly, sitting across from the much larger man with a bright red drink in front of him with the bagel he asked for. “I’m really sorry, I honestly never expected this to happen..” He began, eyes darting around nervously as you sighed, resting your elbow on the table and staring at him intently. “You didn’t need to get me this..”

“It’s fine, I figured you’d like it. It’s cherry.” He honestly might have just died right then and there. A million thoughts flooded through his head and suddenly it was hard for him to even move, but the one thing that was clear to him was that you remembered. It sounds stupid, maybe- but you didn’t just go off and toss him out your brain like any other person would do, and that meant enough to him as he took a sip of the lemonade, smiling softly. “I didn’t think I’d see you again so I did a bunch of shit I’d never usually do and now its all coming back for me..” You groan, realizing now that you weren’t scared of seeing him, you were scared of having to talk about it. Yeah, you could just pretend it never happened and you two are just strangers who have a hard time looking eachother in the eye, but thats a billion times worse than what you’re doing now.

“The note you left me..”

“Do not bring that up- please. It was impulsive!”

He laughs, tilting his head back as the red on his cheeks becomes more visible. “Alright. My work isn’t far from here, but I should probably be leaving about now.” He stands up, still towering over you even after you stand as well. You’re quick to open your arms out wide, clearly asking for a hug before awkwardly switching to a handshake and then back into a hug, his cheeks still a bright red as he carefully wraps his arms around your form, enveloping you into what might have been the longest hug ever.

“See you around.. Maybe probably?” You pat his back and finally let the hug go, feeling both of your coworkers nosy eyes on you. 

“I’ll call you later.” He does the little telephone motion to the side of his face as he walks out the store, leaving you there practically foaming at the mouth. You would have collapsed on that tile floor right then and there if you didn’t have to work, Farah and Derek passing jokes and bombarding you with questions about him and your relationship. You reluctantly answered most of them, pleading the 5th for all the rest. 

The day finally ends and you end up walking out of that coffee shop alive at 6 PM sharp, your head filled with scenarios of bumping into König on the street, or- unrealistically enough, right in front of your apartment. You made it home successfully, no awkward surprise meet-ups. Lying in your bed desperately trying to distract yourself from the anxiety that he unknowingly caused you with just one four-word sentence. From constantly checking your phone to groaning and rolling around your bed in anticipation. 

You nearly screeched when you heard your phone ringing beneath your pillow, unknown caller ID. Assuming it was spam, you answered, managing a lazy and drawn out "Hellooo?"

“Hi, [Name]!” You could hear him grinning ear to ear with excitement, his voice booming through the phone and practically rupturing your eardrums. He seemed way more outgoing over the phone. 

“Have you been well today?” He asked, you leaned your head back onto your bedframe and sighed. “I’m fine, you?”

“I’m great.”

The silence between you was dreadful. The occasional sound of you breathing or him moving around a bit made you want to slam your head into the wall, and when you both tried to say something but ended up interrupting eachother you really just wanted to hang up and go to sleep forever. Finally, after a little less than 5 minutes of crippling silence, he finally spoke and you were too distracted with your own thoughts to interrupt him.

“I hope I didn’t disturb you or anything like that today, I truly did not intend for that to happen..” He chuckled awkwardly into your silence.

“I uh- really liked the drink you gave me, by the way. Thank you.” 

“If you’d like.. Accidentally walked in tomorrow I could give you another one.” You responded, finally feeling more comfortable.

“I’ll make sure to accidentally show up, then?” He was all giddy now, like a highschool girl talking to her crush. “See you tomorrow, then? On accident?” you grinned, reassuring the joke that it would just be another mistake.

“On accident.”

[polizwrites]

A Shining Example

This is a fill for today’s  @flashfictionfridayofficial  prompt: [#FFF243 Glitter and Blues]  as well as my @thehawkeyesbingo  square  C3 - "I've never been so humiliated in my life."

Fandom:  MCU/Marvel Pairing:  Clint Barton/Bucky Barnes Rating: General Tags:  Avenger Tower,  Avengers as Family,  Mistake, Hurt Feelings Summary: When a live-streamed demonstration goes wrong,  Clint has to reassure Bucky things aren’t as bad as they seem.

"I've never been so humiliated in my life."  Bucky groaned,  shaking his head vigorously to send a shower of shiny particles flying every which way.    “No one’s ever going to take me seriously again.” 

“I said I was sorry!” Clint apologized, backing slowly away.   “I swear that was supposed to be a grappling arrow!”   It had been Kate’s idea to live-stream an Avengers training session,  which meant that instead of seeing a demonstration of how to use a line to scale the side of a building, thousands of people watched as a blast of rainbow   sparkles covered the former Hydra’s Fist head to toe. 

“Now you’re the Glitter Soldier!”  Yelena crowed,  nearly bent double with laughter.    “So much for fading into the shadows!”  

Bucky muttered something in Russian that Clint was thankful most of their audience wouldn’t understand before  stalking out the door.   Clint bit back a curse of his own.  “Okay you two - your turn.   Give our audience their money’s worth.” Kate started to explain that the livestream was free, but Clint was already out the door in search of his boyfriend.  

Bucky wouldn't be that hard to find; after all, he was leaving a twinkling trail behind him.   The fleet of cleaning ‘bots in residence at the Tower were going to have their work cut out for them. 

Clint finally tracked Bucky down to one of their favorite hideouts - the ledge behind the giant Avengers symbol that shone out across the city.   He sat down beside Bucky who was staring out at the skyline.   “Sweetheart?” 

“Go ‘way,”  Bucky mumbled in reply,  “before you get covered in these damn sparkles, too.”   

“Would it help if I said the glitter is water soluble?  Kate’s very eco-conscious.”    That got a snort in reply, which Clint took as a good sign.    “I’m sorry I screwed up and embarrassed you.”  

“Not your fault.  Well, mostly not. It’s just…”  Bucky sighed heavily. “I’ve spent so long being seen as a villain. I was hoping these videos would let people see who I really am.  How I’m trying to make up for all the terrible things I did. And instead, I looked like a fool.” 

“Welcome to my world,” Clint replied.   “Remember the photos of me climbing out of a dumpster?  And all the memes they generated?”  

“Yeah - Natasha sent me a couple - still got them saved on my phone.  What’s your point?” 

“That we’re not perfect.  Not any of us.  Ask Tony about the birthday party where he and Rhodes trashed his mansion.  Then there’s the cringe-worthy Captain America PSAs  and Darcy’s stories about Thor’s first few days on Earth.” Clint paused for a moment.    “But when push comes to shove, everyone knows that we’ll step up and be the heroes the world needs.  And you’ll be right there with us.” 

Bucky nodded thoughtfully.  “You go around giving everyone pep talks like this?” 

“Only people I care about.”  Clint leaned over and pressed a kiss against Bucky’s glitter-sprinkled cheek.   

[laurasbailey]

hey, sorry to come out of nowhere with this, feel free to ignore! just wanted to get a bit of perspective on the c3 negativity i've been seeing for so long, which i've tried and failed to avoid and has been bumming me out more than i would like. this is my first campaign, it has brought me so much joy and company, but every time i end up reading a deeply negative take i can't really shake off the feeling that they're actually right, cause some of it makes sense to me and i can't unsee that. i know i'm being paranoid about it and truly setting myself up to be miserable and ruin the whole thing, which at this point i might've already done, but i just get sad wishing i could've had experienced the things everyone raves about (like different pacing and a lot of RP) for this campaign, which i'm so close to. do you think c3 is actually, objectively, worse or shallower than the previous ones? is there truth to the criticism (about it being too plot-driven, about the characters making each other worse and not being a good fit for this story, about the cast not being as into it and so on) or is the internet being the internet, and i should basically touch grass? it's not like i would drop it, honestly, i'm just sad thinking about how this story and these characters could've worked out if the "quality" was the one i keep seeing everyone talk about in regards to c1/c2. i know it's not that deep and it shouldn't matter in the long run, i'm just struggling a bit to not give in to the negativity and wanted to get your take on it, as someone's who's navigated this fandom longer! and again, truly sorry for the unprompted rant and thanks in general for being cool and taking the time to make gifs and recaps :)

you said it's brought you joy and company and it's seeing the negativity that's starting to ruin it, which is, honestly and sadly, a common thing that happens in online fandoms. negativity will bring the mood down regardless, because it just spirals into further misery. personally i stopped looking at fandom opinions and i've been a lot happier ever since! half the stuff you've said in here i've never heard before, that's how off the grid i am now lmao.

