#it hurts me deeply the way people act towards customer service people

[lunariarts]

Fella came in to my office to deliver some food. I know this because he did not greet me. He just shoved his bright as fuck phone over my monitor. There was an address on there, I'm sure, but I could not see the words. He attempted to make an expression at me, but I have never felt so close on the evolutionary scale to a chimpanzee than I have in that moment. I think I could have torn flesh from his bones had I just unshackled the invisible chains of decorum and humanity. I would never have been able to go back had I done so. So much would have been lost to me; gay sex, tabletop games, sending anons to you rather than making my own posts. Alas, humanity has been instilled deep within me, so I told him where to go. I should have said hell, but I said the correct address.

I'm so proud of you for staying strong and keeping yourself together but you have to understand that this is my every single day akdjsdhd people just show up at my job!! And I say hi and greet them and they don't say hi back and just hold their phones out and stare at me. It like absolutely affects me. It sucks!! I empathize hard with u anon.

And don't worry!! Regardless of how many people whose flesh you rend you can always have gay sex and table top games and sending anons with me I would never turn you away. Umm unless you tried to rend my flesh I guess I couldnt do anything if I'm dead so just be careful

[spitpr1ncess]

BRUISED BODIES CHAPTER 2 LEVI ACKERMAN X READER

                                               (not my image)

Picking out a beautiful soft white linen dress you hum to yourself, Jools pulled through with your day off but had gotten himself roped into some business so was no longer free, not a huge loss because although you love spending time with him, it’ll be lovely to have some time to yourself. You ponder what you will do, whether you’ll read a book, draw or maybe even write something, you just feel in your soul that you need a break.

Pulling the loose dress over your head you pick out some white ankle socks, never being one to dress for anybody else but yourself, comfort is key and feeling good is the main goal. You glare at the reflection in the mirror staring wearily back at you, you feel more connected this time, yet you’re still unsure about who is staring back. Her eyes are sunken, her knees wobbly and her collarbones protruding in a boyish way. You wave off any ugly, intruding thoughts and slip your feet into the one pair of black shoes you own, you decide you’ll browse the shops before you finally head down to the local park.

Reaching for your shoulder bag you throw a couple of notes in, followed by a little pocketknife you had stolen from your father as a young girl, you can’t be too careful outside, especially wearing the branding of a working girl, everybody knows and nobody respects you except for a select few. You head out, closing the door and turning the key in the lock, you wear it around your neck with an old scrap of garden string.

You pass by Jools seat, occupied with one of the other men Boss employs whilst he was out with whatever emergency he was roped into, you notice that you miss him when he’s not here, the other stranger wouldn’t wish you a good morning on your way out.

Your mind wanders as you make your way towards the large, wooden doors in the entrance and you find yourself reminiscing over how much you’ve moved around, and how this has been your favorite base so far.

You’ve moved around a fair bit over the years as Boss has accumulated more money and has had more to spend on you. You’re currently located in a lard mansion, it has a sizeable forty rooms on each floor, with four floors in total, that’s without including the large ballroom, kitchen and diner rooms and a large lounging area. There is a basement too, full of rooms you’re forbidden from entering and a beautiful surrounding estate, it’s a secure, gated property, of course, so you can only leave with permission, given by Jools, with Boss entrusting him to be responsible with his decision. You’re allowed to freely roam the surrounding land; Boss even keeps a few horses that you and a few of the other girls happily care for. Hacking them on those gorgeous summer days and taking long afternoons just enjoying each other’s company, as an escape from your sad little lives.

You will often spend the summer evenings sat on the grass, allowing the sun to beat down onto your pale skin, allowing you to feel something, head buried in a book, escaping reality and taking ever-so-important time to yourself. The feeling of freedom you get is fleeting, but even that is enough to temporarily satiate your hunger to run away.

You look back over your shoulder and shout out to the man at Jools desk, “I’m going out into town, I’ll be back no later than six, you needn’t worry, I already have permission, it’ll say on my appointments tab on Jools computer!” he grunts, and waves you off, completely disinterested. You think back to the last time you were late home, true, it was an accident, you’d fallen asleep in the meadow and nightfall had come, Boss had sent out a search party, assuming that you had made a break for it and you could tell he was relieved more than angry when you were frog marched into his office and disciplined for your silly mistake. You shudder, thinking about Boss’s thick fingers coming into contact with your tiny throat, you live to please him yes, but it doesn’t mean you have like him.

As a direct result of your falling asleep and having a search party sent out for you, you weren’t currently a favorite between Boss’s men, with all of them being suspicious of you, expecting you to make a break for it at any moment. You were sure they’d had your face ingrained into the backs of their eyelids incase they ever saw you acting “suspicious”. You can hardly blame them but you do with they would stand down, it was exhausting having to calculate your every move, to stay out of the limelight as much as you could.

The streets are dotted with people, all busy and completely engrossed in their own perfect little lives, what you’d give to be able to live like them. A wave of sadness drowns you as you notice mothers and daughters, couples in love and shop keepers attending their stalls in the bright morning light. Your feet subconsciously decide your route as you make your way down the stone high street, enjoying the smells and sounds, the birds singing loud songs was like a beautiful music concert made just for you. You allow yourself to be completely immersed and wonder if you could slip away and never be seen again, if you could have that freedom one day, if you could be one of those mothers with daughters.

You swing a small glass door open and hear chimes ring as you step into your favorite hole in the wall café,

“Olive!” a voice booms from behind the bar as Mr. Benzo swiftly approaches you and pulls you into a bear hug, “we’ve missed you! Where on Gods given earth have you been!?”, you lean into the giant man and allow him to envelope you into a protective embrace, inhaling deeply, and imagining this to be what it is like to have a present father figure.

“Careful with her David! Hug her any tighter and you’ll snap the poor girl in half!” Mr Benzos wife stands a few feet behind, her aged and ring clad hands grasping together at her heartspace, “you’re wasting away my child! They cannot be feeding you! Come, you shall eat”, she gestures gently to a window bench, you are ushered over and take your seat, feeling utterly overwhelmed by the love coming from your favorite shop owners.

Mrs Benzo rushes herself around, building you a hearty spread, she grabs slices of bread, fruits, vegetables and slices of pies, laying them down at your table she grins, “whatever you don’t eat is going home with you”, she sighs, “and you shan’t pay a single penny, you’ll be blown away with the wind one of these days, think of it as an act of service. I mean look at you! Your eyes are so hollow that I’m afraid they’ll disappear into the back of your skull young lady!”. She brushes her finger against your protruding collarbone, you shudder, anxious at the touch of another woman, and at how maternal it was. She senses this and apologizes.

The Benzos know of your situation, they guessed as much after getting a glance at your brandishing. Mr Benzo had taken it upon himself to explain to his wife the full meaning. She had simply been heartbroken, set on spending every one of your visits spoiling and pampering you.

“Mrs Benzo, I cannot eat all of this, I might throw up, my stomach would not hold it!” You place a hand over your stomach and jokingly pat it, she tilts her head and smiles, letting out a small sigh.

“I’ve told you to call me Shirley, child. Enough with the Mrs Benzo. You are a friend here, remember that.” She sits quietly opposite you, watching you eat. Normally it might unnerve you, but her presence calms you today, you allow her maternal stares to engulf you, soaking in her care, allowing her to protect you, Lord knows you need it. David had gone back to serving customers, it was picking up into lunch hour, you hear his warming laugh as he makes conversation with them.

“Thank you… Shirley, it means so much to me, the way you treat me as a human, and an equal. You don’t see me for my brandishing, you see me as me. It’s refreshing.” You feel your eyes begin to ache as though they will cry again. She takes your delicate hand in both of hers, the warmth feels like a hug all over, you can see she has the same familiar feeling in her eyes. For a moment, you are the same. You feel safe. You feel loved. You are loved.

It gets uncomfortable for you to handle all these emotions and you pull your hand back, it’s too much vulnerability, Mrs Benzo understands, she knows it will take time for you to heal from your childhood trauma, and she has the patience of a lion, always willing to wait for you, you smile and continue to eat.

-

You leave Benzos with an abundance of food supplies, you’ll surely have enough to share with all the girls and Jools. Not that he needs it, he has enough supplies to last him a lifetime, after all. Smelling the air and closing your eyes, you turn and walk back towards the shops, enjoying the serenity of the early afternoon. You’re drawn into one stand in particular, a small jewellery stand, you approach quietly and notice a gorgeous emerald ring, it’s like it calls to you, you dare to reach out and touch it.

“You couldn’t afford that with all your life’s savings, silly whore.” A cold, harsh voice sounds from behind you, you turn, furious at the unnecessary comment directed your way.

“You really shouldn’t speak to wome…” you start.

“Do you know who I am? I will have you disappear if you so much as try to continue that sentence.” the cold voice shoots back. The voice grabs your wrist and pulls you close. It hurts, but you are used to being manhandled. You find yourself a little excited. Finally, something different. You slowly take in the voice’s harsh exterior. Smart black shoes, tailored black trousers, crisp and obviously ironed. A tucket white shirt and expensive cuff links. You inhale, expensive cologne, hints of pine and mint, you meet his eyes, staring into your soul, he licks his lips before continuing.

“You’re the little shit that missed her curfew. What on earth are you doing out here? Running away again?” his glare doesn’t falter, in fact, you’re sure it intensifies, your nerves are starting to get the better of you and you note that if looks could kill, you would be driving away in the back of a hearse right now.

“Speak.” The command is clear enough, yet a lump in your throat makes it impossible. You drink in his facial features, sharp and chiselled, like a God. His short black hair with a harsh undercut. It’s styled immaculately, not a single strand out of place.

“Are you a mute, whore?” the man continues, the grip on your wrist tightens, you whimper and plead with your eyes.

“No. You’re hurting me. I’m sorry, I’m allowed out now, I am. I have permission.” It practically falls out of your mouth as a measly cry.

“Do you expect me to believe that? I have half a mind to drag you by your hair back to Boss for questioning. You truly are moronic.” You consider arguing more, but deem it useless, this angry man is obviously set in his ways.

“Fine. Take me back, but I promise you, I can be out here.” You huff and stick out your bottom lip. It doesn’t go unnoticed, as the man slowly lifts his other hand, he rests his palm against your cheek and runs his thumb ever so lightly against your lip, you can sense his distraction and you curse your stupid, pouty lips. His eyes soften for a moment. Then he snaps back to reality.

“You will walk with me now, back to your house. Let’s go.” He loosens his grip on your wrist but does not let go. You begrudgingly begin the awkward walk back, nothing is said until you reach the gates.

The man buzzes the intercom and Jools answers, he must be back, internally, you relax, knowing that this will go a lot smoother than if the other man was still filling in.

“Olive? Is that you?” Jools questions, obviously anticipating your return, but not so early, his confusion is notable.

“It’s Levi. Open the gates.” The man answers back without emotion

Levi. You ponder on his name as you are practically hauled inside. You’re sure you’ve heard it before. Jools meets you at the entrance, he glances to Levi’s tight grasp on your wrist, you see the cogs going at maximum speed in his head and you know that he has assumed the worst.

“What have you done Olive?” His voice is flat but you hear the concern.

“She was out. Wandering around. Flaunting herself, like she is not on house arrest. Touching expensive jewellery, you should really pay more attention Wilkinson.” The use of Jools last name is alien, you’ve almost forgotten he has one.

“Levi” Jools begins cooly, he holds back a snort. “Olive is not on house arrest anymore, although I admire your commitment to your job.” You cannot make eye contact with Jools or you will be beaten for laughing, you are sure of it, Levi drops your hand like you have shocked him, he grunts and addresses Jools, “Wilkinson. Were you not one of Bosses favourites, I would break your nose. You are stupid to let her wander around alone. If I were in charge, I would leash her, like a little dog. A stupid, little dog.” you can tell this was one of his kinder name callings. “She has plans to get away. I can tell, and I’m warning you, she is not to be trusted,” Jools interrupts, his tone is equally aggressive as he bites back,

“Levi, Boss has not tasked you with worrying about the girls. You should go back to your real duties. Olive is my problem, not yours.”, You’re sure there is a little possessiveness behind his voice. For a moment, it is like Levi and Jools are facing off like two aggressive hunting animals, and you are the winning prey. Levi opens his mouth to say something, and then resigns himself, he sighs and turns away to leave.

“I will catch you when you try to run eventually, little puppy. And I will beat the living shit out of you for disrespecting Boss after everything he has done for you. Watch your back.”

He is gone before you can make a snide remark back, though you should know better, Jools would surely step in to protect you here, that you are sure of. You settle at sticking your tongue out in the direction in which he left, Jools laughs heartily.

“You stupid girl. There isn’t a person alive who has spoken back to Levi Ackerman, he is Boss’s right hand man, you should be more careful.” He ruffles your hair playfully.

“There is something about him Jools, that makes me want to provoke him. A feeling that he may not be capable of hurting me.” Jools snorts.

“You really are an idiot,” He pauses, “though there was something about the way he looked at you, like he wants to devour you alive,” he shudders, “creepy.”. Your cheeks blush, you would never say so aloud, but you might fancy the idea of being eaten by Levi Ackerman, Boss’s right hand man.

You breathe in and start, “I’m going to retire to bed Jools, I am tired. Give these pastries and pies to the other girls. Mrs Benzo sent them.” You hand the bag to Jools and smile. “What time is my first call tomorrow?” Jools looks at the screen of his computer, he clicks the mouse a few times and raises an eyebrow.

“10. Seems like Boss is set to be paying you a visit tomorrow. You’d better spend some time making yourself extra presentable tonight Ol, you want to remind him why you are worth keeping, and not discarding…” You shudder, Boss has made it abundantly clear that when you’re no longer deemed suitable as a working girl, he will send you away to be married off, or “dispose” of you, you don’t fancy either of the options and considering your savings are coming along nicely, you won’t have to endure this all for much longer.

“Thanks Jools. Love you.”. You turn on your heels and head back to your room. You spend the evening showering, shaving, sugaring and cleansing every inch of your body, ready for tomorrow, your mind keeps wandering back to a particular pair of sharp eyes and a chiselled jaw. How he would leash you and “beat the living shit out of you.”

You shake away the thought one last time and retire to bed. You close your eyes and pull your blankets up.

“Levi. Ackerman. Huh.”, you drift off to a comfortable slumber, something that happens once in a blue moon.

[alilbihh]

hocus pocus — epilogue

masterlist  previous part 

pairing: maknae line x reader

summary: jungkook wags his tail and his eyes look like truffles. jimin drinks blood out of juice boxes and bendy straws and tries to wink but ends up blinking both his eyes closed. taehyung likes the ocean and all kinds of art and apologizes to rocks. you don’t know if they want to take you out the date way or the assassination way and somehow you think it’s both.

genre: werewolf!jungkook, vampire!jimin, hybrid!taehyung, witch!reader; humor (??); poly!au (in the future!)

words: 7k

"Sit still, you're making me ruin them." Taehyung whines, and you make sure to still until he nods in satisfaction.

"M'sorry." You mutter, but he just carefully kisses your wrist. You take it as answer enough.

He slowly sets your hand down on his thigh, tucking the brush into the nail polish before lifting your hand to his eyes and fixing his little mistake. He's painting your nails black, a color that was ultimately decided by Jimin. Jungkook wanted to go for pink, a choice he thinks suits your aesthetic, whatever that might mean.

Taehyung shifts a bit, the nail polish standing open and uncapped right next to him wobbling dangerously. "Careful, careful, the bedsheets," you hiss, trying not to shriek and flail your arms, "That was, like, my one condition when letting you paint my nails on my bed."

"S'fine, it won't spill, honest." He murmurs, a smile trickling up his face when you huff.

His legs are sprawled awkwardly around your hips, his feet carefully in a position where they won't bump into anything to let the painted black of his toenails dry off. It's a stark contrast to the now deep pink of his hair, but he wanted to join you regardless. Makes your heart hurt. You'd kissed him right on the nose for that.

You want to kiss his nose now, actually. His brows are furrowed in concentration and his lips are pursed into a little pout, hair falling over his eyes. You want to kiss the dip between his brows, the purse of his lips. You almost do, catch yourself leaning forward because it's-- easy. It's easy now, to act on your instincts, to not have to hold back, to want. But then you remember the context doesn't allow it, and you sit back with a huff right as he starts working on your pinkie.

Taehyung laughs fully, breaking into giggles, gently says, "hey, now," and sets your hand down to peck your lips once, twice, thrice-- pulls back with a shriek when your hands start instinctively reaching to comb through his hair and tug him back, "Hand, hand, hand, hand! Hand!"

He doesn't allow kisses anymore.

You're pouting as you watch him fix his own nails, expertly removing the now chipped, light blue color that was previously adorning them. He still has some eyeliner on, a pretty pink on his cheeks. The top three buttons of his shirt are undone, purposely or not, you'll never know. There's purple peeking out on the honey of his skin, mostly hidden just under the collar of his shirt.

He's beautiful. He's beautiful, and he's your boyfriend, and you want to kiss him, goddammit.

Your hands are still carefully positioned so as to not ruin your drying nails as you shuffle closer to him, batting your lashes and waiting. It takes a few seconds of the man fighting back a smile before he pauses to turn towards you, amused, "Can I help you?"

You make a sound, like a whine and a groan all rolled into one, and maybe the word kiss gets stuck in there somewhere but you can't be too sure. Taehyung understands regardless, grins this tiny little thing that grows big, spreads both his cheeks wide.

He levels you with a look but still seems to be weighing his options. To kiss or not to kiss. "My nails," is all he ends up saying, more of a whine than anything.

You don't say anything, just stare determinedly into his eyes. He stares back, raising a brow, a challenge if you've ever seen one. You stare. There's a bit of glitter on his eyelashes, you think. Too long lashes, if you have anything to say about it. You should not be getting this overwhelmed over eyelashes.

It takes a second, then Taehyung sighs; giving in. Gives your chin a little tickle before leaning in. "M'thinking of getting a tattoo." He murmurs against your lips, presses another kiss there just because he can. His eyelashes flutter against your cheeks. "Whaddya think?"

You hum, quick and surprised, then pleased. "I'm all about letting you do things that make you happy, but just know that if you decide not to get this tattoo, I will be highly upset."

He barks out a laugh, throws his head back, a very Jimin-like gesture. "Highly?"

"Highly. Deeply." He laughs again at that and you smile, lean your head against his chest, listen as his heart beat, beat, beats-- beats faster, even, as you press a kiss to the dip of his collarbone, once then twice then thrice. "Seriously though, you'd look beautiful. If you want, go for it. Jimin and Jungkook will know all about it."

Taehyung's cheeks color as he looks down, shakes his head so his hair falls over his eyes. You laugh, suddenly thinking of peppering kisses over Jimin's own tattoo, the Nevermind sitting big and pretty over the man's ribs. Jungkook, too, the many tattoos spread over his hands and his chest and his back.

"Today's brunch day," you say, brushing Taehyung's fringe from his eyes with the palm of your hand-- with great difficulty. "You should come."

"I would, but I have work. Wanna finish my painting, too." He says, completely in pout. "I'm halfway through but I don't know if I like how it's turning out."

"I'm sure it's beautiful." You say because it's true, his paintings always are, always pretty and colorful and meaningful. He paints a lot of things. Paints Jimin, his cheeks sore from smiling. Paints Jungkook, eyes puffy with sleep. Paints you too, standing in a field of leaves painted oranges and reds, or even just doing the most mundane thing possible, like chopping up a bowl of pomegranates.

You smile at the thought, lean in to kiss the mole on his nose even while he continues, "I'll show you when I'm done. Hopefully before I maybe possibly definitely get my tattoo."

"What tattoo are you getting, anyway?"

"Not sure," He says, brows furrowed. He's carefully brushing the nail strengthener over your newly colored nails, eyes flirting here and there quick. "Maybe, like.. A peach tattooed on my ass. Or maybe just ‘property of Y/n L/n.’"

"Taehyung!" You exclaim, horrified, but he only smiles and bursts into a fit of giggles.

He leans backwards and the nail polish falls over before you even have the chance to scream, and you release a long winded shriek that only makes him laugh harder. Taehyung later offers to kiss it better and it doesn't help fix your now ruined bed sheets, but it's maybe a little nice. Maybe.

"You don't all have to come, obviously, but like-- You're all coming, right?"

"I thought he was trying to act humble for a second, wow." Jungkook says and Jimin laughs, covers it with a hand. It's so endearing you think your heart clenches for a few seconds too long.

You don't all have brunch together every day because that isn't a wise economical investment and your schedules don't always allow it and honestly, 3 pm is a bit late for brunch anyway, too late for it to be considered brunch at all, but Taehyung says it's an excuse to feast on breakfast foods and you aren't one to object to that.

So you all meet up for not-brunch sometimes, all of you together, hunched in the plush red seats in the corner of what started as Jungkook's favorite little waffle place. Taehyung and Jungkook's goal is to eat through the menu and you and Jimin are kinda just in it for the ride.

"Of course we're coming, dummy," you say with furrowed brows, "Me and Jungkook are literally in the process of making you a banner for when you do the sexy snake part."

"You're making a what."

"Noona, that was supposed to be a secret," Jungkook leans over the table to whisper, then says to Jimin, "On a completely unrelated note, hyung, do you prefer pink and yellow together, or blue and yellow together? Those were the only crayons me and Y/n could find in the store so I need to know."

"You're all insufferable."

Jimin had just recently gotten a solo act in his dance course, and so you're all obviously going to be supporting him. You’d invited Yoongi and Jin and Namjoon, too, and so they all wanted to meet him beforehand and were all delighted to finally see both Taehyung and the dance major in person.

You were a bit uncomfortable about it because you really care about them all and really wanted them to like each other. And it's difficult to be uncomfortable in Seokjin's presence because he has a third eye for when people are feeling like that, and so he usually either A: sacrifices himself for a laugh or B: exploits every weakness you have to make you even more uncomfortable to make you realize how you really shouldn't be feeling uncomfortable in the first place.

He was in a B mood that night.

("So Jimin-ah," he starts, raising his voice to gather everyone's attention, "I hear you have very soft hands."

You think Jimin had turned to you for an explanation but you'd been shoving the equivalent of three lettuce wraps into your mouth to avoid speaking. That and you'd hidden behind Yoongi, but it's kind of difficult considering he'd been slouching his entire life and had practically made it into an art form.

Namjoon lets out a few semi-embarrassed ha-ha's on his boyfriend's behalf.

"Do I?" Jimin mumbles, prodding at his own hand.

"Can I feel?" Jin says, making grabby hands in Jimin's direction even though they met all of thirty minutes ago.)

"Hey, it's horny boy!" Jungkook greets with a snicker as Taehyung (rather reluctantly) trudges towards your table, plastering the customary customer service smile. It's supposed to look forced but it looks too soft on him, you think. Too fond.

You catch his eye, catch him trying to hold back a smile. To pretend he's not associated with any of you, most likely.

He's wearing his work uniform, long black pants and a flannel shirt with a little shirt pocket. There are feather earrings drooping on his ears that go long, almost reach his shoulder blades, tickle his neck. There are fairy lights circling his antlers, and it was meant to be festive in the beginning but it's mid march and he's still adamant on using it. Something about how Christmas lives on in his heart.

Taehyung looks one way then the other, as if to survey his surroundings, before bumping your hip with his as a gesture for you to scooch over. You comply, the hybrid settling beside you on the rather comfy cushion, proceeding to immediately kick Jungkook from beneath the table.

There's a yell and a laugh and then the two are playing footsie rather aggressively, Jungkook sinking in his seat and everything while ignoring the rather distressed Jimin beside him. You're all causing a public embarrassment but you're all laughing so you can't quite bring yourself to care.

Jimin turns to you, deadpans, "Do you know them?"

"Absolutely not."

He takes a long sip of his boba, as if to contemplate, then says, "Should we stop them?"

"Absolutely not." You both grin.

