#both my parents are of working class background and my mum was actually better of growing up than my father

[teplavecernice]

i have grown up in a similar situation although different and much less extreme. my mum is in the lower half of middle class, but my dad is at least upper middle class (we do not know the full extend of his wealth). in their marriage they had separate finances and one joint account to cover household expenses to which they would contribute equally - at least in theory. in reality my father would continue to give the same amount of money even amidst inflation (this includes the 2008 crisis) and slowly slowly his contribution wouldn't even cover his own share of expenses and my mum had to reach into her own savings to keep the household running. in regards to day to day expenses (grocery shopping, clothes, toys, school supplies etc.) i had basically the same experience as if i was raised by a single mother.

all while my father made several times more money than her that he was just pocketing/spending on things for his own enjoyment. those things included family vacations several times a year (among his solo vacations that were about just as frequent and up to a month long, and during the time he spent on those vacations and often even after he would not contribute a dime bcs he had too many "expenses" - those times were the hardest financially). those family vacations were very costly but at the same he would look for any way to spend as little as possible on us (me, my mum and our pets). this included things such as buying rotten food bcs it was cheaper or not buying me (a small child) water when i was thirsty in over 30 degrees weather bcs it was "too expensive". all while he got to enjoy all the luxury he wanted. after those family vacations he would also refuse to contribute any money for running the household. and let me be clear - he was making insane amounts of money whether he was on vacation or not, he actually barely went to work ever (he would work 2-5 hour days how many or little days a week he wanted to and it would not affect his income).

he also pushed me to go to private school (which i would attend for 8 years) that he promised to pay for - he payed for the first 2 semesters, was late on payment on the 3rd one and when he didn't pay for the 4th one i was faced with the threat of being expelled. my mum ended up having to take from her own savings so i could stay in the school he wanted me to go to. that school tuition continued to be a major burden on our family for the next years and was one of the reasons i decided to drop out and complete my high school education at a different school in a long-distance program.

and i don't even wanna bring all of his emotional and mental abuse into this, this tirade is long enough as is. just know that everything i have described here and also everything else he would twist into either him being the victim or it somehow being the fault of either me or my mum.

so yeah, the description of being an exotic pet feels fitting. i was an exotic pet for him and my mum was the animal handler.

thankfully since my parents divorce there is the threat of legal investigation into his finances (which would for sure put him behind bars) looming over him if he doesn't pay alimony so he's been paying like clockwork. that money has allowed me to support myself in uni while also taking care of my mental and physical health. so i do recognize and see that my position is still very much privileged in certain aspects, but ever since i was little i lived in a world of dual class - half of my experiences, especially day-to-day life was pretty much lower middle class; the other half was very much upper middle class. and it is really confusing for a lot of people including me sometimes that i did grow up in a large suburban home and went on several vacations a year but at the same time sometimes we would have to cut down on our grocery expenses to get by and i would often have to wear clothes that i grew out of.

As a kid, when your parents are poor, you're poor. If they don't have money, that means none of you have money. But if someone's parents are rich, that doesn't necessarily mean the kid is. Sometimes rich peoples' kids aren't rich kids, they're just some rich freak's exotic pets that can talk but aren't allowed to.

[cometcon]

There's a story I've been working on for a while now that has been morphing and changing the whole time into something better the more I work at it and challenge my brain to put more effort in and think outside the box. The result has been both a realization that I am in fact nonbinary myself, followed by a genuinely accidental trans allegory in how the already pansexual nonbinary main character has started experiencing the plot and the world around them the more I write this thing that was originally not about that at all it just lined up perfectly for it (not revealing too much right now because I want to finish it before I talk about it in detail so I don't tangle myself up in people's opinions when I'm just trying to get my perfectionist brain to get something on the page). It just happened as a side effect of the actual focus of the story and I am experiencing some catharsis from the writing of it so that's been really helpful.

I'm doing my best not to think I'm incapable of internalizing stereotypes of the trans experience in fiction so I've been doing check ins with what people have advised when writing non-binary characters and trying to avoid pitfalls and I'm doing ok so far I think (possibly due to wishing people wouldn't assume things of me/would treat me so casually instead of me having to correct them all of the time). Pretty much everyone in their current life that we see the most of is supportive or at the very least puts the effort in to support on the outside while working to match that on the inside. They're not in the middle of transitioning they've already been living as their authentic self for years by the time we meet them, they're happy with themself and them being nonbinary isn't really much of a big deal until the plot kicks in and it becomes a natural side effect of the situation (again, accident, but I'm running with it now and only bringing it up wherever this character naturally would feel the effects of the situation clashing with their own identity around gender specifically).

Part of the story involves occasional flashbacks into their past though, and while their present life involves happiness and acceptance, they come from a poorer background with a queerphobic biological father.

I was adopted by what would probably have been called a lower middle class family back in the 90s before capitalism really started kicking more and more peoples' arses, and I'm from Australia, while my character is American. I also haven't experienced really shitty queerphobic parents as a kid because I didn't know there were anything other than the binary genders as a kid and by the time I came out, my only-subtly queerphobic parents had already started on the journey of being immersed in more public societal changes around queer visibility and acceptance. They kind of sucked when I first told them, but more in the "this is a weird phase and we don't want to just immediately play along/my Dad made 'it' jokes for a year or so before eventually improving and my Mum still misgenders me during in-person social situations even when I'm literally correcting her during the conversation and she seems to be deliberately ignoring me because she can't handle doing both things or feels weird gendering me correctly in public or something" kind of way, not the "you're homeless now because we loathe your existence and control your living space, and you're also lucky we didn't beat you half to death first on your way out because we're that insecure about our own place in the world and you bringing this up shakes every rule we've ever believed in to the point of enraged intolerant lashing out in response" kind of way. I also grew up an only child.

But my main character had a shitty dad in their past who did the latter queerphobic response, as well as a supportive cis gay brother who stands up for them and gets thrown out too and then raises them for a few years before joining the army in the hope of funding a better life for both of them and putting MC through college. This background is important for later in the story where their personal experiences inform how they interact with and understand the longterm main topic I was intentionally tackling with this fic in the broad scheme of the overarching full story.

My question to American nonbinary or even any kind of trans American person in general is this:

If you have experienced the full raging violent immediately disowned and thrown into the street kind of response from shitty parents discovering who you truly are, how would you want to see that handled? I don't want to shy away from realities and I want a balance between a harder background vs a supportive older brother plus genuinely great present day found family to explore a spectrum of experiences*, but I do not want to end up writing trauma porn either. I also don't want to fall into any writing-American-poverty-as-a-still-somewhat-privileged-Australian pitfalls so if you can voice any opinions about how you feel all of these things I'm asking about tend to be handled in fiction and what kinds of things you'd prefer to see instead, I'd appreciate it.

*(It'll also help move the character away from me so I'm not accidentally writing a self-insert because I really like writing original characters as their own people and while I am using this to explore my own gender identity now, I want them to stay their own person and challenge myself to be able to drive a character around without leaving behind too much Me Residue lol. That said I have thrown myself so many curveballs with this fic becaus I keep asking questions and the answers get more complicated but then the story gets richer and more interesting to me so I keep digging and fleshing out the characters further and further trying to make them actual people)

[vivianweasley]

Pride and Prejudice (Chapter 1)

Summary: You are Draco’s cousin, and after the war, it was really difficult for you to find a job because of your last name. So your mother and Mrs. Weasley came up with a crazy idea. A fake marriage between you and Fred Weasley. 

Italics= flashback

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Malfoy!Fem!Reader

Warnings: workplace discrimination, slight slight mention of war

Word Count: 1.9k

Disclaimer: all the pictures used in the header are from Pinterest. Credit goes to the original owners.

Please do NOT repost or translate my work on another site without explicit permission! Thank you! Reblogs and comments are always welcome:)

Prologue

Two days after the dinner at the Burrow, you ran into your friend when you were shopping at Flourish and Blotts. She just got out of the Daily Prophet, and you could see a name tag on her chest stating that she’s now a reporter for the Daily Prophet.

“You got the job?” You didn’t know how to process this information. You and she were in the same year and same house. You both took the same classes, your grades were almost the same, and you both got the interview for Daily Prophet at the same time. The only difference was that she got the job, and you didn’t.

“Yes! Today’s the first day! Wait, you didn’t?” She was finding it hard to believe too.

Memories of the interview flashed back. You could still remember how the interviewer immediately furrowed his brows when he heard that your last name is Malfoy. The distrust, doubt, and even disgust on his face were so painfully visible.

You knew your background couldn’t provide any help when it comes to finding a job, but you still encouraged yourself by thinking that maybe it was because you weren’t good enough. If that’s so, you could always make up for it by working harder. But now you realized that, no matter how hard you worked, you would never be good enough for them because people would always make false assumptions about you based on your last name.

You felt dizzy. The whole Diagon Alley suddenly appeared foggy and dim, looking quite like your future, but you soon saw a lighthouse at the end of it. The brightness of the orange joke shop seemed to point out a way out for you as Mrs. Weasley and your mum’s suggestions rang in your ears.

“I need to go now!” The walk was only five minutes, but you couldn’t waste any time as you apparated right to the door of the joke shop.

“Well, this is rare!” The owner greeted you with a big grin on his face when you opened the door.

You didn’t have time to start this conversation with George, so you went right into your question, “I’m looking for Fred Weasley. Is he here?”

George was shocked as multiple questions ran through his brain. Wait, you could tell between him and Fred? But does he know you this well? Or maybe you have some history with Fred? Merlin! Y/N Malfoy? And Fred??

But he said nothing, just pointed at the back of the shop as he was still trying to process the situation.

“Thanks.” You rushed to the back of the shop and saw Fred sorting through the boxes in the storage.

“Fred Weasley.” You stated with a straight face.

“Y/N Malfoy?” Fred mimicked your tone as he still wasn’t sure what’s going on. What was this woman doing in his shop, anyway?

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No. Why? Do you fancy me? Did you fall in love with me after that one dinner?” he teased.

You ignored him and continued, “Do you fancy anyone? Are you dating someone? Talking to someone?”

“Not that I’m aware of?”

“Great. Let’s get married then.”

The boxes fell from Fred’s hands. This woman is absolutely mental! “I beg your pardon?”

“I said, let’s get married. After I got a steady job, we can get a divorce anytime.” You knew he’s going to laugh it off if you don’t up your game a little, so you frowned, pretending like you were disappointed, “Well, guess you don’t have the guts to do it.”

Fred knew what you were trying to do, but he was still completely under your control when you were basically giving him a dare. This should be fun, he decided. He never really hated you anyway. In fact, he actually really admired you back in Hogwarts.

Back in fifth year, Fred and George tried to prank you. It wasn’t because you did anything in particular. It was just because you were Draco Malfoy’s cousin, and Draco was really obnoxious that year.

The prank was simple. they estimated when you would walk down the stairs and set a tripwire on your way, waiting for you to trip over and fall.

Fred and George were hiding behind a pillar, waiting, but nothing happened. When you were walking down the stairs, you stopped and pulled out your wand. “Incendio,” you whispered, and the tripwire just burned into ashes.

Watching their prank being busted, the twins were frustrated. George gave up on pranking you again. It’s not like you did anything wrong anyway. But Fred suddenly felt motivated. He’s determined to get you one day.

Fred tried everything. Be it canary cream or portable swamp, you always had a way to avoid his pranks gracefully, and sometimes, the pranks would even backfire on him. After trying for a month, Fred finally admitted defeat. He admired how your brain worked, and he couldn’t help but think that if you weren’t a Malfoy, maybe you two would be really good friends.

“Who said I don’t have the guts?”

You smiled with satisfaction, for you knew your strategy worked, “Good, I will see you at the Ministry tomorrow then.”

“Wait, you could get a job, but what’s in it for me?”

You knew he wouldn’t agree so easily, so you had already prepared a plan, “How about, as long as it‘s not illegal or against my own moral standards, I can do three things for you. What do you say?”

“Deal!” The reason why Fred refused at first was that he hated being arranged and controlled by his parents. But now, when this arranged marriage became more like a game to him, he began finding it quite interesting. “The first thing I want you to do is to take care of my shop today!”

“I’m not stupid, Weasley. What if you run away after I spent the whole day working in your shop? The deal only works after I get the marriage certificate!”

Fred nodded in approval, “Not bad, Malfoy. So I will see you at the Ministry tomorrow at one pm then.”

“Deal! Don’t be late, Weasley!”

~

The next day, you were waiting at the Ministry at one pm. You repeatedly glanced at the clock  and shuffled all the documents in your hands as you paced around. 

Fred was late. Did he bail on you? Did he think you were only joking? Did he think you were a joke? Irritation and doubt rushed through your head, but you eventually calmed a bit down when you heard a familiar voice.

“Let’s just get this over with, shall we, my lovely bride-to-be?” he teased as he waltzed in.

“Not before we set some ground rules first.” You pulled him to a place where no one could hear you, and you finally took out the contract that you wrote yesterday night.

“Blimey, you actually wrote a contract?”

“Yes, Weasley, and you have to sign it,” you continued, “First, a year after I got a steady job, we will get a divorce.”

“A year?? Why does it have to be so long?”

“I don’t want the Ministry and my employer to think that I’m getting married only because I want to get a job.” You ignored his pout and went on with the list, “Second, if during this year, you actually met someone, you can date them. But you have to be discreet.”

He raised his eyebrows, “Aww, didn’t know you were such a thoughtful person.”

“Third, the fewer people know the truth, the better.”

“Sorry love, but my family already knew, and that’s already a lot of people.”

You glared at him, “You know what I mean!”

Your expression successfully elicited a small laugh from him, making you suspect that he actually enjoyed annoying you.

You rolled your eyes, “That’s all. Anything you want to add?” 

Fred shook his head, and you handed him a pen, “Brilliant!”

After signing his name on your contract, he held out his arm, “Shall we?”

You smiled, taking his arm, “We shall.”

“Fred Weasley? And Y/N Malfoy?” The lady at the Ministry looked at you and then looked at Fred several times, and finally asked in a surprised tone.

“That’s us!” Fred answered and wrapped his arm around your shoulders while you both tried to put on the biggest smile.

But her eyes were still scanning you from head to toe, and finally stopped at your fingers, “So, no rings, huh?” She was looking into your eyes as if she just found out the whole marriage was a scam. 

You cursed yourself for not remembering something this important, but your smile didn’t disappear, “Yes, Freddie and I aren’t conventional people. We don’t need a piece of metal to prove our love.”

Fred was surprised when he heard your nickname for him, but he didn’t let it show. It’s weird hearing you calling him that, but he had to admit he liked the sound of it. “That’s right, my love.”

You smiled and rested your head on his shoulder to display your affection. You wanted to stay focused so you won’t blow your cover, but hearing that pet name had caused a weird tingle in your stomach.

A few questions later, and before you could fully comprehend the situation, you were officially married to Fred Weasley. Looking at your marriage certificate, you felt surreal. Just in a few days, you and Fred went from classmates who never really talked to each other to a married couple. You two were legally bonded now, and it felt strange, but you had no time to process all these, for you had a more important task.

“Where are you going?” you heard Fred yelling behind you as you started running.

“I’ve got a job interview!”

~

The interview went well. The interviewer even thanked your husband and his family for their service during the war. You were disgusted by how people’s attitudes could change so drastically simply when you changed your last name. You didn’t fight in the war, but your family took in many muggle-born kids during those dark days, yet nobody cared. All they knew was your last name.

You walked home with mixed feelings running in your head. You knew your life was about to change, but you didn’t know if it was for better or worse. So many things have happened in the past few days, and you were just confused.

But what awaited you at home didn’t resolve any of your doubts. You saw your mum moving suitcases to the door. They were your suitcases.

“Mum, what’s going on?”

“Oh, darling, you’re back! How did the interview go?”

“It went well, I guess. Why are you moving my things out?”

“Oh, Mrs. Weasley and I figured it would look more authentic if you were staying with your husband. You know, just in case someone suspects anything.”

“Mum! But I barely know him!”

“Well, then this is the perfect chance to get to know each other!

So this was how you ended up knocking on the Weasley twins’ door at night, with all your suitcases.

The door cracked open, and Fred’s eyes widened when he saw you and your suitcases at his door.

You smiled sincerely at him, “Hello husband, mind if I stay the night?”

~

Chapter 2

A/N: this chapter is still setting things up. The next chapter will be longer!

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[grigori77]

2020 in Movies - My Top 30 Fave Movies (Part 2)

20.  ONWARD – Disney and Pixar’s best digitally animated family feature of 2020 (beating the admittedly impressive Soul to the punch) clearly has a love of fantasy roleplay games like Dungeons & Dragons, its quirky modern-day AU take populated by fantastical races and creatures seemingly tailor-made for the geek crowd … needless to say, me and many of my friends absolutely loved it.  That doesn’t mean that the classic Disney ideals of love, family and believing in yourself have been side-lined in favour of fan-service – this is as heartfelt, affecting and tearful as their previous standouts, albeit with plenty of literal magic added to the metaphorical kind.  The central premise is a clever one – once upon a time, magic was commonplace, but over the years technology came along to make life easier, so that in the present day the various races (elves, centaurs, fauns, pixies, goblins and trolls among others) get along fine without it. Then timid elf Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland) receives a wizard’s staff for his sixteenth birthday, a bequeathed gift from his father, who died before he was born, with instructions for a spell that could bring him back to life for one whole day.  Encouraged by his brash, over-confident wannabe adventurer elder brother Barley (Chris Pratt), Ian tries it out, only for the spell to backfire, leaving them with the animated bottom half of their father and just 24 hours to find a means to restore the rest of him before time runs out.  Cue an “epic quest” … needless to say, this is another top-notch offering from the original masters of the craft, a fun, affecting and thoroughly infectious family-friendly romp with a winning sense of humour and inspired, flawless world-building.  Holland and Pratt are both fantastic, their instantly believable, ill-at-ease little/big brother chemistry effortlessly driving the story through its ingenious paces, and the ensuing emotional fireworks are hilarious and heart-breaking in equal measure, while there’s typically excellent support from Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine from Seinfeld) as Ian and Barley’s put-upon but supportive mum, Laurel, Octavia Spencer as once-mighty adventurer-turned-restaurateur “Corey” the Manticore and Mel Rodriguez (Getting On, The Last Man On Earth) as overbearing centaur cop (and Laurel’s new boyfriend) Colt Bronco.  The film marks the sophomore feature gig for Dan Scanlon, who debuted with 2013’s sequel Monsters University, and while that was enjoyable enough I ultimately found it non-essential – no such verdict can be levelled against THIS film, the writer-director delivering magnificently in all categories, while the animation team have outdone themselves in every scene, from the exquisite environments and character/creature designs to some fantastic (and frequently delightfully bonkers) set-pieces, while there’s a veritable riot of brilliant RPG in-jokes to delight geekier viewers (gelatinous cube! XD).  Massive, unadulterated fun, frequently hilarious and absolutely BURSTING with Disney’s trademark heart, this was ALMOST my animated feature of the year.  More on that later …

19.  THE GENTLEMEN – Guy Ritchie’s been having a rough time with his last few movies (The Man From UNCLE didn’t do too bad but it wasn’t exactly a hit and was largely overlooked or simply ignored, while intended franchise-starter King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was largely derided and suffered badly on release, dying a quick death financially – it’s a shame on both counts, because I really liked them), so it’s nice to see him having some proper success with his latest, even if he has basically reverted to type to do it.  Still, when his newest London gangster flick is THIS GOOD it seems churlish to quibble – this really is what he does best, bringing together a collection of colourful geezers and shaking up their status quo, then standing back and letting us enjoy the bloody, expletive-riddled results. This particularly motley crew is another winning selection, led by Matthew McConaughey as ruthlessly successful cannabis baron Mickey Pearson, who’s looking to retire from the game by selling off his massive and highly lucrative enterprise for a most tidy sum (some $400,000,000 to be precise) to up-and-coming fellow American ex-pat Matthew Berger (Succession’s Jeremy Strong, oozing sleazy charm), only for local Chinese triad Dry Eye (Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding, chewing the scenery with enthusiasm) to start throwing spanners into the works with the intention of nabbing the deal for himself for a significant discount.  Needless to say Mickey’s not about to let that happen … McConaughey is ON FIRE here, the best he’s been since Dallas Buyers Club in my opinion, clearly having great fun sinking his teeth into this rich character and Ritchie’s typically sparkling, razor-witted dialogue, and he’s ably supported by a quality ensemble cast, particularly co-star Charlie Hunnam as Mickey’s ice-cold, steel-nerved right-hand-man Raymond Smith, Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery as his classy, strong-willed wife Rosalind, Colin Farrell as a wise-cracking, quietly exasperated MMA trainer and small-time hood simply known as the Coach (who gets many of the film’s best lines), and, most notably, Hugh Grant as the film’s nominal narrator, thoroughly morally bankrupt private investigator Fletcher, who consistently steals the film.  This is Guy Ritchie at his very best – a twisty rug-puller of a plot that constantly leaves you guessing, brilliantly observed and richly drawn characters you can’t help loving in spite of the fact there’s not a single hero among them, a deliciously unapologetic, politically incorrect sense of humour and a killer soundtrack.  Getting the cinematic year off to a phenomenal start, it’s EASILY Ritchie’s best film since Sherlock Holmes, and a strong call-back to the heady days of Snatch (STILL my favourite) and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.  Here’s hoping he’s on a roll again, eh?

