#this is supposed to be a bit comedic in nature

[theemissuniverse]

“CRUSHED” RAIDEN X COMEDIC RELIEF FEM!READER

SUMMARY : You had a crush on Raiden and it was painfully obvious to everyone except him

WARNINGS : MINORS DO NOT INTERACT. smut, p in v, praise kink, body worship, some other things I probably forgot

MASTERLIST

Raiden never noticed your crush for some reason. One time Raiden had just got done with his training. He was shirtless and drinking a bottle of water. He saw you were standing right next to him. He was a bit startled as he saw you practically came out of nowhere but he smiled at you none the less. “Hello, (Y/N).”

“Hello my future husband.” You said a little quietly.

Raiden didn’t hear you. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said ‘hey Raiden’.” Your eyes darted to his chest and god did it look like the Elder Gods sculpted him out beautifully.

Raiden didn’t notice your staring. He downed the rest of his water before carefully placing it in the trash. “What have you been up to?”

You shrugged. “Oh you know. Just hanging around…” You had pulled out a rag as if you were a magician and made it appear out of thin air. “I should probably get the sweat off your chest.”

Raiden was about to say something but your hands immediately met his chest and you started to damp at it with the rag. He smiled at you, not minding you at all. “I think sweat is suppose to be right there, (Y/N).”

“Well, you know…accidents and all.”

Raiden probably was either naive or completely stupid to not see you had the biggest crush on him. To him though, he just couldn’t believe that a pretty girl like yourself would even have a thing for him so he pushed the thought of it away.

Another time Raiden should’ve put the puzzle pieces together was when you were in your room and your neck was hurting. Raiden knocked on your door. “Come in.”

Raiden walked in and closed the door. “You weren’t at training, (Y/N) so I just wanted to check on you.”

You sighed at the tension in your neck. “Yeah I know. My neck and shoulders are killing me.”

Raiden stepped a bit closer to you. “May I?” You shrugged. It already hurt bad, what was the worse that could happen?

He got behind you and started to gently rubbed your neck and shoulders. It was with slow but harsh movements that was releasing your tension. You moaned some, feeling some of the pain be gone. “God that feels amazing.”

“Is everything alright? You’re really tensed.”

The truth was your crush on Raiden was actually physically stressing you out but you obviously couldn’t tell him. “Nothing. Me and Johnny were having a dance battle. Must’ve pulled a muscle or something.”

Raiden continued to rub your neck and shoulders. “Tell him if he makes you pull a muscle again I’ll beat him like I did last time.”

You giggled at his caring nature towards you. “Now that you mention it, my back hurts a little.” You lied. You just wanted to feel his hands on you.

Raiden smiled to you though. He didn’t catch the lie. “Lay down on your stomach and I’ll get your back too.”

Another time was when you all would have dinner, you’d constantly make an excuse to sit on his lap. “Oh, would you look at that? No chairs here.”

Kung Lao looked up to you, giving you a look. “There’s one right there.”

You immediately threw the chair back and with your strength, you broke it. “Oh my god. I guess I just don’t know my own strength.” You sat down in Raiden’s lap. “Guess I’ll just sit here then.” This caused the others to shake their head at Raiden’s stupidity as he still did not get it.

Raiden never minded. He actually liked that you did because now you would baby him and cut up his food before feeding it to him.

He wrapped his arm around you and watched you cut through a piece of his food before feeding it to him with a fork.

Raiden would do the same for you. He cut up some food himself and fed it to you with the same fork.

“You two make me sick.” Johnny told you two.

The last time Raiden should’ve obviously noticed is when the group was chatting among themselves and you came up with a box of cookies.

You handed them to Raiden, smiling big as you had been the one to make them. “These are for you, Raiden. I made them myself.”

Raiden smiled, taking the box full cookies. “Thank you, (Y/N). What’s the occasion?”

“My undying love for you.” Everybody but Raiden heard you say that.

“What was that?” Raiden asked as he did not hear you.

You laughed it off. “Oh just because you’ve done such a good job at training.” You watched as Johnny tried to reach in for a cookie. “Back off, Cage!”

“Ow!” Johnny held his hand that you swatted.

Raiden picked up a cookie and took a bite. They were chocolate chip. They practically melted in his mouth. “These are really good.” Raiden bent down to your level and gave you a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you again, (Y/N).”

He walked away from you. You were smiling as big as the sun. Everyone turned to see your reaction. “I’m never washing my face again.”

They all shook their head. “There’s no way Raiden is that clueless right?” Kenshi asked.

“I’m afraid he is that clueless.” Kung Lao said.

But Raiden didn’t find out any of those ways. No, not all. You had accidentally left your diary in the library and him thinking it was a regular book, he picked it up, about to read it.

That’s when he saw it. All the pages where you talked about how much you liked him. But wait - it only gets worse.

Raiden also saw the sexual fantasies you had about him and how badly you had wished he would make you his.

He felt bad for reading it but also felt good. Because Raiden had a secret. He had a crush on you too.

He closed the book up and immediately went to your room. He knocked on the door.

You opened the door and looked to see Raiden. “Hi Raiden!” When you realized you sounded a bit too excited, you cleared your throat and leaned on the wall. “I mean…what’s up Raiden.”

It was like everything you did, Raiden finally understood. How could he be so clueless? Foolish even. Were you always that obvious? “I found this in the library.” He handed you your diary.

“Cool. Thanks.” You took the diary and then the realization hit you. “Wait.” You threw the diary across the room. “How did you know it was my diary?”

Guilt sprang on Raiden. He scratched the back of his neck before replying. “I didn’t mean to but I read it.”

Your heart sank. It was like a million bombs were strapped on your chest and you waited to be exploded. Gone forever. “That’s crazy. Because that’s not even my diary. I’m holding it for a friend.”

Raiden thought it would be just best to confront it now also considering he needed to get his own feelings off his chest too. “I know you have feelings for me, (Y/N).”

You tried to play it off. “Pfft. Whaaaat? Me? Have feelings for you? That’s crazy talk. I mean sure you are incredibly handsome, perfect boyfriend material, good with your hands, kind, caring-is kind and caring the same thing? Sweet, have really nice abs, cute in your hat you always wear, a work of art to look at-“

Raiden always thought your rambling was cute but this time he didn’t want to hear it. He pulled you by the waist with his right hand and with his left hand, he cupped the back of your neck and kissed you.

You stood there a little bit in shock but you kissed him back. You were kind of afraid to touch him and he picked up on that.

Raiden gently pushed you more into your room and he shut the door behind him. Your hands then now instinctively wrapped around his neck.

He kissed you like he himself had loved you since he met you. He was honestly glad you had feelings for him because now he could be with you.

He kept kissing you full of hunger. “Jump.” He said in your mouth.

You listened to him and Raiden caught you by your thighs. He made your legs wrap around his waist and he laid you on the bed.

You could not believe this was happening. Raiden was actually making out with you. You felt like you were dreaming. None of this was real right?

Raiden pulled away from the kiss and began to kiss and suck on your neck. You moaned some. Your hands went into his hair and you knocked the hat off his head.

“I’m sorry. I got a bit carried away.” Raiden said, pulling away from you.

“Oh no. You’re fine.” You said, gazing into his eyes.

Raiden noticed the loving stare you gave him and he felt like a fool again for not realizing sooner. “I came here to tell you I have feelings for you too. And I wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend.”

“Yes!” You practically shouted but then you realized you were overly excited so you cleared your throat. “I mean yeah, that’s cool. Whatever.”

Raiden chuckled and gave you a kiss on the cheek. “Good.”

“You know what would really solidify this relationship?”

“What is that?”

“If you kept kissing me.”

Raiden smiled at you. He gave you a sweet kiss on the lips and he remembered what you wrote in your diary. “I got a better idea.”

You were a little confused. Raiden took off your pants and your underwear. You were about to ask him what he was doing but he wasted no time. He got in between your legs and started to eat you out.

You gasped at his tongue now colliding with your clit. “Oh my gods.” Raiden held your thighs tightly as he ate you out. “Yeah, that’s a better idea.”

Raiden licked your folds and sucked all of your juice. He cursed at himself for not doing sooner. You tasted better than good to him.

Your hands tugged on his hair a little as he ate you out. You started to move on his tongue a little to try and get some friction.

Raiden picked up on it and placed his tongue exactly where your clit was as you moved back and forth. You moaned loudly.

He sucked on your clit gently and you almost lost it there. You didn’t want this anymore. You wanted him.“Raiden. Please.”

Raiden picked up his head. He used two of his fingers to pump in and out of your pussy before looking at you. “Yes, love?”

The nickname gave you butterflies. “I want you. Really bad.”

Raiden knew what you meant by this. He bit his lip. “Are you sure? I don’t have a problem with going down on you.”

“Please. Don’t make me beg more.”

Raiden stopped pumping his fingers in you. He licked the juices off his fingers and he started to unbutton his pants.

You helped him take his pants off. He took his shirt off. Then his underwear. You went a little wide eyed by his size. “You are so big.” You blurted out.

Raiden should be used to your bluntness but he wasn’t. He blushed a little and nervously chuckled. He pulled you down some so he could align himself with you. “Are you ready, sweetheart?” You nodded eagerly and he entered you.

The both of you moaned at the the new contact. You felt so right on his dick that Raiden did not ever feel like pulling out.

He waited for you to adjust correctly before leaning down and placing a kiss on your lips. He then started to move in and out of you at a steady pace.

You moaned. Raiden rubbed on your stomach soothingly as he gave you slow and sensual strokes. He wanted to feel all of you.

You always thought that you were more so the rough and fast girl but there was something about Raiden going so slow that it felt so intense and intimate than it already was.

Raiden went a little bit faster but kept the intimate tone to it. He groaned some. Your pussy clenching on him was the best thing in the world to him. “You look so beautiful like this.”

You moaned at his words. Raiden kissed you again softly before speaking again. “You feel so good. I don’t want to ever stop.”

You moaned at his words. “Raiden stop. You’re going to make me cum so fast.”

Raiden couldn’t help but praise you and worship your body. He went a little bit faster into you making you moan out loudly. “You sound so amazing.” Raiden grunted some. “I finally have you all to myself.”

“Raiden. Oh my gods.” He kept at his pace. Your hands felt all over his chest. “You look so good.” You complimented him.

Raiden smiled at your praise and he leaned down to kiss you. “You look better.” Raiden moaned more as he fucked you into the bed.

He was hitting your good spot. “Yes. Right there. Please. Please. Don’t stop.”

Raiden picked up your thighs and wrapped them around his waist so he could hit it at a better angle. He then started to pound into you. “Right here, love?”

“Yes, yes, yes. You make me so good.”

Raiden grunted at your words. He felt himself inching closer to his release. “You’re so pretty.”

All of Raiden’s praises made you tear up and you didn’t understand why. He was just so kind to you during sex you couldn’t believe it even though it was in his nature.

He noticed it and kissed your tears away. “Why are you crying, gorgeous?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“It’s true. I can’t help myself.” Raiden slowed down his pace and brought himself a little closer to you. He started to fuck into you slow but hard. He once again was hitting your spot so good but this time you couldn’t even form words anymore and threw your head back in pleasure. He made you look at him in the eyes. “Don’t turn away from me now.”

He was hitting it so good that you couldn’t even speak. You just moaned in quick gasps as he fucked you. “I’m almost there.” He told you. “Only you can do this to me. You’re too beautiful.” You still couldn’t even form words so he started to fuck you even harder. “Say it. Say you’re beautiful.”

“Oh my gods. I’m beautiful. Raiden I’m close.”

“Ah-where do you want it at?”

“Inside. Please. I need you.”

Raiden thought he needed you more. He gave you a sloppy but passionate kiss. You moaned into the kiss, about to come undone. “Baby, I’m cumming. I’m cumming please.”

He grunted at your cries and came after. “(Y/N), yes. Oh my gods yes.”

The two of you rode your orgasms out. When you were done, he leaned down to kiss you and you kissed him back. “Do you want me to start a bath for you?”

You smiled, nodding. “Yes. Please.” He gave you one final peck on the lips before getting up. He put his boxers on and went to the bathroom that was connected to your room.

Your diary was next to your side of the bed on the floor. You quickly picked it up and grabbed the pen that was on your desk.

‘Raiden is so good at sex. He knows where to kiss me in all the right places and-‘

You stopped writing when you felt someone snatch the diary away from you. You saw it was Raiden. “Hey, stop!”

“What are writing? Is it about me?” He teased a little.

“Stop it!”

“Raiden is so good at sex. He-“ He tried to read out but it turned into a wrestling match for the diary.

Well at least you finally got Raiden.

[lexirosewrites]

A bit of a long idea for Slick Sunday, but I hope you like it! (w/Omega!Steve & Alpha!Eddie):

Steve has just finished giving birth to his and Eddie’s pup after a long and strenuous labor. But before he can begin to relax, Eddie nonchalantly asks when they’re going to have the paternity test done, now or before they leave. Cue the misunderstandings.

For important background info: As a young pup, Eddie recalls once hearing his dad proclaim that he made sure to get the test done before leaving the hospital to “make sure the pup’s mine” (Al Munson: Worst Father Ever). Kid Eddie, in all his oblivious creativity, took that to mean that hospitals regularly swapped out babies. After all, he’d read stories about people being switched at birth only to later find out they were royalty or heroes (fantasy stories, mind you). But the idea solidified in his young mind, and it never even dawned on him what the test actually implied. 

This idea (pups being switched at birth) was further backed by growing up with Wayne, a man who loved a good conspiracy theory and a deep mistrust of the government, not to mention Eddie having survived the Upside-Down and the cover-ups that followed in the aftermath. All this to say, to Eddie it was entirely possible for the hospital to try and pull ‘The Ol' Switcheroo’. And so, the test to make sure the pup was his and Steve’s. 

On the flip-side of this, you now have a furious Robin (who dares question the honor and loyalty of her dingus!) and Steve, who is distraught at Eddie’s accusations, exhausted from labor and child birth, and who is now risking emotional rejection sickness at such a critical moment (he’s thinking Eddie is rejecting him and their pup).

I don’t see this as full-blown angst, but more comedic in nature, especially once Steve and Robin find out that Eddie honestly believed the hospital would try and swap out their pup. 

Thanks!

oh my god no i know it’s supposed to be funny but this is so sad because eddie has no clue that he’s said anything wrong and steve’s heart is probably broken that his alpha would ever question him???🥺🥲 steve wants to hold their precious baby and show his mate what a good omega he’s been by giving them a beautiful pup and enduring so much pain and then eddie’s like “so now i jusr need to make sure it’s my baby” 😭😭😭 i need 3-5 business years to recover from this!!!

[vixensbrainrotts]

Ran fucked up

Summary: so you found out that Ran is sorta-kinda using you for information, money and material for Tenjiku and took revenge before the damage was too heavy. Come the time when Ran was supposed to display results, he has some explaining to do…

Tropes: Tenjiku! Arc

Content warnings: none really, this time around its just kinda cracky, implied intentional accidents i guess? Idk let me know if there’s anything

Vixen’s two cents: I saw that prompt and JUMPED on the opportunity cause i had a silly little idea (lets pretend im not writing this in my theory of evolution lecture right now). This is such a funny prompt to me, I hope you enjoy. Prompt taken from @the-cypress-grove - prompt 131 (thank youuuuu) Remember that my requests are open if you have any ideas!

Rindou has never seen his older brother this nervous- actually, this is the first time he’s seen him nervous, ever. The man in question was pacing (to the best of his efforts) restlessly, and it was driving Rin insane. „It‘s your fault, you know?“ Rindou quipped from where he was sitting. „And you’re not fucking helping. Izana is going to rip me apart, if i survive Kakucho that is.“ Ran mutters more to himself than to his brother.

Rolling his eyes, Rindou decides that he has to take control of the situation. „Come on Ran, its best to get it over with fast, perhaps they’ll pity you because of your… state right now.“ Rindou makes his way to the door, shrugging on a cardigan and taking the keys out of the little dish by the door. The look that Ran gives him almost ignites a little bit of pity in Rindou. Almost.

20 minutes later the two of them are standing in front of the place of meeting and Ran is sweating bullets. „Come on..“ Rindou drawled again. Offended, Ran throws him a look „You’re not the one who’s about to get mauled.“ Ran crows in slight pain, but Rindou spared no sympathy, „Your fault.“ Rindou was the first to enter the area donning the heavenly kings‘s presence. He silently greet his colleagues with a curt wave, but felt a little puzzled when he didn’t receive one in return. The confused looks on their faces were almost comedic before Rindou noticed the distinct lack of brother by his side.

Rindou heaved a sigh and half-turns to face the entrance again, gesturing to the door for the Heavenly Kings to see. „He‘s coming, don’t worry.“ He assured and trudged on towards his place.

„Sit down Haitani.“ a sharp voice pierced the air as Izana spoke. A shiver ran down Rindou‘s spine, and all of a sudden he understood his brother‘s fear: Izana was scary as such, and blatantly terrifying when disappointed. Quickly, Rindou took a seat beside Mochi. Silence reigned after that. Not a word was spoken, not a breath was taken whilst they waited for Ran to enter.

Finally the tension broke when Ran walked through the door, his head low and limping slightly. „Were ya roughed up or something?“ Shion was the first to speak. „Well..“ Ran sounded a bit defeated as his voice trailed off, remaining standing at a respectable distance. „You’re here. And late at that.“, Izana‘s voice freezes the air as he speaks, „I hope for your sake that your little project proves to be as useful as you made it sound.“ Ran tries very hard to look anywhere but the Kings, instead trying to make eye-contact with his brother, but Rindou only raises his hands slightly in surrender and shoots him a look that says you brought yourself into this mess, im not gonna help you on this one.

„Do tell Ran. How‘s your little girlfriend doing, hm? Are you treating her well? Is the good service paying off? She give you somethin‘ yet?“ Shion has the gall to poke at Ran, stacking questions on him in a singsong tone. Despite the almost joking nature of the questions, they hang heavy in the air.

„I don’t think she likes me all that much right now.“ Ran finally says.

„What makes you think that?“ Kakucho is the one to speak this time, noticing Izana's annoyance and grasping the reigns of the conversation. Whilst he sounds genuinely concerned, Kakucho‘s half-blind eye does nothing to make Ran feel more comfortable, as he visibly shrinks beneath his gaze.

„She founded out.“ Ran breaks the news in a whisper, and the air around them changes into something much more alive, and much more electric. „What.“ Kakucho‘s voice is loud in stark contrast.

„She hit me with her car.“ Ran shrinks even further into himself when the guys surrounding him laugh. „Clever Girl!“ Shion quips between heaves of laughter, bracing himself against an also-snickering-Mucho who adds „What if it was an accident?“. Ran only shakes his head, face and neck ablaze with red as he puffs himself up against the humiliation. „She looked me dead in the eye and reversed!“ Laughter bounces off the walls once again.

[frenchkisstheabyss]

ⱧɆ₳Ɽ₮ ₴Ⱨ₳₱ɆĐ ฿ØӾ

☽ Pairing ☾ warlock!christian yu x witch!chubby!fem!reader

☽ Genre ☾ supernatural au , fluff, smut

☽ Summary ☾ When his first attempt at a spell ends in him being chased out of town, Christian stumbles through the woods and stumbles upon your cottage. Unwelcoming to visitors, you attempt to chase him off but there's just something about this stranger that makes it impossible to turn him away.

☽ Word Count ☾ 2.7k-ish

☽ Warnings ☾ mentions of death/funerals (it's handled comedically so nothing gruesome), witchcraft obviously, unprotected sex, nibbling, a lil bit of rough sex, soft dom christian vibes, overstimulation, creampie, pet names (darling, love), & that's all babes.

