#“help! my players are incapable of fighting literally anything!”
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You do actually kinda have to admire the balls on WotC to offload like half of the game design (esp the balance) onto the GM. Just like "eh, we couldn't be bothered to finish the game. you figure out the rest."
#“how many magic items should I give my players”#“oh just like one or two. ever.”#“wait but it says here on the treasure tables--”#“oh yeah 100% you should actually be giving out SO MANY magic items”#“help! my players keep breaking the math!”#“heh. you should've given them fewer magic items. idiot.”#“help! my players are incapable of fighting literally anything!”#“heh. you should've given them more magic items. idiot.”#“...”#“btw you're running 6-8 encounters a day right? because you're supposed to be running 6-8 encounters a day”#anti wotc#wotc#fuck wotc#ant wotc#d&d#d&d 5e#dnd#dnd 5e#5e#tara says shit
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I wanna try to write some dialogue only drabbles here and there cuz I just like writing dialogue. So here's one for all the Rancher Duo enthusiasts out there!
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"It was fun... at the very least?"
...
"You think that they're gonna do anything for our deaths?"
...
"I'd like to think so. They may say a lot but they still cared about us."
...
"And I'm sure the ranch will still be fine."
...
"Don't ya think?"
...
"Listen, I'm sorry."
...
"I didn't mean for it to happen."
...
"I truly didn't."
...
"... Can ya just... say anything to me?"
"... We're pathetic."
"What? Come on, that's a bit harsh, innit?"
"Harsh? Look at us, Jimmy! First life lost, and first dead to what? Mobs! You didn't even die to a player, for goodness sake!"
"I didn't--"
"It's no wonder why no one ever took us seriously! It was never 'Us versus Them!' It was us against the literal map! They didn't have to worry about us because they knew that we could kill ourselves just as good!"
"Well... yeah. But--"
"We're pathetic. Gods knew we were doomed from the start."
"We could've made it if we'd--"
"If what? Face it, Jimmy, there was no point in us fighting to stay alive in the first place."
"That's not true! We survived pretty well. We could've survived longer if we could've--"
"There was never an 'if', Jimmy! Not with your dumb little canary curse!"
"Hey! You said you'd never use that!"
"I could've made it so much further if it wasn't for you!"
"Stop it!"
"You can't tell me I'm wrong!"
"... Well... uh... You died first!"
"And you killed us when it counted!"
"I did my best to help us!"
"You didn't help anything! You can't help anything! You're less of a canary and more of a leech! Slimy and pathetic and incapable of standing on your own!"
"I helped you! You can't say you did everything!"
"I know I would've been far better off if it wasn't for you!"
"You don't mean that."
"I do! I didn't understand why everyone hated you until now!"
"Come on, Tango, this is low."
"And so what? I got nothing else to lose, thanks to you!"
"You still have me. We're in this afterlife together."
"And losing you would be a blessing, honestly!"
"Keep being rude to me and you just might!"
"Thank the gods for that!"
"You know what? Fine! Sit here and sulk about how pathetic our existence on this world was! Maybe sometime you can drop by and tell me how much time you wasted!"
"And here I thought I could never get you out of my hair!"
...
...
...
"No come back!?"
...
"Yeah, that's what I thought!"
...
"... Jimmy?"
...
"Come on, you didn't actually leave, did you? Where is there to even go?"
...
"... Buddy?"
#double life smp#dlsmp#tango tek#solidaritygaming#jimmy solidarity#rancher duo#double life fic#double life spoilers
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I'm kind of unclear on what your central gripe is with the fic is here. Like, would you prefer a massive longfic where everyone just points out how wrong Edelgard is all the time? There's a CF rewrite on AO3 that's like 400K words of everyone belittling her that you can read instead. Just as pretentiously written as this one. Only other meaningful difference is that it's got Male Byleth, and he's the only one not pointing out how wrong she is because "Ashen Demon" logic. Even Hubert joins in.
My #1 gripe with the fic itself - and I won't blame you if you missed it, but I have clarified this before - is the absolutely staggering amount of blatant contradictions to the canon game combined with the fact that this fic is commonly referred as must-read material to understand not just Edelgard, but the game itself. From character motivations, to basic plot points, to character backstories, to lore, to objective facts of 3H's world (he fucks up how the SotC works in Chapter 59) - there are many, many things that aren't just "up for interpretation" but are flat out wrong, something I've tried to keep track of the amount of times they occur/reoccur.
This fic and its author - along with others, yes, but Cap'n is a major player in this as well - have let outright wrong shit become seen as basically canon at this point. Rhea unironically being an actual tyrant? Her being the sole one to start the Church of Seiros, and for the purpose of controlling the nobility? Her saving Byleth to make them a vessel, along with her not really caring that much about Sitri? All in this fic, and also in this author's meta outside the fic he himself says he considers meta (since he believes all fanfiction to be inherently meta), and all of it being seen as who Rhea actually is as a character by the majority of the (English-speaking) fanbase, when literally none of that is true.
And that's just one character. That's not even going into how absolutely butchered all of the other major characters are, with special nods to Edelgard herself, Ingrid, Claude, Dimitri, and Byleth. That's not going into the pieces of lore he gets wrong. That's not going into the worldbuilding he gets wrong. That's not getting into how even basic, bare-bones facts of character's backstories are incorrectly portrayed (for example, Bernadetta knowing about her almost-arranged marriage to Ferdinand before entering the academy - that's literally not true, but he says it is anyway).
And that's not even getting into all of the blatantly horrible shit that's smeared all over the place. Young women are all pure innocent little girls who just want to be beautiful domestic mothers (and if they don't want that then maybe they aren't really women). Men who don't bow to women are usually sexual deviants who hate women, or are otherwise terrible people who can't be trusted, and they can only redeem themselves if they eventually bow to women. Being mixed-race means you don't belong anywhere and you will never belong anywhere, and the good end for your character arc is if you find a way to erase the "bad part" of your heritage that's always been a part of who you are. Fighting back against oppression means that you, the oppressed one, are continuing a cycle of hatred and vengeance, and the only way to break that cycle is to mindlessly bow your heads to your oppressors, or risk execution. If you're the wrong kind of mentally ill then you are broken beyond repair and there's nothing anyone can do for you. Romantic love is the only way anyone can be saved, because platonic love is lesser and inferior and incapable of helping anyone become better. Having religious faith - without always shitting on the religion in question - will make you a crazed, violent zealot who will do anything your religious leaders tell you to do. This is just some of the terrible things this fic just has crop up again and again, with Cap’n and his audience either genuinely never recognizing it or just not giving a shit.
But. To get to what you specifically said: "would you prefer a massive longfic where everyone just points out how wrong Edelgard is all the time?" No. Because there's already a longfic that does that, that is 400k words long: it's called The Emperor and the Goddess.
My issue - in this regard - is not that no one calls Woobiegard out; it's precisely that, for all her side constantly bails her out of accepting any accountability for anything and always lavish her in undue praise, other people do call her out, constantly, insistently, over and over and over, and nothing comes of it. Ever. Woobiegard's violence, her deceitful nature, her manipulativeness, her hypocrisy, her brutality, her patheticness, and the trajectory her ideologies and methods is headed - they have all been something that her naysayers in the fic have completely rightfully pointed out to her, to her face, in no uncertain terms, and literally nothing happens. She stays the exact same - her and all of her slobbering dogs, they all stay completely stagnant as characters even when their glaring and horrific flaws and actions are shoved in their face. They bemoan how easily people can excuse terrible actions as they - as though they were in a fuckin' comedy - go on to unironically do exactly that immediately afterwards, with no self-awareness whatsoever despite being beat over the head with their actions.
All of the rightful, accurate criticism anyone in this fic lays out to Woobiegard and her side is strictly and solely meant to make Woobiegard look sympathetic and the ones giving the criticism harsh/cruel/ignorant. There's a reason that it's a problem that Dimitri's line "Has your moral compass become so tarnished that you would spare more pity to a murderer than his victims?" from Chapter 14 is still relevant to what Woobiegard will go on to do up to the current chapter (59). That is forty-fuckin'-five chapters - around 370,000 words - of FUCKIN'. NOTHING. HAPPENING. FOR HER CHARACTER. And criticisms just as accurate as that are all over the place, and they all similarly go nowhere.
So, I hope that answers your question! While your question isn't really in the realms of my actual main gripe with the fic (it and its author's part in influencing the fandom towards inaccurate assessments of the game), I hope I've clarified that particular gripe with the fic itself better
#ask#anon#exqueuese me princess#o captain my captain#like if that fic has people all around Edelgard constantly criticism her for THAT long? It likely means that she isn't growing there either#*criticize#and if that's the case then yes that fic would also be similarly poorly written#*likely similarly be poorly written#but the issues here isn't even that people aren't criticizing her it's that any criticism is made out to be the Devil's evil whispers#where one must reject any temptation to even think about listening to the words being said lest they become evil sinners or some shit
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winner, loser. (j.p x y/n)
summary: james is determined to prove he is anything but a loser (ft. brother’s best friend james, the hockey player 😁)
🃛 masterlist
cw/tw: smut, oral (female receiving), fingering, overstimulation, slight dumbification
word count: 2.5k
a/n: inspired by me and @acosmis-t's convo about the best friend's brother/brother's best friend trope. also i literally NEVER proof read so please do not roast me if there are mistakes <3 reblog to boost please xxx
tag list at the bottom ☯︎ join tag list here
“Imagine losing a game when you’re only a point off. Not a very good goalie, are we, James?”
“You suck, loser.”
Famous last words, huh.
That simple teasing quip spiralled into your brother’s best friend angrily rebuking you in the middle of their hockey team’s afterparty.
Your brother had long left the pair of you, instead, gone to play beer pong with a couple of the others. None of their friends was able to dissuade James from his chastising.
“…I’m an excellent goalie by the way! It’s just not my fault that Snape is a cheater…”
The bespectacled boy could tell that nothing he said was convincing you. You leaned on the kitchen counters smiling at him, almost mockingly. With every upturn of your lips, the brunet’s eye seemed to twitch. With every exhale of near-laughter, his fists clenched.
James Potter was anything but a loser.
And he was determined to prove it.
⚔︎.
You weren’t sure how it ended up this way, from James angrily gesturing and yelling about hockey plays, splashes of his scotch and soda spilling onto you with each exaggerated movement, to you sitting atop the granite counter in the guest bathroom, the hockey player tucked between your legs, devouring your lips as music thrummed throughout your house.
Calloused fingers pushed your t-shirt up, exploring your torso carelessly as he pushed his tongue into your mouth, teeth clashing against teeth, but the boy didn’t care.
Anger fuels tonight’s expedition.
James’s lips detach from yours for a brief moment, muttering a slightly breathless “take it off” as he lets go of your shirt.
His own came off in return, your eyes scanning his chest as he did yours, both of you reaching out to feel the other.
Muscles like detailing in a sculpture, the boy was David in glasses, only, his marbling was littered with specks of scars, left behind from games and fights with opposing teams.
Your bra fell from your shoulders, James tossing it haphazardly behind him as the padded cotton was replaced with warmth, his large hands cupping your bosom instantly. A moan echoed off the walls as his lips latched onto your collarbone, biting down hard as he squeezed your tits. It’s like you were made for each other — the flesh perfectly encapsulated in the goalie’s large hands.
Swarmed with nips and growls along your shoulders and beyond, there was no way you were wearing anything more revealing than a t-shirt for a few days, your hands found their way to James’s jeans, hooking your fingers into the belt loops as you pulled at them, trying to undo the denim.
In an instant, all contact was lost, James’s toned body pulling away from you as you whimpered, suddenly feeling the cold from the granite and the aircon seeping through the cracks under the door tenfold.
The thumping bass from the music was the only indication of time passing as you and James simply watched each other, memorising the way the hazel swirled in those irises.
Warmth returned as a hand landed on your thigh, squeezing it slightly as the hockey player hooked his other hand into your shorts, eyebrow raising as he awaited any protest. Finding a lack of any seeming disagreement, his hand moved from your thigh to your ass, pushing up slightly as you followed suit, lifting your hips so he could pull your bottoms off.
Sinking down onto his knees, James gripped your thighs tight, the calluses on his palms rubbing your inner thighs as he spread you open. You blushed as he saw you, all of you, the cold air in the room shocking your nipples juxtaposed by the warm air of James’s breath on your cunt.
You could feel yourself getting wet at the feeling, turning impossibly red as James chuckled, teeth grazing your inner thigh. Fingers caressed your lower lips, and you scrambled for the edges of the counter in shock as the goalie’s tongue darted out, the tip dragging along your slit. Gasping as James’s tongue dragged up to your clit, your fingers fumbled along the smooth surface to find something, anything, to hold onto. Sucking on your clit, the bespectacled boy hummed along to the song playing outside, his forefinger slipping inside of you.
Your hips bucked as James fucked you with his finger, your walls somehow already stretching around the long appendage. His lips detached from your clit as he removed his finger, feeling your slick flowing out of you as you whined at the loss of contact.
“Relax, princess.” The goalie’s tone was mocking, but you found yourself growing wet at the hypocorism, pouting at the tall boy as he grinned at you.
“Now, pay close attention.”
What the fuck is he talking about-
Oh my fucking god.
James’s lips landed back on your cunt, his tongue landing flat on your lips as he licked a wide stripe upwards, sucking tightly on your clit with a slurping sound so loud you were certain that people would have heard it if the music were just a tad softer. The appendage quickly began flicking at your clit, seemingly drawing shapes on the bundle of nerves. With each flick and each movement, your hips bucked upwards uncontrollably, hands unable to find a grip on the counter and threading the fingers in the boy’s hair instead.
In the midst of your lust-filled daze, you realised that James wasn’t just tracing aimless circles on your cunt.
Instead, he seemed to be drawing something.
Maybe this was what he wanted you to pay attention to.
You tried your best to figure out what exactly James was doing, but three strokes in you were gone. Your eyes shut close as you threw your head back, hitting the wall slightly but you couldn’t care less.
James Potter’s head was between your legs right now. You highly doubted you’d care even if the house collapsed on your heads right now.
Actually, you would. Because that meant you wouldn’t feel James on you anymore.
Your legs began to shake as your walls fluttered around nothing, faintly registering James drawing something like a snake on your cunt. Blubbering incoherently, your thighs closed around James’s head, fingers gripping the hairs as you pulled on the strands, orgasm rippling throughout your body.
Licking his lips, James pulled away from your cunt, a brow raised at you.
“I was barely halfway through.”
Your chest heaved as you recuperated from your orgasm, head leaning against the ornate mirror frame as you felt each and every thump of the heavy bass ring out through the house.
“Do you know what I told you to pay attention to?”
In the midst of a post-orgasmic fog, you barely caught onto the words that James had said. Instead, you noticed the way the boy’s lips glistened with your slick, nodding despite yourself.
“Well then princess, what was it?”
The question caught you off guard, your eyes blinking rapidly as you tried to figure out what James had been doing.
“Um, were you drawing something?”
Your voice was timid, clearly uncertain of your answer, aware that it was either wrong or not what he wanted you to say.
The goalie cooed mockingly, his hand coming to tilt your chin and face him, a kiss landing on your lips, smearing you with the taste of your own nectar.
“All shy now, princess? What happened to the smart girl telling me how ‘m a bad player earlier? Dumb girl can barely take my tongue without falling apart, hmm?”
You whined as James’s hand travelled down to your tit again, squeezing it as he kissed the sweet spot behind your ear, sucking gently. Satisfied with his handiwork, James pulled away, nibbling on your earlobe before whispering,
“Pay better attention this time.”
Fingers trailed from your bosom down to your cunt, rubbing against it as his lips traced a path down the valley of your breasts, your slick drawing a line down your front as your hips bucked, James’s finger pushing inside of you once more.
The feeling of his tongue back against your clit made your back arch, all thoughts in your head evaporating at the contact. Your eyes fluttered shut as James went back to drawing, no, writing?, the inane puzzle he so desperately wanted you to unravel.
A second finger joined the first and you squealed, unintentionally joining the music outside in harmony as your hands flew to grip onto James’s hair once more, the stretch in your walls a welcomed stranger.
You could feel the rim of his glasses grazing your pelvis, the cold metal a jolting reminder that this was James, your brother’s best friend here in all his glory.
Flesh and blood, his heat became yours with every movement.
Your cunt was already sensitive from your first orgasm, and the goalie’s fervent movements didn’t help at all.
His fingers pumped in and out of you relentlessly, curling at the boy’s leisure as you let out a scream with each movement. His tongue flicked at your nub, each stroke reminding you that you had a ‘task’ at hand, but the pleasure rendered you incapable of completing it.
The boy was right. He really had fucked you dumb already.
Your walls clenched around James’s fingers as your orgasm peaked, his tongue moving inhumanely fast as every move taunted you. Your legs shook as James pulled his fingers out of you, gripping your thighs as his canvas enlarged, writing whatever he had to say all over your cunt as you rode out your orgasm.
Your eyelids felt heavy as your legs twitched around James’s slowly retreating body. In your blurred vision, you could see his handsome face nearing you, tongue skimming his bottom lip as your nectar dripped off his chin.
Your heart beat in rhythm with the bass rumbling under your body, James’s brow lifting, almost as if he was bored of the whole ordeal.
“So, what was it? I almost finished this time, I’m sure a smart girl like you can figure it out.”
Your mouth ran dry as your fog riddled mind scrambled to come up with an answer, opening and closing as you fought to expel some sort of coherent thought.
“Um, you were, um, writing something?”
The hockey player huffed in amusement, fingers swiping at his chin as he collected your slick on them, one hand cupping your jaw as the other prodded at your lips. Your mouth fell open at the slight contact, too far gone to even consider what James was doing.
You’d take anything he gave you at this point.
The boy cooed as you welcomed his fingers into your mouth, sucking on them amenably.
“Princess is taking my fingers so well, hmm? But poor dumb Y/N can’t even figure out what I was writing.”
James’s grip around your chin tightened at his words, making your jaw fall open.
“Guess you need to feel it again. And pay even better attention.”
The words made your hooded eyes snap open, whining around his fingers as you shook your head, the thought of a third orgasm making you shudder.
