#anyway I’m not sure I’d consider these recs so I won’t put them in my recs tag

[obstinaterixatrix]

I read all of The Honest Life of a Game Studio and now I am obsessed do you have recs for anything like it.

I wish. I FUCKING WISH. but it’s really one of a kind. higefusa really just wrote mundane slice of life office drama with the level of detail that could only be provided by a gamer who has worked in the industry AND he threw in some life or death stakes as a treat. how often do we get an incredibly normal office worker stuck in time prison??? and it’s ONE ARC??? not often enough.

none of these are gonna be just like game-ya but in terms of romances with attention to detail for industry/niche fields… ok all of these are gonna be kind of weird so bear with me.

double section is a BL about an auditor for an insurance company and an insurance salesman, I wouldn’t necessarily give it a blanket rec but I liked how Passionate the main characters were about audits and workplace regulations. a lot of heated drama for the most normal office setting possible. in the author’s note the artist talks about interviewing health insurance salesmen.

ginmokusei is more of a conventional BL but it’s about a guy who inherited his grandpa’s tailor shop and an ex maître d who shows up and demands to help him before he goes bankrupt. there’s a little bit about branding and marketing and bank loans. what has Always Stayed With Me is when the love interest basically goes like ‘you’re using all these flashy ads and being really pushy with discounts. are you selling beef bowls.’ every time I pass a clothes shop that goes really flashy with the discount banners I think ‘are they selling beef bowls…’

panel x magic. okay I said it was going to be weird. so this yuri is about a recent graduate who applies for office jobs and ends up doing image editing for… I guess a brothel? it doesn’t go into critiques of the sex industry, but I thought it was interesting how it takes a really logistical perspective in terms of marketing, advertising, and image manipulation… one of the chapters has the main character going like ‘oh god I’m trying to edit this risqué photo by making the thighs thinner and giving the face a glow-up but I keep making the model look like a weird alien this looks like something from a photo booth’ and gets advice from her coworkers like ‘hey why don’t you look up makeup tutorials to get a sense of what to touch up.’ hasn’t been translated in a while but it kind of hits that… really in-depth look at the logistics of a job.

I think there’s more I’m not remembering at the moment, at one point I think sundry made a joke about rating office romances by how much office work is shown. there’s a couple ones that *kinda* fit but not really… wait. wait wait wait. WAIT. oh my god it has such a h•rny title. okay. so I’m being 100% sincere when I say that the main story for hammered and pounded is a BL with interesting office politics. it’s also incredibly h•rny, but game-ya gets pretty h•rny so whatever. but yeah there’s a whole subplot where the love interest, who works in sales, has actually always wanted to work in R&D, and it becomes A Whole Thing where the head of R&D is in conflict with the head of sales over whether or not a transfer is gonna happen and there’s no romance involved with the conflict it’s all office politics

and in a similar vein, to your right, you will see my boyfriend is about a guy who’s working as a tour guide in kyoto and at the artist talks about how she used to work as a tour guide. I think it’s fun, though I have my qualms. the main character does do studying about how to be an effective tour guide and goes from being like ‘ugh I’m saying all the facts but no one’s listening’ to ‘haha check out this extremely long name of the temple we’re about to see! make sure to remember it, it’ll be the password for getting off the bus ;D’

I have another category of vaguely similar vibes of genre bending mundane office work + fantastical situations

tokusatsu gagaga is a gen series that’s a BIG fave of mine, the main character is an OL who loves tokusatsu so she imagines a lot of scenarios with that sort of vibe. it’s not diagetic, but it’s really fun when it’s stuff like ‘I’M AT KARAOKE WITH MY COWORKERS BUT I CAN’T OUT MYSELF AS A TOKUSATSU OTAKU THIS IS JUST LIKE BEING ATTACKED BY A KARAOKE-THEMED MONSTER EMERJASON HELP ME!!!!’ the eng tl hasn’t been updated in a while but there’s a live action adaption that’s really good

magilumiere co. ltd. is a gen series that’s basically ‘what if magical girls were like… sanitation workers for monsters’ so it’s a lot of company logistics in a fantastical setting. I don’t think I got that far into it before getting distracted, but it was interesting (though perhaps overly generous/idealistic about start-ups as a concept).

#ask #anonymous #gylb #orlbs #there’s also stuff like #perfect propose I really enjoyed for how it really highlights how toxic workplaces manipulate/exploit workers #(consent is an issue for that series tho) #and 24 hour kiss actually has stuff like ‘the manufacturer fucked up our bags what are we going to do’ #(consent is a REALLY BIG ISSUE for that series tho) #anyway I’m not sure I’d consider these recs so I won’t put them in my recs tag #my god I spent like an hour on this #Gohan no Otomo ni… kinda…? #recs

[hunxi-after-hours]

a humble invitation to lose your mind about 《声入人心》 with me

finally getting around to a rec post for 《声入人心》 Sheng Ru Ren Xin / Super-Vocal because this lowkey might be the best show I’ve watched in the year of our eternal suffering 2021. yes, you heard me right, this variety show from 2018 is quite possibly my favorite television thing I’ve consumed all year

(rolls up sleeves) aight here we go—

what is 《声入人心》 / Super-Vocal, and what’s up with that title?

《声入人心》 is a 2018-19 Chinese variety show where they gathered a ludicrously talented cast of 36 classically-trained male singers and had them do ludicrously talented vocalist things for 12 whole episodes of musical virtuosity. nominally, the cast is competing for six 首席 shou xi / uhhh “finalist” seats, but lest that put you off, the first nine episodes feature absolutely zero elimination — they pit challengers from the remaining 30 against the top 6 each episode, and regularly re-shuffle the positions based on performance

the title is actually a delightful pun on the chengyu, 深入人心 shen ru ren xin / “to enter deeply into the hearts of people” (used to describe something of great influence and resonance) by swapping out the first character 深 shen / “deep” with 声 sheng / “sound” so the name of the show becomes something along the lines of “sound that reaches deep into your heart”

who knows where “Super-Vocal” came from, though I will concede that everyone involved in this show is pretty Super and there sure is Much Vocal happening

what sets this music-based variety show from other music-based variety shows?

good question! not one I’m particularly qualified to answer, considering that this is (checks notes) the first music-based variety show I’ve ever watched. 《声入人心》 focuses primarily on 美声 mei sheng / bel canto, which means most of their performances explore the spectrum of classical opera, operatic pop, musical theater, and folk songs (and sometimes Beyonce so tbh anything can happen, really). you’ll hear songs in Chinese, English, French, Italian, Spanish, and occasionally a multilingual mix of the above

the show also makes technical aspects of song and music theory accessible; little pop-ups will helpfully identify when key changes occur, and the performances steadily increase in difficulty as the participants move from duets to three-part and four-part harmony (good god the harmonies on these performances). I genuinely felt like I learned a lot about music and vocal performance just from watching this show, which is super exciting!

that’s all very well and good hunxi, but what about the people?

GLAD YOU ASKED because I love everyone in this bar. like, the music in this show is objectively spectacular but the heart of this show lies in the interactions between all the contestants, who are overwhelmingly supportive rather than competitive with each other (I personally find it hilarious how the editing attempts to generate Conflict and Tension but really everyone is extremely wholesome and encouraging and mutually appreciative of each other). everyone just loves music So Much

anyway, the contestants range from 19-year-olds who are still in college to their professors who have put out professional albums to singer-songwriters secretly running the pop music industry to independent up-and-coming musicians to stars of the Chinese musical theater scene, so there’s quite a nice spread of experience, vocal ranges, and musical styles 

and because I, unsurprisingly, play favorites, I’d like to specifically shout out:

王晰 Wang Xi: this is in fact the man I won’t stop yelling about since his newest album 《B面图景》 just dropped; he has a baritone to make your knees go weak and a devastatingly dry wit capable of rendering even Ayanga speechless

周深 Zhou Shen: there is a dearth of him in the first few episodes but don’t fret! As soon as he gets the chance to sing everyone is immediately floored. This is still relatively early on in Zhou Shen’s career and outside of his musical comfort zone, so he’s actually quite shy and uncertain of himself until Wang Xi forcibly adopts him

阿云嘎 Ayanga: I made an entire separate post about this man and I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to call him the protagonist of this variety show. let’s just say that prior to this show I knew of him and after this show I would die for him

郑云龙 Zheng Yunlong: known as 音乐剧王子 “the prince of musical theater,” he definitively proves that he deserves that title throughout this show. One of the chillest chaos agents ever to grace a stage. Also he and Ayanga used to be roommates in college and I live for them dragging each other (okay it’s mostly Zheng Yunlong dragging Ayanga) every chance they get

honorary shout-outs to 蔡程昱, the goodest boy, 翟李朔天, for having The Most Flair All The Time, 方书剑, a literal sunshine puppy, 余笛老师, for a truly stunning range, and 简弘亦, who I maintain deserved far more screentime than he got, and look I can keep going but at this rate I’ll just go through all 36 of them so you should just watch the show and understand exactly why I’m like this now

can I get a sampler of the music so I can know what to expect?

absolutely! behold, recommendations based on any qualms or queries you might have:

“Operatic pop? What’s that?” Glad you asked, give "Grande Amore” a try, and if that doesn’t float your boat, I offer for your consideration “Melodramma” and “Les Rois du Monde”

"I mean, how good can the harmonies really get?” Get a load of Wang Xi, Ju Hongchuan, and Li Qi absolutely rocking these harmonies in “Sound of Silence”

“But I was promised musical theater?” and so you shall have it, here’s Zhou Shen singing “Memory” in two languages and Jia Fan, Cai Chengyu, and Ding Hui singing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” in three part harmony, just because they can

“uhhh why are all of your recs not in Chinese? do they sing in Chinese at all?” yes they do, and they’re bangers

“Ayanga? 🥺” Ayanga <3. (also 双云 <3 <3 <3)

what else should I know going in?

hmmm, some housekeeping:

for reasons of copyright, some songs have been muted on the YouTube episodes; you can usually track down the performances by searching for the song/performers’ names + “声入人心 纯享版,” I only think there was one I had to go searching on bilibili for

the first two episodes are all 36 of the contestants performing a sample from their vocal range! don’t worry about remembering everyone; simply sit back and enjoy everyone mutually fanboying over everyone else’s talent

I think these have English subs on the YouTube videos! no idea how good they are, but they Sure Are There

ooooh keep an eye out for 马克 Mark, the pianist! he is a certified Legend

欢迎大家随我入坑 :)))))))

#hunxi does variety shows #I've been inspired by attilarrific come join me on my (very select) cvariety agenda #《声入人心》 #Super-Vocal

[yuzukult]

i’m bad too 15 || kdy & reader

title: i’m bad too - drabble series pairing: kim doyoung x reader genre: angst, fluff, smut, goodboy!doyoung, nerdy!dy (basically he’s a dork) & badgirl!reader, hitman!au, oc-isn’t-a-hitman-but-she-could-be!au, word count: 1.8k warnings: none !! a/n: a “leading” chapter, before something actually happens! so, not the most exciting, but... yeah. :D

please let me know if anyone wants to be tagged! taglist: @wownajaemin​​​​ @crescent-iak​​​​ @ncttboo​​​​ @byunbaekby​​​​​ @jinfizz​​ @doyoungyoung​​ @ahgayeah0305​​ @doyobun​​ @sexualitaeyong​ @mrkleelvr​​ @m1ss-foodi3​​

← previous chapter || next chapter →​​

If it’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself, it’s that you hate when Ten chews his food with his mouth open. He chomps it like a cow munching on grass, and sometimes, he even makes those weird wet sounds if the food is soft and squishy enough.

But after laying in a hospital bed for a week, unable to speak, you’re missing the ability to call your big brother ‘disgusting’ across the table, toss something in his direction, and him opening his mouth to show the contents of his dinner inside.

“Are you fucking insane? You let her go into hellfire, knowing damn well she wasn’t protected?” The voice is familiar, loud, and straining, like they’re on the verge of tears but too instilled with anger to let the sadness seep through. “I thought I said to keep her fucking safe if you wanted to work together.”

“I don’t work in the field, Ten. I don’t control what happens at the moment.”

“Yeah, but you set the commands. You give the orders. She’s fucking on her deathbed, Taeyong—“

“Don’t fucking say my name in public,” he hisses through his gritted teeth. “Listen. If it’s not her, it’s me.”

“I’d rather it be you.”

“You need me, Ten. Who is gonna do the dirty work for you? Look at those pretty fingers. You wouldn’t hurt a soul. But your sister—you know damn well she’s got potential to be more. This is just a hurl she’s jumping over. When she recovers—“

“You’ve got to be fucking insane, you think I’m gonna let her go back out there when you put her in harms way?”

Before the conversation could continue, you hear the door click shut, and the shuffling of flat shoes tapping against the cold tiles, reaching to your bedside. You can’t see, your body won’t let you fully awaken, and you can’t speak with this tube lodged in your throat. But the whiff of the cologne that comes hits your nostrils is a familiar one. It’s Doyoung.

He sighs, like he’s been troubled and you can’t even blame him. You told him not to worry, that you’d stay safe, and here you are—unable to move, unable to wake up, unable to breathe on your own, and unable to talk.

You hear his moments; the scuffing of his oversized denim jacket against the leather seat by your bed, browsing through the drawers with each push and slam until he finds what he’s looking for, and when you hear the television turn on, you could only assume it was for the remote.

“I wonder if they have Marvel movies playing,” he says, seemingly to no one in particular until you realize he’s speaking to you, in spite of the fact that you’re very much in a deep sleep. “I know they’re not your favorite, but you tolerate it. I never got to ask what kind of movies you liked. I… I guess I was being a little selfish when you gave me attention that I never considered to ask.”

You wanna tell him that you actually don’t even like movies, in fact, you prefer sitcoms in spite of your very evident opposite personality. If you could, you would tell him that you watch those superhero movies because he’s into them, that if you get to see that pretty little smile on his face, it makes you forget all your problems and… the moment is worthwhile.

Warmth reaches your fingers, and you could only assume that it’s Doyoung holding your hand. It’s a familiar feeling of home, like you’re meant to be here with him, except the current setting isn’t necessarily favored.

“Do you like Spongebob?” He asks, as if you could even respond. “Mm. Doesn’t really seem like your thing, but I feel like you’re the type to not look like you enjoy it, but you actually love it because it’s annoying.”

He’s… right. You want to laugh, genuinely laugh because Kim Doyoung is spot on with his prediction. He knows you better than he gives himself credit for, because he doesn’t change the channel and watches the TV with you.

“I bet you like sitcoms,” Doyoung mentions randomly, eyes still on the screen. “Like maybe not Modern Family, but maybe like… Parks and Rec. You don’t seem like you’d enjoy the Office too much, maybe Michael Scott is too much of a character but Andy Bernard looks like a guy you’d scare to the point he’d piss his pants, but you’d like him.” Again, you think to yourself. Because Doyoung got it right yet again.

He’s quiet for a bit, letting Spongebob play in the background and you could hear the conversation between Spongebob and Patrick. Truthfully, you don’t know what’s actually happening, but the feeling of being with Doyoung like this, hand in hand with something stupid playing on TV is your favorite.

It’s casual. No missions, no guns, no family business—just you and Doyoung.

Doyoung doesn’t say much on the day you finally wake up. With a tube wedged down your throat, it’s difficult to have a two-way conversation anyways, and seeing you like this probably breaks his heart, so any word that leaves his mouth might be with a stutter and a sob.

Spongebob plays on the television for another hour before Doyoung eventually breaks the glass of quietude, letting out a soft chuckle at something Patrick said. “Sorry,” he apologizes quickly, glancing over at you. “Wasn’t sure if you liked Spongebob.” Although you can’t speak, the soft squeeze of his hand gives away your approval, and a gentle smile tugs on his face.

There's another moment of silence, just before Doyoung lowers the volume of the TV before gathering enough courage to talk. It takes a lot to get himself to speak up against you, someone he sort of feared yet at the same time had strong feelings for.

“I know what you do,” he announces, eyes never leaving the flickering screen with cartoon characters under the deep blue sea do stupid things, unmatching to what he wants to say next. “I can’t say that I totally get it, because I don’t. I’d be lying if I said I did, but… you do those things, and I’m not a hundred percent sure what to make out of it, but I get why it was hard to confess… those things.” He runs his fingers through his greasy locks, accumulating in oils from how long he’s stayed here without going home to shower. “I kind of thought I was going to date someone really simple one day, yaknow? Settle down with a girl who has a job, sweet and kind, with the same end goal in mind. Get married, have kids… all that fun stuff.”

Your nose twitches at that. Because you’re definitely not that.

“But then I met you, which is… well,” he lets out a faint laugh, “... the complete opposite of all of that. You’re dangerous, cold, and oftentimes, I’m left hanging by a thread, confused on what we are and what I actually mean to you.”

If you could, you’d interrupt him right then and there. Tell him your sorrys, belatedly confessing your true feelings for him, let him know you’d be better for real this time, but truthfully, you’re not sure if he’ll believe you anyway.

“And I could just drop everything right now. Just get up, leave, move on. Tell you that I don’t want this anymore, that whatever you’re in, I don’t wanna be roped in and get involved in your baggage.” It’s like you could hear the cracking of your heart as it falls into the depths of your stomach because your chest feels empty when he says that. The worst part is when you can’t defend yourself, tell him that it’s not like that, but in the end, Doyoung does it for you.

“Yet, I’m still here, right? Because I don’t get you, I don’t get whatever it is you got yourself caught up in, but… after knowing, it oddly makes me… trust you more. So, I’ll stay.”

“Fuck,” Ten curses underneath his breath, getting slightly frustrated with the wheelchair being caught on the steps of your home again. “Fucking shit, nothing here is disability accessible.”

It’s still hard to talk, but a weak laugh escapes from your lips.

“Don’t laugh, you’re the one in the wheelchair not doing shit.”

When he gets you through the front door, and into the hallway, you can’t help but stare at Ten curiously. He furrows his brows at this, hands at his hips with a gesture of his chin. “What’s in your head?”

“Uh,” it’s straining to speak, but if not now, it’s never. “I overheard a conversation when I was asleep. I-I don’t know if it was a dream or… I don’t know. But I heard you talking to someone, uh, someone particularly… with a reputation.”

His body goes rigid.

“Right,” you state, feeling more confident that the discussion was definitely not a dream. “So this entire time, you’ve been working with the organization?” Ten only sucks his cheeks, unable to formulate a proper rebuttal, so you take advantage of this. “This whole time, you let them constantly probe and ask me to be part of them—”

“I told him not to—”

“Well, he’s been asking, Ten, and he hasn’t stopped. I got contracted to be part of them temporarily, not permanently. This was supposed to be a one and done deal, you realize that, right?”

He scoffs. “You think that anything you do with Lee Taeyong could just be easily brushed under the rug? Hell no, you have to be insanely rich to pay off that guy. He thinks you’re talented, you know? What do you think this is?”

“I could just get up and leave—” “In your fucking dreams, kid,” Ten lets out a chuckle of disbelief, shaking his head. “I agreed to work with him before I knew that you were already contracted with him. There’s shady people in the business. There’s so many messed-up dudes who would bend the laws to get what they want. I don’t want that, but I have to protect myself.”

“But—”

“Wanna hear something, kid? Taeyong doesn’t think this accident,” Ten gestures to your wounds, heart tightening at the sight of you in pain. “... this accident, is just… it. He calls this an obstacle. He thinks this is just a bump in your progress, something you need to overcome before you hop back into the field and start training all over again. He’s not gonna let this go, doesn’t matter if I’m his client. Fuck, kid, he has a shit ton of clients.”

Uneasily, you grip onto the wheels of your seat. “Then what do you want me to do?”

“It’s your loss, kid. Either kill Taeyong and take his seat or you gotta work for him.”

#doyoung smut #doyoung fanfic #nct smut #nct x reader #doyoung x reader #gyukultfics #doyoung #kim doyoung

[interact-if]

Umm hi 👉👈 I realized that most of the asks you guys get are about games and rec lists. You guys deserve so much recognition for the work you put in this blog, so I wanted to ask if I can do a little get-to-know-the-mods thing? If that's okay!

