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hyenahunt · 2 years

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[TRANSLATION] Reminiscence＊The Obbligato Played by Iridescence - Masterlist

In order to revitalise its affiliated schools, CosPro has organised a project named COMP. As part of their student body, Eden, Tatsumi and HiMERU gather together for a performance. As they work with the theme of school life memories, Jun realises that HiMERU in the present isn't quite the same as he was in the past...

✦ Writer: Akira ✦ Release Date: 30th April 2022

✦ Characters: HiMERU, Tatsumi, Jun, Hiyori, Nagisa, Ibara

✦ Proofreading: 310mc + Remi (JP) & Skyress + honeyspades (ENG)

✦ Translation: Peace (HiMERU, Tatsumi, Adam from In Praise of Folly onwards) & hyenahunt (Eve, Adam from Prologue to Ship of Fools - 3 + The Punishment of Kaname Tojo - 11)

Prologue: ✦

The Baptism of Jun Sazanami:

✦1 ✦2 ✦3 ✦4 ✦5 ✦6

Ship of Fools:

✦1 ✦2 ✦3

The Devotion to Tatsumi Kazehaya:

✦1 ✦2 ✦3 ✦4 ✦5 ✦6 ✦7 ✦8 ✦9

✦10 ✦11 ✦12 ✦13

In Praise of Folly:

✦1 ✦2 ✦3 ✦4 ✦5

The Punishment of Kaname Tojo:

✦1 ✦2 ✦3 ✦4 ✦5 ✦6 ✦7 ✦8 ✦9

✦10 ✦11 ✦12 ✦13 ✦14

Epilogue:

✦1 ✦2 ✦3 ✦4 (END)

✦✦✦✦✦

i have been waiting for this event and jun’s backstory and eve’s first meeting for four years and currently i feel absolutely insane

UPDATE 7th April 2024:

Jay's comment:

I didn't know what to expect when I signed up for almost two years ago the moment Obbligato dropped, but I had no idea that it'd rapidly become one of the most beloved and emotional events of the !! era. Being able to learn about Jun's early days in Reimei was something I'd always dreamed of, and though the first meeting of Eve I'd hoped for may not have happened this time, it was incredible to see the initial foundation of Eden being laid down, of Hiyori and Nagisa picking themselves back up in the aftermath of ex-fine, of Jun's unwavering perseverance and commitment to staying true to himself throughout all the hardships he'd gone through… and I dearly hope both he and Tatsumi will one day learn the truth of what happened to the person he'd have been happy to be called a friend by. It was such a delight and honour to be able to work on all this with my good friend Peace, who in my opinion is the true MVP of the project considering just how much of the workload and Akira's endless monologues she took on! I'm as much a supporting role to her as Jun was to Tatsumi and Kaname, and she did incredible justice in bringing to life their earnest ideals and emotional struggles (especially in forming a voice from scratch for the latter!), along with HiMERU's bitter revelations as well as Adam once I entrusted them to her. I think our translation styles mesh very well whenever we collaborate, and who knows, maybe we'll be back for the eventual sequel!? Many thanks of course to our wonderful team for their support and hard work the whole time as well, and to all the friends who'd cheered us on! Real life happens and I know this more than anyone, but the self-imposed guilt of being unable to release our translation in its entirety until now has eaten at me for the better part of these two years, so it is a great relief and a great triumph to be able to present it to everyone at last. Thank you everyone for your patience after all this time, and I hope you enjoy our translation of this tragic tale with its promise of hope, of Reimei's dark past and those entangled in its oppressive web, and two boys who found solace and inspiration in each other and sought so desperately to reform it.

Peace's comment:

When Jay and I started this project back in May 2022, just a week before my birthday, I couldn't have imagined the way it would change my brain chemistry forever. I'd always loved Tatsumi's growth as a character, and having translated him several times before (researching quite in-depth into the sort of religious person he was, down to reading Japanese articles about the people who still live in Japan as he does) I was really excited to do it again! Taking on the Tojo brothers was something I was pretty excited and nervous about too actually, mostly since I had minimal experience with HiMERU himself and I'd be creating a whole voice for Kaname as I conveyed Akira's words the best I could. My thoughts when meeting Kaname was that he's a very distinct character, especially compared to his brother, and in his off-times he was such a brat! I loved that about him, and he had such a charming innocence about him I couldn't help but want to make that shine even more. In the later chapters when he starts to act more "HiMERU-like", I found it pretty fun to reflect that in his word choices and tone shifts... though he always cracked around Jun and Tatsumi, who I feel like he would be able to call his friends if he had the breathing room to. His relationship towards his older brother is as incredible sweet as it is sad, and I only wish they'll be able to speak plainly to one another someday. About halfway through our project, I decided to take charge of Adam's translations as well. I'd translated Nagisa a little before, but Ibara was a new face entirely! I was surprised by how much I enjoyed translating him actually, since I was a little afraid I wouldn't end up liking it at all... neither of them are my usual type, but I guess I was playing against it with everyone I worked on this time actually? (lol) People know me more for Trickstar and their sort, but I used to translate a lot of Valkyrie too! Ibara and Shu are similar in a perfectionist way, they're both very human in a certain way that others can't stand, and I had a lot of fun figuring out the best way to convey both Ibara's snake-oil salesman personality as well as his more "true" voice that comes out a bit in the story. Nagisa was such a blessing for his simplicity. Obbligato is a sorrowful tale of a group of boys made to grow up too fast, too soon, and the repercussions of that; it deals with generational stigma and trauma as a result of that, and while it is a genuinely hard read at times both for the descriptiveness of Tatsumi's childhood as well as the abuse Kaname and Jun have suffered due their names, don't shy from it. I've rarely had the delight to breathe life into such human characters before, painful as they are, and I can definitely say I'm happy with the finished project... in no small part thanks to the people I worked with over the past two years, because it was really nice to have my proofers' back-up when it came to certain economic lingo I wasn't as familiar with as well as the voices of some of the characters too. Having avid fans of Eden, Tatsumi, and HiMERU checking over my words made me feel so self-assured! Last but not least, thank you so much for your patience these past two years! We've worked really hard to make sure it's been worth the wait, so I hope you'll read it a thousand times over! Much love, Peace ♡ p.s. jay'll probably say i was a huge mvp working on this with her, but she's the one uploading everything, so don't let her fool you. she's doing hard work in the trenches.

#ensemble stars #enstars #enstars translation #s: obbligato #himeru #tatsumi kazehaya #jun sazanami #hyenahunttl #hiyori tomoe #nagisa ran #ibara saegusa #type: masterlist

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1dmonthlyficroundup · 10 months

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— 1D Monthly Fic Roundup —

Hi, and welcome to the 1D Monthly Fic Roundup for June 2023! Below you’ll find 1D fics that were all published this month in the order they were submitted to the blog. We hope you’ll check out these new fics! If you would like to submit your own fic, please check this post on how to submit or visit our blog @1dmonthlyficroundup. You can find all our other posts here.

Happy reading!

＊ routine surveillance by @disgruntledkittenface [E, 2k, Harry/Louis]

Harry’s training period for the Bureau consists of routine surveillance. One night, it becomes a little less routine.

＊ you wanna be on top? by @disgruntledkittenface [NR, 6k, Zayn/Louis]

“This is going to be a challenge for me.”

“Why?” Mr. Jay asks. Zayn can picture him, crossing his arms over his chest, a challenging gleam in his eye, but probably with a glossy smile.

“It looks like she’s kind of boyish? And, like, dorky, you know what I mean?”

Niall pushes Zayn lightly as someone holds the curtain open and she has to plaster on a smile as she walks out into the room. The raspy voice belongs to a brunette standing next to Mr. Jay, and Zayn almost stumbles in her stupid ankle boots when she sees how beautiful she is. Her high cheekbones rival Zayn’s, she has piercing blue eyes, and her lips… Well, Zayn probably shouldn’t think too much about them while she’s on camera.

Zayn’s experience as a contestant on America’s Next Top Model left her more than a little traumatized. She thinks she knows what to expect when she lets herself be talked into making an appearance on the show a couple of years later.

Louis manages to surprise her.

＊ Livin' In A Daydream by @lululawrence [NR, 3k, Louis/Harry]

See, Harry had learned his lesson. In order to protect Louis’ clothing and ensure everything was able to be thoroughly washed the first time, Harry had to go through each item individually. He would never be able to forgive himself if he didn’t go through the basketful and then he accidentally destroyed a beloved band shirt or something.

One line from the song Harry had previously been humming was now stuck in his mind on repeat, but it wasn’t bothering him yet so he allowed it to stay for the moment. The words he knew flowed with the music, and he subconsciously tried to figure out the missing lyrics as he mindlessly went through Louis’ laundry, until it all came to a screeching halt.

Harry originally had thought that the sock he had pulled out was just another one of Louis’ sport socks he left balled up, but when Harry pulled the cuff out, he realized the actual sole of the sock felt… crusty.

＊ Quite the Pickle by @lululawrence [NR, 1k, Louis/Harry/Nick Grimshaw]

Nick hated pickles. It was an entire thing for him and he used to get into arguments all the time when his mum insisted he could just remove them and the sandwich would be fine without them.

She never seemed to understand. The flavor was still left behind because of the juices. The scent was still there. The pickle was never fully removed. Not successfully. And now one was sitting on the plate, almost touching his perfectly pickle free sandwich, all whilst leaking it’s flavor and scent all over his chips.

Good thing there happened to be a pregnant man with a craving nearby.

＊ A Cure for First Show Nerves by @haztobegood [E, 776 words, Louis/Harry]

Harry calls before Louis' first show.

＊ waving to the hard times by @beardyboyzx [NR, 80k, Harry/Louis]

“When you took power, you promised the people equality, freedom from any form of discrimination, and the peace we were severely lacking. Today, once again, you're proving yourself to be a fake, a clown who rose to power just to think about himself.” Louis turns to look at the General once again and finds himself staring at the way his face seems scrunched up in pure and unadulterated rage. “But we — the people, have had enough of you and your barbarity.” Taking a step forward, the person raises his carbine and points it at the balcony. The crowd gasps and Louis takes his gun out of its holder and points it right back at them. “We've had enough. We're not gonna ask you to stop anymore. We're gonna make you.”

Twenty-five years ago, a group of alpha soldiers led a revolution to dispose of the beta oppressive monarchy. Louis Tomlinson, the General’s alpha nephew, is set to follow in his footsteps and eventually lead the Country. When the arrest of a beta brings a silent resistance group to show themselves and threaten The General, Louis finds himself questioning the government's true nature and the equality of the law, in a quest that will change him for good.

＊ in my head we can love forever by @beardyboyzx [E, 1k, Louis/Harry]

It's official: this is creepy. She's creepy. It's not like anything is going to happen just because Louis is a lesbian too. Harry's got to stop touching herself while thinking about her roommate.

Except that she can't.

Or: Harry might be a bit in love with her roommate.

＊ See the Light by Stria / @nooradeservedbetter [E, 6k, Harry/Louis]

Luckily for him, Louis doesn’t seem to mind. “Tell you what, love,” he says. He gets the pen on the counter, scribbles some numbers on the back of his receipt. “Here’s my number, and we can talk more about the purposes of a leash.” He winks, and then saunters away, bag in hand. Harry looks at his arse the whole time.

AKA the filthiest thing I've ever written.

＊ Like a Fire Burning in Your Veins by Stria / @nooradeservedbetter [E, 2k, Louis/Harry]

But first kinks are never forgotten, so to speak, and Harry can’t help but go back to them, alone and with Louis, over and over again. Can’t help but ask for bruises and pinches and slaps, can’t help but get on his knees in a bathroom stall, mouth full of dick while Louis bites on his fingers to avoid screaming.

(Or, the one with the pain.)

＊ Cool Kids Never Have The Time by wordsnnotes / @quelsentiment [T, 6k, Zayn/Louis]

“Meet Zayn. He's here to fix our immaturity problem,” Louis says in a clearly mocking tone.

Or: Zayn auditions to join a band and makes a bad first impression on their bassist.

＊ Inner Crisis by @neondiamond [G, 5k, Louis/Harry]

Louis calls an LGBTQ+ crisis hotline after coming out as asexual to his friends and family doesn’t quite go as well as he’d hoped. Harry answers his call.

＊ Chasing Feelings by @neondiamond [M, 20k, Harry/Louis]

When homicide detective Louis Tomlinson first gets assigned to work with detective Harry Styles, the newest addition to the Doncaster police station, on the biggest case of his career, he’s less than enthused about it. There’s a serial killer on the loose, and Louis has no time to waste working with a newbie, despite how attracted his inner Alpha may be to Harry’s sweet scent. Along the way, he finds he may have been too quick to judge the Omega.

＊ Ahead in the Count by @kingsofeverything [E, 2k, Louis/Harry]

Louis’s been a catcher in the minor leagues for more than a decade and he’s never known a pitcher to touch his junk more often than he touches the baseball.

Harry Styles, however, threw 117 pitches tonight, and adjusted himself 228 times.

＊ Bitter Ends Turn Sweet by @allwaswell16 [E, 30k, Louis/Harry]

It had been four years since Harry first heard the song his ex wrote about him and far longer since they broke up. He forgave Louis long ago, and now his life was focused on his career, his family, and especially his son, Max. But Louis was back in Chicago, after all this time, and he’s not an easy man to ignore.

Or a songfic inspired by the song Chicago

＊ All This Time by @allwaswell16 [T, 1k, Louis/Harry]

Louis Tomlinson had been best friends with flower shop owner Gemma Styles for years. It wasn't until she suggested he date her alpha brother that he ever thought of Harry that way. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea...

＊ the embers are new by @nouies [NR, 3k, Louis/Harry]

Louis is a dragon vet whose life is changed after a long trip.

＊ Fingertips Putting on a Show by cherrylarry / @beelou [E, 2k, Harry/Louis]

Harry just wants a relaxing self love session in the bathtub when she gets interrupted by a knock on her door.

＊ let's get naked and explore (our inner secrets) by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed [E, 8k, Zayn/Louis]

Louis’ name flashes on his screen and Zayn frowns at the phone before accepting the call and putting it on speaker. “Lou?”

“Don’t you mean daddy?” Louis asks, and Zayn fumbles with his phone, quickly taking it off speaker and putting in his airpods even before he’s consciously registered what Louis has said.

“What?” he hisses, his cheeks red with embarrassment, but even when he takes out one airpod to listen he can’t hear anything in the hallway, no giggling sisters or horrified mothers indicating that he’s been overheard. “Jesus, Lou, give me a warning next time.” It’s not as though both of them haven't ever started conversations about kink at random before, but here? Now?