It stops eventually, Jungkook making soft little whines as he crosses his arms indignantly. Taehyung giggles and leans over the table to kiss him and makes a big show of it, too-- puckering his lips the closer he gets. They giggle into each other's mouths and you feel an overwhelming fondness swell up inside you, pushing up, up, until you're grinning and it hurts to breathe.

"What were you guys talking about when I wasn't here?" He asks, pauses. Smacks his lips together for a second, turns to Jungkook in question, "Are you wearing lip balm?"

"Yeah," Jungkook says as if it's obvious, "Always gotta be prepared."

"Hm. Cherry?"

"Strawberry, actually."

"Nice." They fist bump. "What were we saying?"

You snort, "We were talking about the sexy snake before you got here."

Taehyung makes a noise, swallowing his drink quickly before he says, "The sexy snake! He's always practicing it at home. Whenever I walk in it always looks like he's doing something nasty to the ground."

"Well you always walk in at the wrong time!" The man in question says, indignant, chugging down his boba to not have to look you all in the eye. "I don't know why you all call it the sexy snake, anyway. I don't look like a snake." You laugh when he leaves out the sexy part.

"You kinda do." Jungkook says, voice a bit muffled, the straw of his boba still between his lips.

"It's something like this," Taehyung does this little wiggle in his seat, meant to copy the infamous sexy snake, and it looks all kinds of awkward but you and Jungkook giggle anyway and he grins big.

Jimin purses his lips, as if to keep himself from laughing, then says, "I don't look like that. Y/n, I don't look like that, right?"

"No thoughts head empty."

"Y/n!"

It's then you're all arriving home, Jimin tripping over the stairs with a giggle, Taehyung trying to convince you to get waffles with him tomorrow as you turn just enough to watch him, to feel your heart swell with every word. Jungkook, his hand spread over your back, giving your bum a few pats when you lean in to press a kiss to his cheek.

You don't know what it is, but you feel--alive. More alive than usual. You're not sure how to explain it to someone if they were to ask, but these days you've been almost painfully aware that you're a person, and that you're alive. Grounded. Very of the Earth. Very aware of every little thing that's happening to you, as if you hadn't been paying attention before.

You turn up the heat of the oven, the concoction bubbling and popping and gurgling in the cauldron as you stir. When you raise a spoonful to your mouth, you taste nectar and ambrosia, peaches and pomegranates. Taste something that's a little dry, too.

You pour it in an empty wine bottle you'd kept for this exact occasion and walk back to your living room. "Look guys, I made wine with everything except grapes! I'm practically Jesus."

Jimin's the first to laugh. First to make grabby hands in your general direction, too. "Gimme."

You hand the vampire the bottle, about to turn around and grab a few glasses lying around somewhere until Jimin drinks it straight out the bottle and that's that.

"Can you teach me how to make this later, love?" He asks as you settle beside him, an arm snaking around your waist to pull you closer. Jungkook's making surprisingly quiet conversation with Taehyung, but turns just enough to raise a leg to rest over yours. You giggle and he pinches you, but you think he's smiling before he looks away.

"I would but it's kinda hard. Doesn't always turn out the way it's supposed to, either, unless it wants to."

"I hate magic." Jimin mumbles against your neck, pressing a kiss there just because. "It's so finicky."

"Why would you say that to a literal witch," You say, mildly offended, but he only giggles.

Then. Then you're all sat around the couch, laughing and drinking homemade wine until Taehyung makes a face after his first sip and settles for Jungkook's banana juice instead. A sober icon.

(There's touches too, tender ones, warm ones that settle in the pit of your stomach. Jimin, a hand under the hem of your and Taehyung's sweaters to pet at your waistbands, at your stomachs. Jungkook settled over you all, head on your thigh and legs on Taehyung's, much to the hybrid's initial despair.

"Massage my feet, hyung."

"Absolutely not."

Taehyung, shuffling over Jimin to press his lips to the back of your neck, a deep, almost guttural rumble sounding against your back in an almost-purr.)

You sit there amidst it all, taking it all in, hoping to keep this safe, keep it somewhere with a lock and key.

Jungkook noses against your stomach, mutters a mantra softly under his breath you think sounds like mate, mates, home--and you want to keep this. Want to keep this for a long, long time. And you think you just might.

Everything is loud and encased in a bright, neon light, surrounded by the people you love, but that fact becomes debatable as you think you catch Jin's tall figure doing some sort of dance somewhere in the crowd and maybe Taehyung in the middle of a circle of people, the man chugging down a bag of gummy bears. You can't be too sure though.

It's the day after Jimin's performance, and the song he danced to has been playing on loop for the past fifteen minutes, maybe. Jimin laughed at first when he realized, but you think by now everyone's getting tired of it but no one has the heart to stop anything.

You think the man of the hour is-- somewhere, maybe helping Namjoon pour the drinks, maybe chugging down gummy bears with Taehyung or slow dancing with Jungkook completely out of rhythm, but you spin on your stool and look up when you hear footsteps and smile as a hand softly cups your cheek.

"M'love. Pretty. I've been looking for you," Jimin coughs, then, and he looks-- beautiful. A white flannel shirt tucked into faded black ripped jeans, round glasses sitting crookedly on the bridge of his nose, hair disheveled like there was someone running their hands through it. He's smiling big and wide and kind of sloppy at the edges and he looks kind of ridiculous, but he's cupping your cheek and calling you pretty and you can't help but smile just as wide.

"Hello," you murmur, take a hold of his hands, and for a second it feels like everything stills, just you and Jimin sitting in this pretty little world. "What've you been up to? Did you drink? You look like you drank."

He does look a bit drunk, but you know that can't be true because Jimin can down vodka like it's water and does so with an effortlessness you will never possess, not to mention he's a vampire, but-- he looks just a tad bit drunk. Drunk on something more intangible, maybe.

"Hey, Y/n," he starts, like he just thought of it and it's the best idea he's ever had, "Let's make out."

You cough only twice before bursting into laughter, and Jimin looks nothing if not pleased with himself. "No, you absolute bimbo."

"Why not?" He all but whines, swinging your intertwined hands around, arms flailing, "I wanna do it. Right now. This second."

Jimin leans in teasingly and you think you catch both Jungkook and Taehyung doing kissy faces in the background somewhere, and when he does kiss you it's messy and sloppy and you're both smiling and it's-- practically all teeth, really, but there's something nice about it, something tender.

He starts tracing your jawline with gentle fingertips when you both pull away, and you kiss the pads of his fingers when they hover close to your lips, watch as Jimin draws in a breath, deep and shuddering.

It takes a second, then-- "Jesus, you can't just do that," he breathes out, coming to right as he steps between your legs, taking the sides of your face between his hands, gently caressing the under of your eyes.

You're-- still on your stool, still in the middle of a crowded apartment, all with people you know and love but maybe that only serves to fluster you more. "Jimin," you hiss, probably too red, too flushed under his tender gaze and others' prying eyes. Seokjin and Hoseok's especially, those nosy bastards. "Not here!"

"Why not? Why can't I kiss my lover?" Hands are tugging at your face, tracing your chin, pulling you in; more gentle now, as if to let you pull away if you want.

"Our other boyfriends are literally judging us as we speak." Jungkook is filming you two from a distance now, and Taehyung is standing right beside him, laughing too hard at something he said. You don't want to know.

"Let them, they can join us if they want."

"Jimin!" You're horrified, to say the least.

And then Jimin is laughing, and the sound melts you down to your bones, human fondue. And then- and then--

Then he's pulling you off your stool, turning to gesture something to Taehyung who immediately understands, the hybrid answering with a nod and a thumbs up. Soulmate culture, if you may.

Then he's leading you up the small set of stairs you'd walked through so many times before- past a frantic Namjoon who looks to have some frosting in his hair- going up, up, looking back only to check on you, to kiss your knuckles.

Then he's clicking open his bedroom door, ushering you inside by the small of your back. The door closes softly behind you, and you're faced with a bedroom that's so terribly Jimin that you kinda ache a bit. You'd been here before-- just this morning, too, maybe-- but it always catches you by surprise, leaves you feeling terribly soft for this boy, for all your boys.

"Are those my socks on the floor?" Is the first thing you say.

Jimin kicks your socks under his bed right before your eyes. "No," He drawls.

You laugh and he smiles at the sound, the vampire taking one step closer, then two-- immediately reaching for you once he's close enough to touch, hands trailing gently from your shoulders down to your hips. "Taehyung and Guk should be here soon, I told Tae to bring drinks. And those gummy worms stashed under the sink. Maybe a sandwich, while he's at it."

"How did you-" You sputter, "You showed him, like, a peace sign, how did you give him that much amount of info in the span of two seconds?"

Jimin smiles, drags his bottom lip through his teeth like he's holding back a laugh before shrugging, and— well. You'll get it out of him one day.

You trace the arch of his brow, the slope of his nose, the dip above his lips. He's the one to kiss the pads of your fingers this time. He hums something soft, scrunches his nose to urge his glasses higher.

"You should wear glasses more often, I like them." You say as Jimin takes them off-- to kiss you properly, you think cheekily-- watch as he places them on a nearby table.

"They make me look stupid."

"No, they don't. You're cute with them."

"Am I cute without them?" He grins, cheeky.

"Stop fishing for compliments."

He giggles and rests his forehead on yours, eyes half lidded and wide and brimming with so much open adoration that you surprise yourself by reaching out, hooking your fingers through his belt loops to pull him in close to taste again. Jimin crowds in closer still, stepping in closer until you're almost touching but not quite. Not enough.

Jimin's voice rumbling beside your ear as he murmurs your name, Jimin's thumbnails dragging softly over your spine, Jimin's lips pressing open mouthed kisses on your neck.

The man draws in a breath, "God, you're so—" he trails off, pressing kisses to your neck, knuckles stroking along the side of your jaw so tenderly you ache.

It takes a second, then you feel sharp teeth dragging over the skin of your neck, and you shiver-- Jimin immediately pulling away with a low curse. "Shit, I'm sorry, m'love," he covers his mouth with a hand, cheeks flushed. His fangs are gone when his hand lowers. "Can't control them sometimes."

"S'okay." You say almost breathlessly, your mind reeling, still trying to catch up with the rest of your body as Jimin flattens his weight against you, pressing you against the wall, a hand cupping the back of your head. His fingertips trail down the side of your face and you—feel. You feel so much, all at once.

He crowds in close, a breadth over your lips, "Wanna keep going?"

"Wait," you gesture for him to look at you, and he does-- or maybe he was already looking, never stopped. "I'm really proud of you, hm? We're all really proud of you."

You cup his cheeks and he's suddenly shy, grinning wide and pretty pretty pretty.

You both stay like that for a long while, you think; lazy kisses and lazy touches, lazy words and lazy smiles that linger and go long, leave you both breathless and giggly.

There's light streaming in through an open window, pink and gold reflecting onto Jimin's skin. There's a distant smell of old books and earl grey tea, of sweet cologne and newly washed sweaters. There's laughter on your tongue and you can taste his smile and you no longer long for a place that doesn't exist because it-- does. It does exist, maybe it always did. And you found it, right here, and it's beautiful.

Then there's a soft creaking and soft footsteps and soft laughter, more hands reaching to touch and that's. That's love, too. "I can't believe this," Jungkook starts, huffing out a laugh, "They left us to make out. They really did it. This is—blasphemy."

"I bet you don't even know what that words means." Taehyung snickers, even as Jungkook retorts with a little punch to the hybrid's shoulder.

A harmless little fight threatens to burst forth and Jimin steps away from you to physically restrain Taehyung from swinging his antlers around like a madman. "I never want thing one and thing two around me again." You deadpan to yourself.

Jungkook blinks, turning towards you with a halfhearted fist still hovering midair, "Wait, which one am I?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea, I don't really wanna see them either." Jimin nods, hands literally cupping Taehyung's cheeks as he says it.

"Noona. Am I thing one or two?"

"We should probably kick them out." You contemplate. Jimin hums, kissing Taehyung's cheeks now.

"Which one am I, noona? Noona—"

You're happy now, and you hope to be happy in the future. And that will be love, too.

"Hey," A little whisper sounds against your ear and you turn, a flash going off before you can throw your hands up to hide. You make a face at that and another snap goes off along with Jungkook's giggle and you realize you're fighting a losing battle.

You're in Yoongi's greenhouse to restock the mugwort and rosemary, the faerie tending to a rosebush and cutting of the stems. They're a little fussy so you don't want to disturb him.

Jimin and Taehyung are huddled by a tree trunk trying to feed a one-legged bird, and sometimes rainwater will drip down your nose even though the outlines of the clouds overhead are delicate, their edges blurring into blue. You can guess how far you are from the shoreline from the scent of the ocean.

Wind kicks up in your hair. It takes a second, then you hear another snap.

You dig your hands into the earth, feel dirt sticking to your nail beds as you frown, "Shouldn't you be taking pictures of something else?"

Jungkook lowers the camera enough for you to see his eyes shaped into little crescents. Out of spite, probably, he takes another picture.

You make the motion as if to stand ad leave but his hand shoots to your wrist to gently tug you back, giggling a drawled out "no!"

Taehyung turns just then, sees you both and a wondrously slow grin spreads just like that. Another snap.

The hybrid gestures for you to come closer and you stand quick, brush yourself off, grab a hold of one of Jungkook's arms and attempt to pull him up with brute strength. He doesn't move an inch, but laughs at your attempts anyway.

It always feels different being together. Watching Taehyung press a wet, sloppy kiss to your and Jungkook's forehead and Jungkook trying to kick him and Jimin laughing and then a snap of a camera before the vampire can react and complain because Jimin, for someone who likes to be seen, strangely doesn't like to be seen. Jungkook takes photos of him anyway, because Jimin is one of the most beautiful people you know.

Being together is different. Everything feels different when you're together, like there's not a thing that's missing, like everything you could ever want is right here.

"Y/n-ah, you should take us here more often," Taehyung says as he spins in a circle, arms outstretched as if he could hold the whole neighborhood in his arms if he wanted. The whole world.

You watch him spin and spin and spin and feel a little grin tugging at your lips, "What's so great about all this?"

He almost trips but catches himself on a thin tree and starts twirling around that instead, "Plants don't grow like this just anywhere," he says, stops abruptly. There are leaves stuck to his hair, and Jimin giggles before plucking them off one by one. He continues, "They didn't grow like this because of the magic, either. They grew like they've been loved."

Taehyung's got his head tipped up, like he's looking for constellations even though it's midday. He takes a step forward and his antlers get stuck on a tree branch and he yelps and you're all laughing even as he screams dramatically.

Yoongi then decides to waddle towards you and says you're all disturbing the petunias, so with little to no persuasion you convince him to hand some of the things you needed in the first place before gathering your things and heading home.

Jimin and Taehyung fall into step behind you, seemingly not even noticing they're supposed to be going to their own home but you don't comment as they walk inside completely uninvited. (But completely welcome.)

Jimin whines a little at the dirt on his clothes so you rummage through Jungkook's closet and know it will be a bit too big on him but it will have to do. You find three spare 99 cent toothbrushes in a pack of ten in the cabinet under the sink and have no idea who bought them or what happened to the other seven of them.

It all feels a little bit dreamy, you think; Jungkook closing the window in case it rains and Taehyung curling in small on the couch, making sleepy sounds with a hand resting on your thigh, lashes tickling your cheek as he leans in to press little kisses to your nose and your upper lip. Jimin hovers over you both and bites his lip, a nervous habit he doesn't know about. A purposeful action he does to get what he wants. You haven't figured out which yet.

Jimin makes grabby hands. You face Taehyung with as blank of an expression as you can muster, then say, "I don't know, Tae, what do you say we do?"

"I don't know..." he drawls, Daegu accent tugging at the vowels, a hand stroking at the soft skin of your belly, "Is this the part we ignore him and make out or something?"

Jimin, with one swift leap, plops himself on top of you both even as you all shriek and Taehyung yells a distant "Whose leg is this?!" followed by a low oof. You think that's when Jungkook plops himself on all three of you and all the breath leaves your lungs completely.

It's strangely domestic, they way you're all giggling even as Jungkook starts brushing his teeth with two of his toothbrushes and Taehyung spits a little bit, tooth paste dribbling down his chin, and you think Jimin chokes a little bit, too. You don't think you've ever been endeared by something so stupid but you wouldn't trade this for anything.

You all play rock paper scissors to determine who gets the middle, and Jimin wins with a victorious whoop but Taehyung says he was in the middle last time so they hand the win over to you. (Jungkook suggests you take turns next time and that's an idea you can definitely agree with so that's a topic for discussion for later.)

So then you're all squeezing into this bed that's much too big for four people, and you're a bit smug as you settle in the middle before Jungkook presses his cheek to your stomach with Jimin behind him and Taehyung on your other side and you all manage to make do.

"Ow! Tae-hyung, what the heck?"

"I didn't mean to pinch you! So wait, whose leg is this?"

"That would be me," you mutter.

"Oh." He says, then pinches you, too.

Your eyes start to droop as they start making quiet conversation; not about anything particular, but then Taehyung starts talking about what it's like to live with Jimin and dramatizes how romantic it is until Jimin pipes up saying they'd spent Valentine's day playing Minecraft last year, and Jungkook laughs so hard he snorts and does that thing where he starts randomly slapping people's shoulders.

They check up on you too, sometimes, pressing little kisses to your exposed skin with whispers of you awake, baby? and go to sleep, little love, and you're so pretty, noona-- and it's all a pretty dream, you decide. You'll stay here in this pretty dream and listen while the three tell you pretty things.

You feel Taehyung tug lightly at your hair, and you turn to face him and he grins so softly you turn to mush. His fingers stroke low on your waistband, your hipbone, and you feel him pull you closer before he even does, lifts you with a happy hum and then you're kissing and kissing and kissing, lips catching over and over until you're warm and pliant and melted into Jungkook.

"Pretty," Jungkook sighs, crawling up higher to press kisses to the nape of your neck, pull you flush against him.

Taehyung kisses you soft and sweet and then not so sweet but slow slow slow, just the way he likes to be kissed. Your hand reaches to cup his cheek and tilt his head just so, trace his jaw, tug at his hair to hear his breath hitch.

Jimin, with a deadpanned voice, says, "Well, this is fun," and you snort into Taehyung's mouth as he half-laughs, half-shrieks, then you all pile onto the vampire to tickle him and it's a mess and an even bigger mess when you almost knock him off the bed.

There's something nice about knowing that you'll wake up to all this tomorrow, to feather soft touches and lingering kisses. You like all your mornings with them, even the hectic ones, with toast crumbs and rushing around Yeontan and strings of panicked I'm late, shit, I'm—can you, will you—and lingering touches that shouldn't linger because you're all late.

But this is gentle, tender. Push too hard and it hurts because everything is exposed and vulnerable kind of tender.

You press a kiss goodnight to each of them, playfully slap Jimin's chest when he tries to keep you close and blow raspberries into Jungkook's mouth when he tries to tickle you, too, and when you move to kiss Taehyung's knuckles you smile at the little tattooed moon on his inner wrist, and you realize that you want to kiss it. Realize, too, that you are so deeply in love you don't know what to do with all of it.

So you kiss it. And you kiss him. And everything is warm.

"You look different these days," Seokjin murmurs, gaze more focused on squeezing the little plastic ketchup onto his french fries. Empty packets are already starting to pile around his plate, and his arm is kind of shaking from the strain, and it's. A little funny. You pinch the soft spot of your cheek to keep yourself from laughing.

"If you're just going to call me ugly, Jin, then just save it." You say, pretend to be annoyed, down some more of your drink like it's vodka.

"That's not what I meant at all! I'm saying something happened," he takes one sweeping look over your bundled frame and announces proudly, "You got laid! Holy shit. I never thought I'd see the day. My baby's growing up."

Namjoon nearly chokes beside him, looks around frantically, "Hyung, we're in public. Also, please never call Y/n that ever again."

"But it's true. You're all my babies," He announced without chagrin, popping a fry into his mouth. Namjoon attempts to look smaller, then mumbles a small prayer towards the ceiling.

"I didn't get laid." You deadpan, cupping a hand over your mug. You mutter a small incantation and feel it warm in your palm.

Seokjin continues his coos as Namjoon reaches over the table to clap your back, either as a form of support or an apology, you'll never know.

"You should ask them to move in, I'm sure they'll say yes," Jin continues, chewing thoughtfully.

"I've only been dating them for like three months." You say, but only receive a shrug in response.

"That's, like, a year in Y/n time."

"That doesn't make sense."

"You're right. Six months in Y/n time. Maybe seven."

You groan.

Namjoon then starts talking about the concept of time, which leads into the concept of beauty, which segways into a heated debate about toxic masculinity in the beauty industry, and then suddenly you're sitting amidst a conversation about gender norms and queer theory and it's. Too much.

Seokjin turns to you when he notices you've been quiet for too long, "Y/n-ah? You okay? Is this about the whole getting laid thing? I wasn't actually serious! Mostly."

"No," you say, feeling small suddenly, "'M just happy."

“Oh.” His eyes soften. "Good. That's good. Yoongi-chi said so, too."

Your heart warms. Warms at the thought that there are friends looking out for you, careful and caring, friends that notice when you're fine, notice when you're not. It grows a bit overwhelming sometimes, this small little reassurance you have, tucked away from prying eyes in a place where everything is soft. Little reassurance that says these, these-- these are the kinds of people I want to keep close.

"Yeah," You smile, say again but softer, "Yeah."

"Ask 'em to move in," Namjoon hums, "It'll be good for you all."

"Hey, Jungkook?" You ask one night when you two have been up too long, and it's late enough for words to spill more easily as if drunk. The werewolf hums and you continue, "Do you wanna move in?"

Jungkook stills and you feel something like bile start to surface up, up, but then he giggles and pats blindly at the mattress until he finds your hand and laces your fingers together.

"We're already roommates, Noona."

"I know, but like," you pause and peel open an eye and find Jungkook's gaze in the dark and he's already looking at you. You wonder if he'd ever looked away. "But like-- move in, you know? Like, boyfriend move in, because we weren't dating when you did move in, and—Don't look at me like that! You know what I mean!"

He's smiling, amused and fond, then says, "Are you gonna make me write a proper lease? Are you a nice landlord?"

"Forget I said anything."

"No," he drawls with a whine, giggles when you shift and turn so you're facing the other way. His hand snakes up your shirt, a finger trailing down the dip in your back. His nose tickles your neck as he continues, "Come back, noona. Baby."

He says it the same way he did before, when you'd first kissed and were both pretending it hadn't happened. Even before that, too. Saying it like it means something else.

Jungkook pulls you so that you're facing him and then you're nose to nose and he's grinning unabashedly, "Noona, I would love to boyfriend move in with you." He says adamantly, then he's pulling you in and tugging you close and kissing you hard, biting your lips cherry red until he slows and it's soft, soft, soft.

When you're both pulling back with droopy eyes and lazy touches is when you curl in small, feel him peppering kisses over your collarbone, "Can our boyfriends boyfriend move in with us, too?"

And then you look up and he's grinning big and soft and shy and-- Jungkook. "Yeah," he breathes, something deep and shuddering, "I'd like that a lot."

("Does this mean I can husband move in with you one day, too?"

"Go to sleep Guk," you say, hushed, then whisper, "That sounds nice."

You feel his smile on your neck and your heart soars up, up, up.)

There are new flowers on the table.

They're pretty, reds and purples and pinks dissolving into white. You smile, murmur sweet nothings to the one drooping outside the vase, watch as it perks slowly into place, petals fluttering. You'll make sure to sprinkle something on them later, help them stay for maybe a few weeks more. It's sweet, smells a bit like honey and marmalade.

"Peonies," you muse to yourself. You'd have to thank Jimin later. You can feel that Jungkook's a little calmer than usual, all safe and warm somewhere close, so maybe you won't have to wait long.

