#emmett always shows up at the exact right moment

[feroshgirlsims]

Chapter 9.7 - 50 Shades of Enchantment

MIKO

Miko valiantly holds it together while she cleans off her face and tries to salvage her ruined clothes.

What if they deducted the cost of that woman’s outfit from Miko’s paycheck?

Damn it, what if they fired her?

She strips her blouse off, realizing it's destroyed, and embarrassingly, starts to cry.

Pull yourself together. Those are sim thoughts, the voice reminds her.

I am a sim, Miko thinks back. 

You’re not. And if you keep moving through the world like you are, it is going to cost you.

Shaking, Miko leaves the bathroom and grabs a seat on a bench outside, hoping the fresh air will help her feel less hopeless.

“Hey,” Emmett calls out as he walks up to the store, “I come bearing gifts of sustenance. How’s your…” He trails off, finally taking notice of her clothes and facial expression. 

“This shit permanently stains, in case you’re wondering,” Miko replies in greeting. 

“Tough day?” Emmett takes a seat next to her and sets the delivery bag down at her feet. 

“I screwed up. Immediately.” Miko explains what happened with Miriam and the potion. “I’m sorry you vouched for me, and I fucked it up.”

Emmett seems unconcerned. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“Only my pride,” Miko replies wryly. “And my $5 simoleon blouse. But I guess that’s what I get for acting like a sim.”

As soon as the words are out of her mouth, Miko stills. “Um, that was weird. I don’t know why I said that.” She laughs nervously, fighting the urge to explain that she doesn’t even know what “acting like a sim” means except that a voice in her head keeps yelling at her about it.

“I should go,” she gets to her feet. “Thanks for lunch. It might be my first and last one at this job.”

Emmett chuckles. “I think you’ll figure it out. For what it’s worth, I don’t think what you said is weird. And there’s nothing wrong with trusting your intuition.”

“Is that what we’re calling the rude voice inside my head?” Miko jokes.

“We all have that. Some are ruder than others. I’m sure they mean well, though.”

It’s the combination of his half-crooked smile and his ability to joke about something that actually plagues her that has Miko pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“Call me when your shift is over,” he says. “I don’t live too far from here. I’ll drive you back to campus.”

After downing her lunch and cleaning her face up, Miko heads back inside to find Gemma counting out cash at the register. 

“What happened back there?” she demands. “Elixirs and Brews prides itself on its service and products.”

Remind her about Miriam’s election plans, the voice hisses.

Miko has every intention of giving Gemma a whole different explanation, but then she thinks about Emmett’s advice. Her intuition is rude, but has it ever been wrong? 

No, I haven’t.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at herself, Miko squares her shoulders. “Miriam kept talking about the big party she was planning for the election season once they finished the addition.”

“And you were so distracted that you ruined a basic recipe that we all learn in high school?” Gemma narrows her eyes. “She’ll have bad luck for weeks after that blowback.”

Before the voice in her head can say anything, Miko warms to her strategy and gives Gemma an exaggerated wink. “Guess that’s gonna put a damper on her influence. Maybe even take her out of the running.”

Gemma lets out a surprised laugh. “I knew I liked you! I tell you what, in thanks for your service today, why don’t you head home early?”

Miko doesn’t need to be told that twice. She grabs her stuff and texts Emmett. When he pulls up, she climbs into the car.

“Your day improved?” he asks.

“Hell yes,” she shoots him a sideways look. “So, what do you know about the Charm Family?”

“A lot. The Charms and Pollocks go way back, all the way to Britechester’s Class of 1895.” He looks pleased. “What made you ask that question?”

Miko shrugs. “Just following my intuition.”

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(Part 7 of 8)

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[captain-yeet]

The Worst Timing (Felix x Fem!Reader)

Summary: Keeping things to yourself is hard when your father reads minds. How do you successfully keep the secret that you're in a relationship with your family's sworn enemy?

Word count: 1.9k 

Warnings: NSFW; local man goes down under + edging, swearing, second-hand embarrassment

Author’s Note: Spicy times getting interrupted, I’m a sucker for that. Might make this a two-parter if people like it 🥺👉👈

Privacy in the Cullen household wasn’t always a given, especially with having a mind reader for a father.

Being the adopted member of Edward and Bella Cullen's strange family, you grew up knowing off the bat that your new family were vampires - gifted vampires at that - from very early on. Now that you were a legal adult and out of school, your parents and family were worried about a certain Italian governing force of vampires paying them a visit in regards to your mortality.

They didn't know however, even with your aunt's foresight, that they already knew that you were of the age to be turned. Aro had left that up to fate's hands.

Well, fate's hands being his trusted executioner, who's hands were very much occupied right now with gripping onto whatever part of you he could as the two of you kissed each other with the passion of a thousand burning suns.

"What-what if someone walks in on us?" You half asked half whined into your boyfriend's mouth.

Felix simply laughed, quietly, moving his lips from yours to your cheek. "I have very good hearing, sweetheart, if anyone's approaching the house I'll know."

Luck smiled upon you when you were born. While you didn't share the same blood of Bella, you happened to have a gift that was very similar to hers - the gift of being able to block specific thoughts and memories from someone's mind. You found out while talking with your adopted sister Renesmee one day, she tried to show you something you'd rather not know about with her gift, and your mind and body shied away from it. So much so, her projected memories couldn't get into your head.

Which led you to the helpful discovery that not only could you block Renesmee from from projecting thoughts into your mind at-will, but you could do the same with your dear old dad about your very secret Volturi boyfriend.

You'd been very sneaky, both you and Felix, at working around your family's multiple gifts to stay hidden. Today, your parents and sister were out, leaving you to your own devices. Originally you planned on sneaking Felix into your room but the two of you only made it as far as the living room.

Felix took your chin in his hand and made you look him in the eye; his own were almost pitch black from how dilated his pupils were, the ring of blood red that you'd grown so accustomed to barely visible. "Now relax, mi amore. I've got you."

His words made you feel secure.

With one arm hooked around your waist and the free one reaching down to work on what you assumed was the buckle of his belt, he turned the two of you around, leading you forward towards him. Kissing you again, you heard his pants hit the floor as Felix fell back towards onto the couch behind him, bringing you down on top of him.

You adjusted yourself so you were straddling him, your thighs on either side of his hips. Shifting your weight a little to each side, a jolt of arousal struck you as he grabbed hold of your hips and thrusted upward, his own arousal plainly obvious.

 “These,” Felix growled, reaching up for your shirt, “need to go. Now.”

 “Take them off yourself.”

To drive your sassy retort home further, you grinded against him, keeping eye contact. It gave you pleasure to watch him lose his focus, his eyes rolling to the back of his head mouth half open.

If anything, the fact that you, you, could drive a vampire wild was only turning you on further, your ego growing bigger by the second.

You didn’t have long to enjoy your smug pride at giving Felix pleasure however as you felt one of his hands move to your leg and the other staying firmly at your hip; then in the blink of an eye, you were on your back and the sound of cloth being torn caught your attention.

 You pouted up at Felix, who tossed the remnants of your now ripped shirt to the side. “I liked that shirt, y’kno- hey!”

Ignoring you, Felix easily tore off everything you were wearing waist down with terrifying ease. Throwing more torn material aside, his eyes travelled up and down your exposed body with growing lust... and a smugness of his own.

Not letting up on the fact he just ripped your clothes, you tried to glare up at him. “I liked those too.”

Felix chuckled darkly. “I’ll buy you new ones.”

 “Even that exact shirt?” you pressed, raising your eyebrows. This man brought out a bratty side to you that you didn’t know existed, and deep down you both secretly liked it.

Felix, even though he'd ever admit it, loved how bratty you got sometimes.

He rolled his eyes, moving off the couch to pull you to the other end of it. “I have money, now relax my dear Y/N.”

Cocky bastard, you thought to yourself.

Completely at his mercy, your boyfriend - or rather, your mate - admired you with nothing but pure adoration in his eyes. "You have no clue just how absolutely breathtaking you are to me," he said softly, slowly getting on his knees. Felix kept eye contact with you, which felt a little intimidating but also it aroused you.

Before you could open your mouth to respond you gasped as a pair of cold lips brushed against your inner thigh, placing loving kisses trailing up further and further, closer to where you needed it most.

"Felix," you whimpered, wiggling to try and get any friction where you needed it.

"I know, baby," he assured you, "let me make you feel good."

And finally, you felt his tongue make contact with your sensitive core. The moan that left your lips was as sinful as it was needy, leaving you a whimpering mess on the couch.

Felix was an attentive lover, making good use of his mouth and fingers to bring you closer to climax. You could do nothing more than buck against his tongue as he fucked you with it.

"Felix I'm - I'm gonna -"

To your dismay, he pulled out as you began to pull him in closer. His mouth covered in your own wetness, he flashed a grin at you as he rose from his crouched position. "Not yet. I want you to come when I want you to."

You sighed impatiently, feeling like you needed to cry in frustration. So, you bit your lip, trying to contain yourself.

Taking pause, Felix was suddenly at your side, scooping you up into his arms and carrying you. "If you need me to slow down, I can," he offered, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead. “If I’m being too much...”

"You're fine," you assured him with a weak smile, "I'm just... I am, well..." you broke eye contact and stared blankly at his chest as you mumbled the next few words to leave your mouth. "I just really need to come."

He deftly opened the door to your room, chuckling at your words. "You will, I'll make sure of it, cara mia."

"You sound so sure of that," you teased as Felix lay you back onto a bed - your bed. He'd carried you into your room.

"Tease," he growled.

"And you're an incubus."

That made him snort. Felix closed his eyes, shaking his head briefly. "Only for you."

Stepping back, Felix rid himself of the shirt and boxers he wore.

Now, looking at him, you assumed he'd be big. 6'7 and built like a heavyweight champion, physically he was intimidating. Bigger than average. And boy were you correct in that assumption.

Felix wasted no time in lining himself up with your cunt; being completely soaked from what he did to you on the couch, it made it a little easier for you to take him.

Pants and moans filled the room, neither of you holding back with the sounds you were making. For you this was bliss; you couldn't imagine anything better than Felix, nothing would ever compare.

It didn't take long for you to build your climax up again. Felix could tell by how much more ragged your breathing had become.

"That's it sweetheart," he praised you, feeling his own release build up as he watched you come undone beneath him, "come for me. I want you to come for me, baby."

His words coaxed your impending orgasm along, and you wordless cried out, grabbing his shoulders and digging your nails in as you rode it out.

The sensation of your nails digging into his back brought along his own orgasm, a feral snarl ripping through his throat. You heard something snap just behind your head as Felix's thrusts slowed down.

The two of you stayed like that for a moment, the only sound in the room being your erratic heartbeat and breathing.

The post-sex bliss was that; blissful. Being in his arms, you felt like you were home.

Until the bliss was brought to an end.

"Y/N?" An urgent voice called out from somewhere in the house.

Your dad.

So much for Felix’s super hearing.

Locking eyes with Felix with nothing other than the shared expression of "oh shit," he deftly rolled off you, his boxers back on in a flash as you darted up from your bed to lock your bedroom door.

"Y/N Cullen answer me!" Edward's sharp voice boomed from the hallway, coming closer.

"You smell that scent too right, dude?" A second voice called out.

Uncle Emmett.

You looked back to Felix, who now at least had some of his clothes on. He gave you an apologetic look, throwing you the nearest article of clothing near him; a long shirt dress.

You quickly padded over to him and he cupped your face, stroking your cheek reassuringly with his thumb as your door began to rattle. "Go," you whispered, pointing toward your bedroom window.

"You better put that on," he replied, eyeing the door warily.

You fumbled with the dress, shoving your arms through it and quickly pulling it down over you.

Luckily for your chastity, the moment you were decent, your door came barreling down, hitting the floor with a loud thud as your father and uncle burst into your room. Their eyes widened when they saw who you were with.

"Oh shit," Emmett shouted, eyes wide looking between you and Felix.

"You motherfucker," Edward snarled in a deadly quiet tone of voice, his eyes locked solely on Felix.

You turned back to Felix, who was as tense as a spring. "Go, now!"

"I love you Y/N," he said urgently, his gaze flickering to the window.

"I know," you replied hastily. You had to buy him time, a window to escape out your actual window. You vaguely acknowledged the sound of your uncle shouting "What!?" at Felix's words.

So, you grabbed a nearby chair and launched it at the two of them.

Edward caught the chair easily, tossing it gently to the side to turn the full intensity of his glare onto you. "You, young lady, have some explaining to do. What was that... that monster doing in our home?"

You turned around, and saw the window wide open, Felix nowhere to be seen. You hoped he'd run far enough to where he could avoid your family's wrath.

Despite the clear trouble you were in, you couldn't help but giggle at the tonight of him running half dressed through the woods.

[headinthestaticsky]

The Phenomenon of the Immortal Sun: Jasper Hale x Fleur Swan, Chapter 6

None of the characters in Twilight belong to me, all rights go to Stephenie Meyer!

Authors note: I have no idea if I used these song lyrics in a previous chapter in Eclipse... I have a garbage memory.

"Stars did fall. Thunder rolled. Bugs crawled back, In their holes. The couple screamed, but it was far too late. Her jealous heart did retaliate."

Ten Cent Pistol by, The Black Keys.

Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie looked like they wanted to kill someone. Alice, Dean, Esme, and Bree all looked confused and hurt.

Rosalie inhaled deeply.

"We need to do something about those two..." Rosalie said.

"They're way out of line... Edward especially... human or not I would kill anyone who comes near Fleur." Jasper added, fury was still in his voice.

"What can you guys do he's your brother. Besides after Bella turns they were going to go live in that cabin you guys renovated for them."

"We'll need to do something, you don't need any of this right now... I'm disappointed in him." Esme said sadly.

Before I could say anything else I could hear Bella scream.

"She must've just gotten bitten." I murmured.

"Hey you're probably thirsty, your eyes are starting to turn black, let me get you something," Esme suggested.

"That'd be great thanks... Jazz, could you hand me my phone?"

"Sure, what for darlin?" Jasper said sitting next to me.

"I need to call Sam and Leah... they need to know about this too. If we keep it from them, they could consider it a threat."

Carlisle's office door swung open, Edward ran toward the front door and slammed it. Carlisle came out with an annoyed look on his face.

"He's going to be the second death of me I swear he is."

"Well Seth already knows, maybe he told Leah." Bree suggested.

"Maybe he did but it won't hurt to check." I replied. I dialed Leah's number first thinking she might be a little more understanding.

"Fleur?" I heard her ask on the other line.

"Hey, Leah... has Seth told you anything lately?" My voice trembled slightly. I heard Leah sigh before letting out a laugh.

"Yeah, Seth told me you were pregnant calm down." I heard her reply.

"Oh, so Sam knows too?"

"Yeah but he's a bit skeptical... you know how he is." Leah mumbled.

"Yeah... but what about Bella... he does know that today is her changing day, the transformation is already happening."

"The last thing he told Seth about her is that she's not our concern anymore... it's her choice to change, we can't stop it." Leah explained.

"Listen I gotta go, I'll see you soon."

"See you later." She hung up a few seconds later. I rested my head on Jasper's should and sighed in relief.

"Here Fleur, maybe this we'll make you feel a bit better," Esme said, handing me a glass.

I grasped the cup and chugged it, it was gone a few seconds later. I didn't feel much better.

"Your eyes are still black...each bag should have the exact amount of blood you need for the next few days... How about you have some more?

I gulped down another bag, it still wasn't enough.

"This isn't good." Carlisle explained, he looked puzzled.

"Ehh...why isn't that good?" I inquired

"Well, if you can never be satisfied with the amount of blood your drinking you will eventually begin to starve. You will lose your strength, and could possibly have moments of insanity." Carlisle explained.

"I can handle this... it'll be worth it for him. Besides like you said before it most likely won't be a full 9 months."

"We'll all be by your side darlin." Jasper reassured, kissing my cheek.

"I'll monitor you whenever I can, it seems they're already growing quickly." Carlisle said, gesturing down to my bump.

Over the next few weeks, my baby grew more and more, but I was beginning to get weaker. No matter how much blood I drank, nothing seemed to sedate me. The rest of the Cullens were on edge with Edward and Bella, and since Bella was finally a vampire, they couldn't trust them at all. They weren't around much but when they were Rosalie and Jasper seemingly stood guard for me. I was zoned out, laying in an armchair since I was beginning to get sick of sitting on the same couch when Esme interrupted my concentration.

"Fleur, Leah and Seth are here." She called out.

I sat up and smiled, gesturing for her to bring them in. Leah and Seth walked in carrying some wrapped boxes with them.

Esme walked in with them before giving a quick goodbye as she wanted to help Carlisle and Rosalie with collecting food for me.

"You two did not have to get me anything." I said.

"Look aunt Leah has to get my nephew something." She said a smile was on her face.

I opened the box, a stuffed wolf plushie was inside, a dreamcatcher was underneath the plushie.

"These gifts are great thank you!"

"No problem, I thought they would be nice."

"You are the only one who thinks it's a boy, everyone else thinks it's a girl."

"I trust your instincts." Leah shrugged before pulling up a chair and sitting next to me.

"So how are you Fleur?" Seth asked, he shuffled around in his place, his eyes were scanning for someone else.

"It's getting rougher now since he's growing so big but, I know it'll all be worth it in the end."

"Your eyes look really dark, aren't they suppose to be red?" Leah inquired.

"We're beginning to think he's half-vampire half-human, he has a heartbeat it's just slightly faster than usual humans. He's definitely drinking the blood I get."

"I heard what happens to vampires when they don't feed...it gets rough." Leah said rubbing my back comfortingly.

"I have my moments but, they haven't been too bad."

"Where's the rest of the Cullens?" Seth inquired.

"Hunting, Edward, and Bella don't show up much... they don't want me to have my baby. But the rest of the Cullen's are really supportive and Jasper is ecstatic about it." I rubbed my bump unconsciously.

"But how do you eat?" Leah asked, her eyebrows were furrowed.

"Carlisle and Rose get these bags of animal blood for me." I saw Leah sigh and Lean back against her seat.

"These vampires aren't so bad after all...I'm glad Seth found Bree... she seems nice." Leah smiled.

"Oh she really is, she didn't know what she was doing when she was turned... I'm glad we're able to help her."

"So... when do you think you'll give birth?"

"Carlisle said I could give birth in a week or two... It's nerve-wracking, it's so unpredictable."

"Hey, you'll be fine... I'll stay here for a bit if you need." Leah offered.

"That would be nice but, I don't want to put you through any trouble."

"It wouldn't be any trouble besides If Edward or Bella tries something... they're going to have to deal with me too."

I laughed but before I could say anything I could sense Edward and Bella coming in, but the others were still farther away.

"Great... now we got werewolves constantly coming in." Bella complained.

Seth and Leah looked up shocked.

"Bella... did you forget you were in a toxic, manipulative love triangle for a solid year with a werewolf... for a solid fucking year." I snapped back.

"Jacob doesn't talk to me anymore!" Bella roared.

"Good for him, he needs to move on." I said, Leah nodded in agreement.

"You always have to stick your opinion in don't you?" Bella said.

"Uhh... you walked in for 5 seconds are were already trying to start shit with me." I snapped, the rage in my body burned.

"Hey, don't you snap at my wife." Edward snarled, he started walking up to me slowly.

"Back off Edward." Leah warned, she seemed to feel how pissed off I was.

"Can it mutt."

"Edward... I've been starving for almost a month... don't try me."

"What can you do? You're frail, weak, impaired." Edward pushed, walking up in front of me.

"What in the fuck are you two still doing here? I mean... honestly, you both got what you wanted, Edward you got a mate, and Bella, you became immortal. If you can't stand the decisions we're all making then why don't you just leave?"

"Because we're protected, we're the feared Olympic coven... Who wouldn't want to stay here." Edward explained, he rolled his eyes as if it were obvious.

"Oh I see... you're using them, you're too unskilled to protect yourselves so why wouldn't you want to let everyone else do the work?" I said in fake shock, Leah and Seth began to chuckle.

"I'm not unskilled enough to protect myself from you." Bella smirked, joining Edward in front of me.

"...You two fucking try something I dare you because the way I've been feeling all month I fucking dare someone to mess with me. I growled standing up on my own, it was strange... it was like a new strength filled my body.

Leah came up in front of me and put an arm between us three.

"Just drop it you three... this isn't going to end well." Leah warned.

Edward smirked and then grabbed me, I quickly flipped him around and as I warned before kicked him through the glass wall.

I heard shuffling and turned around to see Leah holding Bella down with Seth helping her out. I turned back around to the window, I saw Edward lying on the ground with Dean, Alice, Esme, and Emmett looking up at me in shock. I saw Carlisle approach Edward, a deadly look was on his face.

"Damn short stack!" I heard three sets of feet running inside Jasper, Rosalie, and Bree came into the lounge room. Bree went to go help Seth and Leah with Bella.