Louis doesn’t chuckle, the way Zayn expects him to. Instead he sounds a little confused, or at least careful. “You’re the one that started it?”

“I did not!” Zayn insists hotly, squirming a little bit in the bed because he knows that he hadn’t, but he can’t lie, there’s a part of him that is a little intrigued.

Or: Zayn and Louis figure out a new kink with the help of good ol' autocorrect.

＊ the missing piece that makes me fit by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed [T, 17k, Zayn/Louis/Liam]

Liam is exactly Zayn's type. And Zayn is exactly Liam's type.

So it makes perfect sense for Louis to set them up.

Unfortunately, he fails to take into account that they're both also exactly his type.

＊ we will get another day (to begin again) by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed [T, 1k, Zayn/Liam]

“There’s a ton of health benefits to it, look.”

Zayn gives Liam an unimpressed stare. He doesn’t even acknowledge the phone in his hand. “I don’t care if it makes me immortal, Leeyum, I’m not going to take a freaking ice bath at six in the morning.”

＊ Voyeur Eyes Only by yeah_alright / @uhoh-but-yeah-alright [E, 1k, Louis/OT5]

For Wankers Day, Louis offers his clients a glimpse through the glory hole. Look but don’t touch never felt so good.

＊ Some Records Turnin’ by crimsontheory / @ireallysawanangel [E, 49k, Louis/Harry]

“Harry, dear,” Niall said cheerily, his arms ladened down with more boxes they’d received from their shipment earlier that day. “I promise this isn’t a prank, but Louis Tomlinson is sitting in our office.”

“I know,” Harry replied, using his hip to close the drawer of the cash register. “I let him back there.”

“Wait,” Niall said as he sat the boxes in his arms down on the counter and then held up his hands with his palms facing out towards Harry. “You mean to tell me that this man who you have a massive crush on is in our store right now and you’re just letting him sit back there by himself and not trying to shoot your shot?”

Or, Harry is a soft alpha who owns a record store and Louis is a closeted singer omega masquerading as an alpha who randomly stumbles into Harry’s store.

＊ Pegging in Pain by larry_hiatus / @larry-hiatus [E, 4k, Louis/Harry]

Harry loves the creativity of his fans when it comes to the signs they bring to his shows, and he tries to react to as many of the ones he likes as he can. When Louis finds about one cheeky sign, though, Harry’s reaction comes back to bite him in the ass.

＊ Trapezing Secret by thinlines / @thinlinez [E, 10k, Harry/Louis]

This job was supposed to be his secret. No one was supposed to find out.

“Woah.”

Harry dropped the two rubbish bags in his hands. One of the bags must have contained some spilled juice or sauce because he could feel wetness seeping into his ballet flats.

Louis’ hand which had been stuffed into his windbreaker pocket revealed itself as the alpha held up his fist to knuckle at his eyes. He blinked rapidly before he rubbed at his eyes again and squinted.

“Harold?”

OR What will happen when your lazy coworker slash biggest knothead you know discovers your secret? Omega Harry doesn't get the time to ponder his answer.

＊ Write You A Song by Rearviewdreamer / @all-these-larrythings [G, 5k, Louis/Harry]

Harry’s new flat is great but the acoustics are even better. They’re so good in fact that his daily shower concerts start to entertain an audience besides his shampoo bottle.

＊ It's Written All Over Your Face - Say It by larry_hiatus / @larry-hiatus [E, 10k, Harry/Louis]

Harry has been a brat all day, and Louis can’t seem to figure out why. When he does though, he delivers a punishment Harry won’t forget.

＊ Hold Me Tight (Or Don’t) by @hellolovers13 [E, 13k, Louis/Harry]

Falling in love with Louis is easy enough. Separating Louis from the singer persona Harry has been a fan of for years, however, is not.

But she's not the only one making assumptions.

＊ The Pros and Cons of Breathing by @hellolovers13 [E, 81k, Harry/Louis]

Omega Harry has always known he'd be married off someday, so when he's betrothed to Prince Louis, he's anxious about having to leave his life behind, but hopeful for a happy marriage.

The hope doesn't last long, with his husband avoiding him at all costs and Harry being left to fend for himself.

Can he find happiness even in a broken marriage?

＊ Something Secret by @hellolovers13 [E, 3k, Louis/Harry]

The Pros and Cons of Breathing - Companion

Eternity starts with a pink rose.

＊ Til the Afterglow by @hellolovers13 [E, 8k, Harry/Louis]

When Harry goes into heat in a random hotel room a thousand miles from home, there's more than one Alpha offering his help.

＊ It's Alright If It Makes You Feel Alive by larry_hiatus / @larry-hiatus [E, 13k, Louis/Zayn]

Louis has only ever been a dom when it comes to bedroom activities, but after seeing his boyfriend Harry get dominated by Zayn during their threesome, Louis asks Zayn to fulfill a secret wish of his.

＊ Teach Me Your Ways by elsi_bee / @elsi-bee [E, 34k, Louis/Harry]

Based on the following prompt: Omega Harry is the newly appointed sex ed teacher and uptight Alpha Louis does not approve of his very open methods. A rivalry ensues until Harry unravels him behind closed doors.

＊ Pageant Material by LadyAJ_13 / @ladyaj-13 [G, 6k, Zayn/Louis]

Louis flicks a nearby switch, lighting the bulbs around his mirror in a soft glow. The buttery yellow catches on the edges of his cheekbones, sharpening the dip. He looks more grown up this year. Some of his baby fat has melted away, and he sucks in his cheeks to see what he might look like by twenty five if this pattern continues. Then he crosses his eyes and sticks out his tongue.

Or, the Zouis teen beauty pageant AU.

＊ The Way to My Heart by LadyAJ_13 / @ladyaj-13 [T, 6k, Louis/Harry]

Louis' having a bit of a dry spell, until he bumps into an attractive alpha in the supermarket and leaves with his number. It was a hard bump. Very... muscular.

The only problem is, said alpha asks Louis to cook for him - which is not exactly his skill set.

＊ you are my destiny (you are the reason that i still believe) by @alwaysxlarrie [M, 98k, Harry/Louis]

Being a new employee at a company means that you have to learn to brush off the shitty bosses, shitty coworkers, and not getting the credit you actually deserve for things. At least, that's been Harry Styles' experience. Coworkers who steal his ideas in pursuit of getting praise and a raise, and a boss who's indifferent at best and condescending at worst. Harry has learned to expect this reality for the foreseeable future. He's accepted it.

What he hadn't expected was for Louis Tomlinson to waltz into their company, and his life, and change around everything he thought he knew about fate. A Cinderella AU.

＊ So Be Good For Goodness Sake by Kikiberoski16 / @larrysballetslippers [E, 3k, Louis/Harry]

Moving his fingers alongside the elastic, Louis’ eyes got darker again. “Did you like my dick down your throat?”

“Yes, daddy, I’m sorry.” A whimper escaped him, he wasn’t ready for a spanking at all, especially not in a broom closet.

Harry felt his pants go down his legs in one go. “That big new plug I got for you, did that feel good?”

Or, Louis picks Harry's outfit for their TV appearance and adds a little surprise.

＊ Lost In This Craze For You by Kikiberoski16 / @larrysballetslippers [E, 4k, Harry/Louis]

A frown formed on his face, he just wanted to talk. Zayn promised him Harry wasn’t mad, but reality seemed different. “Harry! Please!” Louis knocked hard on the door, it creaked and opened slightly.

Louis remembered Harry saying his door was broken, but Louis didn’t expect maintenance to take so long. The light from Harry’s room showed a white line on Louis’ black jeans. Louis couldn’t see inside but he just needed to.

Guilt swept through him as he slowly pushed the door open. As heavy as he felt, Louis took a step inside, and another. He did see Harry at his desk, or in the room, until he turned his head.

His mouth dropped but his heartbeat picked up. His boyfriend was jerking off, on his bed, with- “Harry?”

Or, Louis thinks he is incapable of making his boyfriend come, but Harry just needs a little more from him.

＊ On such breathless nights as these by @marchessa [E, 14k, Louis/Harry]

“Do you wish to become my mate, the pack omega?”

“I do.”

Louis kneeled down in front of him, and took the omega’s hands in his own, holding them over his chest.

“Then I will take you as my omega today,” Louis said with a firm voice. “I will keep you as my omega, my fated mate. From now on, you are mine to love. Mine to care for. Mine to pleasure,” he promised, leaning closer to the omega.

Harry’s whole body flushed after hearing his alpha’s vow, and tears gathered in his eyes.

As a newly presented omega, Harry has a hard time adjusting to his new life. Luckily he has the best alpha anyone could ask for on his side. The Moon had guided him to the most perfect mate in the world, and soon they will bond in the pale moonlight. He just has to survive the long road leading to the mating ritual.

Part 2 of In the middle of the night when the wolves come out

what's left of my halo's black by LiveLaughLoveLarry / @loveislarryislove [E, 22k, Louis/Harry]

As Harry sucks lovebites into Louis’ neck, Louis hopes that one day those marks will cover the way he can still feel Alex’s handprints burned into his flesh.

As Harry’s nails drag scratches along Louis’ back, Louis hopes that one day the scabs on his heart will heal and drop away just like the scabs on his skin.

As Harry fucks him down into the mattress, the bed shaking with every thrust, Louis hopes that one day his mouth will forget the shape of Alex’s name, won’t trace it over and over as the heat builds inside him, won’t want to scream it when he comes. Maybe one day he’ll open his eyes, as he slowly floats down from his post-orgasm haze, and won’t expect to see Alex’s face smiling back at him.

But today is not that day.

A year after a devastating breakup, Louis is still trying to put himself back together - but getting over a breakup is hard when you work as a wedding planner. Thankfully, his coworker Harry is the most supportive friend Louis could ask for. But Harry has some secrets of his own, and they send Louis' world spinning off its axis all over again.

Based on the song "Holding On To Heartache" by Louis Tomlinson

—Fic Fests—

＊ Wankfest [ masterpost / ao3 / @wankersday ]

＊ Zouis Fic Fest [ masterpost / ao3 / @zouisfics ]

#28th appreciation #trackinghappily #trackinghome #1dficvillage #tracksintheam #1dsource #hltracks #ficsfor4am #hlficlibrary

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scaredy-draws · 6 months

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I love love love the “and Make Them Bloom” series! Could you give me a fun fact abt each group?

Hi hi hi!!!! So excited to see ppl liking the series omg jkdfjk

I've no idea what a fun fact is!!! So I've consulted our beloved co-author @jaywalking-rogue

Yakamoz: They're the first group that actually came to mind when making a shuffle au! Their name, yakamoz, is a Turkish word that means the reflection of the moonlight on the sea. I named them, as I happen to be the Turkish speaking one ehe.

Another fun fact about Yakamoz is that they all need a disguise when going out because they're fairly famous (as far as having appeared on TV a couple of times) but they're all completely terrible at it: Akito was Touya's entire fashion sense, if An wears "casual clothes" she gets recognised by street musicians around the town instead, Tsukasa always goes overboard with it and ends up looking So Suspicious the rest of them end up having to make him change into normal clothes, Nene and Kanade get recognised because of their hair and Mafuyu's stony expression is always a dead giveaway no matter the outfit. -Jay

Another another fact is that they have too many members and don't fit into 3dmvs to take pictures of them in :')

Re/Born: The first thing ReBorn did when they got together as a band was pick their designated colours, but Ichika and Haruka always mix up which blue is whose. Ichika also has an indigo streak in her hair in this AU for that reason.

Re/Born is such a cool name imo too,,, Jay named them.

Lulla-tale !!: They take an embarassingly long time to actually form the whole group and then an even longer time to discover their sekai, which only makes sense considering how big their group is. I wanted the theatre group to be bigger because canon WxS is simply a very small cast.

Lulla-tale !! was named by yours truly <3

希望—アイデンティティ(Kibou-Identity): They all have a protectiveness over one another, each thinking that the others are too nice for the world. Shizuku's big sister instincts and the things she's seen when in the idol industry, Honami and Mizuki's experience with bullying, and Minori having been pushed down so many times while trying to become an idol, they all think they need to protect the others from experiences like their own.

Another fun fact is that I still can't name them because Jay and I are silly and wanted to name them something in Japanese, but I don't know any so we're struggling. Their current name means Hope Identity and is sort of temporary maybe perhaps?

Backdraft: When Akito first asked Shiho to partner up with him, she was like "oh yeah sure," she liked his singing, his style etc. Only when they actually hung out in vivid street did she realise he's like. really well known there.

Featuring Shiho as main character of a new hit manga: I Accidentally Partnered Up With A Local Celebrity!? -Jay

Backdraft was named by Jay, after a certain song, kudos to anyone who can guess it!

Thank you so so much for the ask, you've no idea how much it brightened both Jay and I's time :)

#and make them bloom au #crows aus #crows letterbox #crow.txt #yakamoz #Re/Born #Lulla-tale !!#希望—アイデンティティ #Kibou-Identity #Backdraft #Anonymous #jaywalking-rogue

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mark-of-chrysus · 1 year

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In the midst of the void, daniel knows that he is going through another loop as his soul goes in the process he felt shivers even though he doesn't have a body, it felt to him that someone's hands lingering in his soul like he is being toyed with love? obsession? admiration? adoration? awe? Daniel feels calm as he thinks he knows that person or knows that they won't hurt him. Daniel felt their hands let go of them as he vanishes to his next loop. Daniel Daniel My beloved Daniel No matter what loop we are in, we will be together even after death. You will love me for awe, You will hate me for being obsessive with you. You are our light, and we sacrifice ourselves for you But we will drag you into the abyss for your mind, body, and soul. Again And Again And Again As you are our beloved daniel

"Daniel, my dear? wake up! it's time for school!" Daniel hears a familiar voice. ________ You can interpret it in any way on who the is the person in yellow and black bold. the coloring is already a hint.

Jay didn't know what the empty feeling in his chest was but he detested it. Nevertheless, he endured, knowing that his beloved would soon rejoin him. Soon.

The darkness lit up with the arrival of Daniel's soul. As usual, it waited around for a new loop to start while making silly little shapes out of his forms. Jay snickered at the blue being that resembled a cow and cooed over the cat-shaped one before his darling melted back into a floating blue orb. He adored watching his Danny's antics and shenanigans across the loops, secretly cheering him on each time from the sidelines.