Footsteps pad softly over the creaking floorboards, and you turn to a sleepy Taehyung trudging towards you, rubbing at his eyes.

"Do you like peonies?" Taehyung asks as he watches you gently tuck the flowers into a vase, placing it somewhere where you can see, where the whole world can see.

You think for a long while, tracing a hand lightly over the petals, watch as they melt into your touch. The room gets warmer. It's always like that these days, you think-- warm, warm, warm.

Today, just outside, there are dandelions growing through cracks in the sidewalk. There's an old couple sitting by their porch holding hands. There’s a lizard resting in the morning sun, trying to grow a new tail. There is life. And you're learning to love yours quite a bit, too.

"Yeah," you say, not quite looking at him but you don't need to. He knows. Always does, really. "I think I do."

a/n: this is the end folks :( I’m gonna miss this bumbling trio :(( i’d like to thank u all so much for all the support on this lil series, hopefully this ending is satisfactory djksjd?? i might maybe write some drabbles for them at some point tho!! this was plotless and had like zero angst this is my level of longing for romance. ty for reading g’day

[bookspined]

❝ that’s all history is after all: scar tissue. ❞

{ cis-man, he/him }  huh, who’s FROY GUTIERREZ? no, you’re mistaken, that’s actually SCORPIUS MALFOY. he is a TWENTY-TWO year old PUREBLOOD wizard who is A HEALING APPRENTICE. he is known for being CAPTIOUS, RETICENT, FACETIOUS, DISMISSIVE, and DRAMATIC but also RESOURCEFUL, CONSCIENTIOUS, FERVENT, INNOVATIVE, and OBSERVANT, so that must be why he always reminds me of the song IN DREAMS BY BEN HOWARD. i hear he is aligned with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, so be sure to keep an eye on him. { merry, 24, gmt, she/they }

CHARACTER PARALLELS: Amy Santiago (B99), Claire Temple (Daredevil), Chidi Anagonye (The Good Place), Giles (Buffy TVS), Michelle Jones (MCU), Simon Tam (Firefly), Elizabeth Swan (PoTC), Spock (Star Trek), Clarke Griffin (The 100), Harley Keener (MCU), Gregory House (House) suggested honorable mention Gizmo (Gremlins) 

pinterest [blood, medical imagery tw]

wanted connection ideas

Full Name: Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy Gender/Pronouns: Cis man | he/him Age: Twenty-three Birthdate: January 20th Parents: Draco Lucius Malfoy & Astoria Céline Malfoy (née Greengrass) [Not biologically Astoria’s due to her health, if you ever point this out he’ll flay your eyeballs] Siblings: N/A. Birth place: St. Mungo’s Hospital, England Height: 5’11” Weight: 56 kg Sexual/Romantic Orientation: Demiromantic Bisexual Nationality: British Body Alterations/Marks: A ragged diamond shape scar at the base of his throat.

Blood Status: Pureblood Hogwarts House: Slytherin Wand Arm: Right Pet: His pet toad, Jarvis, recently passed away. Patronus: Arctic Fox Wand: 11 2/3 inches, Willow, Supple, Dragon Heartstring.

Willow is an uncommon wand wood with healing power, I have noted that the ideal owner for a willow wand often has some (usually unwarranted) insecurity, however well they may try and hide it. While many confident customers insist on trying a willow wand (attracted by their handsome appearance and well-founded reputation for enabling advanced, non-verbal magic) my willow wands have consistently selected those of greatest potential, rather than those who feel they have little to learn. It has always been a proverb in my family that he who has furthest to travel will go fastest with willow.

Personality Traits: Brilliance, innovative, empathetic, individuality, openness, social consciousness, inventive, logical, practical skills and self assertion; lack of attachment to people outside his circle and the “real world,” over-intellectualizing of the emotions, dismissive, anxious, crotchety tempered, facetious, rigid, prone to self-isolation, intellectual arrogance, and stubborn. Zodiac Sign: Aquarius/Capricorn Cusp Moral Alignment: Neutral Good Core values: Loyalty, Knowledge, Hope Four temperaments: Melancholic  

HOGWARTS HOUSE ANALYSIS

Slytherin Primary and a Burned Ravenclaw Secondary.

Slytherin Primaries prioritize their own selves and loved ones first. Slytherins don’t feel guilty or selfish about this– they feel righteous and moral. The most important thing is to look after your own. Abandoning or hurting one of your own is the worst thing you can do.

A Burned Ravenclaw Secondary might want to be skilled, curious, and prepared, but they feel like they are (or like people think they are) limited, clumsy, or inconstant. Gathering knowledge, hobbies, skills, or tools is the right way to achieve their goals, but Burned Ravenclaws know that’s not going to work within their capabilities. So they take other paths and use other tools– maybe a Gryffindor’s bluntness, a Slytherin’s flexibility, or a Hufflepuff’s slow and steady dedication.

You may have a Hufflepuff Secondary Model.

Hufflepuff is the House of grit, reliability, and determination, and Hufflepuffs use those values to help live, act, and succeed. If you model Hufflepuff Secondary, you also value these things and like to live by them. You like to be hardworking, dedicated, and consistent– but you wouldn’t feel guilty for abandoning those values in the service of other, higher priorities. If there’s another, easier way to get what you want– you’d take it. You think hard work provides valuable rewards– and those rewards are why you work. The work doesn’t have persuasive value in itself.

Despite his very best resistance he’s always been pretty empathetic in nature, he tries to rule his emotions as well as he can but fails more often than not. He was always one of those toddlers that if another kid started crying he’d be right along with them, not because he wanted attention but because he just couldn’t not. A bit of a crybaby, has researched how to magically seal up his tear ducts. Obviously managed to keep the family’s flair for the dramatic there as well. After a few years he leant into the sarcastic vague-snobbishness to hide the core of overwhelming anxiety.

Just managed to scrape through his schooling with nearly all top grades, this isn’t really due to him being a model student. He has always accrued information with a voracious appetite. Any knowledge he could find, even if most people would consider it entirely useless. His mind clicks into that place? You can’t keep him away. However, when there is not an immediate stir of interest on his approach to a topic he has to fight with himself tooth and nail to carry on. 

Predictably found exam season highly stressful, was never open about it but was quietly competitive and silently smug over his good grades. Could comprehend well above his reading level from an early age and would often look into experimental research and complicated magic but found himself lost in OWL level History of Magic when chapter upon chapter lay ahead of him about something that didn’t catch his interest. Some people he beat just to spite cause he hates them. It worked, whatever.

Tends toward introversion and finds himself tired sometimes quite easily by a large amount of social interaction. Witty and big-mouthed when he feels comfortable or is in the presence of those that embolden him and very likely to get flustered and snap at people when things are becoming a bit too much. Especially if he feels however unjustly that someone is blocking his escape. Has matured slightly in this since leaving school but it happens still, he’s just anxious. Quite fickle and can at the drop of a hat decide that he’s done with you for the day once his Give Me Attention Meter is maxed. Could be an absolute bloody brat when he felt like it but feels he has grown out of it, which he mostly has.

Always been very, very aware of many people’s distrust of him and his family, he used to sneer and play it up if anyone tried to bring up his dad and go on the offensive but was genuinely affected quite deeply by it all. In his early school years, despite his weakness to the cold, he constantly had his sleeves rolled up to the elbow so that his blank forearm was bared as a statement to just about everyone. I am not marked, I never will be. Now he’s older he has more of a handle on things and can be diplomatic in situations where people are clearly discomforted by his presence and his family history.

Even though the war culminated far earlier in this verse I imagine Scor would have had to have been relatively sheltered as a child if not for how emotionally sensitive and prone to periods of ill-health he was, it was definitely for his own safety. He is still the grandson of a known high-ranking Death Eater and that made him a media target and put one on his back for anyone else that might happen to be watching. 

Never produced much of a talent for offensive magic and wouldn’t resort to those methods unless he had literally no other choice, not a front line fighter by any means. His talents with strategy, potion-making, healing and his perseverance with defensive magic are what define him to the Order. While everyone kind of knows who he hung out with at school and who his friends are he is deliberately very mischievous with releasing rumours and misleading people. He deliberately keeps his cards very close to his chest so most people don’t know that he is aligned with anyone, he usually uses glamours or a scarf to conceal his identity if he has to. 

While he is knowledgeable about healing and anatomy, he is the WORST at taking care of himself. The literal embodiment of Healers make the worst patients, tends to forgo sleep and basic bodily needs if he’s locked into what he’s focusing on. Sometimes needs reminders to sleep and eat, like a child. 

Healing is the most satisfying part of his life and he would never give it up, he likes to experiment as he has a fascination with magic and muggle science and where they might intersect. A fucking nerd honestly. While he thinks he’s being fairly subtle about it a large part of his academic life has been doused in research into blood maledictions, for obvious reasons. He does his best not to flutter too obviously around his Mum. She is capable and ten times stronger than he is. 

Lives in a small studio flat in Diagon Alley that is mostly stacks of books and makeshift shelves.

the stillness of the world the moment you take the first step into fresh snow, cashmere and fine wool, the pearlescence of dreamless sleep draught, the scratch of a quill on parchment, faintly tremoring fingers, a shiver up your spine in a warm room, the exhilaration of a problem solved, a thunderous grey overcast sky, the bite of a stitching charm, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, petrichor, the burn in your eyes before a well of tears.

Always had somewhat fragile health tending toward sickly. Hands are never warm, his existence is an endless heat seeking mission. 

Went to one Slug Club meeting and used his time to verbally berate and or challenge most of the contacts in attendance, he was not asked to return. 

Potions Club, Charms Club, used to sometimes be willing to be dragged to Dueling Club but didn’t enjoy himself. 

Plays quite a bit of chess.

Bruises like a fucking peach and scars so easily.

Views quidditch as a good fly spoiled. 

Is a very skilled pianist almost entirely due to his Grandmother’s tutelage. 

Surprisingly great with children/toddlers/babies, no one including himself expected this, he mostly feared them beforehand. 

Bit of a mummy’s boy in that he practically GLOWS when people talk of Astoria’s achievements. 

When he has time off from healing he will have chipped black nail varnish on. 

Highly intelligent but rarely manages to match a pair of socks, chews his quills but no one else’s. 

While very eloquent and well spoken, he is markedly less posh than when he first arrived at Hogwarts.

When he isn’t prone to bouts of insomnia he can take a nap pretty much anywhere. He was once found in a tree after several frantic hours search.

[ CREDIT : CHARACTER PSD template by @karmahelper (defunct url) I tried to find a current social this week by messaging around but couldn’t find anything unfortunately. Forgot to copy this over from the google doc! ]

[saladejin]

Call An Uber? | 02

BTS x Reader | idolverse au, uber driver!Reader, translator!Reader |  Fluff, flirting, super slow burn, angst and hurt/comfort, mature themes and eventual smut 

Summary:  Your normal life with a normal, yet inconsistent job gets drastically changed when your dreams come true. Sounds boring right?

What happens when all of this occurs, but you’re still doing something you love AND getting a large sum for it? Now there’s something to think about, and it’s definitely not what you’re thinking.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.4k

< masterpost >

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Bold = English

       "You make it sound like we're gonna die." 

"Yeah well you will, if you don't move your ass." I swung open my door, tugging the mask higher on my face and swishing my (h/c) hair around to cover the rest partially. 

Hopefully any lurking cameras wouldn't sneak a peek of my flustered appearance, because that would be embarrassing in itself. I had worn only the lightest makeup possible today. Of course I didn't want to look like a troll in front of my customers, but now that I was breathing right next to two perfect, ethereal human beings, I suddenly wished I’d made a better effort to impress. 

"Quick!" Jimin's abrupt gasp snapped me out of my thoughtless gazing, and I turned around to see Jungkook walking towards me swiftly. Jimin was already heading inside, but had thrown a worried glance back in my direction when he saw my frozen form on the pavement. I instantly started at the sudden pressure on my lower back and jumped forward when Jungkook's large hand pressed me in that direction. 

"Sorry, but you probably shouldn't touch me if people can see," I murmured and led the way through the sliding doors into the cooled administration room.

Jungkook's tentative hand jerked away as if he had touched a burning hot iron.

The weather had been quite warm outside, but I hadn't taken too much notice because of the exceptional air conditioning of my car. I whipped my head around one last time to blow a tiny kiss to my precious baby parked outside, as it was still new and had already been through an exciting car-chase of sorts. Even copping a harsh slap to the ass in the process. 

I'll be back soon Red. 

I turned back around to see the cheeky maknae giving me an incredulous look with one eyebrow raised. 

"Don't judge me, it's new." 

When Namjoon came to fetch his two younger members, he was definitely far from pleased. As soon as he entered the room all three of us were sitting in, he gave me a quick glance up and down with his expression hardening the closer he looked. Despite his misgivings, the tall man still managed to flash me a strained smile while he dipped his head in a sign of respect. He was truly a kind soul, and I knew he’d probably need to make an initial judgement based off this first look.

The professional demeanour continued as his careful eyes flickered to Jimin and Jungkook. He had already gone through the initial apologies and displays of gratitude as soon as he bowed, but now his expression was disappointed as he beckoned the other two members in the room.

"You two come with me." 

Damn, his leader voice was definitely no joke! I felt myself squirm in my seat, probably from the uncomfortable tension suddenly flooding the room. Namjoon looked as good as ever, silvery grey hair styled in a way that just made me speechless, but his usually calm and thoughtful expression was tired and stressed. 

Poor guy, he must have torn his hair out over this. I hope he doesn't think I'm insane or something.

I knew there was absolutely no way he would trust me completely on the first meeting, but seeing as though his fellow band members had mentioned their situation and fortunate escapade, his gaze seemed softer than it could've been.

Thinking about what could've gone wrong made me shudder, and I pushed the thoughts away as the two boys I had shared a car with for the past half an hour jumped to their feet. I was sad, but I mean who wouldn't be? I had fangirled over them so many times and once I’d actually met them, it seemed quite literally too good to be true.

I knew they couldn't stay though, and when it came down to it, I was most likely viewed as just another fan. Just another fan that they had happened to meet coincidentally, but still nothing too estranged from a fan meeting event where girls from various backgrounds would provide them with gifts and words of encouragement. 

Why would I expect anything different from this? 

I forced down the bile rising in my throat and avoided making eye contact with any of the boys, as I couldn't bear to watch them go. Slipping through my fingers, kind of like the moment you begin to wake up from a dream you longed to replay over and over.

The realisation that they’d halted in their movements took me way too long, but as I snapped up to meet Jungkook's conflicted expression, I suddenly gasped. "Oh, sorry!" 

I tugged off the mask he had graciously lent me and held it out with a shaky hand in the younger boy's direction. His eyes flashed with recognition and even surprise, much to my own confusion. 

"Oh, that...I won't mind if you keep it, I have plenty of others." 

I let out a sharp breath and smiled forlornly. "Creepy, you're giving me your clothes now?"

I laughed softly when he rolled his eyes and dismissed me with a joking wave of his hand, bunny smile flashing. Jimin also couldn't help but grin at the maknae's chivalrous attempt and how it had completely backfired.

Someone cleared their throat deeply and I met the pointed look of Namjoon once more, even though his gaze had settled the tiniest bit at seeing his fellow members act comfortably. 

"(Y/n)-ssi, is it?" 

"Yes, I'm sorry to make you wait so long Kim Namjoon-ssi. You must have been worried sick." I struggled to be as respectful as I could, my eyebrows knitting together in concentration as I spoke. Did I even use the correct honorific? Maybe I should have used something higher because he's the leader of the group. Ah, I don't know! 

A chuckle broke me from the horrifying contemplation, and I flinched slightly as Jimin bent down to enter my line of vision. "Don't worry too hard about all the honorific stuff, Namjoonie-hyung will understand." 

I nodded with a cringe alighting my features, annoyed at my own obvious floundering with their language. I had been in the country for a couple of months, so why couldn't I just get my act together and converse properly? 

"Do...you speak English at all?" Namjoon ventured with a smile that made his dimples pop adorably. I let out a big sigh and ran a hand through my windblown hair while nodding. 

"Yep, I'm from (Y/c). But I do understand Korean fairly well, it's just the honorifics and technicalities that trip me up a bit." 

Jimin and Jungkook groan simultaneously at the revelation that I was fluent in the language they practiced the most, and I couldn't help but smirk. They must have had some suspicion, as I did't exactly look Korean anyway, but there was always the notion that I could have been born to foreign parents and grown up here. 

"I never would have known! Your Korean is still great," Jimin whined lowly and I couldn't help but laugh, the look in my eyes eventually shifting to one of apology. 

"That's fine, it's alright to just use 'ssi' anyway," Namjoon nodded and I relaxed my shoulders in relief. The switch back to Korean was somewhat jarring, but it was only fair that everyone in the room should understand the gist of the conversation. 

"But hyung, she told us she doesn't mind if you don't use them for her," Jungkook was next to pipe up, and I was surprised he even remembered such a thing at this point in time. I just smiled and shook my head in response. 

"I don't mind either way. I'm not fussed at all." 

"Yes, well we should be going anyway." Namjoon cut off the conversation and glanced at his watch, looking back around at everyone in the room. 

"Thankyou (Y/n)-ssi for taking care of our members, something like this shouldn't happen again." 

At the sound of their leader's stern voice, the boys both hung their heads slightly, and I knew that even though the situation had worked out for the best, it definitely was not ideal for this kind of thing to happen when their careers could be put on the line. 

"It's alright, Jungkook's mask is the only thanks I need," I decided to joke so that I can see the younger boys smile again, and I was rewarded with the most beautiful pearly white grins yet. Namjoon chuckled and motioned with one hand for the boys to leave the room before him.

Jungkook turned and threw a small wave and bow in my direction. I returned them, and he finally exited the room with a hefty sigh to let out all of his pent-up stress. Jimin followed with the same gestures and I responded with a faintly sorrowful smile. Ah, what I wouldn’t give to just spend a whole day with them. I was then ultimately left alone with the leader of BTS. To say I wasn’t a tad intimidated would be a lie. 

"Once again, you have truly done us a service. We are glad to have a fan such as yourself supporting us,” Namjoon spoke after a few seconds of silent tension.

"Thank you, you have no idea how much you guys have helped me already, so please don't feel as though you owe me anything," I quietly respond and watch as his eyes cloud with admiration and respect suddenly.

Maybe he regretted acting so robotic and cold when he came in, but he was the leader and professionalism mattered so much when you were faced with a situation that called for big demonstrations of leadership. Namjoon smiled and bowed again, reaching out to shake my hand kindly before leaving the room to join the others. I knew all that was left was meeting the CEO of Bighit Entertainment. 

Yeah, because that's something to just brush over. 

God, so much was happening to me today. How could I possibly go back to streaming endless amounts of videos and fangirling over pictures when I had actually spoken with three members of the band itself? I forced down the niggling thoughts of 'that's only three out of seven' and grunted apprehensively. 

You're lucky enough as it is, don't be greedy. 

The thing is, nothing about my long-distance relationship with the boys was normal anymore, and I wondered if the girls who attended fan-meetings felt exactly the same way. The fact that they were just normal guys with normal thoughts had always crossed my mind when I watched them through the screen, but seeing it in action proved to be disarming at the very least. 

Stupid world-famous idols, don't play with my heart like this.

The meeting and disclaimer signage with Bang PD went well in the end, and I was consistently surprised at how kind-hearted and open he was with everything that had gone down. All the staff I had encountered were nothing short of accommodating, and they were continuously apologising for the mess caused. Even though I had told them many times it was truly a blessing in disguise, they remained insistent on the matter.

"Please, I want you to take this as a token of our gratitude." Bang PD smiled warmly in my direction, and before I could refuse he held out a slip of paper. It was a cheque, and my eyes blew wide when my eyes scanned the tiny bold numbers printed neatly on the surface.

"Please, I can't accept this, I already got paid for my service."

Before the short man could shake his head and insist further, a light knock sounded on the frosted glass pane of the office door before opening. In stepped a young woman who bowed repeatedly for her intrusion, her short night black hair bobbing up and down along with her.

"I'm terribly sorry Bang PD-nim, but the donor from Chile has arrived back at the office ahead of schedule."

The founder of Bighit nodded in understanding, clearing his throat to speed up whatever process was happening. He turned back to me with a reassuring glance and I took a deep breath, fully understanding I wasn't really able to refuse his generous offer.

"Right, well thank you once again for your service, I have other things to attend to it seems. It was lovely to meet you."

The cheque still scorching hot in my left hand not going unnoticed, I forced myself to return his smile with a gulp. He gestured softly for the door and followed me out. The young woman looked quite flustered as she shifted from foot to foot just outside the bleak office entryway.

The building's interior was very modern and clean-cut, and I knew it was probably very, very different from the actual Bighit Entertainment building itself. Seeing as it was meant for living arrangements and not vital meetings such as the one mentioned earlier.

I exchanged formalities with Mr.Bang once more before I turned towards the exit of the dormitory building, my big and exciting day coming to a close just like that.

"I'm sorry, but it seems our Spanish interpreter has called in absent today. I've just been informed that the donor came without one," the hushed whisper from the woman reached my ears as I took a couple of steps towards the large glass doors. I heard a sharp click of a tongue and a deep, masculine sigh from behind me. 

"Well what are we going to do? I don't know enough Spanish for an entire face-to-face meeting like this."

"Does anyone else in the company?" The woman's voice was growing frantic, as she was apparently about to drown in her sudden bout of panic.

Bang PD's tone was irritated. "Why the hell was this not scheduled better?"

I honestly could not blame him. What kind of interpreter would just call in absent on such an important event? Even if the sickness was life-threatening, there were ways to notify and organise something to compensate for it, or give some warning to reschedule.

A small smile stretched my lips as I twirled around on one of my heels happily, once again facing the distraught looking woman and CEO who were deep in hurried conversation.

"If I mentioned that I was fluent in Spanish, would that help?"

             Copyright © 2020 by salade. All rights reserved.   

[fromzerotoeuphoria]

my feelings on rinharu & makoharu

So as I said in my last post, I wanted to make a separate post adding my own commentary on this response thread made by @melancholycheer​ @chensim​ and @thenakedbloger​ to an anon who had bashed melancholycheer for shipping RinHaru. They end up saying (almost) exactly how I feel about both RinHaru and MakoHaru, and I was just applauding them along as I was reading their post!

Their reasons for not shipping MakoHaru are pretty much mine as well, and their viewpoint on how both friendships are valid are the same as mine, too. Yes, OP hates MakoHaru as a ship, but OP also respects and cares for ALL three characters, and they also respect how others may have a different ship than they do, and that’s pretty much how I view it, too (even if the ship doesn’t make sense to me) (as long as people are respectful back).

I wanted to share this convo because so many of the points made are exactly how I feel, from why RinHaru is such a dynamic ship to how I only can see MakoHaru as best friends/brothers. The things said are just 💯.

MakoHaru isn’t canon. Neither is RinHaru. Fighting about it, or acting like your ship is superior, is not only rude, but also pointless.

EXACTLY. Neither ship is canon romantically. You know what is canon? The special friendship Haru has with his best friend Makoto and the uniquely special friendship Haru has with Rin. Does he love and care for both of his friends? YES HE FREAKIN DOES.

The directors and writers purposefully give service to each pairing to attract and keep viewers and customers.

Hate to tell ya, but MakoHaru isn’t canon and it never will be. They’ve already invested too much into both ships; if they set one in stone they’d lose a lot of fans. They won’t do that. 

People need to think—there's no way the creators are going to have an entire show based on the relationship between two characters who are driven by each other and are specially connected to one another, then boldly push fan service between them just to suddenly cut off a huge portion of their fandom by officially, "canonly" pairing one side of that relationship (Haru) with a totally different character (Makoto). Same goes for the fanservice they've been pushing between the Main Character (Haru) and his best friend (Makoto)—they wouldn't do the reverse (RinHaru) and cut off the other huge portion of the fandom like that, either (at least, not while the show is still has future seasons and is profitable).

