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undyingskies · 4 years ago

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First Time (18+)

Request: yes,“owen x reader. him taking your v-card and him being super surprised when he hears you whimper or gasp really loud.”

A/N: I have about three different versions of this one as I didn’t know how I wanted this to end or come together. I am nervous to post this and decided to just do it. I hope you guys enjoy this one, this was my first time writing such mature content so I hope it doesn’t suck lol

Warnings: This does have mature content in it, so please be careful. There is no actual sex scene but like I said there is mature content and foreplay in this. I want to preface that I am of age, writing about an of age actor. If you are younger please be advised and be careful. There is nothing��wrong with exploring your sexuality and learn about such things or read them, but again please be careful. Sex is a natural thing and nothing to be ashamed of, with this all being said I will not be writing any mature content for anyone underage and I will not engage in explicit conversations with those who are also younger age so please do not message me about such. With that being said for those of you who do read this I hope you enjoy.

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Your hands wrapped around his neck and his on your waist. The two of you swaying to the music, you could hear Owen humming to the song in your ear.

This moment felt perfect, the two of you wrapped in each other’s arms. It was Jeremy and Carolynn’s wedding. The night was winding down and there were just a few of you left. You weren’t ready to leave, moments like this with Owen were the best and you never wanted them to end.

Owen leans down, connecting your lips with his. It was a slow and passionate kiss, one that takes your breath away and makes you feel like you’re floating.

You move your hands to entangle in his hair, pulling him closer to you. His tongue swipes your bottom lip, asking for access, which you grant. The kiss getting more passionate. Owen pulls away and you bite down on his lip causing a groan to leave his lips.

His lips trail down your jaw, leaving small kisses along it and down your neck. A soft moan leaving your lips.

“Want to get out of here?” Owen asks you, leaning down so his lips touch your ear. A shiver making its way down your spine.

You bite down on your bottom lip, nodding yes. Owen chuckles and kisses you one last time before he’s pulling you towards the last group of people here.

“We’re gonna get out of here now guys, congratulations to the two of you again.” Owen says pulling Jeremy into a hug and then Carolynn. You follow his lead.

“Oh and bye Charlie, I’ll see you back at the apartment in a few days.” Owen laughs, pulling Charlie into a hug, which you follow his lead again.

“Bye guys, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Charlie laughs and wiggles his eyebrows at the two of you. Sending heat to both yours and Owen’s cheeks.

You follow Owen to the parking lot, his hand in yours as you wait for the uber to pick the two of you up and take you back to your hotel.

The uber quickly arrives and Owen opens the door to let you slide in first, him following. You give the driver a small hello but Owen is quick to turn your head to face him and connect your lips with his.

His hand leaves a trail up and down your thigh and his lips travel down your neck again. As much as you loved the feeling of him on you, it felt a little to public.

“O....O, not here baby. Once we get to the hotel, okay?” You tell him while pushing him softly off you. He smiles at you and kisses you one more time.

“Okay.” He says, letting his hand still cup your thigh.

Tonight was the night; you knew it was going to be from the moment you woke up this morning. It was a day filled with love and joy.

You were a virgin and had been waiting for the right time to lose it. It’s not like you didn’t want to do it, it just never felt like the right moment or person. That is, until you met Owen. You knew he was the right person but it felt like the moment never came.

Don’t get it wrong, you and Owen did things. You just never went all the way, but tonight you were. You loved him and he loved you and it was time.

You reach the hotel quickly, you pulling Owen out of the car and into the hotel rather fast. You were ready and you didn’t want your nerves to get the best of you.

You’re still pulling him through the hotel, practically running to get to your room once you exited the elevator. You’re stumbling with the key to get in the door and you hear Owen chuckle at you.

“Oh shut up.” You laugh at him. His hand being placed over yours to help steady it. The door getting unlocked immediately after that. You look up at him smiling, seeing that he is already smiling down at you.

The minute the door is open, you attach your lips back to Owen’s. You push yourself closer to him to deepen the kiss. Your hands making their way up to his hair and pulling. You hear a groan leave his lips and before you know it Owen has you pushed up against the wall, grinding his crotch into yours.

A moan escapes your lips at the pressure. Owen takes the chance to slip his tongue into your mouth, engaging in a battle of dominance. Which he won.

You let your hands wander, going under his shirt and feeling his toned stomach. Your fingers tickling against his skin as you play with the hem of his pants.

You move your hands to pull on his shirt letting him know you wanted it off. Which he complies with and moves to pull your dress over your head as well.

You feel his hands move to cup your thighs and pulling your feet off the ground. You wrap your legs around his waist as his hands find their place on your butt, giving it a squeeze.

Your mouths quickly find their way back to each other. This time you pull apart to let your lips wander down his neck, sucking when you got to his collarbone. A groan leaving his mouth.

“Y/N...” Owen moans out, sending butterflies through your body. You lead your lips back up to his, they find each other for a passionate kiss.

“Bed, Owen, bed.” You tell him. He’s quick to listen to your command and lay you on the bed. He stares at you from the edge of the bed for a moment, enjoying seeing you in just your bra and underwear, your hair sprawled out all around you. Him thinking to yourself how beautiful you really are and just how lucky he is to be with you.

He was a sight to see himself too. His hair messed up from your hands pulling and running through it, his lips swollen, and cheeks red. His pants hanging lower on his hips than usual.

Owen then crawls onto the bed, hovering over you. You pull him down to you, face to face, just taking the moment to breath before you connect your lips with his again.

Your hands wander down his back and to his pants, as his make their way behind you to unclasp your bra. You sit up slightly letting the material fall of your body. Owen just taking in the sight of you.

He bends his head down to attach his lips to your nipple, sucking softly. A loud gasp leaving your lips, taking him by surprise but a sound he very quickly came to love.

You move your hands across the hem of his pants again this time pushing down on them. You move your hands down as his lips reconnect with your neck, popping the button open and moving to unzip his pants. Your hands grazing against his package, causing him to pause and gasp.

After that it starts to move fast. Owen has his pants off in seconds and then your underwear next. His lips are back on yours as he grinds down onto you, causing you both to let out moans.

His hands make their way down to your entrance, as he pushes two fingers into you. Another moan coming out of you as he pumps them in and out of you, curling up every-time to reach that spot that makes your toes curl.

As much as you enjoy what’s happening, you grab his wrist to pull his hand and place it on your hip. You then move your hands down to push his underwear off, leaving the two of you skin to skin. Owen looks down at you this time again, making eye contact, as he leans down to place his lips on yours. This kiss was slower than the others, just as passionate but you can feel the love being poured into it from the both of you.

“O, I want to do it.” You tell him, disconnecting your lips to look up at him. Your hands running through his hair as he smiles at you.

“Are you sure? Positive? You know we don’t have too.” You can tell he’s worried. He never wanted to pressure you into anything.

“100% positive O. I want this, I want you.” You tell him leaning in to kiss him. A big smile comes over his face.

“I love you Y/N.” He tells you, getting ready to line himself up with your entrance.

“I love you too, O.”

And just like that, you weren’t a virgin anymore.

You have your head laying on his chest, as you both try to catch your breath. Your hand holding his on his stomach. He has his other hand drawing small patterns on your naked back.

You move to sit up a little, your chin now on his chest. Your skin sticking to each other. You lean forward to have your lips meet his in a sweet kiss.

You’re in bliss, it was perfect. Owen was perfect, and he treated you better than you could ever wish someone would.

“You know I love you, Y/N.” He tells you using his hand to move some hair out of your face before it finds its way back on your hip.

“I love you too O, thank you for being so patient with me.” You tell him. A smile making its way across your face and cheeky one across his.

“Of course baby, you know I’d never rush you. Besides I’d wait forever if it means I could hear those whimpers and gasps leave your lips again.” His hand coming up to trace your lips and heat rising to your cheeks.

“Stop ittttt...” You tell him, playfully swatting at his chest. His hand catching yours, he pulls you down into him, placing his lips on yours.

Your lips melting into his and letting him take dominance yet again. You feel his hands trail down your back and leave a slap on your ass. A gasp leaving your lips at the contact.

“There it is.” He says chuckling against your lips. You laugh along with him before you press your lips against his again.

It’s quick to heat up again, him laying you down and leaning over you. Your lips depart from one another, you both looking at each other lovingly. He leans down to press a quick kiss to your lips before saying,

“Round 2? I can’t seem to get enough of you.”

His words causing those same butterflies to erupt throughout your body. You pull him back down to you.

Everything about tonight was perfect. You never felt more loved and happy that you waited for Owen. Him proving that to you for the second time that night.

#owen x reader #owen joyner imagine #owenjoynerimagines #owen joyner fic #owen joyner fanfiction

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collegeburnoutsuperstar · 5 years ago

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Social Distancing Book Recs

I’ve been getting tons of book recommendations from friends and family to help get through social distancing/self-quarantine, so I thought I should share some of my favorite books with everybody!

Horror/Apocalyptic: *all books are ADULT*

- The Stand by Stephen King “This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death. And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides -- or are chosen” (Goodreads Summary).

- Inferno by Dan Brown “Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital, disorientated and with no recollection of the past thirty-six hours, including the origin of the macabre object hidden in his belongings. With a relentless female assassin tailing them through Florence, he and his resourceful doctor, Sienna Brooks, are forced to flee. Embarking on a harrowing journey, they must unravel a series of codes, which are the work of a brilliant scientist whose obsession with the end of the world is matched only by his passion for one of the most influential masterpieces ever written, Dante Alighieri’s The Inferno” (Goodreads Summary).

- World War Z by Max Brooks “The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, form decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years” (Goodreads summary).

- It by Stephen King “It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real... They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name” (Goodreads summary).

- The Shining by Stephen King “Jack Torrance’s new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he’ll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic locations feels ever more remote... and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old” (Goodreads summary).

- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski “[House of Leaves] focuses on a young family that moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of the impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story -- of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of the unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams” (Goodreads summary).

Comedy:

- Good Omens by Neil Gaimen and Terry Pratchett “People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it’s only natural to be skeptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. But what if, for once, the predictions are right, and the apocalypse really is due to arrive next Saturday, just after tea? You could spend the time left drowning your sorrows, giving away all your possessions in preparation for the rapture, or laughing it off as (hopefully) just another hoax. Or you could just try to do something about it. It’s a predicament that Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a fast-living demon now finds themselves in. They’ve been living amongst Earth’s mortals since The Beginning and, truth be told, have grown rather fond of the lifestyle and, in all honesty, are not actually looking forward to the coming Apocalypse. And then there’s the small matter that someone appears to have misplaced the Antichrist... “ (Goodreads summary).

- Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan *PG-13* Dad is Fat is a comedic memoir that details Jim Gaffigan’s life growing up in a large Catholic family to his experiences as a husband and father (specifically parenting his five young children while living in a tiny walk-up apartment in New York). I highly recommend the audiobook (which is narrated by Jim Gaffigan), my family and I always listen to it during road trips. It never stops being funny.

- Bored of the Rings: A Parody of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings by The Harvard Lampoon *ADULT* “A quest, a war, a ring that would be grounds for calling any wedding off, a king without a kingdom, and a little, furry ‘hero’ named Frito, ready -- or maybe just forced by the wizard of Goodgulf-- to undertake the one mission which can save Lower Middle Earth from enslavement by the evil Sorhed… Luscious Elfmaidens, a roller-skating dragon, ugly plants that can soul-kiss the unwary to death-- these are just some of the ingredients in the wildest, wackiest, most irreverent excursion into fantasy realms that anyone has ever dared to undertake” (Goodreads summary).

Middle-Grade:

- Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan (book 1: The Lightning Thief) “Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse - Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends-- one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena-- Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods” (Goodreads summary).

- The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan (book 1: The Lost Hero) “Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for ‘bad kids.’ What id Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out. Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too-- like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them--including Leo-- is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason’s amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?” (Goodreads summary)

- The Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo (book 1: Midnight for Charlie Bone) “Charlie Bone has a special gift-- he can hear people in photographs talking! The fabulous powers of the Red King were passed down through his descendants, after turning up quite unexpectedly, in someone who had no idea where they came from. This is what happened to Charlie Bone, and to some of the children he met behind the grim, gray walls of Bloor’s Academy. His scheming aunts decide to send him to Bloor’s Academy, a school for geniuses where he uses his grifts to discover the truth despite all the dangers that lie ahead” (Goodreads summary).

- Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements “Bobby Phillips is an average fifteen-year-old boy. Until the morning he wakes up and can’t see himself in the mirror. Not blind, not dreaming. Bobby is just plain invisible... There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to Bobby’s new conditions; even his dad the physicist can’t figure it out. For Bobby that means no school, no friends, no life. He’s a missing person” (Goodreads summary).

Science Fiction:

- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick *Adult* “It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill. Somewhere among the hordes of humans out there, lurked several rogue androids. Deckard’s assignment-- find them and then... ‘retire’ them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn’t want to be found!” (Goodreads summary).

- Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton * Suitable for Young Adults* “An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them-- for a price. Until something goes wrong...” (Goodreads summary).

Fantasy:

- The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman *ADULT* (book 1: The Magicians) “Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he’s still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Something is missing, though. Magic doesn’t bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he dreamed it would. After graduation he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real. But the land of Quentin’s fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he could have imagined. His childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart” (Goodreads summary).

- The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater *YA* (book 1: The Raven Boys) “What do you know about Welsh kings?” This incredibly atmospheric story centers on a seemingly random group of teens as they uncover the mysterious and magical secrets of their small Virginia town.

- A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab *Suitable for Young Adults* “Kell is one of the last Antari-- magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. Kell was raised in Arnes-- Red London-- and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. Now perilous magic is afoot, and treacher lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive” (Goodreads summary).

- The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien *Suitable for middle-grade through adult* “In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord. forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken form him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom” (Goodreads summary).

- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss *Adult* “Told in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bit to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story” (Goodreads summary).

- The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch *Adult* “An orphan’s life is harsh-- and often short-- in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But youge Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Loke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game-- or die trying” (Goodreads summary).

Fiction:

- The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich *ADULT mystery-thrillers/romance* (book 1: One for the Money) “You’ve lost your job as a department store lingerie buyer, your car’s been repossessed, and most of your furniture and small appliances have been sold off to pay last month’s rent. Now the rent is due again. And you live in New Jersey. What do you do? If you’re Stephanie Plum, you become a bounty hunter. But not just a nickel-and-dime bounty hunter; you go after the big money. That means a cop gone bad. And not just any cop. She goes after Joe Morelli, a disgraced former vice cop who is also the man who took Stephanie’s virginity at age 16 and the wrote details on a bathroom wall. With pride and rent money on the line, Plum plunges headlong into her first case, one that pits her against ruthless adversaries - people who’d rather kill than lose” (Goodreads summary).

- The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown *Adult* “While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci-- clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion-- a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victory Hugo, and Da Vici-- and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Landon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle-- while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move-- the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever” (Goodreads summary).

- Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle *Adult* Sherlock Holmes stories are always fun when stuck at home.

- 11/22/63 by Stephen King *Adult* “Life can turn on a dime-- or stumble into the extraordinary, as it does for Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine. While grading essays by his GED students, Jake reads a gruesome, enthralling piece penned by janitor Harry Dunning: fifty years ago, Harry somehow survived his father’s sledgehammer slaughter of his entire family, Jake is blown away... but an even more bizarre secret comes to light when Jake’s friend Al, owner of the local diner, enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession-- to prevent the Kennedy assassination. How? By stepping through a portal in the diner’s storeroom, and into the ear of Ike and Elvis, or big American cars, sock hops, and cigarette smoke... Finding himself in warmhearted Jodie, Texas, Jake begins a new life. But all turns in the road lead to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald. The course of history is about to be rewritten... and become heart-stoppingly suspenseful” (Goodreads summary).

Non-Fiction:

- The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson *Adult* “In 1979 a secret unit was established by the most gifted minds within the U.S. Army. Defying all known accepted military practice-- and indeed, the laws of physics-- they believed that a soldier could adopt a cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls, and, perhaps most chillingly, kill goats just by staring at them. Entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries, they were the First Earth Battalion. And they really weren’t joking. What’s more, they’re back and fighting the War on Terror. With firsthand access to the leading players in the story, Ronson traces the evolution of these bizarre activities over the past three decades and shows how they are alive today within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and in postwar Iraq. Why are they blasting Iraqi prisoners of war with the theme tune to Barney the Purple Dinosaur? Why have 100 debleated goats been secretly placed inside the Special Forces Command Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina? How was the U.S. military associated with the mysterious mass suicide of a strange cult form San Diego? The Men Who Stare at Goats answers these and many more questions” (Goodreads summary).

- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert *Adult* (I recommend listening to the audiobook, which is narrated by Elizabeth Gilbert) “To recover from [an early midlife crisis, divorce, and depression], Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world-- all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way-- unexpectedly” (Goodreads summary).

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hphm-tanaka-chung · 4 years ago

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HPHM Profile~ Rose Tanaka

I took most of the revised template that @hogwartsmysterystory created, but made a few changes to get right to the gist of everything. If anything needs clarifying, let me know and I’ll fix things up.

(image created by hufflepuffmystery on Instagram!)

Identity:

Name: Rose Tanaka

Gender: Female

Birth date: October 27, 1972

Age: 17 as of June 1, 1989

Blood Status: Half-Blood (mother was Muggleborn, father was a wizard)

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Alignment: Neutral Good

Ethnicity: Japanese

Nationality: Japanese

Residence: Osaka, Japan

MBTI: INFP

Magic capability:

Wand: Poplar with unicorn hair, 12 inches, quite bendy

Animagus?: In the canon game, Rose is a falcon animagus.

Magical Abilities: In the canon game, Rose is a legilimens.

Boggart/Riddikulus: Rose’s Boggart is not instantly visible, but she’s scared of the cold. She’s scared of the feeling of numbness within, and she’s scared of seeing even a little bit of frost spread over matter. In the Riddikulus form, the ice had dissolved into a swirling sparkling wind that gently lifted her hair and clothes, which, of course, made her laugh.

Mirror of Erised: The image that stares back at her is intriguing. She sees herself as an older woman with a broomstick in hand, wearing one of the Japanese Quidditch team uniforms--but at the same time she has a few books in her other hands that depicted titles that had nothing to do with Quiddtch...

Patronus: Rose’s Patronus in the game is a lop-eared bunny.

Patronus memory: Her Patronus memory would be of the time her grandmother took her to see the cherry blossoms when she was still very young--the time she spent with her grandmother was near and dear to her.

Amortentia: Rose smells chrysanthemum tea, parchment, fresh mown grass, and something minty. Anyone who smells her scent would smell cherry blossoms, fresh parchment, hot chocolate, and something like...hair dye.

Appearance:

Faceclaim: Satomi Ishihara

Voiceclaim: Lea Salonga (may subject to change)

Game Appearance:

Height: 5’6”

Weight: …?

Physique: Slim and fit, not a lot of muscle

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Black (dyed dark blue in year 5)

Skin Tone: Pale

Body Modifications: N/A

Scarring: N/A

Inventory: (what do they carry on them?)

