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whereflowersbloom · 4 years ago

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Let me heal you

Jason Todd didn’t hate Bruce or Dick. Nah. Waste of valuable energy. In fact, Jason respected, dare he say even admired his ward and brother. What he despised were their inflexible morals, or rather his family forcing their morals on everyone else. Specially him. We don’t kill. Yes, yes. Fine. What exasperated him was when Bruce decided that his morals applied to everyone else that he took issue. Including the black sheep of the family. He didn’t precisely kill, he let himself go for a single minute. He lost it one time. Batman gave everyone unlimited chances at redemption, except the Red Hood. One mistakes and he’s exiled. In the end it didn’t matter. Nevertheless, he was aware that was not the reason he was angry tonight. No. It was entirely something else.

He could hear her anywhere he was, no matter what time of day or night, what state of sobriety or inebriation, critically wounded. In the dark dangerous streets of Gotham, the sparring ring with the smack of fists and bodies, between the breaths he took as he was falling into the arms of Morpheus. He could always hear Raven. Foolish. She was too far from him. He lived and painfully yearned for her. She was soft curves and he was hard edges. She was a fierce and magical Phoenix while he was a fucking jay with broken wings and a delirious mind. What a catch, Jason.

It drove him mad, how much it didn’t make sense, at all. A soldier wouldn’t fall asleep to a lullaby, but rather the drumbeats of wrath and screams of his opponents. But she was that, for in each beat of her heart Jason heard the call to arms. These complicated feelings, he didn’t remember when they started surging in him. He tried to sort out his feelings, even though he knew that would hurt worse than the burning pain emanating from his cracked ribs. Tsk. He could use a cig right this second.

She was probably at the Manor with Richard, staying in the guest room which was Coincidently next to his old bedroom. And here he was alone, in his modest studio apartment. The pain of his bruised and broken flesh and bones was nothing compared to that excruciating knowledge. Jason rubbed his palms over his weary eyes trying to calm himself. Attempt to dampen the burning rage that was about to send him to a dark place in his mind he didn’t want to think about. He had control. He couldn’t lose control over the voices. Feel the boiling anger, burning in his chest, squeezing his heart. Let the eternal agony that burned through his blood and singed his eyes an unnatural green color. He left that fucking bullshit behind. He loathed the Pit for taking his chance to offer her something...relatively normal.

Since Artemis and Bizarro were gone. Officially, Jason was on his own for the first time in a long while. As he pulled his arms up to finish bandaging his wounds, his shoulders stung and in a gasping breath Jason quickly dropped his arms. He was useless. The pain was worse today than it usually had been. Probably from all the previous battles against Black Mask and his personal army of mercenaries. They had become a pain in the ass. Perhaps a short visit to good Doctor Tompkins would have been a better idea. He cursed breathlessly.

A knock at the door was his only warning before he turned around to see her. Raven opening the door and striding in as if this was her room and not his. Not that this was the first time she sneaked into his apartment.

She was here. It wasn’t a vision or product of his imagination or effect of high dosage of painkillers. He swallowed hard as he found himself speechless, mind blank in her presence. With her dark cloak and hood down, serene expression and looking at him with intense amethyst gems.

He paid a high price after using the pit to have his life back and this anew tremendous strength. But there’s something else, something he’d never felt before. A pull in his chest, as though someone had tied a string to one of his ribs and it was tugging on it, gently but insistently, coaxing him towards her...She was his answer. For a half-demon goddess she was the closest thing to heaven to him. The wings of freedom.

“What is it?” Jason growled harshly. It wasn’t a threat. He simply didn’t want her to see him like this. In such a weak position that he couldn’t even patch up his own damn body. Those little bits of his bloody past stopped him from reaching out to her. What right did he have to ask her to love him despite everything? Indeed he paid a high price.

“Came here to gloat, little bird?” He spat poisonous words with a half smirk. Poisonous words and threats were all he ever had. He closed his eyes, breathing slowly, deeply, getting air into his lungs, refusing to be beaten by this, refusing to be anything less than civil and let her see right through him.

There was no answer. She watched him closely for a moment before slowly closing the distance between her and him. As if she was nervous that he would order her away. Like last time she had been here, her palm caressing his cheek with such tenderness he had forgotten it existed. Her breath was warm against his neck and he was dying to mutter ‘please stay’.

What a joke. Jason Todd. Unapologetically and insanely in love with the little Raven. A Titan. Each atom of his body breathed longing into the space between them, aching to be with her, love her as a whole as it should be. But with a fractured mind, chained with firm mania cuffs. So hateful and yet insanely in love with this creature capable of drowning him in his ashes.

“I came to offer my help healing you but if you don’t want then...” She studied throughly his figure for a solid minute but at his reaction, furrowed forehead formed a thin line. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to regain her elegant composure, taking a step back.

He quickly wrapped his hand around her wrist to stop her from leaving. It was our of instinct or his body ice cold starved for a ray of light. He kept his face clear of the pain his shoulders felt at the movement, but Raven’s eyes flickered to them. A flash of genuine worry. Why he couldn’t apologize and be a gentleman like the golden boy. Damn it. Manners Todd.

“Are you mad at me?” Raven asked serious. She twisted her body around to face him yet she didn’t pry her wrist from his grip that had gentled as soon as he halted her.

Did she want the truth? No. He was mad at himself for not fighting for her. For being weak. For his wickedness. For all his bullshit. But the beat in his chest was now pounding like a hammer against an anvil, erasing the other sounds around him. He could only focus on her.

“No.” Jason forced a chuckled though it lacked the usual mirth. “I’m not mad at you. Which is surprising considering we are usually infuriating each other every other day, sunshine. Missing me much?” Letting her go was far more unbearable than his cracked ribs. She continued staring at him deciding whether he was telling her the truth or guessing what game he was playing tonight.

He felt his body tense in anticipation of her answer. Did she miss him? Did she think of him as often as he did? He considered briefly sending her away though every fibre of his being rebelled against the action.

Raven knew she shouldn’t be here but yet she found herself coming anyway, despite her rationality telling her to run, to flee, to hide, to forget that she ever came here…But something deeper, something stronger, urged her forwards. She didn’t dare fight it any longer. Yes. She missed him every second since their last encounter. She bit her lip out of habit. She was a Titan and he was an outlaw. Different sides of the coin.

“Jason.” Her free hand stretched for his that had loosened from her wrist. His callouses scraped across her skin and she found herself enjoying the touch perhaps too much for her own good. She recalled the last time they made contact. First he gave into it like a malnourished kid offered a piece of bread, but then he rejected it unreasonably. So adamant on pushing her away. Not this time.

Raven let out a heavy and deep sigh.

“How long do you plan to continue this ridiculous dance? Running around in circles.” She asked him openly with a soft voice. Her heart seizing painfully tight in her chest.

As long as it takes for you to leave me, he thought to himself. No answer.

“Jason” Raven repeated his name until his eyes met hers, it was a combination of lake blue and cyan. Impossibly beautiful and perfect, usually brightening with amusement or laughter, slightly shadowed by regret. Except now they were dull with contained sorrow. Let me heal you. All the hurting parts of you.

“Are you ashamed of me? Is that why you reject me?” She spoke with a cracked voice and glassy eyes. Doubting her worth snd pride wounded.

What. No. No. Hell no. The least he ever wanted was to hurt her. His fists clenched with frustration. How could she ever think he was ashamed of her? He adored her with his broken and dammed soul. He was ashamed of himself.

“I’m not ashamed of you.” Jason said with a shake of his head. “I’m disappointed in my own weakness. I could never be whole...” He admitted out loud with the weight of his past deeds and his unpredictable future. He inhaled deeply as he ruffled his dark curls.

She narrowed her eyes in understanding, wetting her lips before speaking. “Jason. You’re stronger then you think. You can deal with this. Don’t let this ruin who you are and what we could have.” She whispered softly, words caught between mustered courage and steady resolve. Voicing the possibility of a ‘us’. There was no point denying their attraction at this point.

One moment he was standing there. Motionless. Then he was moving, moving towards her, closer, before he’s quite given his body permission to do so because he couldn’t just stand there and not hold her.

At that Jason stopped breathing for a moment and his eyes shot to her. He wrapped his arms around her frame, tightening a fraction. His eyes were filled with something Raven was unsure of how to describe even with her empathic abilities. It was a mixture of emotions she couldn’t keep up with. Something she’s seen in him before but no one else.

Surprise. Fear. Worry. But over all happiness. Yes happiness and divine peace.

He stared down at her, a rational protest rising in his throat, the terrified assertion that she can’t help him, she can’t put up with this side of him. The rage and the voices and his uncontrollable anger. But in her eyes he found the answer. She’d already made up her mind. As if she was saying ‘I choose you’. Him. The damaged not charming and righteous Dick.

She could feel Jason’s volatile emotions call to her, voice hoarse and raw from his injuries but distinct and sharp, piercing straight to her soul. Pleading with his spirit. “Please…Stay with me.” She automatically snaked her arms around his neck. Her touch. Merely touching her used to be enough but now he couldn’t get enough.

He had been terrified by what her touch had inspired in him at first, terrified of what he might be able to do to her body if she let him…The things he wanted ro do to her. But unable to stop thinking about it, craving it, his lips on her neck, his strong, hard body pressing hers into the wall of his apartment, not caring anymore about his own physical pain. He pressed a passionate kiss to her lips.

Jason had never believed in soulmates, that was folks tales for mindless romantics. This didn’t change his mind about the topic. One thing was certain, if there was a person whose edged fit his perfectly regardless of the roughness, that would be Raven. She was darkness herself but in his mind she was the sun encasing him in gentle warmth. The stars were meant to reflect in her eyes. If there was a heaven, Raven was the owner of his.

Small jayrae prompt for @alerialblu @ravenfan1242 @amaati @niahti @jasonrae117 @catyypss 💜💖

#jayrae #jason todd #red hood and the outlaws #dick grayson #teen titans #bruce wayne #alfred pennyworth #batfam #dc fandom #dc universe #raven roth #writeblr

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memecucker · 4 years ago

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deoadjuvante replied to your post “I swear I think I even saw people trying to uplift John Adams over...”

wait, he didn't own slaves? I thought that there has been a pushback on that narrative in some historical circles, which argue that Chernow took some liberties in white-washing Hamilton's role in the slave trade. Tbh I barely read anything about Hamilton's life so I can't speak to whether its true, but I was under the impression that there is still real debate about his role in the slave trade.

So an issue that I think also is the cause of confusion is that it is true that Hamilton’s opposition to slavery did not prevent his complicity in the system but the form his complicity took was not that of someone like Jefferson.

Hamilton was born on St. Croix out of wedlock with his father leaving his family early on and when Hamilton’s mother died while he was still young he (and his brother from the same father) was prevented from inheriting her property due to being a bastard.

I havent read Chernow’s book but a claim that seems to have been made in it which is common across sympathetic biographers of Hamilton and which is stated as fact in the musical is that Hamilton’s experiences growing up in poverty (relative to the rest of the small white population of St Croix) and the stigma of being a bastard closing off many avenues for social mobility supposedly inculcated an innate sympathy for the marginalized especially slaves. There doesnt actually seem to be much direct evidence for this claim in terms of Hamilton’s own personal writings and letters. The closest from my cursory research seems to have been a letter the young Hamilton wrote to his estranged father discussing the aftermath of a hurricane that swept the region where he attacks the ruling elites of the island (nearly all slave owners or traders) for the selfishness in withholding aid and assistance from impoverished islanders which likely included slaves since there doesnt really seem to have large amount of poor whites (like himself) on the island. Hamilton uses the first-person plural to refer to the impoverished islanders however which seems (again, just going by cursory research) the closest we have to first-hand evidence that Hamilton “identified with” the enslaved but frankly I think its a bit of a stretch especially given the context of referring specifically to rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of a hurricane rather than generally speaking.

That said, the teenaged Alexander Hamilton did find both employment and mentorship on St Croix from a man named Nicolas Cruger. Cruger was part owner of an import-export company named Beekman & Cruger which did participate in the slave trade though sympathetic biographies do try to emphasis that it wasn the main goal of the enterprise (lol). That said, Cruger apparently had such belief and trust in the 14 year old Alexander that when he became heavily ill for some months in 1771 he left him in charge of the entire St Croix branch of the company. This included overseeing the importation and sale of slaves as conducted by the company. This may be the basis for some of the claims of Hamilton having definitively owned slaves but even putting aside that he was 14 years old there wouldve been legal procedures in place to prevent any kind of substantial changes (another reading of this incident may be that Cruger chose a 14 year old specifically because an easier to control youth would be more likely to keep the status quo in place in contrast with a more ambitious adult, though in this case Cruger most likely wouldve feared personal enrichment at the expense of his company rather than emancipation of slaves).

More damning to Hamilton’s reputation as a supposed abolitionist hero IMHO actually has to do with his relationship with his in-laws. The future Mrs Hamilton, Elizabeth Schuyler, was born into a prominent slave-owning family in the New York Colony. Despite his status as a bastard and usual stigma about women “marrying down” Hamilton was nonetheless able to marry into the wealthy and prestigious Schuyler family. He would later go on to assist his in-laws in writing up the purchase and sales of slaves and wrote letters on their behalf pertaining to the return of slaves that had left Schuyler estates for whatever reason. For me those shows a deeper collaboration with the institution of slavery even more than him briefly nominally overseeing his mentor’s company or his looking-the-other-way when it came to the slaves of close friends of his such as George Washington.

Also another that ought to be mentioned is the anti-slavery society Hamilton eventually joined, the New York Manumission Society. The term “manumission” refers specifically to not just the freeing of slaves but their freeing through “legitimate” means typically with the consent or at the very least not against the wishes of the owner. So a slave who is allowed to personally becomes free because of their master’s will upon their death (in some societies this was automatic or in the case of Rome strongly expected) or because they were allowed to sell goods on the side for the purpose of obtaining or even by means of marriage to their master as was commonly the case in Haiti. This is important to point out because the New York Manumission Society was very much a “moderate” society in terms of the cause of abolishing slavery and didnt even require members to not own slaves. It’s founder, John Jay (the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) even owned a handful of house slaves himself! The Manumission Society very much had a “free slaves- when we and they are ready for it” ethos.

Basically, there’s no evidence Alexander Hamilton ever directly owned slaves. However he was very very much assimilated into the wider slave society of colonial America and the personal reservations he had towards the practice did not amount to much. This contrasts with more forceful abolitionism of contemporaries such as Thomas Paine or even the later Benjamin Franklin who despite having himself owned slaves for his printing business became a stauncher advocate of abolitionism and who unsucessfully petitioned the Continental Congress to ban slavery.

Also to go back to the musical for a sec something that’s interesting is that LMM originally intended for their to be a third “rap battle” song directly about slavery pitting abolitionist Quakers against pro-slavery advocates but it was cut from the musical after he decided it would be improper given that the heroes of his play didnt really do enough for abolitionism (even though Eliza’s song after Hamilton’s death apparently includes a line saying he wouldve done much against slavery had he lived, which doesnt really line up with the evidence)

Miranda: Yeah, that we cut, and it was sort of our homage to "Hail Mary" [by Tupac Shakur]. There was a moment when there were two Quakers from, I think it was Pennsylvania, who tried to ban the importation of slaves and brought it to the house floor. And [James] Madison let them talk about it for two days and then set a gag rule — "We're not talking about slavery until 1808" — basically saying, like, "We don't know how to solve it." They knew it was a problem. Even from the racist perspective, it was, "There's going to be more of them than us!" But no one knew what to do about it, and they all kicked it down the field. And while, yeah, Hamilton was anti-slavery and never owned slaves, between choosing his financial plan and going all in on opposition to slavery, he chose his financial plan. So it was tough to justify keeping that rap battle in the show, because none of them did enough.

#deoadjuvante

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harleyquinnamiright · 5 years ago

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Crossroad High - Chapter One

also on Wattpad and AO3 Ships: (Eventual) Analogical, Royality, and Dukeceit/Demus Triggers: None that I can think of, please tell me if you’d like me to tag anything!

a/n: I don't know a lot about cheerleading and most of what I'm taking for Patton's cheerleading stuff is my fencing experience. Since it's a winter sport I didn't think it'd be fitting of Patton so. sorry for messing anything up there.

Remus Sanders is not a happy camper. After spending the entire summer at his Aunt and Uncle's house where all he could do was chores and school work, he gets one day to be at home. One day off before school starts again with the exact same day to day schedule as his so-called vacation. It would be bad enough having to do chores, having to do them while your guardians sit around and just tell you to be a different person is horrendous.

“HONEY! I’M HOME!” He chirped loudly the second he slammed opened the door, successfully scaring someone if the sound of something crashing had anything to say about it. He smirked to himself as he grabbed the door, seeing no dent in the wall, and kicking it back into place. His camo duffel bag that was slung across his shoulder was the only thing that he went to his Uncle’s house that he came back with, so he felt very smug waltzing into his kitchen. Even his wardrobe he wasn’t able to keep completely, though he was still wearing an outfit he had been able to hide by burying it. It was covered in dirt, but that never mattered to him. It was a black Billie Eilish shirt of her with her green hair, a pair of dark purple fishnets, and black ripped baggy jeans.