1. Besides writing, what are your hobbies?

2. Do you have a niche interest right now?

3. Any fave songs/artists/bands?

4. Any fave movies/tv shows?

5. On a scale of 1-10, how likely would you survive in your wip's world?

You can totally ignore this if you guys want, no pressure. Anyway, much love to all the interact-if mods! You guys are incredible! ❤

We saw this ask and we went 👀 👀 👀 so we’re happy to answer! Thank you so much for the fun ask!

 We also rated our survivability in all of our collective games, since Mars isn't an author! Fun stuff! Spoilers, though: it’s really not looking so great for me (Dani) but that’s fine!!!  😌

1. I’m a photographer as well as a graphic artist (but not like. A painter/drawer kind of artist!) and, on a general level, a maker and a tinkerer!

2. Fountain pens! I only write with ink, and only with fountain pens, and I use bottled inks/converters!

3. I’m pretty eclectic with music, but my top genres are alt rock, indie, indie pop, etc, as well as top 40s and some rap.

4. I feel like this is the hardest one for me to answer? Favorite movies/shows? Avatar: the Last Airbender has been a favorite show of mine since I was a little kid, but I have a harder time thinking of shows I would call a favorite in recent years. There are shows I’ve liked, and a lot of shows I’ve watched. But I’m picky! And demanding! It takes a lot to earn a place in Dani’s Trophy Case of Favorites. 😌 I would say I quite liked A Quite Place (movie), and I liked Us (movie). When it comes to TV shows, I have a hard time being pleased with them if they don’t end well. As a result, I have a penchant for a good limited series/miniseries (because they’re stories that have an end in mind and the plot reflects that, dagnabbit).

5. Heh. Okay.

In The Goodfellows? I think I stand I chance. I can exercise my sparkling wit and lovable personality to the best effect. I’m gonna give myself an 8/10 survivability rating. Even if I don’t have the right skills, I can go crying to the person who does and they’ll save me. Maybe.

In Creatures’ Cradle? I’m super $**!%d. 😌 1/10 survivability rating. And that 1 is me being nice to myself. The day the apocalypse breaks out I would probably be patient 0. I am self-aware. I would not do well in an apocalypse. Zombies care not for aforementioned sparkling wit and lovable personality, and I have all the muscle of a boiled spaghetti noodle. So it’s a no go.

Greater Than Gods (Cruz): Well. I’m going to be optimistic. And say that I have the wisdom not to do things I shouldn’t do and not to rock boats I shouldn’t rock. I’m going to give myself a 7/10 based on insider information, but also based on reckless optimism!

Vardir (Cruz): Cruz says this is a lighthearted game, so 10/10 LOL.

When it Hungers (Roast): I’m giving myself a nice, mediocre 5/10. I think I could put my mind to work here; I joke that I’m the village idiot, but I’m actually pretty smart! Unfortunately, I’m also curious, and maybe a little bad with authorities who won’t answer my questions. So I knocked off a lot of points due to the fact that I’d probably poke the metaphorical bear. So it’s a real coin flip as to whether I’d really make it or not.

Orthall Bay (Nines): Considering the genre is “horror” and the game intro includes the words “monster” and “maim,” I’m giving myself a whooping, enthusiastic 3/10. Yes, folks, I am that confident in myself! Once again, I can’t charm the socks off a monster (or can I?), so one of my greatest weapons is snatched from beneath my feet. Alas!

1. Beloved I’m a college student in the middle of a pandemic... i can hardly even write LOL i do draw at times which u can see in my personal blog (nothing too good really) and i used to do karate before things went to shit <3

2. Nothing niche I believe? All I do is leave Netflix as bg noise every day n play popular videgames (genshin)

3. Porter Robinson <3 I love Bea Miller a lot as well but lately I’ve been feeling Porter a lot

4. The Good Place <3

5. My WIPs:

Greater than Gods: Highly situational, the world GtG is set in is as broad as the real world LOL so I don’t have an universal answer. But keeping it vague, and knowing my own personality, I feel like 5/10. depends on my luck.

Vardir: 10/10 no one dies in Vikgade, unless you’re a hunter but I wouldn’t be a hunter <3

Others’ WIPs

I'm gonna give myself a solid 5/10 in all other WIPs because y'all aren't writing lighthearted stories either. I feel like as long as I avoid the role of the MC I will be mostly fine. I hope. But as Dani said I'm also prone to fight the wrong person and dig my own grave so 😌

1. Well, writing is a very, very, very, distant hobby since Words Hard, but I like to crochet and sculpt a little! Anything to do with fiddling with my hands and I’m good to go. And like, debatable but graphic design is my passion [insert clown emoji here since Tumblr said No]

2. Oh yeah a bunch! DnD yelling at people, thinking of arson, crocheting, rock climbing and simply vibing. I got into podcasts a few years ago and I’m always looking for more recs, so if you have some, hmu 😤

3. Pls,,,,my music taste is,,,so weird do not let me expose myself with lack of consistency but uhh. Current songs that are stuck in my head include; Cult of Dionysus , Achilles Come Down and The Last Shanty  

4. If you’ve ever spoken to me before, I probably yelled about Pacific Rim to you or at you. Plus I love all The Mummy films and really enjoyed Castlevania (s3 excluded, we do not perceive that) as well! 

5. Ah, mod survival simulator pt. 3

Alright, let’s go!  I don’t have a WIP because again, words hard, but like, considering how feral I am when not tryna seem professional hm... 

The Goodfellows: I wanna say a solid 7/10 because I’d hardcore vibe with the Traveler and probably instigate so much nonsense. I can also bribe with blueberry cake so maybe. 

Creature’s Cradle: maybe a 4/10 and only because of pure spite keeping me alive long enough to smack someone. I’ve prepared for hypothetical  zombie apolcapyses and I won’t hesitate to bap, but will be bapped back because I’m weak as hell. 

Greater Than Gods: a toss up between 2/10 and 7/10! I can vibe and be chill but I also have terrible impulse control so... 

Vardir: hm....I think pretty good survival rates all around? If you ask me to fight then like, okay sure, your knees are mine. So maybe a 8/10? 

When it Hungers: .......8/10 just because I’d refuse to die if I can be a cool creature. Living for the aesthetic can and will drag me outta hell. But I’m also clumsy as hell so I’d probably crash as a porcelain or hold a rooster and perish (aka, real rating is a good 3/10) 

Orthall Bay: 2/10, nope. Nope I’d be taken out in a heartbeat. Monsters can go pspsps and I’d head straight into the dark creepy forest like a fool if someone comes @ me. Half the time I’ll just assume it’s sfx makeup and vibe until it’s too late. 

god, never put me in a universe where I cannot squawk like a bird and throw pebbles from a window. Oof

Anon, you're so sweet! I give you a forehead smoomch <333 As for your questions...

1. If I'm not writing, I'm usually watching video essays on Youtube. My go-to channels as of right now is Disrupt and Aperture! I just really like their videos. Aside from that, I recently got into podcasts. Currently going through Hello From The Hallowoods and Shelter and Warning, which are made by queer creators!

2. Oh oof, there's quite a bit so I'm just gonna put down one thing. For some reason, I really got into collecting tiny astronaut things? I recently bought this astronaut desk light, and I've got a package coming in for the miniatures I ordered. No purpose for them other than I think they're neat <3

3. I'm a bit private with my music taste (even tho I have Spotify connected on Discord lmao), but there's 5 songs that I'm currently obsessed with. I keep replaying them over and over again. Just squeezing all the serotonin I could get outta them.

4. I can't really say I have a fave TV show or movie because I can't really just pick one, but my current fave is 9-1-1 and Resident Alien. 9-1-1 because I just really love the found-family dynamics and how the show tackles sensitive topics, and Resident Alien because it's lighthearted comedy. My all-time fave movie is Flipped! I have the book too and I like rereading from time to time <3

5. You're in for a doozy, anon, because we're rating each other's games <333

The Goodfellows: 7/10

Listen. Shenanigans with the Traveler. I would get up to so many of them and that is what'll get me possibly bodied, not the actual environment itself <3

Greater than Gods: 7/10

I like to think I have enough common sense to uhhh not recklessly flip stones that should not be flipped <3 I'm a cautious and skeptic person irl so I think I'll hold up well? Then again, it's a vast environment change and while I can adapt pretty quick, I wouldn't like the lack of control in the unknown.

Vardir: 10/10

Going off what Cruz said, Vardir is lighthearted and focused on personal growth so I think I'll be okay! Self-growth here I come, babey!

Creatures' Cradle: 8/10

Maybe I'm overestimating myself, but I think I'll be able to survive in a supernatural post-apocalyptic world! Ah, but it depends on the motivation though. I like the idea of rebuilding communities and eventually societies, but the survival turmoil would be a constant battle I'd have to overcome. If we're talking survival itself though, I think I'll do well.

When it Hungers: 8/10

That's probably my wishful thinking but I think I'll be fine. Maybe. Possibly. Don't like the idea of being regulated by an organization so if I was a non-human creature that could pose a problem but I can roll with it <3

Orthall Bay: 6/10

Assuming I'm not playing as MC, my chances of survival uhhh changes quite drastically. Not enough to guarantee an untimely demise, but certainly enough that it would constantly keep me on my toes. I think that's the safest answer I can get without spoiling anything lmao

Thank you so much for asking! It's super sweet of you <3

1. Too many :'D I knit, I sew, I do carpentry (well, learning), I bake, I'm hammering away at HTML and CSS, my job kind of encourages learning new things and I take that to picking up new hobbies!

2. My time is kind of consumed with school work and work work and WIP work so not a lot of time to pursue niche interests right now. I've been watching a lot of horror game playthroughs, true crime youtubers, and an adorable show on Netflix called the Repair Shop <3

3. My taste in music is "what am I vibing with atm?" I've been listening to a lot of 80's music atm (don't @ me), but also Lo Fang and Kaleo, and whatever spotify recommends me on my discover weekly which is usually complete chaos.

4. I love the Mummy even though it hasn't aged 100% well (I'm a librarian, of course it's one of my gotos LOL), Legally Blonde, Leverage, Jumanji (the original), I'm....very bad at having recent tastes... and very bad at remembering my favorites when asked.

5.

The Goodfellows: I'm a creature of comfort, 5/10 if I can just luxuriate in town and not actually interact with the story sfjkdbsdkf

Creature’s Cradle: I'd like to think I have a 50/50 shot XD 5/10, I want to think I'd be decent at a zombie apocalypse but ultimately would suffer an early fate.

Greater Than Gods: 10/10 if I'm just vibing, less so if I'm involved in the actual story XD

Vardir: I'd still suffer without technology but I can also knit for a living in this world so I'm down 8/10

When it Hungers: I feel like I could vibe here, there's tech if dated, hot showers, telephones are around by now... might still get bored. 7/10 though it'd be cool to be another creature....I should make a 'what creature of snv are you' quiz!

Orthall Bay: 7/10 idk I feel like after the first monster of the week I'd just skip town XDDDD I'm the worst protagonist, I see danger I just leave.

#mod talk #long post #interact if: asks

[renjunfromthestars]

one last time

Pairing: Haechan + Reader

Genre: Angst, smut? suggestive, fluff, established relationship

Song recs: Lose by Niki,Pluto Projector by Rex Orange County, Sofia by Clario

Warnings: 

Word Count: 2.9k

Summary:

Sometimes, just loving each other isn’t a reason to continue being together.

or

Life consists of moments, and some people are only meant to stay in your life for a moment.

___

September (Now)

When you wake up, it’s breaking dawn. Despite the layers you’re tangled in, it’s still cold in the little one bedroom apartment you share with Haechan downtown. There’s an obscene amount of blankets for the sheer size of the bed; the air condition has been blasting too low for weeks, and neither of you have bothered trying to turn it off. 

The kitchen sink has clogged up a couple days ago, from the buildup of grease or a stray utensil you don’t know—just that the dishes have piled up, and much like the thin balance that holds you and Haechan together, are on the verge of collapsing. 

You question if he still lives with you out of fear of being alone, but you know the answer has always lied in the thin white sheets of the empty two sized bed when you wake up.

Even so, during the rare moments you wake up early enough to see him next to you, there’s an unspoken wall split down the white sheets, and you haven’t really kissed each other in weeks.

As your eyes dart around the room, what should really be considered evidence of your relationship seems old, like artifacts, untouched for centuries. The picture frame that once graced the nightstand, trapped in the crevice between the wall, the 70-millimeter projector Haechan bought you for christmas, back in the box, collecting dust and untouched. 

It’s another day, another changing of the seasons, and you’re still looking for someone to blame, but it's hard to point fingers at someone who isn’t there. 

It’s hard for Haechan to do wrong when he hasn’t been doing anything. So maybe it’s you that make the moments alone feel so long, as you find yourself waiting for just the click of the door opening, a call, a note, a kiss, anything. And maybe one day, if you try hard enough, you’ll find something out of nothing.

But right now, as you hear shuffling and the click of a door, you know he’s only leaving the apartment again. 

September (Before)

It’s bittersweet when the last hints of summer fade into fall, but when you make your way up the stairs and finally drop the boxes on the floor, you don’t mind it as much as you thought you would. 

“It’s so spacious.”

“You don’t have to lie, Channie.”

“No I’m serious.”

“First of all, you’re never serious, and second of all, it’s only because it’s empty and we haven’t unpacked.”

He seems so excited and you can’t blame him, you’re excited too. A place to finally call your own, even if it was the size fit for a Keebler elf. 

As you work on opening each cardboard box, Haechan digs in, taking your things out of the box, organizing them. When you’re finally done, you plop on the couch, resting. When you look over at Haechan he’s focused, with a little drop of sweat traveling down his face as he puts up the curtains. 

Christmas (Before)

“Well, it has character.”

“You don’t have to lie.”

The thing in question, being the little Christmas tree Haechan dragged in despite your insistence that one wasn’t necessary. It’s frail, evidenced by the way the weight of the star bends the tip of the tree, and the firs that branch out from the trunk are discolored. It’s so dry, you think, if you snap the tree in half and start rubbing the sticks together, you could start a fire. You rather not be arrested for arson, so you just sigh. It is kind of endearing, but you’d never admit it. 

“And now we wait for Midnight,” he declares, wrapping his arm around you. “so I can kiss you in celebration.” 

“I think you’re confusing Christmas with New Years.”

 “I figured you’d be difficult,” he shrugs.  “You’re always worried about something,”  he begins, rummaging in his pocket. “Loosen up it’s Christmas, our second one.” When his hand finally leaves his pocket, there’s a small bunch of mistletoe haphazardly attached to a string. He lifts his arm, and it dangles just above your heads. 

“You have to kiss me now.”

“I’d kiss you regardless-” 

“Shut up.” With the swift movement of his head, he presses his lips against you. 

It’s Christmas, and you don’t have a lot of money. It’s Christmas, but you have Haechan, and that’s all that matters. 

…

“Where did you get this, anyways?” 

Haechan scratches the back of his head. “I dunno.”

“Don’t even try lying to me, I’ll get it out of you eventually.”

“It’s not lying if I withhold the truth,” he says stubbornly, and you roll your eyes as you adjust the focus of the screen. 

“No seriously, this is a really nice projector. I don’t think we could’ve afforded something like this if we only ate rice and beans for a month.” 

“I don’t understand why it matters.” he says nonchalantly, chewing on the last of the popcorn

“It matters because rent is due next week, and we’re almost short because of the heating bill.”

“You worry too much.”

“And you worry too little” you interject.

“Not when it’s about you.” he responds, and your face softens. 

He opens his arms, and you crawl into them. You’ve been stressed with work lately, he knows.

You’ve always talked about getting a projector, and how cool it would be (“We could have movie nights!”) but knowing you, you wouldn’t ever drop money on one to buy it for yourself. 

It’s the last of his graduation money well spent, just to make you happy. 

New Years (Before)

You don’t know if it’s the twinkling lights, or the atmosphere (or the champagne) that has you feeling this way, but you’re feeling quite warm and fuzzy.

You trip and nearly kiss the floor on the way to the snack table when Jaemin catches you.

“Woah woah woah there, easy. Looks like someone’s had too much to drink.” he teases, reaching across the table to grab a napkin. Some of the champagne from his flute spilled onto your dress, and Jaemin dabs a napkin apologetically. 

Renjun glances to his side and gives Haechan a little tap, pointing to your hunched figure. Haechan sighs, and makes his way to you.

To the average bystander, it's an innocent display of chivalry as Jaemin links his arm around yours and you lean on him, searching for a place to put you so you won’t cause anymore trouble, but Haechan can’t help but feel a little, pissed off? Peeved, jealous even. 

“My dress,” you grumble, and Jaemin only laughs. “It’s okay, you still look pretty y/n. You’ve always been.

Yes, you do look pretty tonight, Haechan knows, and when you’re back in his arms, he whispers to you that you’re going home. 

...

You’re breathless when Haechan scoops your legs from right under you, disregarding the heel on your left foot you still haven’t taken off.

“Too slow.” he huffs, and you can only wrap your arms around your neck in support when he impatiently shakes your body slightly so that your shoe falls to the floor. 

When he finally makes his way to the bedroom, he plops you front first. The bed feels so comfy, but you snap back into focus when you hear some rustling, then the familiar clank of the metal of a belt hit the floor. 

When you turn around, he wastes no time kissing you, and you almost forget what you wanted to say.

“We didn’t even-” Haechan begins to slide his hand under your dress, interrupting you. “Even see the ball drop” you manage to gasp out. 

“Does it matter?” he hums. Your strapless bra is yanked right out from under you, and any resolve you had to press the topic any further goes with it.   

“It is so bad that I want to spend some quality alone time with you on New Years?”

He’s so worked up it’s almost comical, and he makes it a point to fuck you so that you’ll be feeling it for the next week, but you’re not complaining. It’s quality alone time after all. 

Spring (Before)

If  they say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, then your sanity must have left with it. You get a job promotion, and Haechan well, finally finds a job after months of searching. Haechan’s excited, you’re excited, money isn’t as much of an issue anymore, and you couldn’t be happier.

With your newfound responsibilities, you find that it’s hectic at work, so you’re hardly home when he is. When you are, you find yourselves  too tired to do anything but stick a frozen dinner in the microwave, and call it a night. But when you can, you try to set aside a day to eat together, to do something.

It’s difficult at first, but it’s okay, because change is arduous, and it’s okay, because  you have each other.

You try your best to call during lunch breaks, but even then, the calls get shorter, and spending time together becomes an afterthought. The time you do spend together is awkward, with strained silences in between that make you think, was it always like this before? You would almost prefer arguing- then you would at least be talking to each other.

Maybe the riff between you two goes deeper than that, then just work on the surface. It’s riddled with doubt, uncertainty. Doubt, when he says he has extra hours he needs to do at the company, uncertainty when you don’t know when you’ll see him next. You don’t need to lose your mind every time he doesn’t call, because he certainly doesn’t. He doesn’t, so you won’t. You shouldn’t have to win his love, right? because you have it. You’ve always had it.

You don’t know when it occurred to you that his laugh began to mean something more to you--but right now, you’re not so sure when you started evolving into strangers.

Summer (Before)

Spring bleeds into summer, and work lets down a little. Haechan has the day off. You let him know you’ll be coming home a little early, and you do, right before the sun sets, groceries in hand.

When you slip off your shoes and hang your jacket on the coat rack, you make your way to the kitchen. As you make your way to the kitchen, you notice the pans on the stove, and the single empty set aside in the sink.

When you make your way to the bedroom, you find him on his back, scrolling aimlessly through his phone.

“Does this even matter to you, if we eat together?”

“Not really,” he shrugs.

You drop the subject.

September (Now)

Maybe at a time you felt free here, but right now, everything about the apartment is suffocating, the blankets, the air, the silence. You bring out the duffel bag you haven’t used since you’ve moved in, and begin to fill it with your belongings. You need to be somewhere, anywhere. Anywhere but here.

Dusk is transforming into evening when you finally see him. He’s leaning against the door frame, with the light of the sunset illuminating the thin wisps of hair that frame his face. In baggy sweats, and your favorite white tee of his, with the tiny hole on the sleeve from wearing it so much (because you liked it, he once said), in the rose tinted light, he’s the spitting image of the boy you fell in love with, the boy you’ve always loved, for the past year, months, weeks. But when you take the time to look closer, he looks tired, with his eyes sunken and hollow. At the edge of the room is as close as he gets, but he feels miles away

“Where did you go today?”

