#edward my oc my boring no good oc. he is so funny to me

[draconicace]

i'm never going to write this as a fic so i'm releasing it to the wild. behold: the au where harry has a forgotten roommate named edward who is very super normal and boring. kim pov

imagine: you are a police detective getting back from a week-long murder case. a lot's happened: you got concussed, a war might break out soon, you're transferring precincts, and you've got a new partner. said partner is quaking in the boots he picked up during said murder investigation. he is terrified of the piece of his past you two are about to face. you are outside his apartment, decked out with enough cleaning supplies to fix up a particularly gruesome crime scene. if the apartment is anything like the hostel room your partner trashed, you are going to need every single one of them. your new partner's old partner refused to just give him the spare key, so you're picking the lock. you hear a click. you stand, pat your partner on the back once, and open the door.

it is completely normal inside. there are half-filled papers strewn about, haphazardly stacked dirty dishes in the sink, and a mysterious plastic container you cannot see the inside of in the fridge. but, otherwise, it's livable. you and your partner stand in the middle of it all, puzzling through this newly-forming investigation.

and then, suddenly—the front door opens. a man enters. he is middle-aged, like you, with a short-cropped hairstyle and a soft-looking blue cardigan.

for a moment, you think you have broken into a random person's apartment.

the man looks between you two and says, "oh, harry! you're back. how was martinaise?"

this man is harry's forgotten roommate, edward. he is nicknamed eddie, or, if you like: numbers-man. there is no story behind this nickname. he and harry have lived together for over a year, and he is skin-crawlingly bland. you hate him for no reason. it becomes a solo stereo-investigation: figure out something capital W weird about this guy. because there's no way harry could live with someone so... normal.

you find out he works as an archivist at the local museum of suzerainty history. he and harry bond over art critique. he likes sudoku. he says harry is a quirky, delightful roommate.

at a certain point, you're pretty sure the pale got you and you're seeing some strange alternate present that never happened. you only experience this feeling around edward.

eventually, you get swept up into actual cases and a plan for le retour. harry's so-normal-it's-weird roommate is but a blip on your radar.

harry's lease ends. you and he move in together, closer to the precinct. harry tells you edward has decided to live with family. he also tells you that, during a previous attempt to get sober, he remembered he'd gone looking for a stable roommate. someone who had their life together. for a good influence. so you can stop trying to find dirt on him, kim, come on, he's nice.

so edward's whole mystery is solved, you're living with your partner (both cop-partner and partner-partner), le retour is really gearing up, there's people in the streets. you don't really have time to think about harry's former roommate when revachol's freedom is on the line.

and then. and fucking then. just as the revolution is nearing its end—a clear victory on the horizon—you spot him: edward. he is fleeing towards an aerostatic, confidential papers stuffed under his arm. having spent years as harry's partner, you've gotten very, very fast at running. you chase him, you tackle him, you wrest the papers spelling a potential future doom away from him.

an hour later, you have solved your long-term stereo-investigation: edward was a moralintern spy the entire time. he'd become harry's roommate to gain rcm secrets. once harry had come back from martinaise, however, he'd stopped being an easy mark to get information from. no more important papers left on the floor to be stolen and blamed on drunken forgetfulness.

you are lauded as a hero of revachol for preventing edward's escape. after celebrations and a promise of much work to still be done, you and your partner go back to your shared apartment. there are half-filled papers strewn about, haphazardly stacked dirty dishes in the sink, and a mysterious plastic container you cannot see the inside of in the fridge. you are home.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Iron 7 (Peter Parker x F!Oc)

Words: 2, 323

Masterlist

Chapter 6

Post-credits scene (Iron man 1) / Chapter 8

2010

"It's unfair that I can't go," Lily complains, walking into the living room.

"You should get used to it," Jess says without taking her eyes off the television where they’re playing the replay of the grand opening of Stark Expo. "No one else can find out who your father is.”

Lily leans against the back of the chair where Jessica is.

“It’s unfair. My dad hasn't even said anything about going, lots of kids have fun there,” She sighs.

The screen highlights the dance of some women in small red shorts and tops, referring to the armor. And to Tony with a huge smile showing his great achievement.

"Even he has more fun than me,” She grimaces. "Although, I think he’s more cocky now than before…”

“Big word,” says Jess. "Stop complaining. Maybe one day, I can take you.”

"Seriously?"

"If your father lets us visit him for free, of course,” She turns to see her and smiles. “Now finish your homework.”

“Fine."

Lily returns to the table with all the homework that her math teacher left her after her private class. She expected to go to school like a normal girl, but Pepper and Tony insisted on hiring several teachers to visit her during the week. "We can't risk it," They said, much less when reporters and practically the whole world follows Tony in every move since he broke the news about the Iron Man.

She can’t complain, some subjects are fun and she advances very fast, if she were in a school, she wouldn't be able to do it. In addition to the private lessons she has some with Happy, she appreciates that too. It's fun to see Happy struggling to learn the subjects with her.

"Hey, Lily. You have to see this,” Jess says from the living room. Lily returns and this time sits on the couch to see her father in the Senate or the military committee. Obviously, television doesn't show everything, but enough to see that her father just makes fun of everyone, especially that businessman Justin Hammer.

"Very cocky.”

Both girls nod.

***

"And I also learned about worldwar-two, but Professor Edwards said it would take us longer to do our research because there is so much information," Lily informs walking next to Pepper.

"I'm glad you're enjoying your classes, honey," She says with a smile, but then sneezes.

"Are you sure you shouldn't be resting?" The worried girl asks.

"I'm fine, don’t worry.”

They both go down the stairs until they reach Tony's workshop. Pepper puts the combination and they enter. Lily, seeing Tony for the first time in a few weeks, runs towards him. Tony gets up from the chair and receives her with a hug, bending down to her height.

"You should also greet me this way, Pepper," Tony teases. Pepper rolls her eyes, but she can't help a smile at the cute image.

"Why didn't you wake me up when you arrived?" Lily asks as they part. She crosses her arms.

"I could hear your snoring outside,” He jokes. “No nightmares?"

"Didn’t have any this week.”

“Good, and enough waiting for me on the couch, last time you complained about back pain. Those complaints are not allowed until you’re fifty years old... or thirty, it depends,” He nods, ruffling the girl's hair making her laugh.

The moment ends when Pepper remembers why she was upset with Tony. Now they both walk around the workshop discussing things. Lily listens to them as she sits in the chair where Tony was. She frowns when she sees a brown box, but Pepper's comment distracts her.

"The Expo is a gigantic waste of time.”

“There’s nothing more important to me than the Expo,” answers Tony. “It’s my primary point of concern.”

"Hey!" Lily complains. “What about me? I’m your daughter! And you haven't taken me to Stark Expo yet, so unfair…” She says with a pout.

"What?" Tony says from the other side. “I'm sorry, kid. Grown ups talking here!" He answers by pretending not to have heard her.

Lily makes a face.

"The Expo is your ego gone crazy,” follows Pepper.

Lily stopped listening. Photos of boring cars on Tony's computers are more interesting than Pepper scolding her father. She only lifts her head when they return to the entrance. Tony trades a painting for an Iron Man painting. Then, suddenly, Tony appoints Pepper CEO of Stark Industries.

"Trying to figure out who a worthy successor would be,” says Tony over a few glasses of champagne, "and then I realized, well since she's only eight, she can't run a company,” He points out to the girl.

"Yet!" She yells from her place.

"It’s you. It's always been you.”

***

"I think I'm ready for that training," says Lily pulling the ropes of the ring in the middle of the room.

"Not yet, Smarty," Happy replies.

"But I'm eight now and I can outrun you.”

"Anyone can outrun Happy, kid," adds Tony.

"So why did you tell me to come if you won't let me train?"

“Watch us and learn.”

Lily makes a face. She’s getting tired of everyone forbidding her so many things.

It doesn't take long for Pepper to walk in asking Tony for a signature. Lily walks over to the white chair near Pepper. She sighs, she's about to complain to her, but the presence of another redhead interrupts her. She had never seen that woman and apparently she also distracts the two men.

"What’s your name, lady?" Tony asks

"Rushman. Natalie Rushman,” She introduces herself.

“Hi," greets Lily. Natalie looks at her with a smile.

"Wait, I thought no one should know about Stark Jr.'s existence,” Tony points out.

“She’s already signed a confidentiality contract. Don’t worry.”

Tony shrugs and invites Natalie into the ring. She obeys. Pepper sits on the couch next to Lily and Tony pulls her aside to sit on the same couch.

"Now she’ll be your assistant?" Lily asks. Pepper nods. “Wow, you used to be Tony's assistant, now you have one. I wish I had one,” She says.

"I want one of those too," says Tony. And with that, they argue again. Lily rolls her eyes, but something else interrupts her thoughts and the discussion.

Apparently Natalie is more than capable and better trained than Happy since she manages to throw him to the floor in one movement. The three of them get up from the couch.

"Happy," Pepper squeals.

Lily goes back up to the edge of the ring and smiles seeing how Happy gets up with difficulty. She raises her head to see Natalie.

"Cool! Can you teach me to do that?"

“Sure."

"Definitely not," Pepper and Nat say at the same time.

"Why not?" Lily frowns and steps out of the ring

The second redhead clears her throat, she puts on her shoes and talks to Tony about some documents. In the end, they finally finish the paperwork for Pepper to become CEO. Natalie leaves. Tony and Pepper start talking about a trip to Monaco.

"What? Are you going to travel again? You just arrived,” The girl complains, drawing their attention.

“It'll only be a couple of days, Lily," replies Pepper.

"That's what you always say.”

“Hey." says Tony. "It's a business trip, kid.”

"That too you always say,” She rolls her eyes. Pepper looks surprised, that's not how she used to act before. "Can I go this time? I can do my homework there.”

“Sorry, but no. Remember that you’re still a ghost." says Tony

She frowns.

"That's not fair. You always leave me here, I can't even go to a park and you don't let me accompany you, you’re hardly home anymore,” She says, raising her voice and causing a certain tingling to appear in her hands.

"Watch your tone, Lily,” says Tony starting to get annoyed. He looks down at the girl's clenched hands. "Turn that off, now.”

"Just this once, I promise to be good. If you want, I'll stay at the hotel,” She insists with a frustrated sigh. She opens her hands to avoid making a mess.

"I said no, young lady.”

"But-"

"Lily Stark, I said no,” Tony ends with a firm voice.

The little girl clenches her teeth and runs out of the place before they can see her cry from anger.

"Huh, it brought out your moody side too, Tony," Happy says from across the room.

Stark sighs.

"I'll talk to her when we get back.”

Pepper feels guilty. Maybe they’d been more absent since Tony announced the identity of Iron Man and now it’ll be worse because of the new job. She wants to follow her, but she knows better to leave her alone for a moment.

***

"Hey, you broke your record," Jess says, handing a bottle to the girl, who gasps. She takes it and sits on the chair next to the girl.

It's been a couple of hours since Lily started running through the gated area of the Stark property.

"Can we do something else?" Lily asks.

Jess takes out the notebook where the itinerary is written.

"I suppose we can rest for a while," Jess replies, taking off her sunglasses.

"You didn't do anything, what are you going to rest from?" Lily says with a smile.

"I can't be in the sun that long, I want to be tanned, not burned.”

"If you say so.”

After the break, Lily continued with her task, finishing earlier that she is used to. The rest of the day, they both decided to just relax with some masks that Jess had brought.

"Why do they smell funny?" Lily asks feeling the texture of her mask.

"That's coconut, you'll get used to it,” answers Jess. “Afterwards we’ll paint our nails, we’ll watch romantic movies while we eat ice cream. It’ll be fun.”

"Why are we doing this?"

"It's what some girls are used to doing when they are alone or with their friends.”

Lily nods. "Why?"

Jess laughs. At this point she’s already used to the onslaught of questions that she sometimes receives.

“It's fun, it's also girls quality time, you know, they talk about handsome people, the boys they like from school. It’s a distraction that sometimes we need, even from parents.”

Lily frowns.

"Do you need a distraction from your parents?"

“Okay,” Jess gets comfortable on the bed to sit in front of the girl. “Many times, especially when you’re a teenager, you argue with your parents and it’s normal. That’s why it’s good to have friends with whom you can vent. Trust me, if I didn't have my friends, my relationship with my mother would be a disaster. But it's not a bad thing,” She clarifies when she sees Lily's grimace. "Parents also need to get away from their children a bit.”

"Is that why Tony travels a lot?"

"I don’t think so. He’s an important businessman and he just wants to take care of you, that's why you should stay here.”

"It's not fair,” She crosses her arms.

“Yes, you should get used to that too. When you’re older it’ll be a little easier.”

Lily's head fills with more questions.

“Jess."

"Yeah?"

“We're friends?”

"Of course.”

"Can I vent to you about my dad?" Jess laughs.

"Tell me everything.”

They both talk about many things and do girlish stuff. Lily learns a few things as Jess tells her about her life as a student and everything she does when she’s not taking care of her. At one point, she wishes she had that life, but, even if she could go to normal school, she couldn't have all of that, at least not like Jess.

Night comes, Jess sleeps in the guest room leaving Lily in her room. The great Stark mansion is completely silent, the nightmares that had not tormented the girl for several months return and this time, they’re worse.

She’s on the floor of an empty room, the four walls are completely white. She doesn't see anyone else, but she knows someone is watching her. She wants to ask for help, she wants to scream, but no matter how much she opens her mouth, nothing comes out of her. Her torso and arms are trapped with a straitjacket. She tries to get out of it, but everything is useless.

