#this is infinitely funny to me bc i don’t even look a little bit like jerma

[giddlygoat]

The Jerma jokes have gone so far that, unfortunately, my vague mental picture of you is just Jerma now fkhkjs

mutuals see me like this

[moonstruckme]

i cannot stop thinking about oblivious reader and remus where she’s talking about how she’s never been with anyone before bc no one likes her so remus is like i like you!! but she’s like haha ok yeah bc we are friends!! and he has to be like no i like you but she just thinks he’s taking piss but he’s actually being real with her i’m so 🤧

Thanks for requesting :)

cw: mention of alcohol

Remus Lupin x fem!reader ♡ 870 words

“Ugh, they’re disgusting.” You take a sip of your drink, looking at James and Lily over the rim of your cup. Lily’s eating an ice cream sandwich she’d found in Sirius’ freezer, offering James bites while he traces lines between her freckles with his pinkie. “I want to be them so badly.” 

Remus hums. It’s the tail end of one of Sirius’ parties (or his soirees, as he insists upon calling them), and the atmosphere is heavy with a pleasant lethargy. The music is still playing from his record player, some slowish, bass-heavy rock, but most everyone has cleared out, and Sirius himself has fallen asleep on the opposite side of the couch from Lily and James, his mouth hanging open. 

“I wonder what it’s like to be in love,” you sigh. Remus turns to you, catching the longing in your look just before you hide it away. 

“You’ve never been in love?” he asks you. 

You give him a funny look. “No.” You shrug. “I’ve never dated anyone before.” 

Remus hadn’t known that. He has to remind himself, again, that he doesn’t know all that much about you. You’re new to their little group, a coworker of Lily’s that she’d started bringing around recently. Remus doesn’t know you very well, but he’s found the learning process surprisingly enjoyable. He likes being around you. 

“How’s that?” It slips out before he can think it through, brash and unlike him. He backpedals immediately. “Sorry, that was rude, I only meant that I’m a bit surprised. You don’t have to answer.” 

“No, it’s okay.” You give him a smile, infinite in your benevolence. “People just don’t seem to think of me that way. No one’s ever liked me.” 

You sound so casual about it, but Remus can’t help but think that must not be a nice way to think of yourself. He’s sure you’ve been considered romantically by plenty of people, even if they never had the guts to tell you about it. You’re lovely. You deserve to know it. 

He musters his courage. “I like you.” 

You laugh, and he thinks Sirius is going to have to mop his self-esteem up off the floor tomorrow morning as part of his party cleanup. 

“Thanks,” you say, “but you don’t count.” 

 Why the hell not?

“I mean, I’m glad you don’t mind me,” you go on, taking another sip of your drink, “but it’s different when you’re friends. I meant that nobody’s ever liked me, like, romantically.” 

You go a bit shy at the last word, self-consciousness pulling your shoulders almost imperceptibly upwards. Remus forgives your oversight instantly. 

“Do you really think it’s so unlikely that anyone could like you romantically?” he asks, refusing to lower his gaze even when you shrink a bit at the question. “You’re a catch, love, trust me.” 

You shake your head and smile, frustratingly good-natured. “Easy for you to say, you don’t have to date me.”

“Have to?” Remus’ voice rises incredulously. He glances towards James and Lily on the couch, lowering it. “I would love to.” 

“Ha ha,” you monotone, rolling your eyes and raising your cup to your lips. 

He can’t believe you think he’d joke about this. He can’t figure out what’s more cruel, the way you keep inadvertently shooting him down or the fact that you seem so heart-wrenchingly prepared to be made fun of. “I mean it.” Remus lets his voice drop into a more genuine register, and something in your look softens. “I would date you. I want to, if you do. You’re far from impossible to like.” 

Your lips actually part in surprise. “Seriously?” 

“Yeah, I…” He looks over at the couch, but James and Lily are effectively as dead to the world as Sirius, and at the volume you’re both speaking he doubts they’d be able to hear you over the music anyway. “I think you’re really lovely. I’ve been meaning to do something about it, I just…I didn’t know how. But would you want to?”

“To go on a date?” you ask, looking a bit dazed. Remus smiles, but before he can confirm you laugh at yourself, the sound rich and sweet as dark chocolate. “Sorry, that might be a stupid question. I haven’t done this before.” 

“I can’t believe that.” He shakes his head, astounded. For a girl like you to never get asked out? Well, it makes things a bit easier for him, jealousy-wise, but objectively it’s criminal. Remus supposes he’ll have to make up for it himself. “But yeah, I’d like to go on a date.” 

You nod, smile sticking on your face. “Me too. I’d like that.”

“Good,” he says, finding that your smile seems to have stuck to him too. “Tomorrow, maybe? We could go for coffee.” He looks out the window behind you, where a faint line of gold on the horizon shows promise of sunrise. “I think we’ll both be needing it.” 

You laugh again. Remus decides that he likes it better than any song Sirius has played all night. “That sounds perfect. Thank you, Remus.” 

He’s not sure what you’re thanking him for. He’s the one who gets to take you to coffee tomorrow. He ought to be thanking you.

[ddarker-dreams]

Yan Childe, Diluc, Kaeya, Zhongli, Beidou & Ningguang / Courting Darling.

Warnings: Stalking, implied blackmail, kidnapping, and gaslighting. Note: this is a bit of an amalgamation from different asks i’ve gotten, put into one thing bc i thirst for these six characters so hard .

Childe:

“What’s life without a little adventure? You can stand to miss work for a day or two, it’ll still be there waiting for you when we get back. People have even gone so far as to say I’m an absolute joy to be around. You want to know who said that? Sorry, that source is staying a secret.” 

Childe is an erratic whirlwind of highs and lows. You never know what to expect from him, and he likes it that way, always keeping you on your toes. He doesn’t bother with having his friendliness appear genuine. If you want to doubt his goodwill, then so be it, he won’t stop you. It just makes it all the more interesting to keep you around should you be wary of his presence. 

He doesn’t care for the traditional conventions surrounding romance. It isn’t his thing, and he’s used to being considered the odd one out of every crowd, so why stop now? Childe doesn’t tone down any aspects of his bloodthirsty personality in your presence. It’s difficult to tell how serious he’s being since most of it takes the form of jokes or other lighthearted jests. In his mind, the fact he’s even spending so much time with you should make it obvious he’s interested. Whether that’s good or not. 

You’re going to be dragged all over the place. Childe’s stamina is seemingly an infinite well, as he takes you from activity to activity. By the end of the day, you’ll be exhausted. Unfortunately, he doesn’t take no for an answer, weaseling his way into your schedule despite your protests. Childe is particularly fond of getting into situations where a fight is inevitable, purposefully taking you to areas with monsters to show off his combat prowess. 

“Did you get a look at that, [First]? Aha, I haven’t had this much fun in ages! You already want to head back? Hm, I don’t know, the night is still young. Stop dragging your feet or I might just have to carry you. Not that I’m complaining, should that be the outcome. It’s up to you. Oh! Now that’s the spirit! I’ll try not to be hurt by how fast you’re moving now.” 

Diluc: 

“Ah, [First], I take it you’re doing well. I couldn’t help but notice you eyeing this book at the market earlier. I’ve had a copy of it for ages, but with how busy things are, rarely do I have time to read. I’d be appreciative should you accept this and give it a better home.” 

Diluc is self-assured in many areas of his life, romance is not one of them. He knows how to carry himself in the company of businessmen, staying polite and vigilant, but this rigid method doesn’t work in his favor when it comes to wooing you. To soften the blow on his side, Diluc tells himself that it was never about a relationship anyway. That his main priority was and will always be to ensure your safety. He tells himself this, but... isn’t sure if he really believes it. 

He’s a perfect example of pining from afar. Subconsciously, he’ll drift towards areas you tend to linger around, hoping to spot you amidst the bustling crowds. Each time he tells himself that this’ll finally be the time he approaches you. The opportunity is set before him, waiting to be taken advantage of, but he rarely follows through with his desire. 

It frustrates Diluc to no end how easily others flock to you. He’ll stand there, still as a statue, eyes boring into whatever pest currently holds your attention. This would be the push to finally send him your way. It’s a surprise to you both when Mondstadt’s wine tycoon materializes by your side, politely asking to speak in private. Truth be told, he just can’t stand the thought of another person holding your attention that isn’t him. 

“I apologize for my abruptness back there. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you about for some time, and well... would you consider having dinner with me tonight? I’d appreciate your company.” 

Kaeya:

“It’s a funny thing, really. How we keep bumping into one another like this. Ah... that suspicious expression, it wounds me deep, sweetheart. When did you start looking at me like that, I wonder?” 

There’s no doubting Kaeya’s interest in you, from the first time he sauntered over to you and started a conversation. The problem you have is deciding how genuine his advances are. While Kaeya might not be the textbook definition of a heart-wrenching playboy, you’re familiar enough with the many rumors surrounding him to be wary. It doesn’t help that he’ll point this out to you when guessing the source of your apprehension. 

His methods are, oddly enough, effective. Kaeya balances the various aspects of seduction with ease. He reveals just enough about himself to draw out your attention, before focusing the conversation back onto you. You’ll never get to stop and realize how little you know about the man sitting in front of you, he makes certain of that.

Kaeya might hide certain aspects of himself, but his dubious morality is never concealed. He has you entirely wrapped around his finger, words validating his actions falling from his lips with the utmost ease; he’s a force to be reckoned with. You’ll start a conversation heated about something you’ve learned, only for it to end wondering why you were ever upset in the first place.

“Now, now, there’s no need to get all riled up over something like this. Don’t you trust me by now? When have I ever given you reason to doubt me? You need to take a look at the bigger picture. Hey, take a seat. I’ll sit here all night explaining to you if it’s necessary.” 

→[More underneath the cut].

Zhongli: 

“There must be something that I can assist you with. It may not look it, but I’m familiar with many fields of work, even obscure ones. Please allow me to lend a hand.” 

Zhongli, despite having been around for many centuries, is somewhat clueless in romantic pursuits. He’s aware of his fondness for you, but doesn’t know what to do with it. This leads him to becoming your shadow for some time. He focuses on what he knows best: observation and processing new information. Your every little movement will be analyzed and tuck into the back of his mind for later usage. 

Zhongli’s soft over the idea of you coming to rely on him for everything. He prides himself on his wealth of knowledge and work ethic, believing it a strong appeal, one that he puts on full display when you’re around. It’s not rare for you to overhear neighbors and friends speak highly about Zhongli. They’ll mention in passing how they were having difficulty with something, only for Zhongli to come around and help without asking for anything in return. 

This is exactly what he’s been hoping and waiting for. Zhongli has patience and sets himself up to be a desirable partner in your eyes, the efforts from his labor coming into fruition. Before you even speak to him for the first time, you’re likely to think highly of him, having heard all the ways he’s helped people close to you. Now that the stage is properly set, he’s ready to make his interest in you more evident. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you, [First]. Oh? You can say the same for me? Well, I hope I can live up to your expectations. I had just been on my way to Yanshang Teahouse, would you care to join me? My treat, of course.” 

Beidou: 

“You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced a voyage with my crew and I. I’ll set up a nice cabin just for you, how does that sound? Hm? Special treatment? Don’t worry your pretty little head about that, lass.”  

Beidou’s attention is overwhelming and oftentimes dangerous. Traditional social conventions are nothing but a waste of time for her, meaning that common courtesy is disregarded in favor of always speaking her mind. Which might not be so bad if she wasn’t so amorous. Even the most oblivious person couldn’t miss Beidou’s overt favor towards you.

This reverent display of affection is only exacerbated when she’s drunk, face flushed and an arm swung tightly around your shoulder. She doesn’t care who sees, who’s judging, or what gossip will be born from her actions. Beidou makes a point of showing everyone in the vicinity that even if you aren’t officially partners yet, a claim has been staked on you. 

Whether it be coercion or some other unsightly method, Beidou is intent on bringing you on her ship at least once. Or that’s how she initially phrased it to you. Imagine your surprise, that when you finally caved so she’d drop the subject, her crew was untying the ropes keeping the boat at port. 

“The fun’s just getting started, you haven’t seen anything yet. Don’t get all teary-eyed yet, sweetheart, I know you’ll come around. This’ll be a story sung by sailors for generations to come.”

Ningguang:

“If I’m being honest, not many are given the opportunity to speak to me outside of business-related ventures. I never thought I’d find it this... pleasant. I hope you’ll continue to entertain me as you do now.” 

Ningguang starts off her wooing in a subtle, almost coquettish manner. She is confident in her charm and brilliance. Not many have been gifted in the art of conversation to the same extent Ningguang has, her silver tongue paired with quick intellect making it difficult for you to escape. She’ll corner you verbally without you even noticing it. 

Ningguang finds amusement in how you stumble over your words, pure of heart and not chained down by special interests. Your forthright but considerate demeanor intoxicates her. She’s used to people cowering in her presence or trying too hard to pursue their goals. You might even earn a rare compliment or two, disguised as politeness, that doesn’t register for hours. 

She is a lady of fine taste. The sky’s the limit when it comes to her wealth, which is unrivaled throughout Tevyat, and you’ll be quick to notice this. Ningguang is most partial to sending you traditional Liyue adornments, believing the rich culture behind each piece suits your beauty. She’s also fond of the fact that when you wear her gifts, everyone in the vicinity will know it’s from her, due to its extraordinarily high cost. 

