#But Will Graham is a man who loves chaos and war | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

felixstudios · 10 months

Note

Headcanons for what would happen if you set the managers loose in a chuck e cheese

Random Corporate Clash Headcanons, Setting The Managers Loose at Chuck E Cheese Edition

Duck Shuffler

🎰Plays in the ball pit

🎰Chaos. There is pure chaos

🎰He's the type of guy to walk onstage with the animatronics and try to perform with them {I think they have real robots? Or is it just ppl dressed up? IDK I never gone there}

🎰Runs around everywhere laughing maniacally because he's just so happy and excited

Prethinker

🧠He leaves

🧠If he can't, he hides in the bathrooms until he can

🧠Talks to nobody

Derrick Man

🛢️Drinks oil by himself at a table

🛢️Maybe chats with a few coworkers

🛢️Tries to ignore the noise

Deep Diver

🫧Stands in the corner and watches everything

🫧Stays to herself

Rainmaker

⛈️Tries to help anyone who like falls and scrapes their knee ETC.

⛈️In general tries to be nice to everyone

⛈️Will probably try to participate in some games

Land Acquisition Architect

🚦Says he doesn't have any interest in such a childish place

🚦Ten minutes later he has joined Buck

🚦They have a violent ball pit war

Gatekeeper

⚔️Judges everyone

⚔️Writes up her coworkers if they break company policy

⚔️Scoffs and just. Stares.

Witch Hunter

🔱He leaves

🔱HE LEAVES.

Public Relations Representative

🧱Tries to have fun, but he glitches too much :(

🧱Poor guy just wants to play games with everyone

Bellringer

🔔Takes pictures of everyone and posts it online to use as gossip and social blackmail

🔔Tries to eavesdrop on employee conversations to gauge how well kept the establishment is {nobody gets paid enough to care}

🔔Will strike up a conversation with anyone willing to talk to him, stranger or coworker

Multislacker

🥪Orders a lot of food and uses his dad's payment information

🥪He just eats the whole time lol

🥪Calls into work saying he's using his PTO

Mouthpiece

☎️Is astonished that food of such "terrible quality" is being served and tries to get everyone to not eat it with promises of cooking everyone a meal later

☎️Probably talks with Ben about really whatever

☎️When offered to join the games, she declines and says her body is too old to be active and flexible enough

Major Player

🎹Tries to perform onstage and tells the employees he can put on a show everyone will love

🎹Constantly tries to put on a performance, no matter what he's doing. Even if it's just going down a slide

Firestarter

🔥Is super polite to everyone and tries to stay out of everyone's way

🔥When asked by Graham to join in on the games, he hesitantly joins and apologizes profusely every time he messes up

🔥Tries to ask everyone if they had fun when it's over, but nobody hears him

Plutocrat

🌑He leaves

🌑He. Leaves.

Treekiller

🪵Chats with his coworkers

🪵Might throw some balls back into the ball pit {harshly on purpose to bonk someone}, but doesn't actually join the games

Chainsaw Consultant

🪚Just watches everyone quietly

🪚Might talk briefly with some of his coworkers but will probably look for the most quiet place at the Chuck E Cheese to hang out. Alone.

🪚Spruce is allowed to chat with him though just because they're good pals

Featherbedder

💤They sleep the entire time

💤Only wakes up when it's time to go and apologizes to everyone that they were just too tired to properly interact with everyone

Pacesetter

👟Runs around the restaurant and probably races Buck several times

👟Joins in on the games, and every time he loses he makes an excuse like he was just letting them win that time

👟Keeps bothering Flint to join everyone until he finally does

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sisilafami · 4 months

Text

2023

Rap:

Sexyy Red - Hood Hottest Princess & (Deluxe)

Veeze - Ganger

Babyface Ray - Summer's Mine

MarijuanaXO & Joe Pablo - 30 Mil No Deal

BabyDrill - MadMan

SME TaxFree - Standin On Bidness / Im Still Industreets / Just Like Brothers (w/Big Homie Dre Cash)

Lil Yachty - 2023 singles

BandGang Lonnie Bands - Bam Bam / Provisions / Can't Ban the Bandman 2

Wizz Havinn - Super Wizz / Super Wizz_ The Sequel

Paco Panama - The Wire Vol. 1 / The Matrix / Faces of the Hill (w/Deemuney)

Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips

Niontay - Dontay's Inferno / Demon Muppy

ICYTWAT - Siddhi World (Deluxe) / Final Boss / HAVE MERCY ON US /G4ost 2 / 4 tha Troopz

youngfootsoldier - Life Of A Young Soldier / Most Wanted

KP SKYWALKA - GRANDMA HOUSE (DELUXE) / Rhythm N Bip

YT - #STILLSWAGGIN

LUCKI - s_x m_ney dr_gs

Tae Rackzz - Who is Ju

Smoke Chapo - Over The Counter (Deluxe)

Ken Carson - A Great Chaos

YTB Fatt - Who Is Fatt / Foxes Only

Ethan Uno - Bachata Jersey Youtubes 2023

Mariboy Mula Mar - Effortless / Bitty Breaker / No auto mar 2 / Mula ova errthing

2Sdxrt3all - FUCK SCHOOL / Stop Holdin Nuts / gotta be geeked

Mari Montana - Outstanding Member

Lil 2 Dow - 21 Gun Salute

RRB Duck - Half Man Half Dog / Back In Da K / Scrooge McDuck Vol 1 & 2

Glokk40Spaz - Took The Biggest Risk

Baby Osamaa - Tank Girl

D30 - Sorry 2 My Fans / Trappers & Scammers

WifiGAWD - Been Bout It / BLOCK MUSIC

OsamaSon - Osama Season / Flex Musix

Mike - Burning Desire

TisaKorean - Let Me Update My Status

CEO Trayle - The Collection Vol. 2

Slimesito - Paid N Full / RSG

HM:

454 & SURF GANG - FAST 5

786 Ju - 786 Year

Akai Solo - Verticality/Singularity

Anycia - EXTRA

BabyK turnt - $tack Or Starve / Rich B4 A Deal

Bb Trickz - Trickstar

Bear1Boss - Lil hotsauce / GlacierGuru

Beatking - She Won't Leave Houston

Bigskiis - MR. Ouuweee Scusemee

Billy Woods - Maps

Bucky Malone - DERREN

Cash Cobain - Pretty Girls Love Slizzy / Slizzy Day

Chavo - Chavo's World 3

Che - Crueger / Closed Captions

Chloe Hotline - jouissancé

Chicken P - BussaBrick Vol.3 ReallyRich4eva / Ain’t Lost Shit

Dani Kiyoko - REAL $tREET RUNNA 3

DaeMoney - Slae Season 3

Dai Ballin - 844 pt.3 / 448 Pt. 2

Durkalini - PYRO THE PASTOR

Four50 - DRUNKEN STYLE

Devstacks - Scriptures

Earl Sweatshirt - VOIR DIRE

El Cousteau - Dirty Harry

Funny $money - Dont Talk 2 Much, Vol. 2 / Trap Money (w/ Trap Baby)

HavinMotion - Bang Music

J Billz - Streetz Hottest Young'n

Ju Swipin - #786FreeBro

L5 - Blood on switch st

Lil Gray - Swipe Renaissance

Lil Tony Official - TKEY / Chasin Pape deluxe (w/PCF Jaey)

Lilqua 50 - Only For The Fans

Los - War On Drugs 2

Lucille Ghatti - BLACK BALLED

ManMan Savage - For Players Only

Moh Baretta - Unorthodox

NBA YoungBoy - Don't Try This At Home

NeedNoName - All Off Backendz 2 Deluxe

Popstar Benny - University!

Raised Round Bosses - Ain't NuN Better Den A Cracking Phone Vol 2

Reace Sosa - Till I Touch The Ground Again

RealYungPhil - Victory Music

Reed - Downtown Chronicles

Rob Lee - Level Up

Rx Papi - Marlo

Rylo Rodriguez - Been One

SCY Jimm - Trench Baby / Highly Favored

Sérane - SGPM

Shaudy Kash - On The Yeah Side 2

Sideshow - DON’T JUST STAND THERE!

SparkHeem - Survivors Guilt

Starlito - LOVE DRUG

Subiibabii - Subiworld / swagg school / WEBB

Super Throwed Dave - Smacking Fire

Talinwya - BiRDMAN & Deluxe

Teeglazedit - The Blueprint

TrapKane - Free My Team

Tree - FREE TREE

Yung Threat - Se Grim Reaper

Valee - CAR TOONS

Vayda - breeze

Wiki - 14K Figaro

Contemporary :

Lionel Marchetti - MÉANDRE(S)

Eva-Maria Houben - Toccata et Fuga (celebrating our disorientation)

Ayami Suzuki & Leo Okagawa - while it's warm

Graham Lambkin - No Better No Worse Vol 3

Stephen Yip - By Moonflowers

Jim O'Rourke - Steamroom 61

Atte Elias Kantonen - a path with a name

Natasha Barrett - Reconfiguring the Landscape

Action Pyramid & Jack Greenhalgh - Mardle: Daily Rhythms of a Pond

Véhicule - Aubusson

Antoine Beuger & Anastassis Philippakopoulos - floating by

Mordecoli - Château Mordécoly

Jana Winderen - The Blue Beyond

Kate Carr - on cabbages, salt, bacteria and transformations

MP Hopkins - Misting

Maddalena Comunale Massaro - La Religione Degli Insetti

Zizia - Genera

Sunik Kim - Potential

DDK Trio - A Right to Silence

Damon Smith, Louis Wall & NNN Cook - Fire Point

David Velez - Beta Vulgaris

Digital Beats :

Chuquimamani-Condori - DJ E

Ghost Notes Worldwide with billdifferen_ Funk Special mix 24/08/2023

Nidia - 95 MINDJERES

Tropa do Bruxo - Baile do Bruxo (DELUXE)

Dj Nigga Fox - Gás Natural 2 (Dedicação ao Nagrelha)

Nondi_ - Flood City Trax

Olof Dreijer - Rosa Rugosa EP

jaijiu - SET ULTRARRÁPIDO DE 10 MIN FUNK 260 BPM

DJ Manny - Hypnotized

Maryyx2 - Silent Noise (The Album)

Speaker Music - Techxodus

HiTech - DÉTWAT

Amal - PRESSURE

Emma DJ - g0drm2

DJ Smiley Bobby - Dhol Tasha Drum Exercises from Maharashtra

Dj Wesley Gonzaga - Antidepressivo

R’n’B:

Amaarae - Fountain Baby

Brent Faiyaz - Larger Than Life

Lucille Ghatti - Tears from a clown

Jim Legxacy - homeless n_gga pop music

Vontee the Singer - LOVERS & FRIENDS

Other stuff:

John T. Gast - SINEAD MEMORY TAPE (2015)

Canva6 - Cco2

Model Home - endless spool / SMMR MMRY / 20 / JuJu MineField

Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Five_ In the garden

Nourished by Time - Erotic Probiotic 2

Jeff Tobias - Music from Milky Way Underground

Aprxel - tapetumlucidum_3

Fever Ray - Radical Romantics

Rắn Cạp Đuôi - *1

Sbatax - Spires

NewJeans - Get Up

Babsy Konate - Tounga

New old :

Black Rob - Life Story 2

Don Cherry & Jean Schwarz - Roundtrip (1977) (Live)

Hiroyuki Onogawa - August in the Water- Music for Film 1995-2005

Jon Hassell - Further Fictions [Rec. 1989]

Lil Kev - Lil Kev Mix 04-18-12 (Full Mixtape) (youtube)

Main Source - The Science

Primetime and Digga - PRIMETIME & DIGGA GREATEST HITS

Various Artists - Unruly Records Anthology - 1991-1995 (The Early Years)

#2023

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quietbluejay · 15 days

Text

Angel Exterminatus 11

YOU AREN'T HEEDING THEIR WARNINGS YOU DIMWIT

im resisting very hard making any comments about of course it's the wargamers (not resisting that hard otherwise I wouldn't have called notice to it)

Homestuck reference

wait when was this written 2016 did...did Black Library author Graham McNeill read Homestuck???

lmao okay whatever it is he's doing, it's happening now

...is it gonna be possession

With the help of viewers like you! For the low low price of your entire life energy!

oh i'm sorry, were you being serious here??? "made war a thing of beauty" your entire schtick is being ground down by the ugliness of the warfare you have been engaged in

he's right and he should say it perturabo does lack vision vision, ambition, initiative

someone pick up the phone because I called it I mean it was pretty obvious but still

now I'm really curious as to how he gets out of this alive or does he is it actually perturabo who shows up at the siege

Fulgrim, could you please make the moment where you absorb your brother's life a little less weird?

unfortunately, or thankfully the shooting stars meme kind of broke the tension in this bit for me someone with art skills please i need your help-

is Forrix dead??? RIP common sense

Kroeger normally I'm happy for you to get to do violence but maybe chill for once in your life

okay im wondering if Slaanesh isn't the only chaos god getting something out of today

Khorne intensifies

and then Kroeger hallucinates that he's an Aztec fighting conquistadors and then he hallucinates he's a dude in WWI …a cannibal lovely i "love" warhammer novels there's always cannibalism when you least expect it

yep. He went Full Khorne you never go Full Khorne

back to perturabo and he's having some kind of wacky magical mystery tour

fulgrim can you i know i already asked you to turn it down and i realize you don't actually know the meaning of those words put in that order but

this is well done from a writing perspective but also I want to crawl out of my skin

NANI??? is he gonna get his life force back??? Perturabo uses his magic primarch powers???

power of spite and trauma everyone

oof fulgrim materializes a sword and stabs him

meanwhile: Falk is somehow the only sane man

beautiful

Okay, worried now

a private moment just fulgrim, an entire world of eldar souls, the EC and the IW and the unconscious body of Perturabo oh wait let's not forget the Shattered Legions hanging around too watching this

okay time for stabbing fulgrim with the evil knife apparently?? the evil knife they stabbed horus with and also guilliman wait what the heck is the timeline here why is everyone playing hot potato with this stupid knife how are they playing hot potato

they're killing him to bring him back??? i guess??? oh they put the ground up soulstones in the wounds

I'm sorry all I can see is

Also Eidolon just pulling soulstones out of nowhere is a hilarious mental image while Fulgrim's busting a move. (I'm...not going to say anything about the rest of the scene other than that I'm at my limit)

im crying this is so stretched out the pacing i mean okay so like is this it??

augggh

well okay on the bright side he seems to be an intact person just you know traumatized but normal trauma rather than supernatural trauma

at...least he's being honest with himself?