☽ A/N ☾ I wrote this as a request for @magoapple who loves Christian Yu as much as I do. Thank you for trusting me to write up your idea and I hope that it came out the way you wanted. Love you 💜

It was supposed to be a simple sleep spell. A few sprigs of dried mugwort, ground lepidolite, the toe of a dead man, a splash of moon water, two creams, three sugars. Or was it three creams, two sugars? Racing through the trees, bare branches grasping at his limbs like the claws of the damned, Christian knows he made a mistake somewhere.

His grandmother’s spells, written on tea stained scraps of paper, provided clear instructions. Naturally a few words here and there had faded over time but how important could they have truly been?Important enough that they might've kept him from cooking up the nauseating potion that made him pass for a corpse.

The days of grieving that preceded his funeral service were hell for everyone but him. While dozens wept he snoozed peacefully. Arrangements were made. His pinstripe white suit was tailored. An oak wood casket was measured to suit his height. The only thing missing, the very thing that saved him, was that the mortician skipped the embalming process.

In a small middle of nowhere town like this, people are prone to superstition. When the mortician placed his scalpel to Christian’s throat, prepared to make his first incision, he could’ve sworn he heard a low humming noise. A death rattle is what they call it. Unremarkable when heard coming from the dying but when it’s coming from the dead? Cut into them and the sound will haunt you for the rest of your days.

And so he quietly left him intact. Something he’d come to regret when his wife rushed into the funeral home screaming in terror that the boy had risen from the dead at his own funeral. The townspeople were unhappy to say the least. Glancing over his shoulder, Christian can still see raging globes of orange looming between the trees. The flames of torches meant to burn him to ash.

There’s chatter amongst the small group of men tasked with capturing him. Their voices aren't distinctive in the slightest but their anger—their fear—seeps into their surroundings. One of the men managed to cut his arm before he escaped. His hand clings to the wound, gathering the fabric of his tattered suit to soak up the blood that drips from it.

He’s out of breath, lungs burning with every step he takes. He doesn’t know how much longer he can run or even where he’s running to. Only that he has to keep going or he’ll be burned at the stake. He knows he’s been running in a straight line but suddenly the trees seem to bend as if he’s made a right turn. The change is dizzying, causing him to stumble but he has to keep running. Straight? No, left. No, right. No.

Thud! His body collides with something unseen, knocking him to the ground. “What the hell!” you shout, bracing yourself for the fall. You land hard on your bottom, the basket of herbs on your arm spilling out into the grass. Scrambling to your feet, you spot the beast that slammed into you though he’s no beast at all. Despite his disheveled appearance, the dark haired man has a gentleness to him that makes you want to rush to his aid.

Watching him dust himself off, you see that he’s injured...and handsome. Incredibly handsome. But how did he get here? How? “Oh my goodness, I’m so happy I found you. You have to help me!” he pleads, grasping at your arm to pull himself up. You back away, sensing the impending presence of even more unwanted company. “You led them here? To my home! Who sent you?” Eyeing the cozy cottage behind you, Christian questions if he’s alive after all.

Everything from the chestnut shingles on the roof to the cobblestone path with flowers springing out from between the cracks reminds him of the story books he read as a child. Vines of wisteria climb the walls, bundles of lavender adorning the arches of the windows and doors. A place like this—it shouldn’t be here. 

“You shouldn’t be here! Whoever sent you—” you say, lowering your voice to a hush. “No one sent me. I’ve just, I’ve had a day, alright? If you don’t help me they’ll kill me so please, please help me.” You want to turn him away, send him right back in whatever direction he came from, but you can’t. The sincerity of his pleas tug at your heartstrings, playing them like a violin.

Behind him you spot the lights of the torches, bringing back dark memories of what lead to your life of solitude to begin with. Shaking away the ghosts of your past, you rush to pull his jacket off. “Take your clothes off!” “Hey!” he squeals, twisting free, “What are you doing?” “You stink of graveyard dirt. It’s interfering with my spell. Take your clothes off, anything the dirt touched, and dispose of them!”

Christian hesitates, unsure he wants to trust a strange woman’s demands to strip down, no matter how beautiful she is. “Just do it before you get us both killed!” “So feisty! Fine, I’ll do it!” Finally getting his jacket off, you toss it into the trees. Christian follows your lead, hurriedly stripping down to his underwear and disposing of the clothes in a small scattered area just beyond your grass. 

You’re ashamed of yourself. Staying focused has always been your strength and men, unfortunately, have always been your weakness. His muscled body is covered in inked markings, mesmerizing you to the point of total distraction. Christian catches you staring and winks, “Like something you see, darling?” “Ugh, you’re already unbearable!” you huff, marching towards your home. “Come inside, we need to handle that wound.” “What about them?”

Pushing your front door open, you turn around and begin counting backwards from 10. Gradually, the torches snuff out and the voices fade into the night. “We’re invisible to them now. They won’t find us. They won’t find anything. The trees will twist until they can’t even find each other.” You say this with a coldness that betrays your sweet exterior and fuels his curiosity.

“You’re magnificent” he muses, making you crack something too fleeting to register as a smile though it’s something resembling one. Lowering your head to hide your amusement, you step inside and he trails behind you, a lost puppy in search of a home. “Whoa” he gasps, marveling at the decor. It’s rustic and simple yet everything in it seems priceless. Even the picture frames appear ornate, the paintings within their boundaries thriving with life.

If he stands still long enough he could swear the paintings move. “Do you plan to bleed out on my carpet?” you tease, standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a blanket and a small basket holding your own special first aid supplies.

“When did you get those?”

“Get what?”

“The blanket and the…they just…”

“Appeared?” you laugh, handing him the blanket, “Things tend to do that around here. Come sit.” 

Wrapping himself in the blanket, Christian makes his way into the kitchen. “Might you have a name, stranger?” you ask, setting up your own makeshift medical station at the table. “Christian. And yours?” Unraveling a roll of gauze, you glance up to find him staring at you with a longing in his eyes that even he may not be aware of. It makes your heart skip a beat, your pulse racing as you catch yourself slipping under his spell once more.

The sound of a pot boiling over on the stove reels you back in. You clear your throat, hurrying to tend to the dinner you’d so quickly forgotten about. Jumping into action, Christian grabs an oven mitt and is right at your side helping to put out a small fire before it catches. “Goodness, look at me. I’m such a mess. Forgive me, I just—this is a lot and I—” you ramble, flustered by the culmination of events.

You stop to catch your breath, a hand clutched to your chest. This is far more excitement than you were prepared for. “Would you like something to eat, Christian?” Your question makes him suddenly aware of how long it’s been since he last had a bite to eat or even a sip of water. The aroma rising from the pots is mouthwatering, only making matters worse. If he had enough moisture in his body to drool he would.

“I would love that, thank you.” You take him by the hand, leading him back to his chair to properly examine his wound. “I’ll feed you and fix you up then off you go. Understood?” He nods obediently, praying that mind reading isn’t among your abilities. As annoyed as you may be at his arrival, there’s still something so inviting about you. You handle him with such warmth. The very warmth that was so cruelly stripped from his life without warning. What intention could he possibly have of letting you rush him off?

But he lies anyway, settling into the comfort of your touch. “Understood.” 

Chirp! Chirp! The baby bird cupped in Christian’s hands flutters its wings. A thorn peeks from between its feathers, preventing it from taking flight. “Poor thing” you pout, pinching the thron and plucking it free, “There you go. All better, aren’t we?” Christian looks to you with the same admiration that he has everyday since he stumbled upon your cottage, injured and alone like this sweet little bird.

Weeks have passed since then, both of you finding excuses for him to stay before ultimately doing away with the notion altogether. Before his arrival you’d never spent mornings like this sitting barefoot in the grass enjoying the utopia your magic had created. Now every morning begins this way with him, hours spent opening up to him in ways you never thought you would with anyone.

You shudder to think of how long you spent locked up in that house, hidden from everything bad in the world and consequently everything, at least one thing, good. Christian sets the bird down in the grass, watching it hop off into the distance and disappear beyond the invisible veil that surrounds your home. “Darling,” he says, a sweet nickname he’s come to call you, “Have you ever thought about leaving?” You laugh at the obscenity of such a question, “Leaving? Wh-why would I do that?”

Sensing the anxiousness in your voice, he intertwines his fingers with yours, brushing his thumb along the back of your trembling hand. “There’s a big, wide world out there, darling. You can’t hide here forever.” It’s a knife through your heart to hear him say that word. Hide. “I’m not hiding here. This place keeps me safe. It keeps us safe.” You move to snatch your hand away but he only holds it tighter, bringing you closer to him.

“But it keeps us still. Something as beautiful as you are shouldn’t be kept. Beautiful things should be free, shouldn’t they?” “And who’ll protect me?” Christian smiles, deep brown eyes refelcting the morning sun, “I will.” Instinctively you want to make a mad dash for the front door, slam it behind you and shut everything out. But with it would go your new companion, the light at the end of a tunnel of seemingly eternal loneliness.

His other hand finds your waist, bringing you onto his lap. “I owe you everything” he whispers against your lips, “Won’t you let me give it to you?” He wraps his arms around you, kissing you with all the passion his words can’t communicate. It steals your breath away, killing that urge to run away. Your fingertips trace his jawline as you tilt forward to deepen the kiss. His tongue ventures further into your mouth, his hands finding their way under your flowy black dress.

Your skin’s softer than the most expensive silk. He can’t get enough of touching you, caressing you. Light sparks of what feels like electricity give you goosebumps as he trails up your spine. “Come with me” he begs, kissing his way down your collarbone. His tongue teases your cleavage, rounding what lush flesh of you breasts overflows from your lowcut neckline.

Christian tugs the front of your dress down, groaning in pleasure as your breasts fall free of the material. Taking your nipple between his lips, he eagerly buries his face into your chest, suckling at the bud. You throw your head back, eyes falling closed, and profess to the skies that you’ll do it. “Yes” you moan, grinding down to feel him hard against your core, “I’ll do it.”

Christian hums happily, nibbling at your stiffened bud as he reaches between your legs to stroke your slit through your panties. Only there are none. They’ve disappeared. He looks up at you, perplexed. He knows you were wearing them. “Where—” “Did you forget?” you giggle, watching the awe on his face as he feels his cock spring from his pants, “I’m magic.” “Yes, you are.”

Magic in every sense of the word. Not only in the intoxicating kiss you pull him into. Not only in the way that you sink down onto him, swallowing every throbbing inch of him into you. You’re magic in the strands of hair that fall between his fingers and in the voice that cries out his name. “Christian!” you moan, tearing his shirt away to reveal the tattooed form you’ve lusted for from the start. He bounces you in his lap, bottoming out with each thrust of his hips. It sends shockwaves through you, your juices pooling at the base of his cock.

Your toes curl, back arching as the blood rushing up his shaft has his veins pulsing while you clench around him. “I’ve wanted you for so long” he confesses, gripping the plush of your ass. “Oh god, me too. So badly.” As if you needed to say it. You’re so wet that he can feel you juices splashing on his fingers each time your bodies meet. That says everything. But he loves to hear your voice. Hear you say that you’ve wanted him as much as he wants you. “Darling” he coos, his face in your neck, inhaling your scent, “You’re shaking.”

You are. It started when he first took your hand and it hasn’t stopped since. One especially rough thrust makes you cry out, your pussy beyond overstimulated by the return of sensations you haven’t felt in years. Your eyes sparkle with tears, a tightness gripping your chest, “Too much! Ah, can’t…” In one graceful motion he has you on your back, your trembling knees pressed back to spread you wider. “Ssh, you can. You can take it for me. My brave girl, hmm?”

You squirm beneath him, this new angle perfect for slamming into your sweet spot. “You...are...the...devil” you gasp, legs wrapping around his waist. “Not the first time I’ve heard that, love” he chuckles, taking that as a challenge. Pinning your hands above your head, he picks up speed, claiming every part of you in every way he can until you’re—

“Christian—I—I’m—oh my goddesses.” 

“That’s it my lovely. Wanna feel you—”

Your orgasm washes over you, the waves powerful enough to pull you under. You’re drowning and you bring him right along with you. You're overcome with every emotion all at once as you hold each other tight, flowing into each other, sticky and sweet.

The sky darkens. The air is still. For a moment you hear nothing and then your body relaxes. The sun returns, the sky somehow prettier than it was before. Christian collapses on top of you, his face disappearing beneath a mess of dark hair as he lays his head on your chest. He squints his eyes, noticing that, beyond his curtain of hair, he can spot parts of the forest he hadn’t seen before.

In the distance, the little wounded bird hops around with his friends. Not too far away he spots remnants of the clothing he tossed away when he found you. He can see everything now and that means everything can see him. It can see you. “So, where to first?” you beam, admiring the view with him.

“Anywhere you want, darling, as long as I’m with you.”

[blanketforcas]

jensen talking about dean not being sure what kind of love cas meant exactly because he's an angel etc etc, to talking about dean realizing he should've said it back, but adding the caveat of dean loving cas "much like sam" to "i'm sure it would go how we all think it would go" and there being a "big embrace" to "it's clear text" but also saying "whenever they do have a reunion it's just understood" like my guy what does that MEAN what does it all mean.

"it's just understood" so what, they give each other a nod that communicates a mutual understanding of their love and then go on their way to start the next adventure? or "it's understood and they start kissing each other about it first"? the latter being a bit more in line with "how we all think it would go". and yes he tried to stick to cas' side of things cause he won't reveal dean's side, and i suppose that's what he's getting at when he's saying "it's just understood" but it ends up sounding a little bit. comedic? kinda? cause he's trying to avoid answering what we really want to know here. and don't talk to me about How The Industry Works cause i know he's being as vague as possible for a reason, but even if he wasn't, this still would be the best and "easiest" way (still hard to be threading the needle on this ofc) to talk about it. cause i don't believe it would be easier if he "picked a side": a hard stance either way would be too risky in such a divided fandom, especially the people going to (multiple) cons, and it doesn't seem to be in his nature to rock the boat. i don't remember if there was a point i was trying to make, but it's been fascinating to see his answer change over time, whether that was testing out the waters for how honest he could be or just his own process in real time. perhaps a mix of both. there's also the fact he pitched an empty rescue for the revival which feels like it reveals a lot about jensen's stance on everything but could basically be net zero information too. this has been a ramble lol i apologize. and i don't care if you think of jensen as some kind of brilliant gay hollywood hustler or if you think he might actually sabotage destiel, or anything in between, but i do wish we'd be a little more understanding of our differing opinions on this. i'll just be here trying to figure out a way to kidnap and interrogate the man in the meantime

[cartierdreamx]

THE LAST SLICE

good morning my sweet babies! hope your weekend is going more than incredible, just a short, sweet one shot i thought of when i randomly have the urge to write, hope you enjoy!! J <333

Pairings: jenna ortega x fem! Reader

Warnings: angst (? like if you read in between the lines😭), swearing, it’s really just fluff LMFAO.

Summary: jenna wanted a sign. 

Words: 2k+

This fic includes no NSFW themes, but my blog does have a minors DNI rule! you are responsible for your own social media intake, which includes reading entertainment, which this fic falls under. thank you!

~~

“You gotta be faster than that, Ortega.” You tease, sticking your tongue out as you take the last pizza slice, Jenna’s hand narrowly missing the food she had craved the most the entire morning, she knew the crew was going to order pizza for everyone just after the ‘cut’ was called for lunch to commence. But pizza being pizza, it was a war to get to the slices, unfortunately you and Jenna would be one of the last ones to get to the buffet table having need to debrief with each other, the director, and the producer about the scene. Luckily today, debrief was quick and the cheese with carefully placed pepperoni all over creating little pools of grease called out something, your name.

“I’m gonna kill you, l/n.” A stern brunette darts her eyes up at your as you take a bite, a bite so comedically insane she was so sure you were mocking her, to be fair, you are. “Oh, I hate you.”

“Mhmhm, I call bluff, you’re not going to kill me,” you roll your eyes, taking yet another sweet bite, killing Jenna just a bit more, “and plus, you love me.”

“No, I don’t.” Jenna was quick to shut the statement down, mostly to change the subject because she didn’t want to give you two wins today. You knew she loves you, you love her too, except the only difference is, she only reciprocated platonic feelings. It was an accident, but sometimes the best things come from accidents, falling for her was an accident, not a mistake, well you hope it isn’t a mistake.

By now, you were used to the daily making out with random actors and actresses, most roles you booked had a love story in it and you were a main love interest every time, what can you say, your charms hypnotised the world.

But there was a certain charm that washed over you, her, Jenna’s gaze was something, her heart was everything. She was, she is, your everything. To this day, you steal every look you can and when she catches you, a soft blush always surfaced its way to your cheeks, which only made her laugh. You promised yourself you wouldn’t fall for America’s sweetheart but it’s a whole lot easier breaking self-promises, and you also promised yourself, no matter what your delusions would tell you, she doesn’t have feelings for you back.

“Mhmh, you held the kiss longer than you were supposed to.” You retort, teasing her and only slightly flirting with her, making sure she doesn’t read into it.

She scoffs and playfully punches your arm, “BUT YOU DIDN’T BREAK AWAY!”

You play a sly grin, making her giggle a bit, “I didn’t hear cut.” You shrug. And before she could come up with a quirky comeback, your moment was slightly ruined by the producer’s son who has been shadowing his dad for the past few weeks and unfortunately for you, he was quick to pine over Jenna, who wouldn’t? The world’s pining over her, you’re pining over her, it’s no surprise he is too.

It’s no lie he made you jealous, not that you wanted any of his features or his personality, actually you think his personality is quite cheesy, he made you jealous because in your eyes, in your mind, Jenna was pinning over him too, you wanted her to pine over you, wanted her to want you the way he does, the way you do.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt, but can I steal Jenna away for a second.” He asks, she smiles, see, it was that damn nature of his that made her smile, that damn nature of his that you curse, although it wasn’t fair for you to dislike the guy for this very reason, it was your nature to wallow in angst every time they were together.

“You could steal me anytime, Idrys.” She giggles, making you die inside even more. You couldn’t bring yourself to say anything, just smiling and nodding at him, giving him the ‘okay.’ As he whisks her away, your eye stays locked on them, mostly locked on Jenna, watching her every move, jealousy brewing from your stomach seeping its way to your heart.

The delectable pizza was just a cold mush to you now, nothing about it was desirable to you anymore, that sinking feeling got to you, you toss the rest of your slice in the bin, but what you saw next made you even more sick, your eyes relayed the sight of Idrys towering over Jenna whilst she looks up, laughing flashing him with those dreamy eyes of hers.

“I love my son, but Jenna can do so much better than him.” Turning around, you see your producer pursing his lips at you, “I’m serious, y/n, they have no chemistry.”

“They make a cute couple.”  

“Wow, for someone who has an Oscar, you are a terrible liar.” Placing his hands on your shoulder, centring you down.

“I wasn’t lying.”

“But you weren’t telling the truth, they make a cute couple because they’re both attractive, and that’s it, they share no fire, you and Jenna do.”

“I am a great actress.” You cheese, trying to lighten the mood and hopefully change the subject, but that was a horrible attempt as it only directed the attention of your director to you two, which he thought it’d be a great idea to welcome herself into the conversation.

“That you are, but no one could act the way you feel about her, the way she feels about you.” She starts, “what you two have is real, and I mean more than just your friendship, like don’t get me wrong, that shit is cute, but the raw chemistry and love you two share, that is unmatched, his son can only imagine having that with her.” She looks to her side, shaping an ‘O’ with her mouth, “no offence, man.”