"Darlin are you okay?" Jasper called toward me worryingly. I couldn't say anything however as that newfound strength had dissipated, and I clutched my head. Rosalie and Jasper rushed to me.

"That's it I can't stand those two anymore they have to get out of here!" Rosalie exclaimed, Jasper just nodded in agreement.

When I was sat back down in the armchair I decided to explain what happened. The rest of the Cullens came back in, Edward couldn't look me in the eyes now.

"So sweety, what happened?" Esme inquired.

"I was just sitting with Leah and Seth when Bella started complaining that Leah and Seth were here."

Bella tried to say something but Rosalie gave her a glare.

"I snapped at her I'll admit but... then Edward started coming up to me threateningly... but he then he said that he was just living with you guys because he was being protected... and long story short Edward grabbed me and I kicked him through the glass wall." I finished. I had never seen Carlisle or Esme so mad before.

"Is that true?" Carlisle inquired.

"But..."

"HE SAID IS IT TRUE!" Esme interrupted.

Edward bit down a growl before answering.

"Yes."

"You two can't come around here anymore...nor do you two belong to this coven." Carlisle demanded.

Bella gasped.

"What a second we can work something out..." She started.

"Look I'm not going to spend decades of you three fighting all the time... and personally, I'm personal want to keep the one I like." Rosalie sniped.

"Leave at once," Carlisle said.

Edward and Bella stormed out of the house and ran off. A thick silence overtook the air.

"Uh...sorry about the wall." Jasper shushed me before pulling me in for a kiss.

"You two okay?" He asked, rubbing my stomach.

"Oh yeah he's having a blast...you should've felt him, he was kicking up a storm. He's a fighter I can tell." I said smiling. Jasper curled up to me and rested his head on mine. I saw the Cullens as well as Leah and Seth glance at each other, leaving the room.

"You know, I can feel what emotions they feel," Jasper stated.

"Really? How is he feeling now?"

"They loves the sound of your voice, I can tell. They get so happy when they hear it."

I smiled fondly on my bump before rubbing it softly.

"I'm glad you love it, we both love you that's for sure..."

[notquitecanon]

The moment before eternity // Carlisle Cullen x reader

Tw: car wreck, blood, death

Carlisle thought he understood the urgency, distress, and heartbreak of human accident. He seen them a thousand times, in a thousand different ways. Seen hundreds of thousands of humans at their most vulnerable and broken moments. He’d placed his cool hands against Edward’s feverish forehead when he was bedridden, and promised Mrs. Masen that he would take care of her boy. Carlisle had changed Esme at the very last second, her body battered and bruised, helped her find her way as a new born until she found the love of her life in another Coven. He’d found Rosalie in the streets, and dealt the same fate to Emmett when she’d brought him on the brink of death- her voice pleading to save his second son. He was no stranger to medical crisis, but nothing prepared him for when it was you. Nothing prepared him for Alice’s gasp resonating through the quiet house, she already knew he wouldn’t be there in time. Nothing prepared him to see your car smoking, crushed against an unyielding elm tree- drivers seat empty. Nothing prepared him for your blood painting the road, your labored breathing, or the way your body- the body of his soulmate that he’d waited three hundred odd years for- crumpled up almost a yard from the wreck, barely conscious.   “(Y/N)…” He breathed. Carlisle was kneeling beside you in an instant, trained eyes raking over the extensive damage, his cool hands instinctively brushing broken glass out of your hair. His touch brought you out of your reverie, distant, glassy eyes searching for him but not being able to focus once you found him. “Carlisle.” You breathed, wincing as you tried to reach for him, he met you more than halfway, trying to keep you as still as possible. “I’m here, my love.” He assured you, pressing his lips to you knuckles, with the blood loss your hand was almost as cold as his. That broke his heart. “I- I thought I was going to be alone.” Your voice was barely above a whisper, your hand weakly squeezing his, hoping he could feel all the love in the feeble gesture. His smile was soft and gentle, it always was, as he shushed you. “Never.” He promised, keeping his voice calm and promising, his other and running over your body and mentally tallying the injuries and then running the probability of keeping you human. The probability was low, incredibly low. Your eyelids were fluttering now, fighting to stay awake. Carlisle was reminded of the nights where you’d fight your exhaustion to keep talking to him, he’d laugh, promising he’d be there when you woke up, that you had all the time in the world to hear his stories. And then the mornings, when your eyelashes would bat against the hazy morning sun fighting to stay asleep, he would patiently wait as you slowly woke up, gently tucking pieces of hair behind your ear and you’d subconsciously lean into his touch, into his presence. Then, he would love to watch the subtle movement, now he was begging you to keep your eyes open. He didn’t need Jasper’s gift to feel your fear- or  his fear of losing you. But he wouldn’t turn you unless he was sure that’s what you wanted- he cursed himself for never seriously broaching the topic with you, he’d just assumed he’d have more time. As much as your body would allow, you were curling into him, clutching his hand as hard as you could. A few stray tears glinted on your cheeks, the glittering droplets taking Carlisle’s broken heart and pulverizing pieces. “Please don’t cry.” The doctor cooed, wiping a singular drop away. He wondering if crying would ease the feeling of heartbreak and fear he felt if only he were able. Even though it been 366 years since he was able, he still felt that pressure behind his eyes.  Your eyes finally focussed on him, and in them he found worry, but clearly not for yourself. All he could see in your eyes was love and worry for him, and as he had been since he met you, he wondered what he did to deserve all the love you had for him. How could you possibly find the strength to worry about him when you struggling to keep your head upright so you could speak your mind? Carlisle immediately went to support you, careful not to jostle, gently holding you to his chest as if you weighed nothing. If he couldn’t help you, the least he could do was listen to what you had to say. “Carlisle, I don’t want to die.” You cried, a shaky hand resting against his chest as you balled his shirt into your fist. Carlisle understood, it was only human to not want to die, he had a hundred well rehearsed comforts on his tongue. But then you said something, something that showed Carlisle you were ready, showed him what you wanted, something that sewed his broken heart back together even in a time like this because you were thinking the exact same thing as him, “I don’t want to go, I have so much love left to give you.” There was such a clarity in your words, such profound love that Carlisle knew you understood what was going on, nevertheless he needed to be sure before he condemned you to a life like his. He took both your hands in his, golden eyes watching your eyes grow dimmer by the moment, “(Y/N), this life is forever, are you sure?” For a moment, even shrouded in pain, you lips pulled into a smile, that same smile that reminded him of when the sun would warm his skin, for a moment you weren’t dying in his arms and Carlisle could almost ignore the strain in your voice, you’d never sounded more sure, “Of you? Always.” The vampire felt a stab of hope, he’d truly have forever with you- he’d help you through your thirst, do his best to keep you from doing something you’d regret, comfort you if you ever slipped, and he’d love you every moment of eternity. Carlisle took one last look into your human eyes, committing his favorite color to memory right next to the last feeling of your human softness and warmth… with one last whispered ‘I love you’ his teeth sank into your wrist. 

____

i legit hate how this turned out but Carlisle needs more love

[twilitty]

Waiting- twilight fic

“Waiting”

by: @twilitty​

Rosalie and Emmett are babysitting Nessie for Edward. The rest of the Cullens are predisposed and seem to have branched off into their own lives. Rose and Emmett were given one-way plane tickets from Alice and told to meet her in South America. 

word count: 1.6k

Part 1/?

WAITING

Edward is late, again. Rosalie is standing in the foyer of the Cullens main home, the windows tinted with the dark guise of twilight and eerily dry. It seems to be the one day of the year it hasn’t rained. She’s dressed in an outfit curated by her fashion-oriented sister. All designer, of course. Yet, her jeans have creases around the knees and upper thighs, her sweater sleeves rolled up past her elbows in a way that would make her sister cringe. Her hair had started out in a casual ponytail but is now laying around her shoulders in frizzy waves. It’s the carefree disarray of a new moms wardrobe.

Then, like the angel of messes, Nessie sits in her arms snoring lightly. Her cheek, soft and warm, is against Rose’s collarbone and has been for the last twenty minutes. Rose had happily agreed to watch Nessie while her father went off to feed. Bella was at a business meeting in Port Angeles, a monthly occurrence that the family seemed to consciously not discuss. Edward was supposed to be back forty minutes ago, which was coincidentally also the exact time that the little angel was throwing a tantrum and pulling Roses hair. 

But, Rosalie doesn’t mind watching her. She enjoys the thick teardrops that roll down her puffy cheeks when she gets mad and the melted ice cream that coats the front of Nessie’s shirt after a snack. And as soon as she starts to get fussy it seems that Rose is the only one who can truly calm her down. It’s strange, being so involved in this child when she barely has any rights to her. 

Emmett is upstairs, packing the last of their suitcases and making sure the room is in order. This is why Rosalie is frustrated with Edwards' lateness, he was going to make them miss their flight. It also just happened to be her luck that the rest of the family is happily distracted when she needs them. 

Alice and Jasper had left days ago for somewhere in South America, Alice claiming that she just had to be there and not giving a date for return. She had, instead, also bought Rose and Emmett a one way ticket to a small airport an hour outside of Brazil. The travelling was not uncommon of the couple, Alice moving as she pleases and Jasper following without question. Maybe it was his devotion to her, or maybe it was the uncomfortable silence that always followed him throughout the house. In a group of vampires it’s difficult to find a point of discussion that isn’t based in the past, and the family is not one to tolerate Jasper's discussion of the past. 

That leaves two people left to watch Nessie as Rose and Emmett catch their flight: Esme and Carlisle. Carlisle picked up a job in Seattle, working overnight at a care clinic for the elderly. He never said it, but Rose just knew that it was because he had similar interests to the seniors he cared for. She had overheard him telling Esme one night that he almost wishes he aged into his forties so that he could hold a conversation and base it on his experience, not say his grandfather told him stories. Esme was with Carlisle in Seattle, she funded a series of group homes for at-risk youth and occasionally would go and meet with the kids. If only she was here to watch her grandchild. 

“Rose,” it was Emmett at the top of the stairs. He was whispering, thankfully. He had probably heard Nessie snoring and knew not to wake her. He saw her temper tantrum the last time someone woke her up from a nap and was not looking to face it any time soon. “I have the things packed.” Rose looked over her shoulder at the staircase just in time to see him appear at the bottom, two suitcases at his feet and a neck pillow cradling his head. 

All it took was a raise of her eyebrows for him to fall into a defensive position. Palms facing her, he approached quietly. “I wanna look the part,” he explained. 

“Your neck doesn’t cramp,” she retorted with a smirk. She wouldn’t be able to talk him out of the dumb pillow, the same way she wasn’t able to talk him out of sunscreen the last time they went to Bora Bora. 

“But tourists' necks cramp, why else would they sell these things?” He went up to the main door, opening it and looking outside. “It’s not like the pillow industry is trying to scam vampires.” Rosalie doesn’t have to ask him what he’s looking for, the tenseness in his shoulders tells her enough. He doesn't want to miss their plane and wants Edward to get here already. Out of all the Cullens, Emmett is the most frugal. He hates wasting money. 

He closes the door softly and turns to his wife and their niece, taking off the dumb pillow and tossing it onto the suitcases. A smile cracks open across his face. “Can I?” She nods and his knuckles brush against her chest as he gingerly brings the toddler up to cradle her. His large arms seem brutal next to Nessie, her tiny frame nearly disappears as he hugs her to his chest. Her head lolls onto his shoulder, snores breaking for a moment as she sighs in content. His eyes dance in the light, looking down at her as she sleeps peacefully in his arms. 

Rosalie has always loved Emmett, but the first time she saw him holding their niece, the way he carefully smiled with his mouth closed and crouched to seem smaller, that was when she knew they would have a family. Emmett was initially afraid of scaring the baby, afraid he would seem too big compared to the rest of the family. Like a giant. He would talk quietly around her, always making sure to hide his teeth when he smiled and sit on the floor when she played. 

A movement pulls Rose from her thoughts. So quickly that a human would have missed it, the door opens and closes, the child blinks awake at the noise. Edward stands beside Rosalie, his shoulders slouched forward and his mouth pulled up into a painful smile. “Rose,” he nods to her, “Emmett,” he nods to his brother. 

Emmett ducks down quickly towards the little girl, pressing his lips to the back of her head as she looks over at her father. “Nessie has a lot to show you,” he says with a laugh. His heart isn’t in it. Edward must read it in his mind and politely disregards it, because he strides up to his daughter and lifts her out of her uncle's arms. 

Nessie plants a hand on her fathers cheek, his smile widening as he watches a play by play of her afternoon. 

Regretting her earlier wishes of Edward coming home, Rosalie speaks to break the moment. “We’re leaving. We were supposed to have left forty minutes ago but somebody must have never developed an interest in punctuality.” She receives a glare from Edward, his jaw rolling forward in what must be residue annoyance from some other event. 

Emmett notices this, “Bella spoken to you?” 

“Yes.” He jostles his daughter, raising her so that she can play with his shirt collar. He doesn’t say anything else. 

“Well, Rose and I are heading out so we’ll see you later,” Emmett says jovially, waving a hand at his favourite- and only- niece. She waves back with vigor, a toothy smile spread across her dimpled cheeks. Her father only watches with mild disinterest, his thoughts clearly occupied by some other matter.

They grab their suitcases quickly, Rose planting a sweet kiss on the little girls cheek as they pass by towards the door. 

Against Emmetts pleading, they’re taking Rosalie's car. She had a difficult time understanding why taking his giant Jeep, suited for off-roading, would be ideal for travelling to the airport. 

“Are you okay?” She asks him, turning the key in the ignition and driving out of the garage into the night. He hadn’t said anything as he loaded the suitcases into the trunk, and when she turned on talk radio he didn’t complain or try to change the station. All abnormal.

“I’m gonna miss her,” he pauses, his adam's apple bobbing, “I hope she doesn’t change while we are gone.” 

“I know, me too.” Rosalie doesn’t try to alleviate his anxiety, she knows it would be a lie to tell him Nessie would look the same when they get back. She’ll probably be a little longer, her teeth larger, maybe she’ll have new interests. Every change they miss will hurt them both.

“But we’ve got to go.” His voice is hard, finality ringing through it as if he’s trying to convince himself.

“We’ve got to.” She agrees softly. 

They pull into a parking spot near the front entrance of the airport just in time to make their plane. Her phone rings after take off, the face of her sister smiling up at her from the screen. “Alice?”

“Rose, tell me you’re on your way.” The girl says hurriedly, excitement layering her words. 

“Emmett and I are on the plane now,” she responds. Emmett looks over at her curiously, neck pillow adorned. 

“Jasper and I have a lead.” She then goes to rattle off the details of their current location and where they will be tomorrow night. The phone hangs up. 

Emmetts face is reserved, but the corners of his lips are twitching with barely contained happiness. “A baby?” Rosalie’s pale hand comes up to cradle his cheek, her pink lips turning up at the corners. “Yes, a baby.”

[superspookywombat]

falling {j.h} chapter thirteen

Taglist:  @Sleepy-whore @geekysimmerthings @mauvette268 @treestarrrrrrrr @kaleigh404 @krazykatkay456 @meganlikesfandoms @darknacademia @hi-my-name-is-riley @vdtwsupernatural @selmeuuh @raindancer2004 @wondersandtempests @royale-trash-slytherin @im-hella-bright @bootylimpics @livfg @It-is-rebel-owl-ma-dudes @peacemusicinch @coffeeslut16 @bvbwestfall @Actuallyedythecullen @stan-joonies @Peacebuglove @Millie-753 @Frozenhuntress67 @i-tried21 @seaevans @femflorals @arseofrivia @trashysara @vulgarfuckinvirgo @sleepysnapesnake @hey-bulldogs @mental-breaker-74 @pansexual-and-eating-pancakes @duty-isnt-always-honour @jelly-fishy-babie @carnagefuck @clubpengiunn @wondersandtempests @100-percent-loving @fandomsandmore394 @pomiotszatana @cherrybuck @alohorcruxes @accioavengerss @left-in-the-woods @galaxypox @what-if-im-the-bad-guy @daughterofanarchy997 @camillapad @babieboth @thequeerishere555 @your-average-wallflower @anxiety-station @xo-sophiemae-xo @rachthestressedbandobsessed @amordesiempre01 @avalon68 @imaginebeinlovedbyme @vampiregirl1797 @scuzmunkie @maelleoute @popwhitlockanddrop @aliinova @mikariell95 @happyfunprincess @affection-rabbit @xcharlottemikaelsonx @lavenderandwoodsmoke @generalgoldfishldrm @it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream @whattheheckisevengoingon @the-wandering-pan-ace @cm1126 @awkwardnesshabitat @moonxxstxr @thefandomplace @tracickles

Warnings: sad animal death (i almost cried while writing it) (it’s a bobcat), slight makeout sesh, y/n is a brat, not proofread

A/n: thank you so much for being patient, i’ve been flooded with writers block and then school also started up again so i’ve had a buttload of homework. Here’s a slightly longer chapter than usual as a thanks for the wait :)

As Emmett speeds down the interstate with Rosalie riding shotgun, you sit in the back of the Jeep with Jasper. A warm breeze blows your hair around as you watch the scenery pass.

“Who are these people again?” You ask, trying to get all of the information before meeting these strangers. Jasper absentmindedly strokes your hand while looking out at the sunset’s horizon.

“The Denali Coven. Irina, Kate, and Tanya are sisters. Carmen and Eleazar are together. They’re vegetarians too, which is why Carlisle’s sendin’ us there. He thinks it’ll help you adjust.” Jasper says. You look over at Emmett and Rosalie holding hands on the center console.

“How old are the sisters?” You ask. Jasper pauses for a moment, thinking. Before he can respond, Emmett butts in. 

“Hella old.” He laughs, earning a pointed look from Rosalie.

“At least a thousand. Not sure Carlisle ever got an exact answer from ‘em.” Jasper says. You sigh, stale air exiting your lungs.

“That’s a long time to be alone.” You say quietly. You look over at Jasper, who catches your gaze. The sunset burst paints his skin like a stained glass window. 

“They weren’t alone.” He says. 

“You know what I mean.” You reply.

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

The moonlight illuminates the driveway as Emmett pulls in. A very large, very expensive looking cabin-y mansion sits nestled between two small mountains. The front door opens and your sharp sight tells you that there’s five people there, three blondes and two black-haired people. You grab your duffle bag by your feet and unload the truck with Jasper as Emmett and Rosalie go greet your hosts.

Walking over to the strangers, birds circle above you, exposing your anxiety. “Interesting.” The only man of the group says. “I’m Eleazar, this is my partner Carmen.” 

“Y/n.” You say holding out your hand to shake. He grasps it strongly, and you smile up at him as the birds start to dissipate. Carmen offers you a smile and a small wave. 

“I’m Kate.” The blonde with the straight hair walks towards you, enveloping you in her arms. Her smell invades your senses, but not in a bad way. Another girl next to her, a strawberry blonde, hugs you.

“I’ve heard such good things about you.” She pulls away, smiling and showing off her perfect, white teeth. “I’m Tanya. This is Irina.” 

A woman with curly blonde hair smiles at you, giving your body a once-over. You’d blush, if you could. Emmett walks over with what seems to be everyone’s luggage slung from his shoulders. 

“If you’re done with introductions, this guy needs some bear ASAP.” He says, a wide grin on his face. 

“I’m starting to think you only visit us for the bears.” Eleazar teases. Most everyone chuckles at that, except Emmett, who is obviously hungry. Emmett sets the bags down at his feet.

“Hey! I like the meese too.” He says, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment from the teasing. Rosalie sighs. 

“Meese?” You ask incredulously. Emmett looks at you like you’ve grown a third head.

“Uh, yeah. Never heard of a moose before? Come on, y/n.” He says, his eyes squinting. You look around at the group. Eleazar and Kate avoid eye contact, looking at the ground while fighting off a smile. Jasper looks away also, his hand rubbing the area above his lip to hide his. Rosalie raises an eyebrow and shifts her weight so that she’s looking at Emmett, her arms crossing over themselves. By now, Tanya, Irina, and Carmen have gone inside.

“You do know that the plural for moose is moose, right?” You ask, eyes wide. He looks at you for a second, not blinking for obvious reasons. 

“Ha ha. Real funny.” He says. When no one responds, avoiding eye contact and hiding their smiles, he spreads his arms. You flinch, forgetting for a second that you’re nearly indestructible. “Wait.. really?”

You look back at Emmett. “Yes?” 

Emmett looks around in disbelief. “When were you guys planning on telling me that! I’ve been sounding like an idiot this whole time?”

“I don’t think not sayin’ ‘meese’ would have changed that, Emmett.” Jasper says, his expression stoic except for the minuscule smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. 

“We were betting on how long you’d go without realizing.” Rosalie says, then turns her head to give you a glare. “But now that’s ruined.”

“Sorry.” You say halfheartedly. She sighs again, picking up her bag and walking towards the house. Emmett follows her, giving you a wink. 

