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always-a-joyful-note · 1 year

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All right. Time to ramble about a new thing that grabbed me by the neck and didn't let me go until I finished all available episodes.

That new thing, my friends, would be the Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality. And despite being terrible at writing proper reviews and hardly ever doing it, I'm gonna do my best to give a semi-coherent review of why you should listen to this funky little Australian podcast.

So! I see a lot of people comparing Mistholme to Magnus Archives. ..and while that definitely works, I also want to both compare it to Welcome to Night Vale and Wolf 359 for its at times very cavalier attitude towards the unexplained and its exploration on personhood and humanity.

Seriously, though. What I LOVE about this podcast, asides from the philosophical and discoursey tidbits that make the nerd in me go absolutely bonkers, is the way that while it is very much horror and mystery, it's just not that.

Like...it's a museum about supernatural occurrences and terrors, and while a lot of stories do end in creepy, bone-chilling ways, there's also stories that end ambiguously or happily. It's just people living in a world that happens to have alternatural items in it, and while many of the times things go horribly wrong, a lot of times things also can go right...or leave something good to think about. It's just...the best part about this podcast for me is how it's almost slice of life, but a slice of life that happens in a world of magic through the lens of a museum (literally ;)).

Moving on, though, I also seriously love how sometimes it gives off the feel of those educational shows where the characters talk to the audience. There's definitely some great meta moments (and y'all know how much I am wild over those), some stuff I DEARLY want to say about the second person voice but won't for coherence/spoilers. It blends genres - from sci-fi to horror to fantasy, etc. - and has an amazing meta mystery plot thread that just gets better and better as the show progresses.

More than that, though, I seriously just love the focus on worldbuilding. Ironically, this podcast is a MASTER at the show don't tell rule (with reasonable and very seamlessly woven ways of telling, too), and we gradually get to know of this world similar to our own but noooot quite right as the show progresses in a very organic way. And I'm also gonna seriously express the joy I feel in the ambiguity of the year in which the show is unraveling, as well as the ambiguity of how much the common public is aware of the alternatural and so many other things like that. Enough that you're not toooo curious about it but it still adds just another amazing element of story and FUN to this world.

The characters in this podcast - STARS THE CHARACTERS IN THIS PODCAST!! ATG (what I call the Audio Tour Guide)....well, other people have said it better than me but you WILL want to die for it and treasure it and protect it. The other characters that appear? Phenomenal, complex, just...people. And the VOICE ACTING IN THIS. I am....not a good judge of VAs, I'll admit, but just the voice acting in here. The subtle emotion and RANGE they give to their characters. How I'm able to almost SEE them all just from the way they speak. And the way they all develop, both silent AND speaking characters - I don't know how but Dom somehow made me love the mute or nonspeaking characters...or...just feel certain things for them ;)).

Just....plotwise, characterwise WORLDBUILDINGWISE (I am very much a fan of excellent, incredible worlds), performancewise, the themes and discourse on humanity and nature it invites, everything - solid 1000/10. It's really and seriously ranking up there with W359 as one of my favorite podcasts so far....

Now, of course, there will be some stuff that you may personally not find to taste like I did (what with the diverse stories and so on) but I don't think they belong in this review as they're more subjective opinions those up there were all objectively true despite my gushing I don't take arguments so we don't need that. I think the show really does its best in being respectful to all mythologies, religion, sociopitical issues, etc. that may crop up, and it keeps such an...objective? more hopeful? stance on almost every person narrated about (despite in-show opinions) that's kind of...well, refreshing I suppose? to hear? (Maybe the best way to explain it is that its neutral tone allows people, evil and good, to be people without betraying its show's own ethical code.)

Anyway, yeah....I love Mistholme. I love ATG and co. I love the VA and their voice and all other voices once again I ask why are podcaster voices so nice to hear? I love LOVE the individual stories and their unique way of just...revealing the world of Mistholme. And yes, again, I really love all its themes and the Thoughts(tm) they invite or that invade your brain space.

Anyway, with that, I'm still not forgiving the creator for s4 despite being on s5, how DARE -

And secondly, if I had a nickel for everytime an Aussie creator made an urban fantasy world with some of the best worldbuilding and character arcing and plot twisting I've seen, I'd have 2 nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice...

Comparisons and jokes asides, though, you really WILL love this world on its own. And maybe scream a little in wounded agony. But that's just the fun of visiting a museum of mystery, morbidoty, and mortality right?

#meta elements meta elements META ELEMENTS im so normal about them....#can i just say this show saw the podcast format and went 'yeah we can milk it for all its worth'#im sorry for the lack of coherence or smooth transitions #anyway i just came from listening to ep 50 and eagerly await ep 51 #and thought might as well post a review about it #the plot is at a semistressful point but i honestly dont mind?#and also there are still asides and mini stories they tell but somehow despite being SO CURIOUS as to whats going ON with the big meta plot #i still wanna know about wire snakes and little research trips into the horrors #anyway i want to say so MUCH about the podcast format...the way this uses so many cool themes about voice and names and personhood...#and the second person voice combined with the audio format #but I'll restrain myself since I already put forth an opinion #anyway i would kill and die for ATG and want it to be okay #all right now im done...#excuse me rambling in the tags #fandom spamdom #note's nonsense #the mistholme museum of mystery morbidity and mortality #t5m #(that's my acronym tag for mistholme museum heh)#edit: oh yeah the other aussie media thing would be city between #tm5

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animentality · 11 months

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Dude I'm so confused

Why are the redditors refugees here-

Whats up with the tag 196

AND WHY IS EVERYONE BEING SO NICE WITH THE TWITTER REFUGEES CAME WE GAVE THEM HELL (almost)

The Reddit refugees are here because several subreddits have gone private in protest of reddit's new policy of charging third party developers for access to its API.

Hence the term reddit blackout.

196 specifically was a very queer friendly subreddit that had one rule: that you post before you leave. 196 is trending because those Redditors have come here and they're basically sharing their memery here instead as they protest reddit's greed.

As for why we're welcoming them when Twitter refugees were seen with a little more irritation, well.

Think of the culture similarities.

Tumblr and reddit have far more in common than Tumblr and Twitter.

Twitter is about clout and manipulating algorithms and discourse in 280 characters or less. It's about bad takes that reach the right people and it forces you to see things you don't want to see and it's crawling with the worst people imaginable and you're forced to see them, all the time. They also brought bad tagging and 2016 Tumblr discourse with them, because Twitter culture really involves starting fights for clout and braindead opinions that no one really wants to come back to Tumblr culture.

There was a time when Tumblr did the same thing, but worse, with more words...but nowadays, it's really calmed down.

The worst people...went to Twitter after the porn ban. Ironically, it made the site less toxic and hostile.

But then they came back.

And it was like...hm. no thanks. Stay back where you came from.

But Tumblr and Reddit have much more in common.

Both have a more streamlined way of customizing your online feed. You can choose what subreddits you see on your home screen, just like Tumblr only shows you the content of your followers, on your dashboard, and in chronological order rather than what's trending. You can join a very specific weird niche group of freaks with a shared obsession, and not care about the rest of the site at all. You also don't have a character limit on either site, which lets you ramble more and share weird detailed stories.

Reddit might have karma, but like Tumblr, the majority of people are lurkers and not posters. It also allows you to downvote bad opinions, and moderators who have to adhere to certain guidelines of behavior, which means a lot of banning disruptive people.

Granted, sometimes their mods are power hungry, but. You know.

It does more to control its users than Tumblr do, and that's a good thing in terms of keeping toxicity and illegal shit off its subs.

Reddit also has a way more leftwing attitude than you would think.

It has a reputation for being full of incels but I honestly think that's outdated.

It's cleaned up its act quite a bit since the old days.

I see way more vile shit from Twitter and TikTok. Like seriously.

Twitter is crawling with conservative bots and propaganda machines and just outright inflammatory lies. TikTok literally has the worst comment sections I've ever seen, like edgy teenagers cracking racist and misogynistic humor and acting like it makes them different and special. Its algorithm also spoon feeds you garbage and is designed to be as addicting as possible.

At least reddit's culture, while chauvinistic and regressive in certain subcultures, is mostly on the tech positive, atheist libertarian side.

It can be a little pretentious and caustic about certain subjects, and a little full of itself. Some reddits are also very male leaning and disregard female concerns in favor of moaning about how men have it worse than anyone else on earth.

But for the most part?

...well.

I welcome them here, because if they left reddit in protest, then we always support protests. But 196 specifically is also a queer subreddit, and we support that even more.

Plus they're funny as fuck.

What's not to like, really?

You should welcome them with open arms too.

#reddit blackout #196

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pokechbi · 5 months

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hi love! would you be able to write a request for ghost x psychiatrist!femreader 👀 who works with task force 141 but she spends her sessions with ghost who always ends up fucking her 😈 (highly unprofessional ik but she melts for him )

also i LOVE your work sm, can I be 🧠 anon?🥺

i have risen :3

Got this idea from this lovely anon <33 tysm!!! Much luv to u bb!! Happy to say that I am making this one a continuing story!!! (dw i havent forgotten ab the other ones lol)

Healing Simon (chapter 1)

Simon "Ghost" Riley x Fem Reader

NSFW!! MDNI

Fem reader, fem anatomy used

WC: 1.2K

Enjoy <33

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚˚

“As for your past, Lieutenant, we’ll be sure to discuss that when you’re ready. If you’re ever ready. Not that there’s anything wrong with wanting to keep it private. Sometimes, there are things we must keep to ourselves no matter what. You don’t owe me, or anyone else an explanation.” You end your sentence calmly, knowing you had the tendency to ramble. Sometimes your clients didn’t need to hear it all at once. It’s how you kept them coming back. How you kept him coming back.