“None taken, you’re one hundred percent right, and plus, EVERYONE saw that kiss, she held it longer than she was supposed to.” Solidifying her point. Those two acted like a married couple, they weren’t together, but you could’ve sworn their dynamic was unmatched, “go get the girl, y/n.” They say in unison, walking away together, only proving you right.

“Hey, sorry that took a while, what did they want?” Jenna’s voice getting louder as she steps closer to you, now looking at you with the same dreamy eyes, except it was different, jumping to conclusions those eyes screamed platonic. What your dumbass didn’t realise was that the look she gave you was different, she never looked at anyone the way she looks at you, her eyes were love sick, she was lovesick, for you.

“Oh, it’s no problem, and uh, they were just talking about my character development, how they want my character to grow.” Lying through your teeth, you just hope she couldn’t see through you the way the other two did.

“You didn’t like it? It’s okay if you don’t, you can speak to them, they love and respect you, like you’re their love child, cus everyone agrees they act like a married couple.” She says, in the sweetest, softest tone, you could melt, bend at your knees. “You seem upset, baby.” Baby.

You shake your head and with such slyness you lean on the table, making sure you don’t topple over at the sound of her nickname for you, you weren’t lying when you told yourself you would bend at your knees for her.

“Huh? OH, no, no, I’m not upset at all.” Another lie, “it’s just been a long week and I can’t wait to get home; the new season of Black Mirror is out.” You smile, baring all your teeth, now that one wasn’t a complete lie, it has been a long week and there is a new season that you can’t wait to binge.

“Hurgh, I thought you said we’d watch it together!” Jenna acts betrayal as she grasps her shirt near her heart region.

“Okayyyyy, come over tonight.” Rolling her eyes at her, making sure your invitation was finite and not a question, so she would have to come over.

“Oh, uh, actually, I would love to.” There’s a change in her tone.

“But…?”

“But I have a date tonight, with Idrys, it’s what we were talking about before. Watch it without me, I’ll catch up.” Oh. You regret inviting her, because maybe you’d only have to hear about the date after it happened. Oh, who are you kidding, she would’ve told you the second she got back and the voice in your head would be pestering you to dig at her, asking what their conversation was about, you were going to find out about the date in a heartbeat.

“Right, well that’s better than spending it with me on my couch, so have fun, he’s cute, and no doubt you’re going to look breathtaking tonight.” You try your hardest to not show the stabbing feeling that buries your heart right now.

“I’m glad you think so, pick me up at seven.” She cheeses, with such mischief behind her eyes.

“JENNAAAA.”

“Thank you, baby.”

How could you say no.

~~

As Jen enters your car, you can’t help but stare in awe, she looks ethereal, she is ethereal. She was wearing a black mini skirt that hugged her hips, accompanied by a sheer white button up that caressed her curves, thought the material was sheer, it wasn’t completely see through, and her hair was up in a slick, mid bun with her middle part showing.

There was no one in the world, the universe that made you feel the way she did, she was like basking in the warm Australian sun, like the skyline of a city at night time reflecting on your skin, where light was, she was there, she isn’t the light, she’s your light.

“You know, l/n, if you keep staring, I’ll miss my date.” Jenna teases, only making you blush and giggle, but the dimness of your car shadowed your face, making it hard for Jenna to see the blush, but what she did see was the spark in your eyes which calmed the sea of nervousness she was swimming in. Maybe you should keep staring.

As you start driving, you start fidgeting, Jenna noticed but she didn’t want to point it out, scared it’ll only push you away and make you dismissive. The tension in the car was strong, it could cut a boulder clean, and you couldn’t take that so you small talk her acting as if you were her uber driver and you don’t have a relationship with her.

“So, uh, you excited?”

“A bit, more nervous actually.”

“He should be nervous, he’s the one going on a date with THE Jenna Ortega.”

“Hmph, you flatter me.” You try. “Actually, he’s the one who has been nervous all week, he’s been asking me out every single day without fail for the past seven days.”

“And you kept rejecting him?”

“Something like that,” you also hope that the dim lights didn’t reveal your sly smirk painted on your face.

“Why did you?”

“I just wanted to see if something else would come along.”

“That is?”

“A sign.”

“A sign?”

“A sign for me to officially say no, I told him to give me a week, and on the last day, I caved and said yes.” Confusion starts to set in, you couldn’t tell if she wanted to even go on this date, you know, with the whole sign thingy, maybe she was just looking for a reason to say no but there wasn’t one conjured up in time.”

“I take it there wasn’t any?”

“Zilch. Maybe no sign meant I should say yes.”

“Unfortunate,” you mumble, maybe if a sign did show, you wouldn’t be caught in this situation.

“Indeed.” You didn’t think she heard you, but she did, unfortunately though, you didn’t hear her. “What was that?” You ask.

“Oh, nothing, just thinking out loud.”

“Right, well, we’re here, just let me park and help you out.” You park swiftly and with ease, despite needing to parallel park, with that same swiftness you hop out and open the car door for Jenna, extending your arm out for her.

“Always a gentleman.” She smiles.

“Gentlewoman,” you jokingly correct her, she lets out a small huff of laughter whilst her smile stays in place, “what’re you waiting for, Jen?”

“A sign, baby.” There it was again, baby.

“Go have fun, Jen.” You grab her hand once more and caress each knuckle.

She held her blink longer than usual, smiling as she does so, letting out a wistful sigh, and before she turns away and leaves, she tippy toes up, placing a soft, warm kiss on your cheek. Except it was so much closer to the edge of your mouth, you want to say it was a kiss?

~~

Once you settle back into your couch, snuggle up in your fluffy blanket, you can’t wait to hear the iconic tudum ahead of every Black Mirror episode, getting lost in the new season, hoping to clear your mind of Jenna and her date, the date now an hour in.

And even though she gave you permission to watch the new season without you, there was a guilt building in you every time you considered pressing play, so you listen and decide to save season six for another time, another time where Jenna was with you, resting her head on your shoulder.

Instead, you opt to rewatch your favourite episode instead, ‘San Junipero,’ but before the first interaction of the episode could start, you hear your doorbell ring, you pause the episode and go check it out.

Looking through your ring camera app, you see Jenna? You open the door in confusion and map the brunette up and down, making sure you weren’t hallucinating, you see her smiling softly at you holding a pizza box in her hand.

“Hi.” She smiles, only making you even more confused.

“Hello?” You start off, “what’re you doing here, your date?”

She breathes in deeply, hearing the oxygen enter her body, she exhales just as deeply, hearing the carbon dioxide, that was once oxygen, leave her body. “Well, I was on a date, enjoying delicious food, with a very cute and funny boy in front of me,” your heart drops, “but.” Your heart raises, and so does one of your eyebrows.

“But?”

“He wasn’t the one I wanted to be with, he’s great and all but he doesn’t occupy my heart, he’s just a friend, I explained it to him, and he was very sweet about it, he understood, actually he was the one who dropped me off here.”

“Well, who does occupy your heart?” Your naïve and oblivious self asks. Only making Jenna’s facial expression form a horror as a result of you not being able to connect the dots.

“YOU. YOU DO, Y/N, I love you.” You freeze, “you’re the one I want to be with, I love more than you could ever imagine.” And before you could react, you feel her lips on yours, like it was coming home, except this time, it was here to stay, and they were speaking the truth, no lies, no acting, no cut, just the truth.

“But the sign?” You break away.

“The sign was you, you idiot, I wanted to see if a miracle would happen, and you would ask me out.”

“OHHHHH.” Realisation hits you like a truck, “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

“Yes ma’am.” You pull her waist in, essentially pulling her inside your house, greeting her lips once more as she places the pizza on your table, dancing in motion together as if the two of you were among the stars.

“And before you try anything funny,” she pulls away, making you whimper a bit, “there’s twelve slices of pizza, six each so we both get a last slice.”

You smile, making you’re the corner of your lips connect to your eyes, essentially closing your eyes as a reaction.

“Last slice.”

~~

a/n: j! try to write at a normal time and fix your sleep schedule challenge <3 (it’s 6am)

taglist: @talialeih​ (uber eats me a pizza please, love.)

[cowgirlcherrie]

totally clueless! ❀*ੈ✩‧₊˚

pairing: 90s! house-sitter! Abby x college! bratty! bimbo! fem reader

synopsis: The year is 1995, California, Beverly Hills. You were in your sophomore year of college, starting adulthood when your dad decides to leave the mansion in the hands of a house sitter who you thought was a buzzkill and in return, she thought you were a brat. You were totally and indefinitely clueless.

warnings: 18+, MDNI, hyper femme black coded reader, making out, heavy body touching,tad bit of smut, mostly supposed to be comedic and funny, strict-ish parents(if you squint), partying, alcohol mention, slight manhandling, mutual pinning, teasing, closeted reader (also if you squint), wet daydreaming, enemies-ish to lovers,

a/n: if you watched the movie then you would know that it naturally has this comedic bubbly, unserious aura to it, which I tried to emulate here (the ones that get it, get it)considering that it does take place in the 90s as the fic does too, there is heaaavy usage of 90s slang, so if the some of the dialogue seems cring-ish or theres phrases where you’re like who says thattt??? 90s slang. A lot of the scenes mirror ones directly from the movie! just a heads up, but this is a treat to all of you so I hope you enjoy this as much as I did writing it ! <3

POP! 

The bubble of your bubblegum collapsed into your glossed lips as you chewed vastly out of irritation. Here you stood at your 10am debate class, uninterested in today’s flash debates but it was part of your final grade —the thought of an ugly red F on your grade report frightened you, it was nothing that white out or your pink decoration tape could possibly fix. Some would say that you were overdressed for school, wearing a matching pink set and platform heels that sparkled on your ankles making you look flashy as you walked. All you could do was tap your hands at the side of the podium as you moved your hips from side to side, watching as your professor paced around the classroom giving his warm-up speech. Your debate opponent was a girl named Cheryl, her outfit visibly lackluster compared to you which you found to be too grey, matching the bleak wall of the classroom. Now you didn’t know Cheryl well, besides the fact that the girl had been a walking airhead and a terrible debater. This should be an easy A. 

“Okay y/n…Cheryl, your topic is— should public schools require uniforms?” Your professor stated, making his way to his desk to be out of the way of the students. You widened your eyes in excitement, sending a smirk and wink to Cheryl who only rolled her eyes back at you.

“Cheryl will take pro position, Y/n you will be con, 5 minutes”

“So,” You begun, taking the gum out of your mouth, throwing it into the trashcan behind you. 

“Hypothetically, wearing uniforms is the equivalent of being unimportant, and that’s what the school system doesn’t want us to be—correct? Uniforms signify unity thus why it's called uniforms...duh! But it creates a false sense of security. Because if we all look the same then that means we all think the same which is totally buggin’, I mean- think about it this way. At my 5th birthday party, my daddy got all of my friends the exact same pink outfit, how would they know it was my birthday if we were all wearing the same thing? I was going postal, and he didn’t put my name on the cake! All I’m saying is, if maybe the school system ditched wearing the same outfits, maybe we would know how to separate a wolf from a pack of sheep” You finished your speech, sending a bright smile to the audience who clapped and cheered as you flipped your hair behind your shoulders in response. Your professor, staring at you furrowing his eyebrows at your response. 

“Uhh— right, and Cheryl?”

“How am I supposed to answer that professor? The question was: should public schools require uniforms and her response has nothing to do with uniforms” Cheryl combatted, staring at your professor displeased. You simply shrugged which earned a laugh from your best friend Dina in the front row. 

“Hello…Would you want someone to wear the same thing to your big day,” You claim in a know-it-all tone making Cheryl roll her eyes shouting, “Whatever!”

As if an angel had been ringing a bell, class was dismissed. If you were being honest, you thought your response should have earned you an A in the class, perhaps a gold star with a “Good Job” underneath. Oh- you could dream. Your heels clinked across the tile as you reached into your bag to pull out a fresh stick of gum. Popping the tough pink goodness into your mouth, groaning in satisfaction as the flavors liquified on your tongue. 

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝

“Oh snap! Williams on your six, her outfit is hella fly” You whispered to Dina as the two of you trotted down the hall. The both of you let out a fit of giggles as you sneakily turned your head to catch a glimpse of Ellie Williams who was walking right past you. She was a part of the skater clique, with baggy jeans and a tank top decorating her body as she kept a roughened-up skateboard tucked under her arm. The sight of her was enough to make anyone drool, even you who was the campus’ unattainable girl. 

“Oh my!— JNCO jeans and guess what underneath?” You challenged Dina, smacking your gum in your mouth. The two of you made eye contact, rushing to look at Ellie’s waistband.

“Holy cow”

“Calvin Klein!” The two of you shouted in sync, followed by a shriek. Any outsider who had seen the two of you would have thought that you were fangirls, the way you giggled and twirled your hair. Eyeing people up and down the hall as if they were hunks of meat. It was all a girl could desire. It got even better when you got home. Dina dropped you off, considering you didn’t have your license and the two of you went to the mall directly after the debate class had ended. This meant the weekend was slowly approaching, as the bright California sun beamed on you. 

Your heels walked up the steps to the mansion, swinging the bag in your hand as you hummed material girl by Madonna. Putting your pink keys into the door, walking in feeling as if the house no longer felt warm. The air must have cut off, making you frown as you close the door behind you.

“Daddy, I’m home!” You shouted, making your way into your dad's office to see what he had been up to. Ever since your dad started working from home more often, it seemed as though he occupied himself more with work than spending time with you. Frequently you wondered if he even actually remembered your name.

“Daddy?” You question, peaked your head into his office only to be met with silence again. 

“I’m not your daddy, but let me know when you find him” A voice comforted you from behind. Shocking you at the softness, getting ready to pepper spray the intruder that was in your home. 

“Oh, Snap! You almost killed me,” you exaggerated holding your hand over your heart as you looked at the woman in front of you. Your eyes transitioned from startled to lustful gaze as you looked the woman up and down. She was giving you a similar look. You liked what you were seeing, a hot shot. The woman in front of you wearing a blue polo crewneck which you could moan at the sight of. There was nothing like good fashion that turned you on quicker. Her hair was long, a piece tucked behind her ear exposing her ear that was decorated in piercings. 

“And who are you?” you questioned defensively,  now crossing your arms across your chest. 

“Abby,” She instantly put her hand out for you to shake, withdrawing it when she saw that you weren’t taking it instead you gave her a disgusted look, as your nose scrunched up.

“House sitting for your daddy, while he’s away, I go to college across town.” Abby teased as you smacked your teeth in response. Who did she think she is? Coming into your home and disrupting the safe space that you have created for yourself. She was the first person to try it. It did excite you. Typically people gave up talking to you at the slightest attitude you gave, but Abby didn’t wanna give up. Perhaps you met your match. Abby’s eyes glanced over your body looking at the outfit you wore. Slutty she thought, looking back up at your face, specifically your eyes admiring the soft makeup you had on and long lashes that made you glow. 

“A little bit much for school don’t you think” Abby picked, tugging at the hem of your skirt making you swat her hand away.

“As if!— people don’t do enough” you snapped. Now you weren’t opposed to having a little bit of fun. With Abby? You were down to do all of it. But part of you felt guilty, your wishful thinking turning sour. What would your father say if he saw his house sitter and daughter eating each other’s faces off? 

“You’re a buzzkill” you sassed Abby watching her reaction her body withdrawing away from yours, turning her head slightly in disbelief.

“And you’re a brat” she spat making your mouth go wide.

“I don’t like you” You confessed, finger jabbing into her chest, your body pushing forward, getting closer to her.

“Suck it up!” Abby snapped, pushing you back against the door with a loud thud as her hands resided against the office door, caging you in. 

“Eat sh—” 

With that Abby roughly grabbed your chin leaning her nose close to your neck. Her breath heated up your neck as her lips made a trail from your ear down to your neck, no pressure applied. "Say you don't want me," She whispered into your neck, and that’s when you smelled her. Ralph Lauren, a classic. Your nails scratching her arms in need, quickly clamping your thighs together feeling a sudden wetness pool beneath you.

"I don't.." you moaned out as Abby moved up to your lips this time, her hand still gripping your chin as she cast a chaste kiss on your glossed lips. She hummed at the taste of bubblegum. It was sticky, but it didn’t bother her. "You sure?" she questioned pulling apart quickly for air.

You pulled her back in, "No" Your hands entangled in her hair as she deepened the kiss, detaching her lips again, making you whimper in disappointment. Instead, her lips went to your neck, this time laying actual kisses across your brown skin as she swirled her tongue against your neck. Her hand was under your skirt as she played with the hem of your underwear before moving back to the outside of your skirt, her hands tugging them upward to bunch up the fabric in a fist. In return, you grabbed a fist full of her hair as broken moans escaped your lips. Your body slightly grinding into hers, lips parted as she redirected her hands back up to your chest, groping, slightly squeezing, making you moan again.

“hey!”

Abby’s fingers snapped in front of your face as you blinked rapidly. There was no lipstick marks on Abby’s lips, your skirt was still intact and untouched, of course none of that was real! your body felt warm, like the heater suddenly started to work within the mansion. You wonder how long you were in that day dream as it felt authentic, wayyyy to real to be something that didn’t happen. did Abby feel it too? Abby gave you a confused look wondering why your bambi eyes suddenly turned into a startled doe stuck in the headlights.

The house phone started ringing. You pushed Abby off, fixing your skirt as you bolted into the kitchen to get the phone. Picking up the phone off of the stand hitting the green button in a hurry, hands shaking.

“Hello, l/n residence, y/n speaking” you answered, leaning against the marble kitchen counter trying to catch your breath. The adrenaline pumping through your veins as you tried to fix your appearance swiftly. Even though no one else was in the house besides yourself and Abby, you grew conscious that someone was watching you through the phone. You ran your hair through your curls, twirling some strands for the sake of definition.

“Y/n, its Dina! I got deets,”

You let out a sigh of relief, you were just glad it wasn’t your father. The man would have asked you everything under the sun. Like what you were wearing? Why you were breathing so hard, and how was…Abby. Right, Abby. As if she had been called, Abby promptly walked into the kitchen adjusting her crewneck, her lips a saturated shade of pink from the peppermint chapstick she owned that slightly numbed her lips with a plumping, tingling sensation. Abby was now shoulder to shoulder with you. The fabric of her crewneck rubbing against your short sleeve shirt as she reached into the microwave to grab the bowl of popcorn, which has likely fallen cold at the exchange the two of you had. 

‘Spill!” You gushed as you bent down to take off your heels to which you felt your hands being slapped away as Abby was now on her knees to assist you seeing that your hands were doing nothing for the straps on your shoes. Your mouth was agape watching as Abby was on her knees for you, her hands softly grazing your bare legs which made you close your mouth quickly. She was lucky you didn’t kick her in the face.

“Ellie just asked me on a date! She’s takin’ me to the skatepark, and then we are gonna meet you in the valley, at the house party on Friday” Dina confessed, making you gasp. For two reasons 1. Because Dina finally got the date with Ellie 2. Abby had been toying with you. This time you did kick her sending a gentle jab to her chest which resulted in her throwing her hands up, snatching your heels up in one hand before grabbing the popcorn bowl to walk away. 

“Sweet” you dragged leaning against the kitchen counter as you tapped your pink nails against the marble. You paused for a minute before a light bulb went off above your head, and a good idea plagued your thoughts.

“You should come over! Check out my stylin’ new closet, I have the perfect outfit that you would totally rock!” You jumped, twirling your hair as you danced in the kitchen.