The tickling starts in her hands, but this time she’s not in control and quickly spreads throughout her body. She wants to burn the straitjacket, but in the dream it’s not possible.

"Lily!"

The girl suddenly wakes up sitting on the mattress. She looks everywhere, but her mind is still in that empty room. She falls off her bed, but keeps moving until a wall stops her.

“Lily, it's okay! Quiet! You have to breathe…” Jess says in the dark.

“Don't!" screams Lily. Her chest rises and falls rapidly. "Please don't hurt me!” She sobs. “Please, please…”

"Lily, it's me!” The girl approaches the girl and touches her arm, but she removes it immediately when she feels the high temperature. Jess screams in fright, causing Lily to jump in place of her. "J.A.R.V.I.S, turn on the lights!” She orders and the AI obeys.

Lily blinks trying to focus her vision, when it happens, what she sees is another fear: Jess is in front of her looking at the blisters on her hand.

She had done that. Lily burned Jess.

Memories of when this happened with her mother come to her mind, causing her panic to escalate.

She doesn't hesitate twice to leave the room, ignoring Jessica's calls. She runs through the house, down the stairs and to the workshop. J.A.R.V.I.S lets her in and sets the code so that no one else could enter. Finally, Lily goes to one of Tony's cars and hides underneath it. She bends her legs and hugs them to her chest. The only thing that can be heard in the workshop are the uncontrollable sobs of the girl.

Taglist

If your username is crossed out it’s because Tumblr didn’t let me tag you, sorry. If you want to be removed from the taglist, you can tell us, we also make mistakes, lol

@stardusthigh​   @silenthappyplace​ @yourbonesareinmybody​​  @aylauwuuniverse @tyb1​ @skittles-skittles​ @hufflepuffzutara​​   @poetryislife0715 @21bruhs​​  

@just-here-to-escape-from-reality​​

@heavenlymistakes @lauramacch​  @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual

[prydeofthexmen23]

Candlelight

A Dwayne From The Lost Boys One Shot

Okay, so this is my first Lost Boys Imagine with Dwayne. It’s with one of my OCs and it’s inspired by a convo I had with @80s-whore-university. I apologize in advance for my grammar and spelling errors. Enjoy!

~*~

Laura huffed against the window, allowing her breath to fuse with the glass. She'd often done this as a child when she was bored at her grandparents house and her cousins were too busy watching Scooby Doo re-runs to notice she'd moved to another room. Her fingers traced the little white spot until it became a transparent heart. Laura smiled, then immediately frowned. “I've officially lost it.”

She wiped the heart away with her sleeve and made her way to the door, unbolting it again and peeking out. She tried to avoid the rain, but it dripped from the gutters and dotted her bangs. I don't even know why I bother, she thought, locking the door again with an exasperated sigh. If it's raining, there's no reason for him to come. They'll keep him since the Boardwalk's closed. She nodded her head. She knew their habits well. Dwayne wasn't coming - not in this weather.

"I need tea," she said to her pup. Bandit's ears perked up at the word. Tea meant cookies. Cookies meant crumbs. And crumbs meant he'd surely get a snack. In her laziness, Laura grabbed a mug from the cabinet – the little one with constellations on the side Dwayne had given her for her birthday. She smiled at the memory, then quickly filled the cup with water, and shoved it into the microwave. Pushing the buttons, Laura felt herself relax as she watched the little stars rotate under the fluorescent light.

At first, she didn't even notice his arms wrap around her torso. She'd grown accustomed to the sensation – the feeling of his arms drawing her closer, the weight of his chin on her shoulder.

"I thought you weren't coming," she whispered, relaxing into the embrace. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Bandit let me in."

"Bandit doesn't have opposable thumbs." He didn't answer, but Laura could feel him smile as he kissed her neck. "I'm surprised David let you leave."

"Oh, he didn't."

"Ah, so you betrayed your leader."

"Betrayed is a strong word," he replied, releasing her as the microwave beeped. He removed the mug, quickly moving to the cabinets above the sink. "I just left without asking.” He extracted a packet of Chamomile. After ripping the packet with teeth, a habit Laura never quite understood, but respected, Dwayne placed the tea in the mug and motioned her toward the couch.

"I'd say that's a betrayal. I mean he probably expected you to spend the day with Laddie."

"Nah, Paul and Marko have it covered. When I left, they were making a Tik Tok to Savage."

"Real classy."

"I think you mean Bougie and ratchet." Dwayne laughed as Laura's eyes widened.

"Please," she began, rubbing her eyes. "Please, never use those words again. Or you'll turn into Paul."

"Ah, and we can't have that." Dwayne grabbed some throw pillows from the couch and placed gently on the floor before taking a seat on the ground. "Come on, sweets." Laura obliged, settling herself between his legs as she sipped her tea. Dwayne flipped on the television and made his way to Netflix. He might have struggled with the concept at first, but now he couldn't get enough. The platform really did have everything he could ever dream of watching.

"Really, again?" Laura whined as he hovered over The Crown.

"You don't want to see Diana pass the Balmoral test?"

Laura looked up at him with a smirk. "Okay, the fact that you know what that is and I don't proves that you've been watching this for too long. No.” Dwayne placed a kiss on her forehead. Shit, well played. "Fine, let's watch Camilla and Charles fuck up a perfectly normal teenage girl."

"Thank you."

"You know for someone who idolizes Karl Marx, I don't think your obsession with the English monarchy is healthy."

"Shhhh.” He kissed her gently on the lips. "Let people enjoy things," he whispered as Laura laughed.

~*~

Laura felt herself begin to doze off. What is it about Chamomile that makes you sleepy? she wondered as she leaned against Dwayne. At first, he didn't seem to notice her drowsiness – too engrossed in the world of royals. For the last two hours, Laura and Dwayne had watched Diana and Charles tie the knot, have a child, travel to Australia, and, as usual, fight over his relationship with Camilla. Laura's eyes closed as Diana demanded that Charles leave Camilla...for the umtempth time. Silently, she tried to sync her breathing with Dwayne's as he lowered the volume for the newest screaming match.

"What the hell?" Dwayne cried.

Laura's eyes fluttered open. The entire room was dark, pitch black. If she wasn't sitting against Dwayne, Laura would have been more panicked.

“No! Diana was about to confront Camilla at the birthday party!"

"We must have blown a fuse,” Laura replied through her giggles. She wished she could see Dwayne’s face. Laura was certain it read frustrated fangirl.

Dwayne let out an exasperated sigh before flinging the remote onto the couch. "You okay, babe?"

"I'm good. You can see right?" She felt Dwayne nod against her before picking her up. He wrapped his arms underneath her knees as he moved to the fuse box. Using her phone, Laura tried each switch twice, flipping the little dials back and forth.

"The rain must have caused an outage."

"You got candles?"

"Kitchen," Laura replied as she snuggled into his chest. Dwayne carried her into the kitchen and helped her onto the counter, where she pulled a menorah from the cabinet.

"Got it?" he asked, stretching out his arms.

Yup," she replied, jumping back into his arms. She didn't bother to ask where he was. He was always where she needed him. Catching her again, Dwayne carried her back into the living room, where Laura struck a match. The tiny flame guided her toward the blue and white candles.

"Really?" Dwayne laughed as Laura placed the candles into their waxed slots. Gradually, the blue menorah began to glow, painting the room in a pale yellow light.

"It's all I had!" Laura protested. "Besides, my grandmother used to light hers when the power went out. It's tradition." Dwayne threw her a lopsided grin. "What? I'm serious...Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing," Dwayne said. "I didn't say anything."

"Oh shut up." She pushed him as he stood up. Taking off his leather jacket, he laid down on the couch and kicked up off his converse. In the soft candlelight, Laura took in the sight of his bare chest. He closed his eyes for a moment, shifting to get comfortable as Laura fiddled with her candles. For some reason, she was finding it difficult to concentrate.

"Enjoying the view," Dwayne teased.

"Mmmm...maybe."

"Then come join me," he said, open his arms to her. Laura obeyed, setting the final candle in place. The rain continued to beat against the sides of her home, but Laura paid it little mind. Instead, she buried her nose in the crook of Dwayne’s neck, inhaling his scent. Something about it put her at ease – even in the middle of a black out. Dwayne drew a blanket over them, rubbing gentle circles on the small of her back.

"Dwayne," Laura began. He hummed in reply, closing his eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it, baby?"

"Where'd you get this scar?” she asked, tracing over the mark on his shoulder.

"Long story," he said, placing a kiss on her lips. He was trying to change the subject and she knew it.

"We got time," she sighed through his embrace. "I don't think you're gonna be watching The Crown again anytime soon and I'm genuinely curious."

Dwayne leaned his forehead against hers. “You really wanna know, kid?” She nodded. “Alright, well...” He paused, closing his eyes again. His lips formed a thin line. Uh oh, I know that look. Laura kissed his neck.

“There’s no pressure. You don’t have to tell me.”

“I don’t mind. To be honest, I’m surprised it didn’t go away when David changed me.”

“Yeah, I thought his blood would have smoothed everything out. Made you look all shiny like Edward Cullen.”

Dwayne rolled his eyes. “Yeah I’m sure that’s what David expected too, but I guess it stuck.” He paused again, taking a deep breath.

“Take your time.”

“I got it when I was thirteen,” he continued. “When I was with some friends...Did I ever tell you my family lived on a Rez?”

“Rez?”

“Reservation. Back in the 30’s.”

“No, you didn’t,” Laura replied, trailing her fingers across his chest. Then again, she thought, you haven’t really told me anything about your past. She thought of saying so, but bit her tongue. She wanted to hear what he had to say.

“In Arizona. There’s not much to do there. It’s hot and unless you really like red rocks the view can get pretty boring.”

Laura gulped. He was talking more than usual. She wondered how long it would last.

“My friends and I always tried to invent stuff to do. Ya know, to pass the time. We’d go down to the railroads and try to find work laying tracks. But that got pretty boring after awhile. Sometimes, my friend Adam would sneak cigarettes out of his mom’s bedroom drawer and we’d smoke those.”

“Sounds like you were a handful.”

“Every thirteen year old boy is.”

“Okay, true. I’m sorry, continue.”

“Well one day, we got bored smoking and my best friend Pete got this dumb idea. Pete was a year older than me but for some reason he liked having me around. He always called me his little brother, which was funny considering he already had five little brothers to spare. I don’t even remember how Pete and I met, but he was the best.”

Dwayne rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. Looking down at Laura he smiled.

“What’s that look?”

“Nothing. I just didn’t know you were such a good storyteller.”

“Oh bullshit.”

“Keep going!” Laura exclaimed, lightly smacking his cheek. “I’m invested.” He kissed her again, deeper this time. Laura sighed softly as he pulled away. “Tease,” she whispered.

“Proud of it. Anyway, Pete, Adam and I were down by the tracks. It was almost midnight and we’d snuck out like always. We were just goofing around and waiting for the sun to come up when we heard a whistle.”

“A train?”

“Yup. Trains passed by all the time at night. They went straight through reservation because they figured the natives wouldn’t mind the noise. It was always big freights carrying supplies and sometimes hobos.”

“Dwayne-“

“That was the term we used at the time. Don’t hold it against me. After we heard the whistle, Pete got this weird look on his face. And he jumped down and went straight to the tracks, standing on them and whistling back at the train. At first, I thought it was a joke. I thought he was playing chicken with the train.”

“Like in Footloose?”

“Yeah, like that. People did that all the time. They liked to test their odds and see if they could cheat death. Thing was Pete’s dad had recently left and his family didn’t have any money to pay their rent let alone eat. I knew he was having a rough time, but I didn’t know how bad things really were, ya know? As the train got closer, that look on his face started to freak me out. Suddenly, it didn’t feel like a joke. Pete wasn’t playing chicken. He wasn’t playing at all.”

Laura felt her body stiffen and Dwayne pulled her closer in response.

“Adam and I keep yelling at him to get off the tracks. The train just kept getting closer and I started to panic. I don’t know what came over me. As soon as I saw the train lights hit Pete’s face, adrenaline took over. The next thing I knew I was on the ground on top of Pete watching the train going by. At first, I didn’t feel any pain. Then I felt dizzy and Adam yelled that I was bleeding. It took me a minute to realize my shoulder had knocked the side of the train.”

“Oh god, babe.” Laura sat up, her eyes welling with tears. Dwayne sat up too, wiping her cheeks with his thumbs.

“Hey, hey, hey I was fine. A few stitches and I was cleaned up. No broken bones and thank god because my mom would have killed me. But it was Pete that had it the worst. He kept apologizing and came to see me to make sure I recovered.”

“I’m sure he felt horrible.”

“Yeah but it made him wake up. After that, he got a job and helped his family out. I think he even got married and had some kids after I left town. We weren’t as close after what happened, but that didn’t matter.”

“You saved his life.”

“Nah,” Dwayne replied, lowering his head.

Laura placed a finger under his chin, lifting it so he met her green eyes. “You did. And you should be proud.” Laura gazed at the jagged line on his shoulder. “I think I know why you got to keep this scar.”

“Oh yeah why?”

“To remind you that you’re still a good person. To help you remember that there was a time you saved someone’s life instead of ending it.”

“Maybe,” Dwayne sighed, kissing her again. “Since when did you get so philosophical?”

“Blame Kafka. We started reading him yesterday.” Dwayne laughed. It wasn’t his usual soft giggle, but a heartier one that seemed to echo from his chest. “Thank you for sharing that with me,” Laura added as she yawned.

“Thank you for listening. It was nice to talk about Pete again.” Laura leaned into his shoulder, kissing the scar for good measure. “You tired babe?”