“I was out with a friend,” you lie. You’re always there when he comes home, and that hasn’t changed. But how else are you going to explain the traces of makeup that linger on your face, and the fact that you’re dressed? You didn’t think he’d care enough notice, let alone point it out. You look up at him, but his gaze remains on the floor, shoe digging in the peeling carpet.

When you see his jaw tense and lips begin to part, you see a glimpse of the man who used to hold on to you like you were the last person on earth; he’s lost the right a long time ago, to be overprotective, to ask about your day, like it would make any difference now. It’s when his gaze travels from the carpet, to the closet, the empty hangers, the sweater in your hands, the bag, he stops; it’s finally sinking in. 

Baggy sweats, in a white t-shirt with his heart on his sleeve. Messy hair, he looks like the man you’ve always known, always loved, last year, last month. Today, and even tomorrow when you’re on that train going far far away. If you get on that train.

Because you’ve been thinking: Is this what love is? They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, but all you’ve been feeling these days is empty. Even so, after all this time apart, you still feel the urge to kiss him. 

“Where are you going?” he looks at you, the closet, the bag.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t need to lie to me.”

The answer is in your silence, and wordlessly, he walks past you and lays on the bed. 

“Come here,” he says, and his body forms a crevice on the bed that hasn’t been there for months. 

“I don’t think I should.”

“Please,” his voice breaks, and you feel your plans begin to tear apart at the seams. “Just one last time.”

He knows he can’t stop you from leaving, it’s inevitable, an unspoken end. He can only delay it.

There's a soft crinkle as he wraps his arms around you in your jacket, tightly, almost painfully. 

“The truth is, I- I still, I-”

“I know,” you say softly, interrupting him. “Me too.”

…

When you wake up it’s breaking dawn, and you’re tangled in the arms of the only thing you’ve ever known love to be. He looks so peaceful, with the light of dawn shining on his bare face like drops of morning dew catching the sun. He’s still Haechan and you’re still you, but you know things are different now, and somewhere along the way you forgot to tell each other about it.

You hastily get your bag, leaving no room for second thoughts.

As you head out the door, you see a bag of groceries carelessly dropped on the counter, the bag broken. You see oranges, cereal, a carton of eggs all for two. You see your favorite brand of instant coffee, the one Haechan hates, but always buys for you anyway.

It’s bittersweet as the last hints of summer fade into fall, and you mind it. You mind it a lot. You know there will be a time again when everything will fit right in, but right now, everything is falling apart and you can’t look back. Maybe in a different life you both fight all day, but kiss all night. In another universe, things could still be changing too. You could be leaving this little apartment together, on a train maybe to somewhere bigger. 

September (Before)

“y/n?”

“Yes Hyuck?” you say absentmindedly, fiddling with his silver necklace as you lay on his chest. You’re both tired from unpacking, and you might be just a little late for work. It doesn’t matter, you can spare the subway fare instead of walking. 

“Where do you want to live eventually?”

“I have no idea, but I’m open to anything. I think it would be really cool to live in the city,” you ponder. “but I wouldn’t be able to live there my whole life, you know? What about you?” 

“I kinda wanna live in Utah.”

“Utah is really pretty.” you agree. “Airplane tickets are kinda expensive though, trains are cheaper, but it might take a little longer, and I don’t know if I can be in confined space with you for that long.” you tease.

“Don’t lie you love me,” he grumbles. “It just seems so great,” Haechan continues. “It’s rural and the houses are so big and-” he suddenly pauses. “What if we can’t find jobs in the same location?”

“Hyuck why are you so worried about all this? ” You can only laugh at the little frown he makes in response. “We just moved in, and all of this is so far ahead in the future.”

“I want to make your life amazing,” he announces, “I want the best for us so figured I might as well start planning now.”

You’re ready to tease him for his sudden onset of seriousness, for being so out of character. The Haechan you know doesn’t plan; he scarfs down cereal each day in the morning, and throws on the first item he sees-but when you look up at him, his eyes are filled with sincerity—He’s dead serious. 

As you sit up you kiss his forehead, cupping his face in your hands. Feeling his cheeks contract as you pull away, he purses his lips.

“Kiss me?”

“Okay, just one last time,” you laugh. “I really need to go now though.”

______________________________________________________________

a/n: I don’t know why but I’ve been writing a lot of sad stuff lately, I hope this one makes sense lmao. Let me know what you think, feedback is always appreciated

#haechan x reader #lee donghyuck #UR-NET #lee donghyuck x reader #haechan smut #haechan fluff #haechan angst #lee donghyuck smut #lee donghyuck angst #lee donghyuck fluff #donghyuck scenarios #nct scenarios #nct smut #nct angst #nct dream #full sun #donghyck x reader #nct donghyuck #nct images #nct x reader #nct #NCT Dream Scenarios #nct dream x reader #nct 127 x reader #nct 127 scenarios #donghyuck x reader #donghyuck angst #nct 127 #nct fanfic #nct fluff

[snarktheater]

Hey, d'you have any French book recs? I'm trying to work on my French, and rn I have downloaded one of my favourite book series' French translations, but I figured maybe books already written in French might work better? Also have you read the Ranger's Apprentice series? 1/2

RA's def flawed - the books' narration does like to point bright arrows at the protagonists' intelligence, and the last few books def have the tone of 'old white man trying to write feminism', although at least he's trying? - and it's aimed more to the younger side of YA, but it is still a very fun series, and I can ignore the flaws fairly easily, at least partly due to nostalgia? This rather long lol but I'm wordy.

I'll start with the second question: no, although every time the series is brought up I have to check the French title and go "oh, right, I've seen these books in stores". But I've never purchased or read them. It sounds like something I probably would have enjoyed as a teen but I just missed the mark, and these days I'm trying to drown myself in queer books, so that probably isn't happening.

As for your first question, geez, I haven’t read a French book in years, so this is gonna skew middle grade/YA, though that may not be so bad if the point is to learn the language. I will also say that as a result, these may read a little outdated.

I'll put it under a cut, even if Tumblr has become really bad with correctly displaying read mores. Sorry, mobile crowd.

It's also likely that old readers of the blog will have seen me talk about most of these. I don't feel like going through old posts.

One last thing: while I was curating this list I took the time to make a Goodreads shelf to keep track of those.

The Ewilan books by Pierre Bottero

(It's a testament to how long ago I read these books that these are not the covers of the edition I own, and I can't even find those on Google. I'm settling for a more recent cover anyway since it'll make it easier to find them, presumably)

There are at least three trilogies (that I know of) set in the same world.

The first trilogy is essentially an isekai (so, French girl lands in parallel fantasy world by accident) with elements of chosen one trope, though I find the execution makes it worth the while anyway.

The second trilogy is a direct sequel, so same protagonist but new threat, and the world gets expanded.

The third one is centered around a supporting characters from the previous books, and the first couple of books in it are more her backstory than a continuation, though the third one concludes both that trilogy and advances the story of the other books as well.

Notably these books have a really fun magic system where the characters "draw" things into existence. It's just stuck with me for some reason.

A bunch of stuff by Erik L'Homme

I have read a lot of this man's books, starting with Le Livre des Etoiles.

They also skew towards the young end of YA, arguably middle grade, I never bothered to figure out where to draw the line. They're coincidentally also using the premise of a parallel world to our own (and yes, connected to France again, the French are just as susceptible of writing about their homeland), but interestingly are set from the point of view of characters native to the parallel world.

It also has a very unique magic system, this one based on a mix of a runic alphabet and sort-of poetry. I'll also say specifically for these books that the characters stuck with me way more than others on this list, which is worth mentioning.

This trilogy is my favorite by Erik L'Homme, but I'll also mention Les Maîtres des brisants, which is a fantasy space opera with a pirate steampunk(?) vibe. I think it's steampunk. I could be mistaken. But it's in that vein. It's also middle grade, in my opinion not as good, but it could just be that it came out when I was older.

Another one is Phaenomen, which was a deliberate attempt at skewing older (though still YA). This one is set in our (then-)modern world and centers a group of teens who happen to have supernatural powers. I guess the best way to describe it is a superhero thriller? If you take "superhero" in the sense of "people with individualized powers", since they don't really do a lot of heroing.

...I really need to brush up on genre terminology, don't I.

The Ji series by Pierre Grimbert

This one is actually adult fantasy, though it definitely falls under "probably outdated". It is very straight, for starters, and I'd have to give it another read to give a more critical reading of how it handles race (it attempts to do it, and is well meaning, but I'm not sure it survives the test of time & scrutiny, basically).

If I haven't lost you already, the premise is this: a few generations ago, a weird man named Nol gathered emissaries from each nation of the world and took them to a trip to the titular Ji island. Nobody knows what went down here, but now in the present day, someone is trying to kill off all descendants from those emissaries, who are as a result forced to team up and figure out what's going on.

I'm not going to spoil past that, though I will say it has (surprise) a really unique magic system! I guess you can start to piece together what my younger self was interested in. Which, admittedly, I still am.

Once again, this one also has a strong cast of characters, helped by rich world building and the premise forcing the characters to come from many different cultures (though, again, I can't vouch for the handling of race because it's been too long).

The first series is complete by itself, though it has two sequel series as well, each focusing on the next generation in these families. Because yes, of course they all pair up and have kids. Like I said: very straight.

A whole lot of books by Jean-Louis Fetjaine

OFetjaine is a historian, and I guess he's really interested in Arthurian mythos especially, because he loves it so much he's written two separate high fantasy retellings of them! I'm not criticizing, mind you, we all need a hobby.

The former, the Elves trilogy (pictures above) is very traditional high fantasy. Elves, dwarves, orcs, a world which is definitely fictionalized with a pan-Celtic vibe to it. The holy grail and excalibur are around, but they're relics possessed by the elves and dwarves with very different powers than usual. Et cetera.

Fetjaine also really loves his elves (as the titles might imply), and while they're not exactly Tolkien elves, there's a similar vibe to them. If you like Tolkien and his elf boner, you'll probably like this too. And conversely, if that turns you off, these books probably also won't work for you.

This series also has a prequel trilogy, centered around the backstory of one of the main characters. I...honestly don't remember too much about it, but I liked it, so, there you go, I guess.

I said Fetjaine did it twice. The other series is the Merlin duology, which, as the title implies, is a retelling of Merlin's story. Note that Merlin is also in the other trilogy, but it's a different Merlin; like I said, completely different continuities and stories.

This one is historical fantasy, so it's set in actual Great Britain, and Fetjaine attempts to connect Arthur to a "real" historical figure...but, you know, Merlin is also half-elf and elves totally exist in Brocéliande, so, you know. History.

Okay, that's probably enough fantasy, let me give some classics too.

L'Arbre des possibles et autres histoires - Bernard Werber

Bernard Werber is a pretty seminal author of French sci-fi and I should probably be embarrassed that the only book of his that I read was for school, but, it is a really good one, so I'll include it anyway.

It's a novella collection, and when I say "sci-fi" I want to make it clear that it's very old school science fiction. It's more Frankenstein or Black Mirror than Star Trek, what we in French call the anticipation genre of science fiction: you take one piece of technology or cultural norm and project it into the future.

It has a pretty wide range of topics and tones, so it's bound to have some better than others. My personal faves were Du pain et des jeux, where football (non-American) has evolved into basically a wargame, and Tel maître, tel lion, where any animal is considered acceptable as a pet, no matter how absurd it is to keep as a pet. They're both on a comedic end, but there's more heartfelt stuff too.

L'Ecume des Jours - Boris Vian

(no cover because I can't find the one I have, and the ones I find are ugly)

This book is surrealist. Like, literally a part of the surrealist movement. It features things such as a lilypad growing inside a woman's lungs (and, as you well know, lilypads double in size every day, wink wink), the protagonist's apartment becoming larger and smaller to go with his mood and current financial situation, and more that I can't even recall at the moment because remembering this book is like trying to remember having an aneurysm.

It is also really, really fun and touching. Oh, and it has a pretty solid movie adaptation, starring Audrey Tautou, who I think an international audience would probably recognize from Amelie or the Da Vinci Code movie.

I don't really know what else to say. It's a really cool read!

Le Roi se meurt - Eugène Ionesco

Ionesco is somewhat famous worldwide so I wasn't even sure to include him here. He's a playwright who wrote in the "Theater of the Absurd" movement, and this play is part of that.

The premise of this play is that the King (of an unnamed land) is dying, and the land is dying with him. I don't really know what else to say. It's theater of the absurd. It kind of has to be experienced (the published version works fine, btw, no need to track down an actual performance, in my humble opinion).

The Plague - Albert Camus

You've probably heard of this one, and if you haven't, let me tell you about a guy called Carlos Maza

I'm honestly more including this book out of a sense of duty. The other three are books I genuinely liked and happen to be classics. This book was an awful read. But, um. It's kind of relevant now in a way it wasn't (or didn't feel, anyway) back in 2008 or 2009, when I read it. And I don't just mean because of our own plague, since Camus's plague is pretty famously an allegory for fascism, which my teenage self sneered at, and my adult self really regrets every feeling that way.

Okay, finally, some more lighthearted stuff, we gotta talk about the Belgian and French art of bande dessinée. How is it different from comic books or manga? Functionally, it isn't. It really comes down more to what gets published in the Belgian-French industry compared to the American comics industry, which is dominated by superheroes, or the Japanese manga industry, which, while I'm less familiar with it, I know has some big genre trends as well that are completely separate.

The Lanfeust series - Arleston and Tarquin

This is a YA mega-series, and I can't recommend all of it because I've lost track of the franchise's growth. Also note that I say "YA", but in this case it means something very different from an American understanding of YA. These books are pretty full of sex.

No, when I say YA I mean it has that level of maturity, for better or worse. The original series (Lanfeust de Troy) is high fantasy in a world where everyone has an individual magical ability but two characters find out they're gifted with an absolute power to make anything happen, and while it gets dark at times, it's still very lighthearted throughout, and the humor is...well, I think it's best described as teen boy humor. And it has a tendency to objectify its female characters, as you'll quickly parse out from the one cover I used here or if you browse more covers.

But still, it holds a special place in my heart, I guess. And on my shelves.

The sequel series, Lanfeust des Etoiles, turns it into a space opera, and goes a little overboard with the pop culture reference at times, though overall still maintains that balance of serious/at times dark story and lighthearted comedy.

After that the franchise is utter chaos to me, and I've lost track. I know there was another sequel series, which I dropped partway through, and a spinoff that retold part of the original series from the PoV of the main love interest (in the period of time she spent away from the main group). There was a comedy spin-off about the troll species unique to this world, a prequel series, probably more I don't even know exist.

Les Démons d'Alexia

Something I can probably be a little less ashamed of including here.

Some backstory here. The Editions Dupuis are a giant of the Belgian bande dessinée industry, and for many, many years I was subscribed to their weekly magazine. That magazine was (mostly) made up of excerpts from the various books that the éditions were publishing at the time; those that were made of comic strips would usually get a couple pages of individual scripts, while the ongoing narratives got cut into episodes that were a few pages long (out of a typical 48 page count for a single BD album). Among those were this series.

For the first few volumes, I wasn't super into this series, probably because I was a little too young and smack dab in the middle of my "trying to be one of the boys" phase. But around book 3 I got really invested, to the point where I own the second half of the series because I had canceled by subscription by then but still wanted to know more.

Alexia is an exorcist with unusual talents, but little control, who's introduced to a group that specializes in researching paranormal phenomena, solving cases that involve the paranormal, that kinda stuff.

As a result of the premise, the series has a pretty slow start since it has to build up mystery around the source of Alexia's powers, but once it gets going and we get to what is essentially the series' main conflict, it gets really interesting.

Plus, witches. I'm a simple gay who likes strong protagonists and witches.

Murena

There was a point where my mtyhology nerdery led me to look for more stuff about the historical cultures that created them, and so I'd be super into stuff set in ancient Rome (I'd say "or Greece or Egypt" but let's face it, it was almost always Rome).

Murena is a series set just before the start of Emperor Nero's rule. You know, the one who was emperor when Rome burned, and according to urban legend either caused the fire or played the fiddle while it did (note: "fiddle" is a very English saying, it's usually the lyre in other languages). He probably didn't, it probably was propaganda, but he was a) a Roman Emperor, none of whom were particularly stellar guys and b) mean to Christians, who eventually got to rewrite history. So he's got a bad rep.

The series goes for a very historical take on events, albeit fictionalized (the protagonist and main PoV, the titular Lucius Murena, is himself fictional) and attempts to humanize the people involved in those events. Each book also includes some of the sources used to justify how events and characters are depicted, which is a nice touch.

It's also divided in subseries called "cycles" (books 1-4, 5-8 and the ongoing one starts at 9). I stopped after 9, though I think it's mostly a case of not going to bookstores often anymore. Plus it took four years between 9 and 10, and again between 10 and 11. But the first eight books made for a pretty solid story that honestly felt somewhat concluded as is, so it's a good place to start.

#pierre bottero #la quête d'ewilan #erik l'homme #le livre des étoiles #phaenomen #pierre grimbert #le secret de ji #jean louis fetjaine #la trilogie des elfes #bernard werber #l'arbre des possibles #boris vian #l'écume des jours #le roi se meurt #eugène ionesco #albert camus #la peste #the plague #lanfeust #arleston #tarquin #Les démons d'alexia #ers #dugomier #murena #dufaux #delaby #ask #anonymous #st: other posts

[sabraeal]

Desert & Reward, Chapter 11

[Read on AO3]

Written for @jj-carstairs​, who was the second to blackout her AnS Fic Rec Bingo board! And with this, I am finished with this particular set of obligations...and moving swiftly onto the next....

For a wedding that is supposed to be small, intimate, and most of all secret, there sure are a lot of chairs crushed into the throne room.

“It’s not really a secret,” Zen tells him, contrary to literally every dire royal imperative Obi’s heard thus far. “Or it is, but only as much as anything can be a secret.”

Considering how many he’s prepared to take to the grave, Obi would beg to differ. But he tugs at his collar instead, slumping down onto the dais with palpable misery.

“Don’t fuss,” Sir chides cheerfully. “You look just fine.”

“I look like a present wrapped to within an inch of its life.” And with no one to open it. Obi grimaces, avoiding a glance at M-- Zen’s shoes. This definitely wasn’t the audience to air that particular grievance.

Sir’s mouth only bends into a smile. “There are worse things for a groom to be on his wedding day.”

“You’re right!” Obi's grin settles into something more tooth than toothsome. “I could be stabbed instead.”

That winsome smiles flips right around. “I haven’t stabbed a groom.”

“Obi!” Zen scolds, far too innocent. He hazards a glance at him, not missing the too-wide eyes, the twitching lips. “Mitsuhide wouldn’t be so rude to stab a man at his wedding.”

The big guy nods, solemn. “Yes, thank you--”

“Only one of his guests.”

“Zen!”

Zen sidesteps Sir’s advance, slipping right up the dais to put Obi smack dab between the both of them. Clever plan; Sir would never risk hitting a non-combatant.

Too bad for him; Obi’s never missed a chance to throw himself into the fray. “Be fair, M-- Zen.” The name sticks in his mouth, stumbling out only when he ushers it through his teeth. Terrible, how that almost ruins the joke. “He’s never attempted violence at a wedding. Only an engagement party.”

“You’re right.” Zen’s warmed to the topic now, voice litling into sing-song. “And at my brother’s engagement instead of--”

“All right, I think you’ve both had your fun,” the big guy informs them, shoulders hunched. “There’s no reason we have to keep talking about it.”

“Aw, come on now, sir,” Obi wheedles, knitting his fingers beneath his chin. “You can’t blame a man for wondering how much blood he’ll get to keep on his w-w--” no matter how hard he tries, the word wont’ come, a stubborn mule hauled up at the end of his tongue-- “at the altar.”

Sir’s eyes dart down to him, serious brow all furrowed, mouth pulled into the sort of frown that says things instead of quietly ponders, but Zen--

Well, he can always rely on his master to miss a misstep. “Well, at least Mitsuhide saved Hisame from having to lose it on his wedding night instead.”

That gets the big man’s attention, his chest already expanding with protest, and Obi takes the distraction with both hands, jumping up to ask, “Well, sir, if you’d save me the trouble too, I guess I’d thank you for it.”

“Obi,” he admonishes, “Shirayuki would never stab you.”

