#home business academy review

[precious-blossom]

Get Your FREE ACCESS To Emerson AI: click here: https://www.dailyaffiliateincome.com/emerson

LIMITED TIME: Free Access!  

For the next 2 weeks only...

This Special offer expires 1/20/23 at Midnight E.S.T.  

[leonw4nter]

The Cotton Candy Haze Mirrors The Warmth Of Your Gaze

RE2R!Leon x F!Reader

Coming back home from working 4 shifts in a single day for the fifth time this week, you went home looking and feeling like a hot mess– ponytail looking like you got into a fight and lost, eyes sunken in with dark bags underneath them, and pimples breaking out in several spots in your face and back. Despite how much your body craved a deep and restful sleep, you couldn’t give yourself that because grad school, especially medical school, won’t pay its own tuition along with living expenses. Juggling 4 odd jobs, along with working overtime for the sake of getting extra pay is really taking a toll on you: you’ve been cranky lately and you haven’t found proper time to be studying for the upcoming board exams, resorting to bringing all your books and notes in your bags so you’ll have time to read in case you’re free while still at work. Hell, you haven’t even found time to take Leon on dates due to how hectic and overwhelming everything is; you’re certain that the last time you and Leon spent some quality time cuddling together was three months ago. An icky guilt seeps into your weary bones, especially since Leon’s also taking up some jobs on the side to help with your expenses and along with his police academy’s costs but he still manages to make you meals, remind you to drink water, and drive you to wherever you need to be. With a frustrated groan, you fumble through your bag to look for your keys but unfortunately you couldn’t find it and deduced it to your forgetfulness, having left it at the bowl by the door back inside.

“Fucking hell,” you bitterly hiss. You were just about to knock at a neighbor’s door for the spare key you handed them but then you suddenly remembered that you haven’t had the chance to give them an emergency spare key yet since you were procrastinating on it, much to your disadvantage now. Exasperation causes tears to flood your waterline, your vision going blurry as you reach to contact Leon to tell him that you’ve been locked out but you forgo it, thinking that he’s probably had a long day as well and that he doesn't need another thing to be bugging him. You sink down by the door, wiping your tears with the sleeve of your sweatshirt before taking your notes out to start reviewing again since you’re free and waiting for him to come home. A few minutes pass and you hear the pad of footsteps nearing you. Swiftly, you place your notebook back in your bag and sling it over your shoulder, getting up and dusting your legs before seeing Leon’s kind smile beaming down on you like the first few rays of the sunlight on a new day.

“Hey, baby.” you softly mumble as you place a kiss on his cheek.

“Hi,” he says as he pulls you in for a quick hug. “What are you doing here?”

“Got locked out. Forgot to bring the keys. I also didn’t ask the neighbors for the keys since I didn’t give them spares yet,” you quietly admit. You look down at your feet, shame creeping in. “Leon’s had a long day and here you are, worrying him even more. Great job, Y/N. Real girlfriend of the year,” you glumly think to yourself.

“Oh– I forgot to tell you this too but I already gave the spares to the neighbors. You’ve been really busy lately so I decided to do it instead,” he says. “Sorry about that. It just slipped from my mind.”

“No. It’s fine, it really is.” you say with a tired yet genuine smile.

Leon fishes out his key from his backpack before slotting it into the keyhole and unlocking the door, opening it and letting you head in first. You slip out of your work shoes, placing your bag on the couch and collapsing right beside your things with a loud sigh.

“I’m so tired with everything,” you loudly groan as you cover your face with both hands and proceed to groan a little more. Leon walks over to the back of the couch, wrapping his arms from behind you and placing comforting kisses to your hair.

“Tell me what’s going on. I’m just going to sit here and listen,” he softly whispers as he lightly pats your shoulder.

With a deep sigh, you ramble on about everything that’s bothering you. Tears prick your eyes again and there’s more than one occasion to your voice breaking. He stays quiet, arms still wrapped around as he nods to whatever you say, occasionally pressing his lips into your head as you vent about whatever.

“I can’t afford a review center and I don’t have time to study before the board. I’m going to fail, Leon. I won’t end up somewhere,” you finish. You recline back into his touch, feeling like a ton of bricks has been lifted from your shoulders. Leon unwraps his arms around you for a bit, walking over to your place on the couch before pulling you in for a more proper hug as he delicately sways you from side to side.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s fine,” he softly mumbles. “You’ve been working and studying so hard. I can see all the effort you’re putting into making sure you reach your dreams and trust me, you will pass the board. You make time to study each day and I can see that you’ve got the drive to succeed, you can do this. Believe in yourself as much as I believe in you and your capabilities, okay?”

You sniffle, hugging back and staying silent for a bit before your shaky and slightly squeaky voice speaks up, the sound slightly muffled since you buried your face into the comforting scent of your boyfriend’s sweatshirt.

“But Leon, there’s more people who're smarter than me and they’re going to pass and I’m not going to. What if I’m not enough?” you say, which causes Leon to pull away from the hug and cup your cheeks in between his big and calloused hands.

“You’re going to pass. You’re smart, you’re my smart girl. There’s no way you’re not going to pass, okay? You will be a licensed nurse and you will reach your dreams. You’re more than enough for this and for me. Don’t let anyone and anything tell you that you’re not enough because you are. More than you’ll ever know.” He finishes with a small kiss to the tip of your nose before moving to your lips. Your own hand climbs up to lightly wrap around his wrists, maintaining comfortable eye contact.

“I’m sorry,” you softly tell him, your words coming out like a whisper.

“For what?” Leon says with a surprised smile. “You didn’t do anything wrong, love.”

“Yes I did, Leon.” you bashfully respond. “I haven’t been giving you much attention lately. You also do many things for me like driving me to school and doing my laundry but I don’t find the time to repay you. Just earlier, I got you worried because I was sitting just right outside the door when you already have a lot on your own plate. I’m just adding to that list of things that keeps you up at night and–”

Leon cuts you off by placing his index finger against your lips to shush you before gently moving you to be laying on his lap as he plays with your hair and scratches your scalp in the way he knows you love.

“Nope. I understand that you’ve gotta give a hundred percent of your attention to your studies, especially that your future job concerns human lives. I’m just doing my job by being here for you as your number one fan and making sure you still take care of yourself. I’m busy too but you’re not bothering me or causing me more stress, just the opposite actually. Now just lay on my lap and let me make you feel a lot better, yeah?” he softly says as he continues massaging your head, prompting your eyelids to drape over your eyes as you sigh in satisfaction.

“Unless you wanna have dinner first–”

“No. Let’s just stay like this for a bit.”

He continues to rake his fingers through strands of your hair, his fingers gently scratching your scalp and applying a good amount of pressure to your temples in order to effectively massage them. Most of the time, it’s you who’s giving Leon scratches and massages but it feels great to be at the receiving end of some pampering and loving from your boyfriend. He stops for a little bit, your eyes flying open to see Leon reach over to get a blanket to wrap you in it. Snuggling into the blanket, he continues his soothing ministrations to your head. You swear that if you were a cat and Leon was petting you in this way, you would purr so loud.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

You finally finished taking your board exams about a month ago and ever since then, you would eagerly open up your laptop or phone just to look at whether or not you passed. Each time, your fingers would wobble and your palms would sweat to the point you frequently wipe them on your pants so your phone wouldn’t slip out of your grip. Your thoughts would shift between the confidence that you passed since you reviewed and studied and practiced so much and the fear of failure, the icky feeling of being a failure with no direction in life eroding at the happiness you built for yourself but luckily Leon was always there to keep those crusty, self-deprecating tendencies at bay.

“You passed!” Leon practically screeches. With quivering hands he shoves his phone back into his pocket and lunges at you, almost toppling over the tables as he wraps you around in one of the best hugs he’s ever given you.

“Huh? What?” is all you could muster in this state of shock and surprise.

He pulls away and opens up your laptop, going straight to your email and the school portal where they released the list of passers. Sure enough, your last name is listed.

“My girl is going to become a licensed nurse!” he shouts with the proudest, most vibrant smile you’ve ever seen him smile. 

Tears of pure, unadulterated joy spilled from your waterline and flowed down your cheeks, a rush of adrenaline coursing through your veins whilst also feeling relief at the fact that you passed. Now it’s your turn to lunge at Leon, springing at him and tackling him with your arms tightly enveloped on his larger frame as you jump up and down, toppling over into the couch and hugging him even tighter due to the renewed sizzle of joy running through your person. After a few moments of laying on top of each other and smiling and pressing kisses into each other’s face, you get up and phone friends and family to tell them that you managed to pass the boards. Leon called up his own friends Ethan and Chris to tell them of your results, sending pictures. You hear Leon and his friends giggling on the other side of the room, squealing and giggling like school girls. His face, the tips of his ears, and neck are flushed a vibrant pink the more he talks about how proud he is of his girl. Many times he showed the email and your name on the passers list to his friends, cheers and congratulations being the reception whenever he did, much to his massive delight. Finally, you finish up phoning friends and family and go to Leon, pressing a passionate kiss to his soft baby lips upon his soft baby face. He could feel you grinning against him with each gentle smack; Leon quite never figured out if the beauty of your lips was more of their softness or their association with whatever words you spoke, which always pulled him under a spell he didn’t wish to surface from. You pull away, gazing deeply into eyes painted a soothing blue watercolor hue and not wanting to break this moment of peace, the sensations feeling intimate in a way more than the physical contact of bodies.

“I’m so proud of my girl. My smart, amazing, lovely, sweet girl who will be a nurse soon,” he softly whispers.

“I’m proud of myself too, Leon. Thank you for supporting me, helping me out, and being there for me when I needed you most. I couldn’t have done this without you,” you sincerely thank him.

“You’re a strong independent woman, Y/N. You don’t need anyone to get you somewhere because you carry yourself with an air of confidence and independence but I’m very thankful and lucky you let me in your life.”

“Gosh, Leon. You’re going to make me cry but thank you. I mean it so much. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“So… should we eat out? I’ve got some change to spare.”

“It’s on me. I’ve been saving up, I have a surprise for you but it won’t hurt to celebrate my Y/N’s passing.”

You smack his chest playfully, the blond laughing at his little joke.

“You made it sound like I died!”

“Oops. Looks like it might result in a grave misunderstanding.”

“God, let’s just get ready for dinner.”