I hit image limit. Again. The Angel Exterminatus ride has no breaks!

#bluejay reads warhammer #warhammer 40k

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dragonmuse · 2 years

Note

Oh yes, pretty please to the fic list thing!! I would love that!!

All right then! Here we go on a journey. I have listed these in the order they occurred to me and then by going through my bookmarks, then sorted by fandom. Some of these I’ve read upwards of a dozen times, some pre-date AO3, but all have been moved over. I’ve been in fandom a long time, so it’s a long list!

Letters from the Northern Continent by thehoyden. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Garak/Bashir. A poignant look at Julian going to Cardassia to help in war devastated areas. Probably my favorite fic of all time, if I was forced to choose just one.

Jeu-Parti by Macedon. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Jake/OMC. Jake meets an unusual Vulcan who changes the trajectory of his life. Over the course of the series, Jake grows up, becomes a father himself and learns how to love a person, who is both entirely different to him and yet so much the same.

Children Will Look To You (title shortened) by Staight_Outta_Hobbiton. Star Trek: Alternate Original Series. Bones-centric. Bones accidentally adopts the children orphaned from the destruction of Vulcan and takes them home to his huge family compound. All the found family feels. The series is WIP, likely permanently, but feels very satisfying as is.

Most Likely To by Kaneko. Breakfast Club. John Bender/Brian Johnson. Sometimes life doesn’t go like you planned, but you still wind up where you’re supposed to be.

Higher Education by Resonant. Breakfast Club. John Bender/Brian Johnson. Bender makes a life for himself in opposition to his father’s and it turns out pretty well. Bender’s struggle with his sexuality is realistic, heart-breaking and then healed.

Watchmen Zombie!Au by etherati. Watchmen. Dan Dreiberg/Rorschach. What if becoming a zombie was the best thing to ever happen to Rorshach? Dan navigates the changes in his friend and the world. There is a touch to this story that has never let me go. I think it’s the slow burn of it and the real consideration for how even the most difficult, hardened people can let themselves grow softer.

Ladders by emungere. Hannibal. Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter. I read a lot of Hannibal fic, but this one stuck to my ribs. A long journey with Will and Hannibal as they sort out their life post-cliff dive, in a house in France.

Responsible Science by lettered. Avengers. Bruce Banner-centric. This series is mind-meltingly good if you enjoy philosophical debates, troubled protagonists and serious takes on tropes. There’s de-aging, time loops, and more, but they are all taken deadly seriously. Bruce is a fascinating lens to journey with, his sharp edges never dulled down for narrative convenience.

PWP: Pie Without Plot by orange_crushed and MajorEnglishEsquire. Supernatural. Dean/Castiel, Sam/OFC. Dean gets to hang out in a bakery and run it and accidentally falls in love with doing it. Sam gets a kickass girlfriend. It’s just good, clean , floury fun.

And This Your Living Kiss by opal_bullets. Supernatural. Dean/Castiel. AU where Castiel is a poetry professor, who’s class Dean reluctantly audits as an adult, only to discover that the lone poetry book he published as a young man is Castiel’s personal favorite. This story is poetry in its own right, aching and lovely.

At Least There’s the Football by sheffiesharpe. Sherlock. Mycroft Holmes/Lestrade. This series is about falling in love in a very realistic and heartfelt way. It’s elegant and kind with its characters.

The Least of All Possible Mistakes by rageprufrock. Sherlock. Mycroft Holmes/Lestrade. Lestrade has always been a woman in this story. She is also a gorgeously fully realized character that makes me cheer for her and makes me cry for her, even though I’ve read it a dozen times and know how it all turns out.

Of Old Mystics by omphalos and Wolfing. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ethan Rayne/Rupert Giles. This fic is probably the longest on the list, spanning more than half a million words. It’s a novel about chaos and order, love and destruction.

Little Gods by Teland and Jane St. Claire. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and X-men. Nate Grey/Oz Osbourne. Take the chilliest werewolf of all time and let him go on an amazing journey with one of the most powerful mutants to ever live. It reads like a dreamscape.

Pike and Benny Stash by Viridian5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (movie). Pike/Benny. Just teenage dirtbags falling in love. This was written in 1999 so I think it’s the oldest on the list. I definitely read it as the series was posting, so that’s fun.

Everything About It Is a Love Song by pocky_slash. X-Men. Charles Xavier/Erik Lensharr. Erik shows up when they’re in their seventies and is like ‘come retire with me’ Charles :). It’s just very sweet and tender.

Zweiundachtzig by Dow. X-Men. Charles Xavier/Erik Lensharr. A modern au where Erik makes jewelry and in sharing a studio with Raven, finds a family and the love of his life. Just makes me want to melt into a puddle really.

Frankenstein and the Newt by orphan. Pacific Rim. Newton Geizler/Hermann Gottlieb. A sprawling series that launched several aus of itself. It is touching, philosophical, funny and also deadly-serious. The Omelette-verse stories are my favorite, but they’re all great. Contains monster fucking.

Absolute Beginners by adreadfulidea. Archie Comics. Jughead Jones/Reggie Mantle. This was a Yuletide story and I can’t even say why it grabbed me by the throat so hard. It’s shorter than I usually hold this close to my heart, and really about a single day. I just love it.

Human Interest by MadLori. Brokeback Mountain. Ennis del Mar/Jack Twist. A reporter stumbles on a ranch owned by two men and decides to write about them. Instead she becomes close with them, learns about their past and becomes a part of their future. Sprawling look at what they could’ve been.

Under the Table and Dreaming by hollycomb. Toy Story. Sid Phillips/Andy Davis. Don’t let the pairing or fandom dissuade you. This is the story of two lost kids that find each other, hold on tight and don’t let go. It’s about adjusting your expectations, figuring out what love looks like at every age and stage of life.

Mod About You by Ellabesmirched. Star Wars. Kylo Ren/Armitage Hux. Modern AU where Hux is a businessman and Kylo is a tattooed, pierced and much kinder version of himself. Lots of drug use, discovery and sex.

#favorite fics #do recommend #I'm sure as soon I hit post I'll think of a dozen more #but these are the ones I've re-read the most #I like 'em long and dense

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purplefeathersandblackleather · 1 year

Note

Fun fact I'm sure you'll appreciate: I totally adored RDJ's Sherlock, and was left wanting more after the sequel. If the timing had been right, I'm might've ended up beautifully obsessed over him/his Sherlock because that was before I discovered Benedict. But my obsession gene was dormant at the time.

😏😉

👀 And a good evening to you as well~

And interesting bit of information to learn of you, indeed my dear! It is fascinating to me that you should mention that your obsession was dormant because this was around the time that my love for this man began to take form! While I was indeed introduced to Tony in 2008, that was actually NOT my first time seeing my gorgeous muse. I was introduce to Robert in 2004 when my mother watched Gothika for the first time and while the plot was interesting, I was more fascinated by the handsome assistant to the main character. He took my breath away, Pete Graham had, but I was not aware of who he was. But when Iron Man came out - oh my heart still flutters - I began to understand exactly what I was in for. My mother asked me to go with her to see Iron Man because she was excited to see one of her favorite childhood actors playing her very favorite character. I remember the burning like fire in the pit of my stomach and the way my cheeks grew hot when I saw that scene in Iron Man for the first time.

I was done: There would never be another hero in my life the way Tony was. And Damon agreed: Him and I began to change his story to better suit being with Tony. The rest, well, it's beautiful chaos and something I will never forget no matter how much time goes by. My children - should my girlfriend and I have any - will know of this man and the way he changed my life! But that's not to say I was completely sold on Robert yet. And it wasn't until I saw his performance as Sherlock that I truly began to appreciate his diversity when it came to the roles that he could play. I knew in that moment, there would be no one on this beautiful but darkened world who would inspire me the way that he has. And I will never be afraid again to admit that. So, I think the timing didn't work out for you so that it could work out for me, and the same could be said for my feelings for Ben. After seeing him in War Horse, I thought that I could easily have loved him had I not already found out about Robert. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I fail to believe the universe is that lazy. Your timing with Robert didn't work and mine didn't for Benedict, so we could meet here in this time of our lives. 🌺💕 Thank you for sharing this with me, V. I truly believe now more than ever that our connection runs deeper than I believed.

Also that last gif has an amazing memory attached to it for me 😂 I very distinctly remember that part of the movie where he was dressed up as a woman for one very distinct reason. I had been visiting my grandparents one day in late 2012 and Game of Shadows was playing on the television. My grandfather - who normally had no interest in this kind of thing - had stopped on this movie for some reason. And as we watched together, I distinctly remember Sherlock making those people leave that train car and my grandfather busting out laughing at the look John gave Sherlock when he told him to lie down. He was just so done with Sherlock's bullshit, even I had to laugh. And somewhere in the back of my mind, Damon groaned in my head and said, "He really is Tony, no matter what era he's in." I've never thought to share that - or the fact Damon is my oldest running character since 2006 - with anyone. So, thank you dear flower, for giving me a reason to share that memory with everyone. 💜✨🖤

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cathygeha · 1 year

Photo

REVIEW

The Gay Best Friend by Nicolas DiDomizio

Well written, interesting look at expectations, love, and friendship that at times was painful and others heartwarming.

What I liked:

* Domenic: lawyer, musician, recently dis-engaged from Ted, best friends with Patrick and Patrick’s fiancé Kate, people pleaser, prefers peaceful friendships, somewhat self-absorbed, tries to live up to an image he has for himself, a magnet for trouble-controversy, grows some through the story

* Patrick: wealthy, Dom’s friend since childhood, stayed in touch with fraternity friends, in love with Kate, a bit clueless, communication skills need some work, a good person

* Kate: works for Vogue, engaged to Patrick, good friends with Domenic, makes request of Dom that is rather inappropriate and bound to cause problems, communication skills need some work, a good person

* Bucky: pro-golfer, in the closet, has a lot to process through the story and grows a great deal as her realizes truths about himself

* Ted: Domenic’s ex-fiancé, seemed more self-aware and better able to communicate than Dom, seemed a good guy though not the man for Domenic

* Mario: lobsterman, mature, kind, wise – wouldn’t mind seeing him in a future book

* Not sure I liked the drama, angst, conflicts, etc. but they were well done. I wanted to sit people down and make them talk to one another – so – well written as it did engage me

* The way more than one character dealt with personal issues and grew through the process

What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like

* That there was so much drama to deal with throughout the story…drama, angst, secrets, lies, hiding, and immaturity for people in their 30’s.

Did I enjoy this book? In the end

Would I read more by this author? Maybe

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

BLURB

He's always been the token gay best friend. Now, stuck between a warring bride and groom hurtling toward their one perfect day, he's finally ready to focus on something new: himself. Domenic Marino has become an expert at code-switching between the hypermasculine and ultrafeminine worlds of his two soon-to-be-wed best friends. But this summer—reeling from his own failed engagement and tasked with attending their bachelor and bachelorette parties—he's anxious over having to play both sides. The pressure is on. The bride wants Dom to keep things clean. The groom wants Dom to "let loose" with the guys. And Dom just wants to get out of this whole mess with his friendships intact. But once the rowdy groomsmen show up at the beach house—including a surprise visit from the groom's old frat brother, handsome and charming PGA star Bucky Graham—chaos (and unexpected romance) quickly ensues. By the time Dom returns for the bachelorette party, he's accumulated a laundry list of secrets that threaten to destroy everything—from the wedding, to Bucky's career, to the one thing Dom hasn't been paying nearly enough attention to lately: his own life.

#Nicolas DiDomazio #Sourcebooks Casablanca #NetGalley #LGBTQIA Fiction #Romance #Fiction #summer beach read

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hopeatermeetsgodzilla · 3 years

Text

Chapter 17

“Holla, Emily Kane. Sure is nice to finally meet the person who keeps breaking through our security system.”

Despite the initial surprise, the woman quickly shook her head, gaining her bearings back. “And you must be Julian Cyan Florès.” She answered back.

“Alright, I’m gonna have to stop you right there chica- it’s just Florès, J.C. if you’re a friend. And if you were trying to be intimidating by using my full name: that is nowhere long enough to be my actual name.” Florès informed her, shaking his head. “Anyway, did you guys know the military thinks you guys are Monarch agents in disguise?”

“What?” The woman on the screen- Emily Kane- asked incredulously. “Well that would explain why no one has come after us- wait a minute, did you just- !?”

“Expose the existence of your group to the military and blow the cover you guys didn’t even know you had?” Florès asked, before smirking. “Sure did, chica.”

Serizawa blinked, before turning toward the younger man. “How did you do that?”