“Daddy said no company and no parties” Abby shouted, still teasing you about the first impression you made on the girl, making you throw up a hand before walking into another room.

“It’s no biggie, one problem though, I got a house sitter, and she’s kind of a downer?” You whisper lowly into the phone, hoping that Abby wouldn’t hear you from where she sat on the couch.

“Is she hot?” 

You groaned rather loud not bothering to answer Dina’s question. Yes, Abby was hot. You were already starting to cool down but the dirty thoughts of Abby absolutely wrecking you clouded your brain tremendously.

“Just come over, D” you finished, hitting the red— end call button, making your way back into the kitchen to put the phone back up on the stand. 

“Where you goin’ ?” Abby questioned, her curiosity getting the best of her. She sat on the couch with her legs kicked up as she watched a movie on the television. Her eyes not breaking contact with the screen in front of her.

“To go play dress up while I plan how to save my best friend ” You whined, and there it was again. That fucking attitude sent Abby into a spiral. You loved exaggerating your tone, the way Abby’s eyes would go dark before giving you the most raunchy response made your legs buckle underneath you. Slowly you picked your heels up that Abby had gracefully taken off, her eyes finally looking at you, she blinked fast letting out a sigh, redirecting her eyes back to the tv screen. 

“Whatever,” Abby snickered as you shrugged, bolting up the stares. You were totally clueless. The moment you shared with Abby rather fast but you couldn’t get the thought of the girls hands all over you of your head. But you had better things to worry about, right? Like the valley party and playing cupid for Dina. 

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝

“Does this look hot?” You implored, running your hands up and down the form-fitting baby pink dress. Your curly hair, freshly washed, moisturized with curl-defining cream. It was free with the front twisted back in rows of 4, secured by white butterfly clips to match the cropped white cardigan resided in your hands. Today was Friday, and you swore you had nothing to wear. Your room looked like a tornado ran through and shook the room— clothes covering the beige carpet, but you couldn’t be bothered to fix it. You wanted something hot, something that screams I came here for a good time. Due to Dina’s absence, there was no one to tell you if you looked okay or if the outfit was so last year. So narrowing down your options, you ask Abby. Walking over to where she sat on the couch, one arm up resting behind her head, as her legs were crossed on the coffee table. You pushed your body in front of the tv screen, standing dead center to Abby.

“Dude seriously?” Abby growled, moving her head in different directions to see around you. 

“—Move”

“Abby, don’t be a loser… just help me,” You whined, begging the girl to look at you just once. Abby didn’t budge, so instead you moved closer standing in front of her on the couch, it was as if she was trying to ignore you. That only made you more frustrated begging the girl some more. “— Please Abs, just look” and that’s when she did, her blue orbs aligning with yours, flickering down to your body. 

“Nice dress, who are you all dolled up for?” Abby’s voice was low, turning down the volume of the tv to hear your voice,

“Party, remember? I was on the phone with Dina about it yesterday,” yes, yesterday, how could Abby forget about yesterday. Truth is she couldn’t, spending her night in the guest bedroom thinking about all the possibilities that could have happened if the phone just didn’t ring. Abby nodded simply, wearing a stoic expression on her face. 

“Right, Dina” her name rolled off her tongue, dragging out the ‘a’ and emphasizing the ’n’ in your best friends name.

“Yeah she’s my friend, and she has a date, so you’re helping me”

“What about yours?” Abby wondered tilting her head at you, causing you to throw your sweater at her face instead, collapsing next to her on the coach with a loud huff. 

“My what?”

“Your date?’ 

“I don’t have one because I don’t want one— chill out!” You declared sinking into the couch as Abby snatched the sweater you threw at her off her face, throwing it back at you. Shifting her body to look at you next to her. 

“Jeez, no need to be tight, get loose” Abby assured, putting her hand on your shoulder. Your body tensing, feeling a sudden burst, like a recharge, as Abby’s hands touched your exposed skin.

“I need to go…” You mumble, suddenly feeling small again, the way you felt when Abby had your back against the office door with her head tucked into your neck. 

“Put that,” Abby pointed at your white sweater “on.” She finished, taking a sip of the glass of water that was in front of her on the coffee table. You were confused, under the impression that the outfit didn’t need any more redirection, it was simple and the cardigan would crowd the rest of the dress

“I thought the outfit was fine…” You argued, unbuttoning the buttons on the cardigan,  

“Put it on,” Abby hissed “It’s cold out” she corrected herself, breaking eye contact to put the remote back in her hands. Abby turned the volume up on the tv, she was suddenly cold. It seemed like this was the game she played, giving you just enough attention to keep you going and then taking it all back like it was the biggest mistake she ever made. Now at this point in time, as you got to know the girl there was a solid 10 things you liked about her and another 10 that you absolutely despised. You’d consider her a friend, even though her snarky attitude made you think otherwise and the fact that she almost devoured you on the glass floor. 

You walked off, headed for the front door — reaching onto the round table, at the entrance. Grabbing your purse which was naturally filled with lip gloss, pink gum, Nokia, and your wallet, swinging the small white bag over your shoulder. Preparing to twist the door knob, you paused releasing that there was no way for you to get there. Dina was with Ellie so that was a no and you couldn’t drive yourself, no license. You let out a sigh as you realized the inevitable was going to happen. 

“…Abby!” You exclaimed from the door, as your body leaned against the front door, swinging the purse back and forth in your hands.

“Yes?” the girl shouted back from the other room.

“Can you give me a ride, I can’t drive” you exposed shyly. Now this was embarrassing, you thought. You were a college virgin that couldn’t drive. But your road test was tomorrow so at least you could eliminate one of those things. You were anticipating Abby saying no, which means you would have had to turn around and trot back up the stairs, watching the Breakfast at Tiffany’s vhs on repeat until your eyes closed. 

“I-uh-  Sure.” Abby hesitated. Not because she had second thoughts, but rather because she wasn’t expecting you to actually ask her let alone keep things friendly. It was typically common for you to ask for help but it didn’t seem like Abby was one of the people that you’d want it from.  You let out a sigh of relief, the sunken feeling in your stomach going away as Abby made her out of the living room and to the door, jiggling her keys in her hand as she pushed you to the side to open the front door.

“Let's get you to that party, shall we?” Abby flashed you a smile while motioning for you to exit the house first making you smile back. Her kindness eased your heart considering she spent the 24 hours so far,  treating your existence like a job. At times it felt like she was your babysitter, the next thing you know she would say no more shopping! and freeze your credit card in a block of ice. You wanted nothing more than to grab the girl by the face and give the most heated sloppiest kiss on her lips, but choosing to control your urges you gave Abby a swift kiss on the cheek instead. Running out the door and to the parking garage, failing to catch Abby holding her cheek where you left a glossed kiss mark

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝

The party was a bust, an absolute disaster. You regretted going slowly after an hour of being there. Dancing on the dance floor with Dina as the two of you twirled around each other to the beat of the music, but this was interrupted when Ellie dragged your best friend away, leaving you alone and now at the alcohol table, looking to see if they had anything other than alcohol on the table. Somewhere along the night, you lost your white cardigan, but you weren’t mad about it considering it was your least favorite.

Reaching across the table to pour cola into the red solo cup, you were interrupted by someone clearing their throat from behind you. Jesse, a member of the skater clique was best friends with Ellie. Now you weren’t interested, yet Jesse had been pretty keen on hanging around you but you would rather not. There was rumors going around campus that he liked you, but you completely disregarded it, that was your good friend, and there’s no way he could of mistaken your kindness for flirting. The boy was nice, slightly ditzy but he wasn’t your type, and by type, you just didn’t like men. But you couldn’t outright shout, I’m gay and men are cute….NOT! At risk for being called every slur under the sun. In the past, you have tried countless times to set Jesse up with Dina, but that ship repeatedly crashed before it could sail. Instead, your face scrunched in disgust, as you turned around again pretending that the contents in your cup were more interesting. 

“I like your dress,” Jesse spoke up from behind you, leaning his hand against the table, once again that skateboard of his tucked underneath his right arm. You looked at the boys outfit which made you cringe, a white tee with a flannel on top, with khaki shorts that didn’t even match.

“Thanks… I would love to compliment you but the khakis are clashing with the plaid…” You commented dryly, bringing the cup up to your lips, drowning in the fizzy soda. There was a pregnant silence, and suddenly everything was awkward. It’s not like you wanted to have the conversation instead your body rocked to the music as you lip-synced the lyrics. 

“I love this song…” Jesse coughed out making you acknowledge his existence again. 

“Rad!” You claimed, walking off to go find Dina, who was now next to Ellie at the dining table, you were glad she was having a good time, even though you were not. But you felt as though you were getting in good deeds which had been certainly better than nothing.

As you entered the room, another girl, who you have known to be Nora, did as well, with an old business card intertwined in her fingers. You squinted your eyes at the card when it clicked for you what was happening,

“Hey everyone! let’s play suck n’ blow” The girl exclaimed causing you to throw your head back in annoyance. Suck n’ blow was fun when you didn’t have someone who would fuck up the game and use it as an excuse to lip-lock with the girl that they found the most attractive. At the table stood, Nora, who was next to Ellie, followed by, Dina, Jesse, yourself, and other members of the skate clique completing the circle. As the game started everything was going well, Everyone was moving fast yet successfully transferring the card from one set of lips to another. Finally, it was your turn, Jesse holding onto the card, leaning into your face just enough promptly dropping the card and slamming his lips on yours. You shrieked as the crowd laughed and cheered making you push the boy off of you, rolling your eyes at the boy who was looking at you with a smirk,

“You can’t even play the game correctly, it’s called suck n’ blow for a reason, are you mad!” You shouted, playfully punching Jesse in the arm. Your hand hit the table picking the card back up and handing it to Nora who was going to restart the game.

“Excuse me,” you excused yourself from the table feeling your Nokia buzzing from your purse, rushing to the backyard which didn’t seem to get anymore quieter, picking the phone out of your bag and to your ears

“Hello~” you sang sweetly as you paced around the pool, watching the bodies slam into each other, laughter being heard from the individuals in the water.

“Sweetheart, where are you, I called the house and Abby picked up saying you were out, do you know what time it is” It was your father. You tried to think fast the quickest way to get out of the current situation that you were in.

“I went shopping, in the valley with Dina of course…” You lied bringing up your nails to your arm scratching your bare arms at the cool air that blew past you.

“The valley? Jesus- Y/n get home!” your dad yelled on the other side of the phone, ending the call promptly before you could argue. Despite being grown, you were still a little girl in your dad's eyes. His first and only daughter and after the absence of your mother, he was certain to not let you out of his sight. You rolled your eyes, typing the house number into the number pad, listening to the rings before the signal connected.

“Hello, l/n residence—”

“Abby! Glad you answered, can you pick me up, I’ve got to head out — Dad called, thanks for that by the way” You confessed, making your way out of the backyard gate and around to the front lawn which had been overly decorated for the occasion.

“Be there in 10,” Abby asserted, having no problem with picking you up.

“Did you know you are the best Abigail?” That was the first time you used her full name in a sentence, She wasn’t opposed to you calling her by her name, rightfully so, but the way it rolled off of your tongue brought a smile to her face. If it was anyone else she would have been quick to correct them, telling them not to call her that. You were pushing every nono she had, but she was too enamored to correct you.

“Don’t flatter me—” Abby assured, hanging up the phone without saying goodbye. You smiled to yourself, maybe it was all the good deeds that you have done, but you weren’t sure why you were continuously given kindness, especially from Abby who didn’t owe an ounce of it to you. your smile departed as you saw Dina and Ellie coming out of the front door of the house and meeting you at the front lawn.

"Y/n! Leaving so soon?" Dina shouted, letting go of Ellie's arm, running to you to give you a gentle hug to which you returned holding on just as tight.

"—Yeah, it's time for me to head out, road test tomorrow I have to be up at 9" You grumbled letting go of your best friend, eyeing Ellie who gave you a gentle smile. You thought Ellie was even prettier in person and you were glad that your best friend found someone just as cool and creative as her, even if you weren't a part of the same clique. Your eyes redirected to behind Elie seeing Jesse which made your smile drop instantly, turning back to facing Dina at your hip.

"Where are you headed?" You questioned seeing as it looked like the trio was preparing to leave as well

"Skate-park, I would ask if you wanted to join but it seemed like you were rather occupied" Ellie suggested, wiping her hand across her nose and sniffling slightly. "No biggie!" You claim as you put your phone back in your purse. Jesse opened his mouth to speak, tripping on a piece of gravel as his solo cup lunged forward spilling all over your dress. You let out a gasp at the sudden cold liquid traveling down your dress and your legs, leaving a wide wet spot on your dress.

"My fault! I'm-"

Before you could respond to his cries of apologies, A black car pulls up in front of you, honking the horn as you locked eyes with Abby in the driver's seat.

"Uhm...I gotta go, see ya" you stuttered, voice shakey as you waltzed to the passenger side of Abby's car slamming the door behind you as the trio watched you with a fearful expression. Abby began pulling out of the spot she temporarily parked in, making her way back to your house with ease. You were silent.

"Where's your sweater...shit what happened" Abby questioned finally seeing your appearance that was rather messed up. contrasting to your usual scent of vanilla and cake she smelled cheap vodka and fruit juice. Keeping her eyes on the road, Abby reached into her glove compartment handing you napkins which you took in silence. Abby was startled by your silence. You rubbed the napkins down your dress, rings clashing with the fabric, tears pooling in your eyes as you did so. Your body shook as silent sobs escaped your mouth, lips quivering as you wiped your dress. At that point you had no clear direction, your tears mixing with the wet fabric only adding to the dampness of the napkin. You repeatedly wiped your dress, ignoring Abby like she wasn't there, whispering a ray of "I'm sorry" as your hand-worked fast to fix the issue, but Abby pulled over next to a random house, stopping the car

"Sweetheart let me see," Abby was gentle with you, hitting the light above the two of you, grabbing the napkins from your hand as you cried while she wiped away the loose liquid on you. Sniffing gently Abby was muttering "You're okay" under her breath as she continued to use the last of the napkins.

You sniffled, "Do you think I'm a bad person, Abby" you questioned between tears as Abby looked at you in confusion. Where was that coming from? You bring a hand up to wipe the tears away from your face, anxiously twirling a curly strand in your hair, looking at Abby through your eyelashes.

"Y/n, you're one of the most genuine people I know...and that means a lot to me considering I've only known you for almost 48 hours. I know enough to know you aren't a bad person" Abby affirmed. Fixing your dress with her hands as she reached over giving your hands a squeeze. "Then why do I feel like a bad person?" You begun,

"M-My life is a disaster! —I was so focused on giving my best friend a good love experience, somewhere along the way I lost her, it seems like she doesn't need me anymore, maybe I'm buggin' -don't get me started on my dress…" you ranted, no longer crying as you broke your silence.

Abby's jaw clenched, she didn't know what to tell you, or how to soothe the clueless expression you wore on your face that wasn't without some form of intimacy. True Abby would kiss you until you forgot about the problem you were going through, she was holding back.

"Listen don't beat yourself up, you're a beautiful person unlike most I've met in the hills, and you wanting what's best for your friend is a clear sign of your selflessness" Abby assured you, now putting the car in drive and continuing the route she was taking now that you were in a slightly better mood.

"God I feel like such a buzzkill!" You shouted, hitting your head against the headrest which felt more like throwing your head on a pillow thanks to your curls.

"you're not me," Abby teased as you now were laughing with the girl next to you. You were amazed at the fact the girl was able to transform your sudden sadness and give you the encouragement that everyone neglected to give you. You just wanted a simple reminder that you were doing good and Abby gave you just that

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝

It was day three of Abby housesitting the mansion and you will admit, you have grown to like the girl. She brought a different energy that challenged your norm and every rule you ever set for yourself. Sitting on the kitchen counter in your matching lapel collar cropped blazer and skirt set. Your hair was styled differently today, A simple puff as it gave the small hoops in your ears a chance to shine, and brought attention to your eyes.

"How did your test go?" The road test. Which you failed the first time, but it was an absolute miracle that you passed it. You have learned from your mistakes! No longer hitting the curb with an oops, instead hitting all of the marks perfectly. You reached over the counter holding up a white slip with a BIG-inked signature.

"Uh huh-- that's right, I passed" You sassed in enjoyment hopping off the counter to dance around the girl. Abby laughed at your behavior as you flashed the white slip in her face,

“Guess that means you won’t be needing me anymore,” Abby joked, nudging your arm to which you gave her a really? look. “Who says I won’t need you?” you exaggerate looking at Abby with your arms crossed.

Abby shrugged, “Just sayin’ in a few hours, you go back to being you and I go back to being me.” Why did she have to remind you of that? You were too caught up in the moment to realize the fun between you was actually coming to an end. You’ve gotten used to her company, loving that the girl teased and hackled you like no other. But you wouldn’t want it any other way.

“Who said we have to act like we don’t know each other” You offered, as your soft moisturized fingers traced up her exposed bicep, muscles flexing under the fitted short-sleeve top she wore.

“I just assumed that’s how it would be,” Abby carried on in a knowing tone.

“My dad likes you, and he doesn’t like anyone, so you can be over as much as you like” You continued, spinning around, prancing to the counter digging your hand in the bowl of freshly washed grapes.

“and do what— exactly, I’m not playing dress up with you” Abby assured making you knit your eyebrows at her response. Bold of her to assume that you’d want to style her, you thought she was perfect as is.

“Who said we are going to be playing dress up, more like- putting down the biggest WWE match as I am scream—”

“That’s enough,” Abby shut down as you teased her. You were such a tease. She could practically feel the hair on the back of her neck as you said that. Abby wasn’t a hook-up person, she didn’t do that. Thinking that’s all you wanted, she wasn’t going to stand for it. Abby said nothing else instead shifting past you to make her way back into the guest room as she was packing her stuff. You frowned watching her walk away from you, hundreds of questions popping up in your head as she got further away from you. Were you coming off too strong?

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝

Nightfall has fallen over meaning you had 4 hours left with Abby and you didn’t speak to the girl in 6, since the kitchen incident. While you were writing in your diary with your fluffy pink pen in your room that’s when it all suddenly clicked for you. Glancing at the paper where you had written hearts all around her name you wrote in cursive, sealing it with your very own kiss next to it. You liked Abby. Those 10 things,

10 . The way she challenged everything you said

9 . The way she teased you to make you laugh

8 . The way she wore her hair down because you said you loved it more than when she wore it in a braid,

7 . Her patience with you

6 . Her style, which you would do absolutely nothing to change

5 . The scar on her cheek, which apparently, she got after a soccer game her freshman year of college

4 . The way she moved your curls out of your face, saying she wanted to see your eyes more

3 . The way she encouraged you to keep going even when you made a mistake

2 . Her smile when you said anything that remotely made her laugh

1 . The way her lips almost met yours, yearning for a single taste

That’s it! — you like LIKED Abby,

“I like Abby!” you shouted, gasping as you slammed your journal shut at your epiphany. Rushing down the stairs in your matching pink pajama set. As your foot hit the top of the stairs preparing to ascend downwards but you stopped yourself on the imperial staircase, collapsing on the ground, throwing your body in defeat. There was no way you could tell her now, How could she like you? — She even said it yourself, you’ll keep doing you and she’ll be herself. It was all temporary. You rubbed your palms into your silk pajama shorts thinking of everything you could possibly say, all possibilities sounding like the worst one. Ignoring the sound of wheels on the tile stopping in front of the door in front of you.