“You’re home.” Remus’ mother said with a sarcastic smile as she watched Remus walk into the kitchen. She was leant over the sink, a broken plate clearly having been just broken below her. Remus mentally high-fived himself. “You’re still doing makeup.” She said after a moment of silence, not trying to hide her disgust. Remus’ smirk turned into a smile as he remembered the loud purple eyeshadow and cat-eye he put on this morning.

“I am here. And yes, makeup is still on my face.” Remus smiled brightly, leaving the two standing in silence. “Welp. Bye!” He screamed the last word just to see if he could shock her again. It didn’t work, but it was worth a try. Walking to and up the stairs, it wasn’t surprising nothing changed. Whenever he left something seemed to change so it was a bit refreshing to see that the decor had left the same. No one else seemed to be in the house, which was a bit strange, but he didn’t note anything as he was glad to be home.

He almost screamed the second he opened his bedroom door. He didn’t actually scream, but he goddamn he wanted to. Everything that made his room his was gone. There wasn’t even a dresser anymore. His clothes he left were folded neatly on a silver shelving unit that looked like it belonged in a cafeteria, and there was no longer a mirror or desk. Half of the clothes there weren’t even his, or weren’t when he left, and he could tell that from the doorway. There wasn’t a trace of makeup and the walls had gone from his favorite neon green to a hospital white.

Not screaming, not thinking, he threw his bag at the bed that now had a sporty blue bedding instead of the green and purple octopus quilt he had specially commissioned, and climbed out his window. The roof below his room wasn't very strong but he walked on it enough to know where to step to get to the lattice and climb down relatively safely. He still wasn’t really thinking, but he got to his family's garage pretty easily.

Before he knew what he was doing he was holding a baseball bat above his mother’s favorite car. The only thing that made him stop and start to think was the garage opening to show his Dad's car. Knowing he wasn’t visible yet, he threw the bat half-hazerdly towards the corner and left the room garage towards the door facing his backyard, not really rushing, but still very much fuming.

—-

Seeing someone climb down the side of what seems to be their own house is not an everyday occurrence. Though, being in Roseville is not an everyday occurence for Janus Glass, so it’s not like he can actually speak about it. He couldn’t stop staring as he watched the interesting boy across the street climbing, but it was clear the other didn’t notice him. From what Janus could make out the other boy had white hair or white in his hair and was wearing clothes very different then from what Janus knew.

“Jay!” Janus heard, turning to see his Dad waving excitedly from the new house. It was a two bedroom house that was way bigger than it should have been, but the fact they could now afford it was amazing, and something neither of them had considered before.

J walked up to his front door and looked around, his dad running up the porch stairs excitedly. Neither of them had much time considering the fact that J had to get to the school soon for a tour, but it was nice to look around a house you never thought you’d actually get.

“What time was your school thingy again?” His dad shouted, now far inside the house.

“2:23,” J lied, wanting to be at the school early and liking the way the time sounded better. He looked around the living room which was connected to the front door briefly for a clock, coming up empty, but already spotting where one could go.

“So 2:30 or 3:00?” His dad responded, knowing his son's language.

“Former.” J responded, trying to visualize the rest of the room and decorations, a lot of which he and his father had already agreed on, but imaging again with different decor was nice.

“We, my boy, are going to be late.” His father said running down the stairs, walking quickly back into the car.

“What?” J asked deadpan as he followed him.

The two got into the car in silence, Janus half worrying about being late, half trying to imagine what the school would look like. Both thoughts got cut off by his Dad's car stopping shortly in front of a boy with sunglasses and a brown leather jacket. The boy looked up from his phone, gave the both of them a half dirty look before backing out of the way of the car. The two drove away with nothing but a look at each other. The rest of the car ride didn’t leave a lot of room for thought, being filled with Queen. Janus and his dad only got through two songs before arriving at the bland looking building that tomorrow would officially be Janus’s new school. The back of the building was boring at least, a solid wall of grey brick. The front had more sectioning off and was painted different quotes and pictures representing pride in the school and town, though not distracting from the statue in the middle of the front courtyard.

“Well look at that! This place looks fun! Am I dropping you off or should I know where your classes are? What are we doing?” Janu’s dad asked excitedly, clapping loudly once.

Janus totally didn’t flinch. He didn’t. Chad still looked apologetic. “You’re just dropping me off, Dad.” Janus replied, nodding to himself. The word dad made Chad light up as he unlocked the car. Despite the fact that Janus had gotten comfortable calling Chad Dad long ago, the fact he did made the other very happy.

“Text me when the tour is over! I’ll see what we can do about milkshakes afterwards, yeah?” Chad continued to smile brightly, not matching Janus’ low energy at all.

“Sure. Bye.” Janus was once again deadpan though trying not to be rude as he turned away from his father and towards the front entrance of Crossroad High. This was going to be a fun year.

—-

Roman should not have shown up 15 minutes early. It wasn’t a good idea when he left the house for the 10 minute drive, and it wasn’t a good idea when he got to the building. The front door was open by the time he got there, but there were no people around for what seemed like miles. The back parking lot full of cars, but it always was, and there never seemed to be any people.

The fifteen minutes wasn’t hard to fill when there was finally silence to think. In a house filled with the fights about Remus coming soon or Logan just needing people to know they were wrong, it was very hard to think. Sitting on the floor was also very nice. The silence was nice until there was a random voice behind him.

“Hey.” The voice was quiet, but it was still there.

“Hi.” Roman responded, turning around, instantly glad he spoke before looking as he looked at the others face. He seemed to have heterochromia of the eyes, one being almost yellow, the other a tawny brown. Also, half his face was covered in burns that looked so organized it looked like a waffle iron was pressed to his face.

“So. I, um, I assumed you were, a, my tour guide? If not, sorry for bothering you?” The other said cautiously, his voice rasping slightly, dragging out his s’s, going from somewhat deadpan to panicked in his time talking.

“Oh, yeah, no, yeah! I’m your tour guide! I’m Roman! Hello!” Roman said with a princely flourish as he stood up from his place on the floor, wiping his hips slightly.

“Greeeaaaaaat.” Janus nodded slowly as he drew out the word. “I’m Janus, with a u-s. Did you want the schedule I had or are we going around the whole school? or..?”

“We could do either! I wasn’t given a lot of strict instruction so I think we can do whatever. I was told you and I had the exact same classes, hence why I’m the one showing you around, so. Yeah.” Roman explained, smiling awkwardly. “That’s the front door.” He said after a second of Janus just staring at him.

“Math.” Janus seemed to force the word from his throat, for some reason not being able to speak. His face also had a slight tinge to his face that could have been blushing, from his burn scars, or because of the school lighting.

“Math. Yes. We have Algebra first. That starts upstairs. We go from here, down all the way to the middle school blocks, then use the left staircase, go all the way up, and the second door is the Algebra room. It sounds a little more complicated than it is.” Roman explained, pointing at the path he was talking about as he started walking.

“Middle school blocks?” Janus said a little easier as it was clear Roman would be able to hold most of the conversation for the day.

“Yes, the middle school isn’t really connected but it used to be. The 9th graders have to sometimes come here for elective classes because sometimes. I took a theater class that could only be held in this auditorium so me and my class walked here everyday from the upper lot.” Roman explained, smiling accomplished while talking about theater, obviously passionate about the subject.

“Oh, so you’re also a freshman?” Janus asked, surprised, his face turning confused again in the middle of his sentence.

“Yes, I have an older brother and again, theater class, so I am quite acquainted with the building.” Roman once again explained, turning to open the door but searching Janus’ face for reactions. There wasn’t much of any.

Janus nodded when he realized Roman was expecting someone and continued nodding throughout the rest of the tour. The school was broken up into wings so it was pretty easy to navigate. By 3:30 there was only one place left for Roman to show Janus.

—-

Cheerleading practice was rewarding but it was hard. A lot of people seemed to think it was easy, Patton at first included, but wow was it hard work. Not even mentioning the exercise before and after actually practicing things specifically for cheerleaders.

“Pat! We were all going to the movies later today, wondering if you’d like to come?” Regina, the head cheerleader, asked him cheerily.

“I’d love to! Should we meet in your locker room or mine?” Patton asked, already knowing the invitation was going to be revoked.

“Oh. Um. We kind of have to leave now.” Regina smiled apologetically, though she started tensing a tad.

“Oh, alright, then I guess I’ll see you next time!” Patton waves as he was the first one walking away, not pointing out several of the girls preferred to change too, and that many probably invited were already walking towards the school. Or that it was the fourth time they had invited him only to not revoke that when he reminded them he used a different dressing room.

It’s not like he was the only male cheerleader, he was just the only one who didn’t try out and get in in kindergarten. He joined in first grade, never thinking he was out of the loop. He didn’t even realize he was until 6th grade, when he and the three other male cheerleaders were chosen for the main twelve cheerers who were picked for competitions.

Suffice to say, thinking you’re alone in the locker room then hearing voices is pretty scary.

“And this is our last stop of the day! These are the locker roooo--- HI PATTON.” Roman, a boy Patton knew from theater class announced loudly upon seeing Patton. Patton laughed slightly, unsure of the loud reaction seeing as he was still fully in uniform and wasn’t doing anything he thought would cause such a thing.

The boy next to him waved slightly after a sec, looking at Roman strangely.

“Heyyy, Rodrick?” Patton asked unsurely, smiling brightly.

“Ro, uh, Roman.” Roman answered, though his tone was very questioning.

“Alright, hi Roman! And hi, you! I’m not sure we’ve ever met before! I’m Patton!” Patton waved more enthusiastically.

“Janus. With an u-n. It’s nice to meet you, Patton.” Janus nodded, smirking slightly on the side of his face that wasn’t burned. Patton was unsure if he wanted to ask but he was sure he wanted to know whatever or whoever was behind that sooner or later.

“Well. This seems a little awkward.” Patton said, closing his locker, deciding not to change out of uniform today. “I know why I’m here. Can I ask why you two are here?”

“I’m starting this school tomorrow and I needed a tour around.” Janus explained easily, drawing out the s, though his voice seemed like an emotion Patton couldn’t place.

“Oh. That’s fun. When walking in I think I heard you,” He paused and pointed softly at Roman, “say that this was the last stop? If that’s true, would you guys want to hang out? I’m a bit bored.” He finished, smiling and scrunching his nose, hoping it didn’t sound like he wanted to take over their day.

“That’d be nice. I’m also new to town so finding where to hang out would be, well, nice. Heh.” Janus answered after it was clear Roman was going to do no such thing. He stood there smiling like a polite cat, nodding continuously.

“Awesome! Let’s go!” Patton turned around, giving Roman a polite smile as to ask if he was coming. Roman just kept nodding. “Alright.” Patton shrugged, and started walking out the field to the back parking lot.

—-

Logan knew, for sure, that school didn’t start until tomorrow. He did. Then again, his brain never officially decided school was over, therefore he was in the clear of deciding he was overworking himself. It wasn’t like he was starting freshman year over again, he was going to school as a sophomore. He didn’t know why, but it seemed like this year was going to be important. Or dangerous. It’s school, who knows.

He was startled out of his thoughts about scheduling when his phone started playing Fergalicous. “Babes, you better not be hunched over your desk.” Logan’s friend, Remy, said after Logan answered the phone.

“I’m not hunching.” Logan answered honestly, pressing up his glasses.

“Working counts as hunching hun.” Remy paused to slurp his coffee, “Also I’m at your front door.” Remy said, sipping again.

“Of course you are.” Logan rolled his eyes fondly as he walked downstairs. He had earlier heard a crash of some kind of already figured his younger brother had been home and had probably left by now. Logan didn’t support what his parents had done to Remus’ room but since he didn’t stop anything he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to Remus yet.

“Why was your brother climbing down the side of your house?” Remy asked as soon as Logan opened the door, confirming his suspicions of Remus being gone. His mother was now also nowhere to be found but she typically didn’t mind Remy being over.

“Probably because our parents completely cleared out his room after sending them to our Uncles.” Logan answered, walking upstairs, trusting Remy to shut the door and follow him up the stairs.

“That a quote?” Remy asked scandalously, obviously wanting more information.

“Not directly. Here’s what was said,” Logan started as soon as he closed his bedroom door. Talking with Remy was always fun, he was trustworthy, and truly the only one who appreciated gossip as much as Logan.

The fact that Remy was only not in Roseville for a week did not stop him from having a world of new information from where he was and Roseville. Logan didn’t have as much info as the other but he had plenty and he had plenty of new information on people to walk into sophomore year. —-

When Virgil got home, he genuinely did not know what day it was or when it was. He knew it was dark. It’s not like he was gone for long but when the sky gets dark around 6:00 you can lose track of how long you’re outside. The only reason he left in the first place was because his mother's boyfriend Derrick was coming over and Derrick didn’t particularly like him. He didn’t ask him to leave but while he was there it was clear he didn’t want Virgil there. In his own home. Virgil didn’t mean to fall asleep in a public park and get driven home by a cop with no clock in the car whatsoever.

“Honey! Oh my gosh I was so worried!” His mother said, hugging him tightly the second she opened the door. He tensed and squirmed but she didn’t care. Despite the fact they were still semi outside, Virgil knew Derrick wasn’t home based on his mother's closeness.

When she finally let him go, before he was able to say anything, she glanced at something and suddenly got a hard look in her eye. “Sweety, you have school in two hours. None of your chores are done. I’ll let you know when you have time to change.” She was swaying slightly and her eyes showed she clearly wasn’t all there, but when was she ever.

Virgil just nodded, not like his mother was in front of him anymore. She was probably going back to sleep herself, but Vee couldn’t bring himself to care. He didn’t know how long he slept and still doesn’t know an exact time, but he just plugged his phone in before getting to work on chores. He had no idea why he needed to change but then again his mother did care about what others thought about him. In public at least.

His mother never called him to get changed but luckily he set an alarm his phone was loud enough to alert him of. He didn’t really have time to fully change what he was wearing so he just grabbed the first sweater he saw and the backpack with all his summer work in it. He was dressed fine, an intentionally ripped dark purple shirt and distressed black jeans, the sweater being a favorite and one he worked to fix when broken many times. He heard the bus coming before he saw it and he didn’t get a second to breathe until he was sitting in the seat directly behind the driver. He realized he left his headphones home way too late, but tried to comfort himself by knowing there wouldn’t be time throughout the day to listen to them. It was the first day of freshman year, after all.

taglist (ask to be added or removed): @fandomfan315 @dragon-hair @a-long-suffering-artist @aleiimm @sadgayisme @falsehoodx @jessibbb @notveryglittery @i-have-n0-idea-what-im-d0ing @izzyfandoms

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #ts roman #ts patton #ts logan #ts virgil #ts janus #ts remus #analogical #royality #demus #dukeceit #ts remy

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saibh29 · 5 years ago

Text

The Truth in the Past (Part 6)

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader

Warning: Swearing, Murder, Angst

AN: Because secrets have a way of never staying secret

You’ve covered for your sister all your life to such an extent you don’t know anymore where she ends and you begin, or how to even stop a relationship that’s now more toxic than good.

PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE PART FOUR PART FIVE

*****

Jay was relatively quiet for most the journey over to the club pulling up a few streets over and turning the engine off. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a twin?”

“What?”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about Y/S/N? As much as you like to shout at me that we were nothing but sex, you know that’s not true. We did talk, but you never once mentioned her. Why?”

“It’s not important anymore Jay”

“It is to me” he said, clamping a hand on your thigh to stop you jumping out of the car and escaping this conversation. “tell me the truth Y/N”

“I don’t talk about her to anyone” you eventually admitted. “She doesn’t speak about me either. It’s just the way we are?”

“Why?”

“Because not every sibling relationship is as easy as yours and Will’s” you wrenched your thigh out from under his hand and got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind you. “I don’t want to talk about this Jay. Please, just let it go”

He stood with his elbows on the roof of the car. “for now”

You’d take what you could get and the fact was you really didn’t want to talk to Jay about the intricacies involved in yours and Y/S/N relationship. It was complicated and not something that could be explained in a quick 5 -minute conversation.

“Let’s just get this done”

With Jay leading his badge easily got the two of you through the police tape and into the darkened entrance of the club. The main lounge was much brighter even with the main lights on.

Strippers didn’t do well with harsh lighting you guessed. Took away the air of mystery.

“I’ll look out here” Jay said already moving towards where Pete’s body had been found. “You check the office”

You could do that, more than happy to not have to stay in the same room as the large blood stain and stripper poles. Pete’s office was towards the back of the building on the upper floor. From the mess on the desk you’d guess his OCD didn’t stretch to organising his papers.

Starting from the left side you begun scanning through the loose bits of paper trying to find a reason why anyone would want to murder a strip club manager.

After a couple of hours, you’d found nothing more than long sheaves of expenses all of which to your untrained eye seemed reasonable and above board. There was no sign of the notebook your sister had spoken about and there was also no keys anywhere to be found.