“Do you like my latest gift, little dove? It was made custom with you in mind, an unrivaled display of craftmanship, if I may add. Wear this and carry me with you... always.” 

[rotshop]

get prankt this isn't an angst fic lol ,,

ANYWAY ,, i realized earlier that i could've just been calling 'auditor reader' employer reader this whole time and then i had a funny silly goofy little idea and now we r here,,,lol,,, ill proof read this later but i did this in one go no breaks so . help.

I might continue this later so!! consider this a sort of 'introduction' if u will,,

note ; auditor uses he / she / they pronouns in this bc ive decided im just going to push my propaganda onto all of you <333 also Hank uses he / they / xe

tw ; dissociation, dereality, some light body horror

Bloody Management

"This is out of your jurisdiction. You've wasted enough time here," you seethed dryly, staring down at the shorter being. "You've made no progress and have only proved your operation to be a strain on our relations and resources."

"Out of MY jurisdiction? YOU'VE never even been there before! You think you can just storm in and suddenly kick me out of my own work?" Auditor shot back, hands slamming down on the mahogany desk in front of her.

"Yes, actually, I do," you snapped, eyes narrowing. "I think you're forgetting just who you're speaking to. You've let this drag on for far too long and your ego has grown in tandem with its pointlessness."

Sighing, you leaned back in your chair, pinching the bridge of your nose as you continued. "Look, I understand. You put effort and thought into this little pet project of yours, but the results have all proven zilch. You fucked up, that's fine, but you can't keep meddling with this reality in hopes something will suddenly work again! All you're doing is tearing and poking holes the rest of us will have to deal with later."

"If you just gave me a little more time I could-"

"We've been giving you time. We've given you more time than we've ever given any project like yours," you gave a desperate look, "It's over. You tried and we tried, there's nothing that can be done. If you just worked with us then we could help you."

There was a long silence as they faltered, hands falling into their lap as their gaze followed, landing on the floor.

"And what happens to my Nevada?"

"We'll try and clean it up again. Return it to..some sort of normalcy," you hummed, "Though, with some of those tears in the fabric it'll take a bit longer than anticipated. That..clown, is proving to be rather difficult."

You paused, grin finding it's way onto your face.

"It's been tricky, if you will."

"Not the time."

You gave a 'tsk' in response, shrugging lightly, "I don't regret it."

"You'll be going back to our depths, effective immediately. While this project was a failure, we're still curious to see if there's anything else that can be done in a different time and place."

"And what about you? Are you going to sit all pretty in this fake office for the rest of eternity?" She questioned sarcastically, eyes dragging up to meet yours.

"God, I wish. I mean, seriously, you have no idea how nice it is to have some peace and quiet after dealing with that fuckin' office."

With a dry snicker and -presumably- an eye roll, they finally stood accepting their defeat.

"I presume I'll be seeing you?"

"If your little posse doesn't cause me too much trouble, yes."

"Have fun with that, I do hope it's as grueling as possible," he hummed, turning and striding towards the door to nothing.

"Thanks, was nice seeing you too."

The door peering to the void shuts soundlessly.

.

.

.

"Was the pun really that bad?.."

---

"What do you mean they're just neutral suddenly? It's not like they all just suddenly unionized or sum' shit! There's gotta be something going on," Deimos groaned, irritation dragging onto him and clinging desperately.

"Well- What do you want me to say! I'm just as confused as you are," Sanford huffed back over comms, making a vague gesture with no audience.

Hank stood in the other room, staring down at the few agents that were on their knees with their hands held tight behind their heads. They'd made no attempt to attack Sanford and xem, simply staring in a bit of surprise when the two'd busted in. It'd completely thrown the raid off, leaving them both in a state of stunned confusion. The agent that they'd asked about the sudden change in demeanor just gave some shaky shrug, stammering out that they'd all received an order to not attack under any circumstances from some unknown contact. 'They really just listen to anyone then?..'

It was hard to believe, hard to find any reason or meaning in that lead to any conclusive endings. Which, had lead to a small dispute going nowhere and fast. Hank only picked up on little parts of it, the words being muffled and distorted through the wall. Xe didn't really have much interest in getting a clearer reading of it though, it didn't sound like it meant much.

"Look, I'm just going to try and look for any documents or actual recordings of this apparent 'ghost order,' alright?..." A pause. "Deimos? Are you there? Shit- Of course the line dies now of all times."

The line wasn't dead. It was somewhere else, some-when else.

---

The ground felt cold.

.

.

No, was it warm?

Wait- No no no, it wasn't warm..

.

.

.

Was it even the ground?

.

.

Did it even matter?

.

Deimos could fuzzily recall it. Arguing with Sanford over the line. The points he made exactly didn't seem to ring through the fog of confusion and numb in his mind. Something about the Auditor, the agents, blah bla..something.

He'd been making to say something else when he'd seen it, something off in the corner of his eye. It wasn't anything huge, if you asked him he wouldn't even be able to tell you what it was. There was something wrong, but there wasn't. The ground was cold, but it was warm.

Something was wrong.

Everything is fine.

He'd turned around, looking around for whatever in his vision wasn't right.

That's rude to say, you know.

He'd never found it, something reaching from the depths to grab him.

You're making me sound awfully cruel.

With a groan, he picked himself up off the ground to observe his surroundings. White and black stretched infinitely around him, the 'ground' underneath him was the deepest of not-color while the 'sky' was its blinding twin. A building stood in front of him, a mix of ivory and ink twisted to form its structure. The door faced him, standing tall and straight as a soldier in spite of how tilted and off the world felt.

Before he could even really register it, something was pulling him up off the floor. There were no hands or strings physically attached, nothing sticking from him to drag into the infinite beyond his comprehension, no no. It was something quiet, a ghost or a whisper in his mind that pulled him through the ocean and to shore. The door grew larger- closer. His mind grew blanker. His hand twisted the knob.

Color flooded into his vision finally, the room in front of him coated in it graciously. The floors were a velvet carpeting, a wine red that felt of lavish and glitzy. The walls were lined in bookshelves, each filled to the brim with titles somewhere between poetry and latin white noise where imagination fell. At the head of the room stood a desk, polished mahogany standing tall and still, frozen indefinitely in time. Behind it, you.

Me.

Once again, he was pulled forward. Each step fell in front of the other, unsure of weight behind them and noise that followed suite. He felt half there. Half of a man and half of a void. It was..something.

Not pleasant, not bad.

The ground wasn't cold, wasn't warm.

It just was.

He finds himself meeting your gaze as he plops down into one of the seats in front of you. He finds his neck straining and bowing under phantom limbs that aren't there. He finds his eyes training on yours which stare back pointedly, finds himself between hot and cold. He finds himself sitting down before you as he watches from the window.

There's no window in the room.

"You must be so confused."

Your voice is in front of him, right? That's where you are, so your voice should be coming from there. It isn't though. It's around him somewhere. Even as you tilt your head to the side the noise of your own voice doesn't seem to follow it.

"Don't think too much on this all, alright?"

You mutter something. 'These grunts really weren't made for this- to be here. I'm surprised he even woke up.'

Someone nods in agreement.

"Wh..who are you?"

Is that his voice? It is. It has to be, it fell from his own mouth. He barely even felt it move. Is it his mouth? It has to be.

You pause for a moment, seemingly caught off guard. He doesn't know if its because he spoke or because of what he asked. Nobody clarifies.

"Why don't you call me [name]? That'll be easiest for you. I do apologize for dragging you here rather than appearing there," you hum, leaning forward on your desk. "I just wanted to make sure we had the utmost privacy."

I wanted to make sure you wouldn't be able to forget.

"Now, Deimos," is that his name? "I need to tell you something, I have to work on restoring things for you, so I can't deliver this message to everyone myself in the most..effective of ways. You won't mind filling your friends in for me, right?"

He doesn't answer. He can't. His tongue is lead and his mouth is stuck shut, if he opens it will surely be left that way for the rest of infinity- for the rest of this place, this time. Someone says yes in his voice.

"Good. Now, try to listen carefully..."

---

He wakes up on sand. He's sitting up quickly, stilted as his mind finds his body. His tongue is lighter, teeth separated once more as his jaws are their own entities again. The cliff is still under him, wind passing by him peacefully. The horizon stretches infinite.

The ground is warm, there's no mistaking it.

"Deimos? Are you there?"

He pauses briefly.

"I need to tell you guys something."

[gringolet]

that italian?

okay okay okay i think it happened long enough ago that i can dish about the drama. she changed her url and im not including it anyway so its fine.

prepare for a fuckin. essay in responss to a TWO WORD ask but anyay

so once upon time there was an italian who hated children and loved reylo. she also hung out in the arthuriana tag and got a bunch of asks about it. so one day some poor anon comes in and asks if she has any trans headcanons for arthurian characters, and she, instead of being a normal person and saying like, no, she goes off about how trans characters in fanfic is forced representation and she cant talk about trans people bc surgery is triggering for her.

found this in the archives lol. so i rbd politely explaining that while it was fine to not have trans hcs, her justifications for it were a little offensive.

hey i dont want to start discourse or anything but i see ur asks in the tag a lot and i wanted to politely address this. firstly obviously no one is under any obligation to hc things, and headcanons and fandom is not activism. if you’d just said “no, not really” it would b fine. i mean, cringe of u, but fine. but u make a couple of points here i want to look at a bit critically. then there is “I don’t like when headcanons are pushed up as ~representation, especially when… Ehm, it’s just fandom stuff?” i dont want to misinterpret you or put words in your mouth, but the implication that theres no need for trans rep in fandom and dismissal of that is a very cis take. My initial read of your intention there was a complaint of ‘why should something like fandom spaces, which are for fun and not serious, be filled with non fun serious (bad) trans stuff that i have to see when im trying to enjoy myself.’ now that could be incorrect, you were a bit vague here. if that is what you meant, i think you maybe should examine why you feel that way. if it isnt, im unclear on what exactly youre trying to say here. the idea that trans hcs are performative wokeness and “representation” in fandom is completely ignoring the actual trans people making and wanting them. there is so vanishingly little representation of trans people in actual media and even less thats good, and i think implying trans hcs are being pushed on people and fandom for, ~representation (a world of meaning in the ~ i shant speculate on) is very dismissive and ignorant of that fact. honestly the main thing im troubled by is the idea that trans bodies are inherently disgusting and triggering, which is an incredibly harmful and hurtful idea, and since you yourself acknowledge that trans people and hcs dont predicate surgery i question why you bring it up, except as a justification for disconfort rooted in unexamined prejudice. im not accusing you of being a terf or anything, i dont believe you meant harm by this or have bad intentions, and im definitely not saying anyone has to hc anything. it was the uncomfronted insidiousness of your justification that concerned me. this is not a personal attack at all, you just have a lot of influence in this fandom space and i wanted to make you aware of some of the surely accidentally harmful things ur saying.

so she flips out and rbs that yelling at me and cursing me out in italian (she moved blogs so i dont have her whole response just bits)

basically she completely derailed the original topic and accused me of calling her a horrible person for her triggers? which i never did and would never do, and then tried to make it a wierd anti v proshipper thing

third: I never said there’s no need of trans hcs in fandoms, BUT I’ve noticed that there’s a tendency of condemning people on the basis of what they ship / the dynamics they write. ( like the infinite discourse about how ‘I ship only mlm enemies to lovers because f/m enemies to lovers are Inherently Bad and Abusive - something I personally heard on Twitter sigh ), so I feel the need to say it. blame the current fandom climate.

and were like wow, this lady is unhinged, so we look around her blog and find a. a lot of stuff like saying its racist to not like incest?? and that italians arent white?? also shes a swerf?? and kind of deniel italian colonialsm? and reblogs from a bunch of out and out terfs} there was more but this isnt a callout post lol.

valentine lanzelet made a post about this crazy italian we found and she flipped out on him (this is one of several cursey italian tag rants)

roughly means: GO SHIT YOURSELF (italian alternative to go fuck you), RACIST TERF IS YOUR GRANDMOTHER IN A WHEELBARROW (italian saying which does not translate well) AND WHAT HAS ITALIAN COLONIALISM TO DO WITH THIS YOU UGLY SHIT, and anyways lancelot sucks

(translated by claudio beheaded)

anyway so then. and this is when it gets unhinged. she goes on this server me and a lot of my mutuals n friends r in, camelot, and starts complaining about me.