-a hair comb

-a few spare quills

-a plain black headband

-a photo of her as a baby and her family

Fashion: Rose tends to wear shirts with collars, so don’t expect her to be out of her school uniform for too long. On occasion she’d wear a hoodie and jeans, or anything traditionally worn by English girls of the time. Hey, just because she’s Japanese doesn’t mean she can’t learn about the English culture.

Allegiances

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Ilvermorny House: Horned Serpent

Affiliations/Organizations:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Ravenclaw)

Toyohashi Tengu -> Japanese National Quidditch team (Japan)

Professions: Quidditch player; Hogwarts Flying Instructor/Quidditch Referee

Hogwarts info:

Class proficiencies: Astronomy (A), Charms (O), Defence Against the dark Arts (E), Flying (E), Herbology (O), History of Magic (E), Potions (E), Transfiguration (E)

Electives: Care of Magical Creatures (E), Divination (A), Muggle Studies (E)

Quidditch: Ravenclaw Seeker (4th-7th year)

Extracurricular: N/A

Favourite professors: Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick

Least favourite professors: Professor Binns

Relationships

Best friends (canon): Rowan Khanna, Badeea Ali, Charlie Weasley, Ben Copper, Chiara Lobosca, Talbott Winger, Andre Egwu

Rivals: Merula Snyde

Enemy: R

Dormmates: Rowan Khanna, Badeea Ali, Tulip Karasu

Pets: Cat (Arisu)--a half-breed of cat and Kneazle

Love Interest: Torn between Ben Copper and Talbott Winger. Despite having gone out on 2 dates with Talbott, she still thinks of Ben Copper a lot, and reminisces back to their time at the Celestial Ball.

Closest canon friends: listed above

Closest MC friends: Emmett Chung

Familial relations:

Mother: Melissa Tanaka (nee Feng)

Melissa was born and raised in China by strict parents Rose never got to see. A hard worker at school and in her family home, she eventually got herself a job as a bank manager. She moved to Japan in hopes of settling trade issues between China and Japan--it was there where she met Rose’s father. She is now working as a representative of the Chinese national bank, and her consistent travelling between the two countries resulted in a lack of bonding between her children.

Father: Ashina Tanaka

Before Ryotaro Tanaka stepped foot into Mahoutokoro, Ashina went first. He was a good student at Mahoutokoro, but not a face everyone remembered so well; he constantly kept to himself and buried himself in his work all the time. The few friends he did have, he rarely kept connections with after graduating. Still, he took delicate care in everything he did, and eventually opened a shop where he made crafts and learned the old Japanese arts upon graduating.

Brother: Kyoru Tanaka

Kyoru Tanaka was Rose’s older brother who was first considered for Mahoutokoro but eventually chose to go to Hogwarts when his letter of acceptance arrived from that school. Despite the geographical distance he made the trips to and from King’s Cross work. Just like his father, Kyoru kept to himself a lot, and he made very few friends in his time there. Upon his imprisonment in the buried vault he thought nothing of the impact he left on the rest of his family.

Cousin: Cho Chang

Cho Chang is six years younger than Rose and aspires to be a good flier like her cousin. Though they never really met much she heard of her older cousin’s stories and eventually got sorted into Ravenclaw in her first year, when Rose was then made Head Girl.

Grandmother: Fei-Ying Tanaka

Rose was very close with her paternal grandmother who was just equally proud of her son and his achievements. When she was younger they would spend a lot of time together while Kyoru was in school, and from her grandmother she would learn how to read and write in Japanese, communicate and read and write in English, and understand more of her culture and her family history.

Background/History:

Rose lived a rather detached sort of life within her family when she was younger. The one person she had a firm relationship with at the time was her grandmother, who always took her out on trips to the park while teaching her many different things. Her father was busy manning the shop soon after Kyoru started to attend school, and as for her mother she barely saw her around a lot either. During this time, though, Rose did learn a few useful things from her father as well as her grandmother--she soon mastered the ancient art of origami and ink drawings.

Eventually, Kyoru went missing in the summer of 1982, and two years later Rose began to attend Hogwarts. Before September 1 every year, she would move to her aunt’s place and live with her cousin, Cho.

Hogwarts Mystery unfolded.

Upon graduation, Rose went back to Japan and at first contemplated on using her talents to teach at Mahoutokoro, but the memories she had of the wizard in white robes ambushing her on R’s orders were enough to make her refuse her placement. Instead, she sought a position on one of the Japanese Quidditch teams. She eventually was placed in the substitute roster on the Toyohashi Tengu as Seeker, but her exceptional talents on the pitch eventually bumped her up to the starting roster. She was eventually admitted to the Japanese National Quidditch team, and represented her country in the 1994 Quidditch Cup. Although the team did not make it into the final, she still revelled in her glory.

Well, that was, until Talbott reached out to her while she was recovering from minor injuries from the matches. She was hesitant to reach out to him in return, but remembering her promise to him she eventually started a correspondence with him.

Rose fought along with her peers at the Battle of Hogwarts and survived. After Hogwarts was fully rebuilt, she took over as the Flying Coach at Hogwarts, and then the Quidditch referee certified by the British Ministry of Magic, when Madam Hooch eventually retired.

Rose did not consider marriage throughout this time, but eventually she reconnected with Talbott and the flame reignited. They got married in early 1999. Current legacies undetermined.

Personality:

Rose is not at all like the rest of her family--much like her grandmother, she is understanding and patient with everyone she meets. Rowan was actually the first one to break through that shell the rest of her family had cast upon her, and she became much more open and friendly. She’s not afraid to get a little competitive at times with her peers, but it was all for fun in the end. Still, she knows well where her loyalties lie. She would snap shut if something upsets her, and break down if the situation bore too much pressure. Her way of venting involved making a lot of origami and writing in a small notebook--almost like a journal--or furiously writing essays that didn’t pertain to academics.

Misc:

Rose’s favourite colour is pink, but perhaps that came from the fact that she was literally named after a flower.

Rose and Tulip actually share a close kinship based on the fact that they were named after flowers. Admittedly, Rose was about to be named Blossom when she was born, but her father once surprised her mother with an elegantly painted origami rose which spurred the change of name before her birth.

Rose could make origami. She trained her patience through it.

Despite Rose not warming up to flying at first, she eventually became really good at it and so continued to foster her talents in that subject area.

More to come…?

#hogwarts mystery mc #hphm rose tanaka #hphm #hphm mc #hogwarts mystery profile #about rose tanaka

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theprodigypenguin · 5 years ago

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do you do jeddy as canonly as possible or mostly au? because teddy and james were raised as brothers and idk how to feel about that

Well let me start out by assuring you that you have no responsibility to like the jeddy ship. If you don’t like it for any reason, please don’t push yourself to look at content, because it will just upset you and ruin your fandom experience, and that’s not fair to you.

Now regarding canon, here’s what we know: Teddy was raised by Andromeda, but unlike how Harry grew up, he had his parents friends to visit and spend time with, so the way I interpret that is he lives with Andromeda year round, but occasionally goes overnight to the others houses. I imagine he spent the most time with Harry and Bill, because according to canon, Charlie and Bill Weasley were some of Tonks’ best friends, and you can bet Bill really loved and respected Remus as well, especially after he was attacked by Greyback, I imagine Remus was a really strong figure to Bill. Teddy probably spent as much time with Bill’s family as he did with Harry’s, Bill would have insisted on it.

If we go by that interpretation, technically we can put Victoire in the same position as James, just a little older. They’re both children of people whom Teddy spent a lot of time with as a kid, and it’s canon that he starts dating Victoire, so if it’s weird that Teddy would date James, wouldn’t it be just as weird that he dated Victoire? Going by the logic that he was raised part time by Harry or Bill, that would make Victoire as much his sister as James being his brother.

If you like the dynamic of Teddy and James growing up as brothers, then by all means please indulge in that, but me personally? I don’t think Teddy ever thought that way. He was raised by Andromeda, but Harry was a constant in his life as his godfather, and you know I really see Bill and the rest of the Weasley’s being there just as much. You think Harry took charge by himself? After reading seven books of the Weasley’s being such a tight knit group? Absolutely not. ALL of them took charge of raising Teddy, not just Harry.

They were all his family in a way, but I don’t think he ever saw James as his brother anymore than he saw Victoire as his sister. I actually explain why in a little drabble but I’ll just repeat it here:

“I never saw you as a brother, exactly. I think… I was too stubborn. Harry’s family was mine, he always made sure to tell me that, but half of me always ensured I was somehow still separate from the rest of you. I think I wanted to be accepted as a part your family, but at the same time I was afraid if I actually called myself your brother, or Harry’s son, then I’d be… betraying my parents somehow. I’d be willingly forgetting them; but if I kept myself at least a little apart, continued thinking of myself as just an extra instead of an extension, then I could still keep Harry as well as my mum and dad. I was selfish… because I wanted a family, but I didn’t want yours; I wanted mine. I wanted everything at once, including the things I couldn’t have. Focused so much on what wasn’t there that I didn’t look more than once at what’s always been there. I always stayed a step behind the rest of you, tried to be part of what you had while giving Harry and the rest of your family the chance to tell me to bugger off if my presence got too invasive. I never let myself feel as if I really belonged with you, because I was afraid if I did, then it would just hurt me in the end… My habit of seeing myself as a separate existence that didn’t really fit with the Potter’s is probably why I came to terms with how I felt about you. My only hindrance was worrying over Harry’s reaction, but even when I let myself get lost in day terrors about him going mad if I told him, I never really considered telling you. I think part of me felt I didn’t deserve you.” - Love Me Tender

Yeah, that’s how I interpret their relationship. They never saw each other as brother’s, more like childhood friends. Everyone loves a good childhood friends to lovers romance. They’re attached at the hip from birth and grow up super close, they love each other, their families are close, and they fall in love with each other slowly over the course of YEARS, until one day when they’re both adults and they realize, holy shit, I was BORN to be with you. That’s why I love them so much, because to me their relationship is a story of growing up together, separating for a time, and coming back after figuring out who they are only to discover being together is what they’d always wanted.

And technically this is the same exact dynamic between Teddy and Victoire, so if you like Tedoire but think Jeddy is problematic, then I think you need to eat a Snickers and calm down, just let people like what they want.

But I want to finish off by reiterating this is just my personal opinion on the ship, and I DO prefer it over Tedoire, but mostly because I think it’s super cute that the Mauraders would come together and reconnect in the form of their grandson and great-grandson. I mean? How poetic is it that Remus, James, and Sirius would come together again?

That doesn’t mean other people aren’t allowed to not like Jeddy. If you don’t like Jeddy, that’s fine with me. If you prefer Tedoire? That’s cool too. You’d rather interpret James and Teddy’s relationship as brotherly and familial? Go for it my dudes. If it makes you happy and makes your fandom experience fun, please enjoy yourself and all of your opinions, because you are valid. That’s what makes this so fun, because believe it or not THERE IS NO CANON that controls us. We can do whatever we want with James and Teddy. If you see them as brothers, you’re valid. If you see them as lovers, you’re valid. Because there’s no canon telling us otherwise.

I hope this explains how I interpret Jeddy though, lol. I write their dynamic as if they’re childhood friends who fell in love with each other, that’s pretty much it. Thank you for your question!

#jeddy #james sirius potter #teddy lupin #edward remus lupin #victoire weasley #jeddy discussion #amelia answers asks #amelia answers anons #bill weasley #charlie weasley #remus lupin #nymphadora tonks #harry potter #andromeda tonks

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twdmusicboxmystery · 6 years ago

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Fear 4x13: BlackJack - Analysis

Who watched Fear last night? Once again, I saw a lot of important symbols. Lots of parallels to Beth and Daryl’s story that were then confirmed on TTD.

***As always, spoilers abound for FTWD 4x13, Blackjack. Don't read until you've watched!***

I noticed fridge in the opening credits was floating in water. I still haven't posted the coolant theory, and probably won’t for a few weeks yet. Fear puts little hints about what the episode will be about in the opening credits. The most obvious thing here is the big lake John and Strand are trying to get across. Out of any character in Fear, John is the most like Beth. In the coolant theory, the refrigerator probably represents Beth, and we saw it floating in the lake. And in the episode, at one point, John is stranded in a small boat in the middle of the lake. More on that in a second.

Morgan’s Group:

We start out with Morgan's group, looking for Quinn, who we know Filthy Lady killed last episode. June said, "We should keep looking." This is a direct call back to 5x16. Daryl wanted to keep looking for Red Poncho Guy, but Aaron convinced him to go into the cannery instead, where they accidentally triggered the Wolf trap. It's not a coincidence they're coming back to this, especially since it was Morgan who saved them from the trap. Now they want to keep looking for people in Fear.

As it turns out, Filthy Lady is also somewhat Lizzie-like. She said she let Quinn “become what he was meant to be,” which in her mind is a walker.

Morgan buries walker they found. (Once again, even random walkers get burials, but not Beth.)

Remember that the owner of the truck Sarah and Wendell stole calls himself Polar Bear. We also find out this episode that he kept journals. Between the bear symbolism and Polaris (North Star and part of the dog/Sirius symbolism) obviously both those things equal Beth. Now we find he also kept journals. Like Beth

While in front of mile marker 74, Sarah says, “this is a frog/scorpion situation.” She’s basically justifying stealing Polar Bear’s truck. We’ve see frog symbolism before, specifically in Them.

Remember that frogs are major transformation/resurrection symbolism. So basically the symbols of frogs, Polaris and bears are all being used to represent the same guy here. They guy who keeps journals and believes in helping people. He’s leaving them water (a callback to Aaron leaving TF water in 5x10) and other items in the boxes. Is this screaming Beth to you yet?

Then, Sarah says the frog left his KEYS in his truck. (Key theory).

The story made me realize something. We’ve harped on the key theory before, but more specifically there’s a theme of keys being left behind in a car. The first thing that came to mind is when Rick and Daryl met Jesus in 6x10. He got out of the truck he stole from them to change a tire. They tied him up and when they got back in the truck, the keys were in there. In 5x02, when Carol found the car on the side of the road, the keys were in there too. If you go back to Them, 5x10, Maggie found keys inside the car, which she used to open the trunk. More recently, we saw an iteration of this in Red Machete with one of the Saviors, which with they even paralleled shots of him looking through the car to how Maggie did it in 5x10.

At the end, Morgan is in the truck, which is attacked by Filthy Lady. I was kind of surprised how many groups came together in this episode. Granted, we only got three episodes left, but I kind of figured they wouldn't all come together until the very last one. I suppose they’re not really altogether. John and Strand still haven't reconnected with the group at all.

Alicia and Charlie did reconnect, but only via the walkie. They haven't actually met up with the group yet. Still, it's getting the group together very quickly. That's probably because they have to deal with Filthy Lady. She's obviously doing her best to cause them trouble.

John and Strand:

John and Strand are definitely a retelling of Beth and Daryl here. Even on TTD, Colman Domingo (Strang) said this was a battle of faith. John Dorie, as ever, is the positive, faithful one. Just like Beth was. Meanwhile, Strand is the negative hopeless one. Like Daryl.

Lots of little symbols in their story. We see a black grackle, which is heavily emphasized and often mentioned. I looked it up and there’s a lot of interesting symbolism around black grackles. I won’t go into all of it here except to say that it works well for John and Strand’s story. There are things that obviously apply to what each characters is going through here.

In terms of Beth, I think it could apply in two specific ways. (I’m sure there are more, but this post is already long, so I’ll keep this particular angle short.) The first thing that came to mind is the Black and White theme around Beth and Daryl. The bird is black, which would represent Daryl. We didn’t see live white animals, but right after it first shows the bird, Strand picks up a copy of Moby Dick.

The cover is mostly just water, but also shows the tail fin of the whale. Guess what color it is? White. (Cuz the whale in Moby Dick is white anyway.) So we have the black and white theme, and the white one (which has always represented Beth) is an ocean creature. Just saying.

In terms of grackle symbolism, one thing that leapt out at me is that the crackle usually perches and caws either just BEFORE DAWN or just after sunset. It’s the before dawn that caught my attention because we believe Beth will appear with a sunrise. Sirius the dog star also reappears before sunrise. And in this episode, it was obviously first thing in the morning that the bird was seen, because Strand was still asleep and it woke him.

Also, at one point, John says it’s odd that the grackle is alone. They always fly in groups or herds and he’s never seen just one on its own before. I think it’s a theme about the bird being separated from its family/loved ones. Which works well for this episode, since the group (especially John and June, who mirror Beth and Daryl) are separated from one another.

They draw attention to the bird by saying "the early bird kills the dead." We also know that will be birds in TWD S9. One of the promo pics include Rick, Michonne, and Judith watching a flock of birds. This is obviously an ongoing symbol and theme.

Other symbols we saw include water bottles and canned food, including a lot of green on the cans,

a fire extinguisher,

and binoculars.

Back Moby Dick. I'm not entirely sure what the Moby Dick connection is yet. The most obvious thing in this episode is the body of water. In Strand and John's case, it’s an alligator rather than a whale, but the alligator did attack the boat they’re in. I’ll admit the reference doesn't bode particularly well for the characters, as Ahab doesn't survive in Moby Dick. But it could also be symbolic. Strand’s faith was kind of “killed” in the alligator attack and he gave up.

Strand said he lost his stomach for boating. That's obviously meant to be a humorous callback to Fear S2, where the characters spent a good chunk of the season on a boat, but it's also an ocean/sailor/boating reference.

At one point, John says the water is moving "slower than a one-legged dog." Wow. Not only is that a dog reference, but a reference to an injured dog. Granted, Sirius is a one-eyed dog, not a one-legged dog, but it brings up a similar image. We could also compare this to the Lost Shoe/Foot symbolism around Beth.

We see several road signs underwater, including a 30-mph sign. We’ve seen that a lot in the show.

John sees a walker going into the river just before the crocodile gets it. The walker going into the river as it did, looked exactly like what we saw in 4x08. Lily saw a walker move into the river and be swept away by the current. Just saying.

John says, "There ain't no happy endings, but we gotta fight every day... Or we are no different than the passed." Just sounds like something Beth would say. Very much her philosophy. It also occurred to me that it applies to Beth and Daryl. They didn't get to have their happy ending. I think they still will, it will be a matter of them fighting to get back together, not simply “getting” a happy ending. It’s very similar to Carol saying in Consumed that they “don’t get to save people anymore.” They always try, of course, but it doesn’t really work that way in this world. Those people have to save themselves. Have to fight to live. So once again, this was heavy on themes we saw heavily emphasized around Beth in S5.

We also had a major theme of people being trapped in the front seats of cars. I’ll talk more about this when I talk about Luciana, but John also found a walker trapped in the front of the truck. He wants the truck’s shell to cross the lake, but it was the walker that caught my attention. It was trapped in the front seat…with a bottle of booze. Just saying.

When Strand tries to get the bottle, he gets pulled into the front seat and nearly killed himself. It just seems a bit suspicious that he tried to get some booze and ended up in the water. It's something we might relate to Beth.