“Why do you look like a kicked puppy,” Abby spoke up, her hand holding the telescopic handle of her suitcase. You have lost track of time, she was heading out in about 3 hours. You hadn’t realized that all the time you spent in your room was like a princess being locked away in a castle. You eyed her, black trousers and the same white t-shirt tucked into her pants secured with a belt. Her hair this time was in a braid, and now you wondered if you imagined the whole thing. Abby walked up the main stairs, taking a seat next to you.

“Are you here to say goodbye, or were you just gonna leave?” You snapped eyeing the girl in front of you.

Abby scoffed, “did you want me to?”

“Duh…It would of been morally right but maybe I need to chill out” you confessed

“No,no I wanted to” Abby confirmed. The two of you sat in silence for a minute before you broke it, slicing the thick air with your powerful words.

“Abby, that is brutal, the truth is I don’t want you to leave… I really like you Abby” you confessed tucking a piece of your loose curls behind your ear. Abby watching you with pure bliss and sincerity.

“You…like me?” Abby questioned, checking if what you said was right.

“Yes, and it pains me to see you go because I don’t want you to think I don’t want anything more but I do and I want to spend every mo—” Abby shut you up with a kiss. That was it! she finally kissed you! It was romantic, and beautiful, like your lips touching a bed of flowers, you could almost feel your body ascending off the floor. The kiss was long as you leaned into her body that locked perfectly into yours like a puzzle piece. Her lips were smooth, most likely from the peppermint chapstick that she wore that contrasted your glossed pink ones. The two of you pulled apart as her head rested against yours, breathing heavily.

“I want to take you on a real date” Abby confessed, which made you give the girl a shy smile as she stroked your cheek, “you know, to buy you real flowers, show you a bangin’ time” Abby finished as she bought out a tiny slip of paper, shoving it into your hand as she was now getting up adjusting her clothes,

“When you’re ready, give me a call”

You watched as she walked away in amazement, eyeing her backside as she walked with much pride. Abby grabbed onto the handle of her suitcase opening the front door, stopping to give you one final look. Abby lifted her hand to her lips blowing you a kiss, which you mimicked blowing one back. You were never certain about anything until now, tears pricking your eyes in joy as you smiled at the girl leaving.

“Oh, I will!” You sassed running in the opposite direction of the stairs up to your room.

While some may say happily ever after was overrated, you thought otherwise. What you thought was going to be a nightmare turned into the best 4-day weekend, you’ve ever had in the hills.

[annymation]

The Kingdom of Wishes- A “Wish” Rewrite

Chapter 11- Into The Eye Of A Storm

Chapter 10

The rain was falling down, and thunder could be heard humbling over Rosas.

Aster struggled to free himself from the king's chains that are coming from his staff, but to no avail.

The king just looked down on the star as he held him close to his face, so he began to speak casually:

"So, "Aster" was it? Hehehe I gotta say though, naming yourself just "Star" in Greek? Maybe not your... "Brightest" moment, hum? AH! HA HA HA" The king laughs at his own pun. He completely moved on from the bad mood he was in earlier "OH- I'm on a ROLL today!"

Aster ignores the bad joke as he keeps trying to use his magic to free himself. But their powers aren't responding to him, he's not able to shrink, nor glow brighter, nor unlock the chains, nothing. All he can do is fly and even that feels weaker.

"UGH- Why can't I-"

"Feel your power?" The king finishes their sentence "Dark magic: versatile, easy to use, but somehow oh sooo unappreciated. But I'm sure your magic isn't anything to sneeze at neither, right?" He grabs Aster's face with one hand and makes the star look at him "Care to share a little bit of it? Promise I'll give it back." He says with a very obviously faux gentle tone.

"Yeah right, if you take away my magic you're gonna KILL me!" Aster looks at him furiously.

"Oh you know that? Aw shucks, really thought I could trick ya... But then again" His grin widens "I think you'll come to find that you don't have a choice in the matter"

Asha is still on the top of the building, even though Aster begged her to run.

“LET GO OF HIM!”

Magnifico ignores her like she’s not even there. He’s floating about 2 meters away from where she’s standing.

He’s focused on analyzing the star closely while holding his face “Hmm and what a fascinating form you’ve chosen, it’s like you’re her little hero in cape and everything? How sweet.” He says in a mocking way while pinching his cheek “Though you surely look a lot more… Childlike than I expected, say, how old are you?”

Aster is still fighting but he doesn’t see why not answer the question “Eighteen.”

“18 what, boy? 18 hundred? 18 thousand? Be specific.” The king says nonchalantly.

Aster kinda stops struggling for a second and just gives the king a confused glance “… Well, if you want specifics, I’m 17, but I’m turning 18 in like 2 weeks from now so-”

“Wa-wait you’re serious?” The king interrupts him, staring at him in disbelief. The star nods… Magnifico quickly turns his attention to the girl below them and yells at her in frustration “ASHA! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? MILLIONS OF STARS IN THE SKY AND YOU WISHED UPON A WEAK LITTLE RUNT?! THIS THING IS A BABY” He says while shaking Aster side to side by the chains on his wrists like a rag doll, making the star a bit dizzy.

(A reminder that this man can switch from threatening to comedic at any second and I love it. Like he’s complaining to her like she just got him the wrong pizza toppings.)

“IF THEY’RE NOT WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR THEN LET THEM GO!” Asha exclaims at him, her face is filled with rage.

Magnifico calms down and looks back to the star in his hands like he’s pondering his next move “Hmmmmm… Nah.” He shrugs with a smile “Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose. Besides, this just means he’s too weak to fight back. Isn’t that right, little one?” The king asks with a wicked grin while looking deep into the star’s eyes.

That comment made Aster frown a little.

Even though it’s raining, a few people start gathering bellow where they are to see what’s going on.

Magnifico smiles widely at that. He speaks quietly so just Aster can hear:

“Ooooh looks like we have an audience. Do me a kindness and try to look as defeated and pathetic as you can, okay? I could really use the positive image right now.” Aster has a sad face “Perfect! you’re a natural.” He says like Aster and him are about to perform a scene together in a play.

Asha is looking side to side trying to think on what to do… She notices something on the floor.

The king walks on the air to get few feet down, so his people can better hear him.

(Now let me explain how exactly Magnifico’s flying works, he’s not floating around like Aster does, he’s much more “standing” while underneath his feet there’s a green light, like he just created the steps of a stair. If you watched Onward you know what I mean, it’s exactly like this)

(So I guess Onward reference, huh, who would’ve thought, a Pixar reference at last, took me long enough.)

“REJOICE MY PEOPLE!” the king exclaims ecstatic “Our little “Wish stealing star” issues have been resolved much earlier than expected!” That got a reaction from Aster, his face became furious once again “Like I said, you can always count on me t-“

Aster screamed on the king’s face “THE ONLY WISH STEALER HERE IS YOU! YOU LYING SNA- HMmH!” The king used his magic to keep the boy’s mouth shut.

“Oh-ho and it’s FEISTY TOO! Heheh- GOOD! I was worried this would be way too easy-“

🪕B L A M🎶

“OUCH! AAAH!”

The crowd gasps.

Something just hit the king’s head and made him lose focus on the flying spell. He falls on the floor.

… Asha just threw her Saba’s mandolin on Magnifico’s face, she’s standing on top of the building breathing deeply, relieved that it was a perfect shot.

Aster is free from the chains.

The star doesn’t skip a beat and flies to Asha immediately, holding her in his arms bridal style.

“Hold on tight!” Aster says.

The two fly off in the rain.

We cut to King Magnifico laying face first on the floor.

He didn’t fall from too high up but it was still quite painful.

The crowd is all around him, worried for their king.

Queen Amable rushes to where he is, with some guards pushing the people aside to let her pass.

“DARLING!! OH MY- ANYTHING HURT??” The queen asks genuinely worried, as she sits on her knees next to him.

“… Just my pride.” His voice is muffled, because his face is still laying on the floor. He begins to stand up as he asks “Ugh- quick, how’s my face?” He asks his wife while touching his own face to feel if there’s any injuries.

“As handsome as always, mi rey” The queen coos, caressing his cheek lovingly.

His eyes light up as his excitement returns to him at full force.

“THEN NO HARM DONE!” He exclaims, smiling like a mad man, he’s high on the adrenaline of the hunt.

He stands up quickly to go catch those teens.

“A little bump in the road, sure! But no need for panic everyone!” The king announces to the people around “Just remain in doors and stay calm, things may get a little... Messy hehehe" He chuckles, thinking of all the forbidden and deadly spells he'll finally have an excuse to use.

He uses his staff to run upwards on thin air, he just can't wait to kill those two teens but-

He feels something pulling his cape.

He looks down.

... Amaya is holding his cape, looking at him worriedly... As in, ACTUALLY worried.

He looks at her puzzled, but his eyes for the first time show a gleam of humanity as he looks down on the love of his life.

"... Just... Be careful." She says, glancing at the storm above them.

... Magnus gives her a comforting smile as he removes his cape, it'll be easier to fly without it weighting him down.

He hands the cape to her, whispering softly "I'll be back before you know it."

...

And up he goes.

Amaya is holding his cape tightly...

She has a bad feeling about this.

...

Okay, so now you guys might think Asha and Aster successfully skedaddled from the king's grasp because he took too long on the ground, right?

Well I'm sorry to say but you thought wrong. Here's what was happening with our heroes while this was taking place.

Aster is flying with Asha in his arms, they're going back to the forest, his cape leaves a trail of light.

He sounds quite traumatized as he says:

"HOW DID THAT CREEP MANAGE TO DECEIVE A WHOLE KINGDOM FOR YEARS?? HE'S SCARIER THAN A VAMPIRE STAR!"

(Vampire stars: stars that sucks the outer layers of material from a companion star, stripping their "bitten" victim down to a mere stellar core.

This is a real thing, and now I'm adding to the lore of wishing stars that there are these evil vampire stars that suck away other wishing star's powers... We have fun here.)

"Welcome to Rosas," (🎶Come on, come this way- sorry) "Where everyone just sees what they want to see." Asha says with a saddened expression. She's looking down on her kingdom as they fly away.

She looks at the castle in the distance...

"Wait... Aster, we gotta go to the castle!" Asha tells him determined

The star stops flying abruptly.

"UUUH Why???" Aster asks her in shock, this is kinda deja vu to that other time she suggested they should run to the castle.

"You can un-curse wishes!" She exclaimed "You un-cursed my wish! We can save A LOT of people if we go in there and you use your magic on as many as you can!"

Now usually Aster would be more than happy to do just that... But he's still a bit shaken by the whole encounter with the king, he's afraid he might catch up to them.

"Asha... I'm not sure we-"

"We can do this, he flies way slower than you, if we hurry we can get there before him." She looks into Aster's eyes, she's full of hope that they can at least save some of her people.

Aster can see her light shining brighter.

"... Then we better hurry." He gives her a trusting smile.

He turns around, flying towards the castle as fast as possible.

As they're reaching the castle, there's indeed no sign of Magnifico.

They get near the window of the wishes room.

"See? Told you we could do it." Asha says with a smile

"Yeah... I guess I am a lot faster than him." He says while flying to get through the window "Now let's do this quick before- OUCH!" Aster hits something when he tries to get in...

There's a green forcefield that manifested on the open window when Aster tries getting through it.

"What th-" Aster tries to hit it to get his hand through but the magic seems to be as strong as concrete, he groans in frustration.

Asha’s smile immediately fell into a scowl.

“oooOOOH SERIOUSLY?!” Asha screams.

“Why, yes. I do take the safety of my people’s wishes very seriously.”

… Take a wild guess on who’s standing behind them with a smug grin…

As soon as Aster hears the king’s voice he JUMPS and flies to the roof of the tower.

He’s holding Asha tightly as he KICKS the roof with his two feet to push himself away from the castle, thus flying away even faster.

Magnifico simply smiles as he uses his staff to once again summons a green hand.

The hand moves quickly through the rain.

Aster is flying as fast as he can but-

The hand catches him.

Asha falls from his arms.

She screams as she falls down.

“NO!” Aster yells in desperation.

Magnifico is now right next to him, smiling maliciously.

“Ah the stars look so pretty when they fall, don’t they?”

Aster’s legs are still free, so he KICKS the staff from Magnifico’s hand, making the king lose focus on the spell.

Aster is freed and flies down almost at the speed of light

It’s a shame the moment was so quick, maybe Aster would’ve noticed Magnifico almost stopped floating when the staff left his hand for a second…

“… That was close…” Magnifico said under his breath

Aster catches Asha in his arms.

“YOU OKAY??” He asks terrified.

“NOPE” She says shaken to her core. Holding him tightly.

Aster weights their options in his head… If they go to to the forest the king is just gonna follow them, he won’t give up on getting his power…

His power.

That’s what the king wants, not Asha.

…

He’s gonna have to break Rule number 1 again.

“Asha, listen.” The Star calls her attention, sounding more serious than ever “We gonna have to split up again, but I PROMISE I’ll come back before you know it.”

Asha looks at him confused.

“What?”

His animation looks more sketchy, like it’s unfinished.

“I’ll send you to the forest, very deep into it, so he can’t find you, I’ll just keep him busy for a-“

“NO! You can’t fight him off! You gotta stay AWAY from him.” She’s holding him by the cape.

“I know, but it’s the only way I can keep you safe.”

He lets her go from his arms, making her float with his magic.

“ASTER WAIT!”

“I’ll know where to find you… I’m sorry.”

He stops flying away.

And makes his star dust cary her, flying away deep into the forest.

Asha is looking back at him in the verge of tears.

All Aster can do is sigh.

…

Alright.

Time to fight a sorcerer king.

That happens to be right behind him, again.

“You know there are wolves in those woods, right?” Magnifico asks sarcastically as he floats like he's laying down on thin air.

Aster turn around quickly and uses his star dust to make several swords.

He throws them at the king and-

*Poof*

They just disappear into glittery smoke when they touch him.

“PFFT AHAHAHAHAAH STOP IT- I didn’t sign up for a tickle fight! Hahah” Magnifico holds his sides as he laughs

Aster is stunned.

“W-what? How did y-“

The king casted another spell to capture Aster, but this time the star dodges it.

Aster flies upwards.

The king follows with a wicked smile.

Aster doesn't understand, why didn’t that work?... Maybe the king was just expecting it and shielded himself? Yeah. That’s gotta be it.

He tries again, this time trying to do what the king did to him before, creating chains made of star dust to tie him down.

When the chains reach Magnifico, he just dust them off his body with his hand like it’s nothing.

… Aster is pretty peeved to say the least. His animation seems more sketchy and rough.

“HOW IS THIS FAIR? Your dark magic thing makes my powers useless!” Aster exclaims while he flies away from the king.

“Ha! You think THIS is because of my magic?! Boy, come on, I know you’re young, but don’t tell me I actually know more about your kind than YOU do!”

Aster keeps flying away, but he looks back at the king as he asks “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Let me "enlighten you", little one.”

He charges up a lightning spell.

“Your magic is made out of… JOY!

⚡️

Aster manages to dodge the lightning.

“GOODNESS!”

⚡️

Aster barely managed to escape the second one

“AND LIGHT!”

⚡️

“AGH!”

Aster didn’t dodge this last one. Their chest has a hole in it now…

That didn’t feel like that time Valentino jumped through him, this actually hurts... A lot.

Magnifico takes the opportunity to capture him again, this time tying him up with a snake made out of green magic.

Aster doesn’t have time to react before he’s wrapped in the snake’s grip.

There's the sound of thunder near them.

Magnifico approaches him slowly, now that the boy is held still in one place.

“And those things- Well, they can’t really hurt anyone, now can they? Heh heh” Magnifico is now flying right next to the star “So... I’m afraid there's little you can do to defend yourself, or anyone else.” He makes a little pout as if to fake pity.

… Aster never knew his magic couldn’t hurt others… Then again, hurting others was never something that crossed his mind before he met this man.

“… If it’s only made of good things then… Why do you want it so bad?” Aster asks

Magnifico’s eyes light up with the question.

“Oooh because it just needs to be wielded by the RIGHT person, my boy. Yes, in you, this magic is very limited because your heart is pure… But in me and my beloved queen however… We’ll be able to do ANYTHING.” He leans in closer to look at the star straight in the eyes as he adds “And that includes hurting the petulant little brat that wished upon you~”

Aster feels a chill run down his whole body. He couldn’t let that happen.

He tried to struggle out of the snake's grip.

Magnifico is amused by the star's determination.

“Heh heh stubborn just like her, aren’t you?”

“YEAH! SHE IS STUBBORN, AND YOU KNOW WHAT?! EVEN IF YOU DO STEAL MY POWER, YOU CAN’T STOP HER, SHES GONNA INSPIRE EVERYONE IN THAT KINGDOM TO RISE UP AGAINST YOU!” Aster exclaims with no doubt that Asha can do it, even without his help.

“Now what are you blabbering about insp- … Wait” Magnifico looks at nothing as he starts connecting the dots “Don’t tell me- That little performance you two were doing at the plaza…” a smile starts creeping in his face, and he starts trying to hold in a laugh “was -pffff- waS THAT AN ATTEMPT TO- HAHAH TO “INSPIRE” THOSE PEASANTS?!” The king has a maniacal smile.

… Aster doesn’t respond, he just avoids eye contact.

“*GASP* IT WAS! WASN’T IT?! OH- HAHAHAHAH” He lets out an evil laugh that echoes through the storm.

Aster tries not paying attention to what Magnifico says.

He tries looking at anything else, the rain, the lightning strikes in the distance, the king's staff...

Wait.

“OH- oh that’s hahha! That’s too good! OH and let me guess, that was YOUR idea, wasn’t it?!”

Aster already muted Magnifico's voice in his head, he looks closely to the staff... It seems to be made of...

Copper.

Aster hears another thunder.

The boy has a realization… This man is not smart.

Said man holds the star’s face, so he looks at him in the eyes.

“And here I was expecting that the girl got some WISE and MIGHTY guide from the sky! But NOPE! All she got was YOU, a naive little boy that doesn't know ANYTHING about how the world works!" The king has a deranged grin ear to ear as his grip on the boy's face tightens.

"Did you actually think that SINGING and DANCING would change ANYTHING?! Honestly, how much of a FOOL are you?!"

...

The star's face crescents into... A smile.

And the king hear's something that he REALLY didn't expect to hear from the boy.

"...pffft hihihi hi hi he- hehe heeh he heh ahah aahha aha ha HAHAH HAHAHAHA HAHAHA AHAAAHHAHAAHHAHHAHA"

The star boy is just laughing… It’s a youthful and free spirited laugh.

Magnifico's evil glee is replaced by bewilderment. He blinks a few times as the boy keeps laughing in his face.

... Did he just break this kid?... Already? After just knowing him for less than an hour?... Well, that sure is a new record for the king.

Magnifico looks frustrated as he asks "What's so funny?"

Aster calms down, and simply looks at the king with a playful smile as he explains

"Hehe oh nothing it's just that- heh heh yeah, I may be a fool but..." Aster's smile turns into cheeky smirk, and there's a gleam of mischief in his eyes as he says confidently:

"At least I'm not the IDIOT that brought a stick made of copper... Into the eye of a storm."

Magnifico's eyes widens.

And at the same time that realization hits him... Something else hits him too.

And all he has time to say is:

"Oh no-"

(hahahaAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH aaaah… I waited 11 chapters to write this by the way.)

The king’s staff is hit by a lightning bolt, sending shockwaves through his body.

A painful scream echos above the Kingdom of Rosas.

“MAGNUS!!!”

The queen exclaimed in horror.

... Just as she feared... He got carried away.