He looks past your shoulders, out of the window behind you. Your clients had the tendency to do so, since the view from the window was mesmerizing. You folded your legs, gently swinging your leg over the other and feeling the leather of the chair peel away from your thigh. You looked behind you, glancing in the same direction he was looking. The tall trees swayed in the fall wind, moving in unison as if to purposely entrance their observers. You felt weirdly jealous of them at times. They seemed to be more therapeutic to your clients than you were. You keep your eyes on him, hearing his breaths behind his balaclava ever so slightly. Deep, balanced and even. He was stoic in all the right ways, his expression never changing. You look downwards, observing the way his jacket hugs his muscles in all the right places. You take in his broad shoulders and chest, a slight heat simmering at your ears. Your eyes flutter upwards once again, noticing the sliver of skin on his neck peeking out from the gap between his balaclava and his jacket collar. You also notice the slight glint of his dog tag chain shining in the light coming from the window. Looking up at his eyes once again, you almost jump as you realize they’re on you. His stare is heavy, weighing your words back down your throat.

You smile sweetly, capping your pen and sticking it inside your notebook, setting it on the small end table beside you.

“Simon, our time is nearly up for today. Went by fast didn’t it?” You ask, trying to stir his attention away from the fact that he just caught you checking him out. You cringe internally, wondering if he’ll bring it up or not.

“Yeah, it did.” His gruff voice comes out almost a whisper. His accent soft on your ears, his eyes seemingly peeling away at every layer of you each time he looked at you. His eyes flit down to your legs, and back up to your face. You smile at him, your heart doing somersaults in your chest as you fidget with your fingers. He stands suddenly, starting his walk to the door. You stand as well, slowly trailing behind him. The smell of him wafts into your nose. It was intoxicating. Addicting, even. A mix of settled cologne, the familiar scent of his laundry detergent mixing with his musky body odor. The smell of him took you by the throat and forced its way into your subconscious. You craved that smell, the manly, homely smell of him.

He stops at the door, looking down at you. His height was significantly higher than yours, your head only reaching to his shoulder. You look up at him through your lashes, placing your hand on his back and rubbing ever so slightly. The muscles tense under your touch, but he doesn’t move. Not an inch. Your mind betrays you, the thought of what his skin might feel like under your nails as he split you open races through your head.

“You did great today, Simon.” You say softly, giving him a reassuring pat on his back. His eyes flit between yours before he starts out of the door again.

“Same time next week, love?” He asks. He had such a smug way of speaking. Such a smug way of making you weak in the knees without even touching you. And he knew it. You nod at him, smiling sweetly as you shut the door to your office. Placing your back on the door, you run your hands through your hair, hearing his footsteps fade down the hall towards the elevator.

You walk over to your desk and sit down. The chair creaks under you, the silence of the office driving you insane. Your head raced with thoughts. All about him.

No one in the psychiatry ward had managed to keep consistent appointments with the Lieutenant. He was a hard nut to crack. The hardest you’d ever attempted. You were getting there, slowly but surely. People swarmed you with questions in the office, everywhere you went.

“What does he talk about?”

“How come he doesn’t talk with anyone else?”“Does he tell you anything about the missions?”

“Have you seen his face?”

“Doesn’t he scare you?”

“Can you get his number for me?”

Questions ranged from pure curiosity, to just downright trying to break patient-confidentiality. It pissed you off. They acted as if he were untouchable. Unlovable. All he needed was to be humanized. You couldn’t imagine how tired he was of his reputation around the base. Never being treated as a normal soldier. Not that he was a normal soldier, anyway. He had earned his rep. But you kept that to yourself.

When his captain showed up in your office, slamming his file on your desk and begging you to make it work, you knew you had to. Price sat across from you, frustrated and scared of losing his best soldier. Not to war, or battle, but to his own mind. Simon had a nasty habit of bottling things up. Letting his thoughts get the best of him and letting them chip away at his sanity until he broke. He holed himself up, letting his trauma dictate who he was not only as a soldier, but as a person.

You hadn’t quite managed to persuade him into unpacking his past just yet. It seemed like an unattainable milestone some days, but others, you came mighty close to it. You spoke to Simon as a friend, not just as his psychiatrist. Each visit, you felt closer and closer to him. To his mind.

As a professional, you knew it would be wrong to take your relationship outside of the two chairs he came to sit in once a week. You thought about him every time you had a quiet moment to yourself. It was becoming something you couldn’t control. It had gone to stealing glances, to unknowingly checking him out any chance you could get. He’d catch you every time, yet never said anything about it.

But he kept coming back, right? The thought made your heart leap in your chest.

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groovyfrog420 · 1 month

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SV Redeemed AU

INTRODUCTION / DISCLAIMER

First things first, these designs for Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla are FAR into the future. Quite literally end game phase of the story, the “they grow old together and live happily ever after”. There's a long way to get there, and while I will write some of my thoughts about their journey, I'm a shitty writer. There's no single thought-out plot, it's just bits and pieces of my thoughts in one place.

I don't think I'd be making a tag or naming this AU anything specific. I'm still calling it an AU because there is a bit of canon divergence, but I don’t have a start-to-finish story. (EDIT: wellp that lasted long. new name is #False-Truth AU because I like the oxymoron. I still don't think I'll do much - maybe a few short comics, which you'll be able to find under that tag on my profile)

Keep in mind that these are just my own interpretations, if you imagine these cookies acting differently, that's ok! This is just my own made-up alternate version

LONG POST UNDER THE CUT - don't say I didn't warn ya

I’ve tried to divide it into sections, so if you are looking for just smth specific / only care about one of the characters, you can skip right to it!

Prepare for the ramblings.

PURE VANILLA'S DESIGN

more relaxed now - doesn’t need to keep up perfect appearances and the image of a hero, so he can lay back a bit more. (messier, less perfectly styled hair - more like his younger years. comfier clothes.)

focusing on herbology - with less power now (why explained below) and trying to not overwork himself, he’s taken to different healing methods, as well as taking on gardening as a hobby

slightly more open eyes - (heavily elaborated on bellow)

different staff - due to being able to use his own eyes more now, as well as staying more on the low, he’d decided to retire the famous staff. Since it’s a flower, it was planted somewhere and allowed to blossom and grow freely - fitting symbolism for a new beginning, I think. The lantern light glowing blue makes it easier on his eyes.

PV STORY BITS

In this AU Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla retire together. I think PV would still like to teach, but would focus more on the medical and practical side of things, like herbs and healing practices. (He’ll leave telling tales about the past to Shadow Milk, though he might throw in his own comments from time to time…) He mostly offers advice and shares every-day methods for protection of different kinds with those who ask, but may take on an apprentice or few to fully pass down his healing knowledge to. He uses magic sparingly now.

This way with not focusing on a variety of subjects and many, many students, he’s able to rest more and doesn’t have to split himself between multiple worries. He can focus properly and give his students more individual attention, to make sure his knowledge will be retained for the future.

Eyes

(don't jump me pls read the footnote)

I've decided to take the closed/covered eyes motif PV has in a bit more symbolic way *. I want to interpret it as PV being blind (=ignorant) to the world around him, choosing to see the world and his own actions in an idealized light, and to look away from anything that doesn't fit that idea. Light sensitivity would be very ironic yet fitting - since his own powers are very light-based, by using them to help others he’d be blindinding/hurting himself in the process...

Over time, he realizes how futile it is. Even if he turns his eyes away from the wrongdoing in the world, from his own mistakes and imperfections, they will still continue to happen. He begins to understand that he has to accept that neither he nor the world is perfect, to stop wallowing over the past and start fixing the present. To keep moving forward and keep working on himself, not hide his imperfections under literal and figurative wraps.

With the help of Shadow Milk, he begins to open his eyes more and more and accept the real truth, no matter how imperfect it is.

*I’m not sure how confirmed it was in canon that he’s blind (from what I’ve seen it was mostly implied, but still). I'm not erasing that - for the sake of this AU, I'd like to say that he has partial issues with sight (including the mentioned light sensitivity), but now he learns to accommodate them rather than ignore them and hurt himself more for the sake of others. No, he doesn't magically gain full sight now, but he's more comfortable, healthier, and more honest about the world around him with all of its imperfections.

Burnout

I believe SM and PV complete each other so perfectly because they can help each other grow in areas where the other is lacking/struggling. With PV, I’d like to focus on burnout, false ideas, and how the pressure he’s constantly under has affected him. He was very much just a normal guy before receiving his Soul Jam. Years beyond a normal cookie’s lifespan of hard work and trying to be the perfect leader, to always ensure the happiness of all his people (whether that be as king or otherwise) are bound to take a toll on anyone. Obviously he'd never admit that, always putting everyone else before his own needs, and he’d likely run himself into the grave. That's where I think Shadow Milk would be helpful - he’d make him realize how unsustainable what he’s doing really is. He wasn’t built for handling immense power for all of eternity, he’s just a single cookie and whether he likes it or not, he can’t save everyone or make every single one of his people happy... Being selfish isn’t entirely wrong, sometimes might even be necessary.

Onto the idea of false truth - Pure Vanilla has a very idealized view of a lot of things and people. He’s trying to see everyone in the best light, but he also holds a high standard for himself - that he must be the ideal, shining and caring hero and a beacon of perfection . Shadow Milk is likely to pick that image apart - probably not in the kindest way, saying that in trying to be perfectly selfless, PV is putting himself on the pedestal above everyone else while still being just a single cookie with limited capabilities. He’d likely call this image egoistical, and while PV would argue that he’s doing it for the good of others (he is helping after all, right?), Shadow Milk wouldn’t be entirely wrong - this way of thinking, that he’s the one who must take care of everyone else, is harmful for both him and the ones he’s trying to protect.

Shadow Milk would show him that truth is relative, that “pure truth” doesn’t exist, for anyone could interpret it differently. That PV isn’t (and doesn't have to be) the perfect blameless hero. That his people aren’t as good or pure as he’d like to give them credit for, but neither are they helpless.