“A little. Your voice...it’s very soothing.”

“Lay back down baby,” Dwayne whispered as Laura rested on his chest. “Let’s go to sleep.”

“But you can’t sleep,” Laura argued, closing her eyes. “Not at this hour.”

“It’s okay. You rest. I’ll wait for the lights to come back on.”

[dynamightsfave]

Quarantine cookies - Timothée Chalamet

(gif not mine! credits to owner)

timothée chalamet x oc

summary: during quarantine, oc is bored and tim comes up with a way to pass the time

warnings: might take you back to those quarantine boredom moments, swearing, a suggestion of sex (for like a second, but maybe it needs a warning, idk)

a/n: i wrote this during quarantine, i was reading some tim imagines and i was like, why not? also there’s a joke about edward cullen not being pretty and i just wanna say that it’s a joke, just in case someone hates me for it

masterlist

***

The United States of America have been in quarantine for five days and I’m already bored out of my mind.

I’ve done it all! I’ve made puzzles, I’ve binge watched the whole child section and family sections on Netflix, I’ve had a Harry Potter marathon, I’ve re-read like ten books… I can’t find anything else that I want to do in this apartment.

[...]

“Ugh!” I sigh dragging the word as I flop on the sofa “This is so boring!” once again, I drag the last word, just to make sure whoever can hear me feels my agony.

And I know for a fact that someone can hear me, because they live with me and have no option but to bear with me and my cranky self for as long as this social isolation lasts.

I hear his laugh and seconds later I see his figure get out of the bedroom and into the living room.

“Are you bored?” Timothée mocks, looking at me from his spot in the side of the couch.

I glare at the sight of his smirk. Unfortunately, him being upside down doesn’t hide it, and it can be so annoying when I’m not in the mood and he’s just making fun of me. When my glare just makes his smirk bigger I change my expression into a pout.

“Yes” I sigh, bring my arms up and letting them fall for emphasis “There’s nothing else to do in here!”

Timothée lifts my head up and sits down, placing it on his lap. He still has that stupid smirk on.

“Poor, poor Iris. What ever will she do?” he asks dramatically. A mischievous grin replaces his smirk and he looks down at me again “You could always do me” he winks.

I look at him with an unamused expression.

“You’re not funny Chalamet. There’s gotta be something for us to do! We’re only five days into this imprisoning, I can’t possibly have run out of things to do”

“You could always keep watching TV, there’s something new every hour” he suggests “Or you could find some tutorial in YouTube and try to do your make-up, you like that”

I think about it, furrowing my brows as if it were a very important decision. My boyfriend’s fingers found their way to my hair, and started playing with it, making my body relax almost instantly.

“I’m not in the mood for that, maybe tomorrow” I close my eyes, humming as I smile in delight. Damn, this massage feels amazing.

I feel Tim chuckle lightly at my actions, his chest vibrating beside me, making my smile grow bigger.

“Well, we have all the time in the world, so-” I bolt up, scaring him.

“Spy Kids: All the Time in the World! I’m adding that to the list of movies to watch. Good call, babe” I pat his arm as a reward. He just looks at me dumfounded and blinks “Sorry, I interrupted you. What were you saying?” I lay back down and put his hand back on my head. It takes him a second, but he shakes his head and rolls his eyes with a smile.

“How about… we cook something? Oooh, we can bake cookies!”

“Yeah, we can do that… But first let’s stay like this for a bit, mkay?” I sigh in content again, turning on my side so I can wrap my arms around his torso and hide my face in his belly.

Instead of letting me stay like that, he picks me up, ignoring my protests. And just when I think he’s going to make me bake cookies with him, he walks to our bedroom and lays us both on the bed. He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close to him, then he moves his other hand to my head and goes back to playing with my hair. I nuzzle my head on his chest and close my eyes, letting myself drift off.

[...]

When I wake up, it’s been three hours since Timothée carried me to bed. I smile softly, still holding onto him, and look up to see his face. His eyes are closed, but I know he’s awake. His career is acting, and yet he has never been able to fool me into thinking he’s sleeping. He says it’s because it’s me. Whenever he tries to make it seem like he’s doing it, a smile slowly creeps to his face and he always ends up laughing.

Like right now, his nostrils are getting bigger, the corners of his lips are twitching upwards and I can already tell that in five seconds he’s gonna burst out a breathy laugh.

“C’mon Tim, just laugh already” and he does. And his laugh makes me smile and join in.

“I don’t know why, I just laugh. It’s your fault, y’know?” he said when he calmed down. I let out another laugh and shake my head at him, leaning in to kiss his lips “Can we make cookies now?” his excitement is similar to a child’s.

“Have you slept at all? Or you’ve been too occupied thinking about the cookies?”

“For your information,” he says in a matter of fact tone “I have slept. I woke up fifteen minutes ago”

“And you’ve been watching me sleep?”

“Pretty much”

“What a creep. Are you trying to out win Edward Cullen or something? I mean, you’re pale baby, but not that pale” Tim rolls his eyes at my stupidity.

“I am more handsome that that bloodsucker”

“A lot of people are. Don’t think you’re special, honey” I pat his cheek and he pouts.

He pecks my lips and gets up, taking all my warmth with him. I sigh before following him. He’s taken out apron that his mother gave us and he’s put it on. The apron is bright pink and say “Kiss the Chef” on it in white. He looks at me and puckers his lips.

“Kiss the Chef!” he exclaims, and I laugh walking over to do so.

“Ok, Chef Chalamet, how do we make these cookies?”

“First, we take out the ingredients” he claps his hands, giggling in excitement “You take out the butter, eggs and flour, I’ll get the rest” I turn around to get to the fridge and get the eggs and butter out, then to the cupboards.

When I turn around, Tim has his back to me and seems to be occupied doing something. I silently walk over to him and stand on my tip toes to see what he’s hiding.

“Are those chocolate chips?!” I exclaim, so loudly that he jumps around. He has chocolate on the corner of his lips “And you’re eating them without me?!” I point at him accusingly.

He shakes his head, looking like a kid that was just caught with chocolate all over his mouth. When he realizes how stupid he looks, he swallows whatever is left in his mouth.

“Uh… no?”

“Good try. Gimme that” I snatch them from him. I take a fistful and throw it in my mouth “Now, don’t take anymore. We need them” I manage to say while munching.

“Right” he narrows his eyes “Okay, let’s start. We’ve been saying that for five minutes and we still haven’t done anything”

I leave the stance to go find my phone. If we’re doing this we need music, and I’ve been wanting to listen to soundtracks. I get my phone from the coffee table in the living room and turn on the Bluetooth to connect it to the speaker. She’s So Gone from the old Disney Channel movie, Lemonade Mouth comes on, and I smile.

“Now we can start” I say, looking over at my boyfriend, that just chuckles and shakes his head, curls bouncing around. We both know I’ll spend more time singing and dancing than helping with the cooking thing.

I can’t sing, my voice is not pretty, and my dancing isn’t the best either, but hey, at least I have fun. I mix the ingredients in the bowl jumping slightly on my feet, singing to the lyrics. When the chorus comes around, I take the whisk and use it as a microphone, making a whole scene right then and there.

“She’s so goooooneee awaaaaay” I sing to Timothée “Liiiike hiiiistooryyyyy… Sing with me Timmy!”

But he doesn’t, he just bobs his head to the rhythm, tapping his foot. He laughs at my dance moves, like he always does, but I don’t care. Music puts me in a good mood, and this is probably the first time in five days I’m moving more than to go from the couch to bed or vice versa.

The song ends, and The Other Side comes in. I go back to mixing, bumping my hip with Tim’s and smiling brightly at him. He’s mixing his own bowl and at this rate he’ll end up mixing mine too. I’m a disaster with staying concentrated as it is, but if you play music for me… let’s just say I had this phase at high school where I was failing almost everything and later we found out it was because I kept listening to music while studying.

And just like I predicted, the boy beside me takes everything from my hands and starts doing it himself.

“Go dance in the living room” he orders “You have more space” I smirk and elbow him.

“You’re just saying that ‘cause you can see me from here. It’s okay Timmy, you can say that, don’t feel embarrassed. I mean, you admitted you watch me sleep earlier” I wink at him, and he rolls his eyes “It can’t really get any creepier can it?”

“Just go!” he laughs “You’re not helping here anyways”

“Hey! I can do this and not dance!”

“Oh really?” he challenges.

“Yes, really. I’ll show you”

But just as I say that, Dancing Queen comes up, and I know I’m screwed. I’ve never been able to resist this song and luckily for me, neither has Timmy. He looks at me with his lips pursed.

“After this song” he states, before taking my hand and twirling me around singing “Having the time of your life…”

[...]

“These are amazing babe” I tell him while biting my third cookie “You really are a chef. God” I moan as I go for the fourth.

Next to me, Timothée chuckles and holds me tighter, kissing my head.

“Took a lot to make them too, you were quite distracting”

“But you had fun, and I had fun. So mission Avoid Boredom During the Day was a success! And as a plus, now we have food to last us a day or two if you stop me now”

“I am gonna stop you know, otherwise you’ll get sick and I don’t want to take care of you to avoid getting bored tomorrow”

“Gee, thanks hun”

“Anytime chérie” he winked.

[brkfstgrrrls]

@2187s LEFT A NIGHTMARE AFTER THE TONE: 🥝🥝🥝🥝🥝 !!!

@rapturcd - Where to start to describe a friend? Nox is a close online friend whom I’ve had the pleasure of following for the last few years now. We’ve been able to keep up with each other from blog to blog, and continued to do so when she revived this blog right here, a Bioshock oc. I’ll admit that when I saw her move here, I had no clue what the hell Bioshock was other than some video game. I’ve been graced with so many exciting details, passion has been poured into every message and post she makes upon the dash, it instantly made me a fan of this little franchise. Though the Bioshock rpc is small, Nox has found a way to make it her own. Her blog is filled with so much helpful information, and one look at her extremely well thought out, and detailed OC page will tell you all you need to know about this vast universe. With every OC she makes, it’s done with love and care, but something about Nicholas is truly special. Aside from being from one of the most interesting and unique fandoms, Nicholas was crafted with more detail than the gods could give any living being. Nox is also a plot driven writer, I know I am too so if that’s your thing, you’ll be glad to know not only is she a peach but she’s very fun to bounce ideas with! She helped me learn so much about Bioshock, it made plotting feel effortless and an overall thrill. If you don’t follow her, not only are you missing out, but I’ll personally be offended on her behalf.

@segadore - It’s been a few years now, and I have not been able to get Fawn off of my tail, damn you— I’M KIDDING, no but really, Fawn and I have been buddies for the last few years, and I started following her on her Steve Harrington blog. I’ve already gushed in the past about how much I love her Steve, so in the same way she’s so kindly embraced my OCs, I’d like to do the same with hers. Let’s start off with this: Fawn is the one person I see constantly and without a second thought embracing all writers, you could write an oc, canon muse from a different fandom, female oc, doesn’t matter– she will love them like her own. You speak with Fawn ooc, and you’ll feel at home, you’re never a bore nor bother. They’re one of the few people in this RPC I feel so genuinely safe around, and they make me feel like a valued writer even when I’m being ignored by others on the dash, I feel important, and it’s thanks to them. Fawn writes a very amazing muse named Mykah, from what can only be described as a non-existent fandom. I learned about Dead Like Me through her, and I’ve since been completely hooked on this concept and universe. Mykah is a very special, and well-thought out muse. He’s a soul collecting reaper from California, and he’s got so much wit, charm, and attitude, how could you not love the guy? He’s got a tough exterior, but he’s so funny as well, you can tell when you’re reading something Fawn wrote, they have such a unique tone, your eyes will be glued to the screen instantly as soon as you see a reply in your inbox. From the bottom of my heart, I hope we continue to write for years to come. If you want some fresh content you’ve never seen before, and perhaps one of the kindest friends, with the most goddamn creative mindset, please, go look at Fawn’s content. For the love of GOD go look.

@wyntered​ - You know how when your favorite musician or celebrity makes a post on Instagram or twitter, you go “Ah! There’s _____ again, classic ol’ _____, love them.” and you get all giddy in your seat, overwhelmed just by their presence even if it isn’t for you? That’s how I feel everytime I read each and everyone of Chantelle’s posts. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t get to read all of my rp partners replies to other folks, sometimes I’m too busy, or honestly? I don’t feel like it. But the amount of effort and research they’ve put into this, how could I not? I love reading both her replies to myself and other people, I love reading her meta posts and headcanons, because I know it’ll not only be helpful but just wonderful. It’s also so nice to see how much care she’s put into writing such a complicated man like Bucky Barnes, her portrayal is uniquely her own, and she’s truly made sure to set a realistic example for others. I’ve learned so much, and it’s thanks to her. They’ve also been so gracious in writing with my own Marvel OC, Alice, and never act annoyed or bothered. That’s not something you often find with people who write popular canon muses, but it’s something I’ve been lucky enough to find with Chantelle. Do yourself a favor, buckle up, and get excited. Go and give her a follow, because I just know in my heart she’ll be more than happy to embrace you with open arms. Thanks for giving me the most iconic and kickass friendship for my daughter! It’s probably obvious to y’all by now that I love Chantelle’s work, so you know this message is genuine.