Needless to say, Aster’s body is freed from the king’s grasp. The boy watches as the man plummets along with the rain drops.

Aster isn’t smiling anymore, even he is shaken by what just happened, even though he saw it coming.

But he has no time to dwell on this now, he has a friend to find in the forest. So off he goes, leaving a trail of star dust behind him, like a shooting star.

…

But we’ll be focusing on Asha and Aster’s reencounter in the next chapter.

Now. Let’s focus our attention on what’s happening down in Rosas.

…

We see the bare foots of the queen running franticly through the dampened streets of her kingdom, she left her high heels behind her.

She's lifting her long skirt up so she can run faster.

Her hair is soaked and messy... Her crown falls on the ground.

She doesn't care, the crown doesn't matter, nothing matters. All that matters to her is finding him.

She’s desperate. An emotion never yet displayed by the relentless queen before.

The guards are trying to keep up with her, as well as other citizens.

She sees people gathered in a circle, the queen pushes through them violently to find what they’re all looking at.

“OUT OF MY WAY!” She yells, her voice is a high pitched screech full of anguish.

The people quickly let her through as they realize who she is.

Amaya finally gets through the people to find…

King Magnifico is laying face first on the floor. Just like before.

“MAGNUS!" The queen runs to his body and hugs it.

He must have used a protection spell, right? He just want to make the star look worse in the eyes of their people, right? Yes, that has to be it.

She tries to take some deep breaths while holding him.

"I-I'm here my love... You may rise now"

No response.

"... Mi vida?... This isn't funny... I know you used a spell to shield yourself... Didn't you?"

She's still not facing him, his face is still laying down on the floor.

A guard approaches from behind her

"... Your highness, we must take the king to the doctor at once-"

"NO- NO HE- he's alright, he-he's just being dramatic, like always ah haha right, my love?"

She starts turning his body so she can see his face.

"Co-come on Magnus, you wouldn't want to keep our people-" She sees his face, a few people in the crowd gasp "... Waiting"

There's a scar.

The king's left eye has a huge scar.

Amaya caresses his face.

...

She hesitates as she places a hand on his chest...

She can't feel a heart beat.

His cold heart stopped.

The king is dead.

...

Final Thoughts

.

.

.

OOOOH I'M KIDDING HAHAHA- this isn't the end of the chapter yet :)

But it could be the ending though, right?

I mean, the villain died, Aster even gave a cheeky smile and a final line the likes of "And everything that comes with it" from Alladin.

In a Disney movie, you defeat the villain and the story can wrap up, right?

What more there is to it?

... Well, this rewrite is meant to feel like a proper Disney 100th anniversary movie, so this ain't your typical Disney movie.

And King Magnifico is supposed to the 100th anniversary Disney villain, so he ain't your typical Disney villain.

No... He has something that no other villain in the Disney pantheon had.

He has love.

And what is love?

Love is, and always will be, the most powerful thing on earth. That's what Disney taught us for 100 years.

So... What happens when the villains have love?

This is what I think happens:

...

Queen Amable’s eyes widen as it becomes undeniably clear… Magnus is dead.

... The rain now is dying down, becoming a drizzle...

She hears the sound of her people mourning for their king, crying and lamenting the tragedy.

...No...

She would not mourn. To mourn would be to accept that he's gone. And she knows him well enough to know that's not what he'd want. No.

She would never give up on him.

All this time she was worried about what these people would think of them, and now here they are, pathetically crying and moaning... They are weak...

She and her beloved don't need them. They never did. All they need is one another. It no longer mattered to her what they thought of her. It no longer mattered if they became afraid of her. It no longer mattered if they didn't love her anymore.

HIS love is all the love she needs.

And so, in this moment. She didn't care in the slightest about showing aaaaall these people... Why in the past they weren't kidding when they called her, well...

A witch.

Amaya suddenly get's up. Surprising the people around with how quickly she did so.

She RIPS the second layer of her long dress, revealing that inside there were many hidden pockets, each one with a small flask of colorful potions that she caries around for emergencies... Such as this.

The crowd gasps in surprise, they all stare at the queen in confusion.

She takes two of the flasks and begins mixing them, her face is cold and focused:

"Phoenix ashes mixed with two drops of scarab beetle juice" The queen says to herself under her breath.

She takes another flask from her skirt

"Newt saliva to heal the heart" She empties the flask and throws it on the ground, breaking it.

Another guard tries to talk to her:

"Uh- umm your majesty what are y-"

"Silence." She tells him, her tone is as sharp as a dagger.

She proceeds to name another ingredient.

"A tear of grief." She says as she takes one tear from her eye, and it really is one single tear.

She stops for a moment as if to remember the next ingredient... She remembers.

Her face turns to the confused citizens and shouts:

"I NEED A CHILD WITH LONG HAIR! NOW!" Her voice echoes, almost louder than the thunder from the storm.

The people are startled, their queen is usually so quiet and gentle, seeing her like this is like seeing a whole different person.

"QUICKLY! I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME BEFORE THE SOUL COMPLETELY LEAVES HIS CORPSE!" She yells at them furiously.

"He-here!" A woman emerges from the crowd holding her daughter, a little girl with long blonde hair and green eyes.

(Because you bet I'll fit in a Tangled reference in this serious and tense scene)

The queen walks quickly to the girl and plucks a strand of hair, which the girl responds with a little "Ow!"

Amaya measures the hair strand with her fingers

"... This will give him about 10 years... Good enough." She says to herself as she puts the hair inside the flask.

A puff of smoke comes out from the flask... The potion is ready.

... It won't be long now.

She walks to her beloved husband, holding the potion in her hands.

She sits next to him... She pets his hair as she looks at his lifeless but still gorgeous face, scar and all. She looks at him with a wistful smile and...

She drinks the potion.

The crowd looks in shock.

Amaya coughs a few times, by the looks of it the potion tasted terrible... But it would be worth it.

She looks back to her king and says in a whisper

"And now, the most important step... True love's kiss."

She kisses him.

The people in the crowd look hopeful, everyone has read in fairytales what a true love's kiss is.

... But Amaya's magic isn't the same as the magic of a fairy... Oh no no no. When it comes to dark magic, you can't simply gain something for free... All dark magic does is take. And it does take something away from Amaya... Something she values a lot.

As she kisses their king, the people start to notice something is happening to their queen...

Her hair get's whiter, with a prominent white hair streak growing from her roots and embracing her whole braided hair.

(Because you bet I'll ALSO reference Anna's hair, from Frozen!)

Not only that, but her hands and face become more wrinkled.

... The queen is aging rapidly.

The people look horrified, worried they might get their king back but lose their queen

(And let me tell ya folks, that would be a TERRIBLE thing to happen because then our boy King Mag would straight up kill everyone in Rosas and then himself... Again.)

But the queen suddenly stops the kiss, she lifts her head up taking deep breaths, exhausted after giving away 10 years of her life to her love...

She looks 60 years old now.

... The king is still motionless...

...

The crowd is staring in anticipation.

...

Magnifico's eye's are shot open.

"*GAAAAAASP* *COUGH* COUGH*"

He sit's up quickly as he coughs while gasping for air.

"Shhhhh there there darling, just take some deep breaths now" The queen coos gently, her previous cold hearted demeanor vanished in an instant, and she's once again the kind and loving queen they all know her to be.

The crowd cheers and applauds the queen for successfully bringing the king back to life.

And said king is... Very lost on what on earth just happened, as he places a hand on his head and his eyes are closed, he seems to be in a lot of pain.

"UGhhh... My head-"

"Does it hurt? I can make something to help with that... Healing your face however, may prove to be more of a challenge." The queen says while petting his back.

The king's eyes widen at the comment, he quickly turns to look at his wife for the first time since he came back to life

"What's that about my fa- *gasp*" He get's startled when he sees HER face.

His queen is changed... She's smiling at him, which show even more all her new wrinkles... The white hair streak is very noticeable on her crown-less messy and soaked wet hair.

Magnifico stares at her incredulous... He starts connecting the dots in his head, as he also remembers what happened to him...

"... Amaya... What did you do?" He says as he places a hand on her cheek gently. His eyes are full of worry.

The queen stops smiling... She instinctively tries covering her face with her hands.

Magnus immediately holds her hands, as he looks her deep in the eyes and reassures her "You are... And ALWAYS will be the fairest queen of all, and no curse in this world or any other can change that for me." He says with certainty.

... Even though it's raining, by the queen's expression it's clear that she teared up with that comment.

The king wraps his arms around her gently, like she could turn into dust at any moment.

"... I'm so sorry that I failed you... This never EVER should've happened... But I swear to you, my love" His voice goes cold "I will not fail you... Ever again."

... He would not let himself get carried away again...

That girl is going to pay.

And that star will be theirs.

King Magnifico realizes they're still being watched... They'll continue this tender moment later. Now, he better make the most of the situation, after all, him being literally MURDERED by the star boy certainly helps his side of the narrative.

The king tries to get up but his legs are still feeling a bit numb, his body is still getting used to the fact that it's up and running again. Two guards help him stand up. And they also hand him his magic staff that was laying next to him

Magnifico is now standing up with his wife holding him tightly.

He takes a deep breath to start one of those long and inspiring speeches of his:

"People of Rosas... It seems even I underestimated just how vicious the enemy we're facing really is... The fallen star thought he could kill the heart of this kingdom, but as you can all see, this HEART is still beating! And it shall remain like this for many years to come!" The king says proudly.

The people cheer in unison. Some saying "Long live the king".

... Probably not the best time for Amaya to tell him she could only give him more 10 years soooo he's not getting past 65.

"Rosas shall never fall! For we are the kingdom of HOPE! And NO force in this world can stop-"

"*COUGH COUGH* Aah"

The king's speech is cut short, as the queen starts coughing and her legs go weak.

"Woah woah Amaya?" Magnifico looks worried as he holds her closer to him, stopping her from falling.

The people gasp in surprise

The king holds her close to him and whispers "Heh heh no need for theatrics my love, th-they're already on our side" Magnifico says, hoping the queen is just being dramatic to gain even more sympathy from them.

"... It's not pretending" She whispers to him "I feel... Weak."

(If this was a movie, the whole internal dialogue that will happen now, as well as Amaya's internal dialogue that happened earlier, would be just their expressions changing from worried to serious in a few seconds, and just by their expressions and the music the audience would be able to tell that this is a "Oh, they snapped" moment)

...

Only in that moment Magnus really starts to process what just happened.

He... DIED.

Just like that... He could've left her... Alone... Forever.

And why did he die?... Because he wanted to impress these people. He wanted to make a big spectacle about capturing that star. They made him weaker.

Not only that, but their love and loyalty was flimsy. It took only ONE GIRL speaking in front of a crowd for some people to start questioning him... Clearly, he and his queen are doing this all wrong.

All this time, pretending and deceiving to gain the love of these people, so they'd trust him with their wishes... But the situation changed. Once he harness that star's power, they'll have no use for these people anymore, will they?

So why be loved... When they can be feared?

It's not like he needs their love anyway.

HER love is all the love he needs.

And so, in this moment. He didn't care in the slightest about showing aaaaall these people... Why he wasn't chosen to be the heir to the throne.

...

The king's face morphs from worried to stoic, as he caresses his wife's hair gently.

The people are looking at him, expecting him to continue the speech.

But instead, Magnifico addresses one specific guard that is standing next to some others

"Captain O'Danohue." The king's voice is emotionless, he's still looking down to his wife while talking to the soldier.

The captain steps forward.

"Yes sire." The captain is a tall and large man with a beard and ginger hair just like Simon's

"Where did that star and that girl go?" Magnifico is still not making eye contact with the man

"They were seen flying to the forest, your majesty."

"Good, good. Send all your men to search for them immediately."

"Right away, your majesty. Do not worry, we'll-"

"And if they're not found til tomorrow night your men will burn that whole forest down." The king added, still talking monotonously.

That gets a few surprised looks from the people around them

The captain of the royal guard is taken aback by this "... Pardon me sire but I think I misun-"

The king finally takes his eyes off his wife to look at the captain with a bored expression "They can't hide in a forest if there's no forest, now can they?" He says like it's just common sense

The captain is perplexed "But- But what about the people that live there? There are houses in the woods."

"They have till tomorrow night to leave then." The king said simply "But of course, if that sounds too hard for you I can burn it down myself." Magnifico shrugs.

The people look shocked... The island's forest has been considered sacred for generations.

The king adds

"Oh, and speaking of "leaving", have your men also burn and destroy all the boats at the docks... No one get's in or out this kingdom until we find that star, was I clear?" He says while looking at the people around him this time.

Simon's father is speechless for a moment... The king seems to have lost his mind, but that's understandable, right? He died a few minutes ago.

The soldier tries to snap him out of it:

"My liege, with all due respect, I don't think-"

"Due respect?" Magnifico interrupts him once again, this time with a hint of anger creeping in his voice "I think you misunderstand captain. You all OWE ME all the respect you can possibly give, not only as your KING, but also as the one who MADE YOU who you are." He doesn't even raise his voice much, those words echo in the hearts of all the citizens that had their wishes granted "I didn't grant your wish of becoming my knight for you to THINK, O'Danohue, I did it for you to OBEY... Was I clear?" The king asks again.

The captain goes stiff.

He bows down to the king as he says "Crystal clear, your majesty."

... A sinister smile finally returns to the king's now scared face.

"There you go, that's a lot easier, isn't it?" The king says condescendingly.

That felt good... He should've done this a long time ago.

He looks down to his queen that he has been holding in his arms this whole time, she's looking up to him, also smiling wickedly.

They're on the same page, they won't pretend to be something they're not anymore.

That girl thought that truth would set these people free? Oh... They're more trapped than ever.

They both turn to look at their frightened and confused subjects.

The king’s glares at them as he says "... I believe it’s quite obvious what will happen to anyone who dares helping the traitor and the star" The green gem on the king's staff starts glowing "Right?"

The crowd all shakes their heads "Yes" quickly, as they know this is a threat.

The gem slowly stops glowing.

"Wonderful, that will be all then." He lifts the staff upward to hit it on the ground "And remember, Rosas... Just keep wishing." He has a subtle smile, this phrase is what he always says at the end of Wish ceremonies.

He hits the floor, creating a huge cloud of green smoke that engulfs him and Amaya, they teleport to the palace.

(I was gonna write Magnifico's reaction to his new scar... Buuuut I think I'll keep that off screen, I think you guys can imagine how he felt about it.)

...

The people of Rosas are at a loss.

Some think the king just went insane and it's all thanks to that star.

Other's think that he's right to take desperate measures to handle this threat.

And a few are now starting to realize that maybe they've been lied to this whole time and the king has always been a bad person.

No one is quite sure what to think of this.

...

Except for a certain group of teens... And a goat.

Who went inside to get cover from the rain just before the king went after Aster... So they didn't see the whole ordeal that just happened.

But they have seen enough to know exactly what side they're choosing to be on... Knowing what they know now.

...

Note that I didn't say how many teens are in that group.

Chapter 12

Final Thoughts

(for real this time)

... So ummmm... That was a lot, wasn't it? hahaha

I swear next chapter will be all about Asha and Aster and there will be WHOLESOME VIBES... After some sad vibes first.

Yeah, they gotta have a little heart to heart BUT it'll be more chill than THIS whole thing that just happened. In fact, from this point forward things should get a little bit more calm... For a while.

But now speaking on this chapter-

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO CHARACTER DESING CHANGE!!!!

THE BROTHER KILLER HAS A SCAR!

THE WITCH LOOKS OLD!

REFERENCES ALL AROUND!!!

I usually don't say this, but ummm if I see fanart of King Magnifico with a scar on his left eye and Queen Amable looking older with a white hair streak it would be so awesome, it would be so cool... Just saying I would go insane, even more than I already am.

And the way I came up with this plot point weeks ago literally is the funniest thing, here's how my thought process went:

I want the confrontation in chapter 10 to feel tense... I'll say it's a cloudy day... Clouds bring rain... And rain brings a storm... And storms brings lightning... And lightning kills Disney villains... I'll kill Magnifico because he had it too good for too long. He needs to take an L. His actions have consequences.

SO THE NARRATIVE ESCALATED FROM:

"IT'S A CLOUDY DAY" TO "THE KING DIED."

LMAO

But seriously though, THIS is a big turning point for the villains.

Initially, they just wanted Aster's power for the sake of wanting it, because it would be fun to have it... Now? Now it's a NEED.

It's a need because they need immortality, Magnifico had a taste of his own mortality, and Amaya is older and weaker, they NEED to have that magic so they can live together forever. Have their happily EVER after, so to speak.

To me that feels more unique and compelling than just "We want power... Even though we already got it."

And speaking of Aster CAREFUL BOY! YOUR PETER PAN SIDE IS SHOWING!!! That laugh Aster let out is supposed to feel like a Peter Pan laugh by the way.

Yeah writing Aster and Magnifico's dynamic was SO MUCH FUN like wooooow you guys have no idea. It's Captain Hook and Peter Pan, it's Alladin and Jafar, it's Hercules and Hades, I wanna fit in all those vibes!!!

But let's address the elephant in the room... So true love's kiss, huh?

I just think it would be HILARIOUS if Disney not only gave us a villain couple for the first time ever... BUT ALSO USED THEM TO PROVE THE POINT THAT TRUE LOVE IS POWERFUL AS HECK.

I mean, they've shown us that

Over

And over

AND OVER

So I think having this classic trope happen, BUT TWIST IT in your 100th anniversary movie, would be pretty neat ya know? like, I think, you guys tell me, I don't know 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, this chapter was LOOOONG and full of emotions, mostly tense ones, but things are gonna chill a bit with Asha and Aster on the next one, I promise!

As always

Thank You For Reading!

[arieshasbrainrot57]

i think my number one issue with Hellvua is that it continuously shows the audience one thing, before turning around and telling us something completely different. it tells us that the characters are complex, who suffer with trauma and have nuances to them, making them not black and white characters, but instead more morally grey. but then they turn around and show us that only SOME characters get that treatment, and by some i mean Blitzo and Stolas. the rest are cardboard cut outs with a few minor personality traits attached and thats about it.

they tell us its bad when Stella slaps her husband during an argument and that it's a sign of clear, long time abuse. but then they show us Loona repeatedly beating her adoptive father with objects or just her fists, and it's supposed to be taken as comedic slap stick. is violence in hell funny and normalised, or is it serious and abusive?

they tell us that the Hellborn aren't just created evil, that they instead become that way bc of the circumstances of their birth and their personal traumas. but then they show us that only Stella was just born naturally evil, never had any good in her, has no redeeming qualities, never has and never will.

like, at the very least you could be a bit consistant for five seconds

[maxwell-grant]

Playing Princess Peach: Showtime got me the Mario brainvurms again so I wanna ramble a bit: As much as I adore and put a lot of stock into Wario and Waluigi's dynamic (and as much as Waluigi's my favorite character), I actually don't think Waluigi should be in the Wario games. Particularly Ware, but that also goes for Land in case that ever comes back from the grave. And it's not because of anything wrong or lacking with Waluigi as a character, quite the opposite: I think a lot of what defines him, what makes him interesting in different ways than Wario, actually makes him a terrible fit for Wario's narrative real state. Not an issue when they're together filling in a necessary dynamic in Mario territory, but it gets trickier when Wario's supposed to be the lead in an actual story.