This time Jay felt strangely emboldened and reached out an invisible hand to touch his lover's soul. It shivered and backed away in confusion, but that did not deter him. He sent his feelings of adoration through the void and felt them echo around the little soul. Joy and adulation bubbled in his chest as the little soul tried to curl around him like a satisfied cat expressing its affection.

Of course, his perfect Daniel, his love, would find a way to sense him although he could not see him!

Jay felt as if his heart could burst at that very moment, but he was snapped out of his fantasies by a crack appearing in the void. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and gave the little blue soul another gentle nudge before reluctantly stepping away and allowing him to be engulfed in the light and take to the next cycle.

"My beloved, you will come back to me! No matter how long it takes! You will forever be mine, and mine only!"

With another loving sigh, Jay drifted through the cracks left in the other's wake, eager to join him once more. He slipped through the jagged shards of the void with practiced ease, paying no mind to the infernal shrill sound of his prison mending itself once again. It never matters anyways, since it can never withstand his honey's power and always crumbled before his bright soul. Daniel was just special like that, and it only served to further fuel his obsessive love for the boy. That was partially why he always followed after him.

It didn't matter that he forgot his memories at the beginning of each loop like all the others, the echo of his affections never faded from his heart and they would be reunited before he would be forced to leave again, he just knew it! So each time he was found and his soul was torn from these worlds, he clung to his darling Daniel and dragged him back to the void with him.

Never would he be willing to leave a world alone.

Never would he and his beloved be separated again, no matter how selfishly he had to act.

Never.

They had sworn an oath after all~ And Jay would see it through. No. Matter. What.

#time loop #lookism manhwa #webtoon lookism #lookism #daniel park #jay hong

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chorusfm · 5 days

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The Eyebrows

Recently I was able to catch up with Charlotte, North Carolina-based power pop band, The Eyebrows, to discuss their latest album called Double Take. The Eyebrows are singer-songwriter, producer, guitarist, and multi-instrumentalist Jay Garrigan, bassist and vocalist Darrin Gray, and drummer and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lynch. In this interview, I asked the band about what went into the writing/recording process for Double Take, how they approach building out their setlists for tours, and much more. Double Take released on April 19th, and there are still a few physical options of the record at the band’s store here. Where did the album title of Double Take come from? What’s the significance of the title as it relates to these songs? On one hand, I feel that my life is the definition of a double take, which is a surprised, second look at a person or situation whose significance had not been completely grasped at first. I’ve often asked myself why this is. The title Double Take also describes the dual nature of our latest album, a direct result of an innovative approach to recording that Mitch Easter inspired. This album features each song in two distinct versions: one polished and produced by Mitch in the studio, capturing the rocktastic essence of our sound only in the way someone as talented and artistic as Mitch can, and another raw, vibrant version that I recorded & mixed myself in our practice space, echoing the mid-fi and lo-fi aesthetics of bands like early REM, GBV, and Suicide that I deeply admire. This approach not only showcases our versatility as an imaginative studio and visceral, live band, but also challenges listeners to reconsider our music through different sonic perspectives & palettes, highlighting how varied production styles can alter the perception of the same song. How did the process of recording this LP with Mitch Easter go? Any vivid memories from the studio sessions? As far as memories go, we were absolutely buzzing as The Baseball Project just finished tracking and mixing their latest album with Mitch right before we started to track our album. To be literally standing right where our heroes Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon were was awe-inspiring, and we hoped to catch a ride on a glimmer of their musical mojo. REM was very formative upon younger versions of myself and drummist Shawn Lynch. In the early 90s, Mike Mills once said he wanted to put his two cents into anything I do, and I stupidly lost his phone number. Maybe he will do a double take at some future time, haha. Also in this session, we got to use some really interesting gear, such as running a mix buss through a 60s EMI console – much like a console The Beatles would have used during the 60s. I believe Kurt Vile bought this console from Mitch recently. I know for a fact we were the last band to record on Mitch’s legendary main console before he let it go—a console that was used to mix the soundtrack of The NeverEnding Story. Reflecting on Double Take, where each song undergoes its own transformation across two sides, it feels apt to echo a line from the movie: ‘Nothing is lost…Everything is transformed.’ (shivers!) Recording with Mitch Easter at his studio is always a great time, and having detailed musical conversations comes naturally within the walls of the Fidelitorium. We can talk about things like… what kind of mic, amp, and reverb is needed to give this Hohner Pianet a period-specific, 60s sound? I love the energy of your band’s performance on the music video for “Say Yeah!”. Where was this video shot at, and how pleased are you with the final product? “Say Yeah!” was shot in the raw veins of our beloved Charlotte, NC in my backyard, a place as battered and beautiful as the tune itself. We filmed it right next to a very toxic, chemical-laden creek right across from – what I can only call – the apartment-ization and gentrification of my neighborhood and city. When we first moved here, we were surrounded by woods in… https://chorus.fm/features/interviews/the-eyebrows/

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ravvissante · 2 months

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Calm Down| En-reacts

Sypnosis — Enhypen hyung-line reaction to your baby crying while you were away.

Genre — Fluff, Soft.

D/N - Daughters name | S/N - Sons name

Heeseung

"Hon?? I'm leaving alright? Make sure you remember that D/N's bottle is on the table in our room!" Y/n shouted from downstairs waiting for her husband's reply who was playing with their daughter upstairs.

"Yes! Bye honey! Be careful!" He shouted back, as Y/n smiled and shook her head, she knows how much heeseung loves their daughter but he can be a dumbass sometimes..

She won't even be surprised if he forgot what she just reminded him a thousand times. After finishing putting on her shoe, she finally left not knowing what was gonna happen while she's gone.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

"Pee-ka-boo!" Heeseung repeatedly said as again his beloved daughter giggled kicking the air making him chuckle at her cuteness.

He picked her up and was suddenly shocked by the big difference from her weight. "Woah.. Is my princess already getting big? Well that's too fast.."

His daughter looked at him in confusion as she rested her small head to her fathers shoulder, heeseung's heart melting at the movement.

"You're gonna sleep? Then let me sing for you... My princess.." He said rocking his daughter in his arms while singing a certain song.. 'Polaroid Love'.

Everything was going so soft and warm, his daughters eyes were already closing when he suddenly made a mistake in the tone and an ugly voice crack came out from his mouth making both of them look at each other, eyes wide.

He panicked when he saw tears forming on his daughters eyes and was on the verge of crying out.

"No, no, no princess don't cry I'm sorry.." He said rocking his daughter who finally let out a loud screeching cry back to sleep.

He panicked more when he forgot where his wife told him where their daughters bottle was, he placed her down on the crib and went roaming in the house looking for the bottle, regretting that he wasn't listening to his wife's reminder.

After some time he finally found it and ran back to d/n's room, not forgetting to mention that he hit his foot on the door while running.

Finally he carried his daughter, whose eyes were already red from crying, he frowned as he kept mumbling 'sorry' as he fed his daughter.

Seeing her calm down, he sat down in relief caressing his daughter's head, watching her looking at him with her big eyes, it was almost like she wasn't crying out her lungs just a second ago.

When he noticed that she was already full, he took out the bottle from her mouth and sat her on his lap, resting her head on her chest.

"I was so scared when you cried like that.. I'm sorry princess, next time I'll listen to mommy so you wont cry again..." He smiled as he caressed his daughters back softly.

Jay

"Are you sure it's alright? Sorry hon.. It's an emergency and I can't bring him to the hospital.." His wife said worriedly as she held the stroller who under it lays her son who was playing with his teddy bear.

"It's okay, darling.. Just update me if something happened okay? I'll take care of him.." Jay said before placing a kiss on her lips and grabbing the stroller before his wife left.

He sighed as she pushed the stroller inside his office and smiled as he carried his baby boy. "I'm still not finished with my work so, don't make it hard for daddy okay?"

His son blinked his eyes not understanding anything making jay chuckle and placing him back on the stroller, bringing it close to his table as he went back to signing the files.

Some minutes later, in the corner of his eyes, he saw munching on something he got up his seat and looked at him as he shook his head.

"No,no don't eat that s/n.." He picked up his son who was attempting to eat his teddy bear.

He walked in his private room who already had a crib for some emergencies like this. He placed him on the crib as he went back to his table and went back to work.

Every minute he checked on his son, and from the third check he saw that his baby was already sleeping while hugging his teddy bear, he went back to work with a smile.

After a minute or two, a knock was heard on his door, he replied a 'come in' as the door opened he faced the person and regret suddenly filled his whole body seeing the person.

Ms. Kim

"Hey, jongseong.. How are you doing? Are you fre—

This Ms. Kim was the daughter of another ceo, and the problem here is that, that woman was always chasing for him, even though he's married and even though he had a kid, he always rejects her HUNDREDS of times.

"Leave..." He said calmly not wanting to make such loud noise and let his anger roam him, knowing his son might wake up.

"Huh? Why so angry hm? Come on let's go to the movies.." She said smiling mischievously. God he hated that smile.

"I said, Leave." He repeated, gripping on his pen so hard his veins were so visible.

"Come o-

"ARE YOU DEAF?! I SAID LEAVE!" He couldn't hold it back and shouted at her, his ears already turning red as he glared at her, he was tired of this girl.

And for the girl, she was stunned for so at least almost all the person on this floor heard him. Yes and even the little one heard him too.

And that little one cried from inside the room, Jay was in frustration as he faced the girl one last time with a more tense glare. "Leave before I could end you here right now."

He didn't even wait for her response and rushed to the room, seeing his son crying from being startled by his shouting soften him as he brought him to his chest and rubbed his back,

"Shh.. I'm sorry sweetie.. Daddy's sorry.." He mumbled kissing his sons head as he calmed him down.

His son was already calming down, but some soft sobs were still heard from him.

"My temper might be short... But never for you...daddy loves you s/n.."

Jake

"Bye love.." Jake said placing a kiss on his wife's cheek while a hand resting on her waist.

"Take care of him properly okay? If not I swear I'll kill you jaeyun." She threatened pointing a finger at his face.

But Jake just chuckled and grabbed her hand and intertwined it with his before kissing the top of it.

"Promise." He said taking off his hand from her waist as she left.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

"Laylaa! Don't lick s/n's face! Y/n will be mad at me.." He worriedly said as he ruffled his dog's fur, His son grabbing layla's tail while giggling.

"I'm getting hungry.. Layla look after our prince for a minute okay? I'm just gonna get us food." He said before placing a kiss on his sons forehead before rushing towards the kitchen.

While Layla was resting on the mat baby s/n looked at her in confusion of why she was so calm now when he was just so energetic a second ago.

He crawled over to the sleeping dog and pulled her tail making Layla startled and accidentally kicked s/n on the chin making him fall on the floor.

Meanwhile Jake was already finishing making the food when suddenly he heard his sons cry making him rush back to the living room,Worrying what was the reason that his son was crying out his lungs like that for.

Arriving at the living room seeing his son laying on the floor while tears slide down on his cheeks,

Layla on the other hand was trying to help him by attempting to lift his tiny arm up using her nose.

Jake shook his head as he carried his son and patted his back. "What happened baby? Are you alright? Shh..calm down.." He asked questions even though he knew it wouldn't be answered.

He didn't know what to do to calm him down, he's afraid that his son might cry and cry until his mom arrives.

He doesn't want to go to heaven this early.

And his prayers were heard when his son calmed down,... By seeing a cookie and munching at it at least..

Meanwhile layla faced the floor seemingly guilty?, it made jake smile and ruffled her head. "It's alright..he's okay now look.."

He showed layla s/n who was already calmed down and was still munching on a cookie. Layla placed a hand on s/n's foot.

Jake smiled widely as he hugged both of his 'babies', kissing both their foreheads and he giggled.

"Thank god.. I won't get to see my ancestors this early.."

Sunghoon

"Love... Love?.. Sunghoon!" Shouted Y/n as her husband, who was staring at the wall finally put his attention on her.

"Did you hear me? I said I'm gonna leave..the milk is on the top of the refrigerator, her diapers and clothes is in her cabinet, make sure to check her diaper if she's already full alright?" She said as he nodded and looked at their daughter who was laying besides him sleeping softly.

"Alright, alright.. Bye baby.." He said leaning over her and placing a peck on her lips before she left.

After that he just stared at his daughter for a minute, well not really a minute as he realized he was staring for too long, he didn't know what to do, so he just layed besides her too.

"I hope you wake up already.. I can't really do anything now..it's so boring.." He said intertwining his hand with his daughters little one.

"Or maybe I should take a bath.. Since you're still sleeping.." He said before getting up and walking inside the bathroom.

Enjoying the fresh water, as he continued to sing until he heard some crying noises, he was confused for a minute, thinking if the noise was just from the song.

As the cold water ran through his body, he sings in sync with a certain song playing.

He grabbed a towel and wrapped it on his lower body before turning off the music.

And as the music stopped, the cries were still heard, he stared again at the wall for a minute, until he realized. 𝘖𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵.

He ran back to the room, with only a towel, water dripping from his body and hair as he went inside the room he saw his daughter crying.

He panicked as he wanted to carry her but his body was still full of water, he might wet her.

His brain was not functioning when his gaze fell on a burger.. A cheese burger... Cheese..

He grabbed the cheese from the burger and with no hesitation he threw it to his daughter cheek.

Surprisingly she stopped crying, as she looked at her dad flabbergasted at what he just did.

Sunghoon was so proud as he went and carried her taking off the cheese on her cheek.

"Mission accomplished." He mumbled as he realized something again, shit.. He held her.

Now she's filled with water, and she... Smells like cheese..

Both father and daughter stared at each other before sunghoon sighed and walked towards the bathroom.

"I'm gonna wash you... And myself..."

#enhypen #enhypen x reader #enhypen reactions #heeseung x reader #jay x reader #jake x reader #sunghoon x reader #heeseung #jay #jake sim #sunghoon #lee heeseung #park jongseong #sim jaeyun #park sunghoon

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journeywithjs · 2 years

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Post script on entering and leaving Colombia:

- we are not tech savvy, and when the flight number United gave us for our flight into Colombia was repeatedly not recognised by the online Colombian immigration form… we thought, well, we can do it at Newark airport. It was an incorrect flight number and the immigration forms for us both so long and detailed that we missed our Miami flights. Airlines simply will not let you travel without everything needed by your destination country. We did have our onward flight booked, to Costa Rica, and Covid certificates and proof of money to keep us going, all prerequisites. When we finally went through passport control in Bogotá, he barely looked at anything and certainly didn’t check our MIG forms 😉.