Strand also says, "I drink to forget that I don't have anyone to drink with anymore." They mentioned how sad this line was on TTD. It's Strand’s way of saying he misses Madison and all the other people he's lost. But (naturally ;D) I can't help but think of Beth and Daryl. They drank together, and remember that both were offered booze after separating and refused it. Dawn offered it to Beth and she refused. Denise offered it to Daryl in 6x14 and he refused as well. Now, of course we did see him drinking it when burying her, but that was both to honor her, because he was suddenly super-depresed, and, symbolically, to parallel her death with Beth’s. And even though Carol was there, he was still drinking alone. The point is that both Beth and Daryl refused other drinking buddies after the two of them drank together at the moonshine shack.

John and Strand use the battery from the truck and a car horn as a distraction for the alligator. Obviously, Battery Bheory, especially because it runs out of juice halfway through. The horn, of course, also reminded me of 6x02 when the Wolves arrived and blew the horn. Just things we’ve see tied up in Beth symbolism a lot. At one point, Strand says to John, "Well, I didn't think it survive a bullet to the gut, but here we are." To which John replies, "You just gotta believe. Fight for one more day."

Remember that when John got shot, that was a huge retelling of Beth and Coda. So, it's important that someone says they didn't think John would survive, but here we are. And his line, “You just gotta believe,” is almost identical to Beth saying, "Would it kill you to have a little faith?"

When the battery dies and they lose their distraction, John says "That's a pickle." So, St. Nicholas and pickle story. But really think about that. Obviously the “death” of the battery here represents literal death. The Battery Theory was first thought up because of how many batteries we saw being brought back to life. (TWD episodes 4x04, Daryl at gas station. 5x02, Carol and car on side of the road. Even 5x11 with the RV batteries.)

The St. Nicholas/Pickle story is about 3 resurrections. So we see the death of a battery here, and there’s an immediate resurrection symbol that follows it. Said by John, who has a billion—yes, a billion!—parallels to Beth. Just saying.

At this point, the two men are stranded in the water with the gator. Not entirely sure how to interpret the symbolism yet, but I'm sure it's important. It feels like something that might be an analogy of what happened to Beth. In her case, I think she was stranded in a sea of walkers rather than water. Trapped that way. But we’ve seen water be used to symbolize her a lot as well. I'm sure it will make sense once we get her whole story.

I also couldn’t help but think of 7x08 when Rick and Daryl got the supplies from the houseboat. They had some really obvious Beth symbolism in that scene. In that case, there is no alligator, but there were walkers in the water and the boat started taking on water, just as John and Strand’s did here.

So it's a theme of being on the water and besieged by some sort of predator (walkers/alligator) while their boat is sinking. They have to fight to live. I'm wondering if Beth will find herself in a similar situation at some point. In this case, it was sad because John Dorie didn't make it across the lake. He kept saying, "We could make it.” Nearly identical to Beth saying in Still, "We made it." John went back with Strand and was obviously depressed that he hadn't pushed forward. But he’s still alive, and obviously will just have to fight a little harder to get back to June.

On TTD, they described the, the relationship between John and Strand. They said they really were like an angel and a devil. Colman talked about how their arguments work very intimate emotionally. That's exactly how they described Beth and Daryl on TTD after Still. They said Bethyl being in the trunk together was a metaphor for the overall situation. They’re forced into this very intimate situation, just the two of them, but they’re surrounded by danger.

In a way, you could see John and Strand’s situation similarly. As I said at the beginning, John = Beth and Strand = Daryl. Rather than being caught in the trunk of the car and surrounded by walkers, there stuck in a tiny boat that's filling with water and there's an alligator out there waiting to eat them. Everyone seeing the parallels?

Luciana:

Lucian’s arc, in many ways, is the one that hit me the hardest with the symbolism.

While looking for Charlie, Luciana goes to a library. I won’t go into library details here, but this isn’t, by far the first time we’ve seen a library (think where Morgan took Carol in 6x16 after she was shot) or even the first time we’ve seen it in Fear.

Outside the library, she finds a man in a car. This is the second instance of a man trapped in the front seat of the car. Unlike John Dorie’s case, this man is still alive. He crashed his car into a pole during the storm and his injuries are critical.

His name is Clayton, and later in the episode, we learn he drove the truck Sarah and Wendell stole. So Clayton is Polar Bear. The man Morgan is looking for.

Here's where it gets crazy, guys. Polar bear =’s Beth right? The man who calls himself Polar Bear is found injured and trapped in the front seat of a car. Not to mention, what does he ask Luciana for? To go find him some beer. Just like Beth and Daryl in Still, Luciana goes looking for a drink.

She's in paralleled more with Daryl than Beth here, though. Even though Beth was the one who first went looking for a drink, all she found was peach schnapps. After that, Daryl went looking for alcohol for her. Luciana is more like Daryl because she's not looking for her drink for herself. She's looking for drink for someone else who's requested it. And then there's the fact that Polar Bears/Clayton equals Beth. Therefore Luciana must equal Daryl.

There were little symbols around Luciana, too. There were some black-and-white racecar flags in the background.

She looked into a fridge. She saw a car with a hole in the hood, which looked like the engine been removed. (That scene was juxtaposed with John Dorie taken the engine out of the car he found using it to build his boat. So. it was kind of a theme about cars with missing engines.)

Lucy finds root beer with the green lid. It also struck me that Lucy was having a hard time finding the alcohol she was looking for. Strand found alcohol he wasn't looking for at all. I don't know if there's anything to that. (The things that make you go, “Hmm.”) The girl who drank the alcohol in S4 is missing, and if the alcohol represents her in the front seat of car, Strand found her when he wasn't looking for her. Chances are the same will be true of Daryl finding Beth.

Clayton told Luciana that in the old world, he ran away from the people he loved by being a truck driver. He was hiding from them and when world ended, he realized it was a huge mistake. That's why he began helping people. I don't know exactly how to relate that to Beth and Daryl, but it feels like something that should be.

When Lucy brings Clayton the beer, he surprised it's cold. She says she found an ice pack in the first aid kit. Just feels like more of the coolant theme. He also gives Luciana all his notebooks and journals.

And what do you know? When Clayton dies, Luciana buries him. We don't get a very good shot of the grave, but we see the headstone and she leaves the beer bottle on top.

Once again, this is something TWD does. Anyone at all important to the story get burial. And often mementos are left behind. They nailed Patrick's classes to his headstone in S4. They left Tyreese’s beanie on his headstone in S5. Now Luciana left the beer bottle on Clayton's headstone here. We did not see what happened to Beth's body. She did not get burial. She did not get headstone. She did not get a momento left behind. Nope, nada, zilch, nothing.

I guess I can’t end without touching on the title. Blackjack refers to the candy John is carrying around.

There really is a black licorice taffy candy called Blackjack, and he knows June likes it. So he’s kind of carried it as a symbol of his hope for reuniting with her. It was sad here because at the end, he’s very sad and eats the candy, as if to show that he’s losing his hope.

I’m sure we could get into the particulars of Blackjack (also called 21) and see the ways in which it relates to John and June’s story, and even to Beth’s. It’s very much about gambling and beating the odds. It’s all about chance and luck. Of course there are strategies for beating the dealer as well. But this post is hella long and I won’t go into all of that.

The thing it reminds me most of is the 4 poker queens, of which Beth is one. Let’s put it this way. They could have used any candy they wanted to symbolize June and John’s hope of finding her. Anything at all would have worked as long as they related it to the story. They chose to use something that invokes poker suites and symbols we’ve seen in regular TWD. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think that's all I have. I'm still loving this season of Fear and can't wait for next week's episode. Anyone else see anything I missed?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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nerdmars · 7 years ago

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Bruno Mars’ many Grammy wins for 24K Magic was more than just a victory for the musician. It’s a victory for R&B music as a whole. The Grammy for R&B Album of the Year has often been completely segregated from the major awards. (Frequent nominees and winners include people like John Legend, Mary J. Blige, Boyz II Men and Alicia Keys.)

Winning the R&B Album of the Year Grammy rarely leads to walking up to the stage at the end of the night for the big prize — or even being nominated for it. Lauryn Hill pulled it off for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill back in 1999. And it hasn’t happened since — until Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic brought home both awards among several others.

Does this mean the Academy now respects Black music and is recognizing its’ worth? That remains to be seen. It can be seen as a start.

Bruno Mars is doing his part to bring light to the musicians that have been an influence on pop music for decades. While collecting his Album of The Year Grammy, he gave a heart-warming speech, dedicating his award to Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Teddy Riley. He put it plain: “This album wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for these guys.”

With a monstrous record like this, there’s plenty you probably don’t know. Here are 24 things you didn’t know about 24K Magic.

To get started, here’s a good one: winning Record, Song and Album of the Year in one night gives a musician entry into a very small group of musicians like Simon and Garfunkel, Norah Jones and Adele. (Even Michael Jackson doesn’t belong!) 24K Magic achieved this incredible feat and Bruno is the 10th artist to hold the big three.

Here’s more…

(1) 24k Magic was born in a top-secret and, well, magical spot. Unlike most albums, 24K Magic was recorded entirely in one studio. The Glenwood Recording Studio in Burbank, California, has hosted everyone from the Black Eyed Peas to Britney Spears. But don’t look for information anywhere. Even the website has only a phone number.

(2) Yet, 24K Magic was almost not born at all. After the success of "Uptown Funk" and Bruno’s not one but two Super Bowl appearances, the singer spoke about having writer's block and not being satisfied with a lot of the early songs he recorded.

(3) Shampoo Press & Curl is part of the formula for the worldwide success of 24K Magic. The production group, originally known as The Smeezingtons, initially wrote and recorded for other artists while Bruno was still developing as a solo artist. They are credited on just about every track.

(4) 24K Magic won the big three at The 2018 Grammys but the album also scooped one of the obscure awards. In the non-televised ceremony held earlier in the afternoon, the album won for Best Engineered Album, non Classical. Tom Coyne, the master engineer on the project, passed away last year, so Bruno made sure his wife was on stage to collect the award on his behalf.

(5) Many of the songs on 24K Magic were recorded live. Not in front of an audience but performed live with instruments in the studio. The standard these days is recording in parts and then using Pro Tools. That’s if instruments are used at all. Most artists who use live music save it for the tour.

(6) The entire album is pretty short as music goes. 24K Magic clocks in at just a bit over 33 minutes. A piece of music must be at least 30 minutes in order to be considered an album and not an EP.

(7) The artwork for the album comes courtesy of Greg Gigendad Burke. Known for his innovative work with artists like Jay-Z, T.I. and Wiz Khalifa, Burke often does both artwork and design for album covers. For this album, Bruno did the art direction himself.

(8) Bruno is clearly loyal. The Stereotypes, a Los Angeles-based production team, has been in the game for over a decade. After years of hits and misses, they reconnected with Bruno. 24K Magic was already done but Mars still invited them into the studio and ended up creating “Finesse.” That late addition made the album — and became history.

(9) Outside of the remix of "Finesse" with Cardi B, there are no features on the album. It’s a rarity in this era to skip the tradition of plumping up an album with guest rappers or vocal duets for a varied audience and sound. Bruno decided to keep it simple — even though he’s known to pump up music for other artists.

(10) Bruno’s got nothing against remixes though! Official remixes for "That’s What I Like" include tracks with Gucci Mane and Party Next Door.

(11) Last year Beyoncé appeared at a Bruno Mars show with gold hoops spelling out CHUNKY, a song from Bruno’s album. The whispers started immediately. Would there be a collaboration perhaps? And then, eagle-eared listeners began insisting that Beyoncé is singing backgrounds on the song. Does it sound like it could be her? Maybe. Is that likely? No. However, there are no background vocalists credited on the song…

(12) Bruno Mars fully credits New Jack Swing pioneers like Teddy Riley and Babyface for his new work. Just in case you don’t know what New Jack Swing means: in the late '80s and '90s, a particular form of pop music borrowing heavily from hip-hop and R&B was born with acts like Bobby Brown and Guy. The name comes from early ‘80s hip-hop slang for a newcomer.

(13) The opening lines from "24K Magic"? That’s Mr. Talk Box, a musician known for his work in gospel music. And because his portion of "24K Magic" was sampled on Kendrick Lamar’s "Loyalty," the musician contributed to more than one 2017 megahit.

(14) Bruno’s album helped Cardi B. achieve yet another chart success. With “Finesse,” she becomes only the third person in history — and the first woman — to have five singles on the Top 10 at the same time.

(15) The funk that led to "Chunky" comes courtesy of Charlie Wilson and The Gap Band. One of Bruno Mars’ producing partners told him about a party he went to where everyone played the wall and stayed on their cellphones — until the DJ played "Outstanding" by The Gap Band. Bruno says hearing that inspired him to write "Chunky."

(16) There’s a wink-and-nod lyrical homage to R. Kelly’s "Seems Like You’re Ready." If you don’t know the 1993 song, you might miss it. But he literally croons out the line on his ballad "Versace on the Floor."

(17) A quick run-down on all of the hair-related terminology Bruno spits on “Perm”: He tells a woman to relax (which is another word for perm). He mentions sheen (usually used in aerosol form). There’s a tribute to pat-pat-patting your weave. And he urges us to “activate” the sexy, as in activator used for '80s-era curly hairstyles.

(18) If you’re one of the few people on earth who haven’t heard the album in its entirety, here’s a random factoid: Yes, that’s Halle Berry in a voicemail recording in the middle of the song “Calling All My Lovelies.”

(19) While working with Babyface, a song Bruno never finished began to play. Babyface said he needed to finish it that day. The song became the tearjerker “Too Good To Say Goodbye.”

(20) Music lovers began hyperventilating when photos surfaced of Missy Elliott and Bruno Mars in the studio together. Alas, they were “just hanging out.” Maybe next time.

(21) Bruno is known for keeping things old school when he’s recording. When it was time for him to allow journalists to listen to the album before release, the album was loaded on one iPod stored in a safe at his record label offices.

(22) While Bruno admits that he was nervous when he started recording, he personally put himself against his own biggest work. The title track for 24K Magic was recorded while "Uptown Funk" was still No. 1 on the charts.

(23) Ever the perfectionist, Bruno will tweak a song until he’s 100 percent happy with it. Case in point: his latest single "Finesse" had over 20 different versions.

(24) And speaking of perfectionism, the power ballad "Versace on the Floor" was completely done. Then Bruno listened and felt like he didn’t get it right vocally. He actually ended up writing the song over completely.

(25) Did you stream this album? It’s all good. But Bruno kind of wishes you had it on CD. He designed and wrote all of the inserts for the physical project and then realized that the idea of holding and reading liner notes may soon be a distant memory. He worked really hard on designing the fonts for the song titles. (No, really.)

Written by Alisa S. King

#Bruno mars #article #BET #24kmagic

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1x20 · 7 years ago

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Title: A Well-Rounded Person Summary: In which, Stiles comes back to Beacon Hills for the holidays and Derek is suddenly much more attractive than Stiles remembers Word count: 3.4k words

A/N: Wooooooooooooooo chubby!Derek!!!!!! I've been wanting to write something like this for ages so I started rambling about it on Discord and @halerogers started sobbing, so Charlie, this is for you my dude :p

Also posted on AO3

Stiles loves going to college. Really, anything is better than high school. Forget about social pressures and ADHD, his high school experiences were centered around life-or-death situations and freaking werewolves. So yeah, on top of balancing the high school workload, he had to find ways to keep himself and Scott and then later Erica and Boyd and Derek alive.

Needless to say, it wasn’t an easy task. But now he’s at college and more accepted and he feels more like he fits in his own skin and — you guessed it — he finally got rid of that pesky virginity. Stiles feels great. He feels like nothing could ever bring him down.

Which is, of course, when he returns to Beacon Hills and his world comes crashing down around him.

As always, the life-altering experience revolves around Derek Hale, because when does it not. Except instead of werewolves and kanimas and crazy alphas — it’s about Derek himself. Because listen, Derek has always been ridiculously fucking beautiful, alright? He has the eyes and the cheekbones and the scruff and the lips and the biceps and the abs, and Stiles has always found it a bit unfair to say the least.

The thing is, Derek doesn’t have that anymore. He still has the eyes and the scruff and the lips and the cheekbones obviously, because Derek’s genetics are ridiculous — and judging by Cora, the Hales are, like, blessed by God or something — but he has lost the biceps and the abs.

And it’s ruining Stiles’ life.

Really, Derek has always been ridiculously fucking beautiful, but seeing Derek all healthy and glowing and soft and wearing goddamn fucking christmas sweaters and yoga pants and having filled out a bit, just makes Stiles’ heart skip beats and takes his fucking breath away.

That’s not the only thing that’s changed in Derek’s vicinity though. Stiles walks into the loft for the first time in a few months and it actually looks… habitable? The weights that used to be piled in the corner are gone, and there are throw pillows on the couches, actual lights and it looks like a home.

“Wow,” he says, kind of embarrassed by how breathless he sounds. “I, uh, the place looks really good, Derek! Definitely better than… than before.”

Derek turns around to face him, lower half obscured by the kitchen counter, and a smile on his face that makes Stiles want to jump out the window. His cheeks are bunched and he has dimples and eye crinkles and Stiles is torn between wanting to hug him until they both suffocate and fucking him right then and there.

“Thanks,” Derek says, pouring a glass of coke for Stiles and a glass of apple juice for himself. His hands hide in his sleeves when he isn’t holding anything and Stiles internally screams (Sweater paws! Derek Hale has sweater paws! Someone hold him before he faints.) “Cora really helped before she found her own place to sleep. I liked it enough to let it it stay the way it is.”

Derek sinks down onto the new, comfortable-looking couch after handing Stiles the glass, and Stiles follows him. The cushions are heaven, and Stiles groans, letting the couch absorb him. “I’ll have to thank Cora then. This couch is amazing.”

“Um,” Derek says, taking a sip of his juice before setting it down on the table, the tips of his ears burning red. “That was my idea, actually.”

Oh. Well, Stiles knew Derek had changed, but somewhere in the back of his mind he’d still expected Derek to be a glutton for punishment for some reason. This — this is good though. Stiles gives him a reassuring smile, and the anxious look on Derek’s face disappears like snow in the sunlight.

“Good. Um, great job?” Stiles says, scratching at the back of his neck. Christ, he’d actually become a somewhat suave person at college but apparently all that newfound confidence evaporates in the face of a smiling Derek Hale. “So,” Stiles begins, gulping down half of his drink in an effort to gather his courage. “How have you been?”

Derek slouches a bit, and it emphasizes the added plush around his stomach and his thighs. Stiles quickly takes another sip of his drink to counteract how dry his mouth has suddenly become. Don’t get him wrong, Stiles loves that abs and the muscles and all that jazz but seeing Derek like this is just so… so…

“Fine,” Derek says, shrugging. “It’s lonely without the Pack here, but I’m starting to appreciate the peace and quiet.”

Yeah, Stiles knows that feeling. He loves the Pack, even in all their weird wolfish glory, but after Peter Hale and the kanima and the Alpha Pack, he definitely deserved a break. They all did. Derek most of all though; from what Stiles has been able to piece together, Derek hasn’t had a break in seven years.

Stiles stretches his arm around the back of the couch, until it’s just touching the roundness of Derek’s shoulders. “Oh yeah, me too. I definitely needed a break after all that craziness.”

Derek hums in agreement, slightly pushing into Stiles’ touch. It makes Stiles’ heart beat crazy fast and he blushes — there’s no way Derek doesn’t notice that. Instead of pulling away though, Stiles keeps his arm where it is, letting Derek’s warmth seep into his skin.