@capnsolo - I found out a few weeks ago that Kayla and I have been mutuals for years, and neither of us knew it. We’ll ignore that for now. I know Kayla as the most fantabulous Han Solo mun on the block, no really, she’s amazing. We found each other again because I writer princess Leia ( over on @/hopescorned ) and well… SCOUNDRESS! Together, we’ve managed to create our own little version of canon to their storyline, and we continue to develop it each time we speak. I’m not very good at articulating my thoughts, but my point is, Kayla is a very skilled, and creative woman. She’s smart, she knows how to use canon as a crutch, but doesn’t rely on it. She let’s her brain do the talking, and she knows how to collaborate well with others, and happens to be very open minded and flexible to other people’s muses. No matter how outlandish the idea might be for a story, Kayla will find a way to work with it. I’ve never seen someone capture Han’s tone so well, each time I read one of her replies, I can truly see and hear Harrison Ford acting each of the stories we create, out in my head. She has a way with her words, and she’s a true talent. Please, even if Star Wars isn’t your think, at least give her work a chance, it’ll be a pleasant surprise.

@nostlgic - Ash & I have been writing together since February, and the day we started speaking, they were one of the kindest souls I���ve been graced with speaking to. A passionate writer, you’ll be pleasured to see that their muse list is rather long, and diverse. Ash is the kind of writer that is always up for the challenge. You have an OC no one is interested? Cool, Ash is now interested in writing with them. You have a crazy rp idea you want to pursue? Ash is the first in line to give it a try. Whenever I write with Ash, I know it’s going to be a new and exciting adventure, each story is different from the next, and with each muse, they shift tones effortlessly; Stephen King would envy them. I made a post probably a month or two ago about how I wanted to write with an Edward Scissorhands, and within approximately 10 seconds, they volunteered to add him to her muse roster, and a mutual friend of ours even went to comment “I was going to tag Ash but it seems she’s already here” and why is that? That’s just the kind of person Ash is, and I truly love it. Go and peep her profile, because I can guarantee there’s at least one muse you’ll want to write with.

            ･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡♡  SEND A 🥝 FOR A BLOG RECCOMENDATION

[zertzertzhang]

Stand and Deliver: My Life Turned Upside Down CH.3

A/N: This is my first time writing on Tumblr, so please bear with me! I am usually active on FFNet and AO3, but since this fandom is basically nonexistent except for here, I thought maybe I could post my works for this movie here. The story is a fanfic based on the 1988 movie ‘Stand and Deliver’ starring Edward James Olmos, taking a deeper look into the lives of the impoverished students in East LA.

Eventual Angel/OC, and warnings of racial slurs with some physical violence.

:

:

Chapter Three: Living Skills

By the time she rolled into the second week of Garfield High, Vianne was sure she saw the school at its worst. Had she been honest with herself, she would’ve thought she was beginning to get used to the rioting students. It was a surprise that she became somewhat good at blocking the excess noise from them.

Hateful stares and whispered insults about her ethnicity waned as the week dragged on. The initial weariness she felt from the people around her dropped as she kept to herself. Call it paranoia or what, she could sense the heavy atmosphere boring onto her back as she passed the lockers. It was hard imagining a whole year of silence. 

Vianne never saw herself as a quiet wallflower, but the situation at hand forced her mouth shut for far too long. The need to talk to someone had been building up since the day she arrived. If this was going to stretch out any longer, she could see herself  talking to random objects within her peripheral vision. As if the students needed another excuse to deepen the ostracization. In her own way, Vianne was in solitary confinement.

Wait why do I need them?! 

She shook her head, angry at her own slip up. There was no need for her to make any contact with people like that. Loneliness must've been a powerful force for her, for she now wanted communication from the very people set out to destroy her life. And it tore her dignity to shreds.

Biting the fleshy pulp of her lips, Vianne exhaled. There were still two more periods before she could jump into her car and drive home. Living Skills was next on her schedule, so she had to trudge across campus to her destination. The signs pointing to her class became clear as she neared the hallway. 

With five minutes before the second bell, Vianne discovered the almost empty room. It was custom for things like that to happen. Usually, people were either late or scrambling in at the last second. To her, that was a blessing. Any area could be taken for her choosing.

She spotted Ana by the side near the windows. The bespectacled young woman turned her head to look at her when she arrived at the scene. A shy smile crossed Ana’s face, and she waved. Vianne quirked her lips in an awkward attempt to smile back.

Ana was friendly, not just to her. A pang of guilt vibrated along Vianne’s chest. She felt a bit extreme in condemning everyone in the school; at least Ana made an effort to make her feel welcomed. It was because of that Vianne didn’t pull out her hair during Math 1A, so she owed it to her.

“Hey.” A soft greeting slipped from Vianne as she approached the desk. 

Ana shuffled some books to the side, creating space for her. “Hi! How was your lunch?”

Vianne sighed. “I’ve had better. The heat melted my sandwich.” She left out the part where she sat by herself for two whole weeks, not wanting to sound like some loser.

Her metaphor made Ana giggle lightly. It reminded her of the bells twinkling on the front door back in Napa; Vianne thought it to be rather calming. A breath of fresh air away from the screaming students was a surprising luxury around here.

“I know a place where there's an air conditioner,” Ana said. “You can come eat with me if you’d like.” 

The invitation caught Vianne off guard, prompting her to nearly drop her pencil. Ana still held her hopeful smile, like a lost puppy. That and the desperation to find cold air sold the deal.

Vianne grinned. “That'd be great. I’ll catch you after math tomorrow.” A satisfied hum left her as she leaned against the chair. It was nice to have a lunch buddy. 

It didn’t take long for the starting bell to ring. Mrs. Flores entered the class with a large trunk, followed by a hoard of people behind her. Everyone fought for a seat, breaking the calm atmosphere in seconds. Both Vianne and Ana resisted the urge to roll their eyes.

Mrs. Flores was a cheery plump woman in her sixties. Her floral dress was matched with a mint green camisole, making Vianne think of daisies and dandelions in a summer field. A pair of reading glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, giving her a jolly appearance of a librarian. Viane would reckon she’d keep a hidden stash of toffee under a desk somewhere for the children. 

“Settle down, settle down!” The teacher’s chirpy voice broke through the crowd. “I have an announcement to make!”

An exasperated glance was thrown at them as Mrs. Flores shuffled to the front podium. Her arms came up, hands clasping together in enthusiastic excitement. 

“I’m happy to introduce you all to our project of the semester,” she began. “There will be two parts, with each section worth fifty points. This will be a partnered assignment, so I expect you all to be friendly with one another.” 

Mrs. Flores gave them another knowing look, as if to warn them against their funny business. A few students avoided her gaze, fidgeting sheepishly on the chairs. To the side, Vianne looked at Ana, motioning back and forth between them. Ana caught the drift and nodded; it would be best if they could choose who they wanted to work with.

It was still too early into the school year for Vianne to be comfortable with anyone on the premises, but Ana had been the only one to show acceptance. She’d take that over anything.

“Each pair will receive a doll.” 

The next instruction baffled the class. Vianne stared on with wide eyes as Mrs. Flores took out a raggedy dummy from the trunk. It was a dress-up doll, with the color of its skin ashened by years of dust coupled with torn bits of its dress. 

Mrs. Flores sighed with strange contentment as she continued. “This year, the health department wants us to learn how to be responsible adults. As we are nearing senior year, the closer you are all to adulthood. And one of the graduation requirements is to pass Living Skills.”

Vianne didn’t need to hear the rest of it. Playing make-believe house was one of the projects required in Sex Ed class back in Napa, only it was to be taken during senior year. It would appear that it was happening sooner for her. Praying to whatever deity that came to mind, she hoped that she was allowed to choose partners. There was no way she was going to be stuck with a haughty, nose-picking man-child. 

“The fuck ma’am?!” Another shout rang from behind. “Who needs this?!”

A wave of murmurs agreed to his outcry, with some joining in. Mrs. Flores huffed, using her index finger to push up her glasses before glaring at the mass.

“If you want me to teach sex, then the right thing for me to do is to teach you the aftermath of it, too.” A light smile danced around her lips, a brow raised along with it. The boys’ cheeks flushed bright red at the comment, while the girls took a sudden interest in their books. 

Vianne felt the same sentiment, her ears tingling with warm embarrassment. Mrs. Flores was a lot of things, and bluntness was one of them. 

“Can we pick partners?” one of the girls asked. 

Mrs. Flores shook her head. “I’ve already made my decision last night about the pairs.”

Vianne’s stomach twisted at the revelation; she was already having a shitty time adjusting to the new school, and now she had to deal with a hotheaded student who probably hated her guts. Dred pooled down her back, soaking her in fearful anticipation.

Before them, Mrs. Flores took out a sheet of paper. Her mouth moved to speak, but was interrupted when an ear-splitting crash came from the door. It sounded like a dense mass falling onto the lockers. All eyes turned to the source of the sound, Vianne included. Another bang followed the crash, before all was silent. She sucked in a breath.

With a crack, the door flew open, revealing none other than the very boy who made fun of her days before in Math 1A. It would appear that barging into class midway was his style of rolling.His eyes drooped in lazy discontent, and there was dust all over his bomber jacket. Upon closer inspection, Vianne could make out the beginnings of a bruise forming on the corners of his left eye. 

Great. She shared another class with him, too. Oh goodie. Vianne was starting to believe that she was cursed before she stepped foot in LA. Or maybe she fucked up really bad in her past life. Because no one could have this much bad luck in one month. Mrs. Flores, on the other hand, seemed way too surprised at his grandiose entrance.  

“Well, well, Mr. Angel Guzman,” she tutted. “It’s a pleasure to finally see you grace my class with your presence.” Sarcasm dripped from her voice as she stared him down, not bothering with formalities.

Angel rolled his eyes with a click of his tongue. Sauntering to the nearest desk, he slumped into the seat, angling his legs wide open. Without context, one might believe him to be a gangster boss overlooking his new crew. The relaxed stance in his posture gave away nothing about his mood, but the dark look in his eyes spoke for him. 

 If Mrs. Flores was miffed by his disposition, she didn’t show it. “Since you’ve expressed so much excitement for this assignment, I’ll give you the honor of knowing your partner first.” 

Scanning the paper, her eyes landed on the very bottom of the list, and she spoke again. “You’ll be with Miss Yang over here for the project. Now, Adeline, you’re with Thomas. Ana, you’re with Daniel, Clarise-”

Vianne didn’t take in anything else other than the first sentence. Her ears rang, and she could see her soul departing her body for the heavens. This was the final nail on the coffin, pushing her over the edge of sanity. Her worst prediction had come true; she had the most deadbeat partner she could ever find in this school.

Her instincts had her look over in his direction. Angel’s gaze caught hers as she did so, however his face still held their impassive stare. Breaking contact, he moved to pull down his beanie again, shielding his eyes; he was preparing for a nap. Vianne groaned into her hands, earning a pity glance from Ana. It was the I’m-sorry-but-you’re-kinda-screwed look.

Mrs. Flores was still speaking, thus rattling Vianne back to reality. “-come up and grab your supplies! Please make a line and wait your turn.”

Half of the class rose and made a beeline for the trunk. Ana had already gathered hers and was now sitting by Daniel, leaving her alone. Angel was leaning against the chair like he was by the beach with his hands behind his head, and that told her more than she needed to hear. Vianne pursed her lips, hoisting her body from the desk. 

The teacher smiled too brightly when she came up to collect her doll. “Congratulations! It’s a girl for you!”

Handing Vianne a bottle of cleaning solution and a hair brush, Mrs. Flores patted her with a good-natured smile. It made Vianne’s soul twist in its grave. She turned around with robotic stiffness, and headed back to Angel’s seat. The young man took no notice of her arrival, continuing to stew in his state of trance. A toothpick hung out from his mouth, giving more into the lazy fashion.

Shit. I’m going to carry us both. The grim thought crossed her mind, and she winced. 

“Uh, we need to fill out the form.” Vianne pointed to the paper left by the teacher, snapping her fingers to get his attention. It was a fake birth certificate for the doll; Mrs. Flores was going above and beyond for the final project. Had it been under pleasant circumstances, Vianne would’ve given her kudos for her creativity.

Angel canted his view upwards, staring at her with mild curiosity. It was only then she noticed the deep set of eyes, with equally thick brows to match. His hands refused to leave his head, but his lips parted ever so slightly. Nothing came out of them.

Right. The guy never brings pencils. Realization hit her and she slumped onto the chair next to his. This is gonna be so fun.

As she tapped her pencil onto the paper, Vianne ignored the bouncing of his legs to the side. It was taking her attention away from thinking of a name for the doll. After another few minutes of awkward silence passed, she noticed they were the only pair that had almost zero progress on the first section.

Open your mouth and get him to talk, damn it! 

Scowling, Vianne turned to the young delinquent, who was actually on the urge of falling asleep this time. Vexation burned her mind, and she shoved the paper to his side. 

“Come up with a name,” she said. The sudden movement jerked him from his slumber, causing him to blink several times before his eyes settled back to hers with a glare. Vianne was not about to back down from a glance alone, so she crossed her arms, huffing at the dramatic display of resistance.

“I know you understand me.” The memory from last week was still fresh in her brain cache. “So come up with a name.”

At that, Angel smirked. “You’re the smart one. What ya need me for?”

Oh the little shithead.

Vianne returned the remark with a scowl of her own. “Believe me, I’d love to work by myself given the situation. But I’m not gonna carry you across the semester.” If the brat thought he was going to get an easy A because of her, then he had another thing coming. 

Her hissy fit seemed to have gotten to him; his eyes narrowed while he bit down on the toothpick. “Puta, you’re so fucking annoying.”

“What did you just call me?!”

“Figure it out, smart one.” A lopsided grin appeared on his face, though it was miles away from friendly. His eyes flashed, almost like a warning. But like that would deter her.

