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silkiemae · 1 year

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The Gloom Between Stars by Piper CJ

Welp, I finished this dumpster fire of a book and just…Piper, why? This book is as poorly written and edited as the self-published version of TNAIM. I know this was technically an ARC, but Piper advertised it as a free ebook. She was handing out bound copies at book signings, so this is the finished work that she plans on publishing. The sheer amount of misspelt words, anachronisms, grammatical errors, etc., was ridiculous. This book reads like the editors just gave up on actually doing their job because they knew Piper wasn’t going to listen to a word they said. And where in the hell were the sensitivity readers?

This book was an absolute MESS, just as overwritten, pretentious and melodramatic as usual. Not only that, but some of the wording is so ridiculous. ‘His equilibrium was bobbing?’ The same handholding was present in the last two installments. Piper clearly thinks very little of her readers, considering the fact that she has to spell things out for them and is unable to leave any room for interpretation. I feel like I’m being talked to like an idiot through all 600 pages of this. Cherry picking from other religions, yet still trying to make it seem like there’s only one religion(the All-Mother), yet there are mentions of Yggdrasil(Norse myth), Seraphim(Christianity), and Bodhi(Buddhism). To be completely honest, I think Piper CJ is one of those authors that if anyone were to tell me they loved her and their books, I would immediately not trust them. These books are racist, ableist, plagiarized, misogynistic, and have absolutely horrid depictions of sex work. She doesn’t think suicide is enough to give a trigger warning but consensual breathplay that was not actually consensual is. And then she goes ahead to make jokes about the “consensual breathplay” like what she wrote wasn’t incredibly harmful. There’s also the fact that those who claim to love Piper and her books are incredibly cult-like with the way they blow smoke up her ass and reject any critiques against her. If you cannot handle criticism, you should not be an author. Sorry, Piper, but it’s true.

I truly wish that Bloom had some integrity and would not allow this fast publishing thing Piper is trying to do. All she is doing is barfing out a first draft and calling it done. She is not doing any of the work that is needed when writing a book, and this crap is what we’re left with. These books are not good at all, but if Piper had actually spent time on them, if she had listened to any feedback, then these books could’ve been good. There is potential in her prose, and she does a good job with sensory detailing, but she goes over the top every time and then, of course, there’s the problematic content that she refuses to acknowledge. This book spends far too much time explaining to us the thought process of everyone’s plans and telling us their feelings rather than showing them to us. It makes for an incredibly dull read. Just an example of how the majority of sentences are phrased in this book. “She thrust out a leg to sweep the stance of the corpse before picking up and continuing her run.” Do you really want to try and tell me that an editor read that sentence and said it was fine the way it was? Really? Anyway, on to the review.

So, we start where TSAIS left off; yet again, there is little to no recapping. Nox & Co. are chasing after Amaris, who has been kidnapped by Nox’s father, King Ceres. Ceres believes that Amaris was born to be his tool to start a war with Queen Moirai since she’s the one who cast the illusion spell over his people and is the reason he lost his wife and child. The writing with this is incredibly convoluted because, in book one, we’re told that Ceres believed he had a son, then in book two, we’re told that Daphne(Nox’s mother and Ceres’ lover) had switched out her daughter for a son with her husband’s complexion. The husband is not King Ceres, so why did the Raascot fae ever suspect that Daphne’s alleged ‘son’ was Ceres’? She spread the rumor that the boy was her nameless husband’s in an attempt to hide the truth from him, but he found out anyway and killed the boy and beat Daphne to death. So, somehow, this nameless husband has vanished after murdering both the princess and her son, and yet nobody seems to be aware of this? We never learn what happened to this guy, and Queen Moirai has literally been acting as if there is a Crown Prince, but it’s an illusion. So who is the Crown Prince that she’s conjuring? Is it the nameless husband? Is it the child who’s really dead? This is why Piper needed a developmental editor because none of this makes sense.

As Nox and her companions follow after Ceres and Amaris, Nox is fuming, hating everyone, and blaming them all for what happened to Amaris. To help, Malik leads her into the woods and goes down on her. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ This is the first chapter. As this is happening, Nox thinks longingly of the days she was a sex slave and used to suck men's souls out through their dicks. Nox admits to preferring women, but Malik is the exception—and again, as I stated in my last review, this was so poorly done. Nox has been depicted as someone who is repulsed by the touch of men and has been desperate to escape them so that she can be with Amaris, yet Malik does the bare minimum, and she is all for him. It doesn’t make sense. He didn’t do anything to earn her trust; he just was there. There are no meaningful conversations between them to give us the inclination that they might have feelings for each other. It’s just horniness and sensory details. After this, they try and figure out the fastest way to reach the army—why this didn’t happen in the first chapter instead of Nox getting head, I don’t know. But anyway, Yazlyn and Nox bicker, preparing us for their inevitable enemies-to-lovers arc. Honestly, a lot of this reads like Piper didn’t know wtf to write, so she jumped ahead and never came back to fix any of it. Honestly, that’s what the whole book reads like.

Eventually, they catch up to the army, and they’re attacked by mud demons, but nobody ever does anything useful to defeat them. Gadriel fucks off to go try, and reason with Ceres, who refuses to listen to reason—which, I get, but the way it’s written is just so absurd. They’re fist-fighting and sword-fighting while Ceres’ people are being massacred around them. The others realize that the demons are blind and have super hearing and start shouting to one another that they should be quiet(LMFAO, idiots) and are like, “Sound is our enemy!”. Can anyone think of who might be incredibly useful in this type of fight? I can. Fucking Amaris. Who has a sonic boom power. Gadriel never once considers finding her and having her use her abilities to help defeat these monsters. Not a single person ever considers using sound to their advantage, and these are supposed to be people who are trained in tactics and monster hunting. Yet none of them can come up with a plan to fight the demons. Like, wtf? I think Piper wrote herself into a corner with the whole ‘demons can’t be killed’ thing because we get scenes like this, with people fapping around, looking like absolute morons. There are five pages of Nox freaking out as she tries to cross a river because she’s a demon who can’t cross running water.

At some point, Malik finds a fae who can apparently control the demons. Again, the magic in this series has absolutely no rhyme or reason. The fae have no designated powers; the only thing we know is that the Raascot fae have powers associated with nightlife. And so far, that has been shadow magic, sucking souls out through sex, night vision, can get your neck broken and not die, can warm your body, can fly, etc. (what do any of those have to do with the other?) Why is Yazlyn so much weaker than her fae comrades? She does the same sort of exercise, does she not? Obviously, she has a different build than them, but there’s no reason why Yazlyn can’t be buff af too. Anyway, Malik stops the fae who was controlling the demons, Amaris got burned and is in a ditch somewhere, Nox finds Gadriel with her dad and is like, oh hello, father, and then he finally realizes that Gadriel was right all along, and instead of, idk, trying to make amends, or maybe help his kingdom he just is like ‘omg I fucked everything up here, take my kingdom!’ And kills himself. This was the clumsiest handling of suicide I have ever read. Not only does Piper give us a tw for ‘consensual breathplay’ (again, it was not actually consensual), but she doesn’t give a tw for suicide. Now, while I don’t believe that every book requires tw, I do understand why they’re there and considering Piper set a standard for including them in book 2, they should be included throughout the entire series. But again, doing the actual work is too hard for Piper, apparently.

So, Nox’s father kills himself for shock value and as a lazy way to thrust her onto the throne. They call his death a sacrifice, making it into something noble and historic when it’s not that at all. The way suicide is handled in this is just beyond insensitive, and once again, WHERE ARE THE SENSITIVITY READERS, PIPER?

After this little battle, we return to the Raascot castle. For the next three hundred pages, nothing happens. They hang out in the castle, they train, they talk, and they have poorly written sex. Nothing of substance happens whatsoever. I’ll tell you what does happen. Nox and Amaris reunite for the third time, and instead of being separated by physical circumstances, they have a really stupid fight. Nox, obviously, is traumatized after witnessing her father’s suicide, but Amaris, once again, is thinking all about her horniness and starts trying to make a move on Nox. Nox is like, uh no, wtf stop and Amaris, as usual, can’t handle rejection. They haven’t had a single conversation about what happened during their separation, they have only ever made out during their reunions, and now that they actually have the time and safety to have this discussion, Amaris is more interested in losing her virginity. Nox drops the bomb on Amaris that she is really the manifestation of prayer, and Amaris’ reaction is, WOW, HOW CRUEL ARE YOU TO SAY SUCH THINGS, NOX? Now knowing that Amaris was created solely for Nox, Nox is questioning if their feelings are real. And here is how Amaris chooses to respond.

”You feel confused? You, who has been such a constant in my entire life, even when I’ve had crushes on boys or liked men and spent years questioning what this relationship meant to me, only to finally accept that you are my exception. I love you, Nox. You’re the only woman I’ll ever want. Meanwhile, if the kingdom’s rumors are to be believed, you’ve been off fucking anyone and everything………..You’ve spent your whole life knowing the goddess made your heart for women, haven’t you? That wasn’t me, Nox. Do you know how confusing it’s been for me? I grew up liking boys! I like men. I do. I like fighting with them, I like training with them, I like wrestling and flirting and spending time with them. I’ve tried and failed on more than one occasion to create something with a man. And here you’ve been, destroying my feelings and twisting my head for years. You’ve had years to experience the world, you’ve let goddess knows who into your bed—but you were it for me. I thought that made this special, Nox. Finally, after all this time, I want the same thing you’ve always wanted. But the instant it was my choice in return, you turn me away. Do you know how fucked up that is?… We’ve had our whole lives to adjust! We’ve had two decades of time! Meanwhile, I still can’t get rid of my goddess damned maidenhood while you—”

SO basically, Amaris is a fucking hypocrite. She called Nox a whore, and Amaris wants to lose her maidenhead REAL BAD. “You’ve had years to experience the world” She was locked up in a brothel as a sex slave, Amaris, while you fucked off with the reevers and learned to fight. Are you really that mad that your brothers-in-arms didn’t want to fuck you? Also, confirmation that Nox is a lesbian with an exception for only one man. And Amaris is straight, with an exception for only one woman. That’s not bisexuality, Piper. “You were it for me” You…. literally tried to fuck Gadriel. And Ash. You lying sack of shit. The way Amaris is mad for being rejected and not at all concerned about Nox, who just watched her father die in front of her, learned she was heir to both kingdoms and is now a queen to a kingdom she has no business or knowledge of how to run. Nox deserves far better than Amaris, and I hope this series ends with her(Amaris') death. Because that’s the only way I’ll be satisfied.