“N-no, James no more. Can’t take it, please.”
A calloused thumb rubbed circles on your jaw, the boy’s eyebrow raising and the corner of his mouth turning upwards at the sound of your pleading.
“Need to prove to you I’m not a loser though, princess. You were so adamant that I suck, gotta prove to you that I don’t, hmm?”
His hands traced down your body once more, settling on your thighs as he spread them, ready to prove himself to you. But you kept your thighs together as best you could, shaking your head beseechingly.
“Please, I-I’m sorry James, I didn’t mean it, I was wrong. You don’t suck. Y-you’re, um, you’re a winner. Not a loser. A winner.”
James’s eyes glinted from behind the dark frames, his hands stopping their prying at your frantic words.
“Say that again.”
Your thighs slackened, looking into the brunet’s eyes.
“You’re a winner.”
A smirk grew on James’s lips, pink tongue darting outwards to wet his lips, not that they weren’t already drenched in your nectar.
“That’s it, princess.”
His face moved back closer towards yours, breath ghosting your lips as his body hovered over yours, one hand moving to the band of his pants.
“James Potter is a winner.”
The taste of the goalie’s lips was addictive, maybe the fact that he was covered in your arousal made him more desirable, but you were entranced by it. Your hands came to cup the sides of his face as his pulled at his pants, unbuttoning the jeans and pulling them down to his midthigh. James’s tongue slotted deep within your mouth, swallowing your moans as his hands tucked under your knees, gripping tightly as he pulled you flush against him.
“D’you think you can take one more, princess?”
You whined at the brief loss of contact, pulling the goalie’s lips back against your own, the older boy chuckling at your desperation. James’s hand pumped at his shaft as he kissed you back, lip teasing your bottom lip as his tip did your lower lips.
You gasped around James’s tongue as he pushed into you fully, your cunt unbelievably sensitive from your previous two orgasms. The goalie bottomed out as his hand came back to catch your thigh, your legs wrapped around the hockey player’s toned waist. You bit down on James’s bottom lip as he pulled out of you slowly, his arms holding the bulk of your body weight, the veins in his arms protruding like strokes on a canvas.
As James thrust in and out of you with steady strokes, you could distinctly feel the cold granite digging into your lower back, a bruise definitely to be left behind in the morning. But you couldn’t care less, your mind only occupied with the feeling of James’s cock inside of you.
With each thrust, all James could hear was the sound of blades against the ice, sticks hitting sticks, spurring him to move his hips quicker.
James Potter was a winner.
And no one was allowed to say otherwise.
Your walls tightened around James’s cock, unable to hold out even a second longer, the overstimulation quickly pushing you closer and closer to the edge. Your nails dug into the boy’s shoulders, his digging into your thighs as your walls fluttered, eyes rolling back as you came on James’s cock.
You collapsed around the boy, his hips still thrusting as your arms slung around his neck, head lulling as you felt him groan, cock twitching inside of you as he spilt his seed. Your eyes remained half-closed as James shifted you to sit properly on the counter, pulling out from inside of you.
⚔︎.
“Now that’s what we call a hat trick. Three goals in one game, pretty impressive, wouldn’t you say?”
A laugh bubbled out of your mouth, proper judgement escaping your fog-riddled mind.
“You’re such a loser.”
A hand gripped your chin tightly, tilting your face up to face his.
“I’m a winner, do you need me to prove it again?”
You shook your head at the boy, spluttering and speechless at the thought of anything more.
“You’re a winner, I’m sorry.”
James let go of your chin, petting your jaw lightly.
“Good girl. Now, do you think you can go back to the party, or do you want me to carry you to your room, princess?”
taglist: @marvelslut16, @siriusbarnesslut, @marimorena06, @weasleysbitch2, @reg-arcturus-black, @themoonwithprophets, @moonys-gf, @quindolyn, @lilypad-55449, @kermiemoon, @jamespotterslover, @remoony1, @siriusblackwifeeey, @iamnibbsi, @azura-mist, @accio-remus-lupin, @tomriddle_whore, @greenlyblue, @lillsthoughts, @jeannelupinblack, @i-love-scott-mccall, @justadreamyhufflepuff, @shit-thats-true, @dorcasmeadowesx, @sunflowersandpansies, @elenapatricia99, @90sgoldentrio, @itsmentalillness, @sprucewoodlover, @kiaslily, @daisyyy2516
#mine#writing#james potter#james potter x reader#james potter fluff#james potter smut#james potter oneshot#james potter imagine#the marauders smut#the marauders fluff#harry potter imagine#harry potter smut#harry potter fluff#harry potter oneshot#the marauders imagine#james potter x y/n#marauders smut#brother's best friend james potter
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definitely just a coincidence // remus lupin
Summary: sometimes everything in life just… comes together – helps if you have a Sirius though
Request: Hi, how are you doing? Could you please write a soulmate au for Remus where soulmates have a birthmark where they’re first touched by them and the reader has a mark on her wrist? And one day Remus and the reader happen to sit next to each other at a quidditch game they're having fun talking when James does something risky and Remus grasps the reader's wrist? I'm sorry if that was too specific! Thank you!
A/N: I have no idea why this was so difficult to write but I hope you like it! It also took everything I had not to use the word coinkydink
Reader: unspecified
Warnings: swearing bc I’m incapable
The universe, without question, works in mysterious ways. Any third-rate fortune teller, rocket scientist or six-year-old can tell you that. Some things are just meant to be: the sun move from East to West, Sirius Black is the world’s biggest drama queen and every single person has a soulmate.
It would definitely be a lie to say that you’d never questioned the legitimacy or inevitability of soulmates. It just seemed strange that there was this perfect person out there for you, but every time you looked at your wrist, you were reminded that it must be true.
Though soulmates are still pretty much a mystery to both the muggle and the wizarding world, the working theory is that in a past life, wherever on your bare skin your soulmate last touched left a mark, a birthmark, where they were destined to first touch you in this life.
Your mum always told you to cover the mark on your wrist; it was in such a common place and you had to be careful so you would know for sure who your soulmate was. Most people tended to parade theirs around, though, and some even took to covering every inch of their body to avoid the situation entirely. There’d been stories, though, of massive coincidences and unimaginable luck uniting soulmates and as you looked down at your wrist, vaguely aware that you would be late for the Quidditch match if you didn’t hurry up, you thought about who yours would be. Someone smart, perhaps? Funny, maybe? You hoped more than anything that they’d be kind. It was odd to think, regardless, that the universe would try so hard to get you together.
Absentmindedly, you rubbed at the thick mark on your wrist, the colour a stark contrast to your skin. The wide band reached around your wrist and almost connected at your palm and anyone with half a brain cell could see it was a perfect shadow of someone’s grasp. You frowned, briefly glancing at the time.
“Oh fuck,” you muttered, quickly grabbing your scrunchie and making for the door. Every day, without fail, you’d worn that scrunchie on your wrist, covering your mark and not once had it failed you. Today, though, was different from every other day. Whether you knew it or not, this day would be very different indeed because the universe, in all its ineffably annoying glory, decided it had a job to do.
As you rushed through the corridors, desperate not to miss the last quidditch match of the season, you were glad to see many other people in the same boat, winding around the corridors to the pitch. You were so eager that you didn’t even notice Lily coming around the next corner and, before you knew it, you had slammed into her, sending each of you back a few feet, onto your arses. You blinked, a little disorientated as you tried to focus on her.
“Blimey,” you said, using one hand to push yourself up as the other rubbed your head. “I did not expect that.”
“Y/N!” Her face lit up as she realised it was you, taking your outstretched hand gratefully. “Just the person I was after.”
“Why? Did you want to be human bumper cars today?”
She laughed, shaking her head and clutching the book she had dropped to her side under her arm.
“I can’t go to the match today – head girl bollocks, you know how it is-“
“Sure I do,” you said, sarcasm leaking through your tone. She rolled her eyes in response, side-stepping a Hufflepuff racing past her. You suddenly remembered why you’d been running in the first place, your happiness at seeing your friend replaced with a familiar urgency.
“Can you tell Remus for me? He said he’d save me a seat – he’ll be next to Sirius…”
You barely heard what else she said, your feet already talking you towards the pitch.
“Sure, Lils!”
You thought about Sirius as you hurried towards the Gryffindor stand, relieved to see that the players weren’t even on the pitch yet. You and Sirius had been friends since second year when he nearly set your hair on fire in Charms. He’d been apologetic, of course, but his expression soon turned mischievous when you’d shot a spark at him, singeing the hairs of his forearm. From then on, you’d been as thick as thieves. It helped he had friends that were happy to accept you and who tended to find your jokes, however unfunny, hysterical. Sometimes you wished you weren’t as close, though. He could read you like an open book and he constantly teased you about your crush on Remus. He’d never shut up about it when you were alone and when you weren’t, he’d send you annoying glances and make lewd gestures. And for that, and many other things, you hated him about as much as you could hate someone so loveable.
You spotted the two of them around a dozen rows up, Sirius already shouting though the match hadn’t even begun to start. You rolled your eyes at him before you let them wander to Remus, who was sitting rather patiently next to him. In all honesty, it wasn’t that you didn’t have a crush on Remus, you just hated it when Sirius was right. And, it wasn’t like it would go anywhere: he never gave any indication that he liked you and you both had soulmates – it was a moot point. As you walked closer, slipping between some unruly Gryffindors on the way, you had to admire Remus. He was very handsome and the sight of him staring up at Sirius with fond exasperation made you smile, a warmth in your chest. It reminded you of when you’d first met.
“Oi, Y/N,” Sirius had shouted from the breakfast table when he saw you walk into the Great Hall. You rolled your eyes and wandered over, standing behind him.
“And what do you want?” you asked, narrowing your eyes.
“Can’t I just want to see my friend without ulterior motives?”
If you had known him less well, you would’ve been fooled by his puppy dog eyes.
“No, you always have ulterior motives. That’s your defining feature.”
“I thought my hair was my defining feature? Or my exquisitely handsome face? Remus,” he turned towards the boy opposite at the table, who had been watching you both with amusement. “What’s my defining feature?”
“Your modesty.”
You snorted at the way Sirius’ face soured completely.
“Brilliant,” you said, offering Remus your hand. “I’m Y/N: unfortunate Charms partner and reluctant friend.”
He smiled back and something stirred inside you at the way his grin pulled at his features handsomely, the scars littered across his cheeks shining delicately in the light. His expression dropped though, a sweet blush flushing his face, as he lifted his hand. His eyes were almost apologetic as you noticed the stark white bandages wrapped around his fingers all the way up his arm. You shrugged nonchalantly and his lovely smile returned.
“Remus: also, reluctant friend and even more reluctant roommate.”
You beamed at his response, enjoying it when he mirrored your expression even though his shoulders were hunched shyly.
“Great, and now you’re friends,” Sirius sighed, mock annoyance riddling his features.
“Earth to Y/N,” a familiar voice shouted, breaking you from your reverie. You saw Sirius a couple rows away, shouting at you and waving his hands wildly. You made a face at him, gesturing for him to calm down. Remus was smiling at you softly as you approached, and you couldn’t help but wonder if he was as pleased to see you as you were, undeniably, to see him.
“You alright there, Y/N? Didn’t realise Divination was on the quidditch bleachers today.” Sirius said with a smirk.
“Oh, shove off,” you tutted; rolling your eyes as you got closer, standing in the space they’d probably saved for Lily.
You stood next to Remus, ignoring Sirius’ wink as he went back to shouting about Quidditch and picking fights with the nearby houses.
“Ignore him,” Remus said, rolling his eyes. “He’s been a prat all day because it’s the Slytherin game.”
You nodded, shooting Sirius a look almost identical to the one Remus had – he may have been an annoying bastard but he was, in fact, quite loveable.
“I ran into Lily in the corridor, literally actually,” you said, turning to face Remus, briefly distracted by the warm green of his eyes. “She said she can’t come – some head girl crap.”
“Oh, that’s a shame.”
“Yeah,” you nodded, looking around to see your friends, unable to spot them.
“You can watch with us,” Remus offered very quickly. He seemed to realise his rush as his cheeks heated up and he looked straight ahead, blinking. You had to laugh at his reaction.
“I’d love that.”
You sat down next to him, watching his face as he messed around with his coat to make more room for you. He looked rather cosy in his coat and gloves; his Gryffindor scarf tucked under his chin. Rather cute too.
“Has he been like that the whole time?” you asked, pointing at Sirius, who kept shoving his hair out of his face as he began jumping, the players finally out on the pitch.
“I wish,” Remus groaned, rubbing his face with both hands. “A Ravenclaw prefect told him to shut up earlier and he almost flashed her.”
Though you felt for him, you couldn’t help your grin at Sirius’ antics.
“Y/N, love,” Sirius looked down at you, making grabby hands. “Can I borrow a hair bobble?”
You tore the scrunchie off your wrist, too distracted with Remus and the rush of recent events to think about it all that much, and passed it to him.
“Merlin, this is definitely my colour.”
You and Remus both tried to ignore Sirius throughout the game, but with the Slytherin team playing a little dirtier than usual, certain parts had all three of you up on your feet.
“Rem, give us your gloves,” Sirius insisted during the timeout, rubbing his hands together loudly. Looking at him, you noticed how inappropriately dressed for the weather he was in his t-shirt and jeans, perhapssomewhat unsurprisingly. Without argument, Remus passed over his gloves before turning to you. His deadpan expression made you laugh.
“He’s a liability,” he muttered, making you laugh harder. You fell into a comfortable silence before you remembered the proof you had that not every decision you made was as awful as making friends with Sirius. Remus watched you with fond eyes as you gasped and began rifling through your coat. When you pulled out half a bar of chocolate, though he didn’t think it possible, he liked you even more. It only got better when you offered him some. You noticed, when he grabbed the wrapper, the dark maroon-coloured birthmark on the palm of his hand and down his fingers, intersected occasionally with silvery scars. You didn’t have time to think more about it; the players already soaring back into the air.
James was testing your patience at this point. He’d made several very bad choices trying to stay on par with the Slytherin team without cheating. He kept making sharp turns and dramatic swoops with the quaffle and the whole stadium was holding its breath – even Sirius had shut up. You and Remus were both close to a heart attack with how many close calls James’d had. It wasn’t until he got hit by a stray bludger that you both stood up, Remus anxiously reaching out to grab your hand. He didn’t find your hand, though; his long, now icy cold, fingers circled your wrist, a perfect fit for your birthmark. You probably wouldn’t have noticed with all the action going on had a searing pain not shot up your arm. You hissed, as did Remus, and you both yanked your arms away sharply.
“What the-“ you began before your eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Holy shit.”
Remus stared down at his hand and then back at you and then back at his hand countless times before he settled on you, his raised eyebrows lowering slightly as a smile crept onto his lips.
“It’s you,” he said breathlessly. His words reminded you of what going home felt like and as his smile grew, you felt yourself mirroring him, a warm feeling flooding through your system.
“I can’t say I’m disap-”
Cheers echoed through the crowd and you were interrupted by what you’d been, perhaps justifiably, distracted from. James, who had been dangling from his broom by one hand, pulled himself back up; an impressive move regardless of how awkwardly he did it. Even from far away, you could see how pleased with himself he was and despite yourself, you ended up mimicking Sirius with shouts and whistles. Remus wasn’t paying any attention, though. He just watched as you cheered for his friend, your mouth wide in a smile and your eyes lively and bright and for once in his life, he felt like everything would actually be alright.
#writing#imagine#Remus Lupin imagine#Remus Lupin x reader#remus lupin#Harry Potter imagine#harry potter
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I've mentioned this before a few times but seriously imagine if instead of Maya having to die (let's be real), Ava got Tyreen's powers and realizes being a Siren actually isn't as cool as it seems cuz whoops thousands of people are now hunting you for sport or experimentation and you can't touch anyone anymore without accidentally hurting them. You may now regret begging for the siren curse. Also, we'd actually get to see Maya train Ava as a Siren AND see what the phaseleech powers would have been like if they weren't broken between two people and the Phasewalk/lock powers weren't thrown into the mix.
Yes I'm still on this alt. Scenario because I think it would have been really cool and helped develop Ava as a character since her entire thing up until Maya's death was literally just "I'm going to be a Siren Vault Hunter" and then at the end of the story she just gets it without really working for any of it or even being prominent in the plot at all. She shows up, like, twice and then disappears until Troy dies. She literally just shows up at the end of the Troy fight and gets powers for that cutscene. I don't hate Ava but I will admit that was kind of a 'forced' moment for me. I knew what they were trying for, but damn they really missed the mark trying to make Ava Maya's lil trainee cuz we barely see them interact, and Maya isn't even alive long enough after her introduction to have the two of them talk beyond arguing. Im guessing a lot of their interactions were cut, and maybe also because Athenas was only a single map, but still.
And yeah okay for Ava to get powers, Maya dies and I guess that can be considered a drawback for her, but let's be real the issue I truly have with this whole thing is that Ava doesn't even work a BIT on screen to prove to the players she's a good choice (and in fact 2 of her most prominent moments are her disobeying a fan favorite character that then dies- it doesn't help her case). Maya dies, but that's not Ava's fault imo, and so Ava does literally nothing the whole story (I'm down for arguments either way, but the minute Maya decided holding Troy physically instead of using her Phaselock was somehow the better option when she knows at least one of those siblings can give others the deadly suck by physically touching them, my brain just shuts off) and she also learns nothing. If anything, she probably learns that if she just yells it enough at people, she'll get what she wants, cuz that's pretty much the extent of what she does in the main story beyond being sad and lockpicking (u wanna leave Athenas? Okay. You get your wish. You wanna be a Siren? Okay. Here's some powers. You wanna be a Vault Hunter? Okay. Here's the ship. Everything she yells about in the beginning of the game is handed to her just because um. Maya, I guess. She earns none of it herself). If, instead of it being Maya's powers, she got Tyreen's powers as one last "fuck you" to the Raiders, I think it'd make it feel a bit more like she's not just being handed everything she wants without working for any of it or learning a lesson because plot. Her character doesn't really change from the start of the story to the end, except that she's a bit sad that Maya died. It just feels so wrong. Idk. I think it'd be pretty cool if Ava accidentally hurt someone in the Raiders because she couldn't control her new powers so she could have that "oh shit" realization moment that a) being a Siren isn't all it's chalked up to be and b) she's gonna have to work to get her powers under control or risk hurting everyone around her. Her having that hurdle I think would have made a lot more people at the very least appreciate her as a character instead of calling for her death (yikes!)