Shadow Milk metaphorically and literally helps him open his eyes - he slowly learns to lay back, to accept the reality and “truth”, whatever it may be, and is no longer blinding and burning himself out by trying to help everyone at once. With a new mindset and outlook of the world, he can allow himself to retire, and leave a calmer, out-of-the-spotlight life.

Retirement

Ok, controversial idea, but I think the ancients will have to one day retire and pass down their SoulJams. Yes, I played Cookie Odyssey, I know how important it is to them, but hear me out. As I said above (which is shown in the game btw, but correct me if I'm wrong), they were just normal cookies before taking on the roles of the Ancient Heros. Cookies with high achievements, yes, but still. They aren’t The Beasts, baked specifically for the purpose of handling the Soul Jams, and even then, The Beasts weren’t perfect. I’m not saying they’re bound to get corrupted like their predecessors did, but I am saying that this role is bound to take a toll on them. Not even just from the perspective of power, even just handling so many responsibilities with running their kingdoms is going to be extremely draining mentally. (Physically likely too, even if they’re said to stay “always young” thanks to the Soul Jams - many stories teach that you can’t mess with nature and that nothing lasts forever...)

I don’t know who they’d pass the Soul Jams along too - whether that’d be Gingerbrave and his friends, or a new batch of heroes, that is to be decided. The point is, they have served their purpose, they have (from the perspective of this AU) defeated Dark Enchantress, and deserve to now leave the rest of their lives in peace.

SHADOW MILK'S DESIGN

“mellowed out” a bit - continues to be eccentric and dramatic, but less manic

still unsettling - most level-headed cookies upon meeting him immediately get a feeling that there's something.. off about him, even if they can't put their finger on it. (I purposefully left some of his corrupted design elements or callbacks to them, like the marking over his eye, for that reason)

vibrant, colorful, very extra in both behavior and looks, everything he does he does with drama and flourish

quiets down when out of the eyes of the public, or alone with Pure Vanilla

peacock elements - fitting for someone with such a vibrant personality. also the eye connection is perfect - if you look closely at the feather he's wearing, you might even notice a familiar symbol in its “eye”

a playful bard - (elaborated heavily bellow) - an identity allows him to enjoy his favorite activities, while also being a slight callback to his academic past

SM STORY BITS

The bard

While spending more time with Pure Vanilla, PV encouraged him to pursue his creative interests. Partly to have smth to get SM’s mind off of causing chaos, and partly because they let him indulge and express himself without causing any serious damage. Now he’s joined PV in retirement, though still not fully stepping down from the stage.

Being a bard allows Shadow Milk to indulge in everything he likes most: being the center of attention, dramatics, theatrics, mischief, a tasteful dose of lies and half-truths, but also, in a way, calling back to his past self: for while a lot of his stories are made-up tales, he can also share the history of Earthbread that he’s witnessed. Yes, he may do so through over-dramatic performances or behind caricatural characters, but every tale holds a grain of truth, does it not? Whether his audience chooses to believe him or not is their choice to make.

Referencing the fact that a big part of human history survived through word of mouth, and how storytellers play an important role in preserving it, I think it’s only fitting to make him a bard.

About visual choices

I made his redeemed design less chaotic and asymmetrical, but still vibrant and based mostly on his current color palette, rather than the one from Blueberry Academy. That's because while he may be rediscovering his interests from the past, he’s not the person he was before corruption and never will be again. Instead, he too is learning to rediscover the world in a new light, with a new identity.

Visually I’ve tried to keep some elements from his current design, if slightly toned down: a wide collar, puffy sleeves, a flowy cape. Elements of his corruption are also still there: different colored sclera (= his one eye being black), the sharp teeth. He may have settled down and calmed down slightly, but he remains as playful as ever :))

He still causes local chaos once in a while or resorts to pranking unsuspecting cookies nearby (the slight charring at the bottom of PV’s robe is a result of one of such pranks getting out of hand), and PV has accepted that he'll never be a calm, put-together cookie he once might have been. However, SM's learned to not be a danger to others for the sake of the one he cares about the most, and that's enough for the both of them.

And that's all for now! If you've managed to get this far, thank you SO much for your patience, I hope you've enjoyed my thoughts and brainworms <3

#funny how this turned into an essay on accident #shadowvanilla #pureshadow #vanilla milkshake #shadow milk #shadow milk cookie #shadow milk cookie run kingdom #shadow milk crk #pure vanilla #pure vanilla cookie #pure vanilla crk #shadow milk au #cookie run au #blorbo-time #False-Truth AU

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artsyhamster · 10 months

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And we've reached the end! I cannot believe we made it but here are the final four. :)

You know the drill by now, explanations and ramblings underneath the cut :D

(1) THE FOOL / THE MAGICIAN / THE HIGH PRIESTESS |

(2) THE EMPRESS / THE EMPEROR / THE HIEROPHANT |

(3) THE LOVERS / THE CHARIOT / STRENGTH |

(4) THE HERMIT / WHEEL OF FORTUNE / JUSTICE |

(5) THE HANGED MAND | DEATH | TEMPERANCE |

(6) THE DEVIL / THE TOWER / THE STAR |

(7) THE MOON / THE SUN / JUDGEMENT / THE WORLD

THE MOON - As I mentioned in the previous set, I had The Star and The Moon exchanged at first. Colorwise I found the Balcony Smoker to be more fitting but descriptionwise.... "[The fool's] bliss (...) makes him vulnerable to the illusions of the Moon" fit Klaasje more. I feel like Harry related to her on a level and of course was drawn to her beauty, and fell for her deception. Or well at least I did lol. Although I don't even want to call it deception, more like...obfuscation in self-defense. Klaasje on the rooftop staring at a moon seemed like a nice visual image too.

THE SUN - I had. So much trouble. Filling this role. Since The sun stands for everything warm and joyous. "It enlightens, so the Fool both feels and understands the goodness of the world." And it's pretty hard to find something joyous in Revachol. I almost chose Ruby just for the orange aesthetics and the sort of... enlightenment. But considering she might shoot herself in the head, I refused to put her in the role of the sun. I wanted to save the Insulidan phasmid for THE WORLD at first, but I am damn happy I let go of that thought. Especially since the story starts and begins with the fool anyway. SO YEAH. I love this stick bug.... I cannot describe it. After you go through this whole bleak game, filled with death, misery, failure and coldness you find this...walking wonder. And the soundtrack to this encapsulates it so well, too. The phasmid scene always fills me with so much happiness T_T

JUDGEMENT - Also one of the the cards that were pretty clear to me from the beginning. Trant looks pretty menacing here but I love it lol. I added a small Harry, because under the judging eyes of his colleagues, everyone would feel small. "The Fool has been reborn. His false, ego-self has been shed, allowing his radiant, true self to manifest." The radiance is debatable, but Harry definitely went through a lot of development in the past few days and hopefully he came out a better person. He isn't absolved of his past mistakes and further judged on those, rather he is judged on the things he did right. And I don't know, what I like about Harry in general is that he is an absolute fuckup but if you give a person the right support and faith in them to be better, they can. If you keep reminding people only of the things they've done wrong, you are taking their room to grow, by defining them as an irredeemable failure.

THE WORLD - "The Fool reenters the World, but this time with a more complete understanding. He has integrated all the disparate parts of himself and achieved wholeness. He has reached a new level of happiness and fulfillment." Well, what can I say. Our fool Harry started this journey full of ignorance but he opened his eyes to the mistakes of the past and learned from them, and is now hopefully ready to tackle life anew. And I love the last sentence of The Fool's story: This cycle is over, but, the Fool will never stop growing. Soon he will be ready to begin a new journey that will lead him to ever greater levels of understanding. While this chapter of his life is over, there'll be new stories to be told. Setbacks and more opportunities to grow, and only time will tell where his journey will lead him this time.

Thanks to everyone who followed me and Harry on this journey and read through my ramblings. Also thanks for all the lovely tags & comments, it was an absolute pleasure reading through these. <3 Much Love!

#disco elysium #klaasje amandou #trant heidelstam #insulidan phasmid #disco elysium fanart #harry dubois #tarot #tarot cards

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peaceofflights · 1 year

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Falling in love with Wally Clark Would Include:

A/N: Currently working on another story, but I thought I’d put this up in the mean time. Set in the “What’s three years in eyes of eternity” universe <3

Rated T for drug use and cursing.

So falling in with Wally would include:

• Totally not being prepared to fall in love. So it takes you at least five years to even realize you have a crush… admitting it to no one.

•He fell first, but you fell harder.

• Constantly reminding the others that you and Wally are just friends, who of course platonically cuddle.

• Wally is in fact the best cuddler, it usually consists of you sitting on his lap and him wrapping his arms around you. You constantly insist that you’re too heavy and he laughs in your face.

•Holding hands wherever you go. You’re a hand holder, and Wally never gives up the opportunity to show you physical affection. If anyone says anything you let go and blush pretending not to notice. Wally then proceeds to get mad at them for bringing it up, since it means you stop for a few days.

• Trying to find the most clever insults for each other.

“Who do you think you are, Ferris Bueller?”

“Am I supposed to know who that is?”

• Using “He’s my shithead” as a justifiable response when Rhonda tries to tease you about the relationship.

• Every few weeks feeling guilty about insulting him too much and rambling about being a bad friend. Which of course always ends in hugs.

•You two do pretty much everything together from golf cart joy riding to playing mermaids in the pool.

•One time he tried to teach you how play football…it didn’t end well. He of course is the ultimate hype man, but you don’t really understand why you need exercise in the afterlife.

•In return you try to teach him how to tap dance, that is in fact wayyyy more fun. Mina might not be thrilled that you’re making so much noise in the theater, but she just had to get over it.

•In fact you invited the whole support group to watch his one man recital. He was a good sport about it, but nobody could stop laughing.