18.  SPONTANEOUS – one of the year’s biggest under-the-radar surprise hits for me was one which I actually might not have caught if things had been a little more normal and ordered.  Thankfully with all the lockdown and cinematic shutdown bollocks going on, this fantastically subversive and deeply satirical indie teen comedy horror came along at the perfect time, and I completely flipped out over it.  Now those who know me know I don’t tend to gravitate towards teen cinema, but like all those other exceptions I’ve loved over the years, this one had a brilliantly compulsive hook I just couldn’t turn down – small-town high-schooler Mara (Knives Out and Netflix’ Cursed’s Katherine Langford) is your typical cool outsider kid, smart, snarky and just putting up with the scene until she can graduate and get as far away as possible … until one day in her senior year one of her classmates just inexplicably explodes. Like her peers, she’s shocked and she mourns, then starts to move on … until it happens again.  As the death toll among the senior class begins to mount, it becomes clear something weird is going on, but Mara has other things on her mind because the crisis has, for her, had an unexpected benefit – without it she wouldn’t have fallen in love with like-minded oddball new kid Dylan (Lean On Pete and Words On Bathroom Walls’ Charlie Plummer). The future’s looking bright, but only if they can both live to see it … this is a wickedly intelligent film, powered by a skilfully executed script and a wonderfully likeable young cast who consistently steer their characters around the potential cliched pitfalls of this kind of cinema, while debuting writer-director Brian Duffield (already a rising star thanks to scripts for Underwater, The Babysitter and blacklist darling Jane Got a Gun among others) show he’s got as much talent and flair for crafting truly inspired cinema as he has for thinking it up in the first place, delivering some impressively offbeat set-pieces and several neat twists you frequently don’t see coming ahead of time.  Langford and Plummer as a sassy, spicy pair who are easy to root for without ever getting cloying or sweet, while there’s glowing support from the likes of Hayley Law (Rioverdale, Altered Carbon, The New Romantic) as Mara’s best friend Tess, Piper Perabo and Transparent’s Rob Huebel as her increasingly concerned parents, and Insecure’s Yvonne Orji as Agent Rosetti, the beleaguered government employee sent to spearhead the investigation into exactly what’s happening to these kids.  Quirky, offbeat and endlessly inventive, this is one of those interesting instances where I’m glad they pushed the horror elements into the background so we could concentrate on the comedy, but more importantly these wonderfully well-realised and vital characters – there are some skilfully executed shocks, but far more deep belly laughs, and there’s bucketloads of heart to eclipse the gore.  Another winning debut from a talent I intend to watch with great interest in the future.

17.  HAMILTON – arriving just as Black Lives Matter reached fever-pitch levels, this feature presentation of the runaway Broadway musical smash-hit could not have been better timed. Shot over three nights during the show’s 2016 run with the original cast and cut together with specially created “setup shots”, it’s an immersive experience that at once puts you right in amongst the audience (at times almost a character themselves, never seen but DEFINITELY heard) but also lets you experience the action up close.  And what action – it’s an incredible show, a thoroughly fascinating piece of work that reads like something very staid and proper on paper (an all-encompassing biographical account of the life and times of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton) but, in execution, becomes something very different and EXTREMELY vital.  The execution certainly couldn’t be further from the usual period biopic fare this kind of historical subject matter usually gets (although in the face of recent high quality revisionist takes like Marie Antoinette, The Great and Tesla it’s not SO surprising), while the cast is not at all what you’d expect – with very few notable exceptions the cast is almost entirely people of colour, despite the fact that the real life individuals they’re playing were all very white indeed.  Every single one of them is also an absolute revelation – the show’s writer-composer Lin-Manuel Miranda (already riding high on the success of In the Heights) carries the central role of Hamilton with effortless charm and raw star power, Leslie Odom Jr. (Smash, Murder On the Orient Express) is duplicitously complex as his constant nemesis Aaron Burr, Christopher Jackson (In the Heights, Moana, Bull) oozes integrity and nobility as his mentor and friend George Washington, Phillipa Soo is sweet and classy as his wife Eliza while Renée Elise Goldsberry (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Jacks, Altered Carbon) is fiery and statuesque as her sister Angelica Schuyler (the one who got away), and Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter) consistently steals every scene he’s in as fiendish yet childish fan favourite King George III, but the show (and the film) ultimately belongs to veritable powerhouse Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting, The Good Lord Bird) in a spectacular duel role, starting subtly but gaining scene-stealing momentum as French Revolutionary Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, before EXPLODING onto the stage in the second half as indomitable third American President Thomas Jefferson.  Not having seen the stage show, I was taken completely by surprise by this, revelling in its revisionist genius and offbeat, quirky hip-hop charm, spellbound by the skilful ease with which is takes the sometimes quite dull historical fact and skews it into something consistently entertaining and absorbing, transported by the catchy earworm musical numbers and thoroughly tickled by the delightfully cheeky sense of humour strung throughout (at least when I wasn’t having my heart broken by moments of raw dramatic power). Altogether it’s a pretty unique cinematic experience I wish I could have actually gotten to see on the big screen, and one I’ve consistently recommended to all my friends, even the ones who don’t usually like musicals.  As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t need a proper Les Misérables style screen adaptation – this is about as perfect a presentation as the show could possibly hope for.

16.  SPUTNIK – summer’s horror highlight (despite SERIOUSLY tough competition) was a guaranteed sleeper hit that I almost missed entirely, stumbling across the trailer one day on YouTube and getting bowled over by its potential, prompting me to hunt it down by any means necessary.  The feature debut of Russian director Egor Abramenko, this first contact sci-fi chiller is about as far from E.T. as it’s possible to get, sharing some of the same DNA as Carpenter’s The Thing but proudly carving its own path with consummate skill and definitely signalling great things to come from its brand new helmer and relative unknown screenwriters Oleg Malovichko and Andrei Zolotarev.  Oksana Akinshina (probably best known in the West for her powerful climactic cameo in The Bourne Supremacy) is the beating heart of the film as neurophysiologist Tatyana Yuryevna Klimova, brought in to aid in the investigation in the Russian wilderness circa 1983 after an orbital research mission goes horribly wrong.  One of the cosmonauts dies horribly, while the other, Konstantin (The Duelist’s Pyotr Fyodorov) seems unharmed, but it quickly becomes clear that he’s now the host for something decidedly extraterrestrial and potentially terrifying, and as Tatyana becomes more deeply embroiled in her assignment she comes to realise that her superiors, particularly mysterious Red Army project leader Colonel Semiradov (The PyraMMMid’s Fyodor Bondarchuk), have far more insidious plans for Konstantin and his new “friend” than she could ever imagine. This is about as dark, intense and nightmarish as this particular sub-genre gets, a magnificently icky body horror that slowly builds its tension as we’re gradually exposed to the various truths and the awful gravity of the situation slowly reveals itself, punctuated by skilfully executed shocks and some particularly horrifying moments when the evils inflicted by the humans in charge prove far worse than anything the alien can do, while the ridiculously talented writers have a field day pulling the rug out from under us again and again, never going for the obvious twist and keeping us guessing right to the devastating ending, while the beautifully crafted digital creature effects are nothing short of astonishing and thoroughly creepy.  Akinshina dominates the film with her unbridled grace, vulnerability and integrity, the relationship that develops between Tatyana and Konstantin (Fyodorov delivering a beautifully understated turn belying deep inner turmoil) feeling realistically earned as it goes from tentatively wary to tragically bittersweet, while Bondarchuk invests the Colonel with a nuanced air of tarnished authority and restrained brutality that made him one of my top screen villains for the year.  One of 2020’s great sleeper hits, I can’t speak of this film highly enough – it’s a genuine revelation, an instant classic for whom I’ll sing its praises for years to come, and I wish enormous future success to all the creative talents involved.

15.  THE INVISIBLE MAN – looks like third time’s a charm for Leigh Whannell, writer-director of my ALMOST horror movie of the year (more on that later) – while he’s had immense success as a horror writer over the years (co-creator of both the Saw and Insidious franchises), as a director his first two features haven’t exactly set the world alight, with debut Insidious: Chapter III garnering similar takes to the rest of the series but ultimately turning out to be a bit of a damp squib quality-wise, while his second feature Upgrade was a stone-cold masterpiece that was (rightly) EXTREMELY well received critically, but ultimately snuck in under the radar and has remained a stubbornly hidden gem since. No such problems with his third feature, though – his latest collaboration with producer Jason Blum and the insanely lucrative Blumhouse Pictures has proven a massive hit both financially AND with reviewers, and deservedly so.  Having given up on trying to create a shared cinematic universe inhabited by their classic monsters, Universal resolved to concentrate on standalones to showcase their elite properties, and their first try is a rousing success, Whannell bringing HG Wells’ dark and devious human monster smack into the 21st Century as only he can.  The result is a surprisingly subtle piece of work, much more a lethally precise exercise in cinematic sleight of hand and extraordinary acting than flashy visual effects, strictly adhering to the Blumhouse credo of maximum returns for minimum bucks as the story is stripped down to its bare essentials and allowed to play out without any unnecessary weight.  The Handmaid’s Tale’s Elizabeth Moss once again confirms what a masterful actress she is as she brings all her performing weapons to bear in the role of Cecelia “Cee” Kass, the cloistered wife of affluent but monstrously abusive optics pioneer Aidan Griffin (Netflix’ The Haunting of Hill House’s Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who escapes his clutches in the furiously tense opening sequence and goes to ground with the help of her closest childhood friend, San Francisco cop James Lanier (Leverage’s Aldis Hodge) and his teenage daughter Sydney (A Wrinkle in Time’s Storm Reid).  Two weeks later, Aidan commits suicide, leaving Cee with a fortune to start her life over (with the proviso that she’s never ruled mentally incompetent), but as she tries to find her way in the world again little things start going wrong for her, and she begins to question if there might be something insidious going on.  As her nerves start to unravel, she begins to suspect that Aidan is still alive, still very much in her life, fiendishly toying with her and her friends, but no-one can see him.  Whannell plays her paranoia up for all it’s worth, skilfully teasing out the scares so that, just like her friends, we begin to wonder if it might all be in her head after all, before a spectacular mid-movie reveal throws the switch into high gear and the true threat becomes clear.  The lion’s share of the film’s immense success must of course go to Moss – her performance is BEYOND a revelation, a blistering career best that totally powers the whole enterprise, and it goes without saying that she’s the best thing in this.  Even so, she has sterling support from Hodge and Reid, as well as Love Child’s Harriet Dyer as Cee’s estranged big sister Emily and Wonderland’s Michael Dorman as Adrian’s slimy, spineless lawyer brother Tom, and, while he doesn’t have much actual (ahem) “screen time”, Jackson-Cohen delivers a fantastically icy, subtly malevolent turn which casts a large “shadow” over the film.  This is one of my very favourite Blumhouse films, a pitch-perfect psychological chiller that keeps the tension cranked up unbearably tight and never lets go, Whannell once again displaying uncanny skill with expert jump-scares, knuckle-whitening chills and a truly astounding standout set-piece that easily goes down as one of the top action sequences of 2020. Undoubtedly the best version of Wells’ story to date, this goes a long way in repairing the damage of Universal’s abortive “Dark Universe” efforts, as well as showcasing a filmmaking master at the very height of his talents.

14.  EXTRACTION – the Coronavirus certainly has threw a massive spanner in the works of the year’s cinematic calendar – among many other casualties to the blockbuster shunt, the latest (and most long-awaited) MCU movie, Black Widow, should have opened to further record-breaking box office success at the end of spring, but instead the theatres were all closed and virtually all the heavyweights were pushed back or shelved indefinitely.  Thank God, then, for the streaming services, particularly Hulu, Amazon and Netflix, the latter of which provided a perfect movie for us to see through the key transition into the summer blockbuster season, an explosively flashy big budget action thriller ushered in by MCU alumni the Russo Brothers (who produced and co-wrote this adaptation of Ciudad, a graphic novel that Joe Russo co-created with Ande Parks and Fernando Leon Gonzalez) and barely able to contain the sheer star-power wattage of its lead, Thor himself.  Chris Hemsworth plays Tyler Rake, a former Australian SAS operative who hires out his services to an extraction operation under the command of mercenary Nik Khan (The Patience Stone’s Golshifteh Farahani), brought in to liberate Ovi Mahajan (Rudhraksh Jaiswal in his first major role), the pre-teen son of incarcerated Indian crime lord Ovi Sr. (Pankaj Tripathi), who has been abducted by Bangladeshi rival Amir Asif (Priyanshu Painyuli).  The rescue itself goes perfectly, but when the time comes for the hand-off the team is double-crossed and Tyler is left stranded in the middle of Dhaka with no choice but to keep Ovi alive as every corrupt cop and street gang in the city closes in around them.  This is the feature debut of Sam Hargrave, the latest stuntman to try his hand at directing, so he certainly knows his way around an action set-piece, and the result is a thoroughly breathless adrenaline rush of a film, bursting at the seams with spectacular fights, gun battles and car chases, dominated by a stunning sustained sequence that plays out in one long shot, guaranteed to leave jaws lying on the floor.  Not that there should be any surprise – Hargrave cut his teeth as a stunt coordinator for the Russos on Captain America: Civil War and their Avengers films.  That said, he displays strong talent for the quieter disciplines of filmmaking too, delivering quality character development and drawing out consistently noteworthy performances from his cast.  Of course, Hemsworth can do the action stuff in his sleep, but there’s a lot more to Tyler than just his muscle, the MCU veteran investing him with real wounded vulnerability and a tragic fatalism which colours every scene, while Jaiswal is exceptional throughout, showing plenty of promise for the future, and there’s strong support from Farahani and Painyuli, as well as Stranger Things’ David Harbour as world-weary retired merc Gaspard, and a particularly impressive, muscular turn from Randeep Hooda (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai) as Saju, a former Para and Ovi’s bodyguard, who’s determined to take possession of the boy himself, even if he has to go through Tyler to get him.  This is action cinema that really deserves to be seen on the big screen – I watched it twice in a week and would happily have paid for two trips to the cinema for it if I could have.  As we looked down the barrel of a summer season largely devoid of blockbuster fare, I couldn’t recommend this enough.  Thank the gods for Netflix …

13.  THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – although it’s definitely a film that really benefitted enormously from releasing on Netflix during the various lockdowns, this was one of the blessed few I actually got to see during one of the UK’s frustratingly rare lulls when cinemas were actually OPEN.  Rather perversely it therefore became one of my favourite cinematic experiences of 2020, but then I’m just as much a fan of well-made cerebral films as I am of the big, immersive blockbuster EXPERIENCES, so this probably still would have been a standout in a normal year. Certainly if this was a purely CRITICAL list for the year this probably would have placed high in the Top Ten … Aaron Sorkin is a writer whose work I have ardently admired ever since he went from esteemed playwright to in-demand talent for both the big screen AND the small with A Few Good Men, and TTOTC7 is just another in a long line of consistently impressive, flawlessly written works rife with addictive quickfire dialogue, beautifully observed characters and rewardingly propulsive narrative storytelling (therefore resting comfortably amongst the well-respected likes of The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War, Moneyball and The Social Network).  It also marks his second feature as a director (after fascinating and incendiary debut Molly’s Game), and once again he’s gone for true story over fiction, tackling the still controversial subject of the infamous 1968 trial of the “ringleaders” of the infamous riots which marred Chicago’s Diplomatic National Convention five months earlier, in which thousands of hippies and college students protesting the Vietnam War clashed with police.  Spurred on by the newly-instated Presidential Administration of Richard Nixon to make some examples, hungry up-and-coming prosecutor Richard Schultz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is confident in his case, while the Seven – who include respected and astute student activist Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and confrontational counterculture firebrands Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Jerry Rubin (Succession’s Jeremy Strong) – are the clear underdogs.  They’re a divided bunch (particularly Hayden and Hoffman, who never mince their words about what little regard they hold for each other), and they’re up against the combined might of the U.S. Government, while all they have on their side is pro-bono lawyer and civil rights activist William Kunstler (Mark Rylance), who’s sharp, driven and thoroughly committed to the cause but clearly massively outmatched … not to mention the fact that the judge presiding over the case is Julius Hoffman (Frank Langella), a fierce and uncompromising conservative who’s clearly 100% on the Administration’s side, and who might in fact be stark raving mad (he also frequently goes to great lengths to make it clear to all concerned that he is NOT related to Abbie).  Much as we’ve come to expect from Sorkin, this is cinema of grand ideals and strong characters, not big spectacle and hard action, and all the better for it – he’s proved time and again that he’s one of the very best creative minds in Hollywood when it comes to intelligent, thought-provoking and engrossing thinking-man’s entertainment, and this is pure par for the course, keeping us glued to the screen from the skilfully-executed whirlwind introductory montage to the powerfully cathartic climax, and every varied and brilliant scene in-between.  This is heady stuff, focusing on what’s still an extremely thorny issue made all the more urgently relevant and timely given what was (and still is) going on in American politics at the time, and everyone involved here was clearly fully committed to making the film as palpable, powerful and resonant as possible for the viewer, no matter their nationality or political inclination.  Also typical for a Sorkin film, the cast are exceptional, everyone clearly having the wildest time getting their teeth into their finely-drawn characters and that magnificent dialogue – Redmayne and Baron Cohen are compellingly complimentary intellectual antagonists given their radically different approaches and their roles’ polar opposite energies, while Rylance delivers another pitch-perfect, simply ASTOUNDING performance that once again marks him as one of the very best actors of his generation, and there are particularly meaty turns from Strong, Langella, Aquaman’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (as besieged Black Panther Bobby Seale) and a potent late appearance from Michael Keaton that sear themselves into the memory long after viewing. Altogether then, this is a phenomenal film which deserves to be seen no matter the format, a thought-provoking and undeniably IMPORTANT masterwork from a master cinematic storyteller that says as much about the world we live in now as the decidedly turbulent times it portrays …