Jay had a much bigger area to search and with nothing else to do in the office you went back to the main floor to see how he was doing. Stopping on the landing above the floor. Leaning on the railings to watch your Detective…uh, the Detective. Not yours.

He was poking around the edge of the stage, there were cubby holes along the lengths of it, mainly for customers to shove dollar bills in, you doubted there was anything in them but it was worth trying.

“Find anything?”

Jay span quickly almost tripping over his feet in his haste. When he’d steadied himself he finally figured out where your voice had come from. “No not yet, you?”

“Nothing in the office, just invoices and accounts. They all look good though, legit. No sign of any notebook or the keys”

“Someone took that notebook… but why?”

“It had something in it that it shouldn’t” you guessed, coming back down the stairs to stand beside Jay. “But what?”

“Whatever it was, it was enough to convince someone that the answer was murder”

“Not my sister” you insisted. “Jay, me and Y/S/N have a… complicated relationship but I know that for certain. Y/S/N could not have done this. For one thing, I saw those crime scene photos, I doubt she’d be strong enough to swing anything hard enough to do that damage to his head”

“I’d had the same though”

“The killer, got in here, murdered Pete, stole his notebook and did it all in the short window of time between Pete arriving and my then my sister arriving”

“Which means what?”

Jay knew what that meant you knew that, there was a certain sort of cathartic release though from getting your idea’s out of your head in chronological order. For saying them yourself. It made it more real somehow. “The killer, he knew the club. He knew the lay out and how to get in and out quickly”

“They’d been here before” Jay carried on. In a burst of movement, he went back over to the entrance of the club. Walking through his sentences. “They came in, spotted Pete who was already walking the floor, got a weapon, or did they bring it with them?”

“It’s not here now and no weapon was found so probably they brought it with them?”

“Makes sense” Jay continued walking until he reached where Pete’s blood still stained the carpet. “So, they argue? The killer demands the notebook and when Pete refuses the fight turns physical. Pete’s end up with a smashed skull and the killer, notebook and keys vanish”

“But if the Killer brought the weapon with them, surely they arrived with the intention to kill Pete. It wasn’t a fight that went wrong?”

“It wasn’t enough to take what Pete had written down, they had to eliminate Pete all together”

“This is serious isn’t it?”

“Yeah, probably more serious than we initially thought” Jay said moving back to where you were leaning against the stage. “People willing to kill to keep a secret. That’s dangerous, especially when they come to the realisation that Pete might not be the only one who knew that secret”

“Y/S/N” there was horror in your voice and Jay must have heard it because tentatively he reached out of you, like he wasn’t sure you’d let him touch you. Right then though you needed any sort of comfort he was offering. You leant into his side, his arm going around your shoulders. “is she in danger?”

Jay was silent.

“Jay? Do you think my sister is in danger?”

“I don’t know” he said eventually. “We don’t know what secret Pete was holding onto, it’s impossible to know if Y/S/N knew it as well”

“god” your chin fell down to your chest. “how did this all get so screwed up”

“We’ll figure it out Y/N” Jay promised. “Come on, lets get out of here”

Jay’s arm stayed around your shoulder as the two of you left the club heading back to the car and the district.

****

@lifesaclimb-buttheviewisgreat @lclb13 @moli1497 @clementines-x @the-chosen-one-time-lord @no-other-names-availible-blog @angelaiswriting @selldraug @angryares @thenovarose @georgiagrl1990 @mindofthescattered @dontstopxx @iamabeautifulperson18 @madelinecraig03 @ka-x-in @mesmericbell @weirdpotato-14 @putinontheritzz @soulslaststand @fuckthatfeeling @ember1201 @morganlb23 @tomhopperarms @fakingintrest @artprincessbree @dreamer-lover-laughter @artprincessbree @rime-warrior @captainvaneswife @kapolisradomthoughts @thingsandstuffienjoy @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @aya-fay @itsbubbaog @hp-hogwartsexpress @emmykinzs @thatbadassunicorn @sassywingednightmare @weirdnewbie @goyawriter @shipperfangirling @nathaliabakes @stillreadingfantasy @waywardblueshun @give-jack-a-lightsaber @shipatheart @itsdesiree86

#chicago pd #chicago pd x imagine #chicago pd x you #jay halstead #jay halstead x you #jay halstead x reader #jay halstead x imagine #jay halstead x fanfic #halstead #halstead x you #halstead x reader #halstead x fanfic #halstead x imagine #detective halstead #imagine #reader #fanfic #you #oc

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punkscowardschampions · 5 years ago

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Ava & James

Ava: So, campus bars Ava: Avoid entirely or cheap enough to make the cringe worth it? 🤔🤔 James: use your student loans wisely enough that cheap is avoided entirely Ava: Ugh 😏 I thought you'd give real advice if I got you off the clock James: go with your gut, option 1 James: you're not striking me as someone to base their social life around KCLSU's quiz night Ava: I love trivia like I love cheap white wine spritzers and school spirit James: knew you'd fit right in Ava: Can I put that resounding endorsement on my application then, James? James: it'll carry more weight if you accidentally add the I when you write my name James: but I didn't say that James: slip of the pen, that's all Ava: My lips are sealed Ava: There's plenty of time to meet him and double up on kudos James: I hear the girl's hazing rituals are savage James: stand you in good stead that will Ava: No one is scarier than a high school girl Ava: Nor as petty and sadistic Ava: I think I'll survive James: they've toned it down since that girl had a mental episode post head shave James: sure you will Ava: Very chic Ava: Do you wait 'til the UCAS app has gone through to drop the horror stories usually or are you really bad at this whole recruitment thing on purpose? James: it's my 1st time playing tour guide James: potentially I'm less than cut out for it Ava: I won't lodge a formal complaint Ava: Unless you're turning over DMs as feedback, in which case, awkward James: I won't be, some girls think I have more sway than I really do James: awkward indeed Ava: God Ava: Not even my first choice Ava: Though makes you wonder how effective attaching nudes to your cover letter would be James: they'd have to take that on a case by case basis Ava: 🤞 that you don't get the one token woman on the panel James: not your 1st choice, no need to cross anything Ava: Hypothetically, James II Ava: Why was it yours, then? Ava: Student life evidently not being it James: it was my only James: it's gonna end up being Teddy's too Ava: He hasn't turned up to business studies in time Ava: But slip of the pen, I get you James: my older sister got all the brains and none of the sense of fun Ava: Know the sort Ava: Bet I still likes you better though James: I wouldn't go that far Ava: Too far for a taster sesh Ava: Understood Ava: Don't suppose you'll point me in the direction of where you actually hang now then? James: I suppose I could Ava: Please Ava: Bored is an understatement Ava: I'll still show up all present and correct for the debrief thing tomorrow James: it's such a good thing here isn't your 1st choice Ava: You should give me the real tour Ava: I'll keep my lips sealed James: can't I get another please before you do? Ava: Please do not invite your brother Ava: He got us kicked out of Mahiki last month it was so tragic James: he's a disgrace Ava: Most of them are James: I don't associate with anyone who still goes to Mahiki regularly Ava: It's pretty played out James: if they'll let Teddy in they're getting desperate Ava: 😂 awh James: you ready now? Ava: Already out Ava: Figured you better pick me up from The Vault Ava: Consider it a mini hazing of my own James: keep your lips sealed that I'm going within 100 yards of the place and sure Ava: Don't worry Ava: The others are at the cinema or something equally as lame the school put on for our 'overnight entertainment' Ava: I'm sick Ava: No selfies James: the hangover'll make it look & feel convincing Ava: That's a promise you can put your wallet behind Ava: I am a guest James: you don't want put your fake ID on the line either Ava: Bold of you to assume I've ever needed to buy my own drinks 😏 Ava: I didn't bring it alright, shut up James: you don't need it, I'm only playing Ava: 😾 James: how many drinks has my brother bought you? Of course I need to 1 up him Ava: Total? Ava: Not as much as he'd like but lots Ava: Not trying to milk this sibling rivalry or anything, have known him ages Ava: Well before Mahiki would let him in, like James: hardly a rivalry, you know him well enough to realise Ava: True Ava: You do what feels right and I'll let you know by the end of the night then James: very straightforward James: I like it Ava: You don't know me well enough yet but that's par for the course James: I knew your brother for years & I didn't know him James: we'd need more than an evening Ava: I'm as comparable to my brother as you are to yours Ava: Probably James: show me, I'll show you Ava: Deal Ava: But we will need more than an evening Ava: to make it fair James: you can have until you're bored Ava: You'll want longer when you aren't anymore James: I'm used to things not lasting as long as I want Ava: I'm not your average Ava: You'll see James: bold of you to assume I've ever settled for average Ava: I didn't say THE average James: I heard you say my average Ava: No need to be offended by better, is there? James: bemused at most Ava: You're welcome Ava: but you are meant to be entertaining me, not the other way 'round James: you brought up fairness James: & it's a good point Ava: How do you propose we make it fair then? James: I entertain you tonight, you entertain me whenever you've thought of your own tour worth taking me on Ava: That's actually a good idea Ava: and entirely fair James: Teddy'll cost my dad more to secure his place than I did, I've got some brains on board Ava: No doubt Ava: Gave his name to the right kid, clearly James: My sister was undoubtedly relieved James: though Diana has its own pitfalls Ava: 😬 The jokes write themselves James: they do Ava: Perks of having a relatively untouched name James: it does suit her, she's very much a martyr Ava: Did you do an English degree? Ava: You're good at painting a picture with words Ava: See 👸 so clearly James: sadly not James: maybe I'll go back & do it if I ever finish the current one Ava: Student forever vibes Ava: Fuck real life James: then again, being the kind of dad who drops their kid off for classes & pulls up his own chair at the table doesn't sound like a great idea Ava: Just make sure its not their first choice, yeah? James: oldest's already smarter than me James: won't be a problem Ava: There you go then James: where's yours? Ava: Currently undecided Ava: It's more a case of sorting the 2-5 James: & how's that going? James: this place being a solid 5th Ava: Its been a solid mix of fun and boring working it out Ava: Better than another night in Mahiki at any rate Ava: I'll have to decide eventually but even my mum can't demand I do quite yet James: don't over complicate it James: they're not all that different James: I've got friends studying all over the map and they're still basically doing the same things I am Ava: See, that's what I figured Ava: But try telling that to a woman who was Cambridge or bust Ava: It's more about the vibe of the place, the people, the ethos and the lecturers not being the worst stereotypes of boring/creep Ava: again, if I tell her vibe is on my criteria she'd actually kill me before I could apply anywhere so 🤷 James: your secret's safe with me James: even if our mothers were friends, mine is currently not speaking to me Ava: How's that? James: it's something I'm fairly used to James: she's not a big talker James: more of a fan of a dismissive hand gesture Ava: Gotcha Ava: Not a whole lot to miss James: she's got lots to say about my parenting style but who hasn't Ava: Shame you don't talk to my brother now James: I don't suppose he sees it as a shame Ava: Probably not Ava: He's not one for regrets James: me either James: it's why we started out friends Ava: Feels like ages ago Ava: Since he still lived here James: it kind of is James: he left before he left Ava: It's complicated James: it's not my business Ava: Not mine either so Ava: Whatever James: car's here James: are you going to make me get out for you? Ava: You're meant to come in here Ava: Don't you trust I can keep my lips sealed? James: I don't trust it to be entertaining in there James: hence it's not part of the tour Ava: Please James: Oh Ava James: [but does come in we all know he would] Ava: [clearly making him stay for a drink and play pool or something in this student ass bar] James: [when you're whipped for someone you're not even dating lol] Ava: [When Chloe is your missus] James: [to be a fly on the wall in their relationship tbh literally imagine] Ava: [oh lordy how you have not been missed girl] James: [at least the new kid is young enough she can dress it up still and it can't talk back so she can pretend she gives a shit and isn't blowing his phone up rn] Ava: [in full show-off-to-all-my-friends mode still, somehow still has some lol] James: [lord when you don't even like and comment on pics of your own child anymore though bye do not approve of your aesthetic choices Chlo] Ava: [so awkward, when you only get a look in for the boring/hard bits] James: [basically just get to parent Jay cos she's well over that] Ava: [poor James tbh] James: [have your fun now lad I don't blame you even though everyone else will] Ava: [lord people gonna be SO mad] James: [how far we gonna take this during the tour cos obvs flirty vibes been flying about but like he can't just jump her cos married and she's younger] Ava: [she fully initiated this whole thing lbr but maybe don't sleep with him yet babe as you are aware he's married and has kids so like, some thought even though you young and reckless that, he could always stop it at a makeout 'cos then how embarrassing for her and she'd have to leave it for a bit like what was I doing, angst etc] James: [I vibe with that cos they are gonna be drinking a lot as the night goes on so that'd make both of them give less of a shit about the consequences but because the night is going on eventually chlo is gonna be like are you coming home ever because I like to think he hasn't cheated since she got pregnant with this kid and has actually been trying even though he's miserable af clearly] James: [like maybe it was really bad before and he was actually gonna leave her so she was like simply must trap him and did] Ava: [v much a her move I support it] James: [yeah cos she's invested this much time into him she's not just gonna let him go easily] Ava: [when you have no idea what you've signed yourself up for here babe] James: [I'm rooting for them rn cos nobody else is and I'm 100% that bitch, must not get invested yet when we've only just begun] Ava: [same tho so whoops] James: [he'd be so into it though too we all know that makeout would be 💣🔥] Ava: [hence breaking it off would be hard af, Chloe gotta be blowing his shit up to the degree he thinks maybe one of the kids is hurt lol] James: [literally Chloe is the teenage girl in this situation, girl chill out] Ava: [I'd feel bad if you hadn't also cheated loads and trapped him in this sham life soooo, grant you idk how much Ava knows of that rn but she'd clearly have a rep] James: [yeah I feel like Ava would be knowing some shit cos same circles and Chlo ain't slick plus like he's gonna eventually tell her cos god knows he needs someone to talk to] Ava: [we will get there boy] James: [at least it'll be less awks for her cos it'll be obvious that he didn't wanna break shit off and how hard it was to do] Ava: [there was obvs a vibe to pursue in the first place, still tomorrow morning lmao] James: [he'd so go too hard pretending she doesn't exist like nobody's picked up on the vibe and it ain't obvious okay boy] Ava: [I hope there's some other drama gone down on this little excursion so yous can fly under the radar, someone hold hands at the cinema lol] James: [shit like that always happens don't worry you two] Ava: [thank God for teenage shenanigans when you out here homewrecking on the low] James: [you should do some Chlo texts at me for the lols even if I don't reply cos busy lol]

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prettywordsyouleft · 6 years ago

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The Sex Contract - Chapter 16

Genre: friends to lovers au / friends with benefits / mature content / romance / angst

Characters: Shim Changmin x Kaia Ashton (OC)

A/N: Due to the overwhelming request I have followed your encouragement to bring back one of my older stories. This was back in a time where OCs were everything and writing one chapter in each main’s point of view was the trend. I hope that even though I have edited this drastically, that you can appreciate this story comes from my older style of writing. I definitely still read this often and find it enjoyable so I hope you will too.

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 - FINAL

Chapter 16 – Kaia’s POV.

“Kai, its morning time, wake up!”

Kaia rolled over in the bed and her eyes washed over Changmin. She had been awake for a much longer period than the Korean, though he was too tired to realise the expression on her face. She had to look away after a while, not because she was afraid of what he’d see, but because she didn’t want another flare-up of what she had been internalising all night long.

It was stupid really, Kaia hadn’t realised where it had changed and become complicated between her and Changmin. But it was different now and the nausea within her stomach started to attack with full force.

“Changmin, I don’t really feel up to your schedule today,” Kaia admitted. And it was the truth too.

He gazed down at her with concern, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Are you unwell?”

“Still a bit from yesterday. Don’t worry though I guess I’m not cut out for the lifestyle of a celebrity. I was thinking since I haven’t had much time to see Tokyo and you’re too busy that I might just go for a little wander today.”

“That would be a really neat idea,” he enthused, nodding his head. “I’m super busy all day long. Ever since the papers this morning were released I’ve pretty much got a jam-packed schedule. I wish I could come with you and enjoy the nice weather!”

She nodded. “I already submitted my article on Korea Star last night around the time of your date. There were photos up by that time too. It seemed like a good night.”

“If I had more time to tell you about it right now Kai, I would. But I have to get out of here early. Anyway, I’ll leave my credit card on the table, use it to buy something nice!”

“I don’t need it,” Kaia called out fruitlessly and listened to the front door shut shortly after. Pulling her knees up under her chin with a sigh, Kaia stared at the blanket until her eyes became unfocused.

Why was she starting to feel something for her best friend?

Around ten, Kaia finally pulled herself out of bed, padding into the kitchen for a glass of orange juice. As Changmin mentioned, she found his credit card sitting there with a small note beside it telling her there was no limit on how much she could spend and to have a great day. She picked it up and screwed the note into a little ball, half contemplating maxing the entire card just to get back at him. Kaia knew he hadn’t meant it, but after last night’s sex she felt like it was just a way to pay for her services. She had to push back the bile rising in her stomach at the mere thought.