“You must all be hungry.” Kate says. Jasper swallows, his adam's apple bobbing. His usually golden eyes are black, and you reach out to grab his arm lightly. He looks off into the distance. “I’ll let you guys get settled in first.”

As she walks off, you turn to look Jasper in the eyes. “Hey, you alright?” He gently shakes off your hand and reaches down for both of your duffels. 

He nods. “I’m fine. Let’s get inside.” He walks ahead leaving you to trail behind him like a lost puppy. In the dark, the temperature has dropped enough that if you were still human, you’d be shivering. But now, of course, it has no effect on you. 

As you follow Jasper through a large, wooden door, your jaw drops slightly as you take in your surroundings. The home is very open concept, you can only describe it as a minimalistic take on a modern rustic design. Jasper keeps walking, not at all phased by how impressive the interior is. You follow him past a very light and airy kitchen, and up some stairs that lead to an open landing that’s filled with floor to ceiling bookshelves and two heavy looking desks. You don’t have time to look any further, however, because he seems to have a one-track mind. He leads you into a guest room. It’s small (compared to the rest of the house), but the decor is light and minimalistic, leaving the room feeling not at all constricting. As you sit down on the bed, Eleazar greets you and leans against the door frame, Carmen standing behind him.

“I hope it’s okay that you two are sharing a bed.” He says, raising his eyebrows slightly. You glance at Jasper, who’s aggressively unpacking some of the items you brought along. As vampires don’t sleep, you obviously don’t need a bed. You guess that he’s cryptically asking about your relationship. Nonetheless, you respond.

You gasp, feigning shock. “Before marriage? How scandalous!” Eleazar looks alarmed, his eyes darting over to check Carmen’s reaction. He opens his mouth, most likely to backtrack and offer you another place to sleep, but you beat him to it. “I’m kidding. This is perfect.”

“Oh.” He says, a nervous laugh following soon after. He then leads Carmen away, closing the door behind him.

“I think I scared him off.” You say, sighing. Jasper is now standing, lightly shaking a box you brought to presumably check the contents. 

“Mhm.” He answers, disinterested. You look at him, examining the light frown on his face. 

“What’s your deal?” You ask, annoyed. His eyes flicker to you, alarmed, almost as if he’s surprised you called him out. He turns away from you, placing the box onto a dresser. You pull your legs criss-cross and lean forward, cocking an eyebrow at him. “Did I do something? I’m sorry.”

He glances at you before turning back around. “It’s not you,” He says, taking a pause. “It’s.. Irina.” 

“What about her?” You ask, wondering if there’s a point to this. “She seems friendly enough to me.”

“That’s the problem.” He says through a clenched jaw. As you watch his knuckles tighten on the corners of the dresser, it dawns on you.

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous..” You say with a breathy chuckle. He turns to look back at you, his eyes narrowed.

“It’s not funny.” He scolds, his southern accent poking through. Your eyes widen, then you double over in laughter. He watches you, perplexed. As you continue to laugh, he looks back at the wall in embarrassment. You calm yourself and walk over to him, wrapping your arms around his hard waist and placing your head between his shoulder blades. He tenses.

“Relax, Jazz. I like you. And even if I didn’t, I’m still stuck with you forever. Literally.” You reassure, also teasing him. His shoulders droop a little, and you press a kiss to his toned back. 

“That’s not funny.” He says, but you know he’s not serious. 

“Yes it is.” You reply. His body shakes as he chuckles. He turns around, your arms still pulling him close to you. He tilts your chin up with his pointer and middle finger, the rest of his hand cupping your jaw. His thumb caresses your bottom lip so lightly that you barely feel it. You close your eyes as he leans in and kisses you. You smile against his lips as he pulls you closer, your chest touching his. His other hand cradles the back of your head, and your hands find themselves exploring the firm skin on his abdomen. Your fingers brush over raised, puckered scars, forcing a gentle growl to rise from his throat.

“Hey- Woah.” You hear as the door swings open. Instinctively, you place your hands on Jasper’s chest and push. He flies into the wall, a resounding ‘thump’ vibrating through the floor and into your feet. He re-steadies himself as you both look over to see Emmett standing in the doorway. “Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to come with us on a hunt, but,” He glances at you and you brush your fingers through your hair, making it look nice again. “If you’re busy..”

“We’ll be downstairs in a minute.” Jasper says, smoothing his shirt and readjusting his jeans. Emmett raises his eyebrows, then leaves. You look down at your feet, feeling like a misbehaving child. You hear the bed groan as Jasper sits down on it. You swiftly walk over to your duffel bag, grabbing one of the few outfits you brought with. You grab the hem of the shirt you’re wearing, pulling the item over your head. After your view is unobstructed again, you look at Jasper, who is trying to look at literally anything but your chest, only clad in a bra. 

“W-What’re you doin’, darlin’?” He stutters. 

“Changing into something that can get blood on it?” You answer, raising an eyebrow at him as you unbutton and then shimmy out of your pants.

He puts a hand up, shielding you from his eyes. “I s-should go see if Eleazar needs any help..”

“You should?” You tease seductively, bending over to pick up a pair of shorts, giving him a direct look at your cleavage. You pull them on, then climb onto his lap, straddling him. “Eleazar’s a big boy, he can handle himself.” 

“I suppose you do have a point..” He says, trailing off as his eyes flicker down to your breasts. 

“Though maybe you’re right.” You sigh, pecking him on the lips. “You should go and help, be a good guest or whatever.” 

He looks dazed, confused by your sudden dismissal. “But.. I- y/n..” He stutters. You pat him on the cheek, then you slide off of his lap and grab a t-shirt from the duffel. Sliding it over your head, you exit the room and bound down the stairs, leaving Jasper by himself.

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

“So we’ll split up, Kate and I will go with Jasper and y/n,” Tanya says, standing in the living room. “Irina will go with Emmett, Rose, Carmen, and Eleazar.” 

“Great.” Rosalie says. “Can we go now?” 

“As soon as Jasper gets down here.” Carmen says, glancing over at you. Rosalie rolls her eyes.

“Why do we have to wait?” Kate asks Tanya. Rosalie listens carefully, anticipating an answer.

“We’re doing a competition. One team versus the other, we’ll see who gets more catches.” Tanya replies. Emmett rubs his hands together. 

“Nothing like a little friendly competition..” He says excitedly. Eleazar nods, a small smile looking out of place on his usually stoic face. A familiar scent wafts down the stairs, and you look over to see Jasper. 

“Nice of you to finally join us.” Rosalie sighs. You look to the ground, smiling at yourself. Jasper walks over to you, snaking a hand around your waist and pulling you close. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Irina stiffen. Emmett gives you a thumbs up, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“What do the winners get?” Kate asks.

“Is your thirst being satisfied not enough for you?” Tanya asks. Kate narrows her eyes at her sister. “Fine. Winners get to know that they’re better hunters than everyone else. Better?”

“That’s not fair! They have y/n- She basically controls animal minds!” Emmett whines. You smile, trying to ignore the guilt that settles in your stomach. 

“You guys have an extra person. Some could argue that that makes us even.” Kate retorts. Tanya sighs, rubbing her forehead. 

“Can we start now?” Carmen asks. Tanya nods, and everyone follows her out into the front yard. “3.. 2.. 1.. Go!” 

Everyone springs up from a crouching position. You follow Jasper into the trees, the forestry whizzing past you. So many sounds and scents flood your mind, like the thrum of a squirrel’s heart, and the scent of a grizzly bear a half mile away. Jasper seems to have read your mind, and he runs off to find the bear, presumably just to tease Emmett. As he speeds off to find the bear, something halts you in your place. You skid to a stop, feet tearing into the moist forest floor. An unknown feeling tugs at your chest, and you take a step backwards. The feeling gets stronger, and you try to trace it back to the source. 

When you walk into a small clearing, you see a red fox baring its teeth at a large bobcat, standing its ground in front of a den. You clap your hands, trying to scare the large cat off. It barely acknowledges you, and you walk over to the pair, physically putting yourself in between them. The bobcat advances, assuming you as an easy target. It lunges, and you meet it mid-air. You tackle it to the ground, its head hitting a rock. You can hear its skull crack, and immediately you scramble back, your fingers digging into the ground. Its pained whimpers flood your ears, and your face scrunches up. 

“Oh god. What did I do?” You say, chest heaving. You crawl to the bobcat, cradling its head in your lap. Your hands shake as you place them around its neck and twist, a sickening ‘crack’ on replay in your mind. You look down at your hands that are now covered in blood, and you shiver as your instincts take over. You swoop down and sink your teeth into the now deceased bobcat’s neck, and a warm, syrupy metallic taste invades your taste buds. You can feel your stomach getting fuller and fuller until you physically can’t drink anymore. You snap out of your daze, and stare at the carcass pulled into your lap. Pushing it gently off of you, you brush your fingers through its fur, mostly slick with spilled blood. You close its eyes. Something at the edge of the clearing catches your eye- a much smaller bobcat watching you. Anguish overcomes you, radiating off of the small animal in tsunami sized waves. The fox now long gone, the bobcat slowly approaches. It comes closer and closer until it's sniffing at the bigger bobcats carcass. Then, it closes its eyes, nuzzling under its mother’s chin. Overwhelmed with grief and guilt, a whimper bubbles up from your throat. Dry sobs wrack your body as you enter a tear-less crying fit, watching the baby try to wake its dead mother. You smack the side of your head, trying to stop crying and force a clear head, but you only want to do one thing. Run.

Wind whips your hair around as you run, pushing yourself to go faster and faster. Before you realize it, your foot snags on a tree root, and you fly face first into some bushes. You sit up, pulling your knees to your chest as you spit out dirt and debris. The moon disappears from the night sky as you calm yourself. Soft footsteps approach you from behind, and not a second later, Jasper is sitting next to you, pulling you into his arms. He doesn’t say anything, he can put two and two together by seeing your blood soaked hands and clothes. He can feel what you're feeling. The two of you sit in silence, watching the sun rise as the warm colors causes your iridescent skin to glisten.

[thelastspeecher]

Superhero/villain AU - Playdate

I was looking through my AU Word docs for Inspiration for Stanuary, and stumbled across this scene that I never finished.  So I decided to finish this scene.  It stars Emmett McGucket, who sort of inadvertently became the star of the Superhero/villain AU lmao.

Enjoy.

———————————————————————————————————–

              Emmett opened the door to his house.

              “C’mon in,” he said nervously.  Carter punched his arm.

              “You don’t need to be anxious around me, man.  Hell, I’m the one who should be nervous.  I might get to meet a famous supervillain.”

              “…Probably not,” Emmett said, stepping aside so that Carter could come in. “Ma’s at her day job and Uncle Lute got called in to help his crew.”

              “That’s unfortunate,” Carter remarked.  He entered the house.  “Oh, well. At least I get to meet your dad and your sisters.”  He grinned at Emmett.  “I’m a bit curious about whether they’re actually as wild as you say.  I mean, compared to you, just about anyone’s wild.” Emmett flushed.  “I’m just teasing, relax.”

              “Yeah, I, uh, I knew that,” Emmett said weakly.  He closed the door.  “I’m glad your mom said you could finally come over.  You didn’t get lost on the way, did ya?”

              “Nah.”

              “And did you walk or-”

              “I biked.”  Carter eyed Emmett.  “Do you really wanna talk about how I got here, or show off your house a bit?” Emmett smiled.

              “Good point.  My room’s upstairs.”

              “Awesome.  Oh, before you show me your room, my mom told me to bring something over.  Apparently that’s the nice thing to do or whatever. So…”  Carter removed his backpack and dug around in it.  “Ah ha!  Here!” He handed Emmett a large candle. “You can give that to your dad.”

              “When he gets home, I will.”  Emmett brought the candle into the kitchen and set it on the counter.  When he returned, Carter raised an eyebrow.

              “He’s not home?”

              “Nope.”

              “But…he’s a stay-at-home dad.  Where is he?”

              “He, uh, he had to go run some errands,” Emmett fibbed.

              “He’ll be back before I leave, though, right?”  Carter grinned at him.  “I’m starting to wonder if he doesn’t exist or something.  You’re so secretive about him.”

              “Nah, he exists.  He’s just a bit uncomfortable with the whole villain thing,” Emmett said with a shrug. Carter shook his head.

              “That’s so weird.”

              “Hey, Emmett!” a voice shouted from the second floor.  Footsteps thundered down the stairs.  Daisy stuck her head around the corner to stare at Emmett and Carter.  Her eyes widened.  “Ooh, you have a friend over?”

              “Yes,” Emmett said.  “Ma and Dad said it was okay.”

              “Hmm.”  Daisy approached the two boys.  She crossed her arms.  “You’re short,” she said flatly to Carter.  Carter grinned.

              “I’ve seen you guys’ mom before.  I’m not nearly as short as her.  Or as Tsunami.”

              “True.”  Daisy continued to look Carter up and down.

              “Did you want somethin’?” Emmett asked.  Daisy shrugged.

              “Yeah, but since you’ve got a guest, I’ll just harass Emily about it.” She burst into flames and flew away. Carter’s jaw dropped.  He turned to stare at Emmett.  Emmett smiled weakly.

              “I told you my sisters were all elementals.”

              “Yeah, but-”  Carter chortled.  “Man, I wish my family had cooler powers.  When we show off, it’s not nearly as fun.”  Emmett’s smile strengthened.  “Anyways, do you have any fun video games?”

              “I don’t really play many video games, but my dad and Danny like to play Need for Speed.”

              “Hell yeah!  Lead the way.”

-----

              The video game session was interrupted a few times by Emmett’s sisters, who were incredibly curious about his friend and not bothering to be polite about it.  Eventually, Emily settled down in Stan’s favorite armchair in the living room, silently reading a book on pyrotechnics and occasionally glancing over at Emmett and Carter, playing video games from the floor.

              “So, Emily, do you think you’ll be the next Sirocco?” Carter asked after winning yet another round.  Emily shrugged.

              “Maybe.  Depends on when Ma decides to retire.  I don’t wanna steal her codename while she’s still usin’ it.”  Emily turned a page in her book.  “Dunno if I’ll go the full villain route, though.”  Carter whipped his head around to stare at her.

              “What?  You’re thinking about being a non-villainous Sirocco?  That’s insane.”  Carter shook his head.  “See, this is why it was stupid that your parents didn’t send you all to Sycamore Grove. Now not all of you will be villains!”

              “Well, Dad’ll be happy about that, at least,” Emily muttered.  Carter set down his controller and leaned back against the couch.

              “This mysterious ‘dad’ again,” he drawled.  He looked at Emmett.  “Seriously, where is he?  He’s not doing a very good job of being a stay-at-home dad if he’s not home.”

              “He’s got other things to do,” Emily said.  “And we’re old enough to watch ourselves anyways.”

              “Fine, I’ll drop it,” Carter muttered.  He turned his attention back to the game.  “So, Emmett, you said all your sisters were elementals.  Emily’s an aerokinetic, what about the others?”

              “Danny’s a cryo, she gets that from our Ma’s grandma,” Emmett said.  “And Daisy’s a pyro, she gets that from Dad.”

              “Your dad’s a pyro?”

              “Yeah.”

              “Honestly, I didn’t even realize he was a super,” Carter commented.  “Why isn’t he a villain?  He married one and he’s got the right power for it.”

              “Not all supers are masks,” Emmett said.  “I mean, I don’t think I’ll wind up being a mask.”

              “But to marry a mask and not be one-” Carter started.  Emmett paused the game.  He looked at Carter.  “You guys are pretty touchy about this.”

              “Well, yeah,” Emily piped up.  “You think we haven’t heard this same line of questionin’ from Ma’s coworkers?”  After a moment, Carter nodded.

              “Fair point.  So-” Whatever else Carter was about to say was interrupted by a loud crash in the backyard.  “What the hell was that?” Carter asked, getting up.  Voices carried from outside.

              “You almost crushed me there, Pines.”  Emmett and Emily exchanged a look.

              That sounds like Uncle Lute.

              “Excuse me for not having a perfect landing while I’m bleeding out, Gucket,” Stan snapped.  Footsteps sounded on the back porch, which led directly into the living room via a sliding glass door.  The door opened.  “Who put the curtains down?”

              “Prob’ly one of-” Lute started, pulling back the curtain.  He paused, catching sight of Emily, Emmett, and Carter, who were all staring at him.  “Um.” Before anyone could say anything, Lute suddenly tumbled out of sight with a yelp.  “Son of a- Emily, get yer father off me ‘fore he flattens me.” Emily jumped to her feet.  As she went to help, Emmett grabbed Carter’s hand.

              “We should prob’ly go upstairs.”

              “What?  Why?” Carter asked.

              “This seems like something that we shouldn’t-” Emmett started.  Danny and Daisy raced down the stairs.

              “We saw Dad crash in the yard,” Danny said breathlessly.  “Is Ma-”

              “Yes, yer mother’s on her way, but right now, we need to move yer father to the couch,” Lute said, pulling the curtain open.  The action revealed Stan, unconscious and pale, being partially lifted by Emily.  And, to Emmett’s dread, his father was in his superhero outfit.

              “Come on, Carter, we need to get out of the way,” Emmett said, pulling Carter up from the couch and dragging him upstairs.  His power dampener beeped.  Once they reached the landing of the second floor, Carter pulled his hand free.

              “Did you try to control me?” Carter asked quietly.

              “What?  No!”

              “Your power dampener just lit up.”

              “I- sometimes when I get worked up- I still wear the dampener for a reason,” Emmett stammered.  Carter looked back down to the first floor.  “No!”  Emmett’s dampener beeped again, making him grimace.

              “What the hell is going on?” Carter demanded, still looking into the living room from above.  “Is that- is that your mom’s archnemesis?  That looks like Flamethrower.”  Emmett broke into a nervous sweat.  “Why did your uncle bring an unconscious superhero to your house?  And why-”  Carter’s eyes widened.  “Your uncle called him your dad.  So did your sister.  And you said your dad was a pyro, which Flamethrower is.”  Carter swore softly.  “Your dad…is Flamethrower?”

              “Can- can we talk about this in my room?”

              “Yeah.  Sure.”

-----

              Once Emmett had closed the door to his room, Carter looked at him expectantly.

              “Care to explain why your dad is a superhero?”

              “I…I don’t know, to be honest.”  Emmett crossed over to his bed and sat down.  Carter sat next to him.  “I told you the first day we met that I didn’t know how my parents met.  Which isn’t completely true – I know how they met. But I don’t know why they became a couple.  From what I understand, they didn’t get along for years, then, out of nowhere, they became a couple and had Danny and Daisy.”

              “What’s the exact timeframe here?” Carter asked thoughtfully.

              “Pardon?”

              “How long between your parents getting together and your older sisters being born?”

              “I…”  Emmett stared at his friend.  “Are you suggesting that my parents got together because my dad got my ma pregnant?”

              “It’s a possibility.”

              “But how would my sisters have gotten conceived if they were still enemies?”

              “Oh, like you haven’t noticed how steamy some fights get,” Carter scoffed. “You pin your enemy against a wall, their eyes stare directly into yours…”

              “Ugh!  Okay, I get it, just-”  Emmett grimaced.  “Stop makin’ me imagine that happening with my parents.”  Carter snickered.  “At the end of the day, though, the timeline isn’t important, and neither is the way my parents got together.  What’s important is that they’re married and love each other now.”

              “Yeah.”  Carter shook his head.  “That’s weird as fuck, man.  No wonder you’re always so cagey about your dad.”

              “If anyone found out…”  Emmett’s throat abruptly became choked up with fear.  “My uncle told me that, back when Danny and Daisy were still really little, one of Dad’s coworkers found out he married a supervillain.  The coworker went rogue and kidnapped Dad.  My ma rescued him, but it was a big mess.”  Emmett met Carter’s eyes.  “You can’t tell anyone.”

              “What would happen if I did?” Carter asked.  Emmett’s heart broke.  His expression must have shown this, because Carter quickly backpedaled.  “I won’t!  Sorry, I didn’t- I’m just so used to playing devil’s advocate that I said that without thinking.”

              “I don’t know what would happen.  But I would definitely never be able to see you again.”

              “Well, you don’t need to worry, ‘cause I won’t tell a soul,” Carter said firmly. Emmett smiled.

              “Thank you.”  There was a knock.  “Yes?” Danny opened the door.

              “Dad wants to talk to you and yer friend,” she said, looking directly at Carter with a cold gaze.  “Come on.” Emmett and Carter exchanged a look, then stood up and followed Danny downstairs.  Stan was on the couch, still wearing the bottoms to his heroing outfit, with a large bandage over much of his bared torso.  Thankfully, he was now awake and drinking a can of Pitt Cola.

              “Glad yer okay, Dad,” Emmett said quietly.  Stan grinned at him.

              “Takes a lot more than what happened today to put your old man out of commission.”  He looked at Carter.  “Sorry about ruining your playdate with Emmett.”