After this fight, they decide they can’t be together until Amaris breaks the curse, and they can find out if their love is real. In the meantime, Nox assaults Yazlyn by shoving her forearm against her throat and then asks if she wants to fuck. The sex scenes are described uncomfortably, where the line of consent is incredibly fuzzy. But this is not the first time Piper has had issues with consent in her books, so I shouldn’t be surprised. Also, the written sex is gross It’s written as if the author has never actually been intimate with a woman because I can promise you it is not a bunch of “puddles and wetness and soaked sheets”. You’re not just squirting the whole time. I don’t think Piper has any concept of how to actually write spice because all these are a bunch of flowery metaphors. And then, of course, Amaris and Gadriel are still doing their choking/finger bang sessions because her power is tied to her sense of arousal. WTF? There’s also that last scene with Malik and Nox that will haunt me til the end of my days. ‘The complementary cream that frosted his muscles.” Are you fucking KIDDING?

The fae that Malik caught turns out to be an extremist who thinks the world needs to be purified of all fae creatures with human blood. She doesn’t mind humans as long as they don’t dally with the fae. She calls Ash a mongrel and calls Nox ‘it’. Kinda like how the author calls Nox ‘it’ in her first book title. “The Night and its Moon.” Now, this nazi fae is from Sulgrave, which has been depicted as East Asia…(wow, Piper) (also, how is Gadriel South Asian if his parents are from Sulgrave?) They literally end up treating this racist like a little pet. They give her a special room, give her books when she’s good, call her lovely and adorable and then give her some ‘exposure therapy’ by forcing her to hang out with Ash, who is both half-fae and white. And then….they fall in love. And it makes no sense at all as to why. All we know about Tanith is that she’s a racist zealot, and then she’s depicted as this little flower who needs to be rescued by Ash all the time. There’s a scene where Ash’s dad, Elil, goes apeshit and tries to kidnap the nazi because she’s an ‘enemy of the continent’, and Ash literally calls the statement deranged. Bro…he’s right. Honestly, the fact that I’m siding with the person meant to be depicted as raving is wild to me. Because he is right that Tanith is a danger to them all, and they’re being absolute morons by treating her the way they do. If it were to come back and bite them in the ass, Elil would be completely justified in being like, ‘told ya so’. Like, Ash legit tells his dad the nazi’s life is worth more than his dad’s. By the end of this, they behave as if Tanith has overcome her racism by being with Ash, but there is no evidence of that anywhere in the text. Nox even expresses that she hopes that Ash can ‘turn her’ with his lovemaking skills. Like, oh, you can just stop being racist if you fuck the person you’re prejudiced against! Do you think she’s changed because she asked Ash to stay with her after he rescued her from his dad? That could literally be tactical. She simply learns to tolerate them and hide her prejudice. Both Nox & Ash even say that they doesn’t think Tanith has shown any distance for her radical beliefs, but it’s okay because now she’s their friend—she’s not evil, Ash loves her, he would die for her, but she’s still a zealot.… Nox takes Tanith shopping to buy her a fancy new cloak, and they let her play ‘paintball arrows’ with the rest of their group; Ash falls in love with her in .2 seconds after she says ‘I’m sorry’ for nothing in particular and then crawls into bed with him. He buys her basically a promise ring of her favorite gemstone. Wtf? There were like four POV chapters from Ash with Tanith, and nowhere was there any room for romantic development or even character development from Tanith. Nowhere was there any de-radicalization of her racism. It reads more like the author is telling us we should be sympathetic to racists because they don’t know any better, and we should just be kind to them and befriend them, and eventually, they will learn to tolerate the people they are prejudiced against. But, uh, no. That’s not at all what anyone should be doing. We are told that Ash hated Tanith and then grew to like, then love her but it is never shown on the page at all. Just suddenly, they’re in love and Tanith is still racist.

Three hundred pages of dithering around until some action finally happens. Amaris, Malik, Yazlyn and Gadriel are sent out to kill Queen Moirai. Three hundred pages of reading about Amaris and Nox screwing other people and not having a single conversation discussing what the other has been through, but they make up anyway right before Amaris leaves to kill the Queen. I’m not entirely sure how anyone is meant to see an actual romantic relationship between these women when there is absolutely none present. The first book was a lot of longing on Nox’s part but none on Amaris’. The second book was more of the same, but Nox found a new beau who would eat her out, so she stopped thinking so much about Amaris. Now in book three, they barely think about one another. This is not the star-crossed bisexual romance I was promised. Anyway, they’re sent to Farleigh to ensure that the convenient manufactured items they were given will block the curse, only to find out that Agnes, the Gray Matron is a racist. She calls Gadriel and Yazlyn demons and seems more disgusted by their wings than anything. This is funny, imo because not only was Nox described as having bronze skin(but then later told she looks like her mother, who was white), so why wasn’t she treated with the same disrespect? She is clearly not a white person from Farehold, I’m pretty sure that Agnes was there when Nox was named, so she’s well aware that her name was Nox so she wouldn’t forget the night. So why the fuck is she suddenly racist towards the Raascot fae? Why did she suddenly seem to forget why Nox was named Nox and who Nox actually was? Because there’s no way she didn’t know. It doesn’t make any logical sense that she wouldn’t. Also, Amaris can call Gadriel ‘demon' and get away with it, but when Agnes does it, it’s racist…. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Come on, Piper.

Amaris has mastered her persuasion ability off-page, apparently, because now she’s persuading everyone without issue. To get into the castle, they decide to have Malik drive, and Amaris sits in the back with Gadriel and Yazlyn and then rips off Star Wars by pulling a ‘these are not the droids you’re looking for’ moment. On the carriage ride, Gadriel tells Amaris she’s the most amazing person to exist. ‘You are the most beautiful creature on this earth. You are the most talented assassin I’ve ever met. You are brave, you’re intelligent, you are quick on your feet, and you are incredibly capable.” I can provide text evidence to refute every one of those points. Amaris is an idiot and a coward. She literally goes into the castle with no plan at all. And spends the entire chapter explaining what everyone else is going to do. Like, ma’am, please stop.

Gadriel also says no other man is allowed to touch her, but apparently, it’s fine if Nox does it. Honestly, I fucking hate men like that.

The last sixty pages were the most exciting part of this book. Moiroi has invited all the nobles to her castle to lure Raascot’s sneaky task force to Aubade so that she can send all her forces to Gwydir. While Amaris & co. are trying to infiltrate Aubade, Nox & co. are being attacked by Farehold soldiers led by The Hand & The Hammer. The Hand is none other than Millicent, the brothel owner with the slithery reptile death hand, so she’s named after her disability…nice. The Hammer is some random buff dude with a spiked mace. Nox faces off against Millicent who tells her she killed Emily with no prompt whatsoever—honestly, I forgot about Emily because so did Nox. Nox throws Chandra and even though she’s sucked at it this whole time, she manages to hit her target and cut off Millicent’s death hand and then that’s done. Ash lets Tanith out of her binds(because even though she’s still a racist zealot, she’s not evil apparently, and Ash would die for her), and she incinerates a bunch of soldiers and Ash’s dad(even though Ash’s eyes were closed during this scene he somehow sees everything that happened, huh.)

Meanwhile, Amaris has been spending time trying not to repeat her past mistakes by whispering to every guard in Aubade to stand down if any fighting happens, but this ends up backfiring beautifully when an army of ghouls shows up to kill everyone. I thought this part of the book was very clever, but once again, it’s overwritten, and the reader’s hand is held throughout the entire thing. While Amaris chases after Moiroi, she’s unable to harm her because she has a ward protecting her. Instead of having Amaris figure out herself that the ward is her crown, Yazlyn literally shouts the answer to her while Moiroi stands there listening and gaping like, ’oh no! They’ve discovered my plan!’ Amaris then stands there for another few minutes debating on how to remove the crown from her head when she could literally throw a dagger and knock it off. But apparently, the All-Mother gave her the gift of shock wave specifically to knock the crown off her head. What? There are several more pages of Amaris agonizing over how to knock off the crown/summon her shock wave without being horny, and then Moiroi calls Amaris a witch, but isn’t she also a witch?

Oh my god, so we finally get the answer about the illusion of the Crown Prince. Moiroi has been creating an illusion of the boy she thought was her grandson this whole time to keep the people together. Idk that seems a bit ridiculous, imo. Did she not care about her daughter disappearing/dying? What happened to the husband who killed them both because Moiroi allegedly knows about him? That’s what I want to know. We also learn that Daphne was pregnant before Moiroi cursed Raascot, so how long after the curse was she married off? How far along in the pregnancy was she when Moiroi cast the curse? And how was it that Moiroi wasn’t present when Daphne gave birth? When royalty gives birth, it’s typically a whole affair with midwives and the lot, so how did no one but Agnes and the Temple Priestess know that she had a daughter? And also, considering Moiroi believed the grandson to be the nameless husband’s son, it also refutes the whole plot point in book one, where the Raascot fae were searching for King Ceres’ son. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ This is why you needed a developmental editor, Piper. Also, can I say that the dialogue in these books is absolutely atrocious? Nobody talks like this. At all.

Why is everyone in this book gagging? Is it because they’re as disgusted by Piper’s writing as I am? This book should be the last one with Amaris lingering on the precipice of death, and then she should stay dead. The End.

#piper cj #the gloom between stars #the night and its moon #book review #the sun and its shade #book rant

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zelphin124 · 9 months

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I hope nobody else sent this yet- But here, for you~

1. who's your favorite oc?

2. who was your first oc?

3. how many ocs do you have?

4. have you kept all of your

ocs since the beginning?

5. are any of your ocs based

off of a show/book you like?

if so, who?

6. what is the species of the

majority of your ocs?

7. are any of your ocs an

original species? if so,

what's the species and who?

8. if you can, draw (oc name)!

9. write a few sentences as

(oc name)!

10. are any of your ocs part

of a story? if so, what is it

about and who's in it?

11. do you have any twin ocs?

12. are any of your ocs

siblings?

13. what is the gender of the

majority of your ocs?

14. make up a new oc right now

based on (concept/show/color/

etc.)!

15. would you ever give up any

of your ocs?

16. who is your oldest oc

(age-wise)?

17. have you ever roleplayed

as your ocs?

18. how many of your ocs were

adopted from someone else?

19. who is your least favorite

oc?

20. which oc do you think has

changed the most since you

made them?

21. who is your newest oc?

22. have you ever cosplayed

your own ocs? if so, who?

23. which oc do you think has

affected you the most as youve

grown with them?

24. have you gotten cosplayers

of your ocs? if so, of whom?

25. do you have any ocs that

you havent drawn/written as/

talked about in a long time?

if so, who?

Aww! Thank you skele-things! I appreciate it! And no one has asked me this yet (:

DISCLAIMER: I have many many many many many many OC's... especially outside the Undertale fandom. BUT- I'll try to center around Undertale as those are known best! Questions below!

