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senditcolton · 2 years

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call my bluff... call me babe (3)

CHAPTER THREE

summary - Madeleine moves into her new apartment and makes a friend... or maybe two, or three, or five.

word count - 5k

warnings - marijuana use

a/n - hello friends! this is a longer chapter because we are introducing some new characters, some of which will become very important in later plot points. and yes, we are now getting into the story! so excited to continue to bring you on Maddie and Tyson’s journey. (also keep your eye out for a bonus chapter coming out later today!)

previous part ~ playlist ~ series masterlist ~ join the taglist ~ bonus! ~ next part

The thud of the last carboard box hitting the wooden floors echoes around the empty apartment. Madeleine lets out a sigh, wiping the sweat off of her brow as she looks around her new place.

The walls were still barren and the only items taking up space as of right now were the multitude of boxes that Madeline transported for miles, across state and even country lines, shoved in the back of her powder blue ’69 Bronco. The moving truck was coming later that day but even now, in the somewhat empty apartment, Madeleine can’t help but feel a spark of hopefulness in her chest.

It was a new city, a new job, a new start. And the golden September sunlight filtering in through the blinds made her spirits lift even more.

The sound of the Toploader’s “Dancing in the Moonlight” emanates from Madeleines phone, alerting her to a call from Tyson. She wanders over to the kitchen counter where she left it and answers.

“Hey Tyson.”

“Madeleine, what’s the number of your apartment? I just pulled into the parking lot.”

“Apartment 517. You have to buzz me to get into the building but after that, you should be able to take the elevator right up.”

“Awesome. See you soon.”

“Sounds good,” Madeleine replies, hearing the short succession of beeps which signaled that the call had been disconnected. She hasn’t even set her phone completely down when the buzzer to her apartment sounded. Quickly, she makes her way across the apartment to the pad by the front door, hitting the unlock button before she turns her attention back to the mess of boxes behind her.

Madeleine manages to sort the boxes into little collectives corresponding with their respective rooms – bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen/living – when she hears a knock on her door. Not containing her excitement, she practically bounds over to her front door before swinging it open to see Tyson standing on the threshold with a bouquet of flowers cradled in his arms.

There it was again, the fluttering in her heart as she watches Tyson’s smile brighten impossibly more at the sight of her in front of him. It is barely a second before they launch into each other’s arms, embracing and smiling. Madeleine can feel the tickle of the delicate flower petals that Tyson still had clutched in his hands against her arm.

Finally, they release each other and Madeleine steps back.

“Welcome! To ‘Chez Madeleine’,” she says with a dramatic flourish of her arm, welcoming Tyson to take a few steps into the new place she called home.

“Pretty snazzy Maddie,” Tyson says, walking over the threshold and taking in the apartment. “You got a balcony?”

“Yeah, I lucked out on that one,” Madeleine says, following Tyson. “I don’t have any outdoor furniture though so it might just be storage or something for right now.”

“You could buy a hammock.”

“And what would I do with a hammock?”

“I don’t know. Relax, listen to music, read. Just a few ideas.”

“Play ukulele?” she asks, her voice light, the teasing evident and Madeleine can’t help but laugh at the blush that lights up Tyson’s cheeks.

“I wish I never told you about that,” he mutters.

“Come on, Tyson. I think it’s pretty adorable.”

“Oh, so you think I’m adorable?” he asks, now his turn to tease her.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Madeleine says. “Besides, you’re not here for me to inflate your ego.”

“Actually, that’s exactly why I’m here: say hi, have you call me adorable. Now I’m leaving.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.”

“What do you need help with?” Tyson asks, placing the bouquet of flowers down on the kitchen counter, along with the small backpack that was slung over his shoulder.

“Honestly, not much right now,” Madeleine replies, staring at the assortment of boxes. “The moving truck with my furniture should be coming soon and that’s really what I need help with. But since it’s not here yet, I’m not sure what to do.”

“Well, what do you have done right now?”

“These are all the boxes that I could fit in my car. And I’ve organized them to where they go.”

“Well, how about we move the boxes into the correct rooms, free up some space, and then go room by room and unpack as much as we can?”

“That sounds perfect.”

They both get to work, Madeleine directing Tyson to each room in the apartment, inadvertently giving him a tour of her new place in the process. Tyson performs his duty diligently, making no complaint as he lifts box after box and carries it to the corresponding room. While doing this, they talk, telling each other about the trip to Colorado – Madeleine from her old apartment in Calgary, Tyson from his house in Edmonton.

“You by far had it worse when it comes to travel,” Tyson says, reappearing from the bedroom after dropping off the last box. “Border crossing in your car with boxes piled in the back? Did you have any trouble?”

“No,” Madeleine replies, opening the kitchen cabinets, scoping out the space. “I mean, the agents wanted to know exactly what I was doing, where I was going. You know, a girl travelling alone with a decent amount of boxes in the back of her car. But I explained. I also was thinking ‘if you all want to search my car, you better put everything back where you found it’.”

“And your furniture?”

“The moving truck should be here soon. But it’s just one of those portable storage cube things, so we’re going to have to unpack it by ourselves.”

“By us, you mean me?”

“Hey, I’ll help!” Madeleine says, spinning to face a jovial Tyson, grinning at her in that boyish way. “But, I mean, you are the big strong hockey player so you might have to do some heavy lifting,” Madeleine continues, her teasing tone matching Tyson’s expression.

“What if I invite more hockey players?”

Madeleine’s eyebrows furrow at Tyson’s reply.

“You mean… your teammates?”

“Yeah, who else?” Tyson chirps, forcing Madeleine to sigh and shoot him at look that screamed ‘you know what I mean’. He gives her a small laugh before continuing. “Nah, a few them are already here in Colorado and I mean, I figured that you’d be meeting them eventually.”

“What do you mean ‘I would meet them eventually?’”

“C’mon Madeleine. You’d have to know I’d be bringing you to team events as my plus-one.”

“Oh, you don’t have any other girl to bring with you?” Madeleine teases.

“No one as special as you,” Tyson explains, turning away from her and digging into one of the boxes labelled kitchen. His casualness concerning their… friendship causes Madeleine to pause.

Was he really that lonely here? Did he really have no one else?

Did he really miss her that much?

Madeleine watches him as he begins to unpack one box and moves about her kitchen, only half-listening to him question which cabinet she wanted the plates in. Tyson notices her lack of response and spins to face her, the stack of pale peach plates held in his grasp. His head tilts, a response to Madeleine’s pensive stare.

“What is it?” he asks.

There is no good response to that question. The truth was unthinkable; their friendship, while rekindled, was still fragile. They were still finding their way back to each other. She didn’t want to place weight on a statement that might have none. But Madeleine couldn’t outright lie to him either.

So instead, she placed her questions about their relationship onto a different one.

“Do you think they’ll like me?”

She can see it takes a minute for Tyson to register that she is referring to his teammates. But when he does, Tyson’s puzzled expression softens. He puts the dishes down onto the counter before moving over to Madeleine, placing his warm hands on her shoulders.

“Hey, they’re gonna love you. I think it’s impossible for anyone not to,” he replies, the sincerity in his voice warming Madeleine to the core, more than the gold afternoon sunlight.

“Okay Tyson. Invite your friends over,” Madeleine says, giving him approval for his earlier request and Tyson smiles at her before he peels away, grabbing his phone and sending a text to what Madeleine could only assume was a team group-chat.

“I have no idea who will show up. I hope at least you get to meet JT,” Tyson says, placing his phone in his back pocket as he wanders back into the kitchen area. Picking up the dishes once more, he turns towards her again before repeating: “Now, which cabinet do you want your dishes?”

Madeleine sighs, walking past Tyson and swinging open a random cabinet drawer and points into the shelves inside with a playfully exasperated point, one which Tyson takes in stride. He only shoots Madeleine another smirk as they both turn to the rest of the boxes resting on the countertops.

The two of them continue to work, the boxes slowly unpacked and the items that could be put away placed in their proper spots. About halfway through, Madeleine gets a call from the moving company, letting her know that her items were out front. Both she and Tyson venture down to figure out a gameplan, Madeleine’s new apartment keys firmly in her grasp. After looking at the work that needed to be done, Tyson suggests that they carry up as many items as they can by themselves and figure out the rest when the boys get there.

Madeleine and Tyson manage to carry up chairs, her television, coffee table, a few floor lamps, the boxes of her clothes, and set to work on bringing up the small dining table.

“You got it?”

“Will this even fit in the elevator?”

“It’s not that big Madeleine,” Tyson laughs, holding one edge of the table while she settles on the opposite end.

“Well, listen, I don’t know these things!”

“You just don’t want to have to carry it up five flights of stairs.”

“Do you?” Madeleine asks, her eyebrows raising in challenge. There is a pause before Tyson sighs.

“You got me there. Now, lift!”

The two of them manage to shuffle the table into the building and just barely manage to make it fit in the elevator – but only one of them ride up with it.

“Can you drag it to your apartment yourself?” Tyson asks, leaning over the wood to peek his head into the elevator in order to talk to Madeleine who was shoved into the far corner.

“I should be able to,” she replies. “Drag might be the operative word but yeah, I’ll manage.”

“Give me your keys. That way I can bring up a few more things and meet you up there.”

Madeleine wordlessly hands off her keychain to Tyson, before he removes himself from the elevator and the metal doors close. As the elevator starts to rise, Maddie can’t help but smile at the day so far. It was nice, especially having Tyson by her side. It made moving to a brand-new city a little more bearable; knowing there was someone there for her.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the chime of the elevator stopping at her floor and that’s when she realizes that she is in a terrible position to even attempt to move the table out of the elevator. She’s about to leap onto the table in order to exit the elevator so she can pull it into the hallway when the doors swing open and she sees another woman standing at the elevator’s threshold.

“I’m so sorry, I did not think this through,” she explains to the brunette standing in the doorway, the confused look on her features.

“Do you need help?” the woman asks, her puzzled expression fading into one that was nothing if not amused which Maddie figured was better than angry.

“I can manage,” Madeleine says, once again readying herself to jump on the table before the brunette holds out her hand.

“It’s no trouble, really,” she says and before Maddie can say anything in rebuttal, the woman has grabbed the side of the table closest to her and starts to pull it out of the elevator. It takes a moment for Maddie to react, before she squeezes her way on the opposite side and lifts the table, allowing it to be maneuvered more easily.

Once it has fully cleared the doorway of the elevator, Madeleine sets the table down with a sigh before turning to the woman.

“Thank you.”

“Not done yet,” she replies, her hands not moving from the edge. “Where are we taking this?” Another pause happens as Maddie processes the question and once she does, she starts to stutter out a reply.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to. I’ve – I’ve already been enough of a nuisance to you.”

“Really, it’s okay. I’m happy to help. It’d probably be faster with the two of us than just you pushing it down the hallway.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Alright, it’s 517.”

Together, they effortlessly lift the table and bring it down the winding hallways until they reach Madeleine’s front door.

“Thank you again.”

“Anytime,” the woman says before holding out her hand. “I’m Ashley.”

“Madeleine,” she replies, shaking Ashley’s hand.

“So, are you going to school at DU?”

“No, I’m actually working there,” Madeleine explains.

“Oh, no way. I work there too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I teach a few poetry courses.”

“You’re a professor?” Madeleine asks, not bothering to hide the shock that paints her voice as she looks Ashley up and down. She couldn’t be more than a few years older than Maddie and yet as Madeleine takes in more of her outfit, she notices the polished professional look and large laptop bag thrown over Ashley’s shoulder.