“Even if you deserved it,” Master adds, so helpful. “Besides, you might not be her first choice--” he doesn’t have to say who would fill that particular slot-- “but you’re a more preferable husband than Raj.”

“What a ringing endorsement.” The doors dwarf Kiki, even though she only stands beneath the open one, one brow raised to dubious heights. Even in her finery-- which Obi can admit is very fine-- her hip’s cocked like she’s on the other side of the training grounds and not the end of an aisle.

“Aw, come on now, Miss Kiki.” He jumps to his feet, grin already teasing up a corner of his lips. “What girl could resist a man who didn’t kidnap her?”

She saunters down the runner, blue and gold a river beneath her slippers, and smirks. “I suppose the ones who would rather a man that didn’t try to kill her.”

“Kill!” He slaps a hand to his chest. “Such a strong word. I prefer discourage.”

Mainly since that’s what the agreement was: strongly discourage-- what they called intimidation, in the business-- the young redheaded guest from overstaying her welcome. Undue violence or spectacle would cut the amount of coin in half, and oh, it’d been a long time since Obi had seen that much dil in one place back then. Lucky thing for Miss that the marquis abhorred a scandal, and Obi had been thinking about a nice steak dinner.

Lucky for him too, it turns out.

“Should I ask what you’re doing?” Kiki calls out, but it’s not to him-- it’s over his shoulder, both brows raised now.

“I, uh...” Obi cranes his neck, watching as Mitsuhide attempts to have this conversation with the wall. “I didn’t know-- you aren’t-- shouldn’t you be with Shirayuki?”

“I was.” Kiki mounts the steps to the dais, teeth peeking through the seam of her lips. “Is there a problem.”

Her tone says, quite clearly, there shouldn’t be.

“Well, um.” Big guy licks his lips, daring a quick glance back, before dedicating himself to the wainscoting again. “You’re not supposed to see, the um, ahhh...”

He flails a hand behind him blindly. A good thing; Sir would never survive seeing their faces.

Zen stares, incredulous. “You’re not the one getting married.”

“And for that case, neither am I.” Kiki clasps a hand around her husband’s shoulder. “Unless there’s something I should know?”

Sir’s red-faced when he peers down, but a shy smile rounding his lips. “You look beautiful.”

“Ah.” Obi never thought he’d live to see the day Kiki Seiran thawed enough to smile with all her teeth, but here he is, minutes away from his own wedding, hosted at the behest of the King of Clarines, and she does. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”

There’s a spark in the depth of Big Guy’s dark eyes when he turns to her, mouth poised to riposte--

“Is there a reason you’re here?” Zen asks, harried. “Or are you trying to be a distraction?”

Kiki spins to face him, far too mild as she says, “I didn’t realize there was anything to distract from.”

“Of course there is.” At her expectant look, he provides, “We were having some, ah, bonding time. Just us men. Giving advice. Before, you know, he’s no longer a bachelor.”

“Please,” Obi begs, “distract away.”

“Well then.” Kiki turns to him now, face placid but eyes alight, and informs him, “You are needed in the vestibule.”

He blinks. “What? Why?”

Her mouth curves. “Oh, I’m sure you can come up with a few reasons.”

He can’t. Or, really, there’s too many, all jittering together at too many angles for one to rise to the top, leaving his mind as empty as the moment a bass bell stops ringing-- not the absence of sound, but its echo.

It’s not until he sees that scholarly slouch, that hair so tousled it circles back around to something approaching orderly, that he realizes-- Lata is here. Lata is here, and oh, they have a lot to talk about.

“Stop.”

His heels skid to a halt on instinct; one he’s grateful for when Her Majesty, belly bulging, bustles around Lata’s lanky frame, pretty brow just the slightest bit furrowed. She points one slender finger to a corner hedged in by a screen. “Stand right there.”

Obi knows better than to ask questions, but he does anyway. “Wh--?”

“Do as you’re told,” she says, fists perching at where her hips would be, if the heir of Clarines wasn’t currently occupying them. Despite her fancy get up, it comes out less like a queen and more like a bossy older sister, not above twisting arms if it’ll get her way.

It moves him. One foot, then the other, boot heels clacking together at attention. She nods, quick, approving. “Good. Now don’t move.”

A thrill goes down his spine, and he...really doesn’t want to think about what that says about him. Something he already knew, probably.

“All right.” Her Majesty steps back, a thoughtful frown marring her mouth. “Now ask your questions.”

Finally. “Wh--?”

“Obi?”

His head swivels toward the screen, heart leaping into his throat. “Miss?”

One foot sneaks out, trying to pivot him but--

Her Majesty clucks her tongue. “Now, now, sir. There will be no peeking.”

He freezes, wide-eyed. “Peeking?”

The queen favors him with a smile that is both gentle and mischievous, and honestly, he doesn’t know why anyone’s still afraid of His Majesty when Her Majesty is right there, looking like that. “A groom cannot see his bride on their wedding day.”

He almost protests-- it’s only Miss, after all; with her sense of propriety, he’s seen her any which way but naked. But--

But in an hour, she’ll be his Missus. No, his lady. Because he’s the groom. She’s the bride.

He must do an awful job on tamping down his rising horror, since Her Majesty adds, so helpful, “Especially when she’s in her wedding gown.”

His neck snaps to the screen-- the screen made out of paper so thin, so delicate, that a good lamp might cast a real show. He’d known a few girls who made a living off that, a nice shadow and some lighting, but-- that’s not the point here. Not when Miss is sitting on the other side of this thing, wrapped up in the fancy dress she’s going to walk down the aisle in.

Bad luck she’ll be walking towards him in it.

He squints at the vague, Miss-like shape the ambient light gives-- definitely not the crisp image he’s seen with red ones-- and frowns. “I guess I won’t be the first one to say you look nice today, huh?”

“Oh.” There’s a laugh bubbling beneath the sound, like a pebble in a brook. “No, I’m afraid I’ve been told at least five times already.”

He tilts his head back, crown scrubbing against the wall. “Ah, so this is what it’s like, being the one you’re dressing up for.”

Her breath catches. It’s a soft sound; one he’s not even certain he hears until Her Majesty turns her attention toward the other side of the screen. One brow arches with a level of amusement he’s glad she’s not gleaning from him. “I was under the impression you had a question, Shirayuki?”

“Ah, right!” He can see her hands waving, fingers spread, right by where her chin should be. “Obi, why is Lata here?”

Miss never speaks but to say things softly, sweetly, but even she has to exert an herculean effort not to draw a point with the word Lata.

The man himself frowns, the contemplative lines bracketing his mouth rounding into a pair of cross parentheses. “We just went over this.”

“Ah, I know.” Miss wearily holds onto her buoyant tone like flotsam in a wreck. “I just...don’t quite understand.”

“I don’t see what so difficult about it.” His arms fold across his chest, the velvet of his coat rumpling into mossy hillocks. Kiki was right-- the green does go well with the gold. If only Yori’d let him wear it. “Your father cannot, without causing a diplomatic incident by breathing in a foreign court, be in evidence. Therefore, I must stand in his stead.”

“Yes, that part I understand,” she says in her infinitely patient way, that kind that makes Her Majesty’s lips quiver. “I just don’t understand why.”

Lata’s face crumples with frustration. “It’s traditional.”

Miss hesitates. He can’t hear her mouth working-- those sounds are too soft to travel so far-- but he knows it is, just as her hands are behind the screen. “But, Lata, you hate tradition.”

“I do,” he allows-- because it’s true-- but adds, “but this is a familial duty.”

Obi’s heart stutters right in his chest. This really isn’t the time to be getting into all this. To try to explain-- “Sir--”

“Familial duty?” Miss manages, a whole octave higher than usual. “How--?”

“Yes,” Lata interrupts, clearly tired of rehashing a conversation he’s already solved in his head. “And one cannot shirk a duty to their family, no matter how ridiculous it is.”

Her outline shivers on the screen, parts of her fading and coming into focus in turns, like she’s moved her whole body. The shape of her head is strange, ovalish toward the top instead of round-- she’s tilting it. There’s a question trying to make its way out of her, and he knows every word of it, he just has to hope--

“Besides,” Lata coughs, straightening the hem of his waistcoat. “My mother would be quite cross.”

All right, well, now Obi had questions. But those can keep, if Miss’s stunned silence is any indication.

“You know, Miss,” he hums, voice pitched low to carry to her ears only. “Suzu’s here too, if you’d like another option.”

“Suzu’s here?” she echoes, the confusion stark in her voice. “But how did he...?”

Obi’s mouth curls into a grin. “He came in with Lata last night.”

“This morning.” Lata clears his throat, really giving that coat a good tug. “And he didn’t come with me, he attached himself to me, and I chose not to leave him in a drift outside of Oriold.”

“But...why?” Miss hesitates as she speaks, like she’s half put together a puzzle only to realize pieces are missing. “I thought no one was supposed to know about the wedding.”

Obi grins. “Outside of His Majesty’s three hundred most bosom companions, of course.”

He doesn’t need to see Miss to feel her glare, not when it’s reflected so fully in the flat look Her Majesty gives him. “What sort of message would it send if word spreads that the crown had Margravine Entaepode married to the Marquis Conti with any less in attendance?”

He holds back a huff of a laugh. Of course Her Majesty would see it like that-- the date was just details compared to the shame of having anything less than the whole of Clarines’ court to witness their nuptials.

“To answer your question,” Lata continues, fluster and frustration eddying around his eyes, “I think my family name does afford me some considerations in this matter.”

Obi’s grateful he doesn’t expound on what, exactly, those may be. “The rest of them heard about it and drew lots to see who came as his plus one.”

“There is no such thing,” Her Majesty says, firm as steel, in the same moment Lata complains, “Well, I never said they could.”

There’s a pause before Miss says, voice thin, “So everyone in Lillias, they all...?”

“Know about your happy occasion?” Lata offers ruefully. “I would say so.”

“Suzu’s here as his valet.” He has to bite down on the impulse to tell her about Yori’s horror as he watched Suzu give the footmen instructions like I don’t know, over there, somewhere, and nah, just leave those in the trunk, the folds will come out on their own, right?

It’s not the time for stories. Especially ones where she won’t even know who he’s talking about.

“Oh. Oh my.” Miss sounds faint behind the paper. “Yuzuri is going to be so upset.”

“Oh, no.” Lata shifts, impatient. “She’s upset right as we speak.”

Miss whimpers.

“Don’t worry, Miss,” he murmurs, leaning close enough to brush the paper. “You won’t be the only one she puts a stripe on.”

“Obi...” For a moment, he thinks she’s scolding him, but her shadow moves, and the paper bows out, her hand pressed against it.

He hesitates, the paper whispering over his palm before he lays it on hers. Her warmth is muted but familiar, easing the careening pace of his pulse. “We’ll make it all right after we get through this.

And you’re safe, he doesn’t add. Doesn’t need to, with the way her fingers tense against his. “Lata just has to get you down there--”

She balks, softly, a noise made only for him. He grins. “What’s the matter? Isn’t he the father of our little Lyrias family?”

“I think that would be Shidan,” she murmurs. “He’s more like...a distant uncle.”

Obi grins. “Who pays for lunch?”

Miss doesn’t reply, but he can feel her look through the screen. “I am perfectly capable of walking myself down a runner.”

Her Majesty hums a note of disagreement. “Perhaps. But it would be an unorthodox choice, and one that would carry...implications.”

Miss makes a frustrated noise. “Implications?”

“That I didn’t approve,” Lata explains, creating far more inconvenient questions than concrete answers.

“How--?”

“Well, I suppose we could always ask Master,” Obi offers, too cheerful. “Or maybe Elder Highness--?”

“Ah!” Shirayuki yelps, snatching her hand from the screen. “No. That’s-- it’s fine. Lata is a...fine choice.”

Obi returns to the throne room with a sense of relief; with only minutes left until the ceremony starts, there’s no time for any more unexpected developments. Not unless Prince Raj himself arrives mid-vows to stop the wedding.

At least, so he thinks, until he realizes: the throne is not empty.

Master is beside it, put-upon as he always is, and right on the velvet tuft reserved for the royal ass is--

Well, the royal ass itself.

“Marquis,” His Majesty hums, “you’re here, finally. Congratulations.”

“What are you doing?” he asks, eyes wide. “Why...?”

“To marry you, of course.” He smiles, mouth wide. “It is the pleasure of a liege to do so for his vassals.”

“But Zen is my...” His words trail off when he looks in Zen’s eyes, when he remembers at just whose behest that title of immediate knight had come from. Immediate knight, a man who served the family royal, and above all...

...The king. Even without his lordly title, Obi was Izana Wisteria’s dog, lowly mutt among the hounds he may be. And with it...

He grit down his teeth. “Fuck.”

The king’s mouth flashes teeth. “Well, now that we’re all up to speed,” he says, drawing up to his full height. “I think it’s time we begin.”

He has scarcely finished talking, when the horns blare from the balconies. It hits him all at once; this is it. He’s going to be married.

If only either of them actually wanted it.

#obiyuki #akagami no shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #my fic #desert and reward #ans #every single one of these wedding chapters is me mentally screaming #as i have to push back CERTAIN THINGS #because i got OTHER THINGS to handle first #but if you are looking at Lata and wondering... #rest assured...obi knows #but you and shirayuki do not #(but you will both find out SOON)

[drawlfoy]

The Wonders of Ohio P.6

masterlist (catch up on parts 1-5 here!!)

request guidelines

pairing: draco x reader

request: my original idea :))

summary: y/n’s senior year was going to be great, but her British exchange student is a little weird. this is NOT a non-magic AU. draco’s still a wizard in this fsjifkszfjkd

warnings: language, fainting, bad driving, mentions of drinking and drug use

a/n: eeee this is such a fun bit to write. thank you all so much for being there for me. this is definitely one of my favorite fics i’ve written since it gives me so much creative liberty and the fact that i get feedback and readers for it...just warms my heart. if you’re reading this: thank you so, so much for sticking around. i might come around with more oneshots soon. anyways i hope you enjoy the initial descent into the real real plot. also fluff will be coming soon i promise but i wasn’t lying when i said this was slowburn

tags tags tags @gruffle1 @missmulti @cleopatera @hahaboop @accio-rogers @geeksareunique @eltanin-malfoy @war-sword @cams-lynn @itsivyberry @ayo-cowbelly @nerd-domland @yesnerdsblog @shizarianathania @evanstanfanatic @strawberriesonsummer @hariosborn @night-ving @icintliviinyiniilsiji @erisdogwood @loveissupernatural

word count: 3.4k

song recs:

a pearl -- mitski

movement -- hozier

revival -- deerhunter

Draco was crying.

Or, at least, someone was. The gasps coming from just a wall away were apparent, but Y/N could hear a voice that didn’t quite sound like Draco--which had to be a trick of the mind, because there could be no one in there but him.

She rapped on the door against her better judgement to be met with a flurry of movement--fabric rustling,  and a soft pop that echoed through the air.

“Draco? Are you alright in there?”

Y/N found herself wishing that he wouldn’t open the door. After the Homecoming ask, the last thing she wanted was to see his stupid pretty face again, but she was a good host sister. Emphasis on sister.

To her shock, the door swung open. Just a few inches, just enough for her to see the pile of black shredded paper in the middle of his room and a drained looking Draco glaring back at her.

“Can I help you?” His once pristine white shirt was gray in some places, like he had rubbed ashes on it. 

“I just thought--did you burn something?”

“No. What is it?”

She looked at him a bit closer. His eyes didn’t look red rimmed with the dead giveaway of a crying session, but they looked close. The furrow in his brow was from worry instead of his usual sternness and he kept nervously pulling down at his left sleeve. 

Draco wasn’t crying, but he was about to.

“I…” There was something deeply unsettling about seeing Draco so uncollected and fidgety--almost like seeing a fish out of water or an American conservative with an adequate understanding of class struggles.The air was charged with something yet again, so much so that Y/N could feel the hair on her arms stand up. She decided to avoid damaging his masculinity any further. “Nothing. It just smelled a little like smoke. I wanted to make sure you weren’t burning a candle or anything. You know how my mom is about that.”

He continued to stare at her.

“Would you like me to leave you alone?”

“Please.” 

Well, that was embarrassing thought Y/N as she made her way back down the hall and to her backpack. I get rejected twice in one day. Smooth.

The days following were profoundly more uncomfortable. Breakfasts became uncomfortably akin to the Silent Game and Draco stopped coming out for tea in the evenings. The drives to and from school were decorated only by occasional bits of small talks or grumbles of exams. In short, Y/N knew that she had overstepped a boundary and Draco was pulling back.

School had finally become crazy. Y/N’s life became so entrenched with letters of recommendation and 200 word supplements that the Draco shaped hole in her life was bearable. After all, she was fine before he came, and she was fine now. She’d been silly, allowing herself to fantasize about a kid with some serious trauma and family issues that clearly had personal things that handle before he thought about getting all cozy with someone who was not in the slightest compatible with him. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

oOo

If someone turned a glass of whole milk into a human, that person would be Chad. He was the poster child of an “American” boy--tall, warm blonde hair, slightly tanned skin, and cornflower blue eyes. 

But his personality? Not so much. 

“My beloved husband!” Y/N called out as she saw him speaking to her mother in the foyer while Draco glowered in the corner. She bounded down the stairs in record time, leaping into his arms as her strappy heels swung from her hands. He smelled of cotton and laundry detergent. 

“Hey nerd,” he said, swinging her around in a circle before setting her down. “Did you finish the Econ homework? I was hoping I could take a picture before I leave…”

Y/N drew back to smack him on the shoulder. “You disgust me.”

“You abuse me.”

“And I’ll do it again,” said Y/N. She had forgotten how funny he was. 

“Oh, you two,” Mrs. Y/L/N cut in, stepping between the two and pressing the boutonnière into Y/N’s hands. “Always bickering like a married couple.”

Lizzy snorted from the top of the stairs where she was struggling to stuff a light jacket into her purse. “Hot take.”

“Hold still,” commanded Y/N, holding the pin and attempting to attach it to his lapel. “I’m literally going to accidentally stab you. Cut it out.”

He made a face down at her. “Do it. You won’t.”

“Oh? I won’t?”

“Y/N,” Mrs. Y/L/N’s exasperated voice warned.

“I’ll refrain, but only because the rug we’re standing on was my Grandmother’s,” Y/N said to him, her voice dripping with sweetness. “Consider yourself lucky that you’re not on the tile.”

“I’ve never been more thankful that my late grandmother-in-law had such impeccable taste.” 

“Suck up.”

“Oh, because you’re such a rebel.”

“It’s called motivation!”

“Honey, I want a divor-”

“For Christ’s sake, stop flirting or I’m going to puke,” a cool voice cut in. The group turned to see Sylvia standing in the doorway, clad in a flowing black dress that just barely ghosted over the top of the floor. 

“You look radiant, darling,” Mrs. Y/L/N said.

“And we weren’t flirting,” said Y/N.

Sylvia sent her a little wink before walking to sit down on the couch across from Draco, who was currently perched cross legged and looking profoundly uncomfortable. 

Sylvia, Lizzy, and their dates all opted to take Lizzy’s car to the city while Chad, Y/N, and Draco took Chad’s. The plan was to drop Draco off at the school with ample time to prepare him for the uniquely traumatic experience that was ASB sanctioned after school events, and to the plan they stuck.

“Yeah, go ahead and treat me like your chauffeur, “ scoffed Chad as Y/N slid into the backseat next to Draco. The sports car was surprisingly narrow with hardly any space between them. If she wanted to, she could easily rest her thigh against his.

“It’s called being polite, dear,” said Y/N, flicking the back of his head before turning to face Draco. “You’re really gonna commit to this? Major props, but, like...you really don’t have to go to this if you don’t want to. You can even stay home. I know how to sneak you back in.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “I’m here for the American experience, right?”

“Hate to break it to you, but there is no uniform American experience. It’s all personalized, and I don’t know if you want yours to be seasoned with 14 year olds T-posing in a circle to...I don’t even know. Chad, what kind of music do they play at those places?”

“Fuck if I know. I don’t go to them either.”

“It’s fine. I told Heather I’d be there.”

“Ooookay, whatever you say,” Y/N said. 

