#yeah anyways the period dramas have been showing me that i am here for the yearning and basically nothing else 🫡

[johnbly]

the way that getting into period dramas has made me more inclined to believe that i am actually ace is funny

[night-raven-miscellany]

alr here we go >:3

🐾🫂🌹📽️🛏️

If any of them have already been asked that’s fine! Ty bestie :3 /lh

-mod!yuu, @nrcsfavoriteshrimps

(✨dw! you were the first ask in the inbox so im gonna try answering things in order :33)

"Greetings, my most illustrious servant! It is truly a pleasure to be interviewed on this day indeed. It is not often I get the chance to talk about myself for long periods of time without others feeling perturbed."

"Hi everyone! Yuna here. Time for me to do my. Actual Yearbook/Newspaper Club duties and do some birthday interviews."

🐾

"Alright, let's start with an easy one. Casimir, If you could be any animal, what kind of animal would you be?"

"Well, of course I would want to be the magnificent hellhound (black lab) itself! They are powerful, loyal, intelligent- all excellent qualities of an evil overlord, you know! I do believe such a beast would be the perfect representative of my status and strength."

🫂

"Ooh, fascinating! Let's see here... the next question we have for you: If you could choose any one student to be your sibling, which student would you pick?"

"What a peculiar question... there's no shortage of fascinating figures attending this academy, and yet I am confined to only choosing one? Hm... Well... I suppose if I could choose anyone, I admire the demon overlord of Pomefiore! I have not communicated with him before aside from simple club disputes between the drama club and the film appreciation club, but he radiates a rather powerful aura. He also radiates the grace and dignity that an ideal evil overlord should have! I wonder if perchance he should be willing to take on a disciple..."

🌹

"Vil-senpai, huh? That's a good pick. A bit surprising, though. Honestly, I was thinking you would pick someone from your own do-"

"And what, pray tell, do you mean by that?"

"Oh, nothing! Just thought it was interesting. Think nothing of it, hehe. Anyways, the next question: What's your favorite kind of flower? Is there any significant reasoning behind that choice?'

"Hm... Well... I must say I've always been fond of flowers in general, though I do think that certainly conflicts with my imposing image... Specifically, though, I've always adored roses, specifically white ones. They've always been my mother's favorite flower for as long as I can recall, and I suppose she just instilled that love of them into me. You see, she always had a rose bush of white roses specifically that she would tend to. Once I was old enough, she also taught me how to care for them, and I suppose I grew attached.

My mother told me that they are a symbol of innocence. She claims that that is a description that 'fits me to a tee', but I must disagree with her there. I am certainly far from innocent, as evil is. Well. The complete opposite of that!"

📽️

"I see. Y'know, I think I can kinda see where your mom was coming from, Pipsqueak. But I don't wanna start a debate here over your 'evil nature', so instead, I'm just gonna move on. The next question I have for you is pretty simple: What is your favorite movie?"

"Oh? That is indeed a simple question... What was that musical you showed me that took place in 'France' and was quite tragic?"

"Cas, that doesn't narrow it down any. Are you talking about Les Mis? Or Phantom of the Opera?"

"The second one- is that the one where the male lead lives beneath the performance hall and dons the mask?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Ah, then yes, it is that one! The other one was quite excellent as well, though. A tragic tale of revolution, justice, and overcoming! It is most beautiful as well, but that 'Phantom of the Opera' has stuck with me ever since you introduced it to me! I hope that that is sufficient enough of an answer?"

🛏️

"Yeah, that works! Oh! And it looks like that this inquiring viewer has one more question for you, but there will definitely be more later. What is your room like? How is it decorated?"

"Oh! I would indeed love to answer such a question! My roommates do deem my lair's decor to be... 'quite childish', BUT I must disagree! It is decor perfectly befitting an evil overlord! My quadrant of the lair is... a bit chaotic, but still organized. The decor itself is delightfully evil, with false cobwebs in the corner, and some lovely bats, although they are false. One of my roommates once said, and I quote 'It's like walking into one of those temporary Halloween stores'. I don't know if they are insulting me or complimenting me by saying such a thing, but I suppose they aren't entirely wrong either way?"

"Oh yeah, it definitely does give off those vibes, doesn't it? Not that that's a bad thing, though. I think it's pretty fitting."

"It is, is it not? I enjoy the villainous atmosphere it creates, kyehehe!"

"I wouldn't call it villainous, per say... (maybe a bit cheesy?) but it's still totally you, Casimir.

Anyways, it looks like that's all from this curious reader. We'll take a quick break between these interviews today, but for now, Happy Birthday, Casimir!"

[johnnyraine]

Top Shows I Watched in 2023 (not of)

SPOILERS!

7. Loki (Season 2) - 6.5/10

I don't have much to say about Loki other than I loved the final episode, Natalie Holt deserves some kind of award for her music and it makes me cry.

6. One Piece (Live Action) - 6.5/10

As everyone has already said, this should not have worked. I didn't have much faith in it, but I chose to watch it anyway. And I'm glad I did.

Though there were moments of stiff acting and/or line delivery, I still like it overall.

Though I still liked Roger's anime death more than here.

5. My Beautiful Man/Utsukushii kare (Season 2) - 7/10

I don't remember much considering I watched this months ago. But I do recall wanting and waiting for this for a WHILE. I was not disappointed and Utsukushii Kare stands as my favorite BL series. Minato's Laundromat would've been on the list, but it failed me, Utsukushii Kare hasn't. So yeah.

4. Jack O' Frost (2023) - 6/10

I have issues with the whole "an MC has amnesia" plot and considering this has happened 3 times in the same year is crazy to me.

But do recall I Fucking LOVE the music! OOOOHHHH, Shit! I love it. As soon as "Winter Days" started playing during episode 2 or 3, I immediately started looking for the soundtrack.

I also have yet another celebrity crush in Kyoya Honda.

3. Taira no Kiyomori - 8/10

This is unfair given the fact I started this last year and left for a month, making me finish this in January or February. But I still finished in 2023, so it counts!

As per my previous review, I was fucking bored with the first 6 to 9 episodes. After them, however, I loved this show. I love the music, I love the characters, and I like some of the comedy. There are so many great moments that I absolutely love.

Despite knowing how it ended, historically, I was still upset at the characters' deaths.

2. More Than Words (2022) - 6/10

I heard this was a Japanese BL, my favorite type of BL, and I guess. But as others have said, it's mostly about the relationship between Makio and Mieko. Though perhaps not for the second part of the story...

Anyway, I loved this show. It fucked me up, but I did stay up all night till 12 or 1 am to finish it, and I couldn't stop thinking about it for a month. So yeah, despite the score, I am putting it up here.

1. Kamakura dono no 13 nin/13 Lords of the Shogun - 7/10

HERE COMES THE MAIN MAN HIMSELF, KŌKI MITANI!

The main man himself, the man who wrote my favorite Taiga Drama, SANADA MARU! No wonder I was fucking addicted to this show. For first time in A WHILE I watched and finished this entire show in a week.

I was drawn into this show by the fucking neck. I just was.

I remember seeing You Oizumi as Minamoto no Yoritomo and thinking, "Nah." I couldn't get behind him, I simply didn't see it at first. Then he died and literally episodes later, I was missing this man.

All my favorite characters died. ALL! And since I don't know much about the Heian nor Kamakura period, I was taken out. Fucking Kazusa, dead; Minamoto no Yoshinaka, I knew this was so it's my fault, but dead; fucking Wada Yoshimori, I fucking loved him, and I didn't know it! DEAD!

They killed my pathetic twink, Minamoto no Sanetomo. And he was gay! FUCK! I was heavily upset.

And the fact that it ends with Yoshitoko's death via his sister not giving him his medicine and watching him die! Gods dammmmmnnn!

Kōki Mitani you heavenly fucker! Ah!

I also love the music, one of my favorites Taiga drama themes.

Now, that wasn't all I watched, but simply all I felt should be on the list. I refuse to put ten shows up here if I don't care enough for them.

Here's to another year.

[thedaytheworldburned]

'Deja Vu' First Rections - Part 2

Part 2! Thoughts below the line. Part 1 HERE

Taehyun is... looking at old memories? I guess? Looking at memories of Gyu? Since yellow is associated with Gyu in this MV...

...and the next shot we get is Gyu crying the same odd magic that Taehyun did. I hope those are tears of regret for murdering Taehyun.

This is also the first shot we get of Gyu where he ISN'T glowing all MV - tying him as an opposite to Taehyun who was in the dark/grey all MV.

... He's... trapped in the mirror? Probably not - it's probably more of a 'mirror leads to the magical world' thing. Interestingly, the tears in the mirror are BEHIND Taehyun's head - really showing how trippy all of this is. And suggesting a complete blurring between the real and magical worlds, which is also, fun fact, a motif in TXT's story.

Taehyun's office/room looks like it's from the 90s or something, so we have; Yeonjun in the 30s, Kai in the 40s-ish, Soobin in the 70s or something, Taehyun in the 90s-ish, and Beomgyu being the mandatory dead member for this MV.

A bus - a symbol of transit, and also a way to get to Magic Island if needed. Also very reminiscent of the Eternity/Drama concept images, where Gyu was indeed the main character.

Also, he's in Yeonjun's world.

Yet, inside the bus, he is in a magical world - as expected. And also asleep. As expected.

Soobin, wtf are those shoes? If they're not supposed to be a stand-in for Gyu, I don't know what to say to you, man.

Speaking of, we now get Gyu's tears falling in Soobin's room - or, magic bleeding into the real world, which it only seems able to do via suffering (ahem, CROWN, ahem).

HE'S AWAKEEEEEEE. In a room that seems like a hospital or something - cold and no personality - and in a blue room, which means now we have Gyu, Soobin, Yeonjun, and Kai all associated with blue in this MV.

But Gyu and Taehyun are still connected (as always) through the blue sky, and seem to be having some joint experience.

I mean, Gyu was in a sky with clouds.

Is Gyu... the girl from Eternally who hugged Soobin....?

Also I only just realised that Kai is on a bridge thing, not a boat. My time/period judgement still stands, though.

Well, we all know that gravity only goes funny when you start messing with time and magic, don't we, Yeonjun? Hmm, who burnt down Magic Island, Yeonjun? 'Tis all your fault, Yeonjun.

Anyway, at least he gets to dance his feelings out in this pseudo dream world while he loses grip of whoever he was holding onto in that hand shot.

TXT's storyline? More like sad-Yeonjuncore.

Colour has come back to his world, but I don't think he's happy about it.

Anyway, Kai is running after Yeonjun now too. He's got his hands full looking after everyone.

And Yeonjun is still sad, and Gyu still glows.

See?

I just realised I've been assuming this is Gyu the whole time because of the hair extensions. Pretty sure it is him, but still.

Doesn't that look nice and peaceful?

Anyway, somehow Yeonjun managed to do the impossible and bring Gyu back. Unsure why how or what is going on but it's a nice moment I guess, and probably a reversal - chances are, Gyu slipped from Yeonjun's hand before, and now Yeonjun has to fall so Gyu can save him.

And now the colour is back and everyone is together and happy, right?

Right?!?!!?

Yeah wait until the next album lol I bet.

And that's it for the MV! But we still have the lyrics, and before we have a look, let me just say that I am validated in my music opinions - I can see many people saying in the comments that this feels like a 2nd or 3rd gen song, and like a SHINee song. I'd also like to add Infinite to my original judgement.

Alright, time for -

The Lyrics.

Well, I'm a happy camper. There's a LOT, and I mean A LOT of references to Dream Chapter themes in these lyrics (A RETURN TO THE DREAM CHAPTER IS COMING EVERYONE BOW DOWN FOR THE QUEENS OF TXT ALBUMS).

For instance;

Dreams

Names

Crown

More code

Promises

Nostalgia

Stars and starlight

Memories and friendship

Running to leave things behind

Fate

Beginnings vs the future - past vs present vs future

Rain vs fire

Eternity

Togetherness and friendship

Becoming beautiful BY each other/sorrow becoming beautiful through togetherness

Soulmates

The desolate outside world

Repetition/time/repeats

Light

Yes, a lot of these things have appeared in later comebacks, but they were ALL cemented/introduced as concepts in THE DREAM CHAPTERRRRRRRRR!!!! YEAH.

So yeah, the song feels like it's entirely a reference to TDC. They even brought back Morse code to title one of their songs on this album.

Now, in this song Kai uses the word 'anomoia,' which is basically just a kind of nostalgia - for a place or time you've never known - aka, a Utopia, or some other dream-like, magical place. Very on-brand and fitting for both the DREAM chapter, and this song.