She was about ready to slap the paper into his face when she remembered the way Escalante would handle him when he got up all over his ass. A slight smirk painted her lips as she thought of an idea; if he was going to be an ass, then she was going to be an ass back.

“Are you simply trying to hide your illiteracy?” Vianne asked, her voice filled with over-saturated innocence.

Angel nearly swallowed his toothpick. “What?” The stare he sent her screamed a thousand red flags, but she held a hand against her legs to keep them from shivering.

“Oh, y’know…” she began. “I thought coming up with names wouldn’t be too difficult. Seems like it is for you, though.”

The muscles of his jaws clenched, darkening his guise. Angel’s nostrils flared as he looked at the piece of paper before him. Vianne could practically see the gears turn in his head. They were in a classroom, so there was nothing extreme he could do even if he was pissed. The thought of trapping him between a rock and a hard place made her feel a little better after the previous taunts.

Just when she moved to retrieve the materials back, his hands slammed on the paper. She flinched at the action, but kept her eyes glued to the desk, not raising to meet his.

“Camilla.” His raspy hum sounded quietly in the background. Had Vianne been further away, she wouldn’t have caught it.

“What?” She peered up at him, opening her mouth to ask more, but he was already looking away.

“The name,” Angel said. “It’s Camilla.” He made it sound like he was talking to a five-year-old.

Vianne breathed a sigh of relief and took the pencil. She began to fill in the required information about their ‘daughter’. He still refused to write out his part, so she relented for now.

“Camilla Guzman it is then,” she spoke to herself.

Now it was Angel’s turn to be perplexed. “Camilla Guzman?” He stopped chewing the wooden stick in his mouth for a moment.

His partner scoffed from her seat. “Well, you’re the dad, Angel. Unless you want me to have full custody.” Vianne rolled her eyes at the thought of having a daughter at her age. Ms. Lin would have a heart attack and be driven to an early grave. 

When she didn’t hear anything else from him, she feared her jokes flew over his head. Vianne raised her head just in time to catch a light smirk tugging at his face. Sensing no real threat, she went back to writing.

A clap from Mrs. Flores turned both their attentions to the front podium. The teacher had gathered everyone’s eyeballs towards herself, and she cleared her throat. 

“Since class is coming to an end, I’d like to make sure everyone understands their part of the assignment.” She paused for a second, before taking out another batch of files. “One ‘parent’ takes care of the doll for a week, alternating with their partners over the course of the semester. By the end of each month, I’d like a report summarizing the difficulties of parenthood. The rubric is simple; if the doll ends up in tatters, or if it becomes lost, then you will be automatically given an ‘F’. Keeping your ‘children’ in pristine condition and well-clothed is the primary goal. That’s all for today. Now figure out who’s taking custody first.”

Vianne looked to Angel, and then back to their ‘daughter’. This was a tough cookie, and she wasn’t sure she trusted him with not losing the doll within the first few days. 

“Rock papers,” Angel offered.

She wanted to guffaw at the suggestion, but logic told her it was a fair method. “Sure. Loser takes the kid.”

It turned out to be a horrible move on her part. No matter what kind of tricks she threw at him during the sparring, he either met her with the same level, or defeated her. If she used rock, he met her with paper. When she went for paper, he countered with scissors. At last, on the third try, she pulled a rock again, only to be faced with another rock from him.

Two loses and a tie; it was a no brainer who the kid went with for the first week. Angel sizzled with smug pride as he counted the points against her, his wicked grin broadening.

“Guess you’re not so smart after all.”

Oh fuck you. Vianne knew nothing good ever came out of that smirk. There was no guarantee he was going to show up after her week was up. For all she knew, Angel could easily ditch her for the rest of the year with the doll on her own. It wasn’t like he cared about his perfect track record. Her heart sank at the thought.

“You are coming back next week, right?” Skepticism laced her words as she eyed him. 

Angel clicked his tongue, raising a brow. “Who knows?” It was the closest to an answer she would get from him. And it was not reassuring at all. 

Vianne glared, hoping that by her looks alone, he would get the message. But her efforts were in vain. Angel soon reverted back to napping for the rest of the class, not wasting a second longer on her.

:

:

A/N: As per usual, shoutout to @classic80sand90smovieloves2 for encouraging and helping me get over writers block and whatnot ;) 

And thank you to all my followers who happened upon this piece in the sea of posts here on tumblr :p I love y’all and hope I didn’t disappoint!

[therenlover]

Hello love ~ how are u feeling?

1 + 2 + 19 please.

I’m feeling pretty good this morning! It’s always nice to reach the end of a big project, and even though it’s not technically finished and posted yet, being so close is putting me in a great mood. I hope you’re doing well too!!!

Question 1: What’s Your Favorite Character(s) To Write For?

Right now? Zemo. He has consumed my brain and I am paying the price, but I love him, so I don’t mind. Hancock from Fallout 4 also holds a particularly special place in my heart and comes really easily to me.

Technically this shouldn’t count, but I’m breaking the rules a little bit and saying Gustave Zemo, the 117th in line for the Sokovian throne and second cousin to everyone’s favorite baron (known often as simply Gus), is an OC I’ve created with @creme-bruhlee and the most hilarious and precious character I have written in a long time and I cannot wait till you meet him somewhere down the line. 

Question 2: What Character(s) Do You Find The Most Difficult To Write For? Why? 

Okay, I’m gonna get a little abstract here, but stick with me. I don’t really have a list of characters that are difficult to write for, because often if a character is difficult I don’t write for them at all. That being said, I struggle with characters that are portrayed as one-note, especially if that one-note is them being good. 

I like to write people with a whole lot of complexity, and it comes easily with my writing style. Unfortunately, that means one-dimensional characters often come out looking flat and boring in my writing because I don’t have much to work with. 

Basically, if they’re sunshine and rainbows and saving the world all the time I probably won't be able to empathize as much with them and so I won’t be able to do them justice when I write them.

Question 19: What Words Do You Think You Tend To Use The Most?

Oh god, all of them. So so so many words are repeated so many times, it’s not even funny. 

A repeat offender is chuckled. I’m worse than Stephanie Meyer’s book version of Edward with all the times I write chuckled into my fics, but it’s because laughed sounds too strong and there aren’t many good synonyms for laughter that work better than chuckled! I’m not sure why my characters chuckle a lot, but they do.  

Soft and softly also appear a lot, so much in fact that I literally do a sweep of my previous writing to see if I’ve written one recently before writing one of them down because most of the movements and emotions and feelings and people in my fics are soft and sweet and lovely and I want to express that at all times. 

Also, in the last part of Chapter 3, I probably say lamp or lamplight a million times. I’m sorry that you’ll notice them all now. I really just had no other options...

[my-belladonna]

The Abditory - Teaser

Hello! Okay! So this is kinda the teaser/ introduction to the series I am writing. Sorry it took a while to post but I wanted to make sure I got a whole bunch of details about the series were done before really starting to write it. But let me include a couple details about what to expect from this series and this blog before you can really get into reading: Not only will you be getting the parts/chapters posted to this blog but I will also be posting character descriptions and pictures of what some characters would look like using inspirations from famous actors who I think would best fit said character. I can also answer questions about the series making sure to exclude spoilers along with explaining some of my inspirations for the personalities of characters from other people I personally know and or characters from tv shows, movies, books, etc. that I have enjoyed or really related to in a way. I am extremely excited about writing this series and I hope that the people who follow me on this journey will enjoy it as much as I know I will. (All characters in this series are OC’s created by me)

----------------------

Summary: Xiomara Garcia has always led a seemingly normal life for as long as she can remember. Living with her widowed father in a boring small town,  going to a boring normal High school, being messed with by the popular girls, and having her friends Christian and Veronica around. Pretty normal until she finds out the other stuff about her mothers side of the family being a family of witches and wizards. That and a hidden place in the forest where there are creatures that have only existed in fairytales and fiction in the real world. But other than that pretty normal, right?

(Warnings: None)

Abditory - (rare) A concealed location used for storage or to hide items. [mid 17th century]

~

(Xiomara’s POV)

Shit shit shit shit shit! I mentally curse myself in my head, my heart starts beating fast and my feet take control of my body as I start to sprint in the opposite direction of where I was going. Here comes Rebecca with Felicia, Marissa, and Jennifer, her own little army of perfect Barbie doll friends trying to kick my ass…. Again.  It’s a good thing that Veronica and Christian weren’t there for that whole exchange I had with them earlier or they would be just as screwed as I am right now. I swear I’m always fucking something up, I just wonder why I can’t just be like my parents they were perfect when they were my age. Dad was always such a popular and respected guy and mom, well mom was just perfect. She was pretty, kind, and  friends with literally everyone, even when she got older everyone still loved her, so you bet they were devastated when she died. I guess I’m overthinking though because there goes Rebecca trying to grab my shirt. Gotta keep running.

-

(Christian and Veronicas POV)

“Dude I swear to God Mrs. Brown is gonna catch these hands if she doesn’t stop keeping us 20 minutes after the damn bell rings.” Veronica groans dragging her feet out of her 7th-period English class.

“Are you really gonna fight a teacher though Ronnie?” Her friend Christian asks slinging his backpack over his front.

“Maybe if she keeps it up!”

“Oh, there goes Mrs. Brown right there.”

“Fuck!” Veronica ducks behind Christian and he burst out into a fit of laughter. 

“I’m messing with you stupid.” Veronica punches him in the shoulder leaving him wincing in pain.

“Damn Ronnie that shit hurted.”

“Yeah shut up,” She opens the school’s front door for him, “Ladies first!”

“You’re so funny you know that?”

“Yup!”

They both walk outside letting the cold fall air hit their faces bringing a slight tinge of pink to both their cheeks as a shiver falls done their spines. Christian shudders setting down his backpack and pulling out his sweater.

“Damn it’s cold.” Christian says between chattering teeth slipping his sweater on over his head. 

“Where do you think Xio is?” Veronica asks, but just as the words left her mouth a small figure bolts past both of them sending them almost stumbling back. “That was Xio wasn’t it?” She groans, looking at Christian with an annoyed look secretly hoping that it really wasn’t her.

“Get back here Xiomara you freak!” Rebecca screamed, herself, and her friends running past in pursuit of their prey.

“Oh yeah, that’s definitely our girl.” Christian chuckles and pats Veronica on the shoulder, she rolls her eyes, “You wanna follow them?’

“And risk getting out asses kicked?” She shrugs his hand off her shoulder, “No thanks, well meet up with her later she might be going to the forest anyway.” 

-

(Edwards POV)

“Damn it!” I wipe the sweat off my forehead before grabbing the soccer ball out of the goal, kicking it out into the field in frustration.

“Alright, Eddie why don’t you take a bit of a break you’ve worked hard enough. Go get some water and sit with Teddy.” Coach Bronson says giving me a firm pat on the back. I nod and head over to Ted whose sitting on the bleachers with a broken arm from a past game we played, I’ve known that kid for as long as I can remember.

“You seem, tense dude, what’s the deal?” He nudges me and I let out a sigh catching my breath again.

“I don’t know man I’ve just been feeling kinda weird lately. Nothing too crazy though I’m fine.” I assure my friend tapping his cast a couple of times. “How’s the arm doing today man?”

“Bro it hurts but its great because Maddy writes notes for me now in math so you bet I’m feeling alive with this cast on.” He winks at me and I laugh.

“Your horrible man.”

“Well, I do write with my right hand so-” He squints and looks behind us, “Goddamn!”

“What?” I ask, “What are you looking at?” I try to spot what exactly he’s looking at.

“Is that Xiomara man she’s booking it look at her go!” 

“Xiomara Garcia?” I ask finally spotting her being chased by a group of people.

“Yeah man, looks like she pissed off Rebecca again cause there she goes with her girls behind Xio.” I smile to myself as I watch her running off the school grounds there’s always been something about that girl I just don’t know what. She’s so strange but in a good way and she doesn’t really ever seem to care about what anyone thinks. She’s confident and pretty self-assured it seems, it’s cute.

“Yo?” I snap out of my thoughts and look back at Ted whose waving his hand in front of my face, “I said what do you think she did this time?” I look back to where I last spotted her running. She’s gone.

“I don’t know man.” I lean back against the bleachers, “I don’t know.”

-

(Xiomara POV)

My legs are getting tired, my breathing is heavy, and I feel like I’m gonna pass out. But I’m not going to give Rebecca the satisfaction of catching me, I’m almost there just a little bit more. I can see the stream that connects this world to my own little one. Come on I can make it. I turn my head for a split second to see them still behind me yelling for me to stop running spitting profanities at me. I pick up speed, its right there, and I let my feet lift off the ground. It feels almost as if time just stopped for just a split second. Like everything just ceased until my feet hit the ground again and I continue sprinting for a couple of feet before ducking behind a large rock.

“No way Rebecca!” I hear Jennifer squeal, “She's crazy, and you’re crazy if you think I’m jumping over this stupid river and going after her in those freaky woods!”

“Its a stream you idiot!” Rebecca barks back, I peek from behind the rock to see her throwing her hands up in frustration.

“I don’t care!”

“Yeah Becca come on plus she went into the Windy Woods and I’ve heard a lot of creepy things about that place.” Marissa agrees eyeing the forest, fiddling with her hand in an attempt to calm her anxiety.

“Come on Rebecca lets sit this one out.” Felicia tries to pull Rebecca away from the stream getting her arm smacked by Rebecca in return.