They rode in silence for a few more beats. The wind outside was uncharacteristically strong for an early October day, and it looked like a storm was brewing. In their rush to get to the dance on time, they had neglected to take precaution against the wind and ran outside to Chad’s car without a second thought. Draco’s suit, while posh and put together, had clearly bore the brunt of this choice. His tie had become slightly rumpled and his hair mussed, a look that was all types of wrong on him.

“Draco?” she asked. He snapped to attention. “Your tie is all undone. Can I…?” Y/N motioned to his neck.

Wide-eyed and frozen, he met her with, “er...sure.” 

Y/N leaned forward, trying to think past how her thighs were just barely touching his. Her corsage (a tasteful red, thank you very much) bumped against his chest, flattening a bit. She wasn’t very familiar with ties--she’d never had to be in her past experiences--but whatever his was made of, it was expensive. The fabric felt silky and impossibly smooth in her hand as she carefully untied it.

Chad took a sharp turn into the school drop off lot, prompting Y/N to nearly topple into Draco’s chest. His arms shot out to steady her and retracted so quickly that she was left wondering if she imagined the whole ordeal. 

“So it’s true,” said Chad from the front. “Nerds do have bad upper body strength.”

“Shut up,” she responded. Her cheeks felt unbearably hot as she tried her best to focus on tightening Draco’s tie and ignore the fact that she was close enough to smell his cologne--a soft pine, she observed--and feel the shadow of his breath on her face. His hands were clasped together lap, tight enough to turn the knuckles white. 

It was an odd feeling, getting butterflies in her stomach while she was touching a boy that wasn’t her date as Chad careened towards a parking spot and pulled in so violently that Y/N almost went sprawling into Draco again. She looked up at him, getting ready to crack a joke about the absurdity of the situation or the questionable driving; instead, she found herself staring up into his eyes. 

His normally pale eyes looked darker than usual--his pupils were insanely dilated--but that was because it was dark in the car. Obviously. Out of the corner of her eye, Y/N could see his chest rising and falling with an urgency that she hadn’t noticed before.

“Do you want me to uh..fix your...your hair, too?” Y/N said, mentally cringing at how she stumbled over the sentence. To be fair, his hair was ruffled and out of place. It wasn’t like she was making an excuse to touch it or anything.

To that, Draco jerked away from her, his back brushing up against the opposite car door. “No. No, it’s ok. I’ll fix it myself.”

Y/N was sure that her face was tomato red.

“Alright buckaroo,” Chad said from the front, his nonchalant demeanor never more appreciated. “Your hot date is here. Get out of my car. We have a busy day of antiquing ahead.”

Any semblance of casualness left Draco’s body as his eyes widened. “Antiquing?”

“Yeah, remember the place I took you to right after you came here?” asked Y/N.

“Er...don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Excuse me?” She sat up straight so quickly that she felt her hair come slightly undone at the nape of her neck. “That’s rich, coming from the kid going to a school dance as a senior.” 

“It’s probably not going to even be open. It’ll be late by the time dinner’s over,” he said. 

“Since when do you care? Honestly, quit acting weird,” Y/N responded, scootching away from him as he made no effort to get out of the car. 

“I’m not--it’s--erm, nevermind, forget about it.” He cleared his throat, straightened his tie, and brushed off his lapels. “Heather must be waiting for me. Goodbye.”

After a little struggle, Draco managed to best the slightly confusing door handle of Chad’s car and was out the door. Y/N slid across the seat and out with him, shutting the door and grabbing the handle for the passenger side. 

“Y/N?” Draco’s voice called before she had the chance to fully get in and tell Chad to book it. 

“What’s up?”

He took a few steps forward, pausing just a couple feet away from her. His eyes were cast to the rain puddle ridden cement. “Promise me you won’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“I should be telling you that, king,” Y/N quipped. “Your first real American dance. If you go to any after parties, make sure to watch your drink. Don’t take any substances from strangers--or, anyone, really--”

“Y/N, he’s not a chick.” Chad, his hands still perched on the steering wheel, turned to peer out at her. “He’ll be fine. I think they have beer in Britain.”

“Well, whatever. Have Heather text me if I need to pick you up anywhere. And don’t get in any cars with someone who’s been drinking!”

“Y/N!”

“Ok, ok, I’m coming.” She slid into the car, turning one last time to say bye. Draco was already gone. “Only if I drive.”

oOo

“So Heather and Draco, huh?” 

Y/N scowled at Lizzy as she speared a piece of her salad particularly viciously. “I don’t know if it’s like that. I think he’s just being polite, or whatever. I think British people are just like that.”

“Why are we even talking about that boy?” Chad asked. “He’s got that whole Timothée Chalamet dying Victorian toddler aesthetic if Timothée was blonde and had a perpetual stick up his ass.”

“In a hot way, though,” said Lizzy, her eyebrows wiggling. Jonathan scowled at her side. “Oh, don’t be so jealous. As if I’d ever go for a kid who doesn’t even know what Snapchat is.”

“I don’t understand what Heather sees in him,” Chad continued, his fettuccine plate long forgotten. “He’s got the personality of a wet rag, and she’s so bubbly and...I don’t even know. Do you guys get what I mean?”

“Draco’s got personality,” said Y/N. 

“Not like Heather.”

“It’s not his fault he’s reserved. He’s actually really funny.”

“And that’s what I like to call rose-tinted glasses,” Chad said, gently poking her cheek. 

“Hey! I’m the one who lives with him.”

“Whatever. Let’s just call for the bill. I’m not hungry anymore.” Chad folded up his napkin, placing it on top of the tablecloth and ignoring Y/N’s protest as he got out his wallet and placed a credit card on the table. “It’s on me, guys. You know how my parents are. They’re just happy that we’re all getting together again instead of holing up in our rooms.”

“Thank god junior year is over,” Sylvia added. “That’s really kind of you. At least let me get the tip?”

As the group bickered over the payment options and flagged down the waiter, Y/N noticed her phone lighting up with a notification.

Heather, 6.48pm: Hey girly! Sorry to bug you on your night but Draco wanted to check in and ask where you guys are/what you’re planning on doing tonight.

“Who’s that?” Chad asked, looking down at the little paragraph in the gray message bubble.

“Just Heather. Draco wants to know what we’re doing. Probably because he’s realizing how sucky dances really are and is about to beg us to come pick him up.”

He snorted. “Yeah. Poor kid.”

Y/N typed out a quick “we just finished dinner and are heading to the antique place now. lmk if i need to pick him up earlier” and tucked her phone away in her purse. As much as she resented it, she couldn’t help but wish that Draco wanted to join them instead.

“Are you guys ready to beat it and hit up that antique place?” Marvin, Sylvia’s date, asked. She rolled her eyes and sent him a lazy smile.

“You sound like a dad.” 

“Off like a herd of turtles, baby,” Y/N offered, gathering her things as they made their way out the restaurant door. “Not gonna lie, this place doesn’t show up on Google Maps or anything. I think I know how to get there but none of you guys are allowed to make fun of me if I take too many wrong turns.”

“No promises,” said Chad, winking down at her and giving her shoulder a little squeeze. 

 As they walked, it became profoundly obvious that Chad and Y/N were the only two who weren’t officially an item. Lizzy and Jonathon were walking hand in hand while Sylvia and Marvin whispered in each others’ ears when they had to wait for crosswalk signals. While she had great chemistry with Chad, nothing ever felt real with him. It always felt like an act.

Perhaps the tension between them was because of that one time they kissed and never talked about it again in freshman year after a particularly nerve wracking competitive math round before she quit--something that she wasn’t exactly going to shout off the rooftops for the masses to hear. Or maybe because he pushed her away right after and said it was a mistake. 

Whatever it was, Y/N and Chad were decidedly not romantically involved. She had been shocked when he’d even bothered asking her for the night. Granted, they were always pals and it shouldn’t have been awkward, but drawing the comparisons between her and the other girls was making the evening very uncomfy. Y/N couldn’t help but pray that Chad was going to be the one to break the ice.

“Where the fuck is this place?” he finally said, much to Y/N’s glee. His grace and manners were absolutely unparalleled. “It’s cold and I’m sure it’s going to start raining again.”

“It should be just a few more blocks and then to the right,” she responded. “Sorry. It’s cool as fuck, though. I promise it’s worth it.”

“This is just her ploy to lure us all away from civilization to off us,” Sylvia said, turning around from a few feet in front of them to raise her eyebrows at Y/N. “Eliminate the competition before college apps even begin. I’m impressed, honestly.”

“Now you’ve gone and ruined it all,” she fired back. “Thanks, Vy.”

She was relieved to see that the antique store couldn’t be missed, even if she tried. The sign, a worn and friendly gold, was illuminated by large lights. The words “My Grandfather’s Attic” had never looked more welcoming as Sylvia gripped the door and ushered them inside.

The moment Y/N stepped inside, something felt...different, kind of like the hair-raising feeling she got when she was around Draco. The electricity in the air she felt with him could easily be explained away by the fact that he was, for lack of a better term, the most stunning person she’d ever seen, but perhaps she was slowly getting over him. Perhaps…

She turned to see Chad, his honey blonde hair spilling over his forehead as he focused on a basket of vintage buttons that seemed to glimmer in the light. The furrow in his brow--the same one that she’d been so familiar with after seeing him solve countless math problems--appeared as he examined the basket, turning a red button around in his fingers, soft and and sprinkled with writing calluses. 

Maybe it had been Chad all along. Maybe Draco was just a detour. 

Before she did anything she regretted, Y/N turned and made her way back into the store. The set up was the same as she remembered--interesting and foreign objects hanging from the walls, ceilings, and congregating in baskets and overflowing shelves. She didn’t even realize that she had migrated over to the opposite side of the room until she felt the solid, cool wood of the black box from her dreams pressed into her hand as she turned it over and traced the strange white sign that was etched into the front. 

“Y/N!” 

The sound snapped her out of her trance to see...Heather and Draco? He was jogging towards her despite the fact that he was wearing a full suit. Y/N made an absent note to make fun of him later. 

“Why are you--”

“Put that down!” He stopped a few paces away, his eyes darting around the store at a frantic pace. “We need to leave.”

“Why? Honestly, if you wanted me to pick you up, all you had to do was…” She had to take a breath to steady herself. Her body felt like it was filled with static. “All you had to do was ask.”

“That’s not...ok, just put it down,” he commanded. “Please. Just put the box down. We need to go home.”

“No! This is my last homecoming. I’m sorry your experience wasn’t great, but I don’t...I don’t, uh, appreciate…” The lightheadedness hit, so suddenly that she almost fell. 

“Fuck, are you okay?” Draco was right in front of her in an instant, his eyes scanning her face.

“I feel...” She took a shaky breath. “I feel...starry?”

The last thing she remembered was Draco trying to tug the box out of her grip, his other hand warm on her shoulder.

And then everything went black.

final a/n: so draco got a howler and some wack stuff happened, huh? tell me what you think. 

#draco x reader #draco imagine #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy imagine #draco x y/n #draco x oc #draco malfoy x y/n #draco malfoy x oc #draco #draco malfoy #draco lucius malfoy #draco x you #draco malfoy x you

[shorkbrian]

ASKS

Hello again, asks are compiled under the cut. Please block the tag #shorkbrian answers a lot of asks# If you’d prefer not to see these types of posts from me. If I haven’t answered your ask, it’s because I’m saving it for a thirst, drabble, or fic.

I don’t ignore asks, but sometimes getting around to them overwhelms me lol. pls accept my apologies lol k here we go

I am very glad, I legit was so scared that it was too long and that it’d be disappointing bc the smut wasn’t super IN YOUR FACE yknow? But man am I glad to hear that.

I’m looking directly @ you

Someone noticed omg!!!  A lot of times I just put whatever song I played on repeat while writing that fit, but I have a *yandere* playlist that I listen to and it gets me going. Ty for noticing!!!

I’ve considered opening them permanently but I just... idek. I’d have to start deleting or ignoring the requests I don’t vibe with and Idk how to handle that lol. But thanks for the well wishes, hope your next few months treat you well friend!

Watermelon sugar why

Srsly you’re sweet but just wait until I start to really get going with all my nasty kinks okay, then you’ll be rethinking this strategy hunty lol!

I literally stalk @.vermiliren and @.kazooli and @.seita lol. Maybe when I get my blog more cleaned up, I’ll create a list of creators that I enjoy, along with fic recs. For now, here’s a link to my AO3 bookmarks which I read one like almost every single night bc I’m a horny gremlin.

I am the shark king. Sharks are my thing bro u don’t even know. I love them so much, they're dumb and big and beautiful and yeah I wish I was a mermaid who got to swim with them. Also I changed it bc I’m trying to make my blog more *professional* and all that so I can start being taken seriously askjakjdf

Compliments suck, if I'm being down and out honest. This does not bother me at all, I’m just unsure how to respond. I think I would prefer no comments, but I’m trying really really hard to just say “thank you!” and move on before I get uncomfortable. Having to fight with someone about how I perceive my self worth is exhausting, and especially so for the poor person that was just trying to say something nice and be nice to me. 

They do make me quite uncomfortable my dear lad/lassie/lasso. Say what you wish in the tags tho ! I don’t really reply to those, so there’s no pressure on me to have to say something back. I do however, see all the tags ppl use and some of them make me laugh so hard cause they’re so spot on, and it makes my day. like “Mark me down as scared AND horny” and “Bakugou better be able to bench 165 cause imma throw my fatass in his mf lap” and it kills me.

I SCEREAMED AKDHGSYDGASJSD this is the only format I'll be taking asks in now, no compliments just a yes/no answer to if my works help u cum god bless

you used the /gen!!!!! IDK what these are called but the /S and /gen and /J save my life!!!!

Frick you’ve figured me out, I do try to put like a nail-in-the-coffin sentence at the end. A lot of times it never works right, but I cannot for the life of my figure out how to end a single post ever. If anyone knows hmu pls ty

(Also ps I checked out ur blog cause yans are my jam and it is very much Not garbage!!)

That’s very kind of you, but pls don’t stay up past midnight it’s bad for ur Brian you’ll make bad decisions bro trust me all of my stuff is written after midnight

You will lafff..... but I will tell anyways..... I was prescribed a “life coach” after I got out of the hospital, which was really just a poorly disguised softcore “make sure u don’t yeet urself” type of thing. He had me write down things I liked about myself, and when I returned the sheet of paper still blank, he wrote stuff down for me. Like five sentences of “My hair and skin are unique and special” “I like animals and enjoy being kind to them” “I am worthy of respect” etc etc. and I had to look in a mirror twice a day and say those sentences to help “boost my self worth”. It sucked so bad dude, and I like got upset about it every time it came up, until finally my therapist was like “... this aint doin this sad bitch no good” and my parents got designated for yeet watch instead.

I know, logically, that (the majority of) people are not purposefully taking time out of their day to make me feel bad. They're trying to be encouraging and loving, and I appreciate it so much. But like... what do I say? If I say thanks, it’s almost like acknowledging what they're saying as true, and I can’t live with myself thinking I’m more than I am. I’m sorry you’ve had experiences that make compliments difficult for you also, I understand bro and I hope that your future holds healing and peace for you. 

Hopefully I won’t vent as much anymore lol, I’ll try to do that on my sideblog where I reblog really trigger-y memes akjdafhkjf. But thank you for your kind words bro, they’re appreciated and put in a nice lil jar.

Ah dw! This doesn’t sound like a jab. I think all of us r so sad n depressed and feel unworthy of love, so the fantasy of a Yan coming and forcing it on us and not leaving even when we lash out is just..... so attractive my heads gonna explode

me, thinking about kiri at any given moment like:

I have the next Hybrid! Kiri fic like lined up, but I’m so demotivated be I was SO CLOSE to finishing, and then wiped my computer like an IDITO

Waso, I’m taking horseback riding lessons bc my mom went:

and my grandpa told me that one of his horses was named Awaso and I immediately thot of u fun fact. But you’re so very kind, and I enjoy seeing you in my inbox. I’m never tired of u homie. You are loved and important, and it’s not an illusion. Even random strangers on the internet can feel soft towards you bro, and dats me, I’m the random stranger that likes u.

So I took Russian for a year, my dear friend, because I wanted to see if the language myth of “Russian is the hardest, Korean is the easiest” was true. I would say yes. So instead of like translating this and typing out a coherent response, I’ve resorted to google translate I’m so sorry but Виктор мог плюнуть мне в глаз, и я бы поблагодарил его. Also, the way Vitya is written in cryllic makes my heart swell it looks so cozy idek what I mean by that but it does? I treasure you man, hope to see you around in the new year and maybe??? we be good friends

Can any year be good when Kirishima Eijirou doesn’t exist?

cryface;;sad.jpg

I just imagine anyone who comes across my stuff, sitting at their computer shocked and slightly horrified, maybe turned on like

Daddy Aizawa makes me

Wait!! I have something to aid your troubles!!

ur welcome now u can be horny whenever you’d like 

pls every time we talk about Kirishima I have to act surprised like 

LISTEN BBYGORL I have had therapist Suga in the works since *checks notes* November. I am excited for it yeahhhhhh but sadly, I don’t think I will be continuing piano teacher Suga. The story is petered out in my mind, idk where it would go. Therapist sugarbird tho? We have some thots about this. Coming soon to theaters near you

#shorkbrian answers a lot of asks #pls block that tag if you don't want to see these kinds of posts #inbox was getting fulll #tysvm for continuing to support me

[clumsyclifford]

good morning 💕 (morning for me anyway) so firstly waking up to a new spidey au part is amazing & then a cute jalex prompt is even better 🙈 also i'm very excited to listen to the happy recs 😊

anyway since i had a night of too many vivid dreams i'd like to request "33. Kiss in a dream" with lashton, please? -fiancee

good morning! except you sent this at almost 4am for me and now it’s 9pm so not really morning either way but i accept the sentiment. i’m very happy u liked the fics and i hope u like the recs <3 AND i hope you like THIS fic. i fell down a rabbit hole of 5sos family instagrams so we also get a jack scene because, you know, i love him. xoxo

-

“Had a weird dream last night,” Luke yawns, trekking into the kitchen. Jack’s sitting on the counter, looking at his phone with a mug of coffee in his left hand. 

“Yeah?” Jack says. He doesn’t look up. “What about?”

Luke frowns. He probably shouldn’t have mentioned it, but whatever. It’s just a dream. “Have you ever kissed someone in a dream?”

Now Jack does look up, grinning. “Oh shit, really? First dream kiss! Congrats, Lukey, that’s a big deal.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Luke says defensively. He doesn’t want it to be a big deal. He has weird dreams all the time, and those aren’t big deals. Just because in this one he’d kissed his friend, doesn’t make it a bigger deal than the one where he’d been invisible in a broken-down elevator with Green Day.

“Who’d you kiss?” Jack prods, then takes a sip of his coffee. “Someone I know?”

Luke blushes. “No,” he says, except he’s always been a terrible liar.

“It totally is,” Jack says. Luke turns away, reaching for the loaf of bread on the counter and pulling out two slices. “It is! Who was it?”

“I don’t want to tell you,” Luke says, putting the bread in the toaster. 

“If I guess it, will you tell me?”

Luke sighs. “Fine.”

“Calum.”

“No, oh my God!”

“Well, I don’t know,” Jack says, holding up his hands in surrender. “Uh, Calum’s sister?”

“No.”

“...Michael?”

“No.” Luke makes a face. “Michael? Really?”

“I’m just going down my mental list of your friends,” Jack says. He gives Luke an impassive look. “There aren’t that many of them, you know. I’m bound to get it eventually.”

“Maybe it wasn’t one of my friends,” Luke challenges.

Jack waves him off. “No, it definitely was, or you’d have told me. Okay, who haven’t I said. Calum, Michael…Ashton? Was it Ashton?”

Luke reddens. He turns back to the toaster. “No.”

“It was Ashton!” Jack crows. “Hey, no shame, mate! Ashton’s cute.”

“He is not.”

“You don’t think Ashton is cute?”

Luke splutters. “He’s — that’s not the point! Stop it,” he says, pointing a finger at Jack. “I didn’t ask to dream-kiss him, okay? I’m not in control of my dreams.”

“They’ve got to come from somewhere, though,” Jack says. He grins. Jack always grins like he’s going to make fun of Luke, whether or not he actually is. “It’s fine, bro, you can want to kiss Ashton if you —”

“I don’t want to kiss Ashton!” Luke insists.