12.  GREYHOUND – when the cinemas closed back in March, the fate of many of the major summer blockbusters we’d been looking forward to was thrown into terrible doubt. Some were pushed back to more amenable dates in the autumn or winter (which even then ultimately proved frustratingly ambitious), others knocked back a whole year to fill summer slots for 2021, but more than a few simply dropped off the radar entirely with the terrible words “postponed until further notice” stamped on them, and I lamented them all, this one in particular.  It hung in there longer than some, stubbornly holding onto its June release slot for as long as possible, but eventually it gave up the ghost too … but thanks to Apple TV+, not for long, ultimately releasing less than a month later than intended.  Thankfully the film itself was worth the fuss, a taut World War II suspense thriller that’s all killer, no filler – set during the infamous Battle of the Atlantic, it portrays the constant life-or-death struggle faced by the Allied warships assigned to escort the transport convoys as they crossed the ocean, defending their charges from German U-boats.  Adapted from C.S. Forester’s famous 1955 novel The Good Shepherd by Tom Hanks and directed by Aaron Schneider (Get Low), the narrative focuses on the crew of the escort leader, American destroyer USS Fletcher, codenamed “Greyhound”, and in particular its captain, Commander Ernest Krause (Hanks), a career sailor serving his first command.  As they cross “the Pit”, the most dangerous middle stretch of the journey where they spend days without air-cover, they find themselves shadowed by “the Wolf Pack”, a particularly cunning group of German submarines that begin to pick away at the convoy’s stragglers.  Faced with daunting odds, a dwindling supply of vital depth-charges and a ruthless, persistent enemy, Krause must make hard choices to bring his ships home safe … jumping into the thick of the action within the first ten minutes and maintaining its tension for the remainder of the trim 90-minute run, this is screen suspense par excellence, a sleek textbook example of how to craft a compelling big screen knuckle-whitener with zero fat and maximum reward, delivering a series of desperate naval scraps packed with hide-and-seek intensity, heart-in-mouth near-misses and fist-in-air cathartic payoffs by the bucket-load.  Hanks is subtly magnificent, the calm centre of the narrative storm as a supposed newcomer to this battle arena who could have been BORN for it, bringing to mind his similarly unflappable in Captain Phillips and certainly not suffering by comparison; by and large he’s the focus point, but other crew members make strong (if sometimes quite brief) impressions, particularly Stephen Graham as Krause’s reliably seasoned XO, Lt. Commander Charlie Cole, The Magnificent Seven’s Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Just Mercy’s Rob Morgan, while Elisabeth Shue does a lot with a very small part in brief flashbacks as Krause’s fiancée Evelyn. Relentless, exhilarating and thoroughly unforgettable, this was one of the true action highlights of the summer, and one hell of a war flick.  I’m so glad it made the cut for the summer …

11.  PROJECT POWER – with Marvel and DC pushing their tent-pole titles back in the face of COVID, the usual superhero antics we’ve come to expect for the summer were pretty thin on the ground in 2020, leading us to find our geeky fan thrills elsewhere. Unfortunately, pickings were frustratingly slim – Korean comic book actioner Gundala was entertaining but workmanlike, while Thor AU Mortal was underwhelming despite strong direction from Troll Hunter’s André Øvredal, and The New Mutants just got shat on by the studio and its distributors and no mistake – thank the Gods, then, for Netflix, once again riding to the rescue with this enjoyably offbeat super-thriller, which takes an intriguing central premise and really runs with it.  New designer drug Power has hit the streets of New Orleans, able to give anyone who takes it a superpower for five minutes … the only problem is, until you try it, you don’t know what your own unique talent is – for some, it could mean five minutes of invisibility, or insane levels of super-strength, but other powers can be potentially lethal, the really unlucky buggers just blowing up on the spot.  Robin (The Hate U Give’s Dominique Fishback) is a teenage Power-pusher with dreams of becoming a rap star, dealing the pills so she can help her diabetic mum; Frank Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one of her customers, a police detective who uses his power of near invulnerability to even the playing field when supercharged crims cause a disturbance.  Their lives are turned upside down when Art (Jamie Foxx) arrives in town – he’s a seriously badass ex-soldier determined to hunt down the source of Power by any means necessary, and he’s not above tearing the Big Easy apart to do it. This is a fun, gleefully infectious rollercoaster that doesn’t take itself too seriously, revelling in the anarchic potential of its premise and crafting some suitably OTT effects-driven chaos brought to pleasingly visceral fruition by its skilfully inventive director, Ariel Schulman (Catfish, Nerve, Viral), while Mattson Tomlin (the screenwriter of the DCEU’s oft-delayed, incendiary headline act The Batman) takes the story in some very interesting directions and poses fascinating questions about what Power’s TRULY capable of.  Gordon-Levitt and Fishback are both brilliant, the latter particularly impressing in what’s sure to be a major breakthrough role for her, and the friendship their characters share is pretty adorable, while Foxx really is a force to be reckoned with, pretty chill even when he’s in deep shit but fully capable of turning into a bona fide killing machine at the flip of a switch, and there’s strong support from Westworld’s Rodrigo Santoro as Biggie, Power’s delightfully oily kingpin, Courtney B. Vance as Frank’s by-the-book superior, Captain Crane, Amy Landecker as Gardner, the morally bankrupt CIA spook responsible for the drug’s production, and Machine Gun Kelly as Newt, a Power dealer whose pyrotechnic “gift” really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  Exciting, inventive, frequently amusing and infectiously likeable, this was some of the most uncomplicated cinematic fun I had all summer.  Not bad for something which I’m sure was originally destined to become one of the season’s B-list features …

[sigynthevictorious]

Reunited?

Bit of filler because it's stuck in my head 😂 @naganye

Nine months after Aradir’s ‘death’ 

Not a day went past where Valka didn’t think of Aradir, she no longer cried everyday but the ache remained. For a moment it felt as if she had everything, but as quickly as their love blossomed, it was taken just as quickly. In a day everything had crumbled around her, now all she had to remember that he was even real were a few photographs and the child that stirred within her belly. 

It hadn’t been easy, everything seemed to happen at once and she had lost count of the amount of arguments and lectures she had been given by her father. Of course neither of her parents would ever kick her out, but the tension was heavy. 

Her room, once filled with countless musical instruments that had now been sold, was now adorned with various baby furnishings. The crib was set up where her desk and keyboard once stood and her extensive wardrobe was sacrificed for baby grows and bibs. She missed her old life, part of her didn’t want this. She was still young, and now unable to finish college with her friends she felt as if she had nothing that was her own. Occasionally she resented Aradir and her choices, but as quickly as those feelings came, they were just as quickly replaced by pangs of guilt and sorrow. Both for herself, him and the fact their child would never meet their father and that Aradir was never given the chance to be told that he had a proper little family waiting for him. 

Her feelings of sorrow and the realisation that he wasn’t here with her only intensified the morning her waters broke. Her mother was beyond reassuring and helpful, while she was saddened this had happened to her youngest child she supported her the entire time so she was not alone. So as the contractions grew closer and Valka was admitted to hospital, she hardly let go of her mother’s hand. 

The pain was unbearable, she couldn’t help but scream and cry through every contraction as she felt as if she were being ripped apart. Too far gone for an epidural she could do little else but pray the child came quickly. Which thankfully it did. 

After getting slightly stuck, soon a strong cry filled the room and a bright pink screaming child was placed upon Valka’s chest. In that moment nothing else mattered, as she looked into the face of her child she knew she had made the right decision and was utterly devoted to them. 

“It’s a boy,” the midwife confirmed. 

“A boy” Valka sighed, exhausted but elated as she held her son, drying him off with a blanket and pressing a kiss to his fair forehead. 

Valka spent almost every day staring at her son, he was so perfect. “I wish you could meet your daddy” she sighed, rocking him in her arms before crying as he opened his pale eyes at her. “I think he would have loved you so much,” she sniffed, wiping her eyes. “He was funny, kind, handsome and so, so brave, just like you will be,” she continued, “and I loved him, and I promise I’ll tell you all about him when you’re older.” she promised. “Parker Aradir Noreth” she cooed, rather liking the name as it rolled off her tongue. 

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Three years after Aradir’s ‘death’

Every day was a delight, well almost, as Parker grew. He was such a happy child, a mop of bright orange hair covered his head and his pale eyes gleamed with mischief constantly. 

Still living with her parents, Parker was doted upon by his mother, grandparents and uncle when he came to visit. Everyone that met him adored him, even when he started daycare and nursery he seemed to make friends with all the other children with ease. Valka was immensely proud, her thoughts of Aradir lessened but every so often she would see her son laughing on the swing set and be reminded of her lost love. 

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Seven years after Aradir’s ‘death’

Parker thrived at school, top of his class and a well liked figure amongst the other students. Valka managed to finish college and with the support of her parents got her university degree too. Working at a publishing house as a translator she loved her life. Now Parker was growing up she even moved into her own flat and started playing music again in the evenings. Everything seemed to be falling into place. 

“Mum, I need some help” Parker said one evening, sitting up at the dining table whilst going through his homework. “We have to make a family tree for history, and grandpa gave me lots of things but...everyone writes about both their mummy and daddy. What should I put for my dad?” he asked nervously, not wanting to potentially upset his mother. He knew little about his father, only that he was a soldier. But now it seemed he was at that age where he wanted to know more. 

Valka dried her hands and stepped away from the washing up, her heart both warming and sinking at the question. “Well, I don’t know a lot of things. But I’m sure we can put something together” she agreed, going to her bedroom for a moment and coming back out with a shoe box. 

“Now, we can copy some of these if you want and stick them in” she explained as she opened the box. A collection of photographs and momentos filled it. The cinema ticket from their first date, the recipes he had written for her, pictures of their dates and a CD filled with the songs she had written for Aradir. “This was him, he was an orphan so I don’t know anything about the rest of his family. He grew up in care” she began, placing a picture of Aradir in his uniform in front of her son. 

“Like the children that nanny looks after?” Parker asked, picking up the picture to get a better look at the pale eyed stranger. 

“Yes, just like them. Then, he joined the army and became one of the youngest ever lieutenants” she continued proudly, smiling as she watched Parker’s pale eyes examine the photo. “You have his eyes, and you’ll be tall like him too” she explained whilst looking at the photo of her and Aradir on their second date, just after they became ‘official’. “Not long after we met, he had to go away with the army to another country. Now you have to remember that sometimes bad things happen, even to the bravest of people and well, he was in an accident, and he died out there” she tenderly explained so Parker could understand. 

The young boy nodded, glancing at his mother before looking back at the photograph. “Can I keep this?” he asked, to which his surprised mother agreed. She helped him write out the family tree and added a bit of artistic flair to it. It did look rather lopsided, with her enormous family detailed on one side, then with the lonely Aradir on the other it was upsetting. But she was proud he was there. 

“I wish I had a dad,” Parker said as they finished, “one that was here.” 

The words cut Valka and played on her mind for weeks after. Maybe she had been selfish in not giving him a fatherly role model, but she had never had any desire to get into another relationship. But perhaps it was time she did, at least for Parker’s sake. 

---

Ten years after Aradir’s ‘death’ 

There were plenty of suitors, but as soon as they heard about Parker they all quickly left, not wanting to get involved with a woman who had a child. But there was one who stayed. Derek was nice enough, he came from an army background too and was conventionally handsome and seemed genuinely interested in Parker. Most importantly Parker liked him too. She didn’t feel for him the same way she had with Aradir, but maybe that was part of growing up? A teenage romance surely wasn’t the same as an adult one? So after a couple years together, she agreed to marry him.It felt like the right thing to do. And he was very insistent. 

The ring was a beautiful vintage art deco emerald and diamond design, to match her eyes apparently, and Derek was adamant no expense was to be spared for their big day. Valka was excited, but not as overjoyed as she had always imagined she would be. Surely that would change once she got her dress she thought, and when it didn’t then perhaps once she got the cake things would fall into place. 

She searched through various bakeries, getting quotes and going to tasting sessions but nothing took her fancy until Derek suggested one that was run by ex-forces members and how it would mean a lot to him. She let Derek arrange a cake tasting appointment with them and actually felt rather excited. Derek was running late from work so she took Parker with her instead, after all he fancied himself quite the connoisseur when it came to eating and cooking. Just like his father. 

“Can I get a gingerbread man?” Parker asked as he walked hand in hand with Valka into the quaint bakery, his pale eyes lighting up at the cabinets filled with various sweet treats. 

“If you’re good and they have some then yes” she agreed, smiling as she admired the bakery before going to the till. “Hi, I’m here for a cake tasting. It’s under the name Derek Henderson” she explained, the girl behind the counter nodded and went out back, explaining she was just going to fetch the owner for her. 

Valka knelt beside Parker as they admired some of the beautiful pastries, Parker making an ever changing list of what he wanted to try. Tucking some of her now short hair behind her ear she too made a wish list of what she wanted and seeing that they made banana splits upon request made her feel it was some kind of fate she came here. 

“He’ll be out in a moment” the sales assistant said when she came back out, but when Valka turned upon hearing the footsteps come out from the kitchen she froze in her place as if she had just seen a ghost. 

“Aradir?” 

[wickxdangels]

George Weasley Imagine; Overprotective Georgie.

This is actually the very first Harry Potter imagine I’ve ever done! I’m always reading them so it’s kinda weird to be on the other side of the screen making them, but it’s so exciting! Remember, english is not my first language, so if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes please let me know! I appreaciate corrections :) I hope you all enjoy it and thanks for the requests and support! x

Pairing; George Weasley x Reader.

Warnings; Fluff

Request; Would you do a fluff George Weasley request where his significant other is the Golden Trios age and friend and her family is apart of the Order of the Phoenix so the summer before her 6th year Death Eaters attack her family and George is worried/overprotective of the idea of her going back to Hogwarts?

It was afternoon, when Y/n walked on her backyard, admiring the roses and different kinds of flowers that were growing there. The sun hitting on the surface of each one, highlighting their vibrant colors. 

Summer was definitely her favorite season, even though she missed her friends quite a lot during it, she so much loved and preferred the warmth of the sun against her skin, instead of the biting coldness that winter brings. 

Harry must’ve having the time of her life, along with Hermione and Ron, she thought. They have decided to spend their summer before sixth year together, she on the other hand, could not. 

Her parents, who worked with the Order of the Phoenix, took a well-deserved little summer break; so instead of planning attacks in the Order headquarters, against You-Know-Who and his followers, or traveling to different places to find allies to join the cause, they were spending it with their only daughter. They’ve come to the raw realization that family-time nowadays were scarce, lots of members have lost their family members while fighting for the Order, so this summer they wanted to spend it with their daughter before she returned to Hogwarts.

“Sweetie, how about I make your favorite meal for supper?” Her mother softly asked, leaning against the door of the backyard as she stared at her daughter, who was now walking towards the inside of her house after a few minutes of taking in the sun.

“Sure, mum. That sounds good by me, where’s dad?” She asked, closing the door behind her as she looked back at her mom.

“He’s in the study, dear. He’s now having a little talk with Remus and some of the members of the Order. We better not interrupt him.” Her mother replied.

She nodded, watching as her mother smiled once last time to her as she disappeared to the kitchen. Y/n sighed as she walked up the stairs towards her room, her dad would always be busy with the order, and she understood that. They were very protective over Harry and even more so after the death of his godfather, Sirius Black, last year. 

As she opened the door of her room, she heard a little slow tap coming from her window, she quickly walked towards it and found an grey owl sitting on the edge of it, a letter on its beak as it breathed heavily, noticeable tired of the journey it had just traveled. 

“Oh, Errol. The Weasley’s really need to lay off with you for a bit, you seem old enough to retire, buddy.” She chuckled as she opened her window, the owl stepping inside of her room rather quickly as it opened its beak, letting the letter fall to the small night table under the window before the owl itself passing out and falling to the floor. 

Y/n just shook her head, smiling at the tired and old owl before grabbing it softly and placing it at the end of her bed. She then sat down as well and opened up the letter resting in her hands, wondering who was it from. 

Dear Sweetheart,

I’m writing you to check up on you, how has your summer been so far? I’ve missed your face and of course, pulling pranks on you.. maybe I missed the latter a little bit more… No, never mind, I really miss your beautiful face, the picture I keep on my nightstand of you, really doesn’t make justice.

Mum’s been bugging me to tell you she also misses you quite dearly, and wishes for you to visit us for Christmas, she says something about having a present for you already; you know her.

Fred’s been sending more and more letters to Angelina, and he finally admitted to me their relationship is official, good for him. That way we won’t have to drag him around and he won’t have to complain about being a bad third.

Anyways, it’s been fun here in The Burrow with Harry and Hermione, we’ve been playing Quidditch and coming up with new pranks for the upcoming semester at Hogwarts. Ginny is still acting weird towards Harry and Hermione still blushes every time Ron is around, nothing much has changed.

I really hope you’re taking care of yourself and enjoying your time with your parents, I know you desired having them more time with you, so I’m happy you finally got the chance to do so.

I miss you more and more each day, so expect more letters from me as I expect more from you, your handwriting is adorable if I must say so.

Well, I’m running out of ink so I must bid you an adieu.

I’m really looking forward to seeing you when school starts. I love you so much, sweetheart. Always remember that.

Yours,

The best-looking Weasley twin, George.

Pd: Please, allow Errol to take a nap before sending him back, if not he’ll probably pass out mid-air. I know, I know, he’s too old but he still does his job correctly, or so I hope. Thanks baby.

The letter sure made her heart ache for him even more, he had missed him dearly all summer long. Missing the way his red hair gleamed under the sunlight and the way his warm eyes would stare at her whenever she would tell him about Snape being hard on her in Potions class. She missed the way he would always wink at her standing on the bleachers before any Quidditch match, and how they would cuddle in their common room whenever winter nights were too cold. 

She looked at the old owl with a smile on her face before standing up to look for her parchment and quill to write her reply letter.                                                           

                                                 _______________

A few hours later, she finished her supper and was currently laying on her bed, reading a new book her mother had bought for her for some light summer reading, in the background little snores came from Errol, she didn’t even know owls could snore but at least that was a sign that the owl bird was still alive, she wondered how old the bird was. 

She looked at the clock, it was already 11:30 pm as she sat down and placed her book on her desk, Errol finally stirring awake from his long nap as he looked at her. 

“Good to know you’re awake buddy, hope you had a good nap.” She said, softly stroking his grey feathers as he just hooted. 

She stood up from the bed and walked towards her desk, grabbing the letter from it before giving it to the owl. Errol then with its little foot grabbed on her fingers as she opened the window, helping the owl take impulse before flying off to the dark sky. 

She sighed, closing the window before sitting down on her bed. She was counting the days until the day she would see George again.

Hopefully soon.. she thought. 

It must’ve been some hours past midnight, probably around 3 am when she heard some weird noises in her backyard, she shrugged it off thinking it must be the neighbor’s cat who always jumped to their backyard from time to time, but then she heard another rustling sound and a cold breeze hit her body, not usual for a summer’s night. 

She quickly woke up, grabbing her wand from her desk where she usually kept it in case of emergency, and she sure knew this was an emergency. 

She quickly ran towards her parent’s bedroom, both of them still asleep as she woke them up in a haste. “Mum, Dad, quickly! Wake up!” She half-yelled, not wanting to make the unwanted guest know they were aware of their surprise visit. 

Her parents, who were opening their eyes in confusing. “Wh-what? What’s going on, sweetheart?” Her dad asked, he noticed the wand in her hand as she looked back and forth around the room. 