“It’s nice to reconnect with Cora too. We just… didn’t have much time to get to know each other.”

Derek slumps a bit at that, sad and disappointed and Stiles bites his lip. It’s one thing to know that he’s infatuated with the dude, but it’s a whole nother thing to want to feed him cookies and give him blankets and keep him warm and happy and safe forever.

“I can imagine that,” Stiles says, pausing as he thinks of something to change the subject to. He finds it in Derek’s soft sweater and the boxes filled with decorations that are stacked in the corner of Derek’s loft where the weights used to be. “I’m really looking forward to Christmas! Just seeing everyone again will be great, y’know?”

“I’ve missed Pack Christmases…” Derek says, gaze turning a bit wistful at his statement. Stiles’ heart twists. The Hale Pack had been big, had been a family filled with werewolves and humans. Stiles can only imagine what their Christmases must’ve been like — he’s only had his parents, and then just his dad. He sighs.

“I’m sure it’ll be great,” he tells Derek, dropping his arm so he can squeeze Derek’s shoulder, the skin giving under the pressure. Derek smiles at him then, so shy, and his cheeks are flushed, his bunny teeth showing.

Oh, Stiles thinks. Oh.

—

Stiles doesn’t have a lot of time to share with Derek the rest of the week. His dad takes up whatever time he has between working on assignments and studying for exams by forcing him to do chores. Stiles could just not do them, but his dad has been grumbling about having back pains and getting old, so Stiles cleans and cooks for the both of them.

It’s Christmas Day when he sees Derek again. Or, well, Christmas Evening, he supposes. Stiles is leaning against the arm of the couch, a pillow under him and a cup of hot cocoa in his hands, and he’s not sure he’s ever felt happier. Derek, Boyd, Erica, Isaac, and Scott are all squished together on the couch, Melissa and his dad taking the loveseat and Cora sitting in a pulled-up chair. Stiles catches his dad’s eyes and waggles his eyebrows, trying to subtly gesture towards Melissa. His dad just rolls his eyes, but pulls her closer anyway.

They’re watching some dumb, mindless Christmas movie — Stiles wasn’t allowed to put Die Hard on — and Stiles isn’t really paying attention. The glow of the lights from the tree makes everything seem warm, and they’re all here, together and alive.

Tilting his head back he looks at Derek, trying to see if he’s feeling okay. They talked about it a bit, what the Hale Christmases were like, and what Derek expected from today, and Stiles just wants to make sure that Derek is feeling nothing but fluffy, happy feelings.

Derek is already smiling — not with his mouth, but his eyes are twinkling with a sort of contentedness that Stiles has never seen on Derek’s face, and he lets out a breathless little gasp. Derek’s eyes fly to his, eyebrows already drawn up in concern, but they drop back down when he sees the expression on Stiles’ face, eyes widening a little. Stiles… Stiles should probably stop staring right now, before it gets weird, but — but he can’t.

Slowly, the corners of Derek’s mouth turn up, and he glances from Stiles to his lap and back again, the redness of his cheeks obvious even in the dim light of the Christmas tree. He’s wearing one of those ridiculously large sweaters again that sort of swallow him — and this one has thumbholes, thumbholes for God’s sake, how is Stiles meant to survive this? — and he’s blushing and looking shyly at Stiles, and Stiles… Stiles…

Stiles looks away, instead staring at the dull brown liquid in his cup. It suddenly seems a lot less interesting, and Stiles adores hot cocoa.

His dad coughs from the other end of the room and Stiles’ head shoots up to check on his dad, when he sees his dad waggle his eyebrows and subtly gesture at Derek. Stiles bites the inside of his cheek to hide his smile when he wonders if he and Derek are about as covert as his dad and Melissa.

—

But that’s just two times. Stiles can survive seeing Derek all healthy and glowing and happy twice. Twice is just fine. Then, one day, his dad invites Derek over for a card game and Derek — foolishly, oh so foolishly, he has clearly never played a card game with a Stilinski before — said yes.

So there Derek is, sitting at their kitchen table in Stiles’ childhood home, looking a bit bashful and a bit hopeful and a lot attractive, his thighs pressed together. Stiles swallows, hoping his cheeks aren’t too red even though they feel like they’re on fire, and goes about pouring his dad some coffee to distract himself.

“Do you want anything, Derek?” he asks, back purposefully turned to Derek so he won’t do something embarrassing like pour too much coffee into the cup so it overflows because he was too busy staring at the healthy glow on Derek’s cheeks. He grabs a glass for himself and then one for Derek, waiting on his answer.

“Do you have any juice?” Derek asks from behind him, polite in a way he never used to be, and Stiles finds himself smiling. He wonders if this is what Derek used to be like before the fire, before Kate ripped it all away from him. Peter had told him Derek had been cocky and arrogant, but seeing Derek like this, Stiles doesn’t believe it.

“Uh, let’s see…” Stiles says, peering into the fridge. Neither he nor his dad drink juice, so they probably don’t have a lot of choice. Stiles will have to stock up on it next time he goes to the store. “We have orange juice? Not apple juice though, sorry.”

“Orange juice is fine, thank you.”

Derek’s voice is soft and Stiles makes the fatal mistake of turning around and looking at Derek, who’s currently staring at Stiles with an intensity that makes Stiles blush. He’s smiling softly and there are dimples in his cheeks and Stiles, Stiles —

Stiles drops the glass of orange juice.

“Fuck!” he shouts, grabbing a towel and dropping to his knees to clean the mess up. Derek’s laughter rings through the kitchen and it makes Stiles flush with embarrassment and… and something unnameable, because Derek sounds happy.

His dad gives him a look like he knows what happened and Stiles resists the urge to roll his eyes. If this is any indication, this night is going to go horribly.

—

Near the end of the evening, after a shouting match or two, the tiredness has started to settle in, and they’re all a bit droopy-eyed and flushed. Derek yawns, leaning back in the chair as he rubs his hands over his eyes, his cheeks flushed with exhaustion and excitement from playing card games with Stilinskis, and his sweater rises up just the tiniest bit, just enough to show Stiles where his stomach is bulging a bit over the top of his boxers and Stiles… Stiles is pretty sure he’s on fucking fire right now.

He quickly looks down at his hands — partly to make sure Derek doesn’t catch him staring, partly to make sure that’s he’s still actually alive — clenching them into fists and relaxing them again, anything to distract him from the fact that Derek is being all soft and warm and huggable next to him.

It’s not fucking fair.

“Tired?” Stiles asks, his voice surprisingly hoarse, and he coughs a bit to cover it up. His dad sinks back into his chair with a smug smile, and Stiles kicks him in the shin.

“A bit,” Derek says, his voice fuzzy with sleep. “It might be best if I go home.”

Stiles nods halfheartedly. He doesn’t really want Derek to go, but he doesn’t know how to ask him to stay without breaking into a monologue about how lovely he thinks Derek is. It’s silent then, for a little while. Not in an awkward way, just the three of them enjoying each other’s company.

His dad breaks it with a, “you can sleep here if you’re not up for the trip, son.”

Stiles doesn’t know whether he’d rather strangle his dad or hug him forever. He appreciates his dad’s attempts at matchmaking, but are they really necessary? Really? Derek smiles politely at Stiles’ dad, but he shakes his head. Stiles’ stomach drops a little.

“No, it’s fine,” Derek says, standing up and stretching, flexing his muscles to get rid of the drowsiness. Stiles averts his eyes before he starts staring again. “I’ll sleep at the loft. Cora’s probably waiting for me.”

“Okay,” Stiles says, suddenly feeling very awkward. He follows Derek to the hallway, waiting until Derek pulls on his coat to open the door for him. As a prevention he shoves his hands into his pockets, just to make sure that he doesn’t do something stupid like pull Derek close and kiss him stupid.

“Night, Stiles,” Derek says, when he’s standing outside, giving him a little wave. Stiles doesn’t want him to leave.

“Sleep well,” Stiles says, and he waits until he can’t see Derek anymore to close the door. It’s so cold, and his pajamas don’t really help with that.

He’s so fucking fucked.

—

It’s New Year’s and Stiles is going to participate in what used to be a Hale Family Tradition — going for a dive in the cold, freezing waters of the lake in the middle of the Preserve, because werewolves are apparently masochists and seem to forget that they run about three thousand degrees hotter than Stiles.

So Stiles lets himself get roped into going swimming because Scott uses the puppy eyes, and his dad raises his eyebrows, and Derek looks at him and softly says, “please? It’s really important for me?” and really, how is Stiles meant to resist that? It’s just unfair. Just Scott’s puppy eyes would’ve done the trick, thank you very much, but both his dad and Derek had to get involved as well.

And now he’s standing on the bank of the lake, in just his fucking swimwear while it’s like minus one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. He’s trying his best not to physically curl into a ball, his arms around his waist, his teeth already chattering, and he’s pretty sure his toes are turning an alarming shade of purple and he hasn’t even jumped into the water yet.

Stiles is already physically dying, just looking at Scott and Isaac and Erica splashing around the freezing lake, when there’s a rustling behind him. He turns around, pretending he’s not stalling, when he realizes who is actually standing there behind him. It’s Derek.

Derek in just a sweater and his swimming trunks, his thighs nice and soft and his face round, and then he turns his back to Stiles and pulls off his sweater and just… just wow. Derek has dimples on his back and his waist is hanging over his trunks a bit and he looks so soft and cuddly and Stiles is pretty sure he just died and went to heaven, because just when you think that Derek fucking Hale can’t get any more attractive he goes and does this shit and it’s so unfair.

He snaps out of his Derek-is-so-cute-I’m-going-to-die haze when Derek crosses his arms over his stomach, forearms bulging a bit. Stiles swallows and looks away, but it’s already too late.

Fuck, he’s pretty sure he made Derek uncomfortable by staring at him. Maybe he’s insecure about his weight — though Stiles can’t really imagine that, he’s never seen any indicators that Derek feels ashamed for being a bit more chubby — and Stiles just made it worse. Shit, shit, shit, he’s such an oblivious asshole sometimes.

“I—” Derek starts, stops, loosely holding his wrist in his hand, arms covering up most of his chest so that only the side are visible. Stiles makes himself look Derek directly in the eye. “I, uh, I know it’s not what you’re used to.”

Oh. Oh. That’s just a travesty. Because here Derek motherfucking Hale is, and Stiles is so ridiculously, unequivocally in love with him (There, he said it, happy now?) and he’s feeling… bashful and insecure? So Stiles does the only thing he can reasonably do without just bursting into a little puddle of blood.

He takes a tentative step forward, and then another one, and another one, until he’s standing so close to Derek that he can feel Derek’s body heat, their toes almost touching, and, “Dude,” he breathes. “Dude. I really don’t know where you got the idea that you don’t look great because… because dude.”

And there it is again, that shy fucking smile that makes Stiles’ heart run victory laps around the entire fucking Preserve, the one that made Stiles fall in love with him in the first place.

“Oh,” Derek says, uncrossing his arms and letting them hang at his sides, and Stiles can finally see him in all his glory, soft and plush and the little lines of stretch marks running over his skin and Jesus fucking Christ, is it still Christmas? What did Stiles do to deserve this? “Okay.”

And then. Then. Then Derek takes Stiles’ hand in his, his fingers twining slowly with Stiles’ until their palms are pressed together. Stiles is freezing and Derek is giving off enough heat to thaw an entire frozen lake and Stiles wants to burrow himself in Derek, find every nook and cranny until they fit together perfectly and he can’t tell where he ends and Derek begins.

Derek leans closer, and closer, and closer, until they’re sharing breaths and Stiles about to spontaneously combust because they’re so fucking close to kissing when Derek pushes him back and he falls into the lake.

It’s cold, so fucking cold, and Stiles comes up gasping for air, the sound of Derek’s laughter ringing through the clearing.

“Oh my god!” Stiles splutters, his teeth clattering. He’s pretty sure his toes are already blue. He despises Derek. “You bastard. You absolute piece of shit.”

“Sorry,” Derek says, breathless with laughter, and tears streaming down his cheeks. Stiles would probably be more angry if Derek wasn’t so goddamn adorable when he laughed. “I couldn’t resist.”

Stiles pouts, wrapping his arms around his own waist, rubbing at his skin to try to create some friction. He’s pretty sure that if he stays in this water for any longer he’ll freeze to death. “You better come warm me up now with your supernatural warmth and some kisses to convince me to actually begin something with you.”

Derek rolls his eyes, but he jumps in anyway. Stiles gets soaked again in the resulting splash and he’s about to start yelling when Derek dives up in front of him, a shit-eating grin on his face. “I guess I’ll better start then.”

“You fucking better,” Stiles mutters, jumping into the safe circle of Derek’s arms. Drops of water fall on his shoulders from Derek’s hair and he’s turning into a fucking icicle and he may never use his dick again, but Derek is hugging him and pressing a kiss into his hair and he’s fine.

He’s fine.

A/N: Hhhhh I really hope y'all liked it!!!! I know chubby!Derek probably isn't that popular but yknow. I hope you enjoyed it regardless. Thank you to @ladydrace for beta'ing this for me and making sure my skinny ass didn't say something insensitive ^^ Please let me know what you thought!!!!!

My writing tag | My fic page | My AO3

#isaac writes sterek #eternalsterek #eternal sterek #sterek #sterek fic

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one-of-us-blog · 7 years ago

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Cheaters (TGG, Season 5, Episode 22)

Today Eli is forced to watch and recap Cheaters, Episode 22 of the fifth season of The Golden Girls. Dorothy reconnects with a figure from her past, but not everyone approves of his track record. Meanwhile, Blanche and Sophia fall prey to a rather obvious scam. With all these scoundrels in Miami, what’s a girl to do? Keep reading to find out…

Drew, I need to keep my comments brief and get to business, but let me quickly say that your review of Under the Lake really went deep! The tardiness of my own recap was mostly bothering me because I have been waiting to find out what you think of the story’s conclusion. I’m glad that you got to watch a spooky Doctor Who tale this month, and I I hope you have a good time with it. Now I must abruptly surface from this praise to tend to my own duties, and find out if anything dastardly awaits in Miami.

Buttocks tight!

Episode written by Tom Whedon, directed by Terry Hughes

As the episode opens, Rose shares the details of a dream she had in which she attended a baseball game with Charlie Brown and his pals, but was not permitted to play. This is really all just a set-up for Dorothy to say “Peanuts envy” (Get it? It sounds like penis!), perhaps the most groanworthy joke I have heard from the writers in five seasons. Anyway, we eventually learn that Dorothy has received a message from a man named Glen O’Brien, with whom she once had an intimate relationship. The only problem was that Glen was married at the time, meaning that Dorothy was the “other woman” in the situation, even after she had been hurt so badly by Stan for cheating on her. Hmm. Sophia clearly has strong feeling about the situation, and she and Rose tell Dorothy to stay away from the guy. Once a creep, always a creep. However, Dorothy really seems to have some affection for Glen, whose marriage was already falling apart at the time of their liaison, and Blanche obviously tells her to go for it again. Whose advice will she follow?

We cut to Dorothy waiting by the phone, and blowing off a charity caller as she waits for Glen. Blanche and Sophia announce they are heading to the mall just as her phone call comes, and they get to watch Dorothy take delight in setting up a rendezvous. Once again, we see that Sophia disapproves of the adulterer.

At the mall, Blanche and Sophia take a short break on a bench, and a man (played by Sam McMurray) discovers a wallet on the floor right behind them. The wallet happens to contain over $2,000, and the three immediately begin working out a method for getting the money back to the rightful owner (while actually hoping to keep it all for themselves). Since they are strangers to one another, the man suggests getting the opinion of a third party, and the trio approaches a nun (played by Nancy Lenehan) who happens to be nearby. With her guidance, they eventually settle on an extremely convoluted scheme of setting up a join account at a nearby bank, and each contributing $2,000 of their own money ($1,000 each for Blanche and Sophia) as insurance against the money they found, just so they can trust the other party not to split with the cash. In all honestly, I can’t fathom why they (or anyone) would actually go for this obviously terrible idea, but of course they do. Dorothy, Sophia, and the conman all head to the bank as the “nun” lights up a smoke in the background.

Dorothy shows up at Glen’s place, and…hey, it’s Jerry Orbach! I guess the streets of NYC are clean enough for him to relocate to Miami, and we find out that he is going through a divorce settlement. Dorothy is still adjusting to the idea of him being available, not that it seemed to matter much before. He wants to start over, and clearly has intentions to put the moves on her. It isn’t long before she follows him to the bedroom.

Blanche and Sophia arrive back home, and they are acting very strangely. They already know that they got scammed, and they are so embarrassed that they promise not to tell a soul. In the next instant, we find Sophia spilling the beans to Rose, who is surprisingly streetwise, and informs both of them that they have fallen prey to the Pigeon Drop, one of the oldest ruses in the book. It turns out that Rose’s job in consumer affairs has clued her into such dastardly deeds. Even the nun was in on the act. Rose tells her friends to inform the police despite their embarrassment, and employs a St. Olaf story to break down their resolve.

Jumping ahead a bit, Blanche gets off the phone with the police to inform the girls that the scammers are already in custody, though she will need to pick the nun out of a lineup. Glen arrives with Dorothy to meet Sophia, but before stepping into the house, he suggests to Dorothy that the two of them get married. Inside, he says hello, presents Sophia with a cannoli, and talks a bit about his Brooklyn background. While Glen is being grilled about his past, Dorothy takes Blanche to the kitchen to tell her about the proposal. Blanche says that Dorothy has hit pay dirt, and Rose gets pulled into the conversation as well. Dorothy can’t believe what is happening, and they all share a hug.

That night, Sophia is awake and having a Maalox moment, while Dorothy continues to worry about Glen. Mother and daughter have a heart to heart conversation, and Sophia lets Dorothy know that she can’t tell her what to do, but she wants her to have someone in her life who cares about her.

Lastly, we cut to Dorothy arriving at Glen’s place once more, and discover that Sophia has already attempted the Pigeon Drop on him to recoup some of her losses. Despite this, he has some cookies for Dorothy to deliver to her mother to continue to butter her up. The phone rings, and Glen answers a call from his soon-to-be-or-maybe-already-ex-wife Bernice. However, when asked if anyone else is with him, Glen claims to be alone. Dorothy presses him on this, and though he tries to explain the situation, Dorothy still recalls what it felt like to be cheated on, and for Stan to be “alone” anytime she called. She realizes that she is going to need some more time to think things over, but Glen doesn’t seem to be okay with this. He very clearly wants a wife replacement ASAP. Dorothy then understands that he doesn’t want her as much as he just doesn’t want to be alone. The two decide to go their separate ways, and Dorothy departs…but still takes the cookies with her.

The End.

This was another perfectly enjoyable, but somewhat underwhelming episode for me. I enjoyed the guest actors, but I wasn’t crazy about the idea of Dorothy fooling around with a married man given her past with Stan. Then again, I suppose it provides a bit of context for her eventually forgiveness of the sad sack. The scam plotline had some potential, but I didn’t quite buy that anyone would fall for the guy’s sales pitch, and then it just sort of stopped after they took the bait. I actually would have enjoyed seeing Blanche go to the station to pick the nun out of a lineup. There were some good jokes in the episode, but maybe I just can’t quite get over the terrible one at the beginning…shame on you, Joss Whedon’s father. At any rate, I would give Cheaters a score of 3 poofy hairdos out of 5!