“Serizawa, I’m the one keeping the firewall so solid.” Florès told him, really looking like he wanted to deadpan but restraining himself. “I know every single attempt to breach it, failed and successful alike. By the way,” The younger man turned back to the screen, brows furrowed. “Pretty smart to hack the cameras the one moment I’m not looking at a screen. Too bad the footage you got is basically useless now.”

Kane sighed. “What do you want from me, Florès? And don’t try anything sneaky, I know what you’re capable of.”

“And you think I don’t know about what you’re capable of, Emmy?” Florès started, his teeth flashing almost menacingly as he smiled. “You’re twenty-six years old, an orphan, and you got yourself a master in bioengineering with a minor in programming two years ago. You live alone with three cats- that’s sad- and the reason you decided to join the Titan Liberation Front is because Jonah is the only one who didn’t dismiss your talents because you’re a young black woman in field dominated by white male.”

She seemed surprised at that. “How do you know all that!?”

“Oh, idle snooping around in Jonah’s files. Dude needs a better firewall, and to trust his employees enough to not collect every single bit of info on them: official address, names of loved ones, birthplace, social security number-”

“Florès, we get it. You snoop around.” Emma started, getting up from behind her desk with her husband not far behind her. Until the Ghidorah fiasco was resolved, Monarch had allowed her to stay and help, and this was, in fact, what the earlier argument between Monarch’s head-scientists and the military had started about. “What I want to know is what the Titan Liberation Front thinks it’s doing.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kane asked. “We’re saving the world.”

“By releasing the Titans- that doesn’t make sense!” Mark retorqued back, before Emma put a hand on his shoulder.

“Actually, it... does.” She started. “As impossible as it may seems. You know how the planet is slowly being cooked by pollution?” He nodded. “A very possible theory here at Monarch is that the Titans can fix it.”

“Indeed.” Kane started back, taking a deep breath. “Humans... w-we’re a sickness. An infection on the planet. But like all organisms, the planet has unleashed a fever to kill it’s infection. It’s rightful rulers. The Titans.”

“Is that what you actually think, or is that what Alan ‘Eco-fascism is my middle name’ Jonah fed you so he could get you to abandon your ideals and work for him?”

“Florès.“ Serizawa admonished before turning toward the screen.

“Jonah made me see the truth.” Kane snapped back. “If the human infection continues to spread, the planet will perish, and everyone with it. Unless we let the Titans do what they must do.”

“And what will be left then!?” Mark exclaimed. “A dead, charred world overrun by warring giants-”

“No, actually.” Kane answered, shaking her head. “The Titans- they emit radiations that keeps the planet going. It’d be more like a land buried under the ashes of a volcano bringing life back to the land. And the survivors will be able to reap the rewards.”

“This is a dangerous path.” Serizawa hissed. “You’re all messing with forces beyond our comprehension- gambling with the life of millions!”

“And what are you gambling with?” Kane answered back. “Monarch is on the verge of being overtaken by the military, and all the resources you’ve dedicated to merely studying the Titans will be used to enslave them, destroy them, use them as weapons- if that happens, the planet will die!”

“The planet will die if Ghidorah is allowed to do as he pleases!” Graham started, visibly at the end of her patience. “They’re not from Earth! They are hostile Titans from outer space, who have always been malevolent, and your group forced one of our own to free them!”

“I understand where your intentions come from, miss Kane- I used to think similarly when I first joined Monarch.” Emma started. “But if we let this happen, there will be no going back. Tons of lives will be lost, and what will be left will be plunged into chaos. And that’s only with what we know about Earth’s Titans: Ghidorah isn’t part of the natural order, and they have the potential to disrupt it severely, if not destroy it beyond repair. Do you really want to to risk so much just for a slight chance of the planet healing?”

“... If that’s what it takes, yes.” Kane rubbed her eyes. “I suggest you all take refuge. We know Monarch has built bunkers in case of a mass extinction event caused by the Titans. I suggest you find them before Ghidorah comes out hiding.” Before anyone could say anything, she cut communication, plunging the room into a consterned silence.

You could hear a mutter of “That bitch.” from Dr. Chen,

“Well,” Stenz started. “I’m certainly surprised her message idn’t resonate with you people-”

“You. Shut .Up.” Florès hissed, glaring at a bewildered Stenz through the screen. “As far as I’m concerned, Ghidorah being free is your fault, and I don’t want to hear you tell us how Monarch should do their job, or that they have any affiliations with those madmen from the T.L.F., ever again, got it!? If you do, you’re next on the list of people I have to do some... idle snooping around about.”

“... Got it.” The admiral closed the screen shortly afterwards, a sigh of relief coming from almost everyone at this.

“We need to find a way...” Serizawa muttered under his breath, before turning toward the programmer. “Florès? I’m going to ignore the fact that I should probably fire you for cybercrimes on two conditions: find as much information as you can on the Titan Liberation Front, and use it to make their life a living hell.”

Florès smiled. “Of course, Serizawa.”

“Everyone else: get to work. We have to start preparing for the worst.”

Alright, Rodan had been back for a while now. He just needed to walk up to him, give him that stupid stone, and walk away. It was simple. A child could do it. Too bad the literal hundreds of nightmare scenarios going through Ni’s head simultaneously prevented him from moving from the rock he was hiding behind.

He took a peak, looking at Rodan. The bird was currently eating a fish, facing away from Ni’s point of view. He also seemed to be struggling with it, for some reason. Ni took a deep breath through his nose to steady himself, before getting up and walking up to him. “Rodan.”

“Gah!” Rodan exclaimed, turning toward Ni, before deflating a bit. “Don’t scare me like that.” He then turned back toward his fish, taking another bite and pulling a face as he did so. “Urgh, rotting flesh is the worst...”

Ni raised an eyebrow. “What do you usually eat?”

“Roots, nuts, insects, fish but prefer when it’s fresh... sometimes, humans would leave me grain in offerings, always a nice surprise.” Rodan answered. “... kind of palled to when they would kill one of their own in front of me as spectacle, but hey.”

“You don’t know what a sacrifice is?” When Rodan shook his head, Ni sat down. “It’s... an gift mortals give to gods by destroying or abandoning something dear, often the life of the sacrificed.”

“... yeah, sounds like something Quetz would’ve liked.” Rodan muttered, before shaking his head. “Don’t they know I’m not a god? I just... live here.”

“You’re bigger than them, at least one element obeys you, and you pretty much decide whether or not this island explodes.” Ni deadpanned. “To them, that’s enough.”

“... Uh.” Rodan took another bite of his fish, cringing as the flesh hit his tongue.

“If you don’t like it, stop eating it.”

“I can’t just stop eating it, I can’t find any other kind of food around here!”

Find food he can eat to get on his good side. Got it. “Why not just absorb energy, then?” Rodan seemed to freeze at that. “Well?”

“... can’t absorb any if I’m not in lava...” He finally muttered. As Ni opened his mouth, he snapped. “And no, I can’t just live the rest of my life in lava. Sure, it’s warm and I don’t risk ever being hurt in it again, but... I’m the only thing it doesn’t burn to the touch. I can’t see. I can’t hear. I can’t talk with anyone. I’m... I’m all alone.” Rodan shook his head. “That’s no way to live, so I try to stay out of it.”

“... San could teach you how to do it.” Ni finally said, Rodan turning toward him with a perplexed expression. “He’s the more spiritual out of the three of us... and he’s better with words than me... since we’re talking about San-” Ni took a hold of Rodan’s wrist, the bird screeching before realizing he was just putting something in his hand. “He found this, and wanted me to give it to you.”

There, it was done.

Ni closely watched Rodan as he reacted to the gift. After a few seconds of watching him, bewildered, he actually looked at the rock on his hand. After a few seconds of confusion, Rodan’s eyes widened, and his face turned a bright orange. “I- uh- erm-” He put the stone down, doing a strange gesture with his hands as he looked away.

Ni frowned at that. He understood, logically, that Rodan’s blood was lava-like from their fight. But why was it coming to his face? Was he overheating for some reason? Was he dying!? Was that why he couldn’t speak!? No no no no no, they needed him alive to get out of here.

Ni picked up Rodan, the bird squawking as he dragged him up. “I- what are you-” He started trashing in his grip as he realized that he was bringing him to the water, clutching at him with both set of claws. “No, NO- DO NOT FUCKING THROW ME INTO THE WATER-”

“You’re overheating, you need to get cooled down-”

“Overheat- I’M THE FIRE GUARDIAN, I CAN’T OVERHEAT!!!” Rodan finally screeched, freeing himself from Ni’s hold.

Ni’s only reaction was to frown. “Then why was your face turning red?”

“I was flustered! That happens!” Rodan exclaimed. “What, have you never seen someone flustered before!?”

“I have not.” Rodan blinked at Ni, before sighing.

“I’m fine. Your gift just... caught me off-guard.” There was a heavy silence, before Rodan broke it. “Do you have something I could use to wear it, like a thin rope or something?”

“No... wait.” Ni grabbed a few of his hair, tugging them out and braiding them together in a thin rope. “Hand me the stone, sit down, and turn around.” Rodan quickly followed the instructions, Ni wrapping the cord around the stone to make a necklace. “There we go... What was that thing you did with your hands earlier? He asked as he tied the cord around Rodan’s neck.

“Oh, sign words. I was saying thank you.” He answered. Ni made an inquisitive noise. “Basically, you speak with your hands instead of your mouth. Mothra taught me some time after I became the Fire Guardian because my transformation wasn’t finished and I couldn’t speak. I think the monkeys are the ones who invented it to talk with their worshippers.”

“I see... would you... mind teaching me?” Ni asked, trying to make his voice seem softer.

Rodan blinked, before nodding, turning toward Ni and sitting down. “Alright. Let’s start with the basics...”

#writing #My writing #mark russel #emma russel #emmy kano #dr serizawa #vivienne graham #OC #my OC #Rodan #ghidorah #King Ghidorah #ni ghidorah #rodorah

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chaoswillfallrpg · 4 years

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MARLENE MCKINNON is TWENTY-TWO YEARS OLD and a ASSISTANT COACH for THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES in THE BRITISH AND IRISH QUIDDITCH LEAGUE. She looks remarkably like BRITTANY O’GRADY and considers herself aligned with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. She is currently TAKEN.

→ OVERVIEW:

Passionate and confident with a name meaning ‘star of the sea’, Marlene McKinnon fittingly lives up to the phrase. Radiating light to those around her, Marlene can often burn too bright for many to grasp. While she shines daringly, she also has a tendency to burn herself out. Raised on the coasts of Isle of Skye, Scotland; the young witch was never without the wind in her hair and fire in her heart. Youngest of three elder brothers, DOUGAL, COINNEACH and NATHAIR; Marlene quickly fell into their more boisterous nature. Finding she needed to prove herself among them to be considered within their ranks. All three adored Marlene, playing the roll of overprotective brothers nobly, family was deeply important to all. Teasing and taunting each other was common, though if anyone stepped over the line and dared outside of the family they’d quickly learn it wasn’t as charming. Speeding through the valleys on broomsticks to daring each other to eat handfuls of the vomit flavoured Bertie Botts every flavor beans; there was never a dull moment with the four together. While frowned upon by their mother, she begrudgingly had to accept that while she’d longed for a daughter to wrap in beautiful bows and soft mannerisms, Marlene grew to be unashamedly herself. Red lipstick was her war paint, her leather jacket her armor as she strode with her head held high in heeled boots as if ready to conquer the world.

Longing for a daughter, ANSEL and IONA, were thrilled to finally welcome her after their three sons. The favouritism they held towards Marlene became quickly prevalent, overjoyed they deemed her their ‘golden child’. Whom in their eyes, could do no wrong. Praising everything she did, Marlene learned that with a bat of her eye lashes she could get away with murder much to her brother Nathair’s annoyance. Any animosity quickly dwindled by Coinneach’s boyish charm and sense of humour; pulling Nathair out of his slight jealousy. Revealing in their affection, Marlene holds pride in her appearance. Spoiled and showered in compliments and fine frivolous expenses, Marlene has an air of entitlement; finding herself too often caught in her own world to consider the effect she has on others. While her mother made her superficial, her brothers made her bold. Daring to fly higher, it created a deep rooted sense of ambition and determination. Boisterous, they’d gladly spent hours running among the hills causing havoc together. Coinneach taught her how to fly, zooming over the lakes and cackling deep belly laughs whenever one of them fell in. A quidditch buff, their father instilled a deep love for the game in all of them from a young age. Holding pride and support for their local team The Pride of Portree, all the McKinnons praised CATRIONA MCCORMACK who they grew up watching dominate a field. Still to this day, Catorina is an inspiration to Marlene.

Coming to Hogwarts it was no surprise that Marlene was sorted into Gryffindor along with her brothers and cousins GRAHAM and RODRIC. Upon her first day, it was apparent that not every student was as well acquainted with the wizarding world as she was. Quickly Marlene took it upon herself to befriend Muggle-Born students who looked gobsmacked by the revelation of magic let alone Hogwarts. With a warm welcoming smile, it wasn’t long before Marlene found her folk; LILY EVANS, MARY MACDONALD and DORCAS MEADOWES. Dragging them across the castle to explore noteworthy rooms under instruction of Coinneach, they hid in secret passageways, exchanged secrets and quickly became each other's support network. While all different, they held the same virtues. Marlene knew Hogwarts would come with countless tales of adventures and trouble; what she’d never expected was to find her three best friends among the hallowed halls. Growing up privileged as a member of The Sacred Twenty-Eight, Marlene had never been exposed to the prejudices that encapsulated so much of the wizarding community. Snide comments and glares towards her friends infuriated her, unable to understand how anyone could see less of them due to something as trivial as blood. But she bit her tongue only for the sake of Lily and Mary. However after the horrific torment LARKIN MULCIBER inflicted on Mary, Marlene had to be held back from throwing a swing every time he passes in the halls. Determined that there would be hell to pay after his manipulative ploy to toy with Mary’s heart, let alone the infliction of one of the unforgivable curses.

