#i think 10 years is enough time to came to conclusions if i did good or bad | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

90ekz · 5 months

Text

“WE AINT GOOD-GOOD, BUT WE STILL GOOD”

debrief: when your ex-boyfriend ony comes down with a cold, you clock into your nurse shift, as well as resolving some old feelings.

tags: black!fem!reader, sickfic but like.. not, use of the n word, make-ups and break-ups, you make ony nervoussss 🥹, implied eremin (i love them), pure fluff, healthy communication cs ik some of y’all be bashin niggas heads in

an: bringing in the new year with some fluff !! i love you guys, and may 2024 bring everything you desire in abundance <3

ex-boyfriend!ony who was so heartbroken when y’all split, but knew it was for the best. he didn’t wanna drag you down with all his mess, (even if you insisted over and over that you were okay) and you were busy trying to get your masters. even through this, close contact was kept, and y’all leaned on each other for support.

that’s why it was such a shock when connie and jean had let it slip that he’d been sick for 3 days. you sat on the notion, wondering why he didn’t come to you or even say anything, and waited for a call, but when none came after a few hours, you were dialing his number harshly into your phone and letting it ring with a scowl on your face.

“onyankopon.” you spit over the phone, hearing him sputter at the use of his full name. dull music played in the background, and you could swear you hear other voices, hushed.

“h-hey mama, what’s goin on?” ony refused to let his composure slip, all his boys were over and he had told them that he had stopped fuckin’ with you. they all opted to come over to chill (smoke) even while he was down with a real bad cold. he caved and took a few hits before deciding that his lungs weren’t strong enough right now, and passing the spliff to connie wordlessly.

“you got something you wanna tell me?” you sat patiently, giving him the opportunity to tell the truth before jumping to conclusions. maybe there was a reason for it, everything happens for a reason, right?

“uh…nah i been chillin—hold up.” your eyebrow jumped at his labored breathing mixed with the sound of him hushing someone in the background before pressing the phone back to his ear. “anyways. im good, nothing to tell you, im cool. you cool?” your suspicion grew at his constant throat clearing and groans.

“you a damn lie.” before he could even respond, you were hanging up the phone and two beep sounds rung in his head. he tried to call back twice before getting a notification that you’d left home and were on the pathway to his house. the drive was only about 10 minutes, and knowing you, you’d be here in 5.

“aw shit—all y’all gotta go.” ony stumbled to his feet, ushering connie, eren, armin, and jean out of their seated positions and towards the front door. “man i was just getting high, the fuck goin’ on?” eren mumbles lightly, placing his jacket around armin’s shoulders and finishing packing his bag.

“someone’s coming over, c’mon.”

“who bruh?”

“y/n nigga, i think she knows im sick. y’all gotta go, now.” the whole group erupts in protests of ‘i thought y’all were done’ and ‘don’t kick us out for that, man!’ but ony didn’t care. he hadn’t seen you in person for a while, and he still needed to cover his tracks. the whole group rolls their eyes, save for connie and jean, who looked like they’d seen a ghost.

“connie, jean, why y’all look like that? what did y’all do?”

“it was him!” jean points to connie, completely throwing him under the bus. connie almost protests until he sees the sour look on ony’s face, and they’re scattering out the door with ‘im sorry’s’ flaking from their lips, leaving armin and eren to snicker under their breath.

“you said you were done with her, why now?”

“as much as i would love to give you an in-depth synopsis on my relationship status, i really don’t have time for allat right now.”

eren rolls his eyes, his attitude shown clear on his face. he wasn’t the biggest fan of ony’s relationship with you, considering that he’s the one who has to hear all the bullshit between you two. armin intertwines his pinkies with eren, an easy soother to his irritation.

“if i have to hear about this shit later, i’ll kill you.”

with reluctance, the couple left—armin apologetically excusing eren’s rudeness—and ony was left to spray fabreeze for the weed smell, and splash cold water on his face to hopefully extinguish his up-ticking fever, just in time for your harsh knocks to come on the door.

ony opened it, albeit barely enough for you to see his flushed face. he was feeling real feverish now….

“you ain’t tell me you was coming over.”

“i don’t have to tell you. open this damn door and stop playin wit me.” ony gulps as he unlocks the chain on the door and sees you fully. all you had on was his hoodie that he was sure you said you were gonna give back, and some nike pro shorts that he couldn’t see. you held a bag of unknown contents in your hand. you eyed him up and down before stepping inside like you owned the place.

he loved when you did that shit, this man is down bad.

you twirled the string of his sweatpants between your freshly done nails, and ony swears his temperature went up 10 degrees. you had this look in your eye that was the epitome of concern and irritation having a fist fight.

“so when were you gonna tell me that you were sick?”

“i wasn’t. i didn’t want you to worry about it, but the opptastic duo just had let you know, i guess.” ony followed as you proceeded deeper in the house, but you paused as you entered the living room. your eyebrows furrowed and your nose crinkled.

“what’s that smell?”

ony gulped, just playing shrugging and playing dumb. the cloud of fabreeze hadn’t really covered the weed smell all the way, and he was sure that you were about to bust him for smoking while he was sick, and he really wasn’t tryna hear all that at the moment. he was ready to get in his bed (preferably with you in it..)

“do not play wit me, what is that japanese cherry blossom shit im smelling?” you threw your keys and bag down and paced around the living room, flipping over pillows and looking under couch cushions. ony protested, promising that he didn’t know what you were talking about, and thought to himself that you were just smelling yourself.

until you pulled an empty cart refill wrapper from beneath the cushion.

aw shit.

you looked at him like he was a dumbass—which he was—before watching him smack his teeth and snatch the wrapper from your hand begrudgingly. the words “CHERRY GLAZE” in bold lettering burned his eyes, before vaguely remembering that armin had switched out his liquid before he’d left.

ony teetered on the truth, but he knew you’d be pissed about him having his boys over when he was clearly sick, so he settled on a lil white lie.

“oh, that’s uh—that’s some of my old shit.”

“if i’m recalling correctly, aren’t you the one that said that you didn’t like smoking that ‘fruity shit’?” ony cleared his throat—in a way he only does when he lies—before just grunting in response.

“and even if you didn’t say that, you hate cherry flavored anything, so that begs the question… what bitch was smoking this shit on your couch?” you jabbed your freshly done pointer nail into his chest, feeling his breath stutter under your touch.

he was caught between a rock and a hard place, and figured he’d just tell you the truth, even if you’d get mad.

“basically, the boys came over and eren brought his lil boyfriend or whatever he is—”

“wait, eren’s gay?”

“apparently. anyways, his name is armpit… or was it arm and hammer… whatever sum like that, and he was smoking his cart and replaced the liquid on the couch and i guess the wrapper fell between the cushions. no bitches were over here, i swear.” ony holds his hands up in defense, reassuring you that he was telling the truth. you smiled, as you believed him regardless. you knew he didn’t roll like that anyway.

“bae, relax. i believe you, i was just tryna see you sweat. just sit down, i bought you some soup.” you smiled at him with all your teeth, and ony was sure that he fell in love all over again. he missed you more than words could explain, and he just wanted you to come home again.

he finally let himself relax and he slumped onto the couch, his headache hammering against the back of his eyes. you took a seat on the ottoman next to him, unpacking his favorite potato soup and crackers. you crush up the crackers in the soup and stir, just like he likes, and unscrew the cap of his blue fanta.

“i think—no, i’m already in love with you. i dont think i ever stopped.” ony mutters as you spoon feed him and he has the urge to cry. you were always so gentle and caring with him, and you’ve never stopped, regardless of what the relationship status was. that’s what he loved most about you—it didn’t matter what happened between you too, if he needed you, you were there.

he missed you so, so bad.

“stop talking with your mouth full, you’re gonna get soup on your new carpet.” you attempted to brush off his words, and the way that they were making your face heat up.

“fuck the carpet. i’ve never been so serious in my life, mama. i love you more than you know. ‘just want you to come back to me.”

you two broke up because you mutually needed space and time to yourselves. it was an agreement, yet neither of you committed to it for more than a week. before you knew it, you were back texting him good morning, as he was texting you good night. all you wanted was to be his girlfriend again, but you wanted to give him the space he needed.

you set the spoon and soup aside, watching the way ony’s deep brown eyes twinkle under the low light of the living room.

“ony, i want to give you your space, that’s the whole reason we broke up to begin with. you deserve that.”

“i had enough space. you not living here no more, not being up under me when i sleep, not kissing me when i wake up, only seeing you at parties, that’s space, and i’m real tired of it,” ony laces his fingers with yours, kissing the back of your knuckles as he used to do.

“i want you back. i want you back in my face all the time, i wanna wake up mad cause you took all the covers, but then it goes away when i see how cute you look all bundled up. i want my initials on your nails again, i want you. i need you, baby. come home to me, please—“

“okay, okay! that’s enough, you’re embarrassing me!” you hide your head in the crook of his neck, suddenly feeling bashful about the way he was relaying his apparent undying love to you. everything he does flusters you still. you don’t miss the way his hands grasp you even tighter than they used to, if that’s even possible.

“i just want you to promise me that i’m not hurting you.”

“you could never. my perfect girl would never.” ony places a kiss on the top of your head, making sure to hold you even tighter. you choose not to mention his sniffles at the current moment, and let yourself be lost in his love.

“i missed you too, ony.”

530 notes · View notes

katyswrites · 8 months

Text

don't call me 'baby'

PART 10 | SERIES

Pairing: Steve Harrington/fem!reader

Warnings: Sugardaddy!Steve, SMUT (18+), angst, mentions of pregnancy/a pregnancy scare, mentions of food and alcohol, unprotected p in v, daddy kink, oral sex (f receiving), creampie, ddlg dynamics, swearing, alcohol use, smoking, age gap, no use of y/n

Wordcount: 10.4K

A sugar daddy modern AU, a whirlwind summer romance in Italy, and two people from completely different walks of life, somehow finding each other in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But, what will happen when summer ends?

PART 10 | meet me in the afterglow

FOUR MONTHS LATER

Your walk to work was chilly enough to warrant a coat. That was perhaps the thing you missed least about home in the U.S. - even though the winters certainly got cold here, it was nowhere near the sub-zero temperatures you had grown up with during the coldest time of year. Maybe the only thing you missed was snow - in all of your time living here, you had only gotten a brief dusting once, and it had melted by the following day.

Still, a week out from Christmas, you now needed to wrap something warm around yourself as you walked down the street, heading closer to the city center as your shift was due to start.

You were technically two minutes late to your shift, the coffee shop busy enough to have a line going out the door when you arrived. Yet, your manager Francesco said nothing - a small spark of joy in your day.

You didn’t necessarily need to go back to work - Steve’s money had yet to run out. But, you felt good about earning your own money - and, the less you had to draw on his remaining funds, the less you had to think about him.

You hadn’t seen or spoken to Steve since the night of your argument. Well, that was only partially true - you had received one piece of communication from him. It came a few days later - you had been moping in your apartment, having barely left your room for days, when an envelope arrived. It had his familiar writing and wax seal, with another wad of cash and a letter made out to you:

I promise this is the last you’ll hear from me. I am a man of my word, so I promise to help provide for you until you’re finished with school. I’ll be transferring enough money to your account to cover all of your expenses, so no need to worry about your rent, food, anything of the sort… I really do want you to be able to focus on school, okay? So, please don’t protest, or try to send the money back. Please feel free to use the credit card if you need to.

I’m sorry it ended this way. We both knew it was going to, but I apologize if I said anything out of line the other night. I truly do wish you the best.

Take care,

Steve

Reading it had been a punch to the gut. The formality of it, the finality of it… you would’ve rather that you never heard from him again. You had stashed the letter in a box under your bed, and not looked at it since.

A few weeks after that, you had pregnancy scare. It was silly, really - but, your period was late, and if was the first conclusion your mind had jumped to. You had called Robin in a panic, begging her to come home - she did, with four different brands of pregnancy tests. Those 15 minutes of waiting for results were the most agonizing of your life - then, upon seeing them all negative, you fell to your knees and burst into tears.

“It’s okay,” Robin had cooed, rubbing soothing circles on your back. “You’re good it was a false alarm - you’re probably just late because of stress -”

“I know,” you sobbed. “I just -”

“What is it?”

You then had sat up, chest heaving as you sobbed.

“He’s really gone isn’t he?”

Robin held you in her arms that night as you cried yourself to sleep.

To your knowledge now, he had gone back to the U.S. - was he still in Chicago? Or, did he go back to New York? You realized it was better for you to not ask these questions, or to think of him at all. As the weeks had turned into months, you found yourself thinking of him a little less each day - but you still thought of him. You saw him in the passersby as you walked down the street, in every car window, in every businessman walking through the door to order a coffee. Sometimes, you’d hear a laugh, or get a brief whiff of cigarette smoke, and swear it was him. But it never was - it never would be again.

The days had dragged on, but luckily, you often found yourself too busy to dwell too much on thoughts of Steve. Between work and school, your plate was pretty full. With graduation in mere weeks, you had spent the entire term studying and working on your thesis. Steve’s remaining money, at least, allowed you to work far less hours than you had before - a small blessing, you supposed.

The day was moving pretty quickly, the morning rush busy enough that two hours flew by without much notice. It was only during the afternoon lull that you found yourself able to look up from the espresso machine - only to lock eyes with a familiar face through the window.

Eddie smiled back at you, waving. You couldn’t help but grin, and beckoned him to come inside. He bounded through the glass doors, bursting into the coffee shop with the infectious, chaotic energy he always carries with him.

“Bella, how are you?” he asked, leaning over the counter with a big grin.

“I’m okay,” you said, shrugging.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Just okay?”

“Oh well - you know, a bit stressed with the end of term and all. But, that’ll all be over soon.”

“I’m almost done, too - just finishing up my exams, all of that nonsense.”

“Do you have someone for your thesis?”

You nodded. “Professor Hopper - he’s always had a soft spot for me,” you said, smiling fondly, thinking of the seemingly-gruff.

“I have Clarke - I don’t actually know how much he knows about photography, he teaches chemistry for godsake, but apparently it’s a hobby or something, so he’ll sign off on whatever I do,” Eddie said, laughing.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you - I actually have my own studio space now.”

“What? Eddie, that’s amazing!”

He grinned. “Thanks - I mean, I’m still technically freelance, but I’m hoping once I’m fully graduated more work will start coming in. But for now, I don’t mind having some spare time to practice with the band.”