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Leon's POV

I took her out to dinner that night, picking out a nice Korean grill for us to dine in since she enjoys Korean grills so much. Nothing felt more satisfying than seeing all her efforts pay off; all those readings and memorizations giving her the success she rightfully deserves. Right now, I’m seeing her devour her entire plate and in the blink of an eye she’ll get up to get seconds but I don’t mind; seeing her eat good food and indulge makes me feel happy. I feel satisfied, as if I don’t need to eat because her happiness is enough to keep me going for days on end. We’ve both decided to keep working some more jobs to be able to have more savings to add in our accounts so we could afford to move into a better place, probably nearer to Raccoon City since I’m going to be stationed there by next month. She doesn’t know this but I managed to prepare a little surprise for her, which is a 2 day camping get-away; deep in the forest, surrounded by trees, the stars shining above us, and the cold weather. She deserves a little break, we both do, so I planned this. I’m free for the next few days too so this is going to be perfect, I’m grinning just at the thought of it.

“What’re you smiling about?” she asks, but it comes out sounding a little difference since she’s got some food in her mouth.

“Nothing. You look beautiful tonight,” I respond, which isn’t exactly a lie. The buzz of glee just gives her this glow that makes me want to get on my knees and worship her like the goddess she is.

She gets back to eating, doing a little happy dance every now and then. She’s also insisted on feeding me, making sure I finish at least 3 plates because “one can never be too full”, which I appreciate since she just wants me to eat well and I want to have the energy to walk her around town tonight.

After dinner, we took a walk around town. I stopped by at a flower shop, getting her flowers as one of my many little gifts. It feels tempting to tell her about our little camping getaway coming up in a few hours but I want to build up an element of surprise and blissfully catch her off guard. The evening gets cold and a little quiet so I shrug off my jacket, draping it over her shoulders and making sure she’s all warm and toasty.

“You good?” I ask her.

“Yeah. Thanks,” she shyly says as she huddles into my jacket even more. I advised her to bring along a coat since the night could get a little chilly but she refused. As long as the cold won’t bother her and make her feel ill, I don’t really mind because I like seeing her in my clothes and having the smell of her perfume on my things. We take a few more strides, a comfortable settling between us as we walk hand in hand and go wherever our hearts desire. I turn my head and steal a lengthy glance from her; the delicate breeze sends her hair flowing smoothly like a poet’s ink and quill, the fine strands woven from spacetime and starlight as the streetlight’s luminescence bounces off; her body is absolutely perfect, worthy of all praises and respectful admiration with curves that mold in my hands just right but her genuine beauty is from within her heart; God, she’s captivating. She looks at me and I promptly look away, keeping my gaze trained on something else as heat is concentrated on the apples of my cheeks. I can hear a twinkling giggle from her, followed by her fingers pinching a cheek as she giggles even louder.

“You’re too cute, Leon. Gosh, you’re so adorable! You’re like– the most puppy-looking person I’ve ever met and I love that!” she squeals.

“Baby, my cheeks are hurting.” I say in a small voice.

She pulls her fingers away, gently running a hand over where she pinched and gave the spot a peck.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I know you can’t get enough of me.” I quip, followed by a wink.

“You’re not wrong but you’re one cocky person,” she says but a smile tugs at the corner of her lips.

“I’m your cocky person.”

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

A day later.

Hours ago, I woke her up at 4:45 AM so we could get ready. Of course, she was a bit disoriented because I didn’t say anything to her but after I told her about my little surprise, she practically launched from the bed and got ready immediately. She slept early last night– slept very soundly too, not a single noise rousing her from sleep. While she slept, I carefully slipped out of bed and packed everything we needed, her things included. It was kind of difficult, having to pack things quietly and move them to the car without causing much thudding but I managed to get it done in 3 hours. After several rounds of double checking everything and making sure there was nothing I left out, I finally made my way back up to our apartment and locked the doors to retire for the night. I could barely sleep due to the rush of giddiness coursing through my person but I forced myself to; after all, I’ll be the driver and it’s going to be irresponsible if I don’t.

Now, she’s sitting in the passenger seat with a blanket draped over her lap as she quietly drinks in the view that speeds right past the window. Everytime I see her and she innocently looks right at me, I feel a little antsy and nervous, having to feel around in my pockets and try to calm myself down. In an hour or two, we’ll get to the spot and then finally set our camp up before we start preparing the ingredients we’ll be using for cooking. The campsite we chose is a little more secluded, right by a lake that’s unfortunately too cold to safely swim in but that doesn’t take away the charm of the entire spot. The release of the board passers coincidentally going before the day of the trip I planned is a perfect coincidence, making this whole thing a celebratory trip for her but I want to add another thing to celebrate later so for now, it’ll stay as another secret.

Finally, I pull up at our spot and park the car. We carry our supplies and set up grills, our tents, and a spot to keep all of our food and drinks and utensils. We finish early so we set up the inside of our tent, placing a comfortable blanket on the floor so the bumpy and rigid ground doesn’t cause any of us back pains the following morning. All afternoon speeds past us as we spend the hours cuddling, Y/N saying something like how the weather is “perfect cuddle weather”. Soon, it’s nighttime and we finish up with everything: dinner, a quick towel bath (since the showering in this weather would get us both sick), so now we’re just sitting by the bonfire and huddling close.

“Thanks, Leon. Thank you for all this. A celebratory dinner was enough but I guess you decided to outdo yourself,” she says as she leans her head on my shoulder.

“This is nothing. Besides, you deserve this,” I say.

We sit in silence for a little bit before she speaks up again.

“We should celebrate some more wins in life, y���know. Even the little things, we should celebrate it one way or another. It doesn’t have to be this grand,” she tells me.

“Yeah. You’re right, we should celebrate wins in life,” I agree. This is it. “You’re a big win in my life, Y/N, and I want to celebrate you everyday.”

My hand slips into my pocket, my fingers feeling the velvet of a tiny box holding my promise of the world and forever to Y/N.

I can’t imagine ever growing old without you, nor do I desire to.

If all goes well, we’ve just given ourselves another reason to be celebrating.

NOTE - Woke up today to see that in a month, I've managed to hit a hundred followers!!!!!!! LET'S GOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Srsly so thankful for everyone who decided to follow me and read my fics, I love you and wish you well. I didn't expect to reach a hundred this early into my writing journey so this is so cool. I also told my mom that I write now and she seems supportive so I'm really happy with that. I guess this fic functions as a hundred-followers-special now :)) That's it and I hope you really enjoyed this fic. Again, thank you for the hundred followers!!!!! I couldn't have done it without you <3!!!

The chain dividers are made by @cafekitsune , the images are made by me (sourced from Pinterest).

[yams-here]

So I like thinking about franchises that disappointed me in some way

and after watching too many reviews I redesigned the High guardian spice characters (and thought of how the plot could work way too much)

Rose in this version isn't a complete idiot, and may not be so book smart, but she is very good in combat because she's kind of a fangirl. Like, "she studies attacks and can probably name pretty much every guardian" fangirling. While she is still kind of a dumbass, she's the one that always brings Sage down to earth whenever she gets too stressed. Although she is mostly the source of that stress. Her mom was taken by the rot, but she isn't really sure what it is, so when Thyme mentions it devastating her home she's like "!" so they can actually have something that might bring them together. She decides to take on forging and weapon enchantments so she can have a moment where she steps out of her mom's shadow to do her own thing teehee Sage here is still kind of an ass (her sexist discourse to snap was NOT a Girlboss Moment) but here I think it would be interesting if it was something that other characters think its weird too. Like its a belief ingrained into her together with the more traditional upbringing by her family (thus her only knowing old magic) so it can be part of her character development learning how those thoughts should be changed and that not everyone thinks like that, But she still tries her best to be respectful and kind. (also, her parents sent her to the academy because new magic is VERY new, so the fact that it was being implemented in the curriculum was not widespread, specially in a small town like where she was raised in.) she's an overthinker to the core, so sometimes she needs her friends to calm her down, although sometimes that anxiety is what prepares them for something they weren't even expecting.

Parsley is honestly well written enough in the original show, so the only things I would change is that the progress with the conflict with her parents is stretched a little through episodes, and the conflict is that while her parents want her to be a blacksmith and take on the family business (and help take care of her three thousand simblings) she wishes to go out and do something for herself as a warrior, because she wanting to go to school to become a blacksmith and her parents fighting her on it because they want her to become a blacksmith is kinda dumb. also her short ass hammer feels so weird to watch in the series, so I think that a longer handle would make it a little better. also tiny irony of her weapon being taller than her. Thyme feels like she should be written better because shes the only one that actually has any correlation to the plot, but she kind of... isn't?? I like her backstory of being ran out of the woods she lived in because the rot was devastating it and her dad staying behind to try to solve it, but I think it would be more dramatic if her dad was killed in the conflict but she doesn't know so dramatic moment when she finds something that belonged to him (maybe a little charm she made? for protection? in the way children do that stuff for their parents) and she connects the dots. Also the rot here is because the overuse of the power new magic is able to draw out without the control of old magic is taking too much energy from the earth, and woodsy areas thrive on it, thus the root like structures of the rot. The trees are basically oysters for the magic energy of the world. When its bad, they turn bad too. Also make her more of a "expresses affection through favors and actions, not words" person. She, Rose and Sage took wayy too long to become friends. Amaryllis stays the same because she is perfect and I love her and if you disagree to talk to the wall I personally think Snapdragon is good too but I would make him genderfluid instead. I think that the idea of Caraway THINKING he might be a trans girl but that ending up not the correct answer would reinforce his "there's always more options than you think" speech. And someone needs to point out how he's drawn to women that scream at him. Also we need a better arc with his dad instead of the raw carrot that was the canonical "his dad reinforces toxic masculinity hurr durr" thing we got (that wasn't even well made btw) NOW TO THE SIDIES

Slime boy is now named Slime boy because of an accident he had in potions class the previous year (he's one year older than the main cast) which caused him to continuously produce a slime like substance instead of stuff like spit and sweat. It doesn't inconvenience him a lot other than him making bubbles when he speaks every now and then. He's just an assistant in the terrasphere shop, and the owners are Alloe and Anise (wow they actually do something else in the story!!) but he's mainly just a more experienced student that sometimes knows things the main cast doesn't like secret entrances and cool rooms and stuff. He's a full on bard because that was barely explored in canon and music based attacks are cool. He has the tiniest little crush on parnelle cuz I thought that would be fun Parnelle is ENBY because I SAID SO (and cuz cal is stablished as transphobic and I like payoffs) and since whatever they're doing at the academy is never really clarified, I made them kind of an animal whisperer, like they call on animals to assist them in battle and other stuff. (Maybe then we actually get to see the trixies again after their prolongued mating dance that lead to literally nothing in episode 1) being an animal whisperer is a very rare "old magic" hability thus why they entered the academy one year earlier than expected. They sew their own clothes and are still the generally weird little guy they are in canon, except this time its explained as them preferring to communicate with animals ever since they were a child. They are still very polite and friendly tho, always happy to help. Cal is (his full name is calamagrostis and like if I was named that I'd be an asshole too) still parnelle's cousin, but he doesn't outright bullies them. in fact, he isn't an outright bully, he just tends to look down on other people that don't follow what he believes in, which is a more traditional view on the world, kind of like sage, so I thought of him maybe being a catalyst to her being like "wow I can see why my way of thinking may be bad now, I don't want to be like him" which pushes her to grow and stuff. And I want him to grow as well, so I thought, maybe he and Snapdragon used to be friends, but recently they drifted apart and he started to kind of resent him after he came out as genderfluid, but deep down he still misses his friend, so maybe that pushes his character development. And other people saying that hes kind of a prick. idk I just really hate the trope of a bully character just being there to be the mc's punching bag instead of getting development.