“Well, professor is a nice word. In reality, I’m more of an interim until they find someone to actually fill the role,” Ashley explains with a dry laugh. “But hey, we all got to start somewhere right? Speaking of which, I have to jet. Have a few things to get finished before the semester starts on Monday. I’ll see you around campus, Madeleine.”

Ashley turns and starts to make her way back down the hall. She’s almost out of sight before Madeleine snaps out of the haze that the random turn of events caused.

“I work at the library,” she shouts down the hall to Ashley, causing her to glance back at her.

“503,” Ashley calls back in reply and it takes a minute for Madeleine to register that that was Ashley’s apartment number; a simple invitation before she disappears from sight. Madeleine takes a moment, another smile creeping onto her face.

Did she just make a friend?

Madeleine resets with a quick shake of her head. Maybe Ashley would be a friend but right now, she was just a kind stranger that helped Maddie carry a table that she still had to get the rest of the way into her apartment. After swinging open the unlocked door, Maddie slides the table across the wooden floors into the living area.

She only just collapsed into one of the chairs her and Tyson brought up earlier when Tyson comes walking in, two picture frames held under his arms.

“Who was that woman that I just met stepping out of the elevator? She knew your name and somehow knew I was helping you move in.”

“Oh, that was probably Ashley,” Madeleine explains and when the bewildered expression doesn’t disappear from Tyson’s face, she laughs. “I only just met her. She helped me carry the table.”

“Well look at you – making friends already,” Tyson coos.

“Shush,” she chuckles in reply. “How are we looking down there?”

“Pretty good. It’s really just the big items left like the parts of your bedframe, sofa, and mattress.”

“Ugh, the mattress is going to be a pain,” Madeleine sighs, collapsing forward on the table, her face buried in her arms.

“We’ll worry about it later. There’s still a few small things but I can bring those up myself if you want to take a break.”

“Could you? I want to go through the place and make a list of things I’m going to have to go out and buy.”

“Sure thing,” Tyson says, patting his pocket to make sure he still has the keys before he disappears again. Madeleine sighs before lifting herself up from the chair and starts to wander around the apartment, the notes app in her phone open and two separate lists being created: one for groceries and one for every day apartment items. And as she wandered, the lists grew and the anxiety started.

If she was being honest with herself, this reaction was a long time coming; big stressful moments like these always got to Madeleine. They had since she was a kid. But now, realizing how much work she had already put into this move and how much work there was still left to do, it was slowly starting to become overwhelming.

So overwhelming that she doesn’t hear Tyson come in, doesn’t even register his presence until his hands touch her biceps, a touch which startles her, makes her spin to face him as Tyson quickly pulls his hands back.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asks, brown eyes scanning over her face, taking in her shallow heaves of breath and, most heartbreakingly of all, the slight glimmer of tears in the corner of her eyes.

“It’s – it’s just a lot,” Madeleine tries to explain, the waves of stress bringing on a fresh bought of homesickness. For what home, she wasn’t sure. Calgary? Kelowna? Canada? “I just… I just want this to be great.”

“Hey, it’s going to be awesome,” Tyson replies, his hands returning to their spot in her biceps. “I mean, look: you’ve got an amazing job, a fantastic apartment, and you already made a friend!”

His bright voice and attempt to inject some joy causes Maddie to laugh, the sound a little choked but made Tyson smile nonetheless.

“I don’t know if you’d call Ashley a friend. I barely know her.”

“Still, you’re going to be fine. And hey, I’m always here for you if you need it, okay?”

Madeleine glances up, her eyes connecting to Tyson’s and she knows that what he said is true. Sometimes it still feels odd to say that, since they had previously gone years without talking, but now…

There was something now that felt different than before.

After a small sniffle, her hand coming to wipe away the few teardrops that had fallen, before Madeleine nods her head, a smile appearing on her face.

“Okay,” she whispers, the grin that she always loved breaking out on Tyson’s face.

“Do you know what this calls for?” Tyson asks. Madeleine gives a negatory shake of her head. “A dance break,” he says, his voice so authoritative, a strong contrast to his words.

“What?” Madeleine laughs but doesn’t get much of a response as Tyson pulls away from her, rummaging in the small backpack he brought before he removes a small speaker from its interior. It takes another few minutes for his phone to connect and him to scroll before Madeleine hears the voice of Taylor Swift pour from the device.

I promise that you’ll never find another like me.

Madeleine laughs again as Tyson turns back towards her, his shoulders bouncing to the drum line rhythm.

“Really?”

“Don’t lie to me Maddie. I know you’ve been listening to her new album obsessively since it came out.”

Madeleine can’t retort because he was right. The album had only been out for maybe three weeks and she already knew all of the words to every song. Tyson is still bouncing along to the music, attempting to hit the falsetto notes in the chorus causing Madeleine to laugh harder before she finally joins in, singing along and moving to melody.

They continue to laugh and sing and dance in the kitchen, the half put together apartment around them disappearing. The song hits the bridge and her and Tyson fall into the call and response of the lyrics.

“Girl, there ain’t no I in ‘team’,” Tyson sings.

“But you know there is a ‘me’,” Madeleine responds.

“And you can’t spell ‘awesome’ without ‘me’,” they both yell at the top of their lungs. “I promise that you’ll never find another like me!”

As the final chorus hits, Tyson surges forward, picking Madeleine up and spinning her around, causing shrieks of laughter to fall from her lips. Tyson continues to twirl around, the room around them blurring forcing Madeleine to close her eyes, her laughter never ceasing. That is, until an unfamiliar voice breaks through the noise.

“Are we interrupting?”

Madeleine is almost thrown by the speed at which Tyson puts her back on the solid floor before gripping her hips to turn her about-face. It takes a few seconds for her to shake off the dizziness before she registers the sight of five strangers standing in front of her.

“We can just go and come back later if you two are in the middle of something.” It was the redhead that had spoke, a smirk on his face as his eyes bounce between Tyson and Madeleine.

“Shut up JT,” Tyson says and Madeleine doesn’t have to see him to know that a light dusting of pink was making an appearance on his cheeks.

“JT?” Madeleine asks, finally finding her voice. “You’re Tyson’s friend. It’s nice to finally meet you,” she continues, composing herself and extending her hand to the redhead.

“Nice to meet you too,” JT replies. “Sorry about just barging in. We tried knocking but there was no response.”

“Oh, yeah… sorry about that,” she says, a blush of her own flooding her cheeks.

“No worries. Tyson, aren’t you going to introduce us?” JT asks, gaze jumping back to Tyson.

“Yeah. Right,” Tyson speaks, walking up to linger by Madeleine’s side before continuing. “Guys, this is Madeleine. Madeleine, these are the guys. Nate, Cale, Gravy, Burky, and of course JT,” he says, gesturing to the two blondes first before moving to the tallest of the bunch, and then to the curly haired boy.

“Gravy? And Burky?” Madeleine questions, her eyebrows raising at what she assumed were the hockey nicknames that were attached to them.

“Ryan,” the tallest says, holding out his own hand towards Madeleine, which she accepts, trying not to falter at how his hand basically engulfs hers.

“Andre,” the other mimics, giving a small wave.

“Andre is actually new on the team this year,” Tyson explains to Madeleine causing her to smile in his direction.

“Well, I guess this will be a bonding experience for the both of us then.”

Andre laughs at her words which lets Madeleine relax a little bit more, happy to make a good first impression.

“So, what’s the gameplan?”

It is Nate that speaks this time and out of habit, Madeleine turns to Tyson only to see his eyes fixed on her. It takes that for her to realize that she was technically the one in charge here since it was her apartment and her stuff.

“Oh, um, well it’s only a few big items left so… how about we bring the rest of the stuff up and then start assembly.”

“That works,” Tyson says. “I still have your keys so the guys and I will start to bring everything upstairs.”

“Perfect! Could you start with the bedframe? I’d like to not sleep on the floor tonight,” Madeleine jokes, a few more chuckles drawn from the boys around her.

“Will do. Let’s go boys.”

Madeleine watches as they all exit in a group out of her apartment, the beginnings of a conversation echoing down the hallways before fading and she was left with just Taylors voice singing about paper rings. She quickly turns towards Tyson’s phone turning down the volume before reorienting herself to the tasks ahead.

It’s Andre and Nate that return first and they bring part of her bedframe into the bedroom, followed quickly by the rest of the pieces brought up by the others and before Madeleine really knew it, all of her furniture was moved into the apartment.

The rest of the day devolves into laughter and stories all while attempting to get work done. It manages to go decently well, a few of them breaking off into small teams to get more things done; Nate in charge of hanging all her pictures because he is ‘pretty meticulous’ –

“Don’t you mean anal?”

“Shut up Josty.”

– Ryan getting to work on unpacking and organizing her books onto the bookshelf, Cale putting her sheets on her bed, both pieces of furniture assembled by Tyson and JT. Madeleine almost found herself put into a more administrative role, answering questions and providing guidance. But soon, she hated feeling like she wasn’t doing anything so she manages to take some time to hang and organize her closet and bathroom. After closing the last dresser drawer, she wanders into the living room where all the guys were now sitting, trying to put together her couch.

“Out of all the things that we needed to build, I didn’t think the sofa would be the most difficult,” Tyson grumbles, his head practically buried in the instructions.

“Eh, if it doesn’t get done, I can figure it out tomorrow,” Madeleine says, sitting down on the plush rug next to Andre.

“Yeah, besides, pizza’s almost here,” Ryan says.

“Pizza?”

“Yeah, while you were in the bedroom, we ordered a few pizzas for dinner,” Cale explained to Maddie.

“Ugh, that’s such a smart idea. I don’t think I’ve eaten anything since early this afternoon,” Madeleine sighs, leaning back onto the couch cushion behind her.

“Tyson said you liked pineapple on pizza?” Andre asked.

“It’s a Canadian thing.”

“It is not,” Tyson says, exasperated because he and Maddie have had this argument since they were kids. “Madeleine, you’re talking to a room full of Canadians, with the exception of Burky and JT and you are the sole pineapple on pizza lover.”

“Well then, you guys aren’t Canadian enough, I don’t know what to tell you,” she playfully retorts, a chorus of oohs going up around her.

Eventually, the pizza arrives and Madeleine and boys don’t bother to move from the rug, arranging themselves haphazardly around living room before eating. Madeleine manages to convince Andre to try a slice of pizza and he likes it which makes Maddie let out a triumphant shriek, declaring that Burky is more Canadian than the rest of them. The pizza is consumed and as Madeleine takes a look around the apartment, she is slightly shocked to see that it has almost entirely come together.

“Hey, thanks you guys, for doing this,” she says, turning to look at the hockey players still lounging on the floor. “You really didn’t have to.”

“It was no problem,” Cale says, shooting her a soft smile.

“Yeah, it was nice to be focusing on something other than hockey and the seasons start,” Ryan adds.

“Want to lose focus more?” JT asks and everyone’s head turns to him. The smirk that Madeleine had come to recognize as commonplace was once again plastered on his face as he pulls a small circular object out of his pocket followed closely by a thin package. It took Madeleine a split second to recognize the grinder and rolling papers dangling from JT’s fingers.

“Really JT?” Nate asks.

“What? I thought a stressful move was the perfect time for a little smoke,” JT replies oh so casually. “But it’s entirely up to you Madeleine. It’s your place.”