You did your best to stop yourself from rolling your eyes.

“Right - don’t forget me when you make it as a big rockstar, Eddie.”

He let out a hearty laugh at that, the infectious kind that had you joining in - you hadn’t laughed like that in quite some time.

“You know, you should come by later to check it out,” Eddie said. “I mean, if you want -”

You thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Sure, why not - I get off in about a half hour -”

“Perfect,” he cried, clapping his hands together. “I’ll just wait around then - and, uh, can I get an espresso? Since I’m already here and all.”

You rolled your eyes, fighting a smile.

“Yeah, sure thing Munson - I’ll take my sweet time with it, just for you.”

The end of your shift flew by, and soon enough you were pulling off your apron, linking your arm in Eddie’s as he led you out the door and through the city.

The studio, as it turned out, was only a few blocks away. The space was small, but nice - a big glass storefront allowed plenty of light in, even with the fading sun, indicative of the short days of winter. Some of Eddie’s work hung framed on the walls - city scenes, candids of people on the street, bands in action at his favorite club… and even a few of you, from the project you posed for a few years ago.

“Wow - this is amazing, Eddie!” you exclaimed, glancing around the studio with genuine pride for your friend. You knew this was always the goal for him, what he always wanted to do.

“Grazie mille,” he said, beaming.

“Do you have anything lined up?”

He nodded.

“Some - nothing too interesting. A few weddings, graduation photoshoots, things like that. Oh, do you want to see the photo lab?”

You let him lead the way into the back room, passing through a dimly-lit room with machines and equipment that you were sure you had no idea how to use. Newly developed photos were hanging around on clothespins, or spread across the table in the middle.

“Back there is the darkroom,” Eddie said, gesturing to a small door on the other side of the room. “But yeah, this is where the magic happens.”

“You develop all your pictures this way?” you asked, examining a few laid across the table.

He shook his head. “Not exactly - only the stuff I shoot on film. A lot of what I do is digital, and I edit that on my computer but… I really do love shooting film. I only really do that for specific things. Oh, which reminds me!”

He turned his back to you, rummaging through a filing cabinet until he produced a large manila envelope, extending it to you. You furrowed your brow, confused. You turned it to examine it properly - the only thing written on it was your name and a date, in Eddie’s telltale scrawl.

“What -”

“It’s those pictures I owe you, from your birthday party - sorry, it took me a while to get around to developing them.”

Oh.

“Oh,” you said quietly, gripping the envelope a bit tighter. “Uh, thanks - that was really nice of you, Eddie.”

You were still staring down at the parcel in your hands, your hands shaking a bit - you had completely forgotten that Eddie had been taking pictures all night. Most likely because you had been a bit distracted at the time. But now…

“I think they turned out pretty nice, if you ask me,” Eddie said. “But, you can be the judge of that yourself.”

You pressed your mouth into a tight line, nearly feigning a smile as you finally met his eyes again. He was looking back expectantly, and you realized he wanted you to look at them now.

“Oh, yeah,” you mumbled. “I guess I’ll just -”

You opened it up, sliding out the stack of photos - they were slightly bigger than the ones you had seen from a digital camera, on a beautiful matte paper that you knew must have not been cheap. This, you realized, was Eddie’s belated birthday gift to you.

You thumbed through the pictures - the first few were just candids of your friends on the dancefloor, or deep in conversation around the bar. There were a few of you and Robin, arms thrown around each other and smiling ear-to-ear.

There were quite a few solo shots of you, raising a glass to the camera, mid-laugh, or dancing - somehow, he had made it look like you truly were the center of attention, as if to tell people this is who we were there for!

You couldn’t help but smile to yourself, laughing quietly at a few of the shots, including one of Robin flipping off the camera as she kisses Vickie. Then, your smile dropped, because there he was.

Steve, looking as handsome as you remembered, but somehow also a stranger, or like a figment of your imagination. Somehow, a small part of your subconscious had convinced you over the last few months that perhaps he wasn’t real, a true figment of your imagination that had been too good to be true. But there he was, large as life, his arm wrapped around you as you smiled into the camera. You were smiling in his arms, a girl completely unrecognizable in some ways. In another photo, he’s pressing a kiss to your cheek as you laugh - you remembered that one being taken, that’s for sure. You gently trailed your fingers across the picture, as if you were hoping to reach in and pull that happy girl out, just to shake a bit of sense into her. You didn’t even realize you were crying until a fat wet teardrop his the page, rolling down and off the edge.

“Whoa - are you alright?” Eddie asked, his voice tinged with worry.

You jumped, having nearly forgotten that he was there at all. How long had you been staring at the pictures of Steve? For a few minutes, or hours? There was no way to know.

“Yeah, I’m good,” you said, the thickness in your voice betraying you. You pressed the heels of your hands under your eyes, willing the gentle tears to stop, sniffling.

“What’s wrong?” Eddie asked softly.

You laughed dryly, more hot tears welling up as you did.

“Nothing! I - they’re beautiful, Eddie. Really - thank you. You - you’ve really got a talent.”

Your voice wobbled a bit at the end, and you sniffled.

“I’m sorry, I - it’s nothing to do with you,” you assured him. “I just - I’ve been having a hard time lately.”

Eddie cocked his head, confused. Then, his eyes flitted down to the picture in your hands.

“Oh - I’m sorry, I - is this about him?” Eddie asked quietly, gesturing to the photos. You just nodded, avoiding his gaze again as you stuffed them back into the envelope.

“I didn’t know you two had broken up, I’m sorry -”

“We didn’t break up!” you snapped, harsher than intended. “Fuck, I - sorry, that came out wrong. We didn’t break up, because we were never exactly together. It’s just complicated.”

Eddie furrowed his brow. “Yeah, okay - well, I’m sorry to hear about your not-breakup. I guess I’m just a little surprised.”

“Why’s that?” you asked.

He shrugged. “I spent a long time looking at all of those when I was developing them - you know how they say pictures tell a thousand words?”

You nodded.

“Well - I take pictures of a lot of couples - weddings, engagement shoots, all of that… and I’ve never seen two people more in love than you two.”

You felt your chest tighten - maybe you were being a lovesick idiot at your party, but Steve?

You shook your head. “No - Eddie, it… it wasn’t like that. I can promise you that.”

Steve made that perfectly clear.

Eddie shrugged again. “I’m just telling you what I observed, that’s all.”

“Well maybe you should mind your business,” you grumbled.

Fuck. You shouldn’t have said that.

Eddie’s face fell a bit, and he slowly took a step back, hands shoved in his pockets.

“My apologies,” he whispered. He was hurt, that much was obvious. You mentally kicked yourself.

“No Eddie - I’m sorry, I didn’t -”

You sighed, frustrated.

“Things have been, like, really weird the last few months and… it doesn’t matter.”

“I could tell,” he said, voice quiet. “You’ve been.. Distant.”

You nodded, the awkwardness filling the space between you two. You had fucked this up too, somehow.

“So,” you said, clearing your throat. “Uh, it’s getting late, and dark… I probably should head home.”

“Yeah, okay - good idea, I have some stuff to work on anyway.”

You both nodded, avoiding eye contact as you both headed out back into the studio.

It wasn’t until you were at the door that you turned to face Eddie again.

“The place really is beautiful… I’m proud of you,” you said sincerely. He offered a small smile in return.

“Thanks.”

“I also - the pictures are beautiful. Thank you for these, I - they’re great.”

“I’m sorry if they -”

“Don’t apologize,” you said firmly. “They’re great - you’ve really got a gift, you know.”

You could tell Eddie was fighting a real smile, a small win in your book.

“C’mon, you know my ego’s just fine on its own.”

You laughed, and without thinking, pulled him into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry I lost it a little earlier,” you whispered.

“It’s alright,” he said, pulling away. “Heartbreak is funny like that.”

You decided not to bother protesting his assessment this time, too tired to start a fight again just to feel something.

“Right, okay.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take out the photos with… him?” Eddie asked, gesturing down to the envelope.

“No, that’s alright - I’m a big girl, I can go through them. I’m definitely going to hang a few of these up though, so thanks again.”

“Take good care of yourself darling, alright? And come by any time - for any reason.”

It was an olive branch, an assurance that things were okay. You forced a smile, nodding.

“Thanks, Eddie - you’re a great friend, you know.”

You bid your farewells, and left the studio with a strange feeling settling within you. You pulled your coat a little tighter around you, stuffing the envelope underneath as you charged through the chilly evening air to the nearest bus stop.

You didn’t get home until nearly 6pm, the winter sky fully dark by then. By the time you walked a few blocks and up the stairs to your apartment, your face was stinging from the cold, the wind picking up more since that afternoon.

Robin was on the couch, a rerun of Friends playing on the TV.

“Hey! You’re back kind of late,” she remarked.

“Yeah - I ran into Eddie, funnily enough,” you replied, hoping you sounded nonchalant.

“Oh really? How is he? I miss him - we should really make a plan to hang out with him soon -”

“Yeah, for sure,” you said, kicking off your shoes and hanging your coat on the rack. “He’s good - I saw his new studio, it’s nice.”

“Oh, no way! That’s great - I need to go sometime -”

“Yeah, totally,” you said, absentminded. “Uh, I’ve got some stuff to do, but I’ll be out here later -”

“Maybe we can get takeout or something -”

“Yeah, perfect -” you tittered, closing your bedroom door behind you, eyes on the envelope in your hands.

You bit your lip, debating what to do. Part of you considered finding all of the pictures of Steve, and burning them. But, that felt a bit dramatic. You pulled out the stack again, sifting through until you found the shots of him. You couldn’t help but smile, looking at how happy the girl in the photos was - if only she knew how quickly things would fall apart that night. The photo of Steve kissing you cheek was your favorite - it was just full of pure, unbridled joy. The one after that was the one you stared at for quite some time, though. You were looking into the camera, grinning widely. Steve, however, wasn’t - no, he was looking at you. You stared at him for quite some time - and remembered Eddie’s words.

I’ve never seen two people more in love than you two.

You had thought it was crazy - but, in the picture, Steve was looking at you like you’d hung the stars. Like, if he didn’t have you, he’d be lost. He was looking at you with eyes full of love - you just hadn’t been looking.

You gasped, realizing what Eddie had seen that you couldn’t - maybe everything had meant more to Steve than he had let on. No, that was crazy - wasn’t it?

What happened next didn’t have much explanation - it was probably crazy. You found yourself Googling Steve’s company headquarters in Chicago - it couldn’t be this easy, could it? But it was.

A quick call through the directory brought you to his secretary, a bubbly woman who was more than happy to help. You pretended to be the secretary of a business partner you had remembered Steve mentioning, saying how you wanted to send a thank-you gift - it had been too easy to get his home address, really. And, a confirmation that he was back in Chicago.

The next morning, you sent out an envelope, sticking on international postage. You debated not putting your name on the return address, but ultimately decided to include it - he’d recognize the address anyway. When you dropped it at the post office, you walked away feeling a sense of relief - and, perhaps, just a bit unhinged. TIme would tell if anything came of it. But, at the very least, it felt like finally closing the chapter of your life that had been defined by Steve Harrington. And, that was a good thing… right?

********

The day before Christmas Eve, you received great news: confirmation that you had passed all of your exams, your thesis receiving glowing feedback from the professors in your department. Your degree, which studied Art History and Travel and Tourism Management, meant that you would actually be able to stay here - you hoped to work in tourism in some way right here in Rome, or perhaps work in one of the city’s many museums - being bilingual would help, and more importantly, it meant you never had to set foot back in the United States again, if you didn’t want.

Christmas brought its usual cheer and celebration, complete with mulled wine and a potluck dinner you and Robin held for some of the other foreign students you were friendly with, knowing they didn’t have families to go to for the holidays. Your graduation only brought extra festivities, including a speech prepared by Robin given as a toast at dinner, saying how proud she was of you (and, how jealous she was that you didn’t have to worry about schoolwork anymore). It was silly yet sincere enough to make you tear up and pull her into a big hug. Eddie and Jonathan even swung by for a bit, joining in on the celebration until the wee hours of the morning. Robin and Vickie were all over each otherYou ate and drank to your heart’s content before stumbling to bed, leaving cleanup in the kitchen for the morning.

The morning of Boxing Day, it turned out, was actually the afternoon, with you and Robin oversleeping. You, to your own relief, felt tired, but not too hungover - the same couldn’t be said for Robin and Vickie, who stumbled into the kitchen with grimaces on their faces and grumbles as a greeting.

You spent most of the day cleaning up from the last two days’ festivities, washing dishes and clearing away wrapping paper, wiping countertops and vacuuming just enough until your home felt semi-in order.

You were still in your pajamas as it was getting dark again in the evening, a rarity these days. When Robin said she was heading out to dinner with Vickie and likely would be staying at her place that night, you bid her farewell, looking forward to some time alone to fully relax and unwind.

It was several hours later, after scrounging together a dinner of Christmas leftovers and half-dozing on the couch while a movie played, that your doorbell rang. You sat up with a start, your heart jumping at the unexpected intrusion. You stumbled to the door, grumbling about who could possibly be here at this hour - maybe Robin decided to come back after all, and got locked out again? You were ready to playfully ridicule her when you opened the door. But when you saw who was standing on the other side, you froze.

Steve Harrington was there on your doorstep, barely illuminated in the dim light. His chest was heaving, his hair just a bit disheveled. His eyes widened when he saw you, and you imagined you did the same. Your heart plummeted to your stomach at the sight of him, so real and alive in front of you. Were you dreaming? Was this some sick prank?

Neither of you said anything for a moment, two mouths hanging open, searching for the words.

“It’s Christmas,” you blurted out, the first words you’ve said to him in over four months.

“It’s December 26th,” he replied, simply and casually.

“I - well, it’s still a holiday, kind of.”

“Yeah, I know - do you know how hard it is to catch a last-minute flight on Christmas?”

You just stood there in the doorway, unable to think of anything else to say - what the fuck?

“What are you doing here?” you asked, words biting. You were lashing out a bit, but you didn’t care - this moment right now reminded you of a similar one over the summer, when he came to your doorstep to explain how he wasn’t engaged. What was his excuse now?

“Why did you send me this?” he asked, holding up a familiar envelope - the photo.

Why did you? You weren’t certain of that answer yourself. So, you went with the first explanation that came to your head.