I mean, I love all my boys equally what do you mean- Winter Sans. Outside of UTMV? Garrison, a character in my novel.

For the UTMV - Iro!Sans. My girl has been with me for... six months now.

Too many. UTMV-wise, eight 6. I have six, for now.

For the UTMV yeah! I've kept all of them!

I got inspiration for SeasonTale based off one Game of Thrones clip I saw with a dragon, a man, and a woman, and the bad sanses. It was literally only one scene, and it sparked a story!

Heh, Sanses... Outside of UTMV? I love writing elves, creatures I make myself, or humans! Humans are so interesting when they're powerless in a powerful world.

Unless you count a girl Sans original... nope! As for my other books, I've made a TON of fantasy species! The main character in my novel, The Fergen, is a Fergen! Which is an elf with dragon wings and can breathe fire! Lmk if you wanna hear more.

aaaaaa sadly I am not confident in my art enough to draw my characters... I will learn someday, I hope!

Winter: "Must you cause yourself pain to get revenge? It isn't worth it! This is only hurting you!"

Oh yeah! SeasonTale and IroTale have very complex and intricate stories that I am in process of writing! You can find more info on their masterposts!

Oh, good question! Although some come close, nope!

Yep! Winter Sans and Summer Sans are brothers! That's why Summer's eyes can sometimes be seen as snowflakes!

Male. I make a lot of females outside the UTMV though; it's been really interesting to learn about how the male mind works when writing them!

Crap ya didn't give me any concept to go off of! Haha! I am a creative dumpster, if you give me some concepts, I can definitely spit out some ideas!

Yes, I have given a ton up outside the UTMV, so I am sure it could happen with my Sanses, unfortunately. But I don't plan to anytime soon (:

If Cocoa!Sans doesn't count, as I made it with a community, then probably Iro!Gaster, who is timeless. W!Gaster is like... 250 years old too.

Oh yeah! All the time! It's how I flush out some of the lore! Usually, it's on discord.

I was about to say none but then I remembered Reformed!Error, haha! So I guess 1?

Like I said I love all my boys equally- there's Chester from my novel... as for my UTMV? Hmmm... Maybe F!Gaster (Fall!Gaster). He's very cowardly and I don't like his character, but it serves a purpose.

Definitely Iro!Sans. She went from a maintenance Undye to who she is today. She's developed a LOT.

I created all my Season Sanses together... probably Solstice!Asgore. He's a new edition to the story!

Nope! I don't have the money to cosplay ;'/

Iro!Sans probably, mainly because of how her villainhood is from her brokenness, and honestly... she just needs a big hug. I relate to some of her brokenness and needing a hug so she's always been a character that in every scene I write with her, it hits deep.

Nope! None that I know of! If you have please let me see!

Probably Cocoa!Sans! I don't get to talk about my jolly old pal and his cafe a lot! He's super sweet and loves serving coffee from CoffeeTale, and his cafe is a universal hotspot! I've heard there's a lot of similarities between him and Ccino, though I've never read Ccino!Sans' story before.

WOW! What good questions! Thank you for allowing me to answer them!

Always feel free to ask whatever questions you have! (: Have a splendid day!

#undertale au #utmv #oc #oc stuff #seasontale #winter sans #iro sans #seasontale challenge #undertale #asks open #ask #I loved doing this #I have so much lore #It would take hours to explain #So I tried to keep it short lol

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sanguine-tenshi · 2 years

Text

Hopper’s shitty parenting

So here's another scene I feel the need to complain about.

In S02 the fight Hopper and El have near the begging of episode 4 "Will the Wise".

The hell was that? No seriously, the hell?

It starts out fine. El did a bad thing and Hopper is rightfully mad. Except they both keep escalating and neither of their reactions make sense to me.

El grew up as a lab rat and Hopper literally threatens her with handing her back to that same lab.

And her reaction is so fucking mild. Her eyes just mist up and she tells him she hates him. Are you for real mate? That's regular well adjusted teen reaction to being grounded.

And Hopper doesn’t just ground her. He threatens to call the lab and send her back.

Do you know how much that shit fucks up normal kids? A parent yelling at you telling you, you’d be on the streets without them as soon as you misbehave. In just that one sentence Hopper should have absolutely decimated any good faith he had with El. He just told her that the second she does something he doesn’t like he’s sending her to the horrible place she came from. He is no longer a safe person.

And it’s not like El’s actions are unjustifiable. For a full ass year he’s had this kid isolated in a cabin in the woods. I’m an extreme introvert homebody and even I cannot go even a full month interacting with just one person and staying indoors, much less a year. And I don’t have El’s parallel experience with the lab. The isolation should have done damage on at least some level. But nope El just gets better adjusted through this.

And then there is Hopper and his reactions are mild as well. His superpowered kid throws a book at him, hits him with a couch, knocks over a bookshelf, slams a door and makes all the windows explode. And Hopper reacts only with anger and continues to push and escalate. There's no worry for his own safety. This kid killed people. This kid killed MANY people. Hopper HAS to know that. There's no way he doesn't know.

If your regular ass kid started throwing shit at you, you'd be worried. And sure some parents would react to that the same way Hopper did but there should be that unmistakable moment of terror that then bleeds into absolute fury.

And of course it's never addressed in the show that Hopper is an absolute garbage parent. He'd be shit for a regular ass kid, much less for one that comes pre-traumatized.

And I'm not asking for an amazing parent Hopper. Him being a shit helicopter parent makes sense. But the show needs to address it. Hell I haven't seen the fandom talking about it either. Not that I've been actively looking for it mind, but generally I stumble upon this type of stuff by now.

I just need something, ya know. Hopper is a shit parent. He doesn’t even know how to interact with kids outside of threatening them. How the Hell is he supposed to help someone as traumatized and maladjusted as El? There needed to be something, either a scene where someone calls out his flaming dumpster fire parenting or a scene where he realizes he’s in way over his head. And also a scene where he looks for ways to deal with it. Talking to Joyce. Looking for books. Asking how to help a traumatized child under the guise of helping Will.

In the show El just sort of gets better and it fucking bothers me.

#stranger things #stranger things season 2 #st season 2 #jim hopper #eleven #jane hopper #jane eleven hopper #hopper's A+ parenting #don't @ me #you know he's a shit parent #if you saw someone saying that shit to their kid out in the wild you'd call child protective services on their ass #i don't like the fact that el just gets better and normal with no effort #and no help #and no guidence #she doesn't really process any of the shit that happened to her #how she grew up #feels like the show drops all that shit in favor of mediocre love subplots

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long-lost-weasley394 · 8 months

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I’m so tired of people coming on this app to make a text post that’s just:

“Y’all are portraying this character wrong.“

Because half the time the character has like a total of 5 sentences about them in cannon. We have been given no instruction on how to portray this character we can do whatever the fuck we want!

But also even if it’s a main character of a book, we can still do whatever we want! It’s a made up person who’s to say we can’t make them up some more!

The world is a dumpster fire might as well turn your fave characters into exactly who you want and if people don’t like it, they don’t have to read/interact with it!

#do your think we could leave telling people how to participate in fandom in 2023?#fanfic #fanfiction #art #fan art

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billconrad · 8 months

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My Plan for Success

To succeed, a person needs a solid plan, and I had one around the time I turned fifteen. Powerful high school grades would enable me to attend college, leading to a fantastic job. The first two parts were the hardest, but I succeeded. Yay!

The next part was supposed to be easy. I had a college degree, and all I needed to do was look at the help wanted section and pick a job. This would be as easy as giving my best friend a high-five! Well, that was 993, and the economy was awful. So, I radically pivoted and started a company. Even though I worked super hard, my efforts failed.

This was a tough pill to swallow, but I sucked up my pride and got a job at a local medical inventory company. So, my initial plan succeeded. Yay!

Since then, I have bounced from company to company. In my off time, I tried to start businesses three times. My most successful attempt was as a full-time consultant. This effort was incredibly stressful and made little money. My worst attempt was a partnership with an internet marketing company. This dumpster fire consumed hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars.

A friendly bout of unemployment pivoted me again, and I decided to try fiction writing. Surely, this venture would be profitable, and indeed it is. I have made tens of dollars. Yay! (While spending thousands on editing, formatting, and marketing. Boo!)

What is my present success plan? I have a three-pronged approach. Continue working, write at night, and start a business. Working at a company is a safe, straight path with limited risk, but not too exciting. So, how do I intend to be a successful author and start a company?

I have found book promoting to be a tough nut to crack. I had expected online eBook retailers to do a much better job of helping new authors. Sadly, that chore is in my court. And who am I? A nobody author in a sea of nobody authors. However, I have a plan. My books are available in every eBook marketplace, and I write articles to gain exposure. In time, one or more readers will tell others about me. In summary, I plan to sit on my bum and wait to be discovered. Umm, that sounds like a poor plan. Yeah…

I have never stopped my business-starting efforts. I have developed 71 ideas and have organized them by chance of success and investment required. My next step is to locate a partner with marketing skills and investment contacts. Why not do this part myself? My business-starting mistakes taught me two important lessons: Never start alone and CAREFULLY pick your business partners.

How am I finding a business partner? When I meet new people, we chat, and if I get the sense that they are the right person, I tell them about my ideas and discuss a partnership. How often has this occurred in the last ten years? Once. In summary, I plan to sit on my bum and wait for a partner to appear out of thin air. Umm, that sounds like a poor plan and a theme. Yeah…

There are other options. I could go to a book or a business conference. There are online book marketing and business startup courses. At the very least, there are people I can pay to promote my books or locate business partners. That is very true, and I have diligently investigated all these options. Yet, my “solid” plan remains.

Why am I so pessimistic? Am I being lazy? Or am I gun-shy? (Afraid to fail) Until I wrote this sentence, I was sure that I was being cautious. I always approach problems with care and make calculated decisions. This sounds like I have been putting off the problem. Translation: Lazy.

What should I do? The obvious answer is to get off my bum and focus on my goals. I understand what it takes to start a business and am still up for the task, but the problem is desire. Starting a business is risky, scary, and expensive. Having done it so many times without success has taken its mental toll.

After some noodling time, I have concluded that I am indeed gun-shy. Being afraid to try is not an outstanding trait to admit to, but this is clearly what is going on. So here is my new plan. I am going to confront my fears and laziness. However, having lofty goals without milestones or details is not enough. Therefore, I have a new daily goal. I am going to dedicate thirty minutes to starting a business.

What about book marketing? Last night, I came up with a new plan. I have always wanted to write a short stories book. I have collected eight plots and thought them through. The problem is that readers only like short story books by mega-authors. Writing such a book would be a waste of time for a small-potato author like me.