(in red is the server admin, who was lovely) i asked her to move this convo to dms if she must bc it was rude to bring drama into the server, and she refused, and started insisting that she was being bullied and just wanted to be left alone, so i was like okay lets all block each other and move on, and she refused, continuing to defend everything she was being criticized for

they also said claudio was making them look bad by translating their rants which like... queen if that made them look bad they were already a bad look.

so she keeps pinging people and replying to shit despite everyone else at this point begging her to just drop it and call it a stalemate

imagine this but around n around for like an hour. also she repeatedly got me and valentine confused it was super funny. also she claimed it was an invasion of her privacy for valentine to go on her public blog and look at the things she openly said and rbd there

so the server got put in slow mode and she KEPT GOING even though everyone was just begging her to stop and not even responding

as u can see, around this point we just started spamming her with emoji reactions. she announced she was leaving then went back to arguing a full three times before finally dipping from the server

then she continued complaining about us and calling us puriteens in her tags (trying to make it a proshipper v anti thing i guess lol?)

for literally months before finally remaking. also in that time she got in an argument about how the crusades were fine actually. italianphobia works hard but she works harder i guess

anyway i prolly left out a lot but thats the italian saga

[seanfalco]

Wedding Date | Klaus Hargreeves x Reader

Word Count: 2152 Prompt: [I need a date for this wedding +/or There’s only one bed and we sleep as far away as possible from each other but wake up cuddling] for Nathan or Klaus or Diego whichever combo you think works best or inspires you most lmao i’m gonna leave it up to you bc you have the good good and i humbly leave my life in your hands w this request🤭 Requested by: @jynandtonics a/n: I deliberated over who to write this for because each character had a very different scenario come to mind (and honestly I still might write the Nathan one later lol)  Thank you for this prompt!  I hope you enjoyyy!  Also obviously, this is part of the PwF’verse, pre-Playing with Fire.

——

It was one of your “off-again” periods, Klaus couch surfing with other people, but you’d be damned if you showed up at your one normal friend’s wedding alone.  So, you knew what you had to do.  Swallowing your pride, you asked him to meet.  You needed a date to this fucking wedding if it killed you and strangely enough the thought of asking anyone else didn’t appeal to you in the slightest.

It would be infinitely easier to ask someone else, hell, even Diego would have probably gone with you if you’d asked him, but damn if you ever made anything easy for yourself. 

It definitely wasn’t because you missed Klaus.  No, certainly not because of that.

“Heyyyy [Y/N],” he exclaimed, seeming genuinely happy to see you as he scooted into the booth across from you.  

“Hey Klaus,” you replied, instantly drawn in by his effortless charm, your heart filling at the sight of him.

“It’s really good to see you,” he murmured, plopping his chin in his hands, arms resting on the table between you and you couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face.

“It’s good to see you too,” you found yourself saying, your traitorous heart noticing all the tiny details you missed, all the things you loved about him.

“So, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Klaus asked, pulling you from your thoughts.  If he felt guilty about going off on his own again he didn’t show it.

You heaved a sigh, bringing the mug in front of you to your lips as a play for time, if only a couple seconds.  “I have a bit of a favour to ask,” you answered and Klaus cocked a brow, leaning forward intently.

“I see,” he intoned playfully, his eyes sparkling with curiosity, or perhaps just the promise of getting something in return — you weren’t sure which.  “And what sort of favour are we talking here?” he wondered aloud.

Taking a deep breath, you braced yourself for his inevitable rejection and met his eyes.  

“I need a date for a wedding.”

Whatever Klaus had expected you to ask, this clearly wasn’t it.

“What?” he spluttered, faltering, “like suit and tie, you may kiss the bride wedding wedding?”  Leaning back, he stroked his goatee, “and you wanna go with me?”

“Y’know what, uh, forget it,” you muttered quickly, running a hand down your face, “I don’t know what I was thinking.  I’ll just ask… someone else.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on,” Klaus exclaimed, holding up his hands and you hesitantly uncovered an eye to peer at him.

“I didn’t say no,” he pointed out and a thoughtful look stole over his face, followed by that smile that never failed to make you slightly weak in the knees.  

“Sure, why not.  Besides, I don’t want you to ask anyone else.”

——

You weren’t sure how you’d pulled it off with only a couple days left til your friend’s wedding, but somehow you’d managed to find a suit that fit Klaus, and the day of, as you showed up on his arm, he actually looked presentable and not as if he’d just woke up from a bender and rolled off the couch ten minutes ago.

Glancing over at you Klaus’s eyes flicked quickly down and back up, a grin tugging at his lips.  “Wanna know something?” he asked, leaning close to whisper in your ear.  “You look absolutely ravishing, the bride who?” he teased and you fought back a giddy grin of your own.

“I think you’re a little biased,” you murmured back and Klaus merely shrugged.

“Maybe so,” he admitted, but his hold on your arm as you walked in seemed tighter than before and he eyed anyone askance if their gaze seemed to linger on you too long for his liking.

The rest of the ceremony was a bit of a snoozefest, though your heart gave a small flutter every time you caught Klaus watching you, and as the couple exchanged their vows, Klaus covered his mouth, looking a little teary eyed.  When they finally kissed he let out an excited gasp, grabbing your hand as he leaned into you.  

“Awwww!  I always get so choked up at weddings,” he exclaimed with a dreamy sigh as you watched the newlyweds make their way back down the aisle and you rested your head on his shoulder, wearing a soft smile.

——

Sitting at your table at the reception, you let your eyes wander the dancefloor, watching your friend and his new bride dance, their eyes never leaving each other and you wondered what it would be like to one day have that.

Interrupting your thoughts, Klaus returned, two drinks in hand and you took yours with a faint smile, sipping it to take away the sting of such thoughts.  After a few minutes Klaus eyed you thoughtfully.

“Wanna dance, my dear?” he asked, holding out his hand in invitation.

Eyeing it, you tipped back the rest of your drink before taking his hand, letting him pull you out to the floor.  It almost felt as if the two of you had never been apart and if you weren’t slightly tipsy you probably would be cursing yourself for letting him back in so easily.

Spinning you into his arms, Klaus laughed, his eyes crinkling with mirth and you felt your breath catch, your head swimming, and you held onto him tighter.

“I’m glad you asked me to be your date tonight and not someone else,” he admitted, his eyes carefully avoiding yours.

“Oh?” you asked, but before you could get a response your friend tapped you on the shoulder.  

“Think I could cut in?” he asked and Klaus ducked his head, stepping back.  

“Ah, ah, ah, hands where I can see ‘em now, and no funny business mister,” he exclaimed, wagging his finger at him, though his grin somewhat ruined the effect.

“I would never,” your friend gasped in faux offense, cracking a smile moments later and the two seemed to come to a silent agreement, sizing each other up.

“Guess this means I get to dance with the bride,” Klaus joked, clapping your friend on the shoulder.  

Before swanning away he leaned in to press a kiss to your cheek, as if it were the most natural thing in the world and you watched him, dazed, your mouth falling open slightly as he headed toward the bride.  Blinking, you tore your eyes from Klaus’s retreating form and you noticed your friend watching you, an amused expression on his face.

“What?” you demanded, but he only laughed, shaking his head ruefully as he held out his hand for you to take, placing his other hand on your waist.

“Nothing,” he assured you, but the smile he wore said otherwise.

“Out with it,” you insisted wryly as you slowly spun and swayed to the music.

“It’s just nice to see you this happy,” he answered.

“Mhmm,” you mused skeptically, waiting for the rest.

“I just want you to be careful,” he continued, his eyes finding his wife and Klaus across the dancefloor, Klaus dancing rather animatedly and making her laugh.  “I know you’ve been carrying a torch for him for years, and he certainly is charming,” he observed.

“He certainly is,” you agreed softly, and when Klaus turned, catching your eye, he flashed a smile and waved, your heart clenching.

“I just don’t want you to let him hurt you again,” your friend finished and you sighed, turning back to him.

“Yeah, me either.”

——

“I think we should think about finding somewhere to stay tonight,” Klaus suggested as you swerved again and he caught the steering wheel.

“No, I’m fine, Klaus, really,” you tried to assure him, but your words slurred and Klaus shook his head.

“Usually I’m a fan of bad ideas,” he muttered, “but not this one.  I think there was a motel somewhere along this stretch of road,” he mused.

“Motel?” you asked, “I dunno about that…”  Unsure if you trusted yourself, your very drunk self not to make any decisions you might regret the next morning.

Keeping Klaus at arm’s distance was harder than you thought, especially when he looked like that and all you wanted to do was kiss him and never stop.

“Ah, there!” he pointed, and you reluctantly pulled off the road into the half empty parking lot, your vision swimming dangerously.  

Okay, maybe he had a point.

“There you go,” he said, “we’ll get some rest and head back in the morning.”

“Look at you being the responsible one for a change,” you slurred.

“Ah ha, well.  I don’t really care if anything happens to me, but you…” he trailed off, shaking his head, continuing in a murmur you weren’t meant to hear.  “If anything happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”

Helping you out of the car, Klaus led you to the motel office and asked to book a room.  The receptionist looked you both over and grinned sleazily.  “Unfortunately I only have single rooms available,” he said when you insisted on a double, trying to forget the hurt look in Klaus’s eyes.

“That’s fine,” you growled, snatching the key from the man, irrationally annoyed at the universe and it’s sense of humour.

Inside the room you turned your back to Klaus as you slipped off your dress and when you turned back around you found him still struggling with his tie and you clicked your tongue, forgetting you were half naked as you circled the bed to stand in front of him, swatting his hands away to help loosen his tie; your fingers automatically falling next to the buttons at his throat.

Swallowing, Klaus pointedly kept his chin up and his eyes on your face, though you almost wished he’d look anywhere else, his dark rimmed emerald eyes rather distracting and as his hands brushed yours to finish unbuttoning his shirt, you realized just how close to him you were, your cheeks heating swiftly.

Retreating to the other side of the room once more, you crawled under the covers, scooting as far away from the center of the bed as possible.  However when you felt the mattress shift, Klaus crawling into the bed as well and you felt his back touch yours, you held your breath.  After several minutes of awkward silence you heard Klaus sigh.

“You’re still mad at me, aren’t you.”  It wasn’t a question.

Taking a deep breath yourself, you answered him.  “You know I don’t like it when you just leave like that.”

Klaus shifted behind you, but you didn’t dare look back.

“I know,” he said softly, the room falling into silence once more and you were thankful you were still buzzed because it meant sleep came faster than usual.

——

Stirring, the first thing you noticed was the warmth.  As you began to wake more, you noticed the comforting sensation of being held; two strong arms surrounding you and you subconsciously snuggled closer, slotting yourself in where you fit so perfectly.  And when you finally opened your eyes, you gave a start, finding yourself in Klaus’s arms, your head resting on his warm chest, and your legs tangled together with his.

You didn’t remember even turning toward him, but apparently some time in the night you’d both sought each other; the thought of which made your chest ache.

Before you could attempt to untangle yourself from Klaus’s embrace, however, he took a deep breath, his long eyelashes fluttering as he woke and he looked down at you, rather unsurprised.

“Well, good morning,” he moaned, stretching slightly before curling around you once more, resting his chin atop the crown of your head.  “D’you think they have room service here?” he asked, as if he didn’t find this situation unusual in the slightest.

“What?” you asked, shifting to look up at him.

“I could totally go for some breakfast right now, but I’m too comfortable to get up--” 

“Klaus,” you murmured weakly, feeling yourself slip, your residual anger at him dissipating in the light of morning.

“-- and we should really get some food in that booze filled belly of yours,” he continued.

Of course he had to go and be an absolute sweetheart when you were trying to keep your distance and not fall for him all over again.

Realizing you didn’t want to fight it any longer, you sighed, letting yourself fully relax into his embrace and Klaus smiled softly, feeling the difference, slowly running his fingers soothingly through your hair.

“Yeah, that does sound good,” you agreed.  “Did you sleep well?” you asked, tilting your head back to nuzzle your nose against his jaw.

“I always sleep better when I’m with you, you know that,” he said, squeezing you tighter.

“Yeah?” you murmured sleepily, “then why don’t you stay at my place for a bit then when we get back?”

“I’d like that,” he replied.