Ignoring the card, and finishing off the juice, Kaia headed back into her room and got dressed, picking up her bag and the spare card-key before locking the house up. It was another nice autumn day in Tokyo, the weather just the right temperature to enjoy. She pulled out my map book and found where she was on it, looking for the closest interesting place to visit she had scribbled down on a list in bed. Finally, deciding on taking a train to Hibiya Park, Kaia headed in the direction of the closest underground station.

It was a highly confusing platform and even though she was used to Korean ones, because she lacked knowledge of the language, Kaia struggled to follow what English was around her. Eventually, she found a ticket seller and asked as best as she could, the man showing her where to board and what number she needed. She followed the directions and hopped off at the stop she had counted out along the way, stepping into a group of businessmen before heading up onto the street.

“Okay, now it’s to the right from this station,” Kaia said to herself in English, hurrying along the street towards the park she was excited for. The pictures she had seen earlier on her laptop were something she wanted to explore in person, and hoped to get some nice photos to send to her nature-loving Mother.

She stopped walking when she realised she had passed the same noodle shop before. Glancing around her, Kaia tried to find herself again on the map, but not knowing where she was made it that much harder. She looked for a person she could communicate with but after attempting to get the attention of a couple of busy pedestrians, she knew that she was in the wrong place to be asking for advice. Business people had very little time to waste on foreigners.

Kaia wandered forward and then grinned, spotting Hangul across the street. After nearly killing herself trying to dart between the traffic, she entered the Korean store, bowing at the keeper. He simply waved her off before she could even speak, and even though she used her second language over her native one, he wouldn’t have a bar of her. Frustrated, she stomped her foot in anger.

Glancing around again, she noticed a Korean girl sitting on a bench and hoped for better luck. “Excuse me, would you be able to point me in the direction of Hibiya Park?”

“Uh no,” she replied coolly and held up her phone. “And couldn’t you see I was busy?”

“Wow, the youth these days have no respect for their elders,” Kaia muttered under her breath before sighing heavily. “Why can’t anyone in this area stop and help a person out?!”

“Perhaps, if you asked the right people you’d get somewhere,” a voice answered, and she snapped her eyes to follow it, somewhat surprised that the English accent didn’t match his appearance. Kaia stared at the man curiously as he approached her. He smiled and shared a dimple. “Where are you trying to head?”

“You’re surprising,” She blurted out and colour invaded her cheeks, as his laughter reached Kaia’s ears.

“Not every day you expect an Asian to be British?”

She nodded weakly. “And how timely you are. I even speak Korean fluently and wasn’t getting anywhere.”

“How surprising,” he bit back in his native tongue, and she rolled her eyes at the Korean man, trying to decipher why he looked relatively familiar. “I’m Jay.”

“Kaia.”

“Well since I’m able to speak both English and Korean well, shall I help you?”

“I’m trying to find Hibiya Park. Do you know where it is?”

He nodded brightly. “Not here.”

“What?! The train steward told me to get off at the fourth stop and I did!”

“You’re easily frustrated,” he observed and pointed in the opposite direction. “You must have missed a stop because this would have possibly been your third stop from your original destination.”

“Great, just my luck in trying to take myself around a place I don’t speak the language of.”

Jay grinned. “Good thing I speak Japanese too.”

“You’re a man of many talents it seems,” Kaia said, grinning back and he nodded.

“Come on, I’ll show you to the park. Perhaps you’ll learn more about me on the way too.”

By the time they reached Hibiya Park, Kaia had forgotten all about her previous frustration with the day so far. Jay was refreshing to be around, his laughter infecting her with a good mood. She learnt he had lived in London for ten years before moving back to Korea to study and get a career. They had a lot in common, especially as they discussed their favourite English things they missed whilst living in Korea. Kaia had expected Jay to say farewell at the entrance but he had accompanied her for the entire afternoon. She was thrilled to have made such a good friend already, Jay making her feel completely at ease, despite only knowing him for half a day.

“So you know about me,” he asked as he balanced on the edge of a fountain that wasn’t working. He pointed down at her and grinned. “What about you. Why is Miss Kaia Ashton in a country she cannot speak the language of?”

“Because of my friend. He has a career that involves a lot of jet-setting,” she carefully worded and smiled. “He asked me to come along and work with his team. I’m a writer you see, and so it was VIP access really.”

“You have me really curious, what kind of job does your friend do?”

“He’s a singer,” Kaia answered and his face filled with several emotions. “And as you can imagine his schedule doesn’t have a lot of time for sight-seeing.”

“So you decided to come out alone?” Kaia nodded. “And how would you document your fun time out? Unless you planned to do heaps of selfies of course?”

“Pretty much was the plan.”

Jay jumped off his ledge and grabbed the camera out of her hand, quickly taking a shot. Kaia yelped and tried to grab it back, the man laughing as he snapped some more. He then turned the camera on himself and took some of himself. She rolled her eyes at his mischievous expression but stepped closer to him, Jay instantly getting as close he could and holding the camera up. They took a few random shots before laughing it off and finding a new spot to take photos at. Although she knew it was a common experience in Korea to take a bunch of photos with friends, apart from Sungra, this was her first time enjoying it.

“Should we get some lunch now?” Jay asked and Kaia nodded before looking at her watch.

“Dinner you mean, it’s almost four o clock.”

“But dinner leads to the night ending early,” he proclaimed and she raised an eyebrow at him. “Let’s eat dinner later, perhaps with my friends?”

“If you think they’ll enjoy my company?”

Jay grinned. “Course they will. We all share a lot in common with the experiences you’ve already had being in Korea so far.”

“Now I’m intrigued,” she told him, and he nodded enthusiastically.

“Good, that’s how I want you to be Kaia.”

Time slipped by quickly in Jay’s company and Kaia was already sitting in a trendy sushi shop waiting for his friends to turn up for dinner. The afternoon had finished effortlessly and rolled into the evening full of arcades and more laughter. It was the best fun she’d had in ages.

“They’re here,” Jay mentioned and Kaia looked in the direction he was pointing, as four Korean men approached. Each of them felt familiar and she wondered why.

Slapping her forehead lightly in realisation, Kaia shunted Jay beside her. He laughed and beckoned them over. After the introductions were done, she poked Jay in his arm and he let out another laugh.

“I was wondering if you’d recognise another singer if you crossed one.”

“Well it’s not every day I expect to be rescued by one in a random setting, Jaewon,” I said, emphasising on his full name. He seemed to find it humorous and Kaia had to admit she did too.

Meeting CODE V in Japan was definitely something she wanted to remember.

_________________

Part 17

[TVXQ Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]

**Please note: The new character introduce in this part shows just how old this fiction is because CODE-V haven’t been very relevant since Jaewon’s scandal and his removal from the group. Naturally, this was written before that and I don’t have the energy to rewrite a new character in.

#shim changmin #changmin #tvxq #tvxq imagines #tvxq scenarios #tvxq fiction #tvxq fluff #tvxq romance #changmin imagines #changmin scenarios #changmin fiction #changmin fluff #changmin romance #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop fiction #kpop romance #pwyl; the sex contract #prettywordsyouleft writes

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babydollsmadd · 6 years ago

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25, 23, 29, and 30 because i hate (love) you and want you to suffer 💖💖💖💕

EYYYY I’m finally getting around to finishing these lmao. (also I just noticed u changed ur profile picture???? I’m iN LOVE ❤️✨❤️)

WARNING this is super mega long!

I ended up writing a lot of these for all of my paras bc I can’t fucking stop myself n you’ve honestly heard enough of my mains and not enough of my others so I Had to I’m so sorry

this entire post ended up being such a mess and I’ve been working on it for weeks I’m so fucking sorry

send me emoji asks!

🏈 Does your para enjoy playing sport?

Zazie does actually enjoy playing sports quite a bit, just.. alone. He’s not a team player, and often doesn’t know his own strength, so it’s better to let him do things on his own. He used to do a lot of running & parkour, but nowadays he mostly just works out on his own. He still does gymnastics tho. Tatsu very much loves playing sports, be it soccer, football, whatever, he’s in. He likes team sports, but he’ll still go work out alone most of the time. With Nyru it’s a bit more complicated, bc on one hand she has to be in top form for her concerts, but on the other, she really hates sports and just moving in general. Usually Zazie motivates her n they end up working out together, but otherwise, she doesn’t like playing any sports. Nyro plays a lot of chess, that counts right? Otherwise, he & Nyra really don’t like sports either. Meg & Ao tho work out a ton and always look incredible, and especially Meg enjoys playing sports, even if she’s not the best. She’s also quite strong tho, so that’s nice. I think Rin would be into sports as well, he’s all about a healthy balance in his life. He spends so much time painting, that I feel like he’d take some time for physical activities as well. Daiki is a fucking nerd and hates sports as much as Nyru, a subject they like to rant about a lot. Suki probably isn’t into sports either, like at all. Ami.. yeah actually. She spends a lot of time with the more active in the group, especially her brother, so she’d be into team sports as well.

🌼 Describe the aesthetic of your para (can include visual)

OKAY u already know how much trouble I’m having with this one but. My first plan was to actually write them down, like, all those posts u always see, but I only really liked the one I wrote for Zazie, all the others I disliked. Now I’m going back to wanting to make boards, and I think that’d be really cool, but I just do not have the energy to make all of those first, so I’m putting this on my to do list and hopefully I’ll actually do that at some point lmao. Now I can finally post this beast. ✨

✍ Write headcanons/imagine about your para(s)

OKAY so uhh. With any other person I would just take some more points from my hella long list of fun facts about Zazie, but you know literally all of them. I think?? Yeah literally every single one of these I’ve told you about. So. Huh. What do I do now. We’re at a point where I can’t tell you shit about Zazie & Nyru bc you literally know everything. So let’s see if I can come up with some other facts about Tatsu on the spot bc he needs more love.

despite the fact that he’s been appearing a lot less in my daydreams, my heart still goes ❤️🚨❤️🚨❤️ when I think about Tatsu.

i mean COME ON he’s amazing and he needs to come back I miss him!!!!!! I just feel like he’s been.. sorta withdrawn and depressed since he’s no longer with Nyra. That happened a while ago tho, idk maybe he’ll finally come back soon.

not sure if I ever told u this?? but he also doesn’t have a gag reflex. like at all. zero (0). 👀 for some reason he likes to bring this up in the most random moments too.

he’s actually fluent in 4 languages, at some point Zazie dragged him down the rabbit hole and they learned a bunch of languages together. these are English, Spanish, Japanese & German.

he has an incredible voice as well, obviously. it’s relatively high, but has this.. hmm I guess seductiveness about it? not sure how to explain it lmao. apart from Jay Kay & Brendon Urie, this song here is very close.

he can hit ridiculously high notes, on the same level as Nyru actually.

I told u this before, but his theme song is hey look ma, I made it due to how fucking perfect it is for him. he was very close with his birth mother, but she died shortly after his sister’s birth. his step mother was very abusive & made their life a living hell, and now, many years after they’ve gotten out of that situation, he still wishes he could show his real mother what has become of them.

he really didn’t deserve all of the bad shit that has happened him. sadly, he’s kind of a sheep, he just follows along with whatever’s happening. he’s not a bad person at all, he truly has a heart of gold, he just doesn’t have the strength to actually fight against anything. not really.

so in situations where he has to do bad things bc Zazie basically tells him to, he’ll do it, matter how much he hates it. man writing that out is actually heartbreaking damn.

he has a lot of regrets in his life, but the biggest one is probably his relationship with Nyra. he really did love her (still does tbh but don’t tell anyone), it’s just that he really fucked that up. and I don’t think he’ll ever be able to have a normal, healthy monogamous relationship the way Nyra wanted. so that’s heartbreaking as well. why did this turn into me talking about how fucking sad I am about Tatsu lmao ok we done here

🎙 Write a poem/song/or a story with song verses about your para or parascom

nshjfbkjdsbfkjds u know I hate poetry & I’m way too insecure about my writing so we’ll just uh… write down a fitting song verse for each of of my paras.

Zazie

I ain’t niceNo I’m quite a dickI’m the bad guy who’s makin’ you sickIt’s easy for meI’ve got no shameI’m in it for the money and fame

Nyru

But I got a mind to show my strengthAnd I got a right to speak my mindAnd I’m gonna pay for thisThey’re gonna burn me at the stakeBut I got a fire in my veinsI wasn’t made to fall in line

Tatsu

So I don’t feel loveBecause I got no faithI’ve seen those twisted lies thrown back into my faceI’ve heard the crazy doctrines of the human raceI must be alone

Daiki

Got an eagle beak with the ostrich feetSeven spider eyes for every day of the weekMeans I’m still up working while your bitch ass sleepsI’m an alien among the human beings

Nyra

Picture, picture, smile for the picturePose with your brother, won’t you be a good sister?Everyone thinks that we’re perfectPlease don’t let them look through the curtains

Nyro

Triangles are my favourite shapeThree points where two lines meetToe to toe, back to back, let’s goMy love, it’s very late‘Til morning comesLet’s tessellate…

Megumi

I just keep elevating, no losses, just upgradingMy lessons, made blessings, I turned that into moneyThank God I never settled, this view is so much betterI’m chilling, I’m winning, like on another level

Ami

Well you think that you know what I am but you don’t‘Cause I say what you can’t and I do what you won’tI like it loud really proud like a crown upon my headI’ll always be this way ‘till the day that I’m dead

Somehow, you’ve remained modestFlashbulbs pop, paparazzi goes wildWith amazing grace you walk and smileThey answer to your beck and callYou’re flawless

Rin

Prove to yourselfThere’s nobody elseRaise up your handAnd leave no man standing

Suki

I see how your attention buildsIt’s like looking in a mirrorYour touch like a happy pillBut still all we do is fearWhat could possibly happen next?Can we focus on the love?

#baby answers #paraportal #ask meme #get this beast outta my draaaaaaafts #I hope you're satisfied 😂

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jae-bummer · 7 years ago

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My Idol 2: Part Twenty One

My Idol From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My Idol is a South Korean competitive reality dating game show. It currently airs on Wednesday nights on Jae-bummer’s blog. First broadcast in 2016, the show offers the opportunity for a lucky fan to go on seven blind dates with seven idols. The idol plans the date with the show throwing in specific missions to complete during the day. At the end of the initial dates, the show opens up an audience vote to decide what three idols will move on to the second date.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 -

Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14 - Part 15 - Part 16 - Part 17 -

Part 18 - Part 19 - Part 20 - Part 21 - Part 22

After trailing a few quiet kisses along Johnny’s cheekbones, you cheerfully wished him good night. After you locked yourself safely behind the door that evening, your heart soared. He was kind, considerate, and not at all willing to push unwarranted affection on you...

Even though it probably wasn’t as unwaranted as you would admit.

You were sick of complication. You had kissed Wonho, Yoongi, and Mark at this point, and only one of them was actually left in the running. The mere thought of it riddled your mind with guilt. You didn’t want anyone’s heart to break unnecessarily, including your own, so keeping the men that circulated you at arms length seemed to be the right coarse of action.

After your honesty hour with Yoongi, you realized it was okay to be distant sometimes. It was okay to embrace your feeling in the moment, no matter how confused you were. You were confused when you had kissed Wonho, but you had wanted it. You wanted his lips against yours so desperately, but as soon as he pulled away, instant regret sailed through your conscience. How would that act of intimacy effect him if he wasn’t in the finale? How would it effect you? But most importantly, how would it effect the men who you were also dating and had to watch your kiss with Wonho on the small screen?

It was okay to be confused with what happened. It was okay to muddy the lines between love, lust, and adoration. You were figuring things out and that meant along the way, it was also okay that you hadn’t kissed Johnny. He knew you cherished him. A kiss didn’t have to tell him that. The fact that he chose not to press his mouth against yours spoke volumes to you.

More so than any kiss could.

You hadn’t given Wonho that chance, allowing for your attraction to cloud your mind, but you wish you would have.

Either way, you were in heaps of trouble with both boys...because at this point, you could easily see yourself falling in love with either. And you hand’t even complicated things with Yongguk yet.

You grabbed the bouquet of flowers you had abandoned on the entryway table and scooted down the hall. You didn’t have much time to freshen up, due to scheduling constraints causing your next date to begin directly after the one you had with Johnny. You supposed that was what happened when a fourth man was thrown in to cause a dramatic twist of events.

Grumbling to yourself, you knew you had dismissed Jay before he had even appeared. Admittedly, it wasn’t the most levelheaded way to go about serial dating,but you had to draw the line somewhere. After watching the first season, you were certain that Jay considered his appearance in the second round of dates to be beneficial to his competition standing. He had gone through the motions before, learned the My Idol system, and had even almost won.

The only hitch to his plan would be that he hadn’t learned you.

You were the unknown in the equation.