- on leaving Colombia we had failed to note that our S. America travel guide of course did not cover Costa Rica and we might need an onward ticket again. They were sticklers for everything at the airport, so we quickly booked flights (flexible) to Quito. We have been through security at airports probably a hundred times but this time Jay had forgotten to take out his beloved multi-tool! They allowed him to go back to check in and check it in. On joining me at the boarding gate we hear his name being called. He is taken to his checked in bag and has to remove our spare battery pack and a tiny battery that powers a tiny light in the hood of his rain coat!! All done by friendly but machine gun toting guards!!

You live and learn….. we must prepare better for the flight to Ecuador and book our bus out of Ecuador and into Peru ahead of time. 😊

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lexibugsblog · 4 years

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Got Time For A Sinner

WARNING: NSFW

Got a little saucy with this one, hope you still enjoy ;D

What if you left with Arvin after the woods?

The autumn leaves church under my feet as the blue jays sing in the trees. As I stroll through the woods I see two crosses nailed to two trees. Arvin had only ever told me once about this place, but upon my request he left no detail out, so I knew I was close. As I walk through the branches, leaning into each other forming an archway of some kid, I see it, his father's church, then I see him.

“Arvin?” he was kneeling on the ground in a white shirt and his old blue jeans. I felt like I was seeing a ghost, as his head whirled around and he scrambled to his feet.

“Y/N, what are you doing here?”

“I was passing through and I just- I guess I wanted to see where it all began for you, since I thought I'd seen the end of you...Where have you been?”

“I’m sorry.” he mutters on the verge of tears, as was I.

“You left me.” I state a little more harshly than I intended.

“I did what I had to do, for Lenora, you know I had to.” He came a little closer.

“I get why, It was the right thing to do, but it still hurt.” I finally looked up at him, as I bit my lip he took my hands in his, “Now they're saying you killed Sheriff Less, sister and husband...I’m just...” I knew Arvin had a good reason for what he had done. Who knew what she was involved in, but the whole town knew how Lee covered for her time after time, her death shouldn't be any different.

“I know.” he places a soft kiss on my forehead as his hand cups my cheek, I place my hand over his, looking up at him once more, blinking away the tears in my eyes. Truth be told i didn't care what he had done, I was just happy to see him again. Before he could pull me in for an embrace we heard a twig snap behind us, we both stared at each other for a moment, then another, louder this time. Without warning Arvin grabs my arm, pulling me along with him to the ground behind a fallen tree a few yards for where we were. Footsteps get louder and louder until, “Arvin Russel!” Sheriff Lee yells. “I know you're down there somewhere” Arvin peaks up above the tree to see if he could pinpoint where Lee was and more importantly if we could escape, “Sheriff Bodecker son! Got a couple questions for you!”

Ruling out an escape Arvin peaks over the tree once more, Lee sounded pissed but would he really hurt Arvin or I? We hear a bird, followed by the echoing sound of a gunshot causing both Arvin and I to jump. I look at Arvin wide eyed, “Sorry bout that! God damn bird scared me!” Lee yells sounding out of breath, “I ain't here to hurt you!” Arvin pulls out his gun, struggling to load it, “And I know you don't wanna hurt me! Come on out so we can have a talk!” Arvin finally gets the magazine loaded, and the gun cocked, “Okay” he whispers, he lays back closing his eyes for a moment to get his bearings.

“I figured this might be where you'd come!” Lee shouts as he arrives at where we were standing just moments ago. “Remember that night you brought me up here!” Arvin nods at a branch next to me, understanding what he wanted me to do, I grab the stick and hand it to him. “That was an awful thing your daddy did.” Arvin throws the stick into the brush away from us, the sound of the stick clattering followed by the sound of another gunshot. “God dammit boy don’t-don’t fuck with me!” I swallowed a lump in my throat as Lee ran towards where Arvin had thrown the stick. Arvin looks over at me, taking short breaths in and out, I shake my head, my eyes pleading with him not to speak, it’d only give away our location.

“Put the gun down Sheriff, I got one pointed right at you!” I sign inwardly, trusting in Arvin.

“Can’t do that, son!”

“Just set it on the ground and step away!” Arvin begged.

“What?” Lee prompts, and Arvin repeats himself, yelling even louder this time, I could hear him closing in on us.

“So you can kill me like you did my sister and that preacher in West Virginia?” Arvin closes his eyes, his breath shaking as he responds, “I’m not a bad person, Sheriff.” my heart ached for him in that moment, “That preacher weren’t no good! He hurt my sister so bad she killed herself, Sheriff.” My mind flooded with images of the day of Lenora’s funeral, or aunt Emma clinging to Arvin and uncle Earskill becoming a shell of a man. Once the funeral was over Arvin drove me home, trying to remain strong for me too as I cried inconsolably in the passenger seat. “I had no choice!” I remember reading the note Arvin left me, I knew what he was going to do, hell maybe I could have stopped him, but in truth I didn't want to. I wanted the preacher dead for what he had done to Lenora and I knew that Arvin had to be the one to do it.

It was Then we see Lee approaching us, Arvin trains his gun on him as Lee sneaks behind a tree, “I hate to be the one to tell you this, Sheriff, but your sister..and her husband, they weren't no good neither! I got a snapshot in my pocket of her hugging on some dead guy!” I knew Lee's sister and her husband were odd but I did peg them as killers. “You let loose that gun and I'll show it to you!” Before Arvin can barely finish the sentence Lee runs from behind his tree charging at us, two gunshots ring out in the air. I scream, closing my eyes as Arvins body shields mine. I was never very religious but in that moment I prayed to every god I'd ever read about. Once silence fills the air again, I open my eyes as Arvin unshields me, I sit up, both of us scanning each other over for wounds but neither of us find any. Confused, but relieved we look up to see Lee lowering his gun, looking stunned, as he opens his arms wide, revealing the blood beginning to pool on his shirt. He stumbled back, falling to the ground. Arvin stands up lending me his hand as he does so. Once we're both on our feet , we climb over the tree hesitantly, I grab onto Arvin's arm as we cautiously make our way over to him.

I let go as Arvin makes his way over to Lee, who's gasping for air, as Arvin reaches in his belt throwing away his hand gun. Knelt beside him, Arvin pulls out the snapshot he mentioned moments ago, presenting it to Lee“I had no choice.” he says once more his voice strained, as he explains further, “They were going to kill me, I swear. I begged her to put the gun down.” Lee finally looks away from the picture and up at the trees, “I'm sorry.” Arvin states, as I place a hand on his shoulder. It seemed hours went by as we listened to the Sheriff fighting to stay alive. In reality it had only taken a few minutes, “We should go.” I warn, as the Sheriff takes his last breath.

Before we leave, Arvin plants the remaining evidence he had had on Lee’s sister on Lee himself, maybe once the body was found and both crimes investigated, maybe we could come back, but neither we wouldn't, even if we had wanted to, it would be too risky. As we walk over to gather his things, Arvin takes the gun, placing it with the bones of his childhood beloved dog, this was a new chapter for us both, a chance to put everything behind us.

We both rush back to my car, Arvin goes to throw his things in the truck, noticing my bags were already present. He shoots me a questioning look, “Like I said, I was passing through.” I explain, before hopping in the driver's seat. Not long into the drive, Arvin had already passed out in the passenger seat. As the hours ticked by the night drew in, I decided to pull into a motel and grab us a room. Once the room was paid for and I had gotten the keys, I walked back to the car, where Arvin was still sleeping. I gently rap on the window, with the keys waking him. He startles awake, relaxing only once he realizes it’s me. He opens the car door with a large yawn, closing it behind him as he helps me grab the bags from the trunk.

We both drudge up to our room. I flick on the lights illuminating the uniform room. I had always hated motels, they always seemed so impersonal for something that is meant to make people feel at home, but we both needed a shower and a place to rest our head for the night.

“I’m going to grab a shower,” I inform Arvin as I set my bags on the stiff bed. I undress as the steam from the shower fills the room, I test the temperature of the water before jumping in. Another reason I had always hated motels, terrible water pressure, granted this time, I was happy to just be under the water, ready to wash away the events of today. I close my eyes running my hands through my hair as I hear the curtain being pulled open. I could feel his presence behind me, before he took my hair, pulling it all to one side over my shoulder. Pressing soft kisses along my neck as he does so.

“Got time for a sinner?” he asks in a tired, husky voice.

“Always.” his hands fall over my body, down to my hips, as his kisses trail over my shoulder and down my back. I sigh into him, as his hands snake forward finding my folds, wasting no time finding my clit with his thumb as his other two fingers find their way into me, curling to hit my spot. “Arvin,” I moan, reaching back for him to steady myself as his other hand finds my neck squeezing softly as he places a more fiery kiss against my skin, the water pelting down, making me even hotter. “Christ” I mutter as he picks up his pace, my hips involuntarily moving to meet his pace. “I'm really sorry for leaving.” He whispers into my ear, sending shivers down my spine. “It’s-fuck!” I pant, as I feel a familiar coil in my stomach as he begins rubbing my clit once more, pumping his fingers in and out faster, coxing out an orgasm, I let out a loud moan, as I come hard on his fingers. His fingers then slow helping me ride out my orgasm, before leaving me completely. Once I catch my breath I turn to him, I stare into his lust blown eyes, “Promise you won't leave again.” I demand.

“I promise,” and with that I finished my shower and dried off. Arvin finishes before me so when I finally finish I pull on my silk bathrobe he must have brought in with him earlier. As I exit the bathroom I find him sitting on the edge bed, his head in his hands. As I walk over to him, he lifts his head, his hands go to my waist as he places his head to my stomach. I run my hands through his soft hair, placing a kiss on the top of his head, before tilting his chin up to look at me. His eyes swimming with remorse, “I forgive you.” I say as I place a chaste kiss on his forehead. When I pull back, we both stare at each other for a moment, my fingertips tracing his lips. He places a kiss on my thumb as he pulls me to his lap, both my legs landing on either side of him. My fingers find their way into his hair as he places a gentle kiss on my lips, as if testing the boundaries he pulls away but just barely. “I love you.” he whispers. A smile forms on my lips, as I look into his chocolate eyes, “I love you too.” I reaffirm, his lips find mine again, this time the kiss was deeper, harder, as he pulls me as close to him as possible.

His tough slips into my mouth, my brain lighting up at the familiar taste. I finally pull away to catch my breath, as I do his hands begin untying the belt of my robe as his lips trail down my neck and chest. My eyes flutter shut at the sensation, finally his lips meet mine again. I begin to fumble with his belt before untucking his shirt. We break the kiss once more, so Arvin can finish ridding himself of his shirt and pants. Once he finishes he pulls me to him once more, his fingers gliding over my skin as he pushes the robe off my shoulders and onto the ground. I pull him to the bed with me. His lips trail up my neck until they find my lips as he slides between my hips, hovering above me. I wrap my legs around his waist as he reaches between us, probing my entrance, before slowly pushing his length inside me, his forehead resting against mine as I gasp at the feeling of him inside me. “Are you okay?” he asks

“Yeah, I want this, I want you” I reassure him, then without hesitation Arvin begins thrusting. As he increased the pace even more he raised his head, looking down on me affectionately, “You're so beautiful.” he grunts, his body blanketing mine. His hands sliding under my ass, as he buried his face in the crook of my neck. I wrap my arms around his neck, meeting his thrusts, the sound of our bodies colliding filling the room, “Oh, God!”

“Are you close?”I nearly came just at the sight of him, beads of perspiration and water trickled onto me from his hair. I knew Arvin could tell I was close by the way his thrusting slowed but he went deeper, all the while whispering how badly he wanted me. Suddenly my pelvic area began pulsating and contracting, “Yes!” I yelled out almost pornographically as I rode out my orgasm. His lips crashed to mine, kissing me like I was his only source of oxygen. When he finally pulled away he was dragging his tongue against mine before biting my bottom lip, as I continued moaning he pressed his lips to my neck.

“Shit!” Arvin grunted as if gasping for air.

I felt him cumming inside me. The heat spread as he muttered how much he loved me. “Was that okay?” He checks in, slowing his movements, brushing a strand of hair from my face. I nod my head as he allowed me to ride out the orgasm at my own pace while biting my neck. “If you ever try to leave again, I'll kill you myself.” I swear to him causing him to smile against my skin. Once he finally pulled out of me the cold air prickled at my skin, however it wasn't long before he pulled me to his chest, my leg slung over his waist. He gently pulls the covers up over me, while rubbing my back. “By the way,” I start and he raises an eyebrow at me, “Everything you did, was for the right reasons, and for what it's worth I think that makes you a good person, or at the very least not a bad one.” Arvin has a big heart, i don't know if he will ever be able to forgive himself for what he'd done, even if he'd been told it was right a thousand times, but ill be damned if I wasn't going to try, He places a kiss on my hand, then placing it back on his chest, laying in silence until we both drift off to sleep.

#the devil all the time #Arvin Russell #arvin russel x reader #fanfiction #fanfic #smut #arvin russel smut #arvin russel imagine

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peachyysugaa · 3 years

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blood castle extra i. || enha 02z

who's who

♜ series masterlist

those of brave gryffindor:

↪ lee heeseung, 6th year & a prefect

↪ park jongseong (jay), 5th year & chaser for quidditch team

↪ our beloved lalisa manoban <3, 7th year & co-capt/chaser for quidditch team

↪ golden maknae jeon jungkook, 7th year & co-capt/seeker for quidditch team, head boy

those of kind hufflepuff:

↪ l/n y/n, 5th year & chaser for quidditch team

↪ sim jaeyun (jake), 5th year & a prefect

↪ our beloved park chaeyoung (rose) <3, 7th year & head girl

briefly mentioned characters!