My magic idea is to write one or more short stories and post them online for free. There are TONS of sites that will host a short story. I am excited to see how this plays out.

My business and promotion plans plan do not seem impressive, but what is essential is that I have them clearly stated to myself. Will they succeed? Only time will tell.

You’re the best -Bill

October 18, 2023

Hey book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:

Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.

Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.

Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.

Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.

These books are available in soft-cover on Amazon and eBook format everywhere.

#writing #business #planning #life

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devandahlcourte-work-in-progress · 2 years

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Section 14. 1 chapter, ending with chapter 63

I am reposting these first eighty-two chapters (in 22 sections) plus the prologue and the preface.

These posts will be the updated versions from my DeviantArt account, and since Tumblr may not display all the text correctly (it destroys anything I had in italics or underlined) I would still recommend reading everything there, on DeviantArt. They will also include internal links that navigate between the chapters on DeviantArt and will take the reader off Tumblr if clicked.

This came about because I noticed search engines were finding random sections of my book and displaying them along with some other people’s blog posts.

Okay, so that’s why I installed those internal links in each one… so that if anyone gets to a random section by way of a search engine and would like to read the story from the beginning, they can.

Only then did I realize that it wasn’t getting it’s search results from DeviantArt, but from old Tumblr.

There’s another problem at work here besides unrefined searches…

There is a new species of virus on the internet that likes to eat ancient Tumblr posts and barf them back up infested with adware - spyware - malware etc. The virus goes by names like TumGIR, TumBIG, TumPIK, or Tum(anything else but ‘blr’). The caps were added by me for emphasis so that maybe you can double check in case you’re not looking at an actual Tumblr post right now but one of these so-called “mirror” sites.

If you’re looking at this text through one of the counterfeit Tumblrs that I mentioned, then no link you click (assuming it even copies it with my links intact) will take you out; it will redirect you and show you all of the spam ads it wants to. So read carefully what url is showing on your browser right now.

If it is one of the untrustworthy ones I would suggest closing your browser window and doing whatever else you normally would in order to reset settings.

As far as my science fiction novel entitled “If And Only If,” the safest way to find it is by going to my Instagram:

@michelle.de.vandahlcourte

From there you can click on the link in my bio. It will take you to the beginning of the story on DeviantArt… the safe one! No malware.

P.S. None of this is Tumblr’s fault! It’s the malware/adware/spyware developers who are stealing people’s tumblr posts.

The actual content of this page appears below here👇

Section 14. 1 chapter, ending with chapter 63

↩️return to previous section, section 13

↩️↩️…and if you arrived here because of a search engine and you would like to read this story from the beginning, click here.

Swifty

As long as Butthead’s phone was charged, in accordance with his responsibilities for reporting a national security breach, Swifty began to dial. He did not need 9 1 1, but an NSA equivalent for this situation. Unfortunately, even the top cryptanalyst on the planet couldn’t just crack an iPhone password with no special equipment or software. So 9 1 1 it was.

The secret words in response to the operator’s “what is your emergency?” were unknown to most civilians and even to many government employees. The operator knew exactly what they meant when he answered: federal agent in trouble and can’t get to regular-secure phone. After a bored monotone carefully worded phrase which basically meant “Hold please...” in their code, Swifty was transferred in a fraction of a second; no hold time at all, to speak with the second operator: “what is your callback number, sir?” she calmly intoned. Anyone eavesdropping would hear him reporting a dumpster fire and a 9 1 1 operator thanking him and declaring help to be on the way. The call to the next operator would appear to have been placed by the caller (him) after finishing with emergency services.

The number was easy enough. A sentence that he had worked out as a mnemonic gave him the letters which converted to numbers. Instead of “DID he come from here?” the word did was replaced with “Dad.” D - A - D - H - C - F - H (4148368) with the new Baton Rouge area code that he used to call his boyfriend Quinn for all those years, starting roughly in the late ‘90s. B – Y.

The “callback number” was not his; it was nothing of the sort. It was the number he wanted emergency services to call for him and connect him to.

It didn’t matter what he said when they answered. Just the fact that this number was being called at all would set the wheels in motion. The cavalry, swat team, or whatever, would be directed to his location. He thought as he ran through the labyrinthine district of old warehouses:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Excellent. I will definitely need backup. Substantial back up… Even with two machine pistols. I started to finally get winded; unusual for me since running is actually the one athletic thing I’m kind of good at. I have no idea what Beavis might be armed with, or for that matter how many Beavises there are, or if Butthead has regained consciousness yet.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Though not the track star he’d been in the eighth grade, Swifty had decided he could start by putting some considerable distance between himself and that first warehouse, and he did. But it would again be necessary to stop moving so fast so they could get a good fix on his location.

...and he had a connection now. A friendly voice came through on his unsecured line; she greeted him with a sunny, casual “hello?” Though a detailed message wasn’t needed to get the rescue operation started, he wanted to give as much data as he could.

“Hi honey,” he began. Not hi sweetie, hello dear, hey darlin’, etc. So they knew right away what department he was from. Voice print analysis would’ve already indicated a high probability that it was him speaking. He had been a consultant on the team that wrote that software and knew roughly what her screen was showing right now.

“I’m running late and still haven’t gone for groceries yet.”

“Okay,” she replied matter-of-factly, “will you still be able to stop and get the stuff?”

Something moving in between trash cans caught Swifty‘s eye in the corner of his vision. Not human. A raccoon? Possibly a possum? Maybe a big rat in the shadows casting larger shadows. He continued: “yes, of course. And I remembered we needed cooking oil, more coffee creamer, peanut butter, and also grapes… And oh yeah, I’ve been wanting to try the amaretto-flavored creamer lately.” He went on listing a few more “things they were out of.”

“Oh good,” she cheerfully chimed in, sounding relieved, “can you think of anything else we’re out of?”

“No, that’s about it for now,” still trying to keep an eye on the thing moving in the shadows between trash cans, his attention drifted from the call a bit. He saw another one now. So, two. They were too big to be any of those other things. Large, dog-sized maybe? But something about the shapes didn’t convey “dogs.” He did have the presence of mind to continue the call, speaking properly. There weren’t enough detailed words in the grocery code to describe the weird things he was eyeing up in the near darkness.

Dogs would have been easy to describe in the coded language; letting them know if his captors had guard dogs, attack-dogs, etc. would certainly be relevant – to let the rescue team know what they were getting into. To his relief (as a matter of official procedure) he knew they would not use anything lethal on dogs, and why, had there been any. The partial shopping list allowed him to give them as much information as he could about what had happened.

He remembered to specify “amaretto-flavored” coffee creamer, which changed the meaning from just a pistol to machine pistol or possibly small sub-machine gun. Either way it let them know that his abductors had automatic weapons. They would respond appropriately, and helicopters would be their most likely mode of transport, he guessed. He almost felt sorry for Butthead if he was conscious. If he and any number of Beavises came scampering out of that warehouse – assuming Butthead sounded the alarm – they would be in for the firefight of a lifetime.

Since it was an open line, with one end being a cell phone no less, they had to assume that an enemy AI could be listening; part of someone else’s “TIA program” or something analogous to it. It would hear nothing but a mundane conversation between two people. He tried to visualize what naval bases or other installations were nearby, estimate distances, helicopter flight times, etc. And also to factor in the time it took to scramble a team.

He didn’t really know what the operation would consist of, but her responses in the banal conversation code fully assured him that they had: seized control of the 9 1 1 system, locked onto the exact location of his signal on Sawyer Street near some railroad tracks, and were definitely sending in the big guns; “the heavy artillery” so to speak.

Meanwhile, back to those weird things in the darkness… If only they’d proven to be stray animals as he first thought. There were three of them now.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A new logical conundrum was staring at me. If my captors had given me drugs as part of my interrogation, then why leave me tied to a chair alone in a dusty, nearly dark old warehouse with only the gibbous moon and a distant street light shining in through skylights? Had I been given drugs? Almost certainly. There is no known physical phenomenon that can act like what I’m seeing! Those dark things amongst the trash cans! They had to be hallucinations.

Perhaps I had already been interrogated under the influence of whatever drug or drugs they’d administered, told them everything they requested, had no memory of any of it, and simply woke up before they were ready to get rid of me; either a corpse disposal or a return plan with some plausible explanation.

Damn hallucinations! If only I’d done more drugs during my college clubbing days with my friends! Then perhaps I would know more about hallucinogenics, drugs in general, and which one could possibly produce these kinds of side effects.

Seriously, my sarcastic thoughts aside, I pondered: Holography? Yes, maybe. As choices of subject matter for holograms go, amorphous blobs wouldn’t be all that challenging. Emissive conducting polymers? Yeah right, moron. Enough to cover a quarter of the street, much of the sidewalk, some trash cans, and the side of a warehouse? And in either case how would they have even known I’d run this way? My shuttle run betwixt the buildings had consisted of random turns. Even the fact that I was going to escape was something they couldn’t hav– –

Kraj! I flashed back to the Stainless Steel Rat’s Revenge and the Stainless Steel Rat Wants You from my childhood. Seized by the same doubt he was experiencing when he escaped from Kraj and the Gray Men. What if my whole escape was an elaborate illusion? The warehouse, Butthead, the phone call? Had I revealed our code to them under the influence of some drug-induced fantasy world and was I still really strapped into a hospital bed and being readied for phase two?

Like diGriz, I had to assume this was real or I would accomplish nothing by standing here lost in thought. So I must behave as if this is real. I did escape. I am here.

But I’m still on drugs, right? These things?

What looks like that? What moves that way?

I’ve got it: cartoons! From cartoons, anyway. Instant hole. The Ant in the Aardvark, the Road Runner and Coyote. And maybe an earlier cartoon just called “instant hole” or something like that? But these things weren’t limited to circular shapes only. Though two-dimensional, they could change their shapes to square or rectangular; I watched as they morphed from shape to shape, but while staying 2-D.

Their movement across surfaces reminded me also of times when the cartoon character gets smashed into the side of a cliff or a building, then while flattened, the 2-D version of themselves would slide down to the ground. But these could slide upwards as well.

Up from the street, over a concrete curb, onto a sidewalk, up to a warehouse wall, and finally up the wall… morphing into two identical rectangular shapes of a size that would be reasonable for windows. The third one chose to remain on the sidewalk as a nondescript blob, looking like an oil slick in the waxing moon’s light.