[letsfluxshitup]

FLUX YOU MAD LAD YOU ACTUALLY DID IT!!! THE MARRIAGE CRACKFIC HYPE IS REAL AND THE REALITY DOES NOT DISAPPOINT!! i rly wanted 2 send u an ask as soon as I got the ao3 email but i held myself 2gether and actually read the current content like a Normal Person so!! This’ll be disjointed and incomprehensible but we’re both up at midnight right now so </3

Okay. Right. First of all: I love how comfortable ur writing is!! Like I know I’ve commented on it before but Techno n Quackity are just Very Comfortable with one another and there’s no stilted sort of ‘oh but it’s platonic’ clarification needed! They just genuinely feel safe in one anothers presence and that is wonderful <333

Also,, the description and use of the ‘mutually unrequited’ tag is ENDLESSLY amusing 2 me like yes,,, that’s so them,,, how did I not connect the dots before. Ur literally a genius

I love Mr. Quacks :]] his indignant protectiveness of Quackity that Big Q barely seems to notice? Him quickly registering Techno as a safe person bc of Quackity’s concern for him? Wilbur having issues with A Literal Chicken, Somehow? Mr. Quacks is my new favourite character in the Dream SMP sorry kings that really is how the cookie crumbles

I’m very satisfied by the fact that u let Quackity talk a little bit abt his issues with Schlatt!! And the way you write dialogue is so natural?? Like, Quackity doesn’t rly convey his specific issue super well bc he’s never been great at the whole feelings deal, but it’s super clear he’s trying to get across the emotional manipulation (even if Q doesn’t rly recognize it like that) and Schlatt’s obvious abuse of power over Quackity as his president AND husband. Very proud of him for his efforts :,] and Techno’s automatic response being to just go murder the man? Like YES KING LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOO

I don’t know how you manage to do it but you make me more invested in their friendship w/ each thing you write :,]] Quackity’s very easygoing demeanour and active expression of affection through physical gestures and pet names pairs v well with Techno’s more stoic personality that gives way to casual shows of affection and fierce protectiveness of the people he cares about?? Your characterization is literally just a dopamine factory I will never get over how good you are at dynamics aasndmdkfkd

Also I love how ur including more SBI dynamics!! Your Wilbur is friendly but still like. Vaguely Unhinged and I appreciate that you didn’t completely get rid of his Issues(tm) in favour of the family dynamic. You woke up 2day and gave us both! As a treat. And I really love how you write Tommy as a whole :] he’s a bit of a brat and the teenage vibes are ever so present but you do kind of want to give him a hug anyways. I love and care them,,,,

You’ve sparked my thoughts abt your various quacknoblade AUs again!! And also dormant thoughts abt the TMA quacknobros AU I thought briefly abt where Techno was Jon n Quackity was Martin,,,,, honestly ur ability to create brainrot is insane ily king

- Saturn 🪐

OH SATURN I GENUINELY BLEW KISSES AT MY PHONE WHEN I REALIZED THIS WAS FROM YOU. you have such a distinct way of sending asks that I knew it was you right away actually it's really funny amksmdmdkdkd ilysm

Also WOW CALLED OUT YEAH ITS MIDNIGHT YEAH WE'RE FEELING INCOHERENT ❤️

ALSO THANK YOU;;; I channel my aromantic energy into my fics by just not registering things as romantic in the slightest ❤️ I am unstoppable ❤️

Ok wait it's kinda funny bc I feel like at a time I was like "gotta make sure everyone knows this is platonic" but now I've reached this point where I'm just "if you don't get it that's on you" KSKSKSKSKDKKDF

YES THE MUTUALLY UNREQUITED TAG;;; I saw a post abt it on Tumblr, I think I tagged it as #marriage crackfic bc that's literally what it is listen;;; it fits so fucking well oh my God

YEAH YEAH MR QUACKS IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME. I was a bit stuck on writing for a while and then iwnas like "wait what if quackity befriends that chicken from the creepcident" and now we're here skskmdmdmdmfk

ALSO YEAH WILBUR AND MR QUACKS S RELATIONSHIP IS V IMPORTANT TO ME

I'm really really glad you like the dialogue abt schlatt. Tbh I think that's like, one of the oldest parts of the fic. I've been writing it on and off for a while now and that was one of the first things I wrote, and I still absolutely adore how it came out. Idk! That bit of dialogue just came out fucking Perfectly for me and I'm still very :]]]]!!!! About it and I'm delighted you like it too!!!!

ALSO YES TECHNO MURDER POG <3

EVERYTIME YOU COMPLIMENT MY DYNAMICS I WEEP;;; I'm just very into characters who are Very Different getting along super well ok. im super duper in love with big stoic and chaotic small and that dynamic lives in my head rent free so you KNOW I gotta write about it as much as possible

YEAAAH THAT BIT WITH THE SBI BOYS WAS A JOY TO WRITE I REALLY REALLY LIKE IT A LOT;;; also yes! Wilbur gets to be unhinged <3 as a treat! AND YES FERAL TOMMY IS SO GOOD. HE IS A TEENAGER AND HE IS READY TO THROW HANDS CONSTANTLY. I imagine rough housing is a very popular way to show affection in the sbi household and tbh I'm a bit feral as well. projecting on to tommy by making him wrestle with techno. KAKAKKSKDKDKF

Ilysm your asks are always such a treat to read I'm very :>>> rn!!!

Also idk anything about TMA but I am looking intently!!! Share your infinite wisdom!!!

[yozzers]

I’m almost done with my battle brawler rewatch and some things I wanted to comment on or just point out ep 39-46. 

Masquerade definitely doesn’t reside in the mask. There’s just no way because he had to have possessed Alice at certain points to even put on the mask, like the mask is NOT his only link you know what I mean. The whole clothes thing still puzzles me but I don’t think the creators care and so that means I also shouldn’t. 

In ep 44 there’s a small part where it looks like Alice is saying something under her breath, like you see her mouth move but she isn’t saying anything mid-transformation. Thinking a little about that, probably overthinking it but... yeah do with that info as you will. 

I can’t tell if Joe’s jarring speech pattern and delivery is the dub’s fault or him saying weird things is a Joe thing. I’ll probably watch the sub to check because atm I’m obsessed with drawing comparisons between Bakura and Joe + Alice. 

He has this weird convo before the brawlers head out to Vestoria where he tells them “I can’t go with you this time around”, and doesn’t really say why. 

Dan replies with something like “Oh that’s fine, we need someone to man the fort anyways, be sure to take care of Wavern while we’re gone” (which is...something he already does, that’s his job Dan cmon). 

Joe responds with “Sure, of course” in the most noncommittal tone, and I mean he already does that with almost everything he says but the exchange sounded so funny??? 

JOE THAT’S YOUR ONE JOB, THAT’S ALL YOUR RELEVANT FOR, PROTECTING WAVERN (WHICH ISNT MUCH PROTECTING BCS U DONT DO MUCH OTHER THAN FERRY WAVERN AROUND). 

The way Hydranoid talks to Alice after they become her guardian bakugan is...cute... gap moe(?) is that the right term to describe it... 

The JJ dolls + Marucho brawl was legit embarrassing saw the worst ver of Marucho unwillingly too

it’s convinced me you can apply this audio with Marucho and Alice (a bit distasteful but the audio itself is really funny to me)

misc comments / hcs

I never knew Klaus was 18, take a look at this loser hanging out with middle schooler 

Can’t say this with confidence but it kind of feels like Alice has PTSD 

Bakugan consistency is so good --> Klaus Vs Alice had an entire thing where Alice goes back and forth between going “I can’t fight I don’t want to” and “I’ll beat you for sure”, while Klaus is like “Ooo you want to fight me so badly yeah you wanna brawl me sooo badly you said it yourself are you a coward or a fighter” (he says, after forcing Alice to brawl him while she had a meltdown in front of him). 

It would’ve been an infinitely better departure if Naga pwn’ed Masquerade. 

You know how Naga basically created Masquerade? I kind of assumed that how it’d go after that Darkus/Pyrus brawl... like I assumed all of Naga’s creation have a direct connection to him, so the moment Masquerade is basically rebelling by helping the enemy, Naga would just sorta know and he would just like... *crushes Masquerade like a bug*  Or something like that idk

Anyway this entire finale has further convinced me that Joe literally has nothing going for him past just being the guy who takes Wavern around places and has funny reactions. If he was simply the one to house the infinity core instead he’d have sm more relevance to Wavern and the plot. 

Also I think his brawl with masquerade would’ve been infinitely funnier if that was the case, darkus brawler created from literal concentrated negative energy versus haos brawler housing a magic orb thing created from concentrated positive energy? cmon now

[vanillacoolatta]

sappy rant under the cut sry

i dont say it enough but genuinely i am so thankful for my mutuals. most of us have only been friends since october or later but it feels like we’ve been friends for years. i’ve always been kind of a side character in everyone else’s lives but you guys make me feel like all of us can be main characters and while my mental health is still tricky sometimes my sense of self worth has improved loads since quarantine just because i can be reminded that like. if i send a text in a gc i won’t be totally ignored.

everyone is included but esp the space station gang like. we only have a gc in the first place because we had an among us group and got one (1) too many people and had to make a server but like. that is such a funny and endearing thing. some of you i like to think i know pretty well and some of you i am just trying to be supportive of your interests from the sidelines bc i know nothing abt them but like. at the end of the day i know that i can say something stupid and at least one of you will say something jopiguyfdxtr

i’ve always kinda drifted between friend groups and looking back it was probably because of neurodivergence but like even within my mutuals here we get along so well even if we don’t have the same types of brain things going on. and it has some things to do with the inherent dynamic of the website but also because sometimes someone who has never seen my face and vice versa refers to me as one of their best friends and i legitimately start to cry because quarantine has been hell on the physical end but honestly the best time of my life when it comes to my social life.

ngl this past year has been hard for me with the transition between school and now being out of it. and school had been infinitely hard for me before that. but looking back and realizing that out of all that pain and misery i gained a group of friends that genuinely care about me and who i care about too. just really makes me melt a little bit. after years of being everyone’s second choice i am finally tied for first choice (/hj).

every so often i read a post that talks abt how the dream team was friends before yt/twitch and how they were all there for sap’s graduation n stuff and like. that’s us. that will be us. if v says i am a dream kinnie then officially i am making you all be sapnap and george kinnies because i love you more than anything and also please move in with me

anyway everyone has been very supportive of me here even when i do weird things like post covers or stream and i seriously could not have a better group of friends. including the mutuals who i dont rly talk to.

[mousehole5000]

wow i made this draft on november 1st i really took a break from this huh anyway tgcf chapters 121 - 142

i realize now this coffin scene was inevitable. feel kinda weird about hua cheng  back and forth from Teen to Big Man but it is very funny that theyre having their “dude dont look at my boner” moment while in the jaws of a water dragon

pei ming: why didnt you guys make a bigger coffin so you didnt have to squish together like that? xie lian: haha yep!! anyways what brings you here?

“In the grand, spacious centre of the entrance hall sat a person. And this person, dressed in all black, its face snow-white—was a corpse! Instantly Xie Lian shut the doors soundly.” - king of minding his own business.

okay this is where i stopped putting notes here for a while but i did save some in my e-reader so here’s some of the highlights

“Guzi used to have a good sleeping form, but perhaps with his cheap dad’s bad influence, now he was also spread out on top of Qi Rong’s stomach like a dead fish. Lang Ying himself was curled neatly in the corner, and was covered by a few shirts. Xie Lian lifted the blanket covering Qi Rong, suppressed the urge to smother his face, and covered the two small children.” - xie lian funny moments. also it would be really funny if qi rong redeems himself by learning love through these misfit chiildren and it might actually endear me to him but i hope that doesnt happen

Every heavenly official was yelling, and even Ling Wen was throwing a fit. “DON’T THROW EVERY BIT OF USELESS INFORMATION MY WAY, HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK I HAVE TO GO THROUGH EVERY DAY? DON’T YOU ALL KNOW TO USE YOUR BRAINS A LITTLE BEFORE ASKING ME?!” - ling wen marry me right now

“An expression like “seen a ghost” that only mortals experienced was now showing on his face for the first time. Shi Wudu’s pupils shrank to the smallest they could, and he blurted, “You’re still alive?!” “I’m dead!” He Xuan said coldly.” - okay everythings going tits up rn but i did laugh

i did see spoilers re: ming yi/he xuan reveal + shi wudu’s fate beforehand so i dont have a genuine reaction other than oh shit

“He slowly enunciated each word. “I won’t touch your fate. But, here in this place, chop off your brother’s head for me.”  CLANG! He threw a rusty blade onto the ground. Shi Qingxuan stared at that blade, his eyes wide. He Xuan continued, “Then, never show yourself before me again, and I will pretend you’ve never existed in this world.” - okay idk what else is going to happen but rn im concerned that this is like the 2nd biggest ship. i guess we’ll see?? i mean i am really curious whats going to happen to them. shi qingxuan keeps calling he xuan “ming-xiong” and i... sad

shi wudu im not really invested in you as a character but these next two bits... interesting

“If I don’t die but have nothing, then that’s truly a fate worse than death. If I’m not the Water God, I can’t take care of you. I won’t even be able to protect myself. I’m scared that we won’t even last two days…TAKE IT!” - damn. something about the wealthy losing everything and not knowing how to live without it bc thats their entire life and identity

“EVERYTHING I HAVE TODAY, I FOUGHT FOR MYSELF. I WILL FIGHT FOR WHAT I DON’T HAVE. I WILL CHANGE FATE I DON’T POSSESS. MY FATE IS UP TO ME AND NOT THE HEAVENS!” - okay so the whole committing spiritual fraud by tormenting a man and his family to get your brother a cushy title thing aside this was kind of badass. heretical? possibly. but still. also is he intentionally riling up he xuan so sqx doesnt have to kill him? if so damn...

also okay as long as im here im just gonna say it. the choice that he xuan gives shi qingxuan is fucking brutal but i actually think its probably as fair as it could be. sqx didnt know about or participate in what happened to hx but they did benefit from it greatly while hx lost EVERYTHING and i can understand he xuan’s thinking of “if you really feel bad for what happened to me then you have to make a sacrifice and understand the suffering and this is as clean as its going to get” and theres a bit where sqx is trying to beg for mercy but cant get the words out which im guessing is bc theres no good argument!! what happened was fucked up!!