You weren’t sure why he had been brought back. Whether to ruin your season out of spite or because he truly did want a second chance at love seemed to consume you. How were you supposed to have fun with someone who was either out to destroy your experience or had so passionately loved someone else in your position? It was an awkward situation you were not looking forward to facing.

But there was already a fifty percent chance that said awkward situation was already standing on your doorstep.

You were busy filling the vase in your kitchen when a loud knock echoed across your apartment. Heaving a sigh, you slid the flowers into the glass decanter and fluffed them out a bit.

The knocking continued a bit more fervently as you adjusted the bouquet on your counter and slid down the hallway. Opening the door, you heaved a deep sigh before shaking your head.

“Don’t you have an actual home? Like one you pay to live in?” you grumbled, scooting to the side as Yoongi shouldered his way through the entryway.

“Yes, but I can get free food here,” he grinned, hardly pausing as he popped off his shoes and continued down the hallway.

“No, the food is not free,” you croaked. “I pay for the food, Yoongi.”

“Which means, I do not,” he continued, glancing over his shoulder. “Meaning it is free...to me.”

“You know, I have a date showing up at any minute,” you grumbled, crossing your arms.

“Am I going to get a speech about how I shouldn’t be here?” he asked, lifting his brows. “Because I haven’t gotten one in a few days and frankly, I’m having withdrawals.”

“You’re going to become more familiar with my closet than I am if you keep showing up on filming days,” you muttered.

“Maybe I can organize it for you,” he chuckled. “Instead of just sitting on the giant mound of clothes you have thrown in the middle.”

“Those are clean clothes,” you pouted. “Or at least they were before you wallowed in them.”

“Because I’m obviously a contamination risk to your pile of jeans,” he mumbled, rolling his eyes. “If anything, you shouldn’t wash them. You should treasure them. For MIn Yoongi has bestowed his valuable touch onto them.”

“Alright Midas,” you sighed, shaking your head. “If you think you’re doing me such a favor, why don’t you go ahead and assume your hiding spot. Like I said, my date is going to start-”

“Look, I’m here for you,” he nodded. “Being a friend, support and stuff, and maybe if you wanted to kiss a little bit-”

Just as the words began to leave his mouth, a buzz signaled at the talk box near your door. You furrowed your brows as you glanced to it. Normally it would only signal food delivery or unknown guests. By now, the My Idol crew had learned to navigate around it and simply punched in a code to get into your building. You looked over to Yoongi, who simply shrugged. Cautiously, you pressed the button, and leaned forward to speak.

“Uh, yeah?”

“Can you let me in?” a muffled voice asked.

You shot another look at Yoongi who had paused on his journey to the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, but who is this?” you countered.

“Your date,” the voice chuckled. Your face contorted as you stared at the box. The tone was relatively deep, but was it really deep enough to be Yongguk? You titled your head to the side as you pondered.

“How do I know you aren’t some psychopath, My Idol super fan shown up to kill me?” you asked, warranting an encouraging nod from Yoongi. Without moving a muscle, he had somehow managed to find a bag of chips and had begun shoving them into his mouth.

“Look, Sweaty and Armpit ain’t getting out of the vehicle and refused to give me the code,” the man sighed.

Definitely not Yongguk.

“We have a pretty rocky history and I would really just appreciate it if you-”

“I’m on my way down,” you muttered, shaking your head.

He didn’t need to know your code.

After instructing Yoongi not to eat the entirety of your pantry and to keep the television volume relatively low while he watched dramas, you scootered toward the elevator. Heaving a sigh, you slammed at the button that would bring you to the lobby and waited in anticipation for the doors to creak open.

Glancing past the service desk and to the glass doors that served as an entrance to the building, you saw Jay Park.

A very perturbed, wet Jay Park.

“Oh no,” you hissed, pushing off on your scooter with immense speed. Jay ran his tongue over his teeth, his jaw beginning to tighten as you approached.

“I’m so so sorry,” you whispered, yanking open the door as he stepped inside. “I didn’t know it was raining and you didn’t say anything so-”

“I hadn’t gotten that part out yet,” he muttered, shaking his hair as if he were a wet dog. “I was too busy getting past the part where I didn’t have the damn code...

...oh and that I wasn’t a psychopath determined to kill you.”

He lowered his gaze as he surveyed you, keeping his face cocked to the side as he continued to shake off various damp body parts.

“Damn mommy, I didn’t know someone could make a scooter look so hot,” he grinned, his eyes wicked.

You tried not to melt in your spot and succumb to the preprepared lines you were sure he had crafted on the drive over. You had had multiple discussions with yourself after the first voting special. You would not let your sensitivities grow weak in his hands.

You opened your mouth, only to close it again. Unsure of how to respond to his advances, you chose to ignore them completely.

“So, I hope the weather doesn’t ruin our plans?” you asked, adjusting your focus from him and to the rain pouring outside.

“Only if you’re made of sugar,” he grinned. “Which if you told me you were-”

“Why don’t we get going then,” you nodded. “Wouldn’t want to keep...what did you call them earlier?”

“Sweaty and Armpit,” Jay grinned. “But of course I’d never say it to them. Too scared they would eat me.”

“Mmm,” you hummed, looking him over. “I don’t think you’d be very appetizing.”

Jay’s eyes grew wide as you scooted past. You attempted to keep a grin from finding it’s way onto your face, but had difficulty with the battle.

“Damn,” Jay clucked, trailing behind you. “Little savage ass.”

The wind and rain gently rocked the My Idol SUV as you sped down the streets of Seoul. Glancing out the window, you attempted to keep your focus on the scenery whizzing by, but kept finding your eyes lingering toward your date for the evening. It was difficult not to look at him, considering a) he constantly had his eyes bored into you, and b) he was an otherworldly handsome. You didn’t want to admit it, but it was almost as if he glowed in person. He was so eerily good looking that you felt it was a disservice to yourself and the audience of My Idol not to look at him.

“Like what you see?” he whispered after a moment, his eyes finally catching yours surveying him. You immediately looked away and attempted to swallow.

It wouldn’t have been so difficult if your mouth wasn’t so dry.

“It’s okay,” you hummed, shooting him with a bored expression.

He smirked to himself as he nodded. “I’ll take it.”

“Can I ask where we’re going?” you asked, looking toward him again. You felt as if with every glance you stole, you would have to pay for it in some way. Whether it was a cocky expression or a slick comment, your attention wouldn’t go unnoticed.

“Sure,” he nodded, keeping his face serene as he waited.

“Okay...” you trailed. “Where...where are we going then?”

“You’ll see,” he grinned, choosing to focus his attention on something outside of the window.

“But...but you said -” you began, furrowing your brows.

“I said you could ask,” he nodded. “Never said I would answer.”

The camera man you had assigned the nickname of Sweaty rolled his eyes while Armpit snorted.

Okay, so maybe giving in to Jay’s nicknames wasn’t exactly the kindest thing to do.

But damn, were they accurate.

“Trying to be mysterious?” you asked. “Better be a good reveal then.”

Jay’s cheeks turned pink as he looked back to you and nodded silently. Taken off guard for a moment, you watched him, unsure how to take in the small differences of the Jay you were meeting and the Jay you had seen on Season One. While he still had an unlimited amount of lines, he was much calmer than you anticipated, a bit more reserved.

Careful, even.

“It’s not THAT extravagant,” he muttered, avoiding eye contact.

“THE Jay Park didn’t plan something extravagant?” you chuckled. “I refuse to believe it.”

“Believe it or not,” he sighed, glaring at you for a moment. “I don’t have to be flashy to impress a girl.”

“Could have fooled me,” you hummed. “I watched last season, I-”

“Don’t get it twisted,” he hurried, shaking his head. “The Jay Park you saw after editing is not and will never be the Jay Park you are with today, got it?”

“Right,” you nodded, surprised by his defensiveness. “Right, I get it.”

“Contrary to popular belief, I’m not this asshole everybody makes me out to be,” he muttered. He looked moodily from you and back to the window.

Armpit snorted again, causing Jay’s ears to turn a dark shade of red.

“I’m a chill dude,” he said quietly. “And I would appreciate it if you could at least give me a chance before condemning me.”

You felt your neck grow hot with embaressment as you avoided his eye contact. He knew exactly what you had been thinking as soon as you had stepped foot in that lobby. Before you had entered the lobby even. He knew he was at a disadvantage and was realizing that you weren’t necessarily going to be the easiest to convince.

“Sorry,” you said quietly, finally chancing a look at him.

“Don’t be sorry, sweetness,” he sighed. “Just give me a shot.”

#jay park #min yoongi #johnny seo #wonho #yongguk #bang yongguk #bap #shin hoseok #monsta x #nct #nct 127 #suga #bts #bangtan boys #aomg #my idol

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howaminotinthestrokesyet · 5 years ago

Text

How Music Stuff Works: Sampling

For quite a few years, I have dabbled in creating mashups on my computer. I will take rap acappellas and combine them with instrumental versions of popular songs. I will then post this music for anyone that wants to hear on SoundCloud. In my mind, everything that I was doing seemed relatively harmless. Yet, I learned that I was committing copyright infringement because I did not have clearance. For the most part, the only thing that would happen to me was that my music will be taken down. I remember one time I got an actual email from the representatives of Jay Z for using one of his songs. Yet, I began to think about these questions about copyright, samples, and how it actually got to be this way. This would be a good exercise for me anyway, so I do not start doing something with my mashups that might take me to court.

Let me start at the beginning before I get too far ahead of myself. The first use of sampling was in the 1940’s with a technique called musique concrete. This was a technique where an artist would record sounds to tape, splice the tape, and then rearrange that tape to create what was called a sound collage. Composers began to experiment further with the technique, which led to the release of the first fully electronic soundtrack for the film, Forbidden Planet in 1956. These early sampling techniques were also used quite a bit to create soundtracks for television shows like Doctor Who. In the 1960s, music producers like Lee Perry began using samples, where they would utilize pre-recorded reggae sounds, then DJ over it. If Lee Perry sounds familiar to you, then you probably heard his name in a Beastie Boys song. They were always making references to early figures that influenced hip-hop. The beginning of sampling as we know it today really began with the introduction of the Fairlight CMI Synthesizer, which was released in 1979. The interesting thing was that the term sampler was meant to describe the technical process of how the machine worked, and not what it was being used for. The reason why the Fairlight was such a big deal emerged in the fact that it now made sampling music simple. In my personal opinion, this had the same affect as the cotton gin did in the south in the 1800s. Soon enough, other synthesizers were coming out that were significant improvements and much cheaper.

Sampling has influenced almost every genre of music, but it was hip-hop in the early 1980s that it influenced the most. Everything that hip-hop aspired to become was complemented with the use of samples. DJs and MC’s would like to take old funk and R&B records to create tracks. The reason for this was the presence of drum breaks in those albums. At first, artists were only taking little bits and pieces of the music from the past due to the fact that there was a limitation on the technology. In 1988, the Akai MPC was released, which probably had the single most impact on anything in hip-hop throughout its entire history. This instrument allowed artists to now use entire songs as samples, instead of bits and pieces. The other reason why this was so groundbreaking came in the fact that you did not really need any music knowledge to create the music. Anyone could do it.

Throughout the 1980s, sampling became increasingly more and more popular with major artists. One of the first to do it was Stevie Wonder in 1979, while the band Big Audio Dynamite introduced sampling to the main stream in rock and pop in 1985. Big Audio Dynamite was led by a former clash member Mick Jones. Artists in hip-hop begin to create albums composed entirely of samples. One of the most popular samples used in the 1980s was John Bonham’s drum beat in the song “When The Levee Breaks.” This was used in the Beastie Boys track “Rhyming and Stealing.” One surprising fact that I learned was that Fab Five Freddy, who used to host Yo MTV Raps, created the most commonly used sample in the 1980’s. Another sample that was used quite frequently emerged in the Amen track. NWA used it quite prominently in Straight Outta Compton. The original artist was never compensated one cent for the use of the sample. In the early to mid-80s, sampling was much like the wild west, where everyone was taking original music for their own repurposing. At first, sampling was not this out of control because they had certain unwritten rules about what you could use and what you could not use. For example, you could not use anything that was currently released and on the charts. Yet, the thing that happened was artists began to get younger, and they began ignoring the rules because there was lots of money to be made. One of the first artists to release an entire album filled with samples was the Beastie Biys with Paul’s Boutique, which people today call groundbreaking and visionary. The funny thing when asked about the samples on that album a few years ago. Mike D said that it would probably cost $1 billion to make that album today. The reason for that was that the original creators of the samples were now looking for compensation as record companies began to realize money could be made from hip-hop songs.

Using someone else’s work as your own has legal implications obviously. The interesting thing to me was that it took the music industry so long to actually start to take people to court. If you want to use a sample, you need to get legal permission from that artist in what is called clearance. The first lawsuit that occurred was when the Turtles sued De La Soul for using a sample from one of their songs. The case was settled out of court, but it signaled what was to come. In 1991, songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan sued Biz Markie for using material from one of his songs. The court ruled that Biz Markie had infringed on his copyright, which meant Sullivan had a choice, either money or removal. He chose the latter, so Biz Markie’s record company had to remove any copies of the albums from stores. Some people have said that sampling in hip hop is the equivalent of a guitar to rock ‘n’ roll. Some writers have further said, this decision was as if a musical instrument had been removed from the hands of the artists. Some artists outside of hip-hop would argue that you cannot take away a musical instrument from someone who doesn’t know how to play one. This moral, philosophical argument would go on to dominate hip-hop for its entire existence. Hip-hop still struggles with this question of whether or not hip-hop artists are musicians. As time passed, hip-hop artists found it increasingly more and more expensive to use samples in their songs. Today, the only artist that can use significant portions of established songs are popular ones because they can afford to do so. New artists are faced with the question, which some say has become a case of asking themselves what can I use and what can I get away with. If a hip-hop artist thinks he can get away with something because the original artist has passed away, then just look to the Marvin Gaye example. His estate did not allow Robin Thicke any leniency. Experts argue that it has completely stifled for creativity. Some practices today have been used as workarounds for copyright infringement. One such artist that has taken advantage of a workaround is Chance the Rapper. He has used streaming services like Spotify and SoundCloud to use songs with uncleared samples, but he is able to get away with it as he is not receiving any royalties for the music. This has become one of the things that new artists have to do. They give away their music for free, but then make all their money through their live shows. Another workaround is when an artist records their own sample of a song, then samples the cover. This would be a great idea, but the problem is there is absolutely nobody in hip-hop that knows how to play an instrument. I am not being critical here, but only speaking the truth. Sadly, there has been absolutely no incentive whatsoever within hip-hop to learn how to play music. As far as legal challenges to samples being used in songs, the number of musical notes it takes matters very little. I remember hearing about one case where it was four or five notes. I guess Vanilla Ice was very lucky that “Ice Ice Baby” was even allowed to be released. That is in a way funny, but very true.

I am beginning to sound like a broken record, but the music business is incredibly complicated where nothing makes sense. This idea and question of whether these hip-hop artists should be allowed to freely sample anything they want is a tricky one. I understand that there is a certain artistry to doing rap songs and remixes. Yet, the thing I cannot wrap my head around is the fact that it is a reinterpretation, not completely new. Another analogy would be if you remember when Steve Fisher took over as head coach of Michigan basketball in 1989. He did win the national championship, but the one criticism was they were not players that he recruited. I see the same thing with these artists using other people’s songs. For me personally, I will always side with the original creator. I have written novels before and I am currently writing a new one. I would not want anyone using my words, characters, plot in any way, unless I agreed to it. If your primary instrument of making songs is something that essentially acts as a copy and paste button, then you may want to go into a different direction. The problem is that currently in hip-hop, producers and even the artist themselves, have gone the complete opposite direction of where it should be headed. I believe that hip-hop artists should learn to play music. Instead, all of these artists and producers have made the decision that creative and catchy samples are really not that important. For the most part, hip-hop and rap is suffering from an immense identity crisis right now. All their songs sound the same. And so it goes.

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bluboothalassophile · 8 years ago

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Give Me Back My Mind! I'm

Missing Bats, Dead Bats, New Bats

“You’re really going to break into Shadowcrest?” Constantine asked ludicrously.

“What’s the problem, it’s not like I’m robbing the House of Mystery, and she double crossed me first,” Jason growled lowly as he sipped his beer.

“It’s not that, it’s… I thought you were done with magic,” John sighed.

“I am a thief,” Jason repeated. “I was contracted to steal the book, I did, I even had a pissed off demon after me, and I got paid for stealing the book. However, as in the terms of agreement for acquiring my services, no double crossing or the other Red comes after you.”

“No, I get it, but I just… are you sure Z took the bloody book?” Constantine asked.

“It’s my fucking starting point, and I’m relatively certain she hired me to steal it,” Jason stated flatly.

“Well, I’m always up for a wee bit of mischief, but I’ve got my own problems to handle, I’ll help you with Shadowcrest, but then you’re in my debt,” Constantine warned.

“Fine,” Jason waved off. He didn’t mind owing John a favor, it wasn’t like John’s favors were all that horrible. “Whatever you want pal.”