“You guys better hope that little freak gets lost in those woods, lets go.” She turns and stomps away her friends following like lost puppies. I exhale and close my eyes leveling myself between the ground and the rock, my body aching as if my heart is beating in every limb I have. I stand up and walk deeper into the forest, funny how everyone thinks this place is so scary and evil, it’s beautiful. Then again I’m sort of fine with everyone being afraid of it, means I don’t have to worry about other people being here too. But it’s weird how bad or scary things happen to everyone else in this town in these woods but me, I’m not complaining though but it’s strange I don’t know what it is but it feels like I’ve been coming here forever. Like I belong here. I’m ripped away from my thoughts when I hear a twig snapping behind me. Fuck did they follow me? I whip my head around and catch a glimpse of a head of dark purple hair peering out from behind a tree. What? None of Rebecca’s friends had purple hair.

“Hey!” I call out jogging over to the tree I saw the mysterious figure pop-out from. Thinking I was going to catch the stalker I round the tree ready to confront them. “Who are y-” I stop dead in my tracks, no one is there. That’s not possible I didn’t even see them leave the spot behind the tree no sound, no running, nothing. I looked up to see if they maybe climbed up but nothing was there, no signs of a person anywhere. I pull my phone out of my pocket and look at the time, “Shit…” I mutter under my breath. It’s getting late I gotta grab my backpack from school and get home before my dad has a fit. I slowly tread back to the edge of the forest where the stream is, this time deciding to take the bridge that was a little ways down from where I jumped in order to escape Rebecca and her demons. I took one last look behind me at the forest chuckling softly before heading back towards the school. Guess I spoke too soon about weird things happening in that forest.

---------------------

Yay you made it! Okay now for a bit of extra clarification the main character in this series is Xiomara Garcia and this first little part is more of an introduction to some of the big main characters Xiomara, Edward, Christian, and Veronica. There are of course going to be more characters to be introduced but they will be introduced later in the future. I will be posting character descriptions and what actors kind of resemble them for Xiomara, Edward, Christian, and Veronica later! So if you have any questions about the series or characters please feel free to ask my inbox is always open! Thank you!

[sundaynightnovels]

11/11/11

i’ve been tagged by the ever-so-amazing @kidsarentallwrite , so thank you! love seeing your answers as always hahaha and am always thankful that you remember me for these games <3  1. Go to song when you need to get into the mood to write? sad songs. usually my favourite jay chou song, or some really sad hua chenyu pieces. but yea, always sad mandopop.  and then i write a funny scene right HAHAHAHA ok no not always (my recent snippet was following a sad hcy song and it is ... hm. is it sad? i don’t know.) 2. Dream director for a film/television adaption? taikaaaa yoooooo!!! shout out to my best boy i can’t wait to watch jojo rabbit!  edgar wright in the lines of the cornetto trilogy &/ scott pilgrim like man the cornetto trilogy was l i f e  stephen chow for the most ridiculous nonsensical situational comedy that takes place in my wip (i’m thinking the fish scene, yall know that elusive fish scene that i always name-drop but never go into specifics about - gimme that in the style of kungfu hustle’s strongest woman!) 3. If you ever saw your WIP go to stage, is more likely to be a play or a musical? musical. it’d be a very boring play since nothing happens, and it’s ridiculous enough for the characters to break out in random musical numbers and still be valid. on immediate thought i can imagine teng wailing into the night singing a song about a forlorn love while zhen throws a shoe at him and jun sings a bad back-up harmony and ren is just there in the corner, rubbing at his temples and shou will act the part of the audience on stage and cheer and throw flowers and wail equally loudly in tears of absolute astonishment and delight yes. 4. Favourite thing you’ve written? eh. in my wip, or in general???? honestly i can’t think of anything. sometimes when i’m re-reading my writing / drabbles / whatever, in hindsight im like ‘whoa i wrote that??’ and then i re-read it AGAIN and im like ‘ew, i wrote that?’ and the cycle repeats x100 my favourite thing from my wip so far though, i think i have an actual scene for that. it’s this scene after all of them listens to this story. they are really affected by it, though none of them show it, and the next day shou just goes wandering around the streets and has this sorta experience and  it’s written a little vague, a little dazed and confused but also really... hm. kinda magical-ish and surreal and i think it was written pretty ... nicely. yea. HAHA. (maybe i’ll let you read it someday *winks* HAHAHAHAHA) 5. Top five authors, go! ME.  jk hahahahahaha. do i mean just kidding or do i mean jkr? who knows?? okay in all seriousness i love leigh bardugo, i love marie lu, ofc i love my man rick riordan and my childhood hero roald dahl. the last one’s for grabs, who wants to throw their name into the hat?  6. Biggest influences to your writing? idk, a lot of things. music and musical scenery (as in, yknow, certain visualisations you get when listening to songs & its mood and atmosphere etc. also i was watching pavarotti the other day for work, yknow the film about italian opera tenor luciano pavarotti? and in that film they mentioned something pretty interesting, in that in italian opera they first write down the lyrics, and then only after do they compose music to go with the lyrics so that each music strand is as evocative of the feeling of the word as possible, and i think that’s really cool) humour, definitely. most of my OCs came about from a line of dialogue that i just needed them to say. yes they are all manifestations of words. isn’t that all characters?  but really. mostly just a sort of feeling. can’t really describe it. that’s why i have a hell of a difficult time getting inspirations huh? 7. What do you use more, first/second/third person? when i was younger i used to do first person, but now i can’t stand to do first person hahaha it’s just a little odd for me i need my third-person. sometimes i can’t really bear to read first-person either, at least since i’ve grown older. i don’t really know why, can’t pinpoint it. some first-persons are really good though. 8. What social media would your OCs have? uhhhh i’m not a big social media person, so i don’t really know. i’ve stopped using instagram since the beginning of this year, and it’s odd because people never remember that i don’t use instagram. it’s like a thing that everyone assumes that everyone has and uses, i guess -- it just can’t stick in their minds that i’m not anymore. just an interesting observation 9. Why do you write the genre you write? the more important question is, what is my genre? HAHAHA. okay i don’t know, i just like writing character and character interactions and i love introspective pieces (even though mine, arguably, isn’t particularly introspective since no one wants to think in that, tsk, typical humans) 10. Team Edward or Team Jacob? when i read the books i was a 100% team jacob, until he went and imprint on a newborn baby and i was like ew bro what’s wrong with you so i’m team no-one now. both sides are creepy, unfortunately. 11. What’s your guilty pleasure movie? no guilty pleasures! not ashamed of letting people know what films i enjoy watching HAHA  i am a very conventional film-viewer and i like commercial stuff with mass appeal. sue me. like even though i’m writing film reviews for my internship right now and you’d assume i’d be all art-house and stuff, but like, no that stuff takes up too much brain energy i like fun, mass-appeal commercial stuff that forces you to engage in it and use your brain, whether during / after the film. that’s why parasite is fking amazing and it’s my favourite film of this year. if you haven’t watched it, WHY THE HELL NOT?  tagging a few peeps at @coffehousecreations @bahay-kubo @insearchof-solace @kaigods @aslanwrites @bookenders @mvcreates @tenacious-scripturient @inexorableblob @focusdumbass questions under ‘read more’!

1. why did you choose writing as a medium instead of other artistic endeavours? 2. what language(s) would you love your wip to be translated into, and why? 3. how would you describe your own writing? 4. who do you look up to the most in the writeblr community, be it their energy or personality or writing? 5. give yourself three compliments in terms of your own writing ability! you deserve it!  6. how much does real-world events translate into your writing? 7. what is your all-time favourite film? 8. how would you rate your writeblr experience as of now? how has it differed from your prior expectations? 9. what trope / inspired scene do you want to put in your wip, but haven’t? 10. give us a summary of one of your earliest wips! 11. what do you enjoy reading most from another person’s writing? bonus question (for, ahem, personal reasons): have you watched parasite? why / why not? what do you think of it?

[ignite-the-fires-far]

➏ What’s the one thing you especially love about roleplaying your muses? - as many as you want

Hi

I could easily say something I like about every single active muse. And since I’m bored and kind of frustrated with school work, indulge me in some:

Latijva: He’s an old guy. Really terrible and immoral. He’s villain material. And yet, he never gets persecuted as one, which is highly funny of me. He’s like Taxi Driver levels of “whatever” towards his crimes of pillaging, razing, buccaneering and other sorts. Which is highly fun at the same time.

Hëlka: I especially adore her no-bullshit attitude. It's also very entertaining that she's a troll. She seeks reactions from people. And she is a specially challenging muse since I don't have a single common thing with her, and it is by design that. Also, she's my first kinda trans character, so hooray for completion milestone?

Bodiltalos: Legend tells that he started as a verse for @skitter-leap but as I rped with him, i started developping both him and Iyb further, and I really felt enamoured about Iberian culture and shit. Also horse riding. I had plans for another horse rider muse but it never came to fruition. So Bodiltalos became the substitude for that. Also, I really, really enjoy that hes so popular despite his flaws. Really speaks to his character. That, or that all you females out there want a misogynist man. One of the two.

T’eoq’obek: Daddy. I also like lizards. Crocodiles my favourite animal. I like monster rp. I really dont have profound excuses for this OC. I just really like being big myself and having a semi-popular OC with such a theme. Also monster rp

Tachyon (Silent Skitter): He was more of an experiment muse that turned out to have potential and interesting thread mechanic. Its basically a bishounen with self esteem issues stemmed from the fact that he looks more human than rat. Yet looks enough ratty for people to shun him away too. Call it a furry Edward Scissor hands. I don’t care.

Hans Löcke: Why is my man falling out of popularity recently? Smh. Anyways, His theme is rage, and the power behind it. And I don’t mean in a “HULK SMASH!” kind of way, but in a so angry, so bitter that he wont stop at nothing. Also he’s good with children and looks so fucked up. Love seeing punks with kids IDK why.

Carmencita: She is so nice isn’t she?

Rubrika: As I learn more and more about cinema with studies she allows me to poke fun at the state of cinema and also at myself as a writer and creator. I like that shes just a nerd with a huge ego. A dichotomy you wont find in much characters. She’s also a big lesbian, Harold. Idk why no one has noticed this so far.

Tane Anahera Kahunagi: Big Shark Man. Big Nice Man. But if you hurt good little people he becomes Big Angry Shark Man and you die a horrible death. Also, facial expressions through a helmet.

Isaac Romano: What if a nerd was also a pinnacle of thottery and lust. So far not a single thread has managed to turn Isaac to the dark side, and so, his character is really very underdeveloped, despite its popularity. But then again, killer semen is not a tactic you see nowadays in much rps.

[circular-time]

So... Gallifrey One diary

The key to landing a Gally ticket after three years of trying, it turns out, is to say “Oh, I’ll never get into Gally. But that’s fine, because I love LI and Regen.” *click* HEY!  (Yes, it helps they fixed the servers.)

Unfortunately, I also landed a whopper of a sinus infection. So I had to pace myself.

Here’s everything I can remember about the weekend; brace yourself for a long post!

Thursday— I finished my portrait of Anneke, then, so sick I shouldn’t have been driving, I clawed my way up the 405 freeway on the back of Emerald Tiger. Figuratively speaking.

I poured into the hotel around 4.30. After unpacking and resting, I slithered down to LobbyCon where I met @comic-rust looking dapper in Four’s Logopolis outfit sans coat.  He was far too kind and took me to dinner, where we had a pleasant geekfest.

Kim-- Kim, drat, I am so terrible at names! led me down to karaoke, since I had not yet figured out the majority of Gally takes place on a subterranean level like Jabba’s palace. I people-watched for a little while before sinus headache and off-key singing decided to part ways.

Friday—

Panels! Panels! Panels!

11 AM  - The Ties That Bind Us promised a meet & greet for diverse fans, although by the time I arrived (fifteen minutes late) it was a fairly sparse audience with a panel telling us how great Gally was compared to lesser cons like LI Who and Regen. I kept my mouth shut. When in Rome... 

12 PM - Gentlemen’s Agreement — Frazer, Peter Purves and Prentis Hancock (Space:1999) rambled about their work on various shows. They kept poking Prentis to use a mike so we could hear him, which became a running gag. Frazer finally dangled a mike in front of him like a sound boom in a classic Who recording. Peter told funny production stories about old massive TV studio cameras, the challenge of setting them up for filming to avoid crossing their cables, and a Who director who kept doing just that.  Peter reminded us that early Who was filmed “as live,” with exactly an hour and a half to record the episode after rehearsal and the dry run to figure out said cameras. He recounted how Morton Dill (that hillbilly he played on the Empire State Building in The Chase) turned out to be his unwitting audition. He’d impressed the regulars enough — and, crucially, William Hartnell liked him — that Maureen suggested him to replace Russ & Jackie (Hartnell was very distressed about their leaving). So Peter had 3 weeks’ notice that he was joining the show. He’s always stressed his good luck, being in the right place at the right time. I wish I could remember what mischief Frazer got up to in that panel; he’s always a hoot.

1PM - The Sarah Jane Adventures — Katy Manning came for the second panel in the same room. There was fond reminiscing about Nicholas Courtney and Lis as well as Katy being her usual hilarious blind-as-a-bat batty self, waggling her butt while climbing over everyone. Also ranted about her room not having a full-length mirror, forcing her to teeter on the loo and try to see in the bathroom mirror; cue humorous hand-waving as she described falling into the toilet a la Trainspotting and surfacing in other people’s toilets. (She told this story a few times throughout the con). She mentioned the UNIT adventures coming up in which Jo and Mike and Benton team up with new Who UNIT. Jo and Osgood work together. Katy’s glad she doesn’t have to pretend to be young, for a change). Somewhat eclipsed by Katy, Matt Irvine, the K-9 operator, joined them and talked about the ins and outs of operating the dog. He kept the original K-9 in his workshop all those years so it’s still around.