↪ lee chaeryeong, 6th year & captain/chaser for quidditch team

↪ han jihyo (jihan), 4th year & chaser for quidditch team

those of intelligent ravenclaw:

↪ park sunghoon, 5th year & keeper for quidditch team

↪ nishimura riki, 3rd year & seeker for quidditch team

↪ kim namjoon, alumnus & currently a magizoologist for the ministry working towards the protection of endangered magical creatures

those of ambitious slytherin:

↪ yang jungwon, 4th year & beater for quidditch team

↪ kim sunoo, 4th year & announcer/commentator for quidditch games

a/n below the cut <3

♜ a/n: updated to add a few new characters!

it was sooo hard to decide where maknae line should go tbh! i feel like jungwon and sunoo are slythepuffs and riki gives off slytheclaw vibes ugh but i decided to even it all out, putting at least 2 members in each house and then pairing jake with mc hehe

some special fun facts, i feel like as with dancing, riki would love to play quidditch as a little kid and his form just fits seeker yknow? and sunoo taking over as announcer like soobin on that one show like yes please he fits for that role

also i'm trying not to put txt members bc where would i put them i put jungkook as a 7th year LMAOO; there's a possibility of me writing a txt hogwarts au sooo 👀

#blood castle #enhypen #enhypen x reader #enhypen fanfiction #blood castle extras #enhypen jay #enhypen jake #enhypen sunghoon #enhypen jungwon #enhypen niki #enhypen sunoo #enhypen heeseung #hogwarts au

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990 Review: Still Possesses Turtle Power After All These Years

Cowabunga all you happy people! I freaking love the Teenage Ninja Turtles. I grew up with it from Turtles in Time, which was my first video game, to the 2003 cartoon, which I covered the first three episodes of last month, and on to present day as I re-read the idw comics after finally reading the original eastman and laird run of mirage, and impatiently waiting for Shredder’s Revenge to come out after a LONG drout of no good TMNT games. I”m a fan of these heroes four, their dynamic as a family, the endless possiblities that come from it’s long history and ablitlity to go anywhere in any genre, and the wonderful goofy shit that happens when you have a franchise about mutant turtles learning ninjitsu from a rat and fighting a dude covered in knife covered samurai armor.

So with me finally covering the guys after almost a year last month and with a new movie set to debut at some point this year, I had the bright idea to revisit the FIRST TMNT movie after way too many years of not watching it. This movie is anear and dear to my heart: When I first started getting into the boys big as a kid with the 2003 cartoon, I badly wanted more turtles. But back then it wasn’t nearly as easy to glom onto some more of the sewer shock pizza kings: Streaming sites with all the cartoons on them weren’t all that accesable, dvd’s were expensive for the 87 cartoon, Mirage wasn’t reprinting the comics in any meaningful way and my local comic shop didn’t have any at all and I could only play the SNES when my brother had it set up on occasion like at our Grandma’s farm.

As you probably guessed though there was one exception: the original 1990 movie, which I got at Walmart for 5 bucks and haven’t let go of since. It was one of my first dvds and is still one of my most precious. Said film hit the spot just right as like my beloved 2003 series, it was a mildly goofy but still fucking cool adaptation that stuck closer to the mirage comics, even more than the 2003 series would, while taking a few queues from the 87 series. This film is as precious to me as the 2003 series and a with a brand new movie coming up, I figured it was the exact right time to dig into this classic: what makes it still good to this day, what’s fun to point and laugh at, and how the heck Jim Henson got involved in this. So join me under the cut as I take a look at my boys first theatrical outing and why I still love watching a turtle.

No One Wanted To Make This: Before we get into the film itself some background. As usual I struggled a bit, but thankfully found some help in the form of this Hollywood Reporter article. It’s a fascinating read worth your time, providing an oral history of the film from the people who worked on it.

The film was the baby of Gary Propper, a surfer dude and road manager for the prop comic Gallagher, aka that guy who used to smash watermelons but now has instead opted to smash what little’s left of his career by being a homophobic douchenozzle. He found an ally in Showtime producer Kim Dawson who’d produced Gallagher’s special. I don’t think there will be more of an 80′s sentence than “Gallagher’s surfer dude agent wanted to make a teenage mutant ninja turtles movie”. Propper was a huge fan of the comics, and with Dawson’s help convinced Laird and Eastman to let them option it to studios.

It may come as a shock to you but the road agent for a homophobic watermelon man and a producer at a niche cable channel wanting to make a movie based on an underground comic book about masked turtles at a time when the two most recent comic book movies were Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Howard the Duck, did not go well. Every door in Hollywood got slammed in their face, even Fox> Even the eventual backer of the film, Golden Harvest, a hong kong action film studio, took months to convince to actually back the film.

Things did not get easier from there: The films writer Bobby Herbeck had trouble getting a story agreed on because Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s working relationship had deteroiated horribly from the stress so naturally the two could not agree on a damn thing and argued with each other. Peter Laird made a tense siutation even worse by constnatly sniping at Herbeck and feeling he was a “Hollywood outsider infringing on his vision and characters”

Granted the script was apparently not great... but Pete still comes off as a pretnetious ass who views his weird indie comic as THE HIGHEST OF HIGH CALLINGS HOW DARE YOU SOIL IT. And continued to be kind of a prick like this throughout the rest of his time with the property.

Thankfully the film found i’ts voice, vision and director in Steve Barron. Barron was a music video guy who knew the producers and while reluctant, eventually dove into the project rightfully thinking the film would need to be a mix of the mirage comics and 87 cartoon, keeping aprils’ reporter job, the turtles lvoe of pizza and their iconic color coding from the cartoon but adapting several stories from the comics as the backbone of the film. The guys liked barron MUCH better and things ran smoother.

Barron also brought in one of the film’s biggest selling points and it’s most valuable asset: it’s triumphantly awesome Jim Henson costumes. Barron had worked with good old Jim on the music videos for Labyrinth, and while it took some convincing since the comics were violent as hell and that wasn’t Jim’s style, Barron eventually got him on board. This naturally doubled the budget, but given Henson’s costumes STILL hold up today and look better than the cgi used in the platinum dunes films... it was a good call. And this was brand new tech for jim, having to invent tons of new ideas and mechanisms just to make the things work, and said things still were absolute hell on the actors. Jim later ended up not liking the film for being too violent... which I find hilarious given how many muppets got eaten or blowed up real good on his show but regardless, I thank this legendary and wonderful man as without him this film WOULD NOT have worked. The costumes here look great, feel realistic, and you can’t tell the actors were dubbed much less horribly suffering in those suits. Much like Disney Land.

The film would get picked up for distribution by New Line, and despite i’ts weird as hell origins and the long shot it had.. the film was a MASSIVE hit at the box office, owing to a combination of Batman 89 the previous year having proved comic book movies can work for audiences, the cartoon’s runaway sucess, and a massive marketing campaign. The film made it’s mark. So now we know how we got here let’s get into the film itself.

What’s the Story Morning Glory?:

So the story for this one is largely cobbled together from some of the more notable arcs Eastman and Laird did before handing off the book to others full time as the stress of the company and the mounting tension with each other made it near impossible to work together on the book itself.

To Save time i’m just going through what hte movie takes from the comics plot wise now to save me the trouble later:The movie takes elements from the first issue (The Turtles, Splinter and Shredder’s backstories, Shredder being fully human and the main antagonist, Shredder’s design and the final rooftop showdown that results in Shredder’s death), second and third, (April’s apartment over her dad’s old store and the turtles moving in when their home is ransacked and splinter has gone missing), the rapheal micro series (A tounge in cheek way of cashing in on the Mini-Series craze of the 80s, a one shot by modern standards and something that’s tragically been underused as an idea as only TMNT and MLP have used the idea at IDW, Raph meeting casey and their fight with one another), the return of shredder arc (One of the turtles being ambushed and mobbed by the foot and then thrown though a sky light (Leo in the comic and Raph here), the turtles being horribly outnumbered by them, Casey coming ot the rescue and metting the non-raph turtles for the first time, and them being forced to escape when the place goes up in flames), their exile to northampton (April writing in a journal, casey working on a car with one of the guys and one of hte guys looking over hteir injured brother), and finally, their triumphant return which was very loosely adapted as there are no deformed shredder clones and shredder not being dead yet in this version was not brought back by a colony of super science worms.

So as for how this all comes together: Our story takes place in New York: A crimewave is high with muggings mysterious. There are a ton of phantom thefts going around and at most people have been seeing teens responsibile. And the police.. are at about this level of useful:

The only person doing something is April O’Neil, played by Judith Hoag. Hoag is easily the standout of the film, giving us a strong, confident woman with a wonderful sense of humor. She honestly might be my faviorite April O Neil, and given we’ve had some great ones with 2003, 2012 and Rise, that’s not something I say lightly. I honestly wish I’d recognized her in more stuff as she was both on Nashville and the mom in the Halloween Town films, and most recently was on the ScFy show the magicians. She’s a talented lady and i’m glad she’s still goin.

April is a reporter for Channel 3 like the cartoon, though for some weird reason her boss from the cartoon is replaced by Charles Pennigton, played by Jay Patterson, whose currently dealing with his troubled son Danny, played by Micheal Turney. Pennington is horribly useless at both jobs: At work he tries to ease April off calling out Chief Sterns, who refuses to listen to April’s evidence gathered from japanese immigrants that the crimes resemble similar ones in japan in favor of trying to get charles to shut her up. Danny meanwhile is a member of the foot becase his dad thinks shouting out him and talking about him like he’s not there and generally being a dipstick will actually do anything to help him.

I love the concept for the foot here. In addition to being a Ninja Violence Gang as always, they now recruit new members by finding kids without families or with troubled family lives and giving them a sense of family with the foot, and sweeting the bargin with a giant cave filled with arcade machines, a skate ramp and general late 80′s early 90′s kids goodies. Is it rediculous? Yes. Is it also clever as it gives Shredder an easy army of plausably deniable theives that he can pick the best out of to put in his elite that will be tirelessly loyal to him and him alone? Also yes.

So April being public about this stuff gets her attacked, which naturally leads to our heroes coming in, first in the shadows and later directly when April wont’ give up on the case and Shredder sends some ninjas to go shut her up.. which he does weirdly as the guy jsut slaps her and tells her to cut it out like he’s on a domestically abusive episode of Full House. Raph saves her, and we get the turtles origin.. though weirdly they cut it in half. We get the ooze portion but Splinter’s past with Saki, Saki’s murder of his master and his master’s partern Tang Shen is left for later in the film and the fact Shredder’s saki is treated as a big twist despite the fact the biggest audience for the film would be kids... and kids would’ve been familiar with the cartoon where the giant brain monster routinely screeches out saki at the shredder. Maybe Barron just thought he was an alcoholic I don’t know. It just would’ve made more sense to have it all at once and let the audeince put it together.

April becomes good friends with the turtles over a night of frozen pizza and camradrie, but the Splinters return home to find it ransacked, Splinter kidnapped by the foot, and are forced to Stay with april. Charles meanwhile tries to get April to backoff because he made a deal with the police to clear Danny’s record, without TELLING her any of this mind you, but I will save my rage on that little plot point for in a bit as Danny who he drug along sees the turtles and tells the Shredder.

So we get the return of the shredder arc as Raph goes through a window, our heroes fight valiantly, and Raph’s friend Casey who he met earlier shows up, the two having bonded as all true friends do.. by beating the shit out of each other ending with raph shouting DAMNNNNNNN really big and dramatically into the sky for some reason. The Turtles and friends escape with an injured raph from April’s burning second hand store. She had a second hand store it was poorly established and only there because she had it in the comics.

Our heroes retreat to a farm April’s grandma owned in Northampton, Massachutes, where Mirage was located at the time the original comics where they were exiled to the place were written and a location that has been a staple of the turtles ever since. The turtles slowly recover, lick their wounds, talk about who hooked up with who on gilligans island etc, before Leo connects with Splinter via meditation, who tells them to come back. Splinter also starts to connect with Danny and convinces him to swtich sides.. or at the very least squat in the boys old home.

The boys return home, find danny, and prepare, Danny goes back and ends up giving away the Turtles are home.. but the turtles are ready and in an awesome sequence kick the fuck out of the foot squad sent for them with some well prepared steam vents. Casey goes to get splinter since Danny told them and with Danny’s help, finds him, since Danny found out they were gonna kill him. Casey beats up Tatsu, shredder’s right hand man, and they get him out.

We get our final fight which is awesome up until the climax.. which is splinter casually tripping shredder with nunchucks and thier bloody history being kind of rushed and unsatsifying. Casey crushes shredder with a garbage truck, April gets her job back, more on that in a moment, she and casey hook up, and we end with the fucking awesome song T-U-R-T-L-E Power by partners in cryme. Seriously check it out it’s fucking triumphant.

youtube

The song is just good.. cheesy? Sure but that’s half the fun. It’s the gold standard for movie theme songs for them and stacks up handily with the various animated series themes.. all of which slap. Okay... ALMOST all of which slap. Fast Forwards is aggressively medicore, which is doubly suprising to me since 4kids was REALLY damn good with theme songs. It was one of the three things they were best at along with finding VERY talented voice actors and setting japan based works in america because merica dammit.

The plot is very solid: It skilfully packed half of eastman and laird’s run on TMNT into 90 mintues while adding things like April’s job at channel 9, the way the foot recurited kids etc. The plot flows well for hte most part and apart from one annoying subplot we’ll get to never has a moment that feel unecessary or dosen’t pay off later. And the stellar plot and fun pacing of it helps boilster the characters that do work... and help paper over the ones that are so thin the’yd fall down a grate...

Our Heroes, Villains and Annoying Middle Aged Guys:

Yeahhhh character is hit and miss here. Some are rather strong, others are the bare basics for the character their adapting and most are just to serve the plot but some work some don’t, So let’s talk about it starting with our boys:

Raph is the most fleshed out of the turtles, being the main focus of the first 2/3 of the film, and having his anger be part of what SHOULD be a character arc, learning to temper it. And while granted MOST TMNT properties do this, to the point that Rise Raph is so loveable in part because his boisterous bruiser big bro attitude is a refreshing break from the usual grumpus we get. But at the time this hadn’t been done in every version but the 87 cartoon, so exploring it was valid.. but despite saying this should be a thing htey just forget about it and the most plot relevance he gets is going thorugh a window. He dosen’t really get a resolution.. his arc just kind of stops dead for the final half and it’s one of the film’s weaker points, one I only just now noticed on this rewatch. He’s still the most entertaining.

Leo is the weakest of the turtles. He really lacks a personality here mostly just being leader and while his spirtual side is touched on, it’s mostly a plot device. He’s just kinda the leader because he was in the comics to the point Partners in Cryme called Raph the leader. His role in getting taken out by the foot was taken by Raph, so he just has.. nothing to do for most of the film other than gripe at raph ocasionally and say orders. He’s probably the worst Leo i’ve seen outside of Next Mutation. I prefice that because after watching Phelous’ review it’s VERY clear those four are the worst versions of the characters, and no personality is still better than either having your team do nothing or yelling at them as your personality. I chalk this up to the Mirage Leo, and the mirage turtles to a poit being kind of bland. Not TERRIBLE characters, especially for the time, but not nearly as fleshed out or individualized as they woudl be in other adpatations, and with most traits LEo DID have, like his badassery flat out gone, he’s just.. nothing here.