Quidditch was in her blood, so really it was no surprise that Marlene joined the house team in her third year with ease. A formidable player, she was easily able to file her nails while simultaneously scoring a goal. Her confidence and skill quickly caught the attention of JAMES POTTER and it wasn’t long before the pair started dating. Finding his confidence and charm compelling, a part of her delighted at the prospect of dating Gryffindor’s ‘golden boy’. While Lily seemed to hold a great distaste for James, even to a blind man it would be evident how captivated by Lily James really was. The jealous type, Marlene couldn’t help but feel irked that her first boyfriend was so blind sighted and by her best friend no less. Considering the notion that their relationship had merely been a ploy by James to get closer to Lily, the pair eventually split. Since, Marlene now holds her heart closer to her chest. Flirtatious, she isn’t shy acquainting herself with attractive people. But rather than getting attached, finds fleeting moments stolen at parties more appealing. Still what Marlene considers the best thing to come from her relationship with James is finding close friends in REMUS LUPIN, PETER PETTIGREW, but most notable SIRIUS BLACK. Holding a similar sense of humor, they matched each others wits effortlessly. Challenging one another, an easy banter quickly befell them. What worries her is the way Sirius’ smile can make her heart ache. Seeing how careless he can be with women, the last thing Marlene wants is to be another cast of piece with the fantasy of something better lingering around the corner.

Instead, she’d focus her misguided heart on swirling acrylics across canvas as if that could offer a moment of solace and quiet escapism from the rest of her life. Even if whatever quite moment she tries to grasp is always stolen by the very person she was trying to forget. Teasing comments and stolen brushes would easily turn to dares. Hitching a ride on the back of Sirius’ motorcycle, they were reckless, young and brave. Unashamedly running off into the moonlight as if nothing could tarnish them. Stolen glances turned to missed opportunities as life after Hogwarts quickly took hold leaving behind blissfully ignorant moments and a strand of what ifs. Scouted by the Holy Head Harpies, Marlene was on track to become their next Chaser. Ecstatic at the opportunity to play Quidditch professionally, let alone on an all female team, it was a dream come true. Unfortunately, flying with the Harpies would always stay a dream with her last match at Hogwarts ending in a one way ticket to the infirmary. Falling off her broom due to ‘suspicious circumstances’, by the time she was able to return to the sport, the position was filled. Still keen for her skill, instead they offered her the opportunity to become an assistant coach which she gladly accepted. Seeing it as an opportunity to learn from some of the greats and fine tune her skills in the meantime. Clinging to the idea of one day playing for The Pride of Portree, just so she could see the look of pride on her father’s face.

Despite her new life with the Harpies, Marlene can’t ignore the tension that is starting to build in the air, despite Dougal's attempts to shield her from reality. Even Marlene has noticed the hate both him and his fiancée ANNABETH face for showing their love publicly. A resistance in the community that has seeped into their own family, Nathair objected to Dougal entertaining the idea of marrying outside the Pure-Blood lineage. While they hope his callous words are merely rooted in fear, Malene dreads what the outcome holds. A skilled duelist, ALBUS DUMBLEDORE quickly took note of her defiant and outspoken devotion to advocate for peace among the community. Loyal to both her family and friends, it was without question that she stepped forward to join The Order of the Phoenix. Mentored by BENJY FENWICK, Marlene is becoming desperate in her attempt to hold the strands of her family together while fighting to keep her friends safe. Hoping by voicing support and compassion for others she’ll be able to pull Nathair out of the darkness that is slowly forming in his heart. With a chill in air, every passing day only adds to the unrest that is forming in the streets of London. A hurricane of chaos feels inevitable to tear through the very fabric of the Wizarding Community as they know it. Unspoken fears from the Ministry and the worry edged deep into Dumbledore’s face is evidence enough. The war to come isn’t a question of if; it’s when. Marlene just hopes that when the lightning hits and turns into flames, she’ll be able to safeguard the people she holds most dear without them falling victim to the crossfire

→ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Blood Status → Pure-Blood

Pronouns → She/Her

Identification → Cis Female

Sexuality → Sexually Fluid

Relationship Status → Single

Previous Education → Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Gryffindor)

Family → Ansel McKinnon (father), Iona McKinnon (mother), Dougal McKinnon (brother), Coinneach McKinnon (brother), Nathair McKinnon (brother), Graham McKinnon (cousin), Rodric McKinnon (cousin), Annabeth Pebworth (future sister-in law)

Connections → Lily Evans (best friend/house mate), Dorcas Meadowes (best friend) Mary MacDonald (best friend), Sirius Black (best friend/potential love interest), Peter Pettigrew (close friend), James Potter (close friend/ex-boyfriend), Remus Lupin (close friend), Maren Linwood (friend), Emilia Grey (friend), Cassiopeia Kim (friend), Cressida Abercrombie (friend), Gilfred Abbott (friend), Caradoc Dearborn (friend), Poppy Hookum (friend), Aurora Sinistra (friend), Gwenog Jones (friend/colleague), Larkin Mulciber (adversary), Benjy Fenwick (mentor)

Future Information → N/A

MARLENE MCKINNON IS A LEVEL 6 WITCH.

#marlene mckinnon #brittany o'grady #marauders era #marauders rpg #marauders girls #order member #quidditch #the holyhead harpies #magic #mckinnon #taken #taken order member #taken witch #taken lgbtqia+

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aphrodites-law · 5 years

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A Bit of Clarity 🍂 (1/?) The visions had started last autumn, a year ago now. It had caused a bit of chaos for some, a bit of clarity for others. Two days ago, Clarke Griffin had been perfectly fine managing both her Café and her stress. But now she was curious - so deeply curious about the vision of herself entwined with the aloof Lexa Woods that it was leading her to complete distraction.

The visions had started the last autumn, a year ago now. It had caused a bit of chaos for some, a bit of clarity for others. It all depended on what had been seen - what had been interpreted. Some had brief flashes while others were put in a trance for over a minute. A minute was the longest heard of, though it was difficult to establish who was telling the truth and who was out for attention.

Regardless, the duration of the vision itself was now known to be of no consequence. A woman who had been told she was infertile had had a four-second vision of herself pregnant, while an old man who had been in the trance for fifty-five seconds had relayed that he'd only seen his wife and him sitting peacefully on the porch of their home. Magnitude was relative. What the visions had done, in a world stagnating in such hopelessness, was offer glimpses of sunshine.

But the visions did not come all at once. Amid the flurry of testimonies, out of all the social media posts, the frenzied calls and the hurried articles, there were still voices that bemoaned being left out. There was no precise age, no time, no pattern to the visions. The only established commonality seemed to be a tingling down one's spine, like a sudden shiver after a strong gust of wind. The feeling of knowing a vision was coming was difficult to explain. Suddenly the world and its noises faded, replaced with vivid images - and for some not even visuals, but rather intense sensations. A well-known story already was that of a blind man in Kenya who had felt himself dipping his hands in a pot of paint. The sensation had been so powerful that he had been driven to recreate it, subsequently gifting the world with breathtaking abstract murals.

Those still on the outskirts of the phenomenon had reason to be disappointed, but the general consensus was that they were lucky to experience it. Nostalgia often gripped those who had had their glimpses - heard in their wishful sighs when they conversed with the people who had yet to see anything at all. Celebrations erupted when one emerged from their visions - strangers smiling at them knowingly, patting them on the back, asking what they had seen and listening with rapt attention. The excitement surrounding it had yet to fade, and with good reason. It was something to unite the world, something in common that existed beyond time and space, beyond science and faith and knowledge. Something no one understood and yet accepted as such - a great unknown to fully embrace.

There were of course the skeptics and the cynics - those that warned that knowing a certain outcome in the future immediately changed it, thus rendering the visions meaningless. But the main response, supported by some cases already, was that it wasn't necessarily the future that was seen, but rather an obtainable possibility among a thousand other ones. Rather remarkably, doomsayers found few platforms interested in their diatribes. The world had had enough of fear.

* * *

In the sleepy city of Costial, mostly known for its rain and the state's oldest chocolate factory, the citizens had seen many changes in the past year. Some said the fabric of their culture had been inevitably altered for the better, while others shrugged their shoulders and went back to their lives. A few vision reader shops had popped up just like they had in most countries; a lucrative business for those in search of deeper understanding. Where some visions were clear in their intent, others raised many questions. It was the vocation of these readers to answer them, though many people questioned how a year could suddenly form these so-called experts.

It was in one of these shops that Clarke Griffin found herself one morning, nervously drumming her fingers over her thigh while she waited in a small room. She wasn't entirely sure what she was doing there, only that her vision had come very unexpectedly two nights ago and that she hadn’t slept since. With sleep deprivation came questionable choices, such as this one.

Clarke hadn’t really worried when news of the visions broke and she had yet to get hers. A year ago she had just opened her café, a process that had kept her far too busy to think about anything that wasn't money, food, and customer satisfaction. Oh she paid close attention to the news, as it was impossible not to, and she spoke about it with anyone who brought it up over their coffee and pastries, but she didn't worry. Clarke wasn't a worrier. Until two days ago, that was.

Her vision wasn't really… the sort of thing one shared. Well, she'd read about similar ones, but frankly hers was more on the explicit side of things. She'd just curled up on her couch after devouring a grilled sandwich when her spine had suddenly tingled. The next thing she knew, pleasure spread through her body and she found herself in her own bed with a woman's body atop hers, tousled dark hair covering her face while Clarke kissed her with abandon. She'd seen and felt her own fingers pressing into a tattooed arm while her lover pressed deep inside her and sighed her name. It hadn't just been the heat of the encounter that had left a mark on Clarke, but the distinct sense of intimacy that had been overwhelmingly powerful.

In the past year, sex had been more about stress relief than any type of connection. There had been a few dates, but Clarke had found herself restless. She didn't have the patience to court someone, not when all her energy went into the café she had finally opened after years of dreams and plans. It hadn’t been fair to her dates or the bags beneath her eyes, so falling into a pattern of one-night stands had seemed to work well enough. Clarke still liked sex entirely too much to give it up, sleep be damned (though her recent dry spell argued the contrary). Regardless, despite its graphic nature, her vision hadn’t been about sex. It had felt different; like something she couldn't put her finger on no matter how many times she thought about it.

Hence: the vision reader. But the wait was longer than Clarke had expected and the clock on the wall didn't help her nerves. Clarke didn't even know where she would start anyway. Should it be something small - maybe the meaning of the tattoo? Should it be the way she still felt the woman's phantom touch on her skin? Still heard her intentions while she kissed a path down her body? Not to mention the inexplicable feeling that she knew her lover, which was precisely why she knew there was just… no way… this vision could be remotely close to reality.

Clarke closed her eyes and sighed deeply. Two days ago she had been perfectly fine with her hectic schedule and the heavy weight on her shoulders, but now she was curious - so deeply curious about this feeling of being utterly consumed that it was leading her to complete distraction. And Clarke couldn't afford distractions; especially now that Finn's Coffee & Bagels had just made a move for her territory with his second shop in the city. It wasn't outright war yet but it would soon be, and Clarke wasn't going to be on the losing side.

With that thought in mind, and the grating sound of the ticking clock finally getting to her, Clarke grabbed her purse and left the shop.

"To hell with it," she muttered before heading out.

* * *

The Baker's Café was Clarke's pride and joy; a labor of love and sweat and so many paper cuts she'd lost count of them. Monday mornings weren’t so difficult anymore, not when she only left the comfort of her bed for the comfort of her second home. She opened the café with her usual yawn, signed off on the early deliveries, and later chatted in the small kitchen with Wells, her best friend, co-owner and in her opinion the finest baker in the city. This week they were making apple tart and banana bread with walnuts, a favorite for many of their customers. Gaia joined them fifteen minutes before opening, where she helped Clarke with the tables as they caught up on the latest weekend news. Apparently Gaia had learned through the grapevine that Finn's Coffee & Bagels was courting a grocery store to sell his bagels for a share of the profits, but it was still in the early stages of negotiations.

Still, it didn't sit well with Clarke. Finn Collins was a smug daddy's boy and Clarke knew for a fact that his bagels came packaged and frozen to his shop. Unfortunately his father was the beloved mayor of their city, which was the equivalent of a ringing endorsement for most residents who only needed a quick, passable fix before work. Finn's business was thriving thanks to its name alone, but as far as Clarke was concerned the apple had fallen very far from the tree. She was certain Graham Collins knew very little about his son's actual business practices, but there was nothing to be done there. Now Clarke and Wells could only hope their menu and atmosphere kept their loyal customers from straying a few blocks down Elmond Street.

While Gaia opened the café, Clarke put on their background music, double-checked the coffee machines and added the first batch of their freshly baked goods in the display case - a basket of croissants, blueberry muffins, and cinnamon rolls next to the banana bread and apple tart. Just like the café itself, their display was on the smaller side - comfy, Wells said - but they had a rustic charm going for them that seemed to work well enough.

An hour after opening, Clarke had rung up a customer when she heard the door open and close. Her stomach did an awful swoop - caught between surprise and jitters when she saw that it was Lexa Woods who had just walked in. Surprise because Lexa didn't usually come in on Mondays, and jitters because it was Lexa who Clarke had shut out of her mind ever since her damn vision.