“When Pei Ming saw that reinforcements had arrived, he didn’t appear particularly delighted; instead he threw the sword into the ground, then rubbed his nose and said, sounding grim, “You all just had to come just as I finished making these, what the heck.” - pei ming making coffins chopping down trees with his sword i love it #wastehistime2k17

“Xie Lian brought that basket of eggs along, and gave them away as souvenirs from the mortal realm. Many who received the eggs were overjoyed; some deciding to eat it along with their own blood, and some proclaiming they would hatch an eight-foot monster.” - GHOST CITY GHOST CITY

“Placing the brush down, he blew lightly at the ink and smiled. “If I like something, then my heart will not have room for any other, and I’ll always treasure it. A thousand times, a million times, no matter how many years, this will not change. This poem is the same." - thats nice and all but king... get therapy. i actually have further thoughts but tbh i dont want to put them into words bc they are simply too personal! moving on

didnt take any notes but somewhere in here was the bit with mount tong’lu opening and hua cheng losing it and kind of um. hm. that scene. thats another trope i really hate tbh i dont care for it as a way of including physical intimacy between characters and idk if it really ever adds anything but whatever moving on

The Half-Maquillage Woman - kind of interesting monster idea bc women and aging…. yeah. however i think this would be a lot stronger if there were a) more girls and this was b) discussed or illustrated at all prior to this moment. still interesting that its included knowing the author is a woman tho and there’s been comments on how ling wen is perceived vs pei ming. this book does keep giving me hope for interesting female character arcs i really want it to deliver something

quan yizhen..... i get u

lmao i have a note on a bit with lang ying that says “please dont be hc in disguise” and..... my clown nose was on but at least i knew that. for real this is bothering me how much he’s just. always. there. i know he’s a lead but we didn’t really need him around for a lot of this. oh well.  okay now to my current notes

“Yet it was precisely because it wasn’t cooked that it had to be eaten quickly. Once Xie Lian cooked it, it wouldn’t be edible anymore” - fucking fantastic

“Xie Lian hugged his belly. “Of course! Only after having met you did I rediscover that it’s such a simple thing to be happy, hahaha…” Hearing this, Hua Cheng blinked. Xie Lian’s laughter quieted a bit, realizing what he just said was a little too revealing.” - okay i know i said what i said about being tired of hua cheng being everywhere but... the line…. the fact that theyre laughing together…. :pleading:

“It’s not,” Ling Wen said. “At least, I believe, there will definitely not be another in history who can create a dish called ‘Incorruptible Chastity Meatballs’” - and truer words were never spoken

“I, DO NOT WORSHIP GODS. “I, AM GOD!” - this was every bit as badass as i hoped but no one told me it was immediately followed up by a little bit of the ol dinner theater fjalkdsfjsd. also puqi shrine noooooooooo

“Xie Lian sighed as he thought, “Qi Rong has taken Guzi away, who knows if the poor child was eaten or abandoned. Wind Master...... ..... who knows if Black Water took him away. Pray they’re both safe.” yeah hey are we going to fucknig. find out what happened to the child???

and yeah i dooooont really care for the age regression? thing thats going on. i just dont like that trope tbh. but tiny hua cheng whipping out his fat ghost king wallet in the store was funny tho. it is really funny that hualian are just like wandering around some random towns while the heavens are in an uproar. i guess theres not much else to do but its funny

“Me too, me too. You all know of my shixiong, right? Talented, with an infinite future! He only had one small vice: he loved playing women. Decades ago, a little prostitute ghost seduced my shixiong and sucked him dry into human jerky, and that Hua, Hua, Hua, that ghost king dared shelter her.” - yes omg give me the forbidden hua cheng lore i love this for him for real it goes along nicely with xie lian’s principles about giving another cup. god i love shared values

“Hua Cheng poked again, and a small hole appeared on the wall, as if the wall was made of tofu.” - how’d he do that. why is this a ghost king power. its useful tho

*me shaking qi rong when he pops up* WHERE IS THE CHILD

mu qing fu yao is here okay im happy now. once again no one has a good grasp on their secret identity and i love that. this inn has descended into chaos and im delighted and im glad lan chang is back

“The good ol’ kitchen was suddenly squished and crowded, loud and noisy. Fu Yao was chasing that fetus spirit leaping up and down, Lan Chang was chasing after Fu Yao like she had gone mad. Half of Qi Rong’s face changed shape by the way Xie Lian was pressing him down on the chopping board, his back turning into a target for those yellow talismans Fu Yao hurled while being observed by a crowd, and Lan Chang would step on him from time to time.” - this is pure chaos. i love that mu qing was in that room when the mob checked and he didnt say a word didnt open the door just sent out a talisman as a warning. king your disguise is transparent

“Xie Lian remembered the way Feng Xin laughed until he was hoarse when he first heard that verbal password all those years back, and couldn’t help but feel nostalgic, even though it wasn’t the right time.” - awwwww omg im emotional about this... faithful friend feng xin laughing at xie lian’s stupid joke password and remembering it!!! ;_;

“They have, but they’re not effective,” Feng Xin said. “Usually they’re the most diligent in scorning the Palace of Ling Wen, like they could do the job way better if they had the position. Now that we need them to take up the task, not a single one can do even half of what she does.” - typical... typical typical typical

also emotional about the fact that feng xin contacted xie lian at all.....

also!! emotional about lan chang as a mom and wanting to help out sick lil guzi.....

xie lian forcing “fu yao” to let him help “his general” is making me.... what is friendship if not playing along with your buddies little shenanigans while also making them accept your help

“Someone like Mu Qing, even though he’s narrow-minded, petty, sensitive and skeptical, has a bad personality, constantly guessing, doesn’t say nice things, likes to nag, always offending people and has a lot of people who dislike him, has no friends, can remember small, unimportant details for a long period of time…” ”Xie Lian went on in one breath with a straight face, but in the end he concluded with, “...But I’ve known him since we were kids, after all, he’s still got principles.” - XIE LIAN PLEASE AFJDLKSFJDL omg ive seen this quote before but i figured he was talking to someone else not actually to mu qing himself fgjasdkfjsl. god thats amazing. hey im gonna help you out because i care but i will roast you first <3

waaaaaait so is lan chang aka jian lan that girl from book 2 we took a page to talk about and then disappeared? that has to be it why else would we have stopped to discuss her

“Jian Lan spat on his face, then choking his neck, she slapped him twice again. “WHAT SHITTY SUPREME! YOU SURE KNOW HOW TO BLOW YOURSELF UP! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, THINK YOU’RE EVEN WORTH TO BE THOUGHT OF AS EQUALS WITH THE OTHER THREE SUPREMES? WHAT ARE YOU EVEN GOOD AT? YOUR THICK SKIN? OF COURSE I DARE HIT YOU!” - oh this feels so good i cant lie. YES GET HIM!! CHOMPING AND VIOLENCE YES!!!!

okay this description of cuocuo.... im... that sure the hell is a creature

this book is so entertaining bc i already saw spoilers for the feng xin/jian lan/cuo cuo reveal and yet i could never have predicted the circumstances that brought it about. imagine being feng xin. the heavens are in an uproar and your only friend/enemy has been jailed for possible fetus spirit-related crimes but he escapes along with this female ghost who keeps causing problems. you figure “fuck it lets see if dianxia kept his old phone number” and he has but then he hangs up on you. you’ve got fuckall else to do so you go find him. mu qing is there but he’s in his disguise the two of you were using so you could watch over his highness while staying aloof. you think you see hua cheng only he’s a chiild for some goddamn reason but who knows at this point. the female ghost is also there and theres a fetus spirit climbing trees and biting your arrows in half. you realize the female ghost is your ex and the little demon is your son. it bites you. what do you do

amazing that despite everything going on everyone is still playing along with the “fu yao” persona when it would probably be easier to drop pretenses at this point. then again tbh if i could explain my actions to my friends while pretending to be a third party.... i probably would so.. carry on

“With all his devotees gone, only Feng Xin still treated him like the Flower-Crowned Martial God and His Highness the Crown Prince. ” “...his protection charms were all seen as trash. However, Feng Xin was still determined and tireless in handing them out; telling Xie Lian, look, you still have devotees.” “After all, he was the darling of the heavens since birth, high and mighty. Feng Xin so naturally spun around him like he was the world, so how could he possibly have his own life, his own heart” “Whether or not that fetus spirit was Feng Xin’s son, if it was that period of poverty that made Feng Xin lose the girl he loved, Xie Lian wouldn’t be able to forgive himself no matter what." ohhhh my god this relationship i. im...

oh my god i still have 30 more chapters until book 4............ its naptime now i think

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again

tuesdays just keep fucking happening and there’s nothing any of us can do to stop them

listening shoutout to @flora-flauna​ for showing me Stayaway by MUNA (” cool sad queer girl pop “) and that’s spot on. there’s a really fun sludgy electronica thing happening in the chorus that i’m ALL about 

reading got both of these last spring, read through most of it, got distracted and did something else (probably a schlocky vampire romance given my tastes last spring) but i came back to the 2009 eight-issue Dynamite Comics run of The Good the Bad and the Ugly- they don’t seem to have acquired the rights to clint’s face which is at times screamingly funny. not a movie adaptation, a spinoff official fanfic. it’s mmm all right?  there are some major issues with art continuity in general but there are some fun nods to all three movies.none of the official fanfic for this film is Good, and i include all the weird little spinoff novels which are OPENLY and HORRIBLY racist and transphobic. 

Dynamite Comic’s 2009 eleven-issue run of The Man With No Name . clint is a little more on-model here, also some fun nods to the movies (tuco and angel are here with soup!) and overall a little more enjoyable than their GBU run imo aside from a very very weird character decision near the middle. has some Young TMWNN backstory with a man that looks nothing like young clint. seems to be in licensing limbo? the files i acquired left out issue #8, hopefully nothing important happened in that one. has provided us with a new meme 

watching the 2013 one-season anime Coppelion. okay listen. LISTEN. sometimes the heart wants a terrible anime to watch while knitting socks.

i have a lot of thoughts about this that might turn into a proper Poste, but at this point it might as well be an article pitch. 

these genetically-engineered high schoolers are sent into the ruins of Tokyo to rescue survivors of a nuclear accident. i did not realize that it was a nuclear power plant accident until almost the third episode- it is euphemistically referred to as the Contamination and i thought it was a biological agent for most of those first three episodes. there are Zones, as in the Roadside Picnic book/S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series, but that touchstone isn’t quite accurate because it’s more like “this is a dangerous area of greater radiation but no spooky shit is happening”. it is a very soft apocalypse- there aren’t a lot of bodies or destruction with one notable exception. the countryside is taking back the city in a very real way, everything is super lush. there’s a neat bit about feral packs of dogs that the series forces you to notice and then doesn’t do anything with, and a neat subplot about guilt and mutual aid that i wish was explored more than in a very superficial Our Country Will Recover Because Of The Enduring Spirit Of The People way.  

set in 2016, the manga ran from 2008-2016. i SUSPECT the anime itself is heavily influenced by the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (it was actually meant to come out in 2010, but the disaster delayed it. not sure how far along in development it was at the time). there’s a ongoing theme of Science Has Two Sides: Positive And Negative, which i think could be much more interesting if the show were willing to dive scientific ethics a little more, but it seems to be crippled by Japanese nationalism. were this an American series, i would probably be like “oh this is propaganda about how great Sandia Nat’l Labs is, thanks Honeywell International I hate it” but i don’t know because i’m not Japanese and nobody other than blogs with names like The Pantsless Anime Blogger seems to be writing critically about this series. 

given Japan’s history with cities devastated by American bombing, i expected the subplot of Americans dumping nuclear waste into the already-contaminated city to have a bigger role? this did some interesting things with the role of the government and science in major nuclear disasters, ans set up a lot of questions about those roles and responsibility and ethics and rebuilding, but never followed through. the art is a little wonky in places (there are two distinct styles at war) and there are some serious pacing and information reveal issues, but the premise is interesting and the backgrounds are gorgeous. apparently the manga is better/a little more political but i think i’ve gotten all i want out of Coppelion. 

 playing civ 6. honestly the less said about this the better, bc two nights ago i played eight hours of it. this game is very bad for my brain bc it really encourages my unmedicated tunnel vision and i got shit to do. i really just think there should be more female warmongers i can  play as. 

there’s a lot i could say about how Bleh this game makes me feel re: who’s civilized and who’s not, how “colonization” is an explicit policy, how the Domination victory is the easiest to achieve(imo), the “barbarians” & treatment therof, &tc, smarter people than me who are paid critics have written about this. 

anyway i tried it, it’s not for me even though it is very addicting, on to the next thing bc there are practically infinite games in the world.

making sox. lotta Anxiety Knitting lately, this is the third sock i’ve cranked out in the past week. might rip out the half-inch of ribbing bc i think i can get one more V repeat out of the yarn i have left and i hate having tiny useless balls of sock yarn left over 

[unicyclehippo]

Prompt idea? Jester talking to Yasha about "realizing things", as a young/newly queer person wanting advice/acceptance from an older wlw ("whats it like- having a wife?"), and maybe conflicted feelings re beau bc on one hand jes doesnt want to get between beau and yasha if they'd make each other happy but on the other hand she is jealous and isnt her own happiness worth fighting for too??

‘what’s it like - having a wife?’ jester asks. nearly immediately regrets it when the other woman jerks, eyes darting to hers, wide and surprised. ‘i’m sorry,’ she’s quick to say, shaking her head quickly, enough to make her jewellery jangle as the movement tosses them against her curling horns. ‘that’s not - it’s probably the worst thing to ask you right now, and, i mean, you look busy—‘

yasha looks down at her empty hands, around at the largely empty room, and back to jester, eyebrows raised. ‘i am not busy.’

‘oh.’

‘would you,’ yasha swallows hard. gestures toward the other piece of furniture in her room beside the bed, a solid chair. ‘do you want...to sit?’

‘um.’ jester glances behind her, down the empty hallway to the closed door of the room she shares with beau. ‘yes. sure, yes.’