to answer your question, no, i don't think c3 is necessarily "worse" because, while people are entitled to their opinion, i think that's such a lazy, basic ass way of looking at it. also i just don't think a dnd game with people who are storytellers for a living can be shallow unless that's their goal, quite frankly. are there aspects of c3 i dislike? of course! but the same is true for all campaigns. there were parts of c2 i thought were very weak, despite the entire internet praising it like the second coming of jesus. there are things i think c3 does better than c2, even. and there are things c1 does better than both c2 and c3, and so on.

do i like that most of the campaign has been bells hells vs. a ticking clock? not really, it does mean certain sacrifices are made. do certain characters get on my last nerve? absolutely (but that's not exclusive to c3 lmao). at the same time though, i get the three women front and centre of the main plot, which has never happened before. i get a laura/marisha character romance after watching them have great chemistry for years. i get c1-level stakes and fantastic female npcs/villains, which c2 was mostly lacking. i get ashley full time (!!!) coming out of her shell and being her best and most chaotic self. and i get SO MUCH of the c1 characters? i'm fucking spoiled if you ask me.

maybe some of the criticism is very real and warranted (again, haven't seen it and don't plan to) but at the end of the day, this isn't my game of dnd or yours or any of the viewers'. we are literally watching other people play an improv game where they're crying one minute and making dick jokes the next, you just have to be along for the ride. going into the campaign with certain expectations is really silly and critiquing it the way you would a tv show just doesn't work. also unless these people are friends with the cast and speaking to them irl, how could they possibly know they aren't enjoying it as much like be serious 💀

i'm gonna be so honest here: idk if the people who are constantly spouting negativity are just miserable, but they sure look it! also stupid! why? because normal people who hate something simply ✨ stop watching and move on ✨. sure, hatewatching can be fun if you and your friends are in someone's living room or discord call shooting the shit, but doing it online day after day after day? honestly i just feel sorry for those people. happy people do not spend their time throwing essays worth of negativity up for the big wide world to see! how do i know this? because i was that person in my teens and i was severely unlikeable!

if you've enjoyed something without the bias of someone else's opinion, then you've enjoyed it! but your opinion can also change as the campaign goes, that can also be true! i would be interested to hear the reasons you loved it initially, because i think you'll find that most of that core stuff is present in all three campaigns.

the recent plot of c3 has been more stressful than any plot in previous campaigns, so understandably people have big feelings. my advice: the block button is your friend but so is the follow button! criticism is healthy, find people who deliver it in a way that's not some whiny entitled baby. letting someone else's opinion influence yours will never make you happy.

[dividedindiversity]

I know there's been plenty of czech submissions already, but i see that a whopping 4/6 are by Karel Kryl, so i'd like to submit Až se k nám právo vrátí/Chci sluncem být (amateurishly translated by me as: When The Law Returns To Us/I Want To Be The Sun) by Spiritual Kvintet because it's 1) not by Kryl and 2) one of my favourite folk songs 3) they literally performed it during the Velvet Revolution from the speaker's balcony after being invited by Václav Havel, what's more liberation themed than that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGcWmg0nw4M lyrics: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/chci-sluncem-b%C3%BDt-i-want-be-sun.html (amateurish and with some errors, but also the only english lyrics i was able to find, so it's this or google translate)

I don't know what your stance is on covers, and this technically counts as one (it's teeechnically a cover of the american gospel song A Little More Faith In Jesus), but let me promise you that the only thing it shares with that song is the melody. The lyrics are entirely different, as you can see if you check out that link or translate them yourself through google translate or something. And it's so so SO important for czechoslovak history!!!

Spiritual Kvintet wrote the lyrics during Communist Era Czechoslovakia, and snuck it past the censors by convincing them that it's about racism and the fight of black people against slavery and evil bourgeois capitalists. (that's where the other title of the song comes from, that was the cover name it went by to go with this cover story) Because religious themes were *also* mostly banned during that time, and they'd be in trouble if the censure office saw that the original was a gospel song about, well, a little more faith in jesus, when they asked to see the original english text, they shoved a false version - the english translation of the czech lyrics.

The censors bought it and accepted the song, but it was still on very thin ice. The band only played it occasionally in small clubs or villages where it was clear there were no Party members nearby. But over the years it slowly grew in popularity, and acceptance, until it was even published on vinyl and played in Moscow right by the Kremlin.

And then, the day of the Velvet Revolution, Havel himself asked them if they wanted to perform for the protesters that evening, and they of course delightedly accepted. The day has finally come, when the law returned to Czechoslovakia.

also as a fun bonus here's another of their songs, Za svou pravdou stát https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWS2VaYf4Pk

sorry about the wall of text i was possessed by the spirit of autism and it refused to let go until it was already way too huge and now it'd be a shame to just delete it 😅

Don't be sorry! It's great to hear all that background behind the song! I put it on the list!

[pennamenotfound]

Was rewatching highlights of C3 ep42, the one right after the Chetney werewolf fight, and the moment when Laudna takes Fearne aside to ask her to teach her to use fire magic really stuck out to me.

First of all, there’s got to be that moment where Fearne thinks Laudna is going to confront her about the coin toss. We know from four sided dive and from what she literally says to Laudna in that conversation that Fearne feeling super guilty about it.

And then Laudna goes, like, hey I have magic but your magic is really cool and will you teach me?

And Fearne goes ‘oh, I would absolutely love to help with that,’ and she follows it up with a mountain of compliments: what a good idea. you’re going to be so good at it. It’ll totally work with your aesthetic. I’m excited about this

And then she takes a breath and she looks down and she goes ‘how does it feel to be alive again?’

Like it’s the only thing on her mind. She can’t stop thining about it. It throws Laudna for a loop and Fearne says oh I was trying to just slip it in there. And that’s just... what? Like, oh you like my magic? oh, yes I’d love to teach you fire magic. you’re gonna be awesome at it. what a good idea. It’ll fit right in with your aesthetic HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE ALIVE AGAIN.

And to me it fits with Fearne’s impulsive nature to not be able to stop herself from bringing it up. Not when she’s feeling so guilty. 

Laudna responds ‘it feels incredible. I’m still grappling with the lengths you all went to to get me back. I’m still not sure if i’m free of Delilah. I’m not easily afraid but I’m still afraid of myself.’ 

Fearne responds ‘I understand the feeling.’ And i like to think this is Fearne feeling if not fear exactly then hesitation about giving into her impulses from this point forward. Because for the next few episodes, Fearne isn’t really stealing that much? like it used to be just all the time. And maybe Ashley is just forgetting because, you know, moon aliens and Ludinus Da’leth and airport casino, but... I like to see it as Fearne realizing that her impulsivity can do real harm. She’s stepped on her proverbial rake, to call back to Orym and Dorian’s conversation from episode one.

And the next thing she says (at least in the marisharaygun highlight video i was watching) is ‘I feel pretty terrible that I flipped a coin for your lives. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make the decision myself and then it felt so flippant and terrible.’

That backs it up, in my opinion. She thought she was being flippant. She saw that it caused real harm. She’s being less flippant now.

And then laudna goes, ‘I support the decision.’

This is the line in the marisharaygun video that made me start writing this because oh my god ahhhhhhhhh.

I should preface that there’s obviously the theory that Fearne didn’t flip at all. She never showed the coin to anybody, and then she tried to keep it, which could be evidence that Fearne chose Orym, that Orym is, in her own words, her best friend, that she’d never let him die. I don’t know if I believe that, but my theory about laudna’s words here works either way. 

I don’t believe Laudna was talking about the coin flip, or at least, not entirely. I think she was talking about saving Orym. It was Fearne who cast the Revivify, after all. Laudna is saying here, not only ‘I support your not choosing, leaving it up to fate,’ but also saying, ‘it is right that Orym got to live.’

And it’s just more kindling on the pile of Laudna doesn’t see her life as worth as much as the people around her. 

And I think Fearne sees that too. because the next thing that happens, when Fearne teaches Laudna to cast Fireball, Fearne’s immediate reaciton to Laudna asking where she should aim is ‘AIM AT ME.’

Sure, she’s a circle of wildfire druid with a fire elemental spirit monkey, sure, she probably didn’t think Laudna would be able to conjure much fire on her first try. But also, I think there’s some part of Fearne that feels like laudna should get the chance to be angry at her; to punish her. To take something out at her for making the choice---or not choosing, for that matter. 

And of course laudna doesn’t want to hurt her. That isn’t Laudna’s way. 

But anyway, that scene made me go fucking apeshit and i don’t know if any of this is coherent. anyway enjoy i guess

[esgaril]

Hi!

I've been trying not to come back to tumblr fully (I've been lurking around for some time but not posting), because it can be very time consuming and I'm not in a good place mentally right now, but it's not working, so here we are. Maybe this will help idk. I'm not sure how this will go, sorry in advance if I vanish from time to time.