In general, the lore would be (I think, I'm not the best at lore) that Guardians are generally like soldiers, but in a more captain america type of way. they're more like beacons of hope and symbols or power and peace than soldiers are, (thus rosemary knowing a bunch of them as they're usually famous) but they are still required to know combat. High Guardian Academy is known as a guarantee to become a good soldier, and a high chance to become a guardian. They VERY recently implemented new magic in the curriculum, but are experimenting with mixing its high power output with old magic's control of it, (thus why caraway knows how but why none of the students are being thaught it. It's a fairly new tecnique they'd rather get a good grasp on before teaching a bunch of children how to use it) because since they're expertly trained guardians they can tell that a terrasphere takes too much energy above what would be considered okay. They just aren't aware of how much tho, the extent of the rot is a secret held close to their chests by witch country, which is where the terraspheres come from, which has brought them tons of profit and advancements. So when someone knows about the extent, or tries to stop it, they are eliminated, (thus why thyme's dad died. People that stayed in the fairy woods and knew how bad new magic could be were all "silenced" so they could keep profiting out of it.) (Any letters or research about the rot, or from the people that knew, were burned and interfered with, thats why no one else knew about it.) idk what else to talk about cuz this show had such little things to explore but there's so much filler that almost none of it got explored but I think it had potential, even if I prefer to focus on character interactions and how they change eachother. Again, I'm not very good with lore. and plot.

[worldismyne]

MaStar Fics from Fanfic.net

Number of fics 34

Here's a peer reviewed list of MaStar fics from fanfic.net that are not cross posted on ao3. Lists go from oldest to newest.

(All fics on this list: Has the Romance tag, are written in English, properly formatted, and Soul isn't abusive or a cheater in it)

(artist)マカ「ニフラム」　ソウル「なんでこっち見ながら言うの？」 これ内臓詰まってんのかって疑いたくなるレベルのマカさんの

General

A glimpse into the past and future! - Just a little story on how Black Star and Maka met, and then a little future look at them together. Black Star x Maka fic... Cute!

Just Three More Days - Just three more days and Maka will be married.

The Forgotten Blue Shirt - Maka Albarn, our famous scythe technician, had ran out of clothes. As she was rampaging her unorganized closet, Maka came across a blue shirt but had no idea on where and when she bought said t-shirt. She had no choice but to wear it. The young meister decided to take a walk and our bookworm came across a friend that had been long-forgotten in the past. (This has characters speaking in the same paragraph - Myne)

Like Diamonds - Life after graduating from the DWMA (post anime). Maka/Blackstar

Shadow - Because Black Star realizes that his feelings remain the same no matter how many years has passed by. He also realizes that he isn't the bright star that everyone praises but a mere shadow.

Valen-tied Day - MaStar- On the day of love at Death City High, BlackStar is less than pleased to see a boy give his chocolates to his best friend Maka.

 Bonded - "There was nothing there, and yet he felt a pull of strings beckoning him to reach out, to touch what ever or whoever was waiting on the other side." Your Name AU; mini collab with Happyisahabit. MaStar Week 2017 Day 6.

Last Night - Black Star was holding something in that he hadn't realized, and Maka was much more accepting than he thought she would be. MaStar Week 2017 Day 8.

Teen

Black StarCrossed A Soul Eater Poem - A poem inspired by wild ideas rushing though my head along with Andrew Lloyd Webber music . A poem about a night where two unlikely meisters realize they are meant for each other.

Icey Accidental Romance - Some of the group decided to go for a walk through the woods. Maka and Black Star end up in a huge problem. Will this sudden accident change the way they feel about eachother, or will it just bring out the truth? MakaxBlackStar Fluff

Collapssed - Maka was enjoying a day out when Tsubaki and Soul tell her Black Star is missing; they think he collapssed somewhere. Maka panicks as he runs around and eventually finds him in a weak state. MakaxBlackStar fic.

Golden Memory - Black Star is bored.Everyone is busy but Maka,when he find her and takes her to his place she finds a pictre of them when they were younger, as memory kicks in, she realises there was a lot more to their friendship then she thought.MakaxBlackStar May update

She refuses to go on without Black Star - Three years he had been gone. She was at her limit, no longer could she live without him. MakaxBlackStar fic fluffiness! XD Rated T for content

A MakaxBlackStar Christmas! - Shitty title, I know! XD Maka was left home alone during Christmas Eve, bored, she goes to the academy to find Black Star there, the two begin talking and confessions soon lead to much, much more. Rated T for now, may be bumped up to M.

Comfort - Maka has a nightmare, and who's there to comfort her? It's fluff :S BlackStarxMaka please R&R! C: this is the first fic I've posted here. Enjoy! Rated T for sharing a bed XD

Awake - Set post-anime. "I'm the one who can surpass God. The one who can do anything he wants. If there's anyone who can wake your weapon powers up, it's me and my wavelength." After the defeat of the Kishin, Black Star visits Maka in the hospital to remind her of a promise they made when they were kids. Implied Black StarXMaka

To The Moon And Back - Black Star can't seem to get Maka's words from the battle on the moon off his mind. He ends up giving comfort to not only the blonde scythe meister who has left him feeling so strange but himself in the end. Based on Manga Chapter 105.

Maka And Black Star - Maka and Black * Star...Romance! Oh yes I am crazy enough to try this weird combination! Will Black * Star have what it takes to handle Maka? You'll have to read to find out!

Push Me - He placed his forehead against hers, grinning from ear to ear, at the girl's instant blush across her cheeks, "What? Did you think I'd let you get away without apologizing for real?" he asked teasingly.

Halloween Party - "He couldn't recall when this urge towards her had first started. It might have been long before their school days as meisters, or it might have started recently. He wasn't positive when, it didn't really matter." A party leaves Maka and Black Star time to sneak off and catch some fresh air. Maka x Black Star Slight future fic

Guns and Horses - Maka and Soul are very close friends. When She confesses her love to him, he denies her. Heartbroken, Maka turns to Black Star to help ease her pain. That's when Soul realizes he is in love with her, but who will Maka choose?

Problems with Loving your best friend - After something happens to Maka, Black-star has to help all he can, but the problem? He is head over heels for Maka! Now they have to get through everything and keep secrets from the rest of the group! Maka x Black-star

Freight Trains - No one said love was easy, but in Maka's defense no one said it would be hard either. As Maka's suppressed feelings for Soul begin to surface, she is launched into a very strange predicament, forcing her to fake a relationship with the one person she can hardly stand: Black Star.

Adrift - A commercial fishing trip gone awry leaves Braxton 'Black Star' Sterling floundering, furious, and ready to fight a God. Will his mission to get to Poseidon for a one-on-one be victorious, or will he forever be lost at sea? Mastar. Warnings: cussing, violence, talk of death, minor character death.

Mature

Stuck in a Steamy Closet - Maka and Black Star were thrown into a closet by Soul. Things get awkward and turn to hot.

A Black Winter - Winter often leaves a person feeling like there is no hope left, like all the life has been sucked out of them. When Maka finds herself on the receiving end of a prank her temper fires up those desolate feelings as she storms over to the one place where she knows she can take sort through these emotions. It just so happens that he might be part of the reason she is feeling them

Please Take Me - When Black*Star came into the Strip club the last thing he expect was to hear Maka Albarn singing. But there's more that draws him to her. and she may be just what his band needs. But there's strings attached and a lot going on in her life. and she just might need someone just like Black*Star. Soul Eater AU. MaStar Paring. You don't like it, You've been warned.

Explicit

The Sudden Rush Of Passion And Need - Black Star is bored, while going to find Soul he ends up hanging with Maka. Things quickly get hot. Black Star x Maka fluff

Three Two One Take Me! - Maka is having a horrible day. As she tries to get home she finds herself lost in the fog and breaks down.Black Star appears and takes her to an abandoned place he uses as a hideout.What will happen when Maka realises how she really feels about him?LEMON!

Rare Rainbow! True Love? - It's Black Star's birthday. The only gift Maka can give is her body. After realising that they actually have a love connection, things get steamy. Set several years later, surprise twist at the end. LEMON! Black Star x Maka

Oops - An innocent day at the pool turns... not so innocent when BlackStar and Maka are left alone together. MaStar smut. Enjoy! Rated M for future chapters C:

Animalistic - Maka is ignoring everyone to read a new book she's gotten. Everyone else is at the basketball court while she secludes herself... or so she thought. What happens when Black Star comes over to entertain his childhood friend? Will what she's reading have their hang out lead into something more? Please review!

Birthday Tattoo - Maka has never followed the crowd. Her team knows it, and her boyfriend Black*Star knows it. So when Maka decides to join her team's new hobby in getting a tattoo, what will Black*Star think? Will it be his best birthday yet? COMPLETE!

Hot Springs - Team Spartoi is taking a well-deserved vacation at a hot spring. When Black*Star loses the guys and stumbles up on the girls' hot spring, what does he see? How does Maka react? Mature one-shot. Lemon? Read and find out! *Cover image not mine!*

A special shout out to

Rabbid Girl for writing the first MaStar fic from what I can find (it is in Spanish)

XxSoulNoteWriterxX for writing over 22 MaStar fics in the second year of the niche.

happyisahabit for writing the most MaStar fics out of all of us

[octofaewrites]

Octofae’s Fic List™️

All of my works can be find here:

I write for a variety of fandoms, so here we go - fandoms include: Bleach, Pokémon, Winx Club, and a few others!