              “Dad!” Emmett yelped.  Stan chuckled.

              “I’m just teasing, sport.  Seriously though, Carter, this isn’t how I planned on meeting you.”

              “Shit happens,” Carter said with a shrug.  Stan nodded.

              “I like that attitude.”  His easygoing demeanor abruptly vanished.  Emmett swallowed, recognizing the stony expression on his father’s face.  Stan was shifting into what Emily called “take no shit mode”.  “Look, kid, you can’t tell anyone what you saw or think you saw today.”

              “Don’t worry, I already told Emmett I’d keep it a secret,” Carter said. Stan looked at him doubtfully.  “I don’t want to mess up my best friendship. Or anger one of the most powerful families in villainy.”  Stan nodded.

              “Smart.  Even if Angie and I have to go into hiding with the kids, the rest of her family won’t have to.  And you know exactly how dangerous the McGuckets are.”

              “Yes, sir.”

              “You’re giving me your word that you’ll keep my secret identity to yourself,” Stan said.  Carter nodded.  “I need you to say it, son.”  Emmett noted with some amusement that the way Stan said his last sentence reminded him of someone.  He glanced at Danny, who, judging by her expression, had also picked up on it.

              He sounded just like Grampie Gucket.  Carter, somehow not quailing under the force of Stan’s stare, nodded again.

              “I give you my word that I won’t tell anyone your secret identity, Emmett’s dad.”  Immediately, Stan left “take no shit mode” and chortled.

              “You can call me Mr. Pines, kid.  That’s what Emmett’s sister’s friends call me.”

              “Ah.  Okay. Mr. Pines.  Your secret is safe with me.”

              “Good.”  Stan got up from the couch, poorly stifling a groan of pain.  Danny crossed her arms, scowling.  “Princess, don’t give me that look.”

              “You shouldn’t be getting up, Dad.  If you need something, I can get it.”

              “Nope.  No dice.” Stan clapped Danny on the shoulder. “I’m gonna go call your ma to let her know I’m not unconscious anymore.”

              “Are my services as a human ice pack no longer needed, then?”

              “Yes, sweetie, you’re free to go.”

              “Great.”  Danny went back upstairs and ducked into her room.

              “Dad, I think Danny’s right,” Emmett said.  “You should be laying down.”

              “Nope!  You and your little friend can get back to playing.  Whattaya think for dinner?  Spaghetti? I gotta get started soon if it’s gonna be ready at a reasonable time.”

              “You’re making dinner?” Carter asked.  Stan raised an eyebrow.

              “I’m a stay-at-home dad when I’m not getting stabbed by villains.  Feeding my kids is my job.”

              “But you just got hurt.”

              “Eh.  I’ve had worse.”  Stan grinned. “My wife’s given me worse.”

              “Dad!” Emmett whined.  Stan chuckled.  He walked into the kitchen.

              “Why’s there some candle in here?”

              “My mom told me to bring a gift over,” Carter called.

              “Nice,” Stan said.  “Very classy.”  Carter looked at Emmett, amused.  Emmett shrugged.

              “He’s right.  Bringin’ that was pretty classy.”  Carter laughed and punched Emmett’s shoulder.

              “You’re funny, ‘Met.  C’mon, let’s get back to me kicking your ass at video games.”

[spidey-d00d]

Jasper Hale x Alice Cullen One Shot

Request~ “Heyo, I saw you were doing oneshot requests and I would really love one of Jasper Whitlock/Hale just interacting and being happy with Alice if you were open to it. No pressure I just love Jasper fics. :)”

A/N~ Hey guys! I am back and to start us off is a request from @twilightsdumbbutiwannaknowmore​ I hope I did it justice and so sorry for the long wait, I just wanted to make it perfect! Let me know how I did and what you want to see next! Anyways, enjoy <3

Word Count~ 1147

Alice had finally walked into the house after hunting for the perfect bouquet of flowers for the top of the piano. It was her normal Sunday routine, since the flowers died quickly. Setting the vase down with a pleased smile, she turned to see Jasper looking out of the big windows that covered the south wall of the upstairs living room. He looked so peaceful, calm, at home. It made her happy to see him this way, he had come a long way. 

Strutting her way over to the vampire that held the honey blonde hair, Alice caught his attention quickly and Jasper had turned, immediately extending his arm in her direction in anticipation.

Jasper, with his signature side grin, gracefully grabbed Alice, spinning her into his own arms once she got close enough for him to grasp. “Hello darling.” He said into her ear with a southern draw.

He could sense the happiness radiating off of the woman in his arms, her hands bringing themselves up to his arm wrapped around her, gently smoothing her fingers over the fabric of his shirt that covered his pale arms. 

“Hey Jazz,” Alice smiled softly though he couldn’t see it till he spun her around, so they were now chest to chest instead of back to chest, “I was just thinking about you.” A small twinkle in her eye didn’t go unnoticed by Jasper.

“Oh really? And what were you thinking about?” He questioned her, tracing over every feature on her face, like he does a hundred times a day. He memorized every line and slight freckle on his mates face, even when she didn’t notice it. 

Jasper wasn’t sure how much she noticed and how much she didn’t. He hoped she realized how much she has helped him, if it weren’t for Alice then he wouldn’t be happy, he wouldn’t have a family and a reason to be alive right now. The term alive is used loosely due to his undead state, but he is living when he is around the woman. If he had a heart that actually beat, then it would be racing all times of the day that she is around. 

Just the way that she looks at Jasper is enough to make him go crazy, and he knows she feels the same around him, the feeling of happiness and joy radiating off of her and it is hard to not feel the same, the emotions so powerful. She had that effect on everyone, especially him though. 

“I was thinking about how much I missed you.” Alice finally let out after Jasper had pulled her in closer and placed a kiss lightly onto her pale cheek, nuzzling his nose near hers for a second before pulling away. A big grin never leaving either of their faces, a common appearance for both of them. 

“I wasn’t even gone 5 minutes” Jasper chuckled, the couple swaying slightly but not losing any contact at all. 

The family was walking around them, going about their day and not paying any mind to them, as they were standing in the middle of the living room having this conversation. It was normal for them. Since Jasper had been getting better with communicating and becoming more social, the amount of public affection between him and his mate has gotten a lot more prominent. 

“I know but still,” Alice slightly whined, joining  him in lightly laughing at her clinginess. Neither of them minded, loving the affection, but sometimes it got difficult, “But on a side note, we do need to go hunting.” She said, poking his chest. They were always well fed when school was in session, not wanting to risk anything. 

Not moments later and Alice’s eyes light up like a light bulb, leaving a slightly confused look on Jasper’s face. She had wiggled out of his embrace slightly just enough to get him to loosen his iron grip on her body. 

“Bet I can catch the first deer! Loser has to hang out with Emmett for an hour!” Alice laughed before dashing off, leaving Jasper in the house before he even realized what was going on. 

Once he caught on and figured out the game she tried to play, he raced out of the house, using his heightened senses to hear and smell where his mate ended up. Her signature move being to jump up into the treetops, giving her an advantage of not being on the ground, being easier to find. 

Playing along, Jasper trailed himself to the exact tree she had ended up with, standing directly below it. He turned his head around, scanning the area around him , surveying the area before a sudden weight was dropped onto his back. 

He maintained his balance, not having any issues with it as Alice dropped herself down from the tall tree and wrapped herself around his back. They were both laughing when Alice leaned over placing a small kiss onto his cheek and hopping off of his back. 

Jasper went to turn around and kiss her on the lips this time, missing the contact but Alice just grinned and slightly shoved him back, sprinting off again, her laugh resonating in the air. He just shook his head and chased after her yet again. 

They were running in circles, and around trees, hopping over fallen branches, both laughing loudly. It wasn’t often that they got this, time to enjoy themselves. They were really each other's best friends, always finding ways to make the other laugh, having inside jokes and just being there for the other.

Jasper finally caught onto her patterns, cutting a corner and running right to where she would be crossing any second. Just then a body collided with his and they both fell to the ground in a laughing mess. Instead of getting up though, they stayed on the forest floor, Alice’s body laying on top of Jasper’s, looking into each other's golden orbs. 

Jasper reached up to push a piece of hair that had escaped out from behind the vampire's ear and lightly trailed his hand over her cheek which she pushed into out of instinct. They both showed big grins across their features and never wanted this moment to end. 

“We should get back.” Jasper whispered lowly, like he would scare the moment away. He didn’t really want to leave, loving the quiet and the affection without prying eyes and ears. 

“Yeah, we should.” Alice replied, not wanting to get up either. But neither of them made an effort to get up from the ground, instead they both had their backs to the dirt staring up at the tree tops, Alice playing blissfully with Jaspers cold hand, and they stayed there talking, soaking up each others presence as it would be the last time they would get this chance, but they had what most people wanted, forever. 

[cas-kingdom]

Would you be up to answering 10, 15, 29, and 31 for any of the OCs from the DWCs that you're feeling a bit stuck on? Or any OCs you're feeling, really. I'm not picky. Hope this helps with mission: write or that you at the very least have some fun with it. :)

To be honest, this would totally help. I’ll have a go (thank you, saviour).

You all know I write my OCs as readers considering the reader inserts are wildly sought after on this site lol. BUT I adore writing about my OCs & have tons of stories with them that I keep to myself and read when I’m down, so here we go!

The 4 I’ve yet to write include Tallulah Cullen (Twilight), Matilda Northman (True Blood), Akela (The Witcher) & Clark Kent’s sister, who I’m yet to create an OC for (atm my only JL OC is Arthur Curry’s sister, Ani) so I won’t write these questions for her considering I don’t really know her.

WARNING: this is going to get long. I apologise & a big pat on the back to whoever actually reads it.

10) How open is your oc to trying new things? Are they the adventurous sort, or would they rather stay in their comfort zone? Why?

Tallulah: I think, honestly, Tallulah’s been a vampire so long she’s not sure she has anything new left to try lol. She’s older than her siblings by a lot and is often lost with these kinds of things. Though if there is ever anything new, I’d say she’d be absolutely open to trying them out! During the events of the books/movies, I’m sure there were many of these opportunities, what with Bella and the excitement and adventure she brought along with her. So, yes. No comfort zone for T, though perhaps there was one once.

Matilda: Tilly’s pretty restricted with what she can and can’t do (having Eric as your guardian will do that to you lol) but again, like Tallulah, with the events of the books/series, a lot happens that she’d be involved with, and it’s all a bit adventurous and out of her comfort zone. She’s used to the so-called quiet life, considering Eric keeps her out of his business so she remains safe, so after meeting Sookie and all the disruption she brings to her life, I’ve always thought it to be quite a big thing for her. As she grows older however, she certainly grows used to it, and perhaps rebels a bit against her guardian to join in on the excitement he’d rather she stay away from.

Akela: Akela’s whole life is trying new things. She never knows if her day will be quiet or not so much. If she’ll be sleeping under the stars or in an inn. If she’ll have a great, peaceful ride or someone will run up to them, thrusting money at Geralt and asking him to kill a monster. (Seems like a nicely spontaneous life, minus the monsters). Tbh I think she likes it. She’d like her life to be completely safe with no interruptions, but in all honestly she’d get bored after a while, and really, if her life was all sweet and honey, then Geralt wouldn’t be the same, and that’s the last thing she’d want. I think her comfort zone is very small, and not demanding at all. She’s ready to try whatever, as long as it guarantees her and her Witcher’s safety!

15) What is your oc’s favourite time of day? Why is this? Do they have a daily practice during this time?

Tallulah: I’ll be a bit stereotypical here and say her favourite time of day is night. She doesn’t sparkle, she can blend in with the humans completely... and I guess she just likes it in general because of the dark, and the peace that often offers. She sometimes goes hunting with her family in the dark, and she has many memories of those times that she holds onto.

Matilda: Yet another vampiric-stereotypical answer, but Tilly’s favourite time of day is definitely the exact moment the sun is out of sight. Because then Eric’s instantly safe, and she can spend as much time with him as his ‘duties’ and his job allows. Another human’s favourite time might be day, because that’s when the most happens, and Tilly’s is night for the exact same reason. To her it’s simply normal - she’s always slept during the day to adhere to her vampire guardians’ routine - and she knows no difference.

Akela: Night. (Apparently all my OCs are night owls, guys). She likes her evenings and her nights, right before she sleeps, because most of her memories from those times are of her lying next to Geralt on blankets, under a starlit sky. It’s totally quiet, save for the nightlife, and the two of them can just lie there and let the trials of the day wash away as they stare at the stars. A simple delight.

29) How empathetic is your oc? Or are they closer to being a sociopath? Any reason why?

Tallulah: Hundreds of years as a vampire has definitely made Tallulah more in touch with people’s emotions. She 100% takes after her father in the compassion side of things. He’s taught her to hang onto most of her humanity, and she’s never fed from a human in her life. I can’t see her hurting a fly. Sociopath? Never.

Matilda: Tilly... is perhaps more sociopath than empath, but that’s something that changes over the years. She’s young at the beginning of the show, and she worships Eric and (discreetly) wants to follow him wherever he goes. That doesn’t change so much, but she finds herself over time, and learns to give in to her human instincts. I definitely think Eric’s growing appreciation for humans after meeting Sookie makes her more aware of her true self, and she makes friends she wouldn’t have ever thought about making, and generally just becomes less afraid to be herself. She learns to understand people’s feelings - and her own - which is something she probably found difficult to do when solely around vampires. (Though in saying that, she probably begins to learn a lot more about how Eric’s feeling. That’s shown in the DWC I’ve yet to write lol).

Akela: For as much as Akela loves Geralt, and for as much as she grew up under his guiding hand, she certainly didn’t adopt his so-called ‘emotionless’ Witcher persona. Really, that’s a victory on Geralt’s side. She’s 100%, totally human, and that’s something he wouldn’t take away from her (tbh he does his best to keep her away from anything Witcher-y that could change her from who she perfectly is). But, in all honesty, I do think Akela gets her selfless and empathetic nature from Geralt. Discreetly, of course. That guy is a different person when he’s with her, though it might be difficult to see, and he’s honestly just a Good Dad, however much he’d strive to disprove it.

31) What is your oc’s sense of humour like? What do they find funny? Do they try to be funny? Are they actually?

Tallulah: Tallulah has big brothers. I think that speaks for itself. XD Though perhaps not all of them... mainly Emmett and Jasper. And Alice. They like to make her laugh. Probably Emmett’s main goal in life. BUT, similar to the first question, Tallulah is an old vampire, and she’s probably heard most jokes and developed a sense of humour that’s different to the others’, if that makes sense. Though I’ve always had her as the vampire who was turned at 16 and, in all honesty, is still 16, deep deep down. Her maturity isn’t crazily more than any other 16 yo’s.

Matilda: God. I don’t think she’d have much of a sense of humour. Tilly’s life is vampires, blood, ‘stay away from humans despite being human’... when she meets Sookie and the others, and her humanity starts shining, her sense of humour becomes more human. She can joke around without worrying that Eric will take it too seriously or Pam will insult her (Pam insults everyone but she still loves Tilly, don’t worry). So, yeah. Matilda’s life doesn’t leave much room for humour, but it sneaks in somehow as the years go on - not to mention Eric’s not an ass to her and does treasure her smile and her laugh above all else in his long life.

Akela: Oh, Akela lives on humour. She loves to insult Geralt, and he loves to insult her right back. That’s just them. And it’s pretty damn perfect. Not to mention when Jaskier joins their dysfunctional family, you’d be pretty robotic to not laugh or smile even once when in his presence. As for if Akela’s actually funny... I’d say definitely. She counts it a victory if she says something and Geralt’s lips turn upwards the tiniest bit. Making a Witcher smile is something to celebrate.

Whoo. I loved that. Now to go write.

(That last bit was a joke. Unfortunately).

[copperclawed]

it's also the consequence of ppl putting their shipping priorities above all else, which... it's no secret I've enjoyed watching ruby and christinas interactions throughout the season but come on like i dont see the point of getting into a ship where one part is the villain only to immediately woobify that villain and whitewash their, for lack of a better word, evil motivations/actions. That's what makes the relationship interesting, no?? Honestly--not to dredge up an old horse but it's part of the reason why r/ylo, imo, is such an insufferable ship bc the majority of the shippers immediately jumped to excusing kylo, writing meta abt how he "deserves redemption" (extreme eye roll) etc like!! It's stripping all of the interesting and fun parts of a villain/hero ship away, what are you even here for?

To me ruby's story was a classic narrative of seduction by the devil; she's tired and sick of being interrupted and she wants things, she wants so much and so bad, and christina/william appears in the exact right moment to take advantage of it, as it always happens when the devil offers the hero their deal. And then it's this narrative of her struggle of finally enjoying this true freedom, or what feels like it, vs whether this new freedom lets her be her real self (ruby uninterrupted) or if it actually chips away at her sense of self. And as a result it's also the juxtaposition of Ruby's identity as a Black woman and her sense of community and solidarity vs her rage and frustration at the injustice and the "interruption" she has to endure bc she's a (dark-skinned, fat) Black woman in America. I think it comes to a head or rather should have come, when ruby and christina have their confrontation after the wake. The shippers were losing their minds over christina saying "when i was fucking you" but imo the important takeaway there was christina's insidious attempt to convince ruby she was only ~lying to herself that she cared abt what happened to emmett till bc "even on this day you're a woman who wanted what she wanted", as if ruby had to choose, as if ruby couldn't be both! But of course, christina *wants* ruby to feel like she can't be both so that ruby will choose christina, while Ruby at this point feels torn apart and is in so much pain, evident in her speech about how no, she doesnt want to be white but she also just doesnt want to feel like this. And imo, after this we needed or ok, at least i wanted to see ruby come to this realisation that she doesn't need to choose (which i think the show set up for in ep 4 via ruby's relationship w tamara) but that christina will always force her to make that choice, that the freedom and validation and the exhilaration from being loved, desired, cared for that ruby receives when with will/stina, comes at the expense of losing a significant part of herself and of aligning herself w whiteness. Bc Christina is not just a white woman, but she represents white feminism and white sociopathy and white supremacy in this narrative. That's why i feel Ruby's decision to help leti in the finale felt unearned and unsatisfying even though it was right and it's what i expected: bc we didn't get that crucial narrative beat for ruby. If we at least got the full confrontation scene instead of a 3 sec long blurry flashback, it probably would have been much more satisfying.

And it's just so frustrating that ruby's storyline and development and these interesting, painful choices she's grappled with, all get ignored bc "the ship got ruined"!!!!

[eddiesasspbrak]

When I’m With You Ch.1

Eddie can't stand the barista at his favorite coffee shop. Richie has fallen in love with the man he sees twice a week. Stan is dating someone but won't let his friends meet them. Ben is in love with Beverly, but is so afraid of scaring her away he's not moving forward. Chaotic friends navigating college together.

Read on AO3

Ch.2

6k+ words

“Please.” Ben begged, gripping his friend’s shoulders from behind as he followed him into the classroom.

“No.” Eddie slapped his hands away and sat in his preferred seat.

“But she’s so pretty and perfect and I want to go out with her.”

“Then you ask her out.”

“I can’t. What if she says no?”

“She can still say no if I ask her for you.” Eddie pointed out, unzipping his bag and pulling out his notebook and a pen.

“If she says no to you, I won’t die of embarrassment.” Ben plopped down into his seat beside Eddie, frowning.

Eddie rolled his eyes and opened his notebook to a fresh, clean page. Ben, one of his best friends, wanted to ask out a girl they met on campus. He fell in love with her at first sight and had been trying to work up the courage to ask her out for months. Every time he saw her, he turned into a babbling mess and lost his nerve. Eddie made the mistake of letting him know that she was in one of his classes and now he was determined to get Eddie’s help asking her out.

“What if I just invite her to hang out with us and conveniently get a call and leave you two alone?” Eddie suggested, taking pity on his sulking friend.

Ben perked up and thought that over. “That could work. Do you think she’ll say yes?”

“We have class today. I’ll ask her when I see her.”

Ben leaned over and placed his head on Eddie’s shoulder, a big grin on his face. His arms snaked around Eddie’s middle and he hugged him tight. Eddie sighed, but patted his arm and dropped his cheek to the top of Ben’s head.

“I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” Ben said.

“You bet your ass you will.” Eddie responded.

They separated as the professor stood from the front desk and began speaking. Ben was positively beaming for the entire class and Eddie swore he saw him scribbling her name in his notebook instead of taking notes. Honestly, he was jealous of his friend. He’d finally come out when he’d come to college, except to his mom, and hadn’t had much luck in the relationship department. He did make out with an average looking guy at a party, but it hadn’t been great, and he spent the next two weeks ignoring his texts. Why he even gave the guy his number he’ll never know. Blame it on desperation and alcohol.

