#i don't even remember if it's French actually i made this ages ago

[spittingspite]

Heard Sonic Boom is 10 years old today so in its honour here's an edit of the Sonic Boom intro we all deserved

[rebellesanscause]

So, in the honor of the barricade days, let me tell you a little bit about the riots of march 2023 in France and how it impacted me as someone living near Paris

As you may know, our dear french President Emmanuel Macron passed a law on retirement (pushing the age to 63 to 67) using a thing called "49.3" - meaning that the law will not be voted by the deputies in the National Assembly but only by the Prime Minister and the President.

We french people don't really liked that, so we rioted.

It was a historical movement, thousands of people were in the street everday for months, and I participated in two of the riots in Paris.

The first was the day after the 49.3 was used, and we were PISSED. Now there's two types of protests in France: the one where it's autorized by the Mayor and organized by the CGT or others, and, well, riots. We were at Concorde, in front of the National Assembly, and police were EVERYWHERE. All the streets were blocked by cops, we couldn't get out of the place.

We started a fire with the things laying around, and made a barricade in front of the police. A fire barricade. That was AWESOME.

We also burned a puppet of Macron. That was cool too.

But quickly, things started going wrong. The cops started to charge, they threw tear gas, and we run (i was with 3 friends of mine). But remember, they were everywhere, so we were always surrended by cops and gas, and ppl were panicking (some were teenagers, not even 15) They started arresting people, and with my friends we ran away, took the subway to Chatelet to go eat something, faaaar away from the police.

And then, protesters were there too. If you don't know, the 1832 rebellion actually took place in one of the street of Chatelet, the very street where I was eating with my friends - I PANICKED. There were trash barricades on fire everywhere, police ran after us, my eyes were burning bc of the tear gas, and the only thing i could think of was "ah, i'm going to get arrested and beat off by these pigs in the very same street where they died all those years ago. Great."

I GOT HOME SAFE THAT NIGHT. I WAS EXHAUSTED, MY EYES BURNED FOR 4 DAYS, BUT I WAS SAFE.

let me know if you wanna know the second time I participated in the riot !

(Take so photo and videos of that day too)

[thelampisaflashlight]

I had one of those "You're back in school and people are as shitty as you remember." style dreams with bonus, "For some reason Astarion from Baldur's Gate is your brother." juice or whatever you wanna call it.

Anyway, it reminded me a lot of experience with school/being bullied, and I'm just going to ramble about that a bit, because I don't take that box down off the shelf often.

So growing up, I was a fairly "introverted" kid; I was shy and anxious and didn't really know how to deal with other people my age, and I can remember feeling too big for my body/feeling like I was too old for things that were age appropriate at the time... Ya know, the "normal" way for a kid to feel as early as first grade.

As you can imagine, feeling that way mixed with an inability to relate to my peers for this reason, along with a lack of outside socialization -people outside of my family weren't allowed in our house, save for one or two individuals who were- and no access to the pop culture of the time, made me a very weird, easy target for bullying.

Except, I rarely ever realized I was being bullied!

Like, whispering and name calling didn't register to me, because I wasn't paying attention to them; I wasn't paying attention to anything in school to be fair.

But the times that did ping on my radar, that stuff went beyond the basic schoolyard bullshit.

It wasn't just girls standing around and getting some random boy to ask me out, or teasing me about my hand-me-down clothes...

It was things like my neighbor taking me down to her basement and showing me a door and telling me there were girls I knew in there making fun of me, and the logical part of my brain saying they couldn't be, and fearing what would happen if I actually opened the door.

Because what was her plan if I opened it and called her bluff?

It was the kids on my bus threatening to do things to me, because I was a small, easy target, and getting so close without me noticing that they pulled out some of my hair and mocked the ease with which it came out by asking if I had cancer.

It was people mirroring the way I sat, down to the way I rested my cheek on my palm and laughing about it to my face.

But it wasn't their words that stuck with me.

I play hell trying to remember any rude or nasty things they whispered behind my back, it was always the ones said directly to me that left marks.

In a way, I was lucky I wasn't more conscious of it then, I was sick a lot, and my mind was focused on just trying to survive, so I couldn't give a shit about being bullied even if I tried... but then I think about it, and, in retrospect, it does make me very angry.

Why wouldn't it?

When I look back at my younger self, dealing with trouble at home, health problems, and trauma from watching a loved one die in front of me, of course I was odd, of course I was struggling... and instead of wanting to help or leaving me alone, some people decided I was the perfect person to be a douche to.

I can remember being in French class, and being assigned to a group of three people, and one of them absolutely hated my guts and refused to talk to me/in general because I was there, so I apologized to my classmate (the other person in the group) and we worked on the worksheet we were given... and then I went to the teacher at the end of class and straight up told her, "I can't be in groups with -insert name- because he doesn't like me."

He eventually switched classes.

I spent the ages of 12-17 in individual and group therapy, grief groups, and I can remember those meetings, just talking about things, feeling like the only time I was normal.

I could talk about things and didn't feel ashamed to be honest about how I was doing/what I thought about everything going on.

As I've gotten older, that's more or less the attitude I've adopted towards life; I'm honest, oftentimes to a fault, but I have felt less trapped as a result.

What could have been used against me years ago is a splash in the grand ocean of life... but everyone knows I'm scared of the water.

It's still a difficult, shaky-handed thing to admit.

And yet, here we are.

[canirove]

The Princess & the Football Player | Chapter 19

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Masterlist

"Look who has remembered where her best friend lives!"

"Ha, ha, ha. You are so funny, Eleanor" Roberta says. "But you could also come visit me, you know?"

"I know" I sigh. "But it looks like when I'm not busy you are, and when you aren't busy I am."

"And we had told ourselves that we would never become that type of friends that forget about the other when they get boyfriends."

"I don't have a boyfriend" I chuckle.

"Then what is Declan? Your secret lover?"

"Honestly... It does look like it, yes."

"But you want him to be more than that, right? For him to be your boyfriend."

"I do. But it is... complicated."

"No, it isn't. You just ask him" she shrugs.

"Roberta, Dec and I aren't like you and Mason. I am not like you. Like any of you" I whisper.

"Eleanor..."

"Look who has decided to grace us with her presence!" Sophie says, walking into the room. "Wait, did I interrupt something?"

"Nothing, don't worry" I quickly say.

"Mason finally set you free?" 

"You also are so funny, Sophie" Roberta says, rolling her eyes. "Must run in the family."

"We got it from our dad. Anyway, why are you here?"

"Can't I just come visit my best friend and her sister?"

"You can. But are you here just for that?" 

"I actually am not, no" Roberta says with a big smile.

"Oh... She's planning something" Sophie laughs.

"I am, yes. Are you girls free next week?"

"I... think so" I say. "Why?"

"Because we are going... to Paris!"

"What?"

"It’s been ages since our last girls trip, I miss it! Besides, I heard they've opened a new vintage store that is like super exclusive, and we must visit it."

"And the fact that next Saturday England is playing against France in Paris is just a coincidence, right?”

"Maybe" Roberta smirks. "C'mon, Eleanor. It'll be fun! We'll properly catch up, enjoy our time together, and then end our trip watching our men be sexy on the pitch. Maybe find Sophie a nice French lover too."

"I like how the last part of your plan sounds" Sophie smiles.

"What about that girl you were texting? Maggie was she called?" I ask.

"Wait, the last thing I heard was about a guy called... Finn?" 

"They both are in the past" Sophie says. "But having a French lover until Leah finally answers my dms sounds fun."

"Leah? Who is that?" Roberta asks.

"Leah Williamson, the football player. Sophie is in love with her."

"I'm not in love with her, but I do like her. A lot. Though she seems to be more interested in you."

"What?" I laugh.

"Oh, c'mon Ellie. Haven't you noticed the way she looks at you every time you've met?"

"No" I shrug.

"I sometimes hate you."

"The feeling is mutual" I smile.

"Imagine both of you dating football players. Your mum would go crazy" Roberta laughs. "But let's go back to what is important right now. Who is coming to Paris?" 

"I'm in" Sophie says, lifting her arm. "And maybe that new vintage shop has your birthday dress, Ellie."

"Your birthday dress?"

"The birthday dress. The one Declan likes thinking about when he..."

"Sophie!"

"What? He basically confessed it" she shrugs.

"He did" Roberta adds. "But let's make that our Paris mission: find the dress so Declan can take it off you."

"And find me a French lover."

"And find Sophie a French lover. Do we have a deal?" Roberta asks.

"Deal" Sophie answers.

"Eleanor?"

"Deal" I sigh.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━          

"If they don't have it here, I'm giving up."

"No one is giving up" Roberta says. We've been in Paris for a few days already, and we've visited most vintage shops in the city looking for my birthday dress. They've called some of their contacts, taught us how to search for it online and even asked the brand who made it. But nothing. It's like the dress never existed.

"If mum hadn't done that cleaning a couple of years ago..."

"It still would not fit me" I shrug.

"But maybe you could have had it fixed or something."

"Good news" the shop assistant interrupts us. "We know about someone who has that dress."

"Really?" Roberta, Sophie and I say at the same time.

"Yes. It's part of a private collection, but when we told the owner that it was for the Princess of Wales, they couldn't say no."

"That's amazing!" Roberta says, clapping her hands in excitement.

"When could we get it? We are leaving in a couple of days, and it may need alterations" I say.

"We'll send someone in a bit to pick it up and take it to the dry cleaners. You can come tomorrow for a fitting."

"Thank you so much."

"Just doing my job" the shop assistant says with a big smile.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━          

"I still can't believe we found the dress. And you look so good on it!" Roberta says while we get ready for the game. "Declan won't know what it him when he sees you. If 18-year-old Eleanor drove him crazy, the present one will... I don't know what you will do to him."

"But we can imagine what he will do to her."

"Sophie!" I say, trying to hit her but missing.

"Look at how red her cheeks have turned" Roberta laughs.

"I hate you. Both of you" I say while I try to focus on finishing my make up.

"Declan and Eleanor sitting in a tree... K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage!" Sophie sings.

"Roberta, can I borrow your mascara? I don't know where I put mine" I ask, ignoring my sister.

"You lost it because you were thinking about Declan's thingy" she laughs.

"You can call it by its name, Sophie. She was thinking about Declan's di..."

"Roberta, your mascara" I insist, rolling my eyes.

"It's on my make up bag over there" she says, both her and Sophie giggling like idiots.

"Holy shit!" I scream, her bag falling from my hands.

"Please tell me there wasn't a spider among my things."

"Worse. Why do you have a photo of a dick on your make up bag?"

"What?" Sophie says, her eyes wide.

"Oh" Roberta chuckles. "I was wondering where that one had gone."

"That one? There are more?"

"Yup. Mason and I have been taking them since we first went to Italy. It's a way to stay connected when we are away from each other. We see the photos, and..."

"Wait, wait, wait. That is Mason's..." Sophie says, her eyes getting wider.

"Oh dear Lord."

"It's quite nice, isn't it?" Roberta says, looking at the photo.

"I mean..." Sophie says next to her. 

"Oh… Dear Lord" I repeat.

"C'mon Eleanor" Roberta laughs. "Are you telling me that you've never taken spicy photos?"

"Of course not! Have you forgotten who I am? Imagine the scandal if somehow someone found them."

"It would get nasty, yeah" she sighs. "Things already were like that with that paparazzi photo where it looked like Damiano was eating you out, so if they were to find one where that is actually happening..."

"Exactly. So you must be careful. If someone finds them and they recognize Mason..."

"I know, I know. We are being careful."

"Clearly" Sophie chuckles. 

"We are. This won't happen again."

"It better not. Because people will probably drag you and make you look horrible while defending him because he is a man. It's always the same" I warn her.

"I promise we will be careful, Eleanor. I will be careful."

"Great. Now, should we get a drink before we leave? I seriously need to forget about what I just saw. Especially when I'm about to spend two hours watching him run after a ball."

"Rude" Roberta laughs.

"It wasn't that bad" Sophie shrugs. "Can I see it again?"

"Sophie!" Roberta and I say at the same time.

"What? We haven't found me a French lover, but this can help... Somehow."

"Hell no. Mason is my boyfriend. That is my dick and no one else's. I'm not sharing."

"All yours then" Sophie says, sticking out her tongue. 

"Don't laugh, Eleanor" Roberta says. "She may try to go after your man next."

"Let her try" I smirk, making Sophie roll her eyes.

[kittyrob0t]

I will type this while im still feeling pretentious

in a good way, don't get me wrong. Lately, I've been feeling an overwhelming need to learn new languages, read books again, shift the music I listen to, and simplify the clothes I wear. Albeit, this might be temporary for now, I am clinging on to this momentary idealization of a want for this lifestyle. I know at my age, it will be difficult to learn a new language, and hopeless considering it might be a barren skill to have if I'm never even going to leave the country sooner or at all. But alas, my brain has decided to do something, and I must follow. This is more and more showing up as a stage of mania and ADHD, which I will ignore, and proceed with. In the past I've always wanted to learn new things, and have always failed because I use life as an excuse to forget or even tire of doing such things. I've also always wanted to have a simpler wardrobe with better pieces but have failed as well because I always put front that I am a victim of capitalism and am not privileged enough to afford slow fashion. Hence my repetition of clothes despite having a ton of them. I no longer enjoy making coffee, I make it, but finish it in less than 10 minutes without actually savoring it. Even the process itself. Which I know sounds ludicrous but I just miss romanticizing the small bits of life as I have been eternally depressed to do so.

I started the last three months with a labor some skincare routine, I now can't seem to be bothered. And I have been in an eternal melancholy for weeks that honestly feel like months. And maybe it has been months, I don't really remember. I haven't really had a fair grasp on time since five years ago. I also have this idea of reading these blog entries in videos I want to create, but it might be too much and overwhelming, and as I'm typing this, maybe its better to keep two separate mediums for now. Especially since I haven't even started video taping anything. It's also funny how I've never talked about filming anything in the first paragraph and now I'm blabbering on about it.

As for my quietness, I am in a pit to be honest. I am currently going in no sure direction with my career and now that I have finally stepped up, am coming to a long stop, I think most probably I am. Sometimes I get sputters of ideas that maybe I should do more work on my portfolio, but I can never find the time to do it, because I always think I'm better off doing something better at that moment. And then it all gets faded out, until a desperate happening comes into my life and I think about it again, and the cycle continues. I currently am working three jobs, one full time, two part time ones that feel like the other one is in disguise. It's a lot more needy than I am, and the fact that I'm depressed doesn't help. I am also currently processing training sessions for a voice acting gig that will last for 6 months and can probably pay for 3 years of rent, for a French web company about to launch audio smut. My desperation for money has definitely made me tolerate some red flags my employer has been showing, especially the time I asked for a contract and he sent me a two-sentence PDF with two underlines for signatures, five minutes later.

Someone has also been 'managing' me, in music, and have been singing as a back up for an indie rapper that seemingly only has intense rhythmic pop in his discography. Most of our shows either has my mic set to the lowest volume; either that, or my voice is incredibly low and quiet, and in decibels the naked ear can't hear, If that's even a phrase. But even then, I still value the 500-1000 peso bills I receive after (under) performing. I seem to think I get better with each performance, but whenever I get off, I always hear the feedback that I seem to have not existed there at all. And to be honest, I don't know what to feel. But I don't feel sad at all. There's certainly a humor to it. Feels like being a ghost employee in a band, paid to be silent.