Conclusions

As I said, I am a happy camper. This is, as I predicted and hoped, a return to/reference to The Dream Chapter - in concept, in story, in music, in lyricism, and more.

I suppose you could say, it evokes Deja Vu of The Dream Chapter?

:)

[scienceoftheidiot]

TAG GAME: EIGHT SHOWS TO GET TO KNOW ME

I was tagged by @shutterbug-12 thank you !!! Weirdly we do share a show, how surprising 😁❤️

Here's a thing : I do not watch that many shows. Partly because I don't have time, partly because I am bad at watching shows because I need to be emotionally invested to get into them, and once I am ???? I can only watch that show in particular, on repeat. Yeah I'm a grown ass adult fight me.

Ripper Street : end all be all the best show on this list that is not at all in order of good from bad for real but this one tops everything. Period drama, awesome characters, delicate treatment of issues we are still struggling with nowadays with actually sometimes more decency from these 19th century Victorian men than 21st century people 🙃. Also misery misery misery feels and a fine dry humor that makes it the perfect match. Oh, and. Dead bodies and gore happens. Also there is something to the dialogue than I just absolutely love.

Daredevil (netflix) : of course this one has to be on the list, and I love it, and I love Matt and Karen and Foggy, and I wish S2 didn't exist. All this can coexist, you know (and I love Elektra and Elodie Yung she is absolutely NOT the problem). Please do not talk to me about She Hulk or the Disney reboot, thanks (gif to make people watch it, I like my men sad and guilty they can't save everyone and covered in blood, thank you). So yeah overall a show I love and have rewatched many times but nowadays... I feel kinda bad about it and it makes me sad.

Band of Brothers/The Pacific : you know me, you know why I like these shows (no it does not stop at "men in uniforms"). We did a rewatch of BoB recently and I think it's an easier watch than the Pacific, but I think I like the latter better even if everytime it makes me feel so bad. Anyway a gif of Webster because (hard to chose between him and Leckie I admit)

Doctor Who : just. Love it. Especially RDT era. Can't chose between 9 and 10 but the best is Jack Harkness

Good Omens : I need a rewatch. Just love it. I have nothing more to say, it's great.

Scrubs : probably one of these shows I shouldn't rewatch in case I cringe a little but when we first got together with Benj 11 years ago we just watched Scrubs on a loop. I don't especially like the characters but the show itself, which is kinda weird for me (except Dr Cox. I love him)

The Sandman : last show that blew my mind. Just love everything in it. Can't wait for S2. I had read some of the comics and loved it, too. Just realized that it's the second Neil Gaiman thing in this list (3 if we count that he wrote for Doctor Who lol) and I guess it says stuff about me too

Pushing Daisies : I have loved the contrast between the whole death thing and the colourful and happy sets and stuff. This show is cute and dark and funny and I love it and I need to rewatch too when I can. (Also? Tall cutie that meddles with the dead and bakes awesome pies? did I use Ned as a template for my OC without realising ??)

I don't think it counts as a show since it's an anime so it's a bonus but if you've been following me the last 6 months, you need to hear about Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood but not necessarily excluding 03. At all. Just watch it back to back. That'll do it. I love both.) (Yeah oddly enough I'm not crazy about the title character there but about THEM and of course you must have noticed)

I tag @heirsoflilith @rancid-butter @qs63 @littleragondin @dairogo @musing-and-music @magipies @goneadrift @smoothshine if you want to do it !

[raideo]

Issey drama anon here, please tell us about Romance Doll because I have not heard anything about it

also, have you heard of Quartet? I've seen like 50 gifsets from it and it seems legit funny as hell

UMMM WELL- I'll put my thoughts on Romance Doll under a break at the end because the movie is pretty nsfw and weird and yeah...

Quartet is on my list! I'm definitely going to watch it at some point, but I also really wanna watch Miracles! Honestly that one has been the most interesting to me from the beginning but my adhd is just causing me to watch whatever's convenient first, not the ONE IVE REALLY WANTED TO WATCH THIS WHOLE TIME. I still have to finish Koisenu Futari too... I stopped that one cuz I was watching it with someone and we had a long period of time where we couldn't watch it. And then also it's just VERY HEAVY as a person who happens to be demi who has gone through periods of feeling like I could be aroace in the past. It's so realistic and deals with the painful things as well as the funny things and I am scared to finish it bc I KNOW THERES MORE HEAVY SHIT TO COME but it's an amazing show AND I DO WANT TO FINISH THAT ONE TOO.

And on a completely polar opposite note: ROMANCE DOLL, LMAO

Ok so, this movie is very much one of those WEIRDLY REALISTIC stories where all the characters are so real and flawed and HUGE MISTAKES ARE MADE by characters and it's just such a wild ride. You probably haven't heard about it because its FUCKING WACK.

Without giving too much away in case you wanna watch it (netflix dropped it last monday, which is actually why I ended up watching it over the weekend at all, but it's still available to rent on amazon 🙄) Issey plays Tetsuo, an unemployed art college grad who is desperate for a job. His friend gave him a tip about this sketchy job opening but told him literally nothing else about it. He shows up and this old woman greets him and shows him around and he's a bit shocked to find out it's a shop that makes SILICONE SEX DOLLS. The woman is like "your friend didn't tell you that???" And Tetsuo was like "he literally just said there was a job here-" and she laughs and says "Some friend he is then!" Honestly I loved the old lady she's great, I wish I could remember her name I'm too lazy to go look it up rn.

Anyway so yeah, he takes the job even though the interview was super awkward and there's this gross pervy old guy who works there and he doesn't really care about the subject matter he just needs money (mood)

One thing and another happens (and a lot of me wanting to slap the old man into next tuesday, seriously he's the worst) and a little bit later Tetsuo meets the love of his life through some bullshit connection to his job, and they end up getting married some time after, but she doesn't know what he does for a living and ITS ALL VERY HARD TO EXPLAIN WHY HE KEEPS THAT FROM HER without spoiling things but just- the movie is wack, I really didn't like it in the beginning but it pulls a complete 180 and ends up being this weirdly emotional and AT TIMES, a holesome wholesome slice of life movie??

Don't get me wrong it doesn't sugarcoat things like objectification of women and there's some degree of realistic portrayal of that bc of the whole Tetsuo working at a sex doll shop thing, it is very true to life- how men can be gross even if they aren't going so far as assaulting anyone. It doesn't excuse it either it just presents it as it is, which is good I think. But then there are OTHER moments where the movie is very sex positive- so its a wild fucking trip tbh. Definitely don't watch it if you have sensitivities to the things I mentioned above bc bro omg the first half almost had me like "yeah I can't watch this" a couple times jfc.

BASICALLY by the end of the movie the message is that communication and being open with people you love (and not getting bogged down with anxiety and guilt) is important, because on top of not being fair to the people who are important to you, hiding things from them can eat you up inside and make you act irrationally and hurt them even more whether you realize it or not. And also, you never know how someone will feel about the things you don't want to tell them. Something that could be huge to you could be no big deal to another.

Its just a very interesting movie. I don't know if I'd recommend it, theres some NUCLEAR SECOND HAND EMBARRASSMENT CRINGE MOMENTS like oh my god i wanted to die- and like I said above, there's lots of intense subject matter and some not so pretty moments that a lot of people may want to avoid. Id for sure check one of those sites that gives content warnings before watching bc hoo boy...

But all that aside, once again Issey is an incredible actor and his range is apparent in this movie. I saw some like- borderline SLAPSTICK physical comedy moments that had me so surprised bc he did them so well but its so new and different from anything else ive watched him star in. Dude is just unstoppable tbh. He HAS 👏 THE 👏 RANGE!! 👏

Also you get to see him naked a lot. So there's that!

[lumiereandcogsworth]

hiya! can I get your top recs for period films please? you have such good taste and I'm trying to watch more movies lol

hiya!!! first off i’m so honored you would come to me. i feel like i’ve really made it in the world now. and thank you wow?? i’m touched you think i have good taste 🥺🥺🥺 anyway i myself am always trying to watch more, but here’s a list of ones i enjoy!!

Pride and Prejudice (2005) - in my top 5 favorite movies, top 4 on letterboxd, even! (my letterboxd is “batb2017” hehe, feel free to follow if you’re there!) but yeah just a gorgeous piece of cinema. an absolute work of art your honor.

Rosaline (2022) - perfect for your url, this is a comedic take on romeo & juliet. it’s from the perspective of juliet’s cousin rosaline. honestly it’s so funny and has a great romance too. it is fully canon romeo & juliet in my mind now lol

Enola Holmes (2020) & Enola Holmes 2 (2022) - both GREAT movies, highly recommend. romance is a secondary factor for sure, but i think they’re both so wonderful and enola is an incredibly charming main character. (+ henry cavill is absolutely my new favorite sherlock holmes, and this is coming from someone who used to be obsessed with bbc sherlock haha)

Little Women (2019) - also just so stunning!!! i have nothing against the 1994 version, for the record, i simply have not seen it yet lol.

Belle (2013) - a wonderful story & romance, and based on a true story! definitely absolutely worth a watch.

Titanic (1997) - i’m sure we’ve all seen this but hey, it deserves to be here. it’s not among my absolute favorites but it’s a great story.

Outlaw King (2018) - this film is definitely more about the scottish war against england (i’m paraphrasing bc i don’t remember the official name of this war) so if medieval war movies aren’t your thing that’s very valid. BUT!!! there is a sweet romance mixed in there that keeps me coming back for a rewatch <3

Emma (2020) - i didn’t LOVE this one but i did like it a good amount. it’s sweet and fun and certainly worth the watch.

The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) - i just watched this like two days ago and it’s not a romance, it’s just about charles dickens and how he wrote a christmas carol. but i personally loved it and found it funny/relatable as a writer, so you may enjoy! and perfect for the season!!

AND! here is a list of movies that i have not seen, but are on my watchlist. so i can’t vouch for their quality, this is just to say they have intrigued me (or been recommended to me) and i will watch them some day haha.

Bright Star (2009) - EDIT: i’ve seen this now! it’s a tragedy but a very beautiful one. verrryy beautiful. but you’re definitely going to cry.

Mr. Malcolm’s List (2022) - EDIT: i’ve seen this now! AND I LOVED IT!!! definitely in my new top favorites of period pieces.

A Room With A View (1985)

Marie Antoinette (2006) - EDIT: i’ve seen this now! absolutely stunning vibes & aesthetics. i had an amazing time watching it :)

Ophelia (2018)

Chevalier (2023) - EDIT: i’ve seen this now! AND IT IS AMAZINGGGG amazing amazing. another true story that is so worth the watch.

BONUS you didn’t ask for series but here’s a shortlist of my favorite period drama shows, just for kicks!

Poldark

Call the Midwife

The Crown

Bridgerton

Anne with an E

The Great

Downton Abbey

[dangermousie]

Do you love angst, trashiness and playboys redeemed and suffering for love?

OK, cdrama current landscape is like a desert after a nuclear strike but that doesn’t mean I cannot dig into the past when CCP was less interested in micromanaging entertainment unless it actually tried to get into politics (did you know that at one point there was a period drama! airing on TV! on which the leading role of Empress Cixi was played by a Japanese actress! And the world did not end! It’s wild how far c-ent has come and not in a good way; that frog has been boiling for a long time.)

Anyway, I present to you Four Women Conflict/Love Tribulations, a drama from 2011 starring Ady An, a huge fave, as a woman with the worst luck ever, Feng Shao Feng as a playboy who meets her because he’s being paid to seduce her but falls desperately for real, and her first love played by Mickey He. Taking place in the early years of the 20th century, misery for all, but so good!

Meet our heroine, as beautiful as she’s tormented. In ep 1 alone: her newly widowed stepmother sold her barely pubescent self into a brothel. But it’s OK because her childhood love rescued her and burned her stepmom to a crisp. A fast forward and she's a maid in some house and it doesn't look too horrific, so we'll see. Except the husband fancies her and the wife's reaction is "you can do anything you like outside but don't seduce the maids inside the house." Charming. Except he's still after her so she's ordered to be whipped by the jealous wife. Who then marries her off to some ugly moron with zero willpower or brain.  It gets better as she gets raped by her former master on her wedding night (who bullies her husband into letting him). And the raping thing turns into a systemic thing. This is all in ep 1,none of it would be allowed now. I am not saying abuse is a great thing but this all a hell of a lot more realistic fate for a beautiful lower class woman than the dim sugar confections try to show us nowadays.