Bleach - IchiRuki

Series

Masaki Lives! AU

Bleach, but Masaki was the parent who lived instead of Isshin.

The Noodle Saga

Crack Series involving Ichigo pining away for Rukia while Renji is trying to protect his captain’s dignity. (He is terrible at it.)

The Mystery of the Rukongai Crater

Paranormal Investigators, but make it Hallmark!AU

Conversations with the Future In-Laws

Hypothetical scenarios where Ichigo & Rukia talk to their future in-laws.

IchiRuki Month

Collection of works for IchiRuki Month

IchiRuki Week

Collection of works for IchiRuki Week

Stand Alone Stories

Performance Review

Three Casual Acquaintances™️ start a podcast as they try to solve the mystery of the sudden death of a neighbor in their swanky apartment complex.

Operation Christmas Play

Ichigo is trying to be romantic and Urahara has the connections.

Bleach - Others

Ready, Set, Caw….?

Renji/Orihime - jokefic written for a friend! Two dingdongs try to make cookies and a random crow keeps trolling them.

Through space and time, my love belongs to you (Chapter 1)

GrimmIchiRuki - Rukia is getting married to Grimmjow and Ichigo is sad because he’s hopelessly in love with them both - his life is surely over… or is it?

This story is a multi-author, round-robin project for GIR weekend!

Other Writers: kleinegirl87, AiTsuki97, Mako_After_Dark, AriadneKurosaki

Pokémon -

Pokémon: Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

Merry Mishaps

Dawn, Lucas and Berry decided to exchange presents. Their starters do a bad job of being helpful.

No pairings - Written for the Pokémon Winter Wonderland Zine 2023

Pokémon: Legends Arceus / Diamond/Pearl/Platinum - VoloKari

Series

Somewhere over the Sea

The Pirate AU that no one needed or asked for.

Conversations at the Company Water Cooler

Idiot coworkers in a situationship and too dumb to admit they’re dating.

Sweet Like Honey

Friends with Benefits™️ who are benefiting across Hisui.

As the World Falls Down

Angsty Soulmate AU, where I don’t let them be together.

Volokari Week

Collection of stories I did for Volokari Week 2023

Stand Alone Stories

Déjà Vu - I’ve just been in this Place Before

I want to be cool and do a reimagining of PL:A; I’m just not cool.

Time Won’t Fly (Dead Dove - MIND THE TAGS)

Akari not in a good place.

Doll (Dead Dove - MIND THE TAGS)

Akari is not having a good time. Set in BumbleTee’s Cop AU

When My World Shakes, I Feel Alive

Sweet conversation between Dawn/Volo after getting her drunk idiot roommates to bed.

Shopping is Serious Business

Crackfic. Volo’s real punishment for trying to subjugate Arceus is having to go shopping with his daughter and her equally high maintenance friend.

Pokémon: Scarlet & Violet - Arviana

Safe & Sound

Juliana is tired from her near death experiences and meeting ghosts and gets a much needed Arven-hug.

Sucker.

Arven can’t tell Ogerpon no.

Treasure

Arven reflects on how his family is his treasure

Paradise is Nothing but a Smile

Arviana Picnic Date!

And, maybe it was ego swinging

The AU where Turo pulled his head out of his ass and was a parent to Arven.

Home is Where the Heart Is

Juliana made it back from Blueberry Academy and is beyond glad to be reunited with Arven

Pokémon: Scarlet & Violet - Draymine

I created a Discord Server for Draymine, Arviana, and Kiercey - Other ships are welcome! It can be joined HERE - (18+ Please!)

Series

You are in Love

An on-going series featuring snapshots through Drayton and Carmine’s relationship.

Stand Alone Stories

Well, this is a choice

Jokefic - Kieran sees that Crispin has awful dragon claws for feet and Drayton and Carmine’s alone time keeps getting interrupted.

Elevator Woes, Smash Bros, and Mistletoe

Jokefic - Crispin is the only single guy in his friend group and the elevator rides of Blueberry Academy are long ones. Established Draymine and Kiercey in the background.

a lot to live without

Sometimes, life doesn't go the way one wants it to. TW: Major Character Death.

Pokémon: Scarlet & Violet - Kiercey

Kieran & Lacey.

Building a Home

Just a moment in a post-canon setting in which Kieran and Lacey are quite silly.

[probablyasocialecologist]

The international reach of European football in particular is extending into homes around the world, appearing to retrace the pathways of the colonial project; in former colonies, it is nearly exclusively European football league matches, both live and replayed, that are broadcast. As Thomas McPhail writes in Electronic Colonialism: The Future of International Broadcasting and Communication (1981), electronic colonialism is the contemporary incarnation of military and mercantile colonialism, privileging western dominance and control of global information flows by international telecommunications cartels from the global north. The aftermath is three‑pronged: the wholesale commercialisation of the mass media (press, radio and television, including the film industries); one‑way rather than reciprocal flows of information from the global north to ‘dependent’ global‑south regions; and a high content of occidental history, norms and traditions with consequences for cultural domination. Football globalisation conforms to the core‑periphery logic, and its inner workings cascade along the global north–global south axis. International migration of football players from minor leagues in ‘peripheral’ regions of Africa, Asia and South America to major leagues in the ‘core’ region of Europe has elevated star players of diverse nationalities to the global stage. The players’ resultant celebrity status generates local fan bases of mostly young people in the players’ home countries, while boosting the global image and popularity of their European clubs. This rationale contributes to the football industry’s wide‑ranging value chain; a 2022 Rome Business School report presents football as the most profitable sport, with a global revenue of US$47 billion (£36.8 billion). Football’s value chain encompasses ticket sales, infrastructure development, sales of licensed products and endorsements, as well as transactional exchanges between governing bodies and federations, clubs and their shareholders, and numerous subsidiary businesses (football academies, satellite broadcasting corporations, sportswear industries, and football pools and betting companies). 

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Ruby Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge was an American actress from the early 1900s through to the late 1950s. Dandridge is best known for her role on the radio show Amos 'n Andy, in which she played Sadie Blake and Harriet Crawford, and on radio's Judy Canova Show, in which she played Geranium.

Born Ruby Jean Butler in Wichita, Kansas, on March 3, 1900, she was one of four children. Dandridge's parents were Nellie Simon, a maid, and George Butler, who was a janitor, grocer and entertainer. Dandridge's father was also "a famous minstrel man."

On September 30, 1919, she married Cyril Dandridge. Dandridge moved with her husband to Cleveland, Ohio, where her daughter, actress Vivian Dandridge, was born in 1921. Her second daughter, Academy Award-nominated actress Dorothy Dandridge, was born there in 1922, five months after Ruby and Cyril divorced.

In 1937, Dandridge played one of the witches in what an article in The Pittsburgh Courier called a "sepia representation" of Macbeth in Los Angeles. California. The production began on July 8 at the Mayan Theater. Five years later, she appeared in a production of Hit the Deck at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, California. One of Dandridge's earliest appearances, thought uncredited, was as a native dancer in King Kong in 1933. Dandridge was also in Junior Miss (1945), Tap Roots (1948), Three Little Girls in Blue (1946), Cabin in the Sky (1943), and Tish (1942). Lillian Randolph, Ernest Whitman, and Ruby Dandridge of the radio cast of The Beulah Show from 1952–1953.

In 1955, Dandridge and her business partner Dorothy Foster bought land in Twentynine Palms, California, with plans to construct a subdivision of 250 homes. Also in the 1950s, Dandridge formed a nightclub act that played in clubs around Los Angeles. A review of her act cited her "flashes of effervescent showmanship" and stated "What Ruby lacks in her voice, she invariably makes up for it with her winsome personality."

Dandridge attended her daughter Dorothy's funeral in 1965.

On October 17, 1987, Dandridge died of a heart attack at a nursing home in Los Angeles, California. She was interred next to Dorothy at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. In the 1999 film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Ruby is portrayed by Loretta Devine.

[satan-s-favourite-book]

It's None of Your Business! | Obey Me!SatanxMC

content: oh no! MC returned home late into the night, but they're all bruised up! What happened?

Warning: minute swearing

←×→

"MC?" Satan widened his eyes, his lips parted.

It was the dead of night. No one was supposed to be awake in the House of Lamentation, other than Leviathan. Satan had woken due to his insomnia, of course. He was expecting to watch some cat videos to fall asleep and some more, but a bruised up MC was not on his list tonight.

MC ignored him and headed for the bathroom.

The panic grew in his chest. He had to know what happened.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Satan grabbed their wrist, and pulled them towards him. "Who... Why do you have cuts on your face?" His pact mark glowed green on his temple, pulsating.

"...Nothing." MC responded. They tried to rid themselves of Satan's grip.

"Why won't you tell me? Do you think I'm insane to hurt you even more, just because I'm the Avatar of Wrath?" Satan's grip grew even stronger. He frowned and bared his fangs at MC.

"Because you don't need to know everything that happens to me!" MC yells, glaring him in the eyes.

"Why shouldn't I, pray tell?" Satan sucked air through his teeth. His horns had started to emerge through the locks of his hair.

"Because I don't need YOU, or anyone ELSE to take care of me! I'm not your fucking kid!"

"That's not what this is about, MC!" Satan yelled, his eyes shaking. His eyes glimmered green in the dark.

MC freezes. The last moment they see is Satan towered over them, in his demon form.

The next morning, Mammon comes to wake MC. He knocks, for once. "MC? Ya alright?"

"Yeah," MC replies with the strength they had. They sat up straight on their bed, looking around their room. It was strangely, in order. Wait, in order?

Someone organised their room.

MC sighs heavily, pinching their nose. Satan. It was definitely him. He can't even organise his shambolic room, and he's the one to organise theirs.

"Go brush your teeth. I'll bring you breakfast, hm?" Mammon said, leaving shortly after.

MC hummed back in agreement and headed for the bathroom in their room. They came out soon after to meet Mammon with a platter. He set the folding desk onto their bed, and set the platter onto it. "There ya go, prince/ess." Mammon grinned at his job well done.

MC thanked him, and sat down to eat. They listened to his latest money making scheme he thought of, and honestly, this time it sounds like absolute gold. They might even help this time, who knows. Only if Lucifer doesn't catch wind of this.