“You wouldn’t have dreamed it if you didn’t,” Jack says.

“That’s so not true! I dream weird shit all the time that I don’t actually care about.”

“Yeah, but it’s a kiss, Luke. That’s not just some random weird shit. That’s a real thing you actually dreamed about doing with a person you know. Your friend.” Jack gives him a meaningful look. “Who you think is cute.”

“This is why I don’t tell you this kind of thing,” Luke says, scowling. “It was just a dream.”

Jack shrugs. “If you say so. I don’t care.” He takes another sip of his coffee. Luke makes a face. He can’t fathom that Jack actually enjoys coffee. It smells awful. “Are you going to tell him?”

“Tell Ashton?”

“Yeah,” Jack says. “If it was just a dream, you might as well. If someone snogged me in a dream I’d want to know.” Luke supposes he’d want to know, too. Jack has him cornered, too, because if he says no, of course I won’t tell Ashton, Jack will point a victorious finger — so it wasn’t just a dream after all! But he really doesn’t want to tell Ashton, because that’s a weird thing to tell. And even if he prefaces it with this doesn’t mean anything at all, I just thought you’d be interested to know, it’s still weird. Ashton will think it’s weird.

(Also, maybe Luke has a small crush on Ashton, maybe. And he really doesn’t want to jeopardize their friendship, which is still so new.)

“Sure,” he lies. “I’ll tell him.”

Jack shakes his head and drains the last of his coffee. “You will not.”

“Why would you ask if you’re just going to argue when I say I will?” Jack laughs. “Whatever, Luke, fine. Let me know what he says.”

“I will,” Luke says stubbornly, forgetting that this is a lie. He’s not going to tell Ashton, right? He can just make something up. Yeah, he said good for me, and everything’s aces! Yeah, right. Jack’s seen through every single one of Luke’s lies this morning. Luke should invest in lying lessons, or else he’s not going to get very far at all.

“Good,” Jack says, hopping down off the counter. “And it’s your day to take the trash out, don’t forget.”

“I know,” Luke says. Jack puts his mug in the sink.

“Have fun at band practice,” he says as a farewell, and then retreats from the kitchen, maybe to go do homework or, more likely, play Fifa. Luke scowls at his back. There’s a reason he doesn’t share embarrassing shit with his brothers (Jack, specifically) anymore.

He reaches for Jack’s mug and rinses it out so the coffee doesn’t dry at the bottom, then grabs a plate for his toast and retrieves the Vegemite. The dream is exiled to the back of his mind, and he doesn’t think about it the rest of the morning.

(Doesn’t think about how much he’d like to remember exactly how it had felt, because all things considered it’s not like he’s ever going to get closer to kissing Ashton, and already the details are slipping through his fingers, until all he can remember is the warmth in his chest from knowing that someone like Ashton could have ever wanted to kiss someone like Luke.)

-

“Okay, we need to take a break,” Michael declares, setting aside his guitar. Michael’s not the boss of them, but Luke is inclined to agree. He’s getting bored of playing “I Miss You” over and over, and anyway he needs water. “Five minutes.”

“Five,” Ashton repeats, firmly. “And then everyone back here.”

“Sick,” Luke says, also putting his guitar down. “I’m getting water, anybody want?”

All three of his bandmates raise their hands, and Luke sighs. “I can’t carry four cups of water.” “I’ll help,” Ashton says, leaping to his feet. Calum coughs, and Ashton shoots him a look. Luke just smiles gratefully, and together they head to the kitchen.

“I really like that song,” Ashton says as Luke reaches for four plastic cups from the cabinet. 

“Me too,” Luke says. “Fun chords. And the ending is cool.”

“Yeah,” Ashton says, although he probably wouldn’t know fun chords from boring ones. But Luke appreciates the effort. 

“It looks fun to do on the drums, or,” Luke makes hitting gestures with his hands, “the cajón. You know.”

Ashton mirrors his movements, laughing. “Yeah,” he says. “It is, yeah.”

“Alright, look.” Luke scowls, but Ashton just pats his shoulder, and the look disappears pretty quickly.

“It’s fine,” he says, taking one of the cups out of Luke’s hands and thrusting it under the tap. “Tap water is fine, right?”

“Unless you see someplace else to get water,” Luke says, making a show out of glancing around the room. Ashton rolls his eyes. The smile doesn’t disappear from his lips. Luke likes that about Ashton, that he’s always smiling.

“So how are you?” Ashton asks. “I mean, aside from rehearsal? How was your morning? How were you yesterday?”

“One question at a time,” Luke jokes. “Fine, all fine. I mean, I didn’t sleep much last night because of homework, and then Jack was making fun of me this morning, but you know.”

“Making fun of you for what?”

“My —” Luke breaks off. He can’t stop now, or it’ll seem very suspicious, but they’re getting dangerously close to uncharted waters. “Just a weird dream I had.”

“Ooh, I love weird dreams,” Ashton says conspiratorially, handing off one full cup to Luke and swapping it for an empty one. “What was it?”

“No, it wasn’t that weird,” Luke tries to say, but Ashton’s face starts to fall, and Luke doesn’t want to be responsible for that. “I mean, it was just — I kissed someone, in my dream. Which was really strange. I’ve never had a dream-kiss before.”

Ashton raises an eyebrow. “Get it,” he says, and Luke ducks his head, laughing through the nerves. His face is surely burning red by now. “Who’d you kiss?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Luke says emphatically. Attempting to change to subject, he adds, “Anyway, that was right after I found out I was adopted and Billie Joe Armstrong was my real dad all along.”

“Did you kiss Billie Joe Armstrong?”

“Ew, Ashton, I just said he was my dad in my dream!”

“Well I don’t know what kind of freaky shit your mind comes up with!”

“No,” Luke says vehemently. “It was a friend, oh my God.”

Ashton immediately looks more interested. “A friend?”

Fuck. “Well,” Luke says diplomatically, “more like just a person that I know in real life. Not necessarily a friend. Could be someone from school. Or, like.”

“So a friend,” Ashton says, a teasing smile on his lips. “I can see why Jack made fun of you for this. Why don’t you just tell me who it was? I won’t laugh, I promise.”

“You will laugh,” Luke says. “I don’t want to tell you.”

“Come on,” Ashton wheedles. “What’s the worst that could happen? Can I guess?”

“No,” Luke says, because that’s exactly how Jack had gotten him this morning, and he’s not going to make the same mistake twice. “Nothing bad will happen. It’s just weird, and I don’t want to say.”

Ashton rolls his eyes. They’ve filled all four cups of water now, and there’s no reason for them to linger by the sink, yet Ashton looks like he’s not planning to move. “You don’t have to tell me,” he says. “I just thought you could. Because we’re friends. You know. If you really don’t want to, then I’m not going to make you.”

Luke stares at him, guilt rolling around his stomach. That’s not fair. Ashton’s totally manipulating him, and Luke knows that, and it shouldn’t be working, and Luke wishes it weren’t working, but it is.

Fuck. It totally is.

“Fine,” Luke sighs. “I’ll tell you, but promise you won’t make it weird?”

“I won’t make it weird,” Ashton swears.

Luke worries his bottom lip between his teeth. He picks up a cup and takes a long drink from it. “Okay, well, it was you,” he finally says, looking down at the tiles of the kitchen floor so he doesn’t have to see the look on Ashton’s face.

A beat.

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” Another beat. “That’s nice. How was I?”

Luke looks up. “Don’t make fun of me,” he says.

“I’m not!” Ashton says quickly. He cracks a smile but it’s a little uncertain. “I just want to be sure your first dream-kiss was an enjoyable experience.” Luke groans. “This is weird,” he says. “You’re making it weird.”

“I’m not trying to.”

“Well, you are. I take it back. Pretend I never said anything.” Luke takes his cup of water and moves past Ashton, but Ashton grabs his arm.

“Luke, just calm down a second. Sorry if I sounded like I was making fun. I’m just, um, I guess I’m just wondering —” He clears his throat. “Like, maybe it would be nicer in real life than in a dream?”

Slowly, Luke turns, fingers tightening around his cup. “What? Like, kissing in real life?” 

Ashton is blushing. Luke’s never seen Ashton blush before, but he’s definitely doing it now, cheeks turning patchy pink as he rubs a hand across the back of his neck. “Well, I don’t know. Yeah. I mean, it’s not really fair that you got to have a dream about kissing me and I’ve still never kissed you, in dreams or otherwise.”

“What?” Luke says dimly. “You don’t want to kiss me.”

“Well,” Ashton says, “I can pretend I don’t, if you want. I just thought — I’ve never kissed anyone in a dream that I didn’t want to actually kiss in real life, so I figured —”

“Yes, I want to kiss you,” Luke says boldly, over the sound of his heart battering his chest. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Ashton says, frowning. “I wouldn’t joke about this, what kind of person do you think I am?”

“I know, I just, um, you’re you? And I’m me,” Luke says, gesturing between them like this is some big revelation. “So I’m taking a moment to process.”

“Oh,” Ashton says. “Well, take all the time you need.”

Luke stares at him. It occurs to him that Ashton is waiting to kiss him, and that thought fills his whole body with butterflies. “Okay, I’m done,” he says, even though he’s not really, and could spend hours trying to reconcile the idea of Ashton as a person with Ashton wanting to kiss Luke and probably still come up empty. 

“That was fast,” Ashton says. “Can I kiss you now?”

“Yeah,” Luke breathes, setting his cup of water down on the counter. Ashton smiles and shuffles closer. He presses both palms to the sides of Luke’s face, and Luke’s eyes flutter shut, soaking up the heat of Ashton’s hands against his skin. Already this is better than his dream, a hundred times better. 

Then Ashton presses their lips together, gently, and all thoughts of Luke’s dream dissipate, replaced by real Ashton, actually kissing him, in real life, in Michael’s kitchen. He’s pretty sure his hands are shaking from the excitement.

Ashton pulls away and smiles, and Luke smiles back, then ducks his head, feeling far too nervous to look Ashton in the eyes.

“So?” Ashton prompts, which makes Luke look up again. “Better than the dream?”

“Oh,” Luke says, smiling like an idiot, “so much better.”

Ashton looks pleased, and Luke hopes he dreams of kissing Ashton again tonight, just so he can wake up and remember that he’s actually done it for real. 

#luke hemmings #ashton irwin #lashton #lashton fic #5sos #5sos fic #fic #my fic #fun and interesting bella fact: MY first dream kiss was a guy from my synagogue #but i did think he was cute so. you know. fair enough #and then another one was a guy i had a crush on in middle school and for my first year (and maybe also second?) of high school #everyone is getting far too much information about my kissing history from the tags of these fics #sorry guys #anyway fiancee i love you for the many prompts i will get to them at some point #but i am currently DETERMINEDLY procrastinating a paper that should. ideally. be finished before midnight tonight #which is in three hours #SO i finished this fic but now i had better go and do that #god i cant believe registration for spring is literally tomorrow night #STRESSSSSSSSSSSS #anonymous #ask #answered

[reminaissance]

any elsanna artists recs???

ohh OH oHHH! YES.

(now please keep in mind that the amount of artists out there is humongous and they’re all talented but also hard to track so I’d suggest you follow blogs like @elsanna-art-archive and @xx-lastshadow-xx who are constantly reblogging and posting elsanna goodies with accurate sources--you can also check out Twitter bc there’s a lot of fanart there but I’m not on Twitter so I can’t really guide you). Now BEHOLD my own personal recs!!!

@gracepago0314 - special, honorific mention. she’s been in the fandom for quite a while and her art is beautiful and immersive and she will give you the feels without doubt. gorgeous art. stupid amount of talent.

@ice-bjorn - beautiful, chefs kiss kind of art. they will slay you just because they can and you will thank them anyway.

@vago-art​ - this girl has so much talent that whenever she posts new art many people in the fandom are like adfgadufoaudfgpaduf--we lose it.

@patronustrip​ - I swear they’ve made fanart of every fandom I’ve ever been in and I just.. fucking can’t get over it because they are mad mad mad talented. Gorgeous and realistic and fluffy and amazing all around. PREACH.

@anotherpersondrawing​ - I dont even know... if you wanna die of laughter this artist is the one to go to. Not precisely blatant elsanna (i think--kent remember) but yo, you’re missing out either way if you havent checked out their art. it’s genius comedy and I fucking love them.

@constable-frozen​ - it’s constable. you never know wtf is gonna come out of their minds. that’s all.

@lorelei-lilyprincess​ - not only do they make stand-alone pieces of fanart but they also make comics and they’re beautiful--every single one of them.

@giuliaciulia89​ - another incredible italian artist (what do they put in the water of Italy??????????), you won’t regret checking out their blog. Super great art.

@comickergirl​ i cant recall right now if it’s elsanna or snow sisters or just frozen, but same as with anotherpersondrawing, I laugh often and their art is like a gift from heaven. It just cheers me up without failure. 

@nyamo-nyamo​ - precious art all around. both elsanna and snow sisters, I can guarantee you you’ve seen their art before. 

A-KA - same as Nyamo, if you’ve been in the elsanna fandom long enough I am sure you’ve seen their art. They’ve stopped creating for it ever since and I urge you NOT to reach out to them about it. That’s a very gentle, but stern request. Either way, their art is still often reblogged and I personally consider it a treasure in the elsanna fandom.

And I think that’s it for now. I know for a fact that I’m missing many artists so if anyone sees this and feels the need to add, please please do so!! 

#elsanna #elsanna fanart #elsanna recs #anon ask

[transformersrelay]

Mace ropes Weathervane and Shrapnel into a drinking contest, because what better way to befriend his quiet crewmates than with a challenge! He didn’t expect the idealogical crises, though.

“Hey guys!” Mace made entrances, Weathervane had learned. The drone practically burst into the hangar, abandoned by all but the newest recruit and their second-in-command. Shrapnel had been assigned to show him the specifics of the controls first thing, in case there was ever an emergency.

   But Mace didn’t seem to notice or care that they were in the middle of something. Mace slammed his servos on the panel in front of him, making just one of the other two planes jump.

   “I bet you both I can hold the most hi-grade!”

   Weathervane blinked. Shrapnel scoffed.

   “You try this every time, Mace.”

   “Besides, we’re all flyers, so it’s not like you have an advantage? And… you’re the smallest.” The biplane gave a skeptical frown.

   “Oooh newbie~ Prove it,” Mace smirked.

   “For the love of Primus...” the SIC muttered.

   “Uh, but...Why? Would we?”

   “Because! It’ll be fun!”

   Shrapnel and Weathervane exchanged glances.

   “C’mon! Fun?”

   Weathervane laughed nervously. Shrapnel stared.

   “Ugh, fine. I’ll bet you both my entire personal unit stash.”

   That was how the two had found themselves allowing him to drag them along, down to the mess hall. Shrapnel went to fetch the stash of hi-grade he kept stocked; Mace had teased that it was so well maintained precisely for times like this, but the triple-changer had neither confirmed nor denied. The rec room was empty, which served Mace’s plans wonderfully, because his fellow flyers were far too proud to have fun in front of other bots. Primus forbid anyone know they weren’t completely devoid of positive attitudes!

   They sat down with their stack, and each took one cube to start. The larger two swirled theirs hesitantly: Shrapnel out of disinterest and Weathervane looking like he thought his would bite him. Oh, this would be like taking Energon treats from sparklings! Mace, with a wicked grin, slammed his down without warning, sticking his tongue out with his empty cube on display. That earned him a couple of competitive frowns.

   “Well? I’m winning so far!”

   “We just started-- don’t reach for another. Primus,” Shrapnel grumbled, drinking his own just as quickly. “Your big mouth is cheating!” and moving to keep pace. Mace was already mostly through with his second.

   “Weathervane, are you trying to be slow?”

   “No,” he snapped defensively, trying to take a big gulp and not making much progress. “Shut up, Mace, you’re so going down.” He tried to drink more and scowled.

   “Don’t tell me you don’t like hi-grade,” Shrapnel said.

   “I do! I’m just not used to it, okay?”

   “Should’ve been built a Seeker frame,” Mace teased.

   “Oh, well gee, thanks Mace, I’d never considered that,” he huffed, forcing the contents of his drink down with finality. “Hand me another damn cube.”

   Mace happily did so, grabbing himself another too. Shrapnel was keeping up, at least.

   “Don’t you do this with Bumper all day instead of making yourself useful?” Shrapnel mused, clearly not ready to leave Weathervane alone. “I’d think you an expert solely by keeping his company.”

   “Not more than one, when we do,” he said. “Not like I’m going to get myself tipsy on the clock.”

   “He certainly would,” the triple-changer said.

   “Well, I’m not him. Don’t expect it to be a habit, anyways. I’ve only joined him once or twice.”

   Mace gasped. “Do you like him?”

   “Uh, I guess? I mean, I think we could be friends.”

   “No, no, no, like like.”

   “... What?”

   “He’s asking if you have romantic interest.”

   “Oh, what? No! Why would you assume that?”

   “Awww, too bad, you guys would be cute.”

   Weathervane grimaced. “I’m going to need this hi-grade after all.”

   An awkward silence settled. Granted, not for Mace, not ever, and Shrapnel was far too self-assured to let it bother him. So really it was awkward for Weathervane and Weathervane alone.  He worried his lip with fang-like teeth. Not that it was anything new, but he felt intensely out of place with the two Autobots. He found himself fretting privately about how he let himself get roped into this situation and what they might be thinking and if they--

   “Okay, okay, you’re like, three drinks behind. C’mon, Weathervane,” Mace set his cube aside and pushed an armful of them in front of the other plane. “We’ll wait!”

   Shrapnel nodded solemnly from his seat. The biplane blinked at them, a twinge of relief at the silence being broken despite the newest pressures placed so unceremoniously upon him, now. He sighed, looking as terribly put-upon as possible. But he did as asked. He wanted those units, after all.

   The smallest of them snickered, not missing the slight sloppiness in his movements. “Are you getting affected already?”

   “Shut up, Mace,” he snapped. “Why are you so eager to win, anyways? You won’t get anything out of it. Can’t give yourself your own units.”

   “I can, too!”

   “Bragging rights,” Shrapnel said.

   “Oh, yeah. That, too. I told you both I could hold more than you!” He pointed dramatically ahead, as if striking a pose.

   “You’ve hardly won, yet.”

   “Ah,” Weathervane muttered.

   While the empty air still bothered the newest Autobot, he had a task to complete now: drinking with whatever fervor he could muster. So really, it didn’t occur to him that he ought to be feeling awkward again. Shrapnel had seemed to settle on looking and acting bored, perhaps spacing out. Mace, for his part, was watching Weathervane with a twitchy excitement, and had the biplane not been so focused, it would have been making him far more uncomfortable than he already was. The uninitiated may have seen the drone’s energy as a side-effect of the hi-grade, a few weeks ago, but he knew better by now. It was just his constant state of being. The mechsimply  had no off-switch.

   “Hurrrryyyyyy,” Mace whined.

   “I’m doing the best I-- listen, you’re going to stress me out and then I’m just going to… to choke or something.”

   “You’re lllllllame.”

   “Stop! I didn’t ask for your opinion!”

   Shrapnel sighed deeply and grabbed another cube, despite what Mace had said. This was not his ideal company for drinking.

   “Ah, but you like drama like this, don’t you, Weathervane?”

   He cocked his head. That had been a sharp turn, hadn’t it. Mace was a difficult conversation.

   “Depends,” he answered carefully.

   “Hey! Who do you think is the strongest Autobot here? I think it’s Echo because of his guns, but he probably has weaknesses I didn’t even think about!”

   “Plenty,” Shrapnel said blankly. Weathervane wondered if the drinks had invigorated their usually stoic and silent Second to say so much. Though, speaking ill of the captain had never required him to be drunk before, so in the end, he still couldn’t tell. This was all so stupid, petty, impotent. Yet a hot flash of anger bolted through Weathervane’s chest at those stupid words.

   “That’s the problem with your hero complexes,” he growled, before his brain could catch up with him. “You think being strong is a good thing. It’s not. It makes you incapable of empathizing with the targets of that strength.”

   “...What?”

   He hesitated, mouth suddenly dry. “Oh. S-sorry, that… wasn’t what you wanted.”

   “The hi-grade is getting to you,” the largest mech surmised.