“It’s a good picture of you,” you said quietly.

He rolled his eyes.

“Do not - I don’t hear from you for months, then I get this in the mail - on Christmas Eve, mind you -”

“I’m sorry, were you supposed to hear from me?”

“I don’t know!” he cried. “Maybe?”

You scoffed. “You can’t be serious - you made it very clear that you never wanted to see me again.”

“I - what?”

“I wish you well? Take care? We ended things, Steve - what else was I meant to think?”

He sighed, his shoulders sagging.

“I don’t know. I guess part of me - it doesn’t matter. But, what am I supposed to make of this?” he asks, waving the envelope.

“I - Eddie gave me a bunch of pictures he took at my birthday party… I thought maybe you’d want that one.”

He took a tentative step closer towards you, gauging your reaction. You held your ground, not breaking eye contact.

“Is that the only reason?” he asked, voice low.

You felt your heartbeat quicken, your palms clammy - he really was just so handsome. Still, there was something so boyish about him, something that reminded you of why you fell for him in the first place. He had cut his hair a bit, his summer tan faded - and he looked tired. Then again, you probably did too - you suddenly became conscious of the fact that you were in your pajamas, still looking like you had just woken up - you wished you could disappear, never to be perceived again.

“Yeah,” you whispered. “The only reason.”

He was close enough now that you could see his Adam’s Apple bob as he gulped, his eyes glancing up and down your form as he took a deep breath.

“Tell me that, when you sent this, there wasn’t at least a small part of you that hoped I’d respond - that, when you sent this, you hoped I’d call, or show up here. If there wasn’t, I’ll walk away right now, and you’ll never have to see me again.”

There it was - everything laid out on the table. So much was still unsaid - but, it was obvious that he also had been hurting the last few months, that he didn’t want this to end, maybe even nearly as much as you did.

“You really flew all the way here because I sent you a photo?” you whispered.

He nodded. “Of course I did.”

“You realize how crazy that is, right?”

He chuckled dryly.

“Well, they do say it makes you do crazy things.”

“...it?” you asked, voice wavering.

He nodded.

Oh.

“Come inside,” you murmured. “It’s pretty cold out there.”

As soon as the door was shut behind him, he began spiraling into a new explanation.

“I hope you know that I didn’t come here just to - you’re right, it is kind of crazy, but I didn’t know what else to do, after everything that happened -”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” you said, cutting him off. “I don’t want to talk at all.”

You both stood there for a moment, eyes locked on eachother. Then, as if reading each other’s minds, you both moved at once - you crashed your lips into his, fast and desperate. He sighed against your lips, pulling you close as his tongue slipped into your mouth.

You felt like crying - you had missed him so much, more than you had realized - his voice, his warmth, his scent - it brought everything flooding back, the feelings you had buried in an attempt at self-preservation. But now, as you kissed him, you felt the tears well up, stinging your eyes as they rolled down your face, hot and fast.

“Whoa - baby, it’s okay - what’s wrong -”

Baby.

“Nothing,” you cried, wiping the tears away. “I just - I really fucking missed you.”

You felt stupid to admit it, but then again, didn’t he come close to confessing that himself just a few moments ago?

“I know, I know, baby - you have no fuckin’ idea -”

Another kiss, passionate and apologetic.

“I didn’t mean any of what I said that night,” you gasped, pulling him closer. “I was just so scared -”

“I know, me too, baby - m’sorry -”

Baby. Babybabybaby.

He was holding your face between his hands now, backing you up until you were pressed against the wall, his lips finding yours again. He titled his head down to nuzzle at your throat, pressing his lips to the sensitive skin there. You tipped your head back, giving him full access to do as he pleased. He kissed and nipped at your neck, until you were moaning and crying out his name, pulling at his coat until it fell off of his shoulders. You twisted your hands in his button-down, his hands squeezing tighter on your waist in response.

“Fuck, Steve,” you breathed. “I’m sorry -”

“Stop with that,” he said, firmly taking your face in his hands again, catching your lips in another gentle kiss. “You’re right, I just realy don’t want to talk anymore -”

Then he was kissing you again, swallowing your noises as you whined his name, fingers gripping his hair.

“Bedroom, now,” you told him. “Please -”

“Yeah, okay.”

He couldn’t keep his hands off of you, both of you stumbling down the small hallway and into your bedroom, Steve slamming the door closed behind him with his foot.

“No Robin?” he asked, lips finding your neck again.

“No - ah! She’s at Vickie’s tonight -”

“Thank Christ,” he growled. “I don’t know how quiet I’m capable of being right now.”

He was apparently as desperate as you were, lips finding yours hungrily as he pulled your oversized t-shirt over your head, eyes practically rolling to the back of his head when he saw your breasts.

“No bra?” he asked.

“I was lounging around, until you showed up -”

“Thank god,” he practically snarled, his hands finding the small of your back to pull you close.

You reached between yourselves, unbuttoning his shirt, fingers slipping as they shook with anticipation. He reached down to help you, until he eventually shrugged the shirt off. You wrapped your arms around him, pressing your bare chest to his, nearly crying again from the contact.

“I really missed you,” he whispered, a man ruined. “I never thought I’d be able to have you like this again -”

“None of that,” you murmured, pressing a finger to his lips. “It’s alright.”

You just stared at him, running your hands down his chest as you took a deep breath.

“I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” he asked, face flickering with concern. “Oh god, are - are you seeing someone else? I didn’t even ask -”

“No! No, nothing like that,” you assured, biting your lip. “I just - do you remember the night of my birthday on our trip, on the rooftop?”

He nodded. “That was a really nice night.”

“I haven’t been totally honest with you,” you admitted, heart racing as you were ready to lay out the thing you had been terrified to admit aloud.

“About what?” he asked softly, cupping your cheek gently with his palm.

“Remember when I said something in Italian, and you asked what it meant? And I just said it meant I loved the gift, the star thing?”

He nodded. You took a deep, shuddering breath.

“That wasn’t exactly true. I - I said that I was in love with you,” you managed, voice quivering at the end. “That’s why I was so scared - I didn’t realize until I said it… I had broken our rule, our number one rule -”

“Hey, hey -” he cooed, shaking his head. “Did you mean it?”

You hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah - I still do.”

The few seconds that passed after that had your stomach doing somersaults - what if he still didn’t feel that way, and everything he had said in the doorway was bullshit? You thought you were going to be sick -

But his face softened, his eyes glistening - was he going to cry?

“Fuck the rules. I stopped following those a long time ago,” he said.

Your heart fluttered, your face heating.

“Are you saying -”

“How did you say it in Italian again?” he asked. “I’m sorry, I’ve been slacking on my lessons without you around.”

You laughed. “Oh, um, it’s sono innamorato di te. It translates directly as I’m in love with you, or I’m falling for you.”

He nodded. “Well then - sono innamorato di te.”

You felt like your chest was about to explode, and before you knew it, you were crying again. He was too, you realized, his cheeks glistening with tears as he choked a sob with laughter.

“We could’ve saved ourselves a lot of trouble if we both just said that in the first place,” he said, reaching to wipe away some of your tears.

“How long?” you asked.

“Since the night of the gala I brought you to. So… longer. I guess I win.”

You sobbed again, Steve swallowing the sound with another kiss. It’s wet and salty with tears, a mess of apologies and confessions.

“Steve - I -”

“I know, baby,” he whispered, kissing your salty cheeks. “It’s alright - I’m here now -”

The conversation truly stopped after that - you couldn’t keep your hands off of one another, shedding clothes until you were nude and devouring each other with desperation unlike anything you had ever felt before.

Steve was pressing his lips between your breasts when you asked, voice breathy and filled with need.

“Steve - I need you, please -”

“Mm - yeah, okay -”

Before he could move, you were reaching down to grasp his cock in your hand. He gasped, pupils blown as his head thumped back against the wall. The noise that came out of him was unholy, wrecked and ruined as you brushed your thumb along his leaking tip.

“Christ, baby -”

“Can I suck you off, please?” you asked, desperate to make him come undone.

“Honey - you can’t - I just, I wanna fuck you so bad… I won’t last if I let you get your mouth on me, baby.”

You pouted, even as your heart raced with the thrill of knowing you’d have him inside you again.

“Next time,” he said, “I swear.”

A promise of a next time, of a thousand more times - you started kissing him again, lips bruising his - losing yourself in any drink or drug would never compared to losing yourself in Steve Harrington, you decided.

“Get on the bed,” he muttered, gently pushing you back. You did as he asked, falling back onto the mattress gently as he joined you, face hovering inches from yours.

His hair was a mess, pupils blown and lips glossy. He just shook his head, as if in disbelief.

“What?” you asked.

“You’re just so beautiful,” he breathed.

You felt your face heat, and you buried your face in your hands.

“Shut up.”

“About you? Not likely.”

Before you could come up with a clever remark, he was kissing your neck again, his lips traveling down slowly between the valley of your breasts, taking his time - he was going to leave bruises, you already knew.

But he didn’t stop, traveling down, down, down -

“What are you -”

“I never said I didn’t want to taste you first,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to your inner thigh. “I miss having my mouth on you so fuckin’ much -”

“Fuck,” you gasped. “You’re unreal -”

“Says you,” he retorted. Whatever you planned to say next died on your lips, anything resembling a coherent thought dissolving as his lips found your cunt.

“Oh my god,” you groaned, back arching as his tongue swirled around your clit.

“Just as fuckin’ sweet as I remembered,” he whispered, his breath against your pussy making your chest heave.

He licked a stripe along your slit, making your back arch off the bed, your eyes fluttering closed.

“Be loud for me, baby,” he murmured, lips finding your clit again. You did as he asked, moaning and crying out his name as he devoured your pussy, eliciting desperate sounds from you as your fingers wound themselves in his hair. He groaned as you pulled on his locks, encouraging you to continue doing so as he opted to slide a finger inside you.

“Fuck - Steve! Ohmygod, fuck -”

You felt him smile as he lapped and licked at your folds, adding a second finger and beginning to pump them in earnest, finding that spot inside of you too easily.

You were crying out, bucking your hips against Steve’s lips, like putty in his hands. For about ten minutes you were completely his, mind numb with pleasure as he took you apart with his mouth. You let him, feeling the blunt fingernails of his free hand digging into your thigh, pulling you as close as possible.

“Steve - I’m gonna - I’m so close, y’feel too good -”

Encouraged, he picked up the pace a bit, sending you completely over the edge. When you came, you saw stars, grinding down on Steve’s mouth and fingers. You were screaming, and he helped you through it, nuzzling against your core as you pulsed around his fingers. Your hand left his hair and found his temple, gently coaxing him closer as you rode out your orgasm.

You were still breathing heavily as he kissed his way slowly back up your body, worshiping every inch of skin he could find. YOu didn’t let your eyes open again until he was face-to-face with you, chin glistening with your release as he wore a smug grin.

“Such a good girl for me,” he murmured. “Tasted so good… you came so hard for me -”

“Mm -” you hummed, pulling him down for a kiss. You tasted yourself on him, the sensation completely euphoric.

“Do you need some time?” he asked gently.

You ran a finger over your clit, still sensitive and puffy, and shook your head.

“No, I’m okay - I actually really need you to fuck me.”

“Thank god,” he said, exasperated. “I don’t think I can go another second without fucking you -”

“I know -”

“I would dream about you, you know - all the time. I’d wake up in the middle of the night with a hard-on, of a mess in my boxers like a fuckin’ teenager -”

“I know what you mean,” you admitted, recalling a few times you had thought of him as you touched yourself since he’d left.

“Please tell me you’re still on the fuckin’ pill -”

“Yeah, I am - God, Steve -”

“I know, I know - ready baby?”

You nodded, locking your eyes with his as he positioned himself above you, pushing inside of you ever so slowly. You could tell he was holding back, doing everything he could to not enter you in one rough movement. You winced at the stretch, nearly forgetting just how big he was. He kissed apologies across your face, gasping as he felt your warm walls envelope him.

“Fuck -” he groaned, burying his face in your neck. “I can’t believe I went so long without this - you feel so fuckin’ perfect, baby - such a tight, perfect pussy -”

“You feel so good,” you breathed, digging your fingernails into his shoulderblades. “Steve - I’m so full, please fuck me -”

He did as you asked, rolling his hips against yours, eliciting a groan from both of you. He was still holding back you could tell - but you didn’t have time for that, not after months of missing him, of missing this -

“Let go, baby,” you whispered. “Please -”

“What did you just call me?” he asked.

“I - baby,” you repeated. You realized you never had before - was that wrong?

“Say it again,” he breathed.

“Baby,” you breathed, gasping as he thrust into you a little harder.

“Baby, please - fuck me, let go,” you cried.

It became fast and hard quickly, the desperation you shared impossible to mask. The slapping of his hips against yours was positively dirty, Steve’s arms caging you underneath him as he pounded into you. Your hand snaked down between you, your own finger finding your clit.

“That’s it, baby,” he groaned, continuing his relentless pace. “Touch yourself for me, just like that - M’not gonan last long, I’m sorry, you just feel too good -”

“It’s okay,” you assured, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I want you to lose it.”

He groaned, the room filling with the sound of slapping skin and moans, your names on each other’s lips.

Nothing else mattered, not when Steve was making you feel like this, not when he had flown across an ocean on a whim, a desperate hope to just see you again, even if only for a moment. You suddenly became so overwhelmed with love for this man, this person who had turned your world upside down - it was indescribable, impossible to even express. So you just held him tight, burying your face into his shoulder.

“M’close - I need you to come with me, baby - can you do that? I know you can, you’re always so good for me -”

You nodded, unable to formulate words anymore.

“I fuckin’ love you,” he cried, hips stuttering, his thrusts growing sloppier. “So much, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you - I love you, baby -”

His words sent you over the edge, white-hot pleasure surging through your body as you screamed his name. The feeling of you clamping around him sending him into his own orgasm. He spilled inside of you, your name on his lips like a prayer. He practically collapsed on top of you, the feeling of his heartbeat against yours feeling like home, like it was always meant to be this way.

Your breaths were labored, sweet kisses peppered across skin. Neither of you spoke for quite some time. After he rolled off of you, he immediately wrapped his arms around you, pulling you as close as physically possible.

He pressed a kiss to your forehead, slow and gentle. It was only when you pulled back, brushing some of his sweaty hair away from his face, that you broke the silence.