‘you don’t have to if -‘

‘i want to!’

yasha seems to recoil a little at the very forceful show of what was supposed to be casual. she nods. arranges herself awkwardly as though they are about to have an interview, and jester wonders if maybe she’s afraid. just afraid would be bad enough but afraid of what jester might ask, might do because of her answers? that feels bad.

jester forces herself to relax. she closes the door and takes the seat, folds her legs criss-cross and plays for a minute with her skirts, getting the pleats to sit just so.

‘have you been sleeping better?’ jester asks, voice breaking the silence. yasha doesn’t flinch this time, but jester thinks that might be because she’s holding herself too tight and still. like a perfect alabaster statue.

‘ah. yes. caduceus came by with some tea,’ yasha says. ‘he...says some very strange things,’ she adds a little hesitantly, unsure if she’s allowed to comment on his strangeness when she—has done what she has done.

‘oh yeah, he’s great, isn’t he?’

yasha nods.

it’s a bit dizzying, actually, to be watched so intently by yasha. her gaze hasn’t fallen since jester entered the room, and she watches each small motion of jester—the way she brushes her hair behind her ears, the way her tail curls, the way she fiddles awkwardly with the rings on her fingers—but jester isn’t sure how much of it is the other woman understanding that she feels incredibly deeply nervous or, or off-kilter or strange, and how much is yasha watching out for an attack. the intensity is one thing. yasha’s dual coloured eyes are another. jester finds her own attention split between them.

‘we weren’t married for long.’ yasha jerks when jester does. ‘i’m sorry—did you, still want to know?’

‘only if you want to talk about it!’ jester insists.

‘i—don’t mind.’

‘i don’t ever want to make you do something you don’t want to do!’ jester says that forcefully, entirely on purpose. yasha needs to know, she needs to know, jester would never—

‘jester,’ yasha says, her voice low and soothing. her accent breaks jester’s name in two, each spoken with infinite fondness, gentleness. ‘everything is okay.’

for once, jester doesn’t reply to that. sometimes she denies it sadly, other times agrees fervently, but now she just sits in it. yasha is right, more or less. they got her back. killed the Hand. killed obann. things are better than they have been for a long time.

‘we were married at dawn,’ yasha tells her. ‘it was...not romantic. except that it was her, and we were getting married.’ jester can’t sit alone on her chair; she hurries across the room to sit next to yasha on the bed, brings her knees up to her chest, chin resting on them as she listens, bright eyed. ‘okay,’ yasha says, and shifts accordingly. turning her body toward jester and crossing her legs. ‘when you are married in the tribe, you, ah, you make offerings to distract evil spirits from you, so they are not watching, will not curse your union. i delivered a great sacrifice,’ yasha says, almost sounding like she’s trying to convince jester or herself of it. ‘but it mustn’t have worked.’

‘i’m sorry, yasha.’

the woman shrugs. ‘i don’t—there are some things that are missing still. from my memory. but if you have questions...’

‘i don’t know,’ jester admits. maybe she should have written some down. maybe she should figure out why she’s so interested in the first place. probably because if she knows how marriage is supposed to work, why it works, why it is good, she can get the gentleman and her mama back together and they can live happily ever after. or maybe—

‘is this—‘ yasha looks like she has bitten her tongue but she continues very carefully, very quietly. ‘about beau?’

jester plays it very very cool. ‘what? no? why would - did she - why would this be about beau? that’s totally ridiculous and not at all something i am thinking about.’ as she rambles, super convincingly, she starts to wonder herself if maybe she isn’t being entirely...truthful. ‘is it?’

‘i don’t know,’ yasha shrugs. ‘is it?’

jester frowns down at the blanket on yasha’s bed. plucks at It where it is frayed and works for a few minutes at mending those small rips. ‘she—‘ nearly died, jester thinks but doesn’t say, because that, despite the mind control, that was yasha. jester wants to cry all of a sudden. when had things become so difficult? when had she started to think seven steps ahead in a conversation to make sure she didn’t upset, didn’t offend, didn’t hurt her friends? it feels like a cage pressing in around her and she sucks in a shaky breath.

‘jester?’

‘i’m okay.’

‘no.’ yasha—so carefully that jester wonders if the woman thinks she is fragile, about to crack into shards at a too-heavy touch—sets her hand on jester’s. the little mending magic fizzles out with the jolt of surprise, fibres and threads of blanket untwisting and snapping apart once more. ‘you can talk to me, jester. i am—not weak.’ there’s a charge that flickers, over her fingers and behind yasha’s eyes. ‘you are my friend. whatever you say, we can...figure it out.’

it isn’t a question but it almost feels like one. like with the gesture yasha has reached out on two levels, both with hands extended, and is asking for her trust. and jester’s trust is small now and bruised and scratched but she hands it over regardless.

‘she died,’ jester says, flat and pained. ‘or nearly did. and i was so scared.’

yasha nods. ‘you are scared when any of them—us,’ she corrects after a moment, ‘falls. is she...different?’

‘yes,’ jester says, no need to think. ‘she’s my best, my first best friend.’

yasha hums. her expression is blank of judgement but there is a faint air to her like she remains...unconvinced.

jester falters. ‘she’s my best friend, isn’t she?’

‘yes.’ yasha squeezes her hand. ‘tell me, jester, do you think of her first in the morning?’

‘well...yeah. we’re roommates, she’s the first person i see.’

yasha shakes her head. ‘before that. before you even open your eyes.’

jester frowns. yasha seems to be hinting at something, the meaning of which slides sneakily away each time jester tries to grasp it, to find what it looks like, what it feels like, what it is.

‘she snores, so i hear her.’

yasha nods. ‘okay. well. when you are doing, mm, fun things like—‘ she blanks for a moment and then says, hesitantly, ‘dancing?’

‘i love to dance!’

‘okay, when you are dancing, who do you want to be dancing with you?’

jester squints suspiciously. yasha seems to be hinting that she thinks jester’s answer will be beau. and the thing is, of course it is beau! beau would make an amazing dance partner? that’s just natural? she’s taller than jester and strong and lean, with the build of a dancer and when she fights she has the grace of one too. she’s also great at leading and not leading, so that wouldn’t be a problem if jester got carried away and jumped into lead when maybe she shouldn’t. jester explains all of this very matter of factly to yasha, who just nods again.

‘and when you are bored?’

‘nott is very funny,’ jester is quick to point out. ‘and fjord has the best stories of sailing, and caduceus knows so much about so much, and you of course,’ she adds, just to see yasha smile.

it works. yasha smiles very fondly down at her and says, ‘and beau?’

‘beau, no, she isn’t good for boredom.’

‘why not?’

‘because she—‘ because i’m not bored with her, jester thinks. and just shrugs instead. if she thinks the small concession will halt the questions yasha asks, these big seemingly easy but oddly confusing questions, she is wrong.

‘what is your favourite colour? what do you give beau when she is hurt? does she make you laugh? do you want to make her laugh? has sh ever given you a gift? who do you want to be with when you are sad?’

‘that’s too much!’ jester cuts her off, oddly anxious. she jumps off the bed, hurries to put a few yards between them.

yasha doesn’t move to follow, but she watches jester go with a soft expression jester doesn’t recognise.

‘i...thank you for talking to me, yasha,’

‘it was like being more than myself,’ she says before jester makes it to the door. her voice is louder, warmer, richer, and when jester glances back at her, she sees that soft expression has morphed to something...peaceful. deeply sad, but peaceful. ‘i always heard it was two halves of a soul—the man and the woman, joined together. united, a match. but when i met zuala, when we met again and again and spoke, and laughed, and danced,’ yasha’s breath catches and she begins to cry. her eyes close. ‘it was more than myself, what we had. perhaps it was two halves joining, but it never felt like that.’

‘what did it feel like?’ jester whispers when yasha is silent for a short while.

‘terrifying. wonderful.’

‘terrifyingly wonderful?’ jester suggests.

yasha opens her eyes. the tears have leaked a little, spilling down her cheeks, and her eyes—watery, washed out—are clear and bright. ‘she made me very happy, in a time where that was very difficult,’ is all yasha says, and though she doesn’t send jester away, jester can hear that she needs some time.

she steps out with a quiet ‘thank you’ and closes the door behind her. leans back against it. lets out a long, slow breath.

she is still there when beau climbs the stairs, hair slicked with sweat and skin glistening, mottled with purpling bruises. beau grins, lifts a hand.

‘hey.’ her eyes flicker to the door behind jester. ‘everything alright?’

jester stares for a moment. beau is handsome and beautiful—hot, she thinks beau would insist upon—and so much more, and some of yasha’s questions make a lot of sense all of a sudden in a big, important, kinda scary way.

‘jes?’

‘yes. yes, everything is great. just a little chat.’

beau doesn’t look convinced, but she nods anyway. ‘okay.’

[akaiimee]

translation of the YT video “Adèle HAENEL, Noémie MERLANT, Céline SCIAMMA : « Un portrait de femmes flamboyant »”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jie2x8bA9-g&lc=z22ww1aadozeifo3eacdp43a2xkn0h2wg34uemcfnjtw03c010c.1579617877414170

journalist (j) : we are glad to meet you today.... "portrait of a lady in fire", Adèle Haenel, Noémie Merlant and Céline Sciamma for this movie which had the price of the script at the Cannes festival, so we meet today at the festival of Angoulême. Beautiful adventure for a film, when we do a movie we dream of all of this, don't we ?

Céline (C) : in any case, we mostly dream that it meets its public and all the things that bring it to the public is good to take so it gives us momentum and confidence.

j : we think about public when we do a movie like this, yes, we think "how can we surprise them, how can we question them ?"..

C : of course, me, I'm absolutely obsessed by this, thinking about the public like an actif subject of the movie, how he will dwell the movie itself, mostly when we do a love story : I want people to also think to their story...

j :  to recognize themselves

C : yes

j : even if the story happen in the 18th century

C : the story takes place absolutely in the 18th century.. It is a perspective effect that allows you to let go a little

j : ok.. we will now watch the trailer and then Adèle will make the pitch

Adèle (A) : 😁

--> trailer

j : Adèle Haenel

A : so it is me who does the pitch

j : yes but *mimes this movement at 1:46 *

A : yes I'll do it shortly. It is the story of Marianne who is a painter, who comes on a island to do the portray of a young woman Héloïse who will be married. It is their story, the story of this meeting when the portray is done and the meeting between these two women that takes place over a very short time

Noémie (N) : she has to paint her in secret !

A : yes, thank you Noémie .... it's a lot of suspens, it is a thriller

j : yes it's a thriller ! So now everyone who is listening to us know it's a thriller, with suspens

C : All love stories are thrillers

A : Yes it's true

j : And effectively btw, the sensation is present, this feeling of love and you have great pleasure in making us wait

C : a slow burning film, effectively, it is the slow chronic, step by step,  of a rising desire. But I think that it's good frustrations and this is why we go to the cinema too, it's good to wait, to hope.

j : yes yes and we hope.. Noémie, and that's a love story anyway, a beautiful love story! Talk about your character, her relations she can nourish trough... at the bottom, there is a background : it's painting

N : Yes, this is a love story and this is also a story of contributors, of women, of artist, and how Marianne

will situate herself as a painter, how she will find her painting the truth the sincerity and it's thanks to this encounter with Héloïse that she can ask herself the right questions and break out of a framework of rules, conventions and let her go.

j : yes there is a form of a liberation trough art, through letting go

A : yep I'll continue what Noémie said, when she said : "asking the right questions", that is, all the questions that belongs to us and this is the beginning of an artist's work, it is understanding that we had made hers questions that were not ours, or the issues that were not ours or even issues that oppress us, and the romantic encounter allows to get out of these stereotypical questions which are in fact a very narrow path, and to approach the infinite field of art possibilities.

j : yes bc on the bottom there is creation, the mystery of creation and love is also a form of creation.