Maddie takes a pause, thinking it over. She only smoked a few times in college, mostly with Logan huddled up in dorm rooms with the smoke detector covered by a toque and a towel shoved against the door. But she wouldn’t deny that she did like it.

“I could go for a joint or two,” she says. JT just hits her with that mischievous grin before he is lifting himself up to move to the coffee table that was placed off to the side. Madeleine watches as Tyson follows suit, wandering over to help JT, causing Maddie to furrow her brow.

“Tyson, you smoke?”

“Yeah,” he mindlessly replies, his focused trained on the rolling paper between his fingers.

“What would Mama Jost think?” Madeleine hums, her voice still light.

“Hey, there are a few things that we don’t tell her,” Tyson says, his own tone teasing as he shoots a warning glare in her direction.

Madeleine sighs and continues to watch JT and Tyson work. It isn’t long before Tyson hands her a perfectly rolled joint, pressing a small lighter into her palm, allowing Madeleine to take the first hit. She lights up, inhaling the smoke before holding it out wordlessly, only for Ryan to reach out, his elegant fingers plucking the joint from her.

JT finishes off his joint and lights it before passing it to Cale and Tyson rolls a second, taking a hit himself and hands it off. The seven of them relax back, the three joints being passed between all of them, the smoke dancing around the room. During the prep time, Nate thankfully had the forethought to crack open the balcony door, the fresh air breezing in.

The smoke calms Madeleine even more and she willingly lets the high carry her. Time passes and it isn’t long until Madeleine finds herself stretched across the rug, her legs thrown over Cale’s lap and her head perched on one of Nathan’s muscular thighs. It’s hard to stop the tingles from running down her spine as Nate runs a hand through her hair as he passes her the joint, which she gladly takes.

She inhales more of the smoke, the wispy tendrils falling from her lips as she wordlessly hands the joint over towards Burky who is sitting to the side. Madeleine’s eyes fall close as a sigh escapes her, getting lost in the moment.

This was happiness. Smoking with people she just met but who she knew would easily become friends, lounging in her new apartment. This was peace.

This was home.

taglist: @starjoyyy @fallinallincurls @kenna-thomson

#nicole writes #CMBCYB #tyson jost fic #tyson jost imagine #tyson jost fluff #tyson jost x oc #buffalo sabres fic #buffalo sabres imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine

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matan4il · 2 years

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I think it's possible Eddie is blinded to Helena's behaviour and focused on Ramon's because she's the parent that stayed. Eddie seemed to be hung up on the fact that Ramon wasn't around, (probably a pinch of self loathing and guilt in there, imo) but Helena was there, she was the one raising him. So I think he's probably lays any blame Helena should hold on his dad, because if Ramon had been there, his mom wouldn't have been so mean to him. Just a thought.

Keep up the incredible work btw. 👍❤️

Hi, my darling! :D Thank you for this ask, following on the heels of this reply to an ask about Helena Diaz.

You make a very good and valid point, sometimes kids do treat the parent who left and the parent who stayed differently. I'm not sure to what a degree that explains the different treatment of his parents for me personally, for one thing because on the one hand Ramon didn't completely abandon the family (he was more... partly absent rather than full on abandoning), and on the other, up until 517, whenever we had "live examples," Helena seemed to be the worse parent, the one being more hurtful. So I guess I would expect whatever explains the difference in Eddie's attitude to be something bigger than Ramon being away a lot for work, and also to be something that justifies Eddie's comment which completely erases the issues with Helena, rather than be forgiving, understanding or dismissive while acknowledging their existence. I guess that's why I tend to fear 911 decided to simply ignore what Helena did in favor of a narrative about three generations of fathers and sons struggling to bond, wanting to do the right thing for their family and not always having the right tools to do so (like Eddie in 305).

But I hope you're right and not me, and that the show does return to this and address it, because it's one of the few things I'm currently unhappy with in the larger scheme of 911 things. And if Buck could somehow be a part of that, being there for Eddie, well. I would def not complain about that. ;)

Thank you so much for your invaluable input and perspective! I hope you have a great day! And as always, here’s my ask tag. xoxox

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alexagirlie · 2 years

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Atreidaho Week Day 5

Another prompt fill is in! Atreidaho Week is brought to you by @dunefandomevents (aka me lololol)

Day 5: "I wanna fuck you right against the glass so everyone can see how good you take it." Rating: M Words: 517

When they finally fucked for the first time it was after weeks of Duncan being made to watch as Paul slept his way through the young and wealthy of Cala City. Of having watched Paul at party after party where he inevitably drank too much, got high and found a new flavour of the night.

Paul didn't always find a hookup but sometimes that was even worse. On those nights after Duncan helped him into the waiting town car Paul would lounge back against the door and watch Duncan with dark, lust filled eyes.

He would flirt with Duncan, with teasing remarks and soft lingering touches.

Tonight he had taken it one step further. Instead of retreating to the privacy of his room after they arrived at his apartment he began to strip away his clothing right there in the entryway. Shoes, socks by the front door, belt and jacket in the hallway, his shirt over the back of the armchair which he then sat in.

The whole while he complained to Duncan in a soft voice how no one that night had been what he wanted, what he needed.

How none of them had been tall enough, broad enough, muscled enough. He wanted someone who could hold him down and make him take it.

The last bit was said with a pointed look at Duncan which the bigger man did his best to ignore.

What Duncan couldn't ignore was when Paul began to touch himself. He ran his hands down his chest, his stomach until finally he slipped a hand down the front of his pants with a groan of Duncan's name.

Duncan snapped. He was across the room before he had even made a conscious decision to move.

Their first time was wild and depraved and Duncan refused to feel guilty that he knew exactly the kind of things Paul liked. Paul had certainly never tried to hide his proclivities from Duncan.

He knew that Paul liked to be held tight, almost tight enough to bruise his pale skin. He liked to know exactly what dirty things his partners wanted from him, to be bossed around or shown off. The filthier it was the quicker it got him off.

And Duncan was ready to give it all to him.

"I wanna fuck you right against the glass so everyone can see how good you take it."

The penthouse living room had great big windows which overlooked the bay. Duncan used his immense size and strength to hold Paul up against the glass so he could fuck him.

Paul held onto the curtain rod to get extra leverage.

They were too high up for anyone to actually see them but the promise of it all got them both worked up.

Paul let out these little fucked out noises that got louder the closer he got to his orgasm.

When Paul finally came he clenched up so tight around Duncan cock that he couldn't help but to follow the younger man.

They ended up in a sweaty heap on the floor, covered in cum and totally spent. tags @softhecreator @almostg @gatoenlaciudad

#kirstin's chronicles #dune #dune fanfiction #dune fandom #atreidaho #smut

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wanderingwomanwondering · 2 years

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Eddie’s Queerness

*long post*

I said something on this subject months ago and I meant it but I don’t think we’re going to get it so here’s my updated perspective…

I’ve been having thoughts and feels about Eddie’s healing journey all season like literally everyone else in the Buddie fandom. I know many of use have differing opinions about how his arc is going to go, especially as it relates to his sexuality. The Buddie fandom knows that he’s some flavor of queer. I’ve seen gay, bisexual, and demisexual all floated as possibilities for what his queerness looks like. I want to throw my opinion into the pot since it feels like we are very close to something truly extraordinary in terms of Eddie’s overall healing. (Come on 517, make my year!!)

From my perspective, each of the 3 common possibilities for Eddie’s sexuality is valid depending on one’s own reading of and interpretation of the narrative. I favor demisexual or bi/pansexual for Eddie over gay. But I will cheer no matter which route the show takes.

Here’s my perspective below the cut

Eddie’s Personal History & Context

Eddie had an incredibly difficult relationship with his parents. They had high standards and expectations for him on every level - from career, to romantic partner, to parenting, etc. - and they were controlling as well as impossible to please. Eddie has made in clear throughout his time on the show that he never felt good enough for anybody. Not for his parents. Not for Shannon. Not for Chris.

His parents’ expectation that he would work in the family business forever combined with a shotgun wedding to Shannon after they got pregnant forced him into the military. He said at one point that the military was the only way that he could see to escape his parents’ (specifically his father’s) grueling expectations for his life and future.

Shannon is a long and difficult chapter that the fandom has spoken on at length and on multiple occasions so all I want to say here is that he has said repeatedly that he loved her. In Eddie Begins we saw his struggle with Shannon’s expectation that he be a partner to her rather than simply a provider and again in Merry Ex-Mas. It’s implied in Eddie Begins and basically stated in Merry Ex-Mas that Eddie felt like a constant disappointment to her because he could not figure out how to show up emotionally.

On the Chris front, he feared he’d have the same problem he had with Shannon. He struggled with what it meant to be a good father to Chris and how to show up in that role as well, which the show talked about briefly in Merry Ex-Mas and again (via Mitchell) in Brawl in Cell Block 911. We also learn through Eddie’s conversation with Savannah in Cell Block that he felt unlovable, both by Shannon and by Chris to one degree or another.

Eddie’s struggles with building a family of his own track fairly directly in my opinion with his struggles with his family of origin. Never-satisfied parents had convinced him that he would fail at any and every endeavor. Never respecting Shannon (before she left) to the point of constantly insulting her to Eddie’s face. Making Shannon feel like an awful mother (before she left) because why wouldn’t Eddie’s parents subject his wife to the same poor opinion they seem to have of him; after all, he can’t do anything right. Eddie’s entire life in Texas sounds like it was in terms of blame, fault, error, and inadequacy!

Given what we know of his family life so far, why wouldn’t he become a man who keeps his emotions to himself, strives for excellence by someone else’s standard (the military and the LAFD especially), and in his personal life demands control of every situation as much as possible on his own terms (which does NOT work in a marriage or in parenthood!)? Why wouldn’t he have trouble finding his own heart? Why would he be someone who could recognize and strive to meet his own needs? his own wants? his own dreams? his own happiness??

All of the above has followed Eddie into the present, into his partnership with Buck in all things, into his evolving parenting of Chris, and into trauma recognition and trauma recovery. From my perspective, Eddie has not even asked himself about what happiness means or what it looks like because emotions are a floodgate. We can’t have full access to joy without seeing and feeling despair. Emotions are a package deal. So if Eddie wanted to court happiness in any deep and self-fulfilling way, he’d have to deal with all the painful shrapnel lodged inside him. That’s what he’s doing now. Wading through the pain so that he can have a clearer, truer, and fuller happiness available to him. A happiness that could let him find a meaningful love that he could hold as his own and a one that would allow him to show up in his son’s life in an authentically joyful way. Before he dove into his healing journey completely, he as becoming increasingly numb...able to fain joy but not feel it fully. Eddie’s healing arc is one of reclaiming. Well, more accurately he’s actually healing by discovering and claiming his complete, full-feeling heart for the first time!

Eddie’s Sexuality

Literally all of the above struggles can and do make total sense if Eddie were straight. How many people have demanding, controlling parents who want mindless mini-mes and get offended when their kid isn’t under their thumb. How many people feel obligated by their parents wishes in one way or another and ultimately live in cages built by their parents until they break free or irrevocably internalize the cage. One does not have to be queer for that to be their reality!

But we know Eddie’s not straight. Repression. Hiding parts of yourself. Trying to be the right kind of person for everybody else’s benefit. Living a fake life because of fear and/or confusion ie having no clear map to authenticity. Those themes absolutely exist for straight people, but they are hallmark themes of queerness (especially in contemporary media) on a whole other level. They are incredibly relatable to the lived experiences of oh so many (too many!) of us queer folks. That’s why with each passing season we saw the mounting queer themes in Eddie’s history and in his psychological & emotional arc.