Mammon left after a while, to most probably fill out a half-day permission slip to get signed at R.A.D. Maybe it was about something else, nobody knows. Either way, MC's going to the academy in his car. They quickly get dressed in the uniform and met Mammon outside the gates.

The whole day went by idly and it was only at that break that they met Asmodeus and Beelzebub. MC chatted for a while idly until Asmodeus finally spoke,

"Wait, you think Satan arranged your room?"

"Yeah? Didn't he?"

"MC, that was me."

"Oh. Oh! I'm so sorry, I thought it was Satan, Asmo. I didn't know."

"It's fine. Are you alright, MC? How is it with Satan?"

MC paused for a while before answering. They didn't know, honestly. They were just a scatterbrain at the moment, and nothing felt real. "How'd you know?"

Beel says in between bites, "We don't. This morning, he just looked like he read the worst review of his favourite book. But definitely more angrier than disappointed."

They don't think they hurt Satan that bad... Did they? I mean, it's not like he's someone special to them. Satan and them just live in the same house. And share the same rooms sometimes. That's it. Right?

"Oh. I'll see to it. Hopefully I'll coax him with cats, hardcover books, and an apology. Thank you, Asmo and Beel. See you later!" MC bids adieu to the pair of brothers.

—×—

Author's note: should I continue this? Let me know.

Merry christmas, everyone! 🌲🎅

[beca-mitchell]

Have you watched red, white and blue? I’m trying to but I can’t find it anywhere! Can you tell me what happens please I really want to know, I’ve heard Brittany is amazing in it!

Yes! I have watched it. It was up on YouTube (I posted about it) but it was only up for a limited time, likely to allow Academy members to vote for it to be nominated.

You can read my review here, but I'll put the detailed description under the read more. I do have a copy of the short film but I also know that the filmmaker said it would be available again soon-ish so we should all wait for the link again. :)

Brittany plays Rachel, who is first introduced to us as a struggling waitress living in Arkansas with two young children. She is seen holding a positive pregnancy test while she's taking a break at work and she is clearly distressed by it.

We are then introduced to her children, the oldest being Maddy who is about 10 years old. The film takes a few moments to show the family in their small apartment. The children have their bedroom and Rachel sleeps in the living room area on a pull-out couch. Rachel is shown to be very stressed about money, counting every last dime, particularly from her tips from the restaurant where she works. She also looks up abortion costs and in particular, available legal abortions out of state.

She receives a pretty generous tip from a regular-ish customer who had seen Rachel looking at her pregnancy test the day prior and it's this tip that lets her finally take the trip out of state that she so desperately needs. She takes Maddy with her and asks a friend to take care of her son for the weekend.

The road trip out of Arkansas takes up a good chunk of the short film and highlights both the mother-daughter bonding while also showing how strapped for cash Rachel still is, as she is constantly counting how much she spends on food and gas to still retain enough money for the abortion. There is also a moment where Maddy begs to go on a merry-go-round and we learn that it's her birthday, or at least it will be coming up. Rachel agrees and reminisces on when her daughter was young and they were all happier.

When they finally reach the clinic, it's packed/busy. The receptionist (or nurse?) notes that Rachel will have to get in line with all the other people who have sought out-of-state abortions, referencing the recent abortion bans across the USA. She takes down Rachel's information and Rachel provides a name and birthdate for the file.

It turns out that the person who actually needs an abortion is her daughter, Maddy, who was raped during a home invasion. We learn this through flashbacks (not graphic ones) that it happened while Rachel was at work and likely accounts for why she now brings her kids to work with her instead of leaving them at home.

The film ends with Maddy receiving the abortion she needs, then returning home where Rachel's young son also returns from babysitting and they share a tender family moment together.

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Emun Elliott the Scottish theatre, film and television actor.

Born in Edinburgh n 28th November 1983 as Emun Mohammadi, and brought up in Portobello, and Duddingston, his father is of Persian descent. Emun was educated at George Heriot’s School before going on to Aberdeen University and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Elliots first break was appearing in an episode of Monarch of the Glen in 2005, we then saw him in the Scottish Cop sitcom, Feel the Force.

In 2009 Elliott starred in a TV mini-series called “Paradox” in which the lab he works at as a physicist is named ‘Prometheus’ and he has a “chance’ to change the future because he has insight to the future. In Elliott’s real future. Three years later, he would star in Ridley Scott’s film named 'Prometheus’ as a character named Chance, Mark Bonnar also starred in the series.

One off appearances in Inspector George Gently and Vera were followed up with Game of Thrones, where he played the character Marillion in four episodes. He was then in the Glasgow Drama series, Lip Service on BBC Three and another sitcom Threesome. His biggest role to date was arguably in the BBC period drama, The Paradise, where he played John Moray, the shop’s owner. We saw him in the 2017 series Trust Me, which was set in his home town Edinburgh and starred Jodie Whittaker. Elliot also cropped up in the latest Kingsmen movie last year.

Emun appeared in the dark comedy drama Guilt an excellent series, where he again teamed up with Mark Bonnar. Fresh Meat and Gary: Tank Commander star Greg McHugh, the lovely Phyllis Logan, featured in the second series, the third and final season was on our screens last year.

If you're looking for a great brif gangster type series look up Sexy Beast a prequal to the 2000 black comedy crime film, which starred the excellent duo Ben Kingsley and Ray Winstone, it is definitely worth a watch, Emun plays the role of Don Logan. It got mediochre reviews, but I liked it.

As reported over the past two years Walking to Paris is still in post production, no dare for it's release as yet, Emun also has the BBC drama The Gold returning for a second series on the BBC. The series covers the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery. A four-part drama The Guest is also in production, Described as an addictive, fast-paced story that centres on the toxic and beguiling relationship between a successful business owner shooting started last month in and around Cardiff.

Brownie points if you know where the first photo of Emun was taken.

[crescentcampbell]

Wouldn't You Like to Know? Ch. 1

One

            “I really think you should reconsider. He’s one of the biggest actors out there. I don’t see why you won’t sell to him.” Penelope sighed. Agatha Danbury was one of the most important literary agents out there, and she really did admire the elder woman for what she had done for her career. But how could she explain her history with Colin Bridgerton?

            “I don’t feel comfortable working with someone that can’t keep their personal life together.” It was an absolute lie. Penelope knew about Colin punching the photographer for spreading lies about his ex-fianc��, Marina Thompson, and Penelope didn’t care.

            “I thought you knew the family?” Agatha said. “Eloise Bridgerton. That journalist from The New York Times. She’s the one that gave you that great book review when you were first starting out.”

            Penelope looked at the computer. Agatha was on vacation somewhere in the Bahamas, but when the offer for the movie rights to her book Wallflower got an offer, Agatha had demanded that they have a Zoom call. Aside from the scandal, Colin Bridgerton was one of the most popular actors out there. He’d had a Netflix mystery series that was super popular, been on the cover of GQ, and wrote a script that had been nominated for an Academy Award.

            “I do know Eloise,” Penelope said, “but my history with the family is complicated. We didn’t part on good terms. I’m lucky if I get a call from Eloise on my birthday, and that depends what mood she’s in.”

            Agatha raised an eyebrow. “This is about the social media account you ran?”

            Penelope bit her lip. Running a gossip account online that targeted the rich and elite at her private boarding school had not been one of her finest moments. In order to distract from her own family scandal of her father being arrested for embezzling, she had started the account to let out steam on everyone else that had something to say about her. But then one of her rumors had gone too far, gotten someone kicked out, and it was someone close to the Bridgerton’s.

            When Eloise Bridgerton had figured out what she had done, they had nearly stopped being friends. But then they both moved to New York and reconnected. Still, Colin Bridgerton had once been one of her friends too, and the terrible thing she’d posted had been on him. HE had never found out. But only because Eloise had threatened to tell the whole school it was her posting about them if she continued on with the gossip account.

            Penelope had stopped and she and Eloise had barely spoken.

            In college, at Columbia, Penelope had written a book called The Gossip. It had been all about her experience and she had managed to get a literary agent and a book deal. That was the first book Agatha had represented for her. Now, she was twenty-five, and had several books under her belt.

            The most popular of them by far had been a book called Wallflower. It was about being a plus size girl at a prep school, and being friends with one of the richest families in America. Part of the book had included all of her wildest fantasies about Colin Bridgerton. The same actor who was looking to buy it now. And The Bridgerton’s had been the inspiration for the family in the book.

            They owned one of the largest, organic honey operations in the U.S. Bridgerton: Sweet as honey, was their family slogan. Their mother, Violet Bridgerton, had started with the honey business, and went onto become a kind of Martha Stewart type figure in the world of home making. They had Bridgerton baking supplies, Bridgerton cookware, Bridgerton home décor, and Bridgerton cook books.

            When YouTube had come along, Violet had made vlogs that showcased her life with her large family, raising them as a single mother after her husband had died. It had catapulted the family to fame and there wasn’t a single person that didn’t know who they were. They’d also been Penelope’s next-door neighbors, and classmates.

            “It’s about a lot of things,” said Penelope.

            “But they don’t even know that you wrote the book. Eloise certainly didn’t. You wrote The Gossip under a penname.”

            “Yes, and I’m telling you, the minute that Colin Bridgerton finds out it was me that wrote that book, he’ll want nothing to do with the script. Especially since he’s the one that inspired Wallflower.”

            Agatha paused, and raised an eyebrow. She was an older black woman who had the ability to make a whole room pause with the look she was giving Penelope now. She radiated authority with everything she did. Before she’d been a literary agent, she’d spent a few years as a teacher, and Penelope suspected that was where it had come from. “You mean to tell me all of those steamy scenes your heroine imagines herself in are about America’s Favorite Heartthrob?”

            Penelope winced. “Yes, so you can see why it would be really awkward to have him in that movie. It’s everything Teen Penelope imagined doing to him so no, I don’t relish the idea of him making a movie about it and then the world finding out that’s who I was obsessing over. The internet is full of Swifties. They read romance and they’ll find out everything.”

            Agatha snorted. “You aren’t wrong. But I think you need to do this. Does Colin know what you do for a living?”

            Penelope thought about how most of her books had scenes in them that would make her mother blush. “No. Noone back home does. I told everyone that I am my assistant and she’s helping me make money while I’m working on a ‘real book’.” That was an absolute lie. Penelope loved what she wrote, only she didn’t exactly want her family and friends knowing that she used words like ‘cock’ and ‘cum’ in her writing. Especially when her mother had paid for her to have a fancy, Ivy League education.