Lexa was a journalist at the Costial Gazette, but if she was a woman of words in writing, it was hardly the case in person. She was as buttoned up as the flannel shirts she wore come rain or shine, often beneath a sweater or blazer. She took her coffee black but grimaced at each sip, and come to think of it Clarke had never seen her smile. Lexa seemed scarcely interested in what went on in the shop around her, typing away on her laptop like a train on tracks, fast and with a known destination in mind. Sometimes she got up to stretch her legs or order another slice of the cake of the week, but when she regained her seat her fingers were back to their manic typing, as if she had merely put a pin in her line of thought.

Last week, Lexa had been no different than any other customer. She made it clear she was here to work, and beyond the usual hello and order, Lexa didn't exactly put out a signal that she wanted to converse. So Clarke stuck to her own smile and politeness and thought nothing of it. On some rare occasions she noticed that Lexa and Gaia spoke briefly, but Gaia was Indra Keene's daughter - Lexa's landlord - and so they were slightly more acquainted. According to Gaia, who gossiped with Wells far too much about their customers, Lexa was Indra's favorite tenant. She lived in the only studio on the fourth floor with a small balcony crammed with plants, never made a fuss and had somehow managed to get on Indra's good side after only six months, a feat that Gaia seemed to find particularly impressive. Apparently it took a lot to impress her mother, let alone become her friend. It was a complete mystery to her how Lexa, who always seemed so serious, had managed it.

Now Clarke found herself drawn into the mystery as well, the result of a vision she could swear Lexa had been a part of. Yes, it had been her features she'd recognized - light eyes looking up at her from between her legs, full lips whispering a dirty promise against her thigh, and slender hands reaching for hers. It wasn't as clear to Clarke now, but it had been when the vision had ended and she'd jolted up from her couch. She'd been so certain it was Lexa - but was it? The more Clarke thought about it, the less it made sense.

Watching her approach the counter now, sporting her usual tight bun and a green flannel shirt, Clarke just couldn't reconcile this woman with the one from her vision. Lexa was beautiful, there was no doubt, but… It was just that Clarke had never considered the possibility of Lexa being remotely interested. She was perhaps the exact definition of aloof - and was she even attracted to women? Sometimes when she looked at Clarke it felt like she did it with the same interest as someone staring at a blank piece of paper. So how could it be that this woman would one day make her toes curl and her voice crack between pleas for more?

"Good morning."

Mildly startled, Clarke pushed every single thought at the back of her mind before she greeted Lexa in turn. Lexa glanced at the menu written in chalk and pulled out her wallet.

"I'll just have your regular brew and a slice of the apple, please."

"Coming right up," Clarke replied.

While she made the coffee and grabbed a plate for the slice of pie, Clarke tried to think of anything she might say. Lexa was looking at her phone now, but Clarke was determined to at least make some small talk. She had to get to the bottom of this before it drove her nuts.

"Busy week?" She casually asked.

Lexa looked up from her phone and blinked at her, perhaps just as surprised as Clarke by the spark of conversation.

"Not really," she replied.

It didn't leave much room for a follow-up, and so Clarke offered a smile before sliding the pie and cup of coffee on the counter. Lexa didn't look at Clarke again, but she left a generous tip in the jar as she usually did and then sat at the table by the weeping fig tree Wells was so proud of. Clarke took the next customer's order and cast Lexa out of her mind, ignoring her sudden disappointment. Apparently she wasn't even worth a second glance.

A while later, while Clarke took advantage of the lull for a break at the end of the counter, she opened her notebook and allowed her mind to drift a bit. It had been an eventful weekend and she hadn’t really stopped to think about the actual experience of the vision. The content was still confusing, but she was finally a part of the world's most impactful phenomenon and that was something. She understood it now. And yet she couldn't think of a way to share it with either Wells or Gaia, let alone celebrate it. Theirs had been so innocent. For Wells, it had been a powerful embrace with his estranged father, one that he had yet to experience but certainly had hopes for. For Gaia, it had been a conversation with an esteemed author thanking her for a novel she would one day write. It had been hope. So truthfully Clarke was a bit miffed that she’d witnessed herself having the best sex of her life and couldn’t share it with anyone, not even her supposed partner. There had to be some sort of missing piece there - maybe a punchline.

"Those are good."

Her heart jumped in her throat at Lexa's voice. Clarke dropped her pencil on the sheet of paper she had been mindlessly doodling on, embarrassed that she'd been caught. They were just drawings to occupy her mind - sketches from everyday trivial things like the café's various plants or the mugs hanging above the sink. She smiled nervously and reached for Lexa's empty plate.

"All done?" She asked.

Lexa nodded and then watched as Clarke put the plate in the sink. "Do you know the kids' stories in the Gazette?"

Clarke turned around with a mild frown. Lexa had never once asked her anything since she'd first walked in six months ago. She was so caught up in the fact that she barely remembered the question itself - something about the paper?

"The what?"

"Pages 24, 25. They're short stories, mostly about animals. We had an intern illustrating them, but he got a full-time opportunity at an advertising firm. It doesn't pay much, but it gets your work out there."

Clarke blinked, at first in surprise - Lexa, talking, conversing - and then in confusion. "I'm not an artist," she said. "They're just doodles."

"I see." Lexa bit her lip before pulling out a printed copy of the Gazette from her briefcase and leaving it on the counter. "It's just two pages, no color. Feel free to leaf through it."

Curiosity got the best of Clarke, who reached for the magazine. "It's monthly, right?” She asked.

"Hm-mm. Well, the print is. The website breaks news daily."

Clarke looked up and waited, wondering if Lexa was going to add anything. "Right. I think I've got the app somewhere on my phone."

"That's good." Lexa glanced between Clarke and the Gazette before checking her watch. "I should get going."

"Okay. Thank you for the free copy."

For a moment Clarke thought she might finally know what a smile looked like on her, but Lexa only offered a slow nod before she left the café. Clarke stared at the door a minute, wondering if she had just made up the entire interaction in her head.

She closed the notebook and shook her head, deciding in that very instant to answer her own earlier question: no, there was absolutely no way that it was Lexa Woods who would ever embrace her that tightly.

[part two]

#clarke x lexa #clexaedit #clextober19 #13daysofclexa #day11 #clexa #f: a bit of clarity #lexa is such a nerd oh my goodness #clarke is hopeless #they're gonna love each other so hard #yes i recycle my city names #if you ignore my ridiculous premise this is going to be pretty angsty #w

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whoshotlibertyvalance · 3 years

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Hi!!! This is my Fallout centric blog so I’m gonna talk about my Fallout ocs PSYCHE: Psyche is the canon Courier 6 in Swoopity’s timeline, going through a near-fatal shot in between what he thought was a regular delivery. Psyche’s own stoic persona has made him both an excellent courier and a determined associate of the NCR before he even joined Mojave Express. Taking the most militaristic paths of my other characters, he lacks a fair share of charisma and is more work-focused and self-assured than most everyone else who surrounds him. Good with a gun, an alcoholic lightweight, and a heavy sleeper, he’s barely a step above the average mercenary. JOSIAH: Josiah is a pre-war park ranger who specialized in Youth Services at Yellowstone Park. He did patrol in his early days, but transferred over to a manager of school tours and teaching kids all about the famed wonder of the U.S.. When the bombs fell, he, and many others of his staff cryogenically froze themselves with technology given to them by Vault-Tec, and despite not being in a vault, they were still part of an experiment- all the freeze pods had randomly decided ‘unthaw’ years, and Josiah would be one of the last out- at 205 years later. Josiah only did one thing that Courier Six did, and he went to Zion National Park on his ‘conservation journey’, knowing it was a ways from Arches National Park. This would take up Lucky (his canon Courier)’s potential meeting with Joshua Graham and the tribes. SWOOPITY: An unfortunately named young man, Swoopity was an inhabitant of Vault 115, located near Black Hawk, Colorado. A vault originally used to monitor what happened when self-focused and self-fulfilling people were put into a vault where all repairs and jobs required teams, things flipped constantly between working well and chaos- due to an electoral system that was implemented (Similar to Vault 11). Swoopity was unwillingly elected overseer-president at age 17 and did such a poor job that he walked out and made his way into the world. Gathering a plethora of engineering knowledge from his parents- and a head of silver hair from excessive mercury and lead paint consumption as a child- Swoopity specializes in repair work and miraculously got his own working motorcycle in the Wasteland. His adventures sent him around the country but he’d find love in the form of a very certain hairdresser barber from Rivet City. LUCKY: Lucky is the canon Courier 6 in Josiah’s timeline and is a rather wild woman. Many have rumored that she must have come from a vault originally, because nobody is born in the Wasteland with a shotgun seemingly in their hands. In the times that she isn’t roughing up raiders for supplies or sneaking off crops from settlements, she has her own travelling band of other scavengers, and they share songs and fears by the end of each Wasteland night. However, Benny’s gunshot to her head, and the other events of New Vegas begin to quiet her down, as anger and discontent grew in it’s place. One of her final straws involved her lobotomy at Big MT destroying some of her musical memory, and it was said she wandered the West quickly after that, as a silent killer in the dark, singing half-songs into the canyons.

#fallout ocs #fallout OC #fallout character #fallout characters #courier 6 #courier six #new vegas #fallout fanart #fallout content

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timeagainreviews · 4 years

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Vengence on Gallifrey

Welcome back, friends. We’re meeting up sooner than we usually do! I could get used to the idea of a new episode every Wednesday and Sunday. Wouldn’t that be swanky? In the time since part one of "Spyfall," there has been a lot of speculation and theories about what would be in store for part two. How many of your fan predictions came true? I know a couple of mine did. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Before part two aired, I revisited part one. I was curious to review O’s storyline in light of the big reveal. Would I notice any nods or giveaways to his being the Master a second time around? The answer is basically, no. Other than the Master’s reaction of "ridiculous," to the inside of the TARDIS, there’s not much telegraphing to be had. I did, however, notice some things that seem head-slappingly stupid upon a second viewing.

My pal Steve compared the episode to "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," in that it moves so fast that you don’t have enough time to realise how stupid it actually is. One of those things I noticed the second time around was the big glass box in the middle of O’s home. My mind had kind of glazed over by that point that I never questioned how stupid it was that he would have a spring-loaded glass box in his ceiling. Now, I’m only human, but the Doctor isn’t. Why didn’t that seem weird to her that he would have a trap hanging from the ceiling? It made me think of Troll 2 when the dad walks over and grabs a fire extinguisher conveniently propped against the house. Why was it there? Because the plot demanded it.

Despite this, there is one thing I feel deserves saying. As much as I liked "Kerblam!" "The Witchfinders," or "It Takes You Away," I haven’t watched any of them since they first aired. I haven’t watched any of season 11 since my initial viewing. Regardless of any plotholes I found, I wanted to rewatch Spyfall. And I think that goes to show that despite various failings on Chris Chibnall’s behalf, he’s got me watching the show again! What then is different?

My first response would be that the stakes are higher this time around. A lot of that has to do with the fact that the Master is back. Regardless of how overused he may or may not be in the new series, their relationship has gravity. As an agent of chaos, the Master ups the tension as we have a history with him. Like with the Dalek in "Resolution," he lends a familiar element that this new era deeply needed. In these past few days, I was truly worried about how our friends were going to get out of this mess. I haven’t felt that way about Doctor Who in a long time.

When we last saw our heroes, the Doctor had been transported to the brain realm and the companions were about to crash on a plane. Through a bit of time travel, the Doctor saves the day via phone app, thus continuing the trend of the Doctor messing with Ryan’s phone. At least the dude got to keep his data this time. I found the whole sequence with the Doctor making plaques and laminating belaboured the point a bit, but it was cute.

We learn that the Doctor is walking around in some sort of synaptic realm. She meets Ada Lovelace who seems to think it's her own mind, but that was her best guess. I would complain that it was a weird design if it was a mind, but then I remember "The Invisible Enemy," and realise how much worse it could have looked! According to Ada, she’s been visiting this place since she was a wee bairn. She seems rather cool about the whole thing but is perplexed to see the Doctor.

The two flash into Ada’s timeline of 1834, where the Doctor has found herself at a steampunk convention. I found some of the steam-powered devices like the grenade to be a bit moronic. It was so unbelievable that my initial reaction was that she was in some sort of alternate history. But no, it’s just goofy. The Master discovers the Doctor survived and goes to finish the job. Before the episode, I was thinking "I hope they show the inside of his TARDIS." Turns out they already had. I guess it’s the same size on the inside. I had kind of expected it to be like Clara and Me’s TARDIS in that the diner was just part of the facade with the real bit hidden away. But no, his console is right there in the main room. Weird. Also, remember when chameleon circuits used to make TARDISes look inconspicuous? The biggest thing we ever saw it do was when the Master’s TARDIS became a truck. The coolest camouflage still goes to my man Professor Chronotis’ TARDIS in Shada. It was just a door along a wall. How cool is that? Not complaining, merely lamenting the loss of simplicity.

From within the Master’s TARDIS we see Barton confront the Master. The conversation between these two really only serves to show Barton as alive, and establish the power structure which is that the Master is in charge, which we already knew. It also establishes the existence of a sculpture that looks like something a third-year art student might have half-assed while hungover. Barton goes to intercept the companions, while the Master takes care of the Doctor. He makes a grand entrance with his tissue compression device doling out murder without reason. Did anyone else wonder why the device seemed not only to shrink people but also to turn them stiff like plastic or wood? I suppose compacting material like that could increase rigidity, but it was an odd choice.

To get the Master to stop killing people, the Doctor placates his ego by getting on her knees and calling him Master. It was, for lack of a better word- hot. Ada shoots the Master with a steam-powered gun and they get away. This was more of Chibnall’s weird relationship with guns. The Doctor says to Ada that she doesn’t approve, but the second Ada uses a grenade the Doctor is like "Hell yeah, this is my bad bitch Ada! Represent!" It’s like in "The Ghost Monument," when she hated the use of guns against a group of emotionless robots and then used a bomb to take out the same group of emotionless robots. It’s almost as though it’s not the killing the Doctor hates, it’s the inefficiency of the whole thing. "Mate, use bombs, way more effective!" Okay, Chris.