The 2 reasons that pushed me into posting is Critical Role (more specifically Matt Mercer) and Beau of the fifth column. You'll see a lot of them on my blog, so here's my pitch for them for those who are not familiar with them:

Beau of the fifth column: I discovered him after the war in Ukraine started and I'm very surprised tumblr is oblivious to him, but that seem to be the case and I want to rectify that. He talks about politics and current events and I found that he's the voice of reason many people desperately need right now. He helps a lot with not feeling as disheartened and doomed as the headlines wants me to feel. Imo it'd benefit everyone greatly if there were gifsets floating around with the reasonable things he says. Plus he's a delightful human being who starts every video with "well howdy there internet people, it's Beau again" and ends with "y'all have a good day", wears topical t-shirts for his videos and just a good person in general. Yes, I know what he looks like. do yourself a favor and LISTEN TO HIM.

Critical Role: the answer for those who got burnt by streaming platforms canceling shows after 2 seasons (I see a lot of such sentiment on my dash). They are a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors playing Dungeons and Dragons which is basically like if you had the honor of watching Tolkien gathering his close friends and writing LOTR together with them in the form of Tolkien (Matt the DM) presenting the world and the friends each piloting a member of the Fellowship. That's the best metaphor I can come up with. It is collaborative storytelling in a high fantasy setting with grown up humor and serious drama. There's literally hundreds of hours of it (and it's still ongoing), so you won't run out of quality content to watch for a long time. They already made an animated series of the first campaign that has 2 seasons out and the third on the way ("The Legend of Vox Machina" on Prime) and they announced the animated version of the second campaign as well, so it's the best time to start watching. For any critter followers: I've seen all of c2, up to date on c3 and watching c1 for the first time, at episode 63 atm.

I hope y'all will enjoy seeing these along with a bunch of random stuff on your dash from me!

[linootte]

These guys again! I wanted to challenge myself a bit, so I redraw the "dance" pose from the last Critical Role campaign 2 recap with @cy-lindric's wonderful style... Also, I did a lot of OC stuff recently that I wanted to keep to myself, so that's why I didn't post much here. But I'm glad to be back :)

[animes-trash]

Lawless’s growth

Ah, here am I, back into Greed Pair hell. Welp. 

So, in this current arc, Strike has given us some good Lawless content, and parallels. After I was utterly destroyed by chapter 117 - 118, i decided to get a bit deeper into Lawless’s growth. 

First of all, let’s acknowledge the trust that Licht and Lawless now have in each other. Even before getting into the fight with Jeje, we can see that Hyde is not the same as before with one big parallel (that some people already talked about on this site).

The first picture is from chapter 27.5, the second if from 106. The pose is obviously the same, to parallel just how much Lawless has changed between those two moments, In the first panel, he is rambling about how human lives are useless and how everyone dies in the end anyway (fucking emo).

But in the second panel, he is actively searching for Nicco, World End’s eve. In this translation, Hyde thinks “I already know what it means to find that one person*. It’s good but quite vague, whereas the official french traduction is slightly different, and I love it. Translated it says “I know what it’s like to finally find a good eve... that we don’t want to leave.”. This says so much about how Lawless has changed. His bond with Licht has become so strong with time, it’s not even that he tolerates him or something, he wants to stay with him. Knowing where he comes from, that’s a huge step.

Now, getting to the fight. (Or you can read this post where I ramble about how Licht jumped of a window).

So. Jeje unexpectedly (to Lawless, at least) hurts Licht’s hand. Beforehand, Hyde said that he’d be the one to get close to Jeje because he can survive bullets and all, to protect Licht. Why would Jeje get interested in the human anyway ? The real fight is between Servamps. Or so he thinks. And I find this panel very important.

“You’re implying that Licht is my weakness ?!” He thinks this as if it made no sense. But this is absolutely right. I don’t know if Jeje thought this far, but he knows about Lawless’s past and his story about Ophelia. He knows it’s a trigger for him, so in a bitchy way, he attacked Licht.

And boy does it work. That grin that Hyde has ? It’s his nervousness acting up. We’ve seen his laughter fits before when the situation got out of hand to him. He then straight up fights Jeje, and he is angry.

But as soon as Jeje’s guns point toward Licht ? He just loses it and completely panics.

I’ve thought about it for hours, and that’s the only way I can interpret what happened afterwards. Utter panic. That “don’t mess with me !” line ? That’s just his anxiety showing up as anger. Also, the not on my watch panel, doesn’t it remind you of another chapter, way back ?

Strike, those parallels are going to kill. (Sorry. I’m sobbing as well, seeing this picture.)

I don’t know if we can talk about PTSD for immortal vampires, but if we can, damn does Lawless have it. What happened with Ophelia traumatized him hard for centuries. He’s starting to heal, but some wounds can’t be fully closed. Especially with Licht getting shot. 

(Lot of pain coming)

As soon as Hyde tries to put Jeje’s gun away, his arm fail him, and he starts to- what, melt ? I had a big wtf is happening moment reading this chapter. I first thought that he was starting to feel the consequences of getting attacked by Tsubaki, like Lily. But then I realized that it isn’t his body failing him, it’s his mind. I don’t know if we can talk of a panic attack, but it sure looks like one. And in a way, I think we can say that it’s because of Tsubaki.

Remember, what mostly changed about Hyde is that he’s really emotional now. In the C3 arc, when we discover it, it’s mostly put as a joke. Haha he cried a lot now. But for someone with as much emotional baggage like him, it’s truly dangerous. Like right now, because his fears and trauma are getting the better of him and make him unable to fight- to protect Licht.

And he’s not only melting, he’s crying. Panic attack, hello. Again, I’m saying, look at how traumatized he is ! “I failed to protect someone again. I always fail”. (Don’t mind me wetting my keyboard as I’m sobbing). Also, that pose on the ground ? He’s losing it.

I still wonder about Lilac’s panel. Is it just for the panic parallel, or is Lawless saying that he regrets killing all of Tsubaki’s subclasses ? The way he sounds, it’s like he thinks he deserves it. We’re back on the theme of his growth. Before, he never would have put his actions in question.

Anyway, he’s starting to melt into his “demon” form again. (Still wondering how the Count decided to merge Hyde with this). If we remember, he’s transforming into some useless blob. Again, I don’t know if Jeje thought this far, but it almost worked. If he totally went back into the blob, he would have been unable to fight.

But thank the gods, Licht is there for him. “Hyde, get a grip, you idiot”. It’s so them. Lawless is stuck in his panic of Licht dying, but even if he got shot, it’s only his arm. It’s not a vital point at all. Licht isn’t in any danger. (Well, medically yes, but it is a manga and he’s a main character). My only fear is that Licht is a pianist, and he needs his arm to work. (Once again, it’s a manga. If Licht has troubles playing the piano afterwards, it’ll only be because Strike choses it. Also, look at Mahiru’s arm. Not a single sequel. So yeah, author’s choice. (THINK OF THE ANGST THOUGH. FANFIC INCOMING)).

Anyhow, the scene cuts there to the rest of the fight. It could be the end, but we learn more in the raws of chapter 120.

(No ads for me. Sniff.)

That’s truly after I saw these panels that I was sure that Lawless’s condition wasn’t him getting affected by something exterior. As soon as he gets his mind together, he’s good to go. I quickly used google translate, so basically what World End says is “Lawless ! What you said was right. As expected of Big Brother. If you care for you master, protect him properly. It’s a little rough”.

In this scene, Nicco survived a gunshot to the gut after shenanigans in World End’s core (or whatever). Point is, he’s alive. That obviously cheers up Hyde who can think properly again (and he probably understood that Licht’s not in mortal danger by now). As soon as he’s calm, his body gets right again.

To conclude, Lawless of Greed is a character who is really deep, more than we can think. He’s gone such a long way since the first time we saw him in volume five. A lot of characters went through a lot, but him especially. Also because he was among the first to have a big character arc (second to Kuro) a long time ago, we get to see him grow a lot, and I feel like Strike is really showing it at this point. Hopefully, we’ll get a bit more of him dealing with his feelings toward his past and toward Licht. Maybe a bit from when he was human too, but maybe I’m asking for too much.

Gee you guys are still there ? Damn. 

Well, see ya <3

[talentless-witch]

Sayu’s asukusa national sea park advertisement!

The fish in the background isn’t mine btw I ripped it off from this website

https://pixers.hk/wall-murals/fish-vector-set-53611471

Saying so I don’t take the credit for something I DID NOT DRAW AT ALL and that I only changed the colors of.

I legit googled fish vector because 

1- I was to lazy to draw the entire fish when the main asukusa drawing was almost finished and would've taken me a ton of time

2-because advertisements rip off from images or stock images so why shouldn't i. (only for the advertisement related art, any other art of mine will Not have ripped off images and if it does, be assured I will list my sources regardless.)