“I love you, too,” you murmured. You brushed your fingers along his face, and he caught your wrist, pressing kisses to your palm and knuckles, as if determined to worship you every chance he got.

“I want more than an arrangement,” he whispered. “I don’t want rules, or a deal, or -”

“Yeah, that was obvious,” you replied, chuckling. “And, me too.”

“And, you were right - you have school, and I never wanted you to think I just wanted you like a trophy or something - you have your own life, aspirations, and i know that - I just like spoiling you, but I never wanted you to give up who you are,” he said, face soft. “I need you to know that.”

“I do,” you murmured.

You really did.

“Besides, I graduated.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What? When?”

“Officially? A few days ago.”

He smiled, soft and sincere - part of you was worried he might cry again.

“Congratulations - I’ll have to take you out to celebrate.”

“Mm - sounds good to me. How long - when are you here until?”

There was still life to reckon with, after all - living on two different continents, jobs, obligations - the kind of thing that could ruin this. But, he just shook his head.

“I bought an open-ended ticket. So, until whenever you want.”

“I - what? What about work?”

He shrugged. “Turns out, when you run the place, you can get away with that stuff.”

Your jaw dropped.

“What? Are you serious?”

He nodded. “Brenner’s out. I’m in - youngest CEO in the company’s history.”

You laughed, pressing your palm to your forehead as you stared at the ceiling in disbelief.

“Steve - that’s amazing. But how -”

“Shhh - we’ll figure everything out later. But, let’s at least ring in the new year together, yeah?”

You nodded cautiously - he really was here, now, and wanted to make it work.

“Okay,” you said. ��Sounds good.”

“Hey - you know what’s really pissing me off, though?”

“What?” you asked, wary as a pit of dread formed in your gut.

“I have to thank Eddie fucking Munson for fixing this.”

You laughed, a real, hearty laugh, and in that moment, you realized things were going to be okay.

******

That night, you slept better than you had in months, safe and warm in Steve’s arms. That was, until you woke to Robin’s scream the next morning, both of you shooting up in bed with a start.

“WHAT IS HE DOING IN YOUR BED?” she cried, shielding her eyes. “God - I wish I could bleach my eyes - motherfucker -”

Then, the door was slamming shut, Robin bemoaning her luck as she bolted down the hall to her own room.

You felt your face heat with embarrassment, sinking under the covers.

“Well - I guess I owe her an explanation -”

“Later,” Steve saidly, shaking his head incredulously. “For Christmas, I’m getting you a fucking industrial lock for that door!”

Then you were laughing, blissful and unable to control yourself, Steve joining you. He kissed the giggles away, pulling your body to his, and not much talking happened after that.

It didn’t matter what real life held after this - because Steve was here, and he was yours. Wherever you ended up, you realized, if you were with Steve, you would be home.

He was here to stay.

author's note: Hi y'all - thanks for your patience! This story isn't quite done - there will be an epilogue posted tomorrow. But, that's essentially the conclusion of don't call me 'baby' - I told you it would be a happy ending! Shoutout to @is-writing for some help with this. And of course as always, Em, without whom this fic wouldn't have happened. Comments, reblogs, and messages are always welcome - keep an eye out for the epilogue!

#steve harrington #steve harrington/reader smut #steve harrington/you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x reader fluff #steve harrington x reader smut #steve harrington smut #steve harrington/reader angst #steve harrington/fem!reader #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x you #steve harrington blurb #steve harrington angst #steve harrington x reader #dcmb fic

504 notes · View notes

tsunderedoctor · 2 years

Note

(◍•ᴗ•◍)

( ╹▽╹ )

!!!! Ahh!! Please more about the law personality HC thing!! *-* we need to hear more of your analysis purple-chan!! 💜💜

You did it soo accurately imo! I can totally see him like that! 😭🥺

Sending love to youu !! ❤️ (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

I'm going to do how Law would treat the reader headcanons cause I think those would be more fun lol

Law is a difficult man to love, not only does he have strong boundaries he keeps up to make sure he or the person he cares for doesn’t get hurt, he also refuses to open up about his feelings. He’s afraid of being intimate and vulnerable with you out of fear you will be used against him or worse; die. He has nightmares sometimes of you being shot to death by Doflamingo, or being used as some tool in order to get to him, being tortured in some new and unexplained way. No matter how much you tell him it’s just in his head, he doesn’t believe you, if he can think it, just imagine what his enemies think.

You think his fears of you getting hurt are bad, just wait until you learn he has fears of you hurting him! Law literally watched the World Government send Marines to kill his family and loved ones, people who as a child, he was taught that they would protect him. He had no sense of trust anymore and when it comes to love, he is just a scared child who is ready to attack at any given time.

I want to take a moment to talk about Erik Erikson (a German psychologist who theorized the stages of life a person goes through, if trauma occurs in a certain stage, the stage won’t be meant until the trauma is healed) and Law. Law was 10-12 when most of the trauma happened in his life. During this time a child is learning what their purpose is in the world and what motivates them to keep going. Law never had a chance to reach that peak, limiting his next stages of development; which funny enough is love. Due to not knowing what he was meant to do in the world, he never came to love things or people correctly. And this shows! In my opinion, Law used sex as a way to cope with the emptiness inside from not knowing what he wanted in the world and since he didn’t know how to exactly love people, he pushed them away once he got what he needed.

Law is barely coming into conclusion of what he wants in the world and what his purpose is (finding the true meaning of the Will of D), and until he does, unfortunately Law will never be able to love someone correctly (this hurts me too-). The good news is, he is learning to cope and accept people for who they are (his crew!), and I believe now that he does have a purpose, Law will slowly open up more.

This means to me, Law won’t be in a relationship for a while, but is more willing in the Wano era. He might not have taken your love for him as seriously as before, but now he is starting to come to terms with it, and well it confuses him. We have to remember, this man planned on dying back in Dressrosa, do you think he had time to worry about his feelings for you?? No! That doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about you, you just weren’t his priority at the time. Now that he knows he wants to live and what his purpose is, he can start moving forward to understanding love and opening up.

This is going to take a LONG time though, he’s literally 13 years emotionally delayed!! Let the poor man get his shit together first. He’s going to need someone with patience and understanding that somedays he just doesn’t know how he feels about you and that’s okay (for now)! Be there for him and he will love you in his own ways!

Speaking of love, he shows it by acts of service and quality time! He struggles with words and actions, never knowing what to say or do to let you know he cares about you. However, he does notice when your coffee or tea is getting low, or when you pulled a muscle and could use the extra help. He loves when you come and visit him in his room while he reads or works. These little moments make the man feel more willing to open up to you at his own time.

Loving Law is an extremely difficult task, but it can be done at a slow and steady pace. Give him time to understand his trauma and how it affected him, let him learn what he wants from the world and what he can give back in return. Before you know it the day will come when he knocks on your door, thanking you for being there for him, eyes sore from crying over everything and arms stretched out, ready to take you in.

#tsunderedoctor #ask #trafalgar d. water law #trafalgar d water law #trafalgar d law #trafalgar law #trafalgardwaterlaw #trafalgar law x reader #law x reader #one piece #one piece x reader #one piece comfort

280 notes · View notes

creativeafterdark · 9 months

Text

Chapter 9 and 10

Heyo folks taking a @journeythroughjourneytothewest

Had to take a break from book club last week, burn out was very bad. But I've had a week to relax, celebrated my birthday and slept most of the day lol. Let's get back into Journey to the West

First: Chapter 9.

We finally meet our Monk and learn the story of his family!

We don't spend a lot of time learning about them (minus his Dad, gets a thumbs up from me. Kind to all and easy going enough to be like "I got hit by a ball-- oh I'm married now? Okay cool". Like talk about a shotgun wedding), but we do see little bits that remind me of our Monk. He does share his kindness with his Dad, and I genuinely think his anxiety is from his mom. I'll talk about her in a minute because she is a whole other thing.

My one question is... wouldn't other officials notice that Liu Hong, essentially becoming Chen E, had no idea what he was doing??? He went on business trips, did no one recognize he wasn't who he said he was????? I mean you would think anyone who took the exams with him who got positions would be like "uh... that's not him tf??". Or they just did not care. Who knows at this point. Apparently he had Six Eared Macaque level disguise skill, rolled a nat 20 in bullshitery.

Now. Lady Yin. The poor lady went through hell for over 18 years. She had to watch her husband get murdered, had to abandon her baby, and had to play wife to a murderer. Even when her husband came back... I'm not surprised she still ended up passing. That's a lot of guilt (and I'm sure Liu Hong was not kind to her) on her mind for a LONG period of time, nearly two decades. I wish there was a happy ending for the family but I get why it ended how it did, knowing what depression and anxiety can do to people.

Now our baby Monk. Our Xuanzang. I am so proud of him for being as brave as he was. This recently turned 18 year old did everything he could to help his family. Licking his grandma's eyeballs was...a choice. But it was for a good cause so good on him. I can see why he was a good choice as the Scroll Pilgrim.

And as promised, a sketch of Xuanzang

And as a bonus baby Monk with a doggo

But now we move to Chapter 10.

...I legit got annoyed going thru the debate between the fisherman and woodman. Like it went on far longer than it should have. I'm sure there was a profound moment that we're supposed to glean from it but I just wasn't receptive to it. Maybe I'll read it again.

Anyway.

I have been doing some looking into of Chinese historical heroes (I desperately want to read Romance of the three kingdoms, and I need more reading material about folk heroes and heroines) so seeing some references to the stuff I learned made me happy. There was mention of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang and the painting of The Emporer's Generals on the doors (supposedly the Tang dynasty is where this practice was first used. A few three kingdom folks also get this treatment as door gods, or menshen, along with other important heroes and deities. Makes me wonder if the Emperor essentially deified his Generals and Wei Zheng. How does Heaven handle that?)

Fun fact! In my jttw x mythology story Wukong will work with Asena, mythical wolf mother of the Ashina Clan of Gokturks. Guess which dynasty of China had to deal with them a lot? :)

Anyway.

I've also come to the conclusion that Dragons just like to fuck around and find out. Like, the Dragon King just goes against heaven's orders to spite a very accurate fortune teller, does not even THINK of the consequences, and is surprised Pikachu face when he gets in trouble. Also not sure why he thought appealing to an earthly emporer would save him from THE SUPREME DAOIST DEITY'S JUDGMENT. Like, y'all, I'm beginning to think dragons just don't give a crap or just don't think. Got what he deserved for being dumb. Did the emporer make promises he shouldn't have? No doubt, you don't promise supernatural beings anything because it will make you want to die if they catch wind of you breaking promises, regardless of nationality. Did he deserve what he got? .... I mean historically probably but in the sense of this story, no.

I find the Tang dynasty interesting (because it gave us a certain Empress and had some fun female warriors, like Taizong's sister, who helped her father found the dynasty) and I can definitely thank jttw for getting my attention about it.

I think that's all I have as far as thoughts. And I apologize if my rambles just jumped around too much lol.

Over and out ✌️

#journey to the west #jttw book club #jttw tang sanzang #jttw Xuanzang #xuanzang #slight mention of #jttw x mythology #the more you know

13 notes · View notes

whimsicallyenchantedrose · 6 months

Text

Christmas Reruns 2023 Day 5: A Pirate's Christmas Carol (2/2)

Merry Christmas if you celebrate it and happy holidays if you don’t! One of the things I love about Christmas is watching reruns of all the old classic Christmas movies–Christmas is a big time for nostalgia. A few years ago, I decided to incorporate that tradition into my fandom life and post my CS holiday reruns. So here you go! Enough holiday (mostly) fluff to get you to New Year’s Day. (With a new story posting on Christmas Day.)

Rating: G

Word Count: 2724

Other chapters: 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Notes: This is the conclusion of my 2016 fic A Pirate’s Christmas carol. At the time it was written, it was a future fic, but now that canon has disproved it, it’s more of an “alternate” fic.

Killian woke with a start, heart pounding, utterly disoriented, realizing he wasn’t in his bed with Swan curled up at his side. After a moment, it all came back to him…his fears and insecurities about upcoming fatherhood, coming to sit before the tree and the fire so his restlessness wouldn’t wake his sleeping wife, Liam, the journey to the past.

Had it really happened?

Surely not. Likely his sleep addled brain had conjured an elaborate dream, seeking relief from the anxiety.

The thought was sad, somehow. How he would have loved to spend another hour in Liam’s presence, even if his brother was naught but a ghost.

Deciding it would be best to return to bed, Killian got to his feet. It was then that he noticed the other presence in the room.

Henry stood still and silent in the corner near the Christmas tree. He stared, unblinking, merely taking Killian in. It was unnerving as hell.

“Henry, lad,” Killian said slowly. “I didn’t see you there. Did you…did you need something?”

The lad shook his head slowly, and then finally spoke. “It wasn’t a dream, Killian. You know that, don’t you? It truly happened.”

Killian took an involuntary step backward. There was something eerie about this conversation.

“Uncle Liam, I mean,” Henry continued. “He came to help you overcome your fears, and so have I.”

“But…I was under the belief it would be ghosts visiting me lad.”

Henry nodded. “Indeed. Henry lies sleeping peacefully in his bed. I’m but a shade of your stepson. Think of me as the Ghost of Christmas Present.”

That…made about as much sense as anything else had on this confusing night. Perhaps Swan had been speaking literally and not merely in a figure of speech when she called Christmas Eve night a magical time.

“And have you come to show me vignettes from my present?”

Henry nodded and then smiled brightly. “Absolutely.”

“Well then, lad, lead on.”

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Killian first found himself standing near the window in his own bedchamber. Bright rays of sun burst through the gossamer thin curtains and came to fall on the bed. Emma slept on her side, a peaceful smile on her face. Killian lay behind her, holding her to him.

As the sun continued to pour in, the Killian in the bed woke slowly and stretched. Sitting up, he ran his hand through his hair, and then smiled down at his still sleeping wife. A glint of mischief came into his eyes, and he leaned down, brushed her hair back from her face and began to kiss the spot on her neck he knew she particularly liked.

Standing by the window, Killian felt his face flame. “Henry, lad. Are you sure you wish to be privy to this? It appears we’ve wandered into a scene not fit for a son’s eyes.”

“Relax, Killian,” Henry said with a good-natured roll of his eyes. “You really think I would have brought you to a moment that would leave me wanting to bleach my eyes? Yeah, I don’t think so. Just watch.”

Killian shot him one last skeptical look, and then turned his attention back to the bed.