Though I believe RinHaru is the closest Haru-ship to canon, KyoAni hasn’t made any romantic ship canon yet, and as this isn’t a BL anime, I doubt they ever will.

I don’t like MakoHaru. I have tried, tbh. I’ve read essays supporting makoharu and gone into the tag and looked at fanart and it all felt so weird. I can’t see them as more than friends. They have such a precious, special friendship and making them into anything more just cheapens it for me personally. It just feels…gross. i don’t mean that in an offensive way; i just can’t ship it… I can’t see them as more than friends. I just can’t.

...but honestly just watching the series, Makoto and Haru were just friends, in my opinion. Yeah, they got fan service, but even that seemed like just what it was: fan service. It seemed out of place to me. And more than that, even the fan service didn’t convince me that there was something between them. I’m not saying there’s not; don’t get mad lol, I’m just saying that for me personally I don’t see anything.

Literally exactly how I feel about Makoto and Haru's friendship. Yes, FRIENDSHIP. Makoto cares so much about Haru in a deeply loving way—it's obvious to everyone just how much Haru means to Makoto. And those who know Haru enough can also tell that Makoto means so much to Haru (S02E11 alone is proof). Makoto is such a sweet, soft-hearted, caring guy and the friendship between him and Haru is truly something special.

But okay, in all honestly and as much as Makoto is my big-lil squish, MakoHaru seems just a bit...unbalanced, like Makoto is more concerned for Haru than Haru is concerned for him. Not that Haru doesn't care deeply for Makoto because he does—it just seems like Makoto cares more because he's very demonstrative about it while Haru's personality doesn't show his emotions or feelings often. I'm very fair with that; it doesn't mean that their friendship is in any way one-sided. They just have different personalities. But in all honestly it rather comes across like Makoto has a one-sided crush on Haru (while Haru has a reciprocated crush on Rin)—that’s where the “imbalance” comes in.

That’s a huge reason why I just don't see their relationship as anything other than a close friendship (with Makoto more than likely having a crush on Haru...OR his super caring Type 2 personality could misconstrue his rock-solid love and support for his friend as a crush. That’s very possible, too). Like honestly, there’s nothing remotely passionate about their friendship with one another, nothing that would suggest they both have deeper feelings than brotherhood for one another (again, Makoto does suggest this because boy cares so strongly, ngl it be borderline smothering—but then again he does just have a soft boi personality—but Haru definitely doesn’t suggest this, not with Makoto. With Rin, however...👀).

I mean, even Will and Jem from The Infernal Devices had a more emo-dynamic-passionate brotherhood/friendship than Makoto and Haru do, and Will and Jem were in love with the same girl, not with each other. So people trying to convince others that MakoHaru is a legitimate, canon romantic OTP endgame are just...I just cannot fathom that realistically happening.

RinHaru, on the other hand, has so much passion and rawness and depth. [...] And I know some people feel that way about MakoHaru, and that’s fine, but personally, Makoto and Haruka are just best friends, but when it comes to Rin and Haru’s relationship, there’s something more urgent and pressing and desperate.

THIS! Omg thisssss x10000. URGENT. PRESSING. DESPERATE. You feel this from not only Rin, but from Haru as well. This is HUGE: here you have a kid who’s disinterested in almost everything aside from swimming, a kid who rarely expresses his emotions and runs away from things he finds “troublesome.” He relies on Makoto to handle things for him when he doesn’t feel like bothering, and at the beginning of the anime, he couldn’t wait for time to hurry up and pass so he could become “ordinary.” And I hate to point this out, but that was Haru with Makoto in his life (again, no hate towards Makoto, it doesn’t say anything about Makoto as a character, just about Haru’s feelings towards Makoto). Yet when Rin enters into Haru’s life, the apathetic, rarely-expresses-emotions kid becomes urgent, pressing, desperate to have Rin back into his life no matter how little it is.

(this got longer than I anticipated—I could talk about Haru x Rin ‘til the stars died out, for real—so I’ll put the rest under a cut)

“Well, of course you’d say that, you bias Rin!!” you may say. But see, here's the thing: I wasn't even a big fan of Rin when I was first watching the series (except for shota!Rin because I fell in love with him instantly lol). High school-Rin annoyed me with how unnecessarily rude he was to Haru and the others, and I was Team Iwatobi for a good part of Season 1. If anything, I wanted to see Rin get all emotional about and care for the other guys. I wanted to see this red-haired jerk show emotions I knew he had deep down for my guys. But then, the more I saw the dynamics between Rina and Haru play out, the more the rawness between them and that fire when they interacted with each other drew me in. I came to care about Rin the more Haru was confronted with the feelings he had towards Rin. And when Haru bolted to find Rin after Rin failed his race in S01E12, that desperation emanating from Haru—and this is HARU we're talking about, the guy who rarely shows any emotion—made me just as desperate as Haru was for him to find Rin, to make sure Rin was okay.

The dynamic between Rin and Haru is just something totally different. It's just as one of the OPs said: urgent and pressing and desperate.

Another thing about Rin is that he was barely even in Haru's life and yet he left SUCH a huge impact on it. Rin probably spent half a semester of elementary school with Haru and the boys, yet in those few months he managed to touch something so deep in Haru that our independent, aloof and inexpressive Haru...

1) started running home from swim practice because Rin did

2) went against his own policy of only swimming free because Rin got him to

3) became so saddened that Rin moved overseas that everyone around him noticed (and it was one of the first things Kisumi mentioned when he ran into Haru in high school after all those years)

4) would fall apart when swimming freestyle in a team relay because Rin wasn't part of the team,

5) had Rin always lingering in his mind all throughout middle school,

6) said that he wanted "to swim like you too, Rin" after reading Rin's letter from Australia,

7) quit competitive swimming altogether because he thought he had hurt Rin by winning the race against him that one winter break,

8) was so rattled when Rin said that he never was going to swim with him again after Rin beat him in the freestyle race at one of the tournaments that he went into a trance-like state,

9) basically collapsed after hearing Rin say that he was quitting swimming,

10) was actually on the verge of CRYING after hearing Rin say that because Haru was heartbroken at the thought that he wouldn't ever swim with Rin again

11) said that all he wanted to do was to swim with Rin when Rei asked him what he wanted

and lots more. AND THAT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF A BOY WHO WAS IN HIS LIFE FOR LIKE THREE MONTHS MAX IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

There's no way anyone can tell me RinHaru isn't a powerful, uniquely special relationship that legitimately dances in the realm of the non-platonic. No other relationship in Free! compares to the dynamic of their friendship, to the complexity of their relationship.† They're not the closest friends—Makoto is Haru's best friend and Sousuke is Rin's—but they need each other. Are driven by each other. Are lowkey consumed by one another.

If you read my initial reaction to watching Free!, you’ll know that I knew nothing of this anime before going into it. I also actually thought I wouldn’t fall for the characters (I was too hung up on my Haikyuu!! babies), nor would even really be into it. I went into this whole thing so unbiased and knowing absolutely nothing of the anime or the characters or the ships or that there was even a fandom. I knew NOTHING, so everything I experienced was on my own and for myself. I didn't care for Rin in the beginning, but Haru's complex relationship with Rin sucked me in and was the very reason why I even binged the last 9 episodes in one night; I was so enthralled by RinHaru, and I didn't even realize it until ep12 when Haru ran after Rin like that. There's just something so special and intense about the relationship between RinHaru that it will forever be my ult OTP in the Free! universe.

I actually read a comment on a forum that touched on how Rin was in Haru's life for a fleeting moment yet left such a huge and deep mark in his life and psyche, and I was so happy someone else noticed that. I saved it somewhere, and I'll paste it below because it too sums up so well my thoughts on the dynamic relationship that is RinHaru:

RinHaru 100%...They have such a deep and real chemistry I don't even know where to begin. I could talk for hours about them, but lets keep this short and sweet. Haruka and Rin met in the last year of elementary school (roughly 12) for only (about) the last 3 months of the school year. In those 3 months they managed to create a bond so strong that Haruka never forgot about the red-haired shark-toothed boy in all the years to pass. Rin had such a strong pull on Haruka that when they met in middle school and raced against each other, Haruka quit swimming competitively just because he thought he hurt Rin. Now in high school, Haruka still wants to remember the sight Rin had showed him, and still cares about him just as deeply as his other friends. With Rin he had only been with him for a mere 3 months and managed to create such a deep bond with him, whereas with Makoto he was with him for basically his whole life. While I am in no way discrediting MH, Rinharu managed to create still as strong a bond as they did in such a short period of time. The way they admire each other and strive to be better because of each other just... // too perfect to describe. It's a beautiful dynamic, not abusive in any way as some haters call them. Their relationship focuses on growth, passion, and inspiration, always being able to light a fire in each other, always the person to spur them on and make them go just a little farther. A truly spectacular dynamic, Rinharu will always be my second favorite ship.

Modified by Baki-san, Feb 28, 2018 11:23 AM

With that being said, I honestly don’t care who you ship. Yeah, there are ships I utterly hate (*cough* Rintori *cough*), but in the end the beauty of shipping is that anyone can ship anyone. What frustrates me and pisses me off is when RinHaru—the Haru ship that’s closest to canon because their feelings for each other are actually reciprocated—is not only attempted to be discredited, but Rin is accused of all sorts of heinous things (like being abusive) just so people can fluff up their own ship. But that’s a different post; for now, this is why I ship RinHaru and they’ll forever be my Free! OTP <3

† this post was written for my original blog on July 27, 2020 before I’d watched Season 3. So, pre-drama-with-Ikuya and Hiyori’s-obsession-with-Ikuya. Those are some pretty complex relationships, too

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Sun., Nov. 29, 2020

Commemorated on November 16_ Julian calendar

The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew (+60)

     The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew, was also named Levi (Mk. 2: 14; Lk. 5: 27); he was an Apostle from among the Twelve (Mk. 3: 18; Lk. 6: 45; Acts 1: 13), and was brother of the Apostle James Alphaeus (Mk. 2: 14). He was a publican, i.e. a tax-collector for Rome, in a time when the Jews had come under the rule of the Roman empire. He lived in the Galileian city of Capernaum [Capharnum]. Matthew, in hearing the voice of Jesus Christ: "Come, follow Me" (Mt. 9: 9), left off from his duties and followed the Saviour. Christ and His disciples did not refuse the invitation of Matthew and they visited at his house, where they shared table with the friends and acquaintances of the publican – who like the host were publicans and known sinners. This event extremely bothered the pharisees and scribes.      Publicans, in collecting taxes from their countrymen, did this with great profit for themselves. Usually greedy and cruel people, the Jews considered them pernicious and betrayers of their country and religion. The word "publican" connoted for the Jews the sense of "public-sinner" and "idol-worshipper". To even speak with a tax-collector was considered a sin, and to associate with one – was defilement. But the Jewish teachers were not able to comprehend, that the Lord was "come to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Mt. 9: 13).

Matthew, acknowledging his sinfulness, recompensed fourfold anyone he had overcharged, and he distributed his remaining possessions to the poor, and together with the other apostles he followed after Christ. Saint Matthew was attentive to the instructions of the Divine Teacher, he beheld His innumerable miracles, he went together with the 12 apostles preaching to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt. 10: 6), he was a witness to the suffering, death, and Resurrection of the Saviour, and of His glorious Ascension into Heaven.      Having received the gifts of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which descended upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Matthew for the first 8 years preached in Palestine. And before his departure to preach the Gospel in faraway lands, at the request of the Jews remaining at Jerusalem, the holy Apostle Matthew in his Gospel gave account of the earthly life of the Saviour of the world – of the God-man Jesus Christ and His teaching.      In the order of the books of the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew comes first. Palestine is said to be the place of writing of the Gospel. The Gospel was written by Saint Matthew in the year 42 ([AD – "Anno Domini" or "Year of the Lord",] i.e. after the Birth of Christ), in his native Jewish language, and then translated into Greek. The Hebrew text has not survived for us, but many of the linguistic and cultural-historical peculiarities of the Greek translation remind of it.      The Apostle Matthew preached among people having quite certain religious expectations about the Messiah. His Gospel manifests itself as a vivid proof that Jesus Christ – is the real Messiah, foretold of by the prophets, and that another there would not be (Mt. 11: 3). The preachings and deeds of the Saviour are presented by the evangelist in three divisions, constituting three aspects of the service of the Messiah: as Prophet and Law-Giver (Ch. 5-7), Lord over the world both visible and invisible (Ch. 8-25), and finally as High-Priest offered as Sacrifice for the sins of all mankind (Ch. 26-27). The theological content of the Gospel, besides the Christological themes, includes also the teaching about the Kingdom of God and about the Church, which the Lord sets forth in parables about the inner preparation for entering into the Kingdom (Ch. 5-7), about the worthiness of servers of the Church in the world (Ch. 10-11), about the signs of the Kingdom and its growth in the souls of mankind (Ch. 13), about the humility and simplicity of the inheritors of the Kingdom (Mt. 18: 1-35; 19: 13-30; 20: 1-16; 25-27; 23: 1-28), and about the eschatological revelations of the Kingdom in the Second Coming of Christ within the daily spiritual life of the Church (Ch. 24-25). The Kingdom of Heaven and the Church are closely inter-connected in the spiritual experience of Christianity: the Church is the historical embodiment of the Kingdom of Heaven in the world, and the Kingdom of Heaven is the Church of Christ in its eschatological perfection (Mt. 16: 18-19; 28: 18-20).      The holy Apostle made the rounds with the "good-news" [euangelia in Greek or evangelium in Latin – the meaning of the word "gospel"] to Syria, Media, Persia, Parthia, and finishing his preaching work in AEthiopia with a martyr's death. This land was inhabited by tribes of cannibals with primitive customs and beliefs. The holy Apostle Matthew by his preaching there converted some of the idol-worshippers to faith in Christ. He founded the Church and built a temple in the city of Mirmena, establishing there as bishop his companion by the name of Plato(n).      When the holy apostle was fervently beseeching God for the conversion of the Ethiopians, during the time of prayer the Lord Himself appeared to him in the form of a youth, and having given him a staff, commanded him to put it upright at the doors of the church. The Lord said, that from this staff would grow a tree and it would bear fruit, and from its roots would flow a stream of water. And in washing themselves in the water and eating of the fruit, the Ethiopians lost their wild ways and became gentle and good.      When the holy apostle carried the staff towards the church, on the pathway there met him the wife and son of the ruler of the land, Fulvian, who were afflicted by unclean spirits. By the Name of Christ the holy apostle healed them. This miracle converted to the Lord quite a number of the pagans. But the ruler did not want that his subjects should become Christians and cease to worship the pagan gods. He accused the apostle of sorcery and gave orders to execute him. They put saint Matthew head downwards, heaped up brushwood and ignited it. When the bonfire flared up, everyone then saw, that the fire did no harm to Saint Matthew. Then Fulvian gave orders to add more wood to the fire, and frenzied with boldness, he commanded to set up around the bonfire 12 idols. But the flames spread to the idols and caught on even Fulvian. The frightened Ethiopian turned to the saint with an entreaty for mercy, and by the prayer of the martyr the flame went out. The body of the holy apostle remained unharmed, and he expired to the Lord (+ 60).      The ruler Fulvian deeply repented his deed, but still he had doubts. By his command, they put the body of Saint Matthew into an iron coffin and threw it into the sea. In doing this Fulvian said, that if the God of Matthew would preserve the body of the apostle in the water, as He preserved him in the fire, then this would be proper reason to worship this One True God.      On that night the Apostle Matthew appeared to Bishop Platon in a dream vision, and commanded him to go with clergy to the shore of the sea and to find his body there. Together with the bishop on his way to the shore of the sea went Righteous Fulvian and his retinue. The coffin carried back by the waves was with honour taken to the church built by the apostle. Then Fulvian begged forgiveness of the holy Apostle Matthew, after which Bishop Platon baptised him, giving him the name Matthew in obedience to a command of God. Soon Saint Fulvian-Matthew abdicated his rule and became a presbyter. Upon the death of Bishop Platon, the Apostle Matthew appeared to him and exhorted him to head the AEthiopian Church. Having become a bishop, Saint Matthew-Fulvian toiled much at preaching the Word of God, continuing with the work of his heavenly patron-saint.

© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.

St. Fulvianus, prince of Ethiopia, in holy baptism Matthew (1st c.)

He handed over the Holy Apostle Matthew to fire, but seeing the miracles leading to the death of the Holy Apostle, believed in Christ and zealously preached the Christian faith. Later for his saintly life he became worthy of the rank of bishop. He died in peace.

Mark 16:9-20 

9Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.11 And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.12 After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.13 And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

Corinthians 4:9-16 

9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! 11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. 12 And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; 13 being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now. 14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. 15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me

[a-trainers-tale]

Nyz paid request

:: nyz ::  Hello!! I would like to request for a paid pokemon trainer description!! I'm sorry in advance for the long messages that are about to ensue but I hope they can give you a clear depiction of who I am and will make your decisions easier and more precise!! uwu  I'm a 20yo Leo girl who's studying Biomedical Engineering and Arts (with an English major!!) in Syd. I used to be a guitarist in a high school band and am in general more of an independent individual than a leader/follower.   1/8

I'm a shy person but some of my friends say I exude a quiet confidence HAHAHHAH. Other ways my friends/family have described me include: smart, kind, awkward, cute, determined, hardworking, creative and being a happy virus. I generally do well in my studies and am particularly good in Physics and English! However my flaws include: being too playful at times till it accidentally gets someone hurt, usually running late, having terrible mood swings and being a lil too competitive at times   2/?

(esp towards my younger siblings unfortunately) and being extremely indecisive!  I love writing but I have a problem of keeping within word limits. I love spending time with my dogs, being up early and generally don't mind waking up early but I like my mornings quiet and calm as I enjoy my breakfast hahahhah. I tend to work out quite a lot and particularly love cycling! I generally spend a lot of time in my room but I love fun social events like parties and weddings (I'm not sure why??).  3/?

I love cartoons/animated films a lot idk why but they give me a sense of relief from all my stress and they just make me feel good after watching them?? I also love creating random customized stuff like designing a birthday cake for my brother or creating a specialty dish for Mother's Day. Things I don't like include: loud noises, inconsiderate people, snails, being looked down upon, judgemental and close-minded people, presentations in front of large crowds and chocolate (sorry!!).  4/?

Some aesthetics of mine include: the colors of fall, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and freshly baked bread, glass/transparency, deep ideas, hugging a dog (most furry animals), being in the middle of a bustling city, the serenity at dawn, wrapped up in your blanket watching your favorite tv show at night, getting work done at a cafe, hugs, nyc apartments and theme parks.  5/?

My favorite food include pumpkins, Marie biscuits, cereal, artisan bread, almond milk, eggs with runny yolks, tomatoes, brocolli, mushrooms, bibimbap, sashimi salads, deli sandwiches, bruschetta, prawn dumplings, tiramisu, tangerines and flat rice noodle soups. My favorite books include Looking For Alaska by John Green and the Fire and Flood series by Victoria Scott. My favorite movies are Pitch Perfect (1&2 were good but 3 was kinda disappointing),   6/?

The Devil Wears Prada, Wreck-It-Ralph, Inception, Enchanted, Kiki's Delivery Service, the new Jumanji movies and Little Women. Fandom life is a big part of who I am hahhahah. My favorite TV Show is Friends (cliche ik) but also some animated series ahahhahh.  The reason I love Pokemon is probably bc it was a significant part of my childhood and the nostalgia just brings me back to those times when life was simpler(?). Also I ADORE the creativity and thought behind each Pokemon/character and  7/8

how it has created such a vivid, imaginative and yet not so farfetched world for the audience! The fact that it still has such a large and active following also makes me feel connected to a lot of people somehow :) Being a Pokemon trainer has always been a dream of mine for sure!! :')  Thank you so much for taking your time to go through this! I apologize in advance for the length and hope u know you're making one of my childhood dreams come true in a way uwu  Have an amazing day!!  8/8

Trainer class: Fairy tale girl

You walk to the beat of your own drum, but in a somewhat subdued way most of the time. Onlookers might think you to be a bit eccentric but also a bit quiet. In battle, you can be ferocious and emotional but also playful and excitable. You love inserting creativity into your daily life and you love being able to see the best in all pokemon. You have a lot of energy and can come across as being somewhat childish when you are in a playful mood, but when you are feeling more studious you can be an intimidating level of intelligence. Your quiet and playful nature can seem contradictory to some who don’t know you, but your pokemon have come to be able to read your moods quite easily and adjust their own behavior accordingly. You have a very fun relationship with other trainers you have bonded with and you have a very fun life with your pokemon who support you in everything you do. You cook with your pokemon often and you explore new hobbies and interests with them on the regular. You also love to escape into worlds that aren’t your own, so you consume a lot of creative media and chase after intellectual pursuits that suit your interests quite often. Your pokemon love you as a trainer but their also love you as family and would do anything to protect your playful smile and inquisitive mind. 


Starter: Eevee

Your starter pokemon is Eevee. Eeevee is a very unique pokemon and a notoriously indecisive pokemon in the ways that it can evolve. Eeevee is inquisitive and a perfect fit for your excitability. You and eevee are a wonderful match for exploring and learning new things together. Eeevee will never judge you and will always stand by your side when you need it and when you want to have fun. Eevee has a lot of energy, so you might end up spending a lot of your own energy calming it down enough to go to bed at night. Eevee has many different ways of evolving, so it will be a challenge to get it to land on one, but earn its trust and it will love you forever.


Partner: Mareep

Mareep is a very soft pokemon, both in the emotional sense and in the physical sense. You will want to wear gloves of some kind before rubbing Mareep's fur too much, but regular snuggling is welcome and safe. Mareep is a very kindly and considerate pokemon and, if treated well, will grow into Ampharos who is able to act as a guiding light for travelers and lost people and pokemon. Mareep acts as a comfort for you, though it does not participate in any battling that you do since it is somewhat faint of heart. Keep it close to you and it will help you keep calm and support you in return. 

Team: Sylveon (starter), Celesteela, Zebstrika, Exploud, Phanpy

Hometown: Circhester, Galar

Your hometown is Circhester in the Galar region. Circhester is a somewhat large town that a lot of tourists move through. It is a historical town full of statues and buildings that have been around for a long time, but it has also kept up with recent trends enough to not seem old. Circhester is home to the Hero’s Bath, which is the pride of the town. From growing up here, you learned a lot of history and you have learned a lot about all of the people who have lived and moved around in Circhester. This gave you a natural curiosity and an interest in learning more about other people and about what it means for pokemon to be strong and for a trainer to be brave. Circhester gave your interest in bonding with people and also gave you your warm aesthetic sense. 


Battle style: Playful and intimidating

You are quite a rambunctious trainer and tend to go your own way. You prefer the paths that look less traveled, quite literally. You will find yourself lost sometimes, looking for places to find interesting pokemon you haven’t met before or interesting people. You are the kind of trainer that one would run into deep in the corner of a forest lifting rocks to try and find something interesting. Your inquisitive mind and high level of playfulness makes you a very fun person to battle, as long as you aren’t in a competitive mood in which case you can be a fierce and emotional opponent. You have been known to yell and get very into battles, which spurs on your own pokemon and tends to act as an intimidation factor for your opponent’s. You are a strong and independent rival to many other trainers who started at the same time as you, and you compete with them not only in battle but also intellectually and in terms of the knowledge you have accumulated in your travels. You want to find new things to learn but you also dive deeply into new things that interest you, so you have a lot of knowledge about a lot of things pertaining to pokemon and the people around you. You connect with trainers who you battle with, and so you have a large amount of numbers in your phone for people who want rematches or who want to tell you new things they learned. Your energy spurs your pokemon on during battle and brings you new connections with pokemon and with people, never lose your passion and always allow yourself to let lose during battle so that you and your pokemon can have as much fun as possible.