C : yes there is the creation in the love dialogue, there is a creative dialogue but that is also an intellectual dialogue and the movie takes part in telling that, telling how falling in love is not only a principe of very beautiful persons who meet in an elevator and immediately fall in love, it's admiration, it's debate, it's criticism, it's analysis, it's how we think together and how we are affected by thinking together and the movie tells about that.

j : though the painter and her model, there is this relation that is very rich and strong

A : It's effectively what we are talking about, when Céline talks about exchange, it can seem very light but it's very deep, that is, how in the story of art, very often there were one brain that tough for everybody and finally this way it's a seed of oppression. We can find it everywhere whereas collaboration, it's like this that we create masterpiece I think, and the movie is more than that, we can invente societies like this, that is, this seed is present in art but also present in politic and... that's it.       sorry I got carried away

(everybody is laughing)

j : no no it's true , she is right  

(A : yes of course)

j : it's not the painter and her model, it's both of them are necessary to each other and it's this fusion that we were talking about

C : of course.. the term of muse is associated to a form of passivity, it's women who would be fetishized, passives and inspirational only by the pure grace of there presence and it masks the reality, the cooperators, the brains in the room, and often, women were erased of art history while they were painters, musicians, novelists etc. and even the statue of muse has been reduced to this idea of purely inspiring and quiet while they contributed to the oeuvre.

j : yes, and there is also this liberation because at the beginning, art is supposed to imprison because it's about making a portray of weeding that she didn't choose, she doesn't want, and it's art that will allow her to free herself

A : In fact, the movie is obviously political, because it is in a form of suspension, as it happens, the creation of the portrait is an opportunity for artistic collaboration, a relationship with oneself that would be very close to the surface, very excited, very forward-looking. However, it is not proposed as a long-term solution because the long-term solution is still political, there the film says "yes, indeed, we are leaving a system in which we put the young woman in the convent, we created her to be a beautiful object, we take her out while we paint her, this beautiful object, and then we remarry her and she is again an object, and not a person in itself." And this, this asks a political though on it, not just artistic.

j : so it's also a politic movie

C : Adèle says it very well but also in this dimension there, they collaborate on what will separate them : it is also a tension of romantic tragedy which collaborates from the fictional of the cinema in general and romanticism, that is, collaborate on what will separate you, this is a amorous tension which, I think, can be moving.

j : yeah, I would like you to say something about the picture, the cinematographic picture looks like a moving painting

C : yes the movie is kind of obsessed with the idea of beauty, btw when we say that the movie evokes the painting, the plans are like tables, it's because the cinema has a link with beauty as painting has : the cinema, like painting, it's a story of frame, a story of characters, of color, of light, and it's true that the movie wanted to talk about beauty, being beautiful, and also being new, and I think that the novelty has a link with beauty too.

j : yes.. Noémie you have been happy of course to be in this movie, to see all of that

A : the work with Noémie was very interesting because it's true that... I mean.. Noémie has this fire inside her, that is really particular, playing with her... turning to Noémie Idk how you have lived this... it was very exciting

j : yes Noémie you felt that too, is it true ?

N : huuummm

A : we approached the scenes a bit like somewhat sporty fights almost

j : laugh it was a sporty fight

N :  it was a sporty fight.. what was interesting was that we invented our relationship with Adèle as actresses and at the same time our relationship between Héloïse and Marianne we invented it as we filmed, and what is funny is that Adèle she dare to suggest, send a ball and you never know how she will send it, how to receive it, and all these look games... what will she do ? She is fascinating. when we play with Adèle, there is a fascination that takes place and I tried to use it the most for Marianne looking Héloïse, and what also fed me a lot in the film is that the play of gaze was not only between Adèle and me, it was also with Céline : there was really a real triangle .. me, I looked a lot at Céline like she look at us, and I tried to get inspired by her gaze particularly intense and also very kind.

j : thank you

A : thank you a lot

j : thank you for sending balls, she is a ball sender

N : yeah yes!

j : thank you Adèle, thank you Céline, thanks to all of you! Thank you Noémie ..and go watch "portrait of a lady in fire"

Voilà ! If you don't understand something or want a translation of another video (related to this movie or Adèle Haenel) tell me !

[hchan]

(pt.1) ahahaha aww! :’> that’s so great to hear and no worries about when you get back to me ahaha we all got lots of other things on our hands i’m sure of! ^^ and AHHH!! a very happy birthday to him! ^^ I hope he and you and your family all had a great time celebrating together! :’) and I absolutely agree! All the joy and love going around is always a pleasure to be around ^^ And aw having a lot of your family owning farms sounds really lovely!

HIIIIIIIIIIII💖

(pt.2) There’s a lot of farms around where I live and seeing them whenever I’m commuting is really like, there’s something about them that makes my heart really warm if that makes sense! :’DAND AHH did I shadow write this bc 👀👀👀 THAT’S A BIG MOOD AHAHA I’m a big introvert myself as well and in a way I’m a bit thankful to have so much time away from things to kind of mentally recharge I suppose? LIKE HAHA don’t get me wrong I absolutely love my friends but I’m also a bit of a homebody as well

(pt.3) and in a way I’m a bit thankful to have so much time away from things to kind of mentally recharge I suppose? LIKE HAHA don’t get me wrong I absolutely love my friends but I’m also a bit of a homebody as well >< and!!!!! I’M AN INFP AND A SCORPIO AS WELL AHHhHhh??? what a coinky dink! I also just did a couple things to find out my life path number and it’s 4! (from what I’ve read about so far I can’t say it’s 100% accurate to myself though! ahaha maybe 50/50 😂I’ll definitely look into

(pt4) it a bit more though!)AHH ME TOO they’re kinda dangerous for me 👀 but I can definitely say that more about stationary stores! 😂😂😂 atm I’m not working on anything specific in particular but I’m an art student and so you can definitely say that craft stores are kind of a second home to me LOL but I was mainly just checking out different kinds of mediums I can add to my paint! ^^ I’m definitely a big window shopper so I didn’t make any purchases this time haha :’D And AHH I feel that!

(pt5) That’s definitely a hard decision! >< I remember being curious about when they were dropping their season’s greetings this year and they had literally dropped them later that day and i was like!!!!  👀 I stayed strong and held off for this year since I was saving up to buy both versions of pt.2 (which pleasantly arrived today woohoo!!) But OOF if they had released an nct 2020 season’s greetings...... consider my bank account empty LMAO And yes I love playing games! Ooh I’d say ac is

(pt6) definitely a favourite since I’ve been playing the series since I was a kid but hMM at the top of my head, I also really like botw, undertale, earthbound, maplestory and osu! ^^ hbu do you like any other games?  (and ooh if you ever get ac, feel more than welcome to add me! ^^ I’ll gift you some cute stuff on there hehe ^^) AND OOOOOH HORROR!!! horror’s a lot of fun! do you have any favourite horror movies? I can’t say I’ve watched a whole lot of horror recently (I actually watched Eli

(pt7) around Halloween and it was alright! Definitely worth a watch with the slow unravelling of everything! ^^) but my favourites would probably the two It movies! I’d also definitely recommend anything from A24! I haven’t watched a whole ton of horror from them other than Hereditary but they do have a pretty solid selection and from what I’ve seen from some of their non-horror titles, their film quality is just 👌👌 (I also watch this really great horror movie based youtube channel and they do

(pt8) mainly film summaries/reviews and they’re a lot of fun to watch since they do a lot of lesser known films too ^^) I’ve also been meaning to watch the original Suspiria movie! The cinematography in it is super beautiful 🥺 I’m also a big chill/r&b/lofi fan as well! 🥺 perhaps to go with your gift, I’ll also throw in a playlist of recs for you! ^^ and I’d absolutely love to hear some of your favourites! Ahh absolutely! Cooking for others is always such a sweet gesture :’D also here’s a

(pt9) recipe for you! Unfortunately tumblr won’t let me send links but! if you google betty crocker cake mix crinkle cookies, it should be the first result! It’s my go to recipe for everything whether it’s someone’s birthday, there’s an event going on at school or if I just feel like making something easy and sweet! There’s also only 4 ingredients (plus vanilla if you want but it’s not necessary) and you can use any flavor of cake mix or even add additional chocolate chips/fillings if you want! ^^

(pt10) I’ve tried it with red velvet cake mix and white chocolate as well as with vanilla cake mix and crushed oreos and they always come out super great! ^^ And aw that’s okay! :’))) What song drew you to them? Oof personally I feel like an nct granny LOOOL I remember the day smrookies dropped jeno’s teaser photo and I thought he looked SO YOUNG (jokes on me tho bc I’m only about 6 months older than him HAHAHA) and yeah for sure!!! it’s so wholesome to see! ^-^ AND!!! absolutely xiaojun this era

(pt11) just.. let’s say he reALLY rode up my bias list in the shortest amount of time AHAHA and yesss 90s love was super cute! (my inner Canadian is thriving at the whole hockey concept LOOL) and AHH when everyone else joined in and theY ALL SANG FROM HOME TOGETHER I JUST- a single tear definitely escaped HAHA AND AHH OF COURSE Faded in my last song definitely takes the cake too and I’d say the same with Music, Dance and Deja Vu too!! Honestly their whole album is such a great time ahh :’) AND!!!

(pt12) AW I think you’re super fun too!!!!!! (AND SUPER SWEET??? I’M- I don’t know hOw many times I’ve had to stop myself from accidentally liking a post of yours (your gifs are lovely!) or following you BUT!!! expect a lot of that when I reveal myself LMAO) :’>>>> fjghdkjhfg Talky squad! ^^ And that’s great to hear!!!! My heart stOPPED when I sent each one bc tumblr didn’t give me the mssg that they sent and I FREAKED OUT AHAHAHA and that’s great to hear! and aw that’s really sweet that you guys

(pt13) got to chat! And thank you! My day is going quite okay thanks! a little downside is that my work contacted me this morning and said there were a couple positive cases at one of my job sites when I worked a couple weeks ago so at the moment I’m chilling in my room for the next few days just in case. I’ve been feeling just fine so I’m hoping all will be well soon! On the positive side, my albums arrived today and I pulled a Xiaojun pc and died aHAHA and I’m really loving all the freebies

(pt14) that came with it! Stickers are always a delight to get :’)) (even tho I’m usually too scared to use them! xD) I also got a chance to talk to some kind people at work and that’s always nice! ^^ and aw that’s so great :’000 i’m really happy you guys had a great time and got to eat yummy food!!!!! Here’s also a burning question for you! Do you possibly have a favourite hyuck era? Asking for research purposes ofc hehe 👀👀👀

(pt15) hope your day is going swell so far! p.s. will try my best to keep these a bit shorter bc i can only send 5 asks per hr :’o + also you're an infinite fan aaa!!!!! i used to be a big fan back in the day hehe - ss☃️🎄

Thank you!!! we did have a great time :>

Farms are fun, I just love spending time away from the city sometimes hahaha KJFNDVKJDNK yes, I honestly am ok with being at home for long periods of time (huge homebody here), but it’s been a year already and I just want to go out and sit under the sun for a few minutes HAHAHAH (for a few minutes only bc I usually can’t stand being directly under the sun OTL) 

OOOOHHH INFP Scorpio twins eheheh, when’s your birthday??? must have been recently so I’m wishing you a late happy birthday💕 and yes, I need to look a bit more into numerology as well because I have no idea what my number means fdkjndfk. 

OMG!!! an art student!!! That’s so cool :< I hope I get to see some of your art after the event! eheheh. What’s your favorite medium? Favorite thing to draw/paint? :) 

I was so curious too!!! I loved NCT Dream’s Season’s Greetings concept last year! and I don’t have any NCT merchandise so I just jumped in for it this year kjdfnkdvfk I liked both concepts but I decided to get 127′s! BOTH VERSIONS OF PT.2!!! EXCITING! Whic PCs did you get??? (Also who is (are) your bias(es)??? omg dkfjnfvkjd) !!!!!!! I absolutely love botw too!! and I play osu as well :D but lately I’ve just been playing Genshin Impact and Overwatch! (OMGGG  I’ll definitely let you know if I do!!!) 

I know Hereditary!!! I haven’t watched it yet! but I have watched The Witch from A24 and it was really interesting! (which youtube channel? o: I love watching movie analysis videos!!) LKFDNKFDMFL and yes, please, I love getting songs recs, discovering new music is so fun! I’ll share here some songs that I’ve been listening to a lot lately!:

Nlve x Sam Kim — Like a Fool

DPR LIVE — Jam & Butterfly

SOLE — haPPiness

eaJ x Seori — It just is

eaJ x keshi — Pillows

Woosung — Face

OMG I just watched a video that showed similar looking cookies!!! they look so yummy! I’ll save this recipe and maybe I’ll try to bake some for Christmas eheheh thank you!!!!

I knew of NCT since their debut but AHAHAHA you see, I felt a bit funny because I’m older than many members JKFNDJK so I avoided them until around Superhuman/Boom when some friends exposed me to their music during a trip we made for a Got7 concert, a week with them was enough for me to go back home straight to search more about NCT, and here I am now : D 

AND YESSSS when they all joined to sing From Home on the stage :((( I’m also about to cry each time I watch the  MV for the rearranged version KJNVFNKD (omg!! I’ve always wanted to go to Canada! I can imagine the hockey concept was exciting ahahah) but yeah! I absolutely agree, love love LOVE the album!

Awww :< <3 that’s SO relatable LMAO I was just saying to my friends the other day “don’t you sometimes get the urge to like your own anon on you event person’s blog????” AHAHAH thank you for thinking my gifs are lovely;; I just started giffing this year and it’s been really fun so far :D 

Oh god :(( I hope you’re okay! that sounds a bit scary;; please take care :< but I’m glad that your albums got there and that you got to talk to nice at work! (stickers are always great!!! yes!! though I tend to save them and never use them as well ahahah)

FAVORITE ERA? god that’s a difficult question KJFNDVKJ well, my favorite Dream song is MFAL but I have no idea if it’s my favorite era...... I also really really really liked Superhuman (his silver hair????? gorgeous) so maybe those two would be the answer kjndfkdk and yes!!! I’ve been an Infinite fan since their debut! and Sunggyu was my bias until Haechan happened hahahah (I’ve been a kpop fan since around 2008 :        D hbu???) I think I asked here earlier but who’s your NCT bias/es?? o: are there any other kpop groups that you really like? :)

BIG EDIT: RIDIN’ ERA HAECHAN IS A BIG FAVORITE TOO his hair was at a beautiful length and that eyebrow piercing.............*cries*

Big edit 2: .......ridin’ is the favorite era, I stil like MFAL as a song more, but Ridin’ era haechan is......deadly

[moonb-eam]

ok i just saw the p&p confession ask and i could not resist: so if eliott was so unsure about if lucas would read his letter, how did he feel when lucas came to arbrenne? what was his pov during that dinner when lucas tried to make him smile and all? and also, why(i know why but i need his thoughts) did he cry when lucas said he loved him too? was he not expecting the kiss bc he seemed confused about lucas saying he'll keep the jacket? anyway i love love love your writing!!!

ahh thank you love!! 💛💛

so, let’s see...