I had so much fun drawing this sayu! ^^ the scales will always be the difficult part but I'll make it out~ 

This is the previous drawing im referring to!

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/talentless-witch/689367238207258624?source=share

Please enjoy this drawing out and the next one which is a nsr oc related advertisement for the asukusan drawing!

Here are my list sources of the arcade machines THAT I DID NOT MAKE, I just edited them out and repainted them.

https://www.amazon.com/-/es/M%C3%A1quina-vertical-jugadores-monitor-pulgadas/dp/B07Q9LNRSG

https://www.amazon.com/-/es/quarter-arcades-Numskull-gabinete-pulgadas/dp/B08X943CYT

I legit Googled Arcade machines.

So yeah please enjoy this drawing! ^^~ and have a nice day!

Feel free to skip this part! It’s a rant!

I actually feel like 🗿 today.

I hope you guys don’t get disturbed, I just feel 🗿, because I want to mentally shake my head and tell it to shut the fucc up jack you can’t fret over every egg.

I feel like quitting art sometimes that’s what I'm saying.

Now I say this here since I feel safe to say it here than other platforms merely because I am afraid of seeking as much possible attention when it’s going to make it worse for absolutely sure

I feel selfish for many reasons I will not list out because I don't want anyone else to feel like sht besides me, that would be terrible.

The only one I will say is that often I wish my work was more recognized, sometimes I do wish for a comment, idk what comment even, anything that doesn’t sound disingenuous or uninterested, because I can tell sometimes when someone is doing it out of being told to do so because they feel bad and not because they actually want to.

I feel like whatever I draw isn't recognized at all ,and it honestly feels selfish it feels awful and it feels greedy and entitled all at the same time because what right do I have to make others do something they don’t want to out of choice?

What do I even get out of it? Nothing but worse things basically.

I wish my characters where more recognized, that’s what I mostly wish, I wish I could do the same thing other creators and artists did to me with their characters.

Just inspire me to do whatever I want and keep on, I wish I could inspire the same way with my characters, because I feel like all I've been doing is nothing, all I've been doing is watching how things go down for everyone else and I wish for them to be an inspiration, for them to be looked up to.

But I feel selfish thinking that because I can’t do such a thing...and therefore look at me, doing this for an attention, a voice out there to beg people to do things I should wait for them to do by their own without me saying a word.

But the pressure on myself is to much.

But yeah that’s my distasteful rant on this art, I'm sorry please skip this ahead and feel free to ignore this post 

[chiakery]

Some thoughts on Exandria Unlimited: Calamity, Part 1. Spoilers under the thingy!

- Brennan really isn't fucking around. But the exchange between gods was so curious to me: "if you look down and see the stars, what will you see if you look up?" The "Who did we betray"? I'm sorry, are you implying that the Betrayers aren't completely evil and we should rethink the fundamental believes we hold about this world??

- I already have one grieving husband who rules my heart, I won't survive having two of them, mister Carazo sir

- the sheer audacity of Sam naming his character, a changeling Seelie. I'm glad to see Sam playing bard again but the warlock part is throwing me off. Warlock of whom?? And why did Brennan alluded two or three times to Sam's character not being entirely mortal? What the fuck is up with that? And is it just me, or did his accent change multiple times during the episode?

- I watched it expecting Aabria's character to be some shade of evil and I stand by it even though Laerryn is so precious and I wish her nothing but long and prosperous life. (But what's up with that secret something you need a piece of heavenly gold for, love?)

- also, once again: I love Aabria and Sam so much for giving us an ex-married characters. I've seen people wish for this sort of dynamic pre C3 but with all the hubris and apocalypse hanging in the air? It's even sweeter and more tragic.

- Zerxus, just know I'd die for you. Also, your gryphon is amazing and I wish (despite logic telling me otherwise) that you'll see your son again. Also, did I get it right that he's filling the spot of the First Knight, the title that his husband used to have? Cause that'll be a fucking low blow.

- Purvon being an emo teenager amongst the political-savy adults is something I didn't know I needed.

- Marisha is amazing and intelligent and I can't wait to see the chaos she creates with Patia.

- regarding Marisha's bit on the Instagram about Laudna: I feel now like she was referring not to the Undead itself but the Necromancy used to bring Laudna back. With the Frankenstein monster/zombie whatever it was, I feel like the Necromancer person (can't remember their name, Hola? Holo?) will be somehow associated with the BBEG of this campaign and we're about to witness the shift from Necromancy being a normal type of magic to an illegal art.

- Nydas has such a Gilmore vibe but with more prominent business side (since we're watching him with important people instead of from the perspective of the adventuring party) and I'm all for it. Lou is incredible and I get it why everyone was prising his so much. Also, dragon sorcerer?? What is up with that?

- Travis bird detective? He'll yeah, let's put the CSI opening music! And it looks like he grew to like playing rogues (fun thing to watch after his playfully strained relationship with rogues of VM and MN). He's just so cool in embracing the mechanics of moving and body language of the bird person. And I want to meet his family so bad??

- Overall, an amazing start, can't wait for more! All the name drops of characters mentioned in prev campaigns were so rewarding and the new lore is Intriguing.

[thevalleyisjolly]

I think it’s pretty certain by now that Orym was originally Liam’s backup character for C1, and I’d just like to invite you all to imagine for a moment if Vax had perma-died back in the kraken fight, or even if he hadn’t come back as a revenant during the Vecna arc.  Because there are a lot of elements to Orym that mirror Vax, not an exact copy but just similar enough that it scratches at the back of your brain, makes you pause for a moment. 

On the surface, there’s the nimble and focused fighter (a literal Fighter in Orym’s case), darting in and out of combat with agility, always mobile and on the move.  Then there’s the incredibly protective and caring part of them, that instinct to rush into dangerous situations to protect the people they care about, to physically put themselves between their loved ones and harm.  They both care so much, are constantly checking in with their friends and trying to watch out for them, and yet remaining pensive themselves, mulling things over quietly on their own until the right moment. 

And then of course, there’s the backstory.  An Air Ashari widower - in EXU and C3, Keyleth is more Orym’s mentor, but what I wouldn’t give to have watched an interaction between them in C1, when Keyleth’s grief was newer.  And the rest of Vox Machina, how would they react?  I remembering hearing somewhere that Matt originally nixed Molly as Taliesin’s backup PC for Percy because Molly’s personality wouldn’t really complement the tone of the party and the campaign after Percy’s death.  What about Orym, who’s a more sombre, restrained kind of character, whose presence would still be painful after Vax but perhaps not so jarring? 

Grief over Vax aside, how does Orym, whose “alignment” (since C1 still used formal alignments) is more Neutral, fit in with the chaos of Vox Machina?  Keyleth and Vex (sorry, I refuse to acknowledge the alignment change over the broom) were the only Neutral Good characters in a Chaotic party, and Keyleth especially had moments where she disagreed with the other PCs about what they should do next and how they should do it.  How do party dynamics change (or not) with Orym, whose philosophy and moral code are more akin to Keyleth’s?

Also, more serious meta aside, I personally think it’d be hilarious to have two (full) Fighters in the party, Percy and Orym, neither of whom have a Strength modifier that’s greater than +1.  Sure, they can deal hundreds of points of damage in a single attack or parkour around the walls like gravity isn’t a thing, but Scanlan could probably take them both in an arm wrestling contest.  DEX-based fighters, you love to see ‘em!

Oh, and also, Orym standing next to Grog.  That’s all.

[mypoisonedvine]

Getting In Tune | Chris Evans x reader fluff

summary: taking house calls as a piano tuner doesn’t usually mean meeting hot guys… mostly just old ladies who offer you lemonade, which is great and all, but did not prepare you for an appointment to tune chris evans’ full grand.

word count: 3.7k

warnings: swearing, dirty jokes about pianos, allusions to nsfw things?? vaguely?, mostly just fluff and flirting and awkwardness

Checking that the address on your worksheet matched the one on the door in front of you, you reviewed the nature of the appointment as your boss had written out for you: 

Customer: Christopher Evans

Appointment type: Warranty tuning and check-up

Arrival time: 10 a.m. 

You checked your watch and saw that it was 9:58, but hopefully that wouldn’t bother him too much.  Leaning forward, you knocked on the door and waited.  You could hear a dog barking inside, running up to the other side of the door as someone unlocked the bolt and cracked it open, poking his head out while he held the dog back with his leg.

He seemed a little surprised to see you standing there, made even more apparent by the fact that he was obviously wearing pajamas— specifically, a baggy tank top and gingham flannel pants.  A few tattoos were visible on his arms and collarbones, though you tried not to stare at them or anything.