Stop back soon for Drew’s take on Before the Flood, the next episode of Doctor Who, and I’ll be back this weekend with a review of The Mangiacavallo Curse Makes a Lousy Wedding Present, the next episode of The Golden Girls. Until then, as always, thank you for being a friend, and for being One of Us!

#golden girls #the golden girls #one of us

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firefly124 · 6 years ago

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Villains and Redemption

I figured OP wouldn’t appreciate me making their post all about Supernatural, so here, have a followup post. (Apparently I can’t link my own reblog, but it’s just a vague version of what’s below. I also no longer can see my own icon, which is new. My guess is I’m a heartbeat away from deletion. Oh well.)

Here are a couple of relatively recent examples of redemption arcs, one of which I’m buying and the other of which I’m not.

Arthur Ketch. Yeah, not buying it, and not only because I’m salty about Eileen’s death and how he killed her. There was a chance at a redemption of some kind when he started to fall for Mary, except he didn’t actually do anything based on that. Not really. That would’ve been a believable redemption arc, if he’d been shown to make choices based on the fact he’d discovered some reconnection to humanity (as had happened with Mick, who he killed for it). He rather grudgingly helped save AU!Charlie, apparently to try to get into the Winchesters’ good graces. Not because he’d decided there was some value in helping the human resistance in the AU world or anything, but to try to get into their good graces. This would be why, when Sam says in 14x09, “We appreciate the effort,” I’m right there with Dean asking, “Do we?” (I remain convinced Ketch is in Michael’s pay, because he still seems very clearly out for himself and no one else. That and he’s not actually incompetent enough to have steered them so very wrong the two times we’ve seen him this season by accident.) So this is a completely unconvincing apparent attempt at redeeming a villain. It remains to be seen if they continue trying to make him a sympathetic character seeking redemption. If so, they’re going to have to give us a LOT more to make it believable.

On the other hand, let’s look at Rowena. She tried to sell her son for three pigs. She abandoned him, and then adopted some other kid and gave him eternal life. (The fact that this kid gave her some glimpse of human kindness and this touched her, and that she later had to kill him is relevant to her arc.) She was all Team Lucifer until he killed her. Twice. Even then, she was a reluctant ally, rather like her son had often been. (Speaking of her son, she also tried to kill him various times in various ways.) We get glimpses along the way of why she has made the choices she has, largely around abandonment and being left to fend for herself. That doesn’t make them good choices, just comprehensible ones. Still, she seems utterly out for herself (even if understandably so) right up until she gets the spell from Sam to regain full access to her powers, after bonding with him over the horrors they’ve experienced from Lucifer. He slips her the spell so that she can have the power to protect herself (and potentially the rest of the world) from Lucifer, another act that seems to touch her apparently-cold heart. In that same episode, she learns Crowley is dead.

The next we see of her, she’s on a killing spree... but choosing people who arguably deserve it. The sort of people that are more monstrous than your average vampire or werewolf. (Side note, this makes her hooking up with Gabriel a brilliant idea, even if the scene was poorly written.) Then we learn she’s doing this to get the attention of Death in hopes of bringing her son, Crowley, back. Of course, she also tortures Sam and tries to kill him, especially once they tell her he’s the one who will kill her for good. But... she stops. She can’t go through with it. She breaks down in sincere grief. She’s not magically (heh) all good all the time after this. A perfect example is when she’s asked to help Jack in 14x07. Help Lucifer’s son? Absolutely not! She’s furious they’d even ask it of her, and is ready to stalk off. And then Jack, being Jack, touches that part of her that responds to someone being honest and kind. She’s not happy about it, but she knows she has to try to help him, and she does her best.

This is someone on a believable redemption arc. The changes in her choices are rooted in the very basis of her character: someone who has been treated harshly and so has been solely looking out for herself at the cost of anyone and everyone else, but yet has been able to be touched by kindness, mainly because it’s been such a rarity in her life. Billie monologued a bit about how regaining her power put Rowena back in touch with the overall energies of the world, which, ok. But it really seemed that it was more about discovering (to her shock) that Crowley’s death was a cause for grief. That she had actually loved him, despite her complete inability to actually do so remotely well. Since then, she’s been a more sincere ally and seems to actually be striving for redemption. Not just to get on Sam’s good side so he doesn’t kill her. That’s certainly in the back of her mind somewhere, but she does appear to actively want to do better, even if she’s sometimes reluctant to help in specific situations (see, again 14x07). Actually, 13x21-22 might be an even better example, because she could’ve (and started to) walked away when Lucifer escaped into the AU world. That would’ve been to her benefit, because Sam was over there, and he can’t very well kill her from an alternate universe. But, muttering and cursing about it, she finds she can’t just abandon the guys to their fate, and sets about holding that crack between the worlds open for them.

That’s how you make a redemption arc believable. The seeds of that redemption need, among other things, to be mixed right in with the seeds of whatever made them a villain in the first place. There have to be clear choices that are not strictly about self-interest as part of that arc. And they can’t be easy choices. They should be doing the equivalent of muttering, “bollocks” under their breath while making those choices. Otherwise a) the redemption isn’t earned and b) the redemption isn’t believable.

#writing #villains #redemption

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wingsporkhalo · 8 years ago

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“Fate’s Flawed Design”: an old original story by MysticDelphox97-- Chapter 2

I know, I know, I should be putting up chapters 6 and 7 of Evva: Agent of Shield, but I didn’t want to put those up until I had more of it recorded. It is totally coming soon though.

Also, just as a note to everyone, starting May 8th, I’ll be taking some summer classes (three of them, although only one of them starts May 8th; the others start in June), so I may not post as much! Or who knows; maybe I’ll post MORE because I need the stress relief that only laughing at bad stories can provide. Either way, I hope you’ll be patient with me! C:

All right, let’s delve into Chapter 2 of “Fate’s Flawed Design,” otherwise known to @mysticdelphox97 and me as “The Cringe.” In this chapter, Remy writes a story even stupider than this one and spends entire paragraphs talking about how beautiful her dog’s eyes are, and also discusses Leaf’s “hoe-craving father.”

If you missed Chapter 1, it’s over here.

Fate’s Flawed Design

With me, disaster finds a play field. Love seems to draw dark twisted pleasure tearing at me, Cause I can't let you go. Mercy, like water in the desert, shines through my memory, like jewelry in the sun. Where are you now?

~Lyrics from Dreaming Wide Awake, by Poets of the Fall

Wing: those angsty lyrics doe

Mystic: they're in every. single. fucking. chapter

Chapter 2: Back Story

“Seriously? Leaf got jumpy like that on you?”

I nodded, looking at the laptop screen that portrayed Kyle and his room.

Wing: Portrayed It was just like, a fanart of it, I guess

We were currently chatting on VideLog 2.0, which is sort of like the Skype that people used when it came out in 2003, nearly 22 years ago.

Wing: Wait, this story is supposed to take place 25 (or so) years in the future?

Mystic: from the looks of it, apparently?

Wing: Come to think of it, I think you did give a year in the last chapter. But I didn't see any descriptions of new/invented technology, so I totally forgot.

I sat on my bed, resting against my pillows and the headboard. The Instant Messaging icon kept blinking, meaning someone was trying to contact me, but I ignored it. Right now I was in the middle of an important conversation with Kyle.

“The incident with the Populars shook her up. You know how they treat her,” I said.

Wing: Yeah, how dare they want to ask a question

“Yeah, no kidding. I saw what they did last year, when I had her in my class. God, it was terrible, I’m surprised they never got in trouble.”

“That’s because they had built a sympathy relationship with the teachers. I think the only teacher that cracked them was Mr. Lockwood, before he was replaced by Mrs. Brightly after he got a job in California.”

Wing: A “sympathy relationship”? Is that a relationship formed only because of sympathy? Like, you just saw a girl get viciously and publicly dumped so you walk over and say “So uh...he was a jerk, right? Do you want a cupcake, my treat?” (I would totally do that.)

Kyle grunted in agreement. “It’s too bad she won’t be in the same high school as us though. She’s going to some specialty school, right?”

“Yup. She’s going to The Learning Clinic,

Wing: “Clinic”? That doesn’t sound like a school...

which is near the town of Pomfret. So, she’s going to be moving…” My voice cracked slightly. The thought of Leaf moving away was… unbearable.

“Well, at least she’ll be going to a good place. And Pomfret isn’t that far away, because some of the students there go to the same high school as we will be,” Kyle stated, trying to reassure me. It wasn’t exactly working.

“Come on, Remy. I know you’re upset about this, but it isn’t like Leaf’s moving across the continent! Christ, I don’t think her family can afford that.

Wing: You don’t have to tell Christ. He already knows.

And from what Leaf told me, her mother is going to get her a cell-phone for graduation, so when you get yours, you can still be in contact with each other.”

“Wait… Leaf’s getting a cell phone?” I asked. Leaf never mentioned anything like that to me…

“She didn’t tell you? Well, that’s weird. I thought you knew, since you’d be one of the first to know,” Kyle said. Then his eyebrows furrowed. “She really didn’t say anything?”

I shook my head.

“Not even a hint?”

Again.

“That is totally freaky.”

I sighed. “Well, it’s not like I would have cared anyways.”

“Why not?”

“Because, isn’t it more convenient to use a regular docked phone?”

Wing: LOL, and this is supposed to be in the future. Adorable.

Mystic: pffffffttt

“Leafsters

Wing: Stop that.

would’ve wanted you to care, Remy, because unlike us, she doesn’t have a laptop to use, and you know how her mom feels about her using the docked phone constantly. Who knows, maybe you’ll get one by graduation too. That way you’ll never lose each other.” There was a brief noise from Kyle’s end. He turned around, answered it, and then focused back on me. “Sorry, Rems—I have to leave now. My grandma wants me to help her cook dinner.”

“Its fine, Kyle. You know where to find me.”

Wing: Next to a docked phone?

He smiled and then disconnected. I stared at the empty screen, with a blinking banner across it that read: “Your conversation ended. To reconnect, click on the refresh button at the bottom of the window.” I didn’t need to though, because Kyle was done talking to me.

Wing: Oh, thank goodness you reminded me. I was beginning to forget that, since it said Kyle had to go a whole two paragraphs ago.

He had a point though. If Leaf was getting a cell phone for graduation, then if I got one, we’d always be in touch. And yes, I did care that she was getting one. I was supposed to two months ago, on my birthday in March, but we were very tight on money then. My dad said he would make it up to me, but I don’t want to get it by High School, because what if I can’t get a hold of Leaf then?

Wing: ...Uh...what? Wing: You...don't want to get it by Strangely Capitalized High School? But wouldn't it be good if you got it by then??

I know I sound all defensive and possessive of her… but after seeing what she had to go through, and having to stick up for her for nearly eight years… who wouldn’t be?

Wing: Look, buddy, just because you “had to stick up for her for nearly eight years” doesn’t mean you get to decide how she conducts her social life. She’s not a freaking sculpture that you’ve spent eight years molding. Also, you don’t sound like a very nice friend. Your wording makes it sound like you resent having defended her and stuck by her. What a jerk

I got up and placed my laptop on my desk, closing the lid. My cat clock started mewling, signaling five o’ clock. I had done my Science and Social Studies already. My English assignment I haven’t even looked at.

I dug around in my backpack to find my English folder. We weren’t using the books at the moment because we covered all the material for the year. I checked my planner for what was due: my story plot for the Creative Writing project. I grabbed my purple notebook, which held a lot of crucial details for my story. I had the characters narrowed down except for their names, but it was the plot I needed help with.

I looked at my first main character, a round teenage girl

Wing: "a round teenage girl" omfg ROUND REALLY BWAHA

Mystic: SHES SPHERICAL

Wing: JUST ROLL HER DOWN A FREAKIN HILL

who has low self-esteem and is often picked on by her peers. She has a crush on a “hot” guy, who is dating some snob.

Wing: I like how "hot" is in quotation marks, like Remy can't really see how guys could be "hot" :3c

The guy is my second main. He’s a jock who is a major flirt and doesn’t care which girl he dates, as long as he is never bored. My third main is a geeky boy who has a crush on the main girl, but has an odd way of showing it. I personally like the geek because not only is he funny to admire, he has guts for trying to prove his worth. I have secondary characters as well, but it mainly focuses on those three, because of the love triangle.

Wing: Pick a teen-oriented rom-com movie. Any of them. Bam. you wrote a summary for it.

How exactly I was going to incorporate my horror theme to this angsty thing, I have no clue.

I ran it over my head. Self-conscious girl who isn’t skinny but certainly not obese,

Wing: Well of course not. Obese people can’t be sympathetic characters./sarcasm

dealing with peer pressure and feelings for the hottest guy in school. Said hot guy who isn’t into serious relationships and is a bit of a jerk. A geeky boy who loves the girl, but no matter how hard he tries to show her, she doesn’t seem to notice.

Geeky boy actually has some potential…possibly for a murder? But it wasn’t just Geekster that has it—Insecure Girl does too. And Too-Hot-To-Be-Cool Guy.

Wing: Wha?

It hit me like a bull.

Wing: At least it wasn't like a car t-boning you [boos and OHHHHHHs heard from audience. I shrug and give a smirk.] I know, I know, I'm awful. Poor Charlie. Also, all of this is hitting me like a lot of bull too. [more booing] Tough crowd.

Mystic: PFFFFFFF

I began to scribble down plot ideas that could include an angsty-romance, as well as horror. Gore counted, right?

Wing: No.

Well, that’s what I put down.

The plot was that there was no definite plot.

Wing: Seinfeld: The Novel

That each arc has its own story. Arc 1 will have the girl, who turns emo

Wing: OMFG

and takes her classroom hostage, fed up with the insults and the fear of her school, and plans to eliminate the sources. Arc 2 is Geeky, who gets tired of trying to please Insecurity, so he kills her, then kills Hotsauce because he’s the reason why she never fell in love with him, then he goes insane from it and commits suicide. Arc 3 is about Hotsauce, who tries to find love but never does, so after he starts dating the snob, he starts to go insane and decides to kill the snob, because he felt that all she wanted was the drama and to vacuum his wallet dry, and she wanted to be the first to get laid by him, so he “loved” her then slowly tortures her to death. I’m thinking of a fourth arc too, but I’m not that far yet.

Mystic: I was so appalled by the whole "the plot is that there is no plot!" like????? doesn't a story need a plot??? Whhhh???

Wing: what the fuck even with the story tho Wing: I would never feel okay with turning something like that in to a MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER

Mystic: I KNOW Mystic: honestly wtf was eighth-grade me thinking???

I think Arc 3 might be a bit M-Rated,

Wing: Okay, 1) What, all the killing wasn’t M-rated enough for you?! and 2) JUST WHEN I THOUGHT THIS HYPOTHETICAL STORY COULD NOT GET ANY WORSE, THE MIDDLE SCHOOL AUTHOR DECIDES TO PUT PORN IN IT. GREAT

but there’s a good chance that the Creative Writing project won’t be finished by school’s end.

And there’s a very good chance that Mrs. Llaydeu would butcher it anyways, if she ever found out.

Wing: YO, SHE'S NOT THE ONE DOING THE BUTCHERING HERE, APPARENTLY

Mystic: yeesh its a good thing i got therapy like shit

Wing: At least you were writing about someone else writing about another person doing it, and not doing it yourself LOL

Mystic: AND YET THIS EXISTS

Wing: IT WAS YOUR SELF-THERAPY Wing: WHICH PROBABLY ACTUALLY WASN'T HELPFUL FOR ANYTHING MORE THAN FRUSTRATION-RELIEF, BUT STILL Mystic: well at least it proved successful at times. there's about six of these chapters lol

So I think I need to make a back-up plot just in case. I decided to make it a classic teenage angst-story where Insecurity realizes that Hotsauce isn’t all that she thought he was and instead goes to Geeky. I honestly liked my original much more.

Wing: Go back to watching Higurashi, Remy

The backup has a cheesy setting, yeah, I know, but it’s better than no plot, and it’s just in case I get caught by Mrs. Llaydeu.

Wing: "Just in case I get caught by Mrs Llaydeu"?? YOU KNOW, YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT ON YOUR OWN TIME. HOW SHE GONNA "CATCH" YOU WRITING STUFF YOU WRITE AS A HOBBY?? WTF, REMY?? JUST WRITE YOUR MURDERFEST FOR YOURSELF AND WRITE SOMETHING ELSE FOR YOUR ASSIGNMENT. THIS IS NOT A DIFFICULT PROBLEM TO SOLVE

I might actually continue with the original if I really wanted to. Or it just might as well end up as one of those stories you’re so into, but then you just drop it and lose inspiration.

Wing: Ouch that hits a little close to home Mystic: oof yeah

Yeah, I know, I have a very horrific side when it comes to stories. I’m sort of like the next Stephen King, a bit.

Wing: I'm sorry, is your ego Santa's list? because you need to CHECK IT. TWICE.

Mystic: remy dear you aint Stephen king YOU FUCKIN NUTS

But hey, who knows, right? You definitely won’t catch me writing some chic-fic or whatever though,

Wing: Because of the way "chic" is actually pronounced, I'm pronouncing that "sheek feek"

because I’m just as girly as Kyle is gay, which he isn’t.

Wing: [narrows eyes] I find your specific denial highly suspicious...

I could smell my mom’s broccoli potato soup cooking downstairs. So, soup tonight with just me in the house and Rocky, because Dad is living with his brother in Massachusetts, while I’m stuck in Connecticut at the moment. But last I heard, Dad was planning on buying a house closer to where I’ll going to High School next year. I’ve seen the school, the only thing I haven’t done was shadow, because I was too fucking lazy to.

Wing: a) How do you shadow a fucking school and b) calm the fuck down with your language, young lady

Mystic: oh that's actually a thing Mystic: see eighth graders could "shadow" a freshman at my high school for a day to see how a typical day on campus was like

Wing: oh okay you didn't say shadow a student tho Wing: it sounds like she wants to shadow the school, not shadow AT the school LOL

Well, at least there’s summer to take a tour around the school. The only thing I’m insecure about is transportation, because I don’t know if the bus that picks up my neighbor will pick me up at the same time or whatever. We’ll see though.

“Remeleen, supper’s just about ready. Can you come and set the table?” Mom asked from the first floor.

“Coming, mom!” I called.

I leapt from my bed and went down the flight of stairs, taking a turn into the living room and then through to the kitchen. The dining room was a small area, with a simple table that could fit four people, and it had cabinets for the plates, bowls, eating utensils, and cups. I set it for two before hitting the couch to look for some television series. I found one of haunted houses and watched that for fifteen minutes, with Rocky cuddled up on my lap.

After Mom placed the food on the table, I nudged Rocky off and headed to my usual seat, which was across from Mom. We ate our supper quietly, which was the broccoli potato soup, salad with dressing and fixings, and pieces of oven-bread to dip in our soup.

Wing: "Oven-bread"? Is that bread that only lives in ovens? Is it like, homemade bread??