When we finally meet the hero, he's having sex with a married woman. While being married himself, and not to her. On the grounds of a Buddhist monastery. Once again none of this would fly nowadays.

Meet heroine’s childhood love and stepmom crisper, played by young and scrumptious Mickey He (sexy demon dad in L&R). On brand, when we first meet heroine's childhood love as an adult, he's rescuing a bunch of women who've been captured by slavers.

By any laws of sanity, I should be shipping heroine with her childhood love and I do, madly, but I ship her with the hero also! I have no idea why but  maybe because even though I know in real life, a playboy will just give you a bad case of STDs and will never reform, it's so satisfying to watch the whole 'playboy redeemed by/suffering for/madly in love' scenario on screen. Plus, he's about the only character who appears to have an fun in this, and God knows, poor heroine needs someone who can show her some fun and also knows what he's doing in bed, too.

And here is where the plot gets going. We see playboy spread his love/STDs to another lady, a very rich one this time. After playboy and a rich banker lady finish banging, they have the following convo as interpreted by me:

Playboy: So, about that loan for my business? I mean, if you need more persuading, I can go all night. Friend-with-benefits/his moneylender: OK, loan. Fine. You get the loan the day you seduce Du Lanyun. Playboy: Am I supposed to know who she is? And since when are you pimping for me? Do you want a threesome or something? Are you into girl-on-girl action? Where do I sign up? Friend-with-benefits: Look, you are the only guy with a spoken part who's not in love with Ady An. We must remedy this pronto or else the universe will be destroyed. Also, my best friend's husband is cheating on my friend with her. Yeah, Lanyun has no interest in the guy, who apparently raped her and made her life hell, but sure, let's lash out at the victim. Playboy: I feel the sudden need of meeting a beautiful and pure woman who will redeem me and put me through hell in the name of love. Otherwise, where will this drama be? Friend-with-benefits: I promise I won't be jealous. This isn't an ironic foreshadowing, no siree. Oh, and her first love is Mickey He. Playboy: It's fun to see in how many dramas I can steal a woman's heart from Mickey He. I am in! Friend-with-benefits: And speaking of "in"...the bed is right there and I was never able to resist going for seconds. Playboy: If you close your eyes, I'll take you to heaven (actual quote, guys! Well, I suppose it's good to have self-confidence).

[notony-tonyno]

emily antonia. she/her. prehistoric millenial. a relic of the Before Times.

obligatory welcome post. this is a marvel sideblog. i follow from @sithdownani.

about me: i still have the original .zip file containing every single issue of marvel's civil war that i downloaded in 2010. old enough to remember printing copy-pasted a"friend"gers tower-era fanfics from livejournal so i could read them in the middle of my university history classes. literally wept for joy when they announced avengers 1 was greenlit by paramount studios. i am ancient. don't mess with me.

what i like: wanda. tony stark. loki. steve rogers, a.k.a. peter's original father figure. deadpool's sparkly nail polish collection. wandavision has been my otp since kindergarten. wanda and pietro are magneto's kids period. the one where literally everyone adopts peter parker. earth 3490. did i mention i love wanda? i really love wanda.

favorite fandom tropes: clint in the vents. peter, resident Youth of avenger's tower, eating peanut butter straight out of the jar at 2 a.m. steve sleeping on a grease-stained sofa in the corner of tony's workshop. bucky and sam being buckyandsam. coulson will always be everyone's favorite. kate and yelena are everyone's problem.

what i do not like: people forgetting that a lot of these comics were written for kids who felt (and feel) like outsiders. fandom drama. The Bad Ending.

under the cut: myspace survey from 2008 (to really drive home that i am too old to be here) in case, for some reason, you want to know more about me:

1. Ever been to a professional sports game? i bleed los angeles blue

2. Ever get engaged? yeah. i'm getting married about it.

3. Have you ever been on TV? yes.

4. Ever been to prom? only under duress.

5. Ever stayed up for 24 hours or more? i once hallucinated a blue coyote running across all 15 lanes of the southbound 405 through some part of orange county because it was 3 a.m., i'd just ended my third consecutive 12 hour work shift of the week, and my daily commute was 2 hours one-way

6. Have you ever been to a concert? favorite performance i ever saw was a defunct j-pop boyband front-man who happened to be playing at the nokia club for mysterious reasons

7. Have you ever been in a car accident? sideswiped by a big rig the day of my university music department audition. got a scholarship for showing up anyway.

8. Did you ever learn another language? studied classical latin in high school because apparently i had big plans for updating the roman empire

9. Do you wear make-up? you mean modern war paint? i sleep in it, baby

10. Ever caught the stove on fire? once caught the house on fire with a loaded drier and burned the entire place to the ground

11. Ever meet someone famous? in my misspent youth i was almost internet famous for writing a novel about two guys who ate a lot of ramen and beat the shit out of each other.

...so yeah, that's me. 'sup.

[cosplayingwitch]

I posted 657 times in 2022

76 posts created (12%)

581 posts reblogged (88%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@thefallenbibliophilequote

@make-me-imagine

@gaitwae

@myraaaa17

@grufflepuff-writes-stuff

I tagged 139 of my posts in 2022

#reblog - 23 posts

#fan fiction - 16 posts

#loki x reader - 6 posts

#tag game - 5 posts

#loki - 4 posts

#tagged - 4 posts

#uquiz - 4 posts

#quiz - 4 posts

#reader insert - 3 posts

#reccomended - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 115 characters

#as in i met a couple people for lunch once or twice in a date like scenario but without it officially called a date

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Not-really spoilers for Obi-Wan Kenobi ahead!

I love tiny Leia. She is as full of chaos and sass as grown Leia is. Well done, creators of Obi-Wan, well done. I think Carrie Fisher would be happy with this representation.

5 notes - Posted May 28, 2022

#4

I kinda doubt it, but I have an idea if anyone wants a random writing prompt. I call it the "leftover valentine's candy challenge". I still have a box of smarties conversation heart things, so I could give you a prompt of a random candy or two drawn from the box.

So if you want to participate (which I doubt anyone will), let me know and I'll send you a picture of however many random candy quotes as you want. Obviously, you'd have to tag me in your finished story.

(I suspect this would be excellent for writing fluff.)

6 notes - Posted February 18, 2022

#3

What am I doing with my Saturday night? With a migraine and having had quite a bit of my energy taken up in helping my mom with her class reunion, I'll be catching up on Bridgerton.

(Yes, I am only tonight beginning season 2.)

Plus, because I do love period dramas, I will be going to see the new Downton Abbey movie in the morning.

6 notes - Posted May 22, 2022

#2

Anyone else watch Moon Knight and find themselves just enamored by Oscar Issac with an accent? Like, I knew I was attracted to him as Poe Dameron, but add a fucking accent and I'm head over fucking heels over here.

The show itself is cool, but I'll admit, this was one of the two reasons I even tried the show. (The other one being "it's marvel".)

13 notes - Posted April 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Three Drinks, Two Texts, and a Phone Number

Here we go! My first new fic since December! This is for @make-me-imagine 's 5th Anniversary Challenge

Pairing: Malcolm Bright x gn!reader (I reread it to double check, but if you spot any runaway pronouns please let me know)

Prompt: “Meet up for a blind date and getting along very well, only to realize halfway through you met up with the wrong person on accident.”

Length: just over 1200 words

Warnings: the reader does do a bit of drinking in this, and maybe mild language warning?

A/N: This is my first time writing in this fandom! I've wanted to write for this for awhile, but haven't gotten around to it. I also messed up with the prompt a bit, so that probably disqualifies me. But I wrote it anyway!

Three Drinks, Two Texts, and a Phone Number

You’d just gotten off work when your best friend called with an usual question.

“You’re single, right? Please tell me you are.”

“Ummm, yeah?” They’d been by your side after your most recent, and rather painful, breakup, so they had to have known this.

“And you still owe me for getting you an advance copy of that book?” You couldn’t lie, having a friend with a job at a bookstore had its perks.

“You’ve held that over my head since you did. Let me guess, you finally figured out how you want to cash in that favor?”

God, you hope it’s not something bad. Or illegal.

“You’re going on a date tomorrow night. Consider it a gift.”

“What?” You’re a little taken aback. “No.”

“You owe me. I’m not saying you have to marry the man, just go out with him. One date won’t kill you. Look at it this way, you’re getting a free meal out of this too.”

“If I do go, which is a big if, can I ask who I’m going on this date with?” You question, still a little hesitant.

“That would ruin the surprise, it’s called a blind date for a reason. And you are going, even if it means I have to drag you to the restaurant myself.” You knew she was being sarcastic, but something also told you that there was a bit of truth in that.

Eh, what the hell. Why not.

As you straighten your shirt, you can’t help but wonder if you’re overdressed for this.

“That’s nonsense. You’re still used to the work-from-home sweatpants. This is absolutely perfect for a date at a fancy restaurant.” Your best friend continued to babble over the video call, but nothing really stuck. You were busy being stuck in your own head.

*ding*

The sound of your phone jolted you back into reality.

“Okay. I sent you the address of the restaurant. Remember, 6 PM. No later.”

—-------

You arrive at the restaurant a little early, choosing to wait in the lobby than take up a table before whoever your date was showed up.

But that was exactly the problem. He never seemed to show up. You waited until 7 before giving up and asking the hostess if there were any seats available at the bar. Sitting down, you checked your phone in case your friend texted you that something happened to your date.

No text. You managed to get stood up by a blind date. 

“Date gone bad?” The man to your left asked.

See the full post

46 notes - Posted July 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[perryhedge]

japanese update dec 2022

I tend to just vomit up walls of text on Discord about this stuff, especially since it doesn't really go anywhere usually and I just need to talk it out and set some things in order, but every once in a while I remember I have this Tumblr. i mostly use it for talking about anime and manga I guess, but there's no reason why it has to be that.

So, after two months of basically taking it easy in a sense and not tracking any of my study, I'm now getting kind of sick of that. I like having goals, seeing my progress in hours, and generally watching Number Go Up. It was nice to take a break, especially since I've been essentially tracking religiously since May 2020 or so, but I think that break is over and I'm ready to take things seriously again.

I know from my experience with French that maintenance of a language (at least for input skills, not output) becomes much easier the higher your level. I can still watch a French Youtube video (even sometimes at 1.25x speed every once in a while like I do in English -- I have recently been told I am a psychopath for doing this, but I know people do it for audiobooks and such), or read a book, even though I stopped immersing every day starting in March. I do want to get back into it again, with a book club reading L'elegance du herisson. Anyway, so basically my goal with Japanese is to kind of go at it seriously for a shorter period of time before tapering off, rather than being more casually immersed in it over a longer period of time. It just helps with my motivation. I tend to binge things and respond well to goal-oriented stuff.

So, because I'm a maniac, I basically went in to my old spreadsheet (stopped at Sep 30) and cross-checked with Learn Natively and Anilist to fill in an approximation of how much anime and manga I read. No idea about Youtube, but it's a good enough estimate. Apparently I've crossed 2 million characters, and 800 hours total (including study and immersion).

So where to go from here. Well I already decided this month I would focus on reducing my backlog, since I started like 10 different shows, and some of them are quite long. I also decided I would finish Pandora Hearts, which is a long-ish manga. I read the first volume last night, I liked it well enough but I don't know if I'm totally sold just yet, or at least not sold enough to binge it like I've done with some manga. I read half of Chainsaw Man in one day. I might push my way through it still, though.

So yeah, next year I want to be a little bit more intentional about working hard to improve my Japanese ability. I think just a bit of extra effort will be worth it for me. I don't think what I currently do is unsustainable -- I put in about a half an hour into study (kanji and vocab SRS), then just watch and read what I want to, and I'm still improving since I have so much more to learn. But I learned this with French, too. I was improving way more when I was actively challenging myself, and spending at least some time doing things that took a little bit of effort. Not so much that I wasn't having fun at all, but just that extra bit of effort was really good.

So in terms of my listening ability. I think I'll just stick with anime, honestly, for the time being. I do need stronger listening ability eventually, and for that I plan to go into movies or other scripted live-action content. But at the moment I still don't even really understand easier unscripted content like streams 100%, let alone most anime, because of my vocab limits. It's good to train general listening ability at the same time as vocab, but I think it might honestly burn me out unnecessarily to have to deal with films right now. I am not interested in dramas, they seem mostly to be in genres I don't find interesting, and it wouldn't be something I would normally watch. So for the moment, listening will not be my focus any more than it already is. I'm not setting any strict goals, but maybe I'll set an easy weekly minimum just to ensure I'm getting some listening practice as I put in the hours to improve my vocab and grammar through reading.