In the last five minutes of part one, I wasn’t sure if Sacha Dhawan was going to be a good Master or not. I was worried he was going to be too flamboyant, but the second he hits the screen in part two, it’s as though he had always been in the role. I really love him and Jodie Whittaker’s chemistry. It’s great to see her Doctor faced with someone truly evil, and I feel as though it’s given her a lot to work with. Watching the two of them verbally spar is nothing short of delightful.

Barton comes up empty-handed in his search for the companions, which is no sweat off his back as he is Mr Tech Empire. After a little bit of finagling with the internet, their faces are soon posted everywhere as wanted criminals. Exactly like in "The Sound of Drums," they’re going to have to go off the grid. They even take refuge in a construction site! Doing so gives them a bit of downtime to talk and regroup. In a moment of clarity, it dons on them that they don’t really know the Doctor all that well. They decide that after all is said and done, they’re going to have a talk with the Doctor. Like many people, I was hoping that they would visit this concept, as series eleven made them seem a little too keen. It was a welcome bit of character development.

Another thing I love about this scene is that Graham isn’t annoying in it. "But Natalie," you say, "I thought you loved Graham!" And you would be right, I do love Graham. But I feel like it’s worth pointing out that they didn’t ruin him. Usually with a lot of shows and movies, if something is good or popular with fans, the tendency is to overdo it. This is the same lovable dude from the previous series and I feel that should be acknowledged. One of the things I really admire about Chris Chibnall is that he really seems to know his own character’s voices. One of my biggest issues with Clara Oswald is that her personality was all over the board. We don’t get that here.

Having travelled with the Doctor for a while now, the companions decide to carry on like she would have them do. They still have their spy gear and like exploding cufflinks and Graham’s laser shoes, and their timing couldn’t have been more perfect as the baddies from part one show up. Sadly, they’re not the Voord as me and many others had hoped. They’re a species known as the Kasaavin. It’s a name that’s about as inspired as Ranskoor Av Kolos, and that is not a compliment. It’s simply a very forgettable name. I dunno what it is, but I really hate the way Chris Chibnall names stuff. He’s willing to do groan-inducing puns like "Arachnids in the UK," or "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship," but then decides to reign it in with "Resolution," despite the naming convention established in previous Dalek stories like "Revelation of the Daleks," or "Remembrance of the Daleks." Though I suppose in his defence, "Resolution," is about a singular Dalek. Either way, Graham’s laser shoes save the day. It’s ridiculous, but unlike the Master, it is a compliment when I say it.

The Doctor has now regrouped with Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage. After a bit of fangirling on her part, she goes into Doctor brain mode. She pieces together that the multiple maps of the earth are, like I had guessed, different points in time. The aliens are spying on important people throughout time, for some reason that still makes zero sense to me. Why would they care about the Earth’s technology? Wouldn’t their computers completely best our technology? What threat could humans pose to them? I thought their sights were set on taking over the universe, but now it appears their sites are set on one planet’s technology. I guess you’ve got to start somewhere.

The Doctor surmises that the Kasaavin must have difficulty keeping their form in our universe, thus a need for a machine that keeps them stable. This, of course, is the bad art student sculpture we saw in the Master’s TARDIS which has now found its way into Charles Babbage’s study. This must have been too close to the truth as at this moment a Kasaavin shows up. The Doctor uses this as an opportunity to hitch a ride off of the Kasaavin’s energy surge in hopes to end up back in the present day. As she does, Ada grabs her hand and is transported as well. Instead of 2020, they end up in the year 1943 during a Nazi blitz on Paris. Literally, the first person they encounter is another historical figure- Noor Inayat Khan. That’s gotta be some kind of record for the show- three historical figures in one episode.

After establishing that they aren’t Nazis, the Doctor and Ada hide in the safety of Noor’s home. However, it is then that the Master shows up in full Nazi regalia and orders a team of Nazi soldiers to fire into the floor and leaves. I, like many of you, was immediately confused. The Nazis weren’t known to ally themselves with people of the Master’s current complexion. However, we learn that by using a series of perception filters, the Master has disguised himself as white, which makes sense in relation to the show. We discover the Doctor and Ada narrowly averted death as they were, in fact, hiding in the floor.

On the other end of things, Graham, Ryan, and Yaz use being under surveillance to draw Barton’s people into a trap. Using Graham’s laser shoes, they steal a vehicle and head to stop Barton. Speaking of Barton, we’re treated to a deliciously dark scene between him and his mother. It was pretty obvious that the woman strapped to a chair in his bad guy lair had to be his mother, but that didn’t make it any less funny. ��This guy is such a piece of work that not even his mother likes him. He tells her that she is to be the first person to be subjected to his grand scheme. After being taken over by blue electricity, she appears to die. What a dick.

Back in Paris, the Doctor realises Noor is a British spy. Using her telegraph, the Doctor baits the Master by tapping out four beats- the heartbeat of a Time Lord. Unable to resist, the Master taps four beats in response to the Doctor. What happened next was one of the coolest things I’ve seen on Doctor Who in a while. The Doctor and the Master make contact telepathically, something of which hasn’t been seen in the show for years. I quite literally threw my hands up into the air with joy. Kudos to Chris Chibnall for giving me the nerd feels.

The Doctor and the Master meet up atop the Eifel Tower where they have a rather intimate conversation. We find out it was the Master who killed C in the previous episode. So yes, they did waste Stephen Fry, which officially makes me a disappoint. The Doctor deduces that the Master isn’t actually in control of the Kasaavin. Instead, the Master has merely allied himself with them, claiming to have given them a broader scope of vision. I’m not exactly sure how going from wanting to take over the universe to taking over a small planet is a broadening in scope, but stop asking questions and watch the show.

Now, remember how I just gave kudos to Chris Chibnall? Well, I am going to have to take those back. In an attempt to delay the Master, the Doctor gives him away to the Nazis. She makes them think he is a British spy and directs them to their location. However, not only does she do this, but she also disables his perception filters. So effectively, the Doctor, a white woman, gives up a brown man to the Nazis. It wasn’t enough to make them think he’s a spy, they had to also see that he had brown skin. I was honestly a bit disgusted by this. How would they even recognise him as the same guy they were told was a spy? They’re going to arrive and find a person of colour in a Nazi uniform and not know who he was. Jesus Christ, Chibnall.

The Doctor uses the Master’s TARDIS to get back to the present time, just in time to find Barton unrolling his big plan. He goes on a long speech about how we give all of our information to corporations and how we should watch who we allow to pry into our privacy. It’s the social media equivalent of "Don’t blink." It’s a very effective bit of writing on par with one of Steven Moffat’s better speeches. It’s a shame it was preceded by the Doctor selling the Master out to Nazis.

So what’s the big plan? Well, remember the spy woman in part one whose DNA had been rewritten? And remember how Barton was only 93% human? It turns out that the Kasaavin plan to rewrite the DNA of the human race and turn us into hard drives by storing information within our DNA. They do so by using our smartphones and tablets against us. In the same arc of blue electricity as Mother Barton, people all over the world begin to be assimilated. During this entire press conference scene, I’m not sure if any of the actors in the audience were given proper direction as they have the most benign faces throughout most of this. Barton, whose speech went from zero to megalomaniacal in the first few seconds, should have sent up red flags across the room, but instead, they were as serene as cows. It was bizarre.

That was it, that was the big plan. Turn people into hard drives. I think? I had to ask a few of my friends what they thought it was supposed to be because I was worried I had missed something. Were they trying to take over the bodies of humans so they could have corporeal form? If so, then why say they wanted to store data in our DNA? Why do they need so much data storage anyway? Have they got a huge stash of hentai in their universe? Were they torrenting all of Doctor Who? Seriously, I do not understand their motivation or their methods. But honestly, I hardly care, because the real star of the show is the Master.

Having waited 77 years, the Master shows up just in time to be kind of late to the show. Like, he didn’t even buy a gun in that time. I do however look forward to the Big Finish audios pertaining to that era of his life. However, in the meantime, the Doctor took it upon herself to put a bug in the Kasaavin’s system which negates their mission and reverses the conversion. She informs the Kasaavin that the Master had planned to double-cross them. As they depart from our universe, they take the Master with them, but not before he mentions to the Doctor that Gallifrey was destroyed.

After getting Ada and Noor to their respective timelines, the Doctor goes to see Gallifrey for herself. Sure enough, the once-great Time Lord society has been raised to the ground. It’s a powerful bit of acting on Jodie Whittaker’s behalf. Devastated, the Doctor returns to the TARDIS only to be greeted by a hologram of the Master telling her it was him that did it, as a sort of act of punishment or vengeance. This is a much needed source of motivation for the Master’s current rage, considering how much of a departure it is from Missy’s redemption arc. Remember the timeless child storyline I’ve been dreading? Well, I’m genuinely surprised to be sitting here today to tell you that it has piqued my interest. Having something to do with the founders of Time Lord society, Rassilon and Omega, the implication is that their legend is based upon a lie, thus the Master’s final warning to the Doctor at the end of part one.

So who is the timeless child? Well, I am relieved to say I don’t think it’s the Doctor. My wildest guess is that she was some sort of person that didn’t experience time like the rest of us and was killed to harness that power. Think Rusty Venture powering his dream machine with the heart of an orphan. Like I said, my wildest guess. The biggest takeaway from all of this is that I’m sitting here speculating about Doctor Who. With Moffat’s plotlines oftentimes leading nowhere interesting, I had grown wary of speculation. Why wonder what was next when it was most likely something disappointing? It’s nice to feel intrigued by Doctor Who again.

Upon returning to her fam, the Doctor is distant and quiet. The companions can tell something is up, but as they decided earlier, they needed to have a talk with the Doctor. The Doctor concedes and tells them the basics- she’s a Time Lord, she’s from Gallifrey, she can regenerate her body, the Master was her friend. This bit of truth on her behalf seems to please the trio as they don’t press the issue further. The Doctor throws the TARDIS into gear and we’re left lingering on her face for a moment before the episode ends.

Afterwards, my wife and boyfriend and I sat in silence. As the biggest Whovian in the house, I think they were waiting for my reaction. And in some ways, I think I was too. I really enjoyed the episode, I did. But I had my issues, which I’ve listed extensively above. My main qualms at that time were of structure. Much like the first episode, this one was clunky. The pacing was definitely better than last time, but still had issues. But otherwise, I needed to think about what I had just seen. I liked the anti-fascism angle, save for the Doctor selling out the Master to the Nazis. And there were a lot of great callbacks to classic Who. My wife had checked out at the DNA storage bit because she’s a giant nerd and was feeling nitpicky about the science in a science fiction show. But it was Duncan whose comments I think were the most on point. He told me that he, as a casual viewer, was lost throughout much of the episode. For him, a little bit of explanation peppered throughout the episode would have gone a long way.

One of the most persistent flaws in classic Doctor Who is that oftentimes they would explain what was happening within the final episode of a story, leaving you in the dark for the first few episodes. In the same way, Spyfall had left him feeling lost. I even said it recently that I am not the kind of fan Doctor Who needs to please. I will watch the show regardless of its quality. If someone as fanatical as myself was feeling confused, imagine how my boyfriend felt. It is, as he said, why people start tuning out. The show is on course to what may possibly be one of it’s best seasons in years. I’m hoping that the next few episodes give us a bit of breathing room before throwing us back into the deep end.

#doctor who #Jodie Whittaker #Thirteenth Doctor #Sacha Dhawan #The Master #Graham O'Brien #Ryan Sinclair #yasmine khan #yaz #spyfall #gallifrey #ada lovelace #noor inyat khan #charles babbage #kasaavin #Time and Time Again

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jeannereames · 5 years

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STEALING FIRE, Jo Graham

I decided to begin my reviews of Alexander novels with one I quite liked. (For why I was reading a bunch at once, see the end.)

First, purchasing information and reviews on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7093919-stealing-fire

In 2008, Jo Graham exploded onto the historical fantasy scene with her well-reviewed Black Ships, and has continued to produce high-quality stories ever since, sometimes co-writing with fellow SFF author Melissa Scott. Not all of her novels are historical fantasy (she’s written quite a few media tie-ins for Stargate Atlantis), but quite a few are.

Jo has lush prose, and often, although not always, focuses on women in ancient settings, so with Gull in Black Ships, and Charmian in Hand of Isis. But in Stealing Fire, the main character is Lydias, bastard son of a slave woman, sold into slavery himself by his own father, but through his resourcefulness, he manages not only to win his freedom, but to rise fairly high in Alexander’s army under the command of Hephaistion. Later, he’s trusted by Ptolemy to get his mistress Thais and their children safely to Egypt, and after that, he earns increasingly important commands under the man who will become Ptolemy I Soter, first Greco-Macedonian king of Egypt.

While the novel’s blurb places it during the Successor Wars immediately following Alexander’s death—and the first scene actually opens following a brawl over the king’s dead body on his bed—quite a number of flashbacks describe Lydias’s memories of Alexander’s campaign. In fact, there are enough of them that I’d call Hephaistion a secondary character. (Alexander falls more into the tertiary category.)

Lydias hero-worships Hephaistion, and after his death, is adrift, although he still serves Alexander until Alexander’s own death, when he’s then co-opted by Ptolemy, who he eventually comes to respect and chooses to serve.