Mystic: ...bread that's made in the oven i guess?

Wing: So like... ...bread, then.

When I finished, I grabbed Rocky’s leash, clipped it to his collar, and took him for a walk.

Walking Rocky was probably the best thing to do at my mom’s, because she doesn’t take us out to eat or does anything fun with us, in fact. The only fun things we ever did was always involved with Dad, who arranged most of the activities.

Wing: Cringing at "does" and "was" in those sentences

Mom only went with us if she found someone to watch the house, even for just a few hours. I know it may sound harsh, especially to my mom, but I kind of agree with my dad; she does need some sort of therapy help. Obsessing over a house isn’t healthy, and we live on one of the safest neighborhoods, because it’s not as packed with residents as the huge estates, like where Marybeth lives, at Grey Hound’s Landing. Her house has been robbed, broken into, and damaged so many times for her whole life, that it’s hard to keep track of the exact number.

Wing: Jfc. Maybe she should move?? Also I don't really think huge estates get broken into??? Wing: Huge estates can generally afford security???

Mystic: very unrealistic i agree

So compare that to our homely situation

Wing: Remy obvs doesn't know that "homely" means "plain" or "ugly"

(which hasn’t been robbed before, thanks to Mom), and you can tell that she needs to lighten up. Even just a bit.

Rocky pulled a little on the leash, and I gave it a sharp, quick tug to pull him back. He looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes that remind me of storm clouds. It’s like they could just pull you into a dream, a small fantasy, which had helped me calm down before. When I imagined being in a calm, relaxed state, Rocky’s magnificent irises appear. They give you a sense of dreaming, but it’s not considered day-dreaming. It’s more than that. It’s like you’re dreaming with your eyes wide open, visioning things that you’ve never imagined of before. It’s a very comforting experience.

Wing: Jfc. Remy spends a whole paragraph talking about how beautiful her dog's eyes are. Should I be worried

Mystic: obviously remy is a furry

Wing: ROFLLLLL

If only Rocky were around when Dad and Mom were first arguing, when I was only seven years old. It was two years after that when my dad left, but he bought Rocky as Charlie’s, Amy’s, and my present before departing in November. That was the worst Thanksgiving ever, because Mom didn’t let him come, worried he might bring home a girlfriend. He never called that day either. And then Christmas, he dropped off presents, two for each of his kids … none for Mom.

Then, right before Amy’s birthday in April, he says that he has been living with a woman he met on the internet. And that he broke up with her. Then, a week later, he called the house phone. I was only nine then, but I still loved my dad.

Wing: ...Because...everyone knows that people stop loving their dads at age 8?...

I picked up the phone since Mom was putting Amy to bed. I knew something was wrong right away; his voice was slurred and hard to understand. He said awful names that he thought were being directed to Mom… but it was me. I cried, telling Dad to stop, I wasn’t Mom. He said something I’ll never forget:

“Oh, I’m sorry (hiccup) sweetie. Can ya tell your (hiccup) your Mom what I said? She needs to kno-(hiccup)-ow what a true bitch she is, and how much Hannah (his now ex-girlfriend) loves me.”

Wing: I like how her dad takes the time to pronounce "hiccup" in (somehow) verbal parentheses, and also reminds Remy of who Hannah is

Mystic: wait who's hannah

Wing: According to the story: “Oh, I’m sorry (hiccup) sweetie. Can ya tell your (hiccup) your Mom what I said? She needs to kno-(hiccup)-ow what a true bitch she is, and how much Hannah (his now ex-girlfriend) loves me.”

Mystic: OHHHH

Wing: I guess you needed Remy's dad to parenthetically explain to you.

Mystic: Pfft it's not very memorable xD

Wing: Shrug. It's a palindrome, at least. Wing: Also, I don't think he's drunk. If he's hiccupping that much, he probably just has hiccups.

That was the first time I swore at my father. I pulled the ones I knew that Mom and Dad would say sometimes, but rarely in front of us. I threw the phone to the ground and ran to Mom, crying, sobbing, and yelling about what happened.

I refused to speak on the phone with him since.

When my dad realized what had happened, he tried desperately to earn my trust back, so far as breaking up with his ‘girlfriend’ again (at least, as far as I know) and moving in with his brother. I’m happy that he’s trying, but… I still can’t get over it. How can I, a typical Daddy’s-Little-Girl figure, who was part of something that should have never, ever have happened? I still have a grudge, knowing that it’s gonna happen again, knowing that that was the bullshit my mom had to go through.

Both of them are neither right nor wrong. My dad’s not the perfect husband, but he jumps right back and tried to mend the pieces instead of finding another slut to knock up again.

Wing: Jfc. How is the nameless hypothetical woman who only exists to demonstrate a point in this specific sentence STILL being blamed here??

My mom has always been there emotionally for us, but her possessive behavior can get overwhelming. But sometimes, they both can have their moments where they just lash out. Mom did that to me when she thought I was defending Dad about something (I was only stating what happened!). Even Dad, who would compare me to my mom, mostly for mistakes and when I get obsessed and stressed over something he considers ‘stupid.’

The two of them are not perfect, but they’re not messed up like Leaf’s hoe-craving father.

Wing: "Leaf's hoe-craving father" I'm cracking up omg spelling it like that just makes it sound like he's REALLY into gardening ROFLLLL seriously though hoe-craving HE CRAVES THEM HOS

"How ya feelin, dad?" "Well, if I'm being honest, I have a bit of a craving right now." "Oh, really? For what?" "FOR A NICE HOT JUICY HO. THIS HO CRAVING WILL NOT BE SUPPRESSED"

Mystic: OH MY GOD

I just … only wish … we could be a real family again. I wish that Charlie was walking with me, instead of bruised, battered and broken at the hospital. I wish Amy was here too, because she’s an amazing conversationalist and knows how to brighten my spirit. I wish that Dad hadn’t been drunk that night nearly four years ago, and that Mom wasn’t obsessive over everything and more enjoyable to be around. I wish everything was different! I want my dad back, like the father I knew six years ago, instead of someone who’s trying to be that same dad but isn’t; and I want a mom who acts like she cares and isn’t obsessed over some god-fucking-damned house! I just… I just…!

Jesus Christ!

Wing: Aww, the writing here is very raw and emotional, though. I can tell it came from real emotions you felt and I wanna hug you :C <33 Mystic: Oh gosh senpai ;; it's ok that was a long time ago! Wing: I knowww, but like, I'd feel just... AWFUL if I continued trampling all over this thing you wrote without acknowledging that you were undoubtedly very sincere about it at the time and it is a reflection of who you were emotionally back then. Y'know? So, Younger!Mystic, just, keep trying, you're awesome, and I love you ;-; Mystic: SENPAAAIIIIIIIIIIII ;A; Wing: KOUHAAAAAAAAI ;n;

I broke down right then and there, collapsing on the curb and crying, no, sobbing my emotions out. I was surprised later on that the neighbors didn’t hear me, even though I swear I was loud enough for somebody to notice. I felt Rocky brush up against me, sitting on his haunches and nuzzling me. His pitiful whimper brings my head up, which he takes advantage of and licks my face.

I sort of laughed, trying to lighten myself up, but the tears didn’t stop. My face was heated uncomfortably, even though the night was much cooler than at dismissal earlier today. My eyes stung from crying so hard.

Then those piercing, gentle canine eyes met mine, and the negative feelings start to simmer down. Rocky tilted his head and whined in concern. I stroked his head, feeling the soft fur on top.

“Oh Rocky, what a mess this has become,” I said, choked by the hurt, anger, and sadness that began to bubble again. But Rocky’s intense gaze kept them from overflowing. “I know it’s nothing like Leaf’s dad, or her mom or whatever … but … it hurts … it--” I spurted out a sob,

Wing: Aaaaand then the mood was broken at the sentence "I spurted out a sob" Like, just spewed that sob everywhere It got on the pavement and everything

Mystic: JUST SPURT THAT SPIT EVERYWHERE REMY Mystic: JUST LIKE AUDREY

sniffled, then continued, “it’s like what she said. Life never works the way you want it for anyone. Instead … it challenges you, sees how much you’ll try to make the best, until you do crack from the pressure and shut down.” There was silence for a few moments before I asked: “Do you know if that’s right?”

Rocky only barks.

Wing: Suddenly in the present tense.

I laughed shortly. “Course you didn’t,” I muttered. I then turned my body to face the husky and Akita mix, who has a smile on his muzzle, and wrapped my arms around his neck.

Wing: omg, the dog is smiling Wing: the DOG is SMILING

Mystic: SMILING DOGGO

Wing: it reminds me of when I was doing the first spork that I ever did for tumblr, which was more in the format of reviews/summaries for every chapter, and I got SO MAD about the introduction of a fucking husky into the story for NO REASON and it was magically intelligent and could do really cool stuff and NODDED WHEN THE MARY SUE SAID THINGS

Mystic: pffffff omg xD

“You’ll be there for all of us, right? Not just me; I’m sure Amy and Charlie will need you as well … especially Mom. I know she doesn’t really like you, but … I’m sure she’ll want someone with her in her time of need.”

He moaned in that cute, doggish way of his,

Wing: "He moaned in that cute, doggish way of his" The Remy x Rocky is real/I'M GOING TO HELL

Mystic: BRUH Mystic: REMY CONFIRNED TO BE INTO BESTALITY

Wing: CAN'T SPELL BESTIALITY WITHOUT "BEST"/SATAN IS CALLING FOR ME

Mystic: OH MY GOFD

and placed his head on my shoulder. After I collected myself and found the strength to carry my own weight, I got up and walked Rocky back home, even though we didn’t get out too far.

We got back home at around 7:30. Mom asked what I was doing coming back so early, but I ignored her. Although I vented to Rocky, I knew I needed a person to talk to. I haven’t the guts to tell Mom, and I’m sure Kyle is busy with his Grandma and talking to Marybeth. Leaf is very limited to talking on the phone, but she’s one of the few I knew would understand.

The one person I never would have thought of came to mind instantly.

I grabbed the home phone and retreated to my room. I looked thoroughly in a small box that I kept under my bed, looking for that number. I found it, the simple, pink-heart sticky note, with a carefully handwritten cell number and the name of the contact. I smiled when I recognized it.

Erika.

She was one of my best friends, but she moved to Killingly last year.

Wing: Killingly??? THAT'S not a horrible name for a place or anything

Mystic: That's a real place lol Mystic: my community college is actually in Kilingly

Wing: omg, that's, whoa, I. I mean I knew there were places called that, but geez, just. What a horrible name LOL

I always kept in touch with her though, because she is the best girl ever,

Wing: Add another stone reading "gay" to the pile I've made for Remy

and I used to always have heart-to-heart conversations with her. She was close to Leaf as well, and part of our CSI games that we played when we were younger. Erika also had a thing for sassing things up with the popular group; she was a bit of a Mary Sue when standing up to bullies,

Wing: ????????????what??????????

Mystic: remy don't know what a mary-sue is apparently

Wing: like if anyone's the Mary Sue here, sweetie...

Mystic: PFFFFF EXACTLY

but she was targeted because of one thing: she was an orphan. I met her foster parents, and they were very nice, despite the obvious differences in their appearance when compared to their child, who had Puerto Rican characteristics. But Erika was very happy to have a doting family, and to just have one at all, because she saw what the orphans at the orphanages had to go through. Some had given up hope for finding a family, since many were rejected because they were teenagers and not cute babies or adorable little kids.

Wing: You make them sound like dogs and cats at the pound.

Erika’s real parents gave her up because they didn’t want the responsibility (they were teenage parents, by the way)

Wing: ...And this was necessary to mention why?

to take care of a baby. So, Erika was brought up by the Nuns

Wing: They were very important Nuns that required capitalization.

that ran the orphanage that she was put into. She grew up inside there until she was ten years old, and then attended my middle school. I loved her because of her spunk, despite her past, and she was patient enough to listen to even a Popular’s angsty story. And she gave pretty good advice, too. She was the most natural mediator I have ever seen. Why else would Mrs. Jillian have picked her as one of the Peer Mediator Officers at our school?

We haven’t spoken to each other in a while, which, now that I think about it, makes me nervous. Please, don’t let her forget about me already, I thought desperately. Then, taking a deep breath, I dialed the number into the phone.

As I listened to the connecting rings, I reminisced about the good times I had with Erika, even though for a short while. I missed her, I really did. She was a second Leaf, in a way, but she could control her mad personality, and (I hate to point this out) she didn’t have any disorders that I knew about. But that didn’t make her any more of a person than Leaf. I would never think of replacing Leaf for someone else. That’s why I really don’t have a single best friend that I liked more.

Wing: Uh, what I'm hearing here is "except really good at being a person and basically psychosis-free! Basically she's like the finished product while Leaf is more like the prototype! Erika's just all around better!"

Mystic: oof youre right Mystic: that's pretty shitty tbh

Wing: Like, just in general, the whole "a second Leaf" thing was...pretty bad LOL

Mystic: yeeahh, especially since the two characters are nothing alike at all

Wing: And then she actually goes further to explain that "oh yeah, Erika doesn't have Leaf's PROBLEMS, though. Oh, but that doesn't make her better than Leaf! It's just that she's better at a lot of...shit!"

Mystic: remy hun u a piece of trash

Wing: Rofl!

My heart jumped as a familiar voice answered the other end.

Wing: Erika makes Remy's kokoro go doki-doki.

“Hello? Who is this?” Erika.

“Hi Erika … its Remeleen,” I said.

“Remy? Is that really you? Oh my god, we haven’t talked in weeks! How are ya, what’s happenin’ how’s Leafsters, Kay-Kay and Marybeth?” Erika asked.

“They’re fine,” I reassured, giggling at Erika’s nickname for Kyle. Then I remembered the reason why I called. “Actually, I was hoping … that I could talk to you.”

She got what I meant. “Fire away, girl. I’m listening.”

I smiled, and the rush of emotions start to brew in my stomach again as I shakily began to speak. But Rocky jumps on the bed and lays down next to me,

Wing: That inconsistent tense tho

and as I’m pouring out my feeling, I glimpse those blue eyes, and I feel complete again.

Wing: I'm not saying she's in love with her dog or anything...but she totally appears to be in love with her dog

Mystic: PFFFFFFFF Mystic: did i have like a thing for dogs or something what the fuck

They remind me that I’m not alone, that there are other people out there feeling the exact same way as I am.

Wing: Rocky is Remy’s religion. He brings her comfort and solace and a sense of community

And it calmed me down.

Time to leave the past behind me.

This is the last night you'll spend alone. Look me in the eyes so I know you know. I'm everywhere you want me to be. The last night you'll spend alone, I'll wrap you in my arms and I won't let go. I'm everything you need me to be. The night is so long when everything's wrong. If you give me your hand I will help you hold on, tonight,

Tonight.

~Lyrics from The Last Night, by Skillet

Wing: the fucking song lyrics Wing: are obviously about Wing: Remy and Rocky Wing: I just Wing: can Wing: 't

Mystic: ASLKJEODHGD Mystic: DID I JUST WRITE A FURRY ROMANCE Mystic: HOLY SHIT

Wing: NO SERIOUSLY READ THEM AGAIN; IT IS ABOUT THEM I SWEAR

Mystic: AHHHHHHHH IT TOTALLY IS Mystic: HOLY CRAP

Wing: IT'S NOT EVEN FURRY ROMANCE THOUGH. LIKE, FURRY ROMANCE IS ARGUABLY MORE ACCEPTABLE BECAUSE FURRIES ARE ANTHROPOMORPHIC. AND THINK WITH HUMAN INTELLIGENCE, BUT...! Wing: THIS Wing: I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY Wing: ...EXCEPT MAYBE “ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER!”

Next part up soon!

#fate's flawed design #wingsporkhalo #bad fiction #mary sues #badfic #mysticdelphox97 #remy x rocky 5ever #SHE'S SPHERICAL #seinfeld: the novel #is your ego santa's list?#your denial is highly suspicious #so like...bread #remy the accidental furry #who the hell is hannah #A NICE JUICY HO #our lord and savior rocky the huskita

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katdvs · 8 years ago

Photo

Lucas Friar moved back to Texas at 17, now he’s running for Mayor of Rosewood Springs so best friend Zay and little sister Gigi decide he needs a little help from a political consultant.

Riley Matthews found her calling, she found a fiancé, but she never expected to find herself here, of all places.

Cross-posted to FF.net | Soundtrack

Author Note: Why do you all think Lucas doesn’t remember Las Vegas? Also, since I hit 1000 followers on Tumblr (seriously that is mind-blowing to me), I’m doing a little fanfic giveaway. You can find out more about it here.

-the one I want for life-

Lucas knocked on the guest room door, when Riley opened it he felt that pickup of his heartbeat that happened every single time he saw her. God, he wished that would stop, and yet he didn’t want it to. It wasn’t fair, “Um, are you done with my phone?”

“Oh yeah, just finished. Um Facebook, Twitter were easy, you barely use them. Instagram was surprising.” She put the phone in his hand, afraid to touch his skin but feeling the heat shoot through her body when her finger tips grazed his palm.

“What was surprising?”

“Um just that you didn’t have pictures of you with a bunch of girls, actually the only girls on your entire feed are your Mom, Gigi, and then Maya, Smackle…”

“And you.” He looked down at the phone, “See I’m not a total asshole.”

“Did you delete pictures from high school, from parties you attended already?” She had to know.

“I never posted party pictures.” Lucas slapped his phone against his hand, “The only time those ever made it onto my feed would be when Dixie would steal my phone and post them. I would try and go delete them later.”

“But they would be pictures of girls all over you, wouldn’t they?”

“Maybe I don’t remember, that was ages ago Ri would that really matter?”

Yes, it would! She wanted to scream but instead Riley shrugged, “We need to set up social media for the campaign, and then um, we need to really sit down and talk strategy.”

“And not about the women who have sucked my dick right?” He was sure her eyes drifted down his body, no he was imagining it. “Yeah, Zay and Gigi already went to the bar for the night, since well it’s Saturday, um I’m going to grill that chicken I put in to marinate earlier. You can join me of course, I mean why wouldn’t you unless, you want to go hang out at the bar until like three am.”

“Dinner with you sounds fine, besides we have cake.” Her heart was fluttering as she took a step back from him, “Maya says hello.”

“I’m sure she does.”

“No, really, she does.” She slipped her phone into her back pocket, “How about you do the chicken, I’ll get us some sides.”

“That would be wonderful.” He moved away from the door so she could come out, “Have you, um, talked to Dave yet?”

“Not yet, it’s Saturday he’ll be out on his boat, no phone until tomorrow.”

“He’s a boat guy huh?”

“Yeah, well he got into it a few years ago, when he joined his firm.” Riley shrugged, she didn’t really enjoy going out on the boat, she always ended up seasick.

“You and Dave, that just seems weird to me.” Lucas confessed as they went down the stairs. “I mean I could’ve seen you and Charlie.”

“And I can still hear the distaste for him in your voice, but he married Maya.”

“That oddly makes sense.” Lucas stopped at the bottom of the stairs, “How about while we prepare dinner you get me caught up on everyone back in New York; even Maya.”

“I can do that, or at least try. I’m sure you know some things.”

Lucas shrugged, “Zay is closer to all of you now, somehow I came back here and lost hold of all of you.”