I've also some to admit that I'm terribly disappointed with how my life is going, but often forget that I am, because of the little tiny happy moments that happen in between, that when I do remember, I feel a little worse that I don't know how to tell people how miserable I am because I feel that the time has passed.

I am currently determined on being alone, as I am weighing if I truly enjoy it because I get to so many things I plan on doing, or maybe I'm just genuinely busy; or that I am just glutted with the presence of other people, and have tremendously low energy to associate myself with. Which by the way, worries me that I may seem like a bitch.

[kaitsawamura]

would you like to stay forever?

SUMMARY⎮   Sparring with Pro Hero Kirishima Eijiro in his private gym at his home doesn't seem like a bad idea if you don't count the fact that you really, really like him.

STATS⎮ minors do not interact, 18+ ⎮  Rating: M (for mature)  ⎮  WC: 5525  ⎮   Pairing: Pro Hero Kirishima Eijiro x Fem!Reader  ⎮   Tags: Aged Up Character(s), Friends to Lovers, Sparring, Smut, Fluff, Age/Experience Gap (if you really squint)  ⎮  AO3

NOTES⎮  Thanks to @spacelabrathor​ for listening to me scream about this and to @some-kindofgnome​ for fueling my Kiri fever dreams.  Yes, that title is based on a Mulan quote. This whole fic was based on THIS POST and Kirishima seemed like the perfect character for this pwp.  Hope y'all enjoy!  (Also please for the love of God, click on the banner to see in HD if you’re on mobile, it looks so much better lol)

It was Saturday and even though you’re on your way to becoming a Pro Hero, you can think of several things you’d rather be doing with your one day off than going to Kirishima Eijiro’s house to spar.  But here you are pulling into his driveway, going over combat moves in your head as if your life depended on it.  They weren’t really serving their purpose which was to distract yourself.  Kiri had offered up his personal gym, encouraged you to stop by with one hand in his pocket and the other rubbing the back of his neck as if he was nervous.  

A couple of his friends had already taken him up on the offer.  You were the only one he’d offered who hadn’t come over yet.  He had texted you a couple of weeks later saying he was starting to take it personally…  and then immediately texted with a laughing emoji just to clarify he was only giving you a hard time.  It brings a smile to your face now as you remember it.  Yesterday he had also clarified it would just be the two of you if you were self-conscious sparring in front of other people.  You’d have the whole place to yourselves.  Like that should mean something.  Which it did.  It does , you realize with butterflies growing in your stomach.  Kiri doesn’t need to know that though.

The two of you had been toeing around something since you had been hired at Fatgum’s Agency a year ago.  Neither of you had made a move.  Kirishima, the Red Riot, was a big Pro Hero and while you took pride in your quirk, it didn’t hold a coin to some of the others you’d come in contact with.  It had surprised you when Toyomitsu had brought you on.  But he had mumbled something about “liking your spunk” and that he thought a teleportation quirk would be a useful one to add to his agency.  The first day you had shown up, Kiri had immediately caught your eye.  Not for the obvious reasons.  Obvious reasons being the fact that he was climbing the Pro Hero charts or the fact that he had a dynamically interesting quirk or that at twenty-five he was already built like a brickhouse. 

Those were all valid reasons, yes, but what had pulled you in was his smile and his genuine interest in you outside of your quirk.  But he was just like that you had quickly discovered.  He knew everyone’s coffee order and what they liked for lunch.  He knew when to push and when to back off.  He knew when to talk and when to listen , knew when he still had a lesson to learn.  The kids flocked to him.  Even now you’re still entirely convinced that’s actually his quirk, getting people to like him.  It’s not a difficult thing to do though.

Your brain stutters back to the present when a text notification pings from your cell phone as you sit in Kiri’s driveway, picking at non-existent lint on your gym shorts.  The cute ones you’re still convincing yourself were your only clean pair and that’s the only reason you wore them.

KIRI : i saw u pull up, u gonna come in or what 😂

Had he been waiting for you to get there?  You tapped out a quick response, one that hid the little flip in your stomach at the thought: creeper, you were watching for me lmao

Response bubbles immediately flash on your phone screen but you’re angling out of your car and shutting the door before he can reply.

Somehow, this house fits Kiri perfectly.  It isn’t big.  You had seen pictures of other top-ranking Pros’ houses.  Enji Todoroki’s house, for example, was fucking ridiculous.  But even without a massive floor plan, Kiri’s house is nicer than any you’d been in for some time.  Clean, straight lines and lots of windows.  In fact, you can see straight through the floor-to-ceiling windows out to his backyard when you reach the front door.  Is that a pool ?  Kiri had tons of fun showing pictures at the agency; it was a well-deserved investment for his already multiple years of service as a Pro.  The pictures hadn’t done the place justice though.

Kiri comes to the door, throwing it wide open with a huge grin that shows off his sharp teeth.  You ignore the way your mouth goes dry as he drags you in, babbling on like an excited little kid at you actually coming.

“I really thought you were gonna back out!  I mean, that would have been fine, of course.  I just can’t see the point of having the whole place to myself all the time.”  He’s irresistibly cute, walking around showing you the living room and the kitchen and pointing out to the backyard where, yes, there is indeed a pool.  “You can come over any time and use that too if you want!”  You thank him, warmth pooling in your stomach at how incredibly nice he is.

“Uh, we should probably get in the gym.  I have… stuff to do later,” you finish lamely.  You don’t have anything to do later but very quickly you’re realizing how far out of your depth you are here.  The familiar beginnings of the head over heels fall is washing over you in steady waves.  But you’re coworkers and the thought of coming to work every day and having to see his adorable face and not doing anything about it is almost making you nauseous.

“Oh, yeah, it’s just down the hallway,” he rumbles, leading the way and you follow trying and failing miserably to calm the nerves flashing through your veins.  You’re here alone with Kiri , the man you’ve been crushing on since you’d started working with him a year ago.  And now your stupid brain isn’t just thinking about what it would feel like to run your tongue along his teeth or how his hands would feel between your legs.  No, your stupid brain is thinking about what Kiri looks like when he first opens his eyes in the morning.

Your one-track mind is not getting any help, especially when Kiri walks through the doorway of the gym addition and immediately proceeds to pull his shirt up and over his shoulders and tosses it to the side.  Shit.  His back muscles ripple with the movement and when he turns to face you, it’s heart-wrenchingly obvious that he has no idea the effect he’s having on you.  He has to know .  Doesn’t he?  From your end, it seems wildly obvious that someone as good-looking as him should know .  

You glance around, eternally grateful for the fact that the gym is also attractive.  Floor to ceiling windows span two of the walls here as well and there’s a large set of French doors leading out to the yard.  You find yourself actually in awe when you get a better look at the landscaping.  It’s so green .  There’s a small patch of lawn but the rest is just artfully arranged native flora and fauna.  Violets, tulips.  Huge hosta plants.  And cherry trees heavy with their signature sakura blossoms.  

“Kiri, it’s beautiful!”  He comes to stand beside you, looking out the French doors as well.

“You like it?  I guess it is pretty nice, huh?”  You glance up at him, your chest expanding on a lurch looking at his smile.  You’d never noticed before but he has a light dusting of freckles across his nose.

“Yeah, really nice.”  You look out again, letting the silence grow until it feels like the most comfortable thing in the world.  After what seems like an eternity Kiri clears his throat, rocking back on the balls of his feet.  “What are you thinking for today?”  The question leaves your lips and you’re immediately regretting it; your stomach flips again when Kiri looks at you like you’re prey.

“Close combat, hand-to-hand combat.  You did mention a while ago you wanted to strengthen that, right?”  You throw your head back, rolling your eyes, and groan.  The two of you make your way to the center of the mat.

“Yeah, I mean, I’d be scared to take me on too,” Kiri says, large hands on even larger hips.   He isn’t as tall as some of the other heroes at six foot three inches but he’s wide , thick.  You know for a fact you couldn’t wrap your arms around his waist and have your hands meet.  He’s wearing the biggest shit-eating grin you’ve ever seen.  The sharpened points of his canines are out and on prominent display.   Famous last words you think as a snarl erupts on your face.

“I’m not scared , Kiri.  I just don’t want to wear you out .  You’re a Pro Hero.  You’re on the job a lot more than I am.  Plus, you’re getting kind of old.  Is that a little gray I see coming in?”  Kiri bares his teeth even more but it’s not lost on you that he quickly reaches up to rake his fingers through his hair.  There isn’t any gray, obviously , but the thought has Red Riot distracted.  Distracted enough that when you plant your feet and your fist connects with his face, your knuckles hit skin and not the reinforced rock of his quirk.

“ Shit.”  Kiri takes a step back, reaching up to cradle his jaw.  His tongue swipes out to lick at the blood on his bottom lip.  His vermillion eyes find yours and if you didn’t work with him on a regular basis, you would have felt fear at this moment.  You know he wouldn’t hurt you but even now, a thrill races through your veins like electricity.  He looks as if he’s going to devour you.  You take your own step back, readying your quirk, reaching out to it as your fists hold their position in front of your body.  A dark chuckle spills from his chest as Kiri calls on his own quirk.

Now it was your turn to be distracted; you had always been fascinated by Kiri’s quirk, the way his body looked when it hardened up.  The ripples of muscle still visible under the toughened skin.  The divots and ridges and how they mapped their way across his shoulders and chest and abdomen.  You knew how it felt to the touch in fake combat.  The Fatgum heroes all took pride in maintaining a healthy routine; sparring was a common workout that was previously done at a local public gym.  You wonder absently what it would feel like to touch him slow and at the moment.  When you could give extra attention with extra time. 

Kiri closes the space between the two of you at the moment your mind strays and you barely are able to teleport out of the way to avoid him crashing into you.  You try to take a swipe at him as you materialize from in front of him to behind but this time he’s ready for you and he’s using his quirk.  Instead of moving out of the way, he plants his feet and allows your punch to hit.  Pain radiates up through your fingers and wrist.  It always irritated you that you had to prepare yourself to strike Kiri when he was using his quirk.  Otherwise, you’d be in for a whole lot of hurt every time you landed a punch.

Teleportation is a pretty handy quirk.  It gives you a pretty good advantage the more you work on your close combat skills.  The trick with Kiri was to keep going at him until he ran out of energy.  You hadn’t gotten to that point yet; your quirk had its limits as well.  You were only two years out of UA, Kiri was out by seven.  His strength was already fairly unmatched; sparring with him was always good practice.  You relish the thought of the day you can win a sparring session without tapping out.  It surges through you like pure energy.  

You teleport to stand in front of him again, shifting your weight into your hips and up through your right hook.  This time your fist connects with Kiri’s side and he lets out a small grunt.  Your fingers don’t hurt so bad this time and by the time Kiri is retaliating, you jump back a few feet.  He hmms, a sound that reverberates from his chest.

“That’s all well and good but how do you expect to do anything if you jump that far away?”  He lunges forward at a running start, leaping at the last second, sending his gloved fist into your stomach.  You were fast, but still not always fast enough.  You double over, the air rushing from your lungs and your pre-workout protein smoothie threatening to exit back the way it went in.  Sweat is already beading on your brow and sliding under your tank top.  You take a few breaths through your nose when an idea pops into your head; you stay bent over.  “Hey, I didn’t hit you that hard.  You good?”  

Kiri comes to stand in front of you, leaving him vulnerable.  He can’t see your smirk until it’s too late.  You wail on him, using some of the basic combos he’s taught you before today.  Satisfaction rolls through you when he actually takes a step back.  But then he puts his arms up in front of him, clenching his abdomen and bending inward to protect his core.  He drops just a fraction and before you realize what’s happening, he’s swiping his leg out to push through yours.  You watch in slow motion as you see his laughing face then the ceiling of the gym as you flip and land on your back.

If you thought you were out of breath before…  “Fuuu-.”  It’s a wheeze that feels like it’s ripping your chest open.  You’re seeing stars.  Kiri stands over you, hands on his hips again.  You stare at his face; the hero has his hair pulled back into a bun.  You snort, rolling your eyes.  Why does he still look so fucking good?  The sweat has caused some of the pieces falling out of his hair tie to curl.  His hair has curl to it?  You’ve never noticed before, considering he always gels it into spikes.  You like the curl.  “Are you--are you gonna help me up, or what?”  It was still painful to talk.

Kiri tilts his head to the side, just slightly, and crosses his arms.  “I’m thinking not.  Last time I let down my guard you got those good combos in.”  You stare in stunned silence, sitting up so you’re supported by your elbows.  Kiri shifts slightly and if you didn’t know better, you’d say he’s backing up to… get a better view.   

“Is that any way to treat your student,  Red Riot?”  You know you get under his skin when he clicks his tongue against his teeth and holds out a hand with a begrudging eye roll.  He pulls you up with ease, quickly enough that you almost lose your balance, swaying into his space.  You look up, eyes moving back and forth between his.  

He draws in a breath and drags his bottom lip between his teeth.  “First of all,” he says as he places his hands on your upper arms, “I’m not your teacher.  I’m not that much older than you.  Secondly,” he mutters as he tucks a stray lock of hair behind your ear, “our relationship isn’t that formal is it?”  He’s so fucking close.  This is getting dangerous.  Dangerous because Kiri is within kissing distance.  Dangerous because this gentle side of him is making you lose more breath than falling on your ass.  Dangerous because the thought of Kiri taking you on the floor right now is almost too much to bear.  

So you fall back on what you’re here to do.  Fight.  You flash him a wicked smile before rallying your quirk and teleporting a few feet away.  His hand is still raised in mid-air and when his head whips to look in your direction, his crimson eyes are narrowed and his nostrils are flared.  He laughs and rolls his neck, dancing on his toes.

“Okay.  I see.  I’m not gonna go easy on you, you know?”  You snort and put your fists up in front of you again.

“As if you were going easy on me before, Kiri.  Bring it on.”  He smiles, the sharp points of his teeth enough to make your thoughts swerve again before you bring them under control.  “Bring it on,” you whisper more to yourself as you brace for the fight.

Two hours later, you feel the strain in your muscles.  Your quirk is running low on reserves and you know you won’t be able to use it much more.  Kiri looks like he hasn’t wasted a breath but you can see he’s getting tired in the way his feet don’t move as sharply.  And if the length of time he’s using his quirk is any indication to his state of mind, you know the two of you will be calling it a day soon.  But you’re also both stubborn.  And you’re dying to get one more good move in on him.

The cockiness the two of you had at the beginning of the sparring session hasn’t gone away but has burned hot into determination.  No more smiles, only clear-headed concentration.  The two of you are an arm's length from each other, throwing various punches and switching quickly between using your quirks and not.  You’re breathing hard, sweat gathering at your brow as you throw another right hook that Kiri easily blocks.

“Get out of your head.  You can be too predictable sometimes.”  He doesn’t mean for it to come across as rude but the words strike a match to a guttering fire.  You bare your own teeth at Kiri even though they aren’t sharp and probably don’t look nearly as threatening but it helps you feel powerful nonetheless.  You drop without a second thought, lowering to your palms and sweeping your leg out in front of you in a wide arc.  A grin spreads across your face when your calf meets Kiri’s ankle.  He’s too physically dense for this move to work if he had seen it coming.  But he doesn’t.  And his solid 220 pounds of muscle falls hard.  