[imhereforbvcky]

Vivid - Part 2

Masterlist  -  Series Masterpage 

Summary: Have you ever met someone who completely embodies a color? Not an aura, not synesthesia. Just… They walk into the room and when you spot them, you think to yourself, “Wow. That is a walking hurricane.” When Clint Barton serendipitously meets a free-spirited stranger, he sees red. Chapter: Clint never expected to see you again, but today he does. Can he convince you to see him again? Maybe on purpose next time?

Warnings: Sailor Mee and the curse of the lip, back at it again. (Swearing. There’s plenty of swearing.)

Word Count: 2503

A/N: Oooh boy. I’m on the fence about this one. I like parts of it, but I’m always leery about including side relationships and fleeting characters. In this case, I think it gives character insight? So I kept it? Again, fair warning, this “you” is practically an OFC.

The next time Clint saw you was as unexpected as the first.

He hated these events. Everyone did. Of course he knew it was important, a good cause, part of his responsibilities, and on, and on, and on. Having a few Avengers listed on the invitation always brought bigger donations. Clint knew this. But it was still a headache and he wasn’t great at pretending.

He’d shaken a few hands, smiled, simpered, and promptly grew bored. By the time Natasha found him observing from the corner, the speeches had nearly concluded. He’d slouched into a deeply uncomfortable rental sofa, spinning a long slender breadstick in his fingers.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to play with your food?” Natasha teased as she handed him a whiskey neat. He quickly dumped it into his half empty coffee and took a gulp. Almost an Irish coffee. Rougher and not quite according to direction, like him.

“Convince me these are actually edible and I’ll stop.”

She yanked the slender stick from her fingers and crunched down on it. He laughed when she yelped and handed it back rubbing her jaw.

“Think one of these penguin suits is a decent dentist?” she groaned, scanning the room of tuxedos and glittering evening gowns.

“I think if you ask you’ll never hear yourself talk again,” he grumbled, taking another gulp of his drink. “I’m bored.”

Natasha hummed her agreement and took a sip of her cocktail while she scanned the room. “Well the band’s about to start. Take bets on the playlist? I’ll take $100 we get two Journey songs.”

“You think I’ve got $100 to flush down the toilet?”

Natasha laughed and shrugged. “Works on the dentists.”

He laughed, watching her scan the room, looking for a target for the night.

“Big red over there is pretty,” she nodded toward the stage.

Clint perked up, turning to look over his shoulder at the singer in the bright red dress.

“What d’you think her drink is?” Natasha asked, eyes too busy reading a million silent clues to see her friend’s slack jaw and wide, eager eyes. “I’m guessing… Gin martini with lemon. Definitely goes for a twist.”

“Coke,” Clint answered quietly beside her, as shocked as he was mesmerized. The band had begun to play, and of course she was a front-woman. It was so obvious it hurt. Or was that the pounding in his chest.

“What did you say?”

“She likes coke,” he answered, a smile slowly curling his lips. “I’m going rum and coke.”

Thoughtlessly, effortlessly, he was on his feet, moving toward the stage. He suddenly had that feeling again. Red. You wore it and you lived it. You came alive on that stage. With smiles and winks, a little dance and a few songs, you’d drawn every guest into motion.

They tapped of fingers modestly against their glasses mid-conversation. Or they swayed shoulders, skirting the dance-floor hoping to be asked. The more exuberant guests allowed themselves to be swept into the current.

You were a red neon light, glowing, burning. Energy itself innervating the room. He felt it on his skin and in the center of his chest.

“Do you know her?” Natasha turned to him, somewhere between an amused smile and a confused frown distorting her smooth features.

“We danced once…”

“You?”

“In a bodega.” He chuckled at the memory, at the promise it held.

“That makes more sense,” she smirked and scanned the room again. “Well, I guess I’ll have to try again for a dance partner then?”

“Uh-huh.” He hadn’t really heard. He’d stopped paying attention a long time ago. He was drawn like a moth to a bright red flame.

He waited, enjoying the rest of the party, for once. For once, he had something else to think about.

“You guys have been great,” you smiled wide into the microphone. “We’re gonna take a little break. Just enough time to have another look at the silent auction items.” A wink and the spotlight cut off the stage just as you turned to leave it in a swirl of red dress, blue light, and humming voices.

Clint weaved his way through the crowd as you and your band-mates cleared the stage. He had no idea what he was doing or what he might say, but… it seemed like fate. Like the wind had blown a lucky red balloon just within reach.

“No, fuck being friends!” he heard your whisper-shout when he finally spotted you down the hall. With eyes scrunched closed, your hands pushed out in front of you, toward the man across the hall. “This has never been just friends. Not for me. And it’s not for you either; you just can’t… You want to play around but my heart isn’t a toy. I can’t do this hot and cold thing.”

“Baby, don’t be like that,” the man urged, taking your hand. He stepped close. Very close. “I came to see you.”

You shoved the man’s hand away abruptly. “To see me.” A bitter laugh cut through the air. “It’s like you have some kind of special shit-stirrer’s radar. Every time I start doing okay without you, you turn up and make damn sure I’m not.”

“So don’t be without me,” he cooed, stroking his hands down your arms. “Not tonight.”

“This is what I mean. You want me ‘til you don’t. Doesn’t seem like that’s changed, has it?”

He merely sighed and looked at his feet, shaking his head, unwilling to answer. Always unwilling to risk anything but you. He was guarded while you stood, as ever, with a heart open and alive, red and beating, straining to feel it all. As ever, you were tired of breaking yourself against someone else’s walls.

You shook your head and pushed the man away gently. “Just go,” you said softly, hardly more than a whisper.

Having realized, too late, exactly what he’d stumbled upon, Clint turned to slip away in the shadows, unnoticed. Except Clint Barton, SHIELD spy, Avengers sharpshooter was shockingly prone to accidents. The clatter of glass drew your attention down the half-lit hallway. He’d tripped over a cocktail glass some wandering guest had left behind.

“The fundraiser’s the next door on your left,” you called, assuming he was a lost patron.

“Don’t do that,” the man across from you cooed, resuming your argument and reaching for you again. This time you moved out of reach. “We’re good as friends. Come with me, just for the night, for old time’s sake. No strings. We both know what it is this time; no one gets hurt..”

Clint didn’t like pushy people. He didn’t like anyone who manipulated their way into places they weren’t invited. He’d known a few.

“Um actually… I’m uh with the event” Clint stumbled with a sheepish grin that appealed to you immediately. It beamed a signal: gentle and safe, and… familiar. “I was hoping to talk to you.” He was giving you an out and you were grateful.

“I have to go,” you told the man you’d been arguing with. “So do you.”

With that you patted his shoulder and turned down the hall towards the event. Towards Clint.

“Hey honey, what can I help you with?” you asked with a customer service smile glued to your face, eyes shimmering with struggle.

“I was…” Clint stopped and shook his head, changing course. “Are you alright?”

“Of course.” In the momentary pause Clint raised his eyebrows, ever skeptical, and you , you released a heavy sigh. A bittersweet smile tilted your lips. “Or I will be. ”

“He seems like a jerk. You should go have a drink and dance til your feet are numb and buy yourself something weird and awesome and forget all about him,” he held out his elbow for you and you took it, looping your arm around his with a watery laugh. As if you could afford a single thing on the auction block.

You turned to him as he led you back to the party, with your fingers curled around his rigid bicep. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh, no. Nevermind.”

“No, come on!” You bumped him with your shoulder. “What was it?”

He turned to face you but shook his head, looking at his feet and yours, swept by that red-as-red-could-be red dress.

“I recognized you, is all,” he admitted. “When you guys started playing... I think the bodega performance was maybe, a cut above, but,” he shrugged with a huge grin on his face.

You burst into laughter at the memory.

“The bodega!” you smacked your palm onto your forehead. “Oh my god, I was… not myself that night.” You tipped your head with a wink to be sure he understood.

This time it was Clint who laughed. And you enjoyed every bit of it. The shocked rise of his eyebrows, the glint in his wide eyes, and the huge grin on his lips… It brightened your heavy heart. He was good at that, apparently.

“I should have known,” he laughed, “Sober people don’t sing to coke bottles.”

“Oh no, I absolutely do that sober.”

“Oh,” he laughed. “You’re that kind of person.”

“And you’re lucky to have witnessed it.”

“I am,” he agreed, with something warm and soft in his eyes.

“That was another ex-boyfriend special. Ending a night to forget with junk food and a hangover on the horizon,” you sighed, shaking your head. “I’m a jump in with both feet sort of girl, ya know?” He did know. In his mind you were bright red, full of risks. And if you were lucky, he assumed, gleaming rewards. It made perfect sense that you felt strongly and acted rashly. Red. “When I see something I like I’m all in. And he was a… a…”

“An idiot?” Clint offered. “An asshat? Blind?”

Your laughter was infectious to him. He didn’t even care if it was at his expense. He just wanted to hear it.

“That too, I like to think,” you agreed through a giggle. “Truth is: I’m the idiot. I feel too much and I get my heart broken too often. Can’t turn it off.”

“No,” Clint argued, dropping your hand from his arm so he could turn to face you. “Definitely not an idiot.”

“No?”

“Brave.”

People like you were a complete mystery to Clint. He could barely bring himself to say things like ‘I love you’ to people he well and truly loved. They knew it. People like Nat, and the others: his family. They shared traumas and challenges that understood why. Yet here you were, brimming with it, ready to share it so easily. This was what he had been drawn to that day in the bodega, and this was what had pulled him down the hallway looking for you this night like a moth to the bright red heat of a flame.

You chuckled softly, turning embarrassed eyes to your feet. “You do know there are real live Avengers in this room, right?”

“WHAT?!” he shrieked, feigning shock and looking wide-eyed about the room.

This time your laugh was deep and full. He was so light and fun, this stranger. Time with him was weightless, light as a feather. It cheered you up moment by tiny moment.

“I don’t know if I qualify as brave in this crowd,” you explained.

“Well,” he turned back to you. “Would I qualify if I danced around like a preschooler on Kool-Aid?”

“Oh, definitely,” you grinned, nodding.

“Bravest of them all.”

“Look out, Lancelot!”

By the time you glanced up to the stage, your band was already gearing up to finish the set. One grateful squeeze to your new yet old friend’s arm and you were off. Clint tried not to read too much into it, but it felt like a whole conversation. A ‘thanks,’ a ‘see you,’ a silent ‘I like this.’ Wishful thinking, he told himself.

You didn’t want to leave Clint’s side, but the show must go on. Especially one paid for by the biggest name in New York City.

It was the worst set of your life. Your band mates were furious. You were completely blowing an important gig, but damn it all, you couldn’t stop laughing.

Clint had planted himself at the center of the dance floor and held true to what you had thought was a joke. He flailed and jerked like a madman. He slid behind unsuspecting dancers making faces and wild gestures. He dragged a confused and reluctant Tony onto the floor for a waltz during your most lively song. It made no sense and it was exactly what you needed.

He spun and lunged and dipped, taking stealthy sips through straws of drinks held behind intimately held partner’s backs. Partner pairs he was absolutely not a part of.

What finally, finally got you to step away from the mike, cover your face, and double over laughing was the chicken dance in the middle of a slow mushy ballad.

The pianist glared at you before looking to your lead guitarist for help. They turned it into a lovely instrumental on the fly and you ended the show early.

“Thank you all, you’ve been a wonderful audience,” you managed through giggles. “And a generous one by the look of it! Give yourselves a hand! A beautiful evening for a beautiful cause.”

You paused for the soft applause that filled the room as the dancing stopped. Clint grinned up at you, fanning himself in mock exhaustion. Though, you didn’t doubt he probably had worn his dress shoes to blistering.

“And a special round of applause for my personal hero down here on the dance floor! Mr. Lancelot!”

This time it was Clint who turned red. He tried to duck into the crowd, shaking his head with a sheepish laugh.

“What the hell are you up to?” Tony asked in a discrete, tight lipped murmur as he, slung an arm over Clint’s shoulder, saving him from the limelight.

“Oh damn,” he sighed, high and long. Exhausted. “I have no idea.”

“If uh,” you stammered on the stage, the first time all night Clint had seen you look unsure. “If he wanted to hang around for a bit I’m gonna go get some pizza because this fancy fundraiser food is served on a toothpick and I’m starving.”

Clint’s entire face lit up. It was the most lovely thing you’d ever seen. It started in his eyes: they looked up into the light of the stage and glittered, narrowing as the smile pushed at his cheeks, rounding them and wrinkling the soft skin near his clear blue eyes. Lopsided, his lips drew over grinning white teeth, as he glanced at his feet, blushing.

He was cute as hell.

He laughed under Tony’s arm and nodded. A matching smile erupted across your own face, for the first time in weeks, excited to be greeting the early morning hours.

“You’re kidding me,” Tony scoffed from beside Clint. “Those moves actually worked?”

Part 3 >>

[revcntulet]

❝ The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing. ❞  SCORPIUS MALFOY looks a lot like that muggle, FROY GUTIERREZ, right? Only 20 years old, that SLYTHERIN alumnus works as a HEALING APPRENTICE and is sided with the ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. HE identifies as a CIS MAN and is a PUREBLOOD.

CHARACTER PARALLELS: Amy Santiago (B99), Claire Temple (Daredevil), Chidi Anagonye (The Good Place), Giles (Buffy TVS), Michelle Jones (Spiderman: Homecoming), Elizabeth Swan (PoTC), Spock (Star Trek), Clarke Griffin (The 100), Harley Keener (MCU), Gregory House (House) suggested honorable mention Gizmo (Gremlins)

Full Name: Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy Gender/Pronouns: Cis man | he/him Age: Twenty Birthdate: January 20th Parents: Draco Malfoy & Astoria Malfoy (née Greengrass) Siblings: N/A. Birth place: St. Mungo’s Hospital, England Height: 5’11” Weight: 56 kg Sexual/Romantic Orientation: Demiromantic Bisexual Nationality: British Body Alterations/Marks: A ragged diamond shape scar at the base of his throat.

Blood Status: Pureblood Hogwarts House: Slytherin Wand Arm: Right Pet: A crested toad named Jarvis. Patronus: Arctic Fox Wand: 11 2/3 inches, Willow, Supple, Dragon Heartstring.

Willow is an uncommon wand wood with healing power, and I have noted that the ideal owner for a willow wand often has some (usually unwarranted) insecurity, however well they may try and hide it. While many confident customers insist on trying a willow wand (attracted by their handsome appearance and well-founded reputation for enabling advanced, non-verbal magic) my willow wands have consistently selected those of greatest potential, rather than those who feel they have little to learn. It has always been a proverb in my family that he who has furthest to travel will go fastest with willow.

Personality Traits: Brilliance, innovation, empathetic, individuality, openness, social consciousness, inventiveness, logical, practical skill and self assertion; lack of attachment to people and the “real world,” over-intellectualizing of the emotions, dismissiveness, anxious, crotchety tempered, facetiousness, rigidity, prone to self-isolation, intellectual arrogance, and stubbornness. Zodiac Sign: Aquarius/Capricorn Cusp Moral Alignment: Neutral Good Core values: Loyalty, Knowledge, Hope Four temperaments: Melancholic  

HOGWARTS HOUSE BREAKDOWN

Slytherin Primary and a Burned Ravenclaw Secondary.

Slytherin Primaries prioritize their own selves and loved ones first. Slytherins don’t feel guilty or selfish about this– they feel righteous and moral. The most important thing is to look after your own. Abandoning or hurting one of your own is the worst thing you can do.

A Burned Ravenclaw Secondary might want to be skilled, curious, and prepared, but they feel like they are (or like people think they are) limited, clumsy, or inconstant. Gathering knowledge, hobbies, skills, or tools is the right way to achieve their goals, but Burned Ravenclaws know that’s not going to work within their capabilities. So they take other paths and use other tools– maybe a Gryffindor’s bluntness, a Slytherin’s flexibility, or a Hufflepuff’s slow and steady dedication.

You may have a Hufflepuff Secondary Model.

Hufflepuff is the House of grit, reliability, and determination, and Hufflepuffs use those values to help live, act, and succeed. If you model Hufflepuff Secondary, you also value these things and like to live by them. You like to be hardworking, dedicated, and consistent– but you wouldn’t feel guilty for abandoning those values in the service of other, higher priorities. If there’s another, easier way to get what you want– you’d take it. You think hard work provides valuable rewards– and those rewards are why you work. The work doesn’t have persuasive value in itself.

9. The Expositor will have to destroy the one who they love. There is no other way. It cannot be avoided. Their fate – possibly even the entire world’s fate – depends on it.

39. You are in the Order, and as a spell inventor, you played a key role in helping the Knights mutate the Patronus Charm to create daemons. Because of this, you have a daemon of your own, and you have been experimenting with the limitations of the magic, trying to figure out if there are any ways to improve them.

Code Name Revontulet, which literally translates to “fox fire.” Legend says that an arctic fox dashed across the tundra swiping snow up into the sky, while others claim his bushy tail caused sparks when brushing the peaks of tall mountains to create the Aurora Borealis.

Despite his very best resistance he’s always been pretty empathetic in nature, he tries to rule his emotions as well as he can but fails more often than not. He was always one of those toddlers that if another kid started crying he’d be right along with them, not because he wanted attention but because he just couldn’t not. A bit of a crybaby, honestly, has researched how to magically seal up his tear ducts. Obviously managed to keep the family’s flair for the dramatic there as well.

Just managed to scrape through his schooling with nearly all top grades, this isn’t due to him being an excellent student. He has always accrued information with a voracious appetite. Any knowledge he could find, even if most people would consider it entirely useless. His mind clicks into that place? You can’t keep him away. However, when there is not an immediate stir of interest on his approach to a topic he has to fight with himself tooth and nail to carry on. Predictably found exam season highly stressful, was never open about it but was quietly competitive and silently smug over his good grades. Could comprehend well above his reading level from an early age and would often look into experimental research and complicated magic but found himself lost in OWL level History of Magic when chapter upon chapter lay ahead of him about something that didn’t catch his interest.

Tends toward introversion and finds himself tired sometimes quite easily by a large amount of social interaction. Witty and big-mouthed when he feels comfortable or is in the presence of those that embolden him and very likely to get flustered and snap at people when things are becoming a bit too much. Especially if he feels however unjustly that someone is blocking his escape. Has matured slightly in this since leaving school but it happens still, he’s just anxious. Quite fickle and can at the drop of a hat decide that he’s done with you for the day once his Give Me Attention Meter is maxed. Could be an absolute bloody brat when he felt like it but feels he has grown out of it, which he mostly has.

Always been very, very aware of many people’s distrust of him and his family, he used to sneer and play it up if anyone tried to bring up his dad and go on the offensive but was genuinely affected quite deeply by it all. In his early school years, despite his weakness to the cold, he constantly had his sleeves rolled up to the elbow so that his blank forearm was bared as a statement to just about everyone. I am not marked, I never will be. Now he’s older he has more of a handle on things and can be diplomatic in situations where people are clearly discomforted by his presence and his family history.

Scorpius was in his seventh and final year when the Knights were first created and he spent a lot of his time patching people up and teaching simple healing here and there, wherever he could. It was a natural transition to become part of The Order once he graduated, he still kept in contact with members of the Knights but while he had no way to access the grounds at all it seemed ridiculous that he be privy to everything, especially as sharing such information could have been intercepted by the opposing side. He was absolutely horrified by Harry’s resurrection and his stomach rolls every time he even thinks about it.

Never produced much of a talent for offensive magic and wouldn’t resort to those methods unless he had literally no other choice, not a front line fighter by any means. His talents with strategy, healing and his perseverance with defensive magic meant that he was an ideal candidate, in his head, to have the singular daemon amongst the Order and to test all of their hard work. Then the prophecy was slowly unravelled, silver spool of damning words in a pile at his feet.

Is in a strange place in that he can’t simply stop loving people he’s always loved whilst working simultaneously to strangle any potential for more people to be added to the list as frantically as he can. Tends to just try and put the prophecy out of his mind otherwise he stares at Cleo for too long and his hands start to shake.

Very nearly lost his apprenticeship due to his intensity over developing and refining the magic of the patronus charm. It was an all-consuming obsession, he went so far into the zone that he was a bit of a liability for a while there. He would turn up at any hour to other Order members for their opinions on an obscure theory, an element of the magic, the importance of ritual and their thoughts on his experiments with dementors. Alot of people were like you’re a bit young to be doing this aren’t you love? And he was like I’m not going to tell you to fuck off, just explain that I will not let this go and if you exclude me I will continue working on it alone.

[ DEATH TW ] Although this can be said for anyone possessing a daemon, he is protective of Cleo to the point of neurosis, the magic was experimental at the time of her manifestation and he felt every single layer of his soul flayed away and the creation of atoms from a matter that he still doesn’t quite understand. Only that it came from him. They have managed to limit the bitter, burnt iron taste that lingered at the back of his sinuses for two weeks, the numbness of his fingers and toes and the burst blood vessels in his eyes on other subjects. Oh and the part where he stopped breathing for nearly an entire minute. By the time he performed it successfully he wasn’t sure he wanted anyone else to ever experience it, the spell basically consumed his life for several years and when the research was finally over he was stood there blinking owlishly with no real concept of where the last couple of years had gone.

Always had somewhat fragile health tending toward sickly. Hands are never warm. Bruises like a peach and scars so easily.

Views quidditch as a good fly spoiled.  

Is a very skilled pianist.

Has a fabric sling that he wears across his torso that Cleo is often curled up in. Looks like a single dad at Order meetings, toad on his shoulder.

While very eloquent and well spoken, he is markedly less posh than when he first arrived at Hogwarts.

When he isn’t prone to bouts of insomnia he can take a nap pretty much anywhere. He was once found in a tree after several frantic hours search.

the stillness of the world the moment you take the first step into fresh snow, cashmere and fine wool, the pearlescence of dreamless sleep draught, the scratch of a quill on parchment, faintly tremoring fingers, a shiver up your spine in a warm room, the exhilaration of a problem solved, a thunderous grey overcast sky, the bite of a stitching charm, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, petrichor, the burn in your eyes before a well of tears.

[lalainajanes]

KC + 5. “I’m stuck in the Mars colony, and you came to rescue me. Oops, I just kissed you, but it’s totally because I’m grateful, not because I love you and thought I’d never see you again… Ha… Ha… Maybe a little.” AU

Floating In A Most Peculiar Way

Her cell is bare, made of a plain grey stone that she can’t identify. It smells musty and she thinks she’s underground, the walls rough and curved. It holds nothing but a cot and toilet. A tray of food sits just inside the door.

Caroline’s stomach growls, hungry enough that even the unappetizing lump of lab grown protein she’d been given seems like a mouth-watering meal. She can hear nothing from beyond the thick metal door she’s locked behind, has no idea what time it is. She doesn’t even know what planet she’s on or who abducted her.

She’s seriously regretting leaving Othea.

If only she’d never found the picture.

She’d been making breakfast, had been delighted to find the tiny, cramped kitchen in Klaus’ rented quarters well stocked. He’d had real fruit, actual bacon. She’d rummaged through his kitchen to orient herself, then gone searching for something to tie back her hair.

A faded photograph, creased and seemingly forgotten in a drawer, had obliterated her good mood.

The Klaus in the picture had been younger, clean shaven and dressed in finery that was a far cry from the heavy boots and body armor she was used to seeing him in. She’d recognized two other faces. Front and center, sneering and superior, had been Mikael, the wealthiest and most ruthless merchant in the galaxy. He’d had his arm around Finn, his son and favorite minion.

Mikael had killed her father, had her mother tossed into a prison Caroline’s never been granted permission to visit. Her step-dad and his daughter had been to a harsh belt of mining planets. He’d ruined her life and Caroline had spent her entire adult life working to return the favor.

Seeing Klaus with him, in what looked very much like a family photo, had left her chest tight and her eyes stinging.