For these panels I was sitting next to @rachel-aldridge​ wearing a perfect Dodo cosplay. I’m sure Peter approved.

Note to self: Gally schedule is confusing; it shows when panels start but not when they finish, and some start on the half hour. I missed Anneke’s interview (woes!)

At some point I peeked out of the cave mouth basement entrance to see the Deluge:

(From Wunderground) 

But I forgot to photograph anything because my brain was full of phlegm. Rain was sheeting down outside, but we were very snug down in our basement apart from some flooding in the main bathroom. STC reported lots of trees blown down back in OC, freeways blocked by water. 

2 PM -  You Just Got Holtzmanned! Gender-Swap Panel with @whovianfeminism​ and others was brilliant, of course. There was lots of intersectional discussion about representation/nonrepresentation of gender and genderqueer, people of color, class in Britain which is mostly lost on American audiences, characters with disabilities being few and far between, the Geena Davis 17% study and similar studies showing how men tend to perceive the ratio of women talking/existing in a given group as much greater than it is. We talked about the fact that Who EU and spinoffs like Class have better representation since they’re not controlled as closely by BBC bean counters deciding what will sell best at home and abroad. I especially liked the discussion of the pros and cons of genderbending— recasting established male characters as women — vs. creating original female lead characters. Also the pitfalls of so-called “color blind” casting vs. acknowledgement of the issues various minorities face.

3 PM - Lalla Ward Interview with Gary Russell: I try to separate actors from characters, but let’s face it, Lalla puts an awful lot of herself into Romana...

... so, hella charismatic, intelligent, and poised, with decided opinions about things (including what personal questions Gary asked that she wasn’t about to answer). She has a glare that could shrivel diamond as well as a smile that could make it bloom. 

Lalla talked about her early career — it turns out she went into acting mostly as a dare and challenge to herself, when she was originally trying to be an artist. She started with a Hammer film (recently rewatched and was a bit shocked by gore), and played Ophelia in Derek Jacobi’s Hamlet. From Jacobi she absorbed the advice that people shouldn’t be actors unless they absolutely need to be, because otherwise they won’t have the drive. 

Her first Who role was Princess Astra, of course; she had no idea Mary Tamm was leaving (in fact she recalled Mary saying in the cantina that she was thinking of doing another season). So it was a surprise to be asked back. She was chosen because, the producer said, Tom got along with her, making her “worth her weight in gold.” 

Talk turned to costuming. Lalla said that for her first serial (Creature of the Pit, filmed out of order) she was wearing something “glamorous” that would’ve looked good on Mary but not on her, after which she worked with June Hudson to find her own style. 

(She hated the white scarf with the pink coat because it snagged on everything!) Lalla had the idea that Romana would shop at bazaars in different times and places, mix and match time periods to create her own distinctive style of no particular era. 

There was some frank personal talk about the brief romance/marriage with Tom and the dangers of getting so lost in the characters you play that you lose sight of yourself and the other person. Sounds like Tom was more head over heels with her, though that’s hindsight. She was not especially enamored of JNT (part of the reason she left) or his choice to replace her with Adric. Yeah, I know, most of this isn’t new news.

Finally, Lalla talked about her work with Danville Hall, a care home in Britain for actors and others associated with the acting profession; she spoke passionately about how society must do a better job of looking after the old. Gally’s charity auction at Gally raised over $18000 for Danville Hall and left her in tears; Lalla’s first two quilts —portraits of her dogs— were auctioned off.

Later in the afternoon came a Big Finish panel that’s kinda blurred together with the later ones and...

5.30 Paul McGann & Daphne Ashbrook Panel— Unfortunately by that time I was wiped and I don’t remember a thing other than Paul’s magical soft, soothing voice. ;) Oh, and his talking about Steven Spielberg sussing out he was lying through his teeth when he said he could ride, but still hiring him for Empire of the Sun and getting him a riding instructor. Paul clearly loved the horses and as usual was being too modest by half, saying the horses did all the work.

8.30 The Fan Club Invasion was the meet & greet I hoped for in the morning, a low-key social gathering. New Who fans found themselves suddenly wildly popular, since the icebreaker game/scavenger hunt asked for “someone who has never seen classic Who.” I rescued one (I hope) from a well-intentioned nerd trying to tell her classic Who stories in the most boring way possible. More importantly, I found a local Who group: Real Time Lords of Orange County.

Happiness Patrol— I caught the tail end of Dominic Glynn’s amazing show which I missed at Regen. I loved his arrangement of Colin Baker’s “Ten million years of absolute power. That's what it takes to be really corrupt!” speech and theme song.

Alas I was turning into a slug and couldn’t make it to Paul Cornell’s late-night podcast, which by all accounts was fantastic, and involved blacksmithing? I dunno. 

A lot of attendees liveblogged on Twitter — it’s well worth perusing Twitter’s #gally1 tag. Lou Jameson and others remarked on a red Dalek on someone’s balcony. Sure enough, it was across the courtyard from my room the next morning, storm or no storm!

(oh say can you seeeeeeee..... )

...and the Dalek was still there!

On Saturday morning, I made the unwise decision to try fresh-squeezed orange juice while on antibiotics. So I missed most of the day. But first...

10AM - Creature Feature panel - Nick Briggs hosted a roundtable with various monsters including Barnaby Edwards and Nicholas Pegg. (The short and how-the-hell-does-he-fit-he’s-too-tall Dalek operators.) Simon Fisher-Beck was there as well making tasteless jokes, and Jimmy Vee (new Who) and everyone else kept mock-scooting away from him. They gushed about various co-stars, especially Billie Piper. Nick confessed to an attack of evil, freaking out Jenna Coleman by whispering to her through her headphones while she was inside the Dalek. Barnaby recounted falling out the bottom of his Dalek in the first Dalek episode and alarming Billie Piper while she was doing a heck of an acting job. And he and Nicholas Pegg described the gushing-exploding-Dalek mess in The Magician’s Apprentice. Mud, McD chocolate shakes and compost squirted EVERYWHERE including inside the Daleks. (Nick called the episode “Poo of the Daleks.”) They went back to their hotel afterwards, totally covered in mud, and alarmed the patrons. (Having gone on 8-day horseback riding/camping trips and disturbed a wedding party in a hotel in much the same way, I know exactly that look of “uncleaaaan!”) 

After that, autograph alley time, where I tried not to make a fool or pest of myself while face to face with con guests. Lalla was polite but appeared to be nonplussed by my silly Lalla portrait (below) which I had side by side in the portfolio with the one I asked her to sign. Louise Jameson was sweet and encouraging about the Leela portrait I put in front of her. 

I snapped a few photos of great cosplays including @rachel-aldridge​ in her Black Orchid Tegan outfit (great pose!) and a Five wearing brainy specs (yay!)

Alas I didn’t get into the Nick Briggs/Barnaby Edwards Kaffeklatsch (missed cutoff by two). I was barely holding up the wall by that point, so it’s just as well. I returned to my room to faceplant for a couple hours until the world stopped spinning and the hot/cold flashes eased off. 

My main regret was missing the June Hudson panel; she’s the famous costumer of classic Who in the mid-seventies. Much love was heaped on her all weekend by stars and fans, richly deserved.

2PM Days Gone By — lovely classic Who panel with Katy, Anneke, Frazer, Peter, Prentis Hancock and Michael Troughton, but I was so blasted all I remember is Katy’s adorable/sad story about how proud she was to try and do her own stunts the first day— they had her roll out of a moving car! Got it perfectly on the first take, but tore all the ligaments in an ankle on the second take; Jon found her sobbing later being afraid she’d be sacked and defended her against idiot directors (I infer the last bit). Anneke repeated her story about how she was the one who wound up doing Pat Troughton’s hair, and also the general observation that if he hadn’t been able to establish regeneration and show that the show could continue without Hartnell, none of this (the con, fandom, Who) would  be here now. A fan put Peter Purves on the spot by asking him to sing Last Chance Saloon. He said “Fuck off!” but eventually, with everyone pestering him with lyrics and singing at him, he did it, for the first time since the episode was recorded, and he sounded fantastic. Anneke and Frazer got up and danced (why didn’t I get my camera out quick enough)? At the end, Michael Troughton distinguished himself by making the sound of Woody Woodpecker heard on a scratchy 45 record player — uncannily accurate— and the sound of a cat being sick— even more uncannily accurate. 

3PM - The highlight of my con was seeing lovely @barnabyedwards​ in late afternoon at the autograph table. He’s written one of my two fave BF audios and directed many more, and I’ve exchanged occasional Twitter banter with him for years, so I’ve been eager to meet him, all the moreso since I kept being confused by the other Barnaby Edwards listed in the schedule for LI Who. (They finally met at Gally; no observed Blinovitch effect.) When I told him my Twitter handle, Big Finish Barnaby lit up and said “Oh, it’s YOU!” Hugs all round. I asked him to autograph Emerald Tiger and picked up his cute "Barbara: Queen of the Galaxy” postcard, although I feel bad for not buying any of his finer art. I’m afraid I inflicted my art on him (he browsed through both my portfolio and another fan’s), and he very kindly gave me some tips.

This is an awful picture, like I said, but I don’t care because BARNABY IS SUCH A DEAR:

(Yeah, my bad eye was showing.) 

Outside it had almost stopped raining by Sat afternoon, and cosplayers collected under the “cavern” overhang [photoset and K9]. I was menaced by Sutekh and minions while helping a couple Fourth Doctors take pictures of one another. Afterwards: 

Then it was back to panels/interviews. I caught the tail end of an interview with Deep Roy, an amazing actor who’s played everything from Mr. Sin in Talons of Weng-Chiang to Scotty’s assistant in the Trek reboots. 

4.30 PM - The Gallifrey Chronicles panel was GREAT, Scott Hancock hosting (he wrote/directed recent audios) with Lalla, Lou, Sean Carlsen, John Leeson, and Gary Russell. Scott asked them what they wanted, and “another season of Gallifrey!” was the consensus. Exec Producer Jason Haigh-Ellery in the audience confirmed a new season, and then Scott spoiled that it’s going to be set in the Time War. Sean Carlsen spoiled me about plot points I haven’t heard yet (I’m up to Season 3), but he’s so cute I forgive him. I didn’t realize what a huge Who fanboy he was, so stoked to be working with Leela and Romana! Lou and Lalla talked about their “cheese and chalk” relationship, how they clash over their hippie/homeopathy vs rationalist/science worldviews, and how their friendship works despite having to “agree to disagree.” Which they and some Gallifrey writers have woven into the Romana & Leela dynamic. They loved playing/parodying each other in Spirit. I think this was the panel where Lalla mentioned she’d bloody well make a better president than the one we have. Much applause. (We mostly avoided politics this weekend, although it was the elephant in the room; veiled #resist comments peppered nearly every panel). 

John Leeson was too adorable, breaking into the K-9 voice to answer some questions, and at other times was quite naughty (when asked how he liked voicing two K9s and having three mistresses he said “Doggy heaven. We’ve already discussed the doggy position.”) He’s usually the last to know when K-9′s going to be used and hasn’t yet been contacted about possible new movie.

Gary Russell talked about how frustrated he was in the 70s that there were no female characters on TV but love interests or characters in menial/supporting roles, until Tenko (landmark show about female prisoners of war in WWII in which Louise Jameson starred). He felt female friendship and characters were interesting and not seen in media enough. So Gary initially came up with the idea of Gallifrey after seeing how Lou and Lalla hit it off while recording Zagreus; he wanted a West Wing style political drama with two strong women as the leads. He did consciously rewrite characters as women a lot during his time on BF, although he apologized for not hiring more women writers when he was producer.  I hit the mike to comment about how the relationship between Leela and Romana in Gallifrey is welcome and unusual in Doctor Who, because its leads are usually a man and a woman; SF in general seldom develops relationships between women or explores how they work together (or even how they argue.) 

In the evening I attended the Gallifrey reception where fans sat at small tables and the guests circulated in the nerd equivalent of speed dating. That meant we had brief face-to-face time with Lou, Lalla, Sean Carlsen, John Leeson, Matt Irvine (K-9′s designer, the self-described “back end of the dog”), Phillip Hinchcliffe, designer Roger Murray-Leach. Really great, although I feel bad for everyone who can’t afford this kind of thing (the organizers said it helped fund Gally and bring more guests). 

Lou was as warm and Earth Mothery as ever, Lalla gracious and warmer in person, looking understated but stunning in a kimono whose designer she was careful to note (and I’m not fashionable, so I can’t remember). John Leeson was adorable and sweet and so happy to be spending time with fans and clearly loves being K9. Phillip Hinchcliffe was dignified but delighted that some of us were listening to his new Big Finish audios— he was pushing them in a charmingly genteel way. Roger Murray-Leach, the designer of Weng-Chiang and Invasion of Time and a lot of the classic Fourth Doctor era, was glad we’re still having fun with his work (I gabbled something about “you set the stamp on Gallifrey and established what it looked like in all our minds,” which seemed to please him.)

The reception ended just as the Masquerade was letting out— that’s where I snapped the fab gel guard, Omega and Alpha Centauri with Three.

Sunday 

Hooray, I did NOT have orange juice and made it through most of the day without feeling diseeeeased!

Yes, the red Dalek was still there.