You allow yourself the satisfaction of the moment for only a split second; Kiri’s recovery time is much shorter than yours so it isn’t long before he’s scrambling forward.  He goes straight for your wrists to subdue you but with a smirk, you realize in his haste he’s put himself in the perfect position for you to possibly gain the upper hand.  You scoot up away from him just enough to drag his arm forward and swing your legs around his neck.  Then you elevate your hips and lock your core.

It’s over from there as you squeeze with every last ounce of strength left in your body.  It doesn’t take long for him to tap out.  You release as soon as you feel his loose hand tap your arm; he collapses over you and you’re too tired to move away or push him off.  Now his breathing is rough and you feel a surge of pride.  You reach up and place your hand on his head where his bun has come undone; he’s so heavy but it doesn’t feel bad.  In fact, the feel of Kirishima resting his head and upper chest on your stomach is feeling nothing short of good .  He’s still between your legs and suddenly the air is crackling with a new kind of energy when you gently comb your fingers through his hair.

He rises up, his hands on either side of you.  His hips rest between your legs; the mingled heat radiating from both of you is almost more than you can take but there is no way you’re going to move anywhere.  He leans forward, so close you can see the flecks of burnt orange in his eyes.  If you moved forward just a little, you could close that space between you.  He leans down more, his mouth right next to the shell of your ear.

“Maybe not always predictable.  You did good today.  Probably some of the best fighting I’ve seen from you so far.  Keep it up.”  He grunts, a shift of his hips allowing the curve of his cock to brush against your clothed sex through his gym shorts.  He stiffens in what you think might be embarrassment.  “Shit, sorry, let me just, uh--”  The stuttering mess he becomes right before your eyes makes something lurch in your chest; you reach for his face without thinking.

“Kiri,” you whisper, rolling your own hips against his.  His cheeks are burning a shade of red almost as vibrant as his hair.  You bring up your other hand, holding his face between them and bringing him down to settle over you once more.  Your lips meet his; he seems to war with himself for just a moment.  A suspended second in time.  But then he gives in, slipping his tongue against yours in a delicious sliding vision of what’s coming.

He reaches between you to slip his hand under your tank top; his hand is big and nearly encompasses your side.  But it’s warm and gentle.  Gentle.  Who would have guessed that Red Riot could be so fucking gentle?  But he is and when his hand moves lower to slide below the hem of your shorts, you give yourself to him with no reservations.  His middle finger passes through the mess of your sex; a hissed breath rattles through his chest as your back arches on a ragged groan.

“ Shit.  You’re so wet .”  He slides his finger back and forth, gathering your slick on the thick digit.  He takes his hand away and you mewl.  “Can I?”  He asks breathlessly as he hooks his hands on the hem of your shorts.  You nod, eyes half-lidded.  He pulls them down along with your underwear and the way he looks at you, at what’s between your legs, you don’t even have the wherewithal to feel self-conscious.  Adoration.  It’s the only word you can think of and it makes you wonder if you’d made a mistake waiting so long.

He’s on his knees when he takes your legs and drapes them on either side of his hips; this time he doesn’t hesitate in slipping his finger into your cunt.  You nearly see stars just from that and if one finger is any indication, you’re in for it.  Slowly, he adds another, his hand pumping into you in a steady rhythm.  You’re grabbing for the ground, grabbing for him as a strangled noise pushes from your throat.  He reaches out with his other hand to splay it across your sternum and it’s the only thing anchoring you as he adds the third finger before scooting down to put his mouth on your clit.

“ Kiri,” you keen, shoving your hips into his touch, frantically scrabbling for his wrist that’s on your chest just to have something to hold on to.  He’s done this before, he’s had to.  He’s too good.  Too fucking good.  Already there’s coiling in your gut as incomprehensible words tumble from your mouth.  “Shit.  Shit.  Kiri I’m--I’m gonna--”  He rumbles approvingly against your clit; the vibrations send you closer and closer to the edge and when it crests, your back arches near pain as you cry out, your voice echoing in the gym.  It’s deep, roaring through all of your limbs but  Kiri keeps going, fingers still pumping, tongue still swirling around your sensitive nub.

Another orgasm breaks over you sharp and quick and the overstimulation has your legs quaking as your arousal gushes over Kiri’s hand and tongue.  But then he’s moving again, and you’re blearily aware that he’s shoving his own shorts and boxers past his hips to free his cock.  You stare as it bounces back to sit near the planes of his stomach; it’s already leaking steadily with precum.  Kiri looks back at you and when your eyes meet, you dart your tongue out between your lips to wet them.  Another time, maybe.  

Kiri leans forward to lift you up and the closer you get you can barely see any red in his eyes; his pupils are blown, his nostrils flared as he lifts you like you weigh nothing .  He could snap you like a twig.  But he won’t.  You know without a doubt this is the safest you’ve ever felt, even as he lowers you slowly over his cock and it does feel like you’re being split .

“ Fuuuck…”  You wrap your legs around him, your mouth dropped open, your hands gripping his shoulders.  You try not to dig your nails in but it’s almost impossible with how you’re being filled.  You knew Kiri was big but this was almost too much.  His forehead drops to yours as he pants.  But he’s not moving, won’t move until you tell him to.  It makes your heart ache and your cunt floods, drunk on the affection thrumming through your veins.  You roll your hips experimentally and the friction is bliss.  “Oh fuck, ohfuck.”  You move again, pushing yourself up and back down, listening to the hitch in his breathing.  “ Kiri, please, ” you whisper.  Those words… they’re enough.

Kirishima grips you by the hips, his fingers splayed and digging into the flesh; it’ll leave bruises and the knowledge cracks through you like electricity.  Let him leave marks.  Let him leave them everywhere.  He’s moving you up and down his cock, grunting, mumbling.  “Tell me, Kiri, tell me.”  His eyes meet yours again and his own mouth drops open.

“Fuck, you’re so good.  S’ tight.  Jesus, I-- ” Kiri moves his hands from your hips to support you as he lays you down on the floor of the gym.  The idea should be questionable but it’s not, it’s fucking not and you can’t concentrate on any other thoughts when Kiri grabs your wrists and pins them gently above your head with one hand while the other comes back to your hip.  He thrusts into you at a brutal pace but… it feels like home and you think in that moment as your cunt begins to seize around his cock that you would give up forever to continue touching him.

“Yes, Kiri, yes.  Right there, right--shit yesyes yes. ”  He pistons up, the veins of his cock rubbing just right and when he releases the grip on your hands, they’re moving to wrap around him on instinct.  He’s planting kisses along your jaw, mouthing up to your lips and back down to graze his teeth over your pulse point.  “Do it, fuckin’ do it, let them know ‘m yours, ” you slur and when he bites down you crash over the edge on a groan that’s really more of a scream.  Everything goes black but you're cradling him to you as his movements become more erratic.  The snapping of his hips is getting sloppier by the second and a steady growl punches from his lungs with each breath.  “Cum, Kirishima, cum inside me.”

He’s never heard those words before and it lights a fire in his veins.  His head is buzzing and then he can’t hear anything as his cock releases and he’s spurting searing hot ropes of cum into your cunt.  He goes until you’ve milked every last drop from him and he’d be lying if he said his world didn't suddenly feel whole.  Finally, his body settles and his chest drops to yours.  Everything slowly bleeds back into focus and somehow, everything seems more colorful than it did moments before.  You’re still clinging to him.

“Kiri.  Kiri, babe, I can’t breathe,” you say and he slowly rises, taking in your blissed-out expression.  Your eyes can barely stay open, your cheeks are flushed.  He backs up to see his handiwork on display, hyper-focused on the trail of the mingling cum dripping from the mess of your sex.  But you’re smiling.  Lazy and tired, completely at ease.  “Wanna take a shower?”  When you nod he doesn’t hesitate in standing to kick his underwear and shorts the rest of the way off his legs and then he’s grabbing you, scooping you into his arms and against his chest.  He pads out of the gym and across the hall to his bathroom where he deposits you on your feet, only after he’s sure you can stand and only long enough to turn the shower head-on.

He puts his hand under the water, waiting for it to get warm.  Steam billows from behind the glass door when he’s turning back to you to remove your tank top and your sports bra.  Thank god you chose the front-closure one today; you didn’t think either one of you wanted to struggle to get one up over your head right now.  When your breasts spill out of the high-impact fabric, you notice with tender amusement that his cock is half-hard again.  His eyes go dark again and he leans in for a kiss.  But it's slow and sweet. 

"You're so fuckin' beautiful," he whispers.  He ignores his arousal, ushering you into the stream of water.  Your care is the only thing that matters to him right now.  The heat slides across your body, and when Kirishima steps up behind you and begins soaping up your shoulders, it feels like heaven .

You take turns washing each other until you’re both blissed out in a different kind of way and the only thing either one of you can think about is sleep.  But the afterglow is fading and doubt is creeping in.  When you step out of the water, you stand awkwardly as Kiri hands you a towel.  “You okay?”  He’s actually concerned and you can’t put your finger on why you’re so fucking grateful for it.

“Yea, just tired.  I should, uh, probably get going.”  Kiri freezes and you think you’ve said something wrong, already crossed a line.  Your brain is like a broken record as the stomach-curdling image of having to see him at the agency flashes across your eyes in vivid detail.  But then he’s stepping into your space and pulling you in for a hug.  A hug.

“Don’t go,” he whispers into the crown of your head and it has you smiling like an idiot against his chest.  His skin smells clean and warm with a hint of spice.  You bury your face further in as you nod against him.  Then he’s leading you to his room, to the king-sized bed.  He peels back the comforter and the white sheets and pulls you in beside him.  Your back is against him and he hooks his foot around your ankles, bringing you even closer.  

He doesn’t say anything more, just lets out a huge sigh as he wraps his arm around you.  The last thing you notice before your eyes flutter shut is how your heartbeats are thumping at the same steady rhythm.  

Late afternoon sunlight slants in Kirishima’s bedroom window, creating interesting patterns across his blanket.  It’s pushed towards the end of the bed, your legs intertwined and tangled in the sheets.  He’s still dozing, his breathing not quite that of someone sleeping but not of a person fully awake.  You reach out to cup his cheek, stroke above his eyebrows, caress his lips with your thumb.  A contented sigh leaves his chest as he grabs your hand and kisses your wrist.  His eyes are open now and he watches you.  You smile at him, snuggling closer, not wanting the moment to end.

“Hey,” he says quietly, suddenly serious.  “I just want you to know, I don’t do this all the time.  I mean, I’ve been with other people before but I don’t…  I don’t really hook up .”  Things start clicking into place as you realize what he’s trying to get across.  He just fucked you stupid in his personal gym and somehow he looks bashful.  And because you love it, you’re not going to help him along.  You just watch, biting your lip to keep from giggling.  “I just.  I guess what I’m trying to say is I like you.  I’ve liked you for a long time.  And normally I would have wined and dined you first but...  Well.  Here we are.  Would you like to stay for dinner?”

That’s the last straw; your laughter comes bubbling out of you and Kiri is leaning back to look at you with a quizzical expression on his face.  “Is something funny?”  That just makes you laugh a little harder but the confused look he’s wearing has you leaning in to press your lips against his.

“I’ve liked you from the first day I met you, Kiri.  I’ll one-up your offer and tell you that I might like to stay forever.”  A grin rips across his face and your heart blooms with warmth and affection.  The world seems full of possibilities but none of them matter except for the possibility laying right in front of you.

[yamayuandadu]

Do you know of any pop culture stuff that has an at least semi-accurate portrayal of Mesopotamian history?

Well, not quite popculture, I suppose, but there actually is a fair share of genuinely great Gilgamesh-based art, two examples I personally like are M. Żuławski's (left; you can find an exhibition catalogue here) and L. Zeman's (right; you can find more of these illustrations here, I believe they come from an adaptation aimed at children?). There are actually many others, these are just the two sets of illustrations I remember the best rn. I also think that trailer for an animated Gilgamesh movie from a few years ago looked fine, I really like the Siduri design apparently made for it too (she's not in the trailer though, I believe) - I think this is the first time I see a work of media acknowledge she's actually meant to be a goddess and not a random mortal woman like many people seem to assume, lol.

There is also Enrique Alcatena's comic Ziggurat which looks breathtaking but I was not able to read it (yet). It's obviously using art from more than one period as inspiration (also, Elamite and even Oxus Civilization art shows up as obvious inspiration for a few monster designs), but I enjoy that, and arguably given how "antiquarianism" and purposely vintage-styled art were both in the vogue in ancient Mesopotamia it adds to the authenticity in a way.

What surprises me is that, mythological fantasy aside, there seem to be no historical novel set in like, the Ur III period. Most of what I can think of is Bible-based fiction, in which Mesopotamians are obviously one-dimensional villains (just like Egyptians tend to be in this genre, lol) and the familiarity of the authors with history is... more than limited. I think I've seen more detective novels set in Tang period China than I've seen novels set in ancient Mesopotamia, and considering how I actually work with books that's... probably saying something. In terms of games it's... not much better. Megaten has a few genuinely great designs - Mushussu, Apsu, Tiamat, Nergal, both Anzus, I actually even sort of like Pabilsag as a scorpion man design; the Civilization series has a cool Gilgamesh from what I've seen (should've gone with Shulgi though smh... getting 0 respect due to being overshadowed by Sargon and Hammurabi) but I genuinely can't think of many more examples. Straying more from popculture, but I've seen some old Iraqi postage stamps (I think like... 1960s?) with art related to the country's antiquity, I can't find them rn but they were very pretty. Commercial art is popculture too, right? As a side note, if anyone from the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities is reading this, please consider an app with cutesy cartoony versions of famous artifacts like the haniwa one the Gunma prefecture board of tourism made a few years ago, please. I would play it 100% ALSO does graffiti count as popculture? Because I’ve seen a photo of an Inanna mural which is probably one of my favorite Inannas overall a few months ago (source; the link is not nsfw but iirc some of the other photos on this account are) Also, this is not strictly Mesopotamian, but one episode of the French cartoon Papyrus featured traveling priests from Ebla and as far as I can tell their portrayal did match what was known about the city in the 1990s: NI-da-KUL is not really read as "Nidakul" today, but usually as "Hadabal," but the moon god theory is still valid (his cult center was later "repurposed" for Yarikh whose lunar credentials are not to be doubted), and they even managed to build the episode around the worship of this god involving a regular pilgrimage, though obviously its course shown (Ebla->Ugarit->Byblos->Tyre->Ashkelon->Egypt) is entirely fictional (I don't think any kid would be interested in seeing a cartoon about an old dude traveling through Bronze Age countryside though so it's fine).

[britishsass]

what's your favourite doctor who episode from each season

Let me see-- I've only seen up to Season 10 (And only a couple of that one) so I'll do my best.

The End of the World OR The Empty Child/Doctor Dances. I know it's not the ones with the Slitheen, but I also love Rose, Father's Day, and the finale. This season has some great ones, and unfortunately the Slitheen. I'll say... Empty Child/Doctor Dances.

Christmas Invasion, Girl in the Fireplace, Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel... This one's got some bangers, but unfortunately, also Love and Monsters is there. Oh, and my most terrifying monster... that'll be later. My favorite killed me the first time I saw it. It's one of two episodes that made me cry. Army of Ghosts/Doomsday.

Blink is the obvious choice, but let's think longer about it. I actually love Runaway Bride, 42, and Lazarus Experiment-- as well as the fantastic Human Nature/Family of Blood. I actually like Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks, but I think I have to go with the obvious. Blink.