Mikey and Donnie are a double act here with both sharing a brain. Interestingly instead of his normal genius character, Donnie is Mikey’s best friend and the two simply trade jokes and schtick together. The two are interchangable.. but easily the best part of the film and a lot of the most memorable gags and lines, from Ninja Kick the Damn Rabbit! to “Do you like Penicllin on your pizza”, are from them. Thier there almost entirely as comic relief but it works, with both clealry being more modled ont he 87 cartoon turtles, a move that helps lighten the mood in darker moments. Their just genuinely charming and it’s intresting to see such a diffrent version of Donnie, and other incarnations, specifically the 2003 and Rise versions, would retain the sarcastic edge.

Splinter is splinter. That’s about it, he’s peformed well and the puppet is amazing but he gets kidnapped a half an hour in and outside of influcencing Denny, more on that in a moment, and finishing Shredder he dosen’t do much but spout exposition. He’s not bad or anything, but he’s essentially a rodent shaped plot device. He was also puppeted by Kevin CLash, aka the guy who does Elmo. So there you go.

April on the other hand.. is truly excellent. This might be my faviorite April. Judith’s april nicely blends the cartoon and mirage versions: She has the cartoons energy and job, but the comics sheer will and casual nature. Judith just oozes personality and her April is just a joy to watch, from her breezy chemistry filled interactions with the guys to her confrntation with Chief Sterns, knowing she’ll get thrown out by the asshole. She’s confident, and even when afraid dosen’t back down to her attackers and even helps out during the sewer ambush. I mean it’s a pot on the head but still it’s neat. She’s easily the best part of the flim and the most fleshed out of the cast. The worst I can say is they kinda shove her store from the comics, Second Time Around, in there for no other reason than it was in the comics: It dosen’t come up until it’s needed for the foot’s assault on her place. But overall.. she’s just fantastic to watch.

Speaking of fantastic to watch, Elias Koteas is fantastic as Casey. Seriously he’s only second to the 2003 version in my eyes, getting the concept of a testorone filled average guy who decided to just go out and hit people with sports equipment after watching too much A-Team.. I mean that part of it’s not in this version but it’s implied, just right. Like judith, Elias is just really funny to watch and his big scenes, showing up just in time during the foot assault on april’s place and his fight with Tatsu are some of the best parts of the film, the former taken directly from the comics. This version isn’t without problems: His friendship with Raph, his most endearing aspect and one that has been carried throughout eveyr version Casey’s important, with the only exception so far being rise and we have a movie to fix that, is absent here. HE does save the guy, but they don’t really bond or anything. In fact he disappears for about half an hour after his big fight with Raph. But... again he’s just so damn entertaining, down to his JOSEEEEEEEEEEE Conseco bats (There was a two for one sale!).

Shredder is just a LITTLE better than splinter, if only because his actor projects a true aura of menace and I feel this version had some influence on the pants crappingly terrifying 2003 version. And the idea of the foot recurting teenagers like I said is a good one: He gives them home and a cause, they give him plausably deniable backup. And his fight with the boys in the climax is really awesome... the conclusion sucks but otherwise h’es okay. Not the deepest villian, but he has enough presence to be enjoyable.

His right hand man Tatsu, whose been adapted ocasionally since this and reimaigned as Natsu in the IDW comics, a female version, is also fine. He’s your standard grimacing goon but has enough presence to work.

So that brings us to the penningtons. Charles, april’s boss at the station and his son Danny who’s joined the foot as he feels his dad dosen’t love him. Charles..is about as interesting and likeable as a dog turd and is the worst aspect of the film. No debate there, he just sucks. He sucks so hard he’s classified as a black hole. The film wants you to see him as a put upon wokring dad whose frustrated with his son’s increased moodiness, skipping school and crminal undertakings and just wants to help him and loves him deep down. The problem is his actor’s delivery instead of concerned.. is just pissed. He just seems pissy and upset about the whole thing and comes off like he’s only mad about Danny doing this because he’s embarassing him and not because you know, it’s bad. When confronting Danny about stealing, he dosen’t consider MAYBE he’s part of a gang or needs help, but just wonders “Why are you stealing when I give you stuff”. Because, Dipshit, sometimes kids do crimes not because they need the stuff but because they WANT to, and because they want to act the fuck out.

The most he does for the kid is agree to try and get April to back off the police when Cheif Sterns offers to let Danny go and not put him on record in exchange for it. The problem.. is this makes him even MORE unsympathetic. While I do get wanting to help your child, I do and it’s a sucky position... he again should be sympathetic.. but he handles the thing so badly it sucks. He just tells april to ease off, with no reason given, then fires her when she SHOCKINGLY dosen’t give up taking the guy whose refusing to take her hard work seriously or actually solve the crime wave problem to task for his shitty behavior as ANY person facing a shitty, corrput cop would. She just wants to hold him acountable and get him to actually do something. He clearly knows her on a personal level too as he talks about his issues with his son freely with her, something you don’t do with an employee unless their also a friend on some level.

He could have TOLD april what was going on. She’d be furious at Stern’s naked corrpution and prioritizing shutting her up over actually solving crimes.. and thus put at least some of that energy into shutting him down or finding a way around it, going to the papers or something like that. Even in 1990 pre-internet, there were ways to get around Sterns blackmail and expose him so someone who’d actually do the job could get the job. Instead he just comes off as a selfish coward who rather than try and fight the guy blatantly abusing his power and using Charles own son as barganing chip, goes along with it because it’s the easier option to simply bow to him instead of TRY and stop this. And it’s not like he’s even going after a beloved public figure or someone who could hide behind his rep: Sterns was blatantly failing a crime wave, April had called him out on his failrues and coverups multiple times. The public was against sterns.. finding out he tried to blackmail the media into shutting up about him would PROBABLY end him... I only say probably not because the public wouldn’t skewer him, but because police tend to escape consequences for blatantly murdering someone on a daily basis and Andrew Cumo is STILl mayor over in new york, the same city this movie takes place, 31 years later, depsite EVERYONE asking him to resign over a long history of sexual harassment and a more recent but still horrible history of hiding death numbers. I don’t doubt people being stupid enough to ignore this or the bilaws with cops being stacked enough for him to get away with it, but just because someone gets away with a crime dosen’t mean you shoudln’t try and go after them in the first place. Fuck. Charles. Pennington.

Danny on the other hand is FAR more interesting and I think gets way too much flack when it comes to this subplot. Unlike his dad, whose dead weight, Danny is intresting: He provides a POV character for the foot’s MO in the film of taking in wayward teens, and his character arc is pretty engaging, slowly realizing the foot dosen’t care and that hte turtles are the good guys. HIs actor does a great job and while not the biggest presence, he’s not a bad addition to clan hamaoto and I wish other adaptations would find a way to use him. The pull between doing the right thing and his found family is a good struggle. My only real issue with his plot is the moviies flawed aseop about family. It tries to contrast shredder and his using the kids blatnatly with Splinter and Charles really loving their sons. And it works with Splinter and the kids because despite being a tad strict, Splinter clearly loves his sons and works with them to help them. The problem is ENTIRELY with Charles and Danny. As I said Charles love comes off as transasctional: He either thinks he can buy it or just expects it because he shot a bunch of goop into Danny’s mom after two minutes of disapointment. It dosen’t work with them because neither option is good for Danny. His father is neglectful, chooses throwing his jounralistic integrity out the window over talking to his son or his best friend about another way, and abrasive. Danny is no saint, he does do crimes, but it’s clearly a result of a shitty upbringing and the shredder and co actually offeirng him the love he desperatly craves. Danny goes to the foot because his dad is bad at his job but the film never adresses that and just expects Danny to go back to his dad because the plot says so. Danny would HONESTLY be better off with Splinter. No really. Sure he’d have to live in the sewers.. but he did so for a few weeks in the course of the movie. He’s fine down there. Splitner actually cares about him and took an intrest to him and knows how to raise a child. Let him become the fifth turtle. An aseop about family is not a bad thing: Loaded subject that it can be given how many outright abusive families exist, i’m one of the lucky ones who dosen’t have that issue, family is an important thing and can be a source of comfort and support. But this film tells you you should love and respect someone who does not love, respect or value you because he spent a minute in your mom’s vagina and that’s not how family should work and is outright dangerous to kids in an abusive situation. Love the film otherwise but fuck this aseop skyhigh.

Final thoughts:

Overall though.. the film is bodacious. It’s funny, well paced, has an awesome cast, and outside of a certain bald asswipe... it’s a really good superhero film. Is it the best i’ve seen? Nope. Not even close and character wise most of them are as thin as a wet paper bag covered in ranch dressing. But it’s still a fun as hell with awesome corepgraphy, a killer soundtrack, seriously the soundtrack is damn excellent and only didn’t get it’s own section because I didn’t have enough to say and some of the best effects work i’ve seen in a film in the turtle suits. If you haven’t seen it I urge you to check it out: it’s a breezy 90 minutes, it’s on hbo max and it’s a shell of a time. Will I do the next film?

We’ll see how this one does like wise and such, but I will be doing the rise film whenever it comes out this year. So look for that and keep possesing turtle power my dudes. If you liked this review subscirbe for more, join my patreon to keep this blog a chugging, comission a review if you have more turtle stuff you want me to cover, and comment on this. What do you think of the movie, what are your thoughts on the review, what can I do better, what other turtle stuff would you like me to cover/ Let me know and i’ll see you at hte next rainbow.

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #teenage mutant ninja turtles 1990 #leonardo #raphael #donetello #michealangelo #casey jones #april o'neil #the shredder #oroku saki #new line cinema #golden harvest #film #90's movies #the 90's #partners in cryme #judith hoag

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Suicide Squad: What’s Next for Harley Quinn in the DCEU?

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This article contains major spoilers for The Suicide Squad. We have a spoiler free review here.

The Suicide Squad might just be the best DCEU movie yet. Not only is it a sterling ensemble piece about the horrors of American imperialism but it’s also the world’s weirdest buddy comedy. And in a film full of stunning performances–Idris Elba, David Dastmalchian, and Daniela Melchior please stand up–we got another killer turn from Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.

After kicking all kinds of ass in Birds of Prey, the Mistress of Mischief is back and better than ever. This is a truly emancipated Harley, one who hates the Joker, will kill an abusive man in a second, and who plays a huge part in saving the day after choking out a man with her thighs, of course.

While Robbie has said she has “no current plans to reprise the role” after The Suicide Squad, we couldn’t help but think of where the DCEU’s most badass and brutal on-screen anti-hero has been and where she could go next. Thanks to the comics, cartoons, and imagination of those at DC Comics, we’ve got plenty to draw on.

Let’s start with where Harley has been to see how it impacts her potential future…

Before the DCEU

Harley began her career in the beloved Batman: The Animated Series cartoon as a one-time henchwoman for the Joker. But that quickly changed and she soon became a core part of the show, and not long after became a fan fave character in the comic book universe.

This iteration of Quinn was a huge influence on James Gunn in bringing her to The Suicide Squad and might explain that unforgettable animated sequence as she escapes from the palatial prison of Corto Maltese.

It’s also important to note as until The Suicide Squad her most popular contemporary iteration was once again in a cartoon, but this time it was the DC Universe turned HBO Max smash hit adult animation series that bears her name.

Harley Quinn in 2016’s Suicide Squad

While David Ayer’s Suicide Squad might not have been for everyone–apparently including Ayer himself–one thing stood out: Robbie as Harley Quinn. While she was mostly sexualized and used as eye candy, Robbie gave Harley depth, humor, and heart. It was the standout performance and is a huge part of why the DCEU version is so popular today. While it’s great to see Harley’s growth, we have to mention the movie where Robbie made her debut.

Birds of Prey

Cathy Yan’s brilliant Birds of Prey let Robbie go wild with her take on Harley. This was the action heavy R-rated take that fans wanted to see. With a predominantly female creative team behind it, the film eschewed the male gaze and misogyny that Harley has sometimes had to fight through.

Here we saw a Harley who was freed from the Joker, had her own crew, her own incredible fashion sense, and even her own burgeoning moral code. Not only was this a badass outing for Harley but it feels tonally and aesthetically in tune with the route that James Gunn went in The Suicide Squad. The emancipation of Harley Quinn began here, long may it reign!

The Suicide Squad Sets Up What’s Next for Harley Quinn

While it’s unclear where Robbie sees the character going next, we get a good feel for Harley and her new found freedom here. The world is her oyster. She has new allies–maybe even… friends?–and a magical javelin. Basically, anything can happen as she heads into the future.

Poison Ivy

This seems like the clearest and most popular option for more Harley Quinn.

While it looked like it might happen in the form of the now not happening Gotham City Sirens movie (which Suicide Squad director Ayer was once attached to), there’s still legs in this partnership which has been delighting fans for decades. In both the comics and cartoons her relationship with Poison Ivy has been a key part of Harley’s lore. While they began as friends, the canon has shifted to being on-again off-again romantic partners in all mediums. So we need to see that on screen in live action… SOON!

It would be really easy to take the comedic action stylings of the HBO Max Harley Quinn series which saw the pair traverse the hard realities of love in Gotham and bring that to either a longer format series–which we’d love–or a movie. Just putting these two A-listers together would be a huge selling point and if they played into the queer romance it would make huge waves.

“Trust me, I chew their ear off about it all the time,” Robbie recently told us when we asked about the possibility of adding a live action Poison Ivy to the DCEU. “They must be sick of hearing it, but I’m like, ‘Poison Ivy, Poison Ivy. Come on, let’s do it.’ I’m very keen to see a Harley-Poison Ivy relationship on screen. It’d be so fun. So I’ll keep pestering them. Don’t worry.”

If DC decided to go a little more dramatic they could take from the pair’s comic book canon. It would make a lot of sense to explore Harley’s love life post the Joker as both of her most recent DCEU appearances have made note to mention his negative impact on her life.

During the 2013 Harley Quinn comic series fans got to see the pair finally become official as Harley came to terms with her abusive relationship with the Joker. An easy route for the DCEU to take–either seriously or more comedically–would be to make Harley and Ivy a sort of Thelma and Louise of the DCEU, a couple of cool gals against the world… and if they have their “daughter” Cass Cain with them too we’d be very happy.

While they broke up in the official DC Comics continuity, they are currently getting back together in Harley Quinn: The Animated Series – The Eat, Bang, Kill Tour. The hilarious sequel to the cartoon expands on their romance and plays into that more humorous angle. But simply the fact that the pair are together again in the comics means that there’s even more canon to take from here.