Uh. Yeah. I have no idea what came over me to write this. I think Ava's biggest flaw to me is that she had Potential to be a good character but the writing fell flat under her. It started a story with her and then dropped it (like another character we know 🤔 his name rhymes with... boy), so she never really develops or learns beyond getting sad that Maya is gone. I don't hate her, but I can see why some people would, tho it's not really "her" fault, it's the writing, if that makes any sense.
Also, interesting note, I do consider Roland's death to be because Lilith ignored Angel's request and showed up, unlike Maya's. I don't think Jack would have shown up in control core Angel unless he thought there was very, very good reason to, and Lilith was Right There for the taking. He seemed to even plan that out, having the collar on him and everything, and Angel knew to warn them specifically because of that. Before that, Angel tells Jack that Maya is incapable of processing eridium like her (either due to ignorance or a desire to stop Maya from having a similar fate to her own) so Jack wouldn't have brought the collar for Maya. That said, it's fully Jack's fault Roland died and the blood is on his hands, I just don't think the situation would have played out the same without Lilith there.
Unlike that, I think the situation in the Vault of the Rampager would have happened regardless if Ava showed up or not. I always assumed the cutscene that happens when you 'leave' the Vault is actually what's happening while you're inside, and when the VHs walk out, Ava is alone.
If that's the case then Maya would have been alone when the twins showed up, and probably would have been done for like Lilith was, as Lilith is supposedly the More Powerful Siren. We'll never know for sure, but I get the feeling things would have played out pretty much the same. It's not like the twins showed up for Ava, they wanted the Rampager, and the Rampager was already dead when Ava made herself known. Maya's alone, against 2 cult leaders with no way of contacting the other VHs cuz they're in the Vault and Tannis is the only one who apparently can (since Maya does not have a freaky live action pop up ad, good for her) and echoing is a no go as it's established connection is awful down below the city. She can only Phaselock 1 person at a time, so she either Phaselocks Tyreen (if she even can) and gets dusted by Troy, or she Phaselocks Troy and gets her powers stolen (and probably killed or left to die by cultist) by Tyreen. No winning for her. It would have happened regardless if Ava was there or not, so people blaming Ava for Maya's death should probably just blame the finalized script.
I don't think it's right to blame either Lilith or Ava for their respective loved one's death. Like yeah Jack wouldn't have gotten that opportunity to kill Roland had Lilith not shown up, but Jack wasn't suddenly forced to pull the trigger because Lilith showed up. He did that all by himself. Similarly, Ava not showing up wouldn't have stopped the twins from attacking Maya. She just changed the topic of conversation a lil bit. And Ava has all the combat ability of thin air at this point, so her appearance or non-apperance made no difference whatsoever when it was Maya vs the twins.
Oh God I've been typing for like an hour BYE bed time for me
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Season 1, Episode 11: Formality
Hey there beautiful reader! If you’re new here, this is a series I’m writing where each chapter is an episode from the first season of Teen Wolf. If you’ve been here before, hey! I missed you! Previous and future chapters are linked at the end of each part if you want to catch up.
Pairing: Stiles x Psychic! Reader (FINALLY!)
Warnings: angsty angst angst
Notes: Does anyone still like this series? The last part kinda flopped 🤨
Anyway, I’m back and super excited bc my babies are FINALLY official and they only had to almost die like three times to do it!
P.S. Lydia has terrible taste in men, Y/N still sucks at being a psychic, and the high school desperately needs more security
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Have you ever had a day go so unbelievably sideways that you honestly can’t even comprehend how fucked up it is?
Yeah, welcome to my Friday.
“This is the worst! My life is literally over.”
I huffed in annoyance, my jaw dropping at the pure absurdity of that statement. “Scott, Peter tried kidnapping you this morning and you’re worried about a dance?”
He frowned from beside me, his shoulders sagging. Last night, Deaton tried making Stiles and I leave the clinic once he was all patched up, but we both refused. I still wasn’t completely convinced that he was alive until he woke up with a start this morning.
It didn’t take long for Peter to show up, demanding that we hand him over. Actually, I can’t really say we because the three of us hid in the back while Deaton somehow took care of it.
Derek was still hanging out in the Argent’s basement, probably being tortured by Kate but most likely dead by now. I tried talking to Allison when I got to school this morning, but she practically ran away from me when I brought it up. I had no idea how much she knew at this point, and it was freaking me out.
And, to top it all off, Scott was flunking so many classes that coach banned him from the dance tonight.
Clearly, that was the most pressing issue.
He was so desperate afterward that he asked Jackson to watch over Allison, since he is her date. He apparently refused because it’s Jackson, so Scott had been losing his mind with worry all day. He was convinced that Peter would be after her next, but I wasn’t so sure.
She wasn’t an obvious choice. I mean, her family is literally just a bunch of professional werewolf hunters. Adding her to his pack wouldn’t make much sense.
“I just—I can’t sit by and watch him try to kill everyone I love.” Scott forced a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh.
My steps faltered and I peered over at him, my eyebrows raised in surprise. “You love her?”
“Oh,” His eyes widened as he realized what he said. “Yeah. I do. Holy shit. I love her.”
I watched as his lips slowly pulled into a grin, relieved that he wasn’t freaking out for a moment. It’d been pretty obvious for awhile that they loved each other, and I was honestly shocked it had taken him this long to acknowledge it, but happy for him nonetheless.
“That’s it. I’m going tonight.” His face hardened with determination before he turned on his heel and walked away briskly.
“Okay. Bye to you too!” I chuckled, curious to see how he’d manage to sneak in.
I only made it a few steps before someone rammed into my side forcefully. A pair of hands gripped my arms to steady me as I nearly toppled over. My eyes narrowed as they landed on Stiles’ sheepish expression.
“Hey. Sorry.” He let me go quickly and scratched at the back of his head. “Where have you been?”
“Class..?” I drawled slowly, my eyes trailing over his twitchy frame slowly. He seemed more wired than normal, which was saying a lot.
His chest was heaving as if he’d just run a mile—which I’d recently learned he was surprisingly incapable of—and his eyes were shining with barely contained anxiety.
“I just...uh—I have a, I’ve been trying to...will you go to formal with me?” He rushed the words out so quickly, it took me a second to process them.
I just stared at him, waiting a moment to see if he was going to follow that up with anything else. “You mean the one that’s tonight? Are you serious?”
His honey eyes widened, as if he wasn’t expecting that response. I mean, what else was I supposed to say? I’d been waiting for him to ask me for almost two weeks now, and he waits until the day of? Who does that?
“Uh,” He glanced away from me quickly, his cheeks turning pink under the fluorescent lights. “Not if you’re going to say no.”
I just rolled my eyes, ignoring the way my heart began fluttering at the thought of going with him. I took a step forward so that there were only a few inches separating us and leaned up to place a gentle kiss on his cheek.
“It’s a date.” I patted his chest before walking away, an amused smirk pulling at my lips at his stunned expression.
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I let my fingers trail over the frilly materials hanging in front of me as I took in my options. I was failing miserably at finding something decent to wear tonight. I wasn’t used to dressing up or being overly girly, so I had no idea where to start. I’d really just been standing here for the last several minutes, overwhelmed by all the colors and textures.
Allison was standing to my left, inspecting a few dresses in a full length mirror. Lydia was long gone somewhere behind me with a mountain of cloth in her arms. I picked up a knee-length blue dress and decided it wouldn’t hurt to try it on.
I saw someone approaching Allison out of my corner of my eye and glanced her way fleetingly, but froze as my gaze locked with Peter’s. I looked around, not fully believing that he was here, before jerking my attention back to him. He gave me a slow, amused smirk before shifting his eyes toward her. My head whipped back to the dresses in front of me, my entire body going rigid as I tried not to alarm her.
Maybe Scott had been right this afternoon. But would he really try to turn her now? In the middle of the mall?
“That’s not your color.” I heard him murmur, and stole another look their way. I didn’t want Allison to catch on that I knew him, or that anything was wrong. Very, very wrong.
Allison shifted her weight, looking uncomfortable as he stared at her intensely. “Sorry if that was intrusive but, considering your skin tone, I’d go lighter.”
“Because I’m pale?” She asked quietly, somehow not questioning the fashion advice from a strange man.
“Fair.” He corrected, his head tilting as he tried to look well-meaning. “I mean, you can’t call skin like yours pale. Not skin that perfect...”
“Okay.” She laughed awkwardly and put the dress she was considering back on the rack beside her.
“Trust me, I have a...unique perspective on the subject.” She nodded and turned to walk away with a tight smile, obviously weirded out, but he stepped to the side so she couldn’t get away. My skin crawled at the predatory gleam in his eyes as he practically sized her up.
She watched nervously as he grabbed a new dress from the rack behind him and took her hand in his. She reeled back instantly at the unwelcome touch, but that didn’t stop him from bringing her skin up beside the material for comparison. “See? Much better.”
I’d heard enough. I took the few steps needed to close the distance between us, my heart racing in my chest. I wasn’t convinced that he was stupid enough to try anything wolfy in public, but I wasn’t about to take any chances, either. I stopped at her side and grabbed her wrist gently. Her wide eyes jerked toward me, swimming with relief.
“Hey, Lydia needs help in the dressing room.” I rushed the lie out quickly, barely registering that she nodded in understanding before pulling her away.
I didn’t even spare another glance at Peter as I weaved through the narrow isles briskly, not stopping until I found Lydia clear on the other end of the store. She actually was by the dressing rooms, posing to herself in a full length mirror. I staggered to a halt at the sight of the champagne dress she had on. It was somehow...familiar?
“That was so creepy.” Allison muttered quietly as she shook my hand off and plopped down onto one of the plush chairs beside the mirrors.
I walked right up to Lydia, unable to stop myself as I continued inspecting her dress. She watched me for a moment and raised her eyebrows expectantly when my gaze rose to meet hers. My face pinched in confusion. There was a persistent nagging at the back of my mind as I looked at her, like there was something I should be picking up on. But I just couldn’t place it.
“I think that’s the one.” I jumped as Allison suddenly spoke up from behind us. I cleared my throat and took a step away from Lydia, realizing how weird I was being.
She turned away from me with one last questioning glance before giving herself a satisfied smile in the mirror, her hands smoothing down the silky material before resting on her hips.
“Me too.” She spun around excitedly and disappeared behind one of the dressing room curtains.
I couldn’t explain it, but I suddenly felt my stomach twist as a dark cloud of dread washed over me.
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I looked over Stiles’ shoulder, the hardwood floors beneath my feet vibrating as loud music rang throughout the space. We were slow dancing for the second time tonight, my arms locked around his neck and my head resting against his chest. It was really nice, being this close to him. It helped lower the base level of anxiety I’d been fighting all day.
It’d been nearly an hour since I last saw any of our friends. We all met up with our respective dates at the start of the dance, Lydia having brought a random lacrosse player since Jackson was with Allison. Just then, my eyes found them dancing stiffly a few couples away, but the sight did little to calm my nerves.
He was completely wasted at this point, since he thought it was a good idea to bring a flask of vodka with him, and she was just trying to make the best of it until we all went home. It was clear that neither of them wanted to be here together, but Scott had pretty much threatened him into watching over her, and she didn’t want to be without a date.
Scott successfully snuck in through the roof—don’t ask me how—and was managing to keep an eye on them while dodging coach all night. My eyes swept over the room, seeing nothing but familiar faces, just not the one I was looking for.
Stiles suddenly pulled back and my arms loosened from around his neck. His eyes rounded as they flickered around my face with concern. “You okay?”
I glanced over his shoulder again, feeling uncomfortable under his intense gaze. I didn’t want to lie to him, but I also didn’t know how to explain the uneasy feeling I’d had since we got here. My dancing faltered as I noticed that Jackson and Allison were gone.
“Have you seen Lydia recently?” I asked absently, my eyes still sweeping around the gym quickly.
I took a step away from Stiles and turned all the way around, my chest tightening with anxiety. For some reason, I felt like I needed to find her. Right now. Or something terrible was going to happen. My anxiety was quickly rising to panic when I didn’t see her anywhere.
“Y/N?” Stiles put a hand on my shoulder and I glanced back to see him watching me closely, his brows pinched in confusion.
“I have to...” My skin was crawling with the intense need to get out of here. Something was wrong. I could just feel it. I leaned forward to place a quick kiss on his cheek, already feeling guilty for what I was about to do. “I’m sorry. I’ll be right back.”
I started jogging away before he could try and stop me. My legs had a mind of their own as I stumbled through the dense crowd toward the exit. I braced my hands against the gym doors and pushed my way through, stopping for a moment as they fluttered closed behind me to consider where she could be. I huffed, feeling an urgency deep inside me that was only growing with each passing moment.
I turned on my heel to keep moving, and slammed right into a hard chest. I reeled back, ready to brush past whoever it was, but stopped when I saw that it was Jackson. His chest was heaving, as if he’d been running, and his eyes were wide with fear.
“Jackson?” I asked tentatively, the look he was giving me only increasing my unease.
He stammered silently for a few seconds, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly. His eyes fluttered as they glanced away from me apprehensively. He was acting like he’d just seen a ghost, or maybe something worse.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” I pressed, taking a step toward him.
He gulped and let out a shuddering sigh. “I-I was out behind the school and...and I was...”
“What? What did you do?” My voice hardened with frustration as I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. He had definitely been up to something, if his guilt-ridden expression was any indication. I momentarily forgot what I was supposed to be doing as my curiosity peaked.
“I-I told...Allison’s dad, he was...”
My heart skipped a beat with panic at his words. Mr. Argent was behind the school? Why would he...
Oh shit.
Oh my God.
Without even sparing him another glance, I rushed past him and straight down the hall. Within seconds I was outside, the freezing night air causing my skin to rise with goosebumps instantly. My head whipped from side to side as I tried to figure out which way to go. On instinct, I starting running toward the lacrosse field.
My heart was hammering painfully in my chest as I sprinted as fast as humanly possible. I was suddenly very glad that I’d chosen to wear ballet flats tonight, instead of the heels Lydia had tried forcing me to buy. I let my intuition guide me as I kept going until I reached the edge of the field.
I staggered to a stop, my eyes widening at the sight of Lydia standing at the other end. Her back was to me as she walked around slowly, looking lost. I opened my mouth to call her name, feeling my chest loosen just slightly at the fact that she was okay.
I froze, my whole body growing rigid with fear as Peter suddenly emerged from the tree line just outside the field. His figure was mostly cloaked by the bright stadium lights as he approached her, and it didn’t seem like she’d seen him yet.
“Lydia!” I screamed, finally finding my voice through the panic coursing through me. I started running in her direction again, having no plan but just needing to be there with her.
She whipped around at the sound of her name, but made no move to get away. There was nothing I could do but watch in horror as Peter stalked toward her and opened his mouth wide, his eyes flashing bright red. She didn’t react nearly fast enough.
By the time I reached them, she was laying in a crumpled heap on the turf, blood splattered across her dress. All the air rushed from my lungs as a heavy sense of déjà vu washed over me.
Of course, how could I be so stupid? It was the vision I’d seen when Derek helped me, finally playing out in real life.
I let out a trembling breath, my chest feeling like it would collapse any second from the intense pressure. My mind went blank as Peter kneeled over her body, blood dripping down his face. His eyes, still red, slowly swept up to meet mine.
“Well, they don’t usually run toward me, but I’ll take it.” He muttered lowly, an amused smirk twitching at his lips.
My eyes were still locked onto Lydia’s unconscious frame beneath him. Her new dress was ripped, the red stain at her hip growing alarmingly fast. My heart clenched painfully and tumbled down into my stomach at the sight.
I was too late.
Peter took his time standing to his full height. I could feel his intense gaze on me, watching me closely, but I couldn’t look away from Lydia. She was so...broken. A wave of nausea washed over me and I forced my eyes to meet his.
My vision blurred as I tried desperately to catch my breath. “Is she dead?”
My voice was barely above a hoarse whisper, my entire body trembling. It was from the overwhelming terror being this close to Peter initiated, but I wasn’t just scared. I was angry. I knew something was going to happen all day, and I ignored my instincts. I saw this very thing happen weeks ago, but did nothing. And now, Lydia might be dead. Because of me.
Peter hummed low in his throat, his eyes scanning me from head to toe before glancing down at her fleetingly. “Not at the moment.”
A few tears escaped down my cheeks as I tore my gaze away from him to look at her again. I wasn’t even sure if she was breathing. If she was still alive, it was just barely.
My panic only rose as I thought about how unlikely it was that I’d get out of this situation in time to bring her to a hospital. Her chances of survival were dropping by the second. And mine too, probably.
“Tell me, Y/N, what do you see in my future?” Peter look a slow step toward me, and I stumbled back to keep some distance between us.
My eyes jerked up to his as I stiffened, a shiver wracking my body as I became more aware of the freezing temperature. “How do you know about that?”
The earth crunched beneath his shoes as he stalked toward me. I stood impossibly still, knowing I wouldn’t be able to escape him. He didn’t stop until he loomed only inches away.
“How does anyone know anything?” He murmured hoarsely into my ear, and I recoiled back, my stomach clenching painfully in disgust. My eyes pinched shut as one of his hands came up to brush a stray lock of hair away from my face. “You, my dear, would make a fantastic beta.”
My eyes jerked open again and I took a miniscule step away from him, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. “Trust me, I wouldn’t. I’ve been told I can be really annoying. I wouldn’t make a good beta. Or a good anything, really. I’m hardly a psychic. You should just keep searching because, you know, whatever it is you’re looking for...isn’t me.”
“Oh, I think I’m willing to take my chances.” Time seemed to slow as his eyes flashed bright red, his mouth opening wide to show his razor sharp canines.