I know which one it's not! Planet of the Ood gave me NIGHTMARES! I hate the Ood. They're the one creature that actually scare me. The Ood are at their scariest in that episode, and I cannot take it. Okay, focusing-- Voyage of the D-mned, Partners in Crime, Doctor's Daughter, Unicorn and the Wasp, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, Midnight, that finale-- I don't think this season really had any weak episodes. My favorite, though, might be unexpected-- Turn Left.

(Bonus to discuss the five specials-- It's not Planet of the Dead, but I think the other four are all equally fantastic. However, this includes the first episode I ever saw: The Next Doctor.)

Eleventh Hour, Beast Below, Vincent and the Doctor... Yeah, I know the obvious option, but I think my answer will seem strange, but it's got so many good ideas AND Rory is there. Amy's Choice.

Hm, let's see. The Doctor's Wife, Good Man Goes to War, Let's Kill Hitler, Night Terrors, God Complex... I have to go with the second of the two episodes that made me actually cry. This one has the honor of doing it TWICE. The Girl Who Waited.

I've said it before, but I'll note ones I like-- Asylum of the Daleks (which I have a poster for!), Rings of Akhaten is okay but not worth all the hype imo, and Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. I'm not a big fan of Clara, so a lot of this season falls flat to me... And then there's a perfect episode among it all. Nightmare in Silver.

(Bonus for the trio of Name, Day, and Time of the Doctor. Obviously, my favorite is Day of the Doctor-- I have a poster for it.)

Bad news, this is where my memory gets super foggy. The only one I even remember is Mummy on the Orient Express.

I still don't remember much here, but I did reference a bit from this season for my TL!Ford au-- Specifically, The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar! My answer, though (since I like Osgood.) is Zygon Invasion/Zygon Inversion.

I only actually saw like... The first three episodes of this season. Pilot, Smile, and Thin Ice. However, I recall I loved Pilot.

I can't tell you my thoughts on the rest of the seasons, sadly. I've not had a chance to watch the rest, and the last time I saw any Doctor Who until just recently was like... four/five years ago? I remember watching it when I was doing a french project with my friend. We had to wait for our food to cook, so we just settled in to watch a couple of episodes instead. (Those episodes were Smile and Thin Ice.) I was in full cosplay as Doctor Horrible at the time, too. This probably makes my life sound even weirder.

[bumbershots]

LOVEFOOL

Author’s note: HELLO! This is my part for the Valentine’s Day challenge that @1dffchallenges put together. Make sure to keep an eye out for any other pieces published by other authors. Enjoy! And happy Valentine’s weekend! (:

Summary: Harry agrees to go on a blind date set up by his friends in hopes that it will help him move on from an unrequited love.

Word count: 3K

Challenge prompt and dialogue: blind date set up by friends. “I don’t want this to end...”

There’s a first for everything. Harry’s had his fair share of them at the age of twenty-seven. First time on an aeroplane at the tender age of six for a family holiday in Rome. First kiss on his home town’s park with someone he deeply cared about. First time in a recording studio. First time going on tour. The first night spent alone in his new and barely furnished home. The first morning he laid eyes on the girl next door. The ugly heartbreak after she got married, certainly felt worse than his first one.

Life is full of firsts, Harry knows that, and he wishes to have been the first to sneak his way into Jane’s heart, all those years ago.

"You love her" it almost sounds like an accusation coming from Jeff, though the last thing he wants is to make Harry feel guilty. The musician doesn't reply, he shrugs, eyes never leaving her no matter how deep into the ocean she seems to be. "Does she know?" Harry shakes his head in denial. "Did you bring her along just so you could tell her?"

"I enjoy writing music with her, that's why she's here," his tone leaves no room for more questions, the manager knows and sighs defeated. Harry stands from his spot on the beach and heads back inside the house, alone.

Is he being that obvious?

He reviews the past few days and wonders where he slipped, nothing rings any bell. Harry completely and conveniently forgets how he doesn't nag her for having a smoke after dinner, instead he just opens the window and stands close to it, or how he's been making her a cuppa everyday at noon. But it was the time when Jane asked him to help her French plait her hair when something clicked in Jeff's brain, the way Harry beamed at such a simple request left no room for questioning. Yet he asked him, because there was that tiny chance of it all being part of the manager's imagination, but when he looked back on it, the little things now made more sense to him and in a way he always knew.

They've been in Port Antonio for two weeks now and everything was going just dandy, Harry was writing more than ever, the first week he had a new song every day, he even polished the old ones and had a tune for his favourites, thanks to Mitch's help. When Jeff Azoff got there earlier this week, he spent a good two hours talking to Jeff Bhasker about how much of a good idea the trip was.

"Harry is on a writing spree." He complimented Azoff's client, it was nothing but the truth. However the reason for it all, was now heading back to the house to join the others after a good surfing session.

Jane went straight to take a shower, ready to rinse all the ocean's saltiness from her body, thinking how wonderful it would've been if her own worries could be washed away with her tangerine shampoo. In contrast to Harry's good spirits and excellent mood, her own cloud of trouble seemed to follow her all the way from London. She still hadn't heard from her husband, so it is safe to say he was still upset about her going away to work in Harry's album. It was impossible for her to forget the argument they had, at first thinking it was a joke on his side, insinuating that they were ‘shagging behind his back’.

After her shower, wearing comfortable clothes, Jane joins the others for supper but keeps to herself, still with the dichotomy about calling Alex or letting him be. He will eventually come to his senses and apologise. 

What if he doesn't? 

The thought alone of her clothes being packed in boxes by the time she gets back home almost makes her cry, perhaps she can call or text him just to test the waters. It is ridiculous how she seems to be more mature about this than him.

"Penny for them?" Harry's voice brings her back to the now empty dining room, the voices from the rest of their party can be heard from the living room.

"God I'm sorry H, lost myself out there for a moment," she is embarrassed, with him, the others and herself for letting this situation get under her skin. And she's also avoiding talking about it, with Harry or anyone. "I was just thinking about the tempo for Sweet Creature."

"Liar," he hates to be shut down by her more than anything. "Is it because I didn't let you eat the last peanut drop the other day?" It would've been easier for her to say it was, than to address the actual reason. But Harry hasn't lied to her, ever.

"No love, although I was a bit hurt because of that, it's actually this thing with Alex we are, I don't know, he was upset with me and said some things," Jane couldn't finish, her speech was cut short by a quiet sob and Harry was quick to pull her from the chair onto his lap and hold her tight. His own heart speeding at the sight of her distressed.

"When was the last time you spoke to him?"

"Two weeks ago." Her voice barely whispers on his chest, "he's being a wanker to be honest, just because he's not going on tour with any of his bands I'm supposed to be a stay at home wife!"

"Why don't you explain this to me, from the beginning, please?" He asks rubbing her back soothingly, and she spills it all, the having kids now or never argument, to her wanting to have a proper wedding party and finally the latest fight where Alex suggested an affair going on between her and Harry, the latter had to do his best not to put the option on the table, since her husband so kindly suggested it. Might as well, he thought. "It all sounds like a big misunderstanding, I know you're a great communicator sunshine, so it baffles me that you've let this go on for so long." He's got a point.

"You're right, but I feel like it's his turn, you know?" Jane's done weeping, but remained on her friend's lap and arms, head resting on his shoulder. "He's always forward, mature, a proper thirty year old except when it comes to arguments where we ought to reach an agreement," she plays a bit with the cross hanging from his neck, a scowl on her pretty face. "Like with the children thing, we only stopped arguing when I said that maybe in two more years we could have one instead of, you know, my early thirties." It's good that she can't see how upset Harry is.

"You gave into that one, he should do the same but it's his choice," Harry sighs and can't believe what he's about to say. "Take the day off tomorrow, call him or FaceTime, Skype whatever you choose, but have a proper conversation with him." She wants to argue and say it's not necessary to be absent the whole day, she can spare a few hours. But she will need time to think about what to say, make her point clear so they are on good terms until she goes back to London.

"Fine, but if he is still acting like a dickhead afterwards, I'm not going to let it into my head anymore, we will continue to bask in this great work environment going on here." Jane states, pulling away from his embrace just enough to give him that stern look she uses when trying to make a point, and Harry nods with a warm smile, the one she never gets tired of seeing. "I'll call it a night now, gonna be asleep in seconds now that I've got that out of my chest." She stands from his lap, missing his warmth instantly. "Thanks for that."

"Anytime honey pie." Harry says before leaving a kiss on her left hand that burns her skin from then till morning.

Jeff joins the musician in the dining room right after the girl walks away to her room, he takes a seat across from him and scrutinises the look of adoration his friend still sports once she is out of the room.

"She'll never know, if you never tell her." Jeff is right, but the thought alone of going through that again scares him to death. Or so he says, because there's a part of him that is fond of the thrill it makes him feel.

"It's not like I haven't tried, just last year I told her," Harry remembers that night vividly, how pretty she looked even with her makeup all smudged under her eyes. "I'm not sure if she heard, it was too loud like where we were at the time." He was also pissed out of his mind.

"H, there's nothing wrong with being in love."

"I'm not saying it is, but even if she did love me I– I would find a way to hurt her. Anyway. she's happily married now, it's too late." Saying it out loud doesn't hurt him any less like he thought it would. Harry sighs in defeat before rising from the chair, "she's everything to me, I wouldn't mess with her head by confessing my feelings, deep down I always knew she deserved better and now she has it and that's good enough for me." The musician disappears through the corridor where his everlasting love did just a few minutes ago, he paused for a moment outside her room, pondering whether to barge in and just follow his instincts, kiss her like he should've done after winning that award back in 2014.

Harry shakes his head and goes straight to his room, he reminds himself that it was time to let her go. It's for the best. He is not good enough for her, he can't even write a song for her, about her. He mustn't love her that much then.

What Harry doesn't know is that he can't write a song about her because he loves her too much, the poor lad can't even figure out where to start. But he's about to get rid of that curse in a day or two, he just needs to be patient.

The reward for it came, all of a sudden Harry wrote too many songs about her until she inevitably became aware of the situation they were in. Harry vowed to stay away from Jane’s life after recording the album. He dated people that didn’t remind him of her, and even moved temporarily to Japan. But despite all his efforts, four years later Harry still finds himself thinking about her, everything seems to be tainted by her. The music he adores, the new dinner recipes he cooks, the books he chooses to read.

Completely out of options he agreed to this blind date his friends set up for him.

He arrives at the modest restaurant they so kindly chose for the occasion. “All you have to do is wear something nice and show up.” Alexa reminded him over the phone last week.

This is a new first for him, it is also exciting, to take a seat at a table for two conveniently placed at the back, pretend to pay attention to the menu but let his green eyes avert to whoever approaches. Harry is having a great time, he knows that soon his date will arrive. He wonders what they’ll be like.

According to Alexa and Pixie, the person arriving is the perfect match for their young friend. Harry can only hope they like Vietnamese cuisine because that’s apparently this place’s special offer this week. If he’s lucky enough the date will agree to share a starter and perhaps two main courses, that way he doesn’t have to choose between one or the other.

“Here’s your table.” Harry hears the waiter speak and his gaze meets a very familiar figure standing beside him. It can’t be.

“Excuse me, there must be a mistake, I’m waiting for someone else.” Harry protests.

The waiter shakes his head and shows him the notepad with some specifications written down. “Nothing wrong, got specific instructions from Miss Chung, a lady will come in to say is here for Geldolf’s blind date, you are sitting at the table they reserved. I’ll be back in a few minutes to take your order.” He is quick to explain and disappear.

Jane sits because there is no way she can stand any longer, her legs are about to give out from the commotion. This was not the blind date she was expecting either. It’s been at least four years since she last saw Harry. The night after he finally admitted being in love with her, waiting for a reaction, anything from her, after what seemed like hours but was only ten minutes later, he walked out of her house and entire life, leaving her confused and upset.

“How’ve you been?” she asked after confirming that Harry wasn’t going to up and leave.

“Pretty fantastic, until you arrived.” He’s never spoken to her like that before, with so much affliction in his tone. “What are you doing here?”

“I was set up on a blind date by Pixie—

He interrupts her. “That’s fucking convenient, did you all went to this much trouble, just to mock me? I thought they were my friends, you know, that even after everything, they cared about me.” Harry stops, his voice breaks, he’s so angry, hurt and confused by the situation. “Did your husband come along, to witness my humiliation too?” He looks around, trying to find the man of Jane’s dreams.

“I wouldn’t know if he’s here, haven’t seen him since we got divorced three years ago.” She snaps before hiding behind the menu from a gobsmacked Harry.

The words he’d been waiting to hear were finally out of her mouth. Unlike the million times he dreamt about this happening, Harry is not sweeping her off her feet and running away into the sunset holding her hand. Instead he reaches out to touch her arm, testing the waters. He waits for her to lower the menu and surprisingly there are no tears in her eyes. Perhaps only a bit of sorrow that is quickly replaced with confusion, at how fast her heart raced after Harry’s touch.

“Do you want to talk about it?” His voice is back to oozing the tenderness he reserves just for her. Jane nods.

“But can we share a rice bowl and Pho noodle soup?” 

“Yes, and dessert too!” Even after four years Harry’s sweet tooth hasn’t changed, Jane sighs before the waiter is back to take their order.

Keeping a conversation between the two of them is not hard at all, even if it is an awkward topic —her not so recent divorce. “We didn’t have anything in common anymore, there were so many fights every single day. When I finally suggested the separation, he seemed relieved and I felt like a complete fool.” Jane remembers the sigh of comfort that came out of the man she once loved with all her heart before that rainy afternoon, when she finally decided that she’d had enough. “He left that night, hadn’t seen him since, his lawyer took care of everything,” a sour laugh escapes her lips, Harry’s eyes are full of sympathy for her. “I’m sorry for ruining your blind date, I know you’ve never been to one before.” Of course she did, she knows him better than anyone.

“This has to be the greatest date I’ve ever been to.” He speaks without a second thought. 

All those years Harry spent away from Jane were not going to be in vain. He was not going to neglect the feelings he still had for her. That affection he felt for her, only her. Harry shifts in his seat, this is not at all how he planned it, in a restaurant full of people on fucking Valentine’s day. It almost seemed like a tacky move.

But after all this time of pining for her, hating her and himself at times. Harry was brave enough, it was now or never, he didn’t want to wait any longer, not after his friends schemed and executed this soppy plan to bring the two soulmates together. Before she could take the final bite of dessert that Harry kindly left for her. The world stopped.

“I don’t want this to end...” Harry says with a dimpled smile she can’t look away from. “I’d like to take you out on a second date, a third, fourth, fifth. Believe me when I tell you, I have planned up to a thousand of them.” He takes her hand in his and can feel her pulse race along his own. The smile splits his face again, because he knows, he feels, he sees it in her beautiful eyes. “Janey, you’re the first person I’ve ever wanted to hold on to. I know there is a name for this emotion, I’ve written songs about it, but now I don’t think it’s a word big enough for us.”

She squeezes his hand and breaths out a laugh, tears of joy brimming out of her eyes. “Let’s call it love, until we come up with a better name for it.” Harry agrees and just then, Jane brings up his hand to her lips. 

His skin tingles where she kisses him for the first time and he beams at her.