            “Then, keep on with the lie. Tell him that you’re the assistant. I’m sure he won’t even mind that you’re part of this.”

            Penelope thought of the last time she had seen Colin. It had been the month of prom, and she’d gotten the nerve up to ask him to it. Colin had agreed and she’d been ecstatic but then she had heard him talking with his friends. He said he was only doing it because his mother had asked him to say yes. “You really think that will work?”

            Agatha nodded. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of the rest. Colin won’t even know why he never met Lulu.”

            Penelope made a face. Reuniting with Colin was still the last thing she wanted, but she couldn’t deny that she liked the idea of Wallflowers being made into a movie. “Alright. Tell him yes. Have the paperwork sent over.”

            “Lovely,” said Agatha, “you’re going to make so much fucking money. It will be brilliant.”

            Penelope laughed. “Well, that part I like.”

            “Good girl. I’ll see you soon. Bye for now.”

            “Bye.”

            Penelope ended the Zoom call, and took a deep breath. Her book was going to get made into a movie starring Colin Bridgerton. “Fuck,” she muttered. It was like all of her teen fantasies were coming true.

[captainderyn]

Welcome Home, Agent [Fic]

Summary: Fresh off of her first mission as a junior agent, Erabelle returns to Dromund Kaas to be debriefed by Keeper. She meets two agents she will be working with, including a familiar face. (or, for those familiar with the Deryn-lore: the agent family meets!!)

--

Returning to Dromund Kaas was a whirlwind.

The travel time between Hutta and Dromund Kaas had hardly been restful, in fact Era had spent so long on her datapad going over mission debriefings and writing her reports that her eyes were dry and overused.

She hoped the longer she worked in the field, the easier mission reports became to write. Though they'd written report after report at the Academy, she still had the template and suggestions given by her instructors pulled up in another tab. It wouldn't do to make a mistake on the first document she sent to Keeper.

By the time they landed and she stepped back into Kaas City for the first time in weeks, her acid eaten and oil-smelling undercover clothes swapped for her pressed Intelligence uniform, she took a deep breath of the humid air and felt part of her relax.

Though nerves still fluttered in her stomach at the thought of facing Keeper in-person for the first time since she'd graduated from the Academy and at the thought that this was her first solo mission completed, Kaas City was home. She didn't have to worry about unexpected enemies leaping at her from corners or hutts putting targets on her back just because she looked at them wrong.

At least in Kaas City, she was far less out of her depth.

"Agent," Keeper turned to face her, fixing her with a analytical stare. Era snapped into a parade rest, squeezing her hands tight behind her back. Something in his look ignited that nervous, rapid pace of her heart once again, "I was reviewing your actions from Hutta. It seems as though you kept yourself quite busy."

It was true, she had taken on far more tasks than were strictly listed in her mission plan. All of those secondary missions had sprung up organically, and none of them had compromised her main work. No one had told her anything about whether that was permissible or not.

She swallowed, "At the time, that work seemed the best way to establish myself in the community as the Red Blade. It spread my name around, made people less suspicious."

As Keeper consulted his datapad, she shifted and tried to wipe her sweaty palms on her trousers as discretely as she could.

"You do a remarkable job improvising and thinking on the fly, agent." He mused, latching onto her once again with that unreadable expression. Was it disapproval? Anger? Approval? Just his face?

"Yet there were many times you took unnecessary steps to avoid violence. Why?"

Disapproval then, was it? Era's stomach dropped straight to the floor, "Sir, in those moments I felt that violence would only cause more issues down the line."

When Keeper's eyes narrowed, she squashed down the feeling that she'd chosen the wrong answer. Her palms were clammy again, she wanted to wipe them, but Keeper was still studying her.

"Cipher Five highly recommended you coming out of the Academy. It was on his professional opinion and praise that I designated you to go to Hutta."

While in her final briefing with Cipher Five, after the cadets' final mission simulator, he'd told her he saw her potential for the cipher track, she'd doubted he would actually advocate for her career like that. He'd been aloof, distant from his cadets throughout every training module...had he actually cared where they would end up?

"I don't plan to waste such high praise." Era cleared her throat as her voice hitched, nerves constricting her throat. Her mouth felt full of cotton, too dry and thick to speak, "I will adjust my course according to your recommendation, Keeper."

The older agent sighed and closed his eyes, but when he looked at her again something in him had softened. The lines had eased over his brow, at the corners of his mouth, "You can relax, agent, I am not going to drop you from Intelligence after your first solo mission. You did well."

She dipped her head, forcing out a deep breath and trying to roll some of the tension from her shoulders. His endorsement did not soothe her as it was probably meant to, the footing she stood on still felt remarkably shaky, "Thank you, sir."

"I still do not like Darth Jadus' involvement of a junior agent on this mission." Keeper mused, "You are still gaining experience in the field, and it does not feel right to throw you into this blind. As such, you will have two agents that will be supporting you on this mission alongside Miss Djannis."

Goosebumps shivered down Era's arms at the thought of Darth Jadus in his imposing mask, towering over her and telling her that he was watching her closely. That level of scrutiny from a Sith might as well be a death sentence waiting to happen. Whatever she had done on Hutta, perhaps she should've done less effectively, if it would've meant losing Jadus' interest.

Keeper spoke into an intercom at his desk and within moments the doors behind her whisked open. Two agents swept in, the door hissing shut behind them, and they both fell into matching positions of attention.

One agent was completely unknown to her, a woman with slicked back black hair and a buzzing energy about her, as though her mind was zipping several steps ahead of whatever her body was doing.

The other had a familiar, inquisitive look fixed on her. A look that had always been followed by some kind of constructive criticism that had often infuriated her in her classes.

Cipher Five looked the same as he had at the Academy, if less well rested. When she finally glanced over at him, he gave her a slight nod as a greeting. It was nearly friendly, for him.

What kind of mission was this if Keeper was willing to have Cipher Five watching over her? Something bigger than her was moving beneath the surface, she just wished she knew what it was.

"Agent, this is Watcher Two." Keeper gestured to the woman, who offered a polite wave, "She is incredibly smart and will be your diapason back here to headquarters. She will have any and all information that you need."

He motioned to Five, who had eased into a parade rest, "And consider this your reintroduction to Cipher Five. Given his interest in your progress, he will be monitoring your mission and will be a resource for you to turn to for all things an operative should know."

Era wasn't sure if she was meant to salute, wave, or just say hello. She settled for the most formal of the three and added, "I'm looking forward to working with you both."

"I monitored your operation on Hutta, it was quite impressive. I look forward to working with you as well, agent." Watcher Two offered her a warm smile, "Come to my office after this meeting, I'll give you more information on your next steps back here on Dromund Kaas."

"I'm glad to see you surpassed my expectations for your first mission." If she wasn't mistaken, there was a bit of an 'I told you so' in the glance Five darted to Keeper, "Seeing your progress going forward will be most interesting."

Keeper dismissed both agents, motion for her to wait just a moment before leaving as well, "You are back on Imperial soil, agent, you needn't hide that you're a member of Imperial Intelligence with this mission. Welcome home."

--

Five and Watcher Two were gone when she slipped from Keeper's office.

Era scrubbed her hands down the front of her pant legs, undoing her bun and twisting it back into place just to give her shaky hands some way to work out her excess energy.

It could have gone worse. It most certainly could have gone better.

She couldn't decide if she felt more secure, having the knowledge of Five and Watcher Two to fall back on, or if it left her feeling more scrutinized. There was a slim margin of error with this mission, and all of her missions going forward as it sounded, but wasn't this what she had signed up for? What she'd worked tirelessly for?

"Agent, Keeper didn't tear you up too bad, did he?" She jolted from her thoughts, body slipping into an automatic attention before she registered who it was in front of her.

She didn't know him, but his uniform had the Cipher designation in his ribbons, just as Five's did. He was a mountain of a man, the row of ribbons on his uniform at her eye level.

But his face was jovial, a neatly clipped beard framing a wide smile and bright eyes edged by crows feet.

"Uh...no, he didn't...sir."

The cipher agent waved off her title, waved off her attentive stance, "Relax, agent, no one's going to throw you to the curb. Besides, you'll be one of us in no time if Five has anything to say about it, so we might as well act as such."

Era blinked, unable to even pretend that she knew what the other agent was talking about, "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Cipher Seven!" A sharp voice barked from across the common area packed with data terminals. The agent, Cipher Seven, rolled his eyes to the ceiling before smartly pivoting and snapping a salute.

"Fourteen!" He greeted, remarkably casual for the stormy look the woman who stalked towards them was wearing. She held a stack of datapads in her arms, but it did not make her any less intimidating.

A very small, very out of line, part of Era couldn't help noting that she was terrifyingly gorgeous, marching towards them. She stuffed that thought away, punted it away, really, trying her best not to shrink back and make herself as tiny as possible.

"You had better not be getting our junior agent's hopes up." The woman spoke sharply, "And don't put promises in Cipher Five's mouth that he can't keep."

Cipher Seven made a face, gesturing back towards Era. She did her best to disappear right on the spot. It didn't work.

"I'm not making promises, Fourteen, but Five has been pushing for this designation since she graduated from the Academy. Knowing someone's in her corner is paramount in this field, you know that."

"Cipher...Fourteen, ma'am," Era forced out, trying not to cow when Fourteen's attention shifted to her, "I really don't understand what's going on."

Then, to her surprise, Fourteen's entire demeanor softened. Her eyes, which had been dark wells of irritation when fixed on Seven, brightened and her entire being shifted towards something almost motherly.

"Fixer Fourteen, not Cipher." She corrected gently, "What Cipher Seven was trying to do was let you in that you already have a lot of support here at Intelligence headquarters. We've been sorely lacking in new agents recently, and we're all excited to see what you do. And while Keeper is the one who assigns designations, Cipher Five, the agent heading the Cipher division, has high hopes for you."

"That's what everyone keeps saying." Era pushed away her uncertainty, keeping to herself that that sounded like an awful lot of pressure was just dropped onto her.

Seven snorted, "Don't look like its a death sentence, trust me, Cipher Five is a lot more bark than he is bite."

Fourteen leveled another look at him, and something Era couldn't parse flashed between them. Clearly there was some connection between the three that she wasn't privy to.