Emma squirmed, and then turned onto her back, eyes opening, smile firmly draped over her face. Without a word, she reached up behind his head and brought his lips down for a long, slow kiss. When it came to an end, Killian caressed her face, joy radiating from him like the rays of the sun.

“That was quite the way to wake up,” she said. “Looks like someone’s in a good mood.”

“Aye,” Killian said. “And while I’d greatly love to continue on to activities that would ensure both of us were in an even better mood, I fear your lad will be knocking soon, eager to open the gifts we left for him last night.”

“You’re probably right,” Emma said, awkwardly moving to a sitting position, her protruding belly making the movement far more difficult than it would have been otherwise.

Killian reached over and rubbed Emma’s belly, then leaned down so he could better greet his little one.

“Good morning my lad,” he said. “I love you, and I can’t wait for the moment I may greet you properly.”

Hand still placed on Emma’s stomach, Killian jumped slightly, feeling a little foot kick him.

Emma chuckled. “Looks like someone’s excited to hear his daddy’s voice.”

“Truly?” Killian asked, face a bit wistful. “You think he recognizes me.”

She laughed again. “Killian he kicks and squirms and does somersaults every time you’re around. I think your son loves you already.”

Killian leaned down to kiss Emma’s belly, right over the spot the babe had kicked. “I hope you’re right. I’d never known it was possible to love someone this much—and he hasn’t even greeted the outside world.”

Emma pulled him up until she could kiss him once more. “You’re going to be an amazing father, Killian. You know that?”

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

The scene blurred, and Killian rubbed his eyes. When he opened them again, he and Henry stood near the Christmas tree in their home.

“The first Christmas with the whole family at the new house,” Henry explained as Killian looked around at the Charmings, Regina and Robin (who had made a miraculous return from the dead), Roland, little Robyn and even Zelena. (Emma had expressed reservations at inviting the greener of the two Mills sisters, but Snow had insisted, stating that if they wanted Zelena to continue on her hero path, they had to give her a chance to prove herself.)

Killian saw Emma making some last minute preparations in the kitchen, assisted by her mother, and Henry sat near the fire playing with his young step-brother and entertaining his even younger uncle…but Killian didn’t see himself in the happy family tableaux.

“Where am I, lad?” Killian asked, feeling a sense of loss at the idea that he was missing Christmas afternoon with his family.

“Don’t worry, Killian,” Henry said. “You just went to the Jolly to check on her after last night’s snowstorm. Oh look! There you are now.”

Accordingly, just as the lad indicated, the front door opened, and Killian came barreling in, quickly closing the door to the winter cold. He removed his coat and then turned to kiss Emma.

“Hey Killian,” vision Henry said, getting up and going to his step-dad.

“Merry Christmas again, lad.”

“Is the Jolly weathering the winter well?”

“She’s right as rain, my boy,” Killian said. “Nothing so prosaic as a snowstorm can disturb her. She’s truly a marvel.”

“Cool!” Henry said. He continued to smile for a moment, and then suddenly began shuffling from foot to foot.

“Is something troubling you, mate?” Killian asked, brow furrowed.

Henry averted his eyes. “No. Nothing’s wrong,” he said. “I just…I was hoping I could talk to you. You know somewhere where everyone isn’t watching.”

“Of course. You are aware you can always talk to me about anything on your mind, are you not?”

“Yeah, I know,” Henry said.

The two stepped through the door to what used to be the creepy Dark One cellar—now turned into a comfortable man-cave, as Emma called it. The visitor Killian and his guide Henry followed their other selves; somehow Killian knew this conversation was precisely what guide Henry wished him to see.

“Now, what’s this about, lad?” Killian asked as soon as they were assured their privacy.

“It’s just…” Henry began awkwardly. He turned away, reached into a satchel Killian hadn’t realized he’d been wearing. After a moment of shuffling, he pulled out several pages.

“A new story for your storybook, lad?”

“Yeah,” Henry said. “Well…more for your storybook. Yours and moms. I’m gonna give you guys the start of the book for Christmas, but…I don’t know…I wanted to give you this story separately.”

Killian took the pages and looked over them. “Our story,” he breathed softly. “You wrote of the difficult times we’ve just overcome—from your mother becoming a Dark One, to her confrontation with the hooded figure.”

“Yeah,” Henry confirmed.

“But why did you feel the need to pull this story out in particular, and why did you wish to give it to me privately?”

Henry looked anywhere but at Killian, his shuffling and squirming beginning again in earnest. “It’s just…I wanted to say thank you. I mean, these last few months have been really, really hard, and you’ve always been there for me, even when you were scared for mom too. So, yeah. Just…thanks for being the best step-dad out there.”

Killian felt the familiar rushing sensation, and the next thing he knew he was back in his living room in the middle of the night.

Killian felt a suspicious lump in his throat as he watched the scene play out. “Do you really think that way about me, Henry?” he asked in a small voice.

“Of course!” Henry said with a smile. “And that’s why you have nothing to worry about. All you have to do to be a great dad is to love your children, and you do. You really do. My little brother is going to be a lucky kid.”

“I hope you’re right, mate,” Killian said, allowing hope to fill his heart and almost—not quite but almost—push away the fear.

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

When Killian woke the next time, he looked around eagerly, wondering which familiar face had shown up to guide him this time.

He found himself peering into the face of a stranger. He was tall and handsome with straight, black hair and familiar green eyes. Killian was quite sure he’d never met the man before, but there was a definite air of familiarity about him.

“Would you happen to be the Ghost of Christmas future?” Killian asked carefully.

“That I am,” the man said. “I’m here to show you a Christmas from your future.”

“Pardon mate,” Killian said, “but who might you be?”

The man smiled, a secret smile that Killian couldn’t quite understand. “For the moment, you can simply call me Charles.”

“Very well, Charles,” Killian said, feeling somehow both eager and hesitant to see the future visions this man had to show him. “Lead on.”

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

The first thing Killian noticed when the room stopped spinning was himself and Emma sitting on the couch before the fire. Many years had clearly passed as both of them were quite elderly, sporting snow-white hair and skin significantly wrinkled.

“She’s still beautiful, isn’t she?” Charles asked, following Killian’s gaze.

Killian let out a long, slow breath. “My Emma is gorgeous, and she no doubt will be until the day she dies.”

Charles rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “The two of you have always been so romantic and in love it’s almost disgusting.”

“You’ve known us long?” Killian asked, curious about the identity of this guide.

“All my life,” came the cryptic reply.

“In what capacity?”

Charles shushed him, pointing toward the front door of the Swan-Jones home.

After a quick knock, the door was opened and a woman entered; a woman Killian didn’t recognize—but he didn’t need an introduction. The lass was the spitting image of Swan at the time he met her. This must be…couldn’t be anyone else but…their daughter.

Killian felt the tears come to his eye as his lovely daughter rushed forward and hugged first Emma and then him.

“Eva!” Emma said. “You’re here! You actually made it!”

“Surprise!” she said.

“What happened, love?” Older Killian asked, joy suffusing every inch of his face. “You told us you were required to work over the holiday.”

“I couldn’t do it, Papa!” she said. “I know how much Christmas means to you. To both of you. I rearranged my schedule and took the first flight I could get into Storybrooke. I couldn’t stand to be anywhere but at home for Christmas.”

Older Killian hugged his daughter once more, a single tear tracing its way down his wizened cheek. “You couldn’t have given me a greater gift, little love.”

The living room blurred, and when it came back into focus, Killian noticed that the evening had turned to night and Eva was joined by a whole houseful of new—and familiar—faces. Killian noticed a middle-aged Henry, seated next to a similarly aged Violet. Several children played, running and chasing each other in the far corner of the room.

Killian continued to scan the scene, smiling as Eva and Emma sat talking and laughing together. He saw himself with a tiny boy on his lap…and sitting next to them was none other than Charles.

“Papa!” the tiny boy said, turning toward Charles, “Grandpa told me a story! An exciting one about when he was a pirate!”

“Did he now, Liam?” Charles said, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Grandpa has all kinds of exciting tales to tell.”

“I know!” Liam said. “He said he’d tell me the one about the beanstalk and the giant and his first ‘venture with Grandma. He’s the best Grandpa ever, isn’t he, papa?”

Charles put a hand on older Killian’s shoulder. “That he is, Liam. My dad is the best father and grandfather I know.”

Killian gasped, turning to look at his guide with new eyes. “You’re…you’re my son?”

Charles grinned. “The very same. You haven’t officially met me yet, but I’ll be born in just over a month.”

The emotions rose up and nearly overwhelmed Killian. This man, this happy, well-adjusted man with a loving wife and a beautiful son was the first child born of his and Emma’s love. “So…I didn’t fail you, lad?”

“Look around you, Papa,” Charles said, gesturing at the happy, if slightly chaotic, sight around him. “Look at the family you and Mama built. This is hardly failure. This is just about the greatest example of success I could imagine. I wouldn’t have traded my life with you and Mama for anything in any of the realms.”

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

“Killian?” He woke slowly, feeling a gentle shaking of his shoulder. “Killian, are you alright?”

Swan.

He smiled, reaching for her and pulling her in for a quick kiss. “Aye, love. I’m quite fine.”

Killian looked around, noticing the first soft rays of the sun beginning to peek through the front windows. “What day is it, Swan?”

She gave him a strange look. “Um…well it was Christmas Eve when we went to bed last night, so that makes today Christmas. That’s how these things work.”

“So they did it all in one night,” he muttered to himself, thinking of his three ghostly visitors and all the many places—and times—he’d seen.

“What?” Emma asked. “Killian, are you sure everything is okay? I woke up and you were gone, and your side of the bed was cold. It’s not like you to leave our bed in the middle of the night.”

Killian smiled tenderly at her, caressed her cheek and pulled her in for another long, slow kiss, his hand caressing her belly. When the kiss came to an end, he pulled away only far enough to press his forehead to hers. “I was afraid,” he admitted.

Emma started and pulled away. “Afraid? Of what? Don’t tell me we have a new villain in town! It’s Christmas! Can’t they at least wait until after the holiday to make our lives hell?”

Killian chuckled. “Calm yourself, love. Nothing like that.” He rubbed her belly once again. “We’ve only a month yet before this little one comes, love, and I suppose I feared my ability to be the father our son deserves.”

“Killian…” she said gently, but he stopped her with a raised hand.

“Don’t worry love,” he said. “Last night my fears were put to rest, thanks to some very persuasive guests.”

“Well this sounds like it will be quite the story.”

“Indeed,” he admitted, getting to his feet, “suppose I tell you the entirety of it as I make you a Christmas breakfast?”

NEXT CHAPTER-->

#christmas reruns 2023 #cs fanfiction #captain swan christmas ff #my fanfiction #a pirate's christmas carol

3 notes · View notes

watchit-kal · 1 year

Text

The Purge Franchise is one of my Favorites of all Time

Personally, I do not believe James DeMonaco ever got the proper recognition for his creation. In a time of regurgitation, rinse, and repeat, he made something brand spanking new. A few weeks ago I sat down and watched every movie “in order,” so join me as I rank them and sing DeMonaco’s praises along the way. From how he chose to draw in the audience to who he chose to direct the film, James DeMonaco has earned himself a spot on my people to watch list. I honestly want to rewatch the series as well, but I just watched it a few months ago (for the third time), so it seems a tad over the top.

Now, I will admit some of The Purge fans are downright weirdos comparable to those brainless The Boys fans. There is, however, a subgroup of each that is actually capable of critical thought, and I invite you to join us as we appreciate the story behind the violence. Firstly, let’s agree on the proper timeline:

The First Purge 10/10

The Purge 7/10

The Purge: Anarchy 9/10

The Purge: Election Year* 8/10 (the timing was what was most important about this release if not for actual worldly events the timeline may have flown better)

The Forever Purge 6/10

The Purge is unique not because no one else could have ever possibly thought about, but because someone was brave enough to simply do it. No source material to pull from, no visible demand for its relation, just art. The purge debuted at a time in our country where we were being more and more divisive. I like to think The Purge explores a very probable reality for the United States. It is important to note Michael Bay was involved with the Purge franchise and that man does not pick duds. In the first Purge movie released, starring, Ethan Hawke, DeMonaco did what had to be done in order to encapsulate audiences moving forward. In order for someone to be capable of writing The Purge, you must also assume they are a great observer of people, what they care about, and how they operate. I think this is demonstrated perfectly in the order in which he wrote this franchise and also who he chose to center stories around. In the first movie we follow an upper middle class white family. People who typically should not be effected by this gruesome holiday. A husband whose income relies on the continuation of this dreary day and a family that remains grateful. It was only fitting Mr. Hawke had to meet his end by the conclusion of the film, after all his family was only targeted because of his occupation. Although, I found them painfully boring they were the perfect family to draw in the majority of the world, which hates watching white people die. It was with them DeMonaco taught us the rules of this night and began to pull back the curtain on its gruesome nature. He also showed us above all else, people can be good.

Personally, The First Purge, when DeMonaco teamed up with director Gerard McMurray, will always be my favorite of the franchise. McMurray is also responsible for Burning Sands, a beautifully shot heart wrenching story about the dangers of hazing. he is moving forward to direct The Resonant, a post apocalyptic comic book series, that he will certainly execute perfectly. McMurray has this way of telling stories through his lens that makes it impossible for you to look away. I also adore that DeMonaco is only ever willing to hand over his babies to hands more capable than his depending the story he wishes to tell. While DeMonaco may very well be Italian or something, the man is white. So, the choice to pick a Howard educated director with an affinity for telling stories of oppression for this film was not lost on me. Do not tell me about his skeletons, DeMonaco is invited to my cookout. The first purge is the tale of how the purge came to be and also the reveal of why it was really created. For me, everything about this film was perfect. The cast, the cinematography, the plot line, and the survivors. This film felt the most real and accurate of all the others (excluding the series). I would actually watch an anthology series depicting the first purge in each city.

The others are pretty repetitive, same idea different layout, the public fighting the rich. The rich starting to lose. Some rich people being kinda okay. The usual. I will say though I felt so bad about being attracted to the Cowboy Casanova initially until this past year when he also played our Black Panther villain, then I gave myself a pass, because I obviously just have impeccable taste.

Anyway sorry for the long break I have been really sick, so even this is some shit, but go watch the purge series its very underrated and tell James DeMonaco you love him.