If the novel contains plenty of adventure and some battle scenes, the main focus is on the fates of officers like Lydias who weren’t high enough to take a stab at empire, but were increasingly forced to choose sides in the chaos. For the most part, Lydias is just trying to survive, but to do so with honor and dignity. Even before he loses his beloved commander, he also suffers a personal tragedy that leaves him understandably melancholy and a bit fatalistic.

As the novel is historical fantasy, magic is real, but like Judith Tarr (who also wrote a novel on ATG) the magic depicted is a natural extension of what the ancients already believed. It simply works. (This is in stark contrast to some of the poorer examples such as David Gemmel’s befuddling Lion of Macedon and Dark Prince, which amounted to Dungeons-and-Dragons Does Greece.) In any case, Graham’s use of magic felt organic and natural, and appropriate to the cultures (both Macedonian and Egyptian). It’s also the second in her “Numinous World” series, which involves the fates of certain souls across various reincarnations, but this is not a strong theme and the novel can easily be read without reading Black Ships first.

Graham also shows her familiarity with the messy muddle of sources for the early wars. Her depiction of the confrontation in Egypt between Ptolemy and Perdikkas, after Ptolemy absconds with Alexander’s body, follows closely on Diodorus’s account in Book 18. If I had any complaint about the politics, it’s that I’d have liked to hear more about what was going on in other places, including the rising dissatisfaction with Perdikkas from Antipatros, Antigonos, and Krateros. But that would have taken the focus off of Lydias, who had less reason to know these things, so I understand why her description of the rising civil war is truncated.

Readers may also be pleased to hear that Graham doesn’t shy away from both homoerotic and heteroerotic relationships. Lydias is comfortably bisexual, and Alexander and Hephaistion are definitively lovers. Bagoas is even in the novel, and takes a lot from Renault’s version, although more the Bagoas of Funeral Games than of Persian Boy. If published in 2010, before a lot of trans and queer awareness, Graham expertly navigates Bagoas as a non-binary character. If I may personally doubt Bagoas was anywhere near as significant as Renault and some subsequent authors have depicted him, I liked this Bagoas far better than Oliver Stone’s post-Renault take.

And of course, Hephaistion. He gets to have a personality here! And while we see him always through Lydias’s love-soaked gaze, he does genuinely seem like an admirable person. He treats Lydias well from the start (which has something to do with Lydias’s devotion to him), and is depicted as competent as he rises increasingly higher during Alexander’s campaign.

So if you’re not already familiar with Jo Graham, give this one a read, and then pick up Black Ships and Hand of Isis, too.

*All these novels were read (or in a few cases reviews) for a paper delivered at Emory University for the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Association of Ancient Historian’s panel on “Alexander’s Afterlives.” My paper was titled, “Alexander and Hephaistion in Fiction after Stonewall.”

#AlexandertheGreat #Jo Graham #Alexander the Great #Historical fantasy #historical fiction #Hephaistion #Hephaestion #Lydias #Ptolemy #Successor Wars

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sleemo · 6 years

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It Shouldn’t Happen To A Film Journalist

Editor-at-Large Jamie Graham lifts the lid on film journalism. This month: the worst interview in history. —Total Film, Summer 2018

One of the horrors of being a film journalist is the roundtable interview, or RT, in which a group of writers from various countries crowd, well, round a table and stare at an empty seat that’s been reserved for the ‘talent’. After long minutes of stilted conversation or, worse, heavily pregnant silence, in walks the director or star.

The frenzy begins, with everyone clashing questions and only listening to half an answer before pouncing on the slightest pause to fire another query. It’s chaos – especially if the group is large (I’ve been on RTs ranging from three journalists to 25) and full of dicks… Sorry, personalities.

In most cases, it should be stressed, Total Film is afforded one-on-one access, meaning a rapport can be built without an Australian journalist jumping in to ask Michael Fassbender if he’s ever dived the Great Barrier Reef or flown Qantas.

But sometimes, especially at film festivals, RTs are inevitable. The only thing for it is to steel yourself and ride into battle.

JEDI BLIGHT

In 20 years of doing this, last month’s Cannes RT with Adam Driver, for Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, was my most excruciating yet. Worse than Sabotage, when David Ayer sat down and a journo immediately asked, “Who are you?” then followed his admirably calm answer – “David Ayer, director” – with, “Can you spell that?”

It started when the 6ft 4in Driver said his hellos and a journalist whistled, “You’re a big boy. Not like Spike Lee [director of Driver’s other movie in Cannes, BlacKkKlansman] – he’s a termite.” “I wouldn’t say that to his face,” came the shocked reply.

Then, for five or six minutes, everything went fine, with Driver’s hackles smoothing and his initially clipped, guarded responses beginning to stretch and warm. Step up yours truly to make things weird again.

“I’ve just noticed your t-shirt,” beamed Driver. I looked down and realised I was wearing a Star Wars: Episode II top and needlessly blabbed, “I only brought it for the gym but I haven’t had time to go and I’ve run out of clean washing. I hate the film.”

His face crumpled and I immediately realised he’d spotted only the big STAR WARS lettering, in red, and missed the tiny Episode II legend – clearly he thought it was a Last Jedi shirt. “No, this is Attack Of The Clones!” I yelped. “I love your Star Wars movies.”

It sounded sycophantic and insincere, and his curdled reply was both suspicious and embarrassed: “Riiiiiight.”

PERSONAL PAIN

Thankfully for me, though sadly for the interview, our blundering exchange was swiftly obliterated by another writer’s attempt to pursue a ‘personal angle’.

Journo: “In Don Quixote and BlacKkKlansman, both of your characters are Jewish.” Driver: [silence] Journo: “Is that intentional?” Driver: “I don’t decide.” Journo: “But what does it mean to you?” Driver: “What does it mean to me?”

Journo: “As a Jewish man, what does it mean to you to play Jewish characters?” Driver: “I’m not Jewish.” Journo: “You’re not Jewish?” Driver: “No.” Journo: “I thought you were.” Driver: “No.”

PR person to group: “Last question, please.”

Same journo, refusing to let anyone else have a chance: “What are you?” Driver: “What am I?” Journo: “What religion?” Driver: “We’ll skip that one.”

And then, with Driver departing, the rancid cherry on top: “How does it feel to not be Jewish?” the journo cheerfully called out in a woeful attempt to defuse the tension. We’ll never know as Driver just kept on walking.

—Total Film, Summer 2018

#this is painful to read #adam driver #blackkklansman #star wars #the man who killed don quixote #total film #cast #uploads #long post #interview #*

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courtorderedcake · 5 years

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@captainswanbigbang & @captxinswans present:

RIPTIDE by @courtorderedcake Beta’d by the wonderful @ultraluckycatnd

An Enchanted Forest AU where the dark one was never released into the world in a vessel, thus causing a massive shift in timelines. The ogre wars have ravaged kingdoms, untold destruction spanning continents, rulers displaced. Even as the wars sputter to ash, the safest place to be is at sea, and that’s not very safe at all - as Emma and Killian find out, fates intertwined against all odds.

Rated: E/X - heavy content : warnings of assault, rape, noncon, just everything, I feel like the rating says enough. It’s something.

WARNING: READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Read on Ao3 HERE .

Chapter XIII : Spyglass; An Epilogue

Thomas Harriot is known to have turned a spyglass on the Moon, though with only three powers, he was unable to correctly discern neither crater nor mountain. Such a feat would require five to six powers, or higher.

-The History of the Spyglass

Time passes and tongues wag to fill quiet spaces.

The captain of the Gilded Wing, in his wisdom, decided piracy was not for him. With his bonny bride and an assortment of ex-privateers, they become a well respected merchant vessel and tradeship. Some said it was his charming and silver tongued demeanor, while others swore he was the gruffest man they ever traded with. Either way, his coffers were that of a king. If anyone asked about the haggard blonde and dark haired man with one hand juggling two wide eyed babes, they received no answers. Silence was a deafening warning.

The Jolly Roger is rumored to have sank in a battle with the Gilded Wing, the reckless captain duo of pirate lovers, Hook and Swan, finally finding a watery grave; together even in death.

Sightings of a glowing ship flying their flag are whispered among slave ships and crooked pirates who deal in innocent blood. It appears out of a dense fog, a ghostly enchantress with blonde hair whipping in the wind with her eternal love at her side, coat flapping and hook raised. Demons who leave no survivors except those bound in chains or held in a brig. Ghosts who steal back treasure that was taken wrongfully.

Or, as Emma calls it, 'date night’.

More children join the twins on the timbers of The Wing. Snow unexpectedly going into labor with her son Leo six months after the twins are born. Luckily, Whale and Tink had decided to stay on. David loses his mind with worry at not being prepared, but Snow breezes through the delivery right into motherhood.

“I didn't even get morning sickness, and I really didn't gain much weight. I'm lucky I didn't do anything crazy, or my labor might have been earlier and rougher,” Snow confides in Emma, as they nursed together in the sunshine of the deck. Leo latches easily, Snow smiling serenely. Emma has a foot in her face and both of her beloved children have fistfuls of her hair.

“Well, aren't you special,” Emma grumbled.

Maggie watches their twins with joy, bouncing them on her knees and singing to them while letting them eat as much pie as their small hands can grab. She quilts them beautiful blankets and knitted toys. Her shy husband even makes wooden toys for them, and does small magic tricks. Emma realizes that the shy bearded man is the tallest dwarf she’s ever seen slightly too late, and he laughs it off without worry. “i used to get grumpy about that sort of thing, but up here? I’m dreamy,” Leroy tells her, and he comes out of his shell completely.

Some of the crew leaves, as is expected when things change. They say goodbye to Rory and Phillip first, as the call comes that they can return for the throne of their homeland. Rory starts to send letters to them with her full name, Aurora, detailing palace life and asking for advice on policy. Emma finds it dreadfully boring, but David, Killian and Snow have vigorous debates on the shaping of the country.

Graham and Ruby leave to start a pack in unclaimed territory of the Enchanted Forest, gathering lone wolves and setting up rules that soon become a permanent structure. While there is still an ogre problem, the pack is strong and faces the danger head on.

Mal and Z return to the dragon lands together, slipping away quietly and without much notice. Killian can only laugh as he watches two dragons on the horizon disappear into the sunset.

Graham and Ruby return to say hello now and then when The Wing docks in The Enchanted Forest. Eventually, they rejoin the crew, the risk of Ogre attack while Ruby raises their litter of three beautiful boys deemed too dangerous by Graham. Hunter, Willow, and Forrest all have the same dark brown shock of hair, heavily taking after their father. To Graham, his small pack is everything, and Ruby feels the same; they'll forego the change to raise their young with no regrets. Emma happily brews them a Lunar Stasis draught, and they fall into the routine easily, Ruby complaining about constantly having a babe to her breast while the other women nod and bounce her other triplets.

Mal and Z do not visit. Instead, they extend an invite to show off their egg. The entire crew doesn't know what will be inside, until they get a bans stating, ‘It’s a girl! (Dragon, but currently unable to transform). Please welcome Lily.’

Snow notes the design is lovely, irregardless of the strangeness of the message.

Regina and Robin welcome a beautiful dark haired girl around the time the twins see eighteen months, and a once hardened Regina softens completely. They name her for a powerful enchantress in another realm, Lucinda, or Lucy for short.

Snow and David welcome a blonde tufted girl to the world soon after Regina’s daughter is born and Leo turns one, David immediately finding himself wrapped around his daughter's finger. They name her Ruth after his and Emma's mother. Leo is insanely jealous, but makes do by going through a shrieking stage.

Merida and Fa finally get married, the ceremony a complete hodgepodge of both of their cultures that somehow not only works, but works well. Plaid tartan and silk floral prints drape a verdant forest glade, a bamboo archway placed where they exchange vows. There's a tea ceremony followed by knotting their hands in a complex golden rope. The reception is visited by Merida’s estranged brothers, who finally accept she is not after their claim to the throne.

Emma dreams, or more appropriately, has nightmares of a dark castle that crumbles and rots. Something slithers and its claws click and scrape on the moss covered stones. A man calls out, his eyes burning behind brown irises, blood on his hands as he feeds a golden monstrosity. Willing herself to wake up, they look at her and she swears the scaled creature smiles, not a man but a beast, next to another pretender of a lost boy in the guise of a man and warlock. The warlock looks at her hungrily, a predatory gleam in his eyes as he surveys her body. The creature only glares. Together they are a golden eyed man who chases her in the recurrent night terror. Somehow she knows they are a portent of doom, but the dreams fade fast as she wakes up thrashing, soothed by Killian.

Smee's lap is a source of argument amongst the rowdy lot of toddlers, especially as he reads stories aloud. He always has a knack for getting a hold of rare items - and by rare items, he means sugary sweets that have been the bane of his old captain’s existence. Luckily, these days, the Captain is a dear friend and his Missus is in on Smee's trade. The Twins lead the pack at two years old, Emma and Killian no longer running ragged but instead, thriving in a new sort of chaos.

Killian still hooks yarn together, darning socks and making less lumpy blankets for anyone who needs them, and constantly making socks for little feet. With a little finesse, he’s able to make a few rudimentary stuffed toys, until suddenly he has made an assortment of soft toys. Esper is fond of a jellyfish the color of lilacs, while Ian chooses a shark, making roaring noises that rattle the timbers of the deck. Leo chooses a lion, his father beaming, Ruth clinging to a plush ginger kitten. Lucy chooses a frog with a giggle, Killian’s handiwork clear as the frog has a curled tongue in its mouth. It becomes a tradition for him to make something for new crew, and he frequently gets requests.