• He’s a good sport about most things, and is always happy to tag along with whatever you and Charlie are up to for the day, even if it’s not exactly what he’d want to do. That typically means spying in the men’s locker room.

•But when you aren’t together you catch yourself observing him from across the way. One time he caught you watching him run laps on the football field, your blush didn’t go away for weeks. To be fair though it was probably from his constant teasing;

“Hey stalker”

“So who we stalking today kid?”

“It’s okay, I know it’s because I’m irresistible”

• For some reason you aren’t bothered by the fact that he will forever smell like B.O. probably since you will always smell like sunscreen. In fact you almost forget until of course you remember, usually while stoned in the janitors closet.

“Babe, you smell baaaaaaaaaaaddddd.”

• But he doesn’t really care that you’re making fun of him because he loves your laugh, it’s his favorite part of you, even if you hate it. But then again, he pretty much loves every part of you.

•You too love every little thing about him… not that you’ll ever admit it.

#school spirits #school spirits fanfiction #school spirits fanfic #wally clark x reader #wally clark

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mikodrawnnarratives · 5 months

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TW IMPLIED CHARACTER DEATH

TW BLOOD

(Just like last time, it isn't really graphic but I'm tagging just so you know)

@naffeclipse

Part 1 | This is Part Two | Part Three | Extra

It. Probably won't need a part 4

I'm doing this all on one cps file so I sure hope so kjlfdkfljs

i'm at like- 750+ layers i'm so sorry my file

...there might be a part 4 but it'll be small sketches and aftermaths

Once again, long post under the cut:

I am not the only traveler, who has not repaid his debt.

I've been searching for a trail to follow again

Take me back to the night we met

- The night we met by Lord Hurdon

Alright, I didn't make too much of an effort to hide it but how many of you guessed it was gregory and how many of you didn't see it coming?

Gee I wonder who Gregory's companions are

Okay if you don't have a nugget of who these companions are then my rambling below makes it a little more obvious

Anyway, this little comic of self indulgence to mend my broken heart says "YO what if Gregory and other characters saved Vanessa like they did in canon"

It certainly would NOT be easy for Vanessa once she wakes up to that realization. But there are factors that make it a little bit easier for Vanessa to cope compared to other children.

Since Gregory and others proved they could fight and free her as Vanny, it gives her mind a little reassurance that they aren't completely helpless.

Plus, I like the idea of the GGY story (Dr Rabbit) existing as this au's equivalent of the same experience, that would mean Gregory has had his own bad experiences with Glitchtrap and so it wouldn't be like some random kid going against a threat he was unfamiliar with

She still distances herself a lot earlier on and the more time passes, the older Gregory gets, the less he looks and sounds like a kid.

Those make it much easier for Vanessa to stand being around them as time goes by. Earlier on, she only really interacted when absolutely necessary. But she did grow a small soft spot for them.

She remained pretty closed off about herself over the years and never delved too deep about her past. Ness left frequently for her own hunting jobs and at one point Gregory asked where she went. Somethings made it seem like these hunts weren't just random and different

He didn't get an answer of course. But later that day, Vanessa told him about Y/n. In vague terms. This is the most information he ever gets about Vanessa's past.

So Gregory's got no idea who to expect to see showing up to the gravestone ltr on and is just like

Gregory: cool, ur mysterious enough for it to be believable ur related to my mysterious older sister/mentor figure Wanna hear a story

Y/n: ...yes.

Forgive him his brain is ever so foggy from grief and no slep

Anyway, Y/n picked a day to visit Vanessa when they knew they were stable enough not to lash out and attack any humans that may happen to also be visiting the graves. They had eaten pretty recently but not so recent that they were vulnerable.

It's pretty early in the morning where it is still dark and the rain provides some more protection.

If you couldn't tell before, many MANY years have passed since Y/n has been human. Think somewhere between 20-30 years. And while, they still hate who they are now and aren't mentally okay, they've gotten a semi-solid understanding of their limits and what they can and cannot tolerate and when.

And, even though they are nervous, they can manage to have this conversation with Gregory for now.

Why are they talking to Gregory so willingly? despite the risks?

well

the next part will explain that

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agirlandherquill · 26 days

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alrighty, so being tagged by @katwritesshit means i'm up for a very interesting tag game so here goes

rules: answer as many (or as few) of the questions about your WIP as you can

What was the first part of your WIP that you created? - might be my favourite question of the lot but for me at least, it's pretty simple, i start with an idea - a theme of sorts I suppose, and I wanted to write about a heist, I wanted treachery, danger, and crime (lots and lots of crime), and from there I spun the rest of my story

If your story was a TV show, what would the intro song be? - consulting my many, many Spotify playlists has made answering this one very difficult (shoutout once again to @katwritesshit for The World Ender because I love that song) but I'm going to have to say Dinner and Diatribes by Hozier or As It was, also by Hozier, most likely because I've spent a great majority of this story listening to Hozier along the way, since Wasteland Baby is one of my favourite albums and it fits so so well

Who are your favourite character(s) and why? - I feel as though I'm committing to a betrayal here by not saying the character who is supposed to be the main protagonist but I'm going to go for Fenley, purely because his cynical, overall dark demeanour has been the most entertaining to write (and his POV contains some of my favourite scenes of the novel)

What other pieces of media could share a fan base with your WIP? - now this one is FUN. especially since I draw inspiration from so so many things, Throne of Glass, The Cruel Prince, The Mummy (one of my all time favourite movies), Now You See Me, The Witcher - just to name a few, I'm not even going to mention the inspiration for the combat scenes because action movies are just (insert chef's kiss)

What has been your biggest struggle while writing your WIP? - truth be told, finding the time to write, as this labour of love has taken me a solid four (ish, I think) years to write, a lot has happened, I've grown with my novel which is to me at least, a very heartwarming thing

Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them! - sadly there aren't any major animal characters in my story, my characters use horses for transport most of the time but that's about it

How do your characters get around? - well, when they aren't on horseback they're either walking or sprinting for their lives

What part of your WIP are you working on right now? - edits, dreaded, dreaded edits - just kidding I'm loving getting to dive into the earlier parts of my novel and change bits as I go, I'm falling in love with the story all over again and I'm only editing Chapter 7/40(something, the current number escapes my mind)

What aspects of your WIP do you think will draw people in? - hopefully the sheer and utter chaos of unlikely thieves trying to do an impossible thing, the characters are my favourite sort to read about, and the tropes (not giving too much away I do enjoy a good mystery :) )

and that's about it, this was super fun so thanks for the tag!

and passing the metaphorical torch on, I'm going to tag: @the-ellia-west @somethingclevermahogony @unlikelycreationwasteland @leotheponderer @alwri-tes and of course anyone else that would like to give it a go! (being new at tag games appears to be my fatal flaw since i have very little clue who to tag, but here you go!)

(and as usual in my rambly responses, very, very little read through, but in my defence this is a late night post so I feel as though the grammar-police might cut me some slack :) )

#writeblr #creative writing #writing #fiction #writinganovel #novel #writer #writers on tumblr #writing game #wip game

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iamamythologicalcreature · 28 days

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Sentences or Sketches or Something... Sunday

Hello strangers! It's been a long time since I last did a progress post of any kind - thank you everyone who's continued to tag me so I don't get left behind! And thanks to @noblecorgi, @alexalexinii, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @blackberrysummerblog, @thewholelemon, @mooncello, @monbons, @prettygoododds, @shrekgogurt, and @youarenevertooold for tagging me, today. (I feel so loved! <3) I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone's up to.

It's still Sunday in my neck of the woods, though just barely. And yes, I've used my "sentences" banner, but... It's a bit more chaotic than that. Honestly, I wasn't sure about doing a post today because I'm a bit all over the place, but then I figured... eh, why not? I am all over the place LOL.

So here's your snippet from the collective efforts of Jo's creativity, lately, under the cut. (Because I ramble...)

On the Haunting of Simon Snow... I haven't forgotten about it! Nor is it abandoned. As I keep telling anyone who will listen, I have a rough draft, which basically amounts to an outline, meaning I have way too much figured out to just let the story fade away. XD I attempted to work on Chapter 2 earlier this month, and ran into some roadblocks - of the architectural variety.

So I've started to research manor houses and English estates like mad. I'm going to do the thing. I'm going to figure out Pitch Manor. Why? Because my brain won't let me gloss over paltry details such as the location of Simon in the grand scheme of the house, or how and where the roof attaches and where that tree is going to be. It's annoying, but I figure... This is a fun puzzle, too. One I hope to be able to share with the fandom at large once it's complete.

This little snippet is from an early design I've since scrapped (but you never know what might come around, again.)

"That's great, Jo, but how about some sentences?"

Okay. Ahem. Here's... some Simon sentences... that have just been scribbled out. *cough*

I sit there and listen to the man on the other side as he blathers on about extra fees associated with estate deliveries due to distance and blah blah bloody fucking blah. I wish he’d just say it. Just say 'this is the Pitch Manor tax.' No one ever does. But everyone charges it.

I HAVE WRITTEN SEE THERE'S PROOF.

Okay, moving on...

The other thing I'm working on is illustrations for @mooncello's beautiful fanfic, "Lost Boys." I just posted art from Chapter 1 here, and I'm working on art for Chapter 2, now. The story is stuffed to the gills with absolutely gorgeous imagery, so choosing what to illustrate is a challenge. Hopefully it all works out, and in the meantime, here are a couple doodles.

(I was telling Heath last night... this morning...? about how all illustrations start out as baby sketches XD These are the little babes in the creative nursery, basically. Also I have never posted baby sketches before and I'm kinda nervous about it. But. Well. >.> )

THERE YOU HAVE IT. A couple of my reasons for being so entirely absent from all other aspects of the fandom. (Also I got hit with the flu super hard, but doing better now!)