She’d told herself it was anger. At him, for being so persistent, for teasing and taunting and for seeming like he cared. He brought her gifts – pretty things, practical ones. A bracelet of pale blue stones, a tiny laser cutter that was just as powerful as something ten times larger. She’d tried to refuse them, of course, but he’d somehow always manage to slip them onto her person. She’d find them days later, in the bottom of her bag or tucked into a pocket when she went to wash her clothes.

She’d written him off the first time he’d walked into the bar she worked at. Bounty hunters were always, in Caroline’s experience, unbearably cocky. She smiled and flirted with them, for the tips and in hopes she could glean information or an opportunity from their drunken loose lips.

Klaus had turned out to be different.

He’d been a little more polished, well spoken, distractingly handsome. He’d kept coming back. Until bantering with him between customers was one of her favorite things. He’d made a point to let her know when he’d be off planet. She’d worried when he didn’t turn up after a job.

When he’d strolled in to the bar, three days after she’d been expecting him, with a black eye and a bit of a limp, she’d leaned across the bar and yanked his mouth to hers before he’d managed a greeting.

She’d closed up early that night.

They hadn’t slept much but she’d woken up with a smile, half buried under Klaus’ lean frame, pleasantly sore and sated.

Her contentment hadn’t even lasted the hour.

Hesitations led to injuries, sometimes death in Caroline’s more clandestine line of work and so she’d acted, slipped back into Klaus’ room and retrieved her boots and pants. Had been out the door and sending Kat an SOS before he’d even stirred.

She tosses another disgusted look at the lumpy grey substance that’s supposed to be food, deeply regretting that she hadn’t taken breakfast to go. Even if she wanted to eat it she can’t risk being drugged into docility.

The list of people who’d kidnap her, or pay to have her kidnapped, is shorter than it used be. Several of her enemies are dead (or worse) but she’s got more than her fair share.

She needs to keep a clear head.

Caroline paces, learns the parameters of the cell. She has no weapons, no means of calling for help. She’s been snatched from a transport ship, and no one will know she’s missing until she fails to turn up at Katherine’s. She hadn’t been due to arrive until next week.

The odds aren’t in her favor but that’s never stopped her from eking out a win before.

She feels the ground move before she hears the rumbling.

The floor shakes, seems to roll, and Caroline’s tossed into a wall as muffled crashes rock her cell. An attack, a vicious one, she’d guess, steadily moving closer.

She’d retrieves the cutlery she’d been provided with. The set’s made of flimsy metal but, alone underground in enemy territory, under attack, she’ll take any weapon she can lay her hands on. She tucks herself into a corner, and fervently hopes she won’t be forgotten.

She’d heard her guards muttering while she’d come up from sleep. They’d been paid handsomely - two warships, and weapons enough to outfit half a dozen more - to transport Caroline across the galaxy. Surely her captor would not allow her to die alone and waste such a hefty investment.

The lights in her cell flicker, then go out, and her cell is rocked again. The explosions feel like they’re just outside the walls that trap her, their impact more extreme. The stone against her back vibrates hard enough to jar her. Caroline clenches her teeth against a shout when she’s showered with debris.

She’s lurching across her cell, planning on squeezing herself under the meagre protection of her cot, when everything goes still. She pauses, squints in a futile attempt to see in the pitch blackness of her cell. She changes course, darts as quickly as she can towards the door and yanks at it.

Somehow, it’s still solidly sitting in its frame.

“Come on!” Caroline yells, putting all her weight into jiggling the handle. When it won’t budge she rests her ear to it, straining to make out any sounds on the other side.

Nothing. No footsteps or any sign of a captor coming to check on her. She resists the urge to kick the door – she’s woken up stripped of her boots, jacket, and anything useful that might have been in her pockets – and instead runs her fingers over it, searching for an edge.

Hopefully, the blunt knife they gave her is up to the task of taking apart the hinges.

Her fingers ache, have become slick with sweat and blood from the nails she’s ripped in her efforts. She’s ignoring the crumbling of the roof, refusing to look when she hears bigger and bigger chunks fall behind her.

Caroline flat out refuses to die alone in a cell, the victim of a cave in. She’s got too much left to do. Starting with ruining whoever had decided kidnapping her was a good idea.

The scrape of metal startles her and she straightens, backs away from the door warily. The turning of the lock is loud and she changes her grip on the knife, preparing to fight.

She cries out and has to turn away when it opens, the bright blue light her visitor carries hurts her eyes after hours in the dark.

She hears curse, then the light is lowered and a pair of hands, familiar though she’d only had one night to get acquainted with them, briskly run over her, checking for injury. Klaus seems satisfied that she’s whole, sinking a hand into her hair and covering her mouth with his.

It’s a possessive storm of a kiss. He angles her head with a tug of her hair, groans roughly at the first hot glide of his tongue. He’s frantic, sucking her lower lip harshly and tasting her deeply. Caroline doesn’t even think about discouraging him. She’d been thinking she’d never see him again and, with her fate looking dire, she’d acknowledged that she wanted to. She parts her lips and pressing up onto her toes, just as eager, plastering her body to his and relishing the need between them.

He’s warm and solid, his stubble scraping against her skin. The sting convinces her he’s real and not just a comforting figment of her imagination.

A loud, exaggerated cough startles Caroline and she shoves Klaus away. She wipes at her mouth, reality a harsh intruder. “What are you doing here?” she snarls.

He blinks, like he’s confused by her harshness. And maybe that’s reasonable considering she’d just had his tongue in her mouth.

“Rescuing you,” he offers, like it’s a question.

“I find that hard to believe.” Caroline shoves passed him, stops short when she spies two more men in the doorway. One’s wearing the same uniform as the guards who’d snatched her, the other isn’t, has a gun pressed to the guard’s head, but there’s something familiar about him.

He bows at the waist, “Kol Mikaelson, at your service. Rescuing damsels is not my specialty but if they’re all as tasty as you, darling, I might have to reconsider my line of work.”

“Shut it, Kol,” Klaus snaps. He grabs Caroline’s hand, sets a pack into it. Positions his body between her and Kol, who she suspects is his brother. “Your things. Get your boots on, we’re going to have to climb our way out.”

She takes it, because she’s not an idiot, and backs away. “Tell me why I should trust Mikael’s sons.”

Klaus’ eyes narrow, “How do you know Mikael?”

She laughs at the ridiculousness of that question but it’s high pitched and derisive. “I’ve never met him but I’ve been planning on killing him since I was about 15.”

She expects Klaus to be angry, or maybe incredulous, to accuse her of being insane. Instead he smiles grimly, “Me too.”

“What?”

She hears a grunt, then a clatter, looks passed Klaus to see that Kol’s standing alone now, the guard crumpled at his feet. “Nonsense, Nik,” he drawls. “Your patricidal tendencies started years earlier.”

“It’s not patricide. He’s not my father.”

“Lucky you.”

It’s Caroline’s turn to be confused, she’s got at least a half a dozen questions on the tip of her tongue. Klaus shakes his head, reaches for her again. He cups the back of her neck, presses his forehead to hers. “Later. I’ll tell you anything you want. But we have to go now. The building’s heavily damaged.”

Caroline knows he’s right, “Okay.” She drops to one knee and digs into the bag Klaus had given her. “You’ve got a way off planet?”

“And a safe house. They’ll be looking for us.”

“God I hope the walls are thick,” Kol mutters. “I need my beauty sleep and I don’t want to hear you too rolling around and moaning all night.”

The withering glare Caroline shoots him is probably lost in the darkness. Klaus sighs from above her, the huff of air conveying a wealth of aggravation.

It kind of makes her want to mess with him.

“Who says I’m sharing a room with him?” she asks, fingers flying over her laces. “I ditched him before breakfast a couple days ago.”

She hears a laugh, a thump that sounds suspiciously like a fist hitting a stomach, and then a wheeze. “I’m a bit puzzled about that, love. I thought I was quite hospitable.”

“I found a picture.” That, she now realizes, is where she recognizes Kol from. He’s been in it too, tie askew and clearly inebriated. “A family picture.”

“You couldn’t have asked me about it?”

Maybe she should apologize for snooping but, since she hadn’t actually meant to invade his privacy, Caroline’s not going to. She strives to seem casual because she’d rather he not know how much it had hurt to leave him. “When a girl finds out the guy she’d spent the night with is closely connected to pure evil gut instinct takes over. I figured it was safer to run.”

Klaus turns, stalks towards the door, the set of his shoulders stiff. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that he’s pissed.

She stands slowly, just in time to catch the light stick Kol tosses her way. “Just so you know, no one hates Mikael more than Nik.” He’s friendly enough and when she glances his way she finds he’s watching her with a great deal of interest.

“Mikael killed my father.”

“Another thing you and Nik have in common.”

Kol leaves while she’s still trying to process that and Caroline scrambles to follow, shouldering her bag and carefully picking her way over the debris that litters the floor. Klaus is just outside the door. He jerks his head to the left, “This way. Be careful.”

Kol goes first and then Klaus waits for Caroline to follow. He stays close as they work their way down the corridor. She stumbles once and his hands are there, saving her from going down. He doesn’t touch her otherwise and Caroline finds she’s a little disappointed.

Kol’s last remark has quadrupled the questions she has.

Maybe it’s only practical to share a room.

[bananashemmo]

The Fight (Part 3)

Pairing: Y/N/Ashton

Rating: All

Request: Yes

Words: 2.000+

Summary: It’s not often that Ashton and Y/N fight but when Ash decides to go clubbing for another night in a row Y/N calls him out. But things get twisted as Ashton has to go to the stage minutes before and they are pulled apart right in the middle of the argument.

The burning feeling of tequila running down your throat made a grimace cut to your face. You were trying your really best, you were, but the unfamiliar feeling made your eyes almost burst into tears.

How did someone enjoy the feeling? How could someone see this as an escape to get a better life? The only thing you could feel was the pain like cuts in your throat.

You looked confused for a minute just starring out in the air. How had this turned into a good idea and how the hell did you end up here?

Your face was buried into the palm of your hand and you were gazing without blinking at the bartender standing in front of you.

Latina, a little younger but fresh like the cold air outside. He didn’t seem like minding that you were hovering over the bar table like any other alcoholic could do on a usual Friday Night. It was like he was used to it and you weren’t surprised.

Whatever this place was, you didn’t understand that the boys were so desperate to visit it.

Already at the beginning with the 20$ pay to get inside and being mistaken for a minor you were getting frustrated. The bodyguard outside must have felt a bit embarrassed when you almost forced the driver’s license in his face.

It wasn’t the first time you had been mistaken for being younger and at any other night, you would have shown a bit of sympathy but not tonight.

Just the air brushing past your face could get on your nerves.

“This one’s good for hangovers.” The bartender commented, catching your attention.

His finger was pointing down at a red drink that pretty much looked like a Bloody Mary. You glanced down with furrowed eyebrows and adverted your eyes back to his.

“Do I look like I’m in a full on hangover?” You asked, reaching your hand up to touch your forehead. You were sweating but still feeling cold at the same time.

You didn’t feel sick but you could imagine how you looked from far apart. Many words could you describe but none of them were hungover.

“Just assuming.” He hummed, and cleaned off the Royal Beer glass in his hand, “I’m not saying you look horrible I’m just saying that if you look for something to really clear out your problems that’s the one.”

You quivered your eyebrow, thinking, You weren’t sure if he was just being polite to cure whatever your feeling because he was concerned or if he just wanted to sell you one of the most expensive drinks on the card menu.

“I think I’ll pass.” You pushed the empty glass of tequila forward and grabbed your other drink instead. Something simple, a light cider, and definitely not something that would kill your inner organs like that bloody mary.

“Whatever you choose.” He said with a wink and serviced another customer sitting at the other end of the table.

You leaned your head away from the table and took a look around the room.

People were dancing like crazy you didn’t understand where they got the energy from. When you passed eleven at night you just knew it wouldn’t be without a book in your hands and your reading glasses almost falling off your nose.

Some were also sitting down at the paid tables where you could order drinks in large bowls with ice cubs. You had always admired how they found it funny to sit there at the early mornings drinking your brain out.

It wasn’t that you were supposed to be an angel because you weren’t. You had your moments where you were off track as well but it was mostly when you were younger.

You had learned to control your drunk moments and only drink respectfully. You didn’t want to drown your body like any other girl at this club did.

Maybe it was the reason why the boys wanted to show up. Things had no strings and everybody could act like they wanted to without worrying about problems and much else.

You looked back at the bartender who was talking to the old customer next to you.

He seemed to enjoy his job. Found it funny to be the only sober at the club, but still didn’t have to worry about all the problems he had. He could talk to people all he wanted without worrying saying something wrong.

Because they wouldn’t remember it the next day.

Maybe that Bloody Mary was a great idea. You needed something to flush your thoughts away because sometimes, the depression hit.

You didn’t want to think about. It made your stomach ache with pain and your head turn dizzy. More than it already was doing because of the alcohol and you didn’t like it. You hated it.

You knew it was wrong to leave and you knew no matter what you always promised each other even if you could get pissed off and angry. You wouldn’t just leave like that.

But the way he had been so brutal made you want to smack your head against the table. You had done nothing to deserve the way he was treating you, and that was the reason why you wanted to punish him.

“You know, I’d like that Bloody Mary. Strong, please.” You begged the last part and looked at the bartender who gave you a sympathetic smile.

“On me.”

You looked to your right in confusion when a male in a white dress shirt showed up. He had black hair that was pulled into a quiff and a light stubble. Apart from that he still had a younger face.

“Oh really?” You commented, but not as loud as you had expected and he waved his credit card in the air.

You didn’t even get the chance to say no, you were too stunned because it had been a while since someone had shown up like this. You were usually with the boys which meant no other boy would show up all of the sudden.

“My name is Anthony.” He reached his hand forward, introducing.

“Y/N.” You smiled back, deciding just to shake his hand and moved just a bit to the left.

Not because you wanted to invite him to sit down but because he was a little too close for your liking.

“A Bloody Mary? A sad face? Please, enlighten me. Who broke your heart?”

You looked at him confused. Did you look like a starter pack for singles?

“Nobody did.” You shook your head, not wanting to share your privacy.

“Oh come on.” Anthony mentioned, leaning forward to move a strand of hair away from your face. “I know a girl when I look at her.”

You quivered an eyebrow at him unconvinced. He was coming way out of the blue you hadn’t seen him not even on the dance floor. He was probably one of those who sat at the paid tables with a Dom Perignon.

“You’re sad about something a boy you liked said. He didn’t break your heart but he said something that hurt you very deeply and know you don’t know how to handle it.”

You didn’t know if he was comforting or creepy. You didn’t like the way he was smiling at you, yet you were too tired to even care if he was hitting on you. It was a lost coss at the beginning.

“You’re not sure if you’ll forgive him or not. I know it can be hard but please open up to me.”

“I’d prefer if she opened up to me instead, Gel-boy.” A tall frame came from Anthony’s behind and even though you felt a burning sensation in your stomach it was only by a quick second replaced with relief.

Anthony looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened when he noticed Cal and the others stand behind supporting Ashton’s back.

You almost wanted to roll your eyes because he had brought them along but you couldn’t help but feel just a little bit happy to see him.

“Now if you would excuse me... I’ve got a lady who’s got all the rights she has to yell at my face.”

You looked up at Ashton when he pushed past Anthony to get to you. His hand was inviting you to grab it and even though you were pissed you gave him hopeful eyes.

Pushing past the crowd you left Anthony alone with the rest of the boys and were followed by Ashton towards one of the public bathrooms. Luckily nobody was in sight so you were able to speak in privacy.

You didn’t want to yell at him, you didn’t want to scream. You could tell that he was having the same feeling and he slowly leaned you against the wall to press his forehead against yours.

“I said something that I can’t take back.” He laced your fingers and looked at you deeply into your eyes.

“.. And all I can think about is rewinding the clock to that moment just before ‘Stupid’ took over. I should never have said the words I said because it came out of anger and not how I’m feeling.”

You tried your best not to cry because imagining the words in your mind hurt.

“I know that it’s going to take a while before you forgive me and I know it takes a bigger heart to forgive than saying sorry. You’re my most precious thing in this world and not everyone can deal with the stuff we’re going through. It’s life living on constant stress being in this industry and you do it for me every single day. Take your time out just to make my life the easiest. I don’t think I can ever fully describe how much I love you for taking so much of your time to be with me here on this tour. I’m sorry Y/N. I’m so so sorry of what I did. I wish I could erase it from our minds.”

He was whispering the last part while leaning his forehead against yours. Almost only brushing.

You could feel how he was shaking and how he was trying not to stumble over his words. He had been practicing the whole speech on his way to the club and you were surprised about his skills.

“How-, How did you find me?” You swallowed deeply and looked into his hazel eyes.

“I know my girl... Luckily it always brings me back to her.” He whispered the last part and traced some hair behind your ear.

You nodded your head by his words and sighed carefully.

“If you promise me. Really promise me that you won’t say something like that again... I'll forgive you.”

“Of course I’ll promise you that.” He started to pepper your face with kisses, waiting for the second he saw a small smile appear on your face.

“You know I love you so so much what’s hurting you is also hurting me.”

“I love you too.” You leaned into his touch and enjoyed the silence.

Completely blocking out the loud noises of bass coming from the disco area. You were just resting in his warm embrace enjoying the peaceful feeling of his heart beating against your ear.

“So do you want to go back and get a drink?” You asked carefully.

Ashton snorted like what you had said was a complete joke. You didn’t understand what he was hinting at but then he laced your fingers even tighter.

“Of course not. We’re going home to the hotel, find a movie on Netflix and then we’re going to couple the rest of the night.”

You didn’t say anything but the smile on your face told a million words.

Swinging an arm over your shoulder he held you close as you came outside to the cold streets, walking down holding each other for dear life.

[shoelace-noose]

#059 | Lost Love

Sonny Carisi/Klaus Hargreeves. Klaus doesn’t need to hear to understand.

Word Count: 1299

There was a time when Klaus listened to music day in, day out, to drown out the ghosts, even when the drugs did the job just fine. He had carefully curated playlists for every mood and occasion, a well worn pair of cheap headphones, and a shitty old mp3 player. It was good for him.

But then, of course, Vietnam happened. Klaus lost a lot of things there; his sanity, his sobriety, his love. He spent ten months in the muddy jungle, caked in blood and sweat, putting everything he had on the line just because of Dave. Just the thought of Dave makes him smile as he remembers that kind voice, and rough hands holding him like something fragile, even when the gunshots echoed louder than the spirits all too plentiful in a war zone like this one. When he came back, Dave’s name was still heavy on his lips and he knew he would endure anything just to see him one more time.

Of all the things Klaus lost, the one he hates the most has been his hearing. Funny how constant machine gunfire and bombs and screaming do that. When he tumbles painfully back into present day, all he can hear is an ugly, painful ringing. He was relieved at first, somehow. If he’s deaf, he doesn’t have to listen to the ghosts.

He still has to listen to them. Because they don’t technically make a physical sound, and it wasn’t his ears perceiving their screams in the first place, he can still hear them loud and clear. The difference is that he can no longer drown them old. Klaus really got the shit end of the stick, like always, and the worst part is none of his siblings believe him. They think he’s joking. They yell at him. They wave their arms in front of him. He tells them he can’t hear them, and they storm off.

Sometime after they avert the end of the world, Diego believes him after he offers to take Klaus for something to eat and Klaus doesn’t even look up. It’s a whirlwind after that. Diego drives him to the hospital, and Vanya rides along in the back with him, holding his hand while Ben sits in the front seat and relays Vanya and Diego’s conversation to him.

At the hospital, Ben disappears in the sea of other ghosts milling about, begging for Klaus’ attention. But Diego and Vanya are still there, each with a steadying hand on his shoulder while Klaus fills in the paper questionnaire. Has the hearing loss been gradual? When did he notice it? Were there any events which would have caused it? Do his ears hurt? Did he bleed? All the fun things. And then someone puts headphones on him and tells him to press a button whenever he hears a beep. He doesn’t hear anything over the ringing in his ears that’s been driving him crazy since he got back from Vietnam. Then he’s in a fun tube for a while, and the doctor shines a light into his ears, and it’s all great fucking fun.

Vanya writes things on a little notebook while the doctor talks for Klaus to understand what’s going on too. He can’t make much sense of it, but the gist of it is that his eardrums burst, and apparently have gotten infected in the past like, month since it happened. Which explains the dull ache that’s been bothering him which he figured was just leftover withdrawal. Figures. He’s prescribed something to clear up the infection, and Vanya grimly informs him that the hearing loss is permanent. So this is his life now. Nothing but the ringing and the ghosts.

After six months, Klaus would like to think he’s done a good job of adjusting. He has a nice little flower shop where he’s discovered his surprisingly green thumb. Turns out being able to surround himself with life does wonders for his horrific anxiety. He’s gotten pretty good at reading lips. And a nice chunk of his inheritance went towards a service dog. Klaus had considered hearing aids, but they way they feel irritates him, and there’s an occasional background hum that makes him want to claw his ears off. But he has Daisy, and she’s a real sweetheart. She lets him know when someone comes into the shop, warns him when someone’s coming up, alerts him to alarms and phone notifications.

So when he’s busy tending to little green shoots in the back, Daisy nudges him with her nose. She always hears the bell when a customer comes in. Klaus pats her head and gets to his feet, dusting his dirty hands on his jeans as he goes up to the front. People tend to walk around looking at premade bouquets for a moment or two before they come to the counter. Sometimes they pick up something Klaus has already carefully arranged, others, they want something special.

The customer is already at the counter when Klaus gets there, wearing a crisp suit and looking down at his polished shoes. He seems the sort of businessmen who occasionally come in and get upset when Klaus can’t understand them. As expected, he immediately starts talking when he sees Klaus, quick and upset and it’s just too fast and poorly enunciated for Klaus to keep up. He points at the sign on his counter made in blocky letters by Vanya, with a few watercolor flowers bordering the text.

My name is Klaus. I am deaf and cannot hear you. If you talk to me, please speak slowly and clearly while facing me so I can read your lips. I do not speak ASL.

It takes a moment for the man to read it, but once he does, he adjusts his posture and enunciates an apology. Not an asshole then, just someone who didn’t know. Klaus hates the assholes who act like he’s stupid. Contrary to popular belief, now that he’s sober, Klaus actually has a good head on his shoulder.

“Do you take bulk orders? For special events?”

Klaus nods and reaches for the order sheets by the cash register. “What kind of event?” he asks, realizing from the man’s flinch that he must have been too loud.

“A funeral.”

Death. You’d think after thirty odd years of speaking to the dead, Klaus would handle it better, but every mention reminds him of the way Dave’s eyes lost their shine to the gleam of moonlight reflected on all the blood. There had been so, so much. Fuck. Sometimes, Klaus can still see it caked into the lines of his palms and under his fingernails.

Something touches his arm and Klaus jerks out of his thoughts to look back at the customer. “Are you okay?”

“What do you want for the funeral?”

The man seems just as lost as Klaus was moments ago. His eyes are far away and his words start to twist in his mouth as he talks about whoever he lost. Blue and purple and white flowers, because “Mike” loved bright colors but his father would want something more classy. Klaus recognizes the grief too. Mike was someone this man loved deeply.

“When?”

“Three weeks from tomorrow.”

That’s cutting it closer than Klaus would like, but he understands the pain, and writes down the date before jotting down notes of what the man wanted. He promises to have a sample bouquet ready by the end of the next day, takes down a credit card number and ID, and finds himself wondering about whether the man- Dominick, according to his license- would hold him the same way Dave did because his hands have the same pattern of calluses and his mouth has the same deeply fond yet forlorn not quite smile.