Looking at the sexuality possibilities for Eddie, demisexuality captures the details of what we already know. Eddie actually loved Shannon and seemed to enjoy having sex with her. He said it multiple times even when he didn’t have to and I choose to believe him. Due to the presence of legit feelings he entered into a romantic and sexual relationship with her. From what we’ve seen in the show, Eddie doesn’t seem to readily experience sexual attraction unless he can tie it to his feelings. I think that fits for what we saw with Shannon and with Ana too. Ana was in his orbit and only became a romantic and sexual option for him when he considered what she meant or could mean to the person he cares about most in the world, Chris. It would also track with what we’ve seen of Eddie’s deepening relationship with Buck and the strongly rooted Buckley-Diaz family.

Bisexuality may capture Eddie’s experience. In the bisexual scenario, the sexual attraction is there from the start though. Maybe Eddie was sexually attracted to Shannon, Buck, and/or Ana before he got to know them. Feelings were present too at some point for each of them except Ana. We have a lot of *compelling* theories within the fandom but we don’t quite know because Eddie hasn’t directly spoken on the subject of his sexuality. At least at this point in the scenario. 517 will hopefully be a game changer on that front!

Backtracking a bit, regarding Eddie’s marriage to Shannon, there were other relevant factors, chief among them was an unexpected pregnancy along with family expectation (I’m guessing, since they’re Catholic) and a sense of moral obligation because it is Edmundo “obsessed with doing the right thing” Diaz even when he doesn’t quite know what it is or how best to do it. There is no doubt in my mind that Eddie felt trapped in that marriage but he also felt trapped within himself by his circumstances, his upbringing, and lack of a clear and (perceived) equally righteous alternative. Eddie’s marriage to Shannon was painful and tumultuous for all those reasons in addition to youth and neither of them actually knowing what they wanted or needed at the time. With Ana it was based firmly in a sincere desire to do what’s best for Chris without regard to himself. By that point in the narrative, I would argue that Eddie was even more emotionally numb than usual because of his mounting unaddressed trauma. Like. It didn’t even occur to him that he was doing Ana a disservice until Buck pointed it out!

Regarding the possibility of Eddie being gay, I will cheer as I would with either of the above possibilities. However, my fear is that the powers that be would assert that Eddie’s relationship history and context were solely "a high price to pay for a fake life” and that next to nothing at all about it was real/meaningful which is valid and relatable to so many (too many!) queer people, and also wildly painful to watch. No matter how they cut it though, parts of Eddie are falling away and still other parts are being uncovered/recovered/discovered and that’s exciting.

Deep feelings - sadness, guilt, confusion, fear, joy, love, and desire - are hard for Eddie. They are hard for a lot of people and catching feelings for your best friend is a challenge even for people who are trauma-free. So I can imagine how overwhelming it all must be for Eddie. Whatever ends up happening next in Eddie’s Epic Healing Arc, Eddie has grown so damn much this season with Buck’s help, and imo he has romantic and sexual feelings for Buck that I can’t wait for him to profess in one way or another!

#eddie diaz #eddie sexuality discourse #demisexual eddie #buddie #evan buckley #buckley diaz family #911 fox #wee woo show #911 meta #long post #just the opinion of a queer pansexual black woman so take my take with a grain of salt!

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hollandsmushroom · 3 years

Note

Letting tom fuck your mouth and you start choking so he stops and tells you: c'mon you can take it and reader is all like: yes sir

Throat Deep || T.H.

Warnings: SMUT 18+ Face fucking, tears, slight dacryphilia, and throat bulging.

Word count: 517

It had taken Tom a while to get to the point where you were, for him to earn your trust to the point where your head was hanging over the edge of the bed as he watched his dick disappear into your mouth, admiring how your throat bulged around his shaft, visible through the warm skin of the column of your throat.

“Fuck, baby, you take me so well” he grunted, fingers fisting the comforter as he picked up his pace, fucking into you more and more each time, pushing your limits with each brush of his cock against your tonsil. Tears streamed up your face, dampening your eyebrows and slicking your hair as you remained upside down. It hurt in the most exciting of ways, your throat stretching to make room for his thick cock and it burned, you weren’t sure if you were breathing or not but you didn’t care, everything smelled like him and his dick was heavy on your tongue, slick with spit and spread precum.

With one particularly hard thrust you lose it, your gag reflex kicking into full effect and causing you to squirm, immediate reaction to try and break out of the situation even though that wasn’t what you really wanted. As soon as your inadvertent panic started, it stopped, Tom’s hand gently brushing over your esophagus, fingers tracing the wrinkles of the skin as he calmed you, his pace unrelenting.

“It's okay, Love, you got this, hold out for me, yeah? Hold out till I cum down your throat” his voice was in tatters as he tried to stay composed but the way you were spasming around his tip was making this so much harder, his lower belly clenching as he continued to trace patterns on your skin, eyes widening when he felt your hands on the back of his thighs pulling him in even closer, forcing him to the furthest extent that he could go.

“Oh fuck, shit, oh oh-” He cut of his incoherent sounds with a loud groan, abs clenching as he came in hot spurts down your throat, panting the rigid muscle with salty cum, a feeling that the both of you seemed to revel in. You stayed that way until you couldn't, breathing out of your nose as you continuously swallowed around Tom’s cock but spit still running up your cheeks, following the path of your previous tears.

“That was just absolutely” Tom started, pulling his softened cock from your throat and sitting next to you, hands finding your shoulders and helping your sit up, thumbs brushing away tears and spit as he admired your swollen and fucked face, your lips puffy and hair wild and eyes slightly red from the tears, you looked stunning.

“Fucking amazing” you finished his sentence as you curled into his side, falling back on the bed, your head resting on his chest.

“You took the words right out of my mouth” he grinned down at you.

“I was only able to cause you took your drained cock out of mine” you mumbled, fading off into a post-coital rest.

♡Taglist♡ join the taglist

@iluvdeja @quaksonhehe @lovehollandy12 @thollandneedy @prancerrparkerr @parkerpeter24 @hollandsour @spidey-sophie @thehumanistsdiary @itscaminow @marvelsbitch8 @kasidy409 @parkerdarling @scarletspideyy @capital-koreasofia @marvelhasmyheart235 @hackerholland @tom-softie @hollandsjen @tomhollandsbitch8 @bi-lmg07 @reawritesthings @tomsholland2412 @lowkey-holland @cocoamoonmalfoy @tomhollandlol @roseobx @vintageobx @lcvelyhcllqnd96 @elishi03 @spooky-season-bitch @hollandsvogue

#tom holland reader #tom holland request #tom holland blurb #tom holland oneshot #tom holland au #tom holland one shot #tom holland fluff #tom holland imagine #tom holland x reader #tom holland #tom holland smut #tom holland x plus size reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #dom!tom #dom!tom holland x reader #dom tom holland

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pink-duda · 3 years

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hi!! new follower here! thank you for doing this event, its so sweet! could I please request 🤎 with Marco from one piece please? thank you!!

Hi, welcome to the blog Julia! Hope you enjoy and I'm very happy that you liked the aesthetics of the event 🥰💐

I would say this is one of the best fanfics I've ever made for Marco, I'm happy with the result.

Have a good read 😊

Words: 517

📌Event Rainbow of Sensations📌

🤎I want to stay here forever in the comfort of your arms🤎

The brown color means comfort, security and simplicity. It is the color of earth and wood and therefore it is also associated with nature.

Gradually you woke up from your deep sleep, looked from side to side trying to find out what time it was, it wasn't night because it was a little light, but it wasn't morning because the light wasn't that strong, maybe almost 6 o'clock??

You tried to sleep again as this is one of the few quiet times, it's impossible to take a nap in the afternoon, the crew is very noisy, but even if you're sleepy your brain just doesn't want to rest.

So giving up on going back to the dream world you get up and start to walk silently and lazily through Moby Dick, this time was good because only the most silent people were, and then like a shot came a thought: "Marco, where is Marco ?"

You already had an idea where he would be, but you took a look at other places to check, and in the end you were right, the infirmary had the door half open and a candlelight came out.

If there's light, there's fire, if there's fire, there's Marco...or something...you couldn't think straight when you were sleepy.

Without further ado, you opened the door and walked in, Marco leaning over the desk with books, papers scattered around and a cup of coffee.

As he had his back to you, you approached him and hugged his shoulders and put your head on his right shoulder.

And in no time he turned around, obviously he already knew it was you.

"Good morning (Y/N)."

He replied in a husky voice, for sure you were the first person of the day he was talking to.

"Hm, day..."

Almost couldn't hear what you said, you thought it didn't make sense to speak too loudly since you were inches from his ear, and also because you're lazy.

"Heh, I see your soul is still in bed, do you want me to make you some coffee or tea?"

As he spoke, he took off his glasses and left them with the papers on the desk, and you got up from your uncomfortable position, it's not good for your spine to stay down for a long time hugging someone sitting.

"Thanks, but no need…um, actually I want something."

"And what would it be?"

"...Can I sit on your lap while you work?"

"Of course -yo."

He quickly replied with a smile, and you quickly but gently sat on top of him, leaning against his chest and now with your head on his left shoulder.

As he worked he had an arm over your waist, but at some point he just stopped working and put both arms around you. It was absolute silence, just your breathing and the sound of the sea hitting the ship in the distance.

"I want to stay here forever in the comfort of your arms."

You spoke almost asleep, you were making an effort to still be conscious.

"Well, then stay, I won't be the one to stop you -yo."

And then you finally managed to go to the dream world.

#marco the phoenix #marco the phoenix x reader #one piece x y/n #one piece x reader #one piece #one piece event

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thatiranianphantom · 2 years

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It feels very obvious now that 517 was the one that originated the universes to some degree. Everything is pointing to that episode: palladium being the material that activates (or amplify) magic and the mines being full of it during the time Cheryl was making the spell and the explosion was happening. Archie remembering the explosion in Vale and having the ticking sound of a bomb following him during 601. Archie saying he was "in the creation" of the universes in 605 and having Cheryl saying she opened a path for him in the mines. I don’t know if we’ll be back to the episode but it’s clear something went south during it. After 517, every character did a 180 degree on their choices and even some story lines were dropped out of nowhere. It’s already clear this is another universe or parallel universe to Vale. BAs are the only ones denying it at this point. Most likely, it’s product of vale!Jughead writing and leaking thought out Dale which is why Jughead being back at the bunker might give him the memories back. I don’t know if the writers will be brave enough to erase the whole season 6 just like that because they know a storm is coming *from that* fandom but I also remember how there’s a 🪨 emoji left for VA. Will they be back to 517 with the help of Tabitha? Is this maybe the fixed point needed to be resolved so they can go back to their original timeline? I believe so.

Indeed, anon.

See, I don't think they had started rewrites for 518 and 519 (when they got the news of the event it's heavily rumored if not confirmed they started rewrites) in shooting 517, which is why it feels like such a heel turn from the rest of the season. They've left themselves a very easy opening to say that the spell went haywire and everything changed from there, thusly blighting some of the blowback from then on.

It would be very difficult, given all the rumors floating around and the BTS pics, to say that this is the real Riverdale and they are NOT resetting the timeline, but you know, BAs need it to be real so they're convincing themselves against all evidence.

#answered #Anti-B*rchie #Riverdale

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obsessivelyloved · 3 years

Text

Just realized I never posted this here lol. This was a fic I wrote for a friend! <3 <3 <3. Under a Read More because it's kinda long.