“Did you not know you had an appointment today?” you asked him.  When he didn’t answer, you tried to give a bit more of a prompting.  “I’m here from Boston Steinway…?”

“Right, right,” he agreed, “uh, let me put the dog out, and… put on a shirt…”

“Good idea,” you suggested, “I’ll be here!” 

He smiled at you one more time before shutting the door again, his footsteps shuffling away as you waited for his return.  Thankfully it was a nice day out so you weren’t too cold in your work uniform (yes, you felt like a total dork having to wear a polo with a nametag on it, but such is the life of a piano tuner).  When you heard the dog run into the backyard, and the sound of Chris coming back to open the door, you took a moment to straighten yourself in hopes of looking like you’d been waiting patiently.

“Come in please,” he offered as he opened the door one more time, wearing a navy sweater and jeans now (and a NASA ball cap, for whatever reason) and stepping aside to invite you in.

“I hope I didn’t scare you too much,” you smiled as you stepped past him, letting him shut the door behind you, “a lot of people forget when I’m supposed to show up, trust me.”  You shuddered as you remembered those times you caught people in a lot worse than pajamas.

“No, I knew somebody was coming today, I just… wasn’t expecting…” he trailed off.

“A girl?” you finished for him with a smirk.

“I… yeah, I guess I wasn’t expecting a girl,” he laughed, looking a little embarrassed.

"Well, piano tuning is a real boy's club," you joked.  

"Is it?" he asked sincerely.

"Um, no, not particularly."

"Oh."

After an awkward moment passed while you cringed internally at your failed joke, he finally guided you across the house to where the piano was; you set your toolbag down beside it, stepping back to admire the instrument.  “It’s gorgeous,” you told him.

“Oh, thanks,” he smiled a little.  “Yeah, she’s a beaut.”

“How long have you been playing?” you asked.  “Or are you one of those people who keeps it mostly for decoration.”

“Decoration?” he repeated incredulously.  “Do people do that?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “more often than not I end up doing cosmetic repairs instead of internal ones because families are basically using this as the most expensive object possible to put framed family photos on.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he scoffed, “I mean, I’m sure I’m not using this thing the way it deserves, cause I’m still not very good at it but… yeah, at least I play it a few times a week.”

“Good, it deserves that,” you agreed.  “Mind if I…?”

“Oh, go ahead,” he prompted, stepping back and motioning for you to touch the piano.  You didn’t sit down, just leaning over to do a quick scale up and back down.  "Anyways, I think it's mostly fine but those higher notes are getting kinda squeaky…" he mumbled.

"Right,” you noted, messing around with the keys near the top to check what he’d said, “well, they do that, especially out here with these cold winters making the strings tighten up.  Should be fixable."

“Great,” he smiled.

“Alright, pretty girl, let’s take a look at your guts,” you grinned, groaning a bit as you lifted the heavy lid to see the strings inside.  "It's in great shape,” you observed aloud, “this can't be more than a few years old."

"Yeah, I got it pretty recently actually.  It's never been tuned before."

"Oh, this is its first time?" you smirked, leaning in to whisper to the strings: "don't worry, I'll be gentle."

He blushed a little as he laughed, making you pretty sure your joke hadn't gone too far.

“You, uh, don’t have to be around for this part,” you informed him.  “I mean, unless you want to, but it’ll just be me messing around in here for a few hours.

“No, I’ll give you some space,” he decided, “just let me know if you need anything.  Do you want, like, water or something?”

“I’m fine, but thanks,” you dismissed, “just continue as if I wasn’t here.”

“Oh, you don’t wanna see that,” he disagreed, looking like he regretted saying it as soon as he finished his sentence.  You felt your face warm and hoped he just meant that he’d be eating cheetos out of the bag in his underwear and not anything more… mature.  

As he awkwardly shuffled away, you opened your toolbox and got to work.  Your first task was to get a pitch reader so you could figure out how well-tuned each string was— you set that on the soundboard and got to work testing keys and reading the little digital display of your device.  Once that told you how much work each key needed, it was easy to just put your tuning hammer on one pin at a time, loosening or tightening until the pitch was just right.  You couldn’t just start at one side and tune all the way up to the other, oh no, there was a very specific ideal tuning order that you’d memorized by now: first the middle strings of the octaves from C3 to C5, then the one of each of the unison strings in the double bass section, then the middle strings from C5 to C8, then the lower single bass strings, then every left string of all the unisons from C3 to C8, then the rest of the double bass section, and finally all the right strings from C3 to C8.

Easy peasy, right?

It actually sort of would be, if you hadn’t gotten stuck on the unison bass string of E flat 3, your tuning hammer suddenly unable to turn even when you tried to brace yourself against the piano for some leverage.

"Um, Mr. Evans?" you called out.

"Yup!" he answered, swinging out from the entryway instantly— he must have been waiting just outside, which made you feel a little like you were being spied on.  

"Would you maybe come over here and use your manly-man strength on this?"

"My what now?" he laughed, walking towards you.

"You know," you explained by flexing your biceps and making a sort of serious face; your charades version of what a muscular man looked like, apparently.

"Oh, I see," he nodded, "my—" and he repeated the charade, except it made your face warm and your eyes all but bulge out of your head.  That was him jokingly flexing?!  What did he look like when he was actually trying to show his muscles?

You tore yourself from that train of thought as he leaned over the edge of the piano, gripping the tuning hammer you'd left on the pin there.

"This one?" he asked.

"Yeah, just give it a little nudge counter-clockwise, please."

He did it like it was no trouble at all.

"You could've at least pretended it was difficult," you rolled your eyes.

"No, you loosened it up for me," he winked.  WINKED.  Was he trying to kill you or something?  "Chris is fine," he said abruptly.

Chris is fine indeed, your brain supplied instantly.  "I'm sorry?" you choked out aloud instead.

"You can call me Chris, I mean," he explained.  "You called me Mr. Evans before."

"Oh, right," you nodded.  "Chris.  Thanks for your help with that, Chris."

"Sure thing," he smiled.

Just as the conversation began to lull, you could hear the dog whining and scratching at the back door, and you felt so guilty that he had been left outside.  “You can let the dog back in, you know,” you suggested, “I don’t mind.”

“I shouldn’t,” he shook his head, “he’ll jump all over you and stuff…”

“No, really, it’s fine, I love dogs,” you assured him.

“Alright, just prepare yourself,” he chuckled a little as he slipped over to the back door to let the dog in.  Running past his owner instantly and straight to you, you knelt down to let it lick your face as you laughed.

“Hi puppy!” you greeted.  “Oh, thank you for the kisses, it’s nice to meet you!”  He calmed down a bit when you scratched behind his ears, wiggling and putting his paws up on your knees.  “What’s his name?” you asked, turning your attention to Chris who had his arms crossed and a prideful smile on his face.

“Dodger,” he informed you with a nod.

“Aw, hi Dodger,” you cooed at the pup, “I’d sit here and pet you all day, but your dad’s not paying me to play with you— apparently.”

Chris laughed a bit as you stood up, and Dodger actually took it pretty well, dashing to curl up on the nearest couch as you got back to work on the piano.  

“I’m just about halfway done,” you informed him as you started to move on to the next string, occasionally plucking the string to test that the pitch was right.

“I’ve never heard a piano plucked before,” he observed, leaning in to watch you work.

“Yeah, probably better to just stick to hitting the keys,” you smirked.

“Psh, anybody can do that,” he scoffed, “you could invent a whole new genre of music!”

"I'll leave the musical experimentation to you," you decided, "and I'll stay on this side of the action board."

"See, I didn't even know that was a part of the piano," he admitted.

"And that's why you're on that side."

You two chatted while you worked— he asked some questions about you, you asked some questions about him, classic small talk sort of stuff.  He managed to keep it interesting, though, and keep you laughing throughout the whole conversation.  It was significantly more fun than you usually had during house calls like this, and instead of distracting you it actually seemed to help you keep your focus.  It was easier to talk to him when you could keep your eyes on the strings anyways: looking right at him was sort of overwhelming.

With the last string adjusted, you slipped the tuning hammer into your back pocket and dusted off your hands as you stepped back to admire your work.

"That's it?" he asked as he stood up from the couch, noticing the signs of completion.

"It is if it sounds good!" you smiled.  "Go ahead, take it for a spin," you suggested.  "Play something and tell me if it sounds how you want."

"Okay," he nodded, slipping around the bench and sliding onto it.  He took a breath before he placed his hands on the keys, but then suddenly stopped and set them back on his lap with a sigh as he turned to you.  "Um, it's a little weird with you watching me."

"Oh, are you not used to performance?"