“I’m sure Gloria Maya and Dixie tried to fill that void just fine.”

Lucas couldn’t help but catch something in her voice, was that it? No, it couldn’t be that. She wouldn’t be jealous of two girls who he never did anything with—okay he made out with Gloria May once and then she’d slapped him when he moaned Riley’s name.

“So, what can I get for you tonight Dixie?” Zay looked at the woman with blonde hair as she gave him that smile, he figured she thought it was sexy, flirty, but something always unsettled him about it.

“I see you left the Doc at home tonight, so I guess I’ll just take one of those cosmos they drink on TV.” She let her eyes travel over Zay, he was cute, but he was no Lucas Friar, no Lucas had been her goal since he moved back to Texas in high school a goal she was sure she was close to achieving.

“Lucas is at home, with an old friend.” Zay started to mix the drink for her, “You know I don’t think I’ve seen anyone drink a cosmopolitan on TV since we were kids.”

Dixie gave him a dirty look, “So an old friend, that Farkle guy in town?”

“Nope, Riley, his first and only girlfriend.” Gigi moved next to Zay grabbing a few beers from the tub in front of him, “Dixie you look a little green.”

“What is his ex-girlfriend doing visiting?” she put her cash on the bar when Zay put her drink down.

“Well, Riley is visiting Lucas for a while. They’ve reconnected, and this was the perfect time in her work schedule to get down here.” Gigi explained while Zay moved to another customer, “You look a little green, sure you don’t want some water?”

“Oh, well, will she be here for the Fourth of July dance?” Dixie thought to the tight red dress she planned to wear, she had a plan to get Lucas once and for all that night.

Gigi smiled, “Of course she will, Riley is going to be around for the foreseeable future.”

“Wonderful,” Dixie tried to hide her frown, “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“I’m sure the pleasure will be all yours when you do.” Gigi smiled as Dixie walked away with her drink.

Zay came over behind her, “What did you just do?’

“Well at the very least I got my big brother a reprieve from Dixie for a little while, or I just gave Riley the best excuse to stick around Texas and forget all about Dave.”

Zay shook his head, “Her and Lucas reconnecting? How is that going to make her stick around? They’re going to kill you.”

Gigi smirked, “Trust me Zay, they might be mad, but come on, she needs to stay right?” She turned to look at him, feeling that weird energy she’d been trying to ignore for she didn’t even know how long now, Worst comes to worst Riley leaves, and if she does Lucas will chase after her this time.”

“What makes you so sure?” Zay felt as if he was missing a piece of Gigi’s puzzle, how could she be so sure?

“Because I’ll drag him to New York myself if I must.” She grabbed her order book before going back out to check on her customers.

Zay shook his head, he could’ve stopped her, but he didn’t, he at the very least did enjoy watching how unsettled Dixie was at hearing that Riley was in town.

Riley was setting the table for two when she looked out the window to see Lucas on the back patio manning the grill. She closed her eyes for a moment, giving herself just a small little time to fantasize, thinking of kids running around the backyard.

She blinked when she saw him turn towards the window, giving him a small wave before she continued with her task. Though as she moved around the kitchen she couldn’t help but wonder if he had thoughts like hers.

No probably not.

He stood her up.

He is the reason why it wasn’t a reality.

She had to get him set up with his campaign as quickly as possible or she was going to end up with broken heart, which she knew was trouble since she was engaged to someone else.

Dave was a good man, he loved her, okay maybe not as much as corn chips or his boat, but he loved her. He wanted to marry her, have a family, settle down.

Lucas wanted to get off occasionally and not have anyone attached to him. Why though, what had changed, hadn’t he wanted what she wanted once? Or had they just been young and saying what they thought they should say and promise to each other?

He stood in the doorway watching her, trying to keep himself from picturing what it would look like if there was a mini version of her following behind, trying to help.

Why didn’t he go to NYU? Because the thought of being near her and not being with her was pure torture. Why didn’t he go to New York and tell her that he loved her and that being broken up was the dumbest decision they could’ve made? Because he was afraid she didn’t agree, he was afraid she was okay with them not being together.

Why else would she be planning to surprise him for his birthday, only to not come after all.

If only she’d been the girl in Las Vegas.

“So, um Chicken is ready.” He carried the plate and set it on the table.

“Wonderful, we’ve got a nice little spread.” She brought a pitcher of water over to the table.

“Do you want anything besides water, I’ve got some wine and beer over here.” He pulled curtain back to reveal a small wine fridge.

“This is a professional dinner, we’ve got to get your campaign figured out.” She reminded him.

“A glass of wine isn’t unprofessional.” He watched her, he could see the resolve wash away.

“Fine, what do you have in a white?” She took down two classes from the cabinet.

Lucas took out a Pinot Grigio and found the corkscrew, opening the bottle. “So, what is Auggie up to these days?”

“He’s teaching, he followed my Dad’s footsteps, except he’s teaching kindergarten instead of middle and high school.” Riley watched him, trying to figure out how they could go from these moments of simplicity between them to the sudden tension that would overtake them. What did any of it even mean?

“Did he and Ava ever get together?” he poured a glass before handing it to her, watching as she studied it for a second before taking a sip.

She moved to the table, “Auggie is single. He and Ava dated up until college, and they grew apart, she lives in California now and owns a Yoga Studio.”

“Wow, they did change.” He poured his own glass, never letting his eyes leave her.

“We all change Lucas, life changes us. Look at Zay, he was on his way to being a Broadway dancer and got injured. Smackle always planned to go and cure diseases, and yet she spends most of the day pouring over polling data. Maya thought she was going to become a famous artist, but she’s a stay-at-home mom to two kids she has with Charlie. Really, you’re the only one who did exactly what they said they would do, become a Veterinarian.”

Lucas took a sip of his wine, “You’re still helping people, maybe not the way you intended but you are.”

“So, you want to help the people of your community, what makes you think you can do that?”

“Going straight for it huh?” He looked down at his plate as he gathered his thoughts, “People trust me, they come to me for advice, the people of this town believe in me.”

Riley nodded, “Have you thought about the work load, you have the ranch, your practice, being mayor is going to take up more time than you realize.”

Lucas rested his arms on the edge of the table, “I have Gigi and Zay to help with the ranch, and a staff of ranch hands who do the heavy stuff. My practice is thriving, and I can always bring someone in to help if need be.”

Riley focused on her food for a moment as she thought how to bring this up, “Your marital status, this could bring you some unexpected attention. I know you’ve been named Bachelor of the Year three years in a row, it might bring more unwanted attention.”

Lucas took a sip of his wine, “I have no plans to get married or date.” How could he when the only woman he’d ever contemplated marrying was engaged to another man who wasn’t worthy of her, not that Lucas was worthy of her either.

“I’ve worked on campaigns in small towns like this, chances are the women are going to be itching to marry you off, if they weren’t already.”

“Can’t I be a confirmed bachelor?”

“People might talk, you and Zay, roommates for how long?” She leaned back taking a sip of her wine.

“I’m pretty sure people won’t be gossiping about that.”

“Tell me about your opponent.” She decided to change the subject.

Lucas sighed, “Current Mayor, getting older, nothing has really moved forward in town, kind of a holding pattern, too comfortable in the position.”

“Younger blood, revitalize the town you love, okay, okay.” Riley looked over to him, “I think your chances are good Lucas, your social media was clean. But go lock everything up, you need fresh accounts.”

“Fresh accounts?”

“Yeah, we’ll set up a story for who you are. Control the message, the story.” She explained, “This is something that Gigi might be able to do for you when I leave.”

“Desperate to get back to Dave huh?” He downed the rest of his wine, getting up from the table as his phone went off with a flurry of text messages.

“I don’t think I need to be hands on that’s all. I don’t think you need me.” She explained as she got up following him, “What’s wrong?”

“Just really weird messages from Dixie Carmichael.” He rolled his eyes, “If anyone thinks I need to be married it would be her, but only if she were my wife.”

“What’s she saying?” Riley tried to ignore the pit of jealousy rooting itself in her stomach.

Lucas scrolled through them, “Something about how you and I are reconnecting. How does she know you’re here?”

Riley took the phone from him, “How does she even know about me?”

“Zay and that mouth of his, but she must’ve misheard him, the bar is pretty loud.” Lucas put the phone down, his hand landing on top of hers and he felt a shiver ripple through his body.

Riley didn’t pull her hand away she looked at his though, feeling her heart beating before she looked up at him, “So, Gloria May, Dixie, how many other hearts have you left broken around town?”

“I don’t make promises I have no intention of keeping, if I broke any hearts here in town it’s because they created something in their own minds that wasn’t.” It would be so easy to kiss her right now he realized, so easy to blame it on the wine.

Riley pulled her hand away, “Tomorrow we need to go through your wardrobe, see what you have, what you need, see what your look is.”

“I need a look?” he wondered why she pulled away then. “We’ve got Church tomorrow, you’re welcome to go with us.”

“Of course, I should see you in your weekly element.” She gathered the dishes and started to put stuff away in the fridge.

“Why did you go to George Washington, why leave NYU? I know why Zay left, but why did you?”

“I needed to get out of New York.” She put the chicken in some Tupperware, “I needed a change, and I didn’t go to my first choice because the money wasn’t there.”

“I thought NYU was your first choice.”

“There was this program I was interested in somewhere else but I didn’t get in.” She lied, she couldn’t tell him that she’d been accepted to Texas A&M, that she’d almost gone, but couldn’t stand the thought of seeing him with another woman.

“I’m sorry, I can’t imagine anyone rejecting you.”

Riley shook her head, “That’s fucking funny coming from you Lucas.” She threw the plastic wrap back in the drawer and stormed out of the kitchen.

“What does that mean,” He followed her watching as she stormed towards the steps but he reached out for her, to keep her from walking away.

“It means what you think it means Lucas” she couldn’t look at him, she couldn’t get lost in those green eyes that didn’t know, didn’t understand.

“I think you’re mad at me for something and dammit Riley I don’t know what for.”

“You’re mad at me as well.” She broke her silent vow letting her eyes fall on his, she could so easily kiss him, just taste him once more, stir his memory, but what good would that do either of them? She would still be engaged to another man, and he would still be the man who didn’t meet her at the chapel in Vegas.

“Maybe it’s the situation, maybe part of us is still mad that we had to break up, we didn’t get the natural end to our relationship.” Though as Lucas spoke he knew there was no such thing, nothing about them ending could or would ever be natural.

“We would’ve maybe have made it through high school, but college took us different places.” It took every bit of strength she had not to caress his face, feel his facial hair against her finger tips.

“Distance is hard, I’m sure you’re aware of that, you can make it work with the right man.”

She didn’t speak.

“Dave is the right man for you, right?”

“Dave loves me, he wants forever with me, not just a night.”

Lucas couldn’t speak, did she really believe that he could only ever want her for a night? He wanted her for every night, he wanted her for every morning, every afternoon, if he honestly thought she could want him now he would do anything and everything she said to.

Her phone started ringing, she pulled it out of her pocket, showing Lucas the screen, “Speak of the Devil, I should take this.”

Lucas released her stepping back, “Of course.”

Riley felt like a piece of herself was falling away as Lucas’ touch was gone and she answered the phone, “Dave hey, um, how was the water today?”

Lucas went into the kitchen shaking his head, grabbing a fork from the drawer and going to the cake, Riley had frosted it, creating a simple pattern with a fork on top. She wouldn’t tell Dave she knew about the ring, she wouldn’t tell Dave that she was with Lucas. She was going to try and get out of here as fast as possible, he could feel it in his bones.

He stuck his fork in the cake and pulled out a full forkful before stuffing it in his mouth, he had to come up with a plan to keep Riley here in Rosewood Springs.

If she didn’t want to be here, with him, why should he try to get her to stay?

Because he needed her.

He needed Riley.

He needed her with him, in his life.

That’s what people meant, wasn’t it? He didn’t need her as a consultant.

Lucas Friar needed Riley Matthews, but how was he going to get her back?

Riley listened as Dave went on, and on about what a wonderful day he’d had out on the water on his boat with his co-worker Avery.

She should be jealous right now that her fiancé spent all day out on the boat with another woman, shouldn’t she? Shouldn’t she have the same reaction to the news that she had to the thought of another woman touching Lucas, another woman pressing their lips against his, feeling his hands on their body?

She shook her head, no she had no reason to worry or be jealous of the time Dave spent with Avery. They were friends, they usually ended up on the same cases. She never had any reason to be jealous.

Why couldn’t she bring herself to tell Dave that she was with Lucas?

Not that she was with Lucas, but here in Texas, on his ranch?

Would he be jealous?

Had she ever given him a reason to be jealous?

No, Riley had never strayed from Dave. She’d never strayed from any of her boyfriends.

Except she might have fantasized a time or two, thousand maybe about Lucas.

But those were fantasies. Even after he crushed her heart, yes part of her would always be physically attracted to him, she wasn’t blind, she could see very easily how attractive he was. He could give her one look, it was innocent enough she’d notice in the last two days, and part of her would be wishing he’d throw her over his shoulder and lock her away in his bedroom.

Fantasies are not reality though.

She started to change for bed, the way Lucas had stopped her earlier, she should’ve been mad, and she was, but only that he hadn’t pulled her body against his, that she didn’t get to feel the vibrations of desire she hoped to God he was feeling.

What was wrong with her?

Riley went to brush her teeth, why was she torn between trying to get out of town as quickly as possible, and needing him to ask her to stay.

She had no reason to stay though.

He didn’t need her.

But Riley did need something from him, closure.

That’s what this was about, it had to be. She needed to put Lucas Friar in her past once and for all so she could move on with Dave.

She studied herself in the mirror, really looking at her reflection. It was a Saturday night and she was free of make-up, her hair in a simple ponytail on top of her head. She looked wow, maybe, probably not to Lucas.

It would be so easy to go his room, to ask for that one night, it was all he could give her, wasn’t it? It would be all he would want to give her.

No, she already had one night with him, and he didn’t remember it.

That was it.

She needed him to remember. She needed him to remember the sensation of her lips on his chest, the feel of her mouth on his shaft, the feel of being inside of her and reaching the ultimate peak pleasure.

When she stepped out into the hall she paused, gathering courage perhaps, strength maybe. His light was on and she took a few steps towards his door, trying to gain the confidence to knock.

His door swung open just as she decided she couldn’t do it, “Riley is something wrong?”

She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t get distracted by him in just the pajama bottoms, if she opened them she knew she’d have that Peggy Carter moment of wanting to just reach out and touch his chest. “What time is church in the morning?”

“Service is at ten-thirty, we leave here at ten sharp.” Did she not understand what she was doing? Even though her pajama bottoms were loose they clung to her body in the right places, he was sure she was panty free now, he knew she was braless, but the tank top she had on was tight across her chest, he couldn’t help but notice the logo, “Gamma Gamma Nu?”

“Yeah that was my sorority.” Riley wondered if he recognized the logo as matching the tattoo on her buttocks from their one night together.

“I was an Alpha Tri Beta,” Lucas tried to look away, did she know how much more beautiful she was right now, in a way he could only describe as wow. She probably had no idea, Dave probably never told her, he probably didn’t really understand what he had.

“Oh, um so I should go now.”

“Riley, I um noticed something in my pictures.” He had to find a reason to stop her.

“You did?”

He grabbed his phone, “This one, from Las Vegas that looks like you and Maya giggling in the background.”

“It is me and Maya.” She told him not looking at the phone.

His heart was beating quickly, “It’s a shame we didn’t run into each other.”

Riley looked down at her hands, “Good night Lucas.”

He was stunned silent, what had he said? What was he missing? He reached out grabbing her before she was too far away. The golden flecks of her eyes blazed with a fire, “Why are you so mad at me?”

Her breathing was heavy as her eyes tried to fall from his but only realizing she was in more trouble if she stared at his chest. “You’re not the Lucas I thought I knew.” She wanted to scream at him to kiss her, to show her that he wanted her. “Who are you? No really Lucas, who are you?”

“Who am I?” He questioned, pushing her against the wall of the hall, “I’m a man Riley, who yes I have needs, I have desires, but …”

“But what Lucas.” She ran her hands over his chest, the hard muscles, golden chest hair as she stared into his eyes, her breathing becoming heavy as she felt the definition of his body, the texture of his golden chest hair against her finger tips.

“You’re a woman, you have needs, you have desires, but…” He could feel his body vibrating, he wanted to kiss her, he needed to kiss her, he could kiss her and find he spark he was desperate for gone or he could set a forest on fire claiming Riley as his once and for all.

“But what Lucas” She felt herself lean towards him, her eyes pleading for him to kiss her, even though her mind knew it was wrong.

His fingers ran down her cheek, over her throat, “You’re not the kind of woman who cheats and I’m not the kind of man to ask you to.”

“You’re right, I’m not the kind of woman who cheats.” She felt his touch, his body move away from her, it was like the oxygen around her was gone.

Lucas ran his hands through his hair, “I could never ask you to jeopardize your future, your happiness for what? A night of some high school fantasy.”

“And I’m not looking to become a notch on your headboard.” She moved down the hall knowing she wouldn’t be a new notch.

He watched her walk away, didn’t she get it. She wouldn’t just be a notch, no if Lucas was going to be with her, worship her body the way she deserved than she had to his and his alone.

At least now he knew that part of her wanted him, part of her needed him, but what about the part that wanted and need Dave?

Riley leaned against her bedroom door, what the hell was she thinking?

She knew what she was thinking.

She knew what she wanted.

She knew what she needed.

She laid on the bed, pulling a pillow against her body. She had to get out of Texas before she ruined her life in some crazy schoolgirl fantasy.

Why did she still want him?

Why did she still need him?

Why did she want him to want her?

Why did she need him to need her?

That wasn’t about closure, no it was something else.

But what?

”Lucas and Riley are going to kill you when they find out what you did.” Zay told Gigi as they got out of his truck, it was three in the morning, the moonlight was bright, washing over the fields.

“Or they’re going to thank me.” She put her purse over her shoulder and watch Zay, “They need a push to be together.”

“She’s engaged, Riley isn’t the kind to cheat.”

“And my big brother isn’t the kind of man to ask her to.” Gigi stopped on the back steps, putting her at Zay’s eyelevel, “It’s obvious they care about each other, and I think they both need the other, but something is holding them back and it’s not the man she plans to marry.”

“What’s holding them back Gigi?”

“Fear, we should be fearless.”

“And are you fearless?”

Gigi pushed her shoulders back, “I should practice what I preach, shouldn’t I?”

“I mean it might help your case.” Zay was trying to ignore the familiar flutter in his stomach as Gigi’s eyes took an inventory of him, “Gigi?”

“What are you afraid of Zay?”

“I’m not afraid of anything.” He gulped, that was a lie, he was afraid of what Gigi was about to do, that he had now power to stop it because damn it, part of him wanted to find out, and he was afraid of what Lucas would do to him when he found out.

“You’re lying.” She smirked as her hand ran over his cheek, “You have this specific smile when you lie.”

“Gigi, we should go inside, get to bed.”

“Mine or yours?”

Zay was stunned, “You in yours and me in mine.”

Gigi shrugged before she leaned in, her lips on his, expecting him to pull away, only to feel him pull her closer, into him.