“You do know my friends die, right?” Constantine said with dark humor lacing his tone.

“You do know I’m allergic to death,” Jason countered. Constantine was laughing then as his head fell back.

“Yeah, here’s the Shadowcrest blueprints, but you did not get them from me. And tell your sorceress that the house doesn’t take too kindly to demons,” Constantine waved his hand and a set of scrolls materialized.

“I never…” Jason started and John gave him a hard look.

“The Gem of Scath is an elusive demon, and a hell of a sorceress but she’s a demon all the same, Jason, a very powerful one at that,” Constantine said firmly as he sipped his drink. Jason lifted a brow.

“Gem of Scath?”

“She’s the daughter of Trigon, a king of demons, she was born to rule at his side, a Princess of Hell so to speak, no doubt if she were to be in her father’s realm she’d be a Queen. The Azarathians who sheltered her and raised her, they supposedly taught the Gem to control her demon. The Azarathians prophesized her opening the door which would bring Trigon to earth and destroying all worlds mortal. They were right in a manner of speaking, but Azarath will never know that.”

“What is Azarath, I know in the League files it’s listed as a dimension and that book as the last relic of Azarath, but I’ve seen a good portion of the multiverse and never heard or saw it,” Jason said.

“Not surprising, lad. Azarath was sort of behind the veil of all multiverses, all seeing, all knowing behind the veil of the universe. It was said they were a peaceful world, and spiritual, practicing mystic arts we could only dream of, I’m sure if Fate were here he’d have more to say on the Azarathians,” John said as he sipped his beer.

“What happened to them?”

“Azarath was destroyed, by Trigon,” Constantine said indifferently.

“How?”

“The Gem of Scath, she’s a conduit for Trigon, a very powerful one at that, she accidenitally opened a door to Azarath and Trigon came, destroying it all; she was merely a child, and then Trigon stole her away to his realm, after that, somehow, she came to be on earth. I don’t know the whole story, just the whispers and rumors of what I have heard from other demons and sorcerers,” John shrugged. Jason frowned as he stared at his beer.

“’Side’s the silly prophecy came and passed already, she was powerful enough to banish Trigon back to his realm, saving us, can’t be all bad if she banish a demon as strong as Trigon,” Constantine chuckled.

Jason shot him a confused look. “I thought you wouldn’t like demons.”

“They aren’t all evil, a bloke I know is merged with a powerful one and he’s not all bad. Demons are just… dangerous. They’re like a wild animal, impossible to predict, and very dangerous, but dangerous isn’t always bad. The Gem of Scath, from what I’ve heard, is a passive creature, while her nephew, the bloke I was telling you about, he’s aggressive,” Constantine shrugged.

“Passive my ass,” he snorted. “Thanks for the blue prints.”

“Jay, be careful in that house, Z isn’t a weak one, and she hates the Gem of Scath,” Constantine warned.

“Her name is Raven,” Jason warned lowly. “And Zatanna is only on my shit list because she double crossed me. That makes her my enemy, and if Raven’s my ally, I think Zatanna should be the one worrying.”

“Agreed, I won’t be warning her if you’re concerned about that,” Constantine said slowly. “Azarath sorcery belongs to the last Azarathian, not to anyone else.”

“Thanks Constantine, I owe you one,” Jason said as he walked out of the bar then and made his way to his safe house.

He frowned at the paintings on his floor, the wax, the candles, the scent of inscents and the faint scent of blood. However, he ignored it as he carefully moved around all the paintings; not willing to fuck with magic and end up in another dimension or turned into a bat or something.

He made it to his sleeping room and saw Raven sound asleep on a bedroll, Damian claiming the mattress. Sighing he stripped off his clothes and pulled on his pajama pants; snagged a shirt as an after thought and stretched out beside Raven.

For such a powerful demon, she was tiny, he thought as she shifted on her stomach and scooted into him on her own. Exhaustion claimed him as he yanked a blanket over him and Raven and he decided he wouldn’t be childish about sleeping with her. It was chilly in the apartment after all.

~~~*~*~*~~~

He was too fucking exhausted after dealing with Superboy the day before and yesterday that he had collapsed in his living quarters on his bed and opted to sleep for a year. Between talking to Superboy the day before, and having Tim sit there and talk to Superboy, Dick had spent most of yesterday trying to figure out how to talk to Superman about the existence of the clone; it was exhausting.

Life was exhausting as of late.

Not in the bad, depressing way, but rather in the ‘there’s one of me, eight of you, a thousand things to do, have patience, I’m working on it’ way. When Damian had shown up earlier this year and they had sorted everything about the League of Assassins, the Pit, Slade Wilson, and where Damian would be staying, Dick had decided he’d have to step up more as a big brother. With both Tim and Damian. And while he and Tim were good; had been since Tim had donned the mantel of Robin, Damian was a different story.

Damian was a handful to say the least, he was so unlike any other child that there was that it was a bit ridiculous to try to treat him as a child. However, Damian was ten, and he needed to be a child. And after all the shit the kid had gone through, both before being dumped on Bruce by Talia al Ghul, and after, the kid needed… family. And the Bat family was perpetually dysfunctional as hell. Also, by taking Damian out of Gotham he was out of the reach of both Talon and Talia, and Dick would do anything to keep his baby brother away from the psychos of Gotham and the League of Assassins.

But aside from Tim and Damian, there was Bruce to worry about; not that he had to worry about Batman, but Bruce he had to worry about. Bruce was the not-great-but-still-trying father who was paranoid that something bad would happen to them, Bruce was the father who had lost his son, and who didn’t know how to be a father but tried all the same.

And to add to his exhaustion of life there was now Barbara and Kori to deal with. He and Kori had a nice thing going, steady for a year, not quite boyfriend and girlfriend, but more than just friends with benefits. Truthfully, until Bruce had insisted on the Titans having technical support and Barbara being said support, he had been planning on taking Kori on an official date and uncomplicating this part of his life. But with Barbara here he wasn’t certain about this, or how to proceed. Dick had loved Barbara, and he still did in a way, for a long time, she’d been a dear friend in a moment of his life where he’d been in hell, and she’d helped save him. But whatever spark, whatever flame had been between them in their youth, it had extinguished when the Joker had broken her and she had shut him out and he’d let her shut him out.

But with his family, and confusing relationships, also came all the work he did as Nightwing, Dick, Richard Grayson, and a member of the Titans and the League. It was exhausting to try to keep up with all that.

And perhaps it was this exhaustion which had made him miss it. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed because he was already stretched so thinly and he had come to rely on Raven to be there to keep him propped up. Raven was good like that, she was like a sister to him and she was his savior where Damian was concerned. Perhaps it was the fact he was so comfortable here in the Tower that he hadn’t noticed it. However it had slipped his notice, even as he cracked his weary eyes open at the sound of his ringing phone and an empty bed.

Yawning he reached for his phone and looked at the caller before sighing, wincing, sitting up and looking around his room for Kori. She wasn’t here, he felt his cold bed and groaned as he fell back; complicated! For about a year, whenever he was in Tower or in San Francisco, he and Kori shared a bed; and right now she wasn’t there.

Groaning he got out of his bed, noted that it was five in the morning, the only two who would be up would be Raven and Damian. Damian got up and four-thirty every morning to train; unless the Titans had had a ridiculously late night mission. And Raven would be getting ready to meditate at five, they always shared a morning cup of tea and coffee at five.

Walking out of his room with his phone in hand he made his way down to the kitchen and noted the absolute silence, not even the hum of the holographs running, which had him sighing as he walked to the coffee. Raven hadn’t made it, frowning he just did it himself as he waited, waited for both the coffee and Raven to materialize from the shadows.

She didn’t show, he just shrugged it off to her being exhausted as he sat at the kitchen table and dialed back Bruce.

“Dick I need you to do me a favor,” Bruce started when he answered the phone on the second ring.

“Morning Dick, how are you? Oh, I’m good, just exhausted, Supes has a clone, I haven’t slept well in four days, and I’m exhausted. Also, my alien girlfriend, the one you’re not overly fond of, is mad at me for letting my childhood sweetheart live here, and I woke up in my bed here, alone for the first time in a year after having a steady thing with Kori going, thanks for asking though,” Dick sarcastically filled in his guardian. As much as he loved Bruce, Bruce wasn’t his father, no one would ever be able to take his father’s place in his heart or mind, and Dick refused to entertain the idea of calling Bruce ‘Dad’. But Bruce was a guardian, and Bruce was alright with that.

“Sorry, Dick,” Bruce sighed.

“It’s alright, we’re still training you,” Dick shrugged; he had Tim in on him with the correcting Bruce on how a father was supposed to be, hopefully Bruce would be a better father for Damian. “Now, what’s so important you’re calling at five in the morning?”

“I have some news,” Bruce started.

“Of course you do, else you wouldn’t have been calling,” Dick stated as he sipped his overly sweetened coffee, it was so warm, and good, it was like coming to life again.

“I’m going to need your help talking to Damian and Tim about this,” Bruce said firmly, but the undercut of uncertainty was what had Dick sitting up straight in his chair.

“What is it Bruce? You’re officially scaring me. You’re not dying are you!?” Dick felt the panic coming at the thought of losing Bruce; he wasn’t ready to be an orphan again, and he was not ready to be shoved into the mantel of Batman; and he didn’t want it. No, Dick was happily waiting for Damian to be all grown up to take the Batman mantle.

“I’m not dying,” Bruce stated firmly.

“Oh thank God,” Dick sighed as he fell back in his seat. “So what’s up?”

“Selina’s pregnant,” Bruce stated and Dick burst into laughter; it couldn’t be helped. From the age of thirteen Bruce had been hounding it into him to use protection, to be safe, to be smart, to accept the consequences of sex if protection failed and to never treat a woman as anything less than a lady; regardless of what she did for a living or how she acted. And now, in the span of a year, Bruce was telling him that he had not only sired one baby, but two; it was priceless!

It also revoked Bruce’s lecturing rights on protection.

“After all the lectures you gave me!” Dick laughed. “You have a ten year old show up on your door step, and now Selina in less than a span of a year! This is great! You can’t lecture me anymore about protection! I’ve never even had a pregnancy scare! This is great!”

“I will still lecture you so you do not get to being my age and have a ten year old showing on a yacht not the doorstep,” Bruce grounded out.

“Nope! I’ve never had a pregnancy scare, and my current girlfriend and I haven’t even had to worry about the possibility. And yacht, doorstep, tomato-tomata,” he shrugged. “Congratulations are in order I take it.”

“Yes,” Bruce said uncertainly.

“Tell Selina I said hi, congrats, and welcome to the family. Oh, and I want a baby brother,” Dick stated happily. “She is going to be a part of the family, right? I like Selina, why better than that manipulative bitch Talia.”

“She’ll be happy to hear that, and we’re working that out,” Bruce sighed. “Also, you know you cannot make requests as to the gender of a baby, right?”

“I know, but face it Bruce, we have no idea what to do with girls, Barbara’s Barbara, and Cass is a former assassin, and Stephanie’s Cluemaster’s daughter, both girls are more of Barbara’s than ours,” Dick pointed out.

“Still can’t will it to be a boy,” Bruce pointed out.

“I can hope, also, is this why it was suddenly imperative that Tim and Stephanie join up with the Titans? I get having Damian here, and I get that those three need to work on being a team, but your push was sudden,” Dick pointed out.

“The reasons of needing them to be a unit are also true. And after Wonder Girl, Supergirl, and Superboy’s near death attempt at a mission is also a true factor in my pushing them to join the Titans. But yes, the pregnancy was a private factor as well, Selina and I will work this out, without interference, but Dick… I’ll be in San Francisco next week, I would like to sit down with all of you and talk about this,” Bruce carefully and the wheels in Dick’s head spun.

Damian wasn’t overly fond of Tim and he barely tolerated the rest of the adopted clan and preened over being Bruce’s only blood son and rightful heir. There could be problems forming with this announcement and Damian’s attitude.

“I’ll talk to Raven, see if she can help me with talking to Damian,” he sighed. Raven was perhaps Damian’s only friend outside of the family, Dick was hoping this would change in time, but it was a good start. Also, Raven was a good role model for Damian, Dick would have sworn she was like a big sister or mother to Damian with how she had taken to treating him.

“Raven?”

“I need reinforcements, and Raven’s good at getting through to Damian, you know this. Besides she’ll keep it all to herself, Raven doesn’t gossip,” Dick pointed out. He was pretty certain that all of Damian’s calls home had elements of Raven in them.

“Just… don’t have the entire Titans know, else the League will know and everyone will know,” Bruce grouched.

“I get it, how far along is she?”

“Ten weeks.”

“Hey, wasn’t that after…” Dick started and frowned. “How long have you two been officially, secretly dating then.”

“Since before Damian came here,” Bruce answered.

“Wow, almost a year then,” Dick said in awe. Brucie tended to be frivolous in his dating life, Bruce Wayne sought to stay single or have a connection, and Batman couldn’t have attachments or love. Dick was impressed. True Bruce and Selina had been dancing around each other since before he’d ever even known Bruce, but to actually hear that they were a couple… it was impressive.

“Congrats, send Selina my love and try to do right by her,” Dick grinned at taking over the father role at the moment.

“Talk to Damian,” Bruce pleaded.

“No worries, baby bird will be ready to be a brother before I’m through with him,” Dick announced. “Call me when you want to arrange that sit down, I’ll make certain Tim and Damian won’t kill each other before then.”

“Thank you, Dick,” Bruce sighed.

“Talk to you later Bruce,” he smiled as he hung up and then stared up at the ceiling.

Another sibling…

Another spawn of Bruce Wayne, with Selina Kyle as the mother, the world wasn’t ready for that but Dick was kind of looking forward to it. If Jason were alive to be here he’d have been excited, Tim was going to be nervous but thrilled, and Damian… Damian was a wild card. Hopefully Dick could coax the youngest Robin around to the idea of being a big brother; this was going to take a lot of help.

Thank God for Raven, demon or not, Raven was an angel for putting up with him and his family being shoved on her. Finishing his coffee he noted the time and decided he’d go find Raven and talk to her about helping him with Damian and getting Damian to like the idea of being a big brother. After making his way back up to the living quarters he walked the hall, pausing outside of Kori’s door he was tempted to walk in and join her in bed for some more sleep, however, he needed to talk to Raven. He’d talk to Kori later. Walking to Raven’s room he lightly knocked, there was no answer. Slowly he walked in, careful of her wards, and left the door open just in case her room decided to pitch him out.

“Raven?” he called out, he stopped at her bed and frowned at the man’s leather jacket on it and the empty bed. Where was she? And who’s jacket was this? Picking up the jacket he slowly walked out of the room; careful not to touch anything. Coming into the hall he quietly shut the door and looked up when Victor emerged from his room.

“Hey, Cy, have you seen Raven?” he asked.

“Who? What!? I don’t know anything! Rae’s out!” Victor scrambled and Dick’s eyes narrowed on his giant friend.

“Victor, where is Raven?” he repeated slowly and clearly.

“Uh… She’s tracking Red X! He broke into her room, stole something and she’s been tracking him down, Damian is with her, I insisted she didn’t do this alone, and obviously, I can’t leave else who’d be in charge of her team!? You’re too busy for the training stuff, and Damian volunteered to go with her! I don’t know anything else! I swear!” Victor balked.

“Raven chasing Red X! And my baby brother is out there without protection!” Dick paled at the thought; Talia wanted Damian back and the League of Assassins would go after him now that he was out of Batman’s protection! Oh shit!

“He’s with Rae,” Victor pointed out.

“That’s not the point! The League of Assassins, Talia al Ghul, wants him back!”

“What!? Does he know!?”

“No! Bruce and I thought it was for the best if he wasn’t tempted to return to them!” Dick snapped.

“Oh shit,” Victor paled more.

“We have to find him before the Assassins find out he’s out there on his own with only Raven to protect him!” Dick shouted.

He also had to find Damian before Bruce found out he was missing; else Dick was dead.

~~~*~*~*~~

Bruce felt a bit more confident about broaching the whole family thing with his children now that he had talked to Dick and Dick had been excited. Truthfully, though he had suspected Selina was pregnant, he hadn’t officially known until yesterday when he’d met up with her for lunch and he’d never been more scared. Well, except when Talia had shown up and presented Damian as his son, finding out about Damian had scared the shit out of him. But he loved that boy, just as he loved all his sons and he was striving to try to be a father to Damian and to teach his boy that there was more to the world than the Assassins who had brainwashed him and were now seeking him out.

Sighing he leant back in his seat as he contemplated how this could work and tried to predict how Damian would react to the news. Of all his children Damian was the most difficult, and the most like Jason; more serious than Jason, but Damian still possessed the same anger, rage, temper and views on killing and going off alone. Bruce was trying to reign him in, trying to stop his youngest’s reckless behavior, but found it difficult.

At least until Dick had decided to move Damian in with the Titans.