"Not outside of my family and friends and stuff, no."

"I don't really have to be here for this part, as long as you're happy with it then that's fine," you shrugged, "but you know, I wanna be able to fix any issues while I'm still here—"

"No, it’s not a big deal," he shook his head quickly, "I should get over myself.  I guess it's just scary cause you've probably heard people a lot better than me play…"

"Don't worry about that," you laughed, "just play something, really, I won't judge."

He spun back to face the keys, placing his hands on them— for a second you wondered if he struggled to hit just one key at a time with those thick fingers, but you pushed that thought away quickly.

As he started to play, you found yourself focusing on the music more than the sound of the keys like you should've been.  He was good, actually, although you could hear the hesitance in the way he played.  He didn't rush as much as most people did, though; he was savoring the piece, one note at a time, and you let your eyes fall shut as he continued to play.

You broke from your trance when he suddenly stopped, repeating the phrase he'd just finished and stopping on the same note.

"Does this one sound kinda… off to you?" he asked.

"Um," you paused, "play it again?"

He poked the key with one finger a few times, and you frowned.  "I can't really tell." You stepped forward and leaned over his shoulder, caging his body in accidentally as your arms wrapped around his shoulders to fiddle with the keys in front of him.  You rested your knee on the bench beside his legs, not even realizing that it was a massive invasion of his personal space until you were already in it.

He moved his hands out of the way so you could repeat the phrase, and although you didn't hear anything wrong, you felt the key sticking.

"Oh," you mumbled to yourself, "it's the key, not the string."

"Can you fix it?" he asked looking up at you.

"Yeah, I—" you stopped in the middle of your word as you looked back at him because his face was really close, so close that his bright blue eyes were burning right through you; so close that you completely lost your train of thought.  "I can fix anything," you finished softly.

"Great," he whispered back, eyes seeming to glance down to your lips quickly before moving back up to meet your gaze.

You cleared your throat as you stepped back, giving him space again as you nervously crossed your arms.  "It's probably just something stuck under there or whatever, but I can order a replacement key if not."

"Right," he agreed with a nod, sliding to the side of the bench to give you room to fiddle with it.  You grabbed your smaller toolkit and sat beside him, starting with your flashlight to see if there was anything hiding underneath there.

Moving to peer behind the action frame, you realized it was a problem with the hammer hitting the string— or, more specifically, with the mechanism that kept the hammer balanced.  All you had to do was reach in with a long screwdriver and shift some parts around, and it seemed to be back in working order.

“Play it again?” you requested, and he slid back to the middle and started the piece over.  He grinned when he reached the part he’d stopped at before, flying through the phrase without stopping.

“Hey!  You fixed it!” he beamed.

“I’m a genius,” you shrugged, smirking a little.  He stopped playing and you found yourself a little disappointed by that, unexpectedly.  “Any other musical ailments I can magically cure for you today?”

“Unless you can make me a better sight reader, that’ll be all,” he smiled, standing up from the bench.

“Ah, if I could do that, I’d be using that power on myself.”

He shrugged; "Fair enough."

"Well, I'll leave you to it then," you announced as you put the last of your tools away and picked up your bag.  "Hope I didn't disrupt your day too much."

"You did, actually— in a good way," he grinned.  "I definitely learned a lot more than I was going to just watching TV and drinking beer."

You followed him back to the front door, which he opened for you.  "You can always give us a call if you need anything.  Um, anything piano-related, that is.  Tell the dog I said goodbye, okay?"

Chris smiled a little, softer than his normal expression.  "I'll be sure he gets the message."

As you got back in your car, you took a minute to just catch your breath for the first time since you'd gotten here.  Trying to be funny and cute and charming when all you wanna do is stutter and gawk and melt is exhausting!  As enjoyable as it was, in a certain sense, you were relieved at the idea of returning to your routine— which typically did not include super hot dudes chatting you up at work.

//

“This must be a mistake,” you shook your head as you showed the work order form to your boss, “I was at this address two weeks ago, the piano’s in perfect condition.”

“Well, he has an unlimited warranty, so either something happened since you were there last, or you fucked something up when you were there last, or he’s just determined to get his money’s worth out of us,” she explained without looking up from her computer.

You sighed and left, heading back to the same address and hoping you weren’t about to get chewed out for somehow ruining Chris’ like-new piano.

Knocking on the door, you found yourself chewing your lip as you waited for him to answer the door.  You were a little surprised when he answered in a button-up and slacks— entirely opposite to pajamas, although you sort of missed that get-up if you were being honest.

“Hey,” he greeted with a grin, stepping back to motion for you to come inside.

“Hi,” you responded awkwardly as you stepped past him.  “Is... everything alright with the piano?  I didn’t damage it, did I?”

He cleared his throat as he shut the door behind you, the size of the hallway forcing the two of you to stand slightly closer together than you would’ve personally preferred; it was hard to focus with him so close, sometimes.  “No, no, it’s not that,” he answered, “the piano’s fine, I just…” he stammered a little, starting over.  “Uh, there was something I wanted to ask you about last time, and I called the Steinway store but I couldn’t figure out how to call you specifically, so I just had to make a new tuning appointment.”

You furrowed your brow with confusion, not sure why someone else on the phone couldn’t answer whatever question he had, but decided to let him go through with his thought.  “What did you wanna ask me?”

“Uh, I just wanted to ask you… out,” he finished plainly.

You paused as you processed that.  “Out?”

“Like, I was wondering if you’d wanna… go out, with me.”

You hoped your face didn’t give away all of your shock, but at the same time, you figured it probably did.

He winced as you continued to stare at him in silence.  “I’m kind of out on a limb here,” he reminded you.

“Right, I’m sorry,” you shook your head, “um, I guess I’m just sort of surprised because you’re, like… hot, and stuff.”

“And stuff?”

“Yeah, like… nice…” you explained.

“Hot and nice?” he laughed.  “Slow down, you’ll give me an ego.”

You laughed, too, and less nervously than you expected.  Feeling the rare urge to be spontaneous, you scratched your neck as you prepared to propose an idea.  “Listen, so, this might be crazy but... I have another appointment today, at the Symphony Hall— it’s a final tune-up on the pianos and harps before this massive concerto thing and they always let me stay to watch the performance afterwards.  If you came with me, I could get you in for free.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, you probably have better things to do today—”

“I don’t,” he refuted.

“And if you just wanted to, like, get lunch some time then that would be great, I just thought I might as well invite you to hear the chamber orchestra from the best seat in the house,” you shrugged.

“The best seat?” he questioned incredulously.  “And where is that?”

“The rafters,” you laughed.

And that was how you and Chris ended up sitting on the steel catwalk suspended on the ceiling of the Boston Symphony Hall, dangling your feet over the edge as the sounds of the concerto echoed out from the stage, over the silent audience and, finally, up to you two.

The music was incredible, if a little quiet from where you were listening, and so soothing that you felt compelled to close your eyes and focus on the sound.  You were partial to the piano, as always, but the violins and cellos in harmony made your chest warm unexpectedly.  Or maybe that was from the feeling of Chris’ gaze on you, as you opened your eyes to find him looking at your face rather than the performance below.  

“What are you looking at me for?” you asked him with a nervous laugh.

“For fun,” he shrugged.

“Doesn’t seem very exciting,” you scoffed, looking back to the stage.

“Oh, it’s exciting,” he mumbled his reply as he returned his gaze to the performance as well.  

Your cheeks burned when you heard that, in spite of the fact that it was actually a bit drafty in the auditorium.  Even though your nerves were buzzing with anxiety, a rush of bravery struck you and suddenly you were leaning your head onto his shoulder.  Just the warmth of him through his shirt— hell, even the smell of his cologne— somehow managed to relax you and energize you simultaneously.  His hand gingerly slipping around your waist was even better.

After this many years of tuning pianos, it felt like you were getting yourself in tune for the first time.

[vethbrenatto]

Just saw your last anon message you got and it just got me wistfully thinking of doriax aswell, I think for me why I feel more strongly about doriax than dorym is that without dorian dariax dosent realy seam to have anyone else he is close too. After all he said people tend to not want to keep him around very long and get tired of him and realy dorian was the one who I saw breaking that as dariax was lost in the wind and needed a direction to follow which he felt was what he got from dorian... aand then...c3 happens and they were separated and it just didn't feel the same once they reunited, and it just made me feel sad that he is going to end up forgotten and wandering alone all over again and that hurts.. I do like dorym but orym would do just fine without dorian, I don't feel the same is true for dariax. Sorry just had to ramble about my feels over a silly d&d ship but that last anon l just got me thinking why it hits different for me. If dorym happens I'll be cool with it but a huge chunk of me will feel for dariax

While I ship both, I get what you're getting at. I think they both have reasons they're interesting narratives:

For Orym, it's a story about a man learning to love again after lost love. Which is very similar to Yasha's C2 narrative with Beau, which is possibly why this one is a little bit less enticing for me narratively than Doriax.