[i-aim-to-overanalyze]

Waking up to Ash and Dust

Some say they dictate the story, while others say the story dictates them, and this is SO the case when it comes to this monster. This story took me to different places I wasn’t expecting, to different POVs I hadn’t planned for, and dragged me on a wild goose chase when it came to plot. This story will be 4-6 chapters depending on how I split the chapters. Thank you both for @yjficexchange for hosting the ‘Mini Big Bang’ event and @puddingmcmuffin for her patience and her beautiful artwork that accompanies this piece 

-

Part 1: Society

Warnings: Mentions of abuse and suicide, nothing too explicit

Pairings: Gen, mentions of Spitfire

Characters: Bart Allen, Wally West, OCs (for sake of plot) 

Chapter Word Count: 4703

Description: Set during and after the events of Young Justice Invasion. There’s something amiss with Bart Allen. There’s something amiss with Bart Allen. He doesn’t fit your typical 13 yr old mold. To society, he’s an odd kid with a strange lack of pop culture knowledge. To fellow supers, his tales about being a tourist from a bright future doesn’t add up. To himself, he struggles with time travel and the ramifications that follow suit.

There is something amiss with Bart Allen, the boy with the mousy hair and lilac eyes. He appears to be the typical mischievous teenager. He can always be seen munching on a candy bar or pushing on people’s buttons. But it’s the little things about him. It’s the little things that send alarming bells in the minds of society around him.

Society, a group of people that lives with a set of customs, traditions and laws. A group of people fashioned out of the people before and who raises the people to come. A group of people whose thinking is influenced by the literature and television that they consume. A group of people who are united in traditions, who share in the comfort of people who operate the same. A group of people who can tear apart anyone that doesn’t conform to their rules. That Society.

-

There’s a lady who owns a small souvenir shop in downtown Central City. It’s mainly filled with Flash memorabilia and a few staple tokens like “I <3 Central City” shirts. It’s right next to a historical marker, a prime target for tourists and the like. If it wasn’t for the ridiculously high rent, she’d be making big. The fact of the matter is this: she is struggling to keep the business afloat. A boy enters her shop during a slow time in her business.

Nothing is particularly strange about that except it is school hours and he appears to be middle-school aged.

“Boy, what are you doing here?” She asks him as he inspects a display of snow globes.

He jumps, nearly dropping the one in his hand. It’s a depiction of Central City with the Flash standing in a heroic pose.

“I just, ah, wanted to have a look around y’know?” He flashes a toothy grin.

“During school hours?” She raises an eyebrow.

“I’m on—ah what do you call it?” He snaps his fingers a couple times, “a—a field trip, yes that’s it!”

“Where’s the rest of your class?”

“….I got separated from them.” He mutters, ducking his head down to avoid her gaze. He bounces on the balls of his feet, looking like a wild animal about to bolt.

“Well then, you’re welcome to call your—“

“Wow, would you look at that,  I just saw them passing by! Gotta go, nicetalkingtoyoubye!”

She blinks, and then blinks again. One moment, he stood there, and the next he was gone. In a flash. Upon further inspection, a snow globe from the display is missing along with a couple candy bars. It infuriates her, but it’s not big enough that she feels obligated to go to the Police for. In a city where supervillains ravaged, petty thievery wasn’t on the top of the cops’ priority list.

The next day when she opens, the missing snow globe mysteriously turns up on her counter. It’s accompanied with a twenty dollar bill and a note scribbled in chicken scratch.

“I am sorry for taking from your shop without buying anything. I already ate the candy bars so here is money instead.”

The next month, an apartment building nearly crushes her on her way home. Something picks her up and she is sent flying a thousand miles a hour.

“Better watch where you’re going, mad’m,” Something—a boy with lilac eyes hidden behind a golden visor—quips at her.

He is scrawny and almost collapses as he releases her from his grasp.

“Do I know you?” She says, once the shock’s worn off and she found her voice.

He stares at her for a moment, like a deer caught in a headlight. Then a smirk slowly worms its way onto his face.

“I don’t think so. Perhaps you’ve seen me on the news, helping out the Flash.” He opens his mouth to say more—when an explosion occurs the next block.

“Well that’s my cue gottagobye!” He zooms ahead, leaving the lady to ponder in silence.

-

There is a new student at Central City Middle School. This is not exactly the talk of the century. There is always new students flowing into the school, be it at the start of the year or mid-year transfers. There are children whose families have moved into the area. Then there are children who moved from the future into the current present. The latter is exceedingly rare and there is only transfer with that credit to his name and that is Bart Allen.

Bartholomew “Bart” Allen is the textbook new kid. He nervously rubs his fingers on the edge of his backpack straps, humming under his breath. His posture remains tense as he glances around the classroom. His eyes flies over the heads of the students as they peer around for possible escape routes. He wants to be anywhere but here, present in the classroom and collectively the class sympathizes with him.

“Good morning, everyone!” The teacher says, “As you can see, we have a new student with us today.”

She places a hand on Bart’s shoulder who flinches at the unexpected physical touch. If the teacher noticed anything off by it, she doesn’t say anything.

“Go on; introduce yourself.” She whispers encouragingly to him.

Slowly, he exhales deeply and turns to face the class. A switch turns on and the nervous new kid façade fades away to another one.

“Um, hello fellow students! My name is Bart Allen and I recently moved to Central City.” He gives a friendly wave to the class. Some of them wave back, amused.

“Where did you move from, Bart?” The teacher prods.

“Keystone City, home of the original Flash.” He puffs his chest out proudly.

Keystone City was the first sighting of the first Flash, back in the forties. The current Flash started up in Central City, but he can still frequently be spotted in Keystone as well. Many in Central City consider Keystone City a sister city and the sentiment is the same likewise in Keystone City. There is a lighthearted rivalry between the two, however, on which Flash is the best.

So it is not odd that Bart emphasizes the fact that he originates from the city of the original Flash. His quirks lay in his behavior towards school in general. In his first few weeks, he plays twenty questions with the teachers on how the school operates. It’s an uproar with the students, who howl with laughter at the teachers’ reactions. They label him a class clown, a troublemaker. No one thinks his questions are legitimate. Except for Bobby Jones.

Bobby Jones is just as about as average as Bart is on the outside. He’s the nerd who gets straight As in all his classes and loves to play the clarinet in the marching band. His favorite subject is history, which happens to be the subject Bart succeeds in getting Fs in.

He strolls up to Bart one day after class with a proposition.

“Hello Bart.”

“Oh hey Bobby!” Bart grins, “What’s up?”

“I noticed History isn’t your best subject.”

Bart’s smile grows forced; it’s definitely a sore spot for his peer.

“Yeah, let’s just say I’ve never been the greatest history student.” He mumbles as he sheepishly scratches the back of his head.

“I’d be willing to offer up my…services to you.” Bobby says in a conspiratorially tone. He could be more direct but A, he’s a thirteen year old and B, he’s obsessed with spy movies.

At once Bart brightens up. He straightens his posture as he examines Bobby in the eye. It sends shivers down Bobby’s back. There is something that gleams in Bart’s eyes that is too cold and calculating to belong to a normal 13 years old. Suddenly he’s not all too sure about approaching Bart was the right idea.

“I’m listening, amigo,” He leans in.

“I—I could do your homework for you, and give you the answers for the tests,” Bobby stammers, “Not for free, of course, there would a charge.”

When he first began his practices, he started out charging money. He then switched to favors or things like books or candy as money is a hard currency to come by in the middle school population.

He’d always assumed Bart was an open book. He was loud, he was excitable, easy to show his joy or disdain over things. He seemed naïve to a degree, something that Bobby presumed would make him an easy target. However Bart’s face was blank in the silence that momentarily followed.

“It sounds great but…it isn’t that not allowed?” His voice cracked with uncertainty.

Bobby wanted to say yes. He wanted to ensnare another sucker—another client into his ‘business.’ It wasn’t like he was hurting Bart, the exact opposite actually. He knew how to slowly raise Bart’s grade that wouldn’t raise any red flags. But there’s something so earnest in his tone that makes Bobby pause.

“Not exactly,” He admits eventually, “But you want to raise your GPA, don’t you?”

Bart hesitates. For a moment, Bobby thinks he may have snagged him. But then the brunet slowly shakes his head.

“I can’t accept it, sorry.”

Bobby doesn’t give up easily though. He can’t. Not when Bart could threaten to expose his operations.

“I could tutor you instead!” He says in an act of desperation.

“Tutor?”

“Yeah, I could help you understand it—but it’d still be you doing the homework and everything.”

“Yeah,” Bart nods his head, “Yeah that sounds crash!”

They come up with an agreed time and place and take it from there. Tutoring Bart, turns out to be a more difficult than he’d imagined.

“This unit, we’re focusing on the events leading up to the American Revolution.”

“Ah, yes!” Bart leaned back, propping his legs on the table, “That’s what Fourth of July is about, right? It’s the celebration of us Americans freeing ourselves from their oppressors!”

“Kinda. It marks the date that the Declaration of Independence was signed.”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t—“  Bobby takes a double take, “How do you not know?”

Every American grown child has heard the mantra during their growing up years. Every Fourth of July that rolls around comes a great big patriotic speech about the Founding Fathers. It turns out that Bart knows little to nothing about history whatsoever. It doesn’t make a single bit of sense to him. Even people who hate history at least know about stuff that came before them. Bobby, clearly, has his work cut out for him. There is one thing going for him. Bart is a willing student who is eager to please.

He finds out that stories are the best method to teach Bart. Dates and facts mean nothing to him; he wants to hear the reasoning behind them, the people and events that make up them. He lends a lot of his historical fiction novels to Bart, with the hefty warning that figures like Johnny Tremain aren’t real.

Slowly, out of this odd tutorship a friendship blossoms between them. Neither of them openly address it. Bobby thinks that Bart, despite his cheery demeanor, isn’t all that interested in friends. He doesn’t participate in any afternoon extracurriculars and keeps a distance with their peers. Bobby doesn’t mind, because he’s not all that interested in friends either. He classifies Bart as someone whom he can tolerate. His tolerable buddy.

He tries convincing himself when Bart suddenly stops replying to his texts that he isn’t upset. He is definitely not worried when Bart doesn’t show up at school for an entire week. No, he is angry when Bart finally shows his face sometime during the first week of April.

“Where. Were. You?” He grabs hold of him sometime after class.

“Easy, big guy,” Bart winces as he drags Bobby’s hands off his shoulders, “I was sick, that’s all.”

“Sick, hmm?” Bobby crossed his arms.

“Yup! I was totally feeling the mode. I was in and out of consciousness a lot.” There is a hint of truth underlying Bart’s words. Bobby can see the weariness clinging to his eyes. He’s been around Bart enough now to know something is off, and he doesn’t like the smell of it.

Naivety and lies aside, there was the fact that Bart didn’t live with his parents. He lives with an elderly couple named the Garricks.

“So, what, are they like your grandparents?” He asked Bart one day after Mrs. Garrick disappeared into the kitchen to grab them a snack.

“Erm, sorta?” He scrunched up his nose, “My family tree’s…confusing.”

Bart refuses to elaborate on that, causing Bobby to do some snooping on his own. The Garricks are close to the Allens; a family that shares no relation to either of them. Apparently Jay Garrick took a young Barry Allen under his tutelage and practically views him as a son. There’s a few articles from the local newspaper about the two, not to mention their social media presences. The strange thing is that Bart popped in on the scene a few months ago. There is no mention of him predating February and he has no social media of his own to speak of.

When Bobby nonchalantly asked about it, Bart gave him a blank look.

“Oh! You must be talking about the ‘Snapchat’ thing everyone is obsessed about!” He frowned, “I’ve been too busy with school to set one up.”

He stared at Bart. He was never sure when Bart was being completely serious or just messing with him.

It’s the scars that just about does Bobby in.  Bart was always skittish about dressing publicly in the locker gyms before and after P.E. It was something the other boys always teased him about. Bart always laughed it off. Somehow, he’d always managed on dressing before any one of them arrived.

Bobby catches him slipping in the act of slipping on his shirt. It’s purely coincidental, it isn’t like Bobby had skipped class to stake out the locker room or anything. He nearly gags at the sight. Bart’s torso is decorated with scores of scars, both big and little. Many of them are old, but a few of them are newer looking. The two lock eyes and Bart knows that he knows.

“Hey Bobster, what’s up—“

“Who’s hurting you?” Bobby inhales a sharp breath.

“Wh—“

“Who’s hurting you?” Bobby presses harder, “It’s not Jay, is it?”

“No!” Bart exclaims, looking deeply horrified, “It’s not him, I swear.”

“Then who is it?”

“I—“ Bart looks ahead, “I can’t tell you. But I’m okay now—I’m okay.”

He takes a shuddering, deep breath as he hugs his knees.

“You know, my dad used to beat my mom every night,” Bobby says causally.

Bart looks up at him, startled by the revelation.

“She used to cover it up, pretended everything was alright. She wanted me to have a “normal” family. She didn’t want me to miss out on having a dad. She put her foot down when she found out he started beating me for getting bad grades.”

“Dude…” Bart whispers, and Bobby looks over at him. There is an understanding in his eyes. For the first time there is someone who understands him. Who doesn’t apologize or pity him or look at him uncomfortably.

“Are you safe with the Garricks?” Bobby asks.

“Yes. It’s—over.” Bart sighs, and Bobby thinks is the first time he’s seen him serious, “You don’t have to worry about me, dude.”

The whole school thinks Bart’s naivety is a façade. He is the typical class clown, who bombards the teachers with ridiculous questions with a straight face. He will be remembered as that upbeat kid with a strange sense of humor.

Bobby knows better. Bobby knows that there is truth lurking underneath it all, and with that truth there is pain. Bart doesn’t address it, and neither does Bobby. They’ll sit at lunch and talk about history that doesn’t belong to them. They’ll discuss fallen rulers and devastated armies before they’ll discuss broken pasts. They aren’t friends. They’re simply two people who made a pact to stick it out together until high school graduation.

-

There’s something strange about Wally’s little cousin. But then again, West and his family have always been strange to Toby.

When you have a spend a year living in the same quarters, you get to see a different side of people. The side that’s only visible when no one else is around. Their living habits essentially. As Wally’s roommate for a year, he knows a lot about the guy. Like how he holds onto every birthday card and participation award from his childhood. Or how he hides snacks all over the dorm and sometimes forgets where he hid them. Not to mention the fact the long, unexpected stretches of time he vanishes from the face of the earth.

Toby nearly called the cops the first time it happened. He’s not sure what West does in his off-time, he doesn’t ask. It’s probably something illegal and he doesn’t want any part of it. He was pretty certain the guy would drop out after the first semester. It didn’t seem like he was all that dedicated to the classes. But miraculously he stuck with it.

He leaves Toby on good terms. He’s been chomping on the bit to move in with his girlfriend and once his one-year sentence is up, he doesn’t waste any time. It’s something the three of them joke about. He and Artemis often compare notes on Wally’s roommate etiquette much to Wally’s humiliation.

There’s something special between Wally and Artemis. The fact that they already bicker like an old married couple might something to do with it. He’s seen a ring tucked away in one of Wally’s desk drawers. The wedding is inevitable.

Except that it isn’t. One moment Artemis and Wally are happily living together. Next moment, there is Wally West unhappily living in an apartment alone. Car crash, Toby’s told. She was visiting relatives over the weekend in Gotham City when it happened.

Toby can’t even to begin to imagine how it must feel to have the love of your life unexpectedly ripped out of your life. He’s not sure that Wally knows how to feel about it either. He insists that he is fine, but his actions suggest otherwise. He hasn’t slept in days, if the dark circles are any indication. He snaps easily. He’s scatterbrained. He barely touches food. Toby takes to daily visits just to make sure he’s still breathing.

It’s the cousin that makes the difference, however.

He walks into the two squabbling over a match of Halo.

“Look, you can’t just mash buttons as fast as you can, the game can’t process your commands at your level of speed. You gotta slow it down.”

“Opps, sorry! I forgot how sluggish retro games can be.”

“Don’t make me hurt you.”

He clears his throat and the two whip their heads towards him.

“Um. The door was unlocked.” He says, “Who’s the kid?”

“I’m his cousin, Bart!” The teenager gives Toby’s hand a good shake.

Wally rubs a hand through his hair. “Aw, I’m sorry man I forgot about our study session!” He exclaims, “Bart kinda popped up unexpectedly.”

“I was in the neighborhood and thought I stop by,” Bart gives a wink, as if hinting to an inside joke.

It turns out that their neighborhood and Bart’s are stretched across a thousand miles. Bart slips out once that he attends Wally’s old middle school.  Wally provides a weak cover-up for it, something about cheap plane fares. Bart is around too much for that to be true.

Bart plays the part of the annoying younger brother. He likes to mess with Wally’s stuff, touching things he shouldn’t. Anything Wally does, Bart does. If Wally likes Chicken Whizees, then Bart also likes Chicken Whizees. He challenges Wally to things like eating contests (always a draw) and who can make the loudest burp. He presses Wally’s buttons, He pesters him with questions. There’s a friendly animosity between them, the kind that only develop amongst siblings.

Although Wally protests that he is the caretaker for Bart, it’s the latter that takes care for Wally. He distracts Wally, helps keep his mind off things. He makes Wally laugh, and reminds him to eat food.

Toby doesn’t get many one-on-one interactions with Bart. There is only two that are memorable. The first one happens in the middle of April. It’s a Thursday and he’s at home, in the dorm. His roommate Fred is working, and Toby is listening to music while studying when he hears a knock at the door.

“Hey there!” Bart grins. “Wally’s still at class so I’d thought I would hang with you for a bit.”

He nods slowly at him. Bart has accompanied Wally to his dorm before, so he’s not surprised to find him standing in his doorway. He is surprised to see he didn’t just hang in Wally’s apartment. But then again, nothing ever makes sense when it comes to Bart.

“Hey,” Toby nods, “No prob, you’re welcome to hang here if you want. Hope you like listening to Elton John.”

“Who’s that?” Bart asks as he enters the threshold.

“You know, Lion King.” When the kid doesn’t respond to that, he gives a double-take, “Have you never seen the Lion King?”

“Um nope, can’t say that I have.” He shrugs his shoulders.

“We’ll have to remedy that.” Toby says determinedly, as he picks up his laptop.

“What are you doing?” Bart leans curiously over his shoulder.

“I’m pulling up Lion King. You’re not leaving until you see it.” He studies while Bart watches from the laptop nearby. He doesn’t get much homework done as Bart keeps asking questions almost every minute. Through the questions, Toby learns that he has a very limited knowledge on pop culture. By the end of it, he gives Bart a flash drive with his favorite songs on it.

He makes a comment about to Wally a week later. West gave a sigh.

“Let’s just say he lived a very isolated childhood.” He remarks, and leaves it at that.

Toby doesn’t press it. There’s a silent understanding built up between the two. There are certain things about Wally that they don’t address, and Bart’s origin is one of them. Bart may be the typical annoying brother figure to Wally, but there’s something weird about the kid. Like how he can hold his ground in an argument with Wally over quantum physics that’s is way over Toby’s head. How he hadn’t seen the Lion King or played Minecraft before. How he uses weird lingo and calls things like the new iPhone “retro”.  Or where exactly does he fit into Wally’s family tree.

He’s not the typical thirteen-year-old that’s for sure. Toby tries not to care why—he never has, so why start now? It’s not like he doesn’t care—he does, he totally does—but he has more riveting things to focus on. Important things that every poor college student with crippling debt worries about. Like keeping his GPA up and surviving on ramen noodles alone. Seriously, he’d rather face an alien apocalypse than suffer through Finals week.

Just when things start to look up, it all comes crashing down. It’s not the type of “good” crash that Bart likes to blab about either. A few months later, he receives a message alerting him that Wally is dead. He died in a car crash on his way home one night. It’s too akin to Artemis’s death that he can’t help but wonder things. Things that tie knots in his stomach and make him feel sick.

He’s sitting at his desk, alone, when someone knocks at the door. He gets up to answer it. It’s not like he was doing any real studying anyhow.

“Hey.” Bart says, fidgeting. It reminds Toby of Wally—he always had a hard time keeping still. He was especially worse when he was anxious.

“Hey,” He echoes.

He doesn’t even question why Bart’s here. He knows exactly why. He leads him into the living room and they both sit down. A silence endures between the two. Artemis and Wally were both his friends, but to Bart? He lost not a cousin but a brother. He’s only thirteen, Toby thinks. He’s too young to lose a loved one this early. So is Toby.

Bart is the first one to break the silence.

“Listen, I have something to tell you,” Bart speaks up, “Art—the others didn’t think it was a good idea. But I think you deserve to know the truth.”

“The truth?” Toby asks, as he stares down at Bart.

The way he speaks it makes it sound like Wally was involved in some type of gang. He doesn’t doubt that, but at the same time he hopes better of his dead friend.

“Yes.” Bart takes a deep, shuddering breath, “Wally didn’t die from some car crash.”

“What’d he die of?”

“He died saving the world from the Reach.”

Toby smiles bitterly, “He’s Kid Flash, isn’t he?”

“How’d you know?” Bart asks, surprise edging his voice.

“He was always gone weird stretches of time when we were roommates. He healed inhumanely fast. Both he and Kid Flash have red hair. He has a ton of Flash memorabilia. Not to mention Kid Flash fell off the radar once he and Artemis stopped disappearing on a regular basis.” Toby shook his head, “It was just an absurd theory I had.”

An absurd theory that happened to be true. A weight lifts off him. It doesn’t change what happened. But it makes it easier to breathe knowing for sure that his friend didn’t commit suicide or died a meaningless death. He can breathe and know the reason they survived annihilation from the Reach was his friend Wally. It’s surreal and almost mind breaking to think he’s been friends with a superhero all along.

He sighs before glancing over at Bart once more.

“Are you the new Kid Flash the media’s been buzzing about?” He asked.

It makes sense now why a new Kid Flash popped up suddenly. He hasn’t approached the cameras at all and all the media has is a few blurry pics of him. Some speculate he must be the new Flash kid that was spotted helping the Flash and Kid Flash with Neutron a while back. All he knows is that the media is gushing about how an honor it is to witness a passing of a title. He doesn’t get it himself. There must have been at least three Robins by now but you don’t see anyone going on about it.

“Yeah.” Bart murmurs, “That’s me.”

“Wally would be proud to see you zooming around as Kid Flash.” He says.

Bart gives a look that lets him know that he’s heard it a hundred times already. The phrase still doesn’t reassure him even after Toby says it, apparently. It’s alright though. He’s just a poor college student who happened to room with Kid Flash for a year. He knows nothing of the battles of good vs. evil.

“I mean it. I don’t know if you noticed, but Wally saw you as a little brother. Loved you like one, too. Sure you annoyed him at times, but that’s what little brothers are for.” He ruffles Bart’s hair, “I have no doubt you’ll do him justice.”

“Thanks.” Bart says.

Toby’s unsure if his words held any meaning to Bart, but he’s smiling and so he hopes that’s a good sign. He spends the rest of the evening telling Bart all the embarrassing blackmail he has on Wally and then some.

There’s still something strange about Bart, even after the reveal. Then again, maybe there’s something genetically weird with anyone who thinks wearing spandex and fighting crime is a great career choice. He decides nothing can surprise him anymore after knowing the truth. Santa Claus is real and so is the Easter Bunny and maybe even the Queen of England. That is, until he takes a walk past Wally’s old apartment and runs into a familiar blond. After that, nothing fazes him the slightest when it comes to Wally and Bart and their lineage.