“Death Eaters! I-i think they are here!” She breathlessly said as both of their parents were quick to grab their wands and stand up from the bed, the mom wrapped her arms around the daughter’s shoulders as she tried to calm her, her father quickly going out of the room and checking through Y/n’s window that was the only one facing the backyard.

Death Eaters, indeed. He was surprised that they had found out their location; it was a matter of time, he supposed. He watched as they just stood there for a bit before another Death Eater apparated there, probably the leader of the rest. With some quick words and nods, he saw as they muttered a quick Incendio spell from their wands, as fire erupted from them, the flames embracing the flowers his wife had planted and quickly spreading to the house, he saw as they walked inside and it was a matter of time before they ran into each other. 

He ran back towards his room, looking at both his wife and daughter. “Do we fight them, dad?” Y/n asked, always brave and ready for the action whenever it was needed, a true Gryffindor like himself. “No sweetie, we are not fighting them. They outnumber us and I’m not ready to take any chances with you two here. We have to leave at once!” He quickly grabbed some bags he had hiding behind a desk. “I have already made a emergency plan if this was ever to happen, now everybody grab my hand.” Her dad was quick to say as he could her things breaking downstairs, Y/n was shocked to see her dad not putting up a fight. “But dad! We cannot let them destroy our house!” She exclaimed as she faced her father.

“Sweetie, your and your mother lives are more important to me than the house. Property can be replaced, lives cannot.” He maintained a fixed composure, he knew that he had to be brave in front of his family.

They took a moment to nod before they heard footsteps on the stairs, they quickly grabbed on his hand as they apparated out of the room just in time for the Death Eater to bust into the room, throwing the deadly curse at the wind.

Harry was right, was the first thing she thought.

Apparition really did feel like being forced through a very tight rubber tube, her stomach felt uneasy, after all it was her first time using this method of travel. It was quicker than floo powder, for sure, but not her favorite at all. 

She looked up to find herself in very familiar surroundings, her dad took no time in walking towards the big house that was in front of them, she looked around and her mother softly caressed her hair “Are we..?” Her mother nodded. “The Burrow, darling. We all agreed to come here in any type of emergency, now let’s go and say hi to the Weasley’s.”

They both quickly walked towards the big four-story home, she looked down at her outfit, kind of glad she didn’t decide to wear her more childish but comfortable pajamas, she looked up just in time to see the patriarch of the family, Arthur Weasley, come out of the door with Molly by his side, both of them carrying worried faces as the rest of the home started to lit up completely, waking up everybody. 

“Hello, Molly.” Y/n mom softly said, with a sad tone to her voice as the redhaired woman approached them. “I’m thankful all of you are alright, it would’ve devastating if they have invaded both of our homes.” 

“Oh, dear! I’m just thankful that you three made it out without a scratch! Now, come on! Let’s get you all settled down, a pot of tea is already waiting for us.” Molly said with a tender smile as she embraced both of the women, walking inside as her dad and Arthur wandered off to contact the rest of the Order to let them know of the attack. 

Once they got inside the house, their worries seemed to disappear by the second, her head was still wild thinking about her home being burned to the ground.

“Mum, what’s going on—” the sentence was quick to fly from George’s lips as he walked down stairs to find his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s mum in his kitchen, when she heard the voice of George she was swift on her feet to run towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he quickly embraced her, burying his face on her neck, breathing in her sweet fragrance. “Merlin’s beard!” He cussed out, “Babe, what happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” George quickly asked, wanting to put an end to his doubts, don’t get him wrong, he was happy to have her in his arms but confused as to why they apparated at 3 am in his house.

“They attacked our house! Death Eaters, George! They came out of nowhere and burned our home!” She cried out, her eyes filling up with tears as she hugged him tighter, wanting to feel the warmth and protection of his body embracing her. “I wish I could’ve done something, fought them! they just burned it down. I just feel so hopeless.” 

“Don’t you dare say that! You are one of the bravest Gryffindors I know. It was better to avoid fighting them now, we have to prepare for battle and it wouldn’t be nice training with a wounded girlfriend.” He joked a bit, trying to brighten her mood up a bit as she chuckled between sobs before cleaning away her tears. “I guess you’re right..”

“When am I not right, babe?” He winked at her as he kissed her lips softly.

“Okay, now you’re just getting cocky.” She replied shaking her head.

Seconds laters, the whole pack came down, Fred and Ginny along with The Golden Trio who were quick to check up on her and ask questions, Harry getting furious at the Death Eaters once again, tired of them coming after their friends.

“It’s not your fault, Harry, dear. We knew what we were getting ourselves into when we agreed to be part of The Order and we wouldn’t want it any other way.” Y/n’s mom said as she caressed Harry’s cheek, Y/n nodded at the statement.

“Okay, kids. It’s time for you to go back to sleep, we can discuss this tomorrow when things have calmed down.” Molly said as she hushed the teens up to their rooms. “I know you’re a bit shaken up, sweetie. So, with your mum’s approval, I’m gonna make the exception for you to sleep in Georgie’s room, but no funny business! The walls are too thin, remember!” 

That night, with her mom and Molly’s approval, Y/n slept with George’s arms embracing her, feeling more protected and comforted, when she said she hoped to see him soon, she didn’t mean like this, but she was glad to be back in his arms. Even if Fred’s snores were too loud.

                                                    _______________

Days and weeks have gone by, Y/n and her parents have found safe sanctuary and a place to stay at The Order’s headquarters at 12 Grimmauld Place, known as The Black’s family home. It had every security measure known to wizardkind, as Sirius once said, so they felt safe staying there for the time being. 

They’ve gone back to their home, everything was pretty much destroyed except some knick knacks here and there and some family pictures that they’ve brought back to the headquarters. As her dad said, property can be replaced and they were on the process of finding a new place.

The Death Eaters have become more and more aggressive, finding more places to burn to the ground and more allies to torture. 

The Weasley’s and The Golden Trio have visited quite a lot, practicing spells and dueling as they prepared for the upcoming battle, that meant more time with George and she couldn’t complain, of course having her friends around was pretty amazing too.

There were few days left of summer, as she packed the remains of her belongings and her robes in suitcases, preparing for going back to Hogwarts. She was a bit excited to go back to school, cause this year had interesting courses she was dying to be part of. Yes, she was very alike Hermione when it came to school, one of the reasons the two got along so well, but she also liked to have fun from time to time, another reason she and The Golden Trio kicked it off good. 

“What are you doing?” George’s voice asked as he leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms as she stared at her while she finished packing. 

“Packing for Hogwarts, of course.” She replied in an obvious tone to him as she finished zipping up her baggage.

“I don’t think going back to Hogwarts might be safe for you, considering everything that happened with the Death Eaters and lots of the Slytherin kids are their offspring..” 

“C’mon, Georgie.” She used Molly’s pet name for him. “You can’t be serious. It’s Hogwarts we are talking about! Probably one of the most safe places I could think of!” She was kind of exaggerating with that last part, Hogwarts has been anything but safe these last few years, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to finish her education, even if that meant one or two accidents here and there. 

“I am serious, Y/n! I don’t want you running into any danger at Hogwarts, and we both know you’re quite good at that..” He raised his brow at her before walking towards her and wrapping his arms around her waist. “Oh, really? You’re the one telling me that, Mr. Troublemaker?” She giggled as she placed her arms around her neck, bringing him down a bit to then place a soft kiss against his lips. “Besides, we both know that if I’m ever in deep trouble, you’ll always be there for me, right?” She asked.

“Always.” 

“Then, let’s just think about how cool will it be to be back at school. We could go to Hogsmeade, maybe make-out in our free periods..” She slowly explained.

“There’s no way I’m convincing you otherwise, is there?”

“Sometimes, you truly are brilliant, Georgie.” She giggled as she pecked his lips once again. “Now, come on. Let me show you some new pranks I’ve been thinking of.”

They really were made for each other.

[darkdevasofdestruction]

They Realise They Love You

Risotto Nero

When he realises that he loves you, he’d be stunned - like - no, love isn’t something he should be able to feel, nor should he allow himself something like that.

I mean?

He’s a villain?

The Boss is after him, he could die at any moment, so having a proper love life wouldn’t be something he could have...Right?

But he can’t help how the wheels of fate turn, and now he just sits in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking over and over at his crush.

Her hair looked so nicely today, shining under the Sun. He only wishes he could have played with it.

The smile you had that day, admiring some random flowers. He only wishes he could have picked them up and gifted them to you.

The playful spark in your e/c eyes that shined like gems. He only wishes you’d look at him with the same spark.

Risotto was head over heels with you, with the little things that made you - You.

The problem was that he had no idea how to act on it without endangering you somehow.

You were too good for him, and an Angel like you shouldn’t be around a Devil like him...

But despite what his conscience preaches him all the time, he won’t be able to stop himself from spending more time around you, even though he’d be too awkward to actually say something, until you begin the conversation.

As well as that, he’d leave cute little gifts at your doorstep, signing them as “Metallica”, letting you know that he’s always thinking of you, and at least until he sets his mind straight to actually ask you out, he will continue with the little gestures.

Also, he loves kissing your temple - Gods, he feels like a school boy with an innocent crush on that cute and kind girl in his class, but he can’t help it!

---

Bruno Buccellati

This soft mum isn’t a stranger to love, but even so, at first, he was sure that he loved you just as much as he loves his team mates - Like a family.

Problem is, sure, he loved you like family, only if he was the Dad and you were the Mum in this Family.

It took a bit of nudging from Abbacchio for him to actually realise and act accordingly to his true feelings, but it’s sure to say he didn’t regret it.

While yes, he is the Capo and he has a lot of responsibilities, both with his team, the organisation and within the city, he will always make sure to have spare time for you, to spend quality time together, to take you out on a nice date and so on.

A nice date doesn’t have to mean something fancy, but it can range from a walk on the sandy beach, hand in hand, barefoot, while playing in the water, a cute dinner at the restaurant he’s always at, cuddling together while watching a movie, or even being the best parents and taking care of the Kids...Uhm, his Team, I mean.

If there’s one thing he absolutely adores to do, it’s to hug you while you read together - It’s one way to actually be able to de-stress and put away all the Gang-Star problems, and truly be with you, heart, mind and soul.

He would also love to take you to places with beautiful landscapes and take tons of pictures of you, or both of you together, that he would later develop and either frame, or put in very cute couple albums.

--- Giorno Giovanna

Giorno is the most innocent one out of these guys, and while yes, he knows that he has a crush, he’s also pretty shy in acting towards his feelings.

He can feel his heart racing around you like never before, and his face gets a tint rosier, despite how composed he is, there will still be tints of obvious flustering that Bruno and Abbacchio always seem to catch faster than anyone else.

Abbacchio is always more staright-forward, but Bruno actually pulls Giorno aside and gives him some nice tips and advice on how to deal with everything, and thankfully enough, it’s actually helpful.

Something he loves to do is create flowers with Gold Experience and give them to you, when you least expect.

Bonus points if you let him put the flower in his hair, he will outright melt.

When you’re on a date, he will make sure to create cute and colourful butterflies and dragonflies to go around you, making you look like one of those Disney Princesses, because for him, you truly are a Princess.

He’s attracted to you like flowers are attracted to sunlight - He feels like you make him grow and become a better person, and seeing how sweet and kind you are...Damn, you’re killing him.

If you want and like it, Giorno will let you play with his hair, so have fun. Braid it, brush it, stroke it, do little tails, whatever, as long as you don’t pull too hard and you’re smiling, it’s all fine for him.

But that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t want to play with your hair too.

--- Abbacchio Leone

Oh boy, oh boy - 

This guy loves his tough exterior and would never ever EVER let anyone in.

Ha, what a joke.

There’s already his whole team in his heart, why would caring for another person be bad?

He wants to appear tough and in control of the situation, but once he has a crush, he’s an outright mess.

He will be the embodiment of Windows Shutdown, along with the generic sound playing in the background.

His heart is so soft and damaged, he’s honestly afraid that it will break more and will have no way to mend it even by a little bit.

But perhaps, having you by his side, wouldn’t be too bad.

Honestly, if you praise him, you can literally see  ‘Abbacchio.exe  stopped working’  written on his forehead, because he will go mind-blank and have no idea how to react.

His team mates will make so much fun of him, but he’ll be lost in his own world, trying to decipher your intentions and words, if they were genuine or not.

All it takes is for you to have him alone one night and hug him tightly, praising him, and he will break down.

If he allowed himself to break down like that, than definitely he sees something in you.

From then on, he will let you listen to music with him, will make you personalised mixtapes for different occasions.

He won’t say it, but he loves having his arm around you when going out. It makes him feel like he won’t lose you like he lost his partner a while ago, and that you are safe with him.

--- Kishibe Rohan

This guy is pretty obvious when he falls in love, since he has no inhibitions nor shame or shyness, so it’s the easiest for him to get to confess.

Of course, he has to be a smug bastard and keep things slow, to have more effect and be more romantic.

He IS a manga artist after all, so things have to be nice, right~?

Rohan would invite you over for tea very often, just chilling together and nobody to annoy you.

Well, apart from Koichi who would randomly stumble in Kishibe’s home and would find you two chatting casually, laughing and smiling at each other.

Rohan would take you out on dates as often as possible, under the pretext that he wants to find inspiration for his manga, but it’s pretty obvious that he just wants to spend time with you.

He will kiss your face a lotttt, especially your nose and forehead since he thinks you make the cutest expressions when he does so.

Also, your giggles are so cute, he just can’t help himself not to vibe.

He will invite you to dance nights a lot, just to have an excuse to walk with you at night, when nobody could bother you, and just enjoy each other’s presence while also being able to admire the stars.

--- Kakyoin Noriaki

This boy is rather shy, compared to everyone else, so while he won’t be so upfront with his crush on you, he will definitely want to find pretexts to spend time with you.

When bored, he would stand under a tree, relaxing, watching the clouds pass by, and when he feels THE vibe, he would whip out his notebook and would smile as he sketches you absent-minded.

He would be so attracted to your kindness and your nurturing personality, that he would find himself gravitating around you without even wanting to (but he definitely does want to).

Since he’s a bit shy, I could imagine him slipping cute little letters in your locker and just chatting through letters with you that way, until he feels brave enough to actually have a proper conversation with you without feeling awkward.

Kakyoin is a huge gamer, so if you’d like to watch him play, or more, if you wanted to play with him, his heart would burst from happiness like never before.

If you didn’t know how to play, he’d be incredibly patient and would teach you every little trick in the game.

If you do know how to play, however, he’d make sure to choose only co-op games because he’s not actually that competitive and he wouldn’t want either of you to feel bad if you or him lost.

If you, by any chance possible, decide to wear something with cherry themes, like a shirt with cherries, a hair clip, a necklace, or even better, matching earrings with him, he’d honestly die, like damn, that’s my girl, we are now Cherry Boy and Cherry Girl.

He’d be so loving and would dote on you a hella lot, just because he loves you so much and wants you to be happy no matter what.

[magicflowershop]

one day kitty; Atsumu version

《inspired by movie A Whisker Away》

✿✿ you wished to be with the person you like and wish granted. whiskers, button nose, tail, four legs and ears on top of the head; you turned into a cat. with this, you are given the opportunity to be with the person you want to express your affections to. but as a cat. and only in one day.

― haikyuu characters x cat!reader imagines!

❀ masterlist ❀

the wheel of names have spoken.

you know you hated your housecat the second you laid eyes on it when your mum took it home one day from the shelter, saying it was an abandoned cat

abandoned cat your ass 

that cat stole your body and turned you into a cat

she stole your human identity 

like, girl, wha- the auDACITY for her to have you wake up on her stinky litterbox while she’s havin the time of her life talking to your parents as if you were in that body the entire time

and the audacity of her to go to school and attend your classes, talk to your friends while you’re over there lurking in the shadows, glaring lasers at her from a tree branch

and the absolute audacityyy of her to obviously ogle over a guy from your class when you weren’t even interested in him to begin with

THE NERVE OF IT TO BE ATSUMU MIYA OF ALL PEOPLE

REALLY

why 

why him when he has so many fans and the fact that he’s perpetually ANNOYED by his fans like c’mon????????????????????

IN YOU’RE BODY AT THAT

now you’re just extra helpless bc there’s nothing you can do, you have no idea when you’ll get back to your original body, or if you’re able to get back to your original body at all :O

you also dunno who she made a deal with to get to this point in your lives

all you know is that you had a bad dream that morning, and saw a strange cat sayin you had one day

like what the hell is that supposed to mean

“hey what’re ya doin there?”

o wouldya look at that, a wild Miya twins appeared

you didnt notice that you were taking your sweet time contemplating abt life on that tree that three periods have passed and its now lunch break

the twins happened to see you while they were hanging out outside

so you was just staring at them,,, you had no idea what to do while they were there,,,, but it seemed like they were thinkin of saving you even though you’re not in trouble :v

so you was just starin at them

and they were starin back at you

then they left

LMAO

you were gonna brush this lil interaction off until you arrived,,, i mean your body,,,, i mean your housecat in your body 

then you got incredibly annoyed cause she was doin so hard so hard to get their attention when she ady got it, and Atsumu was as annoyed as you are sksskkd Osamu didn’t care at all so moving on

and now you got even mroe annoyed cause she was ruining your image in front of your classmates like srsly

so you dipped and decided this is all a fever dream and everything will get better tomorrow with you back in your body and with a good reputation in school as if nothing horrible happened, yes? yes :)

“there ya are”

until Atsumu picked you up from the ground while you were stealthily making your great escape,, then he started acting like he was lookin for you outta nowhere

and Osamu was lookin at him like he was insane sjksd but he figured this is a plan of Atsumu’s so he decided to play along and told your housecat (that was the host of your body) to excuse them bc they had a cat to take care of and that its vvvv urgent 

now kitty you is officially adopted by the Miya twins <3

and you didn’t like it one bit HAHAJSJ

you figure this wasnt such a bad thing and you werent allergic to these boys nyway so you let things happen, and let Atsumu scratch the top of your head while they were discussing things about you

:O

they werent talking mad things abt u nonono, they were talkin abt how strange you were acting when you’re literally one of the chill students in school,,, it was as if you were under a spell and suddenly you were in love with them lmao

Osamu proceeds to add the suspicion with the fact that he saw “you” staring at Atsumu during class like someone so lovestruck 

both you and Atsumu got goosebumps couple of the year amirite

so Osamu told him that this could just be a one-time thing (like strange conclusion but go off) and/or that you might’ve just confused him as your first crush lmao Osamu was just confusing himself but he was tryin his best to come up with explanations to ur behavior

so classes begin again,,, now Atsumu still dunno what to do with u ogling at him WHILE THE REAL YOU WAS A CAT WATCHING EVERYTHING FROM A TREE 

you was def ready to throw hands,, but thats a cat and ur against animal cruelty,,,,,,, tho its ur body anyway so whats the diff

meanwhile u coming up with a plan to end your housecat, Atsumu found you sitting on a tree and he was so shocked for his life bc last time he check he put you in a box with kitty snax, inside the gyms storage room, how in the world did you manage to get out from there??

the fake you sees you again while Atsumu was lookin at you from the window, and was enraged bc you’re taking the attention from her... hm

so you decided to face your stupid housecat head-on and get to the bottom of this bs and be grownups tgt bc no way are you just gonna donate your human life to an ungrateful animal

you look for the fake you at the back of the school, and now the Giorno theme is playing in the background sksk

“give me my body back”

“o pls can’t you just give me a one day chance?“

the audacity

“you ady stole it from me and you say this now?”

your housecat was smug enuff to tell you that she had the honors of asking a favor from a spirit cat who was the reason of all this,,, and who has also taken a liking to your human soul

your housecat just sold your human soul to a spirit cat 

so you just flew in the air to scratch your human face, you didn’t care anymore, its your body, whatever, the one experiencing the pain aint u anyway but your bitchy housecat that your mum seemed to have a deeper connection with than her own child

nyway that didn’t last long cause fake you was screaming help, other students found you two, and they got a hold of you while you were in your feral state and now you were terrified of possibly getting into the animal shelter fr,,,, fake you smirked at this possibility

until sum of ur school’s vball bois saw the commotion too and what do u know, Atsumu says that the cat is his and that he apologizes to the ruckus that the cat has done 

then it was your turn to smirk at fake you

so u spend time with Atsumu again for some odd reason that keeps the two of you tgt sweat drops looks away,,, you wonder why your mum’s cat is so attached and/or attracted to Atsumu like this???

you never remember them interacting at all since the very time you see them in the same scene is when you went to have your mum’s cat checked up in the vet and Atsumu was there with their dog too

whats happening

fast forward to dismissal, you’re quite thankful you werent in trouble, same as Atsumu since he managed to tell the other students to not tell anything to the teacher that he has a cat in school kdjsk sum rotten power he holds

but you decided to ditch him again and look for fake you

you found her talking to the spirit cat that she said,, so naturally you demanded said spirit cat to give your body back to you

the spirit cat smiled wider and says that, you haven’t finished your task yet if you want to get back to your original body, you have to wait till midnight

like what in the hell was that supposed to mean, you understood nOTHING

then your housecat goes and says “maybe i should extend my stay in this body, what do you think?”