The lack of middle-level content that I find compelling is kind of an issue I have with my reading as well. Obviously, difficult ranges widely in a medium or even a genre. But generally, I'd expect manga to be pretty much the easiest thing you can read, followed by light novels and then finally novels. Within novels you can probably make a similar distinction to what we have in the anglosphere, between genre fiction and literary fiction. Not a perfect distinction, but again, talking in generalities. So if I wasn't such a stubborn person I'd try to work my way up from manga (which is 100% of what I read now, and I'm getting kind of okay at it at least with furigana) to light novels, the next easiest thing. But here's the thing. I really, really, do not like light novels. I find them boring and irritating. And I really do want to emphasize that I am being stubborn here. I'm sure I could find stuff that is at least enjoyable. But, I just want to jump directly to literature. I don't even think I particularly would care for genre fiction written for adults (if such a distinction exists and if that is even much of a genre different from light novels, which seem more like what we'd call YA).

So here's my dilemma. I said I would put more effort into doing things that aren't necessarily what I love to do, in the name of improving. But I don't think I can overcome the intermediate plateau by suitably "leveling up" to intermediate level difficulty content (as opposed to the easier stuff I immerse with now, kids' anime and shoujo/shounen manga) since I just don't find it interesting. I'm not even in the intermediate plateau yet but of course since I'm incredibly neurotic I'm already worrying about this.

So here's my solution. Next year, or whenever I finish Pandora hearts, I'm going to set a very minimal goal of pushing myself 30 minutes a day with actually challenging content. I might work up through difficulty levels on Natively, and just force myself through a couple of light novels if I feel in the mood to do so. Or, I might just dive into literature and push through it. I've looked into literary prizes which might be a good start for contemporary literature, which I'd imagine is easier than classical stuff or even older stuff for kids (I tried reading Night on the Galactic Railroad once, by the way -- way too hard at the time). I also follow a French Youtuber who reads a lot of Asian literature and might be a good place to look for recommendations. A few days ago I looked at the Japanese Wikipedia pages and skimmed some synopses, and I found some that actually sounded interesting and like something I would actually read, moreso than pretty much any light novel I've found. And I could actually understand these synopses, sometimes. So I think that's where I'll go next.

So in conclusion, I won't be changing anything drastically this year most likely. I'm still kind of focusing on life stuff, too. But starting the end of this year or perhaps 2023, I'll try to seriously improve my reading ability, and as a result I imagine I'll be bumping up my SRS to something like 10 vocab cards a day.

800 hours is nothing to sneeze at. I feel like I've made a lot of progress. But it's still the beginning. I want to seriously get to a level where pretty much any normal anime/manga (which is most of what I expect to be using Japanese for) is comprehensible at like a 99% vocab coverage level. That'll take some effort, but it's doable. It just requires me to either keep at this the way I am for years (like...3+ years maybe, just a wild estimate), or really put in the work to always be immersing with harder and harder material and look things up more often like I did with French (in which case I might be at least at a N1 level at the two year mark). I feel ready to commit to the latter, at least where I'm at now.

Really, I truly believe that after a certain point (which I'm past) language learning is all about how many hours of immersion you get. At least, for me. I can do some skill building here and there, maybe brush up on grammar but there's a limit to how effective that can be. Every time I look into that stuff I'm disappointed at how shallow the pool of language in learner resources is compared to what I care about, which is the pool of language that people use to communicate -- and that includes slang, in-jokes, memes, cultural background, history, and tons of other stuff that comes up naturally in natural communication but rarely in artificial communication. So, in terms of hours, where do I want to be in a month? In a year? Well, I'm not going to count the SRS time because that's not a goal -- it's not like I'm willing to put in any more or less than 30 minutes a day, so it makes no sense to make goals around it. Right now, I have ~575 hours of immersion (just an estimate). I can probably get that to around 650 by the end of the year. So I think around 1500 hours (about 140 minutes a day) or even 1750 hours (3 hours a day) are not too unreasonable goals for 2023. And maybe if I'm still feeling up to it, I'll continue to commit seriously in 2024. But at this point, there's no point in theorycrafting so far ahead.

[alipeeps]

I have spent my day very productively making - at latest count (and I am NOT done yet!) - 102 gifs from Her Royal Highness. I am mildly (i.e. very) obsessed with this show.

It’s a Chinese period web drama and the episodes are only 2 minutes long so you can watch the whole thing in under an hour. And it’s just. so. good.

Because the episodes are short, the plot moves along nicely (and is actually pretty interesting and has a few surprises in store) without too much filler and really the plot is just an excuse for the dynamic between the two leads. And is is a *heck* of a dynamic!

It turns the usual tropes on their head in the best way. The female lead has the power and authority (being an imperial princess and all) and is not afraid to use it. And the male lead is.. literally subservient to her. But in the *best* way. 

He is literally her servant, in the context that she is an imperial princess and he pretty much has to do what she says, but also he is very much subservient to her... in an adoring service sub way (never has the period Chinese phrasing of referring to yourself in the third person as “this servant/your servant” been more appropriately utilised 🥰)

He’s just... he is literally the doe-eyed ingenue in this story and she the knowing seducer. And he’s *into* it. He literally tells her “You can do anything to me” and means it. He spends a disproportionate amount of time on his knees, or lying down, or otherwise in a position where she is literally above him and he is looking up at her through his lashes. 😁 

She also really has a thing for hooking her fingers into his collar to pull him closer which.. valid tbh. 😁

He’s also subservient in that delicious cdrama trope of self-sacrifice... throwing himself bodily in the way of weaponry aimed at her, submitting to punishment rather than even trying to defend himself against accusations, suffering nobly and silently when she is mad at him. 

Did I mention he also gets whumped a *lot* in the course of less than 1 hour of screen time? 😁 And also both male and female leads are *ridiculously* pretty.

So anyway, yeah, this is my new obsession so don’t be surprised at the incoming flood of gifs.

And if you want to check out the show, it’s not on the usual streaming services, due to being a web drama, but there’s an eng subbed playlist on YouTube here, or you can watch all the episodes nicely edited into one video (with eng subs) here. Enjoy! 

[aro-is-gay-af]

The Midnight of Despair | Volturi Kings x fem!reader | Part 2

Part 1 | Part 3

I advise you to read it first, as this post is the continuation. 

Yeah, there will be Part 3 for sure. As usual, sorry for gramatical confusion and/or any mistakes.

Love you all, thank you for 100 (!) notes under Part 1. 

Warnings: Rape, Depression, PTSD, Swear words, Forced Pregnancy

Word count: 6768

Summary: [Y/N] and Bella are childhood friends. They were always there for each other. [Y/N] had tough times and struggles with everyday life. Bella faces depression after Edward had left her. [Y/N] tries to get her going and alive. One day [Y/N] is raped and gets pregnant with the rapist. Not long after that it turns out that Edward got himself into the mess with Volturi. [Y/N], even traumatized and in pieces, will not let Bella go without her supervision to Italy. What is going to happen when [Y/N] will stay at Volterra? Is she really predestined to be Kings’ mate? Is she going to have her baby or abort the pregnancy? Will the trauma go away or is she going to struggle for a long time?

ENJOY!

You tried not to break your eye contact with Aro, as it made you unusually calm and on place. As soon as you walked through the door to the throne room you felt almost like at home. You knew it would take some time to get used to the new place, especially a place like this, though, you didn't find it repulsive or frightening.  

You sat down in the chair that Aro had pulled out for you. It was a little gesture but it made you a little less weirded out. Now, that you were alone with three kings, you were not as relaxed as you might have thought you’ll be, for your legs were trembling with exertion.

It wasn’t a surprise, though. You’ve barely eaten, been up on your feet since you got off the plane and through all day long, you were strongly convinced it was your last day on Earth. On top of this, you’ve just allowed Aro to touch your hand and then kiss it. You were certain that if it was for any other person, you wouldn’t be so willing to do so.

Aro took a seat opposite to you, whereas Marcus and Caius sat, probably, on their usual seats, not that far from you both. You were tired, but confident that some things needed to be established as soon as possible. You understood this perfectly. Also, even though Alice told you about basic things, you still were oblivious to most information.

“You have impressed me with your declaration” it was Caius who started the conversation. You looked directly at him.

“I’m not stupid, nor suicidal” you said, trying to remain as calm as possible. “At least, not anymore” you admitted, your upset tone impossible to miss. Caius tilted his head, eyeing you carefully.

“While on the plane, Alice told me briefly about basics,” you said. Seeing their stares, you rolled your eyes. “Yes, she also explained to me the laws. I knew this trip would’ve only two possible endings for me.”

Aro had known about this prior, but Marcus and Caius looked taken aback, to say at least.

“You knew you’d probably die and still came here?” it was Marcus who asked. It was a weird experience, even if you’d known him only for a few moments, to see such an authentic interest in his behaviour.

You nodded and smiled.

“Sure I did. Bella’s stupid ass didn’t give me another choice” you chuckled. Caius smiled again with that creepy smile, which he also had on his face while in the throne room.

“Stop that, brother” Aro scolded him lightly. “We don’t want to frighten [Y/N].”

Caius only rolled his eyes.

“You are familiar with the fact that I am as old as you, brother?” he asked Aro mockingly, sprawling comfortably in his chair. “There’s no need to scold me like I’m a child.”

Aro frowned.

“Yes, brother, I am certainly familiar with this. But nonetheless, you should be more gentle when it comes to [Y/N].”

Even though you’d been tired, somehow kings’ presence had risen your spirits. Also, it was quite funny to see them mock themselves like this.

“Can I say something?” you asked, visibly amused by their behaviour. You've relaxed a little and only then you felt how tired you really were.

“Of course, cara” said Marcus, who didn’t exactly talk much until now. All of them were looking at you, curious about what you wanted to say.

You smiled shyly, not being accustomed to receive so much attention at once.

“I don’t know if it’s normal but I’m not exactly…afraid of you? I guess I’m mostly curious. I wasn’t… concerned while we were heading here. Like, at all” you admitted, trying your best to find words, which would suit your emotions.

Three of them were listening very carefully, even Aro, who had already known your thoughts.

“Alice wasn’t trying to scare me, but I felt that she was extremely cautious when it came to your coven. Bella also was exaggerating with drama and I…” you immediately felt sick and couldn’t end the sentence. You were happy to maybe die? You were happy to have something to think about, other than rape? To think about something different than this unwanted child?  

It was as they felt the change in your mood. You saw Aro wanted to touch you but restrained himself from doing so. Marcus’s expression was calm but you actually thought, he was being beyond emotional about this. And Caius…he looked genuinely concerned.

You smiled sadly, as none of them said anything.

“I’m not exactly aware of how this mating bond thing works, but that’s probably the reason” you said quietly, with insecurity so overwhelming that you couldn’t look at the kings anymore.  Instead, you embraced your knees with yours arms and glanced at your feet resting on the edge of your chair.

You tried hard not to cry. You weren’t weak, you weren’t unstable. You were harmed in the most brutal way and you knew, it would take you a while to get out of this state of mind. Nevertheless, you didn’t want them to consider you weak or unworthy of their attention. Right now, they were the only ones you had in this world.

Your throat tightened and your lips trembled from the sob you denied yourself to make. One of them handed you a handkerchief, while making an effort not to touch you. You glanced up, as it turned out, at Marcus, who was holding the handkerchief in front of you.

“It is perfectly alright to cry, cara. You have no idea how many times I wished to shed at least one tear” he said, while you were wiping away yours. You believed him, of course. When you were in the throne room, at first Marcus looked completely lifeless and depressed. It changed after he spotted you, but you knew his behaviour didn’t come out of nowhere.

You’ve managed to calm yourself a little bit. After you regained your composure, Aro smiled gently at you, making you give him your full attention.

“My dear, we would be delighted to explain to you everything, but I can clearly see that you are extremely tired. So much has happened today, and the best way we can handle this, is when you are well rested. May I suggest coming back to the topic without any more delay, when you’ve had enough sleep?”

You smiled because of his intricate wording.

“Sure. Although, there’s no need for you to talk to me this way” you said amused, while also trying not to sound rude. The way Aro expressed his thoughts was extremely distinguished and you understood that this was part of his personality that he had acquired over three millennia.

Caius smiled to himself hearing your remark and Marcus didn't hide his amusement either. Even Aro seemed mildly entertained.

“Forgive me, cara mia” he said apologetically, mischievous tone of his voice never escaping your attention. “I am quite old by now” his remark made Caius laugh loudly. You laughed too.