The other two had not only become rectangles, but started to decorate themselves as windows also. They took on a rusty metal grid, each one of them looking like it was composed of several small panes of glass. The “glass panes” started to reflect the moon and distant street lights. The glass then acquired the look of a filthy, dusty coating; enough to discourage a passerby from trying to peer “through” them because it would simply be hopeless to expect to see anything. Anyone driving by would assume the old warehouse wall had always contained those two dirty windows. Anyone that is, who hadn’t just watched them slither up from the street and become windows.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

He spotted the first helicopter coming in just above rooftop level. The local cops would’ve been ordered to stand down, but would be available if any a– –

The explosion was still far enough away from him that it did that flash-bang timelag thing. There was a noticeable difference between the time of the visible explosion and the sound shockwave, like on the range when they had fired the M-203‘s. Whatever beam the left window had fired acted so quickly that he hadn’t even had time to mentally register what was going on. It wasn’t a visible-light laser beam like in typical sci-fi. Perhaps an infrared laser could do it. Heat waves like a stretch of road through a desert on a blistering hot day emanated from a line that directly connected that window-creature to the burning mass of debris from the exploded helicopter.

All of the gunship’s wreckage was still adrift in the night air. And it happened so quickly, he tried to tell himself, that the crew and passengers had felt nothing. He didn’t know that for sure and had no time to contemplate anything as he instinctively went for one of Butthead’s Berettas.

If we’re still going with the theory that this is all real and not a hallucination, then that “window” just downed a helicopter gunship and killed several US service-members. Twelve people would be a reasonable crew size or passenger complement for something like an old Huey; he wasn’t sure how that translated to the modern helicopters. So as another cartoon once said: “them’s fightin’ words!”

Both of the window looking things had now detached themselves from the outer wall and were presently levitating over the curb.

Fine, he thought:

The closer they are, the better my aim will be. My fighting skills are basically nonexistent – I perform feats of math and logic for the NSA – but it was as if I was guided by some of the recently dead special-ops guys. In one fell swoop I got a Beretta out, removed the safety, chambered a round, and set it to three-round burst.

My first volley of “armor-piercing” rounds went point blank into the “left window.” It was the one that had fired “the beam” as I’d mentally cataloged it.

There was already a new beam emerging from the other levitating flat structure as I did this. The window on the right, as it were, had that shimmery heat wave kind of thing coming from it also now. I dared permit myself a few milliseconds of sideways glance.

My eyes came back to it immediately and I directed a second three round burst into that one as well. It had indeed demolished a second of three helicopters, though this one didn’t completely explode in the air. I could hear it behind me making that “aircraft coming in for a crash landing” whine, then the impact of the wreckage jarred my bones even though it was still a considerable distance behind me. Along with this came enough light from the fire to cast a dance of shadows on the warehouse walls.

I am getting those men killed! The panicky voice in one corner of my mind was rebutted by a more logical one: enemy combatants are killing those men. If they were attacking the Pentagon, or Langley, or Fort Meade, a military response would have been mounted. You are a piece of equipment that is valuable to this nation. They snuck into Camp Pickett, stole the piece of equipment, and now special-ops guys are trying to retrieve it.

And if you had gone to them with your alien theories? That is obviously what these are, I think it’s safe to say: aliens? If you’d gone to them with this, they wouldn’t have been able to say they believed you even if they did. And these things? They would still exist and attack sooner or later. So your failure to be

chicken-little and warn everyone about “the aliens“ didn’t cause this either.

My ponderings didn’t get in the way of blasting these fucking things. But an inevitable observation required me to do something else. As I took out Butthead’s second Beretta I was amazed at my sudden dexterity as I chambered a round while still holding the first pistol. Their response to my shots had been unexpected though, just purely from the point of view of physics: they weren’t reacting at all.

It wasn’t as if they were heavily armored like with metal plates or something, and my bullets simply wouldn’t pierce through them. They were levitating objects. Even if they were somehow equipped with enough armor to deflect the brass-Teflon rounds, the knockdown energy of three 9mm slugs hitting in rapid succession should’ve at least moved them slightly... possibly like a paper mobile hanging from a string, reacting ever so slightly to an air current? But no. Nothing.

If they were holograms as I previously thought? That could account for the lack of effect. (Never mind how holograms could fire laser or maser beams.) I hadn’t noticed any bullet holes in the metal wall of the warehouse behind them. Should I be worried that bystanders could be hit by stray bullets if anyone were inside? No way to tell at the moment. But if not holograms, then another possibility was that Butthead had loaded up with blanks. Absurd, yes. But not technically hard to comprehend. Would this require some kind of blank firing adapter like the M-16 had when we’d used MILES gear? That depends: are they gas operated? Probably not. But that’s beyond my level of expertise in firearms.

I did know that blanks would contain some sort of wading; the slugs which I’d observed would need to be ejected properly for an automatic pistol to operate right. The blank thing seemed very unlikely.

And moving on to another aspect of the blanks question: it was just absurd, because really, who packs this kind of fire power in dual shoulder holsters and then for some reason chooses to run blank ammo through both of them? A guy trying to scare someone? Or someone who actually did intend to let me think I escaped, wanted to employ an elaborate ruse to make me think I was well armed, and wanted to see whom I would contact and how, and what the response time would be and what it would consist of…

I cut myself off, mentally, although this line of thought in my head had only taken microseconds; I devised and Alexandrian solution. Rapidly switching the first selector to single fire and with the new one already on single, I placed two calculated shots from each pistol a few degrees off and down, into the base of a large block-ish heavy duty plastic trashcan.

Nope. Not blanks. My experiment confirmed it not only with a noticeable double recoiling of the garbage laden can which spun it around almost 90° but also with an enormous “exit wound” on the other side of the can as both slugs pooled together their momentum in blasting out a watermelon-sized hole. It disgorged a torrent of crap into the gutter, some of it old paint and possibly glue.

Though my attention was only diverted for one or two seconds, the third entity had begun to morph in the absence of my gaze. It had been a calculated risk, once again, but I thought it worthwhile: if I had been blazing away with blanks, then clearly there would’ve been some more productive use of my time that I could have been pursuing.

Now the third entity, which had never chosen to assume window-like form, was struggling to rise up from being an oil slick on the ground and attempting to become three-dimensional… And humanoid. For its efforts, the form it achieved was somewhere between one of the shadow beasts that Patrick Swayze had seen coming to carry away the bad people in Ghost and the thing that killed Yar on Star Trek the Next Generation.

It’s failure to mimic human form didn’t hinder it’s ability to use the heat ray – yes, it was equipped with one of those also. It powered up quickly and I could see the heat wave effect disappearing out into the corner of my vision. I didn’t need to visually confirm that it was going after the third helicopter! Both guns out now, with both on three round burst, I went full throttle Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton in the bungalow. Check out time!

Continue on to next section…

If And Only If

by Michelle Viviénne de Vandahlcourte

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

First Edition. © December 16, 2015.

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guillemelgat · 3 years

Text

Level Up Challenge (Romani): Day 3

Prompt: Write about your day.

Murro Ges Rromanes

Ages chi kerdem but buki. Pomenisardem-ma oxto chasurya tha gelem ka klasate. Dem-duma murre amalensa. Kartozhisardem. Kerdem daro murra amalinake. Gindem tsirra bukfa numa chi gindem sar but kai manglem(?). Gindem murra amalinasa tha sas lashe. Thai-vi murri zeya dukhal tha chi kamav kodo. No, kodo sas murro ges.

[ Other Days of This Challenge ]

#corrections welcome #the sentence about the book is a dumpster fire #will ask people on discord about that tomorrow probably #level up romani #romani:general #romani:practice #romani:challenge #general:practice

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plan-d-to-i · 2 years

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“The people who try to claim that the reason their relationship fell apart is because Jiang Cheng is jealous - just, what? What are you reading? What are you watching? Actually, the reason their relationship fell apart is because a tyrannical overload slaughtered their entire sect including their parents; Wei Wuxian chooses nonconsensual brother surgery, then becomes high off of dark energy and actively lies about it, while a band of supervillains are in the background manipulating events and hearsay until they're all left with little choice at all. It's a whole constellation of progressively terrible circumstances leading ultimately to the murder of their beloved sister, and yet the one takeaway from all of this is - jiang cheng is jealous and sucks and never loved wei wuxian. ??? Like, it's fine if Jiang Cheng's form of abrasive love isn't your cup of tea. But please, can everyone, as a collective, please gather some critical reading skills?”

This is part of the post I was telling you about. Nothing is JC’s fault of course but it’s all the fault of a band of super villains and WWX. lol

Also why do the ones who accuse others of not having reading skills never bother to actually quote the book?

"The people who try to claim that the reason their relationship fell apart is because Jiang Cheng is jealous - just, what? What are you reading?"

The novel. The story. Those words, that make up sentences and paragraphs and chapters, and come together in harmony to convey a specific message. I know this must be confusing to ppl who just use the characters' names to make up the content in their head.

"But please, can everyone, as a collective, please gather some critical reading skills" - the real question is can this person? before they inflict their dumpster fire rhetoric and painfully inaccurate summaries on the world wide web again... Probably not.