Context for the au is here.

Part One: Trapped

Part Two: Terror

_________________________________________________

At this point, Edd was willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, listening to those three animatronics and sneaking into the park wasn’t a good idea. Sure in the beginning it did; hearing that the cool robots wanted to hang out with him was exciting! He’d never really had friends before, so any thoughts of ‘bad idea’ had never crossed his mind.

He’d just hopped the fence on the spot they told him to and followed them.

And now, three days later, he was still in the park. Running from the Future animatronics in some underground storage building. Along with Tom, Matt, and Tord, as he has no doubt that they’ve figured out he escaped the gift shop and are looking for him.

Edd didn’t know what Red Leader, Thomas, or Mattew wanted from him. Their younger counterparts for sure just wanted him to be their friend, but so far all he was getting from the Future gang was murderous intent. None of them had said to his face directly that they wanted to kill him but he could pick up context clues. And the screams of the night security guard wouldn’t leave his head.

From the hallway outside of the office, he had heard the person being torn apart. It was only ten minutes but to Edd it felt like hours; if they could kill the night guard who’s to say they wouldn’t want to kill him too?

There was absolutely no way Edd was going to stop and ask what they wanted. Assuming the animatronics wanted to hurt him was the best case scenario in his mind. So he kept running, never stopping even for a moment.

There’s got to be a place to hide, he thought hysterically. There are so many doors, one of them has to be unlocked.

The building was large and felt like it would keep going down, down, down into the abyss.

God, he was going to die down here.

Edd’s heart pounded in his chest as the realization hit. So far, there was only one way back up to the outside and the animatronics were guarding it. He could hear them, somewhere.

None of them were even chasing him anymore.

They knew he couldn’t leave.

And now he was at a dead end, after turning a corner, he saw there was only a hallway filled with doors. No stairwells. No adjoined hallways leading elsewhere.

“Where are you, little lamb?” Red Leader called out. “Have you given up? I can’t hear your frantic running anymore.”

Tears prickled Edd’s eyes as he shuddered and gasped. Red Leader’s voice sounded close. Too close.

His hands were shaking as he yanked on the doorknobs, throwing his body against the doors in the hopes of something being unlocked.

517- Locked

518- Locked

519- Locked

520- Locked

Door 521 opened. As he stumbled in, pitch black met Edd’s eyes and he threw his arm out to feel for the light switch on the side. The bulb barely lit the room, but it was enough to see an animatronic slumped against the wall in the corner. Edd stood frozen in the doorway, rooted to the spot. But the animatronic didn’t even twitch. The shadows of the corner covered its face but Edd was fairly certain it wasn’t on.

Should he risk hiding in here?

“Are you ready to talk now?”

Ice filled Edd’s veins. Red Leader’s voice sounded closer and he absolutely would rather take the broken animatronic over the perfectly functioning ones, who could hurt him. Who would probably hurt him.

As quietly as he could, he closed and locked the door. The dim light wasn’t strong enough to reach the hall outside. He was finally safe.

Broken or not, Edd didn’t want to be near the animatronic. He picked the farthest corner away, with boxes blocking him from sight of the door.

Edd sighed and slid down the wall, pulling his knees close, and took a deep breath.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he whispered. “I’m safe now.”

He stayed like that for a few minutes. His eyes finally stopped threatening to spill tears when he heard a whirring sound coming from across the room. His head snapped up to see two glowing green eyes staring at him.

“W-What-t-t a-are you-u-u-u doing-g-g-g here!“ The animatronic said. He sounded about as panicked as Edd felt. “Ge-Get out! G-G-Get-t ou-out!”

He repeated that over and over to Edd until his voice was clear and the static covering his voice was faint.

“I can’t! They’re going to hurt me!”

Edd wanted to scream. Frustration and fear bubbled up in his chest and this time, he did cry. “They’re going to kill me if they find me,” he gasped. “I’m never getting out of here.”

At that, the animatronic went quiet, adding to Edd’s terror, he stood up.

The animatronic stepped into the light and Edd had never been so confused and terrified in his life.

It was him.

The animatronic looked exactly like Edd, just older. He wore a torn trench coat with a green hoodie underneath. One pant leg was missing along with his shoe and wires hung from where his left hand should be.

All Edd could think was, at least he can’t maul me with one hand, before the animatronic was standing in front of him.

He opened his mouth and as he was about to speak, the doorknob jiggled.

“Edward,” Red Leader said from behind the door. “Unlock the door.”

Edd didn’t even know where to begin with that information. There was a lot to unpack here but there was no way he was touching any of this right now when he was probably going to die.

The animatronic- Edward, sat down in front of Edd and yanked him into his chest.

“Shhhh…..” he whispered as he wrapped both his arms around Edd. He ignored Edd’s wriggling and his hoodie being pulled. “They’ll go away, they always do.”

The doorknob rattled again causing them to flinch.

“Edward! Wake up!”

“What the hell do you want?” Edward yelled. He held Edd tightly to his chest and used his remaining hand to rub his back.

Edd just wanted to go home. He never wanted this.

“Have you seen anyone?”

“No. My door’s locked, leave me alone.”

Red Leader angrily sighed and muttered, “Whatever, Edward. Stay there and rot, goodbye.”

They heard the doorknob being let go. Both of them stared at the knob for a couple of minutes. The only sound in the room was Edd’s muffled breathing.

“Thank you,” Edd said. “Thank you.”

Edward didn’t say anything. He just lifted Edd up so he could sit cross legged and didn’t let go.

Slowly, Edd relaxed into the animatronic’s hold. His breathing slowed and he released his grip on the hoodie. A small part of his brain was screaming at him for trusting this creepy robot, but he ignored it.

Somehow, with his head leaning against the animatronic’s hoodie, he fell asleep.

#platonic yandere #im heavily debating on if i should use the yan tag for Edward #you know what. this can be the route where he isn't yandere for edd #robot au #tw yandere #yandere tw #yandere tord #yandere tom #yandere matt

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canmom · 3 years

Text

2ku Twosday 2×2×2×2×2×2 + 2 + 2 +1: Cube

Ah, would that we could have a more numerically auspicious number this Twosday 22/02/2022! The twosiest day for the next two hundred years! By which point, who knows, the Gregorian calendar may no longer be in use.

To celebrate the number two, I had the idea of watching a series of cult Canadian horror films all themed around a very twosy shape, the cube. After all, what is a cube but the result of repeated doubling?

Like I said, very twosy shape.

So yeah, we’re gonna watch the movie Cube (1997)! And its sequel Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) and prequel Cube Zero (2007). For ‘Toku Tuesday’ purity, it would be nice if I could show the Japanese remake of the first movie that came out last year, but it’s not on nyaa, presumably bc it hasn’t seen the BD release yet. Maybe another day.

So what’s Cube about? It’s about people dying in a big cube full of lethal traps! That’s basically it! It’s a kind of guro-y psychological horror thing I guess.

youtube

Why is there a big death cube? This question is pointedly not answered, though characters speculate. The cube was built by some kind of mysterious bureaucracy, and one of the prisoners helped design it; Wikipedia terms the film’s ‘Kafkaesque’ tone one of the major reasons for its cult following.

The writer and director of the first film, Vincenzo Natali, developed the idea from the 1961 Twilight Zone episode Five Characters in Search of an Exit, which also imagines five characters of diverse origins thrown together in a confined space. To gain funding, he shot a short film Elevated that takes place entirely in a... lift (¬¬), selling the money men on the idea of a film taking place in confined spaces.

The Cube itself was designed by, who else, a mathematician:

The fictional Cube device in the film was conceived by mathematician David W. Pravica, who also served as the film's math consultant.[19] It consists of an outer cubical shell (the sarcophagus) and the inner cube. Each side of the outer shell is 434 feet (132 m) long. The inner cube consists of 263 = 17,576 cubical rooms (minus an unknown number of rooms to allow for movement, as shown in the film), each having a side length of 15.5 feet (4.7 m). There is a space of 15.5 feet (4.7 m) between the inner cube and the outer shell. Each room is labelled with three identification numbers, for example, 517 478 565. These numbers encode the starting coordinates of the room and the X, Y, and Z coordinates are the sums of the digits of the first, second, and third number, respectively. The numbers also determine the movement of the room - the subsequent positions are obtained by cyclically subtracting the digits from one another, and the resulting numbers are then successively added to the starting numbers.[20]

To shoot this, they built a single cube-shaped room, whose colour could be changed with gel panels. The tiny budget could only stretch to five colours of panel rather than the planned 6.

Natali apparently wrote a script for a followup film taking place outside the Cube, but destroyed it when it became clear that this film wouldn’t get made. Instead, the film saw two sequels by other directors: Hypercube brought in Polish cinematographer Andrzej Sekuła, trying to make a more abstract scenario with a 4D hypercube with odd gravitational effects, although the CGI of the time struggled to portray this convincingly; Zero saw Ernie Barbarash, the producer of Hypercube, step into the director’s chair to tell a story taking place, in part, outside the cube. These films go a little further to try to explain the existence and purpose of the cube, bringing in a concept of a government inducing amnesia in prisoners and sending them into the cube in lieu of outright execution. It is, apparently, less psychological horror and more gore oriented.

They all get... mixed reviews, but I think the premise sounds very interesting - I actually had the whole trilogy on DVD for years and... never watched it, for some reason, so tonight I feel like remedying that. If that sounds like fun, drop by in a couple hours at around 7pm UK time (may be a bit later, I’ll keep you posted!) at twitch.tv/canmom...

#toku tuesday #toku twosday

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hacked-by-jake · 4 years

Note

Jake by himself, 24

No stress!

A/n: Hi and thank you for your request. I’m sorry it’s so short and nothing special but, I hope you like it anyway :))

Prompt: “We drove six hours to get here and you seriously forgot your mask?”

Words: 517

The smell of the mint of my chewing gum is in the air and burns in my nose. I’ve been in the car for six hours on my way to my meeting with MC. My eyes burn a little from the long concentration on the road, and a little tiredness is also spreading. I drove through many towns and villages, on highways, through forests and paths that didn’t even consist of real roads. Just two short breaks to get me something to eat or drink or to go to the toilet. In 20 minutes I finally reach the meeting point. Most of the time I quietly just drove, Just a little music coming from the radio or the engine noise was heard. I take a sip of my already cold coffee to not get more tired. I look disgusted as the mint meets the sweet taste of the drink. That really doesn’t add up. My heart beats faster with every meter I get closer to the meting. I am not 100% enthusiastic about it but also curious and exited how it will be. Right now, a little peace and quiet has come to both sides of my life. On the 'Save Hannah' side, and on the 'government looking for me' side. Otherwise, this meeting would not have been possible. Also, I had to ask MC not to bring a cell phone to be located, to reduce the risk and Mc had to take detours to make sure that no one follows.