#the purge #James DeMonaco #movie recommendation #blumhouse #michael bay #ethan hawke #Gerard McMurray

12 notes · View notes

leonardalphachurch · 1 year

Note

I feel like I’m weird for making it through seasons 14 and 15 only to fall off after. Idk, I enjoyed 15 well enough barring a few rough jokes early on that really didn’t land. I guess I just sat on it after and came to the conclusion that the blues and reds felt underutilized as villains? Like Temple’s great, but like all the rest don’t really do more than be really one off jokes that don’t really highlight the growth that the reds and blues have had over the years I feel. Like I came out the other side positive enough but the more I thought on the season the more I felt it’s writing missed the mark on various character plots, some real missed potential there.

The stuff I saw of 16 and 17 looked pretty cool? Whenever it filtered through my dash? But idk something about 15 killed my momentum and the neat stuff about the next few seasons got really tempting but somehow didn’t quite get me hooked back. I’m sure there are/were general rt things that have happened over the past few years that soured my drive to come back to it somewhat too.

Maybe I’ll finally go and watch 16 and 17 when I’ve got some free time someday soon, it’s not like they’re making more seasons anytime soon as far as I know.

it’s not weird, anon. i honestly thought more people did that, till i saw the actual numbers. i think the ending of 15 was… weak? it definitely had some good moments but it was the climactic finale that had to follow up 13’s finale and, like, that was never gonna happen. like, season 11 respected that it wasn’t going to hit the highs of season 10 in terms of, like, big epic drama, so it kept its stakes relatively low. but because the climax’s stakes are so much higher than the rest of the season’s stakes were while still having a good ramp up to them, it still feels very dramatic. it doesn’t stack up to 10’s climax but it’s not trying to. 15 on the other hand was desperately trying to top 13’s climax and it just. it didn’t stand a chance. the ramp up wasn’t horrible but it also wasn’t great and the stakes shot to the fucking MOON (and will just get higher from here). i think i had more to say but i lost it ANYWAY i totally get why someone would fall off after 15.

you’re SO fucking right about the blues and reds i literally. i am literally trying to rework them into my own horrible little men bc i like the concept of them A LOT but they’re executed so fucking bad in canon. i don’t know if you’ve read this post of mine but i talk more about my problems with the blues and reds there

as for continuing to watch. i think 17 is genuinely a good piece of fiction. not a GREAT piece of fiction, but given what it was handed it did a pretty solid job. “solid” is really the word i would use to describe 17. it’s a solid season of red vs blue.

16, however, is a hot fucking mess. i like 16 bc i LOVE hot messes and i have big “i can fix him” energy towards stuff like 16 but i can definitely understand why people think it’s the worst season of rvb. would say it’s my third least favorite. honestly if you (or anyone else) wanted i could let you know what parts to skip bc quite a few just offer absolutely no narrative, character or comedic value whatsoever.

anyway ty anon i wanted to talk about rvb so so badly you gave me a gift of an ask

#asks #anon #AGGH I SHOULD TAG THIS. I NEED A FUCKING TAGGING SYSTEM #rvb15 #rvb16 #uhhh. i guess i talk about 16 enough to tag it?#IS THAT EVEN THE TAGGIBG SUSTEM WERE USING FOR SEASON ANALYSIS.#i hate this fucking house. one day i’m gonna organize my shit then it’s over for you bitches.

5 notes · View notes

rikeijo · 2 years

Text

Today's translation #97

Yuri!!! on Life

Sayo Yamamoto x Mitsurou Kubo conversation

Part 19.

Y: So when we first started to think about Otabek's character, we wanted to make him a person who Yurio would admire everything about. We wanted to give Yurio a delinquent-like type of companion. Kazakh skaters can speak Russian, and it isn't unusual if they train under a Russian coach, so we were thinking that maybe in the past there was a time when they trained in the same place, and that it was Otabek who first acknowledged Yurio as a more talented skater… Also, if we talk about how episode 10, the episode Yurio and Otabek met, came to be - we created that episode, because I was told by the producer than we have to have an episode without skating scenes, or it would be just too tough for the production staff. Because at first we were planning to use three episodes for the Grand Prix Final... I thought that if we can't have skating scenes, then we will just need to animate their time off, something other than the official training session before the Final, so it should be easy enough to do - after all, there was a lot of things left out that we couldn't squeeze into the main story. I was very carefree about that development (laugh).

K: "Whaa, it'll be so easy to do!!" - I think that's what I thought back then.

[The context is that it wasn't easy. In their interviews, other staff members also talked about how they were looking forward to an episode without skating scenes, because animating those scenes was so hard, but episode 10 was surprisingly hard to animate anyway.]

Y: Ah! But even before that I wanted to make Yuuri's Hangover [as in the movie "The Hangover"], so I had already presented that idea [to other staff members], but I was thinking about making it a bonus content for the DVD release. In the style of a parody of "The Hangover" movie's ending I wanted to show how Yuuri got drunk at the banquet last year, did the dance battle and how he himself had asked Victor to be his coach, but he couldn't remember anything of that, because of the alcohol. Other than that we also had enough time to show "another stories" of other characters who made an appearance, so when we were thinking about what we have to include, we came to the conclusion that we have to give Yurio's story a resolution. And so we thought that in Yurio's story, Otabek should definitely make an appearance, because he's somebody Yurio looks up to.

K: His stoic demeanor is just... Sometimes you get this vibe for real-life skaters too, but it's just so cool - there's no other way to put it.

Y: (nods deeply in agreement)

[Notes: If you want a good laugh, I recommend watching the Hangover's ending and imagining Sayo thinking like: "Yeees, this is how I imagine Yuuri on that banquet night~✨]

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

9 notes · View notes

aotopmha · 1 year

Text

FFXIV 6.4 spoilers:

MSQ: Some fantastic humour this time around.

Zero and the spice, Estinien and his training and the Loporrits and Zero all made for fantastic light-hearted scenes. (The 6.x patches in general have done really good humour, I think.)

The long talk with Azdaja was a solid pay-off and so were the twists surrounding Golbez – both Zero being a red herring and Zeromus instead being tied to Azdaja.

But I think for any aspect of a story to retain depth, you need to keep introducing new facets to it and while the humour and further exploration of the conflict with Garlemald were solid (in particular I really like how tough the process of "rebuilding" Garlemald is in every sense of the word, as it should be with a nation steeped in such a strong history of imperialism), I think you can really sense how much simpler the writing is in this current section of the story by the end of this patch.

The entirety of the 6.x patch narrative content has been equal parts jarring and welcome after the complexity of the expansion itself, but I think you really feel how much simpler everything is here, especially since I think 6.0 already did a more complex version of these themes.

I really like how the complicated aspects of Garlemald didn't just disappear after 6.0 and how there is still a sense it has a long way to go, but I also feel like it needs more than just asides in patch content to truly have a satisfying conclusion. I think it perhaps at least needs another story section tucked in somewhere in the content? (Perhaps Garlemald restoration?)

It's not uncommon to have simpler versions of the themes in the expansion explored in the patch content, but it always makes you to some extent hope/doubt what comes next would have more depth.

Despite feeling simpler, as a complete whole, I do think this MSQ chunk was very solid, though.

It had just enough spice for the simpler elements to not completely overtake it.

The finale of Pandemonium equally leaned on what I'd argue is the other defining element of Endwalker next to its themes: already existing material.

I'd even argue Endwalker's biggest defining trait for me is probably that its story doesn't really have nearly the same impact on its own as it does in context with what came before it, with the story leaning more into being like A Realm Reborn and Stormblood than Heavensward or Shadowbringers.

(I kind of hope 7.0 will once again be a more self-contained story while setting stuff up in the background like the latter two because I think at this point basically everything that came before has been resolved and continuing to lean on old stuff would simply feel stagnant/tiring/old and also not as compelling anymore. Once again, they are basically back to zero and have to put in the work for it all to pay off 10 years from now.)

I think it's pretty obvious Lahabrea was intended to be the star of Pandemonium and while his character certainly gained some good depth from it, Elidibus is the one I truly ended up invested in spanning the final part of the story because of the history already behind him.

I hated Athena for how she treated her son, but I hated her even more for how she used Themis.

Somehow even little bits of the character of Elidibus are automatically more compelling than Lahabrea.

And truth is, Erichtonios and Lahabrea do end up having complete arcs, which complete the timeloop, they're fine, it's just that I think Themis is better.

Same goes for Athena being an effective villain for the comparatively little time she gets to be on screen.

Lahabrea's positive growth of wanting to take responsibility for his actions and accepting the bad in him in this case made him the Ascian he became, adding this cyclic element to his story. Just like Eric's journey to gaining strength and confidence lead him to sending out the warning about Pandemonium and in turn Athena ended up mattering because of her wishes being tied to them and basically her "inventing" tempering as a result.

But how Elidibus was handled still ended up being the most powerful aspect of the Pandemonium story to me because I think everything we knew about him from the MSQ and the Pandemonium story itself ended up being relevant.

Him as the objective judge, as a character with a very strong sense of justice and duty, a good friend to your character and someone who already had everything taken from him by the Final Days were all aspects that ended up mattering in the conclusion.

In the end, none of the suffering of the ancients was for nothing because all of their actions paved the way to the present. Their struggles mattered because they lead to the current future and I think this is the strongest element of this final bit of story.

So much of this final bit of story was also sort of just listing plot elements. We finally learned what was up with the Heart of Sabik. And as said, we now pretty much have a (I think almost?) full picture of how tempering works and the entire timeloop is as complete as it possibly can be.

But a lot of it was stuck in expositional walls of text. Comparatively, everything surrounding Themis in this final leg of the story felt to me almost entirely about him as a character and his history with the WoL.

It was so surprisingly good to have something like this in something you'd consider a side story, only continuing the trend set by Omega and Eden and the huge amount of other side content.

I'd consider the raid stories in general to be weaker than a lot of the MSQ, but they always at least come together fairly well.

Finally, all of this leads me to the little story bits hinting to what comes next.

First, Erenville is most likely going to be at least a guide character for 7.0, giving us a connection to the new location (which I with 90% certainty think is Meracydia in the south).

Second, the Scions seem to be recieving "letters", we saw one for Krile and Thancred mentioning a client, meaning we might get connections to new locations via them, as well.

Third, related to Y'Shtola's thought process, we might get travel to the First earlier than we think, so Ryne and Gaia will probably play a bigger role in the last two patches, but also might join the adventure in 7.0.

(The entire plot thread leading from the Warring Triad to the ShB role quests to Eden to back to the 13th is an absolute masterstroke of writing to me at this point because it connects disparate-seeming stories so elegantly and naturally.)

And finally, the Heart of Sabik is still there. It wasn't destroyed with Athena.

It was confirmed to be cleansed of her influence, but out of all of these I can't help but feel this one is the start of another long-running plotline and the biggest potential Chekov's Gun.

The big picture stuff is absolutely fantastic here.

And putting everything together, I think this is all super solid narratively, like all of the 6.x patches have been. Not amazing like any of the .3 patches or slow like any of the .1 patches, but simply consistent throughout.

If anything, I'd just continue saying the same thing I've said about the entirety of the 6.x patch story series, that it's super appropriately told story for where we are in the narrative currently: a transition period from an old story arc to a new one that should let you chill a bit while quitely setting up for the future and tying up the final loose ends.

In that sense it has been absolutely fantastic.

#FFXIV #FF14 #Final Fantasy XIV #Final Fantasy 14

1 note · View note

maralvarezcordova · 2 years

Photo

maritza “mar” alvarez-córdova is a non-mutant who has been in new york for thirty years where they spend most of their time as an attorney. when i think of them, i think of empty bottles of red wine, neat stacks of books with messy notes sticking out of them, pearl necklaces, and the click of stilettos against marble floor. they are in support/neutral of mutants.

character inspo — laurel castillo (how to get away with murder), the wine book club mom

Content Warning: pregnancy, divorce, slight mention of illness in the first paragraph

@c23intros

BASICS

Name: Maritza Zoe Alvarez-Córdova

Nickname(s): Mar

DOB: 10 August

Age: 20 August 1957

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Sexuality: Bisexual (probably)

Traits: ( + ) Generous, Friendly, Detail-Oriented, Faithful ( - ) Patronizing, Bossy, Interfering, Obsessive

Occupation: Attorney

Family: Francisco Alvarez (Father) — Living, Romina Córdova (Mother) — Living, Matteo Emerson (Son) — Living

APPEARANCE

Height: 5′7

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: Brown (blonde highlights)

Ethnicity: White & Mexican

Nationality: American/Mexican

Aesthetic: https://www.pinterest.com/eddiemuses/maritza/

Tattoos: None

Piercings: Ears

BIOGRAPHY

Maritza was born to two mutant parents, who were both relatively high profile people (although they weren’t known mutants). Her parents met in Meixco when Francisco was visiting his very sick grandmother at the time. They met, fell in love, and married after a few years of dating. They originally lived in Los Angeles and that’s where Maritza was born. For the first eleven years of her life, Maritza’s life was normal. Until the day her parents say her down to tell her that they were divorcing. She moved with her mom to New York rather than staying with her father in California. Although Maritza did go visit her father every summer.

Both her parents were the creative types, but Maritza was one of those people that was more driven by scholarly achievements. It was rare for her to bring home horrible grades and while other students her age focused on their social lives, Maritza sat at home rereading assignments and doing extra work to make sure that she understood the assignments that she was being given. Both her parents were always baffled by this although they supported their child because they weren’t sure what else to do otherwise, she clearly was smart and driven enough.

Growing up, Maritza was aware of mutants, as both her parents were. They never really talked about mutants, nor gave her a reason to like or dislike them. Maritza turned out to not have any sort of mutation. There was an unspoken rule of just “not talking about mutants” in their household, though Maritza often asked questions, and as a curious, bookish child, she ended up learning what information out there. Like most things, she came to the conclusion that like non-mutants, all humans had good and bad in them. It’s also unspoken that Maritza has no idea her mom is involved with the Hellfire Club.

Since her family never had to worry about money, Maritza had a bit of a bleeding heart. When she saw someone in need, she tried to help them out with whatever she could. She got into arguments with tons of people over little things that she thought were important. From a very young age, she wanted to be a lawyer. She was passionate about the law. Maritza focused on her school, getting good grades and padding her resume for college applications. Her senior year of high school, she applied for several Ivy League schools and ended up going to Brown.