For Dariax, it's about someone who has historically struggled to find his place finding a person he fits with.

Personally, I shipped Doriax very early on just based on vibes, I adore Matt and Robbie's roleplay together. I did wish I got a little more from that relationship in EXU: Kymal, but the story's not over yet.

I also think "Dariax needs Dorian more" just can't really be the ship's catalyst. Because it really only comes at the ships from Dariax and Orym's perspectives (Dariax needs him more, Orym needs him less). But it doesn't address what Dorian wants.

I think the unfortunate effect of the Dorian C3 time for the Doriax ship is that I do think it was the main EXU ship and really couldn't continue once they were in separate locations. But that gave the opportunity to expand Dorym's relationship and for that to grow organically, too.

Personally, I have zero percent clue on what Dorian's "end game" will be. We're far too early to say. There was a tweet near the end of the original EXU from Robbie that I feel like acknowledged Doriax as a ship, and then in 4-sided dive, he teases Dorian's crush, that I feel fairly confident in guessing that it's Orym. It's possible Dorian has had feelings for both of them. We don't even know when Dorian will be back interacting with the C3 gang, as he's currently with his brother and friends from the Crown Keepers. It's just way too early to be worrying and speculating about any concept of "end game" shipping, 24 episodes in. Right now, Fearne x Ashton is my main ship but that doesn't mean I'll be on that train forever, you know? You gotta watch the narrative and see what plays out.

And in the mean time, ship what you love. Write that Doriax fanfic or reblog those Doriax posts that make you happy.

[thebrochtuarachs]

Something in the Rain - “Situations”

A/N:  WHAT?! BACK TO BACK UPDATES?! Yes, you're not dreaming, it is happening and even I, am surprising myself. I'd like to thank you all for the support even though I haven't written in a while. I've never received much more heartfelt messages and comments. With much encouragement, this next chapter wrote itself quickly. :) I hope you like it. As always, your comments and suggestions are very much welcome.

AO3  / C1: A Day In June : C2: Definitely, Maybe : C3: So We Meet Again : C4: Friday Lunch : C5: Finding Solid Ground

XXXXX

“Are we on for lunch next Friday?” she asked, three blocks away from her home. 

“Actually, I’ll be going on a two week business trip to London.” Jamie answered. “I need to look at our office down there, catch up with our staff and clients” 

“Oh, I see.”

“Yeah, sorry, I didn’t mention it earlier. But my schedule is going to be cramped.” 

“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s work!” Claire bumped his arm with her elbow. “Message me when you’re back and settled and let’s catch up then.” she followed, hoping to keep communication lines open in line with what seems to be a long break. 

“I will.” Jamie noted that offer. “How about you? How is your week looking?” 

“Uhm, between my rounds, surgeries, and department duties” Claire counted with her fingers for emphasis. “My days are pretty much full. Lunch, late evenings and the weekends are generally my free times.” The answer also serves as an indirect information Claire hoped Jamie would figure out about how unpredictable her time and availability is.

A brief silence and then Claire asked the question that was on her mind since the afternoon. “Erm, why didn’t you tell me you were popular?” 

“What?” Jamie chuckled. “What is the world are ye talking about?” 

“It has come to my attention that you, Jamie Fraser, apparently, is one of Scotland’s most eligible bachelors.” Claire said and Jamie groaned. 

“Ugh, how’d you find out?” 

“Geilis mentioned it earlier. Apparently, there are magazine pictures that I should see. She’s showing me her copy on Monday.” she added, earning another joking sigh. “I wondered why it never came up and/or why you didn’t tell me?” 

“One, I thought you, at least, knew. I mean, it was in a national magazine. Second, it’s not the first thing I share with the people I meet. How would you feel if I said, ‘Hi, I’m Jamie Fraser, did you see my photo on Tatler?” he saw her tilt her head and stick her tongue in feign disgust. “Exactly.” 

“I guess that’s a valid point. Still - I guess, I’d rather knew about myself first or you.” 

“I’m sorry, Sassenach. It just comes with working at a local, historic business, keeps us afloat, ye know. I’ll warn ye ahead of time of any write-ups about me out there.”

“What’d ye call me?” Claire stopped walking.

“Hmmm?”

“You called me a Sassenach?” she raised her eyebrow. 

“Aish, it’s not as bad as ye think it means. It just means Englishwoman, an outlander, not from Scotland.” Claire didn’t look convinced, forcing Jamie to explain further. “It was my first thought about ye when you slipped under my umbrella. I guess it kinda stuck and is what I’ve been calling ye in my head.”

“Mhmm, alright.” She shook her head and smiled. “This is me” 

Jamie looked at the Georgian building and took note of the place and surroundings. “I guess, I’ll see you in two weeks.” 

“I’ll see you in two weeks” Claire waited briefly if Jamie had anything else to say or do but when he didn’t move, it was her cue to leave. “Bye, then.” 

“Bye.” Jamie watched Claire enter her home and when she was safely in, he walked back to his car, berating himself if he missed a big opportunity. 

--

Claire reached the emergency room and immediately asked for a patient in the nurse’s station. “Tammas Baxter?”

“Bed 4” She quickly went to where the nurse pointed and opened the curtain to find a pale, sickly, boy, a frightened grandma, and a fidgety young lady. 

“Hi, I’m Dr. Claire Beauchamp and I’ll be checking on Tammas today. Are you his family and what seems to be the problem?” She asked the ladies on the other side of the bed as she examined his physical state. 

“Yes, we are. I’m Mrs. Fitz, his grandma and this is Laoghaire, his cousin. He came home from school this afternoon and just started vomiting and developing a head and stomachache.” 

Claire leaned down and smelled Tammas, having a hunch already on what the boy might be going though but she needed to confirm. “Tammas, my name is Claire. I know you’re in pain right now but I need you to tell me something so we know what medicine to give you, okay?” The boy nodded weakly. 

“Did you eat this?” Claire shared a photo on her phone and despite his frailty, everyone saw the panic in his eyes looking from Claire to his grandma. Claire looked at the old lady as she soothed rather than scold her grandson, telling her he was in no trouble and just needed to tell the truth. With that, the boy turned to Claire and gave a nod to confirm her suspicions. 

“Thank you, good lad.” Claire patted the boy and proceeded to order her treatment to the nurses. “Get blood and urine samples, hang an IV and start to give him a dose of anti-poisoning” 

After getting a clear from the nurses, Claire invited his guardians outside to explain his situation better. “Hi, Mrs. Fitz, was it?” the older lady confirmed and she proceeded to explain the situation. “Tammas ingested a plant called Lily of the Valley. It is incredibly poisonous and you made the right decision to bring him in immediately. We caught it at the right time and we’ll treat him with fluids and medicine and we’ll observe him in the next couple of days until his situation improves. He’ll be just fine.”

Mrs. Fitz sighed in relief and then hugged Claire which she returned. As a pediatric surgeon, she’s already used to these moments but it always warms her heart when it happens. Mrs. Fitz then asked her niece to check on admitting Tammas and left. They checked on Tammas again, the boy now asleep after being medicated. 

“I’ll check up on him before my shift ends. I’ll ask the nurses to page me if anything changes on his condition.” Claire said, signing his chart and placing it back on the caddy. 

“Thank ye, Doctor.”

“Please call me Claire” 

“Ye know, it was my nephew who told me to go straight to the ER and look for Dr. Beauchamp. He didn’t mention, though, that Dr. Beauchamp was a pretty lady.”  

A blush threatened to creep Claire’s cheek but she kept her composure. “Jamie called ahead as well, told me that you were coming. I was free and was able to come down to the ER. I’m happy to help” 

“And how did ye know it was poisoning right away?” 

“I dabble in medicinal herbs sometimes. The plant has a distinct smell that I picked up while I was examining him. Jamie also had a hunch and told me about a tradition with the boys about eating the plant as a right of passage. Between those two, it kinda showed itself.” 

“I see. And how long have ye known Jamie?” Mrs. Fitz found the opening and she took it. 

“Not too long.” Claire smiled and answered honestly. Just then, Laoghaire returned with documents for them to sign and she excused herself out. 

As Mrs. Fitz finished the paperwork, her thoughts flitted back to Claire. When she asked about Jamie, she somewhat expected the lass to immediately gush all over him as what she’d experienced with his previous affairs. 

But what she found, instead, in their short conversation thus far, was a genuineness that was incredibly refreshing to see. She didn’t know the extent of their relationship, yet, but for whatever’s worth, she knew Jamie found a good one. 