SIS YOU WENT FERAL there is no way she’s staying in your body while you are sufferin like this, in which you do not deserve. watching your housecat ruin your life like its normal like cmon

“then if you’re gonna stay in my damn body then do it properly! don’t make me look like im a flirt!”

“i was never flirting with anyone!” 

“wdym?! you were staring at my classmate the entire time!”

“what was i supposed to do when its what your body felt like doing?!?!?”

...

w hAt

“what’cha screamin at the cat for, y/n?”

ATSUMU JUST ENTERED THE SCENE AS IF HE WAS INVITED AND PICKED THE CAT UP TRYING TO PROTECT IT AS IF WHAT HE WAS DOING WAS SO HELPFUL

“i’m not y/n”

NOW YOUR HOUSECAT JUST ADDED MORE GAS IN THE FLAME

“i’m y/n’s pet cat, that cat is y/n we switched bodies bc y/n has been neglected by her parents ever since i was taken for adoption... y/n has a crush on you so i just reacted the way her body wanted to react around you so i’m sorry i made you uncomfortable”

you couldn’t take the embarrassment anymore and jumped from Tsumu’s hands and ran your way to your house as fast as you can

you thought abt how stupid that was and how stupid you looked in front of him,, like pointing at a cat saying that thats the real you like who in the heaven’s name would believe bs like that

you were beyond embarrassed that you just want to sink into the ground and just disappear from life rn and never see Atsumu again,,, anyone is fine but Atsumu pls for the love of god

“well ofc its a narrower place”

didn’t you say anyone but Atsumu is fine pls for the love of god

“get outta there, i got yer mask”

he placed a mask beside you, so you chomped on that mask and pulled it out of the bush with you,, you see him there crouching down to your smol height, watching you in concern

you try to take off your mask yourself but it isnt working, you try to push your head to make your actual mask stick to your head but it isn’t working. nothing is working so you started crying in meow

now tsumu is just confused there and asked if he can comfort you,,, you glared at him like he was stupid 

“yer still a girl yknow, i gotta ask for consent”

how sweet 🥺

he started talking abt how he and ur housecat tried to talk it out with the creepy cat to get ur normal life back bc apparently you never wished for a deal with him even tho u desperately hated ur life at home, all in all spirit cat is a big ass scam, while he was unknowingly scratching the top of your head again but moving on

also that your housecat wanted to apologize to you bc she didnt want to take your life away from u, and that she never meant to hurt your feelings while running his hand down to your back and forgetting that you aren’t a real cat but again moving on

“is, is it true tho?”

?

“ya like me?”

dumass rly asked that while ur a cat lol 

“it’s a meow for me”

smoke escaped your nostrils like a bull, the stupid spirit cat was playin games withcha since he ady got exposed for his scams >:O

“ya just spoke”

you left Atsumu there with the mask between your teeths, dragging yourself back home, expecting to probably go back to normal once you wake up,,, but you have your mask back now hm

“don’tcha want sum help?”

k ykno he’s annoying when he wants to be but he literally had no reason to be annoying know i mean pls

“sure i like u it doesn’t m-”

you’re back to normal

“matter”

but wearing what you wore when you went to bed last night, in pajamas with no footwear, on the cold asphalt ground, blushing like a fool out of even more embarrassment, cursing at the spirit cat sum more from the back of your mind

that cat had no right to play match-maker after all that, even if he knew that Atsumu will naturally bring you hope since its night and give you a piggy-back ride since you had no slip-ons, asking for consent as well mind you

no right at all

stay tuned for more!

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Can you please share some more facts about the Fawleys? I really enjoy reading about them dw if you can’t though 💓

Oh my dear anon! You act as though you are some sort of burden, when you are anything but? When your message could never bring me anything but pure joy? Thank you for gracing my inbox! (Side note, I discuss spoilers for “Remembrance” in this post, so just keep that in mind.) 

The first thing to understand is that I am flaky and indecisive. I can never make up my mind and head-canons and decisions about the Fawley family might very well change, alas. Particularly as new details of canon emerge. Example: I once wrote Luca’s rift with Rowan into the story as them suspecting Rowan of being R, but then having them come back together and be closer than ever following the Imperius incident. Given what I know now? With Y6CH18? I’m gonna say that whole rift never even happens. Rowan is one of the most important people in Luca’s life, period. So the more time they spend together, the better. Gail can have the “grown apart” relationship with Rowan, sure, but not Luca. This is just one example of how anything can change in the main story, and thus, my head-canons are subject to shift at any time because I cannot make up my mind or commit to anything. I am a true cornflake. All that said, let me talk about what I know and have decided about the Fawley family. 

I’ve debated a lot on what family to have Nina come from originally. I’ve bounced around The MacMillans, the Burkes, The Greengrass’s...but then I realized the perfect solution that actually ties in with previous details. Nina is from the Shafiq family. The other Pureblood line on the Sacred Twenty-Eight that never gets mentioned in the book. And oh boy, I’m gonna have fun defining them as well. This works well because I always envisioned Luca as Middle Eastern, but I had placed The Fawleys in Britain for the War of the Roses. Did a bit of digging, and Shafiq is an Arabic name. It totally works out! 

That being said, I’m so indecisive that I might not even keep to that as being her name. Nina, that is. I might come up with a different first name for her. Same goes for Luca’s father, who has been called both Eric and Arik in the past. The trouble is, I conceived Luca’s mother around the interpretation/theory I had about MC’s mum at the time of writing Luca’s fic. Basically, my theory is that MC’s family is part of R, or have some previous involvement with them that extends further back than Jacob. That one or both of MC’s parents were members. I dunno what it is, I just do not trust MC’s mum. She seems shady at worst, and a bad parent at best. But you can see how this particular background is subject to change. Who the hell knows if MC’s mum is a part of R, or if she will even appear. 

This also ties in with the mystery of just how Luca’s family got cursed. And this is something else that is subject to change. Literally everything about the Fawley Curse. (Also known by it’s proper name: The Invigorium Curse.) I made the “Mark of Despair” a black star and had it appear on the hand. I might change the design to be something like a rose, in thinking about it. (A “Black Rose” being the symbol of The Fawleys.) But if I move it’s location from the hand, to say, the back of the neck or something...well then, I don’t get that raw backstory about Mr. Fawley trying to free himself from the curse by chopping off his own hand...at which point, the Mark of Despair reappears on his other hand, because did he really think it would be that easy? I’ve toyed with placing the Mark on the back of the neck...that’s pretty metal too, and could tie in with how the Fawleys always have long and beautiful hair. But on the other hand, Mr. Fawley is dead by the time Luca and Gail are Hogwarts age...suppose he killed himself by stabbing the Mark? That may be a bit too much though...

I’m getting off topic, I was discussing the source of the Curse. Again, this winds up being connected to R in my fic. Connected to the power that they want. Based on what R winds up being and wanting, this could be subject to change. What I have in mind is that the Fawleys experimented with strange magic and ended up branding the Marks of Despair onto themselves. But I might change that. Either way, I want this to be something that they brought upon themselves. It could have been intentional, a selfish experiment to gain more power...or a consequence of something terrible that they did, a punishment. I’m not really sure. Just like I’m not sure I want it to be a Star or a Flower. It could be an ancient rune. I kind of feel like Luca would take Ancient Runes as an elective. Far more likely than Divination, that’s for damn sure. But then again, HPHM has ignored that half of these classes are supposed to be optional...anyway. 

The name “Fawley” actually means, bird-catcher. Hunter of wild birds. I wonder if the original Fawley was someone who hunted down and killed a beautiful swan or something, a creature that was precious to some ancient monarch, and they were cursed as punishment. Maybe the curse was applied to them by being force-fed black flowers. Imagine if the Fowler was a muggle, the Monarch was a Wizard (or at least, had one on his payroll) and the magic that the Fowler’s children bore as a result is what started this “pureblood” line. (Everyone can trace their ancestry to a muggle eventually. Everyone. Fight me on this, pureblood supremacists.) You know what, the more I think about it, the more I really like this idea. It ties in with what the Fawley name means. And it keeps to the story that I always wanted to tell with these guys. That being that, while Pureblood and thus privileged, the general consensus about them is that they’re unstable, unlucky, and dangerous. Have a history of madness and misfortune and even suicide. Almost like the Targaryens, for my Game of Thrones fans out there. It ties in with how Jacob and MC are viewed. This is also the reason I had Alice Longbottom be a Fawley by birth, and Aunt to Luca and Gail. She is one of many cases of Fawleys suffering and going mad, seemingly because they were just destined to. It is sheer luck and good fortune that Neville didn’t inherit the Mark of Despair, because Alice had one, and it’s a dominant trait. 

I’m so glad you wrote this to me, because it’s helping me figure things out. Even if I haven’t come up with that much new material, I can’t tell you how excited I am for this new origin story about the bird-catcher. What’s interesting is that “Shafiq” apparently is a word for compassion and kindness. Which ah...does not suit Mrs. Fawley, I’ll just say that. No matter how I interpret her, it’s going to based on MC’s mum from the game...and I don’t think she’s the best person. Yet ironically, all of the Fawley kids have her general look, physically. And compassion is truly the name of the game for her kids, especially with Luca. Mrs. Fawley’s kids all turned out to be better people than her, but Luca is the very best of them and Jacob notes this when all is said and done. The Fawley kids are a total trifecta and in a way, it’s Gail who is the happy medium. She’s the middle mark between polar opposites, those opposites being Luca and Jacob. And yet, Luca and Jacob adore each  other and Gail is kind of the outsider. 

She gets along decently well with Luca, but they’re different in certain key traits that make them distinctly uncomfortable with each other. They might have outgrown this had they been raised together, but it’s so important to me that no matter what, this never happens. No matter the AU. Luca and Gail grow up believing the other is dead. They don’t meet until young adulthood, and what should be a dream come true just kind of...isn’t. They have a strained relationship. Not hateful, just...not perfect. Because why it would it be? Because they’re biologically related? That doesn’t mean they’re going to be best friends, and trying to force it, simply doesn’t help. Seriously, Gail is actually far more fond of Luca than she is Jacob. Dear god, she cannot stand him. She’s so grounded and integrated into understanding how one should behave and following social norms. She’s Lawful Good for sure. But Jacob is just...he’s fire and ice and rage, he is a walking storm. Gail just doesn’t take well to people like that. They stress her out. It’s not like Luca. Their inherent patience and pathological desire to “rescue” problematic people...yeah, is it any wonder Luca x Merula is a strong contender for endgame? 

Ooh, here’s something new I can talk about. Middle names. I’ve tossed around a few in the past, but the one thing I’ve always been certain of is that I want Luca and Gail to both have middle names that are one syllable. Luca’s middle name is Rae. It’s simple, it’s gender neutral, and it sounds nice. Not only that, but it has Hebrew origin and the Fawleys are definitely Jewish. From what I can tell, it means either “lamb” or “friend of sheep” aka, sheppard. Both of these suit Luca remarkably well. As does the other interpretation I’ve found, which is that it means “timid” or “bashful.” It’s just the perfect name for them. Now let’s move onto Gail. I’m...still not sure. I’ve considered a few, like Brynn, Claire, and even “Rose” (Shoutout to a friend of mine, I’m going to assume you’ll see this.) But I have yet to land on one that I like enough for Gail to pin it down. Nothing just screams out at me like Rae does for Luca. What else can I talk about...ooh, wands! 

I’ve mentioned wand contents before, but I’ll reiterate them here, and provide some cool images I found to go along with them! Luca’s wand is Rowan and Unicorn Hair, and if you didn’t already know - it was Rowan them-self who previously owned it. The wand was fashioned at the tree farm and they used it right up until Luca’s first wand was destroyed by Rakepick. That first wand, Hazel and Unicorn Hair, had belonged to Mrs. Fawley. Right up until she lost her ability to do magic, a side-effect of her depression which happened after Jacob disappeared. (Dumbledore implied that this was possible and may have happened to Merope.) Luca took her wand and promised to safeguard it for the day that she would eventually be able to use it again. Enter the Curse-Breaker that everyone hates, bye bye Hazel wand. When just then, surprise surprise! Rowan’s wand suddenly chooses Luca. And you can bet that Rowan is over the moon and Luca is sobbing because they don’t deserve this. But they accept it. I wish I could say I had such a cool backstory for Gail’s wand, but the truth is that she just bought it from Ollivander. Aspen and Dragon Heartstring. On the other hand, one cool detail is that she defies Rakepick and rather than use a new one, she uses her old one after Dumbledore repairs it for her. See, it’s little moments like this, why Gail trusts him when Luca emphatically doesn’t. 

Behold their wands, pictured below! Why yes, the skull design for the Rowan wand’s handle is morbidly appropriate Why yes, the symbols written on Gail’s wand do look pretty cool. (I also couldn’t find an “official” wand that was colored white, apart from Voldemort’s, so there’s that.) 

[marauders-map-irl]

this is Not An Accident (written very poorly by me)

TRIGGER WARNINGS: R*PE, M*RD*R, SELF-HATE, R*CISM, H*MOPH*BIA

Living here, in this small, ignorant town, going to my small, ignorant high school, looking like I do, loving who I do, sucks. And that’s to say the least. For some background, I live in a small town in the countryside of Tennessee, called Greenton. I go to a high school called Cookie-Cutter, which is pretty ironic because it is much like a high school you would see on tv.

Everyone pretty much hates us here. I can’t say that I blame them, though. I hate me too. My family is the only strange family here; everyone else is pretty normal (extremely so). Everyone mocks us and bullies us. My mum is African American and my father is Irish. They both joke that we’re the 21st century version of the Brady Bunch.

There’s 7 of us, including my parents and I. I’m right in the middle of my brothers and sisters, and perhaps the most normal, but that doesn’t say much. My eldest brother is John (20), and he’s the oldest of us all. He’s mixed like the rest of us, he’s cisgender male and gay. Then comes my eldest sister, Moira (19), who’s non-binary and pansexual. There’s me next (16), and I’m cisgender female, asexual, and aromantic. After me came my trans (female-male) brother (12), Mikey, and he’s heterosexual. Lastly came my sister, Brittany (9), who’s showing signs of being demiromantic.

We’re the only people that aren’t white in the entire town, and we only came here to help dad’s parents in retirement. The town is extremely ignorant, and it doesn’t help that we came from a big city either. In school, I’m an outcast, though I suppose it’s better than being constantly bullied still. They’ve stopped all contact with me completely, deeming my lack of wanting any sexual activities at my age strange. The teachers even think I’m weird too, and as such have either called on me excessively or just stick to grading my perfect papers and not making any conversation with me if unnecessary. I tend to get perfect grades, what with having absolutely no platonic ties to anyone outside family.

That brings me to where we are currently. In math class, staring out of a window I’m somehow always seated by. The teacher, whatever her name is, is droning on and on about a group project worth half of our final grade for the year. Three people just either groaned or were making tiny grunts of displeasure, meaning I was in a group this time. This project must actually be important. I look up about 4 minutes later, when someone sits next to me and taps my shoulder. Looking up, it’s the very person that continues to poke fun at me, Jessica Kaileia. Well, Jessica, 1 of her most loyal cronies, and another nerd. Sam, I think his name is, and I recall he always eats a slice or two of pie everyday at lunch.

“Do you need something?” I ask Jessica coldly, averting my eyes quickly from her makeup-caked face.

“We’re project partners, Mckinlay. Otherwise I wouldn’t risk my wellbeing talking to you, trust me,” she smirks slightly and her cronie sniggers, but I just roll my eyes and Sam snorts.

“So we’re using last names? Didn’t think you liked your last name anymore, what with your father being a serial killer, Kaileia,” Sam says, making me hold in my giggles as Jessica shrieks.

“You forgot the part where her mum left her for a woman,” her cronie says in disgust, clearly trying and failing to conceal her own laughter.

“Mackenzie!!” Jessica says in a shriek that would rival that of Petunia Dursley.

“Watch your volume, Ms. Kaileia,” the teacher says in her monotone voice, barely glancing up from her issue of The Quibbler.

“Yes, Ms. Binns. Sorry, Ms. Binns,” Jessica says, rolling her eyes before returning to glare at Sam and I respectfully.

“What was the assignment?” I ask, wanting to rid myself of these potentially cruel people as quickly as possible.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get it done by tomorrow and put your names on it. I am second in our year. Of course, I will need your first and last names, well, not yours Kaileia,” Sam states, staring at the packet of instructions and not looking up at us once.

“Yes, well I’m first so I’d actually like to do the work, if you don’t mind. Not that princess Allura and her bestie Romelle here would appreciate getting a fair share of the project,” I say, snatching the packet gently and looking it over.

“Who are they?” the cronie asks, making both Sam and I snort.

“Homewreckers one and two,” Sam says as I divide the instructions in half and give the easy half to Sam.

“Language, Mr. Avery,” the teacher’s monotone voice rings throughout the classroom and Sam apologizes half-heartedly.

“Wait, why do I get the easy part of the assignment?” he asks me offrontedly.

“Because I’m the first in our class,” I answer easily in a ‘duh’ tone, to which he nods with a slight frown.

The assignment was straightforward and easy, although to Jessica and her friend, it would be like rocket science to a 3 year old. I set to work, knowing that if I start now, my half would be done by the end of lunch hour. I didn’t pay much attention to my bullies, though them being in my peripheral didn’t support the cause at all. They were seemingly doing their nails (more like the minion doing Jessica’s nails) and talking about stereotypical popular girl things. The tiny bits that I actually heard made me roll my eyes so hard and so often I was worried they might actually get stuck.

“What’s your name? I need to know for the project,” I ask the she-devil’s minion, but she looks to Jessica for confirmation before speaking.

“Clara Maythers,” she mutters, as though the mere thought of speaking to someone as ‘abnormal’ as me scared her very being.

I nod half-heartedly before adding her name to the list and continuing the project, trying once again to ignore the ignorant bastards behind me. I turn slightly when I see Jessica forcing Clara to hold up a magazine for her to read while she blows her wet nails dry, making sure I couldn’t see them at all. When I was looking over what I had, the intercom came on and the principal spoke. Her voice shook with laughter and I’m sure her face was turned up in a smirk. It was probably another prank. This is Cookie-Cutter, after all. We’re a very stereotypical high school and I’m a very… let’s just say mold-breaking student.