*

Eddie would forever kick himself for signing up for an early class this semester. Ben was always perky in the morning, up early to go for a jog before the sun was even up. Eddie, on the other hand, was not a morning person. If Ben didn’t call him, he would never get up in time for class. He was lucky to stay awake until the end of class. He said goodbye to Ben and immediately made his way across campus and into town where a little coffee shop waited.

Eddie had begun frequenting this shop after his early class for a caffeinated pick me up. It was close to the building his class was located in and by the time he got there the line wasn’t too awfully long. It gave Eddie plenty of time to drink his coffee and relax before he had to head off to his next class. There were big, squishy chairs all over the café that Eddie really liked. He’d almost fallen asleep in them countless times, but he couldn’t resist. Most of the other patrons were always on their way somewhere else so early in the morning so it was mostly empty and quiet too and the music was never played too loud over the speakers. It was Eddie’s favorite place and almost perfect.

As he entered the shop and joined the queue, he groaned inwardly at the person behind the counter. Yes, this place was almost perfect, except for the man who seemed to work this shift every day that Eddie had class. He was very friendly, smiled at every customer. More accurately, he was smiling at whatever stupid joke he’d just made about their order or their name. He had no filter and it annoyed Eddie endlessly. He was the definition of a man child. He recognized Eddie every time and already knew what he was going to order. A medium coffee, black.

Eddie dreaded having to interact with him again. It’s like he had an ongoing bet with himself, whether he could make Eddie laugh and piss him off first. It was usually the latter. The most annoying thing he did, in Eddie’s opinion, was the way he wrote his name on his cup. The very first time he’d simply made the mistake of spelling his name like ‘Eddy’. Whatever, that was fine. It didn’t bother him. Ever since then, though, it seemed like he tried to mess up his name in new and unusual ways. How does one misspell the name Edward? Some notable names he’d written down in the past were: Eugene, Edwin, Elliot, Eduardo, Emmett, Eli, and Eileen. However, when he would call out the name for the order he always said ‘Eddie’, so he knew exactly what he was doing, and it was infuriating.

Despite how annoying he was, he was also extremely efficient at his job combined with the guy making the drinks. The line moved quickly and there wasn’t a long wait for your drink to be delivered, even the complicated ones. Which meant that Eddie only had to stand at the counter for a short amount of time. As long as the cashier was willing to leave him alone. Which was extremely unlikely. When it was Eddie’s turn in line, he was met with a wide, crooked grin.

“Good morning, Eddie. It’s Thursday.” The man said.

“Yes. It is.” Eddie responded, hoping he wouldn’t continue. “I’ll have-.”

“Medium coffee. Black. Right?”

Eddie nodded, already holding the cash in his hand for the other to take. The guy punched a few buttons on the screen before looking back at Eddie, ignoring the money in his hand.

“You’re late today. I was beginning to wonder if you skipped class today.” He said, leaning his hip against the counter.

Eddie looked back to see there was no one in line behind him and he sighed. He’d made the mistake on his first trip to the coffee shop of telling this man that he had taken on an early Tuesday, Thursday class in passing. He regretted giving him any personal information about him as he absorbed it like a dry sponge.

“Class ran a little long. Here, my money.” Eddie held his hand a little higher, in his line of sight.

“I was sure you had stood me up for our weekly date.” He winked, still ignoring the money.

“I just come here to get coffee.”

“Oh, Eddie, we both know that it’s not the coffee that keeps you coming back here. You come here to ogle me while I make your coffee. It’s my wit and wiles that have you drawn to this little coffee shop twice a week.” He was very dramatic as he spoke, putting his hand to his forehead and leaning across the counter. “I’m beginning to think there is no morning class that has you making the trip here. You can deny it all you want, my dear but I know what your ulterior motives are.” He placed one finger beneath Eddie’s chin and tilted his head up a bit.

Eddie’s face turned bright red as he leaned away and swatted his hand away. This was typical and Eddie honestly couldn’t tell if he was supposed to be flirting with him or if he just liked the way Eddie reacted. For instance, at the moment Eddie was flustered and unable to keep his cool any longer.

“Can you please stop and just take my fucking money.” He grumbled, holding the money out again.

He grinned exceptionally wide and took the money, very slowly counting it out and putting it in the register. “There’s no need to use such language, my dear. I know you can’t stand to be around me for too long lest you leap over this counter and do indecent things.”

Eddie positively fumed as he waited for him to fiddle with the register as if he was getting change. He knew exactly how much he had to pay so he always had exact change. It was all just for show to keep him standing there that much longer. While he waited, trying to calm himself, he dropped two dollars in the tip jar, he may hate the guy, but he wasn’t an asshole. Unable to calm himself completely, he tapped his foot impatiently while waiting for his receipt. He really didn’t need it, but it was like a compulsion to keep every receipt he received. He finally handed over his receipt and turned to the other guy behind the counter.

“I’ll make this one, Mikey.”

The other guy, Mike, looked over to see Eddie before smiling and shaking his head. So, it wasn’t just in his imagination. Even his coworker could tell that this guy just enjoyed annoying Eddie as long as he possibly could.

Eddie carefully folded his receipt in half and tucked it in his pocket as he walked to the end of the counter to wait for his coffee. He watched as the guy took a cup and scribbled something on it with marker. Eddie could already feel the annoyance for whatever name he was given today. The ever-present grin on his face didn’t help as he poured the coffee into the cup and put a lid and cardboard sleeve onto it.

“Coffee for Eddie.” He said, holding the cup high in the air, too high for Eddie to reach.

Eddie just stared up, refusing to jump to try and get the cup from him. He was too tired for this shit and he hoped the daggers he was mentally sending to the other showed on his face. He smiled down at him, and waited, expectantly.

“Can I just have my coffee?” Eddie asked.

“Oh, of course. I need a thank you first though.”

Eddie sighed loudly and a bit more dramatically than necessary to show how over this routine he was. “Thank you.” He grumbled.

“Thank you…what?” He asked.

“Thank you, Richie.” Eddie said through clenched teeth.

Finally, the cup was lowered to his hands and he snatched it away carefully, storming away from the counter and to the farther chair from the counter that was currently available. He looked down at the cup and just above the cardboard sleeve the name “Estiban” was written. Mike came to stand beside Richie, slapping a hand down on his shoulder.

“Why do you do that to him?” He asked with a smile.

“He’s cute. I like the faces he makes when he’s mad.” Richie shrugged.

“You know he hates you, right?”

“Nah. I’m going to marry that man one day.”

Mike laughed as the bell above the door chimed and they went back to their stations to wait for the next order. Richie could clearly see Eddie sitting in the large chair, sipping his coffee and looking like he might fall asleep. As he took the next customer’s order and entered it on the screen, he stole glances over at the tired boy. Richie couldn’t help smiling as he fought to keep his eyes open while taking another sip from his cup, his face scrunching up in disgust from the taste. It was like this every time, he hated the coffee, but he kept coming back and ordering it and drinking every last drop. Richie was smitten.

*

When Eddie arrived at his afternoon class, Bev was already there, her bag in the seat beside her to save it for him. As he approached, she moved her bag and smiled at him. She was annoyingly beautiful, and Eddie understood why Ben was so in love with her. If he liked girls, he’d probably be in love with her too. He greeted her and took his seat, immediately putting his head down on his arms, staring up at her sideways.

“I’m exhausted.” He said, followed by a yawn.

“Aren’t you always?”

“Yes.”

She grinned at him and pulled her phone from her pocket. She was really into fashion design and would often show him what pieces she was working on or had finished. She opened her camera roll and slid her phone across the table to him. He lifted his head and looked down at the pictures of a dress hung from a hanger, only one sleeve attached.

“I can’t decide if I like it with sleeves or not.” She explained. “The original sketch had sleeves, but then I really liked the way it was looking and once I attached one sleeve, I just wasn’t sure anymore.”

Eddie covered half the picture with his hand before switching and doing the same to the other side. He liked that she asked his opinion, especially seeing as she made fun of his fashion sense relentlessly. It showed that she trusted his opinion and he liked knowing that. He really enjoyed their friendship and silently hoped that if she dated Ben and they broke up, it wouldn’t somehow impact their relationship. He’d really hate to lose her.

“I like it without the sleeve.” He finally said after looking at each side several times.

“Right? Ok, it’s decided. Thanks.” She leaned over and put her arm around him in a half hug, kissing his cheek.

He rubbed at his cheek with his sleeve, knowing there was bound to be a red lipstick mark left behind. Now seemed like a good time to ask her to hang out and he honestly worried he’d forget if he didn’t ask her soon. He just had to be casual about it. “So, hey, what are you doing tomorrow night?”

“Mmmm, I was going to get drinks with a friend.” She said, taking her phone back and sliding it back into her pocket.

“Ben and I are doing the same. We should meet up, go together.”

“Yea, that sounds good.” She smiled brightly. “I could use a buffer anyway. My friend can be a bit…much.”

“Oh, joy. Please bring them.” Eddie was sarcastic and it made Bev snort out a laugh.

“He’s really not that bad. He just gets very mouthy when he drinks. More than usual anyway.”

“Well, luckily I’ll have a few drinks in me too.”

Eddie pulled his phone out and sent a quick text to Ben. ‘Talked to Bev. She’s down. Tomorrow night. Bringing a friend though.’ A second later Ben responded with a smiley face. Eddie already knew that Ben wouldn’t worry about the addition of a fourth person. He knew that Eddie would be able to distract the friend and he tried not to let that bother him. After all, it was mostly his idea to begin with so he couldn’t be too upset at the idea of being left with Bev’s friend.

*

There were few things Eddie enjoyed more than anything else. He enjoyed cleaning, organization, spending time with his friends. But the thing he enjoyed most was sitting in his quiet apartment, completely alone, enjoying the rest of his free afternoon. He’d picked up lunch on the way home and sat at his kitchen counter to eat it, scrolling through social media on his phone. After he cleaned up his lunch dishes, he moved to the living room to do some reading for class. This time of day on a Thursday most everyone was out so he couldn’t even hear his neighbors through the walls. It was utter bliss, until.

Eddie jolted when he heard the music and groaned dramatically as he flopped back on his couch. Every so often, one of his neighbors down the hall chose to listen to their music at an obnoxiously loud volume. And every time, Eddie silently hated them. It wasn’t even good music half the time, and even when it was, he didn’t want to hear it thumping through the walls and into his apartment. He stood and went to his bedroom, retrieving his earplugs from his bedside table.

He pressed them into his ears as he made his way back to the couch. They blocked out most of the noise, but he could steal hear it and feel the thump, thump, thump in his chest from the beat. There was no way he was going to finish his reading now or take a much needed nap. The buzz from the coffee he’d had a few hours earlier was long gone and he wasn’t willing to go back for another. One interaction with Richie a day was enough for him. He really ought to buy a coffee pot for his apartment. At least one of the little pod ones that made one cup at a time. He would save money and wouldn’t have to ever go to that coffee shop again. His life would be Richie free and he’d have coffee in class instead of after. He pulled out his phone to make a note to himself to price coffee machines when he saw he missed a text from Bev.

Bev: Hey, do you know what bar you’re going to yet?

Eddie: We haven’t really discussed it. Some place local, I guess. Maybe near campus

Bev: Have you heard of My Mom’s Bar? It’s down on Engle.

Eddie: I’ve heard of it, never been there though

Bev: It’s one of my favorites. Doesn’t get to crazy even on Fridays. You down?

Eddie: I’ll talk to Ben, but it should be fine

He switched from the conversation with Bev to the one with Ben and typed a quick message to him.

Eddie: Bev wants to go to My Mom’s Bar. Is that ok with you?

Ben: Your mom owns a bar?

Eddie: What? No. That’s the name of the place.

Ben: oooooh. Yea that’s fine. I’ll go anywhere as long as Bev is there.

Eddie: Even a gay bar?

Ben: As long as she doesn’t fall for another girl or a bi dude while we’re there. That could happen anywhere though

Eddie: True

He let Bev know that they were fine with her pick and they made arrangements to meet there around ten. He gave the information to Ben, planned to meet up at Eddie’s place beforehand. The idea of going out the following night and socializing was already so tiring. He liked spending time with his friends, but this wasn’t a regular social call. He’d have to interact with someone he didn’t know, orchestrate a plan and an excuse for him and the stranger to leave them alone. He really felt like he needed that nap now and silently cursed the inconsiderate neighbor with the clearly broken headphones.

*

Eddie spent most of his Friday at home alone, working on homework and finally finishing the reading he needed to do for class. If he was going to spend the evening in a crowded bar, interacting with strangers, then he wasn’t going to have a single second of human interaction the rest of the day. Eddie valued his alone time and he wasn’t going to feel bad about it.

It was now evening. He’d eaten a light dinner, knowing well that Ben would order bar food and how he was incapable of ignoring it when he’d been drinking. Still, he wasn’t willing to drink on an empty stomach. He prided himself on the fact that he had never once had a hangover or puked from drinking and he wasn’t about to start now.

Ben arrived at his door while he was still trying to decide if his outfit was fine for going out with friends. It was cold out, the winter months only half over, so he chose one of his favorite sweaters that was just slightly too big for him. He chose jeans, which he wouldn’t usually pair with this sweater, but he figured it was appropriate for a casual night out. Especially since he didn’t expect to be there too long. He and Ben had worked out a signal for when he was ready for Eddie to leave them. He hoped it wouldn’t take too long for him to work up the courage.

When Eddie opened the door a few minutes after buzzing him in through the downstairs door, Ben was bouncing on the balls of his feet with nervous energy. The smile on his face looked slightly panicked and Eddie couldn’t help but laugh. Ben’s smile fell away and he immediately looked down at himself.

“Is it my outfit? Is it stupid?” Ben asked.

“Your outfit is fine. I was laughing at how crazy you look.” Eddie giggled, stepping aside for Ben to enter.

“I look crazy? Should I cancel? What if Bev thinks I’m crazy?”

“You just need to calm down. You’ve hung out with her before. She likes you.”

“Does she though?” He placed his hands on Eddie’s shoulders and shook him slightly. “Is this all a big mistake?”

“Jesus…maybe you should do a shot or six before she gets to the bar.” Eddie shook Ben loose so he could go to the couch to slip his shoes on. “If you get too nervous then I’ll just stay. I won’t leave until you give me the signal.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise. Please chill.”

Eddie grabbed his jacket and his keys and double checked that he had his phone before ushering Ben back out the door and toward the elevator. Ben’s nerves didn’t settle on the way out to the waiting uber Eddie had ordered, and he babbled on and on about Bev to their poor driver. When they arrived at the bar, Eddie practically had to pull him from the backseat of the car and mentally made a note to give their driver a glowing review.

As they showed their IDs at the door, Eddie hoped that Ben’s nervousness wouldn’t be considered suspicious as neither one looked their age. Somehow, they got in without issue and Eddie did a scan of the place. It wasn’t huge. The floor plan was open, the bar against the wall to the left of the door and tabled scattered across the room. They didn’t see Bev yet and Eddie wasn’t sure if that was good for Ben’s nerves or absolutely terrible.

“Let’s get a table while there’s still some open.” Eddie said, grabbing Ben’s arm and steering him to a table near the wall.

They sat, Eddie’s back to the door and Ben across from him. Which maybe wasn’t the best seating arrangement as Ben’s eyes were fixed to the door. Part of Eddie knew that things would get easier when Beverly arrived. She had a way of breaking Ben out of his shell. Any idiot could see they were made for each other and, while Eddie really didn’t want to be there, he was happy to help them get one step closer to being together.

“Should we order drinks now? Or do we wait?” Ben asked, quickly glancing at Eddie before looking back to the door.

“We’re not losing our table. Just wait until they get here.” Eddie was already so tired.

“Should I offer to pay for her? What if…she…” Ben’s voice trailed off as a light flush flooded his cheeks with color.

Eddie was sure that meant Bev had arrived and he lightly kicked him under the table. “Be cool. You’re drooling.”

“Hey boys.” Bev said as she approached.

Ben stood abruptly, his chair scraping loudly against the floor as it was pushed back with the movement. Eddie winced at the sound and gave him a look that said, ‘what the fuck?’. He always did this, acting like he needed to stand as soon as she entered the room like some dude in a Jane Austen novel.

“Hello, Beverly. You look nice.” Ben said, the words tumbling from his mouth.

“Thank you, Benjamin.” She grinned. “Hey Eddie.” She patted him on the shoulder and moved to sit beside Ben.

Eddie looked over his shoulder and saw no fourth person coming to join them. Maybe this would be easier than he thought. He looked back to them in time to see Ben nearly miss his chair when he went to sit down. Luckily, Bev was looking down at her phone and didn’t notice. Eddie stifled the laugh that nearly broke free, trying to save his friend any embarrassment.

“I thought you were bringing a friend.” Eddie said, bringing Bev’s attention back to the table.

“I did. He’s outside talking to the dude checking IDs. When we were walking to the door, he pulled a fake mustache from his pocket and intentionally gave the guy a really shitty fake ID. It had a picture of some guy like twice our age, bald, with a mustache. I left him there while he tried to prove it was a joke and that his actual ID was real.” She rolled her eyes, but she was grinning from ear to ear.

“What if he doesn’t make it in?” Ben asked.

“His loss. I told him to stop pulling shit like this.” She shrugged, before nodding toward the door. “There he is.”

Eddie turned to look, and his stomach dropped to the floor. He quickly turned back to the table and tried to make himself invisible. He’d been worried about having to hang out with this stranger, dreading what an awful night it would be. He just never considered how awful it truly could be. The last person he wanted to see had just strode into the bar, tucking a fake mustache back into his pocket.

“How’d you manage to convince him, Richie?” Bev asked, leaning back in her seat.

“I asked him if he really thought I’d be stupid enough to use a fake ID that looked that bad. He said yes but let me in anyway.” He responded, putting his hands on the back of the only empty seat beside Eddie.

“Idiot.” Bev laughed. “Well, introductions are necessary, I guess. This is Ben, and this is Eddie.”

Eddie gave up trying to make himself disappear when Bev said his name. He looked up into the glasses covered eyes of none other than Richie, the barista from the café. The man who made his Tuesday and Thursday coffee runs so detestable. The grin on his face was hard to ignore and Eddie wished he’d gotten a drink before they arrived.

“Holy shit, Eddie.” Richie said, finally sitting in the chair. “I’ve never seen you out in the wild like this.”

“You two know each other?” Bev asked, looking between the two.

“Eds here comes into the shop twice a week to grace me with his presence.”

“Don’t call me that.” Eddie said, leaning against the wall and hoping he could somehow fuse through it.

Richie, thankfully, turned to look at Ben instead. “So, this is Ben? He’s hot.”

Ben smiled as the color on his cheeks grew darker. “Oh, I, um…you…you too?” He said, visible flustered.

“Don’t embarrass him Richie.” Bev scolded with a smile. “As punishment, you will be fetching the first round.”

“Yes milady.” Richie said as he stood and swooped down into a dramatic bow.

“I can help carry drinks.” Ben chimed in, standing quickly.

Eddie hated himself. Hated that he cared so dearly for his friend and his desire to fall in love. Hated the words that were about to come out of his mouth. “Stay. I’ll help.” He put his hand out to Ben, urging him to sit as he stood.

Richie seemed surprised as they walked side by side to the bar. Eddie tried not to look at him, really not wanting to interact with him. This was, of course, a good chance to let him know of the plan. Hopefully, Richie wasn’t interested in Beverly. If he was, he could potentially ruin the night for Ben and then he’d have to hate him even more than he did before.

“You’re not going to cheat on me, are you?” Richie asked, just as Eddie was about to open his mouth.

“What?” He narrowed his eyes at the other.

“Their menu says they offer coffee.” Richie pointed up at the chalkboard menu above the bar. “I know it will be hard to resist but drinking another man’s coffee does constitute cheating in my books.”

“Oh my God.” Eddie sighed. “I think I need something a little stronger if I’m going to survive a night out with you and your jokes.” He shot back.

Richie grinned and chuckled. “So, I should get you drunk to make you like me. Good to know.”

Eddie was going to say something along the lines of ‘no amount of alcohol will make me like you’ when the bartender came over to take their order. They opened a joint tab and ordered a round of beer, a light beer for Eddie. Each grabbed two bottles and carried them back to the table where Bev was telling Ben a story.

“So, he jumped from the roof of the fake building swinging the wooden sword down like it was a guitar he was going to smash and when it hit the stage it broke. The top part flew across the room and hit Jared in the arm. He stumbled back trying to get away from it and fell right off the stage and now he’s in a cast.” She was saying.

Eddie handed a beer to Ben and reclaimed his seat. “What are you talking about?” He asked.

“I was telling Ben the reason we aren’t allowed to use wooden swords in class anymore. They’re all rubber now and for a while we had to use long balloons until the rubber ones came in.”

“In my defense, I didn’t think the sword would break.” Richie said as he sat.

“Maybe so, but your actions still caused poor Jared to break his ankle.” Bev said, taking a swig of her beer.