I whipped around, ready to at least attempt running for my life, but instantly froze at the sight of Stiles barreling toward us.
“No!” I shouted frantically, my heart leaping into my throat with panic.
A strong arm wrapped around my stomach and wrenched me backward. I slammed against Peter’s chest, hard. The air was knocked out of my lungs from the force, just as a clawed hand snaked around my throat.
Stiles lurched to a stop in front of us, his dress shoes slipping on the damp turf. He flailed to the ground before popping back up instantly, his eyes wide with horror as they glanced down at Lydia before landing on me.
“Don’t kill her. Please.” His voice was trembling with desperation as he held a hand out toward us hesitantly.
The tips of Peter’s claws dug into my skin and I winced, tears now running freely down my face. I was terrified. For myself, Lydia, and now Stiles. Peter had killed many times before, and there was literally nothing stopping him now. Stiles’ eyes flickered to my neck, his jaw clenching tightly.
“Of course not. Just tell me how to find Derek.” Peter drawled, as if he wasn’t currently poised to do the opposite.
“W-what?” Stiles stammered, seemingly surprised by that request. His gaze was still firmly planted on Peter’s hand.
I felt a sharp stabbing at the base of my throat and my lips parted as a shuddering gasp escaped me. He was surely drawing blood at this point. Stiles’ eyes widened with alarm at the sight and his hand jerked toward us as if he were itching to intervene.
“Tell me how to find Derek Hale.” Peter leaned down, his warm breath fanning my shoulder. I tried jerking my head away, my heart lurching in my chest at his close proximity, but didn’t get far with his tight hold around me.
“I don’t know that! How would I know that?” Stiles’ voice rose to a frantic shout, his chest heaving as his glistening eyes finally moved up to Peter.
“You’re the clever one, aren’t you? And because deception has a very particularly accurate scent, Stiles. Tell me the truth. Or I will rip her apart.”
As if to prove the validity behind his words, his hand tightened around my throat. I instantly started pulling at his fingers as I felt my airway closing. My lips parted in a silent gasp, my lungs spasming painfully as I tried to force a breath in.
“Look. I don’t know! Okay?” Stiles rushed the words out in a complete panic, his eyes darting between Peter and my neck. Tiny black spots dotted my vision as I felt myself growing faint. “I swear—I swear to God I have no idea!”
Peter hummed low in his throat, his chest vibrating against my back. “Wrong again.”
Everything that happened next must’ve taken place in only a few seconds, but they seemed to drag on and on. Peter’s head jerked down to my left shoulder, his teeth digging into my skin easily. A scream tore through my throat as he finally released it, my vision blurring as unbearable pain rippled along my upper body.
Stiles face crumbled in utter horror and he lunged toward me just as Peter’s arms disappeared. I tried gasping for breath as I sagged to the ground, but my body just wasn’t cooperating. It felt like Stiles caught me, but I couldn’t be sure as I lost all feeling in my limbs.
Then, everything went black.
————————
I stirred, already wincing in pain as I slowly regained consciousness. A high pitched droning was the only sound in my otherwise quiet surroundings. My eyes fluttered open and instantly squinted against the harsh fluorescent lights above me.
Everything felt heavy. I sluggishly started turning my head away from the lights, but jerked to a stop as searing pain radiated from my shoulder. My face fell into a grimace as a pitiful groan escaped my lips.
Something shuffled at the foot of my bed and I froze. My heart jumped in my chest with panic. Memories of Peter came flooding back all at once, and I started trembling with fear at the unknown presence.
Stiles jerked upright, appearing at my side a split second later. I let out a small sigh of relief, wincing as my lungs angrily protested each breath I took. My body began relaxing as I realized I was safe.
“Oh my God! Y/N!” He practically yelled in my face as he leaned down over me. “Are you okay? Wait, that’s a stupid question. How are you feeling? Does it hurt?”
One of his hands disappeared beneath the thin mesh blanket covering my body and he pulled out a hallow cord with a small switch in the middle. “If it hurts you can push this button as much as you want and I won’t tell. You’ll be higher than a kite, but—”
“Stiles.” My voice was barely above a hoarse whisper as I interrupted his frantic rambling. “I feel okay. Just tired.”
Truthfully, I hadn’t been awake long enough to know how I felt. I’d gathered that I was in the hospital, but obviously didn’t know much else. My entire left side hurt like hell.
My eyes trailed over Stiles quickly, noting that he was still wearing his clothes from the dance. His white button up was stained with blood and dirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His black jacket had been discarded on a table by the door.
Maybe it hadn’t been long, then?
“Seriously?” He sagged down into the chair that sat beside my bed, his eyes widening in surprise. “You were asleep for almost thirty hours.”
“I was what?” I planted my hands on either side of my hips and pushed myself up, ignoring the pain that ripped through my shoulder at the movement.
How the hell had I been out that long? That meant it was already Sunday, although probably somewhere around midnight. Too many panicked thoughts invaded my mind at once to make sense out of any one of them.
Stiles bolted back to his feet and pushed me against the bed with a disapproving glare. “It was actually twenty eight hours, forty seven minutes, and sixteen seconds, if that makes you feel better.”
“You know what, somehow it does.” I huffed sarcastically with a roll of my eyes, wiggling around on the hard mattress in an effort to get comfortable again.
Stiles twitched his eyes at me while he sat back down apprehensively, as if not trusting me to stay put. He brought a hand up to rub at the back of his neck as he glanced down to my injured shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Y/N...”
“For what?” My brows furrowed in confusion. I really had no idea why he would be apologizing. There was definitely a list of people that should feel bad right now, but he wasn’t one of them.
“I should’ve listened. If I’d just told him what he wanted...” He let out a heavy sigh and rested his elbows onto his knees before dropping his head into his hands.
I reached out and took one of his hands in mine, rubbing my fingers across his skin soothingly as he looked up at me cautiously. He had no reason to blame himself. Peter had already proven time and time again that he’s literally insane, and I’d made the stupid decision to run toward him mid-attack. I had a feeling he would’ve bitten me either way, regardless of anything Stiles did.
“It’s not your fault.” His lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes glistening with a slew of intense emotions.
I didn’t even have time to start deciphering them before he sat forward in his chair, his face hardening with determination. “I should’ve brought this up before I had to watch you almost die, but...you’re not—you know, how you are with me...with any other guys, right?”
His voice was timid as he struggled to stutter out the words. My heart swelled in my chest as my lips pulled up into a small smile. That was the most adorable, perfect, Stiles way of phrasing that question. For a moment, I forgot about all my worries.
“Stilinski, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?”
His eyes twitched as he squeezed his fingers around mine minutely. “Only if you’re gonna say yes.”
I didn’t even have to think about it for a second.
“Of course I’m saying yes, you dork.” I let out a breathy giggle as a big grin took over his face.
His caramel eyes shined with happiness as he brought my hand against his mouth to place a gentle kiss on my fingers. It was about damn time we had that conversation. I honestly shouldn’t be surprised that it took us this long to make things official, considering how stubborn we both are. Regardless, it felt amazing to finally be able to call him my boyfriend.
My boyfriend, Stiles. It had a nice ring to it.
I only let myself relish the moment for a few more seconds before finally asking about the one thing I’d been dreading thinking about since waking up.
“How’s Lydia? Is she...?” I trailed off, not able to say the word out loud.
When I’d seen her last, she was only moments away from death. I was sure of it. If I’d been here this long from a bite to the shoulder, I couldn’t imagine the damage that had been done to her. My heart clenched with regret as I thought back to all the moments I could’ve done something differently that would’ve saved her.
Stiles winced beside me, hesitating for a long moment before answering in a quiet mumble. “She’s uh...missing.”
“Excuse me?” I instantly tried bolting upright at his words, my anxiety skyrocketing. Missing? How could she be missing?
He guided me back down gently with a hand on my uninjured shoulder, his eyes narrowing again in warning. “Yeah. She just kinda disappeared from her room this morning.”
It was like he could sense that I was about to try getting up again, as he peered down at me sternly and pressed his hand down more firmly. “My dad already has the entire department out searching. There’s nothing you can do.”
My mind was racing with anxious, jumbled thoughts. She could’ve been taken if no one was sitting by her bedside like Stiles had clearly done for me. Or, she could’ve run away. But why would she do that? She was in the hospital. Where she was safe and getting treatment. I guess, there was always a chance that she’d taken to the bite and shifted already...
I didn’t know what any of this meant for me. I could only assume at this point that I wasn’t a werewolf. I mean, my shoulder clearly hadn’t miraculously healed yet. I figured, if I were, it would’ve done so by now. I was just incredibly glad—and lucky—to be alive.
My eyes met Stiles’ as he leaned back in his chair and inspected me closely. He kept glancing toward the place where Peter had bitten me as he drummed his fingers against his lips. It was like he couldn’t tear his gaze away.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I breathed, suddenly nervous. His anxious expression couldn’t mean anything good.
“There’s something I keep—something Derek said awhile ago that I can’t get out of my head.” He mumbled, his eyebrows furrowing in apprehension.
I looked at him expectantly, urging him to continue. He was seriously starting to freak me out.
“The bite—he said it either kills you...and I think we’re good on that one...”
I glowered at his poorly timed sarcasm as his eyes continued flickering between my own and my shoulder. He swallowed thickly, and I could practically see his heart racing as he let out a ragged sigh. He finally caught my gaze, twitching uncomfortably in his seat.
“Or it changes you.”
Well, shit.
Episode 10 Episode 12
#stiles stilinski#stiles#stiles x y/n#scott mccall#teen wolf#teen wolf fanfiction#teen wolf fic#teen wolf series#allison argent#stiles x reader#teen wolf rewrite#teen wolf season one#derek hale#peter hale#dylan obrien imagine#dylan obrien x reader#stiles stilinski angst#stiles angst#stiles x original character#stiles x oc#teen wolf angst#kate argent#lydia martin#jackson whittemore
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A Letter to my Favorite Person
So I wrote this thing for Bono... I started working on it last night but I severely underestimated both how much I wanted to write and how long it would take me to write it so I had to finish it up today. So I guess in that I discovered that me and B have something in common. We're both writers and we both turn everything we write into novels because we are incapable of writing anything short. So here it is, I'm putting it under a cut because like I said, it's quite long (3500 words). It's also full of sappiness the likes of which you've never seen before. So just be prepared for that. You've been warned. But otherwise, enjoy :) (and Bono if you read this I'd not know whether to be super happy and amazed or to throw myself out the nearest window...)
Okay, so how do I even start something like this… Believe it or not, I’m not always the best at expressing my emotions or how I feel to other people. It’s not that I don’t know how I feel, I’m pretty good at that, but when it comes to talking about it, that’s where the words just kind of leave me. I guess I just kind of worry that if I truly express what I say, people won’t understand what I mean or something like that. And because of the fact that I tend to experience emotions very strongly, I worry that I might come off as too much to people.
But screw it, a lesson I’m in the middle of learning is that for people you care about, it’s important to communicate with them and tell them how you feel because, well, nobody’s a mind reader.
And well, I just have a lot to say and I want to say it. So here goes (prepare for ultimate sappiness the likes of which you have never seen before. You’ve been warned)
So, to my dearest Bono, the man who has changed my life, I just want to say… thank you? Wow, like you’ve never heard that before, right? But who says hearing “thank you” a lot is a bad thing? Obviously if a lot of people thank you for something, then you’ve done something right, and something right you’ve done indeed.
Obviously I’m sure that on some level you know just how much your music and you yourself have helped people, touched them, made their lives better, etc. I mean, you could see it every night when you got up on that stage in front of all those thousands of people. But those stadiums can only hold a few thousand people at a time and there are so many more people around the world that have been touched by you; your words, your songs, your activism and the fact that you actually go out there and attempt to make a positive impact on the world.
It reminds me of how in Paris in 2015 the entire audience sang the whole first verse of One without you having to do anything. The look on your face said it all about how happy you were, and how amazed you were. Or how, in Berlin in 2018 when you lost your voice during Beautiful Day, I’m sure you were terrified, but you didn’t need to be because the audience picked up the words and sang for you. You told them “thank you” afterwards, like you’re always so surprised at what people would do for you, or how much you inspire others, but you don’t need to be, because just that kind of guy.
I was originally going to write a poem or something, before I decided on writing this because I felt it was easier for me to get out everything I wanted to say like this, but one of the lines I thought of for the poem went a little something like this:
There is a man that has everything But he gives it away like nothing There is a man that has everything But he gives it away for nothing There is a man that has everything But he gives it to those who have nothing
I was just thinking about this the other night and it just kind of came to me that “wow, here is a man who has quite literally everything but is also incredibly humble and kind to everyone to the point where nobody that’s met him has ever had a bad thing to say about him,” and I just kind of thought to myself “wow.” I don’t really know where I’m going with this, but I just wanted to point that out. I guess my point is that, you look out in the world and sometimes it’s so easy to get overwhelmed by all the darkness and the terrible things that people sometimes do, that it’s also easy to forget that there are still good people out there that are doing their best to make the world a better place for no other reason than because they want to, and because they think it’s the right thing to do. People like that are pure souls; they are rare but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. And you sir, are one of those people. You may not want to be called that but it’s the truth. It kind of reminds me of the Lord of the Rings quote, “there’s still some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for,” and of course, the lyrics to Song for Someone/13 , “if there is a dark, then we shouldn’t doubt that there is a light, don’t let it go out.” Honestly, I think this may be one of the most important lyrics in any of your songs because it is just such a universally important message. Whenever you’re going through a hard time, it’s important to remember that there is a light, that you are not alone, that the darkness can be fought.
But anyway, going back to what I first said, you may have some idea of the amount of people’s lives you changed but do you really know just how many that is? And over the course of so many years? That must be an impossibly huge number.
But anyway, after this stupidly long preamble (preramble) I guess I should finally get to the whole entire point of this letter or whatever you’d call it. But hey, I guess that’s one thing we both have in common right? Everything we write turns out to be insanely long and rambly. And tagenty. What was I saying? Oh, right.
I just wanted to say that you mean a lot to me. I am one of those uncountable people that you’ve helped in some way. In a myriad of ways actually. In so many ways.
Over the past year, my mood has gone up and down like a rollercoaster for obvious reasons. Sometimes it was so hard to be positive about anything when you looked out into the world. Sometimes I would just give into despair. What were any of us doing? What was the point of anything anymore? But other days I would feel great. I would feel like I was a better person than I was before. And I would be so happy and grateful for all the friends I’ve made that I didn’t have before. And then I would go back down again. It was a real rollercoaster, and still is.
Basically, what I’m saying is, a friend once told me not too long ago that ���U2 has a habit of coming into your life right when you most need them,” and looking back on that, I can say she was right. It all happened on December 25th, 2019, you know, Christmas. I was thinking of buying myself a record player but it turns out my parents were nice enough to buy one for me. Of course they got me some records to go along with it. There were a lot of them actually, but I don’t really remember them. I just remember the one that stood out to me more than the others: The Joshua Tree by U2. I actually got really excited when I saw it because I had actually heard it before, a long time ago but I never actually got around to listening to the whole thing, so I was happy that now I had the chance. I don’t think my mom realized what she had started when she did that, and neither did I at the time. I’m not going to recount the whole entire story here because that’ll take too long (that’s another story) but basically that was the moment that U2 and you too (wink wink) entered my life. And what happened a few months later? The entire world changed.
But you know what? It was okay because I had you there. Suddenly it was like I had a new friend there with me, and anytime I wanted a reprieve from the world outside, all I had to do was ask. You could make me smile, you could make me laugh, you could make me cry, but in a good way. I immersed myself in all the stories of things you had done for people, putting your kindness on display. How you could make someone’s entire day just by smiling at them. I would read those stories and I would get this feeling like my heart would burst and I would get this huge dopey smile on my face and then I would go scream into a pillow to get out some of the emotion. And then I would feel silly because here I was, a 21 year old girl, sitting alone in my room, and the guy I was basically tripping over was 59, about to turn 60! And now he’s 60, about to turn 61! And I am still only 22. But you know what, that doesn’t matter, because sometimes people are just that good, and you’re one of those people.
I remember reading one story in particular about some kids who were sitting outside your studio. You saw them, got out of the car and went up to them and signed the albums they had. You could’ve stopped at just that, you’d already made their days, you’d already given them enough happiness to power an entire country for a year, and certainly nobody would expect you to do more. But you did. You allowed them to come into your car and you drove them around for a bit while showing them a preview of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. And I just thought to myself, “who does that? Surely this can’t be real? Surely this person can’t be real,” but you are real. And you really did do that. And for no other reason than out of the kindness of your own heart. You didn’t have to do that. You didn’t have to do any of that. But you did. Because you’re just that kind of guy. Later on in the story, Larry mentions to the reporter who was in the car when this happened, that “he really has this insatiable urge to be all things to all people, even when we try and stop him,” and I think that’s the perfect way to describe it. Making other people happy is genuinely something you enjoy and you will go out of your way to do it for no other reason than because you know just how happy you will make those people.
And then I’m sure my parents saw what was happening and they laughed and teased me and said “oh there she goes” and yeah, they were right, there I went. And here I am still am. I don’t even know if this is making any sense anymore but sometimes, when you’re telling someone how you feel, it doesn’t always make sense. Because emotions, these weird tricky little things of the human experience, don’t always make sense. But what I mean to say does make sense, at least in the way that these kinds of things can.
These things that I feel aren’t just surface level little crushes. I think they are more than that. Because it isn’t just about how you look or the fact that you are a singer or whatever (although those things are nice I must admit, especially the first one ;) ) but something deeper. It’s because everything you do, everything you say, comes from your heart. Everything you do oozes that sweet beautiful passion of someone who really means what they say, and lives it. You’ve said it yourself before, when you’re singing, you’re not merely just singing the songs, you are living them, you are them and I think that’s beautiful. And in an era of fake people, I think that is a big part of what drew me to you. I think I could tell by watching you and listening to you that you weren’t like the others, you were real and you lived every second of it.