In regards to Land, the central appeal of Wario Land is in the fact that you can play as Wario. I'd said as much before that, generally speaking, where as Mario is altered to fit his games, Wario's games are built to fit him. As much as WL did to flesh out Wario as a character, the core concept for Wario Land 1, and every subsequent game, comes back to the idea that you are playing a bigger, nastier Mario, who can't run as fast or jump as high, but is stronger and full of stranger surprises, so he engages with different kinds of obstacle courses and yyou have to figure out what he can and can't do to solve them. Every alteration made to the Wario Land series over the years, not just in relation to the Super Mario Land platformers it spun out of, was built around turning Wario's existing traits into gameplay mechanics.

He is a bully and a brute and thus you shoulder bash your way through problems, his propensity for comedic slapstick turned into full blown immortality and the source of his power-ups, he is far more interested in sniffing for gold than actually saving anyone so his adventures are less linear, your endgoal is to get the biggest treasures possible, his thieving bastard explorer nature eventually allowed for a timed Indiana Jones boulder escape at every level, Shake It lets you literally shake down enemies for cash, etc. The one time they took the opposite route and really altered Wario to fit a pre-ordained gimmick was in Master of Disguise, and soundtrack aside there's some good reasons why that one's so unpopular it's not even considered a Wario Land game.

All of these are traits that are built to fit Wario, and mainly Wario, and you could argue that these by extension apply to Waluigi because of his traits that overlap with Wario's, and for sure the spin-offs demonstrate that Waluigi does tag along on Wario's treasure hunts sometimes, but if we concede this and add Waluigi as a Player 2, then: A: What is so great and unique about Wario, if other characters can also do all the absurd things he does? And B: What is so great and weird about Waluigi, if all he's doing is just the stuff Wario already does?

The Mario platformers don't really have this issue with Luigi not just because Luigi as the Player 2 is grandfathered in, but because mechanically speaking Luigi isn't very different from Mario, and because the gameplay mechanics for Mario platformers are nowhere near as specialized as Wario's is. Everybody runs and jumps and collects power-ups and does the same things Mario does, that's why the Toads and the princesses can jump in on it just fine. Wario sharing the glory of being Wario is just not what Wario does, and it's Waluigi's thing even less. With everyman all-ages Mario, everyone's invited to join in the fun, but when the whole point is you reveling in "you get to play as Wario!", WHERE BEING BAD IS GOOD AND GREED IS GOOD HEHEHEHEHEH, you really lose a lot of the appeal turning it into "you get to play as Wario, and another guy (or even more) who can also do the things Wario does, turns out Wario's willing to share I guess". Even working in a different set of paths and solutions per level so Wario and Waluigi could solve problems differently would just be splitting levels by half of the work and half of the fun.

For comparison's sake, Pizza Tower has a second playable character in the form of The Noise, a rival who is opposite to Peppino personality-wise. Despite having more or less the same proportions (and in prior builds playing identically to Peppino), in order to accomodate his personality that is also his main selling point, he plays in a different manner through levels that weren't designed around him (not different enough that it excludes co-op though), and so he actually breaks the game, and that is in fact worked into everything he does: Pretty much the main running gag through The Noise Update is that he is brazenly cheating and easily clearing through the things Peppino worked so hard to beat "fairly", and that he is a piece of shit with no emotional stakes in what he's doing, turning every hardship or battle into a joke.

Pizza Tower is just as much built around Peppino's character as Wario Land is (which is part of why the game became faster and more stressful, and thus played increasingly less and less like Wario Land over every subsequent build up until release), and it was only ever going to accomodate the Noise's personality by either designing new levels (and thus a new game) around him, or going all the way on him breaking the existing ones and occupying an opposite role to Peppino's, which fits him. Again, you could argue this dirty cheater angle fits Waluigi. The problem is, again, redundancy, and it not fitting Wario Land. Gameplay-wise, Wario is already breaking and even cheating through levels to clear them, he is already flipping the middle finger to traditional Mario-style platforming the way The Noise is doing to Peppino's playstyle. And story-wise, Wario doesn't let himself be outdone, he is not getting upstaged from his own adventures. Peppino doesn't WANT to be in his own adventures, that's why the game plays him for pathos and The Noise gets played for pure satire. They get to do completely different things in a way I'm not sure you could do with Wario and Waluigi without significantly overhauling the way Wario Land works, and at that point, why bother.

That being said, I definitely do want there to be a way Wario and Waluigi could star in a platformer together, it would be a dream for me. But I don't think that's going to work for Wario Land, and not doing Wario Land runs the risk of doing Master of Disguise again so, it'd take a lot of work. I want to say there is at least a possibility of making it work, which is definitely not an argument I'd make for Waluigi joining the WarioWare cast.

The thing about how WarioWare's cast works, and how it manages to keep Wario recognizably Wario even in a drastically different role than the one he occupies in Mario spin-offs and Wario Land alike, is a very simple but effective dynamic: Wario is the boss, and everyone else is your friend/co-worker. Wario is the ringmaster, and the circus freaks need your help to keep the show afloat. Wario is Michael Scott/J Jonah Jameson, and you're in the Dunder Mifflin/Daily Bugle trenches with everyone else.

All of the WarioWare characters are lovable weirdos, it comes with the question of "what kind of person would not just be friends with, but willingly work for Wario?". They are weird, they are dorks, they are (mostly) nice, they (mostly) get along, but above all, they are accomodating. Of their weirdness, of your weirdness, even of their boss' weirdness. Their goal is to guide you through the challenges and fun and encourage you to succeed. They do all the hard work in making these games fun to play. They are directly, proportionately opposite to how much of an dynamic jerk Wario is, and that's why Wario gets to keep on doing Wario things.

He gets to cause problems and lead the gang into trouble, he gets be mean, he gets to hijack proceedings and directly insult and mess with the player, he gets to be the villain, he gets to be the butt of the joke, he gets to crash and fail. The Ware crew gets to be people you come to know and relate to and love, while he gets to be the GOTTA WIIIIN guy. It's a fine balance and a very good deal on their end.

It also has no room whatsoever for Waluigi, anti-social party crasher conniving drama queen extraordinaire, in anything other than a cameo or a one-off antagonistic competition with them. He isn't going to take Wario, or anyone's place, and his dynamic with Wario in the spin-offs just doesn't translate to Wario's role in WarioWare. And he belongs even less in the WarioWare crew (especially with characters like Jimmy T and Crygor, who have significant overlapping traits with Waluigi already), he is just not made for playing nice with others like that. It's not that he can't, his player interactions can be remarkably non-antagonistic and chill even, but it's not his thing.

He is Waluigi, as they reiterate in every bio, he is dastardly and mean and also a tryhard loser who "thinks" he's Luigi's rival more so than he actually is, and who doesn't seem to get along with anyone other than Wario, in fact he barely plays nice with Wario a lot of the time, they're partners in crime first and foremost and are depicting bickering over spoils when they work together. He'd just break the balance that makes this cast dynamic work so well without offering anything in return, and would be worse off for it. If anything Waluigi should be the last person to work for WarioWare, it has nothing to do with what he's about and the dude knows firsthand how little Wario intends to pay anyone ever. You could get stuff out of playing him as a rival trying to muscle in their gigs, or beat Jimmy T on the dance floor, and even that's stretching a bit.

I think the biggest problem comes down to the fact that the main thing with Waluigi, much like Wario, IS his outsized personality and the role it offers him, and with how Wario's games are precision-built around him and him alone as the center, putting Waluigi in those is dooming him to get sucked into Wario's orbit in roles that just don't work for him and dillute the chief appeal of putting Waluigi in stuff. Even if he's already secondary to Wario in the spin-offs, in there they fill in a niche together, two halves of one idiot, Camelot's favorite boys and all that, that you can't carry over when Wario has bigger things to do than just play along and be a nuisance to Mario.

I was very happy with Princess Peach: Showtime in part because of how committed it was to the idea of putting Peach and Peach alone in the spotlight, with NO Mario elements whatsoever tagging along for the ride. There is not a single trace of Mario or Bowser anywhere, the Toads leave at the opening cutscene and don't come back until the post-credits when their only role is to give her crown back. The game is just Peach going on adventures, righting wrongs and trying new personas and putting on a show with the people she's saving.

It's short, sweet, it's kind of a baby game and it has to be for the target audience, and it doesn't seem to be super popular in general but I'm glad it sold well, I'd like for Nintendo to make more games like it. It got me to like Peach more than I ever have before, and it got me feeling very good about the fact that this exists at all. Seems like there really has been a creative renaissance for Mario over the past years. Not that I ever expect it to happen anymore, but I always dreamed of Waluigi getting to have something like this, although I'll say that Peach's was a very long time coming (especially given the failure of Super Princess Peach) and I'm glad this premise was made with her. I never thought it'd happen and that makes the former dream seem, y'know, a little less impossible. Maybe.

Semi-unrelated but I am also extremely glad that Madame Grape exists, definitely a character I'd like to see return to occupy a position akin to King Boo or just go-karting with the others. And by no means was this intentional, but I definitely get a kick out of the fact that the villain in Showtime is an overlooked purple-clad drama queen who creates and leads a group literally called "Sour Grapes", who wants to claim her role in a world of happy shining people who don't APPRECIATE her work unless she makes them, who wants to plaster her face and name and colors everywhere, and who is incredibly invested in making Peach her nemesis and foil, even though this story was supposed to be about Peach taking a break for a change and Grape is very far from being the worst thing Peach has to deal with on a regular basis. Just reminded me of another guy who tried to hypnotize "the rhythmless masses" with sweet dance moves once.

[dema-heart]

Pirate Hobie

Guess who got her friend to draw pirate hobie and never got to send it!!! I'm sending it now with a slightly more detailed meeting! @the-kr8tor been dying to show you this!!!

Hobie x fem reader

Just a short I have no real intentions of taking this anywhere! Just added to the little chat I had with @the-kr8tor

Mentions of swords,waves, boats, threats, ect pirates ya know

Unedited, it was like 2am here and I couldn't get this out my head. It was supposed to just be the picture🤦🏾‍♀️

You peak out from inside the crate you had snuck on board the ship in. Checking around to make sure no one was there. Sighing in relief you climb out hitting the ground with a grunt as a wave rocked the boat.

Boat. Waves. The smell of ale, fish, and salt fills your lungs. You can't help but smile in glee. You'd made it on board the ship and you're currently at sea. You couldn't believe it had worked out so easily. Sure you didn't mean to doubt Peter when he'd come up with the plan but honestly the man spent half the time coming up with it bragging about his baby and how his wife would kill him if he came along.

Smiling, you sit up, careful not to fall again as you made your way to the door. The rocking of the boat wasn't too hard to get accustomed to, and you found yourself giddy all over again feeling like a sea fairing natural.

Peaking out the door, you look both ways before creeping up the hall in hopes of finding the female pirate you'd got a glimace of earlier. Rumors and tales had her known as the ghost-spider pirate. Known for her association with death and bad luck for being a woman at sea but also for her tales of adventure and vigilantism alongside Captain Brown, the feared and renowned punk Captain of the Anarchy.

You keep up the pace, hearing chatter and laughter above you. Distracted, you don't notice the figure leaning against the wall you just pasted. A chuckle stops you you in your tracks and you turn comedically slow toward the sound.

A tall man stares at you with a smirk. The gold ring on his lip glinting in the low light the only way you can tell his lip is quirked. You're not able to see much of him due to how dark it is in the hall, and the notion scares you a bit. You straighten up hand falling to the sword on your hip. You're not very well trained on using it but you'd be damned if you went down without a fight.

"Whoa there..." He raises his hands, not moving from the shadows. He's watching you noticing the waver in your hands and the improper posture. "..was only going to ask how you got ya self lost down here, guppy." His tone is teasing,nonchalant as if he's unbothered by a stranger sneaking around the ship supposedly threatening him.

You narrow your eyes before huffing as he obviously isn't falling for your bluff. "I'm here to speak to ghost-spider. That's all. I want to know her story and how I can get accepted as a woman adventurer...I mean no harm and I have no intentions of stealing or making a burden of myself. So if you'd politely lead me to her or the Captain." Standing your ground you stare into what you assume is the eyes of the man daring him to deny you.

He chuckles, stepping forward the click of his heels against the wood loud in the quiet hall. You hold in a gasp as he reveals himself. You don't recognize him as most the pirates have identifying markings on their coats. However, this man is in a casual blouse and trousers. Nothing identifying on him. He's tall and quite handsome the smirk you could feel showing clear as day as he steps foward further into your space, causing you to step back, gripping the hilt of your sword.

"Don't come any closer! I'm not sure who on the crew you are but I'm not afraid to draw my sword against you" His laughter startles you almost diffusing the fear with confusion and annoyance. He looks you over a mischievous glint in his eyes as he nods toward your sword.

"Be good to learn how to hold it before threatenin to use it, guppy. Won't do you any good if it's holder isn't even unbundled." He nods toward the latch keeping the sword handle in place. You groan as you realize he's right, but don't move from your defensive position instead undoing the buckle without breaking eye contact you raise a brow at him.

"As I said be kind enough to lead the way or allow me to pass I've no interest in your games,sir. I'm here to accomplish my dreams and I refused to let you stop me" you stand your ground, watching as an impressed look briefly washes over his face.

"As you wish,guppy. Right this way then. Feel free to draw your sword while my back is turned but I don't think it'll go over well with the rest of the crew" He shrugs hands sliding into his pockets as he walks past you toward a door you had passed not to long ago. He opens it showing the stairs to the deck and causing the sound of chatter and waves to get louder.

You followed him up, taking in your surroundings in amazement, not noticing how quiet it had gotten. You push past him the moment you see the waves across the side of the ship. The sight of open sea confirming you really had made it.

"Who's this, cap?" You hear a different voice from the one you'd become acquainted too. Turning around, you see the whole crew standing around you, the man from earlier in the front next to the blond haired pirate you'd been hoping to meet. She wasn't the one to ask the question though confused you look to see who they could be talking about. The man who'd led you here smirks stepping foward and placing an arm over your shoulder. He grins as he faces the crew.

"This is guppy! A stowaway. The lad Peter told us all about before we left port. As captain, I went down to meet her for myself, and she's just as fiery as he said! She even threatened me with her sword. A fine addition to our band of misfits if I do say so myself" He makes the announcement, and you can feel yourself drain of color as you realize just who you'd been with this whole time. The captain brown the dreaded punk of the seas had bot only known you'd stowed away on his ship but come to get you himself and allowed you to make an absolute blunder of yourself in front of him.

"Don't worry, guppy. I'm not known to hold grudges against pretty lasses like yourself. And as you said, you had no intentions of making a burden of yourself." He looks down at you speaking just loud enough for you to hear over the cheers of the crew. With a wink, he guides you to the female pirate herself before walking off to chat with his crew.

There's three things you noticed.

One there more than just ghost-spider heres who's female. That alone almost let's you push past the second fact.

Two you had threatened the infamous Captain of the Anarchy and lived to tell the tale. Hell he'd given you a nickname and said you were one of theirs now.

Three Peter made you hide in a box and pretend to be cargo when he'd apparently already told the whole crew you'd be joining.

Sighing, you shook your head taking one last glance at who you now know is captain hobie brown. You meet his gaze and he winks causing you to startle and turn quickly back to Gwen, who looked amused at the situation.

Gwen smiled, shaking the hand you stuck out to her wtih amusement. "You're in for a lonnnng ride. Let me introduce you...".

Fin

[spaceorphan18]

The Lady Whistledown Papers : 1x01 - A Diamond of the First Water (Part 2)

Hi! Welcome back to The Lady Whistledown Papers, where I'm taking an in-depth look at Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton's character arcs and romance within the show Bridgerton! If you're looking for previous entries you can find them here :: Back Issues

Formal Introduction to Lady Whistledown

After the credits, we get a bunch of news boys running around spreading the Lady Whistledown pamphlet -- and while she narrated the opening, it's here that we get here formal introduction. She's rather biting in her first issue, and I find it fascinating that Penelope, in her writing, would come out swinging strong. She wanted to make an impact and grab the reader's (and the audience's) attention. But her commentary about bearing her teeth is a way for Penelope to attempt appear strong, confident, and dangerous right off the bat.

It's really fascinating that she does this as an introduction, because it's such the opposite of her natural personality. Sure, we'll learn that Penelope can definitely hold her own when she needs to. But only, really, when back into a corner. She prefers being the soft, romantic lost her own world, daydream of love and romance. But while the harshness of her first issue is a bit of her playing a role with LW, eventually, she does find her own voice in her writing, and LW shifts to reflect that.

I also want to note that she doesn't start the pamphlet with her eventual 'dearest gentle reader'. I'll have to listen for when that happens.

It's funny the show as a whole has a very different dynamic in the first season. Despite the comedic opening and lighthearted credits and brightly lit and colorful world, the first season is a little more biting. There's swearing and smoking and everything is a little rougher around the edges. I suppose, in a way, it may mirror Daphne and Simon's rougher (in general) romance. But I think it was also a way for Netflix to be be like -- see, we have this new, edgy historical romance.

I just wanted to note it here because the tone changes so drastically and by season 3, it's a much softer show, but reflects the romance better in being so.

Oh, also, I have to note the score. I love LOVE that Lady Whistledown gets her own theme music. It's kind of the this up and down hurried and fluttery melody that reflects the flying papers and whirlwind of mystery that LW presents. I love the music choices so much.

There's also a neat little misdirect they do -- as LW proclaims that even if the ton doesn't know her, she knows them, and the camera intentionally lingers on a smug Lady Danbury, as if suggesting that she might be LW herself.

****

Marina

Before I get into this scene, i just want to point out in the previous one that Eloise is the first Bridgerton to pick up LW. She also suggests she go see Pen to check in on her due to the disastrous showing in front of the queen.

When we pick up with the Featheringtons again -- Pen is in what is probably her usual place, over the by the window where she can watch Bridgerton house reading a book. (Or maybe pretending to read it when there's so much going on in the drawing room.) I tried zooming in on the book - but I can't tell what it is, other than it looks like poetry.

I should also point out this the first time we see her in one of her classic yellow dresses. I wish I was better with clothing meta, I do. The only thing I'd really want to point out is that there are flares of pink with in, and that combined with the bow in her hair help make her look young.

I should note that Lady Cowper is visiting the household, and that Lady Cowper seems to be a mean girl friend of Lady Featherington. They're gossiping away - but one should note that it's already obvious, from the first issue, that people suspect a Bridgerton is writing LW based on the attention the Bridgertons are getting. Is it surprising that Penelope is happy and fond of Daphne for getting the Queen's approval?

(This now makes me wonder if we got any Daphne and Pen interaction this season. I honestly don't remember, we shall see!)

Anyway, I adore the little smirk Pen gives when listening to Lady Cowper throw shade at her sisters. As we'll see in a moment, Pen gets a lot of crap thrown at her from her own family, she is going to revel a little when they get it back in their faces.

Also, oooff, Lady Featherington wanting Pen to put down the book so not to 'confuse' her thoughts. This comment alone marks the contrast between Pen and her mother's priorities.

So, Lady Cowper and Lady Featherington continue gossiping about how Marina is going to stay with them during the season. Portia makes an interesting comment about how LW knows nothing, which is funny since Pen clearly knows everything. It's at this moment that Pen gets up to interject -- exclaiming that she wants to hold off being in society for another year like her bff Eloise, but Portia won't hear of it. Of course, LW would have no idea that Marina would be coming to stay - but it does make me wonder if Pen liked having written the bit of wrong information about the Featherington girls so to leverage a possibility of getting out of the season.

Pen really would like to stay back - and continue on with studies. It's an interesting little tidbit, not only does Pen really not want to be out in the spotlight, but she is one to value her education, and I'm sure she and Eloise have talked at length about things they could if they had the opportunity and learning more (and going to university) is definitely one of them.