“You go to the same school?” Eddie asked, looking at Richie. He’d never seen him on campus, never saw him with Bev. She’d never even mentioned him before as a friend.

“Theater major.” He said.

“Why is that not surprising.”

“I can’t tell if that was an insult or not.” Bev laughed.

Eddie shrugged. Their conversation continued this way for a while, discussions of school and classes and how each of them met. Beverly hadn’t known that Eddie and Ben had actually grown up together in a small rural town. Ben was visibly embarrassed when Eddie pulled out his phone and found some old pictures of them from middle school. Bev and Richie loved the photos though and teased them for how dorky they looked.

“So, wait, you actually carried a fanny pack?” Richie was laughing.

The drinks had been flowing for a while by this point and each of them was more than a little tipsy. As predicted, Ben had suggested ordering some bar food for the table. Beverly had been more than willing to order food, going to the bar and grabbing a menu. Half empty plates of wings, pretzel sticks with beer cheese, mozzarella sticks and fries sat between them.

“Why is that funny, asshole?” Eddie asked, pointing at him with the top of his bottle.

“No, it’s uh…” Richie laughed again. “I’m sure you were very fashionable.”

“It wasn’t about fashion. It was about function. I kept my inhaler in there.”

“Isn’t that what pockets are for?”

“I need another drink. Ben?” Bev said, standing.

Ben nodded and stood, following after Bev. Eddie reached over and grabbed another fry from the plate, washing it down with a mouthful of beer. He knew that Richie was watching him, but he tried to ignore it. They’d been bickering all night and he wanted just a second of peace and silence. Of course, Richie wasn’t about to comply with his wishes.

“Tell me something.” He said with a smile.

“Ok, you’re not funny.” Eddie said, making himself laugh in his buzzed state.

“No. Tell me why you always order black coffee when you seem to hate it.”

“I don’t hate it.”

“You look like you want to die whenever you take a sip.”

Eddie had never realized that Richie watched him while he sat in the café and drank his coffee. It made him feel slightly embarrassed and a little uncomfortable. He knew the guy liked to tease him and test out stupid jokes on him, but he didn’t know that he paid so much attention to him.

“My friend Stanley says you just have to get used to drinking black coffee and eventually you’ll love it.” He explained.

Richie laughed. “Why would you do that to yourself?”

“It’s better than loading it down with a bunch of cream and sugar and flavored syrup. It’s empty calories.”

“Ok, so you don’t want added calories in your coffee, you drink light beer, but I just watched you help the rest of us devour a bunch of fried foods. Explain.”

“It’s not like I’m counting calories or anything. I just don’t think it’s smart to drink your calories. If you drink sugary crap all day then you’ll gain weight and spike your blood sugar. It’s not good for you.”

“So, then what do you drink?”

“Water, mostly. Sometimes I indulge in a soda with my meal if I’m so inclined.”

“Oh my God. You’re like an old man.”

“Fuck you. I just care about my body.” Eddie said, downing the last of his beer. He looked to the bar to see if Bev and Ben were headed back with another round yet, but he couldn’t see them. “Where did they go?”

Richie looked back and scanned the bar only to come up empty. “Must have left.”

“What the hell. Why wouldn’t he tell me he was leaving?”

“It wasn’t his choice. Bev had this plan from the start to ditch us so she could spend some time alone with him.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Eddie now realized that he never did get the chance to tell Richie about their plan. “Ben was supposed to give me a signal to leave them alone here. I can’t believe you didn’t warn me.”

“You didn’t warn me about your plan. What were you going to do with me?”

“I don’t know. I figured I’d just go home.”

Richie raised his eyebrows and grinned. “So, you were planning to take me home?

“Oh, fuck off. You know what I meant.” Eddie stood and grabbed his jacket. “Well, if they’re gone, I’m leaving too.”

Eddie slipped his jacket on, not catching the way Richie’s smile finally fell away and was replaced with a frown. He stood as well and followed Eddie to the bar. They closed out their tab and split the cost, though Eddie planned to get at least half of that back from Ben for ditching him without warning. He resisted the urge to pull his phone out and text him to let him know he sucked, but he was with Bev and that’s what he wanted. Why did he have to be such a supportive friend?

Without saying goodbye, Eddie turned to leave but Richie was close on his heels. They walked out into the night and Eddie realized he hadn’t even bothered to order an uber. He pulled his phone out and opened the app, only to realize that Richie was staring down at him expectantly.

“What?” He asked, glancing at him before turning his attention back to his phone.

“Before you head home do you want to get some…ice cream?” He asked.

Eddie finally looked at him. “It’s like thirty degrees out here. There’s snow on the ground. And you want ice cream?”

Richie shrugged. “Yes?”

“Yea, I’ll pass.”

“Ok, it doesn’t have to be ice cream. There’s a 24-hour diner close by with really good pie.”

“I think I’d rather go home and sleep.”

“I’ll treat.”

Eddie’s fingers paused on his screen. He really didn’t want to spend any more time with this man, but he knew of the diner he was talking about and their pie was amazing. It was the offer to pay for him that really had him considering saying yes. He was going to respond when Richie’s phone chimed. He pulled it from his pocket and frowned down at the screen.

“Shit. I um…I have to go somewhere but…rain check on the pie?” He asked, giving him a sheepish smile.

Eddie couldn’t help thinking he looked disappointed. “Yea. Maybe.”

Richie said goodbye with that same look for disappointment still on his face as he rushed off down the street. Eddie was lucky enough to get an uber that was already close by. As soon as he got home, he collapsed on his couch and sent a text to Ben.

Eddie: You left me alone with Richie. You owe me. Big

He didn’t expect to hear from him until tomorrow with a full report of what happened with Beverly. Eddie was happy for his friend. He could tell that Bev liked him too and he wanted them to be together. Wanted them both to be happy. He just couldn’t help but feel jealous. He wanted to like someone, to have someone like him back. Longed for companionship and love. He fell asleep on the couch remembering the look Richie had given him when he left and wondering where he had to rush off to.

[literary-masochism]

Midnight Sun: Chapter One - My Descent Into Madness

(reposted from my blog)

I kind of want to be dramatic and say I have a long, sordid history with Twilight, but I’m not sure that’s accurate. I do have a history, but it is one of pain, tears, and frustration.

I’m a firm believer in reading a ‘bad’ book to form your own opinion on it instead of just believing what you’re told...

The criticisms against Twilight were more than justified.

It took me multiple attempts to get through the first book – The first time I didn’t even finish the first chapter. I loathed Bella Swan from the moment we met her. She whined nonstop, she bitched nonstop, and was instantly so shallow and two-faced to everyone she met that I wanted to punch her in her (at the time) nondescript face.

But I tried again and again and finally finished the series. I remember crying during the Breaking Dawn because nothing was fucking happening and there was so much left in the book and I just wanted it to END.

Then my brain, trying to save me, made me forget everything about what I read. When I realized what had happened, I checked my Goodreads to make sure I did, in fact, read those books and they weren’t just a fever dream sent by the forces of evil to torment me.

As much as I appreciated the attempt, I earned those scars... at least audiobooks are easier to get through, even though I had to pause them to rage, again, at the idiocy.

And now... Now we have Midnight Sun. I believe I skimmed the leaked book but never gave it any real attention... so, of course, the full book gets released the day after my 34th birthday.

Joy.

But it gives me an excuse to try something I always wanted to do: Snarking bad books... because if I have to suffer, you might as well too!

So... without further delay... here is the first chapter, as seen by me, of Midnight Sun.

Chapter 1: First Sight

We open up with Edward being a melodramatic prick about having to go to school and how boring it is.

THIS WAS THE TIME OF DAY WHEN I MOST WISHED I WERE ABLE TO SLEEP.

High school.

Or was purgatory the right word? If there were any way to atone for my sins, this ought to count toward the tally in some measure. The tedium was not something I grew used to; every day seemed more impossibly monotonous than the last.

Followed quickly by how much humans, especially teenagers, suck absolute ass.

When it came to the human mind, I’d heard it all before and then some. Today, all thoughts were consumed with the trivial drama of a new addition to the small student body. It took so little to work them up. I’d seen the new face repeated in thought after thought from every angle. Just an ordinary human girl. The excitement over her arrival was tiresomely predictable—it was the same reaction as one would get from flashing a shiny object at a group of toddlers. Half the sheep-like males were already imagining themselves infatuated with her, just because she was something new to look at. I tried harder to tune them out.

Don’t you just love him already?

This is only the first page... It’s not even a full page... Edward tells us how he tries not to listen to his siblings then tells us exactly what his siblings are thinking.

He shames Rosalie for thinking about how hot she is, but since that’s her only personality trait we ever got in the entire saga (besides bitch), I’m not that worked up over it. She’s hot and she knows it.

Emmett is just thinking about kicking Jasper’s ass which, I feel, is a goal everyone should aspire to because Jasper’s thoughts...

And Jasper was… suffering.

GOOD

Alice mentally calls his name and Edward is kind enough to let us know that it’s just the same as if someone said it out loud... you know, because we’re too dumb to work that out ourselves.

Also, he is so thankful that the name EDWARD has ‘fallen out of style’ in the last few decades.

Alice is worried about Jasper slaughtering everybody within a ten-mile radius because he’s become a literal statue (because Meyerpires are made of stone and this is in no way a ripoff of Anne Rice) and, stupidly, she asks Edward how he’s doing...

I guess Alice forgot she could, you know, SEE INTO THE FUTURE. Because checking to see if your boyfriend is about to go on a murder spree is a telepathy situation.

She relaxed. Let me know if it gets too bad.

I moved only my eyes, up to the ceiling above, and back down.

Thanks for doing this.

YOU CAN SEE THE GOD DAMN FUTURE!

Was it really necessary to experiment this way? Wouldn’t the safer path be to just admit that he might never be able to handle his thirst as well as the rest of us could, and not push his limits? Why flirt with disaster?

YES! WHY?!

For a group of vampires that don’t want to kill humans, so we’re told, they certainly don’t give a fuck if they kill humans.

It had been two weeks since our last hunting trip. That was not an immensely difficult time span for the rest of us. A little uncomfortable occasionally—if a human walked too close, if the wind blew the wrong way. But humans rarely walked too close. Their instincts told them what their conscious minds would never understand: We were a danger that must be avoided.

So... which is it?

Edward thinks about how oblivious the humans around them are and how they avoid the ‘odd-looking’ group.

Okay, if I had to guess, the avoidance has more to do with how fucking weird you are. A group of five incredibly attractive (And yet odd-looking? Sure Meyer) teenagers sitting by themselves with full trays of food that they don’t eat, all while wearing designer clothing. They don’t talk to each other, they barely even look at each other...

That’s fucking weird. THEY’RE WEIRD.

Meyer: They’re either so attractive as to lure their prey in for the kill or they’re so inhuman looking that no one wants to go near them. It can’t be both.

Anyway, a girl walks by and Edward starts frothing at the mouth while he and Jasper get a vampire erection over Jasper imagining MURDERING AN INNOCENT GIRL.

Also, calling her a ‘little girl’ is very creepy in an entirely different way. Just sayin’.

Edward snaps Jasper out of it and Alice lies and says he wasn’t going to slaughter an innocent human being in the middle of the cafeteria.

We had to stick together, Alice and I. It wasn’t easy, being the freaks among those who were already freaks.

Shut the ever-loving-fuck up.

And Alice, ever-so-helpfully, reminds Jasper to think of humans as people... because, you know, they aren’t really. Not compared to vampires anyway.

Someone mentally says the name ‘Edward’ so Edward turns to them as though they had actually called his name. Only it was in his head, not in real life. In case you didn’t catch that. That Edward is telepathic... so he hears thoughts as though they were being spoken to him. That’s why he looked over when someone thought his name.

In case you didn’t understand what was going on.

This is the first time Edward sees Bella and... he gives no fucks. But wait! Turns out it was Jessica Stanley thinking about him, not Bella!

In fact, Jessica thinks Bella is already crushing on all the Cullens.

Good for you, Jessica, not assuming Bella is only after the undead D. Rosalie/Bella shippers thank you.

Edward is relieved Jessica got over her fixation on him (because it’s totally normal for teenager girls to crush on weird-looking weirdos). He then goes on to show he has no idea how teenage girls (or adult women for that matter) work:

What a relief it had been when she’d gotten over her misplaced fixation. It used to be nearly impossible to escape her constant, ridiculous daydreams. I’d wished, at the time, that I could explain to her exactly what would have happened if my lips, and the teeth behind them, had gotten anywhere near her. That would have silenced those annoying fantasies.

That is the exact fantasy most TwiHards were having.

Jessica complains that she doesn’t see why all the boys are looking at Bella, thinking she’s ‘not even pretty’. I know this is supposed to make Jessica unlikable but, you know what? That is a very wounded teenage thought process. It’s immature and turning the blame somewhere else but that’s teenagers in a nutshell.

Edward comments on Jessica’s new obsession with Mike Newton – creepily calling him a child.

There is the implication that Jessica’s not a nice person because she’s being outwardly nice to Bella while bad-mouthing her mentally and... that’s such a Christian mentality: the idea that your thoughts matter as much as your actions. Just putting that out there because, clearly, we can see what Meyer’s opinion on that is… as long as it’s one of the Cullens or Bella doing the thinking, it’s fine! In Twilight, Bella was putting down everyone who looked at her until the hideously beautiful Edward was so mean to her.

No, I didn’t forget that shit.

Jessica continues being a teenager girl, hoping that with Bella’s ever-shining light of beauty shining beside her that maybe Senpai Mike will notice her.

And, of course, Edward is an asshole because he’s upset that a teenager girl has teenage thoughts.

He tells Emmett what’s going down with the new girl and tries to listen in on Bella’s thoughts to see what she thinks about all this.

And, because Bella doesn’t actually have thoughts, all Edward hears in the unending howling void.

Edward tells us he has to use his powers to protect his family! He has to listen to everyone’s thoughts in case anyone gets suspicious about the beautiful/weird/attractive/repulsive family in their midst.

I feel like that would be easier if Edward didn’t actively try to ignore everyone.

But sometimes people get it right and the Cullens have to disappear before... I don’t know. Meyerpires are indestructible by humans to the point that they can outrun nuclear bombs. The Vultori might come whine at them for exposing the secret but by that point, the Cullens disappearing would just draw even more attention.

Edward tries to listen to the new girl but gets nothing. He turns to check and all he can see is the brown-void eyes of Bella.

There’s also a bit in there where Edward wonders if Bella is still sitting there because she must be since Jessica is still talking. He turns and sees Bella still sitting there because of course she is, because Jessica is still talking to her. You see, Bella was still there and Edward suspected as much as Jessica was still talking to her because she was still sitting there.

He gets another hard-on as Bella blushes. He comments that she “looked surprised” as she “unknowingly absorbed the signs of subtle differences between her kind and mine.”

Bitch, you don’t know that. You can’t read her fucking thoughts. You’re just assuming this bullshit. This is some of what I remember from skimming the first Midnight Sun. You just make up shit about her personality to suit what you want! Reality is completely optional.

And we get this:

[...] as she listened to Jessica’s tale; and something more… Fascination? It wouldn’t be the first time. We were beautiful to them, our intended prey.

You know, the hyper attractiveness that turns people away because of how odd-looking they are but also draws people to them while also making people avoid them because they’re so inhuman.

And yet, though her thoughts had been so clear in her odd eyes—odd because of the depth to them—I could hear only silence from the place she was sitting. Just… silence.

Yes, because she’s the void personified.

Try and keep up.

Edward decides that he’s just not trying hard enough and stops blocking out all the teenager chatter – you know, the chatter he constantly listens to to ensure the safety of his family? That chatter.

Also, shout out to Ashley Dowling for obviously having a crush on Bella.

Angela Weber is the only one not thinking about Bella. I’m sure Meyer’s just trying to show how ‘unusually kind’ she is but... acting like a completely normal person doesn’t really qualify as being ‘unusually kind’.

Then Meyer, again, tries too hard to make Jessica unlikable by having her mentally calling Bella an idiot for asking about Edward Cullen. But since Bella is an idiot...

We get the infamous “He’s gorgeous, obviously.” line even though all of student body finds the Cullens odd-looking and want nothing to do with them.

And Edward gets this strong impulse to protect Bella from Jessica’s nefarious plots to... get mildly more popular for the short time people care that there’s a new student at school. He describes how fragile Bella looks and how translucent her skin is...

Then we get this little gem where Meyer, apparently, forgot Edward can’t read Bella’s mind while describing things he’d only know if he could read her mind.

It was unbelievably frustrating! I could easily see that it was a strain for her to sit there, to make conversation with strangers, to be the center of attention. I could sense her shyness from the way she held her frail-looking shoulders, slightly hunched, as if she was expecting a rebuff at any moment.

This is a one-way street, Meyer. Edward has to stay his ass in his own lane.

Edward informs us that, despite not being able to hear Bella’s thoughts, he’s not going to let himself get too interest in them just because they’re hidden from him... then immediately says he’s going to find out what she thinks no matter what it takes. No matter how petty, trivial, self-absorbed, whiny, and shallow they are! He will find out!

Emmett interrupts Edward’s obliviousness to his own faults and asks if Bella is afraid of them yet.

“They sit by themselves, never talk to anyone, and stare at the wall.” Absolutely terrifying.

Lunch is over and the Cullens to go their classes. Edward is an asshole prepared to be bored because he’s so much smarter than the biology teacher.

He also tells us the reason he has a table to himself is because everyone is avoiding him and they were too stupid to know why. Yes, that is the word he uses.

Such a Prince Charming, isn’t he?

Again, Edward laments his inability to sleep when Angela leads Bella into class! Then Edward remembers he was totally thinking about Bella just now and not wishing he was asleep!

Also, Angela? Shut up.

The Void comes in and Edward still can’t hear her and, in one of the few moments I like, he worries that he’s losing his gift. Don’t worry, nothing comes out of that thought.

Edward notes that the only available seat is beside him so he clears a bit of room for her, feeling sorry that she’s doomed to spend so much time next to his hideousness. BUT THEN!

Bella Swan walked into the flow of heated air that blew toward me from the vent.

Her scent hit me like a battering ram, like an exploding grenade. There was no image violent enough to encompass the force of what happened to me in that moment.

Now comes a page long description of Edward losing his shit. He tells us, multiple times, how much he wants to eat her, how he’ll have to get rid of the witnesses, blah blah blah. It’s basically the same paragraph repeated a few times... But you know what? It’s better than the whiny shit we’ve been getting and it’s nice to actually see the ‘good’ vampires struggle in a not completely idiotic way... so I ain’t that mad at it.

I was actually enjoying it a bit until Meyer stuck her dumb in my chocolate by having Edward rip a bit of wood off the desk. Like no one would have heard that. Or wonder why there’s a pile of sawdust under Edward’s desk.

Edward... I know that you’re far older than anyone in that room but... calling people children is just fucking creepy. Stop.

He calculates the best way to slurp Bella up and kill witnesses in the most efficient way (interrupted occasionally by an eye-roll worthy melodramatic thought about murdering innocents). I would like this if it wasn’t such a stark reminder of how Edward doesn’t actually give two fucks about humans – he just doesn’t want to disappoint his Not-Dad... who, from what we’ve seen in the guide (shudder) doesn’t really seem to care either as long as he’s not the one doing the murdering. They don’t kill people not because they care or want to protect them but because Dad said not to.

Bella sits down beside him (And he’s absolutely sure she’s terrified of him though she’s shown no sign of that and HE CAN’T READ HER THOUGHTS.)

Anyway, he whines that now he has to kill her for existing.

This is another little plothole that bothers me: he doesn’t have to stay in the classroom. He can ask to be excused, say he’s feeling sick or he has to use the bathroom. Yeah, it would draw a few moments of attention but, you know, IT’S BETTER THAN PLOTTING THE MURDER OF THIRTY PEOPLE.

Meyer decides to call me out on that thought and claims:

Every life in this room was in danger while she and I were in it together. I should run. I wanted to run, to get away from the heat of her next to me, and the punishing pain of the burning, but I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that if I unlocked my muscles to move, even just to stand, I wouldn’t lash out and commit the slaughter I’d already planned.

Fuck you, he only needs to resist for the half-a-dozen seconds it’d take to get out of the room. But no, he’d rather try and resist for an hour instead.

He, again, talks about Bella’s skin and calls it ‘See-through’.

Sexy

Edward’s becomes increasingly paranoid that Bella’s ‘trying to hide her secrets from him’.

Chillax, Eddie. She ain’t that deep.

He changes tactics. He’ll try to get her alone and his plan for this is flawless!

If he asks to walk her to her next class, she has to be polite and say yes! Even though he’s certain she’s terrified of him (because he completely fails at reading human reactions if he can’t read their minds), she’ll have to do the polite thing! Because reasons!

While he doesn’t realize how stupid that is, he does notice that everyone with an interest in ladies is already obsessing over Ms. Swan so people will probably notice him leading her away like the serial killer he is.