There’s a first for everything, and although it feels like it for Jane and Harry, this isn’t by any means the first time they confess their love for each other. It was always there, in every laugh they shared, every song they wrote together, every touch. It was on Harry’s unwavering devotion, on his impatience and selfless actions throughout the years.

They were bound to be together, their story didn’t begin on that initial blind date, it did years ago after he caught a glimpse of her shiny black hair on the morning she moved into the house across the street.

Harry drives her back to her new flat on the other side of the city, enjoying every minute of the long ride, happy to hear her ramble about her newest obsession with romantic novels and burst out laughing after Jane confesses that sometimes she doesn’t finish reading books she likes, just to pretend the story keeps going. With a quick kiss to the back of her hand he completely agrees.

No tale is more compelling than one that never ends.

[egg-emperor]

(Regarding Eggman & Snapcube)

It's really ironic when fans complained about Pontaff repeated badly mcnosehair joke (event though they only repeated once in Lost World & that just it), yet when the Fans make jokes they never shut up about it -_-.

There a french saying that goes the following: "les meilleurs blagues sont les plus court." Which mean "the best jokes are the shortest lived ones."

(Sorry for the lil rant, just like you, I'm tired of Snapcube)

Exactly, it's extremely ironic because I have no doubt that a majority of the most obnoxious people are the same that ignore the fact that Eggman actually still is very capable of being serious and evil in recent games. Regardless of the shift in tone of the stories and humor being amplified, that side of Eggman never went anywhere. They complain but to me it seems they want him to be nothing but an incompetent joke by the way they're ignorant towards the fact that he actually isn't.

What makes it seem like they want it even more is the neverending repetition of fandub jokes. People say they're unable to look at scenes without thinking of it, can't look at Eggman at all because they make the jokes at random inappropriate times on unrelated things just because it's Eggman. To the point of forgetting original lines and context and the official good writing and voice talent, taking Eggman even less seriously by seeing his coolest most badass scenes as nothing but crude jokes.

If people don't like how he's apparently 'nothing but a big joke that needs to be more serious and evil' then why they act like he is by treating him like a big meme? They're just contributing to that misconception. And that's a good thing to bring up, I don't understand how they think the same handful of jokes are so hilarious that they can never shut up but then despise the baldy mcnosehair joke that's rarely used. In reality, the fandub jokes are far more repetitive and unfunny.

That's so true, any joke that people recognize as funny but can move on once the laughs are over and don't try to insert it into random unrelated situations are the ones that are good. Acting like the memed fandub lines are comedy gold that everyone needs to be reminded of with every single Eggman related thing that exists just kills it even more, even though I already considered it dead ages ago because it began in 2018 and it's 2021. Also when I checked the video to confirm that I'm remembering correctly, I just realized the video has 11 MILLION views jfc

I really wonder if people will ever give it a rest and it's disappointing. It's even worse when you knew about the fandub when it was new, saw it blow up, and then continue to be dragged on and on by people that think it makes them a comedy genius to repeat the same jokes that everyone has heard hundreds of times. Especially when you post a lot of Eggman content because people can't help themselves and are so constant with jokes and references on my posts and YT videos. Then some insult me when I kindly request for fandub jokes to not be made on my content.

Gotta admit it actually gets depressing at times when I think about how people thought it was appropriate to beg Mike Pollock to repeat those lines, how people have called me 'a piece of shit and the reason why the fandom has a bad reputation' because certain memes aren't to my liking and I simply request that they're kept off my videos, and how it feels that he's taken even less seriously than he was before. Because I really feel it contributes to the misconception that he's nothing but a joke by treating him as the very same type of joke that they claim to hate to see him as in official media. It just doesn't make sense.

[jazminebrightxx]

Like magic

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SHOW: teen wolf

CHAPTER ONE: “oh how mature”

EPISODE: takes place after 3x01 “tattoo”

KAITLIN JONES always had a soft spot for perfect entrances, she was a swimmer, she dived head first and didn't look back. That was until now... as she stood by her blue Mini Cooper, her heart hammered in her chest. First day back. After four years, she was finally back to the town she'd always call home

Kaitlin was born and raised in beacon hills until she was twelve, and her dad moved her whole family to Boston for work. Things were good at the start, but the tide soon came in and the water crashed against the rocks, knocking down everything in its path, including her family. A lot of things can change in five years...

She sighed, shaking her head slightly as she prepared herself for her new title "new girl" god, she dreaded it but it had to happen, it happened before. everyone's new once in their life. Her hand clasped around the necklace that fell from her neck, giving it a little twirl as the triangle glistened in the sunlight. Okay, no more stalling, Kaitlin. She shut the door of her car, swinging her bag around her shoulder and locking the small vehicle. She stared at the school ahead, pulling her phone out and looking for her locker number, she had it saved in her notes...254.

She didn't hesitate in ploughing forward, her stance and strut confident as her bag swayed with her hips, a few unfamiliar glances made her way, she ignored them. Pushing open the doors, she took in the scenery, students calmly made their way through the halls, conversing and commuting. She kept her pace, her eyes scanning the lockers for her number.

This school was a lot different than the ones in Boston. It was calmer, not to say the halls weren't busy, there was quite a few teens roaming the halls but this school was nothing compared to Fenway. Once she found the locker with her number on it, she unlocked it, pulling a few of her books from her bag out and shoving them neatly in the metal locker.

She pulls out her schedule, using a small packet of Blu-tack and sticking the paper to her locker just Incase, she had a spare on her phone anyway.

The distant sound of heels grabs Kaitlin's attention, she finishes shoving the books in, glancing to her side, knowing who would be standing next to her.

"Kaitlin freaking Jones" the strawberry blonde beams at the small brunette, who smiles widely. Her heart hammering once again

"Lydia freaking Martin" kaitlin repeats Lydia's tone before she's pulled into a bone crushing hug. When the two pull away, Lydia checks Kaitlin over, squeezing her in her arms. "Oh my god, look at you!" Kaitlin giggled, Lydia sounded like a mother "oh shush, it hasn't been that long"

Lydia gave Kaitlin a indescribable look, her brows furrowed together and her lips pursed "Kate, it's been four years"

The brunette laughed "and that's four too many" the pair of friends laugh, Kaitlin noticing the brunette that stood awkwardly beside Lydia. The strawberry blonde jumped, a lightbulb going off

"Oh, Kaitlin, this is Alison Argent, Alison this is my childhood bestie Kaitlin Jones"

"Nice to meet you" Alison greets when taking to Kaitlin who smiles "likewise" Lydia holds onto Alison's arm, returning back to her little conversation and catch up with Kaitlin

"So, since when are you back in town?"

"Only a few days, today's my first day of school"

"You've gotta tell me everything...tell us everything that happened. But now" the bell went, huh, great timing "we've gotta get to class, what do you have now?"

"Uhm" she checked inside the locker "French"

"Ms Morrell?" Kaitlin nodded, the name made her ears perk up. Alison smiling widely "Me too, let us walk you to class" She suggests to the brunette, who shuts her locker

"Lead the way"

***

Kaitlin strolled through the halls of beacon hills high school, a hall pass in her hand as she made her way to the bathroom. Her first class was going better than expected, people here were super nice and welcoming and Alison had helped her around a-lot. Turning a corner, she stops, seeing two tall brunette boys stood at a locker, they huddled together, looking as if they were spilling secrets.

She smirks, knowing exactly who they were, Stiles still wore flannels and moved skittishly while Scott listened as he ranted. The two boys looked tense, it's surprising that Kaitlin couldn't hear every word the two were sharing. She sneaks up behind Stiles, his back to her as she hid from Scott

"I don't know. Maybe I'm being a little over dramatic" Kaitlin sees her opportunity and takes it immediately, coming out from behind the pale boy and resting her elbow on his shoulder "a little? I could see you popping a vein from the bathroom"

Stiles jumps at the sudden voice, letting out a startled Yelp as his eyes go wide, Scott stands shocked, recognizing the girl immediately

"Kaitlin?!" He stares at the brunette, who grins like a fool. Scott lets out a surprised laugh as he pulls the girl into a hug, squeezing tight,

"Hey Scotty" she greets him using the nickname she had given him when they were six. When Scott pulls away, Stiles gets a good look at her face, recognizing her, she still had slightly tanned skin, with freckles dashed around her face, the same little scar the sat on her chin, she'd had it years, the story behind it foggy. He goes red, remembering who she was and how he knew her

"Oh my god, Katie" Kaitlin's heart jumps at the nickname stiles had given her when she was young, it had stuck and was only reserved to people she cared for. Kaitlin stares at Stiles, a huge grin on her face "Stilinski!" She laughs, pulling him into a hug, she lets out a startled laugh when she's pulled off her feet as he lifts her to his height.

The boys were a lot taller now, they'd always had a height difference to Kaitlin but now they towered over her easily, so it wasn't hard for Stiles to lift her. When the two pull apart she stares at the two boys for a second before sighing. Scott and Stiles had been her best friends since she could remember, her mother was friends with Claudia Stilinski and Melissa McCall, so the three were friends from a young age, she hated when she had to leave them, it hurt her and hit her hard. But she never forgot them, four years and they still  held that same spot in her heart, nobody could replace them, she made friends in Boston, but it wasn't the same. "You have no idea how much I've missed you guys" she tells the boys, Scott nods in agreement, the smile not leaving his face.

"Are you back home?" Scott questions her quietly, Kaitlin nods happily "You're stuck with me" she laughs, the two boys joining her

"How's Kodin and Tyler?" Scott questions again, shoving his hands into his pockets, Stiles crossed his arms over his chest, a large smile on his lips. Kaitlin's smile fades slightly at his words, letting out a sigh.

"Uh Kodin's good, he's not coming to school 'till tomorrow, it's his first day as a trainee nurse" Scott's eyebrows raise in surprise, Kaitlin gives him a look "I know"

"And Tyler...well, actually, Tyler passed...two years ago, he had cancer" Scott stops, his smile fading, Stiles hands fall from his chest, Guilt radiated from Scott "Kate, I'm so sorry"

She waves him off "it's ok Scott you couldn't of known" Tyler fought long, and very hard against the cancer, he'd been diagnosed a few months after they left beacon hills, it was in a bad stage and things didn't look good, when he died, a piece of Kaitlin died with him, he was her big brother, the death struck the family hard, but it inevitably brought them closer.

"I'm really sorry katie" Stiles says, reaching a hand to her arm, a solemn expression on his face.

She shakes off the emotion that built "Nows not the time for that, how have you guys been, what's been going on" she changed the subject, even though she'd be likely to know the answer. Her uncle deaton kept her updated on the news in beacon hills, everything including the supernatural, she knew everything, but now wasn't the time to tell them...not yet.

***

Later Kaitlin had arrived back home and was sitting in her kitchen waiting for the food she was making to be done

The sound of the front door opening and closing was heard through the house, Kaitlin turns her attention to Natalie Jones, her mother who drops her jacket onto the coat hanger beside the door

she walks into the kitchen "ohh something smells good"she rubs her hands together, taking a seat at the table

Kaitlin smiles "i made your favorite"

"Carbonara?" The youngest nods and her mothers smile grows wider. things had been hard on the family since Kaitlin's father had left, her mother had been drowning in medical bills from Tyler and had been really stressed. luckily enough she had Kaitlin and Kodin who had been a massive help to her, Kaitlin took up a few shifts at a local diner called Joe's and cooked dinner for her mother and brother, who was a trainee Nurse at the hospital with his mom and helped his mother a lot

“I love you, you know that, right?”

***

a little while later and Kaitlin's sitting at the table with her mother, the two about to dig into their dinners when a loud bang is heard "Kodin's home" Kaitlin whispers. Natalie gives her daughter a look "how do you know"

the front door swings open, the loudness of the bang sounding through the house, a tall brunette walks in, his face was similar to Kaitlin's, freckles dashed his cheeks and his eyes were a similar colour.

"I'M HOME!"

Kaitlin gives her mother a look, Natalie laughing lightly, the twins had a special bond, they annoyed the absolute crap out of each other, but at the end of the day, Kaitlin would die for Kodin and vice versa.

"No one cares"

Kodin comes strolling into the kitchen, not looking at his sister but with a smug smirk playing on his lips. Kaitlin eyes go to his hand

His arm is held in the air beside his head, and he's... flipping her off. Kaitlin rolls her eyes, dropping her spoon "Oh how mature, Kodin "

"Oh stop, you two" Natalie hushes her two children playfully as all three are now smiling

Kodin takes his seat at the table after he grabs his bowl and a spoon and fork "so how was your first day back guys?"

"Well I met up with a few of my old friends and ran into Scott and Stiles today" Kodin states as he digs into his food, he takes a glance at Kaitlin. Kodin was also apart of the Scott, Stiles and Kaitlin group, he also had his own group of friends that he was close with, but the four were inseparable when they were young

"Yeah I saw them two, and Lydia, she introduced me to a new girl she was really nice" Kaitlin cuts in, and Kodin head snaps to her "Lydia as in like Lydia Martin?" Kodin questions a bit to quickly, Kaitlin's now the one with the smug smirk playing on her lips

"Aww Kodin are you blushinggg" She mocks her twin brother who kicks her from under the table , which only makes her burst out laughing, her mother smiling.

"I'm kidding kody calm down" her laughter dies down after a bit and the small family catch up on their day so far. Once there finished their food Kaitlin gets a text from an unknown number, eyeing it curiously she opens the message

Unknown

Hey do you wanna go for coffee?,  joes is still open and their donuts are to die for

Kaitlin's eyes narrowed at the message, confusingly she sends a quick reply back

Kaitlin

Who is this?

Unknown

Oh shoot sorry should have told you who it was, ahah it's Alison.

Kaitlin

How did you get my number?

Alison

Lydia

Kaitlin

Ah I see, uhm sure who's coming?

Alison

Myself, Lydia and our two friends, Scott and Stiles we can introduce you to them

Kaitlin smirks at the message, deciding to have a little fun she texts back

Kaitlin

Sure! It'll be fun meeting new people what time?

Alison

In about an hour? We can pick you up the guys are meeting us there

Kaitlin

Okay cool see you then x

The brunette runs up the stairs and throws on a new pair of light blue denim jeans and a grey hoodie pulling her hair into a messy ponytail and grabbing her phone, she runs down stairs and jumps onto the sofa, turning on the latest episode of greys anatomy. After about half and hour kodin makes his way down the stairs. Loudly as usual

"Do you have to be so damn loud?" She calls to the brunette who ignores her

"I'm going out, you need anything?" He doesn't look at her, looking at the tv.

"Nah I'm going out soon anyway"

"Ok cool see you later" he nods and walks out the door slamming it , Kaitlin rolls her eyes and continues watching the tv until she hears a car horn.

She jumps from the couch looking out and seeing Alison's car outside her house. She turns the tv off and runs into the kitchen

"I'm going out with Lydia" she quickly tells her mom, while grabbing her keys and phone, her mother smiles and nods

"Okay have fun, don't be too late" Kaitlin gives her mom a kiss on her head and walk for the door

"Love you!" She opens the door hearing her mom say the same and walks to the car. She jumps in the back, Lydia occupying the passenger seat and giving her a warm smile

"Hey girls" she warmly greets as the girls greet her back "So how was your first day back?" Lydia questions as they drive to joes.

"Eh it's school, but I got to catch up with some old friends" she smiles at Lydia knowingly and she returns the gesture. After a few minutes they arrive at the nice little corner cafe called joes. Alison finds a parking spot and they jump out of the small car, and into the building.