“I don’t think your age matters in this case” you said, your spirits raised just a little bit.

 ***

 After your brief conversation, it was Marcus who showed you to your room. Well, it wasn’t exactly a room, as you had all suite to yourself. As soon as you saw it, you decided that it was really too much, that a bed would suffice, but fell silent after Marcus explained, why you needed to be isolated from others.

You almost forgot they were vampires and you could die if you walked into the wrong one. You shared your concerns with Marcus, who was extremely amused to hear about them. Only the most trusted members of the guard knew of the whereabouts of your chamber. The lower ranks didn't even know that you were staying in the castle for an extended period of time.

Marcus assured that overnight the kings would consider, who would be the most qualified to become your personal guardian. You were a bit embarrassed, as you seemed to be creating quite a problem with your presence in the castle. Nonetheless, you thanked Marcus, making sure beforehand that you would definitely see the three of them, as soon as you got some sleep.

Your chamber was huge. You could’ve sworn it was twice the size of the house you owned in Forks. You had your own bathroom, walk-in-closet and even a small kitchenette with a fridge. The star of the room was the massive bed with a mattress so soft, you felt like you were lying on a cloud. Before you went to bed, you decided to have a bath, because it would be silly to sleep in such a bed while being dirty.

While searching for pyjamas, you realised there were not many clothes in the wardrobe. Could this have been a guest room? You concluded that it was very likely. Anyway, you had nothing against guest rooms which looked like this. You found a thin-strapped, ankle-length nightdress, in a fabric so pleasant that it was impossible to resist wearing it.

The bathroom was ridiculously large, with two sinks to the left of the entrance, a huge bathtub in the middle and a shower that was built into, what you assumed, was a marble wall. On the opposite side of the entrance there was a vanity, with all kinds of beauty products and perfumes. You also didn't expect the bathroom to be in bright colours, and yet, the walls and floor were white marble, whereas all other elements were golden. You didn't even want to think about the fact that indeed, you had real gold faucets to your exclusive use.

You continued to think about the fact that it seemed too much. The lavishness overwhelmed you and, at the same time, distracted you from unpleasant thoughts. The washing up part, as always, was difficult for you. You tried not to look in the mirror at all. Eventually, you decided you didn't have the energy to try a bath, so you went for a quick shower.

It wasn't until you were in the shower, before you truly felt tired. You doubted it was an evening, but you felt like you'd just done a double shift at the hospital. It felt wonderful to have your hair washed, only to cuddle up later in an incredibly soft towel.

While changing into your nightgown, you didn't even glance in the mirror. You were unable to look at your naked body in the reflection. You were afraid, even though the bruises and wounds had long been healed.

Climbing onto the bed, you tried not to think too much. You didn't want to think about what you were going to do with the baby. You didn't want to think about the fact that you would probably have to explain to Caius and Marcus, why you were pregnant in the first place. You also didn't want to think about Aro seeing those memories. You were glad that you could fall asleep and, at least for a little while, be relieved of the burden of reality.

***

 “Alright. What is there that we need to discuss?” you asked, trying to focus. You were back in the study with the round table, except that there were many more papers and books on it than the day before.

It was the strangest morning of your life. According to what Aro told you, you slept for about fifteen hours. He was by your side when you woke up, but not in such manner as to startle you in any way. He came to ask how you were feeling and what you felt like eating for breakfast. You thought that with a kitchenette in your room you would be preparing your own meals. You were very much mistaken. When you said that you would like to eat scrambled eggs, Aro only smiled and told you to get dressed.

You didn't have time to ask what you were supposed to wear since the walk-in-closet was almost empty, but he had already disappeared. It turned out that you were wrong again. In those fifteen hours, someone had managed to restock your wardrobe at least halfway. You were too surprised to look at everything, but you had never seen such expensive and well-tailored clothes. You picked out the first pieces you were sure, you would feel comfortable in.

After a quick shower, you dressed up and when you came out of bathroom, Aro was already waiting for you. He brought you your meal and while you were eating, he would talk to you about things that were of minor importance. It was hard not to notice that he was in a great mood and you had to admit that you were sharing his optimism. He waited patiently for you to end your meal so that both of you could join Marcus and Caius in the study. If your human memory didn't fail you, a great number of issues had to be discussed.

You smiled, seeing so many papers and books on the wooden table. Caius and Marcus were sitting in the exact same places as yesterday.

“You should’ve wake me sooner, you know. I never sleep this much” you said, also sitting in the same place you were assigned the evening before. Aro sat in the chair on your right.

“You should sleep as long as you feel like it, dolcezza,” said Caius, focusing all his attention on you. You blushed a little. You weren’t used to being in the centre of attention. It didn't make you uncomfortable before, but after what happened... It was going to take some time before you could fully recover.  

“Caius is right. You should get plenty of sleep, my dear. If there’s no need to wake you up, we simply will not do it,” said Aro, whose smile has not left his face even for a moment.

When Marcus had finished whatever he was doing, you could finally move on to the conversation between the four of you. You thought that Aro will lead the conversation but, apparently, you were really going to discuss this together.

“I gathered you were a nurse before. You also worked with Carlisle,” started Aro, getting straight to the point. You nodded your head in agreement.

“Yes. I worked on Paediatric Intensive Care Unit but hospital in Forks is so small that I usually ended up also helping Carlisle with many things” you admitted, trying to divide your attention between three of them. If you were to stay a human for a little while, you needed to work on that. It was rather problematic to look at them all at once.

“We became friends when Bella started seeing Edward, but then the whole moving out thing came up and right now, I don't really know if I know Carlisle as well as I thought I did,” you said, without a trace of regret in your voice. Aro knew very well that you had a grudge against the doctor. Sure, Edward had left Bella, but you were sure Carlisle would have at least told you about the promotion. Now you knew it wasn't about that at all, and yet the grudge continued.

Aro smiled lightly, but you saw a glint of sadness in his eye.

“After you transformation I will be pleased to invite here my old friend Carlisle along with his family. I hope everything will work out fine between the two of you” he said with hope in his voice. You had no idea that Carlisle new Aro to the extent that he called him an old friend. You promised yourself to talk about this with Aro while in private.

“I’m…a bit concerned about this, actually” you said anxiously. “I know I need to become a vampire one day, but…” You never ended the sentence. Were you afraid of pain? No, certainly not. However, you wanted to begin with knowing your mates just a little bit more. You wanted to know more about this world you were supposed to spend eternity in.

“It’s perfectly alright to be afraid, [Y/N]” said Marcus, leaning closer to you. You felt stupid and young.

“I don’t think I’m afraid. I’m only…uncertain, because I know close to nothing about your lifestyle and I’m not sure I’m quite ready to experience it,” you tried to explain, as best as you could. Aro was a little bit ahead of Caius and Marcus, as he saw at least parts of such thoughts in your mind. Caius was the one to answer you.

“It understandable, [Y/N]. While you’ll be spending time with us, we’re going to explain everything to you. One step at a time, as my dear brother said earlier. And tell me, how do you like your chambers?” he asked, clearly curious about your opinion. You smiled, but it was a shy one.

“I love it, really, but, as I asked Aro earlier, isn’t it too much?” you suggested, trying not to offend him. Aro and Marcus smiled softly, Caius snorted.

“Nonsense, cara. With us, you'll have the very best of all worlds” he assured you.

“In that case, thank you, all of it is truly wonderful, although I feel a little awkward.”

Again, all three just laughed, but it wasn’t impolite in one bit. Aro put a strand of your hair behind your ear.

“My dear, no need for you to fret about such things as money. The most important person to us is you and we will give you whatever you need” he assured you, still with that magnificent smile. You nodded shyly, not being able to say anything. You had only been with them in a room for a short while and you felt like you were drunk. The aura they exuded was irresistible. Simultaneously you wanted to be with each of them separately and with all of them altogether. It was not an affection, not yet, but this strange attraction did not allow itself to be forgotten easily. You yearned to be in the same room with them, just to be able to talk to them and look at each other constantly.

“I have… I have a house in Forks” you said, after a few minutes of silence.

“Would you like to sell your property?” asked Caius, raising an eyebrow. Aro was also intrigued. Marcus just continued to look at you, almost as he studied your face.

“I guess. I don't think I want to go back there again” you said quietly, recalling how many bad things happened there. You were no longer at ease, not even to mention amused. The kings, just as it happened the day before, felt the shift in your behaviour. “Ever” you emphasised, but it was only a whisper.  

Bad memories deluged your thoughts. Your mother's illness and death. Your father's accident, then his death. Also, the most recent events. You swallowed hard, trying not to cry.

“I don’t want this house. I don’t want to come back to this godforsaken place ever again,” you said, wiping away a single tear with your fingers. You were ashamed, but you could not hold back the tears that followed. You did not deserve to go through all of this.

It was Marcus who spoke first.

“Cara, Aro told us nothing about your past, but I can assure you no one is going to hurt you here. You can be certain about this” he said gently, handing you a handkerchief. You accepted it gratefully, then began to quickly wipe away your tears.

“Marcus is absolutely right, [Y/N]. There is nothing in this world that we cannot protect you from. We will always be by your side. You won’t be in danger ever again” Caius assured you, while you were still trying to get these tears under control.

Aro seemed as if he wanted to lock you in an embrace and never let you go again, but he restrained himself. You knew it was because of your memories, because he saw what happened to you, and because he literally lived through it with you. You thought that probably the latter pushed you towards this decision. Who could know better what you’ve been through, than a person who knew about all things that happened during your life? You wanted a hug, desperately, and you already knew, you could trust Aro on this one.

Once he saw the permission in your eyes, you immediately found yourself in his arms. As usual, he was immensely gentle and affectionate, stroking your hair while not touching your skin, so as not to accidentally read your thoughts. You cuddled into him trustingly, not caring that he was cold. You had known him one day and he had managed to evoke more trust within you, than friends that you had known for years.

When the crying eased and you calmed down slightly, you rested your head on his shoulder. Again, just like yesterday in the throne room, you felt as if you had been home for a long time. They were your home, not some pile of stones and a roof.

“I’m sorry” you whispered, trying not to be ashamed. Aro stroked your hair again.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, cara mia,” he assured you, with a gentle tone of his voice. You glanced at Marcus and Caius, but they only seemed at ease, as you finally were calm and not crying. Not a hint of jealousy. You didn't want Aro to let you out of his embrace and apparently he wasn't going to do anything of the sort either. You felt safe within his arms.

“Can you take care of ‘selling the house’ thing?” you asked, trying to remember what were you talking about before your emotional breakdown.

“Of course, [Y/N]. You could call Isabella later, to gather things you want to have here with you,” said Caius, exceptionally calm. Maybe his behaviour in the throne room was only an act? Or maybe he was being this way only because you were a mess and he didn’t want to upset you more than you already were.

“Yes, I’d like that, please” you said politely, wiping away the last of your tears with the handkerchief you got from Marcus.

“Are you ready to talk about the child, cara, or do you want to postpone it until some other time?” Aro asked you, trying to be as gentle with the word choice as possible. You hid your face in his jet black hair. It smelled of something you couldn't quite define, but it had a calming effect on you. You heaved a number of deep breaths. He gently caressed your shoulder.

“If you feel like sharing this, cara mia, please do. If you are unable to, do not force yourself” he advised, with so much sensitivity in his tone, that you wouldn’t expect from a man, yet alone from a vampire. It seemed that nor Caius, neither Marcus wanted to push you only to get this information.

You didn’t want to ponder about it for too long. It would definitely come to an end with you simply telling nothing at all. While you were not ready at all to talk about it, you needed to explain this somehow. You weren’t ready for any unexpected touch. You were adamant that current thing with Aro was caused by situation and your emotions. While the thought of Caius or Marcus touching you wasn’t downright awful, the idea of unexpected, unwelcomed touch made you twitch uncontrollably.

“As Aro was kind enough to mention…” started Marcus, probably to assure you no words were truly needed. You might, as well, have said it already. You didn't want anyone to accidentally touch you. You wanted to welcome the touch of your mates, just as you did with Aro a few minutes before. Being touched when you didn’t want would be catastrophic, not only for your mental health, but also for the stirring relationship with kings. It would have been worse than talking about rape itself out loud.

“I was raped a few weeks ago” you choked out, trying to make your voice sound as toneless and apathetic as possible. “I haven’t decided what to do with the… with it. Yet” you added, feeling stupid and extremely anxious. You wanted to get it over with, and at the same time you knew, it would have to be talked about at some point.