   “Says you.” Weathervane sat back upright, trying his best to appear collected and sober. His bashfulness forgotten, his claws curled against the tabletop and he grabbed another cube defiantly. “I won’t give up. You’ll have to kill me.”

   The triple changer only looked at him in response.

   “Hey, Shrap.”

   “Don’t call me that.”

   “Since you’re second-in-command, do you know any cool Autobot secrets?” Mace leaned in, eyes surely sparkling. The other mech didn’t bother turning to him, because really, it was a stupid question, and Mace only ever wanted light, fluffy responses, anyways.

   “As I’ve said before, if I did, why would I tell you?”

   “Ahh, you’re no funnn,” he whined.

   The biplane tuned in silently with a shift of optics. They’d had this conversation before, had they?

   “I’m actually kinda curious, now,” he said, eyebrows arched up, body leaned in, expression plainly interested. Normally, Shrapnel wouldn’t notice how it suited him.

   “That is unfortunate.” He sipped his drink. They’d amassed a decent pile of empty cubes by then.

   “Surely there’s something interesting,” Weathervane pushed.

   “What do you want from me? The terminal passwords?” Shrapnel didn’t budge.

   “Well, I certainly… wouldn’t complain.”

   “I’m sure. You would use it to download alien music or something, wouldn’t you?”

   “W-- would I? Do I strike you as a musical person?”

   “Well, you were telling Bumper all about alien instruments the other day,” Mace added, leaning his head in his hand. Clearly, he thought there was something to say about the two, judging by the teasing look on his face. Jumping to conclusions, as he often did.

   “That’s because he asked,” the biplane argued.

   “That’s not the point,” Shrapnel said, tapping a finger on the table. “The fact that you knew any of that means you must have studied it.”

   “I read one book on it,” he said, looking far more affronted than necessary. “It was just for the one planet, too. It’s just because the history of different tools and how each civilization created them is interesting. It’s how you fill the time. What are you going to do otherwise, walk down the hall? Or-- or sit and stare into space? So that then, when you think back to that moment, you’ll think, ‘oh, why didn’t I do something with that time? Now I just have memories of staring at a wall.’ But instead, I have memories of learning the conceptualization and evolution of a viola and how to use it and what each string sounds like. Even if you never use that knowledge, it’s stimulating and new and worth learning because at the very least, it’s better than nothing”

   The other two, for the first time that night, turned to each other.

   “I’m lost,” said Mace.

   “He is much more talkative now, isn’t he?” Shrapnel almost sounded teasing.

   “You asked! Don’t complain when you asked me!”

   In his defense, he wasn’t completely sober, himself, but Shrapnel felt himself intrigued that Weathervane would ramble in such a way. It almost felt like some secret he was bearing witness to. The newbie could speak more than two sentences, who knew?

   “What kind of frame are you, anyways, Weathervane?” Mace jumped without warning to a new subject again.

   “Hm? Why does it matter?”

   “Well you’re probably not a Seeker like me, and you’re definitely not like Shrap. Are you Vosian?”

   “Of course I’m Vosian, I’m just made for mining.”

   “That explains the weapons,” Shrapnel said.

   “Aw man, I wonder if we ever met before, then? Since we’re all Vosian!”

   He almost seemed to snarl. “Not a chance. You upper castes wouldn’t even know where to find the mines.”

   “No, I mean like, out in the skies!”

   “Military is hardly that upper,” Shrapnel added.

   “Aren’t you Seekers super regulated on where you can and can’t go? We certainly were. We were expected to live in the mines working forever, so those damn upper castes didn’t have to do any work.”

   “If you didn’t do the work, someone else would have had to,” Shrapnel said.

   “Ohh, well now that you say that I feel so much better, Shrapnel. Even if we were never built and others took our place wouldn’t make it any more just. To say that ignores a perfectly viable third option, wherein energon miners regardless of construction are treated fairly, given freedom and compensation for their time. I know the politicians and scientists get those things. Why only them?”

   “Politicians and scientists have more to offer. Even a Disposable could pick up a tool and dig up some crystals. Those who present a unique contribution to society don’t have to justify their existence. The rest do.”

   “Is that really what you believe? That the system was functional?” Weathervane’s expression darkened. The larger mech huffed.

   “No system is perfect. And of course, only the lowest castes complained, rather than accepting their role. They should’ve been proud. They were crucial to the balance, afterall.”

       At that, Weathervane’s eyes sparked like fire.

   “Well, I think the revolution was inevitable. I think the people at the top got what was coming to them. They deserved it for being ignorant-- for being okay with how things were.”

   “Uhh, I’m not really sure what’s going on right now,” Mace interjected nervously. “Isn’t that something a... Decepticon would say?”

   “You would know.”

   Mace started like he’d been burned.

   “More like something I’d have heard in a neutral camp,” Shrapnel said.

   “You... raided?” Weathervane tensed.

   “No, idiot, I lived in one.”

   “O-oh. Oh.” He tilted his head, seemed to get dizzy for a moment. “That sounds nice.”

   “It wasn’t.”

   “A-anyway, naturally the energon drought pushed everyone to get more aggressive in obtaining it. And neutrals, generally, aren’t so aggressive. But isn’t that simply fair, by your philosophy? That those who won’t contribute aren’t worthy of basic rights?”

   “My philosophy is that those who don’t work as hard shouldn’t expect the same benefits as those who do. That is not a denial of basic rights, it’s a rejection of the weakest link. Besides, now we’re discussing the entirely different issue of idealism, which is pointless now even with your best arguments.”

   Mace looked between the two with a nervous smile. All of this was going way over his head.

---

   “Where the hell is Shrapnel...” Echo hissed, to no one in particular. His second-in-command was supposed to be helping set the scanners and it was hours past when they’d started. Most of the crew was resting by now, and Echo wanted to do nothing more than follow suit and take his mind off this tedious piece of scrap, Shrapnel be damned.

   “Dunno, Cap’n,” Bumper said, looking up from where he’d been helping in the triple-changer’s stead. “Y’don’t think he actually went off with Mace all this time, after all?”

   Bumper had noted when he’d approached Echo earlier that he’d seen the two with Weathervane, but he didn’t expect they’d have been getting along. Even if, by some miracle, Weathervane had gotten on the SIC’s good side, he sincerely doubted that would be enough to make him spend quality time with the drone.

   Echo stewed for a few moments.

   “At this point, I don’t care where he is or what his excuse might be. He can’t just skip out on jobs, now. Meetings was one thing, but this-- He’s going to finish this by himself,” he stalked off, his direction being the only indication he’d actually heard Bumper at all.

   Bumper frowned at the unfinished job, but shrugged and followed after, anyways. Where to look for them, that was the big question. The three Autobot flyers didn’t have many interests in common, from what he knew. Assuming Shrapnel was still with them, what could they possibly be doing?

   ---

   “What you’re proposing is mass suicide, you understand that,” Shrapnel was saying. He sounded slightly off. Too relaxed, and not-angry.

   Echo stood in the doorway, watching the scene before him, somewhere between furious and downright incredulous. There sat the unlikeliest of trios, a notable stack of empty cubes between them (Bumper made a distressed noise from behind him.) Mace seemed perfectly normal, but the same could not be said for the other two.

   “This trajectory is just going to end with all us dead anyways,” Weathervane was arguing. He was clearly inebriated, his words unsteady and his optics burning brighter than they should. A passion-- something Echo hadn’t seen from him yet-- clouded his expression. “We should at least be able to die trying to fix this Primus-forsaken hellhole we’ve made.”

   “We’re doing that. It is called surviving.”

   “No, by… Ugh. I just want to save a shred of morality for myself. That would be so nice…”

   “Are you always so depressing when you’re drunk?”

   “Okay,” Echo interjected sharply, and only the biplane jumped, “What the hell is going on here? Explain, Shrapnel.”

   “Competition. Whoever lasts the longest gets all of Mace’s units.”

   “And I’m winning!”

   “That sure ain’t healthy…” Bumper murmured, eyeing the aforementioned stack of empty cubes. “You even leave any for the rest o’ us?” He seemed a little downtrodden at the thought of the supply being low. Weathervane seemed to draw back, at that. He looked way more guilty than he needed to be.

   “It was my idea, Captain! Don’t get mad at Shrapnel! Besides, we still have a lot of hi-grade left, it’s not that big of a deal!” Mace beamed.

   “That’s not what I’m mad about, Mace,” Echo said curtly, “But thank you for confessing, we will discuss that later.”

   “I’m not very pleased about it,” Bumper added. “But, uh,” he turned back to the biplane, who looked upset- and more than a little frightened. If he was a paranoid drunk, this situation was only going to exacerbate his condition. He could practically see the steam coming off of Echo.  “We should take care o’ you, first, buddy. You’re not going to get back to your quarters in that state.”

   “Who won…?” His voice was oddly hollow, for the question. Though all things considered, it made sense that he wouldn’t make sense.

   “Clearly Mace did,” Echo said.

   “What?!” Shrapnel exclaimed.

   “Ahh, risk not reward, hmm,” Weathervane seemed to grow sad.

   “Woohoo! Told you guys! I was right!”

   Shrapnel drew his shoulders up, as if to argue, but was cut off.

   “Clearly you’re even more of a joy than usual, Shrapnel. You’re not acting like yourself, and you missed tonight’s job.”

   “What of it, Echo,” he turned slowly back to the Captain. “It got done without me.”

   “No, it didn’t.”

   “Uh, well I’m gonna help Vane here back, but I’ll come back help with the rest o’ that, after,” Bumper interrupted. He’d already slung one of the other’s arms around his shoulders and supported his heavy leaning. Weathervane seemed to be getting more nervous.

   “Thank you, Bumper.” Echo didn’t look at him as he effectively dismissed him, focused on Shrapnel. He regarded him silently. Shrapnel stared back. “... We’ll discuss this when you can think straight.”

   “Can you say you deserve to be alive?” Weathervane blurted, turning around at the door to figure out where Shrapnel was and nearly knocking both himself and Bumper over in the process.

   “... Weathervane?”

   “What do you mean?” The largest mech tilted his head.

   “You… your arguments fall apart if you can’t tell me, guilt-free, that you deserve to be alive more than everyone who’s ever died,” he managed. “You’re wrong.”

   His intensity was tangible. A momentary hush fell over the room, as if they’d all been blindsided by his words. Echo had to admit he was... surprised, his spark both twisted and impressed by the biplane’s sentiment. Perhaps his first impression of Weathervane had been… wrong.

   “You’re naive,” Shrapnel answered, unaffected, voice still cold and precise. “Everyone who has offlined has made their sacrifice. They weren’t strong enough to survive, and their deaths decided their worth.”

   Weathervane’s mouth clicked shut. He glared, unfocused, for a silent few moments. An insurmountable rage seemed to flare up in the spare moments. Shrapnel scoffed, had to have one last remark.

   “This is a war you’re in. Not everyone matters.”

   The other’s silence grew angrier, he almost seemed to regain a focus, something sharp and cutting he’d never displayed before. In moments he deflated, suddenly looking defeated and burdened.

   “C’mon buddy,” Bumper interrupted gently. “Let it be.” The flyer was already too distraught for him to allow it to get worse. And Shrapnel was gasoline to a flame. The grounder coaxed him forward on wobbling legs and managed them both out of the room towards the suites.

   The captain and his second-in-command watched them go in silence; a silence that even Mace respected, clearly uncomfortable as he was.

   “You’re a fucking idiot,” Echo finally spat, turning on the largest mech. “You should be ashamed of your conduct.”

   “I’m not.”

   “I fucking know you’re not. Get to your quarters and rust for all I care. I want you on deck at cycle break and you are fixing the Primus-forsaken scanners on your own. If you’re not there, I’m throwing you out of the airlock myself.”

   The triple changer didn’t immediately move, challenging the optics glaring at him. Echo was only intimidating if one believed him, afterall. Nonetheless, the captain’s words impacted him enough to slowly stand. He didn’t sway like Weathervane had, but his steps were uncertain all the same, leaving behind Echo and Mace without another word.  Echo wished he believed there was some regret in his silence. But he wasn’t that stupid.

   “Soooooo I guess I’ll just--” Mace was slinking out of his chair.

   “Clean up this mess? I agree.”

   The drone’s wings drooped and his mouth opened to protest, but after a moment, he thought better of it. He began collecting the empty cubes scattered on the floor, the containers quietly clinking together the only noise until the little mech started humming to his work.

   “So, uh, Captain? I--”

   “Mace, you still have the courtesy of my patience, but it’s thin.”

   The drone looked wounded, but got the hint.

   Echo left after the first two armfuls were disposed of, confident that the work would be done without issue. Mace was a chatterbox, but he pulled his weight, if nothing else.

   He went back to the main deck, staring absently at the mess laid out on the panels, and spent the rest of the cycle awake.

---

   “You gonna be okay?”

   Weathervane nodded groggily. It seemed that the crash had hit him hard now that the challenge factor had been removed. Bumper chuckled, in both humor and relief, “Well, good. An’ I hope you learned somethin’ tonight. If Mace challenges you, it’s prolly ‘cause he knows he can win.” He chuckled to himself. The flyer graced him with a little smirk at that, if tinged with what he could only assume was disappointment, optics darkened and losing focus quickly.

   The purple mech stayed just long enough to make sure the newbie was settled, already in hi-grade induced recharge by the time he left the hab suite, and made his way back to the rec room as he’d promised.  Mace was still picking up; and by Primus there were a lot of cubes. He didn’t seem particularly upset by how things had ended, but he was alone all the same.

   “Need help?”

   The drone perked up immediately, spinning on his heel with an arm full of cubes.

   “Phew, absolutely! I was getting lonely!” The grounder smiled-- it was hard to stay mad at the tiny crewmate-- before grabbing an armful himself. It was tempting, but it was too late in the cycle to have some himself. He was almost hurt he hadn’t been invited.

   “So… What’d you start this whole mess for, anyway?” He prodded, dumping out his armful into the receptacle against the counter, “Weathervane, sure, but Shrap? You had t’ know that’d be bad news.”

   Mace almost looked hurt by his wording, but seemed to brush over it just as quickly.

   “Well, I really did just think it’d be fun. Flyers have to stick together, you know. Besides, those two are so wound up all the time. They’re gonna get stuck that way!”

   Bumper laughed at that. “Guess so. Just might not be somethin’ worth messin’ with. Yer gonna end up on Echo’s scrap-list.”

   “Yea, maybe not. But hey, I tried! Never say I didn’t try!

   “... I did win, though.”

#transformers relay #transformers prime #transformers #tfp #TFR Art #TFR Story #Admin Marie #Admin Galaxy

[interstellix]

hi hello this is your local anime guru speaking :’) idk for some reason ppl often come to me for recs pffth sO uh this is mainly to my bby chick @astronomlns​ but tbh i feel like everyone should watch these so i’m just gonna post it like this lmao 👉👈 also the bolded titles are links that lead to their?? summary pages ig??

anyway i also lose control when people ask me for anime recs and i even reached a limit for the gifs so some don’t have one fjdkjfdk. idk if i should feel sorry or not, i’m probably not but ye anyway @ chick have fun picking one lol

haikyuu: tbh i recommend this one to everyone and everything with a living heartbeat any day of the week fjdkfd. it’s about volleyball but listen i’m a loser for this shit and hands down my favorite anime

currently has four season, though a fifth one will be out in october unless corona causes another delay djkfdld

tower of god: honestly what are yall doing if you haven’t watched this one yet :// acc based on a webtoon and full of losers but tbh i have nothing more to say about this one, just watch it pls there’ll be no regrets (also stray kids made the opening :’))

finished barely a month ago but there’ll definitely be a second season

the god of high school: also a webtoon, the budget put on the animation is high af k, the story is gr8, the opening is The Shit, the ending is made by cix and all in all you should watch this

on-going, currently has five episodes out

konosuba: idc what you say, if you want to laugh watch it

currently has two seasons + a sequel movie

asobi asobase: pls don’t let the cover and opening mislead you bc it’s anything aside from what they show. pure comedy and batshit insane sooo :’) watch it :’)

has one season, doubt it’ll get another one but if it does consider it a blessing straight from god

boku dake ga inai machi: ik i literally just said this but. watch it. watch it and suffer. it hurts sm man.

has a single season and won’t get another one

enen no shouboutai: a supernatural/action about fire fighters, was lowkey sceptical about watching it but yEah no highkey worth it 11/10

one finished season and an on-going second one

violet evergarden: literally one of the most beautiful animes ever. that’s all

one season + a sequel movie

one punch man: what are you doing go watch it

currently has two seasons, will probably get a third one otherwise i’m throwing hands

natsume yuujinchou: hella soft and cute but also had me crying (a friend asked me to keep track of how often i cried throughout the series and ended up with a total of 62 times lmao)

currently has six seasons and a sequel movie, might get a 7th season

noragami: hella fucking cute but also has a gr8 story

two seasons, miight get a third one??

owari no seraph: never thought i’d be into vampire anime but lo and behold i got obsessed

also two seasons but those hoes seem to refuse giving us a third season fjfjkds

bungou stray dogs/91 days/baccano/gangsta: just gonna put these four in the same category since they’re more or less in the same area. tbh idk where why or when i got obsessed with mafia anime but all of these are great (though bsd tops the list fjdkjfk). unlike 91 days and gangsta, the other two also have supernatural in them

bsd currenlty has three seasons + a sequel movie but there’ll might be a season four in the future

91 days, gangsta and baccano all have a single season and probs won’t get any more

yuru yuri: honestly this is just a bunch of gay girls that hade me ctfu for three seasons straight

well, ye, three seasons

net-juu no susume/wotakoi: both are pre much the same, comedy/romance about two gamers, the first not knowing they’re both playing the same online game, the other being childhood friends

both have only one season, probs won’t get any more

durarara: this one’s a mess, i’m not even gonna bother explaning anything except that it’s Great

four seasons, don’t think it’ll get another one

jibaku shounen hanako-kun: a pretty new one from this winter i think?? it’s abt supernatural and spirits and such, dang cute but still has a story with one hell of an animation

hit pretty big so it might get another season some time soon

akagami no shirayuki-hime: listen this is soft and cute and just fjkdkd af pls just watch it

currently has two seasons, not sure if there’ll be a second one

gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun: this one’s just cute and hilarious through and through, highkey recommended for a nice change of pace

has a single season, not sure if it’ll get another one though

#LMAOO SORRY I DIDNT PLAN ON MAKING THIS SO LON #anime

[professorspork]

ANOTHER BUSY DAY IN THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY

I started the day running errands on Havarl, culminating with finishing off Jaal’s loyalty mission! I took Vetra with us thinking ‘hey, if anyone knows sibling dynamics...’ but then she factored into all of that absolutely 0%, lol @ me. but no matter! Jaal was super flirty as we made our way to the Forge, and it was adorable when he was like “HERE MEET MY FRIEND SO YOU CAN SEE AKKSUL IS WRONG” and bodily dragged me toward his siblings. their fight was absorbing and intense; I LEGIT GASPED WHEN HIS SISTER SHOT HIS BROTHER. LIKE!! the whole confrontation with Akksul felt super weighty and I really enjoyed it-- keeping my trigger discipline to not shoot that dude was really hard! there was a split second there where his bolt was headed toward Jaal’s face and I was like “if I kill off Jaal in his loyalty mission I’ll be so upset” but nope it all worked out, he has a bitchin cheek scar now, and the respect of his people, and I got a forehead touch so y’know. i melted. GOSH. then I died laughing at Akksul’s not-apology email.

now Jaal wants me to meet his mom(s) but Helen said that’ll lock in the romance, so I’ll probably wait just a little longer so I can uh keep having FWB sex with Peebee and ?maybe??? flirt with Vetra at some point? altho I teasingly called her MOM last time we were in Kadara Port so maybe not. (Jaal still hates it there, he’s so grumpy and it’s cute, but I digress)

this one got even longer than usual so doing a cut

one thing that I really like, that the game navigates in interesting ways, is that to the angara, we’re all just “Milky Way people.” like. so much of the original trilogy is about navigating the differences between all these aliens, and like, some of that is here too, esp with the krogan, but it’s actually really neat the way we’ve flattened out. and even with the krogan it’s still night and day-- like. comparing what Tuchanka is like in ME2 when Wrex is still solidifying his status as warlord is miles away from what it’s like for me to wander around New Tuchanka or, especially, just run into random krogan out and about (like the nice water scouts. WHY COULDN’T I JUST GIVE THEM THE WATER? but I’m getting ahead of myself). I know some of it has the Watsonian explanation of, like, only forward-thinking, open-minded krogan would be interested in the Initiative in the first place, and some of it is the Doylist explanation of ‘well people really liked that Charr/Ereba romance so let’s have more sweetie pie krogan’ but like. overall. it’s interesting, and I’m sure there’s more angles I haven’t considered.