"Cipher Five has your best interests in mind." Fourteen added to Seven's statement, "He will do everything he can to support your growth as an agent. As will we. You'll never go without support here. We know how overwhelming it is when you first start."

Seven nodded, offering her an encouraging smile, "And, about how your first meeting with Keeper went, don't take it personally. He has a lot on his plate right now, it's not really about you."

That brought her more comfort than she thought it would and she offered a small smile of her own, "Well...thank you. I look forward to working with you all then."

Fourteen beamed at her, "Welcome to the family, agent."

[elizabeth-chambers-author]

What’s going on with Elizabeth Chambers?

An Update:

Good morning Tumblrverse!

I haven’t published in a while, so I wanted to make a post outlining what’s been going on in my life and what’s been causing some of the holdups in my work at the moment. The short answer is YES – both The Padded Princess Playroom and The Diaper Discipline Academy are going to continue, and I have work done on the next story in each series. PPP is much further ahead with a September targeted release, followed by an Oct-Nov DDA drop.

So what’s been happening with Elizabeth Chambers that’s caused so much time to pass with 0 updates?

I’m engaged!

I’m officially off the market, I’ll be getting married in Sept 2024 to my partner who is amazing in every way. She’s by no means a little or a mommy herself, but they’re AB/DL aware and have even worn a couple times with me. Wedding planning and the commitment to my partner have eaten into a bit of writing time, but not as much as the next few items.

We’re long distance…

We live on opposite sides of the country at the moment because of our careers, so traveling and spending quality time together online makes it more challenging to keep my output up.

I’m doing my master's degree

This is a bit of a time sink but it’s a goal I’ve had for a long time and my main job pays for me to do it, so I can’t turn it down. Still, it’s hard to be motivated to write 1,000 words after finishing a 20+ page research paper or 100+ pages of reading every week.

My REAL job has made us return to the office.

Honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to start this work if I was full-time in an office, but now I’m back in the office three days a week. It stinks that I can’t fill my downtime at work by writing smut, but I can’t really do that in my office setting like I can when working from home.

I’ve just been tired.

Honestly, this is the big one. With a long-distance relationship, work, and graduate school, I’m wiped out and need my weekends to recover, which means less time for writing unless that’s what I feel will help me recharge (and it honestly does sometimes!).

In short, life happens, and now I’m in a position where I can write a little more than I was over the last few months, but it’s still a challenge. Thank you to everyone who has messaged me to see what’s going on and for your continued patronage of this little side business I’ve developed. Even with only five books published, and only publishing every few months, I still bring in a few extra hundred bucks a month from this which is amazing, and I couldn’t’ do it without ya’ll.

If you’re still reading this and want to help out, the best thing you can do is to leave a review of one of my books on Amazon! It honestly helps with the algorithm and will provide me with more resources to continue this work, and produce more content moving forward.

Thanks!

-Nofearageplay/Elizabeth Chambers

[ciegeinc]

Movie Review...The Burial

(5/5) A good court drama movie is like a good boxing movie. Round for round until the tide turns and you get that good knockout. The 2 opposing councils couldn't have been led better with Jurnee vs. Jamie.

I ain't gone like my first impression of Jamie's character was scammer. Southern Baptist peacher/ Lawyer...ain't no way he ain't a scammer. I mean, superficially, he had all the signs saying so, and I was wrong.

The plot and characters kept developing into something that you soon couldn't keep your eyes off from. The simple court matter of character and integrity evolved and revealed something more. The best scene..."Sit yo ass down" had me standing up! With great performances and a great story you don't want to miss this film.

Inspired by true events, when a handshake deal goes sour, funeral home owner Jeremiah O'Keefe (Academy Award® winner Tommy Lee Jones) enlists charismatic, smooth-talking attorney Willie E. Gary (Academy Award® winner Jamie Foxx) to save his family business. Tempers flare and laughter ensues as the unlikely pair bond while exposing corporate corruption and racial injustice in this inspirational, triumphant story.

[kyaramaru]

Nijisanji Otome Au (Reincarnated Villian):

-Kaida is a busy body who isn’t quite happy with his life cause all he does is work and go home to play games. His only friend is Hoshikawa who convince him to play an Otome game one day, which he agrees due to the good reviews.

-Upon playing the game he gets isekaied and realize he’s now playing as the villain, much to his dismay and tries to get out as in game the villain ends up dying for the plot. He’s a student at the academy where everything takes place but is extremely skillful at magic just like in the game. The only problem is magic is illegal

-The main character of the game is Hoshikawa, though this Hoshikawa doesn’t seem aware that she’s in a game. The usual path the main character can go are most of the Niji boys but Kanae and Fuwa seems to be the fan favorites irl. (The Paths are: Kanae, Fuwa, Mayu, Kuzuha, Kagami, Lauren, Axia, Ibrahim, and Ebio)

-Kaida has no intention to be involved what so ever but cause of his luck, he seems to always be stuck in a bad situation much to his dismay and considers giving up before Akina crash into his life. Due to being kind of shy, people see his shyness as him being a jerk and not wanting anyone around him.

-Akina is a plain background character and is often seen as the side kick of Fuwa’s pathway (Both Mayu and Fuwa have pathway in the game, Akina doesn’t, they are childhood friends) hence why he seems to have a plainer design (in the actual game Akina wears his mesh normally, in the world Akina wears it in a braid like his new default model).

-In real life a lot of people don’t find Akina relevant (same can be said in game) compared to the other two. Most likely cause Akina is a sick prince who can’t leave his home and is only a plot device for Fuwa and Mayu (he is set to die from his sickness)

-Akina basically goes fuck it, and messes up the entire game by  kidnapping running away with Kaida because he hates being locked up. So the story revolves around the cast trying to catch them while they basically go on the adventure of their lives almost dying 24/7 (Akina having the time of his life, Kaida about to shit himself). Song Inspiration: ‘Your Adventure Log Has Vanished!’ by WONDERFUL☆OPPORTUNITY!

-While Kaida’s luck is awful, Akina’s luck is good but not great by any means. The end results just ends them in the worse situations before accidentally blowing the entire place up. Basically they ruin stuff without meaning to and it saves the day.

-Fuwa being a supposed good man and tries to stop them cause they are seen as villains and evil by everyone for all the chaos they bring. He fails but he does the best job out of everyone so he keeps going after them but somewhere along the way he realizes they aren’t total assholes.

-Kaida can do magic while Akina can’t so he tries to learn it from Kaida, it’s not perfect but Akina can cast weaker magic using a spell book he would get from Shellin. It takes some time but he eventually get the gist of it.

-Eventually Akina and Kaida do get captured but Kaida manages to escape thanks to Akina. Akina is sentenced to death in his place and also claimed as a witch. It’s also at this point where Akina’s sickness is at it’s worst. With Fuwa help they try to save Akina from trouble. They end up failing and Akina is burnt to death, however before he can fully be executed a last minute spell by Mayu saves him but only his soul. Song Inspiration: ‘Lower’ by Nulut

-The new Akina is an angel but his memories are weak and is much more quiet/distant compared to the Akina before. He no longer follows Kaida around as a partner, instead Fuwa travels with Kaida, Akina follows them from afar kinda. The two go together to regain the old Akina back with an Akina who’s more empty. 

[ask-a-w]

The Gift

Author's Note: Before the RE4 Remake comes out, I was inspired to write yet another short Aeon fic! Takes place after the "Life" series.

FF.net

AO3

-----------

Weekends were usually the busiest days of the week in the Kennedy household as their schedules were packed with clients who signed up for their personal training and self-defence classes.

Ever since Leon and Ada’s retirement from their professional life, they kept busy with their home-based business, imparting what they learned on the job to civilians who wanted to protect themselves. It was quite a hit since they catered to both sexes and female clients were more comfortable with Ada around.

This weekend however, the couple blocked any bookings for some much needed downtime. Ada and Leon lounged together on the sofa, watching a show on TV as their cats cuddled up in a furry pile at their feet. They randomly scrolled through channels and landed on a stand-up comedy routine which kept their attention for the past half hour. As the female comedian landed her punch line and dropped her mic, the audience roared with laughter and the screen cut to commercial break.

“That was hilarious, I never expected such a subject would make for good comedy,” Leon said in between chuckles.

His wife nodded, “I know. Her presentation and delivery are quite something.”

There was now an ad on TV promoting fostering of children and Ada’s expression became passive. It did not go unnoticed by her husband who furrowed his brows with concern. “Are you okay, honey?”

It would have been easy to deny what she was feeling and lie but since they got married, Ada knew that her husband meant her no harm and was always concerned about her well-being. “Just remembering my last foster family.”

Leon rubbed his thumb over the back of his wife’s hand. “The Rogers, right?”

Ada nodded, “I was so happy when they made an application to adopt me. But that was short-lived…” She balled the other fist that was not held by Leon. There was still some leftover anger and resentment towards The Academy for ruining her life and for misleading the Rogers into thinking she did not want anything to do with them anymore.

“Since we have retired, do you want to contact them?”

“It’s been decades, handsome. They have assumed that I have immigrated and forgotten about me…”

The blonde’s heart ached for his beloved wife and he gently pulled her into an embrace. Ada murmured her thanks into his chest as the commercial break ended and the comedian returned back on screen.

Even though the conversation was dropped, Leon was still deep in thought…

~~~~~

“With the holiday season coming around, it seems that a lot of our clients are going out of state to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. Should we consider having a small discount for returning clients in the new year?” Ada asked as they were reviewing the sales figures in the last quarter.

Leon, who was replying an email on his laptop looked up, “Sorry beautiful, could you repeat that again? I got distracted.”

She gave him a small grin as she repeated her question. Her husband had been busy with emails lately and he mentioned that it was an indecisive client who was unsure about attending their classes. Leon had patiently explained what they would teach and how they would adjust the difficulty based on experience. He was definitely more patient on the customer service front compared to her.

The gears appeared to be turning in his head as he pondered her words. “That is a good idea. I was thinking, should be also provide a referral discount if they introduce a family or a friend? Lots of people try to make exercise as part of their new year’s resolution. It would be a good incentive for them to continue with their healthy lifestyle.”

Ada could only stare at her husband in awe. “I did not know you studied business strategies, handsome. That was such a brilliant suggestion!”

He rubbed the back of his neck shyly. “It was just something I overheard from my ex-colleagues while I was working in the DSO. They occasionally asked each other for referrals for certain gyms and I thought we could implement it too.”

They continued to discuss on when to roll out this referral and the percentage of discount to give. It was late afternoon when one of their cats sauntered into the room, rubbing their legs affectionately before choosing a small cabinet to lounge on.

“I think it’s time to call it a day and get started on making dinner,” Ada closed her laptop and stretched out her arms.

“Before you do that, your birthday is coming up. Is there anything you want?”

She tilted her head and gazed at her husband curiously. “I have everything I need right here. If you are planning an activity, I am content in doing it together.”

Leon nodded and beamed her a small smile. “I’ll think of something interesting.”