True Damian was still reckless, still violent, still brash, but he was calmer. Bruce figured it was Raven’s doing, all of Damian’s calls home were filled with the demoness’s words, her advice, her help, and just Raven. He’d have found it amusing that his youngest had a crush on the Titan if not for the fact that Raven was a demon. And while he trusted Raven with his family completely, he was also well aware that she had dangerous powers she chose to keep to herself that no one in the League knew about.

Dragging a hand through his hair he took another steadying breath before standing, buttoning his suit, grabbing his needed files, and walking out of the office to head for a board meeting. Tonight he and Selina would be talking, and Alfred had the night off. It was all quiet in Gotham, and if he hadn’t known where all the lunatic criminals were at this moment, he’d have thought it too quiet. Like the calm before the storm.

Still, Bruce couldn’t shake this uncanny feeling that trouble was coming despite the world all but telling him it was at peace.

Something bad was about to happen, he could feel it in his gut.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Raven was not surprised to wake with Jason again, or to have his heavy arm tossed over her back, or for him to be so close. He was very warm, and she was very comfortable where she was. Turning her head she looked up on the bed to see Damian staring at her with curious, unblinking eyes; a habit from his father and brothers no doubt, Dick and Tim both did this look as well. A low moan escaped her as she stretched out a bit on her stomach, not dislodging Jason, and then she sighed before giving Damian her undivided attention.

“Morning,” she breathed in a hushed tone.

“When are we moving on Shadowcrest?” the boy asked.

“Tonight,” came the mumbled reply from Jason who was sleeping on his stomach, facing away from them. “Go to sleep.”

“I can’t there’s gunshots across the street,” Damian hissed.

“Go to fucking sleep! Cops will take care of it!” Jason hissed.

“This is a very unsafe place to have a safe house, worse than Crime Alley,” Damian wrinkled his nose a bit in disgust and Raven chuckled as Jason came awake then and propped himself up beside her.

“Not all of the world grows up in palaces with guards, tutors, and money Damian. Be grateful, and this is a perfectly safe, safe house!” Jason growled lowly. The sound of sirens blaring had Raven rolling onto her back as she stretched and sat up.

“How about tea and breakfast then we’ll discuss Shadowcrest,” Raven yawned.

“Please don’t cook,” Damian pleaded.

“I’m cooking twerp so shut it, sunshine’ll make the tea,” Jason groaned as he stretched and sat up too.

“You can cook?” Raven and Damian asked at the same time.

“Yes, and I’m an excellent cook,” Jason stated.

“I doubt it,” Damian snorted.

“Just cause you can burn water does not mean the rest of us mortals are inept at cooking,” Jason sighed as he got to his feet and left them in the bedroom. Raven looked at Damian who was now looking a bit more curious than angry.

“Why is he sleeping with you?” Damian asked.

“You mean aside from the fact it’s cold, there’s one mattress with good blankets, and I have the bedroll?” Raven clarified.

“He did it in the hotel too,” Damian pointed out.

“Because he wanted to sleep on a bed, and now, probably because it’s cold,” Raven admitted. She doubted there was another reason she and Jason had taken to being so close so quickly.

“Grayson shares a bed with Kori,” Damian said so innocently Raven felt like she’d been creamed by a linebacker then.

“That’s different,” she assured him.

“I know, but I thought that’s why people shared beds,” Damian snorted.

“Damian, worry about it when you’re older, for now, Red seems intent on sleeping on a bed or with a blanket, though he’s a furnace,” Raven sighed as she dragged her fingers through her hair.

“If he tries anything I will disembowel him,” Damian said firmly.

“Good to know, let’s get breakfast,” Raven decided as she stood up and stretched. She was still in her pajamas as she walked into the living area.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Damian wasn’t a fool, he knew why people slept together and what they wanted; he’d walked in on his grandfather once, and his mother was not shy about the men who came to her bed. Dick and Kori slept together, Damian had snuck in one night before the dawn curious as to what Grayson’s relationship with the alien was and found them sound asleep. And he’d seen his father sleeping in Catwoman’s bed before too. He knew what people wanted when they shared beds, and what that usually meant.

Waking up to Jason and Raven together was different though.

It was comfortable. Damian had waited until they were awake before speaking, he did not want to disturb the peace he felt around them.

And now he was sitting at a battered table as Jason made batter and Raven made tea. Was this what normal felt like? To just sit at a table for breakfast and have people be calm? Damian didn’t know, he didn’t think there’d ever been a calm moment with the Titans or the Wayne family. And despite the obvious chaos outside, it was calm in here.

“Vanilla?” Jason yawned.

“Here,” Raven said as she waved her hand to have a bottle float out of a cabinet.

“Thanks.”

“What’s for breakfast?” Damian asked.

“Waffles for me and little bird, you like pancakes so you’ll be getting those,” Jason informed him.

“That is acceptable,” Damian decided.

“It’s too early for the prince shit,” Jason growled.

“Knock it off Damian,” Raven chided and he just blinked at her as she made him a mug of tea. It was comfortable here, he kind of liked it as he accepted the mug Raven placed before him and she sat, Jason continued to make batter.

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lexiphias-oc · 8 years ago

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all 100 for Era!

1. How do they present themselves to others? She is very confident and serious2. Do they like animals? She does! Especially birbs3. How do they dress? Before the timeskip usually a tanktop and sweatpants or a t-shirt/flannel and jeans. After the timeskip she usually wears a jacket or tanktop, rarely any sort of pants because her whole lower half is machine now4. How many languages do they know? Just English and she can read ancient text5. How big is their family? Just mother, father, and Denton6. What is their purpose in the story? She is the main protagonist7. Do they know how to fight? Most definitely8. What is their back story? It’s complicated and I’m still working out the details but basically her life was a huge lie and she was mistreated by her “parents” frequently. (I can try to elaborate more in DMs or a separate post maybe)9. Why is their name, their name? Erabelle Leigh Kingsile just sounds like a fancy rich name10. Do they have any nick names? Era11. Do they have a romantic interest? Yes, she has a small thing for Fel12. How do they cope with struggles? She usually tries to confront them if possible13. Do they have anyone they can lean on? Carmen, Lizzie, Jay, and occasionally Fel14. How do they react to someone dying? She would be distraught if it was someone she cared about, otherwise she would be relatively indifferent15. Can you name 5 personality traits they have? Confident, Unwavering, Unstable, Intelligent, Strong16. How did they become a character? I just thought about a character that could teleport and she just went from there17. Do they get along with others? Depends on the person, so it’s kinda hit-or-miss with many18. What flaws do they have? Overconfidence, doesn’t generally realize her friends are there for her, doesn’t have great control over her emotions, gets heated easily19. How do they influence the story? More ways than I can count20. What do they look like? A woman with short, wavy, black hair with white tips. Well built. Many scars. Has mechanical legs and right arm after timeskip21. What are their hobbies? She likes to read and collect feathers22. What are their ticks? ?23. Do they like children? Nope24. How do they react to being around wild animals? She enjoys them25. If they were given the task to prank someone, who would it be, what would they do, and would the prank work? She would pranks Jay with Carmen’s help and they would do just about anything and it’d probably work26. Do they have any survival skills? Several27. Are they more book smart or street smart? It’s very close but probably more book smart28. How do they get out of a difficult situation? Usually fighting or bribery29. Do they use their body, mind, personality or force to get what they want? 9 times out of 10 she’ll use force if needed30. What music do they enjoy? She enjoys classical and orchestral music31. How do they overcome obstacles? She often tries to fight her way through, and it usually works eventually32. When faced with a difficult decision do they get stronger or break? Usually she gets stronger, but she can break33. Do they have any special powers? She has the “Power of the End” which is an incredibly destructive power that also gives her the ability to warp34. How do they change throughout the story? She grows to rely on her friends more, as well as becoming much less selfish35. Do they have any friends? If so, are they close knit? Carmen, Lizzie, Jay, and later Fel, are the only ones she really considers friends, and she is with them often36. How is their family life? Not good37. Are they likable? Not early on38. Are they the hero, or anti-hero? She’s the heroine of the story39. Do they make questionable choices? Yes40. How do they become who they are? Lots of pain and struggle41. How was their childhood? Very poor (not as in financially, she is rich)42. Are they close with anyone who is going to screw them over? Not to her knowledge, but it could happen… 43.How do they adapt to different situations? Do they adapt at all? She’s usually able to adapt to combat situations quickly, not so much with social situations44. How do they speak? Examples - Are they soft spoken, hot heated, vulgar. She can be very blunt and heated sometimes45. Are they opposed to violence? Nope46. When is their birthday? July 2047. Are they quick to judge? Not really48. Do they have anything they are trying to hide from others? Just her pain49. Do they act different around different people? She’s more rude to her parents, but otherwise not really50.Do they enjoy the arts? To an extent51. Do they like science? A little bit52. Are they more emotional or logical? A mix of both I’d say, but more emotion for sure53. How do they deal with their emotions? She takes them out on her surroundings, usually not people54. How do they cope with sadness? She tries to hide it55. What is something they care about? Her friends and freedom56. Would they die for anyone/anything? She would put her life on the line for freedom57. What do they do when they are happy? Smile and laugh58. How would they come across to other characters? Examples- messy, lazy, childish, caring ect. Intimidating59. Do they have a phrase they use over and over? I don’t really know a phrase for her but she does start sentences with “Look,” a lot, especially when annoyed or agitated60. In a crowed room are they in the corners, sides, or in the middle? Middle or sides61. Are they comfortable being in a crowed room? Not really62. How do they relax? Reading or watching birds63. Have they ever harmed anyone and regretted it? Verbally or physically? Not sure, but probably not64. Do they like to dance? No65. How do they get around their environment? Examples - horses, bike, vehicle. She runs and warps66. What is their pet peeve(s)? People being insulted for things beyond their control67. Do they have a disability? Physically she has three mechanical limbs, as well as some artificial organs after the timeskip. Mentally, I’m not sure yet, but maybe68. How do they react to getting flowers? She would be confused, but accept them69. Would they ever wear a flower crown? Only if Lizzie made her70. Do they like themselves? Not entirely, but she grows on herself71. Who do they dislike? Nicholas, her parents, some classmates72. What is their motto? “Live life by your own rules” I guess?73. Do they have any markings on their body? A lot of scars, and when she uses her power markings appear on her body74. Have they ever been abused? Yes75. What is their biggest fear? Fire76. What are their goals? Freedom and recognition77. How do they go about achieving their goals? Struggling against the antagonist(s)78. Do they have a fight or flight response? Yes but it is 90% of the time fight79. Is there someone in their life that they care about more than themselves? Probably Denton80. How would they fair in zombie apocalypse? She would be in no danger at all81. Do they have any tattoos? If so, are they significant? No82. Are they good at mental math? Yes83. Do they get along with others? Sometimes84 Are they lazy? No85. Are they self motivated? Yes86. How do they cope with anger? Letting it out on her surroundings87. Have they ever been in a situation where they were helpless? Definitely88. Are they organized or messy? Organized89. Can they remember a lot of information at once? Somewhat90. What is their occupation? Resistance Leader/Founder91. Do other characters respect your OC, if so, is it out of fear? Or do they respect your OC because they like them? The Resistance respects her out of a combination of fear and status, and her friends just like her92. If they were given minutes to live, what would they do? Who would they want to see and say? I’m not really sure tbh93. How do they deal with stress? She tries to tackle it bit by bit94. Do they have a more submissive or dominate personality type? Dominate95. Do they have a pet? Nope96. Do they have a stash of weapons? Nope97. Where do they live? Who do they live with? She used to live with her family, but became more nomadic post-timeskip98. How do they calm themselves down? Training and deep breaths usually work for her99. Are they co-dependent? No100. Are they a day, or night person? Night

#narcissistnaru #era #erabelle #long post #geez that took so long #thanks tho fam!

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wonderfulchaos69-blog · 8 years ago

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tagged!

@mikoe24 - this looked interesting, so I stayed up a bit later than intended working on it xD Thanks for the tag, love, and I’ll be having some Mikuni and Misono headcanons for you after my hiatus is up! (which will be a week ahead of time, woohoo!)

Rules: Always post the rules. Answer the questions asked, then write eleven new ones. Tag eleven people to answer your questions as well as the person who tagged you.

Pokki’s Questions

1. Do you have any OCs? If so, what are their name(s)?

I have quite a few, yes. I have an entire next gen cast for Natsume's Book of Friends, for a story I have been working on for two years. It recently hit 100k and I am still dead sure this will never see the light of day, lol. It's so self indulgent. For right now it has the working title of Elegy for the Lost One and it takes place in a future where Natsume disappeared under strange circumstances. Thrillers are what I like writing the most - suspense, the build-up to it, and then the inevitable fall as you start putting the pieces together.

Now to give you the run-down on the OCS, haha. So first up is Shiori, who I decided would be a daughter to Natori and Hiiragi. I am always curious about youkai/human relations and how they work in the Book of Friends universe, and I chose to play around with that using Shiori. She takes after her father a lot - flashy, bold, a real show stopper. But she has her mother's sensibility and loyalty. And since I'm mentioning Natori, I might as well bring up Matoba. I ended up giving him a son that develops an unparalleled obsession with the Book of Friends. Then there's Takahiro, Hiromi and Haruki who are the main cast and the ones that the story focuses on the most. They're the ones trying to solve the mystery. Meanwhile, there's Makoto, who is the would-be inherited of the Book of Friends. She is a relative to Natsume, distantly, through Natsume's cousin (Yuuto, if the drama cds are to be believed~).

Then, for an original story I'm working on, I have a few solid characters so far. Annabel, a steadfast young woman who is independant to a fault and doesn't know to ask others for help. She's thrown into a situation where she has no choice but to lean on others - or in this case, on one person in particular. A mentor, a friend, a guiding hand in a world that seems so foreign even though she's been living in it for years. Suddenly, things fail to make sense. What she thought she knew turns out to be different from the underlying reality. The Lore Keeper, her mentor, is the one to help her through it. For his own reasons, but who doesn't have an ulterior motive or two? His is simply ensuring that the future Keeper is an upstanding one. As you can see, he doesn't have a name yet. But that's both intentional and my own laziness lol. So yeah, choosing names is always the last step for me. Developing their personalities is what I tend to focus on the most when creating an OC. The name always comes last to me.

2. What’s your favorite eye color?

I love blue eyes! They're so pretty. Especially light blue.

3. How would you name your kids? Or, if you don’t want kids, what are your favorite names?

Fun fact: I was actually terrified of having children for a long time. I met someone who changed that for me, but eh. I have not given it much thought. I think naming children should be the act of both parents, something I'd want to talk over with my partner, but as for some of my favorite names ... I like short and sweet, so: Iris and Jay.

4. What’s your favorite quote?

I tend to go with Dr. Seuss a lot, heh, so I'll go with Roald Dahl this time: "A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest of men."

5. What’s the last anime you watched?

... it's been a while, uhhh. Dragon Maid probably. :3

6. Do you like cosplays?

I never personally wore any, but I deeply admire those who do. They put a lot of work into every costume and that takes skill, dedication, and sacrificing their own personal time to make it. They have my respect.

7. Do you have a crush on someone? (A real person or a fictional character, it doesn’t matter~)

Well then, just delve right into my deep, dark secrets why don't you? Hmmm, I guess if I'm being honest: I do. It was sort of an "oh shit" moment for me, but identifying the problem is the first step to finding a solution. In this case, getting my heart to agree with my mind that this is Not Allowed.

Fictional-wise ... idk, man. It's hard enough on me having real life crushes. I suppose Lily and Natori would be my type, though.

8. How many siblings do you have?

I have - had - two older half-brothers. It's complicated, too, so nope. I will not be explaining.

9. What would your ideal date be like?

Probably either a candlelit dinner and snuggling on the couch or doing something we both loved together. With my ex, that used to be hiking at the Cliffs, putting our feet in the water and play fighting with said water, and then collapsing together in the sand. It was sweet while it lasted.

10. Do you like your handwriting? Why?

I do, because why not? It's not perfect, but I've been learning that striving for perfection is a fruitless endeavor. It's also the coward's way out.

11. Now, say something positive about yourself!~ c:

Hmmm. Something positive ... my mind always goes blank when asked this sort of question. I guess, it's my persistence? Even when I play the role my own worst critic, I still keep going because sitting idle has never suited me. I have to constantly be doing something. Whether it's writing, reading, etc. If my mind is happy, so am I.

Avi’s Questions

1: What is you’re favorite series and why? (Could be anything from TV shows, books, anime, ect..)

For books, probably ... the Artemis Fowl series? That writing style is one of my favs :'D

For manga, definitely Natsume's Book of Friends. Gorgeous short stories on their own and a sprinkling of plot that's not too much, so it doesn’t take away from each story and they can all stand on their own. I admire that, since I'm primarily a short story writer more often than not.

2: What is your favorite weather and time of day?

My favorite type of weather is rain, no doubt about it. And for time of day ... night. Definitely night. I am a night owl, ha.

3: Favorite Fictional character? Why?

Why must you do this to me?! At the moment, it's Mikuni. Save me.

4: Favorite video game? Why?