The trio walk up through the isle of booths, she sees Stiles, Scott and another boy not facing the girls. As they grow closer and closer to the booth Kaitlin starts to recognize the person, oh she definitely recognizes him.

"Kodin?" She questions as the three boys including her brother turn to look at her

"Kaitlin?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Confusion laces through her voice as Alison looks at the two curiously

"You two know each other?" She questions genuinely confused

"He's my twin brother" Kaitlin explains as she slides into the booth beside Scott and Stiles as Lydia slides in beside Kodin who smiles along with Alison "Oh, well anyway this is Scott and stiles" the brunette continues to introduce the two boys to the girl who smiles. Scott and stiles both have confused expressions on their face but Kaitlin give them a look as if to say "just go with it". The two boys stay quiet and Scott catches on sticking out his hand, trying his best to hide his grin

"Hi Kaitlin, I'm Scott and this is my best friend Stiles" he says, stiles stares between the two oddly along with kodin

"What the hell is going on?" He questions and stiles doesn't take his eyes off the pairs clasped hands oddly "You just took the words out of my mouth" he says, his eyes confused

"Dude you guys know each other, why are you doing that?" Kodin questions and Kaitlin glares at him

"Wait you guys know each other too?" Alison questions, more confused than ever. Kaitlin and Scott laugh, and Stiles... well he's just given up trying to understand his two childhood best friends.

"Kaitlin, Kodin, Stiles and I grew up together." Scott explains to his ex girlfriend, after his laughter dies down

"Wait why didn't you tell me this?" The huntress questions Kaitlin curiously

"I don't know, wanted to have a mess I suppose" she smiles and Kodin rolls his eyes at his sister before a girl approaches the booth, notepad in hand

"Hi my names jade, what can I get you guys today-" the waitress locks gazes with Kaitlin and smiles "Oh hey Jones, you not working today?" Kaitlin smiles at jade and shakes her head "nah only Thursday to Saturday"

"Oh lucky, anyway what'll it be" the group begin to order their food, Kaitlin only ordering a shake and fries. "

When jade walks away, all eyes turn to Kaitlin and she sighs "I took up a few part time shifts here, to help my mom" She quickly explains, eyeing her brother who's eyes soften

"How come?" Alison pushes, Lydia kicks her heel and Alison gasps, glaring at Lydia "shut up" Kaitlin smiles at the two "No Lydia, it's okay really" she takes a quick glance at her brother who slightly nods to her

"My oldest brother Tyler passed a few years ago, and my moms been up to her eyeballs with bills so myself and Kodin help take care of a few things around the house" she quickly explains, Alison's eyes soften but she remains silent

"Yeah, I'm a trainee nurse at the hospital with my mom" Scott's gaze goes to Kaitlin

"Kate, Kodin told us, my moms his trainer" Kaitlin's brows raise, glancing at her brother "why didn't you tell me?" Kodin shrugs.     

"I forgot" Kaitlin rolls her eyes, lightly kicking him in the shins "ow, jeez I'm sorry" the group around them laugh. A little while later the groups food arrives and they catch up, Alison getting to know more about the Jones twins.

Kaitlin looks around her at the people she surrounded herself with. Alison and Lydia laughing at something Kodin had said. While Stiles, Scott and herself had been reminiscing over they're childhood. For the first time in a while she was calm and happy. Maybe things would be smooth sailing...

Oh how wrong she was.

——~——

JAZMINE SPEAKS

Oh god. This chapter isn’t my favorite but it’s the first of many. Might take me a while to get the rest out because you can’t just copy and paste onto here which is quite annoying😫 anyway. I hope you enjoyed and come back for more!!!

[nervousmendes]

Drunken Haze | Shawn Mendes

Shawn x reader (smut)

a/n: this was a failed attempt at writing smut for the first time. (it's very mild, mostly just sexual tension and making out) do check out more of my work on my masterlist right here

summary: Shawn sees the reader at a bar and makes a move.

warnings: mild smut (making out) and very little swearing

Cez does his fair share of research when it comes to choosing a bar to spend the night at, and when you're in Paris (yes, with a French accent) it's totally worth it. Brian walked in first, Shawn and Cez not far behind. "Man I'm so getting shit-faced in here." he sighed as the three of them observed the fancy lights, furniture and wall hangings, taking in the scent of alcohol and cigerettes suspended in in the warm air of the closed space. Cez being the only bright one in the three, quickly spotted an empty booth in the lounge but Shawn's eyes fell straight on a blond haired women, her black dress hugging her hips so well and her toned legs crossed one over the other while she tipped her head back, letting the expensive wine in the glass she was holding flow into her system.

There was something about her that intrigued him. Maybe it was the confidence she radiated, the way she sat with her back poised, the way her silky hair flowed down her shoulders or maybe it had something to do with how her skin glowed in the dim lighting. He felt the urge to approach her, like she pulled him towards her. And it was as if his legs knew what his heart wanted when they started making calculated steps towards the bar counter that she was facing. His thoughts went every which way trying to figure out what to say as he took the stool exactly beside her's, completely ignoring the five (or more) empty stools on his other side.

"Hey." He internally patted himself on the back for sounding a lot more confident than he actually was.

"Do I know you?" Her face broke into a polite smile, and her thick french accent dripped with the words she spoke out of her red stained lips.

"Maybe?"

Too cocky.

"You don't give me a businessman vibe." She said looking at him from head to toe. Looking. She saw the black denim that covered his toned legs, his satin, white shirt that hugged his broad shoulders and the little scar on his cheek that gave his soft facial features a more rugged look. Shawn watched her keenly. His hand went to his hair, fingers pushing a stray curl out of his eye.

"What makes you think I'm a businessman?" He turned in his stool and rested his arm on the bar counter to make her shift her vision from his face to his forearm that flexed under the thin fabric.

"They're usually the cocky ones." He was searching for what to say slightly taken aback by the fact that someone found him cocky, considering that no one has ever called him that before, not in a bad way. He wasn't offended, just surprised. In fact he liked that the whole 'be confident' thing was working.

"But you seem nice, I'll give you that." She chuckled while twirling the empty wine glass in her small hand.

"Will you let me buy you your next drink?"

She considered it, and almost nodded yes for affirmation but then her brows drew in an L shape. "I think I've already had too much to drink." She was mentally trying to count how many times the bartender filled her glass with Chartreuse.

"So why don't you tell me your name, mysterious, handsome, American man?" She said leaning close to him. The already deep cut neck line of her dress plunged down even further, dangerously low, making Shawn draw in a sharp breath through his mouth.

"I love mysterious and handsome, but I'm actually Canadian." He narrowed his eyes at her with a smirk and she couldn't help but smile.

"And nice to meet you, I'm Shawn. Et toi?"

"I can tell you skipped your french classes often back in school." She broke into a chuckle, making Shawn grin right back at her, his face very close to hers.

"You know nothing about me, but I'm afraid this one's true." He whispered, his minty breath fanning her face. She laughed again while placing her hand on Shawn's toned bicep that was rested on the countertop.

"You're funny." Her gaze burned into him.

"I wasn't even trying." Liar.

"I'm guessing that's a lie." They never broke eye contact.

"For someone that guesses a lot, you're pretty accurate."

"You know nothing about me." She said just like he did a minute ago, her lips almost grazing his making sure to not touch them. What a tease.

"How about," the tips of his calloused fingers went to her bare shoulder, "I start with knowing what those pretty lips of yours taste like?" and stroked the soft, supple skin on her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind.

"That's a good start." She inched closer.

"So is that a yes?"

Instead of giving him an answer, she touched his lips with hers, hands going to either side of his neck. He covered her mouth with his, tasting the expensive alcohol she had been drinking all night. He nudged closer to get a better angle, his large hands taking purchase on her waist. Their tongues danced with each other's, deepening the kiss. He moaned under his breath when she licked the roof of his mouth, and he used that as an opportunity to suck on her lower lip. Her nails scratched his scalp, tangling her fingers in his long, soft curls and she quickly figured how much he liked it from the way he kissed her harder in response to tugging his hair. She broke the kiss for air, he assumed but then when he pulled her in again, she opened her mouth to speak.

"I live only ten minutes away, let's get out of here." She was breathing heavily. He nodded and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before getting off the stool and helping her down shortly after. He left a quick text to Brian asking them to carry on with whatever they were upto and rolled his eyes at Brian's response telling him to "not bust that nut too quick". They got in an Uber and sat beside each other, lips red and swollen, breath heavy, and their thoughts everywhere. They didn't say a word to each other. They didn't know what to say but they were both trying to reach out for some sort of connection. She cleared her throat in an attempt to gather the right words before she spoke. Her eyes were set on her hands that played with the hem of her dress.

"Is now a good time to tell you.." He looked up at her, signalling for her to go on. She gulped, "that I actually know who you are, and I acted like I didn't because I didn't want you think of me as someone who would see you as an object just because you're a celebrity." She made air quotes on the word 'celebrity', like it was such a weird thing to say, a word that gives a human, with a little fame they never knew was coming their way, the title of an object.

"That is the best decision you ever made. If I knew you knew I'm sure I wouldn't even have made a move. You have no idea how glad I am that you did that."

She finally dropped the hem of her dress and looked back at him through her long eyelashes. That was it, there was no holding back anymore. Shawn's lips crashed into hers and she kissed his mouth back with that much force, curling her fingers into the collar of his shirt. His one hand went around her waist, palm flat against the small of her back, and the other was tangled in her beautiful, blond locks.

Their lips didn't leave other's even while unlocking the door, and just like you see in the movies, they kissed their way into her bedroom until Shawn's legs hit the cot and his butt landed on the soft spring mattress of her bed. She kicked off her heels and threw one leg to his other side, her knees on either side of his legs, straddling him. His hands slid down from her waist to fill his palms with the flesh of her toned bum. He cooed as he kneaded them with every movement she made sitting right on top his hard-on that strained his tight denims. Shawn drew his lips away from her mouth to leave wet kisses down her jawline and along the expanse of her throat. He attached his lips to the spot under her ear and sucked on the skin there, causing a shivering moan to tumble down her plump lips. He explored her neck and her chest with his hungry lips, tasting the lavender flavour of the soap she lathered on herself earlier that evening. Somewhere along kissing and a lot of exploring later, all the clothing they helped each other get rid of were scattered on the floor, sweat covered bodies moulding and crashing to give each other the climax they longed for.

(I cannot write smut for shit so I cut the crap out and got to the point.)

She woke up to the warmth of the sun shining on her golden skin through the half drawn blinds, feeling a mild headache from all that she had to drink the previous night. That's when she remembered him. She jutted her head out of her pillow to see that his clothes weren't on the floor anymore. She shifted under the sheets to find an empty bed beside her and a post it note neatly placed in the centre, exactly where he slept. She took it in her hand, squinting until she could read what it said.

Sorry, I left without saying goodbye. I'm playing a show today and I have to be there early. Last night was really fun. x

- S.M

Her lips formed a shy smile and her cheeks were tinged a shade of red as she recollected the events of last night. She folded the piece of paper in her hand contemplating whether she had to throw it or save it. She looked down at it one more time, and that's when she noticed that something was written on the other side. She turned the post-it around, to find a phone number written on it and under it he'd written, "maybe I'm glad I didn't say goodbye".

She laughed to herself, carefully placing the paper in her journal, already excited by the idea of seeing him again. She met Shawn less than twenty four hours ago and hardly knew anything about him, but there something about him that drew her in, made her want to get to know him better and of course feel that pretty mouth of his between her legs once again.

_______________________________________________

I'm thinking maybe I'll do a part 2 to this so let me know what you think. Hope you liked this one. Reply to this or leave me a message if you want to get added to my taglist!!

[emersonfreepress]

Jumping on that uniform ask! What uniform style do the ROs prefer? Accessories? Any no-gos they don't give a fuck about and do anyways? Tattoos/ piercings etc. That info will come in handy for fanarts~ so thanks in advance!

for fanart, huh. how can I say no 😅 their go-to fall uniforms:

Gabe goes for the polo tucked neatly into khaki shorts with boat shoes. He always wears a watch. He’s basically just trying to show off his calves for the last time until spring, not that he’d ever admit it. He also wears a silver cross necklace at his mother’s insistence.

Kile hates having to wear a uniform and so wears the lowest effort one—the sweatshirt, polo, grey slacks, black loafers combo. The shirt is never tucked in if they can help it lol. Kile never wears a skirt or skort; the school administration stopped trying ages ago.

Jack wears the polo with either grey slacks and black loafers or khaki shorts and boat shoes. He wears his favorite beat-up baseball cap for as long as he can in the morning (until the first bell) and as soon as the school day ends (as soon as the last bell rings).

Jessie wants so badly to be a model student and follow the dress code but she just loves cute hair accessories too much to be able to. She tries to keep it within dress code but pretty regularly has to take out some of the louder barrettes and hair ties she uses. She's got a big collection and just loves accessories 😖 For fall, she wears the polo with the tartan skirt, white bobby socks, and black Mary Janes. She also loves charm and beaded bracelets, the cutie.

Rain managed to find out where E Prep's uniform supplier gets their fabric... so they actually make their own modified uniforms 😅 They sometimes wear the boy's uniform, sometimes the girls', sometimes a mix of both. They've been reprimanded countless times over the years, but they never get in any real trouble so they just carry on. 😆 They're really fond of tartan jumpers lately and have made several with a more grown up look to them. They wear those with the white collared shirt, white knee-high socks, and black Mary Janes.

R wears a button-down sweater (never buttoned), a white collared shirt loosely tucked in with the top buttons open, and black loafers. Rupan wears both the tartan skirt (with black knee-highs) and the khaki skort, since the skort allows her to "wreck shit way easier," whatever that means, and Rohan wears both the shorts and the black slacks. Whichever one he "can't remember wearing recently." Always keeps a leather jacket in their locker for a quick change when they’re ditching class lol

Vi wears a grey collared shirt buttoned all the way up, the sweater vest, a tartan tie, and black loafers. Vivian wears the tartan skirt with black tights while Vincent wears black slacks.They follow the dress code to a T and even have it memorized. ...Nerd.

Heidi wears the school polo with the top buttons undone, a gold cross necklace, the tartan skirt, opaque tights, and dark brown penny loafers. No dress code gets between Heidi and her French manicure.

Curt wears a white collared shirt with the top buttons undone, the V-neck sweater vest, and grey slacks with dark brown or black Oxfords. Also wears a braided leather bracelet.

[the-busy-ghost]

If you don't mind answering, what are some things that you really, really wish you'd see more of in depictions of medieval Scotland/Early Modern Scotland?

I absolutely don’t mind answering, thank you for asking! 

I’m told there are some better quality novels than there are tv shows and films, so there are some aspects that have been done in good novels (though I’m not so familiar with them). There are so many things though that could be done on screen:

- Chiefly I spend a lot of my time wishing that there was more attention paid to the actual geographical make-up of Scotland and its regional variety, e.t.c beyond just splitting everything into Highland/Lowland, or just portraying everyone as being part of a Clan in the Highland sense, or just sticking everyone in Edinburgh as if that was the only place where anything happened. Orkney was very different to Galloway, and the Borders were very different to the Western Isles, and Ross was different to Aberdeenshire. 