Female Furies

In spite of the sad news that Ava DuVernay’s New Gods movie is no longer in production, we might have found a silver lining. In recent years Harley has faced down against Granny Goodness and even joined her Female Furies. This has happened in both the ongoing Harley Quinn comics series and the DC Universe cartoon. It’s a really cool and out there idea for the character in the DCEU, and could be a cool way to introduce the more cosmic aspects of the universe through the lens of one of the world’s most popular comics characters.

It would be pretty easy to do a Female Furies movie or TV show where Harley is enlisted into Apokolips’ hardcore squad of warriors. There’d be an exceedingly fun fish out of water element as well as the potential to do something totally different than we’ve seen before.

There’s also the option to emulate the Harley Quinn TV series and follow Harley as she seeks out Granny Goodness in order to gain the nefarious power of the Motherbox, which would obviously go wrong pretty quickly. While we’ve seen elements touched on in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, DC isn’t afraid of reimagining things regularly and we’d love to see Harley on an epic cosmic adventure with Darkseid on her heels!

Another HBO Max Spinoff?

If the villainous Peacemaker is getting his own HBO Max show, why shouldn’t Harley? And there are a ton of incredible routes the series could go. The most obvious right now would be continuing the Harley we see in The Suicide Squad.

Seeing as Rick Flag and Harley were clearly close, it would be very easy to intertwine the Harley show and the Peacemaker series. What if while Peacemaker was trying to “save the world,” Harley and potentially Bloodsport–he served with Rick and clearly cared about him–were hunting him down in their own series? That would be a pretty smart way to expand the radical world of The Suicide Squad while giving Robbie far more space to play with the character she’s long defined.

Ever since Birds of Prey, fans have been wishing for a Black Canary or Harley-focused spinoff. With Peacemaker setting the precedent for solo DCEU shows, this could be another great route. We’d love to see the return of Ella Jay Basco as Cass Cain or even the return of Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya. This is a little more of an outlier but the gritty crime movie tone of Birds of Prey really fits into the current DCEU and HBO Max vibe. And in our real dreams, Cathy Yan would get the Gunn treatment and direct.

Batgirl

We’re finishing off with what is currently the most likely of our options. The upcoming HBO Max Batgirl movie is penned by Christina Hodson. Hodson and Robbie have a close working relationship as the Bumblebee screenwriter also wrote Birds of Prey. There’s also the fact that Robbie is a huge supporter of female-led storytelling so bringing her clout and fan favorite character to Batgirl would do just that. It would be really cool to see Harley pop up here as either an antagonist or ally to Barbara Gordon.

As this is going straight to HBO Max, there’s likely more freedom to play with canon and format. But with Robbie unsure of Harley’s future it could be more realistic to expect a brief cameo rather than a full on-screen Harley storyline when the movie hits the streamer down the line.

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The Suicide Squad is on HBO Max and in theaters now!

The post The Suicide Squad: What’s Next for Harley Quinn in the DCEU? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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thegoldenbuccaneer · 3 years

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Jay Wingdings

Name: Jay Vulp Wingdings / Jay WD. Amari Nicknames: WD, Dings, Vulpix, Curse-breaker Gender: NB Birthday: 25/04 Halfblood Animagus: Mable-fox Patronus: Cheetah

FAMILY Freya Wingdings (grandmother) Agatha Wingdings (mother) Jacob Wingdings (brother) Lewis Thompson (father - deceased)

Orion Amari (husband) Sirius Amari (daughter) William Wingdings (brother-in-law)

Jay were a victim of a ritual conducted by their own father that failed. He wanted to eliminate the magic of his own daughter, but it actually put a curse on the poor child called “Decay”. Because of that process, Jay have lots of scars on their back and Freya almost killed Lewis while erase his memory and throw him at the sea. The Decay is a curse that can possess the vessel’s body and mind if they lose control. With the curse awaken, Jay can’t feel pain, and their sclera starts to turn black (if both their eyes turns completely black, Jay is lost forever and the curse takes total control). They can force-awaken the Decay using a modified Essence of Insanity where the cinnamon is replaced by Acromantula ashes.

After the curse and Jacob going missing, Agatha fell in despair, so Freya took her and Jay to sail with her and her crew where one of the sailor were Jay and Jacob’s childhood friend, William (they call him “Silver”). Agatha never leaves the Captain’s cabin but Jay stays on deck with the rest, learning how to fight with sword, pirate songs, and trying to copy Freya’s speeches. They got their Hogwarts letter at sea and they promised to William and Agatha that they would bring Jacob back.

Jay is sorted to Slytherin having Rowan Khanna by their side, overtime they make more friends, considering Bill and Charlie Weasley as their brothers. In 4º year they develop feelings for Barnaby Lee, going out on their first date. However, their relationship starts to get cold as Jay is about to get into the buried Vault, while Jay works with Bill, Merula and Rakepick, Barnaby is taking care of magical creatures with Liz Tuttle, getting closer to her. Jay’s best subjects are Divination, DADA, Potions and Astronomy, which can help them to navegate. After helping Myron, Orsino and Kirley with a concert in Hogwarts, Jay becomes friend with them and starts to learn how to play a guitar and become “Vulpix”, The Weird Sisters’ guest-guitarist and sometimes Myron likes to call them “their muse”.

At their 6th year, Jay experiences the tryout for the Quidditch team, meeting Skye Parkin, Murphy McNully and Orion Amari. After the match that would decide if they would be part of the team or not, the Pitch is invaded by a Colossal Chimaera and Jay tries to paralyzed the creature, but they’re attacked first, getting scars on their face. With a help of the Decay, Charlie and Andre, they finally doped the creature and they discover that Barnaby Lee was cheating on them with Liz. Knowing that, they loses control of the Decay and almost of their own mind but they calms down thanks to the sweet and calm voice of our beloved Captain, Mr. Amari. They develop feelings for Orion during the first Quidditch season and promise themself to protect him with their life. They first kiss takes place at the Astronomy Tower after Bill’s tutoring and they start dating. After Rowan’s death, Jay isolates themself at the Black Lake, with half of the left sclera dark, thinking if they would call their brother or not. They finally decides to call him, and after some talk they decide to do something drastic. A ritual to accept the curse, giving them another scar.

After Hogwarts, Jay becomes an Auror, being Mad-Eye’s pupil aside with Tonks. Jacob is finally free to sail around the seven seas breaking curses with Freya and William and to spend the lost time with his mother, on board of The Golden Buccaneer, ready to become it’s Captain. Orion travels to play Quidditch professionally but before he goes, he asks Jay to marry him and of course they accept.

When he gets back, both joins the Order of the Phoenix, meeting Sirius Black. Jay remembers Remus Lupin being an old friend of Chiara Lobosca, so they start being friends with the Marauders. Jay and Orion gets married on the ship, having the ceremony performed by Freya and some important guests such as the Weasley family (including Charlie and Bill of course), Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, Tonks, and some old friends like Andre Egwu, Murphy McNully, Penny Haywood and Skye Parkin and of course the crew. Fun fact about the party: A drunk sailor kidnaps Orion to talk about random subjects with him while Sirius and Jay were drunk and mocking Harry who just laugh at them.

One year later and after Sirius Black death, Jay gives birth to a cute girl while almost broke their brother’s hand and names her “Sirius” in tribute to Sirius Black and the star and they start to live near the beach, where have a port exclusive for the Buccaneer. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Jacob, Jay and Orion were fighting to protect the students. After Snape’s escape, Jay disagreed with McGonagall about Slytherin students and argued with Pansy Parkinson, still keeping their Slytherin pride. Orion got scars crossing his mouth and Jacob became blind of his right eye.

IMPORTANT THINGS I SHOULD LIST: -The Wingdings are a powerful family when we’re speaking about magic. Canalize their magic on their golden eyes can help them to have a sharp vision and to focus to make precise attacks. -Freya Wingdings is responsible for the creation of some important rituals in the family, such as the Summona that allows the wizard to summon a weapon to help in battle. -Jacob’s Animagus form is a raven. -Jay and Orion have a pet snake named Syndra. -Jay experiences real rum for the first time at their 6th year (thanks to Jacob and his responsability) -Jay and Jacob are used to speak to each other in symbols, golden signs that appears in front of them. Freya got really proud. -They’re proud of who they are and the name they carry. -Jacob married with William a few years before Jay. When they visit, Sirius call William “Uncle Silver” and Jacob “Uncle Raven”. -Jay can summon a katana while Jacob summons an axe. Agatha can summon a spear and Freya summons a scythe. -Jay asks Bill Weasley to be Sirius’ godfather, and he accepts. -The WD-Amari family were present at Bill’s wedding. -The Wingdings are fighters, they don’t use only magic. -The Wingdings doesn’t tolerate betrayal. A sailor who betrays his Captain will be thrown at the sea, abandoned to die. Barnaby Lee knew that. -The Golden Buccaneer is feared for one particular reason: a ritual painted on the cannon balls, making the target ship being swallowed by a kind of black hole, destroying the ship, the crew and it’s captain. Leaving nothing behind.

Guess that’s it for now............................ Feel free to ask anything about the Wingdings-Amari family, I’ll be happy to answer ♥

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ddagent · 4 years

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Love the podcast prompt fill! If you decide to continue on with this one, this reader would be happy!!

Thank you so much! I am overwhelmed by the response to the podcast verse, so much so that I had to write a sequel! Prompt #91, here we go!

B: You are listening to The Bear and the Poorly Written Maiden. This podcast contains strong language, violence, and explicit sexual content.

J: The complete opposite of Brienne’s undergraduate degree.

(rustling sound)

B: Really? We’re barely ten seconds in and already you’re picking on me.

J: Fine, fine, I’ll be nice. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to The Bear and the Poorly Written Maiden. And good evening to you, Bee. How’s your week been?

B: I saw you this morning for breakfast.

J: I know, but the listeners don’t know that. Also, you should say that you saw me earlier today. Saying you saw me for breakfast will make people think we’re sleeping together.

B: Oh please, like anyone would think we would be sleeping together.

J: It’s a podcast, Bee, they don’t know what either of us look like. Not that there’s…not that there’s anything wrong with how you look. You look…fine.

B: I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you.

J: Aren’t you going to say something nice about me?

B: You’re a lot less annoying than when we first met.

(laughter)

J: I honestly thought you were going to kill me that first week.

B: Well Cat…I mean, Cee, our head of department and my doctoral adviser, told me I was better off waiting for you to drop out, or move to a less rigorous study program.

J: Nice to know she had faith in me from the very first day.

B: (shocked gasp) You…you…okay, listeners, Jay and I have known each other for five years now, and I have just managed to reach a point where we can have a conversation without him insulting me. The first week, nay the first day, he turned up in the lecture hall and every time I went to raise my hand he would jump in and answer the question first. He had to be the centre of attention. At one point, Cee actually told you to sit the fuck down.

J: I’d had private tutors all my life; I didn’t know any better.

B: That’s your answer for everything. (pause) We should probably get back to the podcast. Do you want to do all the housekeeping? I know you enjoy the sound of your own voice.

J: You’re so rude to me. Everyone thinks you’re as pure as the Maiden, but you’re got a mean streak in you.

B: Because you’re rude to me first!

J: That’s your answer for everything. (Bee gasps) Anyway, as we’ve said, this is The Bear and the Poorly Written Maiden. We read bad historical fiction and analyse it against our considerable knowledge in the field. We are both descendants of Goldenhand the Just and The Blue Knight, a popular topic in historical fiction and the real focus of this podcast. You can catch up with previous episodes wherever you get your podcasts, and you can send us questions or topics for future episodes at [email protected].

B: And we really do welcome your comments and questions. So far the only people who have emailed us are the Dornish restaurant down the road giving us coupons, and my Dad who wanted to say he overheard someone say he listens to the podcast, and wanted to congratulate us on our success.

J: Thank you, Papa Bee, we appreciate the support. And the ginger biscuits you sent last week, they were delicious.

B: I wouldn’t know, Dad, Jay ate them all.

J: And in the worst segue way of all time—

B: —don’t you dare.

J: We’re currently reading Pools of Blue, by Alys Morrow. Last chapter involved Ser Blue going to Goldenhand’s chambers, where he proceeded to…go down on her, before Goldenhand made the historically inaccurate error of claiming Ser Blue’s maidenhead before their hands were tied by a septon. The following chapter is entitled The Rising Sun, which will be read today by Bee.

B: Do I have to?

J: We agreed; we switch off chapters. Come on, Bee. I have faith in you.

B: Fine. (clears throat) Goldenhand awoke beside his beloved. Creamy rays of sunlight sprung through the open window, bathing he and Blue in a halo of warmth. The cerulean sheets were crumpled and stained and kicked to the far foot of the bed. Both of them lay naked across the feather mattress, and Blue’s lithe form—right I’ve got to stop it there, because I think we’re heading into historical inaccuracy and we’re barely a paragraph in.

J: Morrow’s describing Ser Blue as lithe.

B: The complete opposite of every description there is of Ser Blue.

J: Keep reading, maybe it’s a typo. We’ve found seven already in this book.

B: Alright. Both of them lay naked across the feather mattress, and Blue’s lithe form was open to his heady gaze. Her legs were long and supple; her skin like the cream expressed from the teat of a cow. I really hate you for making me read this.

J: Come on. Keep reading, let me get the colour chart.

B: The blonde patch of hair between her legs was damp, as if covered by morning dew. Goldenhand was tempted to place his hand there, see if his sweetling was as wet as how she had gushed the night before. She had soaked the sheets, covered his golden fingers in her thick juices.

(Jay sniggers)

B: Stop laughing. Her hips were slender, her waist so small he could wrap an entire arm around it. That’s not right. From all the reading I’ve done on my ancestor, she was my height, my build. She’s not some dainty little maiden.

J: Even in the fight scene with the pirates, Goldenhand ultimately finished the job after her botched rescue attempt. And, canonically, Ser Blue was the better fighter after Goldenhand, well, lost his hand.

B: Canonically the better fighter, you don’t need the caveat.

(Jay laughs)

J: He was knighted at sixteen. Ser Blue wasn’t—

B: —you cannot compare the privilege of a teenage boy in one of the nine great houses to a teenage girl in a minor noble house! And she was a gifted fighter, better than he was. In the single fight—

J: —you always do this, you always bring up the bridge. He was in chains, he’d been a prisoner for years. And we have no corroboration of that fight other than the ramblings of one of Lord Bolton’s men, and as a story passed down through the generations. There is no physical proof.