Nobody said anything. They probably waited for more words, maybe more emotions. You weren’t tense or embarrassed in front of them. Although, the uncertainty, of what were their thoughts on the topic, was a little bit intimidating. As minutes passed and you were saying nothing, Caius spoke up.

“Do you want us to kill him?” he asked, sweeping you off your feet with the question. You stared at him with amazement, completely forgetting about Aro embracing you. Your gaze didn’t discourage Caius a one bit. “Maybe some tortures first? What do you say, brothers?” he asked Aro and Marcus, his eyes remaining on you.

“Could you really do that?” you asked, before Aro or Marcus could answer. Caius started laughing out loud. There was something terrifying and, yet, incomprehensibly appealing about it. He leaned towards you.

“We would burn the whole world for you,” he whispered perilously. “If you want him to suffer, to be terrified, just as you were, say the word” he clarified, with a nasty smirk on his face. “We’ll make his last hours on Earth a living hell.”

Caius had something dangerous within himself. Something primal. He wasn’t so self-composed as Aro and as insular as Marcus. He was violent, fierce, vicious. It should scare you away from him. Only it didn’t. You believed every word he said and wanted it done. Why this little man should live his life peacefully, when you were traumatised and pregnant with a child you didn’t want in a first place?

“Revenge isn’t going to make you feel better” Aro whispered warningly into your ear, but still with calm and gentle voice.

“Yeah, I know that” you said to Aro, while still staring into Caius’s eyes. His also were crimson, but with lighter shade than Aro’s. You weren’t anxious anymore, nor were you in emotional breakdown. “But women he wants to rape will feel better if he doesn’t” you said, smiling almost as darkly as Caius. You got the feeling that you two were going to get along pretty well. Caius leaned back into his chair.

“Fantastic. We’ll talk about it more in following weeks, dear” he said, obviously pleased with the outcome of the conversation.

“Regardless if you keep the child, you’re going to be one of us” reminded Aro, to change the subject. When he mentioned transformation, you were far more conscious than few moments before. You tried not to be pessimistic about the change. You knew questions needed to be asked, but you had plenty of time to ask about anything you wanted and exactly three most experienced vampires in the world to answer them.

“We established it before, Aro” said Marcus for the first time in a while. You gathered that he wasn’t the talkative one here. You disentangled yourself from Aro's embrace and returned to your chair. Enough touching for today. However, you were sure that the sense of safety and comfort that he provided you with, would remain with you for a long time.

“I’m not able to tell you now if I want to keep the child” you said with confidence. “Anyway, I need to know what will happen, whether I decide to terminate the pregnancy or not.”

You were looking directly at Aro. You knew he had the final word here. You had a feeling how it’ll end, but you wanted to hear it anyway and have it straightforward. Aro sighed softly and smiled warmly after.

“If you’d like to keep the child, you’re going to give birth to it and when it’ll be grown up enough, it’ll become one of us” he said, his gaze extremely soft.

“Okay” you agreed. “And what if I’m not going to keep the child?” you asked, because it was the more probable occurrence. Aro saw it within your thoughts and you weren’t going to act like it wasn’t the choice you were closer to opt for. His smile remained gentle and warm, his eyes calm and soft on yours.

“The things that need to be done, are going to be done” he said, and you were extremely grateful that he didn’t use the ‘abortion’ word. You were too emotionally unstable to talk about it so straightforward. “We are going to know each other a little bit more. You’ll also meet our most trustful guards to feel safe. When you’ll be ready, one of us will change you” he explained, as simple as he could. You smiled at him a little sadly.

“Alright. Do I have any time limitations?” you asked curiously, throwing a quick glance at Caius and Marcus.

“No, dolcezza. You can take as much time as you want. You’re finally with us. That’s what truly matters to us” he reassured you. He was neither angry nor upset with the thought of you postponing transformation till the child is being born.

“One step at a time” he said cheerfully and smiled. You also smiled. It was almost impossible not to. “Cara mia, you’re so pretty when you smile. I hope you’ll be able to do that more and more here” this sentence made you blush. All three of them laughed, which made you blush even more.

“Thank you” you whispered, but it was a little unsure and hesitant. You saw concern on their faces.

“May I ask you one more question?” this time it was Marcus who asked.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Have you checked how far along are you? You’ve told us that maybe you’ll want to terminate the pregnancy, but my concern is about your health and how your body is going to catch up with the decision of yours, regardless what it’ll be” he said, very politely, trying not to offend you. You appreciated that dearly.

Marcus did ask very good question, though. You had no idea how far along you were. It was at least three months since it happened, so your first trimester should be over very soon.

“I don’t know. I haven’t checked. I couldn’t find the courage to do so. The only thing the doctor did, was to confirm the pregnancy” you answered, trying hard to remember if something else was being said.

“We should probably call the doctor, then” said Marcus, concern noticeable in his voice. Aro and Caius agreed with him, so did you.  

“So, do I have my own cook at my disposal?” you asked to change the subject and relieve tension a bit. Enough of difficult subjects for today.

“Ah, yes, my dear, of course!” said Aro with extreme enthusiasm. “I hope you enjoyed your breakfast today. If something isn’t the way you want it, tell any of us right away.”

“Oh, yes, I did! Hey, and I told you that already!” you said, quite amused. “Am I not supposed to be the one, who forgets?” you asked, laughing.

Caius laughed most loudly, clearly amused by what you’ve just said. Aro smiled, watching you being in better mood, than before. Marcus was just Marcus, but he also smiled.

You spent the rest of the day with the kings, talking about many important and less important things. Mostly, you talked about the matter of selling your house, the things you will want to have with you in the castle, the fact that you should give up your job and your personal guard. The latter has been the cause of endless discussion. Later that evening, Aro decided that Renata, his personal guard, would be temporarily assigned to you.

You wanted to argue but there was literally no point in it. You knew that for the time you were still human, you had to have some sort of guard, because you couldn't even handle half a vampire on your own. You weren't tired at all, so after eating dinner you spent time with Caius and Marcus, trying to figure out what you could do together to get to know each other better. Unfortunately, Aro was obliged to attend to some important business, but in this case, you had already established some kind of a bond with him.

Caius and Marcus deeply respected your wish not to touch you in any way. You visited the library and were sure you had simply fallen in love. Sadly, most of the books were written in languages the existence of which you were previously unaware. Marcus was more than happy to offer you to study with him. To begin with, learning Italian. You had not yet discovered what Caius liked to do, but you were sure you would soon find out.

When they too had to attend to important matters, they escorted you to your room, and you decided it would be a good idea to call Bella. Not just about the house, but generally to let her know you were alive. When you’ve finally reached her, you both couldn’t shut up.

“Hi, sister!” you squeaked, overly excited. You heard her laugh.

“Hi! Are you fine, [Y/N]? I was starting to worry, the only thing that kept me from calling you was Alice,” she said and you laughed.

“Hi [Y/N]!” you heard Alice in the background. You threw yourself on the bed, so that you could lie on your stomach. You hugged your pillow and made yourself comfortable.

“Hi Alice!” you greeted her, smiling to yourself like a mad person, who you probably were, given the circumstances. “I’m happy to hear you, Bella, seriously. Are you at Cullen’s place?” you asked curious, as where Alice came from.

“Yeah, exactly. We were all worried here, you know” she admitted, you heard how anxious she was. You couldn’t help it but laughed.

“Well, how could you leave me in the lion's den like that” you joked and heard someone’s laugh.

“She’s fun. I need to meet her” you heard again and also laughed.

“This will probably happen sooner rather than later,” you answer to this mystery someone with confidence. Bella’s side fell silent. “But, you know, I guess I’m okay. I had fifteen hours of sleep today and the best scrambled eggs in my entire life” you admitted cheerfully, thinking about you waking up and eating your breakfast in Aro’s presence. You smiled widely. You heard someone talking in the background, but you had no idea what was this all about.

“That’s good because I was worried sick when we got out of that room” Bella admitted, trying to sound not too worried, though.

“It’s better than fine, you know. And how are you? You seriously were as white as a sheet while in throne room” you said and this was your turn to be worried about Bella again. “Hey, and I hope this asshole isn’t going to leave you again. My threat is in force,” you said in a threatening tone, knowing that Edward could definitely hear it. You heard the same laugh as before plus Bella’s laugh.

“I’m sure he’ll not be doing it again. Carlisle has already scolded him decently.”

Your heart ached a little after hearing Carlisle’s name. You thought he was your friend, or maybe it was beginning of friendship, and now you had no idea what to think about it at all.

“Good. How are you, Bells?” you asked again, hugging your pillow tightly.

“I’m okay, really, [Y/N]. No need to worry about me.”

Of course you were going to worry about her. She was just like a little sister to you. No way you’d stop worrying. Suddenly, you remembered what happened in the throne room and became seriously concerned.

“Have you set a date?” you asked, and again, the other side fell silent. This time completely. You sighed heavily. “I’m not a spy, you know, but I’m worried about you. We will need to talk about all of this. I get why didn’t you tell me, but, seriously Bella, your self-preservation instinct does not exist,” you scolded her, just a little. You had a feeling that she gave no fucks, no matter what anyone could say about this situation.

“Says the “I’m staying here, Bella” person” she gritted out with sarcasm. You rolled your eyes.

“One, they wouldn’t let me leave. Two, you were in danger and I was alright with sacrificing myself to save you. Three…” this time you fell silent, realising something important. “…I wouldn’t go. I’m not able to. This bond, whatever it is, it’s strong shit. You probably now it, as you have this with Edward. I have got it triple.”

After really long moment of complete silence, Bella spoke up.

“Why would you sacrifice yourself for me?” she asked, her question as heavy as storm clouds. You sighed.

“Because I’ve got nothing to live for, ya know? I was prepared that I wouldn’t get out alive,” you admitted with sad voice, but it was downright true.

“You’re pregnant, [Y/N]” she said, like it was something, which could immediately improve your well-being and quality of life. You felt like throwing up.

“Yeah. I’m pregnant with the child I don’t want, with a man I’ve never met, who forced himself on me and made my life more miserable than it already was. I should probably send him a card or something because, guess what, I’ve never considered that my life is going to be more crappy than it already was after my parents’ death.”

When you ended the sentence and no one said anything, you just sighed heavily.

“You’ve got the date set?” you asked again, merely curious about this and to change the topic.

“Not yet” she said, her voice sad and full of emotions.

“Then do it. They’re patient, to some extent, but don't tempt fate. I don’t want to attend yet another funeral,” you said bitterly, trying not to think at all.

“How can you be so calm about all of this?” Bella snapped suddenly, making you shift uncomfortably on bed.

“And how you can be so calm? How was this your fucking plan from the very beginning? Once again, I try to understand you, while not understanding you at all” you snapped too, tired of any games. Before she could answer, you continued:

“I’m not coming back. I wanted to ask you if you could go to my house and get some things, I can make you a list if it’s going to be easier.”

You thought telling her this right away would be better than if she wasn’t aware for weeks or months.

“What?! Why aren’t you coming back?” she asked with raised voice. You wanted to shout and scream but you didn’t. It was too much for one day.

“Because I’ve got nothing to come back to. You’re going to be a vampire anyway, so I’ll see you in some time. I’m selling the house and I want to leave the past exactly where it belongs” you explained, trying not to yell. The hormone fluctuations didn't make it easy for you at all.

Another silence. You were tired of all of this.

“Can you do this for me, Bella? Because if you can’t, I’m sure…”

She didn’t let you finish.

“Of course I’ll do it for you. Can we talk tomorrow about the details?” she asked, her voice calmed a bit.

“Yeah, sure. It’s well after midnight here anyway, so I should probably go to sleep. I’ve got doctor’s appointment tomorrow in the afternoon” you said, trying to sound casually. Last thing you needed now was to argue about anything with Bella.

“Okay, so, call me tomorrow?” she asked. “And be safe.”

“You too, Bells. Take care. I love you, sis” you said, trying to stop the forthcoming tears.

“I love you too, [Y/N].”

Long after this phone call, you couldn’t get yourself to sleep. You tried bath this time, but it was mostly useless. At least, you were clean. First time after the rape, you decided to touch your belly on purpose. It began to curve gently, and, apart from that, you still felt pain and pressure in your breasts. You put on a nightdress and went to bed, this time actually trying to get some sleep. You also tried not to think too much about what the future would bring.

[joviewinchester]

Part 2 to the supernatural MBAV crossover ✌️ Also this is on crack so I’m sorry in advance. Lol.

“Oh my gosh, Jack! We’ve been living here for two weeks! Do you know what that means?! We actually live here.” Y/N said excitedly.