Now if this was true for the sixteenth century, it is even MORE true for the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. Between the early Middle Ages and the end of the thirteenth century, Scotland was settled by a lot of different cultures- so in the twelfth century for example, much of the country (the traditional heartland of ‘Scotia’ north of the Forth) may have spoken Gaelic but Lothian had been settled by speakers of Old English some centuries ago and their language became Scots in time, and spread north of the Forth into Fife, Angus, Aberdeenshire and elsewhere so that by the sixteenth century it was much more widely spoken and the language of government. The south-west, especially the area around the Clyde and Glasgow was a British kingdom for a long time, speaking a language not dissimilar to Old Welsh- this kingdom had (sort of) disappeared by the mid-twelfth century but the language took a while to completely disappear. Up in Orkney, Shetland, and Caithness, rather like in Iceland and the Faroes, Norse settlers had taken over and Norse culture has still left traces there today. From the fourteenth century, Scots began to take over in the Northern Isles but there was still a very clear Norse background in the sixteenth century. Meanwhile in the Western Isles, the Norse newcomers did not manage to erase Gaelic so completely as they did in the Northern Isles, but they did leave their mark on the Hebrides, to the extent that the inhabitants in the Western Isles in the in the twelfth century were descendants of both cultures- they are sometimes called Gall-Ghàidheil in Gaelic, meaning ‘foreigner Gael’. Then over the course of the twelfth century more new immigrants moved in. The ranks of the nobility were swelled by Norman, Breton, and other French settlers- unlike England, there was no ‘Norman Conquest’, and the process was more gradual, but although the French language never had the same power in Scotland as it did in thirteenth century England, these settlers left their mark on the feudal system and other aspects of Scottish society, and in turn they too were affected by the cultures they encountered in Scotland. Other smaller pockets of immigration existed- immigrants from Flanders and the Netherlands, for example, were instrumental to developing Scottish towns and improving agriculture. In the east coast burghs of Fife and Lothian you can still see some architectural elements that may have been the result of trade with the Dutch- crow-stepped gables and red pantiles for example. 

Although most of these cultures have altered and changed by the sixteenth century, the fact remains that the cultural backdrop to fourteenth or fifteenth century Scotland was a real mix- Gaelic, English, French, Norse, Flemish, British- and, perhaps, whatever it was that the elusive Picts left behind beyond their wonderful stone monuments. I have perhaps oversimplified things here but the point is that mediaeval and early modern Scotland was not a cultural monolith- something which both Scottish and foreign film-makers would do well to remember. 

There are also changes to these regions across the years- Orkney going from being a Norwegian/Danish territory to becoming part of the Scottish kingdom, or the borders which had some of the best farmland and richest abbeys in the country in the thirteenth century becoming a very militarised and rather lawless zone after the Wars of Independence. I think it would be really interesting to see that portrayed on screen.  

- Ok so that was the fundamental thing, apologies for the rant. But to go with that, more understanding of the landscape and architecture. In all fairness most tv shows and films involving Scotland, no matter how bad they are, at least have some lovely panning shots of the Highlands but there’s more to the country than Glencoe- you could really work with views like the sun on the sea from the Carrick coast or the beautiful if ruinous religious architecture- like the abbeys of Melrose or Arbroath or somewhere like Elgin Cathedral or Rosslyn Chapel or Inchmahome Priory. 

- Costuming! Again this fits into the regional thing a bit, but it’s also more general. It’s a quibble I have with almost any medieval media but especially when it comes to Scotland people get really lazy with the costuming and just slap some shortbread tin stuff together rather than putting any thought into it. 

- More traditional music! A surprising number of ballads and songs that are still popular among folk singers today are thought to have their roots in early modern if not mediaeval Scotland. And again the musical heritage of Scotland is varied depending on the culture it comes from. 

- More properly developed female characters. Even though half the historical films made about Scotland are about Mary Queen of Scots, there are almost no good depictions of historical Scotswomen- and that’s NOT because there aren’t any interesting women in Scottish history before the modern period! There are lots of fascinating women’s stories from mediaeval and early modern Scotland, and although we are often frustrated by a lack of sources, we know they were there. More importantly, even if every woman was not a Certified Bad-Ass, as a whole women in Scottish history are not invisible and we can often see them in the records, whether operating in domestic, business, religious, or political contexts. Oddly, in their quest to show how Uniquely Misogynistic and Evil the Scottish nobility were to Mary Queen of Scots or Margaret Tudor or whoever, film-makers often end up ignoring women’s stories and therefore perpetuating the sexist view of history they claim to hate. (Though, yes mediaeval and early modern Scotland WAS misogynistic- but show me a country that wasn’t. Also it was misogynistic in a slightly different way to some other countries). I could list off dozens of interesting Scotswomen who lived before 1603- even though we sometimes can’t tell that much about their inner lives from the surviving sources, it’s obvious they were of some importance. And again it fits back into the cultural variety thing, because that was not limited to Lowland, Scots-speaking noblewomen. 

- More art and literature and architecture and education and music and EVERYTHING. Scotland lost a LOT during the Reformation and due to Anglo-Scottish warfare (that’s what happens when the main centre of your kingdom is near to a border). But we know that, though it was sometimes an out of the way place, Scotland could be just as heavily tied into European cultural trends as any other northern country. And there are some beautiful surviving cultural artefacts that hint at a more vibrant past- both produced in Scotland (in the Gaelic and Scots-speaking environments) and imported from abroad. 

- Equally on that note, more focus on its connections to countries other than England.  Scotland had three universities by 1500, and yet many Scottish students still went to study abroad, especially in France, but also in England, the Low Countries, Italy, and elsewhere. An Italian humanist taught at the Abbey of Kinloss away up in Moray in the sixteenth century, and Scottish thinkers were in touch with other great minds of the day. Scots also fought abroad (see mercenaries in Sweden, or James IV’s support given to his uncle the king of Denmark, or the Garde Écossaise), and traded heavily across the North Sea (there were multiple Scots merchant colonies on the continent, not least at Veere). Scotland’s relations with Norway, Denmark, the Low Countries, the Papacy, Ireland (both as part of the kingdom of England and with individual Irish families), and other countries could be almost as important as its relationships with France and England. The eternal triangle of Scotland, England, and France, was not actually always the story- there were occasions when England and France played very little role in Scotland’s foreign affairs, let alone its domestic history.

- In particular an acknowledgement of the high quality of Scots poetry in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries wouldn’t go amiss. 

- This is one which applies to all mediaeval media- but a more varied and interesting depiction of mediaeval religion would be good. In Scotland, this was also linked to the way people saw their own history- any sixteenth century Scot would have known some of the native saints, and anyone half-educated might have heard the names of David I and St Margaret and Columba, and known where the great abbeys in the kingdom came from. 

- Actually a basic knowledge of Scottish history and legends beyond a few famous names. For example family was important in noble society- just because the stereotypical The Clans Are Gathering model is massively inaccurate, doesn’t mean that noble families in Scotland didn’t care about ancestry and kinship. But it would be great if tv shows and movies could actually think about how to portray that- and it really shows how little some of these scriptwriters know about their characters when they’re supposedly obsessed with the honour of the clan but the only piece of their country’s history they know is the name William Wallace. If you’re portraying the Douglases- even the earls of Angus who weren’t directly descended from him- the legacy of Sir James Douglas would have been a source of some pride. For actual ‘clans’, you could be dealing with some of the clans in the west of Scotland who, like some families in Ireland, claimed descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages. Some family histories got warped along the way- the Stewarts, for example, seem to have forgotten that they were descended from a Breton named Flaald by the fifteenth century and instead latched onto a story involving a character named Fleance (the one who later appears in Macbeth). As for legends- you could have a lot of fun with the different kinds of fairy belief that existed in Scotland, from the Borders (where it inspired ballads like Tam Lin) to the Highlands, or you could bring up legendary figures that are shared with other countries like King Arthur or Fionn Mac Cumhaill or Robin Hood or Hector of Troy. Sometimes the legends even cross over into real life- Thomas the Rhymer, hero of ballads and fairytales, seems to have been based on a real person who lived in the reign of Alexander III; while stories about William Wallace and Robert Bruce often became folk tales in the tradition of other greenwood outlaws like Robin Hood. 

I think it’s pretty evident that my main issues with depictions of mediaeval and early modern Scotland on tv and film are largely because it’s so utterly unlike anything I see in the historical record. I’d love to list specific details and characters I’d like to see portrayed on screen, but before we even get to that point, the whole Generic Portrait of Scotland needs to change, because it doesn’t currently feel very realistic or interesting. All I really want is for the same level of research to be done with regard to Scotland as is done for England or France or any other country- England is often portrayed inaccurately, but there’s still at least 200% more effort put in than for Scotland.

On that note though, James I’s career (or at least the early fifteenth century as a whole) has been ripe for a television adaptation for years. Also I’m personally fascinated by ordinary rural life, patterns of agriculture and landholding, e.t.c. so even just an ordinary story set in an early sixteenth century fermtoun would be cool. But I don’t really think these stories would make any sense to people if Scotland was just portrayed the way it usually is - a generic country with no culture beyond a few scraps of tartan and alcohol and Anglophobia.

Thank you for the opportunity to rant, and apologies for the screed! I couldn’t express my enthusiasm very concisely I’m afraid. I genuinely don’t mind if there’s some inaccuracies to portrayals of Scotland, but now all portrayals are exactly the same and almost wholly inaccurate so it gets frustrating.

[zombiiesque]

Nocturne Alchemy Halloween 2019 - Part Two

Originally published 10/10/2019

Hey y'all! Gonna dive right into these scents, today I'm reviewing the Resurgence scents that I have from the Nocturne Alchemy Halloween LC release. If you'd like to read my reviews of the new releases I chose, you can click here. NAlloween has always, and likely always will, be my favorite Limited Collection they do! I have so many treasures in my Halloween box.

Scarlet Bat - Red Sugar, Crimson Musk, Black Tea Leaves, Neroli-sugar, and NA Black Patchouli Absolute. Okay, my friend Heather picked this one up before I did last year, and she fell head over heels for it. I was already eying it, because I had two previous Vampire Patchouli Bats that I loved, and it had Crimson in it. It had to be a gimme. Like this year's Vampire Bourbon Patchouli Bat, it was a stunner right out of the mail - and it's only gotten better as it ages. Seriously, it's utterly fabulous. Slinky and sexy, and I think even if you ordinarily don't like patchouli, you might find yourself surprised by this one. Put simply, this is sugared red musk and patchouli. Crimson is a softer red musk than Kashmir, but there's almost a spiciness to it. This just warms up on the skin and reaches out, pulls you in. I crave this one when I haven't worn it in a while. For me, my two favorites of the Vampire Patchouli Bats are the Bourbon, and Scarlet. Neither is to be missed. And I don't find it to be like anything I have in my collection, either.

V by Thoth - Incense, Sweetened spices of Cardamom, Cinnamon, Allspice and clove swirled with Vanilla pods, Ghost Musk and Copal Resin. V was a fan favorite last year - and for good reason. It's part of a set of 7 perfumes, each one designed by a House of NA perfumer. I remembered that I have another favorite Halloween perfume that Thoth did: Frank's Monster. I love that one, so I was pretty excited when I saw V was done by Thoth, too. Y'all, I have a lot of incense perfumes. They're something I just can't resist. Okay, confession time: I did love this one, I thought it was a beautiful perfume, but I didn't really get it until I pulled it back out after aging it over the year. I thought I perhaps had similar perfumes...well. I was wrong. I tried it again a few weeks ago, when the weather started to cool down here in Florida, and it absolutely floored me. It was like I was experiencing a whole new perfume - this is positively SPECTACULAR. Very, very different from my other incense perfumes, and it might just be my favorite yet. I don't know what Ghost Musk is, but if it's that beautiful musk I'm smelling here, I could go for a full 10ml bottle of it. It reminds me a bit of Egyptian Musk, but not quite as sweet - very clean, and very appealing - floaty. I think that's it, and if so....Y'ALL, PLEASE MAKE THIS I WANT IT! Hahaha. I think I might like Ghost Musk better than Cemetery Musk, and I love that one too. Anyway - I'm dwelling. This is balanced against a light incense, and the spices are very much in the background, just a nice warm hum of support. But the copallll. I'm sure everyone knows copal rules my world, when we discuss favorite notes. It adds a lovely smoky, slightly sweet depth to this. I'm fully mesmerized. Thoth has outdone himself. I think this is backup worthy. So, a lesson to be had here, and one I realize quite often - if you don't really love something, put it aside for a while, and see what happens when you return to it. And I want to reiterate, I really did like this - but I didn't see, last year, what I was supposed to see with it - aging it and trying it when the weather was a little cooler and dryer really changed my perspective of it, and now it's become an obsession and a Halloween favorite. If you were looking at this one and wondering if you need it - let me ask, do you like musk and incense? If so, you'd better run and get this before it goes away.

The Mummy Returns - Patchouli, Vetiver, Australian Sandalwood, Cardamom, Frankincense, Myrrh, Rock Rose, Labdanum, Siam Benzoin and Tonka Bean. I made a little mistake, and it's the first time I've ever done this. I usually have a solid idea of what I have in my boxes, particularly my Halloween box, but I ordered The Mummy Returns this year thinking I missed it last year, but after my order came in, I was digging into my Halloween box and pulled out....an aged bottle of The Mummy Returns. Yep. So I'll be putting up my new one for swap. At any rate, it just really proved to me about the differences aging makes in Nocturne Alchemy's perfumes, so I kind of enjoyed realizing the contrasts! The Mummy Returns is a resin lover's dream. It's a deep, dark, witchy scent. I love the balance between the sweeter notes, like the myrrh and cardamom, and the woods. I'm writing this based on my aged bottle, and it's just so....well, at the risk of sounding dramatic, it's deep and mystical, and I'll probably be using this for my rituals, I feel such a connection to it. I couldn't tell you how, but it's something I've smelled before - there's some memory I haven't tapped into yet. I find it to be comfortingly familiar, but at the same time, it feels solemn and sacred. If you are nervous of vetiver, as I am sometimes, it's not a note that stands out a lot here, I can barely discern it when I'm huffing at my wrists. So yes, The Mummy Returns is quite an intense experience for me, but I definitely would recommend this in a heartbeat if you, too, love resinous, woody scents with a little sweetness to them. It's a beautiful perfume. It lasts quite a long time on the skin, too - more than eight hours, and I would say it's on the stronger side, so try it sparingly at first, unless you love to slather like I do.

A Change of Heart – Copal Resin, Shiraz Wine accord, Kashmir Absolute, Indian Oudh, Leather accord and burning embers. This bottle actually was gifted to me by my friend Heather. When I first got it, the leather seemed a little loud on my skin - and that made me nervous, because I was thinking it would be more like Hokum, which is a snuggly, sueded leather. But I figured I'd put it away, and let it age - and it would probably balance itself out. Well, that's exactly what happened. This is one of those scents that you can identify the various notes, if you're familiar enough with them - but they compliment each other so well, they're seamless together. It's definitely a chilly day scent, I did try to wear it in the summer and I don't recommend that - it just doesn't do well in the humidity of Florida. But it's great throughout fall and winter - like the leather in Hokum, this is a snuggly, easy to wear leather, and the copal, wine, and red musk of Kashmir just meld together so well. The wine is sweet, and a nice foil - definitely not a sharp note. I do love the way NA does their wine notes. I'm actually kind of wanting to pick up She Could Raise The Dead, which also features a wine and leather combination - reviews are really intriguing for that, too. And I have totally fallen for both Hokum and A Change Of Heart, so I think I might need it! The copal is of course my favorite note ever - it's a little sweet, sticky, and resinous - and also a bit smoky. This really accentuates the smoky oudh when it starts to shine in long drydown. I'm not sure I am doing this one justice - it really is unusual, and striking. Leather was a death note for me previous to NA - I simply could not wear it. If I tried to put on a perfume that had leather as a note, it would take over on my skin - and I couldn't get away from it. But these soft leathers (vegan, by the way!) that Nocturne Alchemy uses are very wearable for me, and I really am enjoying being able to wear it!