Tags for future wipsdays/hello's! @leithillustration, @artsyunderstudy (thank you for listening to me ramble about Pitch Manor), @erzbethluna, @nightimedreamersworld, @cutestkilla (thank you for also listening to me ramble about Pitch Manor sorry I'm reworking it again XD), @angelsfalling16, @fatalfangirl, @hushed-chorus (thank you for being my secret-garden-enabler XD), @rimeswithpurple, @best--dress, @whatevertheweather, @ileadacharmedlife, @scribble-tier, @imagineacoolusername, @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @alleycat0306, @ivelovedhimthroughworse, @tender-ministrations, @katmiscellanious, @anxious-m3ss, @bubble-gumhead, @ebbpettier, @facewithoutheart, @bazzybelle, @theimpossibledemon, @aristocratic-otter, @ic3-que3n, @palimpsessed, @raenestee

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ssuperficialspacecadett · 1 year

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Reality Check

Chapter Eight of the Through the Scope series | Chapter Nine

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 5.2K

Chapter Overview: The morning after & the days that follow your and Frankie's hookup are joyful, but not everyone is joining in on the love

TW: Brief mentions of sexual assault & Brunson (iykyk)

Notes: i got it done by the hair of my chinny chin chin LMAOO ,, honestly i usually ramble in my notes but i dont have a lot to say today (': thank you to everyone who has liked and/or reblogged my story so far ! it means so much !! let me know if you want to be added to the tag list as well !! as usual...my asks are always open & happy reading <3

*no use of y/n & female presenting reader*

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Frankie’s alarm blares earlier than either of you want it too. Maybe it wouldn’t have felt so early if you had gone to bed sooner. You jump a little when you hear it going off and feel the man holding you stir behind you. The arm that he had wrapped around your waist detaches slowly to silence the unwelcome sound. You smile to yourself as you hear him breathe out deeply and snuggle his body closer to yours under the duvet.

“I sent it to snooze.” He yawns. “We only have a few more minutes of this.”

He is clearly more awake than he sounds as his lips quickly find your shoulder. You stretch your neck out to allow him access and he greedily accepts your invitation.

“I don’t want to go back to reality.” You can feel your heart rate already accelerating as he continues to adorn your skin.

“Let’s stay here, in bed, all day. I have vacation hours, remember?”

“But I don’t.” You sigh and shift your body to where you can look at him. “And Benny can’t manage the gym all by himself anymore.”

As you wait for him to say something, you allow your eyes to wander all over his face. His hair looks so curly and soft against the pillow. His eyes don’t look as sad as they do during the daytime. They appear youthful and doe-like.

“What are you doing?” He smiles.

“I’m trying to memorize what you look like first thing in the morning.” You bring your hand out from under the covers and caress his beard. “Does it always grow like this?” You gingerly brush your thumb over the sparse patch.

“Ever since I can remember. It made shaving easier, but it isn’t the most manly, huh?”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“Oh? What would you say then?” He pokes at your ribs hidden beneath the sheets.

“I would say that any woman would love their very own special spot to kiss you.”

You lean forward and kiss him softly. Your lips fit perfectly in the patch just like you thought they would.

“But I don’t want any woman to kiss me. I just want one.”

He swallows your mouth with his and you willingly let him. Before you know it, he has you situated on top of him as the two of you kiss. His scent is huskier in the morning. It hasn’t been tainted by a long day of work. You break apart so you can look at him. He doesn’t fight with you as he has a particularly good view of your breasts from how you are sitting. Since he was laying on the left side of his body before, you weren’t able to see how the red flowers you left on his neck have grown this morning. But now you have a clear view.

“Don’t be mad at me, but I think you’re going to have a hard time covering these up.” You reach your hand down and trace each one with your finger. “I might have gotten a little carried away.”

“You weren’t the only one.” His own hand comes up and brushes against your collar bone. The slight pain you feel makes you realize that you didn’t end the night blemish free. “Let’s call it even, hmm?”

“Deal.”

You’re leaning down to kiss him when the alarm goes off again. “Guess it’s time to get moving.” Not one to leave a task unfinished, you place your lips sweetly on the edge of his nose before sliding off his torso to land where you slept. You throw your legs over the side of the bed and stretch your arms high above your head. A soreness in your abs and in between your legs demands to be felt as you use your muscles for the first time since last night. That delicious ache serves as a physical reminder that what happened in this bed is real. That the man lying next to you is real. That this moment is so very real.

It also serves as a reminder that he didn’t pull out. While you knew it was safe, he didn’t. You turn your head over your shoulder and falter at what you see. He’s just staring at you. A childish grin on his face as he holds his head up with his hand. The covers have fallen just above his waist to give you a teasing view of that tummy you have grown so fond of.

“Hey, about last night…” You worry when you see his smile flicker ever so slightly. “I just wanted to let you know that I have the implant. So, we are completely safe since we clearly weren’t safe last night.”

“God bless modern medicine.” He laughs lightly.

“I was going to say something before hand, but some guy fucked the thought right out of my head.” You give him a cheeky look.

“He sounds like quite the catch.”

“Biggest fish I ever saw.”

A comfortable laughter engulfs the two of you as you each search for the clothes that were discarded the night prior. You realize, a little grossed out, that you hadn’t showered since Saturday morning.

“Do you mind if I use your shower before we leave? I promise I’ll be quick.”

He nods and leads you into the bathroom. He shows you where the shampoo and conditioner are and even takes two towels. One for your body and one for your hair. Then he starts the water for you and makes a comment about how other people’s showers are always weirdly difficult to operate. While you were sure you could have managed on your own, you graciously stand back and allow him to take care of you. It’s nice to not have to be in control all the time.

“I think you’re all set. I’ll go get started on some coffee.” He taps the screen of his phone that he set down on the counter. “It’s not even 6:30 yet, you can take some extra time in here if you’d like.”

He closes the door behind him as he leaves the bathroom. Instead of heading straight for the kitchen like he said he would, he sits down on your side of the bed and buries his head in his hands. When he heard you say Hey, about last night… he was sure you were going to tell him it was a one time thing, a simple fling. Now that you had gotten it out of your system, you didn’t want to be around him anymore. He tried to keep his emotions under lock and key, but he could tell by your hesitation that you had seen something flash across his face. When you revealed that you were only referring to your birth control he was more relieved than he would like to admit. Then the guilt crept in. He scolded himself for acting like a boy fumbling around in the dark and forgetting protection like that. He was always so good with it. He could barely keep himself afloat, but a kid too? How could he have been so careless?

Your playful remark had kept him from totally spinning out. I was going to say something before hand, but some guy fucked the thought right out of my head. He knew that you told him about it because you didn’t want him to worry. He had never had a partner that brought up the events of the night during the day to soothe him. Whenever Rochelle brought it up, it was to criticize something he did or didn’t do. It registered in his brain that he was subconsciously waiting for you to do the same because it is all he has ever known. But, you didn’t. You talked to him without annoyance and without contempt. You made him feel good about himself. He only hoped that he made you feel the exact same way. With a smile on his face, he treks to the kitchen.

You stare at the bruise on your collar bone in the mirror. You don’t think you have ever seen anything so lovely in your entire life. He had given you a small piece of him to carry around. While you knew it would fade, that made you cherish it all the more. The bathroom mirror starts to fog up and you know it's time to get in. You pick up the towels that are on the counter so you can drape them over the shower curtain and find something that peaks your interest. His dog tags lay haphazardly on the countertop. You pick up the cool metal and inspect it. There are random numbers debossed into it, you assume it related to his military group, and his name indented underneath them.

“Francisco Morales.” The name feels like velvet on your tongue. “That’s going to be fun to use.”

Not wanting to waste anymore time, you lay your towels out, and hop into the embrace of the warm water.

***

“It’s going to be so nice to change into the extra set of clothes that I keep in my trunk.” You say walking into the kitchen.

“You keep a change of clothes in your trunk?” He doesn’t turn around to face you as he is pouring coffee, but you can tell by his back shaking that he's laughing to himself.

“Luck favors the prepared,” You walk up beside him and hop up on the counter. “Francisco.”

That got his attention. He looks at you, completely shocked, as he sets the coffee pot down.

“How did you-?”

“You really shouldn’t leave your dog tags lying about.” He moves his body in between your legs and grips your thighs. “Strangers might read them and find out all your secrets.”

“Or maybe,” His lips brush against yours. “I should tie these strangers to the headboard so they don’t go wandering off.”

Try as you might to stop it, goosebumps litter your skin at his words. You know he feels them against his palms when he smiles against you and bites at your lower lip.

“Come on,” He whispers. “As much as I want to stay here with you, we have to get to work.”

“Tease.” You taunt as you scoot off your ledge.

You watch patiently as he puts lids on two to-go cups and plucks an orange from his fruit basket.

“I know you don’t like to eat first thing in the morning, but you should still have something in your stomach.”

“Thank you.” You take the items from him. “Thank you for the whole weekend actually. You really saved me after the bar.”

“You never have to thank me. Anything that I do for you, I do because I want to.”

***

The two of you pull into Brass Knuckles’ parking lot before Benny. Your tote sat balanced on your right leg the whole car ride. Frankie had claimed the left one for himself the second he started driving. Even though you haven't touched your phone the entire weekend, you still had no desire to with Frankie sitting next to you.

“When can I see you again?” He says as he puts his truck in park.

“As much as I want to see you tonight, I have to visit my dad. He’s going to be wondering who I have been choosing to spend my nights with over him. What about Tuesday?”

You notice the color drains out of his face when you mention that day.

“I actually have a…a meeting on Tuesday. It's for work. They like to have weekly progress meetings to keep us all on track.”

“Oh, is that why you had to leave around 5 o’clock on Tuesday when you helped me with my car?”

“Yeah, exactly.” He sounds like he is trying to convince himself more than you at this point, but you decide not to say anything. “What about Wednesday?”

“Third times the charm. Wednesday sounds perfect.” You smile.