I traced more of those comm buoys for Addison and learned that the doctor she’s obsessed with ran away to get pregnant! I definitely read that whole situation as Addison being in love with this lady and tbh it still doesn’t refute it? but I won’t get any more progress until I make a new outpost. the whole idea of ‘the first human baby born in Heleus’ thing is really cool, though, and I’m invested.

then I went to Elaaden! I feel some kind of way about Lexi diagnosing all of these scavengers with Brain Disease, but I can’t put my finger on it exactly-- other than, I guess, my general discomfort with pathologizing criminality. I was glad she said we couldn’t vaccinate people without their consent, but the whole thing smacks as very... self-conscious on the part of the game creators? like they thought people would say “hey it’s a huge plot hole that the Initiative screened every person before putting them on the arks and yet so many of them do crimes, explain that to me” and they were like “oh yeah shit that makes no sense, it’s not like people faced with the existential crisis of being in a brand new place 600 years away from everything they’ve ever known with no way back and not enough resources and multiple things wanting to kill them might just make desperate, risky choices, that’s not good enough, obviously we need to explain it with BRAIN DISEASE.” come on.

I made it to New Tuchanka, where the postings on the terminals are literally my favorite part of this whole game. THE ONE KROGAN WHO WANTS GINGERBREAD. THE ONE WHO DOESN’T WANT TO FOCUS ON CONS AND SUGGESTS A “PRO-VERSATION.” THE ONE ABOUT THE “PROBLETUNITY” OF MATING SUGGESTING WATCHING KRANTT HARDLY WAIT. THE ONE WHO INVENTED BLOOD RAGE FOR GUN TURRETS. but also, the best one, my favorite one of all: KRANTT THE RAGENING LARP. there is nothing I would not give to play Krantt: The Ragening.

I sort of tripped and fell and decided to finish Drack’s loyalty mission even though I intended to do more Elaaden things first, and that was a blast. Vorn is so presh! and also Drack is my dad so there’s that. I loved that Vorn helped save the day with a poison vegetable, and I love that Kesh pretended not to like the flower he got her. it was like-- okay. real talk, I just spent like 20 minutes trying to find proof that there is, in fact, a scene in parks and rec where someone gives April a friendship bracelet and she pretended to hate it until they threatened to take it back and could not find it ANYWHERE and felt so gaslit until I realized that that scene was not about April at all but Louise Belcher so. GOOD JOB ME. anyway. it was like that. kesh pretending her comm was broken when Tann tried to talk to her is the oldest joke in the book but I laughed anyway. 

and then I TOOK SPENDER DOWN FOR GOOD. I’m a little miffed that neither Kesh nor Tann got to be in on that discussion; like, I recognize he was Addison’s underling but given all the bullshit he pulled with the krogan I especially felt Kesh deserved to be there? at one point there was a dialogue tree where I could either say it was Addison’s fault or Spender’s fault, and I picked the latter because I think they both such but Spender sucks worse, but in hindsight I wish I’d stuck it to Addison more because my dialogue was way too nice. when faced with the choice of jailing or exiling Spender, I picked jail despite my desire to defund Nexus Militia because I was scared if I exiled him he’d just come back as a worse enemy because of all his off-station contacts. when reviewing the choice in the codex, though, it narrativized my choice by saying I imprisoned him knowing he “would never survive life on the run from his former associates.” that wasn’t my assumption at all! quite the opposite! I jailed him thinking he’d start a coup from without if I didn’t, and it’s really interesting to me that the game isn’t framing that as a concern Ryder would have reasonably had. anyway, now Brecka has his job, which is good because Brecka is the best.

before leaving I unlocked my last memory, and SURPRISE MY MOM IS ALIVE. WELL. FOR A GIVEN DEFINITION OF ALIVE. i don’t know why I’m surprised; of course my dad sucked that much. but also, the fact that all of that got nestled in with the reaper ‘reveal’ (if you can call it that) felt... very strange? like. this is such a personal, emotional thing for Ryder. obviously for the player harkening back to the trilogy is supposed to be a gut wrench, and objectively, yes, I can see how the knowledge that they might have narrowly escaped certain death is a big deal, but like. the reapers aren’t HERE. they aren’t relevant. my MOM, on the other hand, is and is, apparently! it’s occurring to me I didn’t even try to find her mis-labeled pod, I was so turned around by all the benefactor stuff after the fact. anyway.

swung by Kadara to get drinks with Drack and had an epic bar fight, and then Lexi p much lectured us both abt it because Drack is like 90% spit and duct tape at this point. him talking about raising Kesh giving him a new lease on life was VERY sweet, tho, and his line about how parents aren’t the finish line, they’re the starting line was very good.

went back to Elaaden, which Jaal called “a big planet” while discussing hunting someone down and AU CONTRAIRE, JAAL, IT IS A MOON. wish I’d had Drack with me when I found Annea’s water because I bet he would have had better dialogue than Cora, but alas. felt very weird giving control of the reservoir to the Nexus, but like. Annea being like “you can’t, this is my emotional support monopoly on a vital natural resource” just wasn’t gonna fly with how I’m playing Ryder. I was gratified to hear the Nexus guy at Paradise say we were giving the water to everyone, including krogan and scavengers, because I 100% did not trust Tann not to overrule him with some shitty call.

then I went to the Remnant ship to stop Morda from making a bomb out of the drive core, and it was all going swimmingly until I traced the signal to that cave inside the flophouse and suddenly my triangle button stopped working, making me unable to activate the console. YIKES. a quick google of the issue tells me that this mission is buggy for a lot of people and reloading from an earlier save tends to help, but I tried that and the issue persisted so I gave up for the evening. hopefully a fresh start tomorrow and time for the ps4 to cool off is all that is required. 

#leah plays mass effect andromeda

[harry-leroy]

Jan. 18th, 2020 // Opera, and Huxley, and new semesters, oh my! 

Going to be trying a thing on Fridays where I give a little academic update for the week. Kinda studyblr-esque but not exactly since I don’t really consider this blog to be a studyblr in a strict sense. Also a lot of my mutuals on here are also academics (or maybe some of y’all out there are looking forward to studying at university and want something to look into for some insight?), so I figured that this might be fun (or at the very least perhaps something for my own records). 

This isn’t meant to be rantish, but I’m gonna give an honest viewpoint into university life from my perspective (with all of its ups and downs and in-betweens), so buckle up and as I like to say on my blog, on y va! 

This week was the first week back at university for the spring semester of my second year, and it was a weird week for sure. I feel like most people have felt this way about this week, (and about this year tbh). I’m beginning to realize that I’ve got an academic niche, and perhaps that’s a good thing, but it might be too early to tell. Currently, I’m taking a class on Modern Britain and I feel so out of my depth. The class is terribly small (twelve of us in that class!) so the professor is able to keep track of participation pretty well, and my brain just isn’t grasping onto this subject as well as I thought it would. It’s frustrating to say the least. I’m also taking the second half of my two-semester honors class after taking a break last semester to take some theatre classes, and we’re hitting it right off with some Spinoza. Class discussion has been slow, but I’m hoping that more people will participate so I don’t feel like the only one talking! The first week always has me feeling incredibly scattered, and it always gets better fairly quick into the semester, but I’m hoping that feeling of security in my abilities and focus comes soon! 

English classes have started off pretty well and I’m trying to wrap my head around some honors projects that I want to undertake this semester. For my premodern lit class I’m thinking about something involving a study of how the law functions in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. I’ve noticed that while the law sounds strict in its original detail, it doesn’t actually become that strict in practice, which might be something to look into. I’m also going to be reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Black Arrow and doing a project on it for my Victorian Young-Adult lit class. That project will become more detailed once I read it. My professor for my Victorian lit class (who was the same professor I worked on #ProjectAriel with) realizes that Victorian lit isn’t really my area, and I was like ‘yeah, you’re right’. It isn’t my area. 

I decided over break that I want to pursue grad school (after some several semesters of debating it), but I want to get into a good grad school. I’ll be totally honest: I don’t love the university that I’m at now. So far, I have not been challenged much academically and nearly everything has been an easy A+ (and I’ve taken several classes in the 400 level for my major - and if I got an A it was only because that professor didn’t give any A+s to anyone) *knocks on wood though, just in case*. At the same time, my university is notoriously easy to get into, so I have no idea how I’d rank against other students who are in perhaps more difficult programs than I am. I’ve had professors who have offered to write me rec letters for grad school, which is encouraging (like, I didn’t have to ask them for it!). My Shakespeare professor from last year offered to do this for me, and he studied for his undergrad and graduate degrees at Cambridge, so I guess that’s good? Again, I have no idea where that puts me, because of the  notoriously easy school that I’m at. It also probably doesn’t help that the amount of professors in the English department who specialize in Early Modern lit is a rather small number. (But we’ve got Ayanna Thompson and that’s all that matters :’) )  - she said that she was interested in my thesis work for when the time came around (again, I’ve got about another year before that will start up). If any of y’all are in English grad programs, any advice or direction would be wonderful. And just to make it clear, this isn’t to show off my accomplishments in any way. I feel incredibly unstable in this process because I don’t really have any other students my age at my university to compare myself to. This whole thing has my brain in like 9,000 different pieces. I’m in sore need to guidance and direction. 

On that note, I was debating doing a history minor, but based on how this Modern Britain class is going right now and the fact that the minor itself is quite broad, I decided against it. So I’m just going to be a lit major, which has me feeling like I’m not doing enough, but then again, I think I’ve found my niche. I’ve found what I like to study, and the broadness of this history minor doesn’t really fit into that. I’m hoping it’s the right choice! 

Currently wrapping up Huxley’s Crome Yellow (which I’m tempted to turn into a little script adaptation for its 100th anniversary coming up next year). The book is incredibly humorous, but also incredibly long-winded, even in the shorter length of the novel itself. It would require a bit of moving things around to make it more dramatically interesting, but I’m up to the challenge. I also just finished Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. I would love to possibly do a study into Madama Butterfly herself, along with Nora from A Doll’s House, Lady Windermere and Mrs. Erlynne from Lady Windermere’s Fan, and Rachel from A Woman of No Importance and examine the agency they took against their somewhat similar situations in their stories. They all come from works of the 1870s-1910s, so that’s where my brain went. Next Friday, I should have watched Billy Budd (which I am incredibly excited to watch after listening to Ian Bostridge and Sir Simon Keenlyside talk about it). Speaking of Ian Bostridge, he’s having a concert next week in my state like two hours south of me that’s free so that’s fun. I won’t be able to go, but I’m hoping that there will be another opportunity to hear him live! 

Anyway, this probably became somewhat rantish, but these are most of the things moving around in my academic world right now! 

#studyblr #okay to reblog #(in case you're interested in what i'm up to) #maybe these'll be shorter in the future #but as the cool kids say #i like to write like i'm running out of time #friday updates #life update #also peep my laptop case stickers #:')

[metalandmagi]

Fall 2019 Anime Worth Watching

Wondering what anime to watch now that the jam packed summer season is over? Never fear, we’re into the fall, and there’s even more great shows this season! It’s my last rec list of the year so we’re in the home stretch now!

Full disclaimer, this season is packed with great shows, but a lot of these are not available on Crunchyroll...so here’s a link to a list of where you can watch everything legally on streaming! And I’ll but an (*) by everything that IS on Crunchyroll.

And here’s my recs for every season this year:

Summer 2019

Spring 2019

Winter 2019

And here’s my master list for 2020

New shows!

Chuubyou Gekihatsu-Boy (Outburst Dreamer Boy): A comedy in which a normal girl just wants a peaceful high school life, but finds herself surrounded by a group of ridiculous, overly dramatic boys who are all part of the “hero club” who try to make her school life better by helping her make friends. This is all well and good, but all the boys are delusional in one way or another. For example, one thinks he and his friends are basically Power Rangers, and another is obsessed with fabricating dramatic fake anime backstories for himself. It’s Ouran High School Host Club without the hosting. It’s absolutely hilarious, but it’s really flying under the radar because it’s not on Crunchyroll.

Kabukichou Sherlock: A surprisingly comedic modern version of Sherlock Holmes that takes place in the seedier portions of Japan in which a bunch of the city’s quirky detectives try and hunt down Jack the Ripper. I was not expecting this to be nearly as good as it was. The characters are great, Mrs. Hudson is a transvestite cabaret singer, the soundtrack is bomb, it’s an original anime by Production I.G. AND SHERLOCK EXPLAINS HIS DETECTIVE PROCESS THROUGH MYSTERY SOLVING RAKUGO!!!! 

Babylon: NO, NOT FATE BABYLONIA! This is a mystery/thriller involving a case of illegal clinical research for a pharmaceutical company that leads down a rabbit hole full of murder, suicide, and political intrigue. IT’S LIKE DEATH NOTE AND MONSTER HAD A BABY AND IT’S FREAKING AMAZING! I haven’t been this interested in a mystery/crime anime since Erased. The first episode will definitely leave you...hanging…. The only problem is it’s not on Crunchyroll, so I have a feeling most people won’t know about it because it’s on freaking Amazon Prime!

Hoshiai no Sora (Stars Align): A coming of age sports anime in which a boys soft tennis team sucks so bad that the school will disband them if they don’t win a tournament. And the team captain is so desperate for serious members, he literally pays his childhood friend who recently moved back into town to play on the team. And said childhood friend has an incredibly interesting backstory and struggling family life that ropes you in right away. How is soft tennis different from regular tennis? No clue, but this show is awesome! You can tell by the first episode it is going to be a great coming of age story, with more mature themes of abuse and class difference.

And it’s not the only sports anime with Sora in the title...

*Ahiru no Sora (Sora the Duck): Another sports anime, in which a short, spikey haired boy wants to play basketball (yeah yeah very original) but discovers that his high school basketball team is full of punks! It’s basically what would happen if Izuku Midoriya wanted to be a basketball player. The first few minutes are basically every sports anime you’ve ever seen, BUT it really lives up to its potential by the end of the first episode. It has a likable protagonist, good animation, and the female characters all wear realistic clothes to play basketball in! If you’re a piece of sports anime trash like me, this is definitely the show for you!

No Gun Life: In a detective noir world where everyone has basically become a cyborg, a guy with a gun for a head works to uncover the plans of an evil organization.  That’s it, that’s the whole thing. It’s made by Madhouse AND IT’S A CYBORG WITH A GUN FOR A HEAD! What else do you need?!

Beastars: IT’S JUST ANIME ZOOTOPIA! I’m not even kidding. It’s a school based mystery involving anthropomorphic animals who are faced with the murder of one of their classmates and the disruption of the peaceful coexistence of all types of animals in the school. It involves the whole predator vs prey dynamic and how appearances are deceiving, all with a jarringly serious tone considering everyone’s an animal. The only thing that doesn’t sit right with me is the use of 3D animation...which I notoriously despise no matter how great the show is. But even I am willing to put aside my hatred to keep watching this anime. The characters are interesting, it’s shot really creatively, and I love how ridiculously seriously it takes itself. Apparently it’s going to be on Netflix at some point.

*Shin Chuuka Ichiban (True Cooking Master Boy): It’s Food Wars’ less porny sibling that takes place in 19th century China, where a young boy named Mao is a master chef who travels around spreading his love for cooking! This is a reboot/continuation of an anime based on a manga from the 90s so there’s a really fun retro art style that’s nice to see updated. Apparently it picks up in the middle of the original story, but I haven’t felt like it’s necessary to see the source material to enjoy it or understand it. Also the soundtrack is bomb! It’s a great shounen to watch if you want more cross-cultural cooking anime that’s not straight up porn in your life, and it will definitely make you hungry!

Next seasons and Continuations!

 And don’t forget the summer leftovers, and some shows are getting continuations!

*Chihayafuru season 3: This is an incredibly fantastic underrated sports/club anime about a girl named Chihaya who struggles to find members for her karuta club after her best friend who made her fall in love with the game moves away. Never heard of “karuta”? It’s a physically and mentally challenging traditional Japanese game involving 100 poems written on cards that the players must memorize and locate before their opponent….it makes more sense when you see it I promise. This show is goddamn amazing, with incredibly realistic characters, an amazing game that most people don’t know about, gorgeous animation. It’s hilarious, it’s dramatic, it’s sad, and it’s uplifting all at once. 

This doesn’t premier until October 23, (so you’ve got time to binge the first 2 seasons!) but this is by far my most anticipated show of the season and quite possibly the entire year! I’VE BEEN WAITING SO MANY YEARS FOR ANOTHER SEASON, AND I’M SO PSYCHED!

Kono Oto Tomare (Stop this Sound) season 2: Speaking of club related anime, in case you missed the first season earlier this year, this is an anime about a boy who tries to recruit members for his high school koto club after all his senpais graduate. What’s a koto club you ask? It’s a large Japanese string instrument that no one cares about or plays anymore of course! Their club is endearingly terrible, with literally only one competent person on the team, but they’re aiming for nationals anyway, because...of course they are. This show seems pretty textbook at first, but it really grows on you the further you get. There are great character dynamics, it’s fun, it’s sweet, and there’s cool music that people don’t hear a lot of! If you like sports or club focused anime, give this one a chance!

*Dr. Stone: An action adventure in which all of humanity is mysteriously turned to stone one day. When a genius high school boy named Senku and his….not so genius friend Taiju awaken 3,700 years in the future, the two must rebuild civilization and turn the world back to normal with the power of science! I know pretty much everyone is watching this already, but I just want to reiterate how amazing it is. It is mysterious, educational, hilarious, and it really makes you think about civilization as we know it today. It was one of the best (if not the best) new show of the summer, and I’m so glad it’s getting a full run!

Vinland Saga: THE VIKING ANIME IS GETTING A FULL RUN!!!!!!!! In case you missed this gem in the summer, it’s a historical drama about a young boy named Thorfinn and his journey to avenge his father’s death and become a great warrior. And it’s all while traveling with his enemies through Northern Europe. It’s a fantastic dark, realistic story in a historical setting that filled the void left by Dororo. Plus it’s animated by Wit, so it looks beautiful. The music is great, the characters are intriguing, the story is interesting, AND IT HAS AN AMAZING ANTAGONIST! It has hype written all over it, so I’m pumped for the rest of the season! Unfortunately, you can only find it legally on Amazon Prime, so that’s why no one’s watching it.

*Fire Force: The (unfortunately timed) action/drama where fire fighters with super powers must protect Tokyo from people who are spontaneously combusting and uncover the evil rooted within their own organization. It’s made by the same person who created Soul Eater, and it definitely shows. The animation is high flying and out of this world. It’s worth watching for the action alone. But be warned, the plot and characters are it’s biggest weakness. It will jump between gratuitous fanservice and hijinks and then rocket into moral dilemmas and disturbing situations with no warning. BUT I still like watching it for the action, and in these later episodes the plot has steered itself back on track a lot more, and I’m way more interested in where the story is going now. I’m hoping that means the second half will give us a better sense of the characters. It also has a top tier muscular waifu! 

*My Hero Academia season 4: I’m sure everyone’s already going to be watching MHA, but I guess I’d have my anime fan badge revoked if I didn’t at least mention this one. I may not read the manga, but I know this arc is going to be a good one! I firmly believe this will be a modern classic, so if you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s really worth watching.

And that’s it for this season. I’ll probably do a list at the end of the year of my top shows of 2019, but otherwise, see you in the winter of 2020!

#long post #anime recommendations #fall 2019 anime #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #fire force #dr stone #vinland saga #Chihayafuru #kono oto tomare #stop this sound #shin chuuka ichiban! #beastars #true cooking master boy #no gun life #babylon #ahiru no sora #sora the duck #stars align #hoshiai no sora #kabukichō sherlock #chuubyou gekihatsu boy #UNEDITED BECAUSE THIS WEBSITES A BITCH AND DELETED MY FINAL DRAFT