---

“You were right, it was poisoning. Yep, no - he’ll be fine now, Jamie. We’re treating him and should be able to go home in a few days.” Claire put the phone on speaker as she signed documents in her office. It’s been a week and a half since they last saw each other and due to the nature of their jobs, they’ve texted sporadically, just catching up or checking in, here and there. But, today, the emergency forced them to communicate more directly and urgently to which each of them welcomed.

Jamie was on the other line, wanting to hear the update himself. “I told the lad not to do it and he still did. Mrs. Fitz might not have a thing to say anymore to him but I might have” 

“Like you were not a ten year old that broke the rules before.” she gruffed. 

“Still, my da told on me.” 

“Jamie, I’m sure Tammas would have plenty to hear about it by the time you come back.”

She heard a sigh on the other end and she knew she’d saved the lad against more scolding from his family. “Yer right. I’ll just settle for a really, really stern look and not give him his presents” 

He can hear her roll her eyes and moved to change the subject. “Who accompanied Mrs. Fitz, Sassenach?” 

Claire smiled, still not use to the name but truthfully, she liked it because it came from him. “A granddaughter, I think her name was Laoghaire.”

“I see.” he said plainly and Claire caught on. 

“Anything you’d like to share?” she pressed but instead the call ended and rang again, this time a video call. 

Claire was surprised but took a quick look at her mirror and accepted the call. 

“Yes?” 

“Nothing. Just wanted to see how are ye” 

“You called after I mentioned Laoghaire. That is suspicious.”

“There’s nothing to tell other than, she might have a wee crush on me, Sassenach.” 

“A wee crush. That explains the weird look she gave me earlier today.” 

“What weird look?”

“Like she was sizing me up or something. Didn’t last long, though, Mrs. Fitz had her do all the errands earlier. 

It was Jamie’s turn to make a face and shrug. “Don’t let her get to ye, Claire. I’m no interested in her” 

“Oh yeah? Why so?” she quipped back. 

“For starters, she isna my type and…” 

Claire cut him off, “Alright, alright, no need to say more” a laugh bubbling as Jamie looked so serious on her screen. “Anything else, you need to say, Mr. Fraser? Some of us have to work here.” 

She saw Jamie scratch the back of his head, turn red, and hear the shuffling of his feet. “Erm, Claire, would you be free this Saturday evening?” 

She looked at her calendar, “My schedule is free so far” 

“May I have the pleasure to take you to dinner then?”

“Are you asking me out, James Fraser?” Claire asked, eyeing him adorably. She was not at all surprised that their lunches would eventually become dinners. It was only a matter of time. If they we’re not interested in each other, they had stopped meeting a long time ago. 

“Aye.” Jamie replied, anticipating her answer.

“Pick me up at my place around 7:00?” 

“It’s a date, then.”

[risingroleakira]

So, in my time of not being able to use my hands much due to my hand strains on both side, and C3 being on break, I've been watching a lot more of critical role C2. I'm currently watching episode 18. Since my last post, Nott has climbed way up the ranks, definitely beating Beau and Molly and getting to Caleb and Fjord in their first place positions. In fact, I would say Beau has sunken in the ranks for me quite a bit, no longer in second place.

I would also not currently place Molly at the top anymore (I did for a little bit after the last post), so just like in the last post, he's in second place - now on his own. Though he hasn't sunken by much - it's more that Fjord and especially Caleb have climbed even higher than before. I loved Fjord's second dream sequence a lot, and I just got past Caleb's back story dump which. MAN.

I knew he went through a lot (, and I knew that he killed part of his family, but that was a lot worse than I was expecting. I want to hug him so bad, but also I love tragic backstories so I'm kind of living for this shit lmao sorry- Anyway, I want that asshat that did that to him and the other students to fucking burn. (And, while I did enjoy the scene, it did also destroy my heart and feelings so I'm suing Critical Role for emotional damages once again) /j

I know she's a fan favorite, but I still don't like Jester all that much. I feel like she might grow on me later on? But for now I don't really like her as much as the rest. Doesn't mean I hate her, she has her moments, but I do find her somewhat annoying a lot of the time. And then there's Yasha! Delighted to see a little bit more of her now. I didn't really like or dislike her before, as I didn't see enough of her to really get an opinion, but now that she's actually been here for a little bit I kind of like her! I think she'd might be above Beau right now.

No shade to any of the characters btw, or any of the people who might like the ones I don't, of course! This is all just my personal opinion, and I'm currently only at episode 18 so things might still shift. Anyway, better wrap this up as I have to write most of this with Speech Recognition and, besides taking a lot of time, it is a fucking pain in the ass. Especially if you have even the slightest of accents.

[kaluawoo]

Okay, this may just be wishful thinking, but (cut for Servamp Chapter 105 spoilers and length - sorry I get rambly) (well it started out as stating wishful thinking and then I spiralled into theories lmao)

I don’t think Mikuni was trying to kill Tetsu. Jeje is a good shot, as far as we’ve seen - the thing with Kuro near the start, and I’m pretty sure he’s explicitly trying to not hit Mikuni when shooting at him in annoyance, which takes good aim.

Tetsu was shot in the side. Not the head or the heart, but the side; if Mikuni had wanted to kill Tetsu, he wouldn’t have told Jeje to aim there.

Mikuni is, however, definitely planning something. What, I don’t know, dude’s a mystery, but there’s two options:

a) He wanted to separate Nicco and Ildio. Ildio has the rule that children must not be harmed; Mikuni could have heard that from Jeje or he could’ve found out when he was digging into Nicco’s background. That’d explain why he waited until Ildio was present, too.

b) He wanted to force Hugh to make Tetsu his Eve. Eves are, as Lawless-chan told (and showed) us, far more resilient than ordinary humans, so even if the wound would be deadly for a normal human, there’s a good chance it wouldn’t be for an Eve.

Now why he might have wanted those things, I don’t know. Cowboy’s playing 5D exploding galaxy chess and I can’t even beat the computer at normal chess at any difficulty higher than 0.

Let’s start with Option A

Mikuni could’ve killed Tsurugi after the hospital battle (or could’ve just let him die in the C3 collapse - unless he was trying to get Mahiru killed by sending him after Tsurugi, but that again would beg the question as to why), but instead chooses to make Nicco do it a few days later. He probably knows that Tsurugi is around Misono currently, though, especially considering that Mikuni specifically says they’ll start tomorrow because it’s getting too late for Misono.

No matter what else is true about Mikuni, he adores his little brother. He sings about that in both of his songs (Spiral Pensée is completely about that, and Departure From 0 has lines like “When the tragedy happened, my only thought was about what I could do for you until the day you could accept the truth.” and “I’ll care for you even when I’m not with you”), he left everything he knew for that, he killed his own mother for that. Whatever he’s planning, he’s convinced it’ll be the best for Misono, that’s the one thing I’m sure of. (Whether he’s right is a different question, but he definitely believes so)

But, why would Mikuni want Misono to witness the battle between Nicco and Tsurugi? If it were about preventing Tsurugi from spilling information, he wouldn’t want Nicco to wait until tomorrow. Misono is currently mostly unable to fight, too, though I feel like he still wouldn’t just sit back and watch when his allies are being threatened. Maybe he wants Misono to learn how to fight without Lily’s presence. Maybe that could awaken something to help Lily regain his Djinn. Maybe he feels it’d be best for Misono to get used to seeing people get hurt and die to make whatever else his plans may cause hurt less (As I said... It doesn’t actually have to be the best for Misono, just what Mikuni thinks would be best. Also Mikuni better not be planning to end up dead by the end of everything or I will cry punch him). Maybe he wants to make their dad take Misono far away from Tokyo someplace safer.

Option B

Hugh getting an Eve could be so he has a contract item that can be broken and thus release the Djinn, maybe, but if Hugh is truly on Tsubaki’s side, he would’ve made a contract with a random person instead of specifically Tetsu. Maybe (or maybe not idk, it’s not really canon after all) worth mentioning here is that, in the Final Servamp Quest banter, Hugh is not uncomfortable if put in a Yes-Vote Team (Kuro, Hugh, Lily and Jeje). Neither is Lily btw, while Kuro and Jeje are.

It could also be to push Hugh away from Tsubaki, since I doubt Tetsu would want to join forces with Tsubaki, and Hugh would be reluctant to work with someone who hurt Tetsu. I don’t think Mikuni wants Tsubaki to succeed. Definitely not while Misono is in the “everyone will die” area, but even aside from that, why would he? He’s not too fond of vampires in general and Servamps in particular, so he has no reason to want another one, and he helped Mahiru train, which wouldn’t make sense to do if he wants Mahiru to lose.