The World Ends With You. Lots of reasons, and since they are personal ... I will instead just gush about how much I loved the storyline and the characters, and how I can proudly proclaim that this is one of the few games I have ever completed 100%.

5: What are your hobbies?

Writing, reading, watching anime, video games, fishing, hiking, cooking/baking, and learning new things.

6: If you could pick one fictional world to live in, what world would you pick and why?

Oh gosh, I think the Hunter x Hunter world would be cool, too, but I'd die so quickly ... I'm going to go the safer route and say Tales of the Abyss. Make me one of those NPCs chilling in the background. Just, you know, not in the town that gets completely destroyed (gdi Luke).

7: Favorite animal?

CATS. I have always been a cat person and I will definitely continue to be one looooong into the future.

8: Do you have any pets? If so, what are their names and what are they?

Snow White, my eskimo doggie. And Goldie, my orange and white tabby cat.

9: Do you have any original stories? Tell me something about them!

Since I already talked about my current story alongside the OC question, I'll instead gush about a collab story with a good friend of mine. We've been working on this story for close to ... god, eight years now? It's one of those self indulgent things. It's fun to come home to and work on. It has a super hero setting, wherein she writes the heroes and I write the villains. My alliance is called, wait for it - SASSI. Super Assholes Seeking Suitable Income. They're real particular about the destruction they cause, let me tell ya. It's sort of a goofy series that we put together to hash out why people do the things they do and put a satire spin on it. (The villains are not the only ones we poke fun at, just saying.)

10: If you have any ocs, who was your first? If you don’t have any, who was your first favorite character and why?

Oh wow, that's so long ago. My first OC was a nameless young lady from a story about black cats bringing good omens. I wrote it for English class, because I was interested in myths and old legends in regards to cats. It was around the time I discovered what a Cat Sith is.

11: You have three wishes, what would you wish for?

Is this like one of those genies that twists what we want and we have to be reaaaally careful? You know, Monkey Paw style? If so, then I would hand off the wishes to someone else. They can have them; I'mma strive for what I want with my own dedication and patience. If this is a no strings attached sort of deal, then: 1. for good things to happen to my friends and family, 2. to live by the ocean, and 3. to be able to speak more than one language. As I said, all things I can work towards on my own.

Mikoe's Questions

1. Do you draw? If yes, how many years has it been since you’ve started?

Oh gods, no. I used to be big into drawing animals, but I can't draw people and shit for the life of me. I have a few wolf pictures, still, I think. My spirit animal <3

2. Do you write? If yes, could you copy paste a line from your latest work?

Since I was 11~ And sure, I'll use fanfic: "Do I have to go?" The cat's sleepy yawn gave away its apathy to the whole thing. "Can't I just stay here and nap? You'll be fine on your own."

"Well, they did send us two tickets. It'd be rude if you didn't use it, Kuro. Not to mention," and here Mahiru flicked the cat on the forehead, "I'd kind of die if you didn't come along, you lazy cat. Or did you forget we have a contract?"

3. What is/are your nickname(s)? If you don’t have any, can I give you one?

I joke about having nicknames, because kids call me Apple (or god help me, Cabbage, from A FRIEND UGH), but nah. Not really. You can't really make a nickname out of April, lol. As for receiving a nickname, go for it. Good luck, pffft.

4. When is your birthday? If you’re not comfortable with it, then what is your favorite day of the whole year and why?

August 27th

5. What are the 5 things that never fail to brighten up your day or put a smile on your face?

My pets!!! My friends and family. Really cute pics of animal in general. Reading something sweet. Being out in the fresh air.

6. Why did you join Tumblr?

To reconnect with old friends, mainly. Then I fell into the Servamp fandom, enough said.

7. IOS or Android?

Android.

8. In the scale of 1 to 10, how much do you love yourself?

5, it's half and half.

9. Are you the type who pours the cereal before the milk or the milk before the cereal?

Cereal before the milk xD I don't want to get splashed.

10. How is 2017 treating you so far?

Hmm, to sum up: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

My internal thoughts are just incoherent screaming atm.

11. Do you like pigeons? XD

Depends. I like the pretty ones that are small and colorful and land on your fingertips.

My Questions~

1. Where do you see yourself in five years?

2. If you draw and/or write, what programs are your favorite to use?

3. Do you have any phobias?

4. Have you ever traveled? If so, where?

5. Do you have someone you admire or strive to be like?

6. What is your ideal vacation?

7. Do you have a favorite candle scent?

8. What genre is your favorite? (For movies, books, anime/manga, games, etc.)

9. Do you have something you use as a crutch/safety net? Something you couldn't live without?

10. What is a series you used to enjoy as a child? Do you still enjoy it?

11. List five things you want to improve in and make a little time for those things every day.

I tag: @crazyanime3, @stirlingphoenix, @choc0bunnyqueen, @pleasantdreamsart, @saltykarkat, @mikunialicein .... man, it’s hard to pick 11. Anyone else who wishes to do so! And of course, if you’re tagged and do not want to do it, that’s cool too.

#tag game #personal #long post #and now i must sleep

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flauntpage · 6 years ago

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Getting Torched by Ryan Fitzpatrick – Ten Takeaways from Buccaneers 27, Eagles 21

Listen –

Sometimes you hang 41 points on the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

And sometimes Ryan Fitzpatrick hangs 402 yards and four touchdowns on you.

Sunday was one of those days for the Birds, a day where the opposing quarterback carves up your secondary and then has the audacity to show up at the podium looking like a cross between Conor McGregor and two of the three members of ZZ Top.

I guess that’s the glass half empty part, the fact that the Birds were torched multiple times by a guy who is actually a backup quarterback. The Eagles lost Jason Peters and Mike Wallace and missed a field goal and just didn’t seem like they were ready to play.

The glass half full outlook would focus on a second-half comeback that fell just short. Nick Foles showed some good things and some bad things as he finished with 334 yards and a touchdown pass. Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor looked like their normal selves as the rest of the offensive pieces struggled to impact the game.

And of course we’re still looking at the return of Carson Wentz and Alshon Jeffery, maybe this week for Carson, which will go a long way towards getting this team back to where it needs to be.

So I’m not gonna do the knee-jerk “woe is me” thing and lament a road loss that really could have been a lot worse. I’m not gonna do that after week two. Let’s pull up our big boy pants and look at the game.

1) No safety help

Let’s just start with the first play of the game, when DeSean Jackson smoked the Birds on a 75-yard touchdown.

I don’t have the all-22 video yet with the super-wide angle, but what happened here was that the Eagles actually started in Cover-2 and disguised a corner blitz:

What you’re looking at here is that Rodney McLeod comes down to pick up Mike Evans, since Ronald Darby (yellow circle) is blitzing. Malcolm Jenkins slides back into the middle portion of the field and Jalen Mills stays on DeSean, so really they slide into Cover 3 with a single-high safety and Jenkins is responsible for helping over the top.

I’m really not sure why Jenkins tried to undercut that route, or why he came in so shallow. He told reporters after the game that it was his responsibility to cover the middle third of the field.

2) More secondary breakdowns

The second touchdown can mostly be blamed on a poor tackle attempt from Darby, though Jordan Hicks got beat in coverage.

I’m not sure if Hicks was to blame for the third score, or if McLeod was responsible for Chris Godwin here, but you can see Hicks turn around and look at McLeod after the catch as if to say, “I thought you had him?” –

I’m not sure whose responsibility that is there. Corey Graham is also in the mix as the Birds are in dime here trying to match up against Tampa Bay showing trips right with a receiver on the left and Jacquizz Rodgers coming out of the backfield.

This game did remind me a bit of the Seattle game last year, not because Fitzpatrick was scrambling like Russell Wilson, but because the Eagles do have some coverage issues when teams send out four and five receivers at a time and keep their quarterback upright without extra blockers on the line, which is what happened in the play above.

For what it’s worth, Jim Schwartz doesn’t speak after games, so we’ll hear what he has to say on Tuesday. As far as specifics on each play, the players didn’t really get too much into that. Maybe we get some more from them later in the week as well.

I’m not sure anyone in the secondary had a great day, though Jenkins deserves credit for the big forced fumble and I do think Mills was on the receiving end of a facemask on the fourth quarter matchup with Evans where he was flagged instead:

Lmao pic.twitter.com/uKy5XoeK9I

— Brian Coulter (@PhilaBCoulter) September 16, 2018

I guess both guys were guilty of an infraction there. Looks like a pair of facemasks.

But anyway, Mills is a 7th round draft pick, so I don’t know what people expect of him. He was elevated to a starting role on a Super Bowl winning team because Leodis McKelvin and Nolan Carroll and Byron Maxwell were not the answer. Jalen has had some good games and some bad games, but to expect him to be Ramsey instead of Mills is not accurate.

3) Don’t blame us

People say the defensive line didn’t do enough to pressure Fitzpatrick in this game, and maybe that’s true. They finished with eight QB hits and two sacks, which is about half of the 15 hits and 4 sacks they put up against Matt Ryan last week. Fitzpatrick was a little more uncomfortable today after the Saints barely touched him last week.

But in reality is that the line was fine, and limited Tampa to 43 rushing yards on 22 carries. Only 9.8% of Tampa’s 436 yards came on the ground, and the irony of the Buccaneers hitting quickly on some of their scores was that they gave up the time of possession battle to the Eagles by a 12 minute gap, holding the ball for just 24 minutes compared to the Eagles’ 36.

Point being – the defensive line was relatively fresh throughout the game, even in the South Florida heat. And they DID make Tampa more or less one-dimensional, holding the Bucs to just one rushing first down on the day. If you’re looking for a spot where the defense could have been better, Schwartz could have dialed up more pressure or come up with different ways to get to Fitzpatrick and/or make him uncomfortable.

4) Play calling

Ups and downs from Doug Pederson, who didn’t use nearly as much shotgun this week.

Here’s what I wrote down on my notepad while my dad and uncle and cousin yelled at the TV:

44 passes out of the shotgun (a lot in the 4th quarter while chasing the game)

7 passes from under center

13 runs out of the shotgun (including the direct snap to Agholor)

8 runs from under center (two quarterback sneaks and the option/toss to Smallwood)

(two more under center sets were wiped out due to a holding and tripping penalty on the second drive)

So I think Doug mixed it up pretty well. I don’t know why Nick Foles wasn’t pushing the ball down field more, but I have a strong hunch that the departure of Mike Wallace really took away the Birds’ ability to stretch the defense. Shelton Gibson should theoretically be able to do that, but he finished with zero grabs on two targets.

As far as run/pass option, I only noted three or four instances where they might have used it. Again, I’d have to go back and look at the film to watch how the line sets their blocking schemes on those plays, because it’s very hard to tell when a play actualyl has a run option vs. just being a simple play-action motion. I feel like the Eagles got away from their RPO package on Sunday and showed more play-action coming from under center sets.

5) Personnel decisions

Sort of going hand-in-hand with the above entry, I wasn’t huge on the running back rotation. I am, of course, biased towards fellow Mountaineer Wendell Smallwood because I’d for him to do well, but I need to see more of Corey Clement as an offensive staple. I don’t care what he does on special teams; I need Clement to carry the ball more than six times per game. And if Jay Ajayi was okay in the second half, then get him back out there, too. This feels a lot like the early parts of last season, when LeGarrette Blount wasn’t getting enough snaps and the Eagles were trying to figure out what exactly they had in the running game.

Also, here’s a picture of me searching for Dallas Goedert on Sunday afternoon:

Josh Perkins is a fourth-string tight end behind Ertz, Goedert, and the injured Richard Rodgers. Kamar Aiken is a sixth-string wide receiver behind Jeffery, Agholor, Wallace, Mack Hollins, Gibson, and maybe even DeAndre Carter. He was just re-signed to replace Markus Wheaton, who was signed and then waived after week one. So I don’t know what the fuck the Eagles are doing with the receiver depth chart right now, but obviously the preseason means jack shit since Goedert and Gibson both looked more than capable out there and are now invisible.

RE: the Perkins playing more than Goedert, here’s Martin Frank at Delaware Online:

Pederson gave a convoluted answer about why that was the case, basically saying he wanted to adjust just one role instead of several once players like Wallace and Ajayi left the game.

“Listen, it’s a complex thing when you start moving bodies around,” Pederson said. “And without getting real specific with the game plan … one part that goes down, then you have to adjust everybody else.”

And more Pederson via NJ.com:

It’s complicated because you (the media) don’t know the plan. When you don’t know the plan or the formations, where we move guys and have guys specifically in the game plan, when one guy goes down, it shuffles the whole thing. So we can keep it real consistent by just moving one part and many parts.

Yeah, I get it. I guess. You’ve got some young/new guys out there who might not be 100% comfortable with the play book or even ready for a too much pro-level action. And Perkins used to be a receiver back in the day before he converted to tight end. So if you’re not ready for Gibson, Goedert, or Carter to step in, you give the snaps to Perkins and a veteran like Aiken instead.

Shrug. Guess we’ll get more from Doug on that later.

6) Whiff

Remember how some Eagles fans used to call Asante Samuels Asante “Samuels” instead? Kind of like Alshon “Jefferies.”

Anyway, Ronald Darby paid homage to the former Eagle corner when he totally whiffed on what seemed like a rather straightforward tackle on the second Bucs touchdown:

Not a great effort.

HOWEVER –

Credit where it’s due. He did a really nice job later on Jacquizz Rodgers in the open field on that 3rd and 4 in the 4th quarter. I will try to give credit where I can if I’m gonna rag on a guy for something else.

Here’s Asante in all of his glory:

via GIPHY

7) Fumble?

It didn’t mean much at the time because the Eagles looked like they were cooked at halftime, but they lost a possession on the Nick Foles fumble that looked almost like a forward pass to me.

On the play, the ball travels about five yards forward as Foles gets cleaned out by Kwon Alexander coming unblocked through the line:

.@kwon knocks the ball out of Foles on this hit. Play ruled a fumble. pic.twitter.com/QVZKxzrYxg

— AllThingsBucs (@AllThingsTBbucs) September 16, 2018

Am I blind? Am I missing something here? Even if he’s being tackled that looks like forward motion from the arm and the ball clearly travels forward.

Maybe they just didn’t see anything that could conclusively overturn the ruling on the field. It’s hard to say if the ball is spinning out of his hand at or during the tackle, or if he still has control of it as his arm goes forward, but it definitely looks like his elbow is at least parallel with his body, which would suggest that he’s coming forward with it.

I don’t know. I really don’t know.

8) Doug’s best call?

Going for it on 4th and 1 in the second quarter, for sure.

I also didn’t have a problem with him going for it on 4th and 4 on the first drive of the second half? Why not? You’re down 20-7 at that point and you’re looking at a three and out to start off the quarter, so you might as well take the risk from midfield. You’re trying to get back into the game instead of punting to a team that can find the end zone with one deep ball.

I know a lot of people were talking about the clock management in the 4th quarter, but I honestly didn’t have a problem with Doug running the ball there. They saved three timeouts and still had the two-minute warning with Tampa starting their final drive at 2:41 on the clock. You still needed the defense to get a stop, and they didn’t get a stop, they allowed two first downs and committed a neutral zone infraction.

9) Doug’s worst call?

I didn’t like the 3rd and 11 draw play before halftime. That felt like something out of the old Andy Reid playbook. That’s not the aggressive Doug Pederson we saw in last season’s NFC divisional round game against Falcons.

Also wasn’t a big fan of the screen he called on the final drive of the second quarter, after the drive featuring the draw play. The Eagles had just connected with Ertz on a big play down the right sideline, then Doug went with a screen that lost five yards and forced the Eagles to burn their second timeout.

10) The Barber Brothers

I gotta be honest; I didn’t hear ALL of the broadcast because I went home to watch the game with family, so I didn’t entirely focus in on Kenny Albert, Ronde Barber, and Tiki Barber.

I did laugh when they tried to cut to Dean Blandino early on, which was derailed by technical difficulties. As a general rule, I think all Dean Blandino hits should be derailed by technical difficulties.

One thing I do like is that double box on reviews, where they play a commercial in the big box on the right while keeping the field camera in the small box on the left. It doesn’t necessarily add anything to the broadcast, but it keeps me attentive and makes more sense than cutting out entirely, which causes people to get up and walk to the fridge or whatever. It’s a way for them to shove another commercial into the game without totally ditching the action.

As far as Tiki’s outfit, he kind of looked like a mix between fly fisherman and coal miner. I couldn’t really hear his hits, but Ronde I thought did fine. I didn’t sense much homerism from him, if any. He even said “maybe I was wrong” on the pass interference non-call against Agholor in the third quarter, so good on him for being cool and not attempting to bullshit us.

I also swear I heard one of the trio pronounce the word “Aliquippa” as Ali-queepa, which was weird, but I have context for that line. I also have no desire to re-watch Fitzpatrick slicing and dicing the Eagles like Joe Montana.

But we’re gonna have to to. The all-22 coaches film should show us why the Birds’ secondary struggled so much.

The post Getting Torched by Ryan Fitzpatrick – Ten Takeaways from Buccaneers 27, Eagles 21 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

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