- The empty country road I drove on is now filled with more and more houses. "After 100 meters, turn right" sounds the computer voice of my navigation device. I follow the path until I reach a parking lot. "They have reached their goal" announces the voice when I park my car. With the turning off of the car, the voice eventually falls silent. Although glad to finally be there, but also tired, I lean a short moment against the seat and close my eyes. Just relax for a moment before the real stress begins. I fold the mirror down and look in. With my hands I drive through my face and then my hair. Determined I nod and and turn me backwards to get to my backpack. I pull it forward to open it and to take my mask. However, there is no mask here. "Shit, okay, don’t panic now," I murmur. I look in every side compartment and into the glove box but nowhere is the mask. Awkward I climb over the seats to get to the back of the car but can’t find it there either. Desperately, I drop my head against the front seat. "Fuck" I hiss, "Fuck fuck fuck fuck" annoyed I hit my head against the fortunately soft backrest. "I drove six hours to get here and seriously forgot my mask?" Stressed out, I drive through my face again. What should I do now? I can’t just say that I’m not coming. But do I trust MC well enough to come without a mask? Definitely yes. Nobody here knows me, and I was careful enough to take countless detours on the way here and make the danger of being persecuted even smaller. Actually, I have no choice but to show myself without a mask. I’m just telling myself that fate is supposed to be and that’s exactly how it’s planned. "All right, here we go.

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#duskwood #duskwood jake #duskwood fanfiction #duskwood prompt #everbyte studios #Everbyte

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bush-viper-cutie · 4 years

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“Explaining It All” || YEAR 3 – Ch.36 (HP au)

Chapter List

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Day posted: 12/22/2020

Word count: 3, 517

Relationship: EVENTUAL severus X oc (slow burn)

Rating: E for everyone

Warnings: none

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A/N: This is my first fan fic I’m writing mainly as a way to practice. This is a retelling of the hp books with an inserted character. Although most every character will be written about, this is mostly for the pro snape fandom. Please do not fear, although this is a severus x oc story, it is an incredibly slow burn as I do not intend for them to get together at all until after the final book events. Chapters will be posted twice a week.

This derivative work follows the events of the Harry Potter books by Jk Rowling and is intended as a fun way to practice my writing. Thank you for reading :D

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The shack groaned and creaked, filling the heavy silence until Lupin, who looked incredibly calm for someone who was just outed as a creature even the Ministry considered highly dangerous, chuckled awkwardly. As if Heather had simply told an embarrassing story of him.

He looked at Hermione and Heather with a small smile. “I was always worried about the two of you, though I suspected you’ve known for some time… I am a werewolf… I won’t deny that. But I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and none of us want Harry, or you, Heather, dead – I promise you that.”

Ron, who’d dragged himself to the farthest post of the bed, pulled himself up, almost feinting from the throbbing pain of his leg. He winced but did not take his eyes off Lupin.

Lupin’s eyebrows drew with concern as he took a step closer to them, mistaking the silence for calm.

“Get away from us, werewolf!” Ron shouted, instinctually reaching for his wand, which was still in Lupin’s hand. “Give them back.”

“Not yet.” He took his step back and turned to Hermione and Heather with visible effort. “How did you find out?”

“Snape’s essay,” Heather mumbled.

Lupin made a sound between a scoff and a chuckles and shook his head. “Does he know? He’ll be delighted, no doubt. He assigned it thinking everyone would realize… What gave it away?”

“Mostly you being ill around full moons,” Hermione said, holding her head high.

Lupin forced a laugh. “You’re both quite clever.”

“You’re not going to win back our trust by talking to us if that’s what you think.” Heather had set her attention back at Black, who was still intently looking at Ron over Lupin’s shoulder. There was concern in his eyes, though Heather couldn’t tell if he was worried about Ron’s injury or about the fact his uneaten meal could still hop away from him.

“We should have told everyone what you are.” Hermione shook her head. “If we were cleverer we’d have done that.”

“The staff know… though some did not agree with Dumbledore’s choices… Some apposed it more than others…”

Ron gasped. “Dumbledore knew you were a werewolf? And he still hired you?”

Lupin forced a smile again. “Not without a lot of convincing. It took a while for him to prove to most everyone I was trustworthy – ”

“But you’re not.” Harry pointed at their wands still locked in Lupin’s grip. “Give them back if you want to prove to us we can trust you… Unless you’re lying. Unless you really are working with that murderer!”

Black shut his eyes and shook his head. When he opened them again he crossed over to the four-poster – making them jump away – and sunk into the mattress sending a cloud of dust into the air. He dropped his head on his hands. Poor Ron was stuck close to him, holding the farthest post to stay upright.

Lupin stared at the wands and threw them back, even his own. “You can trust me, Harry. I have not been working with Sirius – so if I can just explain… If you will listen.”

Heather reached for the wands, handing each one back, throwing Ron his own who immediately pointed it at Sirius Black, and gripped Lupin’s tight.

“Look, I was in my office when I glanced over at the Marauder’s Map – ”

“You know how it works?” Harry narrowed his eyes.

Lupin gave a genuine laugh. “Of course. I helped write it.”

Their mouths fell open.

Lupin continued, “I was examining the map – ”

“You’re Moony.” Heather mumbled, remembering the names from the map. Moony had called Snape’s nose ‘abnormally large’.

“It was my friend’s nickname for me back in school.” Lupin waved his hand impatiently. “I was keeping an eye on you four, knowing you’d be down with Hagrid before his hippogriff’s execution. I look away for a moment, and when I returned, thinking you’d have the good sense to leave before Dumbledore and the Minister had reached you… You were standing there… with someone else – someone I couldn’t explain.”

Heather frowned. What on earth was he talking about? When they were standing – before they were running trying to chase after Ron – no one was with them. “We were alone.”

“We weren’t with anyone,” Harry confirmed.

“You were.” Lupin glanced over at Ron. “I couldn’t believe my eyes. There wasn’t any reason in the world he’d be with you. How could he be?”

“No one was with us!” Hermione pointed at Black. “Not until HE – ”

“No,” Lupin cut her off. “I saw when a small dot labeled ‘Sirius Black’ ran towards you. I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow – ”

“He only dragged ONE of us in!” Ron said angrily, jabbing at his chest with his thumb. “Me!”

“No.” Lupin looked at Ron firmly, holding his gaze. “Two of you.”

There was more silence. Heather gripped both wands in her hand, feeling calmer about listening to Lupin descend into madness so long as he remained unarmed.

“Might I have a look at your rat?” Lupin said as evenly as a parent asking to see a very expensive crystal figure in the hands of their toddler. He held out his hand patiently.

“What’s Scabbers got to do with all this?” Ron pressed his hands to his robe pocket immediately.

“Everything – Could I see him, please?” Lupin repeated kindly.

Ron dug in his pocket and revealed his thrashing raging rat. Scabbers was trying so desperately to get away that Ron had to hold him out by his tail. “What’s a rat got to do with anything?”

“That’s not a rat.” Lupin whispered, watching it thrash around.

Ron forced a laugh. “Then what – ”

“He’s an animagus.” Black stood finally. “By the name of Peter Pettigrew,” he spit out the name like poison.

Ron turned to him wide-eyed. “You’re both mental. Harry they’re mental!”

Harry was shaking his head. “Peter’s dead. You killed Peter Pettigrew twelve years ago!”

Black’s eyes twitched and his face turned red. “No. I meant to,” he growled. “And this time little Peter won’t get the better of me! Not again!”

Black lunged at Lupin’s wand in Heather’s hand, knocking her down and pointed it at Scabbers. Heather scrambled to her feet as Lupin pushed Sirius Black back with what little strength he had left in him, holding the wand up to ensure all shots would be fired into the ceiling.

“We have to explain first!” Lupin shouted.

“Get off!” Black snarled, pushing Lupin back.

“Sirius, no! They need to understand or else – ”

“We’ll explain after! After its all finally over!”

Heather aimed her wand between the both of them. It looked like either one could pass out at any moment, neither having the strength or energy to fight the other.

“They have – a right – to know – everything!” Lupin wrestled his wand back as Black paused. “Harry, Heather, Ron, even Hermione – they are just as much involved as us. They deserve to know the truth, Sirius.”

Without taking his eyes off the rat, Black backed away. “Fine. But make it quick, Remus. I paid twelve years of time for this, I’m ready to do the crime I was sentenced for.”

“Nutters. The both of you!” Ron’s grip on Scabbers was tight but shaky. He looked at Harry, Heather, and Hermione. “I can’t take any more of this. I’m off.” He made to jump away from the post on his good leg but Lupin pointed his wand at him.

“You’re going to hear me out, all of you,” Lupin said quietly. “Please. So just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen.”

“This isn’t Peter! HE’S SCABBERS!” Ron’s yell knocked him off balance and made him fall back onto the bed.

“We keep telling you, Peter’s dead.” Heather kept her aim locked on Sirius, who’s gaze was locked on Scabbers.

“A whole street full of people watched you kill him.” Harry inched his way between Lupin and Ron, helping Ron back up.

“They didn’t see what they thought they saw!” Black’s eyes narrowed on Scabbers, as if putting all the world’s blame on Ron’s still struggling rat.

“Everyone believed the reports. Even I believed it when it was said that Sirius Black was a supporter and that he’d savagely murdered Peter out on that street. And then I saw the map tonight – the map never lies… It showed Peter, alive… And Ron’s holding him.” Lupin encouraged Harry and Ron to look at the trembling rat, as if they’d instantly see what he was talking about.

Heather watched Harry and Ron exchange looks. And then she met Harry’s eyes. She turned to look at Hermione and then it was final. They were all in agreement: Black and Lupin had lost their minds completely and utterly. They were absolutely mental.

From what very little they knew about Scabbers, he’d been passed down from Weasley brother to Weasley brother and was as boring and ordinary as any rat. Maybe Ron was right, and Crookshanks really was a monster. Maybe this had been Crookshank’s plan all along. He’d convinced the already loony Sirius Black that Ron’s rat was the very man he hated brought back to life, and then Black had convinced Lupin. All of this was an elaborate ruse for Crookshanks to finally get rid of Scabbers once and for all. Evil little Crookshanks.

“Professor Lupin,” Hermione spoke up. “You know it can’t be true… that Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew…”

Heather rolled her eyes. Hermione thinks she can talk sense into just about anything. What they needed to do is somehow communicate a plan of escape. Great, they’re both crazy, but Lupin still has a wand and they’re stuck behind a man who can turn into a dog and claw them to death.

“Why can’t it be true?” Lupin looked to Hermione and shrugged his shoulders like a teacher eager for engagement.

“Well… people would know if Peter Pettigrew were an animagus. The ministry keeps tabs on them and wizards who can become animals. He’d have shown up on the registry, and only seven Animagi were registered this century… And Peter wasn’t one.”

Heather hadn’t thought of finding out who was a registered animagus. When Professor McGonagall had taught about them, she’d gone to the library to find out more. How it was done, how one could ensure a type of animal, what the laws were – and nothing had come up. Madam Pince made a great show of informing her how very ‘unallowed’ her snooping was. Becoming an animagus could only be done under the strict supervision of the Ministry, who would provide all ingredients and instructions.

Her eyes shifted to Black. “Was Sirius Black on the list?”

Lupin’s eyes darted to her, and he smiled again, as if already knowing the answer.

“No,” Hermione gasped.

“The Ministry never knew there were three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts.”

“Three?” Heather breathed.

Black growled again from the corner of the room. “If you’re going to tell them the whole story, do it quickly, Remus. I’ve waited twelve years and I won’t wait much longer. I will murder him tonight, whether you’re done talking or not.”

Lupin put up his hands in an attempt to calm the situation back down. “You’re right… I’ll get on with it, but you’ll have to help me fill out gaps. I only know the beginning – ”

There was a creak behind Sirius Black. The door had swung open without anyone noticing. Heather had been too focused keeping her wand on Sirius Black, Lupin had been turned around looking at them. And she suspected Hermione, Harry, and Ron had also been keeping their eyes on Lupin and Black.