[claraoswald81]

5 Reasons Why You Are A Rookie In SEO 2019

SEO. SEO or the particular Search Engine Optimization is certainly an method of increasing visitors generation for an internet company. Cisco approximated that by 2019, video may make up 80% of just about all consumer internet traffic. In line along with the previous point, SEOs may consider various landing pages along with proper keywords, meta tags plus the overall website structure through the SEO point of see. Including relevant key phrases in the title, URL, plus headers of the page plus making sure that a site is crawlable are actions that will site owners can take in order to improve the SEO of their own site. To fulfill intent and position well in the long work, build your SEO marketing technique around topics, not keywords In case you do that, you will find a person can naturally optimize for essential keywords, anyway. Artificial cleverness (AI) and voice searches are usually two technologies that are currently affecting SEO but will probably have an even bigger influence in 2019 and the yrs to come. They are usually also great for video SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, and get great organic rating online and Google. Remember keywords are usually the KEY in SEO composing guidelines. It deeply analyze your site and reveals each opportunity with regard to your SEO improvement by concentrating on key factors like cultural media, technologies, local SEO, guests, usability, search ranking efforts plus mobile SEO. A SEO expert or agency can audit your own site and appear at exactly how it is performing against your own most important keywords. Link building is a type of off-site SEO where various other sites link back to your own site if they feel a person offer something of value in order to their audience. In many crucial areas they overlap; if SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is more technical and provides to a narrow sphere, content material marketing takes a holistic method. Equally, generally there is no point in losing your SEO marketing efforts simply by delivering lots of traffic in order to your website from highly related search queries, when the consumer experience upon landing on that will website is poor quality. On web page, SEO relates to keywords. In addition to the over search engine optimization solutions, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION services provide other Internet marketing and advertising services, which includes: search-friendly internet design, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising promotions, backlink programs, SMO services, blog site optimization and marketing, targeted nearby search engine marketing, and cellular marketing optimization. A successful SEO effort demands to move beyond building joyful to rank on highly looked keywords and should have the heavy focus on providing solutions for genres of unique concerns that many people might research by voice. Learn the particular strategy behind great SEO, which includes keyword planning, content optimization, hyperlink building, and SEO for e-commerce, local search, and mobile viewers. Seo or SEO is usually the simple process of making sure a website can be discovered in search engines for words and phrases and phrases relevant to exactly what the site is providing. SEO is really the shortened phrase for search motor optimization. I believe SEO within 2019 will largely be such as SEO in 2018, with the particular exception of some big” Search engines update that wipes out sufficient websites to make people think the algorithms have grown significantly smarter. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION works by optimizing a cyberspace pages, conducting keyword research, plus earning inbound links. The business offers excellent SEO packages that will help rank the clients' site within top three pages associated with search engine pages. That can make SEO an ideal lead era tool, because when searchers stick to links back to your web site, you have the chance in order to convert them to leads, plus later make sales. Whenever asked to point out ideas that are unique towards the particular web, most people will arrive up with two main types: SEO and social media. How many links do a person need for good off-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION? If you are carrying out a professional SEO audit for the actual business, you are going in order to have to think like the Google Search Quality Rater And also a Google search engineer to offer real long-term value to the client. 44. Give your own social media profiles an SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION boost. 10% of our experts believe that will there's likely to be the lot of focus on cellular in 2019, as older SEOs realize optimizing for desktop is definitely pointless. White hat SEO is not really just about following guidelines, yet is about ensuring that the particular content google search indexes and consequently ranks may be the same content the user will see. Keep in mind that will links, content, and user expertise are all major SEO rank factors. Could holistic approach will ultimately eliminate a lot of the particular issues created by some SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION practitioners over the years, We suspect that search engines' designers will initially overestimate the accuracy of their AI, resulting within Penguin-level collateral damage. SEO (Search Motor Optimization) is the process associated with making a website more noticeable in search results, also called improving search rankings. Siteimprove SEO furthermore provides in-tool tips on where to start as well as how to get the most out associated with your keyword research and supervising. We've already been operating in the SEO plus content marketing industry since last year and know how search motors work. Generally there are a great number associated with resources out there surrounding aggressive link analysis (and a great deal that have been authored simply by me! ) but whenever I actually speak with people that are usually working on SEO projects, it can always one of those "yeah, I understand I should do this more" tasks. Amy Kilvington, Marketing Executive at Custom Drapes, believes that SEOs are heading to have to optimize social networking more as Google indexes this and prioritizes it over their particular sites' pages. Social media is usually the easiest and most efficient way to push out the SEO-based content. However, right now there are some easy adjustments that will you can make to the particular search engine optimization (SEO) component of it, which will ideally provide you with fantastic results. Search engine marketing (SEO) is one of typically the most important marketing considerations upon your studio website. SEO might generate a sufficient return upon investment However, search engines are usually not taken care of organic search visitors, their algorithms change, and right now there are no guarantees of ongoing referrals. An excellent starting point whenever using keywords for SEO will be to identify existing pages that will may use some optimization. These are called keywords, plus as you will see, these people are an important part associated with SEO. In fact, this particular will actually hurt your home page's SEO because search engines such as google will recognize it because keyword stuffing - or the particular act of including keywords particularly to rank for that key phrase, rather than to answer the person's question. Prior to we begin, one thing a person want to keep in brain when using one of the following SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION elements is not to overdo it. You might be enticed to shove a lot associated with keywords onto your pages, yet that is not the objective. In situation you create links to some other websites and reverse, it will certainly improve your SEO ranking. In fact Cisco predicts that globally, on the internet video traffic will be eighty percent of all consumer Web traffic by 2019 (a amount that is up from sixty four percent in 2014). I've bookmarked therefore many SEO websites and assets that it's overwhelming to actually look at. Link authority is the major component of SEO, yet purchasing links is forbidden simply by Google, Bing, and other research engines. A reputable SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION company carries on along with your Company Profile and then do all those profile building and then Nearby Business Listing Optimization. Our first five steps had been dedicated to on-page SEO techniques Link-building is the primary goal of off-page SEO, and will be also an enormous factor within how search engines rank your own web pages. So far since I know, this only functions for HTML or CSS webpages - I don't go significantly for Flash websites, and I actually am unsure how that pots and pans out regarding search engines plus SEO. In fact, a huge part of SEO in 2018 is writing for humans PLUS search engines (also known since: SEO copywriting”). SEO is the significant part of any web marketing strategy. Canonical: This connect to handles content syndication, which basically allows other blogs to post your projects (similar to franchising) without having hurting your website's SEO ranking—simply with the addition of a rel=canonical can obtain your brand and content away on the web in several outlets, ensuring a greater get to and bigger audience without harming your own search results. We are usually offering affordable search engine marketing SEO services to clients throughout the globe. If you want the strong social media strategy, a person simply can't ignore SEO. Another SEO-related plugin, W3 Total Cache is used to improve the performance of your Wp blog or a website simply by integrating features such as content material delivery networks to be capable to reduce the loading periods for your pages. Looking deeper: In present-day SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, you can't simply include because a lot of keywords as possible to achieve the people who are searching for you. SEO stands for Search Motor Optimization and refers to strategies you can use to assist ensure that your site rates high in the results associated with search engines for example Google. It blends ratings and search volumes in the manner that makes it even more relevant, insightful and easier in order to understand than any other SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION performance tracking approach. About: Advanced Search Summit is usually designed for advanced SEO experts, digital marketers, and analysts from enterprise and mid-market sized businesses who want advanced tactics plus techniques. SEO stands for seo. ” It is the process associated with getting traffic in the free, ” organic, ” editorial” or natural” search results on search motors like google. If you're planning about ramping up SEM attempts to complement organic SEO, become sure to take a appearance at Google Adwords ' Research Ads page. The large a part of SEO is producing valuable, high-quality content (e. h., blog articles and web web page copy) that your customers will certainly find helpful. SEO alone cannot perform much for your business yet when combined with content advertising, social internet marketing, email marketing and advertising, mobile marketing and PPC advertising, it can help businesses achieve the pinnacle of success on the internet. Numerous of these so-called 'tweaks' include advertising and link-gathering, and We use SEO and article advertising for that. Within 2018, your SEO success is just not depend on how well a person optimize your website for Search engines. But if you're brief on money, use these diy SEO ideas to improve your natural rankings. If you choose SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, you're helping Google's spiders in order to crawl and understand your posts. The job of a good SEO is to manage the particular optimization of websites to guarantee they gain site traffic from lookup engines such as Google and Bing. One great part of content that will ranks well within the research results is its beginner's explained SEO. SEOs plus online marketing specialists in standard who are dealing with worldwide websites or for online organizations thinking about going international can certainly benefit from attending ISS. We might like to serve you in order to save money and your power by offering affordable SEO solutions to increase link popularity. Work the key word into the SEO page name, content header, image, image altbier text, etc. SEO equipment provide position monitoring, deep key phrase research, and crawling through personalized reports and analytics. Certainly, white hat SEO always integrated creating high quality, unique content material as a prerequisite for getting long-term quality results, this reality hasn't changed. Beyond compensated and organic, there are additional types of SEO and expertise and niches within search motor marketing. SEO focuses upon rankings in the organic (non-paid) search results. SEO therefore helps you get traffic coming from search engines. With Ahrefs, a great starting place for keyword research intended for SEO is the Keywords Explorer tool. Topics: SEO, backlink, articles marketing, social media marketing plus advertising, analytics, and more. 60+ sessions on hot topics, good results stories and strategies in SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION, SEA, PPC, Social Media, On-line Marketing and SMX Future Observe. 2018 (I believe) will be a lot associated with catch up on current SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION themes, with the biggest trends” occurring around voice queries to look results. Therefore, SEOmonitor tracks all of the related data that could influence SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION performance and displays it within the Keyword Events Timeline. If you forget that will quality content is a best priority, then you can definitely forget about having an SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION strategy. The particular way we asking the device is different from person in order to person. therefore, optimizing your web site 100% mobile friendly to perform cellular voice search is very essential to SEO 2019. I actually am just newbie and significantly i do get frustrated whenever articles doesn't rank on best or near top, but individuals like you and many various other also inspire me to never ever give up. There are a number of points that i wasn't recognized up to now but appreciate to you, you are often make us learn important points about seo. The traditional strategy to SEO has been devoted to creating excellent content that will is easily searchable via lookup engine bots. To realize SEO, you'll also need in order to know how Google search functions. 2019 may still use many of these kinds of newly implemented tactics, but look for engine optimization experts are likewise suggesting there will be a great deal more. Currently more than half associated with searches account for mobile products, and the number will definitely move up in 2019. Within the remaining 2018 quarter, a person need to invest in mobile-first content that will rank a person higher in mobile search within 2019. The vast majority of your SEO learning need to come from online resources, yet there are a few publications that will help you conceptually understand the history of research, search engines, and how SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION has changed through the many years. There are several methods that webmasters use within order to entice potential clients to their site—one of the particular most important and effective associated with those being Seo (SEO). SEO is important for a lot of companies because if individuals find you with a web research and find what they're searching for, you can receive a lot of new web visitors that will can help you earn even more money. Good SEO follows guidelines that Search engines determines are best practices in order to have your articles ranked upon top. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION services do thorough keyword analysis for the specific website, and after that optimize the information on the particular basis of these keywords plus theme of website. Search Motor Optimization (SEO) is the technique to campaign your products on-line towards the right clientele regarding increasing ROI. There are many tools upon the web to assist along with basic keyword research (including the particular Google Keyword Planner tool and there are even more useful third party SEO tools to help you perform this). The biggest change that will we'll see in 2019 (and that's already happening) is the particular fact that keywords are getting less important. Once you've discovered your keywords, use another SEMrush tool, the SEO Content Design template, which is part of their own Content Marketing Toolkit, to function out the best way in order to optimize your content. If a company is providing you all these services below one roof, climbing up the particular SEO ranking will not become an uphill task for your own business any more. Local SEO companies allows a person to position your business upon search engines like google plus other digital marketing platforms therefore you're seen by potential clients — on their terms. YouTube adds the particular nofollow” tag to their hyperlinks, so they don't really assist with SEO. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION isn't just about building lookup engine-friendly websites. The sooner you understand the reason why Google is sending you much less traffic than it did a year ago, the sooner you can clear it up and focus upon proactive SEO that starts to influence your rankings in a good way. The trending SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION technique or strategy now plus in 2019 will be Research Enterprise Optimization It has already been coined by myself since 2015. A few search engines have also offered to the SEO industry, plus are frequent sponsors and visitors at SEO conferences, webchats, plus seminars. If a person have a website that a person want to become easily discovered by a search engine, you have to increase your site rank via SEO as well. Some SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION companies focus on link building” and increasing the authority associated with their clients' websites. Through an SEO perspective, we had been introduced to RankBrain nearly 2 years ago, a machine-learning synthetic intelligence that Google's been making use of to process an extremely big proportion of search results. Specifically, you'll discover exactly how to utilize advanced on-page SEO strategies (like Bucket Brigades”) to get higher Google ratings and more organic traffic. Search engines has introduced (at least) the ‘percieved' risk to publishing plenty SEO 2019 Has The Answer To Everything of lower-quality pages on your own site to in order in order to curb production of old-style SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION friendly content based on manipulating early search engine algorithms. Grey hat SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is entirely centered on enhancing search engine rankings. There are numerous aspects to SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, from the words on your own page to the way additional sites link to you upon the web. So, rather than viewing SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING as an umbrella term covering SEO, it's more accurate in order to view SEM (paid search) plus SEO (organic search) as distinct entities to use as portion of your Search Marketing arsenal. You've added even more relevant content to your site write-up and increased the on-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION targeted against your focus keyword(s). Before my first ISS, We had always thought I may just learn everything by myself personally about global online marketing matters like International SEO just simply by doing online investigation and playing, but honestly nothing beats the particular efficiency of attending a convention like ISS where one could share your experiences and rapidly gain a treasure trove regarding learnings and best practices through other international marketers. That method, you and your SEO may ensure that your site is usually designed to be search engine-friendly from the bottom up. However, a good SEO can furthermore help improve a current web site. If you would like to know what kind associated with SEO trends are going in order to develop in 2019, look simply no further than the trends that will are developing in search within both 2017 and 2018. Webmasters are usually going to remain competitive within the online business when these people stick with SEO experts. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and social media marketing guarantee that one's site has the particular best SEO Online marketing, which usually means that their company may remain competitive in the on-line market. An SEO ("search engine optimization") expert is somebody trained to improve your presence on search engines. From an SEO perspective, an individual want to have more interior links pointing to your almost all important content. This particular means that SEOs spend the lot of time working upon getting links in a procedure called link building Link-building techniques can range from simply asking for a link to writing the guest post - and presently there are many others. Basically, SEO plans the keywords that will are to be delivered plus content provides them. So, when you are considering about applying SEO in the particular broad sense, you need in order to channelize its technical specifications via content marketing. In 2019, you can wager that White Hat SEO may have separated itself even additional from Black Hat SEO, plus that above all else, supplying quality content will be the particular most important factor for companies ranking in search. The outcomes are not instant, you can use the time on attempting other Internet marketing techniques whilst SEO would go to function. The third major SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION ranking signal is Google's synthetic intelligence search ranking algorithm. Sometimes SEO is definitely simply a matter of producing sure your site is organised in a way that lookup engines like google understand. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION involves a number of modifications towards the HTML of person Web pages to obtain a higher search engine ranking. As a result associated with technological advancement, SEO is in order to undergo more drastic changes, plus the two latest technologies that will are expected to influence SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION to some very great level are AI (Artificial Intelligence) plus Voice Search. Head associated with Marketing at @impressiontalk specialising within user-centred SEO, PAGE RANK, content marketing and digital technique. Primary is usually on inbound marketing, including almost everything from SEO to social press. However, a good agency providing SEO services will be all about being proactive in order to keep up-to-date with the most recent search engine news and adjustments in SEO techniques. Video marketing provides new opportunities to drive even more visitors your site and enhance its SEO status. Research Engine Optimisation (SEO) in 2018 is really a technical, deductive and creative process to enhance the visibility associated with the website in search motors. Off-page SEO makes reference to the actions taken outdoors of your own personal website that can easily help boost your search motor rankings. Since Blog9T of this insufficient visibility this can be hard to create a sound business case intended for SEO, even though it is definitely strikingly obvious of the advantages to most companies of the particular number one position on Search engines. This particular is a time-honored SEO exercise called broken link building. Definitely engaging in reputation management, content material management and SEO (Search Motor Optimization) can give even the particular smallest business a chance in order to compete globally. Whether you are already adding SEO into your online advertising mix or not, you may ask yourself how aCO site stacks up against acom. With recent Google modifications, failure to look after cellular SEO could result in lookup invisibility, and mobile's bringing additional changes you'll need to become ready for.

[westudentflower]

Is business really good for the environment? For society?

January 10, 2018

We’ve all heard that business can have a positive impact on society—socially, economically, and environmentally—or at least it has such potential. But is it really benefiting our living conditions, our people, our communities? Or is it just a way to make business leaders and investors feel good about themselves and justify their large paychecks? 

What is sustainability?

One approach to measuring sustainability is the utility comparison approach, which says that the well-being of future generations must be equal to the well-being of the current generation. 

Well-being can be determined using the physically describable aspects of the natural world (clean water, biological diversity, ozone shield, etc.), which must not disappear if future generations are going to be equally well-off. However, even that can be unclear. How many species need to go extinct before we can conclude that future generations are worse off? A better way to put it might be that the opportunities of future generations to achieve well-being cannot diminish. We can compare opportunities to consume (capital or income), or we can compare certain features of the world that must be protected. The loss of these features would be non-compensable harms to the future, and future generations would be worse off regardless of their economic wealth. In order for the opportunities of future generations to be the same as today’s opportunities, certain options which are prerequisites for true opportunities must be held open. By options I don’t just mean the right to these goods, but the time also has to be right to use them. 

Sustainable development and resource management is associated with the economic incentive to develop sustainable communities. The objective of development is to improve and sustain the well-being of those living in developing countries. This can be measured by improved living standards. Resource management is crucial to achieving this goal, as resource depletion and environmental degradation threaten sustainable development. 

Why are many countries not managing their resources well? It seems counter-intuitive that resource-rich countries have high economic inequality and perform poorly. We can attribute this to political and economic forces. High interest rates encourage rapid resource depletion. The failure to achieve sustainability can be attributed to government underinvestment in public goods and its low priority in spending public resources on enforcing property rights of natural resources for the poor. An inadequate supply of public goods for sustainability worsens poverty and social inequity. Many don’t realize that there is a strong economic incentive to achieve sustainability; in fact, failing to do so may become an obstacle to sustained economic growth. Countries with higher growth rates tend to have deteriorating environmental quality.  

Environmental sustainability is not achieved just by environmental policy. There is a growing need for more discussion and empirical work on environment and development issues and on policies in developing countries. International economic institutions need to broaden their policy advice and act toward a more balanced political economy by giving more attention to the needs and interests of poor and developing countries. The Rhine River is considered the most important source of water in Europe, and it came close to dangerous levels of pollution. Countries acted only when it was about to become a catastrophe and were able to prevent it only because they had the economic resources. What if this had happened in Africa, which doesn’t have the economic capacity to address these emergencies?

Is globalization itself unsustainable? After all, it requires transport, which made up 27% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2015. Yet globalization is arguably a result of capitalism. Adam Smith argued that a bigger market allows a greater division of labor and productivity, which creates a higher profit for the innovating capitalist. This is where technology comes in.

Environmentalism is Political 

A campaign depends on the power to convince others of a problem. Recontextualizing (a disjunction between arguments where neither addresses the other) is a defining characteristic of contemporary environmental debates and its comprehension is critical to resolving conflicts. The economically poor and politically powerless tend to be the victims of natural hazards—how the disaster is presented to the world matters (“natural phenomenon” = no blame). Unlike what is claimed, forest peoples are impoverished by degradation of their forests by external commercial interests. It is ironic that the poorest countries are hardest hit by climate change yet hold the most renewable energy sources, because they lack the capital to develop them. Clean technology requires investment, and oftentimes funding is politically influenced. 

The Environmental Justice Issue: The costs of environmental degradation are disproportionately paid by the poor 

Most low and middle-income countries have resource-dependent economies, which are associated with poorer economic performance, as there is an increase in land conversion and water level stress with a significant share of the population concentrated on fragile lands. Despite the importance of natural capital for sustainable development, why does increasing economic dependence on natural resource exploitation hinder growth in low and middle-income economies? This can be attributed to the increased proportion of poor on fragile lands as this does not generate substantial rents and leads to policy failures. Wealthy households dominate the market for better land, while poor minorities live in toxic and unsanitary areas not due to racism but due to the capitalistic system. Giving a voice to the poor will lead to cleaner neighborhoods and solve problems of pollution and industrial waste. We see a conflict here between green agendas (environment issues: save the wilderness, save national parks!) and brown agendas (social and public health issues of providing access to clean water and clean living standards). Green agendas, endorsed by wealthier people, overpower the brown agendas, but we need both.

Socially Responsible Investing—The Future of Investing?

Before I did a program run by Girls Who Invest, a nonprofit with the goal of having 30% of the world’s investable capital managed by women by 2030, I was convinced that investing has huge power in changing the culture and changing society, but there still seems to be a huge conflict of interest because people who work in the finance industry are paid so much. It just seems so easy to justify your salary by saying you’re making a difference.  

Things to consider after Girls Who Invest… • Seema, founder of GWI, told me that most people are good people who want to do good in the world. The bad guys make up only a small portion of the industry. One way to make an influence is to work for organizations that are philanthropic. Ex: A wealthy family wanted to hire her to manage their money, but when she wanted to know how philanthropic they were, they dismissed her and told her not to waste their time with this. So she decided not to work for them. • Richard Flannery, CEO of TIFF (The Investment Fund for Foundations), a non-profit that manages assets on behalf of endowed non-profits, demonstrated that you can invest with a purpose, on behalf of a mission you care deeply about (whether it be environment, social justice, etc.). The ESG movement is growing: when many investors and large corporations start investing for certain types of companies, others have to pay attention • Bridges, a private fund manager that focuses on investing in solutions for social and environmental challenges, gave a presentation on the spectrum of capital: fiduciary, responsible, sustainable, FF (Financial First) impact, IF (Impact First) impact, philanthropic. There are certainly many challenges in the relatively new industry of impact investing, one being that the minimum impact you need to be considered an impact investor/boundaries between each category are not yet clearly defined: 

A Bridges partner, on the impact of impact investing: “The impact of impact investing can be as significant as philanthropic, if the investments scale and truly have a valuable product or service (think d.light solar lanterns displacing kerosene lanterns). The challenge is that if you only care about one issue (education for underserved kids) it is hard to invest with return in a very narrow issue area.”

Who chooses what cause(s) to invest in? “Ultimately, most impact investors invest in “blind pool funds”, where the investment team (the fund manager) chooses the investments. Some investors in funds have the right to opt out of certain investments, but the choice of investment theme is the fund manager’s during the fund’s life. This is the essence of some work we are doing on impact management: how to articulate the investors impact expectations so everyone from asset owner to advisor to fund manager to company to employee to customer are all in synch.”

However, if the focus is on how to allocate capital to solve ESG problems, I am confident that we will form better answers to these challenges as the industry develops and progresses towards this common goal. 

• Divesting in renewable energy—you can gradually divest from coal companies, but the problem is that oil and gas make up such a large sector of the S&P 500 and the economy. Take that away and you’re disproportionately hurting the economy, plus limiting investment opportunities

• University endowment has fiduciary obligation to donors; it can’t focus on social responsibility investing, but keeps ESG issues in mind

• Make a positive impact! People retiring or investing in mutual funds rely on pension funds or returns of investments; you’re investing their money! Water treatment facilities, university endowments, retirement pensions need to be managed well

• We have a responsibility (and goal) to change the culture of Wall Street

There is certainly a feel-good aspect involved in business, and I’m sure many corporations use the “do good” claim to convince themselves and others that their mission goes beyond profit. But this is a good thing. It can act as the driver of your work, the thing that motivates you and what you find most rewarding at the end of the day. And it’s hard to make an impact and do good if you don’t have the capital. In this day and age and likely for decades to come, capitalism and businesses will run our country, and the importance and impact of investing will only increase. I strongly believe that we are the generation that will take impact investing to the next level.