“Yeah. I like it here I hope we stay awhile.”

“I have a boyfriend now! Do you know how cool that is?”

“You what?!” Dean exclaimed.

“Don’t eavesdrop! It’s none of your concern.”

“Yes it is. I’m your dad!”

“Moms handle the boys and the periods, and she promised me she’d visit sometime this week, so therefore, it’s none of your concern.”

“Since when have you had contact with Amara?”

“Since like a month ago. Uncle Chuck taught her about the world of cellphones. She promised she’d drop by for at least an hour. You don’t think she’s going to flake on me do you?” Tears welled up in her eyes. Dean held his arms out for a hug.

“Hey, come here, kid. Your mom has done a lot of bad things, but if there’s one thing I know for sure about her, it’s that she never says something unless she means it. Now about the boyfriend thing…”

“His name is Benny, he likes Star Wars, and he’s a calculus nerd. Good enough?”

“Come on Dean. Calculus nerd? You have nothing to worry about.” Sam chimed in.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, Sammy.”

“Does that mean that me and Jack can go hang out with him and our other friends tonight?” Y/N asked hopefully, putting on the puppy eyes she had inherited from her uncle.

“Fine, but don’t be out any later than 1 am okay?”

“Got it. Would you be mad if we left right now?”

“No. It’s fine. Go ahead, but Jack she is not to be left in a room alone with this punk. Got it? Good.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “Drama queen.” She muttered.

“I heard that!”

“Good!”

All of their friends had already arrived by the time they got there. The only thing missing was pizza.

“Dude the delivery guy was so slow last time though. Someone should just go get it. I’m starving.” Ethan complained.

“Not it.” Y/N and Erica said at the same time. Benny and Jack both looked at Sarah.

“Um…don’t look at me. I’m babysitting.” She gestured to Jane who was sitting peacefully watching Dusk.

“I’ll go.” Jack volunteered. Y/N tossed him the keys to the Jeep.

“Don’t wreck my baby.” She said sternly, laying on the floor beside Jane.

“Careful. You sound like your dad.” Jack joked. Y/N threw a pillow at him.

“Okay. Okay. I’m going.”

“So this Dusk thing, what is it even about?” Y/N asked. Erica immediately jumped in.

“Oh my god. It is so good. You’ve never seen Dusk? It’s about a human who falls in love with a vampire and vice versa, but there’s also this werewolf that’s in love with the girl, but she ends up choosing the vampire because, duh, she’s in love with him, but anyways it’s so good and you have to watch all of them with me some time.”

“I’ve seen the Vampire Diaries but I’ve never watched this.”

“Oh my God. Don’t you just love the Salvatore brothers?”

“I love Damon, but I’m not huge on Stefan. Oh and Katherine is so hot, but my favorites are Kol and Kai.”

“You have a thing for murderers with sociopath tendencies and you’re dating Benny?” Erica asked.

“Okay, just leave me alone. Kai is hot and he had reason to murder his entire family.” Literally the entire room was just looking back and forth between them in confusion.

“Remind me to never leave you two alone.” Sarah said.

“Did you just say murdered his entire family casually in a sentence?” Benny asked.

“Yes. If you guys watched the show you would totally get it. Although Jack doesn’t and I made him watch it but then again his biological dad is literally satan-“

“Wait. Wait. Wait. First of all, Castiel isn’t his biological dad? Second of all what is his biological father a serial killer or something?” Ethan asked.

That was when Y/N registered what she had said. “It’s not my place to tell you guys about his biological dad, so like please don’t tell him I told you anything.”

Everyone agreed and dropped it. Soon after Jack came back with the pizza. “Who’s hungry?”

“I am.” Erica whispered passive aggressively under her breath. Sarah elbowed her and gave her a look, mouthing the words shut up.

Benny, Ethan, Jack, and Jane all grabbed a slice.

“Want one?” Benny asked.

“No I’m fine. Thanks though.” Y/N said. Her mood had noticeably dropped, and it was because she was thinking of her mother. What if she didn’t come like she’d promised? Well, at least her cousin Gabriel promised a visit soon, despite her father’s protest.

“Hey what’s wrong?” Sarah asked her.

“It’s stupid. My mom told me that she was going to visit me sometime this week, but I’m worried she won’t show up.” At that very moment Amara appeared in the room. Now there was a lot of explaining to be done.

“Holy shit! Who are you and how did you do that?!” Ethan exclaimed.

“Wow. Gorgeous alert.” Erica said, ignoring the fact that a woman she didn’t know had just appeared out of nowhere. Y/N immediately jumped up and hugged her.

“I missed you, mom.” She muttered into her hair.

“Mom?!” They all asked at once.

“Woah. Woah. Woah. So what are you then?” Benny asked.

“Why are you guys not very freaked out about this?” Jack asked.

“We know about the supernatural, but nothing like this.” Ethan said still in shock.

“So, you made friends? I’m proud of you. How’s your dad doing?” Amara said.

“Same old. Same old. Sad, confused, protective.”

“Wait how do you guys know about the supernatural?” Jack asked ignoring the side conversation.

“That depends. How do you feel about vampires, warlocks, and seers?” Benny asked.

“Wait! You’re vampires?!” Y/N exclaimed suddenly.

“Not all of us. Just Erica and Sarah.” Ethan said.

“You guys haven’t even the ones killing people have you, because that would suck because then I’d have to kill you.”

“No, but really?! Kill us?!” Sarah exclaimed.

“My family hunts the supernatural! You guys have got to stay on the downlow or my dad and my uncle will straight up kill you and not think twice, please be careful!”

“Are warlocks on that list?” Benny asked.

“Wait, you’re a waflock and you didn’t tell me?!”

“We still don’t know what you two are and I think I speak for everyone when I say I would like to know!”

Y/N sighed. This would be a long conversation. She took in a deep breath. “So, my dad is the vessel of the archangel Michael aka the person Michael needed to possess to win the apocalypse which already happened by the way. My dad kind of saved the world. My Uncle Sam on the other hand is the vessel of Lucifer who is Jack’s biological dad which makes Jack a nephilim, and by the way Lucifer is actually pretty chill. But that’s beside the point. This is Amara my mom aka the darkness aka god’s sister which kind of makes me a Demigod which makes god aka Chuck my uncle and Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel my cousins which makes Jack my second cousin and also by the way Castiel is an angel too. Oh and also my dad is kind of gay for Cas but neither of them will admit but you know, subtext.”

They all looked at her with wide eyes. “If you plan on sticking with me welcome to my dysfunctional family.” She announced.

“Are they okay?” Amara whispered.

“Maybe. I don’t know.” Y/N whispered back.

“Ya know what? Cool. Also can we just talk about how Y/N has hot parents? MILF alert. Like it finally makes sense why she is so pretty.” Erica said casually.

“What’s a MILF?” Amara asked her. Y/N face palmed.

“It’s good. It’s a compliment, but don’t say it to anyone , ever.” Y/N tried to explain.

“Anyways…I guess I’m gonna go and let you all process this interaction. Benny, call me. Bye!” They all left, and Y/N insisted that they take the Jeep and not just teleport.

When they got back to the house everyone kind of just looked at each other awkwardly. “Mom and I are gonna go…what do normal teenage girls do with their non supernatural mothers? Paint their nails? We’ll go do that. See you soon.”

Dean looked at Jack waiting for an explanation. “I’ve got…homework. Yeah. Anyways bye.”

“What just happened?” Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 301: All My Todorokis

Previously on BnHA: We learned that when a bunch of superpowered villains are suddenly set loose with nobody around to stop them, things get fucked pretty quickly. Old Man Samurai and a bunch of other useless people decided to make “I pretend I do not see it” their new mantra, and resigned. Endeavor had a moment of despair on account of being crushed by the guilt of having ruined the lives of himself, his family, and basically everyone else in the entire world. For various reasons the heretical notion of “person who has done bad things feels sorry for doing them” sent fandom spiraling into a meltdown, so that was fun. The chapter ended with the entire Todoroki clan descending upon Enji’s hospital room to have a dramatic chat about Touya and All That General Fuckery.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “here’s the story of how Baby Touya slowly went insane trying to win his father’s love.” It’s a tale full of subverted expectations and heartbreaking inevitability, and also like twenty panels of the cutest fucking kids who ever existed on planet earth, who are so fucking cute that I can’t stop thinking about their cuteness even with all of the horrifying family tragedy unfolding around them. It is absolutely ridiculous how cute they are. Touya is out here pushing his tiny body past its limits because he inherited the same obsession as his dad and neither of them can put it aside even though it’s destroying them, and yet all I can think about is Baby Shouto’s (。･o･｡) face. Anyways what a chapter.

so I have to confess that even though I managed to avoid being caught off-guard by the early leaks, the number of people reblogging my Endeavor posts from earlier this week and using the tag “bnha 301” kind of gave me an inkling that this chapter will include more Tododrama lol. that said, I don’t know anything else about it, so we’re still good spoiler-wise

AHHHHH FLAHSBAKC AHHHH. omg I know I typoed the shit out of that, but I’m just going to leave it lol I think it’s fitting

holy shit holy fuck. so this is Rei and Enji’s first meeting, then??

yepppp, oh shit

so wait, I know this is not even the slightest bit important, but are they meeting at Enji’s home or Rei’s? because I always figured that Enji was the one with the super-Japanese aesthetic, but maybe that was Rei’s side of the family all along

(ETA: from what I found during my very brief google search, omiai meetings are often held at fancy hotels or restaurants, so maybe that’s what this is.)

there’s such a period drama feel to this setting. like it’s so outrageously formal fff how can anyone stand this kind of atmosphere though seriously

OH THANK GOD

I mean they’re still stiff af but at least they’re not rigidly sitting in seiza and staring at each other unblinkingly anymore lol. Enji’s actually got his hands in his pockets now. why is this somehow almost cute

oh damn it’s the flowers

Rei seems so subdued and it’s so hard to get any idea of what she’s actually thinking. I want to see her side of this dammit

but anyway, so at least from Enji’s perspective it seems like even though the marriage was arranged and he picked her because of her quirk, he still loved his wife and wanted to do right by her. the fact that he was watching her and noticed that she liked the flowers, and remembered that detail for all these years -- there’s a reason why Horikoshi’s showing us this. we know what’s going to happen later on; we know how much fear and violence and breaking of trust is coming up ahead, and while it may seem like this scene is serving to soften Enji’s character further -- which to be fair it is -- it also helps drive home the full impact of his abuse. that it’s so terrible not only because of the trauma of the abuse itself, but also because of the way it retroactively destroys all of the good things as well. this could have potentially been such a sweet scene, but it’s inescapably tainted by the knowledge of what’s to come, at least for me. and that’s just brutal

anyways, shit. is the whole chapter going to be like this?? feel free to toss in something I can actually make a joke about sometime, Horikoshi

oop, back to the present

omfg lol

“are you all right” “NO I’M NOT ALL RIGHT WHAT THE FUCK.” “oh, right, because of all the stuff that’s happened with me abusing you and you having a mental breakdown and being hospitalized for ten years and then our son coming back to life and killing thirty people, right, right. I almost forgot.” whoops

omfg you guys I’m loving this new and improved steely-eyed Rei. I’m loving her a lot

and what do you mean “part one” fkjds how long is this going to be. TOO MUCH DRAMA FOR ONE CHAPTER TO HANDLE

oh, hello

yeah I’ll say you did. didn’t seem to bother you much at the time, though

HMMMMMMMMMMMM

Dabi Is A Noumu intensifies even further. anyways though would you fucking look at this boy lounging on this moth-eaten couch doing his best DRAW ME LIKE YOUR FRENCH GIRLS impression wtf

Dabi what if you actually had killed him??? what would you feel?? satisfaction?? regret?? anything at all?? tell me your secrets goddammit

who are you talking to buddy

Fuyumi-chan, Natsu-kun (is it common for brothers to address each other as -kun?? can’t recall seeing that in many other anime, but hey), and “dot dot dot,,,,,, SHOUTO” lol thank you so much for this bountiful heaping of Tododrama Horikoshi we are blessed

AH, WHAT DID I SAY THE OTHER DAY

ULTIMATE MELODRAMATIC THEATER CHILD. “I’M JUST GOING TO LIE ON THIS COUCH SHIRTLESS AND ALONE AND MAKE SPEECHES TO MY FAMILY MEMBERS WHO AREN’T THERE AND SAY THINGS LIKE ‘WATCH ME IN THE PITS OF HELL’ WITH A STRAIGHT FACE BECAUSE NO ONE’S THERE TO JUDGE ME.” WELL JOKE’S ON YOU MISTER CHATTERBOX BECAUSE I AM IN FACT JUDGING THE SHIT OUT OF YOU LOL

(ETA: and on a more serious note, it’s interesting to see that “look at me”/”watch me” theme being used again though, because we see that same sentiment uttered repeatedly by the younger Touya in the flashback. well kid, you definitely got your wish at last. don’t know what else to say.)