So he plots to wait until she gets home to murder her.

And you guys, he just hates her so much! I mean, he hates himself but he hates her for making him hate himself but also her because she exists but also himself but also her but also himself...

And apparently that was his entire thought process for the next hour because class is suddenly over!

Edward runs out of the room – you know, the thing he said he couldn’t do before because even just moving might prompt him to murder everything – and mopes in his car where he realizes that ‘Wait... I don’t have to do the thing’.

He wonders why Alice didn’t break their cover and draw attention to themselves by barging into Edward’s class to help him get rid of either his murder-boner or the bodies caused by his murder-boner. He decides that she’s focusing on making sure Jasper doesn’t get a murder-boner and she’s concentrating ‘vary’ hard on that.

(Is pointing out typos a bit too petty? Maybe but I did it.)

And Edward feels a new burn coursing through his body! The burn of SHAME!

(I'm glad I got to use this Gif so early on!)

I should say that, through out all of this, Edward’s been going on about his little monster (not that one) growling around his head but all I can imagine are the critters from Critters Attack:

He decides to just avoid Bella as much as possible while being in the same building as her and goes to try and change his classes halfway through the semester.

He startles Mrs. Cope by being so vampirey, though humans are too stupid to notice that, because he came in quietly while she wasn’t paying attention. Her panties are immediately soaked at the sight of teenage boy bod (ew) and asks how she could help him. Eddie lays it on thick because... I don’t know. I’m pretty sure she’s not in charge of the classes, so there’s no reason for him to make her flood the office like this...

Even he’s uncomfortable but he still does it. Gross.

Also, statistically, women prefer men close to their own age or slightly older, so...

We get a whole paragraph of Mrs. Cope thinking of how smart and perfect the Cullens are – actually thinking the line ‘Perfect Cullen’.

When she says that he can’t change or drop the class, he tries to stare her into submission, lamenting that his eyes aren’t gold but the terrifying black instead.

Uh... dark dark brown, almost black eyes are pretty common and can be very alluring. Have you forgotten Ben Barnes exists?! Here, I'll remind you:

I’d be more freaked out by the gold.

Bella, of course, interrupts this awkward seduction and sends Edward running with his tail between his legs. He passes by some random guy in the parking lot and, since Edward is so all important, the guy wonders where Edward came from and, instead of deciding he must not have noticed him before (Like a normal person not in a SMeyer book would do) he decides his imagination is getting the better of him.

Edward makes it to the Volvo where the others are waiting. He takes off like a bat out of hell (lawl) and in a moment of stupid where Meyer, once again, forgets how her characters's powers work:

She looked ahead for me now. We both processed what she saw in her head, and we were both surprised.

“You’re leaving?” she whispered.

You see... Alice’s visions are based on people’s decisions... Edward didn’t know he was leaving until he saw that Alice saw he was leaving... which makes no sense in the context of what we’ve been given.

And so, after a moment of Edward thinking about killing Bella, he decides to flee the entire country.

And that’s the end of chapter one! It took me way longer than I expected and I used 74 tabs... This is going to be an experience and a half...

Until next time, I'm out!

[190511]

Embry | Imprinting

Hey guys! So this is my first imagine, I hope you guys like it! Please request!

Embry x Witch!reader

Summary: The reader is a close friend of Renesmee. Over the weekend the reader goes over to the Cullen's house to hang out with Renesmee. Meets Jacob and his friends. Which leads to Embry imprinting and finding out that his imprint is a powerful witch. Sam and Paul are not fond of that which causes the reader to be scared, but wants to show that she isn't dangerous. And of course the curious pack wants to see the reader demonstrate her powers/abilities.

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of the reader having depression and anxiety, mentions of mentally abusive mother, reader having an anxiety attack.

You woke up to your alarm going off. As you rolled onto your side you checked the time, it was 10 in the morning. You got out of bed, and got your outfit ready before taking a quick shower. You were excited to go to the Cullen's house to hang out with Renesmee. You got your new watercolor paints which arrived yesterday in the afternoon. You wanted to try them out with Renesmee, or more like she wanted to see you try them out. She loved seeing you excited over things you loved to do, she just loved the way you reacted differently over certain things. From the way you smile when you see food, to the way you seem extremely satisfied from learning a new choreography, and especially from the way you almost cry from happiness when you are finally able to control one of your powers you recently have discovered you have. The whole Cullen family knew about you being a witch, and they accepted you from the moment that they found out. They even tried to help you learn how to control your powers. Esme and Carlisle treated you like their own daughter, especially after finding out from Edward that your mom was extremely mentally abusive which explains why you have depression and anxiety. Luckily today your mom worked early in the morning and didn't come back home until 8 or 9 at night, since she was going to hang out with some of her friends, and you will definitely be home by that time, unless you wanted to get yelled at for going out without permission. You didn't bother asking for permission at this point, you just found ways to go out without getting caught. You finished doing your hair, you dried it and straighten it. You changed into your clothes which were some skinny jeans, a short sleeved shirt, your adidas, and a hoodie, since it was getting chilly already. You had only met Renesmee during the summer but it felt like you've known her for years even though it was only October. You packed your backpack with your paints and sketchbook. You were ready to go, you weren't going to eat since you usually aren't hungry in the morning. You brushed your teeth and grabbed your things, got out the house, locked your door, and started to walk to the Cullen's. It usually only took you about 20-30 minutes to get there depending on how fast you walked. And like almost everyday day, you took your time to walk, enjoying the beautiful sceneries. You were also into photography so obviously you carried your digital camera almost everywhere, and today you had it with you like usual. You stopped several times to take beautiful pictures of some small animals, plants, etc, while you listened to some soft and calming music. Today it had taken you almost 40 minutes to get there. You walked slowly, feeling extremely calm and welcomed in the forest for some strange reason today. Once you got to your destination you were greeted by a beautiful creature. You slowly took out your headphones and reached for your camera. It was a wolf, a beautiful looking wolf. It looked calm as it was laying outside of the Cullen's house, as if waiting for someone. You weren't scared, you were mesmerized. Once you made eye contact with the beautiful calm creature, it was as if everything changed, you felt a weird feeling inside of you, and it somehow looked like it felt the same thing too. It seemed as if it just had the air punched out of it. You smiled softly and begin to walk towards it. It slowly stood on its four legs, and then you noticed how big it was, but that didn't make you stop going towards it. It didn't scare you, it just made you more interested in the beautiful creature. It slowly made it way towards you.

"Stop, can you stay there, just sit still." You said softly, not worrying about the creature not listening to you. To your own surprise, it did what you asked. You slowly took a step back and grabbed your camera once again and snapped a picture. You looked at the photograph, smiling to yourself, proud of what had just happened. You looked up to see the wolf still looking at you. You had expected it to run away but it didn't. Without thinking to made your way towards it, not even thinking about the chance of getting attacked. You stopped once you were in front of it. "Can I pet you?" You asked as if the mesmerizing animal was going to answer you. The wolf leaned down a bit and waited for you to do what you had just asked. You gasped and smiled, you ran your hands through its fur. You let out a soft giggle as you heard the animal whine when you stopped petting it. You gently took its head into your hands and looked at it in the eyes as you scratched behind its ears. You weren't even thinking about Renesmee at this point. You felt drawn to this wolf.

"Look what we have here." You jump slightly at the voice of Emmett which startled you. You saw the Cullen's outside of their house most of them smirking at you. And then you saw someone you didn't recognize, someone holding Renesmee's hand. Next to him were five other guys trying not to laugh.

"Who is that?" You asked Renesmee, referring to the guy who was holding her hand.

"Jacob, my boyfriend. And those are his friends." She said nodding towards the guys next to Jacob before finally facing the wolf in front of you. You tilted your head to the side in confusion.

"He's friends with a wolf?" You asked, you were really confused.

"We're all wolfs, shape shifters." You nodded slowly.

"Since when were you guys watching us?" You asked.

"Since you got here," answered Alice. You nodded before you heard the wolf making its way into the forest.

"Where is he going?" You asked, not wanting to be away from the wolf.

"Don't worry Y/N, he'll come back, for you." Edward said smiling.

"Why is everyone looking at me with a weird face?" You asked suspiciously. One of Jacob's friends burst out laughing.

"Embry imprinted on you." He said before getting smacked in the head by another one of the shape shifters.

"Jared, Embry was supposed to tell her that, not you." Said the tallest one. Now you were even more confused.

"What's that? Imprinting?"

"I think Embry should tell you that since Jared couldn't shut his mouth." Jacob said before you see someone walking towards you. A good looking guy, an extremely good looking guy to be exact. He was taller than you, tanned and had a cute shy smile.

"Hey," he said softly. Holy shit, he's cute.

"Hey, you must be Embry." He nodded before looking at his friends.

"Can we be alone for some time?" The Cullen's nodded before heading back inside of their house.

"Wait! Renesmee. Can you take my backpack and put it inside?" You asked running towards Renesmee. You took off your backpack and handed it to her. She took it and smiled at you.

"Do want us to take your camera too?" Asked Jacob. You shook your head.

"No thank you, I always keep it with me." You smiled and walked towards Embry. His friends whistled and made kissy faces before walking into the house. Feeling flustered you started playing with your fingers.

"Hey, wanna go for a walk?" you nodded softly before walking into the forest.

"So what's imprinting?" You asked right away, not being able to control your curiosity. Embry sighed and stopped walking.

"It's kinda like a soulmate, I need to be in your life, as a brother, protector, or even lover if you like. It's a rare thing that happens to us." You nodded, you were interested.

"And what do you want to be?" You said with a smile on your face.

"That's for you to choose." He said right away.

"Oh." You said before looking up at him. "Well, uh, I'm down to go on some dates and see where that goes. Possibly... Hopefully, into the boyfriend path?"

"Really?" Embry said grinning. You nodded slightly. Embry surprised you by hugging you.

"Oh wow you're really warm." You said laughing a bit.

"Oh sorry," Embry said pulling away. You shook your head.

"I don't mind." You said before pulling him into another hug. You stayed there for a couple of seconds before you felt him sniffing your hair causing you to laugh. He just continued to sniff you, just a bit louder this time, making you burst out laughing.

"Is that like a wolf thing?" You asked still laughing. Embry didn't pull away.

"Yes..." He said and he continued to smell you. You pulled away a bit and went to kiss his cheek.

"I like you a lot already." You said softly.

"I like you a lot too." He said back looking into your eyes.

"So tell me about yourself." He said as he took a hold on your hand and started to walk back to the Cullen's house.

"Well, I'm into art, I like dancing, I love animals. I love photography, obviously. And um, I... I'm a witch." You said quickly.

"Wait what?" Embry said confused.

"Since your friend told me you're a shifter, I assumed I could tell you about me being a witch." You said quietly.

"So you have powers or like what?" Said Embry, he sounded interested.

"Yeah I do actually! Several! But I can't control all of them." Embry looked down at you and smiled.

"You look adorable when you are excited." He mumbled. You smiled softly before going to kiss his cheek again.

"Let's go inside the house. I've been wanting to try out my new paints." You said before walking up the stairs. Once you got inside the house. You heard a bunch of loud guys yelling Embry's name.

"How'd it go dude?" Asked Jared. Before seeing you and Embry holding hands.

"Aww look at the love birds being all touchy with each other already." Said another guy.

"That's Paul, and he's annoying." Said Embry. You laughed before waving to both guys.

"Hey I'm Y/n," You said introducing yourself to the pack.

"I'm Quil, that's Seth, and that's Sam, our alpha." Said a curly haired guy. You nodded and smiled at them before walking around to find Renesmee. She was in the living room sitting down next to Jacob.

"Hey! So are you ready to try out the new paints?" You asked Renesmee as you opened your back pack and got everything ready. She nodded and sat next to you on the couch moving a small table so you could put your paints there along with your sketch book. Everyone was there watching you and Renesmee. "Look at how organized it looks." You said as you opened the box that had the paints in it. You got out a cup and you were about to make some water appear in the cup but stopped yourself as you noticed that not everyone knew about you being a witch.

"Wait what? Y/n is a witch?" Said a very confused Seth. You panicked and started to look at Esme. They were reading each other's minds.

"You imprinted on a witch Embry!" Exclaimed an angry Paul. You started to feel frightened. Once Embry noticed this and got defensive.

"There's nothing wrong with that." He said looking at Paul.

"She could be dangerous." Said Sam. You stood up before walking towards Esme and Carlisle.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it." You whispered. "Please don't scream, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." You said your breathing accelerating.

"What's wrong with her?" Asked Jared.

"She's having an anxiety attack. Get out of the house now." Said Carlisle.

"We're not leaving until we know she isn't a threat to us." Demanded Paul. Embry walked towards you and pulled you into a hug.

"No, no no, get away, please." You said trying to push Embry away causing him to wince.

"She doesn't like being touched when she's having anxiety attacks." Said Edward quickly reading your mind. Embry nodded before walking back.

"Leave please. Alone... I want to be alone... Please... Renesmee, stay please." Renesmee nodded and walked towards you as everyone left. After around 15 minutes of crying and panicking, your breathing started slowing down before feeling better. Renesmee hugged you and touched your cheek.

"You're safe here, we'll protect you."

"Thank you..." You hugged her for a bit before pulling away and standing up. "I'm ready to show them that I am not dangerous." Renesmee nodded and started walking towards the front door. You took a breath and followed her outside.

"I am a witch. I have several abilities, I cannot control all of them, it is difficult but I try, the ones I can control are the ones I use almost daily." You said walking down the stairs. You look at the Cullen's and they gave you a smile and small nod. "Water I have full control over." You said before closing your eyes and moving your wrist in a circle before making a wall of water come between you and pack. You make an opening and walk through it towards them before quickly letting the water drop to the ground without leaving any trace of it on the dirt.

"Fire I have full control over too." You say opening your hand, showing a small flame. "It took me a month to learn how to control this one. Probably because I have a really big phobia about possible getting burned, I don't know why. But I managed to control it." You said before you raise your hand up in the air. You look up and smile at the phoenix you summoned before you snap your fingers making it disappear into flames. "Ice, I almost have full control over, it's hard though." You say before closing your eyes in concentration and putting your arms out your palms facing up. You start making ice form in your hands before hissing in pain, "It's hard when the cold burns, you know." You say quitely laughing before turning and facing Paul. "Lighting I have like 75% control over." You take a deep breath before glancing at the Cullens.

Taking Paul's arm roughly you let a shock of electricity hit him pulling a loud "Shit!" and a deep growl from him making you let go before pointing a finger at him.

"You're an asshole." Making the other guys laugh. "Air is surprisingly hard to use for some unknown reason." Taking a deep breath you start walking away from the pack, stopping about 10 feet away from them. You quickly open your arms letting yourself feel full of power before walking in a circle. After a while the wind starts picking up, a calm tornado a bit taller than you starts forming in the space you were walking around. You stop and walk away from the tornado making it slowly disappear into the air, literally. "And last but not least. Earth, I struggle with this one the most." You walking quickly towards Embry stopping inches away from him. You take his hands into yours, turning them to face upwards. Curious and interested he stares in admiration while smiling. You put your hands on top of his not touching completely. Embry starts feeling some weight on his hands and quickly looks down to see a pile of dirt. You glance at him wanting to see his reaction, and smile. You turn your attention back to your plan and start letting droplets on water drop down onto the pile of dirt sitting on his hands. You grab him by his shoulders making him hunch down a bit, and take a hold of his face, closing your eyes and start concentrating. After a couple of seconds you open your eyes to see him staring at you in confusion, flustered you let go of him and wave your hand into the direction of his hands. "That is for you," you mumble, making him look down to see a red dahlia flower quickly blooming on his hands. "Dahlias represent a lasting bond and commitment," you whisper looking up at him. He quickly drops the dirt, only keeping the flower before pulling you into a hug and kissing your forehead.

"I'm so happy to have you as my imprint, you don't understand how lucky I am." He says while looking at your flustered face. You look down trying to avoid eye contact before impulsively taking hold of his face and pulling him down to give him a quick peck on the lips and hugging him burying your face into his chest.

"Are you guys done? I want to go see my imprint too you know," Jared says jokingly trying to ruin the moment. You pull away from Embry before walking quickly towards Jared and putting your hand against his forehead. Before anyone could ask what you're doing you start letting a ice cold temperature against his skin making him hiss and pull away. "What the hell?" He yells as he hold his head in pain.

"You really had to ruin the moment dude?" Embry complains before walking towards you and pulling you into a back hug. "You deserve that," he says as he rests his head on your shoulder.

"And those are it." You say smiling while moving to face Sam while still being held by Embry.

"Sorry for our reactions but I'm sure you understand why we have to be cautious. I trust you now Y/n and the rest of the pack will trust you too."

[switchedatbirthspoilers]

Switched at Birth EP on Finale's 'Family Triangle,' Reunion Hopes and More

Switched at Birth concluded its five-season run on Tuesday in much the same way it started: with a strong sense of family as the Kennish-Vasquez clan laid on their front lawn together, gazing up at a rare comet.

The final sight of unlikely sisters Bay and Daphne splayed across the grass was meant to evoke the “iconic image” of the show’s early key art, executive producer Lizzy Weiss tells TVLine, adding that she hopes the series finale leaves viewers feeling “the same way when you shut it off as you did when you started, that this is a very special family that you wanted to be part of.”

The show’s central love triangle also took a familial turn when, rather than moving to Japan with her boyfriend Travis, Bay asked her ex Emmett to accompany his “brother.”

“That was very intentional,” Weiss says. “There was a lot of discussion about Bay as a young woman and that the conversation kept getting framed as, ‘Which boy was she going to choose?’ and we were are all very sensitive to that. She’s a young woman in her own right.”

Still, Bay and Travis reaffirmed their commitment to each other as a long-distance couple, while Daphne and Mingo reunited. Elsewhere, Regina convinced Eric to turn himself in so they could one day be together, and Kathryn discovered that before the switch was unearthed, John thought Bay wasn’t his daughter, but stuck around anyway.

Below, Weiss talks about her vision for the series ender, the storylines that got cut and the possibility of a reunion.

TVLINE | How much of this ending was what you originally envisioned before you got the news that the show wasn’t coming back?

Lizzy Weiss | There were general decisions that were made, like that Bay and Travis stay together. But I don’t know that we knew the exact moves of the story until we were faced with that in the moment. I always knew that we would shake up John and Kathryn one last time and remind everyone that they’re the center, and they will not be moved as a couple. But a lot of it we decided in the moment after many, many weeks of throwing things around.

TVLINE | The news came down while you were in the middle of production on the season. So were there certain things that you had to speed up or that you didn’t quite get to?

Lizzy Weiss | There were decisions we may have taken more time with. I always wanted to have Toby give up music and choose to move into a career with disability. That probably would have been over the course of the next ten episodes. We did it faster; that’s OK. Speaking of Toby, we wanted to explore that family becoming Jewish, and the Kennishes throwing a Passover seder and how fun that would be. It was more like there were stories and episodes we were bummed we didn’t get to do because we thought the fans would love them. But there wasn’t one big turn where I felt like, “Oh God, that will never be told.” All of the key stuff with the key players, we got to do.

Like with Regina, we always knew that Eric was the guy, and that Luca was for now. And I actually like how it turned out. We did it really quickly. It felt urgent; it felt exciting. She had to make that decision really fast. The elegance of her starting the show as a single mom and ending it with a new partner and a new son was just really beautiful to me.

TVLINE | You said you knew Bay and Travis would stay together. There was never any debate about which guy Bay was going to end up with?

Lizzy Weiss | There certainly was debate. But after much debate, the room felt pretty clear this is how things shook out in the course of the series. It’s not like a hundred episodes ago, I knew this. But a show evolves…. It felt like Bay had moved forward and didn’t want to go back. And Emmett’s become a different guy. He’s going through some rough times, and she’ll always be there as a friend. This choice she made to ask Emmett to go with [Travis], first of all, that was intended to honor the whole heart of the show, which is siblings by unusual circumstances, which is what Bay and Daphne are, and so are the guys. So there was a sweet symmetry to that. It just felt like there was a little bit of a triangle without being a triangle. We know that these three will always be connected. They’ll always be having Thanksgiving together, if Bay and Travis end up together in the long run. They will always be sitting at each other’s table, and maybe it’ll be complicated and weird, or maybe it won’t, but for now, the triangle is not quite a love triangle. It’s a family triangle.

TVLINE | Mingo made a late-in-the-game play for Daphne’s heart. Why did you decide she should be with him?