Lupin crossed the room passed Black and looked out onto the landing. “No one…” He closed the door and walked back.

Ron was shivering from fright, or maybe fright and blood loss. “This place is haunted!”

Lupin looked back at the door once more before shaking his head. “It’s not. It never was. The Shrieking Shack was… The howls the village used to hear… They were made by me.”

“What do you mean by you?” Heather checked the door once more, but it remained closed. “Do you mean they heard you howl… as a werewolf? In here?”

He nodded. “That’s a good place to start the story actually – with me becoming a werewolf. If I hadn’t been bitten, none of this would have happened…”

“Go on,” Hermione was watching keenly, as if ready to take mental notes during a lecture.

“I was a small boy when I received the bite. In those days, there was no cure, but my parents did try everything, at least once. That potion that I’ve been drinking all year, the one Professor Snape has been making me, is a very recent discovery. It makes me safe to be around. As long as I take it in the week preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform… I just… curl up in my office and wait for the moon to wane again.”

He was talking about the Wolfsbane potion. Heather shuttered at the thought of being put in charge of brewing it every month. One false move or miscalculation and hundreds of students could be put at risk from an out of control werewolf. And no one would even realize it wasn’t made correctly until the potion didn’t work that month. How recent is recent enough for a Potions Master to become familiar with the undoubtful success of a potion well brewed?

“Before the Wolfsbane potion was discovered, I was turning into a full-fledged monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would ever be able to attend Hogwarts. It’s not like other parents would want me around their children. Dumbledore, however, came up with a way to keep everyone safe from me during those times.” He sighed roughly. “The Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. All of this was built for my use. The tunnel and this house included. I was smuggled out of the castle and into this place to transform far away from everyone else. And the tree would ensure everyone would keep away.”

Heather couldn’t believe it. Dumbledore put all that work to ensure Lupin could attend the school. He’d have probably had to go against the Ministry, or fight very hard to allow it, especially with the way the Ministry wanted werewolves to be taught in school, as dangerous monsters whose monstrousness was of their own make.

“I was in so much pain when I transformed, that the village could hear everything I went through. They heard my howls and screams and thought it was violent spirits that haunted the home. Dumbledore even encouraged the rumors, and to this day the villagers don’t approach it.” Lupin looked as if he wanted to laugh, but his spirit was being weighed down by a fond sadness. “Despite my transformations every month… I was the happiest I ever was. For the first time I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black… Peter Pettigrew… And James Potter.” He looked at Heather and Harry and smiled.

“They found me out about me as fast as you and Hermione, I think. I disappeared once a month and I only had so many excuses to tell them. I was terrified they’d desert me the moment they realized what I truly was. Except they didn’t. Instead, they did something to turn my transformations every month into the best times of my life. They became Animagi.”

“My dad…” Harry stared astounded.

“Oh yes. Him and Sirius worked tirelessly to do it. Took them three years to find it all out without anyone raising an eyebrow of suspicion. And trust me, there was already plenty suspicion being cast their way. Sirius and James were the cleverest students of our year, which was lucky, because the animagus transformation could have gone horribly wrong. Peter needed a great amount of help from them. But finally, come fifth year, they were all changing into a different animal at will.”

“But how is that helpful to you?” Hermione asked.

“They kept me company as animals. They all left the castle under James’ invisibility cloak and Peter, the smallest of them, would press the knot on the Whomping Willow and they could all come join me as their animal selves.”

“Move on with it, Remus.” Black was getting impatient just staring at the rat clutched tightly in Ron’s hands.

“Well… they became quite bored of the shack eventually… We started roaming the school grounds and the village by night. Although I was still very wolfish, my mind was much clearer around them. And James and Sirius were large enough to keep a grown werewolf in check. I doubt anyone knew the grounds quite like we did. That is how we came to write the Marauder’s Map. We even signed it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot, Peter is wormtail, and James was Prongs.”

“That was really foolish.” Hermione huffed. “What if you had given them the slip and gone and bitten someone?”

Heather nodded. “You ran around assuming no one else snuck out of the castle at night.”

Lupin nodded slowly, staring down at the space between them. “Incredibly foolish of us. There were near misses, at least a handful of them… We laughed about most of them afterwards… We were young, careless, thoughtless – got carried away with our own cleverness… Though I sometimes felt guilty betraying Dumbledore’s trust…”

No one spoke, allowing Lupin time to collect his thoughts or push down feelings he seemed to be having.

“No Headmaster had wanted to admit me until Dumbledore. And I betrayed his trust. He had no idea I was breaking the rules, risking people’s safety, encouraging my friends into illegal activity that the Ministry would not excuse. And all this year I’ve been battling with my guilt, knowing I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius is an animagus, but I didn’t do it. I was too cowardly to admit to him that I’d broken his trust all those years ago. He admitted me when no one else would, and he gave me a job when nowhere else will. His trust means everything to me… I convinced myself that Sirius was getting in using Dark Arts that he’d learned from you-know-who. I convinced myself that him being an animagus had nothing to do with anything all year… In a way, Snape’s been right about me all along.”

Black scoffed, bringing everyone attention to him. For the first time all night he let his attention drop from Scabbers. “Snape? What’s he got to do with it?”

“He’s working here at the school, Sirius. As a teacher.” Lupin looked back at them. “He was at school with us too. And he fought very hard to keep the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts away from me. All year he’s been telling Dumbledore that I’m not to be trusted. He has his reasons… See, Sirius played a trick on him that could have gotten him killed… A trick which involved me – “

Black made a dismissive noise. “A trick that served him right,” he sneered. “Snape was always sneaking around, trying to find out what we were doing… trying to get us expelled…”

“Snape was very interested in where I disappeared to each month,” Lupin told them. “We were in the same year, and we – er – didn’t like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous of him and his Quidditch talent… anyway, Snape saw me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomphrey as she led me to the Whomping Willow. Sirius thought it’d be – er – amusing – to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot with a long stick.”

“Of course he tried it,” Black cut in. “If I’d’ve told him he needed to chop off his own finger and sacrifice it to the Willow, he’d have done it, especially if it meant finding out what you were up to and getting you – and more likely, he hoped us – expelled.”

Lupin nodded. “If he’d got as far as the house, he’d have met a full grown werewolf. James however, heard what Sirius had done and went after Snape. He risked his own life and pulled Snape back just in time and saved him from what might have been a very gruesome death… for the both of them. However, Snape had caught a glimpse of me at the end of that tunnel. Dumbledore forbade him from telling anyone and since then he knew what I was…”

“That’s why he doesn’t like you,” Harry said slowly, as the revelation reached him. “He thinks you were in on the joke?”

From behind Lupin’s shoulder Heather caught a glimpse of what looked like the wall pattern shifting in wrinkles. Her eyes widened as the invisibility cloak fell to the floor, and Snape stepped forward, wand pointed at the back of Lupin’s head.

“That’s right,” Snape sneered, voice cold and tight with hatred.

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jungleuniversity · 4 years

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How I Improved My MCAT Score (509 -> 518)

Hi Everyone! I got back my new MCAT scores awhile ago, but I thought I’d write a post about how I achieved my score, with hope that it could potentially help another student. I know that while I was studying, a lot of the advice I saw on the internet was overwhelming and made me feel that my level of studying would always be inferior to what others were doing. The vast array of available courses, practice tests, and other services available certainly did not help either, as there is no reasonable way to complete every single resource that exists. In this post, I’ll go through a timeline of my basic study plan and explain which resources I used and why I think they are worth using.��

Stage 1 - Kaplan 7 book set and other content resources

I had trouble coming up with a time frame for how long it should take to go through the Kaplan set, which is why I simply called this part the “first stage.” Many guides I have read online mention strictly separated “content review” and “practice exam” phases of studying. Personally, that would never have worked out for me because I would have gotten anxious every time I got a question wrong during the exam phase. Instead, I spent about 3-4 months simply reading and taking notes out of the books, and then doing a mixed exam and content review stage. I used each book in the following ways, especially the second time I studied:

Biochemistry - For the first half of the book I took detailed notes as if I were learning from an ordinary biochemistry textbook for a class. For the second half, I eased on the notes and started drawing out the different pathways. I think I wrote down the Electron Transport Chain pathway 10-15 times and the Citric acid cycle path about 50 times. I did not draw the shapes of compounds, but I won’t tell you not to do that either.

Biology - Same as the Biochem book. I did spend extra time on “high yield content” that's more difficult to memorize, such as actin/tropomyosin activity in muscle.

Physics - I cannot stress what I am about to say enough. The absolute most important things to know from this book are the units. If you are truly stuck on a physics (or often chemistry) question, there is a very good chance you can use dimensional analysis to force your way to the right answer in a relatively brief amount of time. If nothing else, PLEASE learn the units behind every concept.

Chemistry - Use the advice from physics, but I also took pretty heavy notes, especially in the first half, since there’s a lot of content that, despite being easier than biochemistry in my opinion, are foundational and will cause problems if you skip it.

Behavioral Sciences - This was the section that brought down my first attempt score. I found that the premed95 anki deck that’s in circulation was helpful, but it made me incredibly lazy in studying to the point where I would pretend to be productive, while just looking at slides. I was desperate not to repeat my mistakes, so I brute forced my way through the Kaplan book this time instead. I didn’t take notes the way I did for other subjects - instead I hand wrote every single bolded word and definition in a notebook, organized by chapters. This took about a week and I did not study any other subject during this time. I don’t know if I would recommend this method for Behavioral Sciences for everyone, but the truth is that after I did this, my practice section scores went from 124 to 128-130. One thing to keep in mind though, the last few sections of the Physics/Math book are absolutely critical to the Behavioral Sciences section as they are the only resource within the Kaplan set which explain the research methodologies for both Psychology and Sociology.

Organic Chemistry - I took sparse notes on this book. I think it's the least useful out of the 7 book set, and I often had to look to the internet and old organic chemistry class notes to clarify mechanisms and pathways. Nevertheless, make flashcards or write down reactions such as the Aldol condensation, which more likely than not will show up at some point.

CARS - Skip this book. In my opinion, there are better ways to study this section. Most importantly, use the CARS question packs from AAMC.

Stage 2 - CARS, Mixed Content Review and Practice Exams (2-3 weeks)

This is around when I started taking CARS much more seriously, so I would recommend starting earlier. I mainly focused on using the two AAMC question packs, although the KhanAcademy passages were also useful. The first question pack was definitely a bit more difficult and you might feel discouraged after going through half of it. However, I promise it does get better. Part of the change is that as you read explanations for why you get questions wrong, your skill will begin to improve. The other part is that the second half of the question pack, as well as most of the second question pack are more closely aligned with the difficulty level of the actual test.

This was also when I began taking NextStep full length exams. (Insert surprised Pikachu face) My first score was a 501. Definitely not expected at the time, but it was a necessary wakeup call to understand where my content gaps were.

After each exam I took from this point on, I would take the rest of the day off after taking the exam. Just relax, after taking a 7 hour exam, you deserve it tbh. The next day, go over the entire exam, question by question and take notes where you need to. I wrote very brief 1-line notes for questions I got right and understood, and more detailed notes for all incorrect questions as well as correct questions that I did not fully understand. This is important for two reasons: First, this allows you to know exactly where your content gaps are and understand how you can improve applying the concepts that you already know. Second, there’s only so many different things they can ask you on the MCAT. It might sound endless, but there are a finite number of concepts and you are bound to see very similar questions on future practice tests and also on the real MCAT. In my experience, writing down the explanation for the correct answers on missed questions ensured that I never get a similar question incorrectly in the future. Overall, next-step exams were alright, but their content felt incredibly low-yield. Now, studying low yield concepts is extremely important, but it's obviously detrimental if that's all you study.