And I just think it’s great to have someone to look up to that is real and undeniably himself. I could learn from that. Really, I could learn a lot of things from you. Because you are so wise and intelligent, sometimes I am just wowed by the things you manage to say. You know a lot of things about the world that I couldn’t know simply because of experience. I guess you could say that I am innocence and you are experience. It’s very interesting when innocence and experience can interact with each other. The experience sees the forgotten youth and the innocence sees the wiseness and intelligence that comes with having lived the world. And both of them can learn from each other.
And for a man that is so unapologetically, so unabashedly, so undeniably himself, I could learn a thing or two from that too. I’ve always watched you be loud and proud, say what you want, be spontaneous, and go out on a whim. Whenever there was something you wanted to do, you would just do it, (whether you should’ve or not) and sure, that’s left you in a few bad situations, but you still did something. You were never left wondering “what if?” You have always been a man of action and I admire that about you. You’ve never been one to care about what others thought of you and that is something that I admire so so much. Me, not to be dramatic, but I feel like that was stamped out of me some time ago. I find myself always caring about what people think, even if those people aren’t even around. I feel like I can hear them in my head when I’m alone, just trying to do something I enjoy. And sometimes I start to wonder if it’s really other people or if it’s really just me. But I need to learn to be unapologetically me, just like you. Because after all, I’m the only person who can, right? So maybe if you stick around for a bit longer, I can do that. But only if you stick around.
Because of all that, you really are such an inspiration to me. You’re really someone who goes after what you want instead of just sitting there wondering what other people would think. And maybe I should do that too.
You’ve shown me the power of song, the way that music can move our souls and transcend us to that other place. Music is an amazing thing I think, and I’m sure you agree. It has the unique power to transcend barriers and bring people from many different places together. And I’ve been constantly wowed by your ability to write. So much of music is empty these days it seems, but you fill that hole with your irresistible passion once again.
Everything you write comes from the heart, and where else could it come from but there? I don’t think it’s possible to write the things you do without throwing your entire soul into it, which is what you do. And when you sing those same songs, the passion is on another level. It really is infectious, contagious, irresistible and incredible, it pours out and spreads over everyone like a wave until they’re all caught up in this feeling, this high that takes you to another place, if only for a few minutes. While you’re there you can find important answers to things that you wouldn’t have found otherwise. It’s a magical place.
And I think I understand just how that feels from your perspective now. When I’m alone and there’s no one around, I like to sing too. I’m not very good, in fact, I listened to myself once and wanted to throw my entire computer out the window, and I beat myself up over it for days. I told myself “how could you possibly think you were good? You don’t even know anything” and then I started thinking “what’s the point if I’m not even good?” but then, a few days later, I realized that it doesn’t really matter whether you’re good or not, what matters is if you enjoy it, if you have fun, if, in that moment, you feel like you’re releasing something held captive in your soul, if you’re telling the world (even if that world is just your bedroom) what you have to say. What matters is if, in that moment, you go to that other place. And, if you do, then that’s really all that matters.
So, because of you, because of your passion, your refusal to be anything other than unapologetically you, I think I will try. And maybe someday, we’ll meet and sing a duet together (HA!).
Another thing I love about you is your dedication to the things you love and care about. I have a feeling that anyone who knows you personally is very privileged because they get to know one of the kindest, sweetest, and most caring people there is. And of course who benefits from that the most? Of course your special woman, Ali. I used to think that such beautiful relationships like that weren’t possible in the real world, and that they only existed in fiction but it makes me happy to see that they are possible. Maybe not possible for everyone, but just the fact that they are possible at all makes me happy.
A friend told me that she met you once, in Boston in 2018. She called out your name and you looked at her, your eyes met and she forgot everything she had been meaning to say, but according to her, that was alright because your expression softened like you just knew what she wanted to say. And you know what? I believe it, because that’s just the kind of person you are. Kind, gentle, sweet, and softhearted, with eyes that can see right through us (and hopefully they’re not afraid of anything they’ve seen). I know I said at the beginning of this that it’s important to communicate because people aren’t mind readers but scratch that, maybe you are one, and I’m not writing all of this because I want you to know, but just because I wanted to be the one to tell you.
And finally, I just want to say, on a more personal note (as if this whole entire thing hasn’t been personal) I am so grateful that you came into my life. I feel like I was saved in a way. At the beginning of 2020, the world outside was good, but the world inside me wasn’t quite so. I don’t want to go into details because honestly, it’s just too embarrassing to think about and sometimes I wish I could just forget it all, but for a few years before that moment on Christmas morning, I had lost my way. I had strayed from the path and stumbled into somewhere strange where I shouldn’t have been, and I was stumbling about, constantly trying to make sense of where I was and I just kept falling. But then on that morning, and over the next few months, a light appeared. It called to me and showed me how to get out of the place I had fallen into. And when I had finally gotten out, there was a man standing there with gorgeous blue eyes and the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. He reached out his hand towards me and I grabbed it.
And so, over the next few months, even as the world outside turned dark and scary, the world inside me had turned into a light. Even as the world outside turned dark and scary with so many questions, so many unknowns, it was okay, because you were there. The first new thing that I had seen from you was in March 2020 when you put out that song you called “Let Your Love Be Known” and I think that’s what I’m doing right about now. I’m letting my love be known.
I know that in reality, you probably wouldn’t want to hear all this stuff practically elevating you to God status or something, but as you’ve said before, you already have a messianic complex, so why not puff it up a bit?
But for real, thank you. Thank you for existing, thank you being a light, thank you for being there, thank you for helping me.
Just thank you.
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Stray Kids Reaction: You tear up because he accidentally hurt you.
A/N: Another angsty one god save me T~T
MASTERLIST
Chan
i dont wanna do this So I think he would accidentally hit you while angry, not at you but pissed about something k? He was walking away from you as you tried to follow him and calm him down. At some point he got riled up again and swung around, not realizing how close you were and striking you across the face with the back of his hand. Also, because he had raised his voice, you got upset and started tearing up, covering the area on your cheek where he’d hit you. He quickly came to his senses and tried to take care of you.
“I’m-I’m so sorry, y/n.... I wasn’t paying attention- I know the ice feels like shit but I don’t want you to get a bruise...”
Woojin
o wow ok ur rly gonna ask me to do this to my angel and myself alright then I think he’d accidentally hit you too hard when he was too excited. cant control his strength u get me? If you were hanging out with the rest of the boys, and idk Jisung breathed and everyone was yelling and laughing, and being crazy being SKZ. And Woojin meant to playfully hit you but accidentally used a bit too much muscle and ended up hitting you hard enough to leave bruises. Your eyes started watering mostly because your body was naturally reacting to the pain and Woojin noticed in a tic. He immediately hugged you so tightly apologizing softly as the other boys quieted down a little, getting the fact that it was getting to rowdy.
“Omg I’m so so sorry! Are you okay? I really didn’t mean to hit so hard, I’m so so so sorry...” It took an awful long time and a lot of reassurance on your part for him to forgive himself.
Minho
The dude probably accidentally bitch slapped you who tf knows. So you thought it was smart and funny to hide behind a corner in the JYP building SEngmiN iN ThE bUiLDinG and scare Minho as he was rounding the corner. Little did you know, he actually had very apt self-defense instincts. So when you did jump out at him, he literally fucking tried to karate chop you. Ended up actually smacking you. Hard. You were so shocked that you started to tear up, and the dude had the audacity to feel indignant.
“Well what were you expecting?? For me to squeal and fall?” But he eventually forgave you especially when you revealed you’d brought food and tried to stop you from crying, even though you were now smiling with teary eyes at his dumb reaction. HE LOVES YOU I SWEAR
Changbin
OK the guy is buff, he used too much strength when you were both squabbling over ice-cream the food of the gods. There was one helping of ice-cream left in the freezer (your fav flavor) and both of you dived for it at once. You simultaneously grabbed it and started wrestling for it and Changbin went into fight siblings mode. He became ruthless and elbowed you in the side unconsciously. As you let go with a grunt, he realized something had gone wrong (you wouldn’t give up on ice-cream so easily) and looked at you to see tears spilling out of your eyes as you held your side tightly. He was so horrified with himself, he dropped the tub and immediately checked you over, sounding like a hurt puppy, apologizing over and over.
“I can’t believe I really did that, I’m such an idiot! I’m so sorry y/n”. Needless to say he gave you the ice-cream.
Hyunjin
Two words: dance practice. He was trying to teach you dance moves (doesn’t care if you say you can’t dance). At some point he got a little too hyper, bouncing around like a Jack Russel and kicking out like a dancing Pennywise you are now haunted by the image. At some point he wasn’t paying attention to where he was kicking and his shoe met with your shin with a loud thud. You held onto your leg tightly, eyes watering and trying to not make a sound. The boy panicked and helped you to sit on the floor, apologizing like a broken record. He started rubbing the part of your leg which you already knew would have a bruise, so he promised to cuddle you and shower you with love whenever it hurt.
“Okay, maybe I shouldn’t be your dance teacher...”
Jisung
idk how this bb could possibly hurt anyone but lets stretch probability a bit You were both playing a card game like Spit: no need for a tutorial but in short when you get rid of your bunch of cards, both players get a chance to grab the smallest out of two piles of cards on the table. You were a decent player, and quick enough to win most of the time. At some point, Jisung got so frustrated, he tried to snag the smallest pile by slamming his fist onto it. It was only after he’d yelled with triumph that he realized you’d already grabbed the pile and he’d flattened your hand at the same time; now you had almost started weeping, cradling your hand. His jaw dropped as he took your hand gently, apologizing guiltily. After that he swore off the card game in the name of your safety.
“Okay, no more Spit for me... I’ve become too much of a danger...”
i just wanna hug :(
Felix
He had finally come home from a long two weeks of concerts and he was excited af about seeing you again. He’d already called you in the car on route from the airport and was hyped up to the point of squealing before getting into the apartment. As he walked in, you were standing in the entrance hall and he dropped all his stuff to sprint to you. “I’VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!” He tackled you in a hug, and the force at which he hit you was so big, your head snapped forward with a loud crack, making you cry out. Alarmed, he immediately let you go as you rubbed the back of your neck, tears already streaming down your face. He quickly went to fetch you some ice and sat you down with a pillow behind your head. “I am so sorry, holy shit. Are you alright?”
Your best response was: “Maybe next time don’t catapult yourself at me...”
Seungmin
i keep thinking he’s incapable of hurting someone but then i think of him messing with Binnie lmao So idk how it came to this but Minnie and you ended up making the executive decision that it was a good idea to wrestle in the living room of the apartment. Both of you were actually really good at not falling or anything, but anytime someone collapsed on the ground, they’d demand a rematch because “I just slipped!” and you both started getting more violent. At some point, you were trying to throw Seungmin onto the sofa, but you lost your balance and he took advantage of it, hurling you at what he’d thought was the big soft chair. Instead, you stumbled and fell, slamming your head on the wall next to the chair. With a whimper, you held your head, tears already spilling out of your eyes. Seungmin came running to you in horror, eyes wide as dinner plates and immediately started cradling you gently, rocking back and forth and trembling slightly. “I’m so sorry, I meant for you to land on the chair... I should probably get some ice for that or it’ll swell...”
“Yeah, no shit”, you only managed to say. Soon he was cradling you and holding a bag of frozen pees on the back of your head as you watched something on TV, now very very calm and quiet.
Jeongin
how tf can this kid hurt anyone? ahem You were both in the SKZ bus and everyone was turning up to a GOT7 song or sumn. You and Jeongin were sitting next to each other and were super hyper and doing the dance moves to every song, singing the lyrics over-dramatically. At some point you were both swaying left and right and you both became out of sync in the chaos, and managed to knock your heads against each other lmao. There was a really loud smack sound that made everyone stop and make sure their 2 children were okay let’s be real they’d do anything for you two. Actually you were already asking each other if you were alright, tears rolling down both your cheeks from the pain. Soon enough both of you were getting head massages and being cooed at by the other members. olala royalty
this took me so long to write lmao see you guys in the next post!
#Stray Kids#SKZ#kpop#Imagine#Reaction#Scenario#Kpop imagine#Kpop scenario#Stray kids reaction#Stray kids imagine#Stray kids scenario#jyp#Jyp entertainment#Chan#Bang Chan#Stray Kids Chan#Woojin#Kim Woojin#Stray Kids Woojin#Minho#Lee Minho#Lee Know#Stray Kids Minho#Changbin#Seo Changbin#Stray kids Changbin#Hyunjin#Hwang Hyunjin#Stray kids Hyunjin#Jisung
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Hiraeth (Pt. 3)
(a/n: I've decided that im going to start posting new parts on my wattpad a few days before I post here as a sort of early access sort of thing… please consider checking it out!)
"Movie night?" You were sipping another iced coffee, this one of your keurig's creation. In front of you stood four girls trying to worm their way into your room.
"Really more of a girl's movie night." Sierra smiled, looking innocent. At least, as innocent as she could be. "Besides, we have nail polish. And face masks!"
You knew better than to argue so instead, you just sighed and moved out of the doorway, allowing them entrance into your room. God help you if you got caught having a sleepover on a school night, especially with students from another house.
When it came time for you to pick a movie, a wave of nostalgia overtook you, and you found yourself selecting The Princess Bride.
"OMG. I loved this movie when I was a kid." Sierra currently had on a sheet mask that made her look like a panda bear and was painting Kaykay's nails a bright shade of bubblegum pink.
"Me, too. I always wanted to find someone like Wesley." Kaykay sighed into her chocolate bar. You kept a stash on hand for kids who were feeling down, but let the girls raid it. Just this once.
"I forgot how dumb Buttercup was. She contributes nothing but problems to the entire movie." Kaykay's comment mirrored your own thoughts on the princess, not that you had expected her to have seen The Princess Bride before.
"Yeah, Buttercup definitely does not pass the Bechdel test." Crystal was admiring Sierra's handiwork on her own nails, hers a shade of bright blue.
You scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Buttercup invented the Bechdel test. A sexy lamp could have contributed more to the plot line than she did."
The girls laughed, each of them still watching Buttercup crying over Wesley despite the teasing.
"Damn. I wonder if there are any Wesleys around here." It was Sierra who first brought it up. The boy talk. It happened at every sleepover. You were expecting it, but that didn't mean that you were prepared for it.
"I don't know. Maybe." Crystal said. "I'll tell you who's not a Wesley, though. Ashton. That man is the biggest player I've ever met."
"Um, have you met Michael Clifford?" Kaykay gave Crystal the side eye, as if she was offended on Michael's behalf.
"Not only have I met him, but I've had to watch him flex during chapel." Sierra shuddered. "It's terrifying."
"I dread the day Luke becomes interested in girls." You gave a low chuckle. "He's still in the "girls have cooties" stage right now."
"Literally the only guy who I could even remotely see in a relationship aside from Ashton is Hood." Kaykay looked at you the entire time she talked. Which meant she definitely saw you blush at the thought of Hood in a relationship.
Sierra grinned, but she didn't push you. All she needed was that blush. Girls' night was super fun, and she was gonna force all of you to do this more often, but Sierra would be a liar if she said there were no ulterior motives for said girls' night. This was icing on the cake.
She and Kaykay met eyes, sharing small smiles. There was still much work to be done, but they were off to a great start.
Hood was starstruck by you, that much was clear to Sierra.
The stoic man the group once thought they knew had been reduced basically to a puppy. He 'escorted' you to and from all your classes, sat next you at all the meals, chatted you up over coffee on weekends. He even smiled and laughed at pretty much everything you said.
Sierra hadn't even known that Hood was capable of getting above a smirk on the smiling scale. Judging from the blush that had spread across your face, you were feeling much of the same. Although, you did seem to be better at hiding it that Hood, who froze every time he saw you. Without fail. Every. Single. Time.
Sierra had known from the very beginning what a great match you two were for each other, but even she couldn't have predicted this mess of emotions. You two were into each other, that was obvious. Now she just had to trick you into making it obvious to each other.
...
"I'm dying." Sierra banged her head down onto the table dramatically, sighing loudly. She raised her head ever so slightly to see if you was paying attention to her, and sighed louder when she realized you were not.
"Well, maybe you could be considerate and be a bit more quiet as you ease into the cold embrace of death?" You didn't look up from your book, trying to find that one specific bit about cellular mitosis in your textbook. Biology was a bitch for you, and the moaning coming from your study buddy didn't make things easier.
"Ughhhhh." Great, more moaning. Sierra was going to be the death of you, dragging you into the afterlife with her. You slammed the book shut, reached into your wallet and threw a twenty at her, watching as it dejectedly fluttered to a stop next to her arm.
"Go get us coffee, then. Take a break." You reopened the book, not even bothering to make sure she left. The upcoming test was stressing you out, and you really hadn't planned on taking multiple children under your wing when thinking about studying hours.
"Hey." God, what now? Or, more accurately, who now? It was always someone doing something with this group, and you were exhausted right now. You didn't think you could handle another crisis.
"What?" You closed your book with a whack, the word coming out like canine teeth in a fight.
When you looked up, it was just in time to see Calum hiding a flinch. You mentally sighed, regretting your words.
"Um, I was just gonna ask if you were okay?" Calum's hand came up to scratch the back of his head, the other holding his backpack on his shoulder. He looked a bit sick, almost as if he'd rather be anywhere else.
"Not really." The words were thinly veiled with impatience. You were barely halfway through the first unit and there were still two more to go after this, and that was only for biology.
"Oh, um, anything I can do to help?" Calum swallowed thickly. He should have never come over here. He knew you didn't like him, were only tolerating him for the rest of the group. God, he wanted to run. Just as fast as his legs could take him away from here. How could he be dumb enough to think you liked him?
"Yeah, peace and quiet." You didn't even get the word 'peace' out before Calum mumbled out a 'bye' and walk-sprinted away from you, straight out of the library.
It was weird, but it was also a bit too late to track him down and force his feelings out of him now.
...
One foot, then the other. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat.
Hood kept repeating the mantra over and over, synchronizing his arms and legs to mold the air around him. He cut through it, gliding and fighting, gasping as he rounded the corner of the field once again. The air didn't stay in his lungs long enough, making them burn, and cramping his sides. But he could still replay the conversation with you in his head in perfect detail, so he kept running. He'd stay out here all night if he had to.