#mdzs #answers #canon jiang cheng #Wei Wuxian

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noxnthea · 2 years

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Winterhawk ficlet: “Our signs don’t align!” + astrology + established relationship + outsider POV + dumpster fire Clint + background Kate/Yelena/America wc: 1050

~~~

Clint walks out from his room the next day, his hair a mess, an astrology book in hand.

Kate looks up from her seat on the couch — he's even more of a zombie than normal, and she's pretty sure he hasn't realized she's in the room.

It takes thirty minutes and three cups of coffee before Clint emerges from his stupor. He lifts his head up slowly from where he's been staring at a single page for the past cup and a half, then blinks as he notices Kate for the first time.

“Katie,” he says, voice filled with way too much mourning for a sunshine Saturday afternoon, "A bird may love a fish, but where would they live?"

Kate glances away for the half second it takes her to school her expression. This is going better than she could have hoped. “Bucky is water sign.”

Clint chokes out a sob. “I know. Still waters run deep. And I’m nothing but a flighty fucking air sign.”

Oh god. This is pitiful. Kate’s in heaven.

She tightens the twist of her lips to keep from laughing. “Yeah, you’re not wrong. Geminis are known to be, hmm, what’s a nice way to say this… wishy-washy.”

“I so am, oh my god," Clint moans into his mug. “Do you know what Co-Star says my best career options would be? Do you know?? It says I would make a good Twitter personality. A Twitter personality, Kate! What the fuck can a Twitter personality offer Bucky? A Pisces best jobs include volunteer therapists and amateur poets. Those aren’t even on the same level. I’ll never be enough for him.”

Kate thinks about how the website she sent to Clint also says Pisces would make good “sad clowns” and “orbs of light”, or the fact that both Clint and Bucky are gainfully employed as full-time superheroes, but resists pointing that out. Instead, she says, “Yeah, totally. Did you see the part that talks about how Pisces like to be romanced with classic novels in the park and handwritten love letters? Yikes, man, I don’t think you’ve ever done that for Bucky, have you.”

Clint stares into his mug as though it’s the end of the world, and his death awaits him after his last sip. “You mean the part right above where it talks about how they attract people with bad boundaries who take advantage of their compassion? Kate, it’s me. I have no boundaries. I’m the one who takes advantage of his compassion.”

Kate winces, pulling in a breath between her teeth. “Well, you’re the one who said it…”

Clint closes his eyes, inhales. “You know who else is a Gemini? Kanye fucking West. You know who else is a Pisces? Rihanna. I’m the Kanye to his Rihanna. I never wanted this. I’m going to ruin him.”

“I dunno,” Kate says. “I think Pisces are used to heartbreak and trauma. Bucky definitely is.”

Clint slips off of his chair, spooling like a limp noodle onto the floor of the living room. He throws one arm over his face, the other clattering backwards against an end table. “But I don’t wanna break his heart.”

Kate bites her fist to keep herself from crying in laughter. She can feel her face heating up; it’s probably freaking purple. Giving Clint that website and that book was the best idea she’s ever had. She takes a second to compose herself. “I dunno, Clint, sounds like your relationship is — “

The door to the apartment swings open, and there’s a loud skittering of paws as Lucky slip-slides across the concrete floor, landing with a crash on top of Clint. Clint wraps his arms around the dog, pressing his face into his fur, groaning out mostly incomprehensible sentences. Kate catches “I don’t deserve your love,” and “how could I believe — ” and “I knew it all— .”

Bucky walks into the room a moment later, freezing when he takes stock of the situation.

Kate tries to keep her laughter back, and it comes out as a half-choked snort.

“…Clint?” Bucky asks softly, murder brows furrowed in Kate’s direction, as though that’s ever done anything to intimidate her. “What’s going on, sweetheart?”

There’s a beat, then Clint mutters something deep into Lucky’s belly that Kate’s unenhanced hearing doesn’t pick up.

“What was that?” Bucky tentatively steps into the room, looking absolutely baffled. “You’re a, I’m a — what?”

Clint rolls out from under Lucky, and groans, fatalistic, “I’m a bird, Bucky, and you’re a fish, and I’m never going to make you happy!”

Kate can’t decide if he looks more like a toddler throwing a tantrum or a pirate walking to the end of a gangplank over a sea that’s swarming with sharks. Both? Yeah, both.

Bucky sighs, then looks at Kate.

She takes pity on him. “I introduced him to astrology yesterday and he found out that your signs don’t align.”

An entire spectrum of emotions flashes across Bucky’s face, before finally settling on a sickening exasperated fondness that makes Kate want to vomit.

He marches over to Clint and sits on the floor next to him, forcibly pulling Clint’s gangly body into his lap. “Clint,” he says, patient, “We’ve been together for five years. We got engaged six months ago. We’re getting married in three weeks. You know you make me happy.”

“Yeah, but the stars say I’m bad at commitment!”

The glare Bucky shoots Kate over the top of Clint’s head promises swift retribution.

She decides that it’s a good time to take her leave.

She skedaddles out of the apartment as Bucky starts listing all the ways Clint’s proven himself to be perfectly capable of committing to the people he cares about. She pulls out her phone, where several texts in a group message are waiting.

Star Spangled Sweetheart: how’d it go???? 👀👀👀 Assassinate My Heart: It is Clint. It surely went hilariously. Star Spangled Sweetheart: okay yeah but I need details. Star Spangled Sweetheart: did he cry? please tell me he cried. Assassinate My Heart: He definitely cried Assassinate My Heart: Lunch at 2 at Montellos. You can tell us about it then? I want the gore. Star Spangled Sweetheart: gory details, Yels. Assassinate My Heart: I want the gore. Assassinate My Heart: 🩸🔪💀 Assassinate My Heart: 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸

Kate grins, then starts typing.

World’s Best Archer: don’t worry guys, I can do you one better. World’s Best Archer: I got his whole breakdown on video.

Star Spangled Sweetheart: !!!! holy SHIT Assassinate My Heart: This is why you are perfect, котик World’s Best Archer: dancing-cowboy-fingerguns.gif

~~~ ficlet #4 of @ladyladylady1's birthday week! Also, a uh, 5 month belated gift for @bekala, who was the first person to make me think about how Kate would 100000% fuck with Clint this way.

#no astrologists were harmed in the making of this ficlet #i just can’t get enough of a Yelena and america approved Kate prank #is Kate the best bro or the worst bro?#you decide!#if only Clint had checked his horoscope for the day #woulda said something like “don’t trust your loved ones for they will deceive you and delight in your agony’#also now I want to write Kate x Yelena x america forever #HAPPIEST OF BIRTHS LADY AND BEKALA IM SO GLAD THE STARS ALIGNED TO BRING YOU INTO MY LIFE #winterhawk #my fic #amerikate #kate/yelena #outsider pov #clint barton

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harveywritings92 · 3 years

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BNHA scenario: you sleepwalk/sleep talk.

Summary: You have a tendency to talk or walk in your sleep, it never really bothered your boyfriend, if you wandered off in your sleep he'd just follow you to make you don't get harmed and take you back to bed, or if you talk in your he'd humor you as he found it hilarious! but tonight was different... this night you seemed to channeled something paranormal and it scares you boyfriend shitless.

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Shigaraki: It was around three am when Shigaraki was woken up by you sitting up in bed, he sighed tiredly assuming you were gonna stand up and walk around for couple minutes then wander back to bed, or you were gonna leave the room and he'll have to go make sure you don't hurt yourself and bring you back himself. After five minutes of you not moving Tomura turned around to look at you...

And was very confused you were obviously still asleep, but you were kind of glaring at something? Shigaraki curiously looked over his shoulder and surveyed his dark bedroom confused at what could be holding your attention and was more so stumped when you slowly lifted up your hand and pointed at the large antique mirror, he had set up near his computer; with this almost frustrated expression. "He won't stop starring..." you deadpanned causing your boyfriend to jump from you suddenly talking...

"W-who won't stop starring?"

"Him, the man in the mirror!

"There's no one in the mirror, y/n"

"The man with no face he's right there...."

You huffed annoyed before laying back down, while Tomura was sitting there looking between you and the mirror shitting brinks! *Wake the fuck up! you think you can just go back to sleep and just leave me on edge like this!* He mentally hissed the froze when he heard a weird scrapping noise coming from the mirror's direction, his red eyes slowly turned to look at the mirror and nearly pissed himself when he saw it the mirror was swaying on the wall right to left, only to stop he made a move like he was gonna get up and check.

"Oh fuck to the no..." he hissed before laying back down hugging you close, Shigaraki nearly smothered you to death with how tight he was holding onto you!

The next day you were confused when you came back to the base to find what looked like a box of glitter and rotten woodchips in the dumpster out back, you went to Shigaraki's room and found the mirror gone! in it's place was a random poster and a shelf filled with video-games, comic books and random liquor bottles, Also you noticed that Shigaraki seemed to be avoiding playing any horror videogames involving ghosts for a while; opting instead to play Animal crossing or Pokémon.

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{Note: Ayane is the default name for the Dabi's daughter reader in the dad scenarios]

Dabi: He was coming in late from a mission, he sat down on his bed taking his boots off and nearly shat himself when he saw a figure standing up in the corner of the room, he quickly turned the lights on to find you just standing there staring dead ahead, he let sigh expecting you to burst out laughing any second now. "Y/n you scared the crap out o-..." You weren't reacting. "Y/n? Fairy?" he stood up and waved his hand in front of your face and noticed your steady breathing, and realized you were sleeping...

Dabi was going to grab your hand when you caused him to jump back, your eyes snapped up to look at him then pointed at the hallway, just in time for Dabi hear giggling and saw what he though was his 2 year old daughter running passed the door. "Ayane?" he called out as he sat you down on the bed and went to get the kid before she hurt herself. "Firefly what are you doing out of-...what the hell?" Dabi trailed off when he saw Ayane peeking out from behind a door, a door that was deadbolted shut, there was no possible way for her to reach the locks let alone open it!

Before Dabi could take another step despite his instinct screaming at him not to, a faint voice whispered in his ear "You not supposed to follow when they call..." Dabi cussed and turned around to see you standing behind him still sleep walking! then you both heard the door "Ayane" was hiding behind slam shut then lock! Scaring the crap out of your husband and waking you and your daughter up, who started crying for you both as she could. "Touya? why am I in the hall-..." You husband didn't answer he just rushed to Ayane's room like bat out of hell!

"Put your shoes and coat on! we're getting the hell outta here!" he hissed at you while carrying Ayane, you did as you were told but kept asking what was going on? "Now!" he barked making you jump from shock, you've never seen him this shaken up before! "I knew this house was too cheap for a reason!" he growled as he strapped your daughter into her car seat, He told you what happened in the car after driving to a gas station a few blocks away, needless to say the three of you spent the night in a roadside motel and the next morning Dabi was looking for the landlord and some priests!

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Izuku: He was woken up by the feeling of being stared at... Izuku woke up and rolled over to see a woman standing over him! He yelped nearly pissed himself before he realized it was you! "Y/n? why are..." his eyes adjusted and he saw the glazed over look in your eyes and realized you were asleep! "What did you have another nightmare again?" he asked getting up holding his hand out to you, but you didn't budge...

His brows furrowed before deciding to try to take you back to your room and got up and went get the door but was shocked to it locked! but if he locked his door then how did you..." Izuku felt his blood go cold as he turned around ready for a fight! only to find...Nothing? but no... Your were just here! he saw you! hell, he felt his hand brush against yours when he got up! he checked his closet, under his bed under his desk, you really weren't there!

Izuku was rightly freaking out as he left his room and went to your room; He started knocking on your door as quietly as possible and waited a few seconds, before he heard you shuffling around as you opened the door rubbing the sleep from your eyes. "Izuku?...that's trippy." You yawned as your boyfriend looked at you confused. "w-what do you mean?" he stammered you were looking mighty creeped out!

"I just had a dream I was in your room and you were staring at me not saying anything, not matter how many times I called your name."

"*goes white as a sheet* h-huh.."

"What? what I say?"

"You...what- I just coming over here to tell you I saw the same thing! Except you were one staring! what the crap?!"

You both started freaking out about the whole situation, before Mr. Aizawa found you both out after curfew; giving you a real reason to be scared!

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Hawks: Hawks was up late finishing up reports when he saw his phone light up, Keigo checked and saw it was a photo of you sleeping... he hummed not really thinking about it, assuming you sent it sleepwalking, it wouldn't be the first time this occurred... and he was going to keep working when the blond froze. *if you were sleeping, who the hell took that photo?!* Something was wrong!? Keigo rushed out of his office and made it to your house out of breath.