“Could Ms. Alessia Mckinlay come to the front desk to be collected. There has been a family emergency,” she says family as if she doesn’t believe my strange family is one, and I’m sure she doesn’t. There’s incoherent words being said to the principal and she grudgingly continues. “Please,” and after that, the intercom cuts off and all heads turn my way.

I make my way to the front office, as asked, and am hit with sneers, sympathetic looks, and pretty much everything between hate and loathing. I’m not even able to make my way to the front office before my parents steer me away from looking in the lobby. I look at them with a mix of skepticism and worry. Principal Maera did say there was a family emergency, after all.

“What happened?” I ask, trying to look over my parents’ shoulders and failing, due to them forming a wall in front of whatever they were hiding.

“Your sister… There was an accident and…” mum cuts herself off there with a choked sob, making me look to my father for the remaining explanation.

“They…” my father then stops himself, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, either searching for the right words or not wanting to say them aloud (although in retrospect, it’s probably a mix of both).

At this point, I’m worried for all of my sisters, frustrated with my parents for not telling me what’s wrong, and attempting to stay positive and force all the negative thoughts from my head. I manage to shove through the human wall before me and my body freezes at the sight. Laying in front of my eyes is my little sister, Brittany, battered, bruised, broken, and lifeless. Her pants are down to her ankles, her rainbow underwear just past her knees, and blood is drying and caking around her…

I tear my eyes away, but they somehow end up right back at her. This time, though, I’m studying her face. It’s frozen in pain, but there’s also an air of peacefulness present. There’s bruises forming around her neck and littering her face, but I try not to focus on that. I try to focus on all her happy memories. I try to focus on her laughing as mum caught her cheating in Monopoly. I try to focus on dad hiding a grin as she stole a bit of the cake batter for my birthday last year. I try to focus on Brit. But it’s so hard. I try to focus on her happy times. But I always end up looking into her wide, horrified eyes.

My body’s seemingly on autopilot now, because I somehow make it over to my 9 year old sibling to shut her eyes properly, but I didn’t think about it. I thought about how someone could do this to a child. I thought about who could do this to a child. I thought about why someone would do this to a child.

But soon enough, a camera flashes, and then 2, then 5, and then I’m surrounded not only by my baby sister’s blood, but light from what seems like millions of phones. Soon enough, I feel like I’m under a microscope, and viscous scientists are picking apart my every move. Soon enough, I’m back to the main lobby of Cookie-Cutter High School in Greenton, Tennessee. And soon enough, the laughing, mocking, sneering, jeering students return full force.

I hear my mum crying in the background and muttering something about this being an accident. About it having to be an accident. That just makes me mad. Does she not see the freshman taking pictures of her youngest child’s corpse? Does she not see the sophomores laughing mercilessly at her and my tears alike? Does she not hear the juniors yelling at us that our whole family is a disgrace to human-kind? Does she not hear the seniors telling us that we all deserve the same fate? Does she not see my principal’s smug smirk as she watches the whole event and does absolutely nothing?

“This wasn’t an accident. How can you beat someone up on accident? How can you rape someone on accident? How can you murder an innocent child ON ACCIDENT? I get that you’re in shock or whatever, I really do. BUT HOW THE HELL COULD YOU POSSIBLY THINK THIS WAS AN ACCIDENT? PEOPLE HAVE BULLIED US EVER SINCE WE MOVED HERE! THEY MOCK, TEASE, PUNCH, BUT NOW THEY’VE GONE TOO FAR!” my father is telling me to stop yelling, but I don’t hear him. All I know is that I see red, whether that be from the blood pooling at my feet or rage, I have no clue. “DON’T YOU SEE THEM LAUGHING, RECORDING, YELLING AT US?! DON’T YOU SEE HOW THIS COULD NOT HAVE POSSIBLY BEEN AN ACCIDENT?!” and by now, I’m crying, but she has to know. She has to become aware. She has to stop this. She has to. “Please,” I say to no one in particular, taking my sister’s dead body in my arms and sinking down to sit on the floor.

I can’t do anything but hug my now limp sister and pray that this is just another practical joke. Hope that she’s not really gone. Wish that I could have been a good big sister and protected her.

She had so much life left to live. She was only NINE, for god’s sake! She was going to grow up! She was going to make it past the fourth grade! She was going to do well in school and get into the college she wanted to go to! She was going to be successful in her career and her life! She was going to die when she was old and senile and only after beating a terminal disease like cancer, because that’s the stubborn bastard she is. Was.

This wasn’t an accident.

[liw-the-melancholic-apple]

The First One - Bonus scenes in traditional written word

This is a smau and a zukoXreader, although i haven't decided how this ends yet.

Y/n has recently transferred to Ba Sing Se from Omashu university and meets the gaang through a schoolproject they do with sokka and suki.

Masterlist

Bonus 4: Good Morning

The sound of a machine of some sorts woke you up. A look out the window confirmed two things: It was still rather early and Haru’s parents’ neighbours had no idea what an appropriate time for high-pressure-cleaning patios was. Sighing you sat up and looked around. You found your shoes and thought you remembered where the bathroom was.

The short night definitely left its traces on you: Your clothes and hair looked deschevelled, you didn’t smell as fresh as you would like, you had dark circles under your eyes and your voice was rather hoarse. You did what you could without rummaging through the drawers of the bathroom, then you wandered through the house.

There were fotos everywhere. Most of them were of Haru, who you guessed didn’t have any siblings, but some had a very kind-looking couple on them. A wedding picture in which they both laughed at something happening out of frame. It seemed genuine, a true candid shot. He had his hand around her waist and her hand was in mid-air, presumably on its way to fix his tie for the actual wedding picture, but something must have had happened. They both were bending over laughing pointing out of frame looking at each other.

You studied the picture. I made you like the couple. It made you believe in their love and their relationship. It made you want to get to know them. Be a part of that happiness and trust and joy. There was no question why they chose to display this picture. It was amazing!

You watched the couple become parents, buy a house, get older and go through the decades that saw Haru grow from a baby into a smiley toddler, distracted child, unimpressed teenager and openhearted twenty-something. They seemed a happy family. Truly.

The journey through Haru’s life had left you at the front door and wanting some coffee. You found the kitchen empty but quickly discovered a coffee machine. While it was entirely too sophisticated for the broke student you were, you did manage to get it to spew out some dark and caffeinated goodness into a cup you found in the second cupboard you opened. With it you kept on strolling through the house until the living room introduced you to the French doors that lead into the garden. And boy, the garden!

You sat in that little paradise when your phone buzzed and Zuko begged you to talk to him. Apparently, he was at his uncle’s shop working the early shift and there was not a lot to do as it was Sunday. You texted back and forth for a good while.

Yesterday you hadn’t talked to him a lot, outside of him apologising for his uncle and the Sokka-rum-discussion. You know learned that he was a good nephew and studied International Business and International Relations. When you called him out as ambitious, though, he was quick to bring up the words pressure and expectations. You didn’t know him. And whatever those expectations and that pressure were about it seemed you weren’t competent to comment on it or them. Zuko struck you as a private person. You contemplated telling him exactly that. You didn’t. You conveyed the message, though. He seemed relieved. And he liked politics and diplomacy which told you a number of things: 

Be wary of any promises he makes. He might be doing that politician thing where he doesn’t keep them

If you ever want to ruin somebody’s life or career, ask him how to do it, he will have learned about it and remembered

If you ever don’t know how to handle a conflict ask him, he’s into figuring out compromises and status-quo-situation

He probably gives good advice. The kind that will be good for you and not too offensive to others

He is smart

He is into reading

He can find the good in the bad.

After all it sounded like his parents made him study those subjects and if he had had a true choice he would have gone for something else. Yet, he found aspects that he enjoyed, that he could use in his life and that he could be passionate about.

He liked travelling

All in all he was intriguing. A lot of layers to peel back. Whether it be the interest in politics – which were a lot of smoothtalking, manipulation, using popular opinions AND ideologies, the fate and future of countries and people and so many struggles or the family history. You could probably have real conversations with him. And you decided you would like to as well.

Another thing you learned about Zuko was that he was Sokka’s secret source for his part of the Worldhistory project. In the past couple weeks Sokka had gone on and on about how much information he had gotten form an anonymous sponsor.

“Sokka made it sound like you were the discovery of a century!”

“Am I not?” No, for all you knew he wasn’t.

Yes, he was intriguing and most likely multi-layered; yes he was tall and dark and handsome and that scar on his face added several facets to that handsomeness; yes, he had that tea-loving angel of an uncle, but he was no discovery of a century. He was some good-looking guy with an interesting background.

“To be determined” Better not alienate him by telling him he wasn’t all that special. You still wanted to be his friend.

Could you have gone on for two more hours talking to Zuko? Yes. Yes. You could have. But you didn’t because there were footsteps in the house. And it sounded like they were coming from the kitchen. You got up to investigate. Hoping you’d find Sokka, Suki, Toph, Aang or Katara in the kitchen, you would have been okay with Haru, but instead you found an agile white haired gentleman. From the fotos you recognised him as Haru’s father. He was doing something to the sophisticated coffeemachine and congratulated himself. Then he turned around, saw you, got scared and nearly let his cup fall and crash on the kitchen tiles. Instead he just made a weird move with his arm that resulted in a wave of hot liquid jumping into the air and splashing on the floor.

“Ouch!”, the man screamed. “Who the hell are you?”

“Sorry, Sir. Y/n. I’m friends with… I know your son. Haru. We helped him pack up the party yesterday and he told us we could stay here. I assumed you knew…Excuse the intrusion, please.”

“Tyro”, he extended his hand. You shook it.

“You’re not intruding. Haru told us that some of his friends might stay over. I just didn’t expect anybody to be awake yet. And we don’t know each other.”

“Again, sir, sorry.”

“That cup empty?” Tyro pointed at the mug you had brought with you.

“Nearly. I took the liberty of drinking your coffee.”

“Do you want more? I can offer you black coffee and black coffee with milk from the fridge. The thing is supposed to be able to come up with all kinds of fancy drinks, but that’s more my wife’s department. I didn’t bother learning about that.”

“Black coffee would make me really happy, Sir.”

Tyro filled your cup and gestured for you to follow him back into the garden. So, you did. He asked about who you were and how you knew his son.

“To be honest, Sir, there isn’t a lot to tell. I moved to the city for this semester. Transferred from Omashu University. I’m studying anthropology. One of the classes I take together with Sokka and Suki, who are friends with Zuko who used to be Haru’s roommate. Aaaaaaand they brought me to the party yesterday. There I met Haru. The end.”

“You helped him tidy up the speakers and all that jazz after having only met him that night?” You nodded your head yes.

“Commendable.”

You carried on talking to Haru’s dad, brushing on the subjects of family, education and music. The band Haru played in was called “Grounded”. According to Tyro they were “just having fun” but they also “sounded like actual musicians”. This band needed to be inspected.

You told him about Gray Sky and Tiff on the Rocks, the pub you used to play. It turned out that Haru inherited his passion for music from his father. Dad all but interrogated you on you average guitar playing and experience with piano lessons, when his wife walked through the French doors.

She introduced herself to you and asked if you wanted more coffee. As she was the coffee-maker-whisperer, you now were offered the entire range of coffee-drinks and gladly accepted a Cappuccino the size of your head. After she mad you happy with that, she sent you back out, with the intention of preparing breakfast. You offered to help but were quickly shut down.

The moment you sat down in the lounge chair by big tree, Haru entered the kitchen, got a cup of coffee from his mum and was surprised to find you in musical discussion with his father. Thankfully, he did remember you and was delighted to hear that you were a fellow guitarist, even though he was likely a lot more skilled than you were. In fact, you said this multiple times, resulting in Haru running inside and grabbing one of his dad’s guitars.

You  started by playing some of the 90's hits that Sokka had massacred the night before, proving that Haru was better than you. You handed the instrument back to him. 

"How about You Oughta Know?", he suggested. You looked at him, blinking. 

"You said you used to sing in Omashu. Let's hear it."

"Uhm…", you hesitated.

"I'm with stupid", Tyro chuckled. "I'm curious."

"Fine."  You let Haru play a few tacts before you started the verse. He harmonised with you in the chorus, during which Tyro got another guitar.

From Alanis you moved to the Verve; from "Nothing compares 2 u", to "Loser". Haru and his dad loved the 90's. Nirvana, Take That, TLC, Blur, Oasis, Britney, Beasty Boys, you named it they had it. Aang, Katara, Suki, Sokka and Toph joined you three out on the patio, all carrying cups of various coffees and plates full of food. While harmonising to Tyro's lead you remembered that his wife had talked about preparing breakfast. From what you saw on your friend's - yeah friends! - plates, she had not held back. There were eggs and bacon, pancakes, bread, cinnaminrolls and meats, cheeses, jams, butter and honey.

When she herself came out to join the table, she carried a  bowl of yoghurt and nuts, that she assured everyone was an option for everyone. Tyro got his own plate and dat down next to Sokka. He motioned for Haru and you to come eat but you two were determined to finish the decade. So, you did. And then you entered the 2000s. Every now and again you'd pick up the second guitar, while alternating with Haru singing lead and harmonising. You had the time of your life!

Haru's mum topped off your coffees and although your stomach was screaming at you to give it some of the wonderful smelling food, you played and sang for more than two hours. The others enjoyed your efforts and sang along when they were done eating. Tyro relieved his son of guitar duties and jammed with you while Haru diminished the pancakes. 

He then took your spot and you praised the eggs, bacon and cinnamonrolls.

"If you're ever desperate  for something to do, you're welcome to my appartment and put on breakfast!",  you said, all but crying, after noon when you had finished. Haru's mum blushed. But die didn't say no.

After you had finished your breakfast, everyone helped clear the table and load the dishwasher. Tyro insisted you all had another round of coffee, during which there was more music and Sokka got the recipe for the hangover cure smoothie that Mrs Haru  had made him as soon as he entered the kitchen.

You left around 2:30 with many "thank yous" and "you're the bests" and "we can help some mores". Although you hadn't slept much you decided to hit up the Jasmin Dragon to see if Zuko had  died from boredom already. 

[trickstermiraculous]

Siblings That Are Both Heroes But Only One Knows That Fact

Summary: Jason is nervous but gets to talk with Marinette and Adrien?

Chapter Two: Nervous And Texting Your Sister's Boyfriend

Author’s Note: Not used to writing the bat brothers dialogue so sorry if this is bad. I know about the bat brothers from young justice, some of the comics, Tumblr, fanfiction and my own research.

Jason was nervous to say the lease, he finally gets to see his baby sister again in person since he was Robin. He had been back for three years at this point and he didn’t visit his sister, Jason was just glad that she and her adoptive family agree to meet them although, he was upset that he couldn’t see her at the Gala due to her being busy.

“Todd, can you please shut up” growled Damien who was sat across from him on the plane, reading one of the books from the mansion’s library,

“I didn’t say anything brat” retorted Jason glaring at him,

“You were thinking too loud” replied Damien,

“He’s just nervous Little D,” Dick said cutting off Jason,

“I am not” snapped Jason which just made Dick raise his eyebrow.

“Well maybe if he didn’t leave his sister in the dark so long, he wouldn’t be” snapped Damien,

“You know full well, the reasons I had to do that, you brat” growled Jason which just made Damien roll his eyes and go back to reading his book.

“If you so nervous, why don’t you just text her before you meet her tomorrow” stated Dick throwing a piece of paper at Jason which he caught and saw that there was a phone number on it,

“This is her phone number?” Jason questioned slowly,

“yep her parents gave it to Bruce so that you could contact her” answered Dick,

“And you tell me now?” snapped Jason,

“Well when Bruce told me to give it to you I was busy and I just remember that I had it” defend Dick putting his hand up in from of him as a way to say ‘don’t attack me’, “now text her before your nerves get the better of you”.

Sighing Jason pulled out his phone and added the number to his contacts with the name Pixie Pop which is something he used to call her when they were both still on the streets.

                                            -------- Chat Open --------

Jason: Hey Marinette, it’s Jason Todd

Pixie Pop: Jason as her big brother who is actually alive even though he has been missing for years

Jason: yes

Jason: who are you? because I know this is her phone number

Pixie Pop: Her boyfriend Adrien

Pixie Pop: she asked me to keep her phone safe while the teacher pulled her in for a ‘chat’

Jason: a chat

Jason: she in trouble

Pixie Pop: more like she got the blame for not being the perfect example that our class has to follow

Pixie Pop: even though she not at fault for the crap behaviour that our classmates have

Pixie Pop: shit I’m rambling

Pixie Pop: I told Mari that I caught it off her

Jason: right...

Jason: so let me get this straight, she’s in trouble for a teacher not doing her job

Pixie Pop: got it in one

Jason: how the fuck does that work

Pixie Pop: We’ve been questioning that for months butbdjsahdjdfs

Jason: you ok kid

Pixie Pop: Adrien is fine

Pixie Pop: Holy shit Jason

Pixie Pop: wait no this could be a prank by Max

Jason: what kind of sick person would pretend to be someone brother who you thought was dead as a prank

Jason: what kind of people are you hanging around with Pixie Pop

Pixie Pop: well I know for a fact I never told people about that nickname and mum did just confirm that you were given my number

Pixie Pop: so hi Jason

Pixie Pop: as for what kind of person would do that, well I would really put it past her

Jason: who is her

Pixie Pop: no one important

Pixie Pop: anyway

Pixie Pop: It’s nice to finally talk to you

Jason: don’t go changing the subject

Pixie Pop: I’m not talking to you about school drama especially when I’m at school

Jason: fine but we are talking about this later

Pixie Pop: sure thing mom

Jason: cool it with the sarcasm

Jason: also question

Jason: what’s got you so busy that you can’t come to the Gala

Pixie Pop: commissions

Pixie Pop: also I got asked last minute

Jason: Commissions?

Pixie Pop: I’m a fashion designer

Pixie Pop: well technically I’m just starting out but uncle jagged did ask me for a commission over proper designers

Jason: Uncle Jagged?

Pixie Pop: Jagged Stone

Pixie Pop: he’s been close family friend since I made him the Eiffel tower glasses

Jason: Holy shit Pixie Pop

Jason: Your designing for Jagged Stone

Pixie Pop: A fan?

Jason: yes but I blame Dick for it

Pixie Pop: Your brother, Richard Grayson

Jason: yeah how you know that

Pixie Pop: Research

Pixie Pop: more like a background check

Pixie Pop: shut it, Adrien

Jason: Background check

Pixie Pop: I was curious about who adopted you

Pixie Pop: ok

Pixie Pop: like you haven’t done the same

Jason: fair

Jason: also Adrien,

Jason: Your boyfriend

Jason: want to explain that

Pixie Pop: first off I’m seventeen

Pixie Pop: second off it’s more of a secret relationship until he’s eighteen

Jason: why a secret relationship?

Pixie Pop: Press

Pixie Pop: and his father would make us break up if he knew

Jason: He has a shitty father, got it

Jason: also press?

Pixie Pop: Adrien Agreste, teen model for the Agreste brand

Jason: A model

Jason: nice catch there Pixie Pop

Pixie Pop: thanks

Pixie Pop: shit gotta go

                                         --------Chat Ended--------

Jason turned off his phone with a smile as his nerves seemed to have disappeared for now although he was concerned about what type of school she went to. “I’m guessing texting her went well,” asked Dick smirking,

“Yes” muttered Jason as he grabbed his laptop from his bag,

“Whatcha doing then?” replied Dick,

“Research” answered Jason as he searched up Adrien on his computer, finding out that he goes to Collège Françoise Dupont which most likely meant that was where Marinette went.