Like in high school, Maritza focused on her school when she was in college, but her roommate at the time was a lot more of a party girl. Despite the fact that they were opposites, Maritza ended up being really good friends with her roommate. She ended up going to parties with her roommate every so often. Her junior year of college, towards the end of the year, Maritza ended up at a random party with her roommate and met someone. She doesn’t remember everything that happened that night, but she does remember the guy’s first name. That’s about it though. Maritza’s fun little night out turned into a pregnancy she wasn’t exactly prepared for.

Thankfully, her mom was understanding and supported Maritza, but her father was furious at her, resulting in her not speaking to him. She finished the rest of the school year off with the intention that she’d come back the next fall, but it was a tough summer for her and ultimately she decided that she couldn’t have a child. Right before giving birth, Maritza ran off to Boston to stay with some family friends. She couldn’t keep the child, so she left him with a note, wrapped in a small green blanket, placed in a cardboard box at the doors of a church. And then she returned to her home.

After that Maritza focused on her education, shutting herself off from the distractions of boys and girls around her age. She finished school and applied to Yale Law School where she graduated, while working a temp job at a local attorney’s office. She moved back to New York after graduating and began focusing on her career. Being a driven person meant that she focused on work until she had a partnership at her firm and took it over.

As an attorney, she has a reputation as being the type to help most people. Her firm does take on a ton of pro bono cases and since she is managing partner at her firm, she decides a lot of the cases. Her mom helps out with money when necessary, as she still is wealthy. Maritza is the type to listen to most of her clients before making decisions and wants to believe the best in people. Although she has mostly made a name for herself with civil cases rather than criminal ones. She puts a lot of heart into her work because she thinks this is the best way to help people and it makes her feel less guilty about abandoning her child. However, she does like to have a little fun here and there, finding her job less stressful. A lot of her hobbies include things that are more academic, like book club and playing chess with people in the park. And she always has a glass of wine with her dinner.

Maritza has always felt like a part of her has focused on her career to distract from the fact that she did abandon a baby at a church, but for a long time she put off thinking about it. She always said that when she was older, when she felt like she could handle it, she’d go in search of the child, make sure they had a stable home and a family that cared for them. Now, at the age of forty one without a family, she decided to hire an investigator to follow paper trails and find her child. She is nervous for whatever the investigator finds, but she knows if she would have raised the child, neither of them would have ended up happy. Still, she pushes any guilt she has regarding that down because it does no one good.

this is def tldr;

Maritza is the only daughter of two wealthy mutants, unlike her parents she isn’t a mutant, although has never harbored ill will towards them. In college, she ended up pregnant and left the baby at a church. After that she focused on her career as an attorney and is known for having a bleeding heart.

#c23intro #about .#biography .#intro .

3 notes · View notes

fireflyhwufanficwriter · 2 years

Text

My thoughts on Dr. Stone’s Chapter 231 (“A Future to Get Excited About”)

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE BIGGEST MYSTERY OF THE SERIES!

My thoughts after reading Chapter 231:

01. So the Medusas, and/or their power, are blue in space! :O Does their being green on Earth have something to do with oxygen and oxidization and stuff? Because I know metal can turn green if... um... well, I know it can turn green! XD

02. In my post earlier about Chapter 230, I said I hoped Byakuya would be mentioned... and here he is in colored chapter art with Senku! :’) They’re both happily eating ramen while wearing spacesuits, and Senku’s just chowing down while Byakuya looks at him with so much happiness and pride! :’)

03. And if that already wasn’t enough, you turn the page and see Kohaku (dancing with Senku fans! :D) and Chrome and Suika - the original Ishigami Village trio who first cooked ramen with Senku - right there with Senku and Byakuya!! :O :’) (I HAVE to put this in my fanfic somehow :O)

04. Senku talks with Whyman; Whyman flexes his form-assuming skills; Kohaku and Stanley have no idea what’s going on and then they suddenly hear that they’re going to be petrified... :O

05. Stanly standing his ground; Kohaku analyzing the situation... awesome! :D And Senku looked back at them with gratitude! :)

06. Senku WANTS them to stay?! And he even brought his own visual aids! XD Hahahaha! XD

07. Ten years from one shiny monkey on Earth to the work of many shiny monkeys sending that original shiny monkey to the moon... :O That’s information is very helpful! :D

08. Whyman’s spokesperson happened to be the Senku of their species XD :’) Hahahaha! XD This is AMAZING! :D

09. I like how Whyman chose to float to Kohaku :) (It wasn’t Senku, since he was still holding the axe, and Stanley was probably still on his guard with the grenade net gun.)

10. Goodbye, Mega Whyman, and hello, Normal Whyman! :O

11. A high five between Senku and Ryusui, with a happy Kohaku and a pleased Stanley watching! :)

12. What did they say “bye” to? A part of the rocket that was dead weight for the return trip?

13. Kohaku, the very first person on Earth to be willingly petrified (well, along with Ginro), is making friends with Whyman XD

14. Speaking of which, they put eyes and a mouth on Whyman’s vacuum capsule and made him cute XD Hahahaha! XD

15. Kohaku asking where Whyman came from... until (almost) the end, Inagaki is still really good at letting his characters ask his readers’ questions :) Remember way back when we were all confused about Senku’s voice, and Inagaki had characters wondering if it was a recording; or if Senku had an evil twin or a doppelganger; or if time travel was involved...? XD

16. I’m glad for Whyman :) He finally got to ask the shiny monkeys, “Why?” And, I mean, I’m not saying he GETS our reasons, but at least he’s finally got some responses :D

17. Yay, they showed Byakuya in a panel! :D And other people, too! :)

18. The “That’s how our science rolls” reminds me of the part of the manga where we see the line “that’s how the kingdom of science rolls” and we see Byakuya and the other astronauts. Oh! I think I have it... it was in my favorite chapter, Chapter 140, wasn’t it? :) ...Wait, no, the conclusion of my favorite scene had somebody (no indicator which of them, but it was probably Kohaku) say that that really was Treasure Island. Hmm, then where is the “that’s how the kingdom of science rolls” line from? Maybe somewhere else in that chapter...? It feels like it would be somewhere in the Treasure Island arc... but... I could be wrong... ;O Well, nobody tell me! :) I’d like to find out for myself - I’m sure I’ll come across it again someday! :D

19. Predictions for the final (real) manga chapter of Dr. Stone... :O They get back to Earth; everybody greets them and meets Whyman; Senku says that the work’s just getting started; then a time skip while there’s a montage of them excavating petrified statues and stuff.

20. Then at the end of the time skip, they all look more grown-up (maybe Senku has a hint of... oh, right, not blood-related XD But he could still have the beginnings of a beard... And maybe Kohaku will have longer hair?) but still recognizable; Minami is reporting on TV or the internet that all seven billion people have been finally been revived (sadly, this does not include those with too-broken statues, but at least we’ve revived everybody who can be revived); and we have a grand celebration where many, many characters get moments and lines; and the manga will end with them wondering what planets Whyman has gone to and outlining a roadmap for an interplanetary spaceship and Senku telling us to get excited! :D

21. Oh, and I’m also going to predict a quiet moment between Senku and Kohaku, where they talk about the day they met and about Byakuya, probably before the victory celebration, since it makes sense for the final scene of the manga to be more ensemble-y because we have so many characters. I really, really hope there’s going to be a hint of romance somewhere, and if Darya’s diamond ring from the Soyuz capsule Kohaku exploded open makes an appearance, I will literally die. It’ll be a shame to pass away just one day before the release of the Dr. Stone: Ryusui TV special; but it’ll be a good death; one I will happily accept with open arms :D And now, to Chapter 232, which I’m sure will be exhilarating! :D

https :// firefly-hwufanficwriterrrrr . tumblr . com / MyDrStoneEpisodeMangaThoughts

#dr stone #ishigami senku #kohaku #dr. stone #dr stone kohaku #dr. stone kohaku #stanley snyder #whyman #dr stone whyman #dr. stone whyman #why-man #dr stone why-man #dr. stone why-man

4 notes · View notes

garavigujarat02 · 4 months

Text

I don’t have a magic wand, says Indian football coach

INDIA ended their Asian Cup campaign pointless and goal-less and head coach Igor Stimac admitted his team needs players with confidence in front of opposition goal, a significant statement considering the likely retirement of talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri in the next few years.

It’s no secret the Indian team lacks a quality striker, apart from the 39-yearold Chhetri, though Stimac understandably wBullould often play down such concerns in the past.

But, he chose to be candid after India lost 0-1 to Syria last Tuesday (23) to crash out of the Asian Cup with an all-loss record.

“Scoring goals comes with having good goal scorers in the team, people with confidence in front of goal,” Stimac said.

“The team produced enough chances to score enough goals. You all know why we are not scoring goals at international level. It will happen when we start having Indian players in centre forward positions (at club level). Only then we are going to have many more goal scorers for national team.

“So, kindly raise that question somewhere else not here,” he said, clearly referring to the lack of Indians in centre forward positions in the Indian Super League clubs.

India lost all their three group matches and conceded six goals in the tournament, the worst in all the five editions the country had participated. They lost 0-2 to Australia and 0-3 to Uzbekistan before the solitary goal defeat to Syria.

“It’s a good learning experience for us. Overall, in three games, we proved we can compete at this level.

“Obviously, everybody sees the missing points when India play. (Regarding) the problems in Indian football, as much as you give that much you get at the end. That is my conclusion of this tournament,” said Stimac, who had demanded a four-week pretournament training camp, but got just 10 days.

This was the first time India returned without scoring a goal, with Chhetri, the lone ranger for a long time, also having an ordinary outing considering his high standards.

The world’s third most prolific player among active footballers is in the twilight of his career and certainly has played his last Asian Cup.

He had scored two goals each in the 2011 and 2019 editions of the Asian Cup, where India also failed to qualify for the knock-out rounds. Chhetri has scored 93 international goals and is the third-highest active international goal scorer after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Stimac said he does not possess a magic wand to take Indian football forward in a short span of time.

“India never qualified for the U-23 AFC Asian Cup. Then how will we have good senior players? How can we expect good results at senior level if we don’t qualify for the U-18, U-20 and U-23 Asian Cup?

“I’m not a magician, I don’t have a magic wand. I’m just a hardworking guy who is asking you to be patient, as good things in football don’t happen overnight.

“I promise to take you to the third round of World Cup Qualifiers in the next 12 months. After that things need to speed up with investments, with foreign coaches coming in to take charge of Indian football academies.”

On his game plan in the Syria match, Stimac said, “We had a clear plan to take the game into 60 minutes with a clean-sheet and to bring on the fresh legs, which I was hoping would give us something and get an impact to this team in the last 30 minutes, which obviously didn’t happen.

“I think Udanta (Singh) was the only one who came as a substitute and did a few things, others did not have any impact whatsoever,” said the experienced coach, who is also a World Cup bronze winner for Croatia.

Defensive mainstay Sandesh Jhingan was taken off the field in the first minute of the second half due to an injury. Till then the match was scoreless. But, Stimac did not feel Jhingan’s absence had a big impact on the result, as he said other defenders – such as Rahul Bheke and Subhasish Bose – did quite well.

He warned that players who are “casual” in their approach would not get their places in the team. Stimac also said the referee was too harsh on India.

“You cannot sanction each contact made by India and not sanction the other side. Just keep the same level of criteria throughout the 100 minutes. Here we saw today, hitting a player off the ball, it’s a red card. That kind of behaviour (by a Syrian player) is a red card.”After narrowly missing out on the second round in 2019, India had high hopes in this tournament following wins over Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon last year.

#breaking news #international news #news #pakistan #pakistan weekly #pakistan news

0 notes

starlight-time-machine · 7 months

Text

Week in Review

11/05/2023 – 11/11/2023

Sunday

As expected, the Ichinose chapter last week was a fake out. Just one more gotcha – but just kidding this time! before the end of the road. And now that we’re here…it’s a little baffling to me that it took us 48 chapters and an entire year to impart the relatively basic message of “families aren’t perfect but you gotta keep trying anyway.” I wish we could’ve gotten more focus into each of the other family members like Tsubasa did, what with the whole set up of the seven deadly sins and all. I wish there weren’t so many twists that seemed to be only for shock factor/cliffhangers. And I wish this series had a stronger thematic backbone, but I’m learning that Taizan 5’s M.O. is all about bordering on trauma porn/shock factor until they pull it back for a conclusion that’s about as complex as you’d find in a Disney Channel movie. They always have great premises, but from what I’ve seen, I don’t think they have the skill to actually follow through with interesting and evocative ideas. I’m just glad the trip is finally over. I’ll give Ichinose a 3/10, and I honestly don’t think I’ll check out Taizan 5’s works in the future.

Next up is Undead Unluck, and it’s so serendipitous that we got this chapter right after episode 5 of the anime, because otherwise I don’t think I would’ve remembered Andy firing his fingers at the Round Table, and then I wouldn’t have caught this parallel of Fuuko shooting her guns at the UMAs! What a full circle moment. And oh my God Andy…pulling a Fire Punch, I see. Solid chapter overall.

Dandadan 127: YAYYY RIN!! LET ‘EM KNOW!!!

Magilumiere 90: Plot-wise I don’t have much to say about this chapter, but it’s fun to see everyone in the Manga Plus comments lamenting about Shigemoto being denied his magical girl dress.

Hmmmmm yeah okay, it’s the end of the line for Akane-banashi for me…I know I said I was going to stick with it for the rakugo stories, but I think I’ll just listen to a rakugo podcast or something. I’m glad I got to see fox Karashi before I went, though.

One Piece was fine.

CIPHER ACADEMY YAYYYYY I’m glad to finally learn more about Karigane and what a threat she can be! I also love when Byu’s eyes go into sniper mode, it’s such a unique character design detail. But oh boy……I tried so hard to get into mahjong when I played Yakuza 0, and I’ve since accepted that I’m just too dumb for it LMAO like, there’s no way I’ll ever be able to memorize all the point-winning hands, and I barely understand what a dora or tenpai is. I wouldn’t even be able to tell if I was winning if there wasn’t a video game telling me that I was…all of which is to say that this code battle is just going in one ear and out the other, I’m afraid. But I’ll just focus on the emotional journeys of the characters and I’ll still have a great time.