He leans over the center console to kiss you before you get out. He tells you that he will wait until you’re inside the shop before he leaves, but you encourage him to go anyway. After a bit of coaxing he finally gives in. You wait and wave by your car as he drives off into the early morning air. You could feel it in your heart that you were in way deeper than you anticipated.

“Okay,” You dig the gym keys out of your tote. “First things first: time to change.”

You unlock the door to the gym and find your house keys right where you left them so many days ago. Who knew that one simple mistake would lead to the events of this past weekend. After retrieving them, you jog out to your car, pop the trunk, and grab your spare clothes. Finally, you lock your car and head back inside to the safety of the gym. You opt to lock it just in case, plus Benny has a key so he can let himself in.

As you make your way to the locker room, you pull out your phone to see what you missed. There was one text from your dad. He knew that you had plans Saturday night, so there weren't any messages from that day. However, the text you did receive from him was late Sunday evening, presumably after his group poker tournament, that asked about your next visit.

Dad: Coming to see your old man on Monday?

You heart the message and tell him that you are going to swing by after work like usual so he better be prepared to show you all the work he has been doing. Next, you check on Robbie.

“Oh God, I’m so fucking dead.”

There were 30 unread messages and 6 missed calls from your best friend. You never told her that you were going out that night. The texts weren’t about your absence at first though. The earlier ones ranged from updates on tests she took, her saying she would have to miss your usual Sunday evening call so she could study, and her conferming dates for when she was going to drive down to see you. As the evening went on, they started to get a little more specific. She asked where you were because you weren’t answering, then she said that she knew because she tracked your location. When you still didn’t respond, most likely due to inebriation, she said she was getting worried. Guilt racked your body to know she was concerned and you weren’t there to reassure her. She texted again after you made it to Frankie’s house and correctly guessed where you were. Robbie said that she hopped that you finally grew some balls and fucked him. God, you can’t wait to tell her. The last text she sent was very late Sunday night, or technically early Monday morning, saying that if she didn’t hear from you by the end of the day she was going to call the Florida police and file a missing persons report.

You decide that the best plan of action is to call her. She is more than likely awake at this time anyway. Texas was only an hour behind Florida and it was already 7:15 am. Setting your fresh clothes on a shelf in the locker room you press ‘call’ and select speaker mode while you start to undress. She answers on the third ring.

“You better have a really fucking good explanation as to why you went completely ghost on me this weekend! I was so worried! You never do that!”

“Robbie, I’m so so sorry that I didn’t call or text you back.” You toss your old shirt into your tote. “Truth be told, I didn’t get on my phone at all this weekend. You could say I was a bit preoccupied.”

“You didn’t…”

“I did!” You yell into the speaker.

You’re sure that all of the dogs in the surrounding area can hear both you and Robbie’s high pitched celebratory shrieks. She sounds even happier than you do if you’re being honest.

“I want to know everything! Don’t you dare skimp on the details! Oh my God I’m so glad this finally fucking happened!”

You try your best to recount everything that went down while you continue changing. She sounds like she’s going to go into cardiac arrest when you tell her about the saved bottle cap and sticky note. When you finally get to the part where you had sex she is having a full blown conniption on the other end of the phone.

“Robbie, I’ve never been with a man that was so eager to eat me out like that. He was, holy shit, he was relentless like…”

Her loud and incoherent rambling through the speaker cuts you off and sends you into a fit of laughter.

“I had no idea it could feel that amazing! Oh God and when he fucked me? I didn’t think it was possible for me to feel …safe.” You take a shaky breath and push down memories that threaten to bubble to the surface. “I really didn’t think I could feel safe doing that again after what happened.”

She’s quiet, for the first time in the conversation, while she processes what you said.

“I’m so happy that he was able to provide that for you, babe. And I’m sorry that you had that feeling of safety stolen from you regarding sex. That wasn’t fair and it wasn’t your fault.”

“I guess I just kinda closed myself off from the possibilities of letting another man in like that again.” You clear your throat to chase away the feeling of being choked up. “I’m sorry again for disappearing on you.”

“It better not happen again!” She says with false seriousness. “Ugh, I need a man that will fuck me like that. I’m in a serious drought right now.”

“Well,” You say in a sing-songy manner. “Like I said a while back, I have a guy here that could treat you the way you deserve.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. What was his name again? Will?”

You hear the faint sound of keys jingling and a lock opening and are shocked at how time has gotten away from you.

“Hey, I hear Benny coming into the gym so that means I’m gonna have to help him prep for the day. Call you later?”

“Yes, please!”

You hang up and toss the rest of your discarded clothes into your tote. Before you leave you look at your face in the mirror. Honestly, with the lack of sleep coupled with the absence of makeup, you don’t look half bad today.

“Morning, Benny!” You shout as you exit the locker room.

“Ahh! What the fuck?” You have to stifle laughter after seeing him jump nearly a foot in the air. “I didn’t know you were here?!”

“I was back there changing.” You swing your very full bag over your shoulder in confirmation. “I figured it would be weird if I was still wearing Saturday’s clothes on Monday.”

“I thought Fish was goin’ to take you to pick up your car after we left?”

All you can do is stand there and try to suppress a devious smile that you feel forming on your lips.

“No fucking way! You two never left that house did you?!”

“In my defense,” You say, walking to the lobby. “He made a very compelling argument not to leave.”

“I knew he had it in him to seal the deal! Come on,” He wraps his arm around your shoulder and walks with you. “Tell me everything while we open up. I need to make sure he treated you well.”

“Everything.” You raise one of your eyebrows.

“Well skip the sex stuff.”

***

You’re blown away with how far your dad has come in his physical therapy in only a little over a month. He can actually walk on his own now. Technically, it's only short distances and with a cane for support, but he’s walking by himself nonetheless. You watch peacefully as Miss. Maggie walks next to him and sweetly utters quiet encouragement. When he finally makes it back to his chair, Miss. Maggie lets the two of you know that she’s going to take her break and will be back in about 20 minutes.

“So,” He props his cane up against the arm of the chair. “What did you get up to this weekend? I was a little shocked that you texted me saying that you had plans.”

“What? I can’t have plans now?” You joke.

“No, no. I just didn’t know you had made any friends that you cared enough about to make plans with.”

“Remember that guy who hired me? Benny? I’ve gotten pretty close with him and his group of friends. They actually surprised me on Saturday by taking me to a bar they frequent to celebrate my ‘one month anniversary’ working at the gym.”

“That’s mighty kind of them, sweet pea. I’m proud you have stuck it out this long. Did you have fun?”

“I did! It was nice to get out and do something.”

“Because spending your weekends with your dad is such a drag, right?”

“You know that's not what I mean.” You cock your head to the side.

“I know it wasn’t, but I hope it made you realize that. I don’t want you to spend the short time that you have here tethered to me. I want you to still have a life.”

“I’m literally here for you.” You counter.

“And I’m grateful for that, but you worry about everyone else around you before you worry about yourself. You can’t fully help people until you help yourself. Plus, you ditching me on Saturday gave me an opportunity.” He winks.

“Oh?”

“I asked Maggie to coffee on Wednesday after her shift. It will be here in the cafeteria we have, so it won’t be in a fancy place or even particularly good coffee, but that won’t matter. The location is irrelevant as long as you’re with the right person. Remember that.”

“I’m really happy for you, dad.” You reach out your hand and squeeze his. “I’ll remember. I promise.”

***

Ever since Frankie dropped you off Monday morning, the two of you have been texting like two middle school girls who have just gotten phones. Granted it's only Tuesday now, but you didn’t even text Robbie this much. They weren’t anything particularly deep, yet it was sweet to know that he wanted to share what he was doing during the day with you. He sent you a picture of the sun when he got to work yesterday, then a photo of the sandwich he picked up for lunch with a ‘6/10’ texted below it, and later on during the evening he sent you a picture of the moon and said ‘I thought you would like this’. Today you were a little bit surprised to see his name pop up with ‘good morning!’ next to it. Surely this meant y’all were more than just a one night stand. You spin yourself around in your desk chair as you let hundreds of ‘what if’ scenarios play out in your head. You didn’t want to assume anything, but this felt special to you. It felt really, really good. Your spinning comes to a halt when you hear your phone chime.

Frankie: I’m sorry that I can’t see you tonight because of my stupid meeting, but maybe I can make it up to you?

You: How do you plan on doing that?

Frankie: Since I can’t be there in person to make it up to you the way I really want too…I have something else up my sleeve.

You: You’re not going to tell me what it is, are you?

Frankie: Where’s the fun in that? Trust me, you’ll know it when you see it.

Before you have a chance to respond, the doorbell announces that a customer has walked in. A little part of you hoped it was the man behind the screen, but you were sorely mistaken.

“Good afternoon to my favorite receptionist in the whole gym!”

“I’m the only receptionist in the whole gym, Brunson.” Your fingers are itching to text Frankie back, but instead you direct them to your computer keys.

“That doesn’t matter, darlin’. You’d still be my favorite even if you weren’t.”

You could tell he thought that was a real winner of a line by the smug grin on his face.

“Oh, wow. Lucky me.” You yawn as you shift your gaze to the computer screen.

“So, are you going to come see me fight this Friday? I’m sure you’ve seen me in here training for it.”

“Well, since I work here I’ll be there by default.” You say without looking up at him. “And believe it or not, I’m not actually the one training you so I have no idea what goes on behind that brick wall.”

“I need a sweet little thing like you in my corner.” He either doesn’t pick up on your annoyance or chooses to ignore it. “Waiting on me with a fresh towel to wipe my face and some water for me to drink in between rounds.”

“Would you look at that? You’re all checked in for your session! I’m sure Benny would be more than happy to see you now.” You smile sickeningly sweet. “Enjoy your workout.”

“See you soon, darlin’.” He says as he heads back.