“For what?” asked Dick,

“She mentioned something concerning about her teacher, well she didn’t her boyfriend did” replied Jason,

“So she has a boyfriend” question Dick,

“Adrien Agreste” answered Jason,

“The model?” asked Dick

“Yeah, how do you know?” replied Jason raising an eyebrow,

“A few of the younger heroes were drooling over a magazine with his photo and when I asked, I got basically his whole background” answered Dick,

“Right” replied Jason,

“Anyway have fun with that research” stated Dick turning back to his own computer where he was working on a case.

Jason just hummed in response as he eventually found Marinette’s social media to which he spent the rest of the plane ride looking through in order to get an idea on how much his little sister had changed.

Author’s Notes: Glad people enjoyed the first chapter, I just hope you enjoy this one.

AO3

Wattpad

[princessanneftw]

Mike Tindall: 'Zara and I are planning to send Mia back to school in June'

By Eleanor Steafel for The Telegraph

Mike Tindall has spent much of lockdown asking himself a question by now familiar to parents up and down the country: what would a teacher do?

Over the past eight weeks the Tindalls have joined the legions of families juggling homeschooling one child while keeping a toddler occupied, supporting vulnerable loved ones from afar, and trying to get some work done in between it all. With his wife Zara still needing to put in the hours training her horses on the Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire, where they live, the programme of year one classes for their eldest daughter Mia, six, has mainly been shepherded by Mike - to varying degrees of success.

“Zara still has hopes that the horses will get back, they still need training and working on, so I get to be a teacher in the mornings which is sometimes really nice, sometimes really frustrating,” he tells me over Zoom. His Zoom background, incidentally, looks like a rather impressive bookcase but in fact, he reveals with a wry smile, “It’s wallpaper, I’m not that well read.”

The homeschooling, he says, hasn’t always been a walk in the park. “I don’t think any child is a great homeschooler because they definitely listen to other people better than they listen to their parents.

“[Mia] can be brilliant one minute and then something you’ve seen her do a thousand times she’ll just go ‘I don’t know how to do that’ and then you go ‘well I know you do’, and she’ll just say ‘no I don’t’ and then you get frustrated, and you’re trying not to get frustrated.”

Doubtless a familiar scene for the millions of parents currently attempting to provide an education from their kitchen table. “She enjoyed it the first week because it was different being around Mum and Dad all the time,” he says. “But then, ultimately, it’s the same people who are telling her off or telling her what to do and I think then she gets bored of that.”

They are hoping Mia will return to school on June 1st, as per the government’s plan to allow reception, year one and year six children back in the classroom. “The plan is, at the moment, that she would go back but obviously that’s still up in the air,” he says. “Every day you read different things... we’ll just have to wait.

“There is no ideal situation,” he adds, but is encouraged by statistics suggesting children are unlikely to suffer from coronavirus or pass it on to adults. “As long as they’re doing everything they can to make it as safe as possible,” he believes reopening would be a positive step.

He’s also keen to ensure the girls maintain their independent spirits. “They definitely enjoy having that full time attention, but you also want them to have some independence. That’s the side you want them to keep developing.”

Tindall is also navigating the tricky business of supporting parents who are shielding. His mum and dad live 200-odd miles away in West Yorkshire; his dad, Phil, has lived with Parkinson’s for 17 years, and his mother, Linda, has asthma. They have just started to go for the odd dog walk, but have mainly been confined to the house since mid-March. “It’s just tough... they don’t want to be cooped up but they are very worried about going too far afield and getting too close to everyone else.”

His brother Ian lives a few miles from them, “which is reassuring,” though he worries what would happen if his dad had a fall, as he would be unable to enter their house. “It would be very difficult for my mum to move a dead weight. And if his medication wears off and he can’t move and he’s not in a place where he can sleep then mum’s got to try and get him into bed.

“It’s just very tough for her. It’s pretty much like that most of the time but at least [usually] she knows that she’s got my brother on the doorstep... If you don’t have that it just doesn’t make [for] a very nice environment.”

WhatsApp video calls have taken the place of in-person visits, enabling them to chat to their grandchildren and watch them playing. That is, when Mike can “make them understand how a phone works. Most of the time I’m talking to [Dad’s] head or up his nose. But once you get that sorted you can get the kids on and that’s what they miss.”

However good the technology, however, “you still can’t have a hug,” he says. “Everyone loves a hug.”

When they are next able to be together, he and Zara’s youngest daughter, Lena (who is about to turn two, and counts Prince Harry among her godparents) will have changed a fair amount in the time since her grandparents last saw her. “It could be six months since their last visit and a lot changes at that age in six months. All you can do is keep taking photos and videos and sending it to them.”

They are yet to see his mother-in-law Princess Anne, who lives in another house on the Gatcombe Estate, in the flesh, but she has been getting to grips with tech, too. Many royal engagements are now being carried out via video: the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge popped up on Zoom to surprise a Bingo session at a care home this week, while even the Queen, who is isolating at Windsor, has got on board, receiving a video call from baby Archie on her birthday.

“It’s busy still for them,” he says of Princess Anne, who appeared on a call with World War II veterans earlier this month to mark VE Day. “She works so hard with all her charities and she’s still got a lot to do, so they’re still in full flow.”

Disappointingly, there have been no Zoom quizzes with the Cambridges or Sussexes, or competitive sourdough action on their WhatsApp group. “Actually it hasn’t been that active,” he laughs. “I think everyone is just getting on with it.”

The former England captain has always worn his royal links lightly - in part, one imagines, thanks to his upbringing. He eschewed university, instead joining Bath Rugby at aged 18 and making his national debut against Ireland at Twickenham in 2000. He now realises that this was the same year his dad started to show the initial symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, although it would be another three years until it was diagnosed.

That delay is one reason he is so determined to raise awareness. His annual celebrity golf day raises around £90,000 every year for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust, and though the tournament can’t happen this year, he is running an online auction to raise funds for the Trust, the NHS and the Matt Hampson Foundation, with proceeds to be split between them.

Tindall hopes he can “raise a fair few coins for the coffers”, particularly for the charity founded by his friend Matt Hampson, who became paralysed from the neck down in a rugby accident in 2005, and is currently in the vulnerable category during lockdown. “He is already permanently on a ventilator with his fractured and dislocated neck, and he doesn’t know if he can go out until there’s a vaccine.”

Tindall seems a pretty level-headed, get on with it sort of man, but admits he has spent the last two months “up and down a little bit,” he says. “You get to spend a lot of time with the kids and family which is unbelievable.” But life is also “in a bit of limbo, and you’re trying to fill the day with positive things to keep you mentally attuned and focused.”

A day always works better, he says, “when there’s a bit of a plan around it so you don’t wallow the hours away”.

He still has “a lot of questions about how things will look after”; both for his beloved sport, and the hospitality company he is an ambassador for. “But,” he admits, “I’m ready to break out - when we’re allowed to.”

Mike Tindall has launched an online auction to raise money for the NHS, The Cure Parkinsons Trust and Matt Hampson Foundation. To bid, visit jumblebee.co.uk/thestadiumoflife

[smolbeandrabbles]

Director’s Cut 3: Danny Rayburn

* Well it’s more a focus on our Reader character, but, Danny.

“What was the inspiration behind Liliana and her family? Because they’re all so amazing 😭🙏 and how did you choose the name Devan?” 

Liv, bless you for asking the difficult questions! Now you get a look inside my crazy mind (as if you hadn’t all already with Andrew.)

So, If you thought Andrew was a long post you better grab your favourite drink and your Danny playlist and settle in!

The following specifically refers to our reader character and her family, and the events of Sway and it’s spin-offs, which I will obviously always encourage you to read! 😁 Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6  / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10

Sweet Spot  /  All I Want For Christmas / Good Woman

What was the inspiration behind Liliana and her family?

Before we go into too much detail I want you to imagine 1st January, 2019. And then a girl who had recently purchased Camila Cabello’s first album - late, after being super impressed by her performance opening for Taylor Swift - and watched the first episode of Bloodline AND Dirty Dancing 2 (the trade off for having your mum watch Rogue One with you) in one single day. Anyone who hasn’t listened to Camila’s album, this is essentially Danny’s dance playlist, I don’t make the rules

I had ideas for Danny before I even started to watch. Mostly because when you’re first immersed in the world of Ben Mendelsohn and trawl through blogs, you can’t help but notice Danny. Annnd found out a lot about the show, which caused me to have a BUNCH of misconceptions and create a story in my head that was just... not even remotely close to what Bloodline is.

So here’s the deal, I occasionally like thinking about some of Ben’s characters gender bent, and how that would make them different/similar and affect their stories. I did this with Andrew and Gerry before I did it with Danny (because can we just think about Animal Kingdom if they were female?). And then armed with my assumptions, I came up with a story for Bloodline. “Linzi, why are you telling me this-!?” I hear you cry, but don’t leave the post just yet! Just keep in mind that Jack Ervin was (female) Danny’s restaurant accountant and also will they / won’t they love affair, that uhm. Well they didn’t, because Danny dies.  For all intents and purposes a lot of Jack’s plot points became Lily’s (including bringing back the restaurant). Also I had a great character with a great name that I didn’t want to waste. Jack became Liliana’s dad - and therefore we got: Jack and Liliana Ervin. 

Back to Dirty Dancing 2 - set in Havana, complete with its ‘will they/won’t they’ love story (of different social classes!) and of course, Latin American dancing. To say I borrowed a lot of ideas from this is probably an understatement - but Danny is a Miami boy, and Miami has Little Havana. Quickly it all kinda fell together.  But in this case, Danny is the out of his element American and Liliana (given that her parents are both from Latin American backgrounds) is the dancer. Added to that in DD2 the girls parents are both dancers, I was happy to keep an element of that for our girl too. Jack remained Jack Ervin, with his name actually being Juan Ervin (American Father, Argentinian Mother) but changing his name to Jack to fit in with his Miami high-society persona. Maria (American Mother, Puerto Rican Father) basically has a super cliche Hispanic name, I know (well both of them do but Juan is the equiv. to Jack so that’s how we ended up there) but it worked for me. Liliana’s name... I don’t even know where I got it from - sometimes names just come to me, sometimes I spend hours finding a good one on all these naming sites! 😅 Lily just came to me, I certainly wanted something that could be shortened Liliana->Lily but also something that went with Danny’s name. Liliana Rayburn is a great name. (I know the irony of that, you don’t need to tell me twice!) I need a ship name for them.

Let’s take a little look at their character for a second though: Jack and Maria are meant to be parallel to Robert and Sally. But also the complete opposite. Jack is described as a ruthless businessman who doesn’t care to much about his reputation in business. He’ll just get the job done no matter what the cost. The catch being of course that really Jack is a lovely guy, he cares very much about his family (+ extended family!) and is a well respected member of Miami society. Ruthless yes - but Maria and Lily mean more than the world to him - and eventually Danny too. “No man is good enough for your daughter until one is. And he is.” and also “He would have given you the world, and I would have let him.” Just sayin’ he’s a good father and a good man.  Maria is mentioned a little less than Jack is but I think that’s because I basically want to compare Jack/Danny to Robert/Danny. I also think that Jack has more to do with the overall story; he’s the one with the well known construction company that everyone recognises Liliana’s last name from, the reason that everyone is all over Danny with the “You can’t get involved with Jack Ervin’s daughter!!” spiel. Maria is the quieter character, but spends a lot of time showering Danny with love when she is around. Lily’s parents were all about giving Danny family that loved him unconditionally. A real family. She’s... probably a little more on the ‘stereotypical’ side of Hispanic parents, but there’s a reason for that-! One of my very best friends is Peruvian, and every time I visit him it’s like visiting my second family. Like from the very first time I met them his parents were SO kind, like above and beyond... and so adorable... oh my gosh, I love them so much and they are 100% inspiration for Jack and Maria. Maria is basically his mum. 😁 But more than anything I wanted Jack and Maria that wanted nothing more for their daughter than for her to find someone who loves her. No matter who he is or his background or anything like that. Which was important to me, especially having been through a relationship myself where my family didn’t really approve of him because he wasn’t from the same social class. I’m certainly not about that.

As your tags put it - Jack and Maria are the biggest Danny/Liliana shippers! 😁 (With Javi and Jason a close second! And I won’t leave out Evie and Amanda either!)

Liliana Oh my gosh. My love for her can’t be overstated. I say it every time, but I’ll say it again. When I started her and Danny’s journey on that dancefloor in January 2019 I never would have dreamed I’d be still here now nearing fic number 200. I wasn’t even sure if anyone would have been interested in them enough for me to ever write more than just Sway 1. But, when you’re asked to write a second part then you know it’s got traction and you end up with 10, of course!  Inspiration for Liliana? Good question. A little like I said for Elaiyna with Andrew, I needed a S/O that fit with Danny and his story. I say at the start of part 10 that really it’s her story. And it is, Danny takes her from one night stands with men she meets on the dancefloor to mother of 2 kids in a loving relationship where it’s clear that she will never love anyone else. And it’s his character/personality, being as in character as possible, that leads her there. Liliana never runs out of chances, she forgives Danny for everything he does because she loves him so much. Because she can’t bear to think of life without him, nor what his life would be like if she left. Liliana is... a strong woman who doesn’t know how strong she is. She loves unconditionally and she doesn’t care that Danny is not on top of his game - he’s struggled his whole life, but he does not have to struggle with her. She’s meant to be the easiest thing about his life - home, a safe place, strength and stability.  Danny is her adventure - with all his secrets, and his past, and how much he suffers she’s presented with a problem that she can’t solve, she can’t save,but loves him anyway. Lily will never give up.  The contrast between the two worlds they are in when they meet, and then the one they build together as they grow which takes that contrast and just makes it work. Like they just work - sure I made it that way, but I tried to make it realistic. Love has no barriers, right? It shouldn’t. To quote my characters again: “There’s one fairytale here, and it’s yours.”

I wouldn’t give her a pushover title - sure she never runs out of chances for him (perhaps its arguable that she could walk away but it never occurred to me that that was her personality.) but like, screw his family. She won’t ever forgive them for what they’ve done to him, she won’t ever trust them.  So why does she forgive John? Because that’s her character. That’s what Danny made her. John and Danny’s relationship always fascinated me in the show and it just strikes me that Danny and John were close, even with all that happened. Danny would want Lily to forgive him - and maybe Lily only forgives him FOR Danny, but it’s in her character. She’s tired of all this conflict and all she wants is for John to confirm he did it so she knows for sure.  Liliana has elements of me in her, perhaps a little more than most of my other OCs, elements of my feelings towards characters in the show as I continued to watch, elements of other OC’s of mine (and physically too. Her Psalm tattoo I directly lifted from someone else. Hey, it be that way sometimes!) and elements of all these pieces that inspired me to write her in the first place. 

I mean I don’t know if that really explains it clearly. Because there’s not really one clear inspiration for them - but from a range of different sources and elements. I hope that it even helps explain it a little though! 😅

How did you chose the name Devan?

Oh my gosh, okay. Liv why did you have to ask this question!  So, oh god this is so stupid.  Basically, although I knew that they would have a son, because our characters didn’t know that they were going to have a son, I wanted to give the baby a unisex name. Because I ALSO knew I was going to follow Bloodline canon it was also important to me that Danny be the one to chose the name.  Added to that, like Nolan, I knew that Danny and Lily’s baby was going to keep that Rayburn last name.  Devan Rayburn and Devan Ervin both sound pretty great to me..!

Obviously, it should be Devin. And the only reason I think I chose Devan was because a) I actually thought that was how you spelled it... (I mean I guess so, there’s no other logical reason I can’t have called him Devin... unless I looked at Devin Ervin and thought... ‘that’s basically the same’ and so changed the spelling but it was definitely always written Devan in plans etc) and b) a singer called Devin Dawson.  When I was on my year long internship in the USA I was able to listen to country music radio - specifically the station a family friend worked on. And they were obsessed with a song called “All On Me” by Devin Dawson. (actually it’s a good one for this series, but that’s beside the point!) So I heard his name all the time, and I’m 99% sure that I got it from him. (Also fast forward and I’ve actually now seen the guy in concert and was like “Oh yeah I named a character after you.” so yeah it’s probably Devin Dawson’s fault. )  At the end of part 8 I left a note that says “Devan isn’t easily explainable but I hope you like it.” and honestly, if there’s a bigger story I can’t remember it. I know that ‘Evan’ was another character in my genderbent story but I don’t think I just added the ‘D’ to that... Maybe that was an element of it though?  

Also I’m a sucker for ‘weird’ names or weirdly spelled names - a lot of my OCs fall victim to this - sorry girls! 😅 So it’s unsurprising that he ended up Devan, not Devin. Also I’d pronounce it “Dev-an” with a soft ‘a’ sound... 

Interestingly it took me a little longer to decide on his middle name being Daniel. I guess I’m not sure how good “Devan Daniel Rayburn” sounds... But then I wasn’t about to resist it, and it seems like the kind of decision that Liliana would make.  

I hope that answered your questions Liv! 🙏💜💙 You’re always welcome to ask for further clarification! 😁

---

Thank you as always for being interested in my work! Just gonna remind you all that you can ask for a Fanfic directors cut ! I would love to answer any questions! 🥰😘 

I mean it, I’d beg. Don’t make me get that Danny gif.  

[cilliansaccent]

The Peaky Designer - Cillian Fanfic, Chapter 23

Hello, welcome back. Below is the next instalment of my fanfiction!

Leave a like or a comment if you liked it, or if I can do anything better! Please, it would mean the world and to understand if anyone is enjoying my writing. Also, sharing/reblogging would be even better.

PLEASE READ:

I will not be including Cillian’s family as it’s kinda weird since he has children lmao. Just a mention of his parents and a previous lover.

I will indicate in a chapter if there is smut in the beginning and before the actual scene!!

I will add trigger warnings if there is any!!

There is a variety of levels of swearing during a chapter, I will not hold back, everyone swears.

The timestamp for the Fic is now 2016 and onwards!!

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Background: Gabrijela Babic is a Croatian girl from Sydney, Australia. She is born in the year 1991 on the 24th of December. She studies a Fashion degree in a University with a major in Game Design as well. Her teacher in the fashion designer class managed to nail an Internship on the set of Peaky Blinders with the shows very own Costume Designer, Allison McCosh. There, she travels to London for under a year to learn how to be one, working alongside the actors as well the man she admires, Cillian Murphy. But, her platonic feelings for the man begins to grow into something more, and she wonders whether she should pursue them or let him go for fear of her strict parents and her three older brothers…

Characters:

Swantje Paulina as Gabrijela Babic (swalina on Instagram)

Cillian Murphy

Word Count: 2,629

!!Warnings!!: Short description of a sex scene in the beginning

Date: February 2017

Chapter Name: Hunter Valley

Brief Chapter Outline: Gabrijela and Cillian head to Hunter Valley after he spends a day alone with Tatiana and her child. 

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Cillian was the first to wake up, the sun was angled into his eyes and he groaned as he turned over. His eyes fell upon Gabrijela, her lovely blonde hair fanned out, one arm bent beside her head, her lips parted and her head turned to him. He propped himself up on an arm and admired her, taking in her soft features, her full lips, her freckles which he loved to trace. It covered the majority of her body. He reached out to brush her cheek with the back of his hand, a caress that made her smile slowly and shifts towards him.

"Mmm..." She murmured. "Morning..." Her voice was heavy with sleep.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." He smiled as she snuggled into his body, his chin rested on her head.