He knew it was wrong, he knew he should stop it, but it felt like every kiss he’d ever heard described in a movie or love song. No kiss he’d ever had before, had been like this.

This was everything Gigi had imagined it could be the last few months as the butterflies circled her body whenever he was near her. She’d tried to ignore it, she would flirt with the guys she waited on, but none of them made her tremble with just a look.

Lucas might end up killing Zay, but at least Zay figured he was going to die a happy man and that was only from a kiss.

Gigi pulled away smiling and took the step behind her up, still facing Zay, “I’ll see you for church in the morning.”

Zay stayed outside, knowing he had to keep a distance between the two of them.

He’d be lying if he’d said he hadn’t thought about it, hadn’t imagined it, but he’d always tried to push it out of his head. She as Lucas’ baby sister, she wasn’t even nineteen yet, a few days away but still.

She was about to turn Nineteen, and Zay was thirty. Two very different worlds, two very different lives to lead. No way could he believe she was even ready for what he was ready for, no she still had so much of the world to see, to explore, getting involved with him would hold her back, and he could never do that to her.

Not that he’d have the chance to, the minute Lucas found out, and he would, then Zay would be a dead man.

#Thunder Chasing The Wind #Riley Matthews #Lucas Friar #Rucas #Rucas Fanfic #Girl Meets World #GMW Fanfic #Zay Babineaux #Gigi Friar

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redheadgleek · 7 years ago

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For the meme- a, s, d, f, g, h, j, k, l

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

Oh gosh, way too many to list. My main ships right now are Kurt/Blaine and Jack/Bitty. Jeremon/Siremy was developing but alas.

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

I don’t ever feel like I have original thoughts about characters. :( But this is the drabble that I wrote about a particular headcanon of mine for zimbits:

During their first conversation after graduation, Bitty in Madison, Jack in Montreal, Jack casually tells Bitty “I love you.” Because of course he’s going to say it - he is in love with Bitty, so why should he wait until an arbitrary point in the future when it’s more acceptable?

Bitty is stunned speechless again, stammering out “I love you too,” before hanging up and clutching his phone to his chest.

This boy, this boy.

Their next conversation, Bitty doesn’t hesitate to call Jack “sweetheart,” peppering their conversation with pet names. It’s worth it to see the blush on Jack’s cheeks.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

I really wished i liked Brittana. :/

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?

I guess that depends on your definition of “in a fandom”. In terms of being “actively looking for, consuming, and occasionally creating fanworks and meta, and once in a while interacting with other fans in fandom spaces,” probably Glee/Klaine.

A timeline of my fandoms:

The X-Files - 1998-2002ish. I started watching the show after the first movie, joined a mailing list/webpage called Fox William Mulder on the Web where we dissected every hair style and glower, watched every episode, cut my hair like Dana Scully, learned every word to David Duchovny Why Won’t You Love Me, etc. I stopped watching after the eighth season (I wasn’t too bitter that David Duchovny left, but the flavor of the show definitely changed after that) and only watched a few episodes of the (then) last season. I haven’t watched this last season (yet), but I still read the occasional fanfic.

Gilmore Girls - 2000-2008 or so? I watched the show from the beginning, and I think I joined Stars-Hollow.org, which was a fan-forum where I lurked for years, but once Jess was introduced as a character, I was completely hooked. I wrote my first fic in 2002, joined LJ, met Becka who became one of my dearest friends, stopped watching the show, and trickled out of fandom. Several of the women from that fandom reconnected on facebook, so there’s an endless FB chat that is still ongoing. Gilmore Girls got me through medical school and for that, it’ll always be special. I never did watch the reboot though.

Lord of the Rings - 2001-2008ish. I was so excited with the development of the movies and followed the set pictures like a hawk. When the movies came out, I created a fan group to talk about the books and got heavily involved in the Henneth-Annun.net groups. This is when I really got into writing drabbles and tried writing LOTR poetry (I failed).

Doctor Who - 2007-2010. I’m either a “I watched from the very beginning fan!” or a “I started watching at the very end and then got retoactively involved” - the latter was the case for DW. I started watching after the first three seasons (Runaway Bride was the first episode I watched). I watched all of the episodes on YouTube, which at the time had a 7 minute limit for videos, so it was 7 minute pieces of all of the episodes, and fell in love with Rose Tyler after she had already left the show. *sigh* I spent hours on Time and Chips and WhoFic in med school and early residency.

Harry Potter/Harmony - 2003-2008ish. I talked about this with my ask from klaineharmony already.

Lost - 2004-2010. Loved this series from the very beginning and I mostly got into it because of Dominic Monaghan, so Charlie was my favorite from the very beginning. I never read a lot of fanfic though - my fandom experience was more squeeing with others on LJ, but I was more involved in other fandoms.

Glee/Klaine: 2009-now. I watched the show from the beginning, but for a while, I was much more into other shows (Lost, primarily). And then Klaine happened and Glee Live. I found my way to tumblr, where I mostly lurked (primarily because I went spoiler free by the middle of season 4 and so many people were not spoiler free), but then became friends with tchrgleek and glomped onto wowbright and met a whole bunch of you after glee ended. It’s been three years since the show ended and I’m still talking about it, so who knows when I’ll actually find a new fandom.

Zimbits: 2015-now.

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?

I have had lots of OTPs. My very first one, shipped from the moment I saw/read them, was Anne Shirley/Gilbert Blythe, but I didn’t realize then that they were my OTP. My first “squee and let me read all about them on this new, fresh internet!’ was Lois and Clark in 1993-95.

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?

I probably get more involved in fandoms based on tv shows than other format as the original work feels so fluid and changing and there’s so much to examine, more than books or movies which are done in two hours.

J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.)

Check Please. I was definitely a post-kiss “what is this that has exploded on my dash? Why would I be interested in a comic about hockey? Guess I’ll read, OMG I LOVE THIS SO MUCH” fan.

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

Kurt Hummel. Truly one of the most nuanced and multi-faceted character ever and I love his arc and his story and I just want more.

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

Since I mentioned that I don’t like Brittana, primarily because of Santana, I’ll say that I genuinely enjoy the banter and sassiness between her and Kurt.

#meme me #fandom meme #this took forever to write #sorry!#spaceorphan18

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thevalicemultiverse · 8 years ago

Text

Things You Need To Know About: The Forgotten Vows Verse

Tag: ~V: Forgotten Vows

Premise: Victor thought his adventures after the corpse bride incident were over – but, instead, they were just beginning. Torn from Victoria by the flight of her parents from the village, called insane by his own family and demon-possessed by Pastor Galswells, Victor began despairing of ever having a happy life again. And then he was shipped off to The Houndsditch Home For Wayward Youth – where he met a young lady by the name of Alice Liddell…

This AU is based around the idea “What if Victor’s parents, who missed out on the whole ‘raised the dead’ business, thought Victor had lost his mind when he told them about it -- and sent him to Dr. Bumby to be treated?” You can read the fanfics that make up the verse here: The Forgotten Vows Verse. But for the newbies:

The verse picks up literally seconds after Corpse Bride, with Victor seeing Victoria home after all the excitement. He drops her off at her door and goes back to his house to finally catch up on some much-needed sleep and await the arrival of his parents from wherever they've disappeared to. When they finally do return in the morning, Victor tells them the whole story --

And, to his shock, they don't believe him. Nell in particular thinks he's lost his mind and hallucinated the entire thing. Not even a visit from Pastor Galswells to declare Victor damned for "necromancy" and "consorting with demons" changes their minds. Worse yet, when they go to the Everglots, they find the mansion abandoned -- the viscounts apparently absconded sometime in the night with their daughter. Nell and William start a country-wide search, while at the same time bringing in psychiatrists to sort their son's head out. Victor gets along all right with the first, one Dr. Wilson, but Nell and William reject his diagnosis of Victor being just fine. The other psychiatrists are rather less understanding of Victor's insistence that the dead rose, especially since the villagers won't back him up anymore, and Victor takes to locking himself in his room whenever one comes around after the fourth one attempts electric shock therapy on him.

Eventually, the Everglots are located -- just in time for the Van Dorts to discover Victoria has married another man. Victoria explains to Victor that she'd thought he'd killed himself to follow Emily (based on a misinterpretation of a report on Galswell's rantings) and thus moved on. Victor is understanding but heartbroken. Briefly entertaining the idea of trying to find Emily in the Land of the Dead, he discards it when he realizes she really has moved on and falls into a deep funk -- one that isn't broken until his parents announce that they've finally found a psychiatrist that should be able to cure him.

One Dr. Angus Bumby of the Houndsditch Home in London.

Victor is taken to the Home, where he meets Dr. Bumby's star patient and dogsbody, Alice Liddell. Their initial meeting is a bit rough (with Alice taking brief offense to the existence of the Land of the Dead and the idea of the dead returning), but as the months go on, they become close friends, finding kindred spirits in each other. In fact, by September of 1875, Victor discovers that he's falling in love with her -- though he's deeply reluctant to admit it, given his past record with romance.

And then, on a routine trip to the chemist after her session with Dr. Bumby one day, Alice goes missing. Victor, frantic, starts pounding the pavement in search of her, egged on by an equally anxious Dr. Bumby. Despite receiving all sorts of disturbing reports on her behavior from various Whitechapel residents, he doesn't actually catch up with her until a fortnight later, saving her from her nanny's burning brothel on the Billingsgate docks (after first punching out the local pimp, Jack Splatter). After a brief incident with her family lawyer that leaves her locked up in the Bow Street cells overnight, Alice is finally able to tell him what's going on -- her childhood playland turned psychological fixer-upper, Wonderland, has called her back to deal with a new threat to its safety -- the Ruin. She's been wandering the streets in a hallucinatory daze as she slaughters her way through her imaginary enemies and tries to track down the source of the infestation. Victor is naturally worried over her mental health (as is she), but encourages her in her pursuit of the truth.

The pair get a month of quiet (relatively -- Victor finds himself tangling with Splatter again when the pimp comes seeking revenge) before Alice is decisively yanked back to her imaginary world, leaving an increasingly anxious and frustrated back on the hunt. While he reconnects with Victoria and her husband (in town to visit one of his friends), makes some friends on the police force, and recovers Alice's beloved rabbit toy, he does not find her no matter where he looks. A chance visit to Dr. Bumby's office to protest his parents authorizing "radical treatments" for him leads to him finding out something about the doctor, though --

Namely, that Houndsditch is in fact a front for a child prostitution ring, and that Bumby has plans to make Alice a star whore while using her himself.

Unfortunately, Bumby catches him when he tries to escape with the information, turning his worst fears against him and breaking him -- erasing all his memories and turning him into his slave Thirteen. Happily, Victor only spends a week in this state before Alice, having discovered the source of the Ruin is in fact the Wonderland counterpart of her own psychiatrist and thus realized Bumby's dark secrets -- not only is he selling the children as prostitutes, he is in fact the one who raped her sister and burned down her home to cover up the crime -- confronts Bumby at Moorgate Station and kills him by shoving him in front of a train. Victor, though freed from his control, spends the next month struggling to resist his "programming" and regain his memories -- which he finally does in epic fashion via a battle in his mind.

Most people would consider that more than enough adventure for one lifetime, but Victor and Alice aren't done yet. Befriending a local chemist who turns out to be an actual wizard, the pair descend into the Land of the Dead to catch up with Victor's friends and Alice's family (conveniently in the same place, now that Lizzie is dating Bonejangles), and enter Wonderland so Alice can show him around the place. The latter trip reveals that Victor's not quite free of Bumby's influence just yet, and a second trip into his mind results. After a few rough fights, Victor finally manages to push past his worries that he's weak and burdening everyone by not being able to just get over his time as Thirteen, and his fear that he's like Bumby because he's started looking at Alice in a rather less-than-innocent way. With Alice similarly in control of her residual guilt over the children and the fire, the two marry, and find themselves a house in Victoria's new home of Sandford.

Which turns out to be a magical hot spot. Seems like a truly quiet life isn't in the offing for them...but Victor's decided he really doesnt mind that much. After all, he could have lost so much more.

Be advised that this universe deals with some adult themes, including mentions of rape, sexual slavery, and child prostitution. I try to be discreet and not mention anything too horrible on-screen, nor should any actual rape scenes be played out here, but if you’re triggered by that sort of thing, these are not the fanfics or the verse for you!

This verse has four distinct time periods/locations that threads can be set in:

Beginner’s Houndsditch: Early April 1875 to mid October 1875 -- in story terms, “Finding You” and about two-thirds of “Forgetting You.” Victor's still relatively new to Houndsditch and Whitechapel in general, making friends with Alice and learning how to get along in a city so very different from his quiet hometown. Advice on how to survive in this kind of world would be welcome -- attempts to mug or proposition him, not so much.

Forgetting Is An Art: Early November 1875 to early December 1875 -- “Remembering You.” Bumby’s dead and Victor’s been freed from his control -- but his memories remain rather elusive. Could anyone please help him figure out just who he is, beyond Bumby’s “personal assistant?”

Expert’s Houndsditch: December 1875 to July 1876 -- around the time of “Fixing You.” Victor’s got his memory back, but he’s still dealing with some of the aftereffects of being Bumby’s “assistant.” Plus he’s not thrilled about still being in Whitechapel. If you’re looking for an angrier, more cynical Victor, this is your man. Just be careful if your intention is to call him names to rile him up.

We Are The Village Green Preservation Society: Post-July 1876 and post the main canon arc. Victor and Alice have escaped Houndsditch at last! Now they’re living in the quiet little town of Sandford -- which, as it turns out, is a very high-magic area. Enough so that sometimes, things, animals, and people come through from other places and times altogether. Victor found this out when he went out the nearby woods one day and came back with an alien mini-dragon bonded to him. He’s in a better place these days (comes from marrying the love of your life and getting out of a city you hate), and willing to give anyone a chance to at least talk. But if you have foul intentions, be warned -- he is never letting another Bumby into his life. If a time period is not specified for a thread, it’ll probably be set here, as it’s the easiest for introducing Victor to characters outside his natural time period and was the “era” I was basically playing him in on the old “Forgotten Vows” blog.

Common NPCs:

Alice Liddell (throughout)

The Houndsditch Orphans (Abigail, Elsie, Reginald/Reggie, Dennis, Charlie) (throughout)

Dr. Wilson (Forgetting Is An Art/Expert’s Houndsditch/We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Victoria Everglot White (Forgetting Is An Art/Expert’s Houndsditch/We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Christopher White (Forgetting Is An Art/Expert’s Houndsditch/We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

June Thatcher (Forgetting Is An Art/Expert’s Houndsditch/We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Dr. Jeremiah Jack “J.J.” Fixxler (Expert’s Houndsditch/We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Bayard the husky (We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Splatter the black-and-white cat (We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Moonlight the silver Pernese fire lizard (We Are The Village Green Preservation Society)

Dr. Bumby (Beginner’s Houndsditch)

Shipping: Purely Victor/Alice. Pre-Bumby, he’s too anxious about the possibility of being rejected to consider any other advances; post-Bumby, his trauma has made him basically Alice-sexual. Other people making advances will be met with reactions ranging from polite refusal to a fist in the face, depending on time period and how the advances are phrased.

NPC Ships: Victoria Everglot/Christopher White

Important Facts:

Victor does not take being snuck up on or grabbed from behind well. Before Bumby, he’s just easily startled. After Bumby -- well, being grabbed that way brings up traumatic memories (particularly if you happen to touch his rear while doing so). In Forgetting Is An Art, Expert’s Houndsditch, or We Are The Village Green Preservation Society, doing so is basically going to get you elbowed somewhere as he tries to escape -- and he has pointy elbows.

Victor’s greatest fear is total darkness. He will not take well being trapped in a pitch-black room, and will do whatever he can to escape. Threats to blind him will be met with resistance to the point of violence, and I will not actually let anyone succeed in doing so. He’d snap within minutes.

Victor’s not fond of hypnosis, given that before Bumby’s mind-warping, he associated it with the psychiatrist being an ass and giving him headaches, and after -- well, he associates it with how the doctor made him his “personal assistant.” Anyone trying to put him into a trance is going to be met with a hell of a lot of resistance.

Victor has always been pretty protective of his loved ones, and is not afraid to throw down should you threaten them -- especially Alice. (Never mind Alice is perfectly capable of taking care of herself -- he’ll soften you up before letting her destroy you.)

On a slightly nicer note, Victor actually quite enjoys sparring with friends. A friendly fight with refreshments afterwards is fun and keeps him in shape for any real danger that comes along.

Victor has a distinct soft spot for children and will basically go into “father/big brother mode” the moment he sees them. He also doesn’t tolerate anyone trying to hurt kids, for obvious reasons. The same goes with animals, especially dogs.

Victor quite likes to cook and particularly enjoys baking. There’s a good chance a lot of my open starters will involve him making food and wanting to share it.

Victor loves animals and, by the time of We Are The Village Green Preservation Society, has three pets -- Bayard, a friendly and excitable grey and white husky; Splatter, a black and white cat so named because he looks like he was splattered with black paint (it wasn’t until later they remembered Jack); and Moonlight, a lazy but sweet-tempered fire lizard whose egg came through one of those magic portals and was found by Victor just in time for him to hatch and bond with the young man. Moonlight may seem like a rather odd outlier (especially since I also have an AU where fire lizards are just a fact of life due to an earlier surprise teleport from Pern to Earth), but -- well, he was Forgotten Vows’s pet first on the old blog, and I didn’t want to separate them. His noncanon color is actually a result of his being from the DW journal Nest O’Flitts, which makes posts in meme communities randomly giving out fire lizards in both canon and noncanon colors. It’s completely up to roll of the dice, and their roll for Victor landed him a silver. So yeah.

Victor knows magic! Or, at least, he does in Expert’s Houndsditch and We Are The Village Green Preservation Society, thanks to Dr. Fixxler. Victor and Alice become friends with him around the time of “Fixing You” and learn a few spells from him. Victor’s “signature” spell is Glowing Orb, which summons a small ball of light (gee, can’t imagine why he’d like that best). He also knows a healing/rejuvenation spell (Spring’s Breath), a summon-an-object-from-your-imagination spell (Imagination Into Reality), a send-messages-instantly-to-anyone spell (Write Across The Miles), a create-water-in-any-container spell (Nile’s Blessing), a cleaning spell (Scrub & Shine), a shield spell (Protection), and a enter-into-someone-else’s-mind spell (Travel Into Fantasy). NPC Alice’s spells include Imagination Into Reality, Travel Into Fantasy, Protection, and a natural affinity for a personal disguise spell called False Flesh (that’s my explanation for her gaining her Wonderland look in front of Bumby at the end of A:MR). Other spells may be added as time goes on!

This verse is open to everyone!

#~V: Forgotten Vows #~T: Beginner’s Houndsditch #~T: Forgetting Is An Art #~T: Expert’s Houndsditch #~T: We Are The Village Green Preservation Society #~C: Alice Liddell #~C: Victoria Everglot #~C: Christopher White #~C: Dr. Wilson #~C: Orphans #~C: Dr. Fixxler #~C: Dr. Bumby #~C: June Thatcher #~M: when he was a boy (headcanon)#~M: meanwhile in our reality (OOC)

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