~~~~~

The day of Ada’s birthday arrived and Leon had a spread of food laid out on their dining table. Ada looked at their table with a puzzled expression and counted the utensils that were on the placemats.

“It is sweet of you to throw me a party, handsome. Whom did you invite?”

“Just some family and friends,” was the blonde’s response as he took out some cups from the cabinet. “They should be here any minute.”

The only family she knew were her in-laws and their friends mostly consisted of Ingrid, Helena, and the Redfields.

To Leon’s relief, Ada did not catch on to what he had planned and the people he invited. There was no reason for her to go into spy-mode in their home anyway after they promised to share all their trials and tribulations from their previous jobs. His wife was truly in for a surprise.

The doorbell rang and Leon made sure the cats were safe behind the pet gate before taking his wife’s hand, “Let’s greet our guests together.”

It seemed a little odd for the birthday girl to be doing the work of hostess but Ada did not think much of it.

She turned the door knob and was prepared to greet her in-laws or Leon’s ex-colleagues when she finally caught a glimpse of the people standing on her porch.

“Hello, Ada. It has been a long time,” Simon, her brother from the last foster home greeted her with a smile.

Beside him, his twin sister, Diana was holding a cake box and tearing up slightly. “It’s so nice to see you again, Ada.”

The siblings stepped aside to reveal an elderly couple with canes in their hands. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers gave their foster daughter a once over. “I’m so glad you’re safe after all these years,” Nick said as his wife, Jolene, could only beam with pure joy, “You look so grown up now.”

Ada could not believe her eyes and glanced at her husband, “You planned this?”

Nick nodded, “He sure did. We could not believe it at first but he was determined that you reunite with us. Your husband is such an exemplary man.”

“And I am lucky to have him…” Ada whispered as she felt her heart swell with love and tenderness. She stepped forward and embraced her foster family. They stood together in silence for a minute as Ada felt the warmth radiating from them. The Academy had taken everything away from her and it was a miracle she was able to see them again.

The ex-spy pulled away and wiped her cheek with the palm of her hand. “Please, do come in. It’s a little chilly outside.”

~~~~~

Leon sat in front of his laptop and re-read his draft email for the umpteen time. There was a bit of apprehension that his plan might backfire and the Rogers might think he was a scammer. He took a leap of faith anyway and hit “Send”, hoping for the best. It was not too difficult to find information on the Rogers since they had an online presence. There was no need to call in favors with his ex-colleagues to locate them.

At the end of the day when they were done with their lessons, Leon saw an unread email in his inbox. It took a lot of willpower to stop himself from opening the email immediately. He and Ada had an evening routine together and breaking it would arouse her suspicions.

It was only the next morning when he finally read the response.

Dear Leon,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

To be honest, we thought you were a swindler at first but after viewing your personal training website and seeing Ada’s photo there, our minds are at ease.

We have many questions but we are on board on giving Ada a surprise on her birthday. We can even bake a chocolate cake for her too since that is her favorite flavor. She still loves chocolate, right?

Our children have suggested that we have a video call to discuss the details. Some things are better done ‘face to face’ than through words.

Let us know your availability and we look forward to your reply soon.

Yours sincerely,

Nick & Jolene

The blonde could not believe his eyes. The Rogers were receptive to his idea and were willing to meet! He had planned for so many scenarios in his mind, including failure and rejection. This would definitely be one of the best birthdays his wife would have. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he suggested a time and date for the call.

His enthusiastic typing for the next couple of days did not go unnoticed by Ada and he quickly made up a white lie about a client being unsure about personal training.

Finally, when Ada was out on a spa day for some personal ‘me’ time did Leon conduct the video call.

Staring at the black rectangle on the screen, he felt nervous. Was this what his spouse felt before she met his folks? Even though their previous correspondence was uneventful and the Rogers seemed like pleasant people, he almost felt like he was a teenager again, meeting his partner’s family for the first time before he could take their daughter out on a date.

The call finally connected and four beaming people were waving at him.

“Hello, Leon! It’s so good to see you at last,” an elderly man with grey hair greeted him as his wife leaned towards the camera, “Oh my, you are as good looking as you are in your photographs.”

“No need to embarrass him, mom,” Diana replied as her twin brother, Simon, picked up a piece of paper. “Before we get to party planning, do you mind if we ask some questions?”

The blonde nodded, “Of course. Fire away.”

“We know both of you are doing personal fitness now but we could not find much information about your professional lives before this. It is a completely blank slate. Do both of you not use social media at all?”

“We did a lot of classified work in our previous occupation, so we can’t really broadcast it,” Leon said matter-of-factly. It was a safe answer that did not have to delve too deeply into their involvement with bioterrorism. “We are retired now and still not able to disclose what we did previously.”

The Rogers raised their eyebrows in surprise. Simon then asked another question, “I see… Is that why Ada cut off contact with us?”

“That is her story to tell. But I can assure you that she was reluctant to do so.”

Simon looked at his sister, a little loss for words and Diana gently placed a hand on her brother’s wrist, making him put his list down.

“I’m sure we can ask her that in person, bro. For now, why don’t we concentrate on party planning?”

Jolene piped up, “I am happy to hear chocolate fudge is still Ada’s favourite. How about I make a two-tier cake?”

A smile graced Leon’s lips as he nodded, “That sounds absolutely amazing, Jolene.”

They spent the rest of the video call fine tuning more details such as what time they should arrive and the food to order. Leon even made some small talk with them and learned the elder Rogers were retired while Diana was a dentist and her brother was an architect.

~~~~~

The celebration was going off without a hitch as they slowly consumed the food and emptied their wine glasses. It was extremely refreshing to see his wife interact with her foster family so honestly and openly. Even though his parents have always been welcoming towards her, it always felt that Ada was habitually putting on a mask of cordiality around them. The smile was reaching her eyes too, something that only happened when both of them were alone.

“You twisted your ankle on your wedding night just by standing up?” Ada was guffawing as she listened to Simon regale some stories of what had happened over the years.

“My wife insisted on doing a mindfulness check so I crossed my legs to do so… And when the ten minutes were up, I was eager to get the night started and did not realise my foot fell asleep. Lucky Diana was in the same hotel and she ascertained that it was nothing but a sprain.”

“I thought you had too many glasses of prosecco and fell down when Hannah rushed over to my room requesting my help,” Diana replied as she playfully clapped her twin on the shoulder.

“What about you, Ada? Where did you and Leon get married?” Jolene asked as Ada looked at her husband affectionately. “It was a small and intimate wedding in Vegas. Due to the nature of our previous jobs, it was very hard to line up our schedules over the years… We just took the plunge and pledged our life to each other.”

While the rest of his family swooned over the romantic response, Nick could not help but be a little suspicious. They were certainly evasive about their old profession. “Yes, Leon mentioned your work was confidential. He would not even tell us about it. Were you two government spies or something?”

Leon gripped his wife’s hand tightly under the table. They were almost right… Thankfully, Ada managed to keep her poker face up. “We were agents and frequently got deployed without a moment’s notice. I wish we could tell you more but we signed NDAs.” Her words had some truth to sate their curiosity but also vague enough to keep them safe.

“Your husband also said you were reluctant to leave us too. Would the government be so heartless?” Nick asked before his wife interrupted him, “Honey, it’s Ada’s birthday. We just got reunited and I don’t think she wants an interrogation right now on this happy occasion.”

Ada raised a hand in reassurance, “It’s alright. I know you have many questions about my disappearance. I can’t reveal much but the government did not have a hand in this.”  She looked down briefly before taking a breath. “Your lives were threatened and that’s why I stayed away. I was overjoyed when you gave me the adoption papers back then. I wouldn’t have abandoned this family.”

The Rogers sat in stunned silence before Jolene stood up and shuffled over. “Oh Ada… I am so sorry you had to go through that,” she said as she embraced the younger woman. “Just so you know, we did not forget about you at all. We always wondered how you were doing and would say a prayer for you every year on your birthday.”

Ada almost felt tears falling again before Diana raised a glass, “To Ada, the bravest person I have known. I wish you to be happy always and enjoy your many birthdays to come.”

Everyone raised their cups too and words of “Hear, hear!” echoed throughout the Kennedy dining room. The shift in tone was welcomed as Ada let out a small chuckle. “Thank you. Let me help you back to your seat, mommy. Do you mind if I call you that?”

“Not at all, sweetie! It’s also time for dessert too. Simon dear, could you help to take the cake out please?”

It almost felt like she was a child again as they sang her a birthday song and partook in the decadent chocolate cake. Her heart and belly were full and it was the most memorable birthday she has had so far with all her loved ones by her side.

~~~~~

Later in the night after the Rogers went home with promises of keeping in touch, Leon and Ada were getting ready for bed while their cats nestled in their cat beds in the corner of the bedroom.

Glancing at her husband’s back, Ada strode over and wrapped her arms around his torso while resting her cheek against his strong back. “That was quite a surprise,” the raven-haired woman murmured as she nuzzled the fabric of his shirt.

The blonde rested his hand over hers reassuringly, “You deserved it, gorgeous.”

“Thank you, handsome. I didn’t think I would see them again…”

Leon slowly turned around in his wife’s embrace and it was his turn to return the hug. “How are you feeling? I hope you weren’t too shocked by this.”

She tilted her head up and looked into his warm blue eyes, “It... feels surreal. After everything I've been through, having such a blissful and content life seems like a dream. I thought our wedding day was the best day of my life but this is coming in a close second.”

He leaned forward to plant a gentle kiss on her forehead and stood together in silence, slowly swaying on the spot. No words were needed as he let his wife process the moment.

Tipping her toes, Ada pressed her lips against his. “I’m glad we met in Raccoon City all those years ago.”

“Me too.”

Sliding one arm across her back and the other to the back of her knees, Leon carried Ada to bed and pulled the covers over them. They slumbered peacefully with smiles on their faces.

It was gratifying that both of them could enjoy this life together.