“Not if I can help it.” You mutter under your breath.

The doorbell’s cheery jingle rings out again as soon as Brunson has thankfully left your line of sight. When you turn to face the guest, you recognize her. It’s the woman who unfortunately walked in on you telling Benny that you would kick his ass last Thursday. Her hair is a golden color and is as straight as an arrow while her eyebrows were as dark as the night sky. She was about your height and dawned what looked like very expensive workout gear.

“Good afternoon, Ma’am! How may I help you today?”

She looks a little uncomfortable as she approaches your desk. “I’m just here to sign up for a membership actually. My friend originally recommended that I come to this gym and I liked it so much the last time I was here that I figured I would make it official.”

“That’s wonderful to hear!” You chalk her awkwardness up to this being a male dominated gym. “Let me get the paperwork for you to fill out.” You grab a pen out of your holder and then the membership document out of your desk’s filing basket and hand it to her. “Once you finish this, your physical copy of the membership card should be mailed to you in about a week's time. If you decide to pay us a visit before then, I can just check you in manually through our computer system.”

You gesture to a few chairs placed against the front glass wall of the building for her to sit in while she works on the form. Movement from out in the parking lot catches your eye and you see a delivery man approaching the gym with an enormous vase of flowers. You watch, confused, as he walks inside.

“I have a delivery for uhhh…” He looks down at his work tablet and looks back up as he says your name.

“That’s me. You can set them down right here if you’d like.” You wave your hand to the open left corner of your desk.

He tips his hat to you and walks out the door before you even get a chance to ask who sent them. Lucky for you, you already had a feeling who the culprit is. You stand up so you can inspect them closer. The flowers were massive lilies, but not at all like the ones you used to have on your kitchen table. These had petals that were a striking deep pink in the center that were encircled by a lighter shade of pink that eventually faded into white at the edges. Each petal also had a beautiful freckled pattern on them that was an almost mauve in color. Their scent was intoxicating. Within only a few seconds, the entire lobby smelled like a field of them. You see a small note attached to the neck of the vase by some string.

Stargazer lilies for my estrella -Frankie

“Wow, someone must really like you.”

“Do you really think so?” You poke your head around the bouquet to look at the woman seated across from you. “It’s still the early stage, the very early stage, for me and this guy.” Your cheeks already hurt from how hard you’re smiling.

“By the looks of that arrangement I would definitely say so. What’s the occasion? Anniversary? Birthday?”

“Nothing like that.” You feel a mix of bashfulness and pride talking about Frankie. “We weren’t able to see each other this evening because of a work meeting he has to go to every Tuesday. He sent these to make up for it.”

“That’s so sweet! Who’s the lucky guy?”

Before you have a chance to answer, Benny walks into the lobby, but is stopped in his tracks by the newest addition to your desk.

“Did Fish send those?!”

“Yeah, he did.” You blush under his surprise.

“I’ve never seen him act like this over someone before and I’ve known him for a long time.” Benny looks at you with genuine gratefulness in his eyes as he comes around to grab a water bottle from the mini fridge. “I fully support whatever is going on between the two of you.” He gives the top of your head a quick kiss before he rounds the brick wall again.

“Fish?” The woman has a strange look on her face.

“Oh! It’s just a nickname of sorts that his friends have for him.”

“Interesting.” She beams as she comes up to hand you her finished paperwork.

“It was nice to talk with you,” You glance down at what she wrote. “Georgina!”

“I enjoyed it too! I’m sure I’ll see you around!”

You sit back down in your chair and, unfortunately, you miss her pulling out her phone and dialing a number because you’re busy sending Frankie a thank you text for sending you flowers that look like he plucked them out of the night sky.

“You will never guess what just happened!” Georgina squeals into her speaker.

“Spit it out, George!” A woman barks on the other end.

“I was just at Brass Knuckles, right? Getting a membership like you asked to do? When I was signing up this delivery guy came in holding this gigantic vase of flowers for the new receptionist.”

“Why the fuck would that concern me?”

“It should concern you because they were from Frankie, Rochelle.”

“Did she say that explicitly?” Her tone has gone from mild annoyance to full blown anger.

“That guy Benny did. The one that runs the gym? He called him ‘fish’. That’s Frankie, right?” When Rochelle doesn’t answer right away, she presses on. “I thought the two of you were going to rekindle the relationship or something?”

“He never gave me a straightforward answer.” She grumbles. “Now I know why. George, I think it’s time that I had a little heart-to-heart with Frankie.”

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

{tag list: @cutesyscreenname @rsquared31 @smol-beb @bitchwitch1981 @avastrasposts @hoeslingz @saltybutteredtoast @javicstories @c-justhere @pimosworld @modernperplexity @beboldbebravethings @mxtokko @moonliqhtszn @tanzthompson @megcads @myloveistoolittle @casa-boiardi @jitterbugs927 @partyofone3413 @pedrit0-pascalit0 @golden-library @pati-et-vivere @mashomasho @lilmizmoz @angstylittlepascal @sofiparallel @selflcontrol @adriennemichelle98 @painitemoondust @pedritosgirl2000 @tpwkmera }

#francisco morales #frankie morales #catfish #frankie morales fanfiction #frankie morales x you #frankie morales x reader #triple frontier #triple frontier fic #benny miller #will miller #ironhead #santiago garcia #pope #through the scope #read on a03

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heyjude19-writing · 1 month

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I have not been an active participant in the Harry Potter fandom in a very long time and it's just recently that a coworker of mine suggested that I give Dramione fics a try.

Her suggesting was both a blessing and a curse—ever since I started looking into Dramione, I've found more than a handful of fics that I absolutely loved, Remain Nameless being one of them. Of course, I've done nothing but devour fanfics in my free time ever since, placing other hobbies and social outings on hold. I can't say I regret it much, though my sleeping schedule took quite a hit as well :')

I'd like to start by telling you how much I enjoyed the plot for Remain Nameless. I never was a fan of slow burns before, but it might seem like aging has mellowed me out quite a bit. It's either that, or the fact that I've been feeling like time just flew by lately (to be completely honest ever since the pandemic it feels like every time I blinked, another year passed by), and I desperately want things to slow down a bit, just so I can enjoy them properly—both in my life and in my reading.

There are plenty of stories about Draco and Hermione and them falling in love, but this one is definitely a favourite. I loved how the accent was placed on them and their evolution as people and their journey as lovers.

It was heartwarming to see Draco's transformation throughout the story and each interaction between these two characters, especially the initial ones at the coffee shop, brought me such joy.

The pacing of their friendship and then romantic relationship felt so natural, and I couldn't help but sit at the edge of my seat, waiting with baited breath to see if things are going to turn out well for our main couple (even though I knew it would be a happy ending, according to the tags :') )

Also, the characters that made an appearance fleshed out the story wonderfully. I'd like to say that the moments including Ginny, Theo and Sasha were some of my favourites, but then again, can I really have favourites when I loved each chapter so much?

The familial relationships were also points of great interest for me. I enjoyed seeing how Hermione interacted with her parents after everything that happened and her relationship with the Weasley members really warmed up my heart. The acceptance of Draco into Hermione's friend and family circles was also quite emotional for me, since he went through such complex experiences with his own parents and friends.

The writing was also marvelous and it really captured me, though I feel like I couldn't fully appreciate it since my eyes were flying over the words to know what happens next. I would love to pick up this fanfiction again for another read, just so I can fully appreciate the craftsmanship that was put into it.

Honestly, being reintroduced into this fandom reminded me why I love fandom and fanfiction so much. Sure, there might be people who sully the experience with their greed and pettiness (I've read a bit about those people what bind your fics and sell them on etsy and I recall reading an AN of somebody reposting your work on Wattpad and I'm so sorry that these things happened/are happening to you and many other fantastic writers) but it can also bring people together and be such a great source of comfort.

I apologize for the long message, I feel like I rambled quite a bit. I know there's much more that I would have loved to say, but words seem to evade me today. But I would like to thank you again for putting in so much of your time, effort, love, and passion into writing this wonderful piece of fanfiction and for sharing it with us.

This story made me giggle, it made me cry, and it made me feel so many emotions, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for it.

hello hello!

wow, thank you so much to your co-worker, this was lovely to receive. sorry about the sleepless nights 😅 but i am happy you enjoyed your time with my story and other fics.

and yes, there's some bad actors out here making fandom a not-so-fun place at the moment, but as you rightly noted "it can also bring people together and be such a great source of comfort." It's certainly why i stick around and thank you for this beautiful message that reminded me why i've loved my time here. your kind comments about my writing brought me so much joy, thank you 🥰

#pinkmoondeity #remain nameless #dramione #this is so sweet

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ape-apocalypse · 3 months

Text

Road To The Kingdom - My Planet Of The Apes Retrospective

With the hype for Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes on the rise, I decided to do a bit of a deep dive into the trilogy of reboot movies starring the incredible Andy Serkis and the various tie-in titles.

Why ramble on about a series that most people seem to overlook? Well, I think back to an interaction I had here on Tumblr in 2017, just one week before War For The Planet Of The Apes came out. While scrolling through the POTA tags, I found a post that wondered if anyone was actually excited for the new film or if the studio hadn't gotten the message and was making it for an audience that didn't exist. I responded that I was genuinely excited for the new film, that I loved the motion capture apes and the action scenes and the surprisingly engaging story, and would be seeing it opening weekend. The other person seemed surprised by my honest answer and apologized for their snarkiness (a truly shocking turn of events in the history of the Internet!).

I explained that I'd gone into these films thinking of them like Jurassic World series; I wasn't there for a great story and deep writing, I just wanted to see dinosaurs destroy things. So when I went into the POTA films, just expecting to see fun action movies with monkey chaos and apocalyptic results, I was surprised that I was swept up in the characters and their stories. I loved seeing the life of Caesar from tiny carefree baby to resilient revolutionary to fearsome leader, and the lives of all the humans and apes around him. The other poster said they hadn't actually seen the movies, just expected them to be shallow cash-grabs on reboot nostalgia, but they might have to reconsider giving them a shot after my enthusiastic response.