My friend and I finally marathoned a ton of House episodes, but they were all pretty standard fare. I can’t believe we’re only halfway through season 5 and there’s still four whole 22-episode seasons left…they really let TV shows go on forever back then, huh? What’s really surprising to me on this rewatch is how Taub has become my favourite character…? He’s pragmatic, self-aware, and doesn’t tend to get caught up emotionally – my kinda guy.

Monday

Finally got around to watching the Dirty Laundry episode that came out like two weeks ago. This one was pretty fun, with one or two wild stories, but still doesn’t reach the heights of some of the earlier Dirty Laundry episodes for me. And every time I watch, I think about how hard it must be to cast for this show, because not only do you have to get good comedians, you have to get four of them who are familiar enough with each other to have funny banter and to actually guess whose secret it is… And I fear that their talent pool is running out…or rather, their talent pool of people I recognise and would like to see on the show is running out.

Watched the new Make Some Noise episode while I was at it and I love seeing Jacob again, his energy with Lou is really fun. I feel like some of the prompts this season have been a little…subpar, though… I don’t like the ones where it’s just a pop culture reference that’s basically only one obvious joke, or the ones where there’s no real room to expand… But I think the guests this time did the best with what they got. But holy shit I did not enjoy the minigames in this episode…

Tuesday

Agh

Wednesday

Ack

Thursday

Aghhh

Friday

It’s been a busy week… I’ve gotten sucked into all my various projects and errands…but I always have time for new Undead Unluck episodes. Unfortunately, this was probably the weakest episode in the series so far. Story-wise it was a lot of setup for next week’s fight, and visuals-wise…look, I get it, there’s literally no other way they could feasibly do this on a TV anime schedule, but goddamn the 3D zombies look goofy as hell… I really hate seeing 3D human models in 2D anime, it just never looks convincing and completely takes me out of it. But it is what it is, I suppose.

I loved the part in the beginning of the episode though, where Shen was being cute and having fun banter with Fuuko. And then the fish-eyed lenses effect to amp up the horror vibes when they were listening to the recording was also a nice touch. Now I’m just really looking forward to seeing if Shen has his little unhinged moment next week. (Special shout out to the cameo from Mr. Spongebob himself, that made me laugh).

Saturday

Pretty good episode of SpyFam today. I love seeing the tension racket up as Yor and co. realize that they’ve been found out – the scene with the room service guy was particularly excellent. The Anya segment provided a nice balance of comedic relief, though perhaps it dragged a bit longer than it needed to. I’m excited to get into the assassin battles proper next week.

It’s fun to be eating Chinese food while watching Kusuriya, especially when it’s a super spicy mala dish…I feel like I’m doing a poison mukbang with Maomao. Rihaku is really cute in anime form! The Garden Party as a whole was adapted about as well as I could’ve expected, but I think I just prefer seeing it in manga form for whatever reason…probably something to do with the pacing of reading the dialogue versus watching it being spoken aloud.

Pretty barren week, huh? I wish I could say I was being productive the whole time but it’s more like I got sucked into my hobbies while watching a lot of YouTube in the background. Hopefully next week will be more eventful.

#week in review #2023

0 notes

nanalikessurveys · 10 months

Text

What’s your current favorite song at the moment? I never have a favorite song these days. The last song I listened to more than once was Nobody’s business by Rihanna and I meannnn it’s good?

Have you ever read any self-help books? I have a feeling I have but I have no memory of it. That’s not the book genre I’d normally go for.

What was the last book you read? Dernières nouvelles des choses: Une expérience philosophique by Roger-Pol Droit.

Do you thank the bus driver?

No, I would have to raise my voice for the driver to hear me and I hate raising my voice, especially in public settings.

How many tabs are open right now? 8 tabs. I like to toggle between different sites often so I want to have multiple tabs open.

Have you ever had your heart broken? I guess. Nothing super serious but it still affected me a lot.

Do you wear makeup much? I always do my brows if I go outside because my brows are very blonde and it just looks like I have no eyebrows and that doesn’t look good on me. But I like wearing other products as well quite often, makes me look prettier.

When was the last time you flirted? I don’t know. Never?

What should you be doing right now? Nothing I should be doing. I could go to bed since it’s almost midnight but I don’t feel like doing that just yet. And I don’t have any reason to wake up early tomorrow, so.

Do you usually get good grades at school? In elementary school, kinda. In middle school, no. In high school, yes.

How did you and your first best-friend meet? My first best friend was in the same class in elementary school as me. We’re not friends anymore since our friendship started fading away during middle school.

Do you like short hair on girls? I like girls with short hair and girls with long hair.

How about long hair on guys? ^ same thing.

When was the last time someone told you they loved you? I don’t know.

Are you a righty or a lefty? Righty.

Do you think someone’s thinking about you? Most likely no.

What is your favorite month? The months from october to february.

What is your favorite color? I like all the colors. I guess I still always say purple and (dark) blue.

Who was your last phone call from? From my mom.

Have you ever trusted someone you wish you wouldn’t have? Yeah, I trust people way too easily.

What color are your eyes? Blue/grey/green/idk.

If you could go back in time and change things, would you? Noo. I’ve seen The Back to the Future enough times to know it’s not worth it.

Do you like your smile? No. I used to not even think anything of my smile but for some annoying reason for the past couple years I’ve become aware of my smile and came to the conclusion that I don’t like it.

What made you the happiest today? I made homemade bread and it turned out perfect.

Who was the last boy you texted? Idk. My dad? lol

Do you get along with your parents? Yes. I’m not close with my dad but we get along perfectly fine.

Are you scared of needles? I’m not. I don’t know if this is a little goofy but I like getting my blood drawn. I like the little pinch it gives me.

Do you believe love can last forever? Of course.

Do you like the ocean? Hmmm, sure. I don’t have strong feelings about it but it’s nice.

Are you allergic to anything? If so, what? To penicillin. Also I get really particularly big bumps from mosquito bites.

Do you know anyone who is/was a drug addict? No.

What is currently the most tan spot on your body right now? I uhhh…don’t know. My skin color is equally distributed haha?? < Lol same.

What is your dream job? I have no idea.

Would you say you are ‘popular’? Nope. I honestly love that now. I like having only a small circle of people around me.

Do you tend to cave into peer pressure? No.

Have you lost anyone close to you? No one close to me has died. Except for our cat when I was about 10.

Would you say that you are an intelligent person? I think I have pretty good “social intelligence”. I can read people really well. I have a lot of thoughts and I always like to examine everything from different prespectives. But I’m not good at things like problem-solving, planning etc. I am a slow learner and don’t have the attentiveness to even learn.

Who was the last person to hurt you? My best friend.

Are good-byes easy or hard for you? Hard, because I get attached to people very easily.

#survey #surveys

0 notes

dzpenumbra · 1 year

Text

6/12/23

Starting to feel a bit run-down now at the end of the day, but today wasn't half bad. A big change from the big waves of physical anxiety shit I've been dealing with the past few days.

I slept through an entire sleep cycle (I think). I improvised yoga again since I just... hopped right back into RP streams again. I did a workout that I was kinda dreading because I was worried it was going to be the one that kicked my ass. 3 sets with 2 minutes rest in between - 10 sit-ups, 20 punches at the peak of a sit up, 10 flutter kicks (x2 per set) So, that was a total of 60 sit ups in one workout today, plus all the other shit. And I'm not even that sore, like... just a little on my sides. I'm actually surprised. I did get that thing where my muscles just wouldn't pull me up, so I'd have to kick my legs a tiny bit, but only towards the last few sit ups. I remember doing this exact routine before and really struggling with the ab stuff, to the point of actually just quitting the exercise early. So, I guess lately I've been putting on weight a little, but I've also been getting stronger. I'm okay with that.

I spent some time looking at diet stuff. It's still weird, but I'm trying to see the good in it, specifically by trying to get myself excited about cooking again. It was actually the first thing I did today, still in bed. I came to the conclusion that fiber = good and animal fat = bad. And I'm kinda piggybacking off this dietary thing to just... go ahead and trim meat out of my diet. I might as well, I barely consume it anyway. That's the long-term plan, anyway. Wouldn't be the first time, I was vegetarian for 3 years in the past. For right now, I'm re-introducing more homemade chinese food to the menu. I actually stopped making my fried rice when I stopped getting chinese takeout from the place next to my building. It was just too goddamn expensive. I can't be shelling out $50 for takeout for one fucking person. And I was making my fried rice from the rice they gave me, so... that went on hold for a bit. Hoping to make a comeback here.

The new additions to the diet? Cold Sesame Noodles, Chicken and Broccoli, and Rice + Bean Burritos. Should be good additions, I don't think there's really anything bad in there besides cheese and maybe sour cream. I guess the big no-no's are... cream-based stuff and animal fats, that's what I'm kinda gathering. So like... fatty meat cuts, butter, sour cream, whole milk, stuff like that. 3 of those things are in my fridge right now... XD So, gonna fix the milk thing soon enough, which is not really the end of the world honestly. Cheese is my fucking vice though, that's the one I really do NOT like the idea of parting with. I will part ways with ice cream way before I get rid of cheese.

On that note, I made 3 baked potatoes with pepper jack, about 1/3 the butter I normally use, a tiny dab of sour cream and a bunch of scallions. Really good. Probably not a regular meal from here forward though, we'll see. Quantity is relevant.

I should probably talk about this. I am trying to balance out... taking these test results seriously... and freaking out and becoming a paranoid health nut. Because I have a very clear genetic and habitual predisposition that leans me towards that specific obsession. My dad has been obsessed with his fitness and nutrition as far back as I can remember. I think my mom told me that it started around when they had kids, around when he was my age. Maybe he even got a test like this, and he just went full-tilt obsessed with it. That and work, of course. And... because he spent all of his time and brainpower fixated on work 24/7 and his own fitness and nutrition... my brothers and I grew up without a father. So... despite not having kids myself, I know the toll that can be taken from having good intentions that are rooted in obsessive fear. And one of the first things I did was let my therapist know that stuff about my dad, so that if I start rabbit-holing and freaking out... he'll know why. It's so relieving to have someone understanding on deck who I can just give a heads up like that, even if it's not necessary. Very glad I took giant swan dives of faith with my vulnerabilities and shameful stuff in the past so that now... it's pretty damn easy to just go - "hey, just letting you know that I have a really deep-rooted insecurity around that thing we talked about today, and it's because of _____. Just for the record, in case it becomes relevant in the future. Have a nice weekend!" Shallow "friends" and emotionally detached people hate it when I do that, they even see it as aggressive (somehow?), but being able to share openly and honestly is an invaluable social asset, I think.

I am pretty proud to say that I didn't work today. I took the day off. I started up a new Rimworld colony because... fuck it... and just kinda chilled and watched streams and played Rimworld. I was so fucking locked in on work yesterday and I got so much more done than I expected that I thought it would be a good idea. I really do think it was, I feel a lot more calm and recharged. Even tired at 4 AM.

Honestly, that's pretty much been the day. Chill Sunday, throwing together recipes, playing Rimworld, throwing together a grocery list that I'll hopefully get delivered tomorrow. Lots of exercise, and now... I'm a bit run down. My stomach's upset, which doesn't happen often for me, so my body is just like... "what the fuck is happening, PANIC!"

Luckily it's right at the end of the night, so I can just finish up here and just go curl up and pass out and all should be well. I'll wrap up with some tarot, of course.

Past - Eight of Swords (Feeling trapped and powerless. Being conditioned and complacent, not being able to see objectively. But if you can, this is an opportunity to remove yourself from that trap.) Present - Four of Swords (Rest. Taking time to recover and seek respite.) Future - Three of Pentacles, inverted (Teamwork, accomplishing more together.)

Alright, these are all new cards tonight, so that's a big accomplishment in itself. Some surprisingly simple and easy to interpret ones, as well.

The thread starts with the Eight of Swords. The symbol immediately struck me powerfully, because the card is an image of a bound woman surrounded by swords. In the image, she is bound by ribbons. This struck me because... I used to have a recurring image that stuck with me - in dreams, in intuitive sketches, in inspiration - of a bound woman... but the binding was sorta... coming undone. In my... I never really evolved the language to communicate what these... flashes of images that just come to me and then I turn them into art, what to call them... I often just call that inspiration. So, in that... the woman is bound with black ribbon or electrical tape, something like that. And she is bound usually in a manner that aesthetically resembles clothing, so around her breasts and hips. And the ends of the binding material sorta flap in the wind. And she was often being pulled up towards the moon by her heart, and levitating with outstretched arms. I ended up adapting this character into a tattoo that takes up the entirety of the outside of my calf - she has long hair and a fire tattoo on the side of her torso, and is armed with a handgun. A lot of... let's just generously use the term "sex-positive people"... have looked at this image and superimposed sexuality onto it... which has upset me a lot over the years, but... you know how people are. The binding is very directly symbolic of being trapped and constrained, and yet that constraint being something that keeps you safe from vulnerability to the world, being symbolically naked. Most of that symbolism I speculate to be emotional vulnerability. And due to that trap, she developed the need for self-protection. But her gun is lowered, and her face is calm. She was always a sorta... guardian angel figure to me. I don't really know how to describe that fully, but that's always been my attachment to her and that tattoo; she's a protector, a guardian. Maybe she remains bound... so that I no longer have to be.

Huge backstory to say... this image in Eight of Swords is a very similar and familiar figure. But the gist of Eight of Swords is... from my understanding... that this is something that appears to be a trap or constraint... but from other perspectives actually is not. An illusion, of sorts. And perspective can set you free.

This image is connected to the Four of Swords. This is, quite simply... rest and recovery. Plain and simple.

And this is connected to... inverted Three of Pentacles, which is a representation of teamwork. Many hands making light work that benefits everyone. But... that's in disorder.

So... in short... a shift of perspective that breaks a trap or illusion that I am (or was) stuck in... leads to a state where I can finally recover... but that creates the snag where I'm disconnected from others, and won't have helping hands. Something to prepare for. And this definitely seems to be a cycle I fall in a lot. I finally realize I'm stuck in this Chinese Finger Trap situation where I realize "oh, I can just walk away from this toxicity"... and then I finally get the balls to do it... and I revel in the bliss of peace and rest and recovery, and take care of myself alone... and then the second I realize I can't survive in this world alone and look around for a helping hand? No one to be found. Yeah. So... this is a good reminder of that.

Birds are chirpin, time for bed. Imma take a short relaxing bath first. Have a good one!

#diary #journal #online journal #stream of thoughts #stream of consciousness

0 notes