Because after running, he could always practice shooting. And then dribbling. And then whatever came to his mind next.
When you had said peace and quiet... you had sounded exactly like...
Hood shook his head, sprinting the next lap to push that thought away. You had been funny and kind, that night in the library closet. Just truth and idiocy, drunk on exhaustion. Then that night in the car. When it was just you and him and the stars. You had laughed, and teased, and sang softly to every song on the radio. It was honest. He thought you were a good person.
So why had you tricked him into believing you liked him?
Suddenly, the stitch in his side turned into a heart attack. The shortness of breath from running became air escaping his lungs and never coming back. He footsteps slowed, his feet muddling together until one of them caught on the other and sent him stumbling to to ground. He couldn't even see the grass to catch himself. His vision had gone kaleidoscopic, all darkness and spots.
This was it. He was about to die.
He couldn't get air in, couldn't stop shaking enough to get to his bag and text someone. They'd find his body in the morning, probably. Here, drenched in sweat and bile.
"Hey, Calum!" You had noticed Calum running laps earlier as you walked back to the dorms from the library. Things had ended weird with the two of you earlier, and you wanted a chance to, if not fix it, at least figure out what was going on. You assumed he was still peeved, though. Even after calling his named again, he still hadn't looked up.
"Hey, I'm sorry about earlier. I know I said peace and quiet to you, but I was hardcore projecting Sierra's chattery-ness onto you." You plopped down next to him slipping off your sandals and beginning to lace up your cleats. Calum still didn't look up.
"Hey." You nudged his shoulder, only to have your hand come away drenched in sweat. Weird. You looked at the boy sitting next to you a bit closer, noting him sort of shivering, even though he was burning up, and the way he wasn't quite breathing, but ... panting. Shit. "Calum. Hey. Look at me."
Realization hit you like a truck. He wasn't mad or ignoring you. He was having a panic attack. You scooted closer to him, gently cupping his cheeks in you hands and bringing his face up to meet your eyes. They darted around wildly for a moment before zeroing in on yours.
"Cal. You are okay. I need you to breathe for me, okay bud?" These sort of situations... they weren't new to you. It hurt you to be able to say that, but you were grateful for it at least for right now. "Come. Focus."
The first thing he felt was cold. Cold hands, right on his face. They felt nice on his feverish skin. The hands brought his head up, moving his head for him, since his neck was incapable. Everywhere was too bright, the was too much to take in. But your eyes... he could focus on your eyes. Slowly, painfully, you got him to breathe. In four, hold seven, out eight. Hood knew the exercises. He pretty much wrote the book on them. But they were so much easier when they came from you. Hood watched as the sun set behind you, escaping in a way Hood only wished he could.
...
"Hey Luke, wait up!" You jogged along the covered pathway, trying to catch up to your favorite child-genius. Luke was lost in his own little world. He was reading and walking again, which you and Crystal had both told him not to do anymore. He was doing it anyway.
Which, of course, meant that Luke didn't see him until it was too late.
Torrin. God, you hated that asshole. He had been giving Luke crap the entire time you had known him and probably before that, as well. So, when you saw Torrin hone his attention in on Luke, you dropped your crap right there and kicked your jog up to a sprint.
You got there a split second too late to stop Torrin from slapping Luke's book out of his hands. That was about as far as you would let him get, though.
"What the hell, Torrin?" Just like that you were in front of Luke, pushing him behind you, shielding him with your body.
"What?" The asshole had the gall to smirk, putting his hands into his pockets. God, you wanted to slap that grin right off his smug face. "I'm just teasing."
"Yeah, last time your 'teasing' resulted in him having to buy a new book bag and replace all his notebooks." You growled the words out.
"Fuck off, bitch. This is between me and the twerp." Torrin was never bright enough to grasp the concept of patience.
"Hey, better idea. Go fuck yourself." You watched as the bullies features contorted into pure rage, the kind only testosterone and teenage angst could encite.
"I'm done with you." Torrin grabbed your shoulders, pushing you away from Luke, who tried to back away.
Oh, this was gonna be bad. You remember thinking that specifically, that part was one of the only moments of clarity you had. Everything sort of blurred after you decked Torrin square on his chin, knocking him flat on his ass.
…
tags: @rbforsmileycal @whatthefuckimbisexual
#calum hood#calum imagine#calum x reader#calum fluff#calum fic#calum 5sos#calum hood fanfiction#calum hood 5 seconds of summer#calum hood fanfic#calum hood 5sos#luke hemmings#Michael clifford#Ashton irwin#5sos#5sauce#5 seconds of summer
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Wish RWBY was better? Try ATLA
To start: Yes, I’m aware ATLA and even LoK probably have much larger fandoms than RWBY already. I think they also have more content and were produced with a larger budget, which means we have to give RWBY some slack. It doesn’t mean criticism isn’t valid.
Since Avatar came out on Netflix, I watched both shows, and I can’t help drawing parallels with RWBY since they’re both animated shows I’ve loved about badass kids/teens with magic powers. And Avatar is SO MUCH better. For instance, inter-party conflict. The Gaang argue ALL THE TIME, and it’s just presented as the normal state of affairs, not some dramatic, crazy detail when one sibling has a slight disagreement with the other sibling. And as much flak as the Mako relationship drama gets in Legend of Korra, at least it had substance to it. We still don’t really know what the problem is with Ren and Nora. Oh, and The Last Airbender handled an unwanted kiss forced on someone who didn’t think it was the right time for romance SO MUCH better, with an immediate, “I SAID I was confused!” and the instigator having a scene right after where they called themselves an idiot, instead of the Renora kiss being presented as romantic or something.
Now I kinda want to write a list of things I feel Avatar does better. There’s a poorly-argued word vomit below the cut:
- The dead mother thing--Salem mentions Summer once with no details, and Ruby completely breaks down? What? Like, grief is fine, but this has literally no foreshadowing since the songs don’t count as full canon, and it made no sense given Ruby’s established (ha) character and the situation. Katara would have flown into a rage, and it would have been so much better.
- Arguments with adults on your side--Pakku was set up as an asshole teacher from the start, and he when confronted with the consequences of his misogyny, he changed his ways for the better. Zuko arguing with Iroh is never intended to have Zuko be in the right. Korra argues with Tenzin all the time, and usually they’re both right, but have to come to a better understanding of each other’s perspective that helps them grow as people. In fact, this conflict drives a lot of the story for the first two books of LoK. Unfortunately, RWBY seems incapable of this sort of nuance. Qrow is just drunk until he isn’t, but then later gets Clover killed, and Ozpin is supposedly just awful.
- Arguments with adults who should be on your side but aren’t--Long Feng SHOULD be on the same side as the heroes, defending the Earth Kingdom, but he isn’t for pretty stupid reasons. But, unlike Ironwood shooting people like a maniac, Long Feng is against the heroes for stupid reasons that (mostly) make sense in-universe: he wants to remain in power. (I still don’t understand why he didn’t just quietly explain that he had the real power in the city, not the king, and shuffle the kids off to whoever was running the military defenses that allowed him to pretend there was no war. I guess he thought if he just gave them the cold shoulder long enough, they’d go away?) Whatever problems there were with Long Feng’s storyline, at least he was consistently written as a bad guy. In contrast, Ironwood is inconsistently written as a good guy who has all the trappings of a tyrant but doesn’t act like it AT ALL, except when he occasionally does something extreme like shoot Oscar. He’s written (I guess unintentionally?) as a subversion of the military tyrant, except when he suddenly acts like one again. It’s like they were shooting for a Tarrlok (sketchy government official who’s both bad for the obvious reasons AND worse than he appears beneath the surface, even though he often works for the side of good) but actually wrote Suyin (someone who could easily be a totalitarian dictator, but decided not to be because of her moral principles, and is actually nice), except occasionally she attacks her allies for disagreeing with her.
- Costume design--I loved Ruby’s, Weiss’s, Ozpin’s, Qrow’s, and a few other original costumes, and Ruby’s had some very solid costumes. However, Volume 7 was terrible. The animation looked weird on Weiss’s braid, Jaune’s hair was awful, and a bunch of them weren’t really dressed for the weather. In contrast, the Avatar characters change outfits whenever it’s appropriate. You know, like real people. (If this is a “3D animation makes outfit changes harder than 2D animation” thing, then maybe 2D animation is just a superior art form when you’re on a budget.)
- Consistent power levels--Katara starts weak and gets stronger. Aang starts as only an airbender and consistently gets better at everything else. Toph invents metalbending and gradually gets more proficient with it. In contrast, RWBY’s Volume 1-3 feats are often better than their later feats, and Aura strength blatantly depends on plot. Yang’s gotten *slightly* better at fighting, Weiss learned a new skill and promptly got her butt kicked by focusing on it too much, Ruby supposedly learned hand-to-hand combat but really just did a headbutt, and RWBY SOMEHOW beat the most premiere team in Atlas after training with them for a few weeks. Sure, Toph, Katara, Azula, Aang, and Sokka are all ridiculous prodigies, but they’re established as such from the beginning. Katara still loses soundly to Pakku before he trains her. (Despite the memes about her kicking the ass of the patriarchy, he’s obviously going easy on her and still crushes her.) Aang gets beaten by Ozai without his OP special ability. Azula gets beaten easily the one time we see her go up against an adult (Iroh, on the ship in the beginning of book 2). And Toph is more like Pyrrha than anyone on Team RWBY. Honestly, this is one of my weaker points, but I still stand by the fact that the Avatar kids’ victories felt much more earned.
- Bad Fights--Yes, I know, heresy. I actually think the best of RWBY’s fights (RWBY vs. Torchwick’s mech, Ozpin vs. Cinder, Pyrrha vs. Cinder, RWBY vs. the Nevermore, Qrow vs. Tyrian) are somewhat more exciting, visually interesting, and (sometimes) emotionally charged than even the best of Avatar’s fights (Aang vs. Ozai, Zuko vs. Azula, Kya vs. Zaheer, Korra vs. Zaheer, Tenzin and his siblings vs. Red Lotus, Suyin vs. Kuvira). But my actual point is that RWBY’s bad fights are BAD, whereas I can’t even think of what the worst Avatar fights are. Sokka vs. Zuko in episode 1 was pretty bad, but that was more of a gag than a fight. Umm...Big Glowy Korra vs. Unavaatu was kinda cheesy, but I still liked it. Meelo fartbending vs. the Equalists? Idk. Meanwhile, RWBY has the Scuffle of Haven, that time Ilia seriously hurt Sun somehow, Qrow vs. Tyrian vs. Clover (visually impressive, but made NO FUCKING SENSE), Oscar landing a massively-telegraphed blow on Neo...well, okay. Maybe there weren’t that many awful fights. I still think I came away from more RWBY fights disappointed, but I can’t really argue my case very well.
- LGBT representation, normalized to the time period--Yes, Korrasami never got past handholding in the finale, but somehow Yang and Blake haven’t either? Even though it’s 2020? Actually, this is a symptom of a larger problem:
- Romantic relationships being ignored--Why won’t RWBY explicitly confirm anything? The RWBY cast are closer in age to the LoK cast than the ATLA cast, but it feels the other way around. Kataang was both heavily present in ATLA the whole time and by no means taking over the plot. And, okay, there was Jaune/Pyrrha, but she’s dead now, so the most-developed ship is Renora. Who held hands, then didn’t talk about their relationship at all for a full volume, and then had a nonconsensual kiss handled worse than the Kataang kiss in Ember Island Players. I’m glad there haven’t been any Romantic Plot Tumors in RWBY, but something would be nice. Or just don’t bring it up at all if you’re never going to develop the relationships.
- Sibling relationships--Yang and Ruby were great as sisters in the early volumes, but lately it’s just been Yang deciding to yoke herself to Ruby’s judgement, until suddenly she’s not anymore. I feel like they barely talked in Volume 7.
- Villains--If Salem wants to kill everyone and collect the Relics, why hasn’t she? She’s invincible! Ozai at least was still human, but he left to handle things himself as soon as he got a power-up. More vaguely, I just find Avatar’s villains more interesting than RWBY’s most of the time.
I’m aware that some/most of these are unfair. It’s more intended as an incoherent rambling to get my views out of my head than as any sort of persuasive argument.
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don’t be shy; share those cho chang headcanons 👀 (thank you for blessing us with that cho chang gifset btw, i love her)
ok literally thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about how much i love cho chang and she got done so dirty in the books AND the movies and i also have this elaborate backstory for her parents bc i love her so much aaaaa anyway there’s a lot so under the cut! ~~
i have fully adopted it into canon in my head lol but her chinese name is 張秋 (which means the pinyin i’m more familiar w would be ‘zhang qiu’ which i guess is close enough to cho), 張 meaning hunter/archer and 秋 meaning harvest/autumn
the fact that her anglicized surname is ‘chang’ and not ‘zhang’ makes me think her dad’s family is taiwanese
her mom’s family used to be involved in international affairs for the british ministry of magic office in hong kong (as it was still a colony) and that’s how her mom’s family came to the uk
her parents fully embodied the enemies-to-lovers trope when they were at hogwarts b/c her dad captained the ravenclaw quidditch team and her mom captained the gryffindor team and they were both seekers
hence cho totally grew up on quidditch and played around trying to catch an old snitch with her parents from a young age
she almost ended up in hufflepuff. look at the way she stuck by marietta in ootp?? she’s so fiercely loyal!! wtf!!!
the kinds of traits that ultimately put her in ravenclaw make her a good athlete and vice versa. look at how she plays quidditch: she relies on a number of strategies besides just outright skill, usually distraction/diversion and turning the opposing seeker’s skills against them
that said i fully think her father is muggle-born or half-blood and grew up fencing, so he teaches her how to fence, and so she’s also a great épée fencer
she’s not great with offensive spells - hence her trouble in when they’re in DA in ootp - but she’s excellent with defensive charms, predicting what her opponent’s going to do, moving fast. it’s what makes her one of flitwick’s favorite students.
charms is her best class. don’t ask me for justification here it just is.
flitwick obviously sees her potential and totally invites her to dueling club even though she’s quite young for it
she’s a harpist. don’t ask me where this came from i just think if she played an instrument it would be harp
she’s a younger sibling, she’s so sensitive like fr the eldest daughter in an asian family would just internalize their emotions (this one was developed jointly with my older sister lmao)
she and cedric didn’t start out as a couple. they started as friends when both of them were out on the quidditch pitch early one morning, just practicing flying.
she and cedric tell each other EVERYTHING. absolutely everything. like fr this girl was almost a hufflepuff ok don’t tell me they wouldn’t have the most emotionally invested relationship
cedric asks her to the yule ball and quickly says it’s a really lowkey thing, they’re just friends
they’re not just friends though, she thinks she’s starting to like him because when he looks at her she feels like she can do anything, and when he looks at her it’s her, not her sister, not anyone else.
she’s secretly glad that she has a reason to turn down harry when he asks her to the yule ball. marietta thinks she’s crazy - who would willingly turn down a chance to be harry potter’s date?? - but cho just can’t bear the thought of just being ‘harry potter’s date.’ with cedric, at least she has a chance to be herself.
when cedric dies she’s absolutely devastated:
she can’t stop thinking about how they snuck out of their houses to sit on top of the astronomy tower and look at the stars the night before the last task
she can’t stop thinking about how he confessed that he was scared but he knew he’s so close to winning, and how he joked that it would be impossible for her to not fall in love with him if he won
she can’t stop thinking about how she said don’t be scared, just pretend i’m there with you, i’ve got your back (because obviously they’ve been to dueling club together and he knows how good she is at defensive spells)
she can’t stop thinking about how he waved to her before he entered the maze at the start of the third task
she feels so insanely guilty that maybe she’s the reason he died, he said he wanted to do well to impress her that night on the astronomy tower, didn’t he?
she loses sleep over it, she has dreams about that last night all the time, she has dreams about seeing harry coming back with cedric’s body, she has these dreams where she’s watching him get killed and she can’t do anything to defend him
she wants to ask harry about it at the end of the year but she doesn’t, because she doesn’t think she can handle hearing about it, but somehow it’s worse hearing rumors from everyone else
she finds herself drawn to harry because he makes her feel closer to cedric, because the loss of cedric is something they both share and surely harry must know how it feels
honestly this is what really pisses me off about how she’s written in the books, is that her emotions are so one-dimensional that they become a caricature of asian women as meek and weepy. the most her emotions ever got developed was when hermione explained how cho must be feeling after she kissed harry
like, you’re allowed to have female characters whose arcs are largely tied to and/or driven by other characters, but you gotta actually go into those relationships yk? in the books she’s only ever someone’s girlfriend and she just cries all the time but we don’t actually talk about why
she’s not just crying all the time because she incapable of moving on (which is more or less what harry thinks). she’s crying because she didn’t just lose her boyfriend, she lost one of her best friends. she stops going to dueling club because she’s lost her partner. her flying starts suffering because she thinks about all those early morning 1v1 games she and cedric used to have.
(marietta only goes to DA meetings with her because she feels like it’s the ‘good friend’ thing to do. if going to DA helps her cope with cedric’s death then sure. she goes.)
i’ve already said she was almost a hufflepuff but i have to say it again, cho loves and cares so deeply. she’s a sucker for sentimentalism. she skips dumbledore’s funeral to stand up on the astronomy tower and think about the war that’s coming.
on the last day of her seventh year, she finds the room of requirement again and spends hours walking through it, remembering everything she learnt in DA
when the war really starts up after dumbledore’s death, her parents want to move away, they want her and her sister to have as non-magical a life as they can, so she does, but she keeps the DA galleon and her wand instead of snapping it like her sister. her parents have absolutely no idea that she goes off to the battle of hogwarts.
when she fights she’s a team player. she partners up with katie bell for most of the final battle
at one point she and katie are separated and she comes face to face with a death eater. she almost kills him. she wants to so badly. she hates what the man stands for. but she thinks about two of the most important people in this war, harry and cedric, and she thinks, they never would. so she doesn’t.