Of course, Portia won't hear any of it - why would a woman want to fill her brain up with anything? :P But I will say, Portia does notice her daughter's nervousness, and is endeared by it. It's a rare moment of softness Portia has for her youngest daughter in this little exchange.

And... then there's Prudence and Phillipa, who come in with some not helpful comments about how she looks. And I do believe this is the only time anyone really makes reference to her weight. It's a bit eye rolly, but Prudence and Phillipa are only really reflecting the meanness their mother projects. I'm glad that Pen's weight is not really brought up, though, for the rest of the series.

I also want to note that -- Pen has a lot of elements of fairy tales and fantasies brought up in her story, and I remember one thing that stood out to me is how very much this was Cinderella-esque, with the wicked mother and sisters bit. (I am glad they kind of have a great reconcile arc in Season 3, tbh).

Also, Phillipa's line about curing acne with arsenic and lead is hysterical - partly because back they would have tried that and partly because Phillipa as the well meaning dunce is on clear display.

I'm really kind of fascinated by these cards they're all looking at -- cards of eligible bachelors. I have so many questions. Are they like 1800 tinder profiles? Swipe right get a dance? Stake your claim? Collect them all and win a prize? Is there one for Colin and does Pen have it stored away in her secret stash under the floor boards?

So, anyway, we get backstory and set up about Marina, and how she's poor and from a farm, and Portia is obnoxious in her elitist, snobby ways. And then Marina shows up looking as cute as a button. I love that the sisters look worried, but Pen is so happy. Just Marina being a beautiful girl puts Portia in her place. But I also think there's a bit of fascination there as well -- she's not from high society, and yet she's still pretty.

****

Lady Danbury's Ball

Unaspiringly, we get a lot of expository dialogue coming from the LW narration -- I didn't really notice it until starting this project, but it's purely for us to learn more about the world and times of the show -- I don't necessarily think LW's readership would need to know any of this information.

Any ole way, this is the first time we get to see Pen out in society. She's not glued to a wall, but it's obvious that both she and her sisters are being looked over as every other lady at the place is being chatted up by eligible bachelors and danced with.

Let's talk her dress for a second -- as you zoom in, you can tell there's a butterfly spread across her chest. And not only is the butterfly the symbol of her family, but it's reflective of her story. She'll be the awkward, little caterpillar who transforms into the beautiful butterfly. It's just gonna take a little, as we're just starting her story out.

The string version of Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next plays in the background. And it's a nice complement for the scene - and all of the women making their way through the marriage mart, but it does play over the next little bit with Penelope watching Colin, and I think there are some lyrics from the song that really fit her :

Only wanna do it once, real bad Gon' make that last / I've got so much love (love) Got so much patience (patience) I've learned from the pain (pain) I turned out amazing (turned out amazing)

Alright, so let's talk about this. Actually, no, let's talk about Colin's hair journey first. Because the boy's hair changes length in every scene in this episode, lol. It was not that long in the first scene. But yeah, let's talk about how he's dancing away unseriously with some pretty lady while his future wife is just two feet away, staring longingly at him.

Oh, Pen. Oh, girl... This is the first time we that Penelope has feelings for Colin, and it's the first time the show is acknowledging -- yeah, we know there's a love story here, we'll get to it, eventually... And, oh, they really sell it in that first moment, just how much she wants to be that girl dancing with him. And, I mean, she's probably remembering times they have danced together -- because Anthony will suggest as such in the next episode. But she's not one to go out and ask him -- she's bold enough to take on the entire ton in her writing, but not to ever dare confront her feelings for Colin, or even dare act upon them.

(And, I mean, idk, were ladies allowed to ask a gentleman for a dance, or did she have to wait?)

But also -- this is her first ball out in society. Even if they did dance together before, it was really more as children having fun together (and I'll make note of this when we get to that Irish dance at the end of the episode). Penelope is supposed to be seen as a real woman now -- a real marriage prospect, but as the camera pushes in on her longing face, you have to wonder if she's still believing it a possibility at this point, or if she already thinks it's not a thing that will ever happen to her.

And, you know, watching the scene again, I'm almost of mind that all of that could even be at the back of her mind. I think there's a simpler want and need in this moment -- the want to just be close to him, to be in proximity, to take joy in the little touches and brushes the dance gives. I feel like that's at the forefront more than anything here.

Shifting focus entirely, we move to some Bridgerton sibling shenanigans. Anthony is being a butt over Daphne's propsects and then literally, out of nowhere, Colin and Benedict shows up, and Colin announces he's going to Greece on tour. I wonder if there was some dialogue cut or something because it's such an odd little comment to shoehorn in somewhere. You almost think, for a moment, he'll be ushered off the show like Francesca will be (thank god, not).

It's important for his character - because travel is going to be a huge part of his character, but it's just funny to me how waved away this moment is. Daphne is like, wow, cool that's interesting, and then Lady Danbury shows up and it almost feels like an irrelevant little comment.

I do kind of love that they all kind of hightail out of there trying to escape Lady Danbury but fail to do so.

It's a good thing we set up Pen longing for Colin because that make this moment feel... perplexing. Is he gonna see our dear, sweet Penelope? Of course not. He's going to see the hot new thing to come to town, Marina. And he's just enchanted with her.

Portia and Lady Cowper are going to continue to gossip about Marina up in the balcony, and I find it hilarious when Portia is like - man she's ugly, and Lady Cowper does, like, a double take and is like, uh, wait, no?

Colin's going to 'join the swarm' and dance with Marina. He's smitten with her right from the start. Hello Season 1's major B-Plot, we're now fully in motion.

I am fascinated by what Portia gossips about -- how it's kind of a big deal that Colin, because he's a Bridgerton, is attempting to court Marina so early. What exactly is it about the Bridgertons that make them such a big name family -- is it because they're super wealthy and Lady Bridgerton is a Viscountess? Is it Daphne's newly minted status a the Queen's Diamond? Is it because they're all hot? Is it just because Portia lives next to them? Because I feel like they don't seem particularly all that cool (said in a lovingly way). They're all awkward weirdos in their own special way. So I find it funny every time someone is like --oohh the Bridgertons because do any of these other people really care all that much?

Awww, my dear Penelope!! Look at her standing all alone. She's even alienated from her sisters, look so sad that no one will come to ask her to dance. You know, that color may not suit her fully, but she does look cute as a button here.

You know what's interesting, though, when the Duke arrives, Portia tries to shuffle her daughters onto him, and no Portia would bother with Penelope. But Pen is nowhere to be seen. It's to be of note that Pen's going to go make herself be in places where she can't be see but she can take in all the drama.

And, on that note, I'm going to wrap this edition up! Until next time - will we make it through the rest of the episode?? No, probably not. :D There's so much in this first episode!!

[ghawst37]

An explanation to camuroland the shipname: "犬炎"

Although I do supposed that at this point everyone just used to "camuroland" as their official ship name. But as part of the eastern side of the shipdom, mashing their names together should be taken it with some extra steps, for the sake of self-indulgance haha.

So I propose a side one that is "犬炎"

I included it in the template that I posted as sort of a teaser. But I feel like it deserves a bit of an explanation, as a bit of an apreciation for kuso en translation(?) team, just on some parts. (spoilers, Camu's deserve to be praised, Roland however, was a miss. Kuso, how you have fell off.)

Camu: Crocotta in chinese/original is 卡穆 · 狂犬 And Roland: Flambeau is 罗兰 · 戏炎 What's super interesting to me is that their frame's name does not change in the japanese version (Camu is カム · 狂犬, Roland is ロラン · 戏炎) "But, you don't know chinese, how are you gonna make any of this work," well I'm Vietnamese, and I can use transliteration to aid me. And trust me it helped me understand these two on a much deeper level. In that vietnamese guy we trust, always :D

Their names are simple, "卡穆" and "罗兰" are simply "Camu" and "Roland" in chinese dialect. The fun part is in their frames' name.

Camu goes first. And I would like to say that the direct translation for his frame's name is so insulting because why are they calling our boy a "rabid dog"?? Although that's the thing, it's really what "狂犬" means. "狂犬" in romaji is "kuángquǎn", and in Vietnamese transliteration is "cuồng khuyển." And to my other vietnamese people, I agree this sounds a lot better than calling him "chó dại" haha. "Cuồng" is basically to describe something wild and uncontrollable, you can use it to describe a natural disaster as well as a person, in some cases. Pretty much means "crazy," but unlike "rabid" that's mostly only used on an animal. "Khuyển" is pretty much an untamed dog. This is when I have to brought this up because I had issues with this too, specifically the differences between "cẩu" and "khuyển," as both of these words are to refer to a dog. A "cẩu" is a domesticated dog, a house pet. Obedient and behave nicely to its master. And a "khuyển" is a masterless dog, barks and bite and misbehave and uh yeah.... has rabies (this came clear to me from a lil comedic story that I came across explaning exactly just that haha.) At the same time, it's used in a very insulting manner, to refer to a lowly, pathetic dog. Now I think I understood whoever made Camu's frame see of him. SMH But to my knowledge, "masterless dog" can also be used to refer to wild dogs, namely hyenas. Which is absolutely interesting, because it's believed that hyenas were the animal that inspired the legend of the creature "Crocotta." I think the english translation team deserves some credit for this one 0)-(

Roland on the other hand, is surfacely the less intersting when first roughly translated during his debut in the cn server.

"戏炎" in romaji is "xìyán", and that is "hí diễm" or "hí viêm" (either way has a nice ring to the ears.) During Roland's debut his frame's name was translated to "theatrical flame", which is so much better than what the direct translation gave me (because "play inflamation" sounds like... absolutely nothing.) This is worth pointing out at least imho, using "戏", in romaji and transliteration is "hí", translated to theaters is pretty shallow in terms of meaning. To put it simply, it's not just any general theater, it belongs to the combination "戏曲", "xìqǔ" or chinese traditional opera, Peking opera is what it's more widely known currently. Now I'm not here to give a history lesson on something I'm not very well-versed, but for what Roland does, consider to what Peking is with its combination of story telling, singing, dancing, martial arts and acrobatic performance, I don't think the theater they refer Roland to is "just western theater," the good ol we all familiar with. Especially with the martial arts and acrobatic performance, for what Roland is capable of (or consider his battle performance), he exceed just being some reality show performer. That's traditional art. Albeit Roland is referenced (quite heavily) on a Frankish knight, that's very much just a title, much like his role on the stage. It's always better to consider him as someone more than just his role. And that is where the localization and translation team failed to make justice of what his name could have been, or if only someone could have point it out earlier. "Hỏa" ("火") means literally fire, but "viêm" ("炎") is a blaze (literally two fire syllables on top of each other.) It can also be use as an adjective to describe heat in some cases. "Flambeau" is pretty much a torch, even much less meaning than "theatrical flame", but it gave me this idea that said flame is being contained within an object and/or a place. Although it's not even flame, but an even much larger fire. (A friend after hearing me telling them all this said that it felt like a very symbolic fire, it could be seen as Roland's passion for the art of performance, which I very much agree. It burn hot and bright but it also contains him, imprisoned him almost.)

That's a long dissecting section, so what does that leave us with? Well, I tried all combination with each syllables including ones from their names, and only the combination of "犬" and "炎" sounds the less cringe (haha) ("chaotic opera" "狂戏" could've worked if only 狂 isn't a very fitting adjective for 戏) If i respect the shipping community rule of name position (top's name at the front, bottom's at the back) then that gives us "犬炎". But personally, it's doesn't matter, the Vietnamese transliteration left me with "khuyển diễm" but I'll fw "viêm khuyển" as well.

Còn với những người anh em đồng hương của tôi, con ship này cũng có tên việt, là "Sói Lửa" (camuroland can be very international)

And with the usual english speaker, my friend have suggested "Blazing Canine" and I happily approve of the idea (it's so much better than my "hot dog".....)

And with that I would like to conclude my TED talk. Thank you anyone who reached this point (❁´◡`❁) I hope it gave you something, or wasted your time in a enjoyable way haha /gets kicked off stage

//And if anyone is like "why does Roland get such a long analyzation for his part," here's a diet one for Camu. While Roland's chinese name is just a dialect of his name ("ro-ran") Camu's does has a meaning but it's on its own is so good and I'm not sure if anyone has point this out yet, and I frankly don't think it would be very fair if i take Roland's frame name just to combine it with Camu's name. "卡穆", romaji "kǎmù", Vietnamese transliteration "khải mặc" (or in any case of you stubborn people like, fine "ca mặc", it doesn't change the meaning) means "a silent protection." Consider he always has us play where's Waldo, he's really just at the flank and back protecting everyone on his own in denser punishing zone, it's rather fitting. And it's not that he doesn't complain, it's just that whenever he does and curse at Roland hahaha

[shesmore-shoebill]

im not properly following sword af bc i never finished the first season, but i DID go and listen to the bit where angela (as bug) presumably tries to go for a kiss with amanda (as delores) and. MAN. Amanda's reaction to it....... the "whoa whoa whoa" and amanda's voice getting that kind of breathless quality that it sometimes gets when shes really amused or shes laughing really hard or overwhelmed in videos.......... mannnnn. sets off my rpf brain So Bad. Not implying anything about the actual interaction as much as. Thinking about the delicious potential in the fake rpf universe..... I'm so goddamn weak for the concept of RPF Amanda who flirts incessantly and is so confident in it and loves, loves flirting with Angela specifically- in part because she never expects anything to come of it, (for better or for worse) and Angela's flustered reactions or tendency to not play into the bit make it safe in a backwards way. Amanda flirts, Angela rolls her eyes/commits a bit but always bails out safely, etc. (Amanda keeps flirting, maybe harder, maybe it gets more and more ridiculous and over the top, and maybe she should- stop. But. She can't.)

And then Angela flirts back unexpectedly or spontaneously, and its like. Implosion. Function shutdown. The absolute charismatic force of nature that is Amanda brought to a halt, because hey wait NO, that's not supposed to happen. Its such a delicious concept. rpf brain go brrrrr.

There's the angst side if it, if you want- Amanda silently convinced it wont happen or somewhat in denial about her own feelings, or doing some kind of mental gymnastics where the flirting is as close as she'll get. (Angela convinced it's not real and having mixed feelings about it as a result.)

And then they're doing something and for one reason or another Angela initiates and Amanda's brain goes WHOA WHOA WHOA- and Amanda's charisma and composure go sideways even though for anyone else she could play it off so easily. there's so much comedic potential. delicious potential. etc. 👌

[orchidsandtulips]

*Contains spoilers for Disney’s Frozen, if that’s still possible*

Okay, so the Frozen Broadway musical once had a song called “True Love.” Anna sings it when Hans leaves her to die alone. It’s a very pretty, very sad song, and it describes how Anna spent so long hoping to make connections with others and it ultimately failed because she doesn’t know true love from throne-usurping-motivated-manipulation. It was beautiful, tear-jerking, highly emotional, and my favorite Anna song in the show.

Then they removed it when the original Anna actress, Patti Murin, left the show, replacing it with another tiny reprise of “Hans of the Southern Isles.”

I may be a bit biased (it was my favorite song, so that’s unavoidable), but I wholeheartedly believe that was a mistake.

First off, you use songs in a musical when a character’s emotions grow so strong that simply *talking* about them doesn’t cut it. They need to *sing* about this experience. In that scene, if Hans sings, the emotion emphasized is a quick little “Oh, I’m so *evil* and excited that my plan is working!” It’s underwhelming. Hans isn’t the one with the important emotions right now. Anna is the one finding out everything she knew and believed was wrong, getting her heart broken, realizing she’s about to die as alone as she was in the beginning of the story. Anna is the one with the start-singing-about-this emotion. “True Love” is the more appropriate song to put in that scene.

Secondly, it’s a huge contrast to Anna’s attitude in the rest of the show. The stage version of Frozen leans farther into Anna’s comedic and awkward nature. She’s optimistic, high-energy, and silly for all the rest of the show, and her other songs reflect that. This makes “True Love” hit harder, because when the ray of sunshine’s heart breaks, the audience’s hearts break. Theatre is supposed to elicit strong emotional responses. Don’t hold back. Decimate the audience.

“Oh, but it’s Disney,” some might say. “They can’t make people TOO sad.”

To that, I say that Frozen still has a happy ending. People who are familiar with the story know that Anna survives. Even if they’re not familiar with the story, they’ll find out that Anna survives in about ten minutes. Disney can get away with tearing people’s hearts to shreds because they’re going to sew them back together in the end anyway.

In short, “True Love” is the stronger choice of song and should not have been removed from the musical.

[theresstillgrowinghere]

Oh I am fucking angry.

Dr. Edwin Leap (yes, I will call you out by name because you published your bullshit online for the whole world to see), thank you for almost comedically illustrating why so many patients are afraid of doctors.

You do not ever get to think of your patients as other. They are your same flesh and blood; I don’t care how much you want to think of yourself as separate from those of us unwell. (I can tell how much disdain you hold for us just from this short article. We are failures, not good enough, not strong and morally pure like you are, hm?)

Healthcare can never, never, allow itself to other its patients. And yet, you publish an entire article calling sick people Homo infirmus and Homo fragilis? Your tone doesn’t come across very humorous, but even if it’s just supposed to be a silly little joke, explain to me why the fuck you think that would be okay.

Why the fuck would it be okay to say another person is not only not your same species but instead defined as other primarily by their illness?

And designated as such by you, a medical professional with direct influence on the lives and wellbeings of the very people you are dehumanizing?

Do you not see how terrifying that is? Do you not see why people would be afraid of you after just having read this piece?

And then you go on, boiling my blood:

“Homo fragilis, at least as a diagnostic category, begins earlier and earlier in life and often results not only in a tribe of people dependent on medications but also, ‘relying on the kindness of strangers.’ No, maybe better put, ‘demanding the kindness of strangers.’ These individuals require food, shelter, medication, affirmation, and often money from others because they cannot function in the wild. I’m not being mean; the causes are legion, from poor family structure to mental health challenges to social media.”

I cannot believe how many infuriating things you’ve said just in this paragraph alone, but I want to focus on the part that immediately washed me with deep shame. Unrightfully so. You have no right to make me feel ashamed, and yet, when you said “demanding” better captures my state of existence, it turned my stomach inside out.

Yes, I am disabled. I absolutely rely very heavily on other people. Yes, I require food, shelter, medication, affirmation, money. And so do you, christ. You aren’t better than us just because we need support from our communities. Getting support from those around us isn’t a crime, isn’t a wrongdoing, isn’t a moral failure.

You know what it is? Human.

Whether or not Margaret Mead actually said that a healed femur in recovered ancient remains was the earliest sign of civilization (we’re going to save the charged nature of this term for another time and for now just use it as a placeholder for consistent, steady, lasting community), there is a reason why people latch onto this story. There is a reason why it warms people’s hearts:

So many of us want to care* for people. So many of us want to have people care for us. So many people feel closer to others, to ourselves, to our own humanity when offering others care.

(*I am including all the vastly different ways we can show others care, love, support, respect, protection, encouragement, etc.)

And perhaps the most upsetting part is how close you are to understanding the problem while getting the most key pieces so, so wrong. You’re right, our current healthcare system cannot handle the amount of support patients need right now. But please, I beg you, could you consider for just one second that it is not the fault of the patients? Could you please not strip me of my humanity just because I need help to survive?

Fix the system. You’re right, there is a massive problem. But it’s not us. Next time you’re considering your “long-dormant zoology degree,” think twice and reflect a bit before publishing bullshit like this. Think about what it means to take care of those around you. Think about your own humanity.