OKAY HORIKOSHI HAS DECIDED THAT’S ENOUGH FUN, TIME FOR MORE FLASHBACKS

oh my sweet precious lord

just as cute as we left him. giving us a child this cute when we all know full well what’s going to happen to him is just unspeakably cruel though

HOMG

I’m fucking speechless. you broke me, congratulations. what am I even supposed to do with this

I can’t get over this. moving forward my life will be split into two distinct parts, B.P. (Before the Pout) and A.P. (After the Pout)

and meanwhile there’s ALL THIS BACKGROUND ANGST BUILDING UP, AND I CAN’T EVEN FOCUS ON IT. Touya’s arm and cheek are covered in bandages (I’m guessing this is shortly after that “ouch!” panel we got some chapters back), and Enji is deliberately avoiding training with him because he doesn’t want him to hurt himself further. I can’t fucking get over the irony that all this time everyone thought Touya had died because Enji pushed him too far in his training, and it turns out that it’s the opposite -- the tragedy ultimately happened because he didn’t want to push him. but I’m jumping ahead of myself though I guess

by the way,

remember this?? just wanted to remind you that it exists just in case you forgot

so now someone is talking and basically saying that Touya is the exact opposite of what Enji was hoping for when he decided to start playing with quirk genetics

-- okay hold up

...lol no, never mind. for a second I thought “holy shit he looks kind of familiar WHAT IF IT’S UJIKO OMG” before I remembered that Enji would have recognized him during the hospital capture mission if that was the case. so NEVER MIND, PROCEED

IMAGINE THAT, ENJI DOESN’T QUITE SEEM SATISFIED WITH THIS SUGGESTION OF QUITTING NOW

(ETA: how the fuck did this man go around saving 62 towns in a single day what even is All Might.)

[clicks tongue several times] trouble a’brewin’

MEANWHILE BABY TOUYA HAS UNFORTUNATELY INHERITED HIS DAD’S STUBBORN STREAK

KLDIHWOEIJFL:KSDJ

!!!!!!!!!!!

oh my god. oh my god. what is this chapter. WHAT IS IT

so now Touya is all “YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND MY MANLY DESIRE TO BURN MYSELF ALIVE” well you got her there champ

THEY’RE TOO CUTE. OH MY GOD. HIS FURIOUS LITTLE TEARS. HER CHUBBY LIL FACE. HIS STUBBY LIL FISTS. SOMEONE HELP ME

also are they just home alone lol or what. “hey Touya, you’re what, like six now?? do us a favor and look after your baby sister for a couple hours for us would you? make sure not to set yourself on fire or anything.” WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!!

now it’s nighttime and Enji and Rei are arguing, presumably about his decision not to train Touya anymore

whew. okay. so, a couple of things here

1. first of all I think this conclusively shows that Enji really was trying to do the best he could for Touya. he stopped training him as soon as he realized it was hurting him, but Touya was still determined so he tried to make it work anyway, and even visited doctors to try and figure out if there was anything they could do. then, once they were absolutely sure that it wasn’t going to work, he tried multiple times to explain to Touya why they had to stop. he didn’t just abandon him out of the blue, which is really important to note. “no matter how much I tried telling him...”

so yeah, that debunks another common fandom accusation. so by the time he finally makes this decision, which we all know is going to turn out horribly, it’s basically because he’s already tried everything else he could think of. which, by the way, still doesn’t mean he handled this right. but at the very least he was taking Touya’s feelings into account and he was trying, and he didn’t just abruptly toss his son aside (at least not yet)

2. buuuut, then there’s this panel right below all that

which is the other side of it. if he’d just quit like the doctor person advised him to, that would have been the end of it. Touya would still have been upset, but he would have eventually gotten over it and the family would have moved on and possibly even been happy. but what happens next happens because Enji can’t let go. he still has this maddening urge to surpass All Might, and so he and Rei keep having more children, and then Shouto is born, and Enji finally has a kid he can start projecting all of his hysterical ambitions onto once again, and everything starts spiraling out of control soon after

though p.s. none of that is Shouto’s fault though!! he’s one of the few good things to come out of this whole mess and I’m very happy that he exists. the tragedy is that his dad fucking lost his mind over his quirk and fucked everything up. but that’s on him, not Touya or Shouto

anyways, SLKFJLSHGLKJL

I CAN’T FUCKING TAKE THIS YOU GUYS??? LOOK AT THAT LIL BUTTON OF A NOSE??? I’M LOSING IT HERE???

AND TOUYA JUST SEEMS DEVASTATED OMG

because children aren’t stupid, after all. he understands that his dad is still looking to surpass All Might. and so he feels like a failure, and feels like his dad is trying to replace him because he wasn’t good enough. and even now, isn’t that what the adult Touya is trying to prove?? that he was good enough after all?? “I’ll show you what happens when you give up on me, dad”?? “I’ll show you what I can do”?? fuck my life fuck everything

AND YOU CAN SEE THE TOLL THAT IT’S ALL TAKING ON REI GETTING WORSE AND WORSE AS WELL OH GOD

really nice touch here with the panel outlines becoming all shimmery from the heat of Endeavor’s flames (and/or becoming more unstable as the family gets closer and closer to their breaking point). but man, Horikoshi I can’t handle this, please show us more cute kids or something I can’t

GKELKWFJLDKSHFLKL

WITTLE BABE. BEEB. BUBS. SMOL. lkj; oh ouch a piece of my heart just detached and latched onto him huh look at that

TODOROKI “I’M SO SMALL AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON AND I DIDN’T ASK TO BE HERE” SHOUTO AHHHHH

crazy how they all just seem to know right off the bat lol. kid doesn’t even have object permanence yet, let alone a quirk. but do they care?? IT’S THE HAIR, RIGHT. WE’RE ALL THINKING IT, I’M JUST GONNA COME OUT AND SAY IT. they knew the minute they looked at him lol

AND MEANWHILE TOUYA IS OFF HAVING UNSUPERVISED TRAINING/CRYING SESSIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS OR WHATEVER, AND, UH OH

are those blue flames yet?? they seem pretty close

(ETA: this is one of the few cases where the manga being in black and white is infuriating lol.)

OH MY GOD AND STILL

so it’s not like he was so disinterested that he didn’t notice what was happening, and he was still trying to stop it and get through to him. trying to reassure him that it wasn’t the end of the world and there were other things he could do with his life, but this one particular thing just wasn’t going to happen

fucking hell. it’s agonizing seeing how close they actually were to fixing it. if he’d only said the right words, or if he’d realized at this point how destructive his obsession could be to his kids, and backed off from putting that same pressure on Shouto. we came so close to possibly having a happy ending

AND ALSO THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING BUT PLEASE LOOK AT HOW TOUYA IS LIKE THREE AND A HALF FEET TALL AND HIS DAD IS LIKE NINE AND A HALF FEET. Touya barely comes past his knees flkjlkg. the Todoroki household must have been so filled with like plastic stepstools to reach the bathroom sink and all the little baby toothbrushes, and baby gates to keep the kiddos out of the important grown-up rooms and stuff. and also days-old half-empty cups of water and stale crackers and hot wheels and my little ponies strewn everywhere

“BUT EVERYONE AT SCHOOL SAYS THEY’RE GONNA BE HEROES” a wild Deku parallel appears?? how bout that

I know this is like a pivotal moment in the Todo Tragedy and all, but fucking look at this lil dumpling

“sup bro, it’s me, the manifestation of your fears of inadequacy and lack of fatherly affections. a GAAA. ba-baAA-baa [gurgling baby sounds]”

OHHHHH IT’S THE SOUND OF MY HEART BREAKING OH NO

HE WANTS TO BE LIKE YOU ENJI. good lord somebody please just get this family some therapy

“DAD YOU IGNITED IT IN ME” flkjslkj nope, nope. not ready for this pain here

baby Shouto, would you like to weigh in on this affair? “DA!! ba-ga-daaa, [pacifier chewing noises]” oh my, you don’t say. so insightful for one so young

OH MY GODDDDDD

IT’S SO DRAMATIC BUT ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT ARE THE SHOUNEN WOOSH LINES SURROUNDING FOUR-MONTH-OLD SHOUTO LOL HE WAS LIKE THIS FROM BIRTH OH MY GOD I AM DYING HELP

SHOUTO YOU’RE RUINING THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER!?!?!

“yo, the fuck kind of family was I fucking born into” oh, son. if you only knew. IF YOU ONLY KNEW!!

(ETA: lmao I got so distracted by the ridiculous cuteness that I glossed over the fact that Baby Touya seems to possibly be aiming at him?? it’s hard to tell because he’s also super out of it from heatstroke and may just be losing control in his attempt to show off his upgrade.)

ANYWAY THAT’S THE END EXCEPT WHAT’S THIS LAST LINE OMG

ffffff. and we’re in for ANOTHER chapter of this next week?? MORE drama?? MORE BABIES?? MORE OF EIGHT-YEAR-OLD TOUYA’S SLOW DESCENT INTO MADNESS. MY HEART CAN’T TAKE IT, BUT ALSO YES PLEASE SIGN ME UP

[fencesandfrogs]

I am really glad you said your piece about that historical fashion post cause insisting that passion and art cannot coexist with historical accuracy in shows, that are marketed SPECIFICALLY as being set in a specific era, sounds very dismissive and condescending of the effort fashion historians put into educating people about historical costume, and how its portrayal in media affects the perceptions the audiences have of it

YEAH thank u

problem is NOT with shows like ofmd but i am like.

urgh okay so i keep mentioning anne w an e let me explain.

latest episode i watched. woman in it. wore pants. no corset.

made me very upset.

erased a bunch of real history about women. victorian women made very cool skirts that turned into pants for riding bikes. they were not helpless. they were working women. they refused to be held back. they wanted to ride a bike, so they made a way to ride it. that is so cool. that's how progress is made.

but instead of showing that we will just give her pants.

why?

why why why?

n it's never with men. i mean men's clothing its own bag of worms. but still. never ever with men. men wore corsets sometimes. men had style. never bother with that tho. just put them in suit and call it a day. i don't have an eye for men's historical fashion not enough people talking about it. i want to develop one.

but going back.

she didn't wear a corset. i got very angry. i have spent so long explaining to people corsets are not bad. and here this show is.

problem is anne with an e looks right. i mean. it looks wrong if u know. anne's very modern beanie. i swear someone wore scarf clearly modern. people i watch with they don't notice. but i notice.

anyway.

so they see woman take off corset think she is. idk. liberating herself.

but that's upsetting. women should be comfortable. bras are very bad. women should go back to wearing corsets. or at least they should have better support garments. shoulders not meant to hold all that weight.

corsets r feminist okay? corsets don't demand your body fit the standard. corsets are comfortable. put padding to make your body match the standard. no spanx. no compression. just support.

why have her take off corset? why not show the wide array of corsets designed for working women? ones with only bones so they breathe. or ones with only cording so they r flexible. or or or.

no.

just have her take off corset. because that means she's a feminist icon now.

doesn't matter that real feminism was happening. doesn't matter. who cares? why bother? just have her take off the corset. skip the hard messy ugly stuff. no one wants that.

so to then say. fashion historians don't get to correct that? don't get to explain that? don't get to.

urgh.

i'm glad for the support anon. i have always been fascinated with history of dress. it's very upsetting to see it diminished. that is passion. passion is caring.

not trying is not passion. it's not art. it's just sad lazy.

shows that try in other ways r okay. like ofmd. or. okay here's a secret i only care about the clothes so i don't watch many period dramas. just look at pictures. but. ofmd is okay not trying to be accurate. not lazy. passion.

but passion is not this dress looks old and we think it says something about the character. that's lazy. make fantasy movie if you want that. make something that doesn't pretend to be accurate.

it's very disingenuous to act like well it's just fiction too. because shows and things market themselves like serious drama very real very accurate look at dress costumes. ignore makeup ignore hair ignore shoes ignore ignore ignore.

not passion.

lazy.

more handmade lace and ruffs. more stays. more chemises under corsets. more men with funny pants. more wigs.

that's passion.