^ she doesn’t think of harry and cedric because of her relationship with them. in fact it’s thinking about her relationship with cedric that makes her want to kill the death eater. but she thinks of harry and cedric, and what they would want and do, because they are the ones who had/have the most to lose in this war.
when are we going to get a series that delves into how visceral her emotions were?! how her grief tore her to pieces! how her trauma ate away at her! how disarming a death eater and pinning him to the ground and holding the tip of her wand to his throat made her feel like a totally different person, how close she came to ending his life! how, in the days after the battle, she feels disgusted by the idea that she even thought about using an unforgivable curse. how she learns to recover and rebuild and heal!
she plays seeker for the holyhead harpies for a while. she learns to love flying again. she learns to love the stars again.
she doesn’t really start a family because she has little interest in being associated with others as ‘so-and-so’s wife’ or ‘so-and-so’s mother.’
she always visits cedric’s grave on june 24 every year.
eventually when flitwick retires she takes his place as charms professor and head of house because if anyone deserves a happy ending it’s cho chang!!
#she has so many emotions to be explored!!#also i saw ur tags on my post and i was like big heart eyes lmao#thank u for giving me the opportunity to think about my Queen#i'm sorry i just think about her a lot#she was so brilliant and smart and had so much to her!!!#and every time she showed up it was just so harry could be like 'she was pretty owo'#answered#deifiliaa#cho chang#txt#hp
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The Protagonist
Leon’s lil bro has a best friend. She’s...too good at Pokemon. She’s never lost a battle, and the normal rules of raising them doesn’t seem to apply to her. It’s a phenomenon Leon himself is all too familiar with, and he will NOT let her feel alone like he did.
--- Leon looked around restlessly. Oh boy. He really was pants with directions, even he could admit that, but he was certain she would be around here, Hop had said as much. He heard a sniffle come from behind a large pile of rocks.
Ah.
He peeked around it and saw a familiar beret-topped wave of brunette hair. He silently thanked the Poke’ Gods that his lil bro knew how much his best friend loved to wear berets. The last few times he had seen her, she seemed just as chipper as Hop. But right now she was curled up against the stone, her knees drawn up to her chest and her face buried in her arms. Not at all chipper.
He knelt down in front of her, cape swishing. “Gloria?”
The young girl’s head shot up, revealing a blotchy face and watering eyes. She sniffled again and hurriedly wiped her cheeks. Leon offered a comforting smile.
“Hey kiddo. What’s got ya down? Did you lose a battle?” he asked.
Gloria looked away, and Leon wasn’t sure if that was confirmation or not. His worries made him hope it was the case.
“Don’t let it get you down, even the best Trainers have to lose a couple. The important thing is--” “I didn’t,” a tiny voice interrupted the Champion.
“Ah- oh?” “I won. Hope challenged me to a battle again, and I won. Again,” Gloria mumbled.
Leon cocked his head in visible confusion, but his insides were already starting to squirm with long-harbored suspicions. Even still, he played the unwitting one.
“Huh. Well, I wouldn’t think that’d be a reason for tears now,” he said.
Gloria’s grip on her arms tightened and her brow furrowed. She looked like she was struggling to decide if she wanted to say something.
“...Can you keep a secret?” she finally asked.
“Of course I can,” Leon replied immediately. “I may be garbage with directions, but I can keep a secret.” Gloria took a breath.
“I think there’s something wrong with me. I don’t think I’m normal. Or maybe my...maybe my Pokemon aren’t normal? Every person I come across who challenges me to a battle, I beat them easily. My Pokemon are always several levels higher than anyone else’s, and they...they level up faster, too. People are always telling me how hard it can be to raise a Pokemon, and how it’s even harder to balance raising a full team of 6. I had a full team of 6 by the first Gym, and I never had any trouble with it! And Hop...every time he fights me, I beat him so easily, even though I know he trains as hard as, if not harder than me. So why am I so far ahead of him? Why am I so far ahead of everybody?”
Her eyes start to water, threatening to spill over.
“Hop, and two other Challengers, B-Bede and M-Marnie...they all decided to be my rivals so they could beat me someday. And they all have something to gain and lose in this tournament. Marnie wants to help her hometown. Bede was endorsed by Mr. Rose, apparently. He wants to prove Mr. Rose’s faith was well placed. And Hop…” she trailed off, like she didn’t want to say the reason. Leon knew, but he didn’t say anything. He’d known for a while.
“But they haven’t beaten me yet, none of them have ever come close. And I...I d-don’t-- think they ever will. I like my rivals, they’re my friends, battling them is fun. But every time I win, I can see them grow a little more frustrated. Every time I win and they lose, they wonder what they’re doing wrong. I don’t want-- I don’t--”
The tears started to flow now, as fast as the words from the young girl’s mouth.
“W-Wh-hat if they--wh-at i-f they h-h-hate me? What if they d-d-don’t like m-me an-nymore because I-- because I alw-ways win? What if Hop starts to hate me? What if--” “Hey hey hey kiddo, slow down. Take a deep breath c’mon now, you’re gonna make yourself silly. Here.” Leon offered the edge of his cape, and Gloria dabbed at her swollen watery eyes, sniffling.
“Am I a-- a b-bad person for always wh-wh-winning?” Gloria whispered. Leon sighed.
“No. You’re not a bad person Gloria. But unfortunately, your unusual talent for Pokemon training and battling isn’t normal.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “You might’ve figured this out already but I think you’re a Protagonist.”
Gloria stiffened. “How did you- how do you know about--” Leon chuckled. “Why do you think I’m the Unbeatable Champion, kid? My battle style of not holding back is because I’m literally incapable of it. Even if I try to hold back, I still win. And lemme tell ya, it has been a blessing and a curse.”
“So...so you knew? About this, about me, being a...Protagonist?” Gloria asked. “Weeelllll...I had an inkling. When I saw all your Gym matches so far, and how easily you won...it reminded me of myself when I was doing the Gym Challenge. At first I thought I just had a talent, but when I started hearing about how other Trainers more skilled than me had lost matches while I hadn’t, I started to wonder if I was more than just talented. And just like you, Raihan and Sonia, my own rivals, never beat me.” Leon seated himself next to Gloria, leaning against the rock. “I understand how difficult this must be for you, Gloria. When I was your age, I sometimes squabbled with my rivals because they grew frustrated they couldn’t beat me, especially Sonia. I think Raihan was just as frustrated, but he’s never really shown it.” He caught Gloria’s distraught look and quickly held up his hands. “W-We’re all still really good friends though, don’t worry! It’s good to have rivals, but we all found other things to strive for other than beating each other in battles. Though her gran initially pushed her into it, I think Sonia really enjoys the work she does now. She was always the smartest of the three of us. The point is,” Leon continued, putting a comforting arm around Gloria’s shoulders, “It’s true, you didn’t ask for this. And it’ll be up to you what you do with this ability, it can be both a blessing and a curse. A double-edged sword, if you will. You can’t lose if you try, but if you don’t try, are you really respecting your abilities and those of your opponents?” “But! If I don’t hold back, they’ll never beat me! It doesn’t matter because I’ll always win, no matter how skilled they get!” Gloria nearly shouted in her protest.
Leon’s mouth twisted and he closed his eyes, clearly thinking hard about his reply. “I’m no good at fancy talk, but think about it like this. You may not think it matters, but your rivals probably look up to you as something to attain. Even if it’s impossible for them, it pushes them far beyond what they would normally be capable of. Even in the world of Pokemon training, like any other craft, perfection is impossible, but something all people strive towards. It’s what we do as humans. People like you and I are just...a little closer than everyone else. But we aren’t perfect either. Think about what you want to use your gift for. After a lot of thought, I decided I wanted to maintain my status as an unbeatable Champion after seeing how inspired it made people.” Gloria’s eyes were still watering and she looked up at him, tearful. Even though she was Hop’s age and less than half Leon’s, she looked very small.
“...Am I a bad person for feeling so ungrateful like this?” she asked in a tiny voice. “No,” Leon answered immediately. “You’re just a kid, Gloria. I was just a kid, too. And looking back, I wish I had someone to help me understand why I was too good at Pokemon. You’ll always have your mom, and you’ll always have Hop, too. You two rascals grew up together; even when he acts frustrated after losing, he cares about you too much to let this get in the way of your friendship. So chin up, okay kiddo?”
Leon draped part of his cape over Gloria’s head and offered another grin, this one much wider. Gloria returned it with a watery one of her own. Leon opened his arm out. “C’mere squirt.” Gloria practically fell into Leon’s side, burying her face in the fluffy fringe of his cape and hugging him tightly.
“You’ll be fine, Gloria. You got your Pokemon, you got Hop, and now you got me, too. If you ever want someone to talk to about this, give me a ring. I’ll always try to make time if you need it.”
Gloria let go and sat up, wiping away the last of her tears. “Think you might have some time to eat some curry? I got some new ingredients,” she said. “Now that sounds like a champion idea! Howsabout you call Hop too, and we can all cook together. The more fans and ladles in the cauldron, the tastier!”
---
A friend and I had this inside joke that all player characters in Pokemon are probably REALLY weird to all the NPC’s because they have BPE (Big Protagonist Energy), like running around wildly, standing in one place for a long time, never emoting, and being ridiculously OP compared to everyone else. It’s often said by NPC’s that raising a team of 6 Pokemon is super hard but as the protag it’s super easy, you also usually don’t lose battles ever if you train enough. (I’ve only lost a battle once to an NPC in all my years of playing.) I then realized that a lot of the qualities of The Protagonist also apply to Leon from SWSH, and I fell in love with the idea of him realizing there’s another Protagonist in Galar, and how he reacts, as detailed in this post here. In my own playthrough I felt pretty bad about constantly beating my rivals with absolutely minimal effort cuz they were really trying and had something to prove from beating me.
So then of course I had to write about him confronting a very conflicted Gloria and comforting her and offering advice, gaining a Baby Sister in the process. That being said do NOT tag this as LeonxGloria or LeonxYuumi or whatever, this is NOT a ship fic and in this iteration Gloria is a literal kid and Leon is an adult.
#erika writes#writing#pokemon#pokemon swsh#pokemon fanfic#fanfic#pokemon gloria#pokemon leon#Protagonist#pokemon sword and shield#sword and shield#swsh#text
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you guys know what’s happening in places like Hong Kong is largely the fault of Trump and his administration, right? (so much so that I predicted some of it 3 years ago)
Okay I’m going to simplify this a lot for accessibility and brevity, but...
England sort of took Hong Kong from China in the mid 1800′s. Then in 1997 it was sort of given back to China. But that was tricky, because they had spent over 100 years living under a government system completely unlike that of mainland China. So it was deemed a “special administration region” and allowances were made creating a scenario referred to as “once country, two systems”. But, y’know, China wants all of China to do exactly what China says, of course. They don’t like that there is a Hong Kong Bill of Rights that includes freedom of the press and so forth. They’ve been waiting for a way to sort of take Hong Kong all the way back. Most of the people who live in Hong Kong understandably do NOT want that to happen.
China is big. They could just land their whole military there and forcefully take it over, but they would have to fight and kill a lot of people and it would be a bad look to the rest of the world, and, specifically, the U.S. would do things about that forceful subjugation. Even just for the good press, the U.S. would do economic sanctions, and public support of Hong Kong, and side with the U.N. over the terrible use of military forces on China’s own people, etc. China doesn’t want that. It would be delicate and difficult for the U.S. to do, because over-reaction would appear to give China reasonable cause for mobilizing more armed forces, and there’s the matter of various trade relations and large debts between the U.S. and China... navigating it would take an extremely competent politician willing to listen to advisors etc.
Enter Trump, who is incapable of subtlety, international relations, listening to experts, or doing anything intelligent. Furthermore, he is antagonistic and insulting toward China, as well as unable to create consensus of action within the U.S. -- in short, he is belligerent enough to give an excuse for Chinese military action and too politically weak to do anything about it.
China is OLD. China is politically capable. The Chinese have had empires deep in politics and military action for thousands and thousands of years. They are players of the long game. I imagine they’ve been patiently waiting for a situation like this that they could gain from. For China, Trump taking office must have been like playing an intense game of chess and then suddenly your opponent is drunk and having a serious phone argument with their spouse while continuing to play. Time to make some moves you wouldn’t normally risk. Did your opponent notice? No? Try something bolder.
INSTANTLY upon Trump taking office there were articles in China (which has a strong government control of its media) about the possibility of war with the U.S. -- one prominent article about it, published the day of his inauguration, said war within his presidency was very likely, and called on the Chinese to be ready to fight.
Of course actual war between China and the U.S. has a low chance of being a great thing for China, I think the Chinese government is more interested in creating a useful atmosphere of turmoil and complication to take advantage of.
Within weeks of Trump taking office, China was already making military moves in the South China Sea -- delicate territory, as it concerns several political entities that exist in or have coastlines in those waters. Countries like Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea. China is allied to North Korea, the U.S. is allied to South Korea. So if China has navy in the south sea and army in N. Korea, they essentially have South Korea surrounded. And the U.S. has bases in and complex military agreements with the Philippines, which has twice been a colony of the U.S., has lent us soldiers in at least one war, and relies on our military presence there.
So you can start to see how this is a very delicate situation. China, of course, knows Trump’s administration is incapable of dealing with it. The first moves were not dealt with at all, and so they have been making moves there ever since. While they’ve been moving their Navy into areas we’ve usually prevented, this administration has been busy dealing with Trump dismantling important parts of our country and sticking his head up his own ass on twitter.
This situation not only emboldens N. Korea (which is bad enough) but it puts the Philippines between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, China is literally building islands and placing military installments right up against Philippine waters. On the other hand, the U.S. military is their allied protection against that sort of thing, and we are basically doing nothing at all about that. I imagine the uncertainty and stress of this situation is at least partially responsible for the rather intense political dynamic there in the last couple years. The government has even made an effort to sort of befriend China while remaining our ally. They must be super tense over there.
Meanwhile, this big noisy newsworthy action of China’s in Hong Kong. If the U.S. finally does start trying to intervene with China’s activities, we’ll probably have to start with that because it’s dramatic, it’s flashy, it’s all over the news, and people are actually getting hurt and fighting each other.
But by the time we get that settled, we will have used up most of our public interest and international political capital. We’ll already have pushed about as much as we can to have a say in what China does to people in its own country, as Hong Kong technically is. We won’t have much we can do about the South China Sea expansion. Conversely, if we start with the South Sea, then we won’t be able to do much about Hong Kong, and goodbye civil rights for those people... we might even witness a massacre happen there.
Best case for China, they re-take Hong Kong wholly under the control of their government and end things like their bill of rights, while at the same time controlling the entire South China Sea -- which as discussed is extremely problematic for the U.S. and our allies .
Worst case for them they relent to international pressure regarding Hong Kong (while still having made valuable inroads on their long term goals there) and, if the next U.S. administration is very very good, perhaps they will give up SOME of their acquired south sea expansion. But they’ve been literally building islands and putting military bases there and calling that Chinese territory. Those places are established already. If we try to dislodge them now, it will be an act of war.
So worst case for China, they get a whole bunch of shit to go their way, at the expense of the U.S. and our allies that depend on us.
Situations like this are why people who are threatening to not vote for Biden because they didn’t get their candidate of choice bother me deeply. The democrats are trash in many ways, and Biden is far from my first choice, but he will absolutely be more capable of dealing with issues like this than Trump. He is at least a career politician with experience in these exact areas. Trump is a dangerous idiot.
China is going to be in a position to make large moves we won’t be able to stop soon.
What would we do if the U.S has to choose between outright war with China (and therefore N Korea too) or letting China help its ally N. Korea take over our ally S. Korea? If they control the South Sea there’s not much we could do, they could simply give supplies and intel to N. Korea while refusing to let the U.S. travel through or over territories controlled by China; they could even claim they weren’t helping N. Korea, that they were just protecting the autonomy of their air and naval space.
At the very least they will surely make significant gains at our expense.
Does anyone really want to risk Trump being the one in charge of the situation coming together over there? He’s already the reason it’s happening.
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May we have a recap, please? :)
**spoilers for panic at the art show and home for the holidays**
OK people. I actually don’t have a ton of commentary on these two so I’m gonna try and keep it (relatively) short and sweet [Edit from Future Me: Failed Step 1].
Also, iirc, this is the week Dropout starts streaming new Fantasy High eps on Wednesdays which is very dope and I am very excited for. I probably won’t do full on recaps like I do for normal eps because, lbr, I don’t strictly have the time to be recapping these eps at all and it’s pure stubbornness that keeps me from making wiser time management decisions. But, rest assured, if I have an Opinion, you will hear it whether you want to or not.
Anyway, on with the show.
Last recap, I mentioned that this ep was giving me Aelwen house party vibes and now it reminds me of that ep in another way: Everyone rolled like TRASH almost the entire ep. It was so frustrating! They barely got any hits in until like halfway through the ep.
(Aw man, I just realized I’m gonna have to remember which spelling of Aelwen is correct again now that FH is coming back.)
I love how Murph is immediately like, “I need to make sure my wife doesn’t die during this fight avenging her fictional husband.”
Isabella also has Aelwen’s trick of poofing around the battlefield which is annoying as hell (ha) for the group.
Siobhan hilariously casts fear on Priya just to be spiteful. I thought she was doing it to help the evac process but no. It was a purely spiteful action. Bless.
When Kug turns into an ape he, of course, turns into *the* NY ape, King Kong.
“I roll a nat 20 on an epic shit.”
When Brennan was describing Kingston’s spectral New Yorker Guardians I was already thinking about that one part of Spiderman 2 (the OG Toby Mac version) and then he straight up said, “You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us,” and I lost it.
“Deny the stairs the pleasure of my feet.” Emily is a poet.
I want to know what makes a pigeon spicy more than anything.
The fact that Brennan killed Ox AGAIN and then immediately looked into the camera and let the audience know the dog was fine because he clearly Oracle stared into the future between eps and saw the entire internet sharpening their pitchforks was so funny.
About midway through the ep, Pete tries and fails to send Isabella back to hell and Isabella starts monologing about her plans and connection with Robert Moses (she stole the list from Santa and is/was gonna marry Moses apparently). I wonder if Brennan was like, “These players are for sure gonna murder her without getting any useful info out of her unless she goes full Bond Villain right now.”
And, proving my point, Emily immediately does 56 points of damage, royally f-ing Isabella up.