Lizzy Weiss |  You just reminded me Mingo may be one of the only ones that we did have bigger plans [for] in the long run. We definitely were going to take our time and have fun with that story. We wanted the ex-girlfriend to visit and cause some problems. We did have to get there faster. That was one of the things that got shortchanged. But that’s OK.  Basically, just Adam [Hagenbuch] and Katie [Leclerc] had such great chemistry. We created him a little bit because we wanted to get Wilke back, and [Austin Butler] was on that MTV show [The Shannara Chronicles] in New Zealand, literally 5,000 miles away… And then Mingo became his own character and delighted us in his own way, and we all forgot about Wilke and became all about Mingo. … We always did intend that they were The One [for each other]. I just love that scene between them at the end where he says, “I’ll turn down the internship,” and her answer is so surprising. He thinks he’s being magnanimous, and she says, “Don’t do that. Take it, teach him. Teach the world.” So I just liked that as a model for the kind of couple they’re going to be. He’s a very, in some ways, traditional guy. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’s going to be talking about disability rights. But if they end up together, he will. And sometimes, those kind of opposites-attract [types] really do work in the long run.

TVLINE | The final image of the show is very sweet — and is not a flash-forward. Are you leaving the door open for a reunion movie or something of that sort?

Lizzy Weiss | Who knows what will happen in ten years, if there’ll be an appetite for it or if everyone will want to do it? But it feels like the door’s open. I would be happy to, if all things point in that direction. If things end up that all you have are 103 episodes to revisit, I’m really proud of those, and I hope that they live on beyond this generation.

TVLINE | Some shows like to go forward in time and show where the characters end up. Did you specifically want to avoid wrapping things up too neatly like that?

Lizzy Weiss | Yes. First of all, we’ve done that a little bit. We did two, even though they were imaginary, very important moments when Angelo died. We saw Daphne in her wedding dress, though we didn’t know who she was marrying, and we saw Bay delivering twins, and we didn’t know if Emmett [was the father] or who.

Secondly, [Pretty Little Liars] was doing that, and they were, of course, quite successful. So we didn’t want to do exactly the same thing since they were doing that at the same network. And — especially, as you bring up, could we maybe have a reunion in 10 years? — I didn’t want to box myself into, “Oh, we already said Daphne’s going to be this kind of doctor.” Or, “We already said Bay does end up with Travis,” or, “Bay doesn’t end up with Travis.” It’s an ending, it’s a period… but there could be a return and a new paragraph in ten years.

x

[citizenscreen]

My history with time travel is deep, but it is fraught with confusion. Repeatedly, I have traveled to lands everywhere and across millennia with several Federation crews as a fan of Star Trek and at each turn I have gotten lost. The shame of that is a burden I carry with me always. It was the case when I first watched The City on the Edge of Forever, an episode of the original Star Trek series. In that episode a talking time portal called the “Guardian of Forever” takes Kirk, Spock and McCoy to Depression-era New York where we learn that no matter how painful, one cannot interfere with fate. It happened as I watched Tapestry, an episode of The Next Generation, in which Q allows Captain Picard the opportunity to re-do a decision that can save his life. It was present as I watched Voyager episode, Shattered, when the ship is fractured into different eras of its own history, which poses an enjoyable, but especially bewildering time for this fan. I understand the fascinating ethical and moral conundrums posed by time travel as well as the time and space logistics. It is the simple decisions that alter the time/space continuum that fall well outside my realm of comprehension. In order to correct that after many years of struggling I took a closer look at Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future trilogy, which offers basics for the time travel-challenged like me. Following are my observations.

Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future

Back to the Future is a sparkling adventure movie that has not lost its charm since its release on July 3, 1985. Perhaps a few of the topical visual jokes, which hit the mark in the 1980s are lost to some today, but one can see why Back to the Future was the highest-grossing film of the year and why is sparked two sequels, Back to the Future II in 1989, and Back to the Future III in 1990. Watching these films in succession not only brought back great memories, but also strengthened my time travel know-how.

Back to the Future begins in 1985, or what I call home base year. Michael J. Fox stars as Marty McFly, a teenager from Hill Valley, California whose best friend is lovable, eccentric scientist, Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown, played memorably by Christopher Lloyd. Doc’s most important invention is the DeLorean he has turned into a time machine. This vehicle serves as the tool by which Marty and Doc travel through time in all three installments of Back to the Future. The time machine is rigged to transport to its pre-chosen year when it hits 88 mph with the place always being a historical or futuristic Hill Valley. I mention that because using the same town in all eras helps people (like me) understand when they are in the story.

Time travel in the original Back to the Future is simple, but each new installment brings transports that are more complicated. Our adventure begins at a shopping mall parking lot where Doc unveils the modified DeLorean, which is powered by plutonium. For details about the technology of Doc’s time machine, you’ll have to watch all three movies in the trilogy because they change depending on era. Anyway, just as Doc is showing Marty how the time navigation works by setting the clock to November 5, 1955, the Libyans from whom he stole the plutonium show up and shoot Doc. Trying to escape, Marty takes off in the DeLorean and when he reaches 88 mph, he transports to 1955.

Doc demonstrates the time traveling DeLorean for Marty

The DeLorean Time Clock Setting in Back to the Future

The fun begins when Marty McFly lands in 1985 and runs into his own mother, Lorraine (Lea Thompson) and father, George (Crispin Glover). Marty begins to affect his future existence almost immediately because his mother falls for him. Hilarity ensues as Marty’s quest becomes ensuring that his mother and father fall in love with each other or he and his siblings will never be born. There is also fun to be had thanks to Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson), the town bully and bane of the McFly existence. In the meantime Doc sets the stage to get Marty back to the future by powering the DeLorean with a lightning strike that’s set to hit the Hill Valley clock tower. They know the exact moment when the lighting will strike because of the future.

Doc and Marty know the exact moment when lightning will strike the Clock Tower by newspaper articles in the future

The story in Back to the Future II begins right after the one in the first movie ends. In fact, it begins on the exact same date in 1985 that the first story does, which means that when you time travel time does not pass in your home-base time/year. That’s a bit confusing, but anyway, Marty has just arrived back to 1985 from 1955 when Doc arrives in the DeLorean and convinces him and girlfriend, Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue) to go back to the future to help their future children. The trio arrive in 2015, but Doc immediately knocks out Jennifer so she does not realize what’s happening. In the meantime, old 1985 Biff saw the three fly away in the DeLorean, which means he learns about the car’s time travelling abilities. More on that in a moment. Marty is able to pose as his own lookalike son and refuses to take part in a robbery, thus saving his son from years in prison. By doing this Marty has completed the task, but he makes a grave mistake when he comes upon a sports almanac that lists all the winners of sporting events for the last several decades. Realizing the danger of having such information at hand, Doc convinces Marty to get rid of the almanac and he does, but Biff finds it and by doing so changes the course of history. This is a cautionary tale for anyone who has ever imagined getting his/her hands on lotto numbers in advance and a statement against time travel itself.

Doc and Marty return to 1985 to find decadence and degradation the orders of the day in Hill Valley. As it turns out 2015 Biff steals the sports almanac and using the DeLorean goes to 1955, gives the almanac to his younger self, and by doing so becomes a millionaire by betting on sports. Not only does Biff become owner of every establishment in Hill Valley, we learn he has killed George McFly and married Lorraine. In short, this 1985 Hill Valley is a complete nightmare. Doc and Marty reach the conclusion that the only way they can fix the future 1985 is to go back to 1955 to the exact moment when 2015 Biff gives 1955 Biff the almanac in order to prevent it.

Old Biff gives Young Biff the sports almanac

Biff wins big on sports betting by knowing the winners beforehand

Recognizable adventures greet Marty in 1955 this time as he tries to recover the sports almanac from young Biff. The freaky part of this trip to the past is that the Marty in this second Back to the Future installment witnesses the happenings of the Marty that went to 1955 in the first movie. This is confusing because in all my previous experience with time travel alternate universes never meet. I think. These are clever scenes with an element of danger. Doc warns Marty to avoid running into himself or the time-space continuum will be irrevocably altered, but…huh? I’m not sure I understand how two Martys can share the same time and space in two separate realities while one can observe the other even though that happened in Star Trek too.

At the conclusion of the exhaustive conundrums Marty faces during his second trip to 1955, he and Doc go to their rendezvous point by the entrance of the Lyon Estates sign to execute their return to their base year of 1985. Marty burns the sports almanac thereby saving his family’s future from degenerate Biff and awaits Doc and the DeLorean to land. However, a problem occurs just as Doc attempts to land the time machine. Lightning strikes making Doc and the DeLorean disappear from sight. Marty is understandably bewildered and saddened at the idea that Doc is gone. As he stares at the sky where Doc was just a moment ago a car drives up the deserted road. A man gets out and hands Marty a letter. This is a “what the heck?” moment that took me a bit of time to digest. The man works for Western Union and tells Marty that they’ve had the letter in their possession for seventy years with specific instructions to deliver it to him at that exact time and place. Marty opens the letter and is immediately exhilarated as he reads the letter from Doc Brown dated 1885, the year to which the Doc is sent when lightning strikes the DeLorean. If I were Marty at that moment I would be very worried about being stuck in 1955 without a means of transporting back to home base year 1985, but this young man proves he has learned a lot from his friend and doesn’t miss a beat in recognizing where he needs to go for help. Doc in 1955.

At the end of Back to the Future II Marty knows he can find Doc at the end of Back to the Future

You may remember that it was on the night of the lightning storm that Doc sent Marty back to 1985 in the first movie. Well, this is the same night and Marty remembers that at the same time that he receives Doc’s letter from 1885, the scientist is by the clock tower just having sent him home. Therefore, in order to go back to the future he has to go back to the past. Maybe that actually makes sense to somebody.

I’m not going to get into the details of Back to the Future III, but it follows the same formula as the others. III begins just as II leaves off and includes an enjoyable trip to the Old West where Doc Brown landed after the DeLorean disappeared from the sky due to lightning. The third movie in the trilogy adds Mary Steenburgen to the mix as Doc’s love interest and brings back the regulars from the other two in earlier incarnations. This one also features some terrific action sequences with a special ode to a classic train, the kind that was central to Old West travel and communications.

In Back to the Future III the DeLorean gets a little help from a train

While Back to the Future II and III don’t quite live up to the original, which was chosen for preservation by the Library of Congress in 2007, the trio still offers a joyful time. It is definitely worth taking the trips back and forth through history with characters we care for. In addition, there are important lessons to be learned. For instance, I have often thought about what it would be like to go back in time and meet my parents as youngsters. Maybe even lighten their loads in life, but after watching the Back to the Future movies I’ve decided that may not be a good idea as it could easily result in my own non-existence. Knowing the lotto numbers in advance also doesn’t seem like that great of an idea anymore. Perhaps the greatest lesson of all, however, is a warning that I caution you all to heed. This is a simple lesson that if learned could save you a lot of time and grief. That is, if it is written that you should be covered in manure; there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

⇐⇒

Be sure to visit Silver Screenings and Wide Screen World for many more time travel adventures in the Time Travel Blogathon.

I Went BACK TO THE FUTURE to Observe Time Travel My history with time travel is deep, but it is fraught with confusion. Repeatedly, I have traveled to lands everywhere and across millennia with several Federation crews as a fan of…

[thelastspeecher]

Superhero/villain AU - Back to School

Clearly, I’m very good at this whole “taking a break from writing so I can focus on research thing”.  But what can I say?  When your muse hits you over the head with a frying pan of inspiration, what else can you do but write?  Especially when you’ve had a shitty day like I did.

So here.  Have Emmett going to his first day of villain school in the Superhero/villain AU.

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              Stan’s red El Diablo came to a much more careful stop than usual.  Slumped in the passenger seat, Emmett morosely stared out the window at his new school.  Nothing about the outward appearance of Sycamore Grove High School would indicate it was anything special.  In fact, it looked almost exactly like the school Emily had been dropped off at a few minutes ago, only nicer, almost like it was private, not public.  The dread that had been churning in Emmett’s stomach amplified.

              “Emmett?”  Emmett didn’t respond to his father’s voice.  “Emmett.”  Emmett slouched further down his seat.  Stan sighed. “C’mon, kid.  You gotta get out.”

              “Just homeschool me,” Emmett mumbled.

              “Your ma and I have jobs.”

              “Yeah, and yours is being a stay-at-home dad. You’re supposed to do things like homeschooling.”

              “You really don’t want me to be your teacher, okay? Trust me on that.”

              “Uncle Ford-”

              “Emmett.”  Stan’s voice got sharper.  Emmett’s shoulders slumped.

              There goes the idea I could talk my way outta this at the last second.

              “You need to go here.”

              “I was s’pposed to go to high school with Emily.”

              “If you get things under control, that might still work out.  But right now, this is the school you’re gonna go to,” Stan said.  “I’m not happy about it either.  You know that.  But we don’t have any other options.”  Emmett didn’t respond.  “Get your stuff.”

              “…Fine.”  Emmet reluctantly grabbed his backpack and opened the door.  He didn’t make any move to get outside.

              “For the love of-”  Stan exited the car and made his way to Emmett.  “Emmett Stanley McGucket.  Get your butt out of the car now,” he said firmly, crossing his arms. Emmett did as he was told.  “You better not act like this all day, you hear me?”

              “Loud and clear,” Emmett mumbled.  Tears began to prick the corners of his eyes.  Stan let out a soft sigh.

              “C’mere, sport.”  Stan wrapped Emmett in a tight embrace.  Emmett returned the gesture, burying his face into his father’s shirt.

              “Dad, I don’t like this.”

              “I know, I know.”  Stan’s voice was gentler than it had been a moment ago.  “I don’t, either.”

              “It sucks.”

              “Yeah, it does.”  Stan broke off the hug and held Emmett at arm’s length.  “But you’re a Pines man.”  Emmett nodded.  “And what do Pines men do when they get knocked down?”

              “They get back up.”

              “That’s right.”  Stan smiled at Emmett.  “You’ll be fine.  Find yourself a friend or two and before you know it, you’ll be graduating.”

              “…I guess.”  Emmett looked over at the students mingling in the courtyard.  “How am I gonna make friends, though?  No one from my middle school is gonna go here. And you and Ma never had me spend time with her coworkers’ kids.  I’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”

              “Feeling like you don’t belong anywhere is part of the freshman experience.  Your ma said most kids here have never been to a villain-only school before either. Trust me.  Everything’s gonna go great.”

              “Okay.”  Emmett swallowed.  “Are ya sure ya can’t homeschool me?”

              “Sorry, kid.  No dice.”

              “Will you at least pick me up?” Emmett asked. Stan’s face fell.  “What?”

              “This is a one-time thing.  It’s too dangerous for me to drop you off and pick you up all the time.  We can’t risk anyone recognizing me.”

              “Do I have to take the bus home?”

              “Hell, no,” Stan said firmly.  “Your Uncle Lute is gonna pick you up.”  He forced a grin.  “And pretty soon, you’ll be able to drive yourself to school and back home.” Emmett nodded silently.  There was a loud honk.  “Dangit,” Stan muttered.  “People are getting upset I’m parked.”  He met Emmett’s eyes.  “If something happens and you need to come home early, just call.  But try to make it through the day, okay?”

              “Okay, Dad.”

              “That’s my son.”  Stan embraced Emmett one last time.  “Have fun, sport.”

              “I’ll do my best,” Emmett said.  Stan smiled at him, then got back into his car, waving off the frustrated driver behind him.  Emmett watched the car pull away.  He took a deep breath and turned around to face his school.  He swallowed.

              It’ll be fine.  Like Dad said, it’ll be fine.

----- 

              Emmett walked into his first class, Advanced Art History.  He looked around the room.  Students were clustered in small groups as they chatted about their summer vacations. Ducking his head to avoid eye contact with anyone, Emmett made his way to a desk in the back of the room.  He set his bag down.

              “Hey.”  Emmett looked up.  A girl with dyed green hair eyed him suspiciously.  “That’s not your seat.”

              “It doesn’t look taken,” Emmett said softly. The girl rolled her eyes.

              “It’s assigned seating, freshman.  So there aren’t any interactions between different powers.  God.” She turned to her friends.  “Why do they let freshmen into upper level classes? It’s so stupid.”  Emmett snatched his bag up and held it close to his chest.  He could feel panic starting to build.

              “Do you need some help?” someone asked.  Emmett spun around.  A boy about his age smiled sheepishly at him.  “You look a bit nervous.”

              “It’s- um-” Emmett started.  The boy grinned.

              “Your first time at an all-supers school?” he asked.  Emmett nodded reluctantly.  “Don’t worry, most of the freshmen are dealing with that.  And most upperclassmen are nice to freshmen who don’t know the rules,” the boy said, glaring at the girl who had spoken to Emmett earlier.  She rolled her eyes.  “Ignore Lacey.  She’s just angry her boyfriend’s going to a normal school this year.”  The girl – Lacey – glowered.  “C’mon, the seating chart’s always at the front of the class.” Emmett silently followed the boy to the teacher’s desk.  “Right here.” The boy pointed to a piece of paper on the desk.  Emmett nodded.  The boy quirked a half-smile.  “It doesn’t bite.”

              “I know,” Emmett mumbled.  He didn’t move.  The boy put a hand on his shoulder.

              “It’s gonna be all right.  I know all-supers schools can be scary the first time.  I’m just lucky that I’ve been going to them my whole life.  Legally required to.”  Emmett furrowed his brow.  The boy shrugged.  “Psionics usually don’t get their powers until they’re like twenty.  But mine showed up when I was one.  So right off the bat, I couldn’t be around people who weren’t trained on how to handle powers.”

              “My sister’s power manifested when she was one,” Emmett said quietly.  “She’s an elemental, though, so…”

              “Kinda expected,” the boy finished.  He looked down at the seating chart.  “What’s your name?”

              “Emmett.”

              “Emmett…M?”

              “That’s my last initial, yeah.”

              “You’re sitting next to me.”  The boy stuck out his hand.  “I should probably introduce myself, then.  I’m Carter.  Carter Jones.”  Emmett shook Carter’s hand.

              “Nice to meet you, Carter.”

              “So, what brings you to Sycamore Grove?”

              “My power.”

              “Lemme guess.  Psychic?” Carter asked.  Emmett shrugged.

              “Technically, I guess.  How’d ya know?”

              “Psychics and psionics are usually paired up.  I’m immune to psychic powers, after all.”

              “Oh.  Well, that’s not necessary.  I’ve got a power dampener.”

              “You do?  Dude, that sucks,” Carter said emphatically.  Emmett blinked.

              “It does?  Why?”

              “‘Cause kids who rely on power dampeners have to take a special class on controlling their powers.”

              “But my grandma’s been giving me lessons-”

              “Is she a professional villain?”

              “No.”

              Professional, yes.  Villain, no.  Carter nodded.

              “That’s why you still need dampeners.  You haven’t gotten proper training.  But don’t worry, the psychic teachers here are really good. My big brother’s power manifested late, so he got stuck with a power dampener while he was a junior.  Before the year was even over, he didn’t need it anymore.”

              “…I would like to not have to use it.”

              “Well, duh.  It’s basically training wheels.”  The bell rang.  “We better sit down.”  Emmett followed Carter to the back of the room.  Carter pointed out his desk.  Emmett sat down.  Carter followed suit, letting out a small chuckle.

              “What?” Emmett asked.

              “I just think it’s kinda funny.”

              “What is?”

              “I’ve been going to all-supers schools my whole life, so I basically know everyone in this room except you.  And so far, you’re the only person in here that I actually like.”

              “Really?”

              “Yeah.”  Carter grinned at Emmett.  Emmett smiled back.  “At lunch, want me to introduce you to some other people who don’t suck?”

              “That would be nice.”

              “You got it,” Carter said.  The teacher walked into the room.  Silence fell.  Emmett smiled down at his desk as the teacher took roll call.

              Dad was right.  I can make friends.  Carter nudged Emmett.  Emmett looked up.  Carter nodded at the teacher.  She had gotten to last names starting with “L”.

              “Thanks,” Emmett mouthed to Carter.  Carter winked.

              “Emmett…” the teacher started, reading off a piece of paper.  Her eyes widened.  “McGucket?” Emmett raised his hand.

              “Present,” he replied.  The entire classroom turned to stare at him, including the teacher. “Um, is there a problem?” he asked.

              “No.  Not- not at all,” the teacher said.  “…Thank you for attending Sycamore Grove, Emmett.”  She resumed going through the roll call.  Emmett chewed on his lip.

              That was weird.  Someone poked him.  Emmett looked over.  Carter had gone completely pale.

              “What’s wrong?” Emmett whispered.

              “You’re a McGucket?” Carter hissed back.  Emmett nodded.  “Like, the Twister Twins?  Sirocco? Hemlock?”  Emmett nodded again.  “Holy shit, dude.”

              “Is that a bad thing?”

              “Bad thing?  No, it’s the exact opposite.  You didn’t know?”

              “Know what?”

              “The McGuckets are famous in the villain community,” Carter whispered.  Dread began to grow in Emmett’s chest.  “And if you’re a McGucket, that means you’re gonna be famous, too.”  Emmett’s eyes widened.  He looked towards the front of the classroom.  A few students were still watching him, visibly intrigued. Emmett swallowed.

              Oh.  Oh, no.