Landing in your backyard he approached the back door he saw you cat Mr. Pants sitting outside refusing to go inside even when he saw Keigo, he very carefully opened the backdoor door and was about to hit the lights, when something in his head told him that was bad idea! that's when the smell hit him...Gas! the winged man cussed under his breath and made his way to your room, finding you passed out on the bed, phone resting on the nightstand, he grabbed you and ran out of the house; without even checking to see if someone else was there!

He laid you out on ground outside checking to see if you were breathing... to his relief you were! but barely! Keigo called the fire department and ambulance, while he feathers opened some of the windows in your house to air it out! the fire department determined that the cause for the gas leak was your new stove, one of the hoses wasn't properly installed.

Keigo asked if anyone else was in the house? The firemen looked at each other befuddled. "Sir, Your lady friend there was the only one in the house." the blonds brows furrowed as he looked down at his phone to look at the photo only to find it gone! in fact there was no history of you ever contacting him! Hawks thought he was going insane!

The next morning when he went to the hospital to check on you, he told you about the photo and asked who was at your house. "No one, It was just me and Mr. Pants!" you insisted but then remembered something. "Y-yeah I had a freaky dream, I thought I was sleepwalking around the house, but when I got to my room I saw myself passed out on my bed! I thought it was soo weird I grabbed my phone and...took...a" Hawks finished your sentence. " A picture." Both of you were pretty shaken up by this whole situation and decided not to say anything about it, unless someone brings up the topic of "creepiest thing that ever happened to you?" and the ghost selfie is your go to story!

#bnha fanfiction #bnha scenarios #bnha imagines #dabi x reader #shigaraki x reader #hawks x reader #izuku x reader #izuku midoriya #touya todoroki #keigo takami #shigaraki tomura #tenko shimura #tw: swearing

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saturnsatiin · 2 years

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my first post is gonna be a silly little book rant letsa go

throne of glass is garbage

there, I said it. And now I'm going to explain because I didn't suffer having to read that dumpster fire of a book and then do a project on it for nothing.

here we go:

Right off the bat Celaena is the worst mc I've ever read. Literally Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way type shit. She's apparently good at everything, beautiful (the book mentions it every 50 seconds), but 'not like other girls' because she reads books. Already terrible, I know, but it gets worse. It says she's the greatest assassin in the land, the book doesn't fail to remind you of that every 20 words, but she never actually kills anyone. It gets so annoying, especially when she's also constantly mentioning that she could easily kill everyone in the room. Her flashy assassin skills that the book advertised in the cover summary was hardly shown at all, but that isn't the only thing that pissed me off about this shitty wattpad fanfic that got published.

The huge tournament thing that was hyped up throughout the book and on the cover summary hardly even happened. I read expecting some awesome hunger games-esque fight scenes but I didn't get any of that? The tournament was summed up in a flashback type thing in like two sentences? It was ridiculously disappointing because my thought process was that it doesn't matter if the mc is annoying if the fight scenes and plot is okay. At this point, I was ready to shut the book, but I needed to do an English project on it so I kept reading, and it doesn't get any better from there.

I know I've already mentioned that Celaena is annoying, but this was a major turn off for me so I'm dedicating another paragraph to it. She doesn't stop complaining! It pisses me off!! Every fifteen seconds she's like, 'my boobs! my hair! I'd rather wear pants because I'm not like other girls!' and it had me seething. It doesn't help that when she isn't complaining, she's always talking about how pretty she is. We get it, you have blue eyes and blonde hair, you don't have to mention it every two paragraphs.

I came for bloody fight scenes and a cool female character, and what I got was a fucking y/n with a love triangle! Now, love triangles can be done well, but this one was so generic and essentially became the main focus of the story--which would be fine, if that was what was advertised.

Anyways, after finishing it and deciding that I'm never picking up Maas's work again, I looked on the wiki in hopes that it gets better--guess what? It doesn't! If you thought Celaena was a Mary Sue before, you won't believe what I found!! That's right, she's a lost princess! Yes, you heard that folks! Like someone's roblox royale high oc! Honestly, I'm not even surprised at this point. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she got sold to one direction at some point in the books either, because that's how much of a shit character she is!

And I know people are going to say, 'iT gEtS bEtTeR iN tHe fOuRtH bOoK' but four books is too long! I'm not reading through 3 books of hot garbage just to get to the good part!!

All in all, this book is ridiculously overhyped and frankly, complete ass. Don't read it! Unless you like bad books I guess, in which case be my guest.

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coffeebooksorme · 2 years

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✨✨ JANUARY 2022 READING WRAP UP ✨✨

1. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall ⭐⭐⭐ : I liked this but I didn't love it like I expected I would. I honestly found Luc to be too damn insufferable to truly enjoy the book fully. The friend group was amazing, though. I definitely wanna give the sequel a chance.

2. Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop ⭐: Absolute trash. I read this when I was in my early twenties and loved it. Obviously I blocked out all the fucked up shit in the book. Incest, sexual assault, rape, grooming; you name it and it was in there. I'm ashamed at my younger self for having liked this.

3. A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair ⭐⭐⭐.5 : A spicy Hades/Persephone romance. Really enjoyed it. You can definitely tell it's self published because it definitely needed more editing but a promising start to a series.

4. A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair ⭐⭐⭐: Eh, it was alright. Persephone was significantly more annoying in this book than the first. Way more spice than plot but still enjoyable at times.

5. A Touch of Malice by Scarlett St. Clair ⭐: Technically I DNF'ed this at 90% but I'm still counting it for the pain and suffering. Typos out the ying yang, repeat sentences/paragraphs, and a complete 180 of Persephone's character. Hades becomes a walking cock just there to be a fucktoy instead of a fully fledged character. Any and all editing went out the window with this one because book 2 ended in August but this one started in July but further along in the storyline. Por que!?

6. Jade City by Fonda Lee ⭐⭐⭐: A really interesting mafia/mob story with a fantastical twist. Really loved the magic system but it was super hard to understand the world, the workings of the mafia, and how things were related due to a lack of glossary. If you have fantastical elements that are integral to the plot and understanding of a mafia gang, please include a glossary so my dumbass doesn't spend 3/4 book confused. Really slow burn build up but excellent twists to make me want to read the sequel.

7. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: By far my favorite read of the month! A TOTAL MINDFUCK THAT I LOVED! No lie, I totally wiki'ed a lot because Gideon's book was confusing and I read that forever ago so I was hopeless going into this, and I definitely spoiled myself. TBH, it didn't matter because this was so masterfully written and such a delight that when I was finished I immediately wanted to reread Gideon and then this. Super stoked for Nona the Ninth now!

All in all it was a pretty good month of reading! I hit two backlist books (Jade City and Harrow) and did one reread (trash dumpster fire). I’m trying not to be intimidated by the big chunky books so that was Jade City for me.

I’m unsure what I’ll read this month for my chunky book. Probably Between Burning Worlds because it’s book 2 in a Les Mis retelling so technically it’s romance and I’d like to stay with a romance theme this month. Plus, I really want to reread Evelyn Hugo. I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about that and I miss how much I loved that book so I want to revisit it.

#booklr #bookstagram #books #read #reader #reading #wrap up #my wrap up #bookworm #book dragon #bibliophile #my booklr posts

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holykillercake · 3 years

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Red String

𝕊ℍ𝔸ℕ𝕂𝕊 𝕏 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕖!ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

word count: 2.8k

summary: You had any place in the world to moor, a stable and safe summer paradise somewhere in the South Blue, or you could visit the winter island where cherry blossoms painted the freezing horizon pink. The world was on the menu, and yet you chose to break into a Yonko territory.

highlight: ¨What about you, Y/N? Will you try to put your hands on me?¨

warning: Look out for your arm, it might melt with the fluff.

notes: Hi, guys! This was an anon request for Shanks x Marine Reader. I was given the freedom to write whatever I wanted, so I hope you guys like it! <3 Dear, anon, I apologize for the time it took and I hope you read it!

𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤, 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖!

¨I have to say, not a usual place for a Vice Admiral to enjoy a vacation.¨ a smirk bent your lips as you heard the playful voice of the man who courted you with another drink.

¨Well, I´m no usual Vice Admiral.¨

¨No one doubts that.¨ He put the sword on the table and pulled a chair, sitting close to you. ¨You have grown, Y/N.¨

¨You have aged.¨

¨Oi, not very nice. You hurt my feelings.¨ the red-haired placed the hand on his chest, over the heart, faking an offended tone.

¨Mission accomplished.¨

You stared at each other for about four seconds before breaking into laughter. As always, Shanks was louder, banging his fist on the wooden table and vocalizing his amusement to anyone who had ears to hear.

¨It´s been a long time, Y/N.¨ he wheezed, still recovering from his overreaction.

¨Yes, it has, Red hair.¨

¨Red hair? Really? I mean, you tried to kill me way too many times already. You gotta call me by my name.¨ You chuckled, sipping your drink. ¨Especially when you´re at my house.¨

You grinned, shaking your head and biting your lip. Of course, the bastard would not let this opportunity slip.

After years of non-stop hard work, you received a few weeks off duty. That meant that the world could split open, the moons could fall into the atmosphere followed by the sun, and you would not have to move a single finger.

Issho-san would handle that better in any way.

You had any place in the world to moor, a stable and safe summer paradise somewhere in the South Blue, or you could visit the winter island where cherry blossoms painted the freezing horizon pink. The world was on the menu, and yet you chose to break into a Yonko territory.

However, the Yonko in question was more than just an Emperor of the Sea. Your lives entangled at a very young age when the Pirate King was still alive, and Garp had melanin left in his hair.

You were just two snotty brats fighting your Captains´ battles.

¨Anyway,¨ he chugged his drink and asked for another one. ¨I missed you in Marineford.¨

¨Well, I guess I missed Marineford myself. Had a good view, though.¨ you answered nonchalantly.

¨What do you mean?¨

¨I had an underling transmit me the whole thing.¨

¨Isn´t that handy?¨

You tried not to laugh. It was stupid, but every time you had Shanks and hand in the same sentence, you felt the urge to laugh.

¨I wanted to see Luffy.¨ you said.

¨Why not go there, then?¨

¨Duty called somewhere else.¨ you shrugged. ¨Besides, I would have been no help for him.¨

¨You´re saying you wouldn´t help him?¨ Shanks carried a suspicious tone in his voice.

¨Of course I wouldn't help him.¨ You took a sip of your drink. ¨But thanks... for stopping that madness.¨

The man casually stretched his arms above his head, tilting his head back, enjoying the warm sun.

¨No biggie. You owe me another one, and we should be fine.¨ he smiled.

¨Who´s counting?¨

¨I am.¨

¨I already stopped hunting you, Shanks. Isn´t that enough?¨

¨Not on my book, Y/N.¨

For a long portion of your life, you had a personal mission to give the Red Hair the same fate as his Captain. Whenever his crew was located, you would be the one hunting them. No one dared to tell you otherwise.