B: Well, is there anything we can agree on?

J: That this book is terrible, and honestly, I can’t listen to another word of it.

B: Agreed. Put it on the list?

J: On the list.

B: Well, we’ve made the executive decision to put The Pools of Blue by Alys Morrow on our ‘Inaccurate and Awful’ list a full 227 pages earlier than planned.

J: Thank the Gods. So, what’s next?

#braime #jaime x brienne #mine: paragraph prompts #ship: braime #anonymous #fic: podcast verse

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mxenigmatic · 3 years

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2020’s Self Care Books for Trying Times

With Covid-19 a global pandemic that is still lingering in the air, and keeping our connections at a social distance, added how here at NYPL our librarians miss the frequent interactions with our patrons, I was contemplating on ways to keep our reading connected, our souls warm, and our health having its self care. Before google, I’d rely on the plethora of information our branches hold on any challenge in life I’d be facing. Now with a myriad of problems we can tackle, and resources we can all use to improve our lives, I wanted to tackle grounding and elevating ourselves to cope with our surroundings, than advice I can provide on financial, relationship, life goals, etc.

In this blog “2020’s Self Care Books 4 Trying Times” I’ve comprised my 20 favorite titles for the year 2020 on wellness, people’s journeys, and how health experts can help guide us to a calm and vibrant place for our wellbeing. From parenting tips, to self acceptance, coping with a mental health disorder, or even self care rituals, the need for healthy habits is a topic we all can relate and rely on to keep us striving through this winter, and being united through our current unstable climate. We should never be ashamed of our experiences, asking for help, and addressing challenges in our lives to be at peace with our pasts, content with our present, and hopeful about our futures.

What is Self-care, according to very well mind, describes a conscious act one takes in order to promote their own physical, mental, and emotional health. There are many forms self-care may take. It could be ensuring you get enough sleep every night or stepping outside for a few minutes for some fresh air.

What is mindfulness? Mindfulness refers to being in the moment. This means feeling what our bodies feel, letting ourselves think without judging our thoughts, and being aware of our environment. It is about paying attention on purpose to both what is happening inside and outside of you.

ADULT

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey

Topics: Professional Development, Success, Psych Evaluation

One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for nearly three decades. It has transformed the lives of presidents and CEOs, educators and parents—millions of people of all ages and occupations. Now, this 30th anniversary edition of the timeless classic commemorates the wisdom of the 7 habits with modern additions from Sean Covey. The 7 habits have become famous and are integrated into everyday thinking by millions and millions of people. Why? Because they work!With Sean Covey's added takeaways on how the habits can be used in our modern age, the wisdom of the 7 habits will be refreshed for a new generation of leaders.

Stay Positive: Encouraging Quotes and Messages to Fuel Your Life With Positive Energy by Jon Gordon

Topics: Self Help, Affirmations, Optimism

Stay Positive is more than a phrase. It's an approach to life that says when you get knocked down, you'll get back up and find a way forward one faithful step and optimistic day at a time. Start your day with a message from the book, or pick it up anytime you need a mental boost. You can start from the beginning, or open the book to any page and find a message that speaks to you. The book is a go-to resource for anyone wanting to inject a healthy dose of positivity into their life

$9 Therapy: Semi-Capitalist Solutions to Your Emotional Problems by Megan Reid and Nick Greene

Topics: Life Skills/Hacks, Self Care Rituals, Budgeting

A collection of the authors' favorite life hacks and mini-upgrades, such as craft cocktails on the cheap or tips for a perfectly planned staycation. Sometimes it takes as little as nine dollars to turn your life around. How to find simple pleasures in a pricey, wellness-obsessed world.

You Were Born For This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance by Chani Nicholas

Topics: Astrology, Self Acceptance

A revolutionary empowerment book that uses astrology as a tool for self-discovery, success, and self-care from the beloved astrologer Chani Nicholas, a media darling with a loyal following of one million monthly readers.

TEEN

Teaching Mindfulness to Empower Adolescents by Matthew Brensilver

Topics: Mindfulness, Educational Guides, Learning Disabilities, Reflections

Effectively sharing mindfulness with teenagers depends on distinct skill sets . . . done well, it is incredibly joyous." Matthew Brensilver, JoAnna Hardy and Oren Jay Sofer provide a powerful guide to help teachers master the essential competencies needed to successfully share mindfulness practices with teens and adolescents. Incorporating anecdotes from actual teaching, they blend the latest scientific research with innovative, original techniques for making the practices accessible and interesting to this age group. This text is an indispensable handbook for mindfulness instruction in its own right, and a robust companion volume for teachers using The Mindful Schools Curriculum for Adolescents

The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color by Virgie Tovar

Topics: Self Esteem, Plus Size Positivity, Hygiene

Every day we see body ideals depicted in movies, magazines, and social media. And, all too often, these outdated standards make us feel like we need to change how we look and who we are. The truth is that many teens feel self-conscious about their bodies and being a teen girl of color is hard in unique ways. So, how can you start feeling good about yourself when you're surrounded by these unrealistic, and problematic images of what bodies are "supposed" to look like? This book is an unapologetic guide to help you embrace radical body positivity. You'll identify and challenge mainstream beliefs about beauty and bodies; celebrate what makes you unique and powerful; and build real, lasting body empowerment. You'll also learn how to spot diet culture and smash your noisy inner critic so you can start loving your body. It's time to create your own definition of beautiful and recognize that your body is amazing. It's time for a self-love revolution!

Out!: How To Be Your Authentic Self by Miles McKenna

Topics: Coming Out, Self Acceptance, Family Dynamics

Activist Miles McKenna came out on his YouTube channel in 2017, documenting his transition to help other teens navigate their identities and take charge of their own coming out stories. From that wisdom comes Out!, the ultimate YA guide to the queer lifestyle. Find validation, inspiration, and support for your questions big and small--whether you're exploring your identity or seeking to understand the experience of an awesome queer person in your life."

Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder

Topics: Grief Counseling, Coping with terminal illness, Bereavement. Family Estrangement

Tyler Feder shares her story of her mother's first oncology appointment to facing reality as a motherless daughter in this frank and refreshingly funny graphic memoir.

Superpowered: Transform Anxiety Into Courage, Confidence, and Resilience by Renee Jain and Dr. Shefali Tsabary

Topics: Health, Fitness, Selt Esteem.

The perfect tool for children facing new social and emotional challenges in an increasingly disconnected world! This how-to book from two psychology experts—packed with fun graphics and quizzes—will help kids transform stress, worry, and anxiety

Teen Guide to Mental Health by Don Nardo

Topics: Teens, Mental Health, Body Image, Puberty

Todays teens face and are expected to deal with a wide array of personal, social, and other issues involving home-life, school, dating, body image, sexual orientation, major life transitions, and in some cases physical and mental problems, including eating disorders and depression. This volume examines how many teens have learned to cope with and survive these often stressful trials and tribulations of modern youth.

KIDS

Turtle Boy by Evan Wolkenstein

Topics: Social Life, Friends, Relationships, School Stress

Seventh grade is not going well for Will Levine. Kids at school bully him because of his funny-looking chin. His science teacher finds out about the turtles he spent his summer collecting from the marsh behind school an orders him to release them back into the wild. And for his Bar Mitzvah community service project, he has to go to the hospital to visit RJ, an older boy struggling with an incurable disease. Unfortunately, Will hates hospitals. At first, the boys don't get along, but then RJ shares his bucket list with Will. Among the things he wants to do: ride a roller coaster, go to a concert and a school dance, swim in the ocean. To Will, happiness is hanging out in his room, alone, preferably with his turtles. But as RJ's disease worsens, Will realizes he needs to tackle the bucket list on his new friend's behalf before it's too late. It seems like an impossible mission, way outside Will's comfort zone. But as he completes each task with RJ's guidance, Will learns that life is too short to live in a shell.

How To Make A Better World: For Every Kid Who Wants To Make A Difference by Keilly Swift

Topics: Activism, Human Rights, Organizing

If you are a kid with big dreams and a passion for what is right, you're a world-changer in the making. There's a lot that can be changed by just one person, if you know what to do. Start by making yourself into the awesome person you want to be by learning all about self-care and kindness. Using those skills, work your way up to creating activist campaigns to tackle climate change or social injustice. This fun and inspiring guide to making the world a better place and becoming a good citizen is packed with ideas and tips for kids who want to know how to make a difference. From ideas as small as creating a neighborhood lending library to important ideas such as public speaking and how to talk about politics, How to Make a Better World is a practical guide to activism for awesome kids.

All About Anxiety by Carrie Lewis

Anxiety. It's an emotion that rears its head almost every day, from the normal worries and concerns that most of us experience, to outright fear when something scary happens, to the anxiety disorders, that many kids live with daily. But what causes anxiety? And what can we do about it? All About Anxiety tackles these questions from every possible angle. Readers will learn what's going on in their brain and central nervous system when they feel anxious. They'll learn about the evolutionary reasons for fear and anxiety and that anxiety isn't always a bad thing--except for when it is! Most importantly, kids will discover new strategies to manage their anxiety so they can live and thrive with anxiety

Dictionary for a better world: poems, quotes, and anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham

Topics: Inspiration, Self Help, Advice

Organized as a dictionary, entries in this book for middle-grade readers present words related to creating a better, more inclusive world. Each word is explored via a poem, a quote from an inspiring person, and a short personal anecdote from one of the co-authors, a prompt for how to translate the word into action, and an illustration".

I feel... meh by DJ Corchin

(E-book)Topics: Health, Fitness, Management

This series helps kids recognize, express, and deal with the roller coaster of emotions they feel every day. It has been celebrated by therapists, psychologists, teachers, and parents as wonderful tools to help children develop self-awareness for their feelings and those of their friends. Sometimes I feel meh and I don't want to play. I don't want to read and I have nothing to say. Sometimes you just feel...meh. You don't really feel like doing anything or talking to anyone. You're not even sure how you're feeling inside. Is that bad? With fun, witty illustrations and simple, straightforward text, I Feel...Meh tackles apathy—recognizing it as a valid emotion, while also offering practical steps to get you out of your emotional slump. It's the perfect way for kids—and adults—who are feeling gray to find some joy again!

Violet Shrink by Christine Baldacchino

Topics: Phobias, Relationships, Social Skills

Violet Shrink doesn't like parties. Or bashes, or gatherings. Lots of people and lots of noise make Violet's tummy ache and her hands sweat. She would much rather spend time on her own, watching the birds in her backyard, reading comics, or listening to music through her purple headphones. The problem is that the whole Shrink family loves parties with loud music and games and dancing. At cousin Char's birthday party, Violet hides under a table and imagines she is a shark gliding effortlessly through the water, looking for food. And at Auntie Marlene and Uncle Leli's anniversary bash, Violet sits alone at the top of the stairs, imagining she is a slithering snake way up in the branches. When Violet learns that the Shrink family reunion is fast approaching, she musters up the courage to have a talk with her dad. In this thoughtful story about understanding and acceptance, Violet's natural introversion and feelings of social anxiety are normalized when she and her father reach a solution together. Christine Baldacchino's warm text demonstrates the role imagination often plays for children dealing with anxiety, and the power of a child expressing their feelings to a parent who is there to listen. Carmen Mok's charming illustrations perfectly capture Violet's emotions and the vibrancy of her imagination. A valuable contribution to books addressing mental health."-- Provided by publisher.

Check out this link to a presentation by NYPL’s Children’s Librarians, Sarah West and Justine Toussaint on Mindfulness/Social-Emotional Self-Esteem Picture Book Spotlight. Featuring popular book titles in our database of the past few years promoting kids well beings!

Pre-2020 Books

Aphorism by Franz Kafka

Topics: Life Quotes, Recovery, Future Planning

For the first time, a single volume that collects all of the aphorisms penned by this universally acclaimed twentieth-century literary figure. Kafka twice wrote aphorisms in his lifetime. The first effort was a series of 109, known as the Zurau Aphorisms, which were written between September 1917 and April 1918, and originally published posthumously by his friend, Max Brod, in 1931. These aphorisms reflect on metaphysical and theological issues--as well as the occasional dog. The second sequence of aphorisms, numbering 41, appears in Kafka's 1920 diary dating from January 6 to February 29. It is in these aphorisms, whose subject is "He," where Kafka distills the unexpected nature of experience as one shaped by exigency and possibility."

This Book Loves You by PewDiePie

Topics: Life Skills, Inspiration, Food 4 Thought

A popular blogger shares humorous pieces of advice and positivity, including "Never forget you are beautiful compared to a fish" and "Every day is a new fresh start to stay in bed."

The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A Fuck: A Counterintuitive Approach To Living A Good Life by Mark Manson

Topic: Self Help, Happiness, Motivation

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger shows us that the key to being happier is to stop trying to be 'positive' all the time and instead become better at handling adversity. For decades we've been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. But those days are over. 'Fuck positivity, ' Mark Manson says. 'Let's be honest; sometimes things are fucked up and we have to live with it.' For the past few years, Manson--via his wildly popular blog--has been working on correcting our delusional expectations for ourselves and for the world. He now brings his hard-fought wisdom to this groundbreaking book. Manson makes the argument--backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes--that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to better stomach lemons. Human beings are flawed and limited--as he writes, 'Not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault.' Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. This, he says, is the real source of empowerment. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties--once we stop running from and avoiding, and start confronting painful truths--we can begin to find the courage and confidence we desperately seek. 'In life, we have a limited amount of fucks to give. So you must choose your fucks wisely.' Manson brings a much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor. This manifesto is a refreshing slap in the face for all of us so we can start to lead more contented, grounded lives."

Zen Pencils: Cartoon Quotes From Inspirational Folks by Gavin Aung Than

Topics: Writing Development, Expression, Quotes

Gavin Aung Than, an Australian graphic designer turned cartoonist, started the weekly Zen Pencils blog in February 2012. He describes his motivation for launching Zen Pencils: I was working in the boring corporate graphic design industry for eight years before finally quitting at the end of 2011 to pursue my passion for illustration and cartooning. At my old job, when my boss wasn't looking, I would waste time reading Wikipedia pages, main biographies about people whose lives were a lot more interesting than mine. Their stories and quotes eventually inspired me to leave my job to focus on what I really wanted to do. The idea of taking these inspiring quotes, combining them with my love of drawing, and sharing them with others led to the creation of Zen Pencils.

By: @Mx.Enigma

She/They/Queen

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