Pirate Rum - Bay Rum and a Chypre of Lavender, Chamomile, Pirate Ship Cedarwood and Siberian Fir Needle with a touch of French Vanilla and Oak. I got this one for my fiance, as the notes reminded me a bit of his beloved Ghost Ship. I can only give you a brief impression of this as to how it smells on him, but I thought someone might be interested in hearing that, so I'm including it! So on him, the bay rum is a nice, round spicy scent. If you're thinking Old Spice, push that right out of your head - this is dark and sexy, and nothing like that old standby. Much more complex and well done. The woods in this are the perfect balance against the bay rum, and the chypre is clean, but not at all feminine, so don't let that lavender scare you. I love this on him. Long drydown is a deep, warm spice against weathered, well aged wood. Very appealing! I tried a drop on me, and it's very different with my skinistry. I get a lot more of the chypre and chamomile, the spice of the bay rum is sedated a bit. I think it might come out more with age, if you wanted to wear it as a unisex scent, though. It is there, it's just not as evident as it was on him. The wood notes are gorgeous - I loooove that fir and cedarwood against the slightly herbal chypre on me. I will say, I much prefer this on him right now.

And a bonus - Halloween 2020, which was given out as a sample with orders for this release. It's also available in the All Hallows' Eve section as part of the Permanent Collection, so if you love this, you can even get a big 10ml bottle! Notes: A special All Hallows’ Eve blend of 7 Sandalwoods (Hawaiian, Indian, Australian, New Caledonia, Indian Santalum Album, Karnataka Sandalwood, African Sandalwood (Baphia Nitida), Cardamom essential oil, Clove essential oil, Bourbon Vanille Absolute, Bastet Amber Absolute, smoked sandalwood infused with oak and pine smoke in the NA Studio. There was also a beautiful frosted black bottle, a special edition, along with Halloween 2018 and Halloween 2019, in frosted red and orange bottles, in the Halloween LCs this year. I had a feeling I was going to love this one right away - and I do. SEVEN. SANDALWOODS. 7, y'all! Now this will likely change and get even better with age, but my first impression of this? It is like a sister scent to Bastet Halloween 2016, which is one of my favorite PC scents. The spices in that definitely have a similar feel to the cardamom and clove in Halloween 2020, and of course the presence of Bastet Amber, one of my soul scents, is a star here, too. But those sandalwoods. So smooth. I'm making my way through that 2ml sample alarmingly quickly. Right now I'm not getting much of the smoke on my skin, but the clove starts out a little strongly when it's first applied. Once it warms up and sinks into my skin though, the other notes come out to play, and the clove sinks into the background to add a little spicy kick with the warmth of the cardamom. Beautiful for fall, truly. Brings to mind blue, blue skies, bright leaves, wispy white clouds. A fluffy scarf wrapped around your neck as you explore a farmer's market. That's the picture I have in my head when I huff at my wrist. I'll be reaching for this frequently. I can't really differentiate all the sandalwoods, but the blending of them reminds me just a bit of my beloved Pyramid Santalum. I think if you wanted more smoke, you could layer this with Titanosaurus - or if you wanted to really play up the sandalwoods, you could add even more Santalum or Pyramid Santalum, or Pteranodon. Hey, never enough sandalwood, am I right?

And that wraps up the second half of my NAlloween choices. Did you read the first half? What perfumes did you choose from this release? What are your favorites? I'm thinking about going back for one or two more, there are so many that caught my eye!

[mimzy-writing-online]

Hey!! I was wondering if you had any advice for a character concept I've been playing with? :) long story short, my character wasn't born blind, but throughout the story she progressively becomes blind from cataracts- cortical vision impairment to be exact. Is this inherently a bad concept? I really don't want to misrepresent this, and the last thing I want is to make people mad about it. Is there a way I should go about this? Thanks!!

Later message from same Anon: Hey! Just following up on my ask of writing a blind character in the Victorian era- sorry if I missed it

Note: in a message between the first and third, anon added that this story takes place in the Victorian era.

You certainly did not miss it, I’ve just been lazy (struggling) with blog maintenance and have been procrastinating answering several asks.  Historical fiction is out of my area of expertise, so this required more research than general advice.

Also, my first and second attempts at an answer were eaten away by computer/tumblr difficulties, so I had to rewrite a lot.

I think it is a fantastic idea to have your character go blind slowly over time. It is also ambitious, so it is something you need to be careful with, but it’s totally doable.

So the era throws me a little because I’ve never had much practice with historical fiction and history wasn’t a fave subject of mine. Most of my research into blind history has been after World War I, because the sudden surge of blinded veterans changed the course of history for the blind community. This and technology overall led to those huge changes.

So I did a little reading up on the recent evolutions of blindness and the world’s general understanding of it in the 1800s.

Conclusion: society was shit with disability, but I already knew that. There were some remarkable inventions and innovations for blindness in this century, which I will get to later.

 So this post will be: 1. The more personal aspects of going blind over time (instead of all at once) such as acceptance vs denial, life changes, and internalized ableism. 2. Speculating on society’s perception of the blind. 3. Innovations for the blind in that era and what comes after.

 So, part one. The Emotional…

As someone who has slowly lost vision over the course of years and has no idea how far this will progress, I can tell you that it’s an agonizing process of realization, denial, understanding, acceptance, adaption.

Realizing you’re going blind comes in small pieces that eventually add up to become a puzzle. And for this reason, adaption follows a similar pattern.

You identify a problem, feel conflicted about this change, wonder if you should ignore or investigate, and regardless of which path you take, you find a new way to adapt.

I’m going to use an example of my process through this, so you can see the actual thought patterns and how they circle between “this isn’t a problem” – “wait this is a problem” – “no I’m fine!” – “this is a problem.” – “I’m fine, what am I complaining for” – “I made this change and now my life is 100x easier??? Who knew? Why didn’t I do this sooner?”

Example from my life: Light is bright. That hurts but I’m fine. I get sunglasses. The pain with bright light is getting worse. Okay, that’s concerning, maybe I should talk to a doctor. Doctor says I’m fine but now I’m thinking I’m not okay. Why are my eyes doing this? Why do I hurt? Oh, and now bright lights at night are becoming a problem, and I get more headaches associated with light. I could wear sunglasses at night and indoors, but society has given me a negative and judgemental opinion of that, so I don’t want to do it. Best friend pushes me to give up on that negative view for the sake of my health. Finally I listen and life feels much better, but I’m still a little uncomfortable with this change. I feel very blind with my sunglasses, but that’s the only way to not feel pain. And now I feel blind when I’m not wearing any light protection, but I’m in pain this way. What’s wrong with me?

And this is just my internal argument with sunglasses and light sensitivity, from age 17-22. On the other side is my struggle with “do I need a cane” from age 21-22, which goes like this-

It’s August and I’m walking through a semi-familiar but gigantic and ridiculously crowded park with a group of friends. It’s bright out and I need to wear my sunglasses. And now I’m realizing there is a dilemma. I can’t see. My sunglasses are too dark to see. But going without is painful and just as bad vision wise. BUT I CAN’T SEE! I’m scared, I’m going to run into someone or something, I’ll get lost or separated from my friends and not be able to find them. I can’t see curbs or pillars or people and the only thing keeping me safe is holding onto K, who knows my current vision situation when no one else does

And I think to myself- this day would be so much easier if I had a cane.

But I haven’t needed one before, and I don’t ‘normally’ need one. Just every time I go outside on a sunny day. I don’t need it all the time, so I can’t have one, I’m fine.

But these things keep happening, where I’m outside and terrified but I think I’m still “sighted” and my only problem is some light sensitivity and not-super-great sunglasses. My glasses let me see 20/20 (or they did, which they did not a year later) so I definitely don’t need a cane at all.

Young past self, you were so wrong. You needed that.

Eventually I had a breaking point when one year later I’m seeing 20/50 with best correction (so, by legal definitions I’m not even visually impaired yet) but I’m terrified of leaving my house and can’t travel alone and am a literal danger to myself because I can’t see and can’t tell people I can’t see because of social anxiety and internalized ableism-

And the breaking point was that I finally got seriously hurt because I was in a situation where I couldn’t see and wasn’t brave enough to ask my current company to be a sighted guide. That’s the day I ordered a cane, and when it came two weeks ago, I finally remembered what it’s like to not be so terrified for my life every time I left my home.

Your character will over time find problems with her daily life that she didn’t have before, and she’ll deal with each one individually, but with all of them will usually be a repeating thought pattern that is unique to her. It depends on her internalized ableism and society’s ableism (and that era is full of it) and accommodations available to them at the time (also not great).

She’ll solve each problem at a different point that may coincide with other problems and yet still seem like entirely separate problems to them. Like how I wouldn’t relate my need for sunglasses and my need for a cane at the same time because they felt like separate battles to me with their own timelines and similar but still different thought processes.

You will have to decide on a case by case basis what accommodations or accessibility she can have at that time.

 Society’s view on blindness:

It’s shit.

It’s not great now, in the world of information available at your fingertips. It’s desperately worse in history.

 (TW: abuse of disabled people mentioned -thoroughly- in the next two paragraphs)

Everyone with a disability was treated like shit. Sensory disabilities (Deaf or Blind or Deafblind people) and mental illness were treated the worst. There is historical religious persecution against them, saying that they were made ill by the devil or a vengeful God. Which lead to abuse. They were seen as helpless or unproductive, defective, and so were treated as burdens upon their family and society. Because of this, abuse from parents and family members was horribly common for disabled people. Disabled people were often left in asylums by their family members because they were seen as a burden, where there was usually still more abuse to come.

There are still children with disabilities who are abused by their parents, families, care givers, or any facility they’ve been placed in. The cases of abuse are less, but by no means over.

 Ableism in general is just rampant and it’s only cured through the distribution of information. Most people (today) have never met a blind person in real life, had a conversation with one. Through the internet they can find information, but in pre-internet and media eras I can’t imagine how much ignorance runs about.

Most people think blindness is something that only happens with old age, birth defects, or tragic accidents. Or that blindness is obvious in a person. Not the case, as we both know, but certainly a cause for many misunderstandings.

 This section is where the development of technology and understanding of blind people begins, but there’s still some ugly history involving abuse of the disabled to come.

Technology and History

 (TW: abuse towards historical disabled people in next paragraph)

In 1785 the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles, the world’s very first school for the blind was established in Paris, France. It was opened internationally to children who society had previously deemed unteachable. Valentin Haüy witnessed acts of bullying and cruelty done to blind hospice patients and it inspired him to attempt teaching a blind beggar. He taught the boy to read through raised letters (because Braille was not yet invented). The school he founded could better be described as a trade school, because its primary purpose was to teach work skills like letter press and weaving (going back to Valentin’s childhood, whose family worked as weavers)

Due to criminal activity (he was labeled as a terrorist related to the French Revolution and was a member of the Panthéon Club) he was forced to leave the school in 1802. He later moved to Russia (1806) and began a new school upon the request of Alexander I of Russia.

(TW: child abuse mention in next paragraph)

After his leave, the school had a change in leadership and location, and subsequently quality. Sébastien Guillié became the new director and was later forced to leave because of the inhumane conditions of the facility and welfare of the children. Those children lived in a French Revolution prison that was refurbished as an asylum/school for their education. It was cold and dirty. They were kept in the dark, only allowed to bathe once a month, and poorly fed. This went on until 1821 when he was forced to leave.

Louis Braille (the inventor of Braille) was a student of the school until Guillié’s reign of terror.

The school was later moved to Boulevard des Invalides, and it remains there today. Information with this school is hard for me to access. It doesn’t have the prettiest history, so I can only speculate how much was left out of the books to save the school, and what information I could access is in French.

However, back to Braille.

Braille was invented by Frenchman Louis Braille in 1824. Before his invention, he was taught to read through raised lettering, and he concluded that raised lettering was impractical because-

1.       It is difficult to read, the letters had to be printed in huge font to be fully felt out and printed on thick paper.

2.       Thick paper means higher quality, more expensive. Larger font means more paper is needed for a single text.

3.       This made it inaccessible due to expense and the sheer volume of a text.

4.       If today’s Braille books are hard to access and giant compared to traditional books, I can’t imagine how inaccessible those raised letter books really were

 Five years later The Perkins School for the Blind was founded in America, making education accessible to blind and deafblind children, and this time it focused on reading and mathematics, more education than trade school.

Though it would not have been possible for your character to attend the school herself, it could be possible that she became acquainted with a teacher or former student of either school, who might have passed on some O&M skills to her or some not so pleasant tales.

Side note: the Perkins Brailler (a typewriter machine for Braille) was developed by a wood working teacher at the Perkins School for the Blind – in 1951, so not applicable to your character’s time period, but I didn’t know this, so I must info-dump

 This is before the eugenics movement of 20th century America, when the belief that people with “poor breeding” should be prevented from breeding. The eugenics movement targeted not only the disabled, but lower class and people of color.

  The white cane as an accessibility tool was not “discovered” until the 1930’s by Philip Strong, who painted his walking stick white to make himself more visible. This piece of history is a little flimsy in my opinion. Techniques are discovered and lost and rediscovered all the time. You can’t prove he was the first person to “wave a stick” in front of him to find obstacles.

But he is credited for making the white cane something that could be a standard identifier to tell people (moving obstacles) “hey, I’m blind, don’t hit me with your loud vehicle” and made a movement of other people getting white canes to identify themselves.

I very much thank him for it, seeing as I’m so sighted-passing sometimes. If white canes weren’t standard everyone-must-know-what-this-means sort of thing, I think people would just watch me “wave a stick” around and think I’d lost my mind.

(TW: suicide of disabled character mention in next paragraph)

So when you see something like in Downton Abby (season 2) when Thomas and Sybil are trying to teach a blinded soldier how to use a cane to navigate… it could be possible, something that actually occurred to some people then. Although, now that I think about it, that character killed himself by the end of the episode and that still upsets me.

Downton Abby got the period-typical ableism right, I will give them that. Both the internalized ableism as well as how strangers treat you, they got that right. What they did to their disabled characters still bothers me (i.e. death and cure subplots)

(TW has been lifted, you made it past.)

But with World War 1, there was a huge number of blinded veterans entering the world and that did make way for big changes in the world of blindness-

Within a few decades guide dogs were being trained, white canes were becoming a thing, Schools for the Blind were thinking, “hey, maybe we should teach adults these skills too!” and life continued on until it eventually reached out modern world. Which, not applicable to your era, but I think it’s important to know what wasn’t available or common knowledge for your character.

If anyone has other information about historical fiction, the Victorian era, and historical ableism and disability, please feel free to reblog with your input and I’ll reblog it.

As always, this post can be found on my blog through the tags: reference, blind character, historical fiction