This is a really civilian heavy fight which feels weird in a way the FH fights never did. Like, these aren’t even civilians who live in an adventuring town in a fantasy world. These are just normal ass civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Pete fails a wild magic roll after failing to teleport into the building and then gets a choice of getting really strong (which prob would have let him bust down the door) or to teleport in (which is what he does and exactly what he wanted). Very clutch when the dice rolls play into the story like that.
Kingston lightning bolts Isabella’s hair off which is just malicious but also totally called for.
On her next turn, Sophie gets hurt on purpose to get low enough to activate her ring, lets her hair burn for long enough to shorten it to a cute bob, insults Isabella, then knocks her tf out.
I love that Emily took one of her teeth (a seemingly crazy move) and when called out by Lou was like, “It’s a link to Robert Moses” (a completely reasonable answer). That’s the Axford one-two punch.
I didn’t mention it before but, Willie the golem is here, first immobile but then brought back by Misty. Post fight, he says he was somehow brought here by one of the evil factions of the city and says they’ll talk about it later. Also, Misty makes out with him (DON’T KINKSHAME HER).
With a high insight roll, Kingston is able to deduce that the group was ambushed (though not by Priya) and that their victory was a really important one for the fate of the city.
(Sidenote: The amount that Pete is Over Priya in this ep is so funny.)
Back at Wally’s (which is where Kug is now staying) Wally has gotten Kug a dog bed to sleep in and fancy charcuterie cheese because he and Ricky are the only pure-hearted people in NYC.
At the same time, Pete and Kingston have a very sweet heart to heart and then settle down at Kingston’s place to chill and listen to jazz. Idk how else we expected this to resolve, considering this is a Brennan Lee Mulligan DM’d show where the sacred pillars are Teamwork, Friendship, Communication, and Making up an NPC on the Fly Because One of Your PC’s Decided to do an Insane Thing.
Next up is the Christmas ep and Brennan, Emily, and Zac are in sweaters for the occasion.
Well,actually it’s the 21st and Emily immediately clocks that that’s the solstice.
Are cookies the good carb?/Absolutely not. But have fun with your life. (I love Ricky’s soft jock energy.)
“I run deliveries,” Pete says to Kingston’s parents, not technically lying but also not being completely truthful. Misty would be proud.
Going over to Misty, it seems pretty clear at this point (and it’s confirmed in the promo for next ep) that Misty’s fairy business is some kind of de-aging/reincarnation for herself. I wonder how many of these she’s done so far. She said she’s been around for, what? 200, 300 years? Assuming she’s been doing then reincarnations at about 65-70 years old and she reincarnates to around 25? Maybe 6 times? Idk. Just spitballing.
Saucer of milk to keep the faeries from stealing her (non-existing) children. Faerie lore is wild y'all.
Did you take another level of warlock?/Yeah bitch.
The fact that since Sophie has joined a monastery, she’s only taken Warlock levels and no Monk levels is very funny from a story perspective. It’s like, she finally comes to this sacred place to be trained to her full potential and she’s just spending what should be her sparring time playing with her cat in exchange for spells. Wild.
Emily’s cat-like, self-satisfied grin when Brennan is like, “So you just jerry-rigged yourself clairvoyance powers, huh?” is so good.
And she did it on the fly because Emily Axford is winning D&D. There are no points but she’s winning.
So, uh, Emily does, two things, very in character right after the other:
Thing number one: She send her unseen servant to spy on her family. Her dad seems hardline, “F, Dale. Whatever. Family first. She needs to get over it.” On the other side of the spectrum is her mom who is very upset about the whole affair with her siblings falling in the middle.
The second thing she does, very casually I might add, is have her unseen servant BURN DOWN HER HOUSE SO SHE CAN COMMIT INSURANCE FRAUD.
EMILY
Everyone loses their minds and rightfully so. What a wild-ass swing that no one could have seen coming. I love it.
“I look in my backpack which is now my home[…]"
I almost forgot that Ricky was a fire fighter who would not abide that nonsense until Brennan decided to cut to him.
Ricky just dolphin swims across the Hudson in 2.5 mins to go put out the fire that Sophie set. Amazing.
Ally mocking Emily/Sophie: Truthfully, I don’t know what happened.
"I love John McClane, because he loves his wife.” WALLY
Wally: Oh we’re gonna tell a lie on Christmas.
“This is what winning looks like.”
I would really like to know what trace stuff what on the drugs Pete got from 7 but Ally rolled too low to figure it out.
“I disassociate fully."
Well it took him a long ass time but glad to have Pete on the selling drugs to kids is bad train. Choo-choo, dude.
7 saying you can hack in real life in reference to his AK-47 has the same energy as Hardison using the word hack in literally any semi-weird episode of Leverage.
SOCIAL MEDIA IS VOLUNTARY PANOPTICON
So Kug goes with Wally to David’s house disguised as a dog and, despite that, blurts out that he’s his dad immediately. Well, he tries to. The Umbral Arcana stops him, unfortunately.
"I lick my son’s face.” KUUUUG.
Sophie showing up with a raw goose and hellish rebuking it is so metal and it’s a shame no one got to appreciate it.
Me when Sophie’s Mom changes into black top in solidarity for Sophie’s mourning: F EVERY OTHER NON-SOPHIE BICICLETA. I RESPECT YOU.
Kingston is hustling very hard to get his man Pete a job which is a very Kingston move. That’s how guys like that show affection.
Didn’t mention it before but Kingston’s parents and Mom specifically adopting Pete is very cute.
Sidenote: Idk what 7 was talking about Pete trying to stay low profile. He wears a cowboy hat (now a ZEBRA STRIPED one, courtesy of Kingston). I think the subtlety train has sailed my guy.
Esther shows up at the firehouse, carrying presents for her mom and grandma and looking for Ricky. The says that she’s kinda dealing with something and it feels good to be around him (beat) magically speaking. Sure. I’m gonna keep my Hercules soundtrack on hand just in case anyway.
I think Ricky is the only person who, with no pretense, could give his crush a sexy calendar featuring him.
Anyway, turns out Esther’s mom and grandma are the furies of Tompkins Square and she’s fated to join them or something.
Esther causally: I defy you, I defy the prophecy.
The fury thing would explain why Esther’s mom would have cursed Kug. They are famously magical punishers.
Ricky is a magically certified Good Boy but we been knew.
Zac’s restraint to respect Esther’s personal boundaries in lieu of getting a lore drop to stay true to Ricky’s character is amazing. Mad props.
So we slide over to Misty’s Christmas party which Stephen Sondhein is attending and him having a character card kinda killed me.
There’s a post on tumblr somewhere about playing faerie incapability for impoliteness against a vampires need to be invited in and that’s what I thought about when Moses and his vamp friends showed up at Misty’s house.
Robert tries to talk Misty into striking a deal with him for protection from Titania. She’s very much not having it.
“You know Robert, I love a comedy and I love a farce. I’d like to remind you of who it is that started this and it’s not me and it’s not my friends but I can assure you Robert Moses that we will be the ones to end it if you do not. Do you understand me?” Damn. That’s a mic drop from Misty.
[As I’m editing this, I’m realizing I somehow lost a BIG chunk of text. I’m not gonna write it all up again but the Cliffnotes are as follows:
Between the Solstice and Christmas, the gang goes Grand Central Station to see the clockwork gnomes that live there because trouble is apparently afoot. Some size changing nonsense happens and Pete shoots a dog (with mini bullets, the dog is fine). Lou is enchanted even though Kingston is not (a common theme with him). Ally and Emily are on the same nonsense wavelength (as usual).
There are dope magical dragon trains under Grand Central Station that go to the shadow realm which is a place I’d like to know about. Kingston has never seen these trains before even though you’d really think he would have.
Murph says Gnome Rights which is wild if you know what Naddpod is like.
Anyway, the high priestess of the gnomes passed out the other day and they figure out it was due to pixie magic which is suspicious. They also know they pixies have access to a “time stone” which leads me to believe that it’s Brennan and not Aguefort who thinks that Chronomancy is the most powerful magic of all.
Sophie and Jackson go to Dale’s grave on Christmas. Jackson explains that the Order of the Concrete Fist is basically a literal school of hard knocks. A counterbalance to all the reach for the stars dreaminess that comes with NYC.
Dale was their chosen one who was supposed to stop the monastery from falling when some unspecified badness crossed over to this side, but when he went to the place where he was supposed to get guidance, there was no one there (clearly tying in to what Dale said to Sophie last time they talked. I wonder what she needs to get to the top of? Empire State maybe?).
Watching Murph watching Emily, his real life spouse, play at grief for her fictional husband and do some truly insane things is so funny because you can clearly see him thinking, “I am married to this woman,” which, in fairness, is probably the main thing he’s thinking when he’s playing D&D with Emily.
I’m probably missing something but that’s all I remember. Back to post-Christmas!]
So it’s opening night at Misty’s show and, somehow, Ricky’s first show ever.
I love that Don Confetti is there because of Siobhan’s offhanded comment for a handful of eps ago about him being a supporter of the arts.
Anyway, everything is going great until the second act when Titania busts in through the mirror which is *not* is storage as Misty requested but on stage. It’s a theater fight, y'all! And not the West Side Story kind although if that doesn’t come up I will be very surprised.
“Let’s kill Titania!” –Misty in the promo
Just going straight to 11, huh Misty?
See y'all then!
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Do you think book!Bran will get the same ending he does in the show? I mean, if he does, it will obviously be better written (I was like "Does Edmure know about the Three-Eyed Raven? Is Yara going 'the hell did you smoke' at the 'he couldn't walk so he learned to fly' part? Is nobody going to go 'ok but shouldn't we look for someone older and better known through Westeros, with experience in both politics and military stuff' at Tyrion?" through the whole scene), but do you think that's that?
(I had another anon that went like:
i can't believe there are still bran is evil theories. im pretty sure that bran ending up on the throne is likely bc it doesn't make sense in the show. d&d don't know anything about bran, but they do know this is george's ending
so I’m answering both XD)
the short answer is yes, but obviously it’s not gonna be written the same way as in this dumbass show for a whole lot of reasons.
now: actually, bran on the throne makes in hindsight a whole lot of sense...... if you take into account also what tropes he’s there to deconstruct. (I’m gonna cp some older meta of mine on the topic that I did ages ago but it still holds up lol.)
as in, when it comes to bran GENERALLY:
bran is the first pov chapter in these books. the first. should hint that he’s important;
bran has 90% of the magic-related storyline. I mean, if you don’t count the dragons/r’hollor + mel and the AA prophecy, there’s less magic in asoiaf than in regular fantasy for obvious reasons, but what there is of is all in bran’s storyline. all. of. it;
as it is right now, he’s arguably a powerhouse. possibly the most powerful powerhouse in westeros. he can probably warg dragons. he can time travel. if the show didn’t fuck it up, he can change things in the past while time traveling even if he shouldn’t;
the entire storyline is headed north/behind the wall and bran is the one main character who’s behind the wall rn. and bran is at a point where he basically is in direct connection with the north at least and when I say direct I mean literally. the guy can warg into anything. maybe he can’t walk but man he’s basically a hundred luke skywalkers put into one person;
he’s also tied to all the northern mythology - the trees, the children of the forest and the likes. him, his storyline, everything. and the north is arguably where this story started and will most probably end and he is the character more symbolizing that mythology, not anyone else.
when it comes to bran thematically.... guys. bran is the deconstructed fisher king. as in: the fisher king is a character from arthurian mythology who is absolutely fundamental in the entire scheme - also arthurian mythology is one of the basis people built modern fantasy on - and which has been rehashed and reinterpreted for a shitload of times since the middle ages. c/p-ing quickly from wiki because you don’t need to go in-depth to do 2+2 on this:
In Arthurian legend the Fisher King, or the Wounded King, is the last in a long line charged with keeping the Holy Grail. Versions of his story vary widely, but he is always wounded in the legs or groin and incapable of moving on his own. In the Fisher King legends, he becomes impotent and unable to perform his task himself, and he also becomes unable to father or support a next generation to carry on after his death. His kingdom suffers as he does, his impotence affecting the fertility of the land and reducing it to a barren wasteland. All he is able to do is fish in the river near his castle, Corbenic, and wait for someone who might be able to heal him.
+Many works have two wounded “Grail Kings” who live in the same castle, a father and son (or grandfather and grandson). The more seriously wounded father stays in the castle, sustained by the Grail alone, while the more active son can meet with guests and go fishing.+The Fisher King appears first in Chrétien de Troyes’ Perceval (late 12th-century), but the character’s roots may lie in Celtic mythology. He may be derived more or less directly from the figure of Bran the Blessed (!!!!!!) in the Mabinogion. In the Second Branch, Bran has a cauldron that can resurrect the dead (albeit imperfectly; those thus revived cannot speak) which he gives to the king of Ireland as a wedding gift for him and Bran’s sister Branwen. +The Lancelot-Grail cycle includes a more elaborate history for the Fisher King. Many in his line are wounded for their failings, and the only two that survive to Arthur’s day are the Wounded King, called Pellam or Pellehan, and the Fisher King, Pelles.
now, what I said last year in that meta was:
then there’s the entire part where galahad (or whoever else in his stead but it’s galahad most times) heals the fisher king and saves the land which turns fertile again, but whatever, point is: asoiaf is a deconstruction of tropes, right, well sorry but I’m eating my own hat if bran isn’t a fisher king deconstruction where the wound actually makes him powerful rather than weak and where he definitely won’t need anyone to *heal* him, while at the same time he is tied with the (his) land directly and he embodies it and most of the magic storyline. and the fisher king is one of the main tropes/legends in western literature/arthurian mythology, if you have that kind of character in your book then you are not planning for them to be a second-rate player.
now, admittedly back then I was envisioning a finale when bran was either king in the north or in some similar position and not as endgame king but if we take the show finale for granted because as the other anon said it made no sense for d&d but it was george’s ending and they had to make it happen without understanding it.... well. actually:
if bran - ie deconstructed fisher king who becomes powerful because of his wound and doesn’t have to be healed by a knight to make the land fertile again because that wound gives him power - becomes actual eventual king it’s the full circle of that trope’s deconstruction because his wound means the eventual salvation of the entire continent, which works perfectly to bookmark how that specific scenario is turned on its head;
the problem is that d&d can’t write bran for shit and turned him into the heartless robot/3ER who might or might not have schemed the entire thing and didn’t make him do shit for three seasons because they can’t handle the magic storyline and then at the ending mAGICALLY we have king bran first of his name, but in a coherent version done by grrm and not by them where bran has his eye-opening experience beyond the wall, doesn’t magically lose his personality when he becomes the 3ER, keeps his sweetness and empathy after risking to lose them (which was his adwd storyline), helps greatly during the long night thanks to the fact that he’s a powerhouse and is eventually recognized as a savior of the realm in its own merit, then......... it’s actually very much coherent with grrm’s themes to have him become king, but not because he knew all along and played mysterious until now and whatever the fuck else, but because it’s the coronation of his entire storyline which starts with sweet young boy who just wants to be a hedge knight and then ends up saving the entire continent making the best use of what he has after that’s taken from him while using his connection to the magic roots of the story/to his land/to his family for the good of the entire realm, and that was a damn good story - sadly it’s not what d&d chose to tell except at the end;
edmure and yara were badly written but that entire scene was badly written and well-acted sadly, like no one objected because no one will object in the book storyline, given that ^^^^ happens, in the show they just basically tried to find a way to make it halfway plausible but it looks dumb because it’s badly written and it’s copypasting an endgame for a story that d&d have not adapted, but basically you had to buy that bran was it. it made no sense but like... what made sense, this episode’s salvation was the acting and that since the endgame was half grrm’s it wasn’t as shitty as 8x05 but like within itself it was incoherent af;
that said I think that bran being king + the small council being more or less what it was in the show (because LIKE HELL that’s brienne’s endgame like brienne is def. not going into any kingsguard in the books unless george smoked weed when he was writing acok/asos/affc) as in made of all discriminated categories in westeros or discriminated people in westeros after the throne’s destruction is absolutely a thing grrm would do, because basically we’ve gone from badly suited kings with a small council that’s basically the westeros equivalent of old white republican men to a realm where the king can’t walk (but can fly! ;) ) and the rest of the small council is a) a disabled man who’s been abused to hell and back all his life (REGARDLESS OF TYRION’S FAULTS let’s just look at the strict facts here), b) a former commoner who has been a lord for years but couldn’t read when the series began (davos), c) another former commoner (bronn) [note that both davos and bronn are former *criminals*/come from a really poor background, not from the wealthy side of the commoners], d) a woman who is also a knight ie something that pretty much disregards the entire status quo from before (brienne), e) sam who let’s all remember is a noble but was sent to the wall by his father because his skills were in his brain and not with swords/fighting/whatnot and who also was abused to hell and back when he was young - like, both the only nobles in it that were born nobles were disadvantaged and felt that on their own skin so they aren’t out of touch with the rest of the continent (sam was at the WALL where the only nobles go there for lack of options but it’s basically a glorified prison X°DDD). like, that is an ending I can absolutely see grrm going for because it’s basically the revenge of our forgotten-from-s1-and-dnd cripples, bastards and broken things that start the show the way they do and end it on top of things. that is absolutely a thing I can see grrm doing (with some changes bc again I really doubt the books small council would include bronn and brienne). the problem is that d&d wrote it like crap.
but bran becoming king and that being the general idea? I absolutely can see it same as while I was on team jon gets the throne and hates it before if this is how it goes... well, since I’ve been saying that if he wanted to be happy he should have just gone back beyond the wall if that is his actual endgame I have no issues with it. hell, it’s way better than the one I had envisioned for him for that matter.
that said bran being evil is a theory that makes no sense, it’s just that d&d can’t write him and they managed to make him look like an ass if we assume he knew everything from before. but like. it’s them being unable to write that story, not the story in itself being invalid or making no sense, because with the book elements we have.... it makes a hell of a lot of sense.
they just had to write it and they didn’t.
#bran stark#game of thrones spoilers#got negativity#janie writes meta#sorry my hand slipped#haljathefangirlcat#ask post
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