The @whovianfeminism​ meetup was cancelled after she was called away by a family emergency. It sounds like she had a thoroughly rotten weekend. :(   [Update: :( :( We should send warm thoughts her way. ) I hadn’t checked online, so I went down to the meetup as did writer Valerie E Frankel, who wanted to pick our brains for her book on the women in Doctor Who. She and I chatted. I’m afraid I got a little defensive at her characterizing most classic Who companions as 20-year-old miniskirt-wearing screamers. She seemed surprised when I pointed there were some alien companions, some scientists, that Vicki and Barbara sometimes wore trousers and/or sensible shoes, and that one fan has has found a lower scream-per-episode ratio for many classic companions than modern ones. Also I argued that miniskirts aren’t automatically a marker of sexism, but were originally something 60s women chose for themselves to be liberated, and that Sarah Jane was originally portrayed as a proponent of women’s lib. Frankel disputed me (She hadn’t seen SJ’s intro) and said that she saw classic Who through her “personal filter,” a modern perspective, and that she was basing a lot of her impression of classic Who women on Polly in Power of the Daleks (which is about as bad as it gets, admittedly). Frankel was planning on covering Charley, had heard of Evelyn, and I also suggested Erimem because (a) PoC and (b) first 50 Main Range are free on Soundcloud. I pointed her towards The Marian Conspiracy as well.

At noon I finally caught Anneke for a quick hug and friendly chitchat; she was so much fun at LI and Regen, and I’m sorry I didn’t see her more this time. She’s really enjoying having a second crack at taking Polly on new adventures and is all excited about an upcoming Short Trip.

12PM -  Loiuse Jameson Interview clashed with the Big Finish roundtable, woe! But I’m not about to miss a minute of Lou. She talked about nearly killing a cameraman with a knife throw (after which Leela’s knife was swapped for a blunt one), about having trouble with Tom until she finally stood up to him in Horror of Fang Rock (but they get along now), and about how Stuart Fell the stuntman discovered sexism on set when he was dressed as her for a stunt and got his bottom pinched twice. Once again she talked about how she modelled Leela’s body language and heightened senses on a little girl she knew upstairs plus her own dog (a pharaoh hound mix). She occasionally had her dog on the set; it was well-behaved except when she was being “attacked,” then they had to put it in another room so it wouldn’t protect her. Also while rehearsing her departure, the dog came over by John Leeson and mimicked his body language, both little doggy heads going down and being sad because Leela was sad. The producer tried to talk Lou into staying, but she refused partly because she wanted to move on, partly because the character of Leela was being weakened and forced to ask lots of "What Doctor/Why Doctor?” questions. She’s really enjoying recording Leela for Big Finish nowadays. I was intrigued to hear about her work on that 1980 series Tenko, a powerful show written by and for women. She’s been working almost continuously all her life. Right now she’s directing a play based on a boy who committed suicide from cyberbullying; producers have contacted her about turning it into a film.

And then as I was leaving I saw the cosplay twins Chihiro and Chieko in their Weeping Angels costume and landed the best con photos I will ever take by waiting for Lou Jameson to come down that hallway. :D

1:30 PM - Scary Monsters and Super Geeks— a tribute to Who fan David Bowie (whom Katy hung out with while dating Jimi Hendrix?! she was part of a wild crowd and enjoyed every minute, clearly). Paul McGann was crestfallen to learn Bowie had turned down the part of the Master for the movie because he was working on something else. They discussed a lot of Bowie’s career; big lovefest. I love the fact that male British actors are more relaxed about remarking on other men’s beauty; Paul referred to Bowie’s “unearthly beauty” while discussing Man Who Fell to Earth.

I had a photo with Lou, Lalla and the REAL, original K-9 (his eyes were lit, although you can’t see it!) Ignore my ghastly posture; look at Lalla and Lou being photogenic and gorgeous!

4.30 PM - Look Where We Are, Look Where We Started was an absolutely amazing panel on the women of Doctor Who ably hosted by Deborah Stanish of Verity! podcast; she managed to ask thoughtful questions tailored to each and every one of: Lalla Ward, Louise Jameson, Anneke Wills, Katy Manning, Katrin Stewart (Jenny Flint), Naoko Mori (Torchwood), Christine Adams (new Who & Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Hattie Hayridge (Holly on Red Dwarf), June Hudson, Daphne Ashbrook. What a lineup. The young and old, working and retired, actors and designers/artists. Can’t possibly summarize it all.

Here’s a few more of my miscellaneous cosplay photos including a greate couple dressed as John Cleese and Whoosername from City of Death.

Wrap-up had everyone come onstage (and dear gods Michael Troughton keeps imitating a cat being sick FAR TOO WELL the goofball), and we filled the auditorium.

Apparently some people kvetched at this con for not having enough guests? True that there have been more Doctors at the other cons I’ve attended, but this was a heck of a lineup, and that still wasn’t all of them— there were Titan comics, EU and new Who people I barely saw. I’m just sorry William Russell had to cancel (and Miles Richardson, who’s filming), as I fear I’ll never see Russ. 

Afterwards I went up for final LobbyCon, where I met @colinbakerstreet​ and @zetasigma​ (sporting the spiffy CIA outfit), plus @d_compare on Twitter (nice academic nerd, notice his Twitter is about half Who and half #resistance). Barnaby was down there too— no, @elvisomar​, he had not brought edibles but was flattered we liked his cooking Tweets! A hug goodbye. 

The Resistance was never far from anyone’s minds, although we spent most of the weekend taking a brain break and hiding from the storm. 

Monday 

Leisurely breakfast. Flight delays out of LAX meant a lot of guests were milling around in the lobby; I saw Lalla, Lou, Matt Irvine, Phillip Hinchcliffe, John Leeson who was delighted at the con experience and chatted cooking with me (he had to get home since he’s the cook in his family). 

I drove home listening to Primeval since it’s easier to focus on driving and not get distracted if I already know and love an audio. And then I collapsed and slept most of the day with a VERY annoyed cat pressed against me and making sure I couldn’t escape.

It was tons of fun, and I’ve met a few new fans to keep up with. I’ve been incredibly depressed and not sleeping well since the inauguration, so a brief break was just what the doctor ordered, sick or no. 

[DISCLAIMER: I wrote this down Monday night and Tuesday after the con, and my memory is by no means perfect.]

[sarcasticgamerandwriter]

Valentine’s day

Hi guys! Considering the occasion I decided to post a short story (that got quite lenghty). This one is not the continuation of the previous story but fret not! The next part will appear soon.

Happy Valentine’s!

Before the story I should clarify some things. I originally paired Evie with Henry at the beginning of the story but I plan to pair her with one of Gwen’s brother later on (sorry...), and here they already are together. What is more, at some point in the story Jacob is going to go out with Pearl (sorry...) and they also are together here.

Sorry for any mistakes!

Fandom: Assassin’s Creed

Pairing: Jacob Frye x OC (Gwen) -> pre-relationship

Warnings: none (I guess)

“Valentine’s day”

“Are you sure?” Dougal looked at me with slight hint of doubt.

“Of course I am!” I rolled my eyes and glared at him. “Go! You will be late and your date will be very cross with you.”

“You should be the one going on a date, not me,” he shook his head. “Especially on Valentine’s day.”

“You perfectly know that I don’t celebrate this day,” I snorted. “Go now. I’ll close the pub.”

The Scot sighted heavily but finally gave in, putting his jacket on.

“Say ‘hi’ to aunt Carol from me,” I snickered and he smiled to himself.

And he left me alone at the pub. The place was so oddly quiet without all those people. Nevertheless, I decided to get to work and clean a bit before closing. To put it simply I was going to spend this night alone. No boyfriends, no friends. Only me and Roy. Sophie went on a date with Edward and she didn’t know what Kenway had prepared for her so she was really excited. I was happy for them. Evie and Killian went to a posh restaurant in which the fact that you booked a table was considered a miracle. But my brother did his best. Max finally asked Molly to go out with him and I hoped that they would eventually become a couple. Of course, Jacob planned to meet with Pearl and honestly that broke my heart. I hoped that my attraction towards Jake would fade but I just fooled myself. I knew that I was stupid because I didn’t take the chance when he was interested but on the other hand... his interest passed. I didn’t blame him. Even I wouldn’t choose myself. It was natural that he decided to pursue other relationships and eventually ended with Pearl. Maybe if I liked her a bit I wouldn’t look at this form such perspective. Unfortunately, I didn’t like her and I wasn’t going to like her. It was such a shame that Alec wasn’t in London, I would call him and we would watch Back to the Future and it would be great distraction.

Again, I focused at my task and I lost time sense. Suddenly I heard tapping on the window and I thought it started to rain, but then I realised that someone was standing at the door. When I approached it I noticed that the said person was Jacob, and he didn’t look good. From the distance I could tell that something had happened. I opened the door and let him in.

“Jacob?” I looked at him carefully. “What are you doing here?”

“I noticed the light,” he explained, and I spotted that his voice was a bit uneven.

He was drunk.

“You should sit,” I took his hand and guided him to the nearest chair.

“Why are you here alone?” he asked a bit confused.

“The pub is closed,” I clarified, making sure that he was fine and didn’t get himself into any brawl.

So far so good.

“But you are here,” he observed.

“I’m cleaning,” I shrugged.

He nodded to let me know that he understood.

“I’ll get you something to drink,” I decided and went to the bar.

I poured some water into a glass and handed it to Jacob. I decided not to ask him about his evening. I knew that he would tell me when he was ready. He drank the water and made a face.

“This doesn’t contain alcohol,” he said with disappointment.

“That’s water,” I acknowledged.

“I need something stronger,” he muttered.

“I think you had enough,” I said calmly.

“Gwenny, please,” he groaned. “I had shitty night so please don’t make it worse and give me Scotch.”

I looked at him but didn’t move. He looked back at me and sighted.

“Will you give me Scotch if I ask you to walk me home later?” he spoke up.

“Sounds romantic,” I snorted but nodded. ”Though it will take me a while to finish here.”

“I don’t mind,” he shrugged.

I got up and went to the bar to fetch him the drink. He followed and sat at the counter.

“This doesn’t make sense,” he mumbled to himself.

“What exactly?” I asked involuntarily.

“Me and Pearl,” he explained with blank look.

I didn’t comment.

“I wanted to spend the night at home,” he continued. “Alone, without anything extravagant. But she wanted to go to a posh party with her snotty friends who think that I’m a punk. I’m starting to believe that she thinks the same.”

“Don’t say that,” I broke in. “I’m sure she doesn’t think like that.

He stared at me for a while but I couldn’t tell what was going on in his head.

“Gwenny, what’s wrong with staying at home?” he asked.

“Absolutely nothing,” I shrugged. “But you know, girls expect to be surprised on Valentine’s day.”

“Girls,” he muttered to himself. “What would YOU expect?”

“Nothing, the idea of celebrating this one day is stupid,” I sighted. “People should celebrate their love every day.”

“Why all girls aren’t like you?” he smiled lightly. “Life would be easier.”

“Life would be boring,” I snorted. “Besides, you shouldn’t listen to me. I’m just a grumpy old man.”

Jacob laughed loudly. Very good, at least he wasn’t sad.

“Now, finish your juice,” I said smiling. “I’ll dust the shelves and we can go.”

I felt his eyes on me when I was bustling about. I knew that there was no undertone in it, he was just making sure that I was there, and that he wasn’t alone.

When we finished everything and closed the pub he spoke up.

“What’s wrong with me?” he asked with consideration.

“Nothing. You’re a normal man,” I replied.

“Apparently I’m not good enough for her,” Jacob muttered.

“She will get over it,” I tried to reassure him. “I’m sure that she likes you the way you are.”

“I think that she would change some things in me,” he sighted heavily when we were strolling down the streets.

“Jake, think about it,” I had to try different approach. “Why would she like to change you? You are funny, caring, sensitive, handsome, sweet, and resourceful in your crazy way. Not without reason you draw people in. You’re a great guy and a wonderful friend. She’s lucky!”

I knew I said too much but I was certain that he wouldn’t remember that. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that his smile grew with each word. I knew he needed that but I was surprised when his hand grasped my elbow gently so he could walk closer to me. Someone could say that we were a couple. I felt odd.

“Where are your keys?” I asked when we entered our street.

“I left them at Pearl’s,” he made a face.

“So how are you going to get to your flat?” I raised my eyebrow. “Max won’t be here soon.”

“I’ll stay with you,” he shrugged and looked at me hesitantly. “I mean... may I?”

Well, I planned to spend all night on drowning in self-pity and watching sci-fi films. That definitely didn’t sound fun.

“All right,” I agreed and we went to my flat.

Jacob’s mood clearly improved when he was greeted by Roy who was wagging his tail happily.

“Are you hungry?” I asked when I put my coat on a hanger.

He just shrugged.

“I’ll make sandwiches,” I said.

“I’ll help you,” he offered.

“You could go for a walk with Roy while I prepare supper,” I suggested.

“Fine,” Jacob grinned, and called Roy out and off they went.

I made sandwiches and tried not to think of what happened. They just had an argument. That’s normal. He was sad, and he was my friend so I should cheer him up. My feelings weren’t important. Now, I should make sure that he wouldn’t do anything stupid. I could do that.

After ten minutes, Jacob and Roy came back safely. My dog ran to the living room and lied down next to the radiator. Jacob came into the kitchen.

“What’s the plan?” he asked.

“Well, that depends,” I said. “We can eat and go to sleep.”

“What a bore,” he rolled his eyes and I giggled.

“Or we can watch Monty Python,” I shrugged.

“That sounds better, love,” he smiled and we went to the living room with our snacks.

We watched films for hours and after some time I became sleepy. I tried to stay awake but I was too tired after such exhausting day. I snuggled myself in the corner of the couch. Hazily I registered that Jacob hugged me, probably thinking that I was asleep.

“Happy Valentine’s day, Gwenny,” he whispered and gave me a peck on my forehead.