Jefferson and August finally decide to be more than just an occasional fling that happens more than just occasionally. They depart after the space becomes crowded and August expresses interest in traveling down many different rabbit holes. They are only seen on big holidays, bringing the most ridiculous gifts from their travels. Killian eventually bans any gift that makes ‘extravagant and unnecessary noise’ after a teapot given to Esper keeps singing off tune and nonsensical nursery songs at all hours.

After a particularly intense night of freeing slaves, Fa finds a small wide eyed girl clinging to her belts. Merida is immediately in love with the ginger haired child with stormy gray eyes, and no one bats an eye when suddenly, a young, wild haired girl is leading the pack of children across the decks. Not given a name, Fa coaxes her to choose one whenever she is ready, her quiet voice soothing as she stroked the girl's hair. Fa tells her stories, and Merida tells her tall tales and myths. She eventually chooses the name Rowan for its strength, just like her mothers.

Rory and Phillip send word from their kingdom that they have a daughter, naming her Rose. The crew attends the announcement ceremony, happily greeting their long time friends: Jasmine and Aladdin, now rulers of Agrabah; Tiana and Naveen, happily avoiding royalty in their restaurant; the vibrant ex-mermaid Ariel and an ecstatic Eric. Esperanza takes to Ariel, who despite being in what Emma refers to as 'the 200 months pregnant stage’, keeps her two and a half year daughter entertained. Ian, like his father or mother (depending on the day and who you asked), made trouble by slipping a tray of pastries under a skirted table, sharing his loot with his cousins, and inducing a glorious sugar crash.

In the brief moment of peace, Emma and Killian disappeared into one of the quieter roped off parts of the palace.

“We have to -” Killian's mouth met hers, demanding and hungry, intimacy not in short supply but not frequent either, always having to be carefully planned. Spontaneous escapes like this were rare if not unheard of. “Be quick,” Emma moaned as he nipped at her collar bone, hiking up her skirts.

“Bloody hell, I don't want to be quick,” he murmured against her throat, licking a trail to her ear. “I'd love to taste you, mark you -”

“For now.” She palmed him through his trousers and he hissed. “This. I need to feel you inside me.”

Another crash of their lips, her hands finding his belt as he pushed her against a wall, fingers pumping inside her wetness until he was freed. Moaning into his mouth as he thrust into her in a smooth motion, Killian grabbed her leg to pin her tightly between the wall and his body.

While it was fast and hard, it was also passionate. Emma clawed at him and they moaned together, savoring the heat that sparked every time they connected. They came together, each other's names sweet in their mouths. Sneaking back to their seats, only David narrowed his eyes with a shake of his head. Killian gave him a cocky nod and a wink.

Will and Belle had almost given up trying, but finally welcomed a tiny baby girl into the world. They named her Victoria, and Will finally got his comeuppance for teasing his fellows about crying when their children were born. He sobbed, holding his baby for the first time, her small hands making his look so large. Belle lay sick after they birth for several weeks, Will reading to her and rocking their babe as the crew took care of her, the day she wa finally able to come up on the sunshine of the deck with her small baby girl celebrated.

Whale gave in to Tink’s demands, accepting a steady stipend paid for him to stay on board to provide care for the children he delivered and their mothers. His bedside manner did not improve but deckside, Uncle Vic was a delight to as many children he could chase as they pretended he was a monster.

The Gilded Wing was alive with activity and noise from dawn until dusk, tired parents staying up when they had the energy to make conversation or nodding at each other in shifts as they groggily bounced or rocked children back to sleep in time with the ocean’s sway.

Emma found herself on deck more often than not. Esperanza was still a sickly child who needed the fresh night air. The Twins were almost three, talking non-stop and inquisitively taking in the world. It was exhausting. Luckily, Ian slept like the dead, his wild running throughout the day leading to a blessedly quiet wind down. Esper fought sleep, longing for starlight and the moon, Emma whispering constellations gently in her dark hair until Killian joined them on deck or she joined him in their bed.

Laying a finally sleeping Esper down in her bunk above Ian's, Emma made her way through the quiet corridor, slipping into bed and her waiting husband's arms.

“I love you,” he murmured in her ear, and when her answer didn't come in return, he cracked open an eye. “Love?”

“When was the last time I bled?” she whispered, facing away from him.

“I figured two weeks ago; you were moodier than usual and I let you be.” Killian replied drowsily. Her hand guided his to her stomach, a familiar swell against his palm jerking him awake. “Emma?”

“I didn't put the pieces together until a week ago. I should be just about four months along or so, maybe five. That’d be Rose's announcement ceremony. I haven't felt kicking yet -” Rolling her towards him, he captured her lips in his, grinning.

“You are a marvel, Swan. A bloody marvel. I love you so much. How do you feel? You're so small, I wouldn't have guessed...” Kissing her breathless, she pulled back laughing.

“Thank the Gods above and below, I believe there's only one this time. I'm fine. Tired, but fine.” Killian pressed a kiss to her forehead, blue eyes dancing as he looked down at her.

“Are you sure you can't make it two or three? David's lot is catching up to us, and if we get a nice lead -”

“Oh, shut up.” Smacking his chest and ignoring the salacious eyebrow wiggle he gives her, she doesn't ignore the steady beating of his heart as it lulls her to sleep.

Emma's second labor is easy, a chubby girl who is absolutely determined to prove her lungs work well. The name is long planned in advance; his mother’s name. Alice. She is fair haired and light eyed, a lighter shade of blue than Killian's own when they finally finish their change.

Liam's eyes, Killian tells Emma in the quiet still of the night. A reminder that even in all of this love, there are still scars and quiet pain they all share. Her arms around his neck is a soothing balm; each of them having a source of relief from old nightmares. Emma finally relents, and they spend some time in the small cabin on the cliffs he owns. She finds it’s not as terrible as she imagined and enjoys the quiet, or swinging on the creaky porch watching their children play. Not enough to give up the sea, or the ship, but enough to take reprieve when things get to be too much.

Killian reminds her that they’re old, but not that old. He reminds her frequently, until she tells him that she has suspicions that his reminders have ended in a well intentioned accident. Emma feels the movements earlier this time, hasn’t been as sick as her first pregnancy, but it’s still rough. Killian sits through a delivery that feels so much like when he almost lost her, so much strain and struggle, but Emma beams at him when it’s done.

“William?” she whispers softly, tucked into Killian’s side. He’s holding their last child and crying with her, arms wrapped around them both in the quiet before the rest of their children wake.

“William,” Killian agrees, pressing kisses on her sweaty forehead, making Emma chuckle. “Liam for short.” Her head lolls, exhaustion setting in although she fights it and the pain she's in with a grimace. When she shifts in the bed, Killian watches her with an ache in his chest as she swallows back whimpers and curses.

There’s no question about how close to leaving him she came again as her screams echo in his head, but Killian changes bloody sheets, and tells her after he’s sent their children off to play on deck that he loves her more than anything - That the thought of not having her sends him reeling. Pressing soft kisses to her pallid forehead, he cried into her hair, holding her tightly. Regina visits later with a potion that ends any worry for them, which thrills Killian even if it means his wild oats have ended their run.

Their children grow, and Piracy loses its appeal all together as raising them turns out to be much more terrifying and complicated than anticipated. Emma and Killian barely survive, the world around them changing rapidly, threats rising and danger around every corner.

Why wouldn’t it change, when someone finally let in a golden crocodile to their soul with open arms?

But that’s a story for a different time.

#Riptide #Finale #CSBB #CSBB 2018 #captain swan #captain swan fanfiction #Courtorderedcake

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evillesbianvillainarchive · 6 years

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list of actually scary/anxiety inducing horror movies from 2010 onwards

(ongoing list)

Legend: 😱: not really scary, more psychological/thriller, but still inducing some level of anxiety while watching --- 😱😱: rather scary but still points more at giving anxiety during the movie, probably will leave you with a sense of oppression after finishing it if you’re easy to scare --- 😱😱😱: rather scary, starts working on more horror and crude scenes, probably leave you scared after --- 😱😱😱😱: definetly scary, well made jumpscares, totally leave you scared after watching the movie --- 😱😱😱😱😱: i saw it a month ago and still got nightmares --- ⭐: how much i liked them

In Chronological order

Insidious (2010) 😱😱😱, ⭐

The tale of a family that moves into an old house and begins to suspect they are under siege from otherworldly forces when their young son inexplicably falls into a deep coma. As devoted parents Josh and Renai struggle in vain to uncover the root cause of their son’s condition, the stress of the situation gradually begins to take its toll on their once-strong relationship. Later, when darkness falls and specters appear to reach out for them from the shadows, the frightened parents realize they’re dealing with powers beyond human comprehension

tw/cw: flashing lights

Don’t be afraid of the Dark (2011) 😱😱😱 (idk the little monsters haunted me for weeks),⭐⭐

While architect Alex Hurst and his new girlfriend Kim restore their Gothic mansion's period interiors, Alex's young daughter Sally can investigate the macabre history and dark corners of the estate. Spurring Sally's investigation are the voices-rasping whispers who call out to her from the basement, who promise her understanding and friendship, who are so very hungry and would like to be set free.

tw/cw: mild gore, broken bones, teeth

The Conjuring (2013) 😱😱😱😱, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️

"The Conjuring" tells the true story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, world renowned paranormal investigators, who were called to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in a secluded farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful demonic entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most horrifying case of their lives.

tw/cw: mild gore, animal death

Evil Dead (2013) 😱😱😱, ⭐⭐⭐

Five twenty-something friends become holed up in a remote cabin. When they discover a Book of the Dead, they unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival.

tw/cw: heavy gore, animal death, rape

Oculus (2013) 😱😱 , ⭐⭐⭐

Ten years ago, tragedy struck the Russell family, leaving the lives of teenage siblings Tim and Kaylie forever changed when Tim was convicted of the brutal murder of their parents. Now in his 20s, Tim is newly released from protective custody and only wants to move on with his life; but Kaylie, still haunted by that fateful night, is convinced her parents' deaths were caused by something else altogether: a malevolent supernatural force unleashed through the Lasser Glass, an antique mirror in their childhood home. Determined to prove Tim's innocence, Kaylie tracks down the mirror.

tw/cw: heavy gore

Babadook (2014) 😱😱, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐️

Six years after the death of her husband, Amelia is at a loss. She struggles to discipline her 6 year-old, Samuel, a son she finds impossible to love. Samuel's dreams are plagued by a monster he believes is coming to kill them both. When a disturbing storybook called 'The Babadook' turns up at their house, Samuel is convinced that the Babadook is the creature he's been dreaming about.

tw/cw: mild gore, animal death, sexual content

It follows (2014) 😱, ⭐⭐⭐

After a strange sexual encounter, a teenager finds herself haunted by nightmarish visions and the inescapable sense that something is after her.

tw/cw: sexual content, nudity, mild gore

Hush (2016) 😱, ⭐⭐️⭐

Author Maddie Young lives a life of utter isolation after losing her hearing as a teenager. But one night, the fragile world is shattered when the masked face of a psychotic killer appears in her window. Without another living soul for miles, and with no way to call for help, it appears that Maddie is at the killer's mercy... but he may have underestimated his prey.

tw/cw: gore

The Conjuring 2 (2016) 😱😱😱😱😱, ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐

The return of Lorraine and Ed Warren in one of their most terrifying paranormal investigations. The couple travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits.

tw/cw: heavy paranoia inducing

Lights Out (2016) 😱😱😱😱😱, ⭐️⭐️⭐

When a bloodthirsty supernatural being that lurks in the shadows preys upon a family, a young woman must fight to protect herself, save her little half-brother, and uncover a mystery about her family's shadowy past.

tw/cw: heavy paranoia inducing, hospitalization

Under the Shadow (2016) 😱😱, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

Shideh and her family live amid the chaos of the Iran-Iraq war. Accused of subversion by the post-Revolution government and blacklisted from medical college, she falls into a state of malaise. Her husband is drafted and sent to the frontlines by the army, leaving Shideh all alone to protect their young daughter, Dorsa. Soon after he leaves, a missile hits their apartment building and while failing to explode, a neighbor dies under mysterious circumstances and Dorsa's behavior becomes increasingly erratic. Shideh finds herself slowly drawn into the ensuing turmoil, struggling to cling onto what is real and what is not. Searching for answers, she learns from a superstitious neighbor that the cursed missile might have brought with it Djinn.

tw/cw: war/bombing

Don’t Breathe (2016) 😱😱, ⭐⭐

A trio of reckless thieves breaks into the house of a wealthy blind man, thinking they'll get away with the perfect heist. They're wrong.

tw/cw: rape, sexual assault

IT (2017) 😱😱😱😱, ⭐️⭐️⭐

When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.

tw/cw: sexual assault, pedophilia, incest, heavy gore, racism, bullyism, child death

Veronica (2017) 😱😱, ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Veronica has taken care of her little brother and sister since the death of their father. One day during a total eclipse of the sun, Veronica and two friends decide to make a Ouija board in order to invoke her father's spirit. At the very peak of the eclipse, the glass shatters. Veronica enters a kind of trance and passes out, frightening her friends. Veronica recovers and goes home. But there, she starts to pick up on slight changes: objects that move, breathing in the dark... And she's still unaware of the horrific outcome that awaits her.

tw/cw: nudity

Get Out (2017) 😱, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

Now that Chris and his girlfriend, Rose, have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he could have never imagined.

tw/cw: mild gore, racism

A quiet place (2018) 😱😱, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

A family of four must navigate their lives in silence after mysterious creatures that hunt by sound threaten their survival. If they hear you, they hunt you.

tw/cw: mild gore, child death

Hereditary (2018) 😱😱😱, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter's family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited.

tw/cw: heavy gore, child death

#horror #horror movies #rec list #horror rec #horror tag #i think i can public it now #im gonna eventually edit it

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