(this got a bit long so i put it under the cut)

Eliott had no idea whether Lucas read his letter or not, and it weighed on him, nearly as much as the thought that Eliott may very well never see him again weighed on him.

He hates the possibility that the letter will remain unopened, and that Lucas will forever hold this impression of Eliott in his mind that is sour and warped - an impression that was cultivated on Charles’ persuasive nature and Eliott’s own foolishness.

He tries to make peace with it, that the letter was his last chance to explain himself to Lucas, and as the days pass: spring slipping into summer, fading to fall, hardening to winter, and returning to first blossom of spring once again, Eliott tries to accept that Lucas will now exist only as a memory to him. A distant dream just out of his reach, a star that he can only ever admire from the surface of the Earth.

He doesn’t have faith in magic and fate like he used to as a child. He’s not hoping for any divine intervention that will point their twisting paths back together, but then.

There’s a warm, sunny day when Eliott returns home early from his trip to Paris, when he surprises Daphné at her piano, and in the midst of spinning them both in a circles, both of them laughing, he hears a faint gasp, notices a flash of brilliant blue in the gap of the open door.

And there, Eliott is wondering if he needs to start believing in magic and fate and all manner of things unexplainable again, because he knows those eyes.

Eliott would know those eyes anywhere.

His chase after Lucas is a bit ridiculous, his subsequent awkwardness embarrassing, but he cannot be blamed for his own lack of decorum, not when he’s standing before Lucas on the steps, watching the way the sunlight kisses his skin.

He’s here. He’s at Eliott’s home.

What are you doing here? Eliott wants to ask. Did I conjure you from thought? From dream?

Did you read it?

Lucas gives a hasty explanation - he’s travelling with friends around Loire, admiring the castles, and they came for a tour, as Madeleine claimed the house was open for tours.

Eliott takes all of this in stride. He knows that people are curious about Arbrenne, knows that Madeleine is always eager to show of the house she works so tirelessly to run, and knows that, often when he’s away, she will show these people around, taking them through the sculpture gallery, the garden, the formal dining room.

But that is people. People who Eliott may never meet, who wander the halls his family built, admiring the architecture. People. Not him. Not Lucas.

Lucas, who is shy with Eliott, in a way that feels oddly incongruous to the image of him Eliott has in his mind: brash and loud, with a tongue like a whip. This Lucas stares everywhere except at Eliott, while Eliott can stare at little except him. This Lucas has his hands clasped neatly in front of himself. He gives stilted and abrupt answers, and it worries Eliott. It makes him think he’s making Lucas uncomfortable.

Maybe he didn’t read it.

Or maybe he did read it, and now he doesn’t want to be near you.

Except he is there. Here. Right in front of Eliott, as mesmerizing as he’s ever been, and Eliott must not have a sliver of self-preservation left because he’s asking Lucas to stay, trying to invite him for tea, trying to do anything to keep him there, to stop him from disappearing on the spring wind like a secret uttered between lovers.

The fragility of Eliott’s invitation, however, is unnecessary. Because Lucas’ friends arrive, and with them, an instant  feeling of camaraderie Eliott did not expect.

Basile Savary and Arthur Broussard. They have an infectious energy about them, an unselfconsciousness that Eliott is a bit envious of. They’re loud and they seem - or at least Mr. Savary does - to speak without considering their words, and Eliott is fond of them immediately.

Eliott invites them all for dinner, because the notion of their dining room being filled with laughter all night is a pleasant one, and because Eliott is sure the Daphné will be endlessly amused by all three of them together.

It’s only then, once Mr. Savary and Mr. Broussard have accepted as Lucas watches on with an indiscernible expression, that Eliott realizes he chased after Lucas without re-buttoning his shirt, and it is with as much dignity as possible that Eliott scurries away from them, clumsy fingers fumbling against the thick material.

Daphné, of course, teases him mercilessly for it.

“Look at the state of you,” she says with a laugh, tying up Eliott’s cravat for him while Eliott sits on the arm of the sofa, pouting. “Running after his with your neck all bare.” She shakes her head. “It’s a basic level of seduction, but it is still seduction, and for that, I commend you.”

“I’m not trying to seduce him,” Eliott complains, ignoring it when Daphné lets out another laugh. “I’m trying to be his friend.”

Daphné pauses, looking up to meet Eliott’s eyes. There’s a soft turn to her mouth, a caring, gentle expression, that makes her look just like their mother. “But you love him, don’t you?”

Eliott sighs, lowering his eyes to his knees. “Yes.”

“So, you want to be more than his friend.” She says it as if it’s the simplest thing in the entire world. As if it could be as simple as Eliott says, Lucas, I want to be everything to you. As if he hasn’t already tried that.

“I don’t think he wants that from me,” Eliott says quietly, and Daphné nudges him under his chin, forcing him to look up and meet her eyes.

“Then he’s a fool.”

“But-”

Daphné shakes her head. “You’re the best person I know in this world, Eliott. And if he can’t see that, then he doesn’t deserve you.” The conviction in her voice, is strong, sure, and it’s almost enough to make Eliott believe her words as if they’re his own, the way Dr. Daucet tells him to speak to himself whenever he falls into a cavern of self-doubt.

I am deserving of good things.

I am deserving of happiness.

I am deserving of love.

Sometimes, when he says these things out loud, he almost believes them too.

“You’re right,” he tells Daphné and she grins, smacking a wet kiss to his cheek and running a hand through his hair.

“Now,” she says seriously, “we have to make you look presentable.” She hums, considering. “Presentable, but in a rogue-ish sort of way.”

“Daphy,” Eliott says, just as seriously. “I don’t think I know what that means.”

They eat dinner together, all of them, including a man named Herman, who has the most wonderfully entertaining stories Eliott has ever heard. They eat together, and it’s perfect, the way they are all able to come together. It’s perfect, because Eliott sits across from Lucas the entire meal, and he gets to watch as Lucas’ shyness morph into something else: something that’s still sweet, but a bit bolder, shades of the Lucas that Eliott has seen in ballrooms: quick and clever and so funny that Eliott nearly snorts wine into his nose from laughing.

He glances up, hoping no one saw him, except there’s Lucas, smiling at him from across the table as though there’s a private joke they’re both in on.

(And well, Eliott supposes there is.)

The weight of Lucas’ gaze is utterly intoxicating.

Eliott feels himself melt under it like sugar under his tongue.

Daphné won’t stop nudging her knee against his under the table, but Eliott barely notices. He’s consumed by a thought. Not even a thought, but a word. One word that encompasses an entire ocean of meaning.

Eliott feels Lucas’ gaze on himself and the word comes, arresting and gorgeous and hopeful: maybe.

Now, as far as Eliott feelings in the field scene, I’ve touched on that a little bit here.

But the best way I can explain it is like this:

Something happens, and it’s something you’ve been dreaming of for so long that it feels like memory as it unfolds in front of you, and it takes a moment for you to realize that no, this is real. This is not me hoping, this is something happening to me right now. And it’s like, the happiness inside of you is too much to contain. Your heart is a comet. Your soul is a sunrise. Your hands are the wings of a morning dove, but at the same time, you are so wholly, utterly yourself. You are at home in confines of yourself, infinite in your limitations. You are loved. And you love. And you are loved.

That is what Eliott feels, standing in that dew-fresh field as Lucas confesses to him.

That’s why he cries.

[taehyungsgrowl]

The idea of Older!Duncan having this pretty summer house at this exclusive beach is almost canon. So in his mid life crisis he bought a boat (bc ofc Duncan knows how to sail) and takes his sugar babies sailing like all the time, having some romantic and sexy times under the sky (plus points of Jim tries to teach him how to surf, more plus points if y/n records the whole thing in her phone) Duncan LOVES every second of it because hes with the people he adores -drunk anon

amiga! sorry it’s taken me bit of time to get to this, but after our earlier convo of Duncan x Jim & Y/N as his sugar babies feat. roleplaying - I was reinspired. Sorry if I went a little off the request + idk anything about surfing lmfao hope you enjoy babe!

Duncan would have multiple properties throughout the country; spacious modern condos for when he was in the city, quiet mountain side ranches that we swore he’d have the time to visit, but he never did, but his favorite was his beach front summer house.

White driftwood side panels complimented by deep navy accents on the window sills, elevated porch with white wood encompassing the stairs leading to the door; it was gorgeous (Better Home and Gardens had featured it on the cover last season.)

And the view. The view was worth the hefty price tag Duncan dished out. Located on a private beach front, the ocean was but a mere few feet away. He hadn’t met his surfer boy when he purchased the house, but now it all made sense to him.

-

“You guys are gonna love it. It’s right on the beach. Nice, quiet, secluded.” Duncan drove with one hand turning into the private lot that led them closer to his house.

Jim was on the edge of the backseat, his face looking over Duncan’s shoulder. Both Y/N and Duncan could feel the excitement radiating off of him; he was like a kid on Christmas morning.

“I, for one, was ready to get out of the city.” Y/N yawned, propping her feet up on the dashboard.

“I think we all needed it, love.” Duncan smiled over at her.

Jim’s chin rested on Duncan’s shoulder watching the curvy turns in the road, anxious to see even the slightest glance of an open body of water. It had been too long since he’d been in his element. He missed salty hair, tan skin, and the feeling of sand between his toes.

After what felt like an eternal car ride they arrived at Duncan’s (what would now be theirs) summer home.

Jim and Duncan carried the bags in for Y/N. Jim could hardly turn his attention away from the sea.

Jim and Y/N rushed to the beach like a couple of kids after being settled in. Duncan following behind, carrying a couple of towels. He wore black swimming trunks and a dark pair of sunglasses; Duncan found a spot on the sand to lay and tan while Jim and Y/N hurried into the water.

He watched them from behind his dark shades; Jim in his tiny yellow trunks almost made him salivate in addition to watching Y/N in a white string piece. He was only waiting for the right time to pull him to his side to ravish them.

“Dunc!” Y/N called out, a hand shielding her face from the sun, “come join -” she was cut off by Jim grabbing her waist and playfully tossing her back into the water.

“Jim!” she squealed, “you little shit!” laughter erupted as they splashed each other.

They eventually tired and joined Duncan out on his towel. They each laid their heads on his tummy, earning them a groan from him. The three enjoying the warm sun on their skin, listening to the crashing sounds of waves.

It wasn’t until Duncan heard Jim snoring softly that he chuckled and brought them back to the house.

Their first night was spent sitting on the porch drinking chilled white wine.

Y/N sat in Duncan’s lap pointing out the constellations in the sky; something they couldn’t easily do in the city.

Jim nestled himself in between Duncan’s legs so Y/N could play with his hair. Simply being surrounded by his loved ones watching the darkening ocean made him happy.

Y/N smiled proudly as Jim rambled on and on about how he was going to teach Duncan to surf.

“No baby..” he shook his head, “I’d rather just watch you do it.” his nose drawing a line down Y/N’s jaw.

Jim’s blue eyes peered up, “Please, daddy.” his smirk said he knew exactly what he was doing by using that word. It made Duncan go crazy for it. And if he were being honest there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for these two.

At the break of dawn Jim was up and nibbling on Duncan’s earlobe, “Duncan..” he’d whine quietly, “C’mon..”

Duncan only pulled Jim back into bed, holding him firmly into his chest; Y/N snoring peacefully besides them.

“Shh, baby.. Don’t wanna wake up our princess yet.” the tip of his nose would brush Jim’s.

“Why don’t we just.” he pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, “sleep,” another kiss, “in..” his tongue slipping in Jim’s mouth.

Surfing momentarily forgotten, Jim melted into Duncan’s kiss before falling asleep on his chest again.

–

Jim rested his hand on the small of Duncan’s back while he laid tummy down on the surfboard. “Just move your arms.” he laughed, guiding Duncan further into the water.

Y/N couldn’t help but find the interaction so endearing. Reaching for the polaroid in her beach bag she snapped pictures of her boys playing in the water.

Jim was enjoying being able to teach Duncan something. With Duncan being much older than both Y/N and him, the slight power rush of teaching the older man something filled his mind with an infinite amount of ideas.

Water dripped from their hair and bodies as they finally made their way out of the water. The glared at Y/N who sat pretty on her beach towel giggling at the pictures she’d taken.

Exchanging a look between the two of them, they gently tackled her, taking the pictures out of her hands and covering her in kisses.

“What’s so funny, princess?” Duncan spoke into her neck, “Daddy can’t surf quite as well as Jimmy?”

Jim laughed, nuzzling his face into her.

Trading another look and silently nodding -  Duncan scooped her up and ran into the water with her. She squealed and kicked her legs, “sorry sorry sorry!” she pleaded in between fits of laughter.

Duncan felt like his summer house finally became a home. Full a life and laughter with his babies.

Visits to the beach were going to become a routine for the three.