"It's fine. I have to wake up anyway." She yawned, stretching a little but settled back down. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did. Did you?" His hand rested over her waist and idly stroked her back, her hip and down her ass and then back up. She wore only a silk top and a thong.

"Perfect as always." She giggled as her eyes flickered open to gaze up at him. "I am seriously getting used to this. Waking up to see my love."

"Yeah. I can say the same," his hand stopped on her ass and squeezed it.

She laughed lightly, "Only saying that so you can squeeze my butt." She pecked his lips.

"No, not really. I can squeeze your butt any time." He leaned back in and kissed her in return.

"That's true." She rolled onto her back as he positioned on top of her. "I'll be home by one. I'll pack and then we go. You okay staying here all day with Tatiana and the bub?"

"Perfectly fine. I can check out that aviary you said." He smiled, liking the feeling of her hands gripping his waist.

"You can. And take Lucien out to. Just keep an eye on him." She kissed his nose.

"I might." He nodded.

"Lastly, don't be afraid to use anything here. My home is your home." She met his warm gaze, her heart doing that funny stutter whenever she felt happy or in awe of Cillian.

"Alright. Thank you, my love."

"Any time." She shut her eyes when he leaned down to kiss her. The kiss was slow and deep, his hands slid under her and held her shoulders. There wasn't anything sexual to it, it was just pure love and passion, her hand rested on the curve on his lower back, the other came up to tangle in his hair.

Gab let out a soft sound, feeling his tongue slip in and began to do its familiar sweeps. She knew this was gonna go somewhere else but she couldn't stop as she kissed him hungrier.

Cillian sensed it and pushed her back down and claimed her neck this time, sucking and biting. He heard that moan come from her, her hips rolling into his. There wasn't much clothing to separate them so she would feel his hard cock slip-free through the slit in his pants. There was no hesitation and her panties her pushed aside and he swept into her. His wonderful, throaty groan came from him as they kissed once more. Cillian began to move, going deep and slow as their lips occasionally came into contact.

"Mine," Gabrijela whispered, biting his bottom lip.

"All yours." He smiled. He continued to thrust into her, pleasing her. There was no space between their bodies, her legs locked tight around his waist. Their climax was rising fast and he went harder to bring them to that edge.

But as the pair got lost within the bliss and the climax that shot through them, Gabrijela's mother suddenly walked in, "Gabrijela, wake up you have work- Oh!" She let out a cry half gasp.

Gab let out a pleasurable cry which was also mixed with shock and embarrassment, "Ah! No!" She grabbed the sheets and pulled them over both her and Cillian to hide them.

"My god." Her mother cursed and quickly retreated out of the room.

Gab had her eyes shut and was laughing in either stupor or bewilderment. "Jesus Christ." She muttered.

Cillian was laughing as he grunted and laid beside her, "What just happened makes me laugh so hard." His laughter was bubbly and soft, "Feel's like my younger times when my mother would walk in on me."

Gab giggled and shook her head, "Glad to make you reminisce those times, sexy man." She poked his cheek. "I am in for a lecture." She huffed as she got up, fixing her panties and rifled through her bedside table drawer which had some simple black pouches inside. She used a baby wipe to clean herself up.

"What's in those?" He asked as he watched her.

"My various collection of toys." She smirked at him as his brows rose.

"Toys?" He asked.

"Yeah." She pulled one pouch out and opened it. It was a fairly large dildo inside, "It's a rechargeable vibrator." She turned it around in her hand.

"Damn. You can fit that all in?" He sat up, keeping the sheets across his crotch.

"I can." She nodded and put it back into her pouch. "I have all sorts, all have different textures, some are remote controlled, or through an app."

"I see..." He began to think and chuckled. "Interesting." His hands slid up the back of her thighs and rested under her ass. "Shirt up, please."

She giggled and lifted her shirt up, she watched as he leaned in and pressed soft kisses to her tummy, "My little one." He murmured, "Can't wait to see you. I love you."

Gab felt tears spring up in her eyes as she watched him, her hands rested on his head. He was going to be the most perfect father but it also saddened her that he wasn't going to be there through the process.

"Gab! Come on!" Her mother called from somewhere in the house.

Cillian sat back and smiled up at her, "I love you."

"Love you too," She leaned down and kissed him. She pulled away and got changed into her work clothes, combed her hair and cleaned her face before she put on some light make-up. Cillian had left her room after he dressed and she could hear him chatting with her mother, apologising for what she walked in on.

Gabrijela rolled her eyes once she was done, grabbed her bag and headed out.

"Just... Be good to her. Treat her good." Her mother was saying as Gab walked in.

"He is good to me, Mama. And uh... Yeah. Sorry, you had to walk in on that." Gab blushed as she made Cillian and herself Cheerio's.

"I hope I won't be seeing that again." Her mother said.

"I'll just lock my door then." Gab grinned.

"Wait, it seems you are saying like I'll be staying here?" Cillian leaned on the counter.

Gabrijela looked at her mother then at Cillian, "Well, it'll be easier for you to be here instead of constantly going back to the hotel. Is that okay Mama?"

Liljana glanced between the pair and let out a soft sigh, "I will talk to your dad about it."

Gab frowned, "Okay. Today talk to him."

"I will." Her mother nodded and left them be as she went to the balcony to have a smoke and chat with her father.

"Are you sure you want me here?" Cillian turned to her when she set the bowel before him.

"Of course I am. Besides, when we come back on Monday, it would be easier to have all your things here than in the hotel. Or I could just take the keys from you and do it myself? You could probably try and get a refund for the weeks you won't be there?" She asked.

"I could. But let's wait till your mother comes back and tells us whether I can stay here or not." Cillian said.

Gab finished her bowel when her mother walked in, "What's the verdict?"

"Well, your father disagreed... Then agreed... Disagreed... Then finally settled on agree." Her mum replied.

"Oh, good. Good." Gab looked at Cillian and took his empty bowl. "We'll behave."

"I'm sure you will. Now hurry up. We need to go." Liljana said.

Cillian quickly shot to the bedroom to hand her the keys, "Here you go."

"Thanks, you good being here?" Gab asked.

"I am. I'll see you when you come back." He pulled her close and they kissed. "I love you."

"I love you too. See you later." She squeezed his hands and left with her mother.

Cillian's morning was alright. He spent it watching TV with Tatiana and her baby whom he played with most of the time, Tijana having an absolute ball with him. He chatted with Tatiana and she made a comment of how he will become a perfect father to their growing child. Cillian only blushed and laughed awkwardly but thanked her, telling her how he was very excited but he was saddened that he wasn't going to be here for the process of it all.

"I could so understand that," Tatiana said as they sat back and watched Tijana play with herself. "Being your first child, every moment through the months is special and always changing. But I am sure Gabbie will send plenty of photos."

"I know. But that isn't the same as being there. I watched how my sister changed when she was pregnant and I just... Was amazed. I want to be there for Gabrijela. Which is why I want her to tell me as soon as possible the estimate due date so I can come here and be there for her." He said.

"When do you think she'll pop?" She asked.

"Hm... Maybe November? I finish filming way before that so I can come here as long as needed." He replied.

"Ah, yeah." Tatiana had a thought.

"What is it?" Cillian asked, noting that look in her eyes.

"Please don't think I am coming off as... Rude or overthinking but... I've seen the show, big fan of it, and uh... Those scenes, the intimate ones... How does Gab feel about them?"

"We've talked about it. She understands it's my job. She doesn't feel any... Jealousy or anger about it. I remind her and tell her about it if it's going to happen and tell her how much I love her. She trusts me and I trust her." Cillian nodded as he lifted Tijana into his lap, she was playing with a stuffed unicorn.

"Good. I'm glad. You two work so well together. Also, make sure you go to the doctor with her. Do it before you leave." Tatiana said.

"Ah... Thank you. Sure thing. I'll mention it on the drive." Cillian nodded.

The rest of the morning went well and Tatiana told Cillian what was to be expected, especially when its a first pregnancy. She promised him she would be there for Gabrijela and would stand in for her when she went to the doctors.

Gabrijela came home and Cillian helped bring the rest of his stuff into her room. Then they packed up a suitcase they shared, took snacks and then said good-bye to Tatiana whom they'll see at the wedding. Gab's family was very close to Maya's family, and these past few weeks Maya felt way more like a best friend than Lucia.

They packed Gab's car up once they crossed the water, Gabrijela giving her dad a call to tell him they were going and the same for her mother. They would see them later tonight for dinner. Gabrijela was in charge of that. She knew the right place for it too.

Into the car, they went and began to drive off. They came to the highway eventually and Cillian brought up the first appointment with the doctor. She agreed and they would go together on Tuesday to organise it. They took their first stop at a petrol station since she needed to refuel and take a toilet break. Their next one was at a small pub in Wollombi, to have some chips and beer before they headed to the hotel they would stay at. It was on a family-run vineyard and in their room was one of the wines the owners made.

"Oh fuck yeah. Red wine that I can't have." Gabrijela laughed.

"I'll have a second glass for you." He kissed her shoulder and she grinned. "I want to walk around. The place looks very nice and I'm still stiff from that long drive."

"Sure. Let's go." Gabrijela took his hand and they walked around the property, chatting with the owners when they came across them. They were offered to try more wines and they headed with them, Gabrijela watching how Cillian talked to the man about the taste and all that. She made sure to take photo's when he wasn't watching and giggled.  

They returned to their room to unpack and fix up their outfits for tomorrow. She would wear a short dress for the church and the other one for the reception. Tomorrow's weather was gonna be hot and Cillian made sure to bring an extra shirt in case the other one got too sweaty or something.

As they waited for the rest of her family to come, they decided to kill time by going for a swim to cool off. They mucked around a little before he pulled her in for a deep passionate kiss which they had to break it when some family came into the pool.

"Maybe tonight." She giggled as they crawled out of the pool.

"Maybe." He gave her ass a squeeze and she gasped.

"Cheeky!" She hit his arm playfully and they came back to their room to shower and change. Her family would be here soon. She had already organised the table at Harrigans Hunter Valley. It was a nice pub, it had a nice Irish touch to it and she hoped Cillian would love it.

By six-thirty, her parents came. Her brothers were not going to come cause of the kids, so it was just her and Cillian and her parents. They jumped into her car and headed off to the pub.

It was packed and Gab was lucky to have placed a reservation in. They claimed their table and ordered food, Cillian going for the house special. The night was good and conversation between them was flowing, no tension and Gabrijela was grateful for that. Cillian did indeed love the pub. Reminded him one back at home.

They headed home after some really good dessert. Bidding goodnight, Gab and Cillian retreated to their room and she yawned.

"I'm so tired." She said as she slipped into just panties and a crop top.

"We should have an early night in. And you drove a lot today too." Cillian stayed in his boxers.

"I did." She nodded and went to refresh herself before getting into bed. The night was warm but not to warm to be sweating. But she still kept the window open to let in the breeze.

Cillian grunted as he laid beside her on his back, an arm cocked under his head as she snuggled into his side.

"Excited for tomorrow? You're gonna witness a Croatian wedding for the first time," Gab mused, playing with his chest hair.

"I am. Been a while since I've been to a wedding." His arm came around her.

"Mmm, I see." She sounded very tired and he stroked her hair till she fell asleep.

He stayed awake for a little longer before sleep also found him to.

[sshakespeare]

Cursed Child: Joey!Albus (feat. Lauren!Delphi)

I treated myself to CC this Wednesday to see Joey (and got Lauren!Delphi out of the deal too!) and I wanted to share some of my thoughts/observations below!

PART I

Joey sounds exactly like Daniel Radcliffe. It’s actually a little disconcerting.

Joey’s Albus has HUGE Harry Potter energy circa Books 5 & 6. His single minded determination to save Cedric reminded me a lot of Harry’s obsession with Draco in 6. He also just channels that same dry and edging-on-sassy delivery that Daniel had with Harry’s funnier lines

He carries himself with more confidence than Nick!Albus at the top of the show. He’s definitely nervous about being sorted into Slytherin and going to Hogwarts, but he asserts himself more when Rose is hitting him and he’s more defiant with the other students - Nick’s “I didn’t choose to be his son” is always like a plea. Joey’s reading has a lot more resentment for both the students and Harry

Speaking of - the bedroom scene made me really see the direct connection between Albus’s eavesdropping and the fight. A lot of what Albus throws at Harry about the wizarding world being grateful clearly comes right from Amos. I love Joey’s barely concealed fury in this scene. You can tell it’s been building up for so long and he feels he finally has a reason to let it out

Lauren!Delphi - such a different interpretation from Sara! Lauren’s Delphini Diggory persona kept reminding me of a Derry girl if that makes sense? She had small-town-working-class-up-for-mischief energy and you could see Joey!Albus’s attraction to her right away. She did a lot of voices (she did an American cowboy accent when she was pretending to rob Albus and a little old lady voice when talking about St. Oswald’s). She also pretended to disembowel herself when Amos kept calling for her. It was really dark and fit her Delphi perfectly. Not all her jokes landed with my audience but I appreciate how much she makes Delphi her own and I’m so excited more people get to see her now!

Scorpius suggestively growled at Rose after saying “Good bread! BREAD” and immediately clapped his hand over his mouth all the while Joey!Albus snickered in the background. Joey!Albus in general laughs more than Nick!Albus. He definitely has Harry’s sense of humor

Joey!Albus is tactile for sure. He swatted Scorpius when he said “Do we?!” And he kept putting his hands on Scorpius’s shoulders to steady him on top of the train and while they were watching Delphi transform into Hermione

Also during the train scene Albus kept saying “it’s just like the stairs at school” when trying to get Scorpius to climb up. Super noncomforting but super funny!

When Scorpius and Albus arrive at St Oswald’s, Delphi almost hugs Albus but stops when she sees Scorpius. That tiny moment made it click with me just how much Scorpius’s involvement ruins everything Delphi has so carefully planned over years and years. It really is friendship that saves Albus and the whole world in the end.

Matt!Ron kept rubbing his mouth after kissing Hermione during the polyjuice scene which I honestly don’t remember him doing before. He probably has and I haven’t noticed but I still love it

Scorpius’s “good to know” after Delphi tells him polyjuice is painful was very aggressive tonight.

When Scorpius makes his engorg-impressed joke, Albus made a “so-so” hand gesture, implying he’s rated Scorpius Jokes before and that’s adorable

I’m always intrigued by how Bubba delivers “pale and red at the same time” because sometimes he’s in on his own joke and knows why Albus is blushing and sometimes he’s just baffled by it. Tonight he was very much baffled

Ugh and Joey’s Albus bounces on his toes and holds his cheek and looks so damn happy Delphi kissed him. All I want is his Albus happy but not because of this

Bubba = flirtiest Scorpius. He blew Polly Chapman the most exaggerated kiss while hiding Delphi.

The fight is INTENSE because Joey is one angry Albus. At the start of the Scorpius monologue, Albus looks offended that Scorpius suggests he doesn’t care but you can see him coming to realize how selfish he’s been. When he’s telling Scorpius how kind he is, it is So Soft.

Sarita!Myrtle looks at Albus on the “and boys” line but Joey just made a little “hmm didn’t know that” face. Nick will sometimes look a little flustered so the implications are there

PART II

Not Joey!Albus related, but the Dark World Department of Magic Law Enforcement scene is the best scene in the play. This is a hill I will die on.

Scorpius falters forward right after Draco says “murky” almost like he wants his dad to give him a hug and it never comes. My heart ached for him because Scorpius is truly feeling the loneliness his father felt all throughout his childhood - love and loyalty that has to be kept obscured lest it be viewed as “sloppy” or a weakness

Joey’s Albus is spoiling for a fight when Harry meets him in the Slytherin dorms. His “green is a soothing color” and “not meaning to cast aspersions” delivery is brutal - it’s clearly meant to bait Harry. Nick plays his Albus as very defeated in this scene, as if he’s realized he can never win in the fight against his father’s shadow. Joey plays it like he’s still got one last fight in him and both he and James are near angry tears by the end.

When Bubba does his “Malfoy the Unanxious” he always puts his hands on his hips like some kind of brave knight in a bad musical and Joey!Albus mimics him when he says “I don’t think being fearless is going to be good for your health”

Back on my tactile Albus bullshit: Joey!Albus swats Scorpius again when he says “I had something to prove” (though I do miss how Bubba and Nick practically hold hands during that moment where they’re both on Albus’s bed)

Albus gives a thumbs up to Scorpius’s “it’s time time turning was a thing of the past” joke. Albus joke ranking system confirmed

Lauren!Delphi doesn’t have as clear of a delineation between her Delphini Diggory persona and her Delphi persona (Sara’s voice is always much higher when she’s pretending to be a Diggory), but she’s still terrifying. After she killed Craig and said “these are not childish games we are playing” I got chills. She clearly has no regard for human life

Joey’s Albus can’t watch Craig die. He completely shields his face from it when he realizes what’s about to happen. Bubba’s Scorpius watches the entire thing.

Albus screams when Scorpius is being tortured just like Harry does in Order of the Phoenix when Sirius dies. It’s agonizing

His Albus also screams Scorpius’s name and then whispers it a second time when Delphi uses Crucio for the final time on him.

I love when any Albus screams “HELP” just like Scorpius does. Nick doesn’t do it as much, but Joey went for it

James’s Harry was going through it tonight. He was crying so hard after his conversation with Dumbledore in Act IV that Draco had to ask “You okay?”

He was crying even harder during his scene with Ginny in Albus’s room. The progression of how James plays that scene since his early shows and now is amazing. We’re so lucky he’s sticking around for another year

I don’t even know how to describe the way Joey’s whole face lit up when he sees Ginny for the first time in Godric’s Hollow. It’s like he’s eleven years old again and he gives her the most crushing hug.

Joey’s Albus is the real rock for Harry as they all watch his parents die. Usually James’s Harry leans more on Ginny for support, but this time it was Albus.

Bubba and Joey’s last hug was...weird? When Scorpius hugged him, Joey was more playful with “Scorpius? What is this?” It almost had this undercurrent of “have I finally cracked you? Are you going to start hugging me now?” Nick usually plays it with more happy confusion. Then Joey said the “You better ask Rose...” line while Bubba was still hugging him. Bubba pulled away and lingered for a beat before snapping back to life (like he does with Nick). But while Nick will often look off wistfully as Scorpius leaves, Joey’s Albus has a more happy go lucky look, like he’s looking forward to a good day with his dad. I think Joey’s version is more in line with what the playwrights want, but I do miss all the intense subtext Bubba and Nick have managed to infuse into that hug

That being said, weirdly no Scorbus pair have looked closer to kissing than Bubba and Joey right before Bubba runs down the stairs. They were standing so damn close to each other.

Right before the lights went out, James and Joey hugged!! It’s all I ever needed and more.

I went into the Part I thinking Joey!Albus would be an interesting mix between Sam’s Albus and Nick’s Albus, but I really found he’s entirely an Albus of his own. This is the one Albus where I didn’t quite believe Harry’s “You’re actually more like your mum.” He certainly still had Ginny’s boldness and humor, but I felt like Joey’s Albus was the beginnings of the version of Harry who had been sorted into Slytherin, who hadn’t initially found adapting to Hogwarts so easy, and who had trouble not letting his loneliness overwhelm him. It hit home one of my favorite Draco lines: “People saying parenting is the hardest job in the world. They’re wrong. Growing up is. We all just forget how hard it was.” Harry’s forgotten and it prevents him from seeing how he could have taken the exact same road Albus started down.

To try and summarize all this: gigantic, enormous shout out to Joey and to all understudies who make such massive roles their own and shed completely new light on certain moments and scenes and characters!