By that time, you had no significant position. Maybe a Lieutenant, Captain tops. But being related to the Hero of the Marines, well, that granted you some free passes, and as long as you could hand Shanks´head in a tray, a little nepotism didn´t bother you.

Actually, although everyone saw you as Garp´s relative, you were just his first protegé, his first rescued dog. Apparently, the highly ranked officers were going through boring times and decided to pay their dues by doing charity.

The only one you got to know was Sengoku´s kid. Rosinante was his name. To this very day, you could not think of him without the twist in your heart.

Even you didn´t know how to describe it, and honestly, you didn´t care. Was the job done at the end of the day? Good.

That was all that mattered until another pawn entered the game, a very troublesome one, by the way. Slept like a rock and ate all your food. You couldn´t help but fall in love with little Monkey D. Luffy.

He was the one to give you the answer you had stopped looking for a while ago.

In order to be his older sister, you had to be Garp´s granddaughter. Everyone loved the idea, except for the man himself.

You were as keen as Garp to make Luffy become a great Marine. You bought him tailor-made marine onesies and shared stories about the seas. Whenever he spotted you approaching with the leather book in your hands, he would get restless.

The onesies, however, those never lasted. They were thrown in a boiling dumpster altogether with your dream of him joining you in a job one day.

The sun was about to set, and you had just returned from a long and intricate mission when you received a call from Makino saying that Luffy had gotten into some trouble.

Not only that, The Red Hair Pirates were somehow involved. It was all you heard before hanging off the den den mushi and hopping in a Marine ship, headed to Foosha Village.

The idea of Shanks causing Luffy any pain or just giving him a hard time made you turn into a beast. But your bloodshot eyes were washed clean by the image of your brother, safe and sound, hanging out with Red Hair, who seemed rather... different.

¨Why would you do that?! What do you want, Red Hair?!¨

A lot of things went through your head, but none of them could explain why a pirate, why him, would sacrifice his arm to save Luffy. There was no way he didn´t know about your little brother´s connections.

¨I want to pay you a drink. But only if you stop yelling.¨

With a swing of his hand and a smile, Makino appeared with a jug of beer before you could spit fire on him again.

¨They´ve been really good at keeping Luffy entertained this past year, Y/N-san.¨ she said, kind as usual, before leaving.

You sighed and took a seat by his side.

¨Why did you do that?¨

¨I bet on his life. Just that. Why is that a problem? You don´t want to feel grateful for a pirate?¨

Your grip tightened around the cold glass, teeth clenching and knuckles turning white.

¨No.¨

Gratitude was never the problem. You would be grateful to anyone who risked their lives for Luffy, but he... you needed to hate him. But no matter how much you tried, you couldn´t get yourself to do it.

¨I don´t want you thinking that I owe you anything.¨

¨You don´t have to owe me anything, Y/N. But we´ve known each other for a while now, so... we both know that you will.¨

His lips turned into an honest smile, no teasing behind it, and you wished not to have your heart beating faster for it.

¨You don´t kn-¨

¨Y/N!¨ Luffy entered the bar, running to you with the brightest of the smiles on his face.¨Are you done? I have to show you something!¨ he asked, pulling the fabric of your coat.

¨Oi, behave Luffy, I´ll be done in-¨

¨Nooo!¨ he pouted before turning to the opposite side and pulling one of his impish grins ¨Look what I can do! Gomu gomu no...¨

His tiny hand balled into a fist, which you watched stretch all the way to the opposite side of the room before coming back and hitting him in the face.

Did his arm just...

The air froze in the room. You blinked a couple of times, hearing a few gasps around the bar, your gaze fixed in the same place his hand was seconds ago.

¨Luffy-kun, why don´t you come outside with me?¨ Makino extended her hand for him to take. ¨I´ll bring some meat.¨

The kid screamed in excitement and followed her, drool dripping down his chin.

So close, Shanks. So close. He thought, lowering his head on the counter and waiting to get chewed up. However, after a few unscathed seconds, the red-haired lifted his head, almost not believe his eyes.

That was the first and last time you bowed to a pirate.

Of course, later on, you punched him for letting Luffy eat a Devil Fruit.

You swore to leave him and his crew alone, as long as they did not cause bigger problems, which they eventually did, but you had a debt you could never pay, and you ended up focusing on other things.

Those things made it difficult for you to visit Luffy as much as you wanted, but since Garp had sent him to live with Dadan, you could sleep with a clean consciousness.

Whenever you paid him visits, he would tell you about these other kids, whom he considered brothers. One you got to meet, Sabo, smart and polite. The other, however, ran from you like you were a freaking plague.

Ace, another one with whom you had an inestimable debt.

¨Humor me, Y/N. If not Foosha, why here?¨

You shrugged.

¨I was passing by, and the place seemed quite enjoyable.¨

¨Hm.¨ the wind blew stronger, turning the gentle swishing of the palm trees into a harsher rustling. ¨Should I get my men ready for a conflict?¨

¨Relax, Shanks. Right now, this is the safest place on earth.¨

¨What do you mean?¨ he asked, genuinely curious.

¨Oh, come on.¨ you scoffed. ¨Not even the World Government will try to put their hands on you, and I´ll kill anyone who dares to ruin my vacation.¨

¨What about you, Y/N? Will you try to put your hands on me?¨

His gaze was heavy on you, conquering aura filling the place. You looked at him with narrowed eyes and a smirk growing on your lips.

This guy...

You harnessed the moment to take in his features, a lot more mature than you remembered. Although the scars were deeper and he seemed more tired, his hair shone like fresh blood, and his eyes... you were afraid to drown in them.

¨What would you do if I decided to put my hands on you?¨ you bit your lip. ¨I heard you´ve been terrorizing some kids lately.¨

¨Gotta give them a run for their bounties, right?¨ He laughed. ¨But I also heard some interesting things about you, Y/N.¨

You raised your eyebrows as if you were encouraging him to tell you more.

¨Apparently, I´m not the only one spending recreational time with young pirates. And there I thought Marines weren´t supposed to hunt Warlords of the Sea.¨

A shiver ran down your body, already aware of the subject he was about to bring up.

¨Well, I have no idea what you´re talking about.¨ You said, giving him your best oblivious eyelash bat.

¨Oh yeah? Because it was brought to my attention that you made some business with... what´s his name again?¨ he pretended exaggeratedly to think about it ¨Ah, Trafalgar Law.¨

¨Only time I spoke to him, he was a Warlord as well. And I just wanted to thank him for helping Luffy in Marineford.¨

¨You´re gonna start lying to me at this point of our relationship?¨ Shanks teased to eager a bit of the tension, and a scoff left your mouth.

¨First, you´re delusional. Second, you´re too nosey for your own good.¨

The two of you laughed along like you were not natural enemies.

¨Did you get to meet Luffy in Dressrosa? Heard they made an alliance.¨

¨Hm, yeah. But no, couldn´t get myself to do it.¨

You frowned, hurting for have had your little brother so close but not being brave enough to approach him. Good thing he had no idea about your presence in the scene, and you could trust Law´s discretion to keep it that way.

¨He doesn´t hate you, you know.¨

¨Yeah, I know...¨

That was true. Luffy didn´t hate you for not helping him in Marienford, just like he didn´t hate Garp for standing in his way. He had too big of a heart for that.

Shanks let you have your time in silence, empathizing with your feelings. He too had to make sacrifices by standing his ground before.

¨What now?¨ he asked.

¨What now?¨

¨Garp is retired. Joker is down. What´s holding you back?¨

The air got stuck in your lungs. The reality you had been running from, the question for which you postponed to find an answer.

When Garp took you in, the alternatives available for you were restricted, to say the very least. It was either accept the kindness of a stranger or die. He taught you his trade and molded you into one of the best-skilled marines.

As the time passed and you learned the ugly truth behind the World Government, the disgust and disbelief made you want to leave. Fortunately, your life was not stained by the passage of a Celestial Dragon, but how were you supposed to protect them, aware of the atrocities they afflicted to people?

At the same time, how could you leave Garp after everything he did for you? Of course, he would survive if you disappointed him that much, but you owed him your life.

What made you stay, however, was something much less pleasant than a lifetime debt. Thirteen years ago, evil prevailed, and you lost something really important. Or rather, someone.

Commander Donquixote Rosinante. Marine code 01746.

He had a sense of justice like no one else. He was strong, honest, and fair. Did he make you want to pull your hair out every time he lit himself on fire? Yes. Did it bother you to have stains on your tatami because he dropped hot tea on it? Yes. He possessed the ability to get you on your nerves, but he was your family.

You were supposed to be the greatest.

Long story short, that night, at Swallow Island, you left with more than just his dead body. You inherited his will.

You swore to take down the man responsible for shortening his life, and hopefully, in a later day, you could meet the little boy about whom he spoke so highly.

It took you thirteen years. No more ties of the past, no more strings on you.

Well, just one, if you were to be entirely honest with yourself. A string of a stupid tale, a nonsense legend, a foolish myth. The Thread of Destiny, supposed to connect two people together. They say the thread may stretch or tangle, but it shall never break.

Bullshit. There´s no such a thing.

But assuming that there was, why did you feel that if you pulled it to its very end, what you would find would be red as well?

Red as the vest Luffy wore diligently; red as the nose of a cranky apprentice; red as the pompous sails of the Oro Jackson; red as the locks of the man capable of stopping wars with words.

Would you dare to be anything else? Could you step out of your own life like this? Could you abandon everything you fought for all these years?

¨You know, I´ve said it in the past, but I´ll say it again. We could use someone like you in our crew.¨

You gave him a two-second smirky scoff before frowning again.

Were you worthy enough to owe yourself the chance to choose? What did it mean, the justice coat of a Vice Admiral you carried so proud on your shoulders?

If piracy took a lot from you in the past, could piracy, or a pirate, give you everything back?

¨Y/N?¨

¨Hm?¨ You hummed, gaze locked on the lethargic view.

Hot puffs of air played with your hair and involved your skin in a warm hug. You could hear the gentle sound of the waves crashing on the shore, coastal birds cooing and the wind whistling over the rocks.

¨Do you think, maybe, one day... I could ask you out?¨

No matter how many times you rewound the tape, you couldn´t find a different answer, a plausible reason for the burning feeling you held for him, whatever that meant.

From the first time you put your eyes on each other, a contract was opened without even a handshake. A deal was set without your acknowledgment. An ironic fate tied you to the same string.

¨Yeah... maybe.¨

#one piece #opfanfic #shanks #red hair shanks #yonko #emperors of the sea #Marines #vice admiral #monkey d luffy #op

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