For the next month, I would alternate between taking next-step and AAMC full lengths, with breaks in between to review my content gaps. My highest Nextstep exam was a 512, but I tended to score around 507-508. My aamc exams, in order, were 519, 517, and 515. The downward trend was concerning, but I was honestly happy since all of those scores were higher than my target at the time, 513. Also, I falsely began to think that NextStep exams were extremely deflated. (They are, but not nearly to the extent that you might think.)

Finally, the day before my first exam: I couldn’t sleep at all, and I went against common advice of not studying on this day. As for exam day, just trust yourself and the studying you have done. My main advice beyond what anyone else will tell you is to keep a close eye on the clock. Several people who tested with me lost up to 5 minutes on CARS because they forgot to take into account the time during their lunch break. Not every test center will have digital clocks, and the one I went to only had a tiny analog clock near the area they check you in. When I asked a proctor for the time, he just laughed. So make sure you look at the clock and remember the time when your break starts.

My score on the first exam turned out to be a 509. Not necessarily a bad score at all, but this score was much lower than what I was aiming for. It was disappointing, mainly due to the time I put into studying, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. My behavioral sciences section severely pulled my score down, and there were a few content areas that I truly was not prepared for. I felt bad about it for about a week, and afterwards started studying again.

Stage 3: Final Preparations

Initially, I found it relatively difficult to study during the semester. One of my friends recommended I use UWorld questions to effectively use my time. This resource definitely helped me out when I felt like I simply did not have enough time to finish studying. They provide you with 1500 or so questions, categorized by section and sub categorized by topic. You can choose how many questions or passages you want to do in one sitting, and if you want it timed or not. After you finish, they provide you with personalized statistics for the session, as well as explanations for each question, which are saved and can be viewed at any time. Alongside simply rereading the Kaplan books, this is the best way to reinforce content knowledge.

The final resource I used were the Altius exams. I purchased a pack of 5 on a whim because 1) I ran out of practice tests and 2) someone on reddit said these were severely under-appreciated. Well, that gamble paid off because I believe these exams are about as close as you can get to the AAMC full lengths, BUT they give you much more detailed explanations, and are just a little bit more difficult, so you actually end up feeling like the AAMC practice exams are a bit smoother and easier to pace yourself on. After purchasing, I had one month to take all five, as well as the then-recently-released AAMC FL #4. Altius exams were great, and honestly, my only “complaint” was that CARS felt a little bit too difficult to be as useful as it could be. I also studied Behavioral Sciences and Biochemistry the way I described in Part 1, since I felt like I underperformed on those sections.

When second exam day approached, I forced myself to get a full night of sleep this, and it absolutely paid off. I was noticeably more aware during this test than my previous attempt, and corrected myself before making a bunch of silly errors.

A month later, I found out I got a 518, which was higher than my original goal.

Tl;dr:

Studying for the mcat is expensive, and it can be hard to find advice on which resources are useful.

In my opinion, only: Altius exams are amazing. UWorld is a great resource for content gaps and reinforcement, especially when you have sharp time constraints. Kaplan books are awesome for content review, but it should be fine if you buy an older edition (I used 2015).

#long post #mcat #mcat studying #medblr #studyblr #mcat advice #premed #premedblr #medical school #wild if u read this whole thing #studyspo #s post

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themerriweathermage · 4 years

Text

Author Interview

I was tagged by @sleepswithvillains . I’ve never been tagged much before so this is kind of new for me, but I love it! Tag me all the time! Also you did it again, where I got the Tumblr notification like right as I went to bed, but my sleep schedule is so wack right now.

Tagging: @guardianofrivendell @moriamithril @sunflower1000 and really whoever wants to do it. Drop me a tag if you decide to do it because I definitely want to see what you have to say!

I have a lot of unfinished fics and not a lot of published works in comparison.

1. Name: The Merriweather Mage (Tumblr)/ RinzlersGhost (AO3)

2. Fandoms: LOTR/The Hobbit, The Witcher (TV), SWTOR/Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Twilight, Underworld (though I’m not active in most of them unless I’m hyper-fixating)

3. Where you post: AO3, Tumblr, and I have an inactive FF.NET account

4. Most popular oneshot: People seem to have a real affinity for Meleth-nin/My Love. I actually hated writing it, because I was in such a bad place after receiving news that my childhood dog had died, but I don’t hate the fic itself.

5. Most popular multichapter: Every Kitten Has Claws which is a Geralt X Druid Fem!Reader. 25 Kudos, 3 bookmarks, 517 hits. Followed by Turuhalme in the Greenwood which is Thranduil X Fem!Reader. 9 Kudos, 1 bookmark, 270 hits. Both contain 18+ Content.

6. Actual worst part of writing: I legitimately hate writing fight scenes. I’m horrible at them and most of my fics contain some sort of fight scene obnoxiously enough. Although the best advice I ever saw on here was to keep your fight scenes short because not very many people are interested in a long drawn out detailed fight scene.

7. Favorite story you wrote: Bards & Beans Coffee Co. Elrond X Fem!Reader. Was the first time I’d ever written anything in the second person. I based it off of a dream I had about meeting Elrond in a coffee shop. I planned it, wrote it, and posted it in the span of four days. It’s basically as if Middle Earth exists on the other side of meridian locks, and it’s set during the War of the Ring but with some of the characters from the Hobbit so the timelines are pretty pushed together. Your side of the meridian locks has a Earth that is basically a continuous strip of land that varies from high-tech futuristic ports all the way down to medieval ports. Basically the farther North you go, the more high tech and futuristic the land becomes. Quite a shock for those who would have never been to the other side of the locks. 18+ Content.

8. Story you were nervous to post: Most likely all of them. Any of my Twilight work though, I always hesitate about publishing. Sometimes it’s because the stories are close to my heart, but I also know that the fandom can be rabid. Most of the interactions I’ve ever had with Twilight blogs are fine, but there’s a lot of discourse about Twilight right now, and while I appreciate that most people are in the right (the issue with the Quileute tribe, the Cullen’s as villains, Jasper and the Confederacy, the actual legitimacy of the Volturi as a ruling body, etc), this is actually one of the reasons I left the fandom from a writing/following POV. (There are many, many things that are wrong with Twilight and not from a literature point of view. For example, Meyers took a real life Native American tribe and treated them highly unfairly in the books, to the point of calling them dogs which isn’t very fair at all, and they have received no compensation for being used and they are risk in the place they live in now. If you have some time and money, I would recommend checking out the Quileute Move to Higher Ground project.)

9. How you choose your titles: For story titles, I like to choose the main theme or a main phrase that is used. For chapter titles, I either don’t title or I will chose something that is a main part of the chapter.

10. Complete works: Out of the 21 works I have on AO3, 18 of them are completed, although one is an open ended and may be reopened after I get some of the larger works out of my way. As for fics in general that I haven’t published or have published on other platforms, there is 2 of 5 complete works on FF.NET. Some of those stories I will be pulling and deleting. The two complete works will be migrating to AO3.

11. Incomplete works: Actively: Sadril-nin/My Loyal One, A Hunter’s Circlet, and Beauty in Brokenness (unpublished for now). I have a few other inactive LOTR/The Hobbit based fics that I might try to finish after the main two are finished. Inactive: Literally too many to count. I mean, when I wrote my goodbye to the Twilight fandom, I said that I had been writing for the fandom for nearly nine years. I have so many unfinished Twilight fics, well over 100.

12. Do you outline: Not usually. I’m at the point with Sadril-nin right now where I’m literally following a map of Middle Earth and cataloguing the journey across the map, so I guess that could be considered an outline. Mostly if I’m writing for LOTR/The Hobbit, I want to follow the timeline of progression for the story that’s already been written. I do have a little bit of leeway in that gap between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings though.

13. Coming soon ideas, maybe? I’ve been giving you a taste of Beauty in Brokenness. I do intend to publish it, but it’s a constant struggle to rework it. I have ideas that I want to cement in the story that don’t always come out the way I want them to, so I am consistently reworking parts of it all the time. I will also be rewriting (eventually) Crown of Thorns, which is Pirates of the Caribbean fanfic, Lord Beckett X Siren!OFC. I also appreciate the idea of Nestadion X Centaur Fem!Reader, but instead of being a centaur all the time, you’re actually a shifter who can turn into a centaur. Really confuses a warrior elf to see what amounts to a small human carrying this massive two handed sword around and calling him “princess” all the time.

14. Ask me anything: Is there anything you miss in fanfic? In comparison to the actual book/movie? Not really. I appreciate the original works, but I recognize that they can be flawed and so can their authors/writers. Which is why fanfic is so appealing-- everyone has a different spin on the original; everyone has a different take on the characters, everyone writes differently, and that’s the fascinating part to me. The only downside, of course with any fanfic, is the fandom and it can be hit or miss with people. It is what it is, and the liberty of fanfic is that not everyone is going to like or enjoy your works, and the same goes for your tastes. Are there right or wrong opinions? I don’t know; I’ve both read and written some morally ambiguous fics, and some I would like to forget that I very much haven’t.

15. Best writing traits: Same as the worst writing traits. I’m a sucker for detail. I love it. I want my readers to see it like I do. When I read books or play D&D or play video games, I see it like I’m in a movie. When I write, I want you to see it like you’re on set and the cameras are rolling and you are perfectly prepared. I want you to feel like you are in the story, which is why my oneshots turn into series, and my multi-chapter fics turn into novel length stories. I find it obnoxious at times, because I feel like I can’t ever turn it off, but by the feedback I get, some of y’all really enjoy it, so let’s get this show on the road.

16. Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: Uhhhh, let me go browse my WIP folder. I’ve put quite a bit of research into rewriting Crown of Thorns and making it slightly more historically accurate. I know that there will be a Part 2 to Sadril-nin, because I’m not going to time skip a seventy/eighty year gap between the timelines of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. And I really don’t want to submit y’all to this absolutely massive story all jam-packed into one fic. Other than that, I’m also sitting on Through Hellfire and High Waters, which is another Elrond X Reader fic that follows the premise of a modern/medieval world all smashed into one. The Queen of Eryn Galen also needs a proper ending and to be published, a Thranduil X OFC fic; this one will also have a Part 2.

17. Spicy Tangential Opinion: I don’t care if my writing makes the characters out of character. I try to tag that if I can, but let’s be real here. Either I’m writing a character that originally has a limited backstory and a very real chance at an open-ended future, or I didn’t like the canon character and I’m rejecting that reality and replacing it with my own. Does it mean that I don’t or am refusing to recognize character flaws? No, and that’s the beauty of fanfic. You can do whatever you want. You might get hate for it or you might not. For example, I am a fan of Severus Snape (RIP Alan Rickman). Does his character have flaws? Yes. Do I like the way he was canonically written? No. Are his actions justifiable? Hell no. Is that going to stop me from being a fan? Again, no. He is arguably one of the most disagreed upon character of that series. I don’t see a need to defend why I write him the way I do. I don’t see a need to defend him in discourse, and I’m certainly not going to be hateful about it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion about it. Yes, there was probably some underlying intent when the character was written. I’m not here (unless you’re specifically asking my opinion on it) I’m not here to read in between the lines with characters like Snape. I do not care enough to lose friends over opinions like that.

#long post #i am so sorry #get to know the author

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