So if I can sway the minds of anyone who has written off these films, more movie tickets sold might mean more films and other media told in this ape apocalypse world!

And even if you already know and love the films, I also want to give some love to tie-in materials. Books, comics, YouTube shorts, video games; POTA has a surprisingly large catalog of bonus material for a series not considered mainstream like Marvel or Lord Of The Rings or Star Trek. I don't see them get many mentions in the fandom so hope a little spotlight on them can help them shine. They have delicious tidbits of world-building and character backstory, filling in gaps between the movies. I already have my fingers crossed there will be some tie-in material covering some of the huge time jump between War and Kingdom. With three hundred years passing between them, there is so much to learn about the ever growing and changing ape societies. I'm eager for any scrap of info they'll share!

But really, even if nothing I write changes anyone's mind about this franchise, it's still fun to gush about one of my favorite fictional universes.

My brief history with POTA was that I didn't know much about the original films before going into the new Andy Serkis trilogy. I'd heard enough about the original film to know the main beats of the first movie (quotes like 'damn dirty ape', the reveal of the planet being Earth with the Statue of Liberty). I saw the Tim Burton film which didn't leave any kind of impression other than the incredibly realistic costumes/make-up, so much so that I was apprehensive of the CG apes. Since getting into the new films, I've started watching the originals and may cover those just for fun.

So whether you're a long-time die hard fan or a fresh face to Caesar's legacy, I hope you'll enjoy my thoughts on the Planet of the Apes franchise!

Links to all my posts as they are released:

- Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes Film

- Prelude and Contagion Comics

- Motherboard YouTube Shorts

- Firestorm Tie-In Novel

- Fall Of Man Comics

- Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Film

- Dawn Tie-In Comic

- Revelations Tie-In Novel

- Last Frontier Video Game

- Crisis Video Game

- When Worlds Collide Comics

- War For The Planet Of The Apes Film

- War Tie-In Comic

- Caesar's Story Novel

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bonesartblog · 4 months

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Your powerless Raphael AU has so many possibilities it's almost driving me insane. There are so many good story ideas here I just- 🤩

*WARNING: Massive Rambling Incoming!*

If Raphael ended up human by the characters we play as finding a way to remove the fiendish half of his blood - in a manner similar to what Bhaal does to a Bhaalspawn who rejects him - does that mean he will have lost most if not all of his magical abilities? If we assume a cambion's magic comes from their fiendish heritage, similar to how a sorcerer's would, I imagine that this would leave him without any of his magic.

If Raphael ends up losing his magic, would he try to learn how to use the Weave like a Wizard and, more importantly, would he actually get very far? I think he might try but I don't think he would get very far because he basically seems to be in indentured servitude in your artwork (which is top notch, by the way) so I doubt he'd have access to the resources to actually learn wizardry (pair that with his likely frustrated and thus frazzled mental state and that doesn't make it very conducive to learning a new skill like wizardry). However, that leaves the door open for him learning the skills of a Bard (like how to use an instrument to channel magic), but that also requires resources that he might not have access to (like an instrument he can carry around) without someone giving him regular access to such things as he learns.

Since you mentioned Raphael ends up falling in love with a woman in your AU, maybe this ties into how they meet? Maybe that woman is a Bard who is working/indentured at the same place Raphael is. Perhaps she recognizes another artistic spirit like herself in Raphael, likely by overhearing him recite poetry (songs are typically like poetry put to music after all), and the two end up spending time together as a result.

Maybe Raphael at first intends to manipulate the woman into teaching him her skills as a Bard so he could not only learn magic but also potentially be able to steal her job so he is not stuck cleaning floors to pay off his debts. Likely none the wiser, the woman could agree to teach him because she simply enjoys the company of another artist and lends him her instrument during their lessons so he can practice. Assuming she doesn't ask to be paid for these lessons, I can imagine that Raphael would be waiting for the other shoe to drop - for the woman to demand he give her something in return - because nothing is ever free and everyone always wants something.

Perhaps Raphael gets reminded just how much he relied on his magic, servants, and debtors for everything when a string on the woman's instrument breaks while he is playing it during a lesson. After the woman checks to see if the string nicked him when it broke (quickly using a Bard spell to heal him if it did) and she assures him that he can just fix it real quick so they can resume the lesson, Raphael has to admit to her that he doesn't know how to fix it himself and she has to show him.

Maybe after a while, the woman ends up surprising him by gifting him his own instrument so that he can practice without having to borrow hers and it's only after their lesson ends for the day that he realizes that he accepted a gift without expecting there to be an invisible price tag attached. Maybe he also realizes that he has long already stopped expecting her to demand something in exchange for her lessons and that he actually in fact looks forward to them, to spending time with her.

As the fruition of his plotting to usurp her job gets closer and closer, he could find himself dreading the idea of actually going through with it more and more. Maybe he gets frustrated with himself over his uncharacteristic reluctance to follow through when he should feel excited over his plan working. This could all then culminate in him realizing that he has fallen in love with her (which, as you said, he handles about as well as you can expect) and probably results in him having an identity crisis over it. Or perhaps what pushes him towards the realization is the woman not showing up for a few days due to some kind of misfortune that unexpectedly befell her (if you want to twist the knife a bit more, maybe a few of Raphael's former debtors mug her and leave her badly injured for "consorting with a devil" even though she might not understand what they were talking about), thus causing Raphael to realize just how much he enjoys her regular company and how deeply he cares for her wellbeing.

*Massive Rambling Warning Over*

Then there is the absolute comedy gold of Raphael having to work like the common folk do while the new heroes of Baldur's Gate and his former clients/debtors clown on him or whoop him so hard his bruises have bruises (which, as much as I adore the character, I kinda have to admit he deserves).

Not to mention him having to learn how to do things manually and for himself for the first time ever. Does this man even know how to properly clean a floor without magic... or is he going to need to be reminded to rinse the rag he is using every now and then so he isn't just moving the dirt around? What about preparing himself food? Has he ever experienced getting sick before and how would he handle that for the first time if not?

The possibilities are literally endless and I am ravenous for them all!

I didn't mean for this to get so long, but I'm just so hyped to see what you may come up with (even if it ends up being nothing like the ideas I was spitballing here - which you are more than free to use if you want, but only if you want - it's your story after all, you do whatever the heck you want and I'll read it 👀). Sorry for the wall(s) of text; I hope that wasn't breaking any kind of Tumblr etiquette. 😅 I can assure you that it probably won't happen again as I am usually too self-conscious to send anything to blogs where I can't be anonymous (even though I 100% get why people want that option turned off).

Anyway, I love your work! Again, it's truly top tier! Keep being awesome! I'm gonna go look at the images some more! Bye!

I WANT YOU TO KNOW I'VE BEEN THNKING ABOUT THIS ALL DAY AND I'M DRAFTING A FIC BC YOU'RE INSPIRING ME LOL.

I'm gonna DOUBLE YOUR MASSIVE RAMBLING WITH MY OWN

-Raphael ends up human through something very similar! I thought it'd be great irony for something of his in his own collection (like a ring that he obtained that has the power to seal the fiendish power of a foe) and have it used against him. Initially it's supposed to be used like a genie's lamp where the wearer is just, sealed away but since Raphael is half human, it locks away his powers and reduces him to whatever is left after the devil in him is essentially stripped away.

-He ends up losing his ability to use magic in its entirety because the ring shackles him in a perpetual limbo where he can exist as a human but all his power is derived from his lineage as a devil, which is negated by the ring--so it's like shutting off a light in a breaker box and raphael being the room the light was connected to lol. And yes--he absolutely does try! I like to think he intended the ring to be used on mephistopheles once he'd been given the crown--but it all backfired once it was placed on him after the house of hope fight. He has to also contend with the new human elements that comes with his curse--which comes in the form of underestimating his ability to temper his emotions that he can now FEEL with raw intensity. Since he's a bard he absolutely relies on his charisma to navigate around people since he doesn't have the means to physically defend himself. (He's put in Sharess' Caress by karlach and astarion because everyone there is familiar with him which makes it harder for raphael to talk his way out of anything. and it's also to keep him where he'll be easy to keep an eye on--he has every opportunity to leave, but they tell him a de-clawed devil is easy prey and his overzealousness of making deals made him easily recognizable by other spurned clients. He's safest in the brothel and he's guaranteed protection on that property only--but Mamzell tells him he has to work to earn his keep or she'll throw him out so he's made to do gruelling tasks lol.

-The woman he meets is called Circe who is another bard that is hired to replace a murdered employee! She's a retired dominatrix and she plays music and sings in the performance area--and you absolutely nailed it! She doesn't meet raphael immediately, since he sort of squirrels himself away until nightfall when he can work unbothered, less likely to be recognized, and also bc he has a wounded ego lol. I wanted to write her as another egomaniac who's obsessed with the sound of her own voice and her own beauty and i thought it'd be hilarious if raphael found it ironically off-putting. But they absolutely do end up spending time together by mocking local plays because they're both snobs which usually turn into them mocking each other for their own tastes. The majority of their first interactions involves Circe talking about herself and constantly getting raphael's name wrong (she calls him 'Ralph' which he has to correct) and a lot of it is raphael getting a taste of his own medicine while exchanging barbs with her.

-As for the rest--you're not far off at all ;) I don't wanna spoil everything but Raphael absolutely has to reckon with experiencing manual labor and all the physical pains that come with it. Also with people that recognize him and want to do him harm / controlling his temper whenever a patron says something off-putting to him / learning how to defend himself since his devil magic is lost to him / and my favorite: HAVING THE HEART OF A MAN AND BEING EXPOSED TO